text:
An Introduction by HSLDA Attorney Jim Mason:
The author of this week's edition of HSLDA Responds, Peter Kamakawiwoole, was Exhibit One in my recent Court Report cover story, "Generational wins for homeschooling". That story recounts Peter's career as a homeschool high school debater, undergraduate moot court champion at Patrick Henry College, and HSLDA appellate advocate.
As that story went to press, the Supreme Court of Virginia had agreed to hear our case on behalf of homeschool grads—now homeschooling parents—Kirk and Kristen Sosebee, Exhibits Two and Three in my cover story.
Kirk and Kristen had resisted an unlawful policy enacted by the local school board, and when the school board's attorney threatened these parents with prosecution, Peter and HSLDA sued the school board on their behalf. The trial court ruled in favor of the school board, and we appealed to the Supreme Court.
The fact that homeschool grads who first met at PHC would team up as client and lawyer in a homeschooling case that was heading to a state supreme court seemed remarkable to me—it was a generational win. Because we were still waiting for oral argument, I concluded that cover story with this sentence: "No matter what the Supreme Court of Virginia says, I count the Sosebee case to be a generational win."
That sounds high-minded enough, I suppose, but I wanted to add, "But I really want to win the case!" My editors preferred my first ending, so we waited.
Since then, oral argument for the case occurred by conference call, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Peter, like a real pro, answered every question with characteristic excellence.
Then on June 11, 2020, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled unanimously that "the Board did not have the authority to adopt its Policy."
Kirk and Kristen Sosebee represent one of homeschooling's generational wins by standing up to a school district's arbitrary authority. And now Peter is a supreme court winner, too.
Peter's response to Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Bartholet's law-review article focuses on her wonderment that homeschoolers care about protecting their homes from unjustified intrusions by government officials. That is another area of HSLDA's mission, in which Peter plays an important role by representing families.
He is a winner there, too.
— Jim Mason, Vice President of Litigation and Development
* * *
Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet wonders why Home School Legal Defense Association cares so much about protecting the rights of homeschoolers to the privacy of their own homes:
HSLDA has worked to make the Federal Constitution's Fourth Amendment a more significant limit on CPS agencies' ability to investigate and document child maltreatment. It seeks to expand the meaning of the Amendment's ban on unreasonable search and seizure, so as to protect parents against any nonconsensual entry into the home by authorities. This would seriously hamper efforts to monitor homeschooling as well as CPS and police efforts to address maltreatment.
Professor Bartholet is not the first to wonder why this topic matters so much to homeschoolers. She goes further than most do though, urging that those few who would not be banned outright receive a minimum of two mandatory home "visits" by school authorities each year, just because it's a homeschool. (In most cases, visit is a euphemism for a nonconsensual search of a home.)
She is wrong to say that HSLDA seeks to expand the Fourth Amendment; instead, we seek to preserve the true meaning of the Fourth Amendment in the context of child abuse investigations. And we do so to protect children from the trauma that follows when CPS investigators do not respect the rules governing the most protected place in America: your home. As another law professor put it, "the majority of intrusions on family privacy do not directly benefit the children involved, and in many instances actually cause them demonstrable harm."[1]
As we explained in a recent friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in a case involving the Fourth Amendment:
In the early days of the modern homeschooling movement, we discovered that child-welfare investigators routinely avoid interacting with parents at the beginning of an investigation by going to the child's school or pre-school, as was done in this case. But because homeschooled children are at home when they are at school, child-welfare investigators could not routinely avoid parents. This led to many distressing encounters at the home's front door, often simply because the family homeschooled at a time when it was not as accepted as it is today.
The answer to Professor Bartholet is almost self-explanatory: the right to teach your children at home doesn't mean very much if the government can enter your home anytime it wants, for any reason it wants. Fortunately, the Fourth Amendment limits that sort of thing. That isn't a novel position: it's a position that is older than the amendment itself.
I initially set out to make that case when I first sat down to write this article, but two months later, I emerged with 21,000 words, which is far too long for articles in this series. I plan to submit the entire piece to a law review—perhaps even at Harvard—to further this important discussion. But in the meantime, I hope this brief summary will provide you and your family with a small measure of security as you learn together at home.
Of the Fourth Amendment, merry old England, and "the child Independence"
Some situations in Fourth Amendment law are tricky, but most cases involving CPS home investigations are not. These cases are governed by two basic rules:
- First, if the government wants to search your home, it needs to get a warrant based on probable cause from a neutral judge; otherwise, its search is "presumptively unreasonable" and violates the Fourth Amendment.[2]
- Second, the exceptions to this rule are few and difficult to prove. One exception is "consent": the government doesn't need a warrant if you allow it into your home, but only if you do so based on your "free and unconstrained choice" (allowing CPS into your home because they threaten you doesn't count).[3] Another exception is "exigent circumstances," when the government has both probable cause and a "compelling need for official action" that is so imminent that there is "no time to secure a warrant."[4]
Both rules were a response to British practices that contributed to the United States' War for Independence: general warrants and writs of assistance.
General warrants were incredibly broad, allowing the crown's officers to search for anything, even if they didn't know what they were searching for (we call these fishing expeditions now, and the Fourth Amendment strongly disfavors them).[5]
Writs of assistance were arguably worse: an agent with a writ of assistance could force local sheriffs to assist him in performing any search. These writs "were good for the lifetime of the reigning sovereign plus six months," and they remained in effect even if the agent died.[6] If a writ of assistance had been obtained when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, it would still be valid now, almost 70 years later.
These writs of assistance had been used in America at least as far back as 1696,[7] but when King George II died in 1760—and the writs issued in his name were set to expire—they were challenged by James Otis, a "revered trial advocate and legal orator" in Massachusetts.[8] Otis argued that nothing less was at stake than the struggle for the ancient liberties of Englishmen: "every one with this writ may be a tyrant," he warned.[9]
Otis lost, but his orations "quickly became a staple of colonial constitutional argument."[10] When Parliament reauthorized the writs in the Townshend Duties Act of 1767, "a new round of legal battles" erupted that involved "nearly every judge and prominent lawyer in America."[11] Despite formidable pressure from the British, the colonial judges "from Connecticut to Florida, with one exception, stood firm in opposing the legality of the particular form of writ demanded of them and continued in their judicial obstinacy through six years of nearly constant efforts to force them to yield."[12]
The struggle had a marked impact on the founding generation. For a generation that "feared the discretion of peace officers," the Fourth Amendment offered a two-part safeguard: "review by a neutral magistrate and the requirement of a record" that "work[ed] together to limit the potential for abuse."[13] Those freedoms are as important today as they have ever been.
New Cases, Old Principles
Over the years, HSLDA has defended many families from warrantless home invasions, using these very same principles. Two similar cases—twenty years apart—illustrate how important and timeless these principles are.
In October 1994, a social services investigator went to the home of Robert and Shirley Calabretta.[14] Shirley was home, alone with her children. Two days before, someone had anonymously reported hearing a child screaming "no, daddy, no," and "no, no, no" coming from inside the house. The investigator demanded to be allowed in the home but did not have a warrant, so Shirley refused. The investigator left, took a vacation, then returned 10 days later with a police officer, who helped the investigator force her way in the home. Shirley was ordered to pull down the pants and underwear off her 3-year-old; the investigator then looked for signs of physical abuse. There were none.
Twenty-three years later, in March 2017, a social service investigator went to the home of Josiah and Holly Curry.[15] Holly was home, alone with her children. The day before, Holly had been stopped by a local police officer for leaving her six children in her locked, air-conditioned van for a few minutes to pick up a snack for her children; the officer had verified that all the children were safe and let Holly go with a warning. Now, a CPS investigator was demanding that she had to come in the home and see all the children. She did not have a warrant.
Holly offered to bring her children to the door, but that wasn't satisfactory—the investigator left and returned with an armed sheriff's deputy, who told Holly that if she did not let them in, they would take her children. Holly felt she had no choice; she backed away from her door, crying, and they came in. Once inside, the investigator inspected the ears, neck, torso, and private areas of all six children. She found nothing.
Both families turned to HSLDA for help. We sued the officials involved. In Calabretta, the federal court agreed with us, and the Curry case is awaiting decision.
Our cases relied on the same arguments that Otis and others had raised almost 300 years ago. Neither investigator had a warrant, which made their search "presumptively unreasonable." Neither tried to get a warrant, either, and both could have done so without putting anyone at risk.
In the Calabretta's case, the investigator waited 10 days—and took a vacation—before she decided the situation was "exigent." And in the Curry's case, the police officer on the scene the day before the CPS visit had no concerns about Holly's children; he concluded that the children were safe.
Calabretta v. Floyd wasn't a hard case. As we argued to the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the Calabrettas, to enter a family home, "a child abuse investigator must have either a warrant or probable cause to believe that there are exigent circumstances relating to the safety of the child." The investigator didn't have one, and she didn't think she needed one. But that didn't change the fact that "the Fourth Amendment wall . . . still stands to guard the private homes of citizens from overzealous officials."[16]
The Ninth Circuit agreed, not because our argument was novel, but because it was basic: "nowhere is the protective force of the Fourth Amendment more powerful than it is when the sanctity of the home is involved," the court wrote. [17] "The government's interest in the welfare of children embraces not only protecting children from physical abuse but also protecting children's interest in the privacy and dignity of their homes and in the lawfully exercised authority of their parents."[18]
It is unfortunate that 20 years after Calabretta, homeschooling families like the Currys still find themselves at the mercy of investigators who fail to grasp the essence of the Fourth Amendment. Professor Bartholet may not like the arguments that we advance. But she is wrong that they expand the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. They are, in fact, older than the amendment itself, and are so universally embraced that they belong to no partisan.[19]
Rather, it is the changes she advocates—regular home visits for every homeschooling family, just because they homeschool—that raise the very specter of suspicionless fishing expeditions that birthed the Fourth Amendment, while doing away with all of the amendment's hard-fought safeguards.
Fortunately, her view is not the law. The Fourth Amendment ensures that you have the same right to be secure in your own home that Shirley Calabretta and Holly Curry have. And that's important for children. Ignoring the fourth amendment during CPS investigations "causes more children more harm than good."[20]
And if someone tells you differently, we'll be right here.
[1] Coleman, Doriane L. 2006. "Storming the Castle to Save the Children: The Ironic Costs of a Child Welfare Exception to the Fourth Amendment." William and Mary Law Review 47:413–450. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/1266.
[2] Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 586 (1980); Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 761 (1969).
[3] Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 225 (1973).
[4] Schneckloth., quoting Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 602 (1961). The Supreme Court held almost 60 years ago that threats to remove a child create a situation of coercion, not consent, especially when a parent has "no reason not to believe that the police had ample power to carry out their threats." Lynumn v. Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 534 (1963).
[5] See Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 467 (1971) "The specific evil is the 'general warrant' abhorred by the colonists, and the problem is not that of intrusion per se, but of a general, exploratory rummaging in a person's belongings" [emphasis added].
[6] Bradley, Gerard. 1989. "The Constitutional Theory of the Fourth Amendment." DePaul Law Review 38:817. https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/773/. https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7649&context=ylj.
[7] Stuntz, William J. 1995. "The Substantive Origins of Criminal Procedure." Yale Law Journal 393:404. 105 Yale L.J. 393, 404 (1995).
[8] Burkoff, John M. 2013. "The James Otis Lectures: 'A Flame of Fire': The Fourth Amendment in Perilous Times." Mississippi Law Journal 74: 631, 636. https://olemiss.edu/depts/ncjrl/pdf/burkoffMSLJ04.pdf.
[9] Donahue, Laura K. 2016. "The Original Fourth Amendment." Chicago Law Review 83, 3: 1181, 1251–1252, https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclrev/vol83/iss3/3.
[10] Gedicks, Frederick Mark. 2009. "An Originalist Defense of Substantive Due Process: Magna Carta, Higher-Law Constitutionalism, and the Fifth Amendment." Emory Law Journal 58:585. https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/faculty_scholarship/275/.
[11] Maclin, Tracey. 2002. "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: Why the Supreme Court Should Leave Fourth Amendment History Unabridged." Boston University Law Review 82:895.
[12] Maclin, supra 10n, 961.
[13] Krent, Harold J. 2005. "The Continuity Principle, Administrative Constraint, and the Fourth Amendment." Notre Dame Law Review 81, 53: 61–62.
[14] The following facts were adapted from Calabretta v. Floyd, 189 U.S. 808, 810-812 (9th Cir. 1999).
[15] The following facts were adapted from Plaintiffs' Consolidated Memorandum of Law (Dock. 72-1), Curry v. Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Servs., 3:17-cv-730, **4-9 (W.D. Ky., Sept. 17, 2019).
[16] Brief of Appellees, Calabretta v. Floyd, No. 97-5385 at 12, 32, 52 (9th Cir., Sept. 27, 1997).
[17] Calabretta, 189 U.S. at 817.
[18] Calabretta, at 820.
[19] See for example, Mason, James R., III. 2020. HSLDA, ACLU Team Up to Protect Fourth Amendment Rights. https://hslda.org/post/hslda-aclu-team-up-to-protect-fourth-amendment-rights.
[20] Coleman, 538.


text:
Following last month's DNA-driven arrest of a suspect in California's four-decades-old Golden State Killer investigation, detectives on the trail of the infamous Zodiac Killer say they believe genetic evidence could provide a breakthrough.
A suspect calling himself the Zodiac Killer is believed to be responsible for at least five killings in Northern California in 1968 and 1969. The suspected murderer mailed taunting letters and cryptograms to two San Francisco newspapers in 1969.
Now the question for pursuers, experts say, is whether or not saliva-derived DNA that might be on stamps and flaps from envelopes can still provide usable scientific markers.
-San Francisco homicide detectives David Toschi and William Armstrong go through the clothing of a murder victim at the morgue in the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on March 29, 1974. The Zodiac killer is blamed for at least five murders in 1968 and 1969 in the San Francisco Bay Area.Susan Ehmer / The San Francisco Chronicle via AP
"It's definitely possible," said forensic scientist Ruth E. Ballard of California State University, Sacramento. "If they didn't steam the stamp off and it was stored in a cool dry place, maybe there's sufficient DNA left."
The April 25 arrest of 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case has renewed interest in the state's Zodiac serial killer saga, which was the subject of a 2007 movie "Zodiac."
But detectives say the timing is pure coincidence.
In a bid similar to the one undertaken by Golden State Killer investigators, police in Vallejo, California, sent two letters connected to the suspect to a private lab months ago, Detective Terry Poyser said. He added that the results of the newest DNA testing were expected soon and that detectives hope to submit them to a familial DNA service.
Investigators in the Golden State Killer case uploaded DNA to an open-source genealogical website, where they claim to have found a partial match to DeAngelo's distant relative.
Police who collared the former police officer said they had to produce a family tree dating back several generations before they zeroed in on DeAngelo, suspected in at least 12 murders and 50 rapes between 1976 and 1986.
"Back in those days nobody knew you could get DNA from the back of stamps."
Ballard is optimistic about the odds of catching the Zodiac Killer. She said the science of extracting DNA from everyday items continues to accelerate. "Our power of discrimination has gone through the roof," she said.
Gary Harmor, director of a private lab known as the Serological Research Institute, said he's concerned the letters are too old to produce usable markers.
"I have worked with DNA from the 1960s and '70s at my lab," he said. "It's hard to get enough that hasn't degraded to get a profile from it."
Experts say another question is whether or not the evidence in the Zodiac file was stored in a cool, dry place or in a freezer. Because advances in DNA technology didn't start to change investigative protocols until the 1980s, the samples kept by Zodiac detectives would have had time to degenerate and take on bacteria.
"Back in those days nobody knew you could get DNA from the back of stamps," Ballard says.
"Bacteria loves things that are moist," agrees John Taddie, director of DNA testing lab LB Genetics in Santa Ana, California. "That could jeopardize the samples."
Harmor said detectives chasing the elusive Zodiac Killer will still need a lot of luck.
First of all, the DNA has to be good enough to use. Then the databases used by investigators — they'll likely check the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) before using open-source family tree sites — will likely need a lot of samples for comparison. Most importantly, any database would need to include a relative of the suspect to produce a match.
"It's a bit of a long shot," Harmor says, "but it's certainly worth a try."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Privacy Policy
The service provider will not rent, sell, access or in anyway use the client's customer database information. This information will be kept strictly confidential in the highest manner possible.
We collect the email addresses of those who communicate with us via email, aggregate information on what pages consumers access or visit, approximate location, IP address, and information volunteered by the consumer (such as survey information and/or site registrations).The information we collect is used to improve the content of our Web pages and the quality of our service.
We ask for information such as your name, company name, email address, billing address and credit card information for users of the our services. We use collected information for the following general purposes: products and services provision, billing, identification and authentication, services improvement, contact, and research.
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a website's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies are required to use our service. We use cookies to record current session information, but do not use permanent cookies.
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We may periodically update this policy and will notify you about significant changes in how we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified for your account or by placing a prominent notice on our site. This includes the transfer of data in the event Forex Lens is acquired by or merged with another company.
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The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.
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text:
Thawte SSL Web Server with EV
Thawte SSL Web Server with EV
Thawte SSL Web Server with EV
For the ultimate in website security and trust, look no further than Thawte SSL Web Server with EV certificates. These certificates come with the green address bar, the single most trusted visual indicator on the internet. By using the green address bar, your website will instantly be associated with some of the most trusted sites in the world, like Amazon, Bank of America, and Twitter, since they are all equipped with EV certs as well. Additionally, you will get the benefit of the Thawte Site Seal displayed on your site, along with "https" and the padlock icon by your URL. This combination of visual trust symbols will help provide a true ROI on this certificate, as it will encourage visitors who are unfamiliar with your company otherwise, to make purchases on your site. These certificates are highly recommended for larger corporations, traffic-heavy ecommerce sites, and all other sites striving to reach these impressive levels.
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- Single Server - Additional server licenses may be purchased


text:
We want to gend user current user location details like country and region based on IP, by using Cloudflare. And for that we have added below keys in our solution as below:
<add key="episerver:ClientIPAddressHeader" value="True-Client-IP" />
<add key="episerver:ClientLocationHeader" value="CF-IPCountry" />
But, still are not getting any key in header as "CF-IPCountry" in browser website. Please help on this
Hi Rajveer,
Do you have a geolocation provider configured?
Header-based geolocation is only used when no geolocation provider has been configured and that it is limited to Country and Continent locations.
Hi Rajveer
I think there is a bit misunderstanding. how do you retrieve the CF-IPCountry? In you controller, do you get any value from this code Request.Headers["CF-IPCountry"]?
Hi Rajveer
The configuration entries you mention are only used for location-based Visitor Groups. If you need the country code in custom code, you can use the same implementation as Visitor Groups, by calling:
An alternative would be:
Be aware that Cloudflare will only detect the country, not continent, region or city. However, the first method will also give you continent (by internal mapping). Detection needs to be enabled in Cloudflare, so check with Episerver Support whether it is enabled by default.


text:
no scm
Classic: Fruta Madura
Narino, Colombia
Variety: Colombia, Castillo
Processing: Washed
Origin: Narino, Colombia
Producers: Narino Small-Holder
Altitude: 1800M
Score: 88
Nordic Approach asked some of the producers in Nariño to create lots with extended cherry fermentation in order to get even more of the fruit characteristics out of the coffees. They're calling this concept "Fruta Madura", which is Spanish for ripe fruit. This lot is from a collection of producers who all set aside small volumes for this experiment. These coffees are left to ferment as cherry before they are pulped. The cherry can sit in a fermentation tank for one to two days, depending on the temperature. (Higher temperature will speed up the fermentation process, and lower temperature will slow it down.) After being pulped, the parchment is still fermented in the traditional way and processed as a washed coffee. Sounds like a lot of processing, but on the whole the coffee came out tasting great.
Super sweet, full bodied and dense; Fruta Madura is everything we love about a Colombian coffee. We're tasting a smooth milk chocolate note, alongside some structured berry and cherry notes. Almost everything we get out of Narino is delicious, but this coffee especially seems representative of the region, and we can't wait for everyone to give it a try.
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text:
Evita Life Science is focused on the development and commercialisation of formulations and compounds for infectious disease, cancer, inflammatory disease, metabolic disease and neurodegenerative disease.
Our product pipeline encompasses hand and surface disinfectant and sanitiser products and formulations, to address the urgent needs in the fight of disease causing bacteria and viruses.
On the active ingredients side, natural products continue to play a highly significant role in the drug discovery and development process. Evita Life Science isolates and purifies naturally derived product candidates with novel mechanisms of action striking at the biological complexities of disease. The product portfolio is internally generated from Evita's proprietary drug discovery technology.
Evita's innovative medicinal chemistry platform explores Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) and delivers untapped sources of novel drug candidates.


text:
Today is Day 23 of NaNoWriMo and I'm super stoked! My total for day 22 of NaNoWriMo was 3,897 words. This means.....I make it to 50k words! *party dance* Actually, I'm now over the 50k mark, and still have 8 days remaining. There is still a lot of this book that still needs to be written so I will continue to write for those 8 days and see what my ending count will be.
All passages were in order from yesterday's post, so here's what I wrote:
I could see his hopes dropping for a chance at a mount as easily as the other two had managed, so I had encouraged him to try doing reputation gains since they had guaranteed mount gains as long as he worked at it long enough. He agreed to do that in his down time, but I could tell he really wasn't excited for the reputation mounts. I'd have to make extra time to help him with raid and dungeon drops. I didn't like seeing him so sad at the idea of not having a cool looking mount.
"You're starting to care a whole lot about him," Rashta said.
"I'm starting to show signs of him being a friend to me," I responded back. "Nothing more. Stop dreaming."
"It's no dream, Rinneth."
I rolled my eyes and headed for my door. I didn't have time to argue with her. A movie I had been waiting to come out in theaters was playing tonight and Ramos had agreed to sit through the movie with me. With a two hour drive, I needed to leave now if I wanted to beat the line. My movie wasn't going to be hugely popular, but there was another movie, some low budget horror movie, showing tonight that was, and I didn't want to miss my movie because people had poor taste. Not that mine is much better…
I opened my bedroom door only to be taken aback by Ramos standing just outside my room with his arm up and ready to knock. "Nice timing...I think?"
He didn't smile or laugh, making me uneasy. "I have bad news."
"Don't say that."
"I can't go with you to the movies."
"Don't say that."
"Sorry, Rinneth, you father needs me to do something an--"
"Ramos, you promised!" I whined. "I've been getting excited all month for this. I just wanted to see a movie in a theater for once. Like I used to with my mom."
"Rinneth, you still can," Ramos said. "Just not with me."
I took a deep breath. "Who did my father assign in your place?"
He smiled weakly. "Sirath."
My heart stopped. "No. No, no, no, no, no! I love him, glad he's in the clan, but I will not watch anymore movies with him unless he personally asks me because it's the only time he won't talk during a movie. And because of his taste in movies, I'm sitting there wishing he would!"
"I'm sorry, Rinneth. I wish I could g--"
"Save it. Just go do what my father ordered you to do. It's the only thing you're good at anymore."
I slammed my door shut and went to my bed to sit down.
"Was that reaction necessary?" Rashta asked. "Seeing a movie with Sirath isn't the end of Lumaraeon."
"It's not that," I replied. "I can live with the fact that my viewing will be obstructed by Sirath's constant talking and criticism of the movie. It's the fact that Ramos promised me. He promised nothing would get in the way of us going to see it together." I touched the necklace I rarely ever took off. "But I really shouldn't be surprised anymore. He's proven to me he's more loyal to my father than me."
"I don't think that's true."
"Then you really haven't been paying attention."
Rashta sighed. "Why don't you ask your guildmates to show up too?"
I snorted. "Yeah, I don't think any of them would be interested in seeing a romantic comedy."
"You won't know unless you try."
I looked at my messenger and figured she was right. Couldn't hurt to try. so I set up a group message and wrote something out.
Help! Need a huge favor from you guys. Are any of you in Lumas and free in two hours? Ramos and I had plans to see a movie but he can't go now and my father assigned someone else to go with me and he's a horrible movie partner. It's a romantic comedy, so if it's not your thing I'm sorry and I'll try to make it up to you somehow. I just don't want to see this movie with Sirath alone if I can avoid it.
No need to tell them the real story. They didn't need to be dragged into my problems.
I have plans, sorry.
Big family get together. Would rather be at a movie though. Sorry.
Sorry, Rinneth, I'm back home. That's a genre I'd be happy to watch with you, but there's no way I could get to town in time. Sorry.
That response surprised me. Vamir didn't seem like a romantic comedy kind of guy.
Sorry, lass. I also cannot join ye.
I shrugged. Figured this would be the result.
I'm free. I'll join you.
That response surprised me. After seeing all the other guys decline, usually the last guy remaining also bails. Maybe he doesn't want to look like a jerk.
"Maybe because he wants to see a movie with you," Rashta said.
"I really doubt that."
I typed out a message to reply to Vesser's offer.
Thanks, but don't worry about it. I can see my father going on a rampage the moment he finds out only one of you guys showed up. I'll save you that headache.
"Really?" Rashta exasperated. "That's really going to be your excuse?"
I slid off my bed and headed for the door. "You know as well as I do, it's valid. He'll blow a gasket if he found out I was meeting up with a guy for a movie. Doesn't matter his race."
"But Sirath will also be there."
"Won't matter to him. He'll still see it as some sort of archaic, chaperoned date. And that's the last thing that it needs to been seen as."
I opened my door and headed down the hall. If I stalled anymore then I'd be stuck in a long line and miss my movie. My father and a tall, muscular man with black hair and blue eye were sitting in the kitchen at the island speaking, which immediately ended when I entered the room.
"Ready, Sirath?" I asked.
"Ready?" Sirath asked. "Ramos said you decided you didn't want to go."
My brow rose. "I never said that."
"He said you were pretty pissed off."
"Yeah, at him."
"Why'd it take you so long to come down?"
"Because I was asking friends if they wanted to see the movie too. Ramos doesn't like it when I try to invite others, so I figured since he was bailing on me, I'd see if I could actually have friends join me. But they were busy, not surprising since it was last minute."
"Ramos didn't bail," my father tried to defend. "I needed him to do something with a few others."
"Ramos gave me his word we'd definitely see this movie together tonight. He chose to follow your order instead. He bailed."
Sirath stood up. "We should leave before we're actually late."
I nodded and turned to leave but my father spoke. "Who are these friends you asked?"
"Doesn't matter. They couldn't go."
"Rinneth, who in the clan did you ask and they said they couldn't go?"
I turned around and stared at him with amazement. "Are you kidding me? I know this is hard for you to believe, but I do have real friends. You may not approve of them, but at least they actually give a shit about me without being forced to."
"Rinneth, don't you start this with me," my father warned.
I left instead of arguing. Was never worth it. Sirath followed me out and once we arrived in the garage, he tossed me the keys. I smiled my thanks and hopped in behind the wheel. The one good thing about Ramos not tagging along, I actually got the chance to drive.
"Rinneth," Sirath said as I drove down the long stretch of road through our territory. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." The car was quiet for a few minutes and I sighed. "I'm sorry you were forced to come with me. I know you don't like these movies."
"Rinneth, I volunteered," he said. "Fallon was going to tell Ramos to convince you to go another day since he didn't want to listen to reason and let Ramos go with you. I knew how much you wanted to see this movie so I offered to go with you."
"You didn't have to do it. You don't have to keep forcing yourself to do thing because of me."
He sighed and pinched his nose. "I'm not forcing myself to do anything, Rinneth. I willingly choose to do things for you."
"You gave up happiness for me. You shouldn't be here with the clan. You should be with her. How was giving her up a good thing? How was that not forcing you to do something?"
"Rinneth, we've been over this. She didn't like you based on what you are. She didn't know the first thing about you but already determined she hated you and believe you didn't deserve to live. I tried to make it work. I tried to get her to see she was wrong, but I failed, and I chose you over her because I was loyal to you first."
"You were better off choosing her."
"No, I definitely wasn't."
The air stilled as neither of us was willing to speak anymore. The most irritating trait of a Black Dragon was their stubbornness, and I had also inherited that trait. I knew I was right. He would have been better off not dealing with the crap that came with the territory of being Dragon-Phoenix.
I turned up the stereo to keep my distracted from the silence that would continue for the next two hours.
I took the popcorn from the counter girl while Sirath paid and then the two of us slipped into the proper auditorium to find a seat. The movie was a bit more popular than I had been expecting, so picking out seats was hard, but we managed to find two empty ones near the middle of the room.
Sirath dug into the popcorn before the opening credits started rolling and I shook my head. "Really? You couldn't wait?"
"If we need more I can go buy more," he said. "But I'm hungry. Besides, the credits are about to start rolling anyways and it could be worse. I could have already eaten half of this before we even sat down."
I laughed, since it was true, and focused on the screen. The room darkened slowly and the opening credits began to play. My attention was ripped away when the bag of popcorn Sirath held broke open on the bottom and popcorn spilled everywhere.
"The hell?" I said. "Did you jam your hand in there too aggressively?"
"No," he growled. "My eating hand wasn't even near the bag. Cheap, overpriced bag. I'll be back. I'm going to complain."
Before I could stop him he was out of his seat and heading for the auditorium doors. Something wasn't right here. I smelled foul play. Foul play with popcorn? Well, could be weirder.
"Rinneth, Vesser is here," Rashta said.
Before I had a chance to continue our conversation, someone swooped into the empty seat next to me and held up a bag of popcorn. "Popcorn? It's extra buttery."
I stared at Vesser with confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"You invited me," he replied with a cocky grin.
"No, I told you not to show up because you were the only one free. You are so dead when Sirath finds you in his seat. And when my father finds out--"
Vesser laughed. "You sound like some scared teenager."
I opened my mouth but immediately shut it when I realized he was right. "Yeah, well, I am treated like a kid a lot, so I guess it's not surprising I act like one."
"That's not what I meant."
"No, but it's still true."
"How old are you anyways?"
I was taken aback by his question. "Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to ask someone their age."
"No, she just said to make sure they know your age too. So, I'm five hundred."
His brow rose. "Seriously? You don't look older than twenty-five."
"Like you're one to talk. You don't look much older than me."
"I'm full Dragon."
I giggled. "And I'm half. Those genes have their perks. Rashta says I'll live a few centuries if I don't do anything stupid."
"Not bad, for someone with Human blood."
"Thanks for not thinking I'm seventeen or something. Lot of people think that because of how I wear my hair."
"They don't look at your face enough then. You're far too mature looking to be younger than twenty."
I smiled. "Thanks."
The two of us looked up when Sirath showed up with a new bag of popcorn.
"Hey," Vesser said casually.
"What is going on here?" Sirath asked.
"Sirath, this is Vesser. Vesser, this is Sirath," I introduced. "Vesser is one of my friends I mentioned earlier about inviting. He apparently cleared up his schedule."
"Saw that this seat was empty when I showed up late and thought she came alone," Vesser lied. "She didn't get the chance to mention you were just out of your seat." he looked at the popcorn on the floor. "Though I can see why you were. Do you want you seat back?"
Sirath shook his head. "No, I'll go find another seat."
We watched as he walked off to look for a seat in the dark and I found it suspicious.
"I was expecting more of a fight," Vesser said.
"What do you think he's doing?"
"Finding a good place to watch us and report back to my father. Most of the clan would do that."
"Seriously?" Vesser asked. I nodded. "Is that why you told Erin Ramos wasn't a friend?"
I played with my necklace. "He stopped acting like a friend some time ago…"
"Tell me about Sirath," Vesser encouraged. "Why didn't you tell him not to come with you?"
"Well, my father is so overprotective I had to have someone come with me since Ramos wasn't, and he ended up volunteering."
"But you said he talks through movies. Why didn't you say no?"
I chewed on my lip. "It's complicated."
"Try me."
I sighed. "I'd feel guilty. I feel guilty letting him sit by himself."
"Why? You had no issues putting that young dragon in his place."
"Because I ruined his chance at happiness…"
"What do you mean?"
I licked my lips. "Five years ago, he set out in search of his mate, and found her, but…" I sighed. "But she was one of the Dragons who didn't agree with my existance. He chose to leave the clan to be with her, and try to change her mind, but he never managed to. So he came back."
"I don't understand. Why would he bring her to the clan if she hated you?"
I shook my head. "He didn't bring her with him."
"Come again?"
"He left her, Vesser. Chose his loyalty to me over her. Now he'll be alone for the rest of his life, and it's my fault."
"You can't fault yourself for a choice he made."
"I can, because if it weren't for me, he'd be happy. My clan would be happy. My father wouldn't have to be so overprotective and force my clanmates to take time out of their day to babysit me." I looked up at the screen and lower my voice as the movie began to start. "My clan doesn't have strong ties. Not like most clans. It started as a mess of Dragons who don't really belong anywhere else. Then, when my mother and I came along, it nearly fell apart. Only the most loyal to my father stayed.
"Being the Dragon-Phoenix doesn't have many perks. I have enemies I've never met, and it puts a huge strain on everyone. They'd be better off without me around."
"Why not leave?" Vesser asked.
"And go where? My Human grandparents, the only ones who accepted my parent's pairing, are dead, and the living Human relatives I have don't want me around. Same with any Dragon family I may have that I've never met. At least now, even with tensions high, I have a roof over my head, and I don't have to worry about food of money. I stay out of everyone's way as much as possible, unless my rank requires me to step in. I don't need to be making things worse..."
Vesser was quiet for a moment and then held up his bag of popcorn. "Well, you have the team and me. The glue that keep us together is weird, but strong. Now eat some popcorn and enjoy this movie like you wanted to."
I looked at him funny. "I know how Dragons work. Food sharing is done between family--"
"Mates, and clannmates," Vesser finished. "To me, you're clan, Rinneth. So eat some extra buttery popcorn."
"Well, I do like extra butter."
Vesser smiled and held the bag closer to me. I grabbed a handful and munched away as the movie plot unfolded. Unfortunately, this movie I was so set on seeing, seem to desperately want to play on over-used comedy clechés and romantic themes. The two of us laughed at the appropriate times, and not so appropriate times, warranting us some weird looks from other patrons, and Vesser managed to guess some lines based on the cleché themes. The two of us also couldn't stop making fun of certain scenes.
Halfway through the movie, I wasn't sure why I had wanted to see this awful movie so much, but having Vesser there to make fun of it with me, helped.
I looked to my left when someone jumped over the seat and sat down. "Sirath?"
"Since this place has been slowly clearing out because of their disappointment with this awful movie, and seeing the two of you make fun of it, I thought I'd come and join you."
I held up the mostly eaten bag of popcorn. "Extra butter?"
Sirath. "Plain only."
"Your loss," I said as I shrugged and shoved another handful into my mouth.
The last forty minutes of watching was full of criticism and laughter, later continuing as we exited the auditorium.
"I'll be right back," I said. "I need to wash my hands to be rid of all this liquid butter."
The boys nodded and I ran to the ladies room to quickly wash up. When I returned I was surprised to find Sirath and Vesser still getting along. I had thought Sirath would use the time I was gone to grill Vesser...like Ramos would.
"Ready to head home?" Sirath asked.
I nodded and smiled at Vesser. "Thanks for coming. And sorry the movie sucked."
Vesser chuckled. "Don't worry about it. My sister wanted to see it so I can tell her to save her money."
"Alright then."
Vesser held out his hand in a fist and I knew exactly what he was looking for. Like the main protagonist and his love interest in the movie, we bumped fists and then opened our hands as we pulled away as if imitating an explosion. The two of us laughed.
"Catch you tomorrow," Vesser said as he turned to leave.
"I'll be there," I said. As he walked off I yelled after him. "And I'll make sure I have a list of raids for us to run!"
My outburst had several heads turning in my direction and Sirath chuckled. "Nice."
I shrugged. "I try."
"I'll drive, okay?"
I nodded. "I'm cool with that."
We walked quietly to the car. Once Sirath pulled out of the parking spot he spoke again. "I approve of you friend."
I smiled. "Thank you."
Sirath reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a popcorn kernel. "He broke my bag with this. If you can get him to fess up how, I'll owe you."
I took the kernel and looked at it. "He really sabotaged the bag with this?"
"So he claims."
I shook my head. "He's something else."
"Do you want me to keep your father in the dark about his appearance?"
I shrugged. "I don't see why he can't know. It's not like it's a crime for me to have friends, regardless of gender or species."
Sirath chuckled. "Alright. Just ease up on the flirting if your father is around."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't you play games. I saw it all. They way you laughed. How much you laughed with him. That wasn't the movie."
I laughed. "I wasn't flirting. I know better."
"The Vesser fellow seemed more focused on you than the movie too."
"You sound like Rashta."
Sirath shook his head. "If Rashta and I are saying the same thing, then maybe you're in denial."
"See," Rashta teased.
I punched his arm and he chuckled. The ride home was rather quiet, though it wasn't tense like when we had been heading to town.
Once parked in the garage, I headed for the front door, a strange jump in my steps. I opened the front door just as my father was coming down the stairs to the second floor.
"You look happy," he observed. "Movie turned out good?"
"Nope it sucked," I said a bit too cheerfully.
My father looked at me funny, clearly confused by my good mood, and watch me as I headed upstairs. Once I was out of sight, I stopped walking to listen in on my father and Sirath's conversation.
"Care to fill me in?" my father asked.
"I suspect it has something to do with her friend showing up," Sirath admitted.
"What friend?" my father demanded to know.
"The Dragon from her game team. Vesser I think his name was."
"What was he doing there?"
"Rinneth had invited him. Well, the whole team but he was the only one free. She originally told him not to come, but he decided to show up anyway."
Apparently Vesser had decided to give Sirath the full story while I had been washing up.
"And he's the reason she's this elated?"
"It's been some time since I've seen her laugh so much. It was refreshing."
"Nothing weird going on between them?"
"Not as far as I can tell. All of it very platonic and normal."
There's the lie. I had begun to wonder if Sirath would actually tell one to my father. Maybe I had one Dragon in this clan that really was loyal to me.
"Very well."
I was surprised by my father's response, as was Sirath. "You're not mad?"
"I'll admit, I'm not particularly pleased with the whelp's appearance. But...I've missed seeing that spark in Rinneth. I feared I had killed it with my choices to keep her safe. I'll allow this to continue and see what happens."
I smiled and continued for my room. Maybe if this continued, I could start having a normal life again. It'd be nice to have friends again.
"A mate too," Rashta teased.
"Shut up, you."
She laughed but said nothing more, allowing me to get ready for bed so I'd be ready for my ride into Lumas again to meet up with the team.


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Music has always been a world commodity. This is part three of a multi-part series showcasing some sounds from around the world.
Our musical journey for the casual listener continues to the crisscross the globe. We shall start today's journey in South America.
This tiny nation (of 41 million people) has given us such gifts as a wide selection of top-end wines, dance crazes such as the tango, and Manu Ginobi. Also, Argentina has a vibrant and diverse musical scene, musical ranging from the traditional Latin America flares to the assorted hodgepodge of music that makes today's list. We will start with an 80's synth pop band, whom I can only assume named themselves in homage to one of the columnists here on the site, Richter (The T…I will say cultural differences for the extra letter? I mean, why is Louis, Luis? They add and drop letters all the time.) I'm going to start with this live performance, which is nothing short of bizarre. This show appears to be live at 3:30 in the morning. Who has a live show at 3AM? What type of crowd are you trying to appeal to, the meth population? Regardless of the reasons for being on at that hour, the host looks like a mix between Dean Cain and Nick Lachey. The guitarist has what looked like he wanted to do a Mohawk, but just looks like he fell asleep on one side. The keytarist is wearing like welder's goggles…well, let me pause for a second, there IS a keytarist, period, and to wrap up this band, the lead singer sort of looks like Andy Kaufman. Here they are performing their single "Turra."
For a moment, I was really excited about this band. Weird bands in general are rather amusing. Any band can just get on stage, look bored, and play their instruments, but a band that has showmanship and appear to not only want to amuse the audience but themselves, that is a good time. However, I checked out one of their other singles, Abrol de la Ciencia (Tree of Knowledge), and was disappointed to find out they were just an electronica band.
If you are more into the classic garage rock sound, preferring bands like the Strokes, Jet, The International Noise Conspiracy, and the Hives, then let me introduce you to their Argentinian counterpart, Los Peyotes. The trademark garage sound is exactly the same, they just happen to sing in Spanish. Here they are with their single "Bdaaa!!!" off their album Garage o Muerte.
Every once in a while I will forget that we are a modern society and the world is not as diverse and people give it credit for. Every country I have ever been to, I have seen the Starbucks; I have seen the McDonalds; I have seen the Coca Cola, and I have seen the iPhones. So, when I learned that somehow the 90's New York City hardcore scene has somehow just hit the SAP button and landed in Buenos Aires, I was sort of surprised. It is my own fault however. To compare, first we have Argentinean band D.A.J. (Diferentes Actitudes Juveniles) with "Buenos Aires Hardcore." NOTE: Song starts 48 seconds in.
And then here is NYC's Billy Club Sandwich with "Suckerpunch." Ah, just look at all that energy, look at all the passion, all the crowd participation, look at all that…love and respect for your fellow human beings. Is there any difference, really? Part of me misses these simpler times, whereas the other part of me is just glad to have been able to survive intact.
Staying in the similar arena, En Nuestors Corazones (In our Hearts) is a post-hardcore band in the same vain as Trivium, Like Moths to Flames, and I See Stars…I swear, metalcore/post-hardcore/screamo/whatever you want to it, have some really dumb band names. Again, the sounds exactly the same, but you hit the SAP button on your remote by accident. Instead of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, you get Carlos Cabrera and his ill-fated Spanish Announce Table. Are any of those still commentating? I am so dated with my wrestling references. I wonder if this New World Order gimmick is going to take off. Anyway, here they are with their single "Pesadillas".
Villanos are a "punk rock band" in same way I would call Good Charlotte a "punk Rock Band" The reason I wanted to highlight this song in particular is…this video makes absolutely no sense. Let's start with the washboard player- doesn't it look like all his facial has been glued on randomly? His eyebrows look to have been put on upside down. Wait a second, why is there a washboard player in this band? Now let's look at the passengers on the boat. First, What is up with the guy in the sunglasses and the Bruce Vilanch haircut? What is his deal? What about the guy sitting by himself in the front row, alone? Did his scarf single handily scare away the plethora of attractive ladies in the boat? The more I watch this video, the more questions I have at the end of it. Seriously, what is his deal? It's not even scarf weather! There are girls in sleeveless dresses there. I mean, what kind of life do you have if 99% of your body is warm, but your neck is cold. That's no way to live your life. Without further ado, here they are with "Chau Corazon":
You know what, you could tell me that guy is like a super billionaire rocket scientist and I wouldn't be surprised. You can also tell me that he's one of Argentina's biggest mass murders and I wouldn't be surprised either. It took me a minute to figure out what the song sounds like, but then it hit me:
Now is a good time as any to throw a curveball into the mix and find a band that somehow took a wrong turn. When one mentions "Celtic Metal" or "Folk Metal", they are obviously the heavy hitters of Scandinavia or Germany, however the fine folks of the band Skiltron never got that memo. I guess bagpipes and kilts and memories of the foggy mores of…Buenos Aires can invoke the same sound. What would have made it weirder would be if it were in Spanish as well, but fortunately(unfortunately ?) for us, it is in English. As for the sound, it actually holds up pretty well compared to their bigger counterparts. Here is "Bagpipes of War" by Skiltron:
Moving to the local hip hop scene, I found a video that, like all others, kind of confused me. The premise seems simple enough, it is an all-star collaboration of a dozen or so rappers rapping against racism, a very noble cause, albeit kind of depressing in these times, but why does the guy at 3:43 look like a mix between Murdock from the A-Team and Eddie Money and sound like David Lee Roth? Why is Chuck D there? He's…not…from…there? The Beat reminds me of Dilated Peoples' "This way". Anyway, for a variety of local artists, here is "Aca Estamos":
Looking for something more standard? More slo-mos of blowing smoke, more shotgun sound effects, more B-roll of their hood? Then i have just the group for you, Los Neris del Docke.
Lastly, I guess the band Los Redondos were the biggest rock band to come out of Argentina, and I assume they have a big important historical impact and they're wonderful and all, but there are other legitimate music blogs to tell you that. I just want you to listen to this song and tell me that this song is NOT a theme song to an 80's sit-com. Tell me you couldn't substitute Night Court or Bosom Buddies' theme with this song?
Armenia is of those countries that, geographically speaking, isn't the it place for any reason. Whether it be tourism, culture, or really anything for that matter, Armenia is a tough go. Bordering Azerbaijan and Iran, Armenia is probably best known for its genocide and war with Russia during their succession in the early 90s. It is estimated that there are some 8 million people of Armenian descent scattered across the globe as opposed to the 3 million people who actually live there. So, for this one, I'm going to heavily rely on Armenian-Americans…which there are a couple of heavy hitters in this category.
System of a Down, for better or worse, has been one of the last unique metal sounds to find mainstream success. When they started to gain popularity there was not a sound similar to them. They would genre hop not from song to song, but even within the song, it would be all over the place. They do have a trademark sound, so I shall not mention much more about them, so here they are with "Sugar":
Clinging close to the coattails of System are fellow Los Angeles rockers Viza. If you're wondering why they have a similar sound to that of Serj's solo albums, well…nothing escapes you captain obvious. Viza is on Serj's record label and if I'm not mistaken managed by Serj himself. They've opened for his tour, he's guested on a few of their tracks. Ah, now's it's so clear! Here they are with "Trans-Siberian Standoff":
I actually heard of them like 7 years ago or so when they had the far less fortunate name of Visa. I mean in this age of interwebs and anything and everything available at the edge of your fingertips, it takes an extreme talent to be completely anonymous online. Any attempt to google them was futile. But now that they've flipped the S, they're a tad bit more accessible. Here is their cover of Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)
Armenian Space Station is a four piece instrumental rock band. I don't really have much to say about them other than the guitarist sort of looks like Horatio Sanz. It's an 8 minute instrumental, it is pure background music…which don't get me wrong is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sitting at work, I'm trying to be productive; this is a good way to just have some nice ambient music in the background without having the temptation to sing along. This is another band that has made its way to my iPod thanls to this article. Here they are with "Art of Rebellion"
And here is a second song, a much faster tempo and a much shorter song (clocking in at 3 and a half minutes), this is "Escape Velocity"
I have spent enough time of Los Angeles based Armenian band, now it's time to find something actually inside of Armenia. We start with the band Hayard, who, if you are a fan of Dream Theater, you will find very little difference with this group. One thing I did find odd, look at that band picture, why does it look like someone's dad is in the group? "Oh man, billy just quit? That's a bummer, but joey's dad, he's cool for like an old dude. I guess he a fill in for now."
The Beautified Project is a band labeled as rock and roll, but it really seems more of adult contemporary as there is very little rocking here. It's like rock music if it were featured on Nick Jr. I'm sorry, it's has a very watered down sound. I mean, if the keyboards overshadow the guitars, it's not rocking. But then again, don't listen to me, I have already shown that I have horrible taste in music, I am just making you, the casual listener, aware of their existence. Here they are with "Butterfly":
We have already had one strange combination with Argentinian Celtic, so let us counter that with some Armenian Reggae! The Reincarnation are, in fact, a reggae band, who perform reggae music in their native Armenian. Here they are with "Ser (Love"):
"Rock" band Dorians might be the hottest thing now in Armenia. They have won a couple of local awards, they have competed in the Eurovision contest (which I have explained earlier) and have opened up for a lot of big acts. They also fall under the watered down category; it's not really rock but more of ballad music with an occasional misplaced "guitar sound. Here they are with their hit single "Fly":
Moving to the local rap scene, there are a few rappers to come by, and their sound has a distinct alt-rap laid back sound to it, but then again, it's all in Armenian, so for all I know they could be rapping about pimps and ho's. MC Hrach is first up with "I'm Hayastan." I do like the beat though, with the traditional flute and all.
Sencho is an Armenian rapper who and either A) has one of the sickest flows that rival that of Twista or Eminem in his latest single or B) he's just saying absolutely nothing. Take a listen to this song Street Shit (18+). His flow echoes that of Big Pun's "Dead in the middle of little Italy little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddily" RIP big Pun. Again, I am impressed, maybe (?), by his skills. The video would be more impressive if it were done in one take, but I am concerned about all the cigarettes these guys are smoking. Lung cancer is a serious issue. Either way, this song is worth a listen.
Last up in the hip-hop front is Mets Hayq, who gets a couple of guest appearances for him including someone who looks like they're 13, and some random guy who raps in Engish. Also, why is Mr. Hayq carrying around garden clippers for part of this video? And why is there a guy rapping in the scream mask? What year is it ? Anyway, here he is with "Mez Mi Nakhandzi":
…and the most famous singer of Armenian descent? Of course it's Cher. I could go in about her long and storied career, but nothing more needs to be said about her dulcet tones.
As always, hopefully you enjoyed the column and who knows, maybe there's something that catches your ear…stranger things have happened. Thank you for reading…and Vandals, prove me wrong!


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Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
Official: iOS 5, OS X Lion, and iCloud To Be Announced Next Week At WWDC
Official: iOS 5, OS X Lion, and iCloud To Be Announced Next Week At WWDC
eWeek, CNET News, Reuters, SAI, internetnews.com, TechCrunch, Associated Press, App Advice, paidContent, Computerworld, IntoMobile and Associated Press
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Twitter Getting Photos In Order Ahead Of iOS 5 Integration — Yesterday, we first reported that Twitter was on the verge of launching their own photo-sharing service. That report has since been confirmed by Liz Gannes, who happens to work for All Things D, which is hosting a conference …
Gizmodo, MacRumors, SAI, IntoMobile, The Next Web, MacStories, PC Magazine, Edible Apple, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Techland, VatorNews and FierceMobileContent
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Twitter Photo Storage and Account Integration in iOS 5
Twitter Photo Storage and Account Integration in iOS 5
9 to 5 Mac, Apple Headlines and TiPb
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Lodsys Responds to Apple, Files Lawsuits Against App Developers, Promises $1000 If Wrong — Patent holding firm Lodsys today published a series of blog posts revealing that the company has filed suit against some App Store developers, accelerating its efforts to extract licensing fees …
CNET News, gigaom.com, ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, Gizmodo, Daring Fireball, Lodsys, LLC, Macworld, iClarified, Lodsys, LLC, MacStories, The Next Web and iPhone in Canada Blog
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
Lodsys sues 7 app developers in Eastern Texas, disagrees with Apple; Android also targeted — I almost appeared to be a "party spoiler" last week: amid all the enthusiasm among iPhone/iPad app developers over Apple's letter to Lodsys, I wrote that "Apple's letter in and of itself is not yet a reason to celebrate.
AllThingsD, Lodsys, LLC, paidContent, Guardian, SAI, Hardware 2.0 Blog, Lodsys, LLC, everythingiCafe, MacNN, TiPb, SlashGear, OSNews, Daring Fireball and Edible Apple
Brian Ellin / Twitter Blog:
Introducing the Follow Button — When you follow interesting accounts on Twitter, it's easy to stay connected with what's most meaningful to you. Today we're excited to launch the Follow Button, a new way to discover and instantly follow Twitter accounts directly from the websites you visit everyday.
Search Engine Land, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Mashable!, The Register, Techie Buzz, ClickZ, HubSpot's Inbound …, BNET, @rsarver, @rsarver, @dannysullivan, AllTwitter, @joshu, @dannysullivan, Pocket-lint and The Next Web, Thanks:tomwarren
Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
Twitter Releases One-Click Subscription Button
Danielle Dellorto / CNN:
WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk — (CNN) — Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.
Computerworld, BBC, DSLreports, Daring Fireball, DisplayBlog, Between the Lines Blog, AllThingsD, SAI, IEEE Spectrum and The Raw Story
Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:
Cell phone cancer report comes amid industry lobby
Cell phone cancer report comes amid industry lobby
BGR, The Register, Ars Technica, BetaNews and Gizmodo
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Official: Google +1 Button For Websites Comes Tomorrow — It's official. Google's +1 button for web sites will be coming tomorrow. A launch partner accidentally tipped the news of the release to TechCrunch, and Google's since confirmed with me officially that it will be happening.
Search Engine Watch and CNET News
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Whoops Redux: Looks Like Partner Just Leaked Google's +1 Button For Websites Launch — Oh, Google. Hate to do this again, but you really need to lock up these partners and get your PR in order. — A week after we got a pitch from a partner NFC company all-but-confirming that Google's …
SAI, Fors and WebProNews, Thanks:srikardhanakoti
Apple iWork Now Available For iPhone & iPod touch Users — Apple® today announced that its groundbreaking iWork® productivity apps, Keynote®, Pages® and Numbers®, are now available for iPhone® and iPod touch®, as well as iPad®.
9 to 5 Mac, GigaOM, Computerworld, MacRumors, The Next Web, PadGadget, Engadget, App Advice, ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, TechnoBuffalo, GeekWire, AppScout, Digital Trends and Apple Headlines, Thanks:tomwarren
Microsoft Hardware Rules 'Troublesome' for Makers, Acer Says — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is putting "troublesome" restrictions on makers of processors used to run the coming Windows tablet-computer operating system, Acer Inc. (2353) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J.T. Wang said.
Gizmodo, mocoNews, Hardware 2.0 Blog, 9 to 5 Mac, Engadget, 9to5 Google, MacNN, 901am, DailyTech, IntoMobile and Neowin.net
John Hsu / LiveSide.net:
First Windows Phone "Mango" hardware revealed - Acer W4
First Windows Phone "Mango" hardware revealed - Acer W4
Gizmodo, VentureBeat, WMPoweruser.com, Pocket-lint, WinRumors, Electronista and All about Microsoft Blog
Michael S. Rosenwald / Washington Post:
Federal government loosens its grip on the BlackBerry — Somewhere in America, perhaps at this very moment, a bad guy is under video surveillance. He is being watched, every movement, every step — but not on a little TV. That's so 2009. Instead, a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol …
9 to 5 Mac, AppleInsider, Engadget, GottaBeMobile, Apple Headlines, Tech Trader Daily, PhoneArena, RazorianFly, PC World, MacRumors, MacDailyNews and TUAW
Nat Ives / AdAge:
Jann Wenner: Magazines' Rush to iPad Is 'Sheer Insanity and Insecurity and Fear' — Successful Migration to Tablet Editions Will Take 'Decades,' Rolling Stone Co-Founder Says in Interview — Nobody mistakes Jann Wenner — whose Wenner Media publishes Rolling Stone, Us Weekly and Men's Journal — for a digital fanboy.
MediaPost, PC Magazine, louisgray.com, AppleInsider and Electronista, more at Mediagazer »
Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Jann Wenner Is Wrong Again, This Time About Tablets
Jann Wenner Is Wrong Again, This Time About Tablets
L.A. Times Tech Blog, more at Mediagazer »
Matthew McEachen / AdGrok:
@AdGrok Is Going To @JoinTheFlock — We're happy to announce that Twitter has acquired the AdGrok team. Starting today, we will be working full-time on Twitter's revenue engineering team. — AdGrok and Twitter? — When Twitter approached us and asked if we'd be interested in working …
Computerworld, VatorNews, ReadWriteWeb and AllThingsD
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
AdGrok Team Joins Twitter To Help With Revenue — Except Founder/CEO Who Goes To Facebook
AdGrok Team Joins Twitter To Help With Revenue — Except Founder/CEO Who Goes To Facebook
Manan Kakkar / Techie Buzz:
[Images] Microsoft Did Plan A Zune Nano — There is a lot of talk about the fact that Microsoft is not talking a lot about Zune these days. Rumors that Microsoft will be phasing out the brand started a while back and off late have been strengthened by more rumors that Zune will be merged with Xbox LIVE and Windows Live.
WinRumors, Engadget, All about Microsoft Blog and Anything But iPod
Tom Warren / WinRumors:
Microsoft hints at Zune rebrand, focuses on Xbox for entertainment - Fusion?
Microsoft hints at Zune rebrand, focuses on Xbox for entertainment - Fusion?
All about Microsoft Blog, TechNet Blogs, SAI, Gadgetsteria, Neowin.net and WebProNews
Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:
Microsoft Streetside Isn't Just a Google Streetview Clone Anymore — Microsoft today released a number of major updates to the Streetside feature in Bing Maps. Streetside used to be very similar to Google's Streetview, but Microsoft just mixed things up a bit and included an important twist.
ReadWriteWeb, GeekWire, Bing, PC World, Scobleizer, Search Engine Land, Lifehacker, LiveSide.net, WebProNews, TechNet Blogs and WinRumors, Thanks:fredericl
Ed Christman / Billboard.Biz:
Apple, Google Licenses in Holding Pattern as Labels, Publishers Battle Over Revenue Shares, Sources Say — One of the issues behind Google's decision to launch its Music Beta Cloud service without the necessary licenses has also been felt in negotiations between the majors and Apple …
Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Apple releases security update that removes MacDefender — There is now a security update available in Software Update that hunts down existing MacDefender malware installations and prevents further infections, reports TUAW. Security Update 2011-003 provides a File Quarantine definition …
Apple, The Register, InfoWorld, Computerworld, CNET News, 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, TUAW, Hardware 2.0 Blog, SAI, MacDailyNews, MacNN, SlashGear, TidBITS and MacStories
Tim Young / Knowledge is Social:
VMware acquires Socialcast — Today, I am pleased to announce that Socialcast has been acquired by VMware. — Going forward, I am excited for the accelerant that VMware will provide to the product. VMware shares my vision of changing the way that people work, and we are completely aligned on Socialcast's future direction.


text:
Next Week on Xbox: October 17 – 23
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover the greatest games coming soon to Xbox One. Each and every week, the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console, and Xbox Wire will be here to let you know when you can play every title hitting Xbox One. Whether you're a fan of shooting, racing, or adventuring, there's sure to be something for you to enjoy. So without further delay, let's see what's coming Next Week on Xbox!
Battlefield 1 – Available Now (EA Access Trial), October 18 (Early Enlister Deluxe Edition), October 21 (Global)
Fight your way through epic battles from tight urban combat in a besieged French city, to big open spaces in the Italian Alps, or frantic combat in the deserts of Arabia. In large scale battles as infantry or piloting vehicles on land, air, and sea. From the tanks and bikes on the ground, to bi-planes and gigantic battleships.
Discover a new world at war through an adventure-filled campaign, or join in epic multiplayer battles with up to 64 players, and adapt your tactics and strategy to the earth-shattering, dynamic environments and destruction.
Batman: Return to Arkham – October 18
Return to Arkham and experience two of the most critically acclaimed games of the last generation — Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, with fully remastered and updated visuals. Batman: Return to Arkham includes the comprehensive versions of both games and includes all previously released additional content.
Rock Band Rivals Expansion Pack – October 18
The Rock Band Rivals Expansion Pack includes an all-new Rivals mode, asynchronous multiplayer in which individual players join up remotely as members of a "Crew" to compete in a stats battle with others, and a dynamic narrative campaign mode that pulls you through a twisting, funny, and sometimes tragic story of your band's history and triumph over adversity.
Mordheim: City of the Damned – October 17
Set in Warhammer's decimated Empire city, Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactical game where you lead warbands into bloody and lethal skirmishes. The game blends RPG elements, fast-paced tactical combat, and intricate unit customization in a time wrought by chaos where only the strongest survive.
The Bug Butcher – October 18
An action-packed shooter wrapped in stylistic 2D art, and smeared with juvenile humor where timing and fierce reflexes are paramount to protecting your fragile squishy body. Plus, who doesn't love having an arsenal of military grade weaponry?
HoPiKo – October 19
HoPiKo is an intense speed runner where you're jumping from platform to platform avoiding death, exploiting shortcuts, and ripping through 100s of hand-crafted levels each one designed to break your mind!
Slain: Back From Hell – October 21
Take control of Bathoryn, a doomed hero in a Gothic world, who seeks to liberate six cursed realms from six deadly overlords. Battle your way through this blighted land, packed with gruesome and lethal creatures, while defeating fiendish traps and vile monsters alike. The heavy metal visuals are complimented by an even heavier metal soundtrack.
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 – October 21
A continuation of the party game phenomenon features the deadly quiz show Trivia Murder Party, the say-anything sequel Quiplash 2, the surprising survey game Guesspionage, the t-shirt slugfest Tee K.O., and the sneaky trickster game Fakin' It.
Horse Racing 2016 – October 21
Horse Racing 2016 is the most fabulous and entertaining game for everyone. If you ever wanted to feel what it's like to participate in a horse racing championship, then saddle up to your controller and play this game.


text:
UVU is to be my new clothing sponsor.
Monday, February 25th, 2013
Country number 18 New Zealand has been run
52km today. Unofficial total 26,955km in 637 road days. NZ circa 1,600km in 37 road days.
Many thanks to my hosts Brian and Rose for last couple of days of fun and tonight to Paul and Grace in Invercargill.
They are an Irish couple from Leixlip who have been living here for three years. I don't think they could have moved further from Ireland to any other place in the world, well other than Bluff 30km away.
Paul is working as an engineer on some of the Christchurch earthquake rebuild projects and regularly flies there from Invercargill on standby flights which cost less than the bus fare. So as I fly from Christchurch to Tasmania on Wednesday evening I have decided to take a standby flight with him on Monday morning which he says are so frequent that we are almost guaranteed to get away easily. In Christchurch he will be picking up a hired car and dropping me back to my friends Valmai, Dave and Phil's house. I tell you Irish construction workers get over here, there is heaps of work on the 20 year rebuild project.
At the South Islands and New Zealands so called ' Lands End ' in Stirling Point just beyond Bluff I touched the ocean by falling on my backside on the slippery rocks. Well the Rolling Stones did unfairly call this area ' the arse-hole of the world ' when they rocked through here 50 years ago.
There at the bottom of the country I did an interview for the Southland Times. Taking my cue from Brian's breakfast time joke I jokingly answered the question of what it feels like to be running more than a marathon a day with…
" It's a bit like hitting your head with a hammer, It hurts like Hell when you are doing it and great when you stop "
Actually today was a very enjoyable 52km day due to my very early start, so early I was hanging back on the run a lot so as not to be too early for my 5pm media commitments.
The television cameraman drove by set up his gear and got some really decent ' action shots ' at several locations on the highway. Then everyone drove on and left me wondering were they were on the long, winding picturesque and deceptive run towards and then through Bluff. The town looked so close but was so spread out to the far end that I was half an hour late for the interviews! I had hung back too much thinking I was closer than I actually was.
Then the actual interview for the local CUE television station a subsidiary of SKY 110 tv which can also be seen on Freeview ch 23 on Monday at 5.30 and repeated at 9.pm.
The interviewer having heard the newspaper interview asked me to answer in brief couple of sentence answers. Well that was ok for the first few answers but as regular readers can well believe it didn't take long for Motormouth Mangan to warm up!
A lot of people were sightseeing in the Lands End area and were wondering what was all the media fuss about before I arrived.
Quick as a flash Brian told them.. " They are looking for some Irishman who took a wrong turn in Dublin… Back in October….2010! "
Then I ran up with a big smile.
On the way to Paul and Grace's house Brian attempted to show me the local sights…
" Hey Brian show me the yellow arches! " That was after we were thrown out of a closing pub that Brian told me we would get free coffee from. Well the hot chick there did give me free fish 'n chips first!
On the way again Brian told me he has been living with Rose for 40 years and only proposed to her 4 years ago,
" You guys going on a honeymoon? " I asked.
" I guess so, I gotta get to know her! "
Thanks again to all the wonderful people of both island for making New Zealand so successful and an enjoyable running experience
Then I had one last thing to do.. Touch the water.
26,903km in 636 road days.
Hi All I finished in Dacre today with a 52km day, Thurs 54km and a couple of lazy 42 and 43km days before that! It was starting to look like 4 days to finish NZ on Wednesday night complexed by my Saturday night Invercargill hosts Paul and Grace going away for the weekend. So I decided to run three big days that is two down and a 52km last day still to come. That is running the four days in three days instead. Because of this I wont be at a loose end on Saturday night, so I decided to avail of an offer from my kind hosts Brian and Rose Railton of a rest/office day on Saturday (first in 36 days!) Brian is Alan Knox's cousin. I stayed with Alan in Auckland at the start of my run down the country. They live in Wyndham and picked me up at the end of today's run where I will return to as early as possible on Sunday morning. A television crew will be coming out to film and interview my last – and am sure – tired steps in Kiwi land on Sunday! Sunday night I will stay with Paul and Grace in Invercargill before returning to Christchurch for my Wednesday evening flight to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. I am thinking of running straight out of the airport when I arrive around 9am Thursday! My flight has a layover in Melbourne for a few hours so my Michael Gillan my Australian mainland support driver will be coming out to meet me in the airport during this lay over for a chat. We take on the great wide open, right through the middle of Australia around 11/12 March. I can hardly wait for this segment!
Any area runners that want to run with me on Sunday you are more than welcome. It is best to check my location on this blog - you will see my location once I start running – join in where convenient for you.
Sundays route HERE
G'day mateys
Wednesday night 27 Feb I fly to Tasmania, Australia via Melbourne. I meet my mainland support driver Michael Gillan in Melbourne airport during my layover there.
Only a few hours before my arrival for the great Australian adventure… I can hardly wait
To view my Tasmanian and Australian mainland routes please press HERE
Many thanks to Valmai here in Christchurch for her wonderful hospitality and permanent use of her computer these last three days. One night she had to get up at 2am to use it!
After reading this posting please click back a few postings by the backtrack arrows to see my eventual picture updating. Sorry to all the people involved for this very long delay.
Also check these three old postings which are even further back for photo updates, just click on the following numbers.
I still got lots of picture updating for New Zealand in my previous posts. Here is my last report from The North Island. I have finished my blog text for the South Island also.
One of those glorious days on the North Island I ran 46km. The last 20km with Kiwi ultra running tough man Perry Newburn who recently circumnavigated New Zealand, all 5,000km of it in an astonishing 10 weeks of running along the perimeter of both islands! Averaging about 70km a day with no rest day. 70km seems to be a number Perry.
He put some much needed zip into my legs! see his website www.perrysruns.co.nz
I ran a wonderful 55km today, such spectacular views along the coast road then over Mt Cargill pass, though only 400 mts the climb was still a toughie! It was worth it as the descent was… C'est magnifique! Before that and after my host from last night Andrew dropped me back to yesterdays finish in Palmerston I stopped for breakfast in his house with his wife Cherie. Andrew took my pack onto Dunedin where he is a teacher. Heidi who is Andrew's colleague in the school and her husband Derek are spoiling me tonight here in Dunedin. I appreciate this so much as they have their hands full with 3 month old Luca! At km 54 of today's 55 I ran by the foot of the ' worlds steepest street ' aka Baldwin Street. 135 metres long it has a 1 in 3.5 gradient and at it's steepest section is a 1 in 2.5 gradient. During the towns festival there is a race up and down the hill called the ' gut burster ' Remember this was at km 54 of 55, did I run up and down the gut buster? Well wait till I eventually get caught up with the blog proper to find out. Total: 26,712km for 632 road days. 32 consecutive since Auckland.
My route for the rest of the South Island press HERE
Tonight Friday I am staying on Geoff and Glenda's farm. Nice people they took me inside for a bed for the night, fed me a delicious dinner when I stopped by just before a rain shower to ask if I could sleep in their barn.
Also on Wednesday I stopped in the Chequered Flag Cafe Bar in Rangitata just for a snack. The Dutch and English owners Cor and Linda offered me a bed for the night. Many thanks to all and also thanks to all those helping move my pack along the road.. Friday 43km, Thursday 53km Total 26,566km for 629 road days. Thanks to Alan Knox's cousin Brian for his invite in Wyndham, Andrew in Waikouaiti, Paul and Grace for offer in Invercargill. Roughly 370km left to run on the South Island, I expect to have NZ run by the 23/24th Feb without a rest day!
Tomorrow Sat will be a new record 30 days straight on the run, Everyday is like Christmas Day, even if I sometimes get tired of the ham and turkey! I'm loving it like…. a huge whopper
I still got some blogging on the north island to catch up on in addition to my first week on the south island, in addition to adding the photos.
I just churned this entry out tonight when I had a rare internet opportunity.
It took me a while to clear Christchurch. I ran with a bit of sadness having just visited the center of the city to see what looked like a war zone. The devastation from the fallout of the February 2011 earthquake in which some 160 people lost their lives, homes, business not to mention all the jobs and economic losses. It was a surreal scene walking through the devastation through a city center ripped apart at the seams. Many people were walking around with cameras, last time I experienced such a sadness was when I visited the scene of New York's former Twin Towers.
It seems the only winner is surely the construction industry which have a 20 year rebuild time frame. Many elderly have upped and left, they obviously cant wait for services as many young are prepared. I read that many construction firms cant get enough workers and rely on backpackers to fill the many vacancies. These construction agencies are advertising in Ireland and the UK at employment expos. I have been told there is a huge Irish community here working on the rebuild.
That night I made it to Rolleston 28km run after such a late start. I slept behind the BP petrol station on their picnic bench. I left my pack in the office just in case.
The next morning I was having a casual conversation with a very nice couple who said the were going to Ashburton on business, 50km away they said and after I asked them to drop my pack off at the BP station there I realized it was 61!
I always carry my summer sleeping bag in a waterproof bag slung around my shoulder, just in case I don't make my destination. People may wonder at me handing over my possessions to strangers. Well I dont have many valuables in the pack, more the inconvenience of replacing them should I make a mistake. I usually ask someone who I have already been talking to and say how much I appreciate their help, photo them saying its for the blog with registration number of the vehicle if possible. I usually ask them to text me the drop off location and have them ring my phone there and then so as I can save their number, just in case I have a problem. Having said that I don't always do all this, it depends on the situation but I have become an astute judge of character and am finding people only too delighted to help when I tell them what I am doing. After I get their drop off text I reply saying they have done more than their bit to help me run around the world
That days run to Asdhburton was a tough slogger of a day. After about 32km I came to the Rakaia river which meant I had to run over New Zealands longest bridge, a very narrow 2km bridge which had me sprinting between the gaps of heavy traffic. This was pretty scary stuff as often I had to jump off the bridge and onto the half meter pedestrian footpath whenever a vehicle approached. The fun started when trucks came from the front as well as the back. Everyone was in good spirits, the only honk I got was a ' good on ya matey ' honk from a trucker that held back from behind to let an advancing truck pass. I couldn't help reflecting on those terrible drivers of southern Peru. Had this been there I would have been blasted off the bridge!
Over the bridge and into a cafe I went for a double one, no not whiskey, an ice cream which I felt I deserved. I had been fairly worried about this bridge and many others in New Zealand, this one in particular and this was the reason I did not take Nirvana with me across New Zealand.
That night I slept under fir trees in a park in Ashburton, shattered!
Hi All!
Thanks to my very kind host Valmai here for putting me up and accepting my 3 packages sent here including running shoes number 32 as last pair were run into the ground right up to Valmai's door last night with a hole in the heel!
Christchurch has suffered a lot due to 2 relatively recent earthquakes in recent years. In September 2010 a 10 minute rattle of the city caused much damage but as it occurred in the middle of the night miraculously nobody was killed. A second earthquake occurred in February 2011 in the afternoon which unfortunately took the lives of around 160 people. This lasted just 18 seconds and caused significant damage to the cities infrastructure and peoples homes.
So obviously people are still dealing with these issues. I saw much of the damage on the run into the city, a city in rebuild mode. I understand there are significant as these tradespeople can't find work back in Ireland.
I do not have internet service on the run as I cant be bothered with the constant hassle of keeping an Iphone charged up not to mention the many stops to keep checking it and am not going to have a second phone because of the lack of charging up facilities, so please, please if anyone is offering me a place to stay or wants to meet for a chat or run on my route south towards Bluff please TEXT me 021 08437842
I got a place in Invercargill, thanks Paul and Grace!
I got so many emails after 9 days and with a slow internet connection cant respond, or even open many important ones, sorry for this!
Anyway I expect to have NZ run within another 2 weeks all 610km of it. So far I have run around 26,045km in 624 road days. The last 24 without a rest day all the way from Auckland, I may just continue that streak all the way to Bluff. I have a flight to catch to Tasmania on 27th, so far so good
Gotta Run!
since Tony began his World Run on 25th October 2010
Text WORLDJOG to 50300 to donate €4.
100% of text cost goes to Aware across most network providers. Some providers apply VAT which means a minimum of €3.26 will go to Aware. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 01 4433890.
I have always considered myself to be an average runner. In school, I was even bullied for I was a sports wimp. Through hard work, dedication, perseverance, self-belief and a strong mind I succeeded in not only running around the world but breaking four ultra running world records during my competitive career. Having previously cycled around the world I didn't start running until I was almost 30. Then I had a dream of running around the world. For many reasons, I waited for over 20 years. One reason was to establish my pedigree as an endurance athlete. I started and finished my world run as the current World Record-Holder for 48 Hours Indoor Track 426 kilometres (265 miles), a record I have held since 2007. I also broke and still hold the World Record for 48 hours on a Treadmill 405 kilometres (251 miles) in 2008. When I retired from competition, more pleasing than any of my world, European or Irish records I had the respect of my fellow athletes from all over the world - in my opinion, sports greatest reward - an achievement I am most proud of. Then I finally put myself out to pasture, to live my ultimate dream to run around the world! This blog was written on the road while I struggled to find places to sleep and to recover from running an average of 43.3 kilometres or 27 miles per day for 1,165 road days. There were many nights I typed this blog on a smart phone, so fatigued my eyes closed. Many journalists and endurance athletes have referred to my world run as the most difficult endurance challenge ever attempted. During my expedition I rarely had any support vehicles, running mostly with a backpack. In the more desolate areas I pushed my gear, food and water in a cart which I called Nirvana, then I sent her on ahead to run with my backpack once again over altitudes of almost 5,000 metres in the Andes. I stayed in remote villages where many people had never seen a white person before. I literally met the most wonderful people of this world in their own backyard and share many of those amazing experiences in this blog. My run around the world took 4 years. There were no short cuts, I ran every single metre on the road while seeking out the most comprehensive route across 41 countries, 5 continents, I used 50 pair of running shoes and my final footstep of the run was exactly 50,000 kilometres, (almost 31,000 miles) I eventually finished this tongue in cheek named world jog where I started, at the finish line of my city marathon. I started my global run with the Dublin Marathon on October 25th 2010 and finished with the Dublin Marathon on October 27th 2014 at 3 05pm! Thank you for your support, I hope you can share my unique way of seeing the world, the ultimate endurance challenge! Read more...