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Thursday, April 8, 2010
Other Old School Renaissances
In those prehistoric times, not one but two different old school RPGs experienced brief renaissances of their own, thanks to the increased communication made possible by the Internet. These RPGs were Traveller and RuneQuest. I was personally involved in the Traveller Renaissance, writing my first professional gaming articles and products during this time. I participated in online discussions on GEnie, joined the then-new Traveller Mailing List, and signed up with an organization of Traveller fans called the History of the Imperium Working Group, with whom GDW sometimes consulted when creating new products and from whom they drew when looking for new writers. Fanzines and third party licensed support for Traveller flourished. It was, frankly, a great time to be a Traveller player and an even better time to be a creator of material for use with Traveller.
Alas, the Traveller Renaissance proved to be an Indian Summer rather than a new Spring. A new creative team and a new direction from GDW threw a wrench into most of the existing fan and third party support for the game. HIWG and similar groups were sidelined or ignored entirely and communication between GDW and players became much more one-way. I don't blame anyone at GDW for these changes and, in many cases, I understand and even agree with the logic behind them. But, speaking as a fan and budding creator, it was very disappointing to see how quickly the winds had changed and how their doing so drove many of my friends and I away from the game. Nowadays, rather than being the premier SF RPG, Traveller is, at best, an also-ran.
In the 90s, RuneQuest (and its setting of Glorantha) lay in the hands of Avalon Hill and, by most accounts, they'd been badly mismanaging the property. Correcting course, RQ veteran writer Ken Rolston was made line editor of the game (or "Rune Czar," because, in the 90s, if you wanted to show you were serious about something, you appointed a "czar" to oversee it). Contemporaneously, the RuneQuest Digest, a mailing list for discussion, saw an upsurge in interest, as more and more RQ fans connected with one another through the Net. Under Rolston, Avalon Hill produced a number of highly regarded supplements to RuneQuest, often written by active and knowledgeable fans.
As with Traveller, there was a sense that RQ had turned a corner and that a true renaissance for the game was under way. Again, as with Traveller, this proved short-lived. Rolston left his position as line editor in 1994 to work on computer games. A falling out between Greg Stafford, creator of Glorantha, and Avalon Hill resulted in confusion for fans, as Stafford talked of creating a new, non-RQ RPG for Glorantha and AH talked of creating a new, non-Gloranthan RuneQuest. Another Indian Summer ...
What happened? Why didn't those earlier old school renaissances take and what does this mean for the current one? Well, from my perspective, the big difference between those earlier renaissances and the one happening right now is that they had the Internet but not the Open Game License. That is, both Traveller and RuneQuest remained wholly the property of their creators/publishers. When they decided to pull up stakes and change direction, there was nothing the fans and amateur creators could do but roll with the punches.
I'd also suggest that there's another factor at work here. Although both games could be treated as generic rulesets, they rarely were in practice, being instead heavily bound up in the example settings associated with them. Both the TML and RuneQuest Digest, for example, were generally focused on discussions of setting rather than rules. This fact, I think, colored the nature of those renaissances and made them more dependent on their origin points, namely the "official" game and whoever it was that currently held the rights to it.
Nowadays, the rules to both Traveller and RuneQuest are open game content, with RQ having, depending on how one counts, at least three different versions available for third parties to use in their own products. So far as I can tell, though, neither game has yet managed to engender another renaissance associated with it. There are probably several reasons why this is the case, but I think there are two big ones.
First, as I just noted, both Traveller and RuneQuest are much more strongly associated with their example settings than D&D ever has been. As an experiment, grab a random player of either game and start chatting with him about it; odds are very good that, before too long, the discussion will turn to the intricacies of the example setting rather than the game itself. That's much less likely to happen with a random old school D&D player. Second, despite being Open Game Content, there remain official rulebooks for both games, something utterly lacking for old school D&D. There's thus, at present, not a lot of incentive for a third party publisher to put out its own version of one of these games -- Voyager or SigilQuest, say -- and that has, I think, kept the focus on the official lines rather than a flowering of third party support as we've seen in the D&D-focused OSR.
None of this is to suggest that there couldn't be Traveller or RuneQuest renaissances in the future -- I hope there are! -- but, right now, if they're happening, they're happening very quietly and well off my radar. I'll grant I'm not as plugged into either of these games' online communities as I am with that of D&D, but neither am I unaware of what's happening in them. I keep hoping that I'll learn of the launch of a new Traveller fanzine or see some generic supplements to RuneQuest, but, so far, no such luck. I think that's a real pity, because, truth be told, I'd love to see a fuller flowering of old school gaming than just the very D&D-centric OSR. The fact that we don't, however, isn't the fault of the OSR; as Rob Conley regularly points out, the OSR is what its participants make of it and, right now, there's not much interest in making it about anything other than D&D and related games. If someone would prefer a wider representation of old school gaming, it's up to them to see that it happens.
The tools are there but is there the interest? Only time will tell.
29 comments:
Okay, this seems like a good point to ask the question that's been niggling at me for a while now. I understand why the OGL is included in Swords and Wizardry and Labyrinth Lord, but why is there in Mongoose's Runequest and Traveller? Why is it in GORE? WotC have nothing to do with these games, as far as I can tell.
Is it just that the developers of these latter games wanted to put some kind of open licence on their product, and simply chose WotC's version, because it's specific to rpgs, rather than a more generic Creative Commons licence?I think the biggest thing the D&D descendants have in the OSR, which you point out, is the fact that some developer can never "take his ball and go home."
To some extent, Tunnels & Trolls has seen a bit of a re-flowering over the last 5 or so years, with the 5.5th edition box set and 7th edition. This has largely been due to Ken St. Andre and Flying Buffalo being very accommodating to other companies in licensing products. A change in the ownership of the T&T IP could result in something very similar to what happened with Traveler and RQ.
You see a bit of the same thing with Star Frontiers and the excellent work being done with the Star Frontiersman. Something that would be impossible without WotC's cooperation. Again, a change in WotC policy and it's all over.
The OGL makes sure that will never happen with the D&D clones.There is an old school renaissance of sorts going on around Star Frontiers. Still proprietary as far as I know, but somehow they have, or at least claim to have, permission from WotC to distribute the original rules material. They've got a fanzine going for it that's been running for at least three years and released its newest issue just this week.
That is just another data point, though.
I think that in the case of D&D clones, it's a result of enthusiasm and open license. I'd imagine that in the cases of Runequest and Traveller, the dropoff was a result of people feeling burned by their contacts with the original IP owners. Which AFAICT hasn't happened to the Star Frontiers group.Have participated in the first Traveller Renaissance as a player your analysis is spot on. Also I agree with your assessment of the current situation.
With the OGL the hope is always there to ignite an OSR for these two games. What it will take is a critical mass of people interacting for it to be self sustaining.
With the D&D OSR that moment happened when the early participants of the C&C beta combined with the existing older edition forums (like Dragonsfoot) and produced the first retro-clone.
While everybody in the OSR accepts the retro-clone the sheer audacity of their creation gave the whole thing a shot in the arm. The result was increase in diversity and quantity.
For Traveller and Runequest I think there are still in the ground floor and that sometime in the next few years we will see one or both of them start to expand greatlyI think the observation about setting vs. rules is a good one, but I think Chris Goodwin makes a really good point - there's "official" support for both Traveller and RuneQuest that doesn't really exist for OD&D. So people have to do for themselves. I think that it also helps that the player base for all versions of D&D is much larger than for any other RPG out there, and older edition fans were already used to "doing for themselves" long before the OGL came out.
kelvingreen - IIRC, Mongoose made the decision to release their rules for Runequest and Traveller under the OGL. I have no idea why they decided to do that, or what kinds of negotiations they had to do with the rights holders of the game to do it that way. GORE is OGL because it uses Mongoose Runequest as its "entry point" to making a BRP-like retro-clone.- AnonymousApril 8, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Both Mongoose's Traveller and Runequests use IIRC some terms etc. from the d20 SRDs and even if they didn't the OGL is a known factor for RPG companies and writers.
I don't follow you on the current RQ and Traveller, especially if you include BRP with RQ. Both are more generic now than ever, with more settings published and fanmade (Mongoose just published the fan-made Reign of Discordia for that matter) than ever before. Most Glorantha hardcore fans use Heroquest or stick to RQIII and the only people still talking the Third Imperium to death don't play MRQ and most don't play at all.
There are at least 3 Traveller fanzines, Freelance Traveller, Stellar Reaches and one or two I can't recall right now.
Though it's a house organ, Signs & Portents has published lots of fan submitted material for MRQ and Mongoose Traveller, a lot of it generic and in the case of MRQ can't specifically be for the Third Imperium (not sure about MRQ and Glorantha).
There's also BRP Central and the MRQ Wiki.
And yes there are alt.MRQ or Mongoose Travellers out there, Openquest, GORE, Kyle's clone of Traveller as a completely generic set of rules, etc. but frankly both are generic enough now that really all you need is houserules, a campaign book or some rules addons (such as new magic systems for MRQ or new career books for Mongoose Traveller both of which exist).
(shrugs) Having D&D3E in print didn't stop plenty of d20 and OGL based products back in the day. Having a single starting rulebook isn't a bad thing for inventiveness, didn't stop OD&D or AD&D either back in the day. My current players have little to no experience with Traveller or RQ, and I think that if I introduced them to my group, they would not have staying power. In the case of Traveller, they would be constantly asking me how they can improve their stats or abilities. I would say "you can't," and they would say "um, could be play some D&D instead?"
And as far as Runequest, well, I think they would love the rules for improving, but the Glorantha setting might not be as appealing to them as the pulp fantasy universes they most enjoy. I will be doing some Call of Cthulhu in the future though, so they will at least get to enjoy those basic role-playing rules. But my point is, these particular rules and settings just don't seem to have the lasting appeal of D&D, Gurps, etc. They are doomed to come and go, I think.Perhaps the old-school focus on D&D variants is not entirely due to legal issues. For one, Runequest introduced a number of gaming concepts highly influential upon later games (including 3e D&D) but hostile to the resolution-rules-light and character-rules-light ethos that I consider the main advance in insight among the current old school revival. RQ, like many other games, was only a "logical" progression from OD&D if you craved more detailed and regulated rules for initiative, armor, hewing of limbs, weapons breaking, monsters statted like PCs, skills for everything, and so on. I can't speak to Traveler, not having ever played it, but certainly "character-rules-light" is not a description that springs to mind from what I have heard.
To me, there's more to the Old School than just being an old game. Runequest and AD&D, while they are old in years, were actually the beginning of the end for the largely improvised game of adventure and exploration that D&D at its finest could be.The OGL is not needed and in fact I believe it is a problem rather than a solution. I try hard to avoid buying or downloading products which include it and if I publish anything at the end of my current playtesting it will not include the OGl text in any form.
The Internet is the real cause of the OSR, putting a rarefied and fractured community in touch with each other.Inspired by the S&W boxed set and Raggi's upcoming box I've kicked around both on the Gore Forum and my blog the idea of a GORE boxed set trying to recapitulate the old Worlds of Wonder boxed set, although with horror instead of supers.
In fact, when I put out a list of games I would run for a new group they were all BRP/GORE based for just that reason.
But I think we would have seen a RQ renaissance centered on GORE had BRP not come out a week later.I can't really speak to Runequest as I've played the game exactly once and it was not a stellar adventure to my remembering. But I would like to speak of Traveller from the perspective of a player.
I came late to Traveller in my gaming career. I started with Megatraveller and gave up right after TNE came out. To me Traveller means the 3rd Imperium setting, not the the system associated with it. In fact Traveller has had, I believe, 5 or 6 different rules systems associated with it over it's publishing history of various degrees of similarity. So to me it's the setting, not the rules that I think of when someone says Traveller.
So when people discuss the idea of an OGL version of the traveller rules, I think why bother? It's the really cool, proprietary setting of Traveller I'd want to use, not the klugey, antiquated system that it has sometimes used.
And there is the heart of the issue for me I think. Though both Traveller and OD&D are old systems. Not so streamlined, or rules intensive, as more modern games. OD&D was and is always about the system for me. where Traveller was always about the setting, often in spite of the system."For one, Runequest introduced a number of gaming concepts highly influential upon later games (including 3e D&D) but hostile to the resolution-rules-light and character-rules-light ethos that I consider the main advance in insight among the current old school revival."
I think there may be something to this.
Let's call pre-2000 (A)D&D "level-based"; RQ and Traveller, "skill-based"; and Rolemaster and post-2000 D&D, "hybrid".
If you want a skill-based system, you've got lots of choices. This is the direction most of the industry took since splitting off of D&D.
If you want a level-based system, the "current" D&D is out since it is a hybrid. There aren't a lot of alternative level-based systems. Thus, going back to the older editions is a popular choice in this case.
Traveller is a whole 'nother thing. First you have the fact that to some it is a system and to others its a setting. Then you have the fact that you have multiple variants of both system and setting.
For myself, "Traveller" has always meant the system rather than the setting. As I used it, classic Traveller ends up being both skills-based and rules-light. So it has been an equal part with D&D in my own "back to basics".- AnonymousApril 8, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Traveller & Runequest Renaissances are happening but at a much more subdued level.
Because of the heavy hammer of the IP Traveller owners - nothing like OSRIC has been allowed to happen. Notwithstanding, it still does. What one is witnessing is parallel developments and the tight reign of the licence holders and IP owners for both of those properties.
Matt at Mongoose apparently favoured something looser but Marc forbid it.
So, as far as Traveller & Runequest may not be in the Spanish Inquisition (although, one never expects one of those) they are at least in the throes of a Counter Reformation. Arguing canon against heresy but becoming heretical in turn. There are several reasons these earlier endeavors didn't take off including.
#1 technology. There was no real self publishing to kick start the Renaissance. Instead of being "Indy" it was just a reprint of an old game.
#2 Novel new games were out . The 1990's for example had White Wolf which at the time was seemed a very new thing . Right now there are tons of great games but nothing seems as revolutionary as that did to the players back then.
#3 It was too soon. Old school AD&D was still strong and even 2e the then market leader whether you consider it old school or not (I think its transitional) easily supported old school play. There really was no need.
#4 More than a few people were burned out on old school games anyway. This is partway why White Wolf/OWOD was a big success. It wasn't the same old D&D /CoC/RQW/Trav they'd played for the last umpteen years, well till they turned into that anyway.
Now of course we have all of the elements needed. technology, nothing seems super novel its the right time (2e is 11 years old) and the burnout is over.
Its our time.So it sounds like there's 2 vectors of threat from WOTC that could come towards the OSR:
(1) Would be actually publishing an official old-school reprint/revision. (Echoes of the reputed upcoming red box cover.)
(2) Would be challenging uses of the OGL over perceived violations (such as Product Identity). I certainly expect that if WOTC challenged its use, any defendant would immediately close shop, and be unable to fund a fight in court.
I'm a bit surprised the latter hasn't occurred already. I suppose those sorts of actions tend to spring up when a company is in a serious decline; perhaps the bulk of Hasbro makes it a non-issue for now.Actually the RQ Renaissance was much earlier than Ken Rolston's stint at Avalon Hill, which was supposed to fix the problems the fan base had with the company and get the game moving back on track. The doldrums of AH's mishandling of the title occurred well before then. Whilst the announcement of Ken's impending arrival did raise much heralded hopes, it was too little too late (although it did result in a last gasp surge of really good product from AH), and he soon moved on.
And whilst the game community was held together by the Runequest Mailing List, I'd actually cite the UK-based [and thus pro-Lunar <grin>] fanzine Tales of the Reaching Moon as the true movers and shakers of the renaissance, along with the Reaching Moon Megacorp that it spawned.
The problem is that the upsurge of the renaissance lead to it's own surge in creative thought, which eventually lead to a large group of fans following Greg onto the Heroquest rule system. However this sucked a lot more of the energy out of the new movement.
But a large group of the fan-base, still UK-based, didn't make the move (although they still talk with the Heroquesters). And I think the smartest thing Mongoose has done is to go back to this group with the production of their new Runequest II (which is actually Runequest 5, 6, or 7, depending on how you count).
Which just goes to show, to borrow a Californian saying, if you are not willing to ride the popular upswell (and too many people were designing different surfboards at the time), you certainly aren't going to be doing any surfing any time soon.Delta, the latter probably hasn't occurred yet because the text of the OGL is pretty specific about what it considers Product Identity, making it easy to avoid transgressions.
Jer, what I don't understand is why Mongoose use the OGL at all. As far as I can understand, the OGL defines what can be done with the work after it's created, but doesn't deal with what can go into the creation.
I suppose the big benefit of the OGL is that it's a fully-formed legal document that's been put together by WotC/Hasbro lawyers, so you can copy it for your game without having to hire lawyers of your own to come up with a new licence. It's just always seemed odd to me to see WotC material turn up on the back page of Traveller and Runequest products. I can only imagine that the adopters of the licence see something more rigorous and/or specific in the OGL than they do in Creative Commons.Maybe it's slightly off-topic (and little bit an advert, so please delete this post if you view it as improper), but I've created supplement for OD&D containing additional rules, allowing transfer a game to more "Traveller-ish", cosmic style of playing :)
Now I'm running only Polish version of site (it can be found ad www.omletofon.blogspot.com/search/label/Terminal Space), but currently my friend is translating it to English.
Sorry for my poor English (and littering).And this is why I don't understand all the hostility towards WotC in the OSR; TSR would have never made an OGL, not the way it was being run towards the latter half of 2nd edition.
I get that people might not jive with what Wizards has done with the license now, but Wizards is only doing what they think makes the most business sense - they're not going back and telling people, however, that they're not allowed to play or develop for the old game. And, due to the nature of the OGL, they really can't.
Whether people want to admit it or not, WotC is one of the best things that ever happened to our hobby, IMO.Gotta mention, again, Star Frontiers Remastered with link. The Fantasy OSR has caught up last couple years but they were way out in front with very high quality "remasterings" (aka retro-clones) of SF games and an excellent periodical starting early 2007.
They might even have been what led me to the OSR in first place... Memory fuzzy.
Star Frontiers is tied to a setting.
Don't cha think the immense popularity of D&D compared to other games is a strong factor in it's prevalence amongst OSR?
Also, a few D&D specific things have fueled this OSR. WoTC's No PDF apocalypse. 4ed being such a completely different game that if you wanted D&D you had to look back. Many ended up looking further back than 3.X.
Lots of factors including the ones you mention are creating the "perfect storm". I'm digging it like Cap Lt Dan!Eric M.: "Wizards is only doing what they think makes the most business sense - they're not going back and telling people, however, that they're not allowed to play or develop for the old game."
Well actually, that is indeed a requirement that they force on anyone wishing to work with their 4E GSL. What's good for their business can be bad for our game.
It is really specific people who are due our thanks for the OGL -- Ryan Dancey foremost. The OGL was made in spite of Hasbro/WOTC's corporate culture, not because of it. It was a conscientious "poison pill", if you will.- AnonymousApril 8, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Both Traveller and Runequest IP are owned by the original IP owners, Marc Miller and Gregg Stafford. Mongoose licenses them. Traveller: The New Era (TNE) didn't really see a change of design team, as Frank Chadwick and Loren Wiseman are both co-founders of GDW, have worked on Traveller from the start and GDW was just that, a Game Designers *Workshop*, where pretty much everyone contributed to a product (i.e. Marc Miller was involved in TNE). Virus was Chadwick's idea.
Both Mongoose's Traveller and Runequest use material from d20 SRD(s) and also provide their own SRDs (well Mongoose Runequest II does not, but I did) for others to use in making their own material.
Games using a CCL is still fairly new and gutsy, and was moreso back when both games were being worked on. As I said upthread, the OGL is familiar (10 years or so now) and has been used for non-d20 games, Fudge and FATE (and its spawn) coming esp. to mind. - AnonymousApril 8, 2010 at 11:30 PM
RP, yep, RQ has had several resurgences.
Pete's History of Runequest article is good albeit biased account (and perhaps a source for the version presented here)
Also the SPRQ (Steve Perrin's Quest Rules) fit in here somewhere, though to my knowledge they still aren't fully complete.
http://www.perrinworlds.com/SPQR.html Mongoose was obviously familar with the OGL. They may not have even been aware of the Creative Commons when putting the RQ and Traveller SRDs together.
Another consideration, however, is compatibility. If all the content you want to use is under the same license, then you don't have to worry about whether the licenses are compatible. So it makes some sense to follow Wizards lead.- AnonymousApril 10, 2010 at 11:35 AM
I wish people would refrain from commenting on games that they had only "looked over" or "played once" or know only "from what I've heard."
RuneQuest is actually very rules-light, setting-independent, and truly old-school in every sense. And every time I play it with people whose only previous experience has been with D&D, they never want to go back.


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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I rarely make a standing rib roast for our Christmas dinner. I prefer to serve a whole tenderloin or New York strip roast for holiday meals because they are easier to serve and they are definitely less wasteful. That's not to say we don't like rib roast. While others rush to the mall the day after Christmas, you'll find me at the grocery store looking for bargains on meat that was overstocked for the holiday. I rarely leave empty handed and usually have 5 or 6 roasts that will feed the freezer before they feed us. There is always at least one rib roast in my stash. While it may lack the marbling and beautiful cap of butcher trimmed meat, the roast I bring home it is perfect for a family meal when it is properly prepared and cooked. I noticed that Ann Seranne's recipe for rib roast of beef was very popular this holiday season. While her recipe is a treasure, I can't use it. The temperature at which it first cooks sets off every fire alarm in the house and destroys the homey ambiance I like to create for my family and holiday guests. When I make a rib roast I use a recipe that comes from Cook's Illustrated. I think that whenever low temperature roasting is used, it is imperative to have two thermometers. One to judge the temperature of the oven, the other to judge the temperature of the meat. The meat here cooks at 200 degrees F. Make sure that your oven holds that temperature once it has preheated. Mine does not, so I have to set the oven to 225 degrees in order to maintain the correct temperature and have some idea of when the meat will be done. I also strongly suggest you invest in a snake probe for reading the temperature of the meat. You want to keep the oven door shut and the snake probe makes that possible. While it is not specified in the recipe, I bring the roast to room temperature before starting and I personally view step 5 in the recipe to be optional. I hope you will give this recipe a try. Once you have a handle on the timing, this is really simple to do. Here's the recipe.
Standing Rib Roast...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Cook's Illustrated
1 (7-pound)first-cut beef standing rib roast (3 bones), meat removed from bones, bones reserved
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1) Using sharp knife, cut slits in surface layer of fat, spaced 1 inch apart, in crosshatch pattern, being careful to cut down to, but not into, meat. Rub 2 tablespoons salt over entire roast and into slits. Place meat back on bones (to save space in refrigerator), transfer to large plate, and refrigerate, uncovered, at least 24 hours and up to 96 hours.
2) Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Sear sides and top of roast (reserving bone) until browned, 6 to 8 minutes total (do not sear side where roast was cut from bone). Place meat back on ribs, so bones fit where they were cut, and let cool for 10 minutes; tie meat to bones with 2 lengths of twine between ribs. Transfer roast, fat side up, to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and season with pepper. Roast until meat registers 110 degrees, 3 to 4 hours.
3) Turn off oven; leave roast in oven, opening door as little as possible, until meat registers about 120 degrees for rare or about 125 degrees for medium-rare, 30 to 75 minutes longer.
4) Remove roast from oven (leave roast on baking sheet), tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 75 minutes.
5) Adjust oven rack about 8 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Remove foil from roast, form into 3-inch ball, and place under ribs to elevate fat cap. Broil until top of roast is well browned and crisp, 2 to 8 minutes.
6) Transfer roast to carving board; cut twine and remove roast from ribs. Slice meat into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Season with coarse salt to taste, and serve.
One Year Ago Today: Blue Cheese and Other Composed Butters
Two Years Ago Today: Texas-Style Gnarled Beer Bread

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UFC Store
"If I play baseball I'm going to hit home runs; if I'm playing defensive end I'm going to get sacks, and I'm going to make it look exciting." - Robbie Lawler, 2002
This Saturday night, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler is back in the Octagon to face hard-hitting Bobby Voelker in a pivotal welterweight matchup to be televised live on FOX. For Lawler, it's his second bout back in the UFC after a nearly nine year absence, and in his return fight in February, it was just like old times as he finished Josh Koscheck in the first round. As we get ready for another look at the 31-year-old knockout artist, we'll open the file on Robbie Lawler.
Nickname – Ruthless
Height – 5-11
Weight – 170
Date of Birth – 3/20/82
Hometown – Bettendorf, IA
Professional Record – 20-9, 1 NC
UFC Record – 5-3
When 20-year-old Robbie Lawler entered the UFC in 2002, he was going to be the organization's Mike Tyson, an unrepentant knockout artist who thrilled fans with each bout. "Ruthless" was on board, saying, "When you play football, you don't want to march the ball down the field, you want to run it in on the kickoff, or intercept the ball and run it back to keep scoring."
And that's what he did in his first three bouts as he defeated Aaron Riley, Steve Berger, and Tiki Ghosn. But after suffering a dislocated hip against Pete Spratt in 2003, he would go 1-2 in his next three UFC bouts and get released. But he rebounded and battled his way back up the ranks, eventually winning championships in Icon Sport and EliteXC and then going on to star in the Strikeforce organization. In 2013, he returned to the UFC, knocking out Josh Koscheck in the first round.
Robbie Lawler: Bombs Away
By Thomas Gerbasi
The general consensus among mixed martial arts observers on May 11 was that the fight they saw the night before, a UFC 37 preliminary match between Robbie Lawler and Aaron Riley, was one of the greatest contests in the sport 's short history. But Lawler, the unanimous decision winner, had a different view of things.
"After the fight, I was wondering what the hell I did wrong," said Lawler, who is preparing for a June 22 matchup with Steve Berger at UFC 37.5, where he hopes to continue what he started against Riley. "For this fight, I worked out a few things, and I'm not as bulky as I was the last time. I worked on my endurance, and I worked on my left hand a little bit more so when I hit somebody with it the lights are gonna turn out."
For those whose first exposure to the Davenport, Iowa resident was UFC 37, Lawler was a revelation, the type of fighter that can bring in fans by the hundreds. Young and quietly confident, Lawler came in to the Octagon throwing bombs and left doing the same thing.
Not surprisingly, Zuffa has pinned its hopes on Lawler to expose MMA to the masses when his match against Berger is televised on Fox Sports' Best Damn Sports Show Period on June 25. It's the first look at the sport for a national basic cable audience, a pressure gig for anybody, especially a 20-year-old rookie, right?
"I don't really feel any pressure," said Lawler. "My last fight had more pressure. I had too much adrenaline flowing and I kind of got tired. This time I'm going to be calm and relaxed, and that's going to make me a lot more dangerous. I don't think it's going to bother me any that I'm going to be on national television."
And putting all youthful confidence aside, you kind of believe him, especially after his war with Riley, in which he showed remarkable poise as he stood in with the veteran brawler, and came out ahead, a surprising outcome to many. What was even more surprising was that Riley remained standing after tasting leather for three rounds.
"When I was fighting I wasn't really thinking about it, but afterwards, when I watched it, I was like, 'Whoa, I hit him with hard shots and he didn't go down,'" said Lawler.
But after the first round, all eyes were on Lawler, a Miletich team member who had never been past the first round in his previous MMA matches. And after the effort he put out in the opening round, would he have the endurance to continue?
"I knew I was tired, but I also knew that he couldn't hurt me," said Lawler. "In the second round he was scoring points and I knew he was scoring points. I covered up a little bit, and threw back, but when I threw back, he would come in and throw punches and move back. And I would be missing punches so it looked a lot worse than it was. In the third round I knew I just had to suck it up if I wanted to win. And that's what I did."
And the crowd loved it. But despite his pleasing style, Lawler's propensity for fireworks is for strictly selfish reasons. "I know that they're going to be watching me and that they like my style, but that's just the way I fight," said Lawler. "It's just natural to do things like that. If I play baseball I'm going to hit home runs; if I'm playing defensive end I'm going to get sacks, and I'm going to make it look exciting. That's just the way I do stuff. It's not that I'm trying to do it. It's just natural. If the crowd likes it, they like it. If they don't they don't, but usually they do."
Born in San Diego, Lawler moved to Iowa as a youngster, and his fighting instincts were honed early in life. "I always liked to fight," he said. "My brother beat me up, and when we went to school, kids would see who was the toughest kid out in the schoolyard. It was just a natural instinct to fight and roll around. My dad got me into martial arts when I was little, but then I moved to Iowa and started wrestling, which I had never done before. Then Pat (Miletich) would come up to the high school and train. He saw that I was a pretty tough kid and he told me to come up and train with him."
Things moved fast for Lawler, who quickly gained a reputation for his heavy hands after making his debut with a 14 second KO of Landon Shalter at IFC Warriors Challenge 13 in June of 2001. His training with the Miletich team has undoubtedly enhanced his natural talents, but in a stark contrast to the patient styles of Pat Miletich, Jeremy Horn, Matt Hughes or Jens Pulver, Lawler fights as if double-parked. Why the contrast?
"When you play football and you score touchdowns, you don't want to march the ball down the field, you want to run it in on the kickoff, or intercept the ball and run it back to keep scoring," said Lawler. "That's what I want to do, as long as my body can keep up and I don't get tired."
Miletich and Company won't let him get tired, and Lawler's rapid ascent is just another example of the value of having a talented training team behind you, pushing you to greater heights than you would have attained by training alone.
"It's a big part of my success so far," said Lawler of his training team. "You train with them and learn so much. They've been in the big matches, and they know the little things. I've been hanging out with Jens for about a year and a half now. We've become good friends and he's coming out with me for my fight. It's just good for your confidence to say 'I just boxed Pat Miletich.' What does Steve Berger bring to the table that Pat can't?"
To most insiders, Berger's only chance to avoid becoming another KO victim is to get Lawler to the mat, a foreign area to the bomb-dropping youngster. Lawler expects as much, and he's ready.
"I expect him to try to take me to the mat," said Lawler. "Other than that, he's real good on his submissions and his standup is pretty good. But I think he's going to try to shoot in, take me to the mat and submit me. I move well on the ground, so if he gives me an inch, I'll probably get back to my feet pretty easily. I'll get some underhooks, get good position and get out."
Robbie Lawler has been a pro fighter for slightly over a year, and at the very least, the next year and beyond should be an interesting one. For Lawler, it's no surprise. Everything is going according to plan.
"I just talked to one of my friends a couple of months ago, and he said, 'a year and a half ago you said you were going to be in the UFC in about two years, and you finally made it.' I knew I would. I just have a knack for fighting," said Lawler. "If you want to be the best in the sport you have to train like that. I really want to be the best one of these days. I'm young, I have five fights under my belt and I figure I have a long way to go. But eventually I want to be the best."
Robbie Lawler – Still Ruthless After All These Years
By Thomas Gerbasi
At one time, Robbie Lawler was pegged to be mixed martial arts' Mike Tyson. An unrepentant destroyer whose UFC wins over Aaron Riley, Steve Berger, and Tiki Ghosn in 2002 skyrocketed him from unknown to star, the 20-year old dubbed "Ruthless" had just one speed in the Octagon: go.
"When you play football and you score touchdowns, you don't want to march the ball down the field, you want to run it in on the kickoff, or intercept the ball and run it back to keep scoring," Lawler told me in a 2002 interview. "That's what I want to do, as long as my body can keep up and I don't get tired."
In any combat sport though, the knockout artists are usually the first to burn out and fade away. Tyson's prime was painfully short, and when Lawler dropped three of his next four UFC bouts to Pete Spratt, Nick Diaz, and Evan Tanner, it looked like the speeding comet from Iowa had run his course.
But then a funny thing happened, and Lawler, now out of the UFC, rebuilt himself. The power and speed were still there, but now added to the arsenal was a resilience that spoke volumes. It said 'hey, even if I don't knock you out, I can still beat you.' Sure, he would stumble along the way, but each time he picked himself up. And now, nearly a decade after he introduced himself to the world, Lawler is still here, still relevant, and still not even 30 years old.
How did this happen?
"It's probably because I'm more well-rounded than people give me credit for," said Lawler during the final stages of his training camp for Saturday's Strikeforce bout against Tim Kennedy in Chicago. "I train hard and work on all my skills, and the reason I win fights by knockout has to do with being able to keep it on my feet and being able to stay out of submissions and compete."
So does it bother the 29-year old to still have some call him one-dimensional?
"I don't really care," he said. "People are gonna hate, and that's just the way it is."
That is the nature of the beast in pro sports these days, and it's a growing phenomenon in MMA, where one loss can get the critics flying out of the woodwork. Yet when Lawler says he doesn't care, he really means it, and his ability to not buy in to any negative outside talk over the years may be the true key to his success.
Currently 18-7 with 1 NC, Lawler is at an interesting and pivotal point in his career. After scoring some memorable post-UFC knockouts over Falaniko Vitale, Joey Villasenor, Eduardo Pamplona, and Frank Trigg in various organizations such as Superbrawl, Icon Sport, PRIDE, and the IFL, Lawler settled in with EliteXC in 2007 and won that promotion's middleweight title with a knockout of Murilo "Ninja" Rua.
The next location for him was Strikeforce, but he's only managed a 2-3 record thus far, with wins over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, and losses to Jake Shields, "Babalu" Sobral and "Jacare" Souza. And there's no cupcake waiting for him in Kennedy, so the question has to be asked, is it tough mentally to have to face killer after killer each time you walk from the locker room to the cage?
"No stress," Lawler deadpans. "I know what I'm capable of, I know what I can do, and I'm not worried about anyone else."
But Lawler has made the proper adjustments over the years to make sure he's at his best come fight night. A longtime member of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp, Lawler worked with Matt Hughes H.I.T. Squad for a while before settling in with the Power MMA camp in Arizona, and while longtime striking coach Matt Pena is still on board, it's the wrestlers in his new gym – Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway, Aaron Simpson – that have kept him working hard and staying hungry.
"They're hard workers and they're wrestlers, so that's what I'm used to training with, and when I'm working out, that's who my buddies are, so it was an easy transition," said Lawler of the move from the Midwest. "When you grow up around wrestlers and train with wrestlers your whole life, it doesn't really matter where they're from."
If Lawler's team has gotten his takedown defense on point for this Saturday's bout, allowing him to keep the fight standing, it might be a rough night for Kennedy, who "Ruthless" describes as "A hard worker, a grinder, and a pretty good guy at submissions."
If not, Kennedy, who has submission victories in seven of his 13 wins, could make things very difficult for Lawler.
This 'what if' game makes this an intriguing battle, and it gets even more so since the stakes are high, with both fighters having what they see as unfinished business with 185-pound champ Souza. But Lawler's not into the speculation game, so for now, he'll just worry about the fight in front of him.
"I want to win and I want to be the best," he said. "I'm not here to necessarily put on great shows, that's just part of what I do."
So has anything changed since he was a fresh-faced 20-year old looking to score the MMA equivalent of the 80-yard touchdown every time the bell rang?
"No, that's just the way the game's supposed to be played and that's the way I play," said Lawler. "I play with a lot of intensity and I just want to go out there and get the job done. And most of the time, it's pretty exciting."
Robbie Lawler: A Ruthless Return
By Thomas Gerbasi
Robbie Lawler has been in the fight game long enough to know that there are those fans that are either fickle or that focus strictly on the UFC and nothing else. So with Lawler's eight year plus absence from the Octagon to fight with various promotions, including PRIDE, Elite XC, and Strikeforce, there is the distinct possibility that when he returns to face Josh Koscheck at UFC 157 this Saturday night, there might be a few viewers who are wondering who the "new guy" is.
So for those fans, what does "Ruthless Robbie" hope they see?
"A hungry kid coming out ready to fight with my heart," said Lawler, and even though he's going to turn 31 next month and now has 29 pro fights under his belt, that description would have been apt for his UFC debut back in May of 2002, when he was a 20-year-old force of destruction who was expected to be the Mike Tyson of the UFC's early Zuffa era.
Back then, Lawler didn't fill notebooks with quotes or pound his chest and declare himself the king of the sport, but when the bell rang, he was always must see TV thanks to the kind of punching power that made people fall down in funny ways when tagged. And if they didn't fall down, their original fight plan usually got altered significantly.
It was a heady time for Lawler and the sport, as the formerly outlaw sport started showing signs of mainstream acceptance before the MMA explosion of 2005. The San Diego native, who trained out of the renowned Miletich Fighting Systems camp in Iowa, won his first three UFC bouts in 2002, decisioning Aaron Riley and stopping Steve Berger and Tiki Ghosn.
When asked what he remembers about those early days, he says "Just going out there and fighting hard. Not a lot of people were realizing what you were doing. The sport wasn't as big when I first started in the UFC. The sport's really evolved and it's more mainstream now."
Yet by the time it started hitting the mainstream, Lawler's UFC stint had come to a halt. A UFC 45 win over Chris Lytle was surrounded by losses to Pete Spratt, Nick Diaz, and Evan Tanner, and now fighting at middleweight, he took his show on the road.
Never failing to find success or solid work, Lawler delivered wins over Joey Villasenor, Frank Trigg, "Ninja" Rua, Scott Smith, and Melvin Manhoef in various organizations, while suffering losses against "Mayhem" Miller, Jake Shields, and "Babalu" Sobral. He won a couple of belts as well, but never told himself that his UFC days were over forever.
"I never closed the door on going back to the UFC," he said. "I figured it was going to happen eventually."
And with Strikeforce (where Lawler fought eight times) closing its doors after its January 2013 event, it left things open for Lawler to make his return. But it won't be without a couple key changes. First, he will be returning to welterweight, something he admits to thinking about even when he was in Strikeforce.
"I knew when I was gonna go back to the UFC I was gonna go down to 170," he said. "I wanted to wait until I was back in the UFC to cut down to '70, but I was gonna take a fight in Strikeforce at 170."
That's a big move, especially for someone who has been fighting as long as Lawler has, but he says the cut so far has been smooth.
"Everything's going good and I'm not too worried about my weight. I know I'll make it, and the furthest thing from my mind is making weight. I'm just concentrating on getting my body ready and getting mentally prepared."
And aiding in that process will mark the second big change for Lawler, as he's moved down to Coconut Creek, Florida to train with American Top Team. The decision surprised some people, who will always associate Lawler with the members of the Miletich camp (though he has also done work with the Power MMA team in Arizona), but after losing three of his last four Strikeforce bouts, a change will probably do him good.
"My manager, Monte Cox, set it up," Lawler said of his move to ATT. "There are a lot of good training partners down here, a lot of good coaches to push you and get you ready, they know what it takes to get a guy ready, and they're bringing out the best in me."
That's not to say ties are severed to the past, as longtime striking coach Matt Pena has also joined Lawler in Florida for this camp.
"Pena's out here and he's working with some of their guys too, and it's a good atmosphere," said Lawler, who will need all his tools sharpened to beat Koscheck, a top welterweight contender who has the wrestling that can give him some issues. Has he kept an eye on "Kos" and the rest of the UFC's 170-pounders?
"A little bit, not too much," he said. "I've been watching everyone from afar and seeing how everything shakes out, and he (Koscheck) is definitely a big name in the UFC."
A big name who it would be nice to add to his victims' list come Saturday night. And if that's the case, this blast from the past can immediately make himself a major player in a stacked division. But if you're expecting a bombshell statement from Lawler, nothing has changed over the years because this is one fighter who saves his bombs for the Octagon.
"I don't even look that far ahead," he said of his future prospects. "I'm just coming out and trying to make a statement with every fight, no matter how big someone else thinks it is. It's always big, but I'm not too worried about where this puts me in someone's picture."
Power Slap


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We're staying at the Excalibur. After getting up to our room on the 18th floor, the kids looked out at the strip and saw one of those mobile billboards drive by. Frank yelled, "Dad! There's a sign that says 'Hot Babes' and has naked ladies on it! What kind of town is this?!!!"
It's Vegas, kids. What happens in Vegas... stays on Facebook.
People complain about the silent guys who try to hand you hookers' numbers as you walk down the strip. At least they aren't pretending to be anything other than sleazy guys handing out call girl info. What REALLY grates my crank are the people crawling all over the hotel lobby trying to sell you a time-share.
They ask "Just get into town?" or "where you from?" or "How many days you here for?" The fact that they're dressed as hotel employees gives them just enough credibility that the first time it happens you answer them. Then they corner you, talking quickly about the great deal on show tickets they can get IF you spend the next morning listening to a time share presentation. They use high-pressure sales tactics ("these tickets could be gone in a few minutes, so better buy them now! If you go back to your room to check your schedule you'll probably miss them!") that make car salesmen look tame. Even more irritatingly, they try to get your kids involved "Hey, kids, I can give you some free stuff if you can get your parents to listen to me".
After checking in we headed down to Circus Circus.
The Planet Hollywood hotel has a big "ph" sign at the top. With my chemistry degree all I can think of is the measure for acidity.
We passed signs advertising the "Frampton Comes Alive! 35th anniversary tour," showing his iconic picture from the 1976 album (but no updated ones). I found myself thinking that perhaps the tour should be called "Frampton Still Alive!" and imagined how his previous hits would sound today in Las Vegas:
"I want yoouuuuuu
To show me the waaayyyy
To the $9.95 all-you-can-eat early bird buffet.
"I want yoouuuuuu
To show me the waaayyyy
Back to my room 'cause I forgot where I stay."
We spent most of today at the Circus Circus AdventureDome park, which was a lot of fun. The hotel has seen better days, but the amusement park is still pretty good, with a decent rollercoaster, log flume, and other rides. It's $27 for all day rides, which is a helluva deal when you consider the 2-minute roller coaster at the New York New York is ripoff-priced at $14 per person per ride (admittedly, if we went to a time-share presentation they could have given us tickets for only $10/person).
After I'd had enough of the roller coaster I bought a beer and sat down to watch the kids on a stomach churning ride. As I relaxed a homeless guy who'd somehow escaped security came up to me. I assumed he was going to ask for money, but it was even worse:
Homeless guy: "Hey!"
Dr. Grumpy: "Yes?"
Homeless guy: "Can you pour some of your beer in my cup?" (holds up unwashed coin bucket- with a few quarters in it!)
I told him he didn't want my germs and walked away.
Craig and Frank wanted to play laser tag with me, and so we went in. It was the usual darkened room made to look like a seedy alley (granted, this was on the strip, so maybe it really was a seedy alley). To keep your nerves on edge during the game they blasted high tension-music overhead: Phil Collins' & Duran Duran's greatest hits of the 80's. (REALLY!). Because nothing makes you want to shoot at another person more than listening to "Invisible Touch" at 200 gigadecibels. That and having Craig stop shooting to ask if his hair looks okay.
Right now the buzzword in Las Vegas (instead of artisanal) is "ultra". Drives me nuts. The MGM has an ultra-lounge and ultra-pool. A local magic act is billed as an "ultra-magician". If this catches on nationwide I'll be ultra sick of it.
One of the funniest rip-offs here are the oxygen bars in the lobbies, where you see people paying $10 and up to breathe oxygen. Considering I've been inhaling it for free for over 4 decades I didn't see the point, but they sure had plenty of
They were also selling plastic bracelets that claimed to shield you from cell phone radiation. When Mrs. Grumpy wasn't looking I asked the girl if she had some data to back up the claim, and she said "because my boss told me they do."
And that's the way it is.


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Home » ReR Label » CUTLER, CHRIS: Twice Around the Earth
CUTLER, CHRIS: Twice Around the Earth
An experiment in listening. These compositions are an offshoot of the daily soundscape programme I ran for Resonance FM radio between July 2001-2002, which consisted of commissioned real-time recordings made all around the world between 23.30 and midnight GMT (the time of the broadcast). This CD begins with material from these broadcasts confecting, as it were, two composites of the Earth and a few of its inhabitants, somewhat analogous to what an impossible satellite ear with pinpoint acuity might hear in transit - plus one ear-cleaning stretch between them, taken from a single hear-point. I have tried to make these pieces both open and to work on parallel levels: not only do they have their own narrative and aesthetic qualities, but I hope they also offer a meditation on listening and not listening, interpretation and structure, chance and microphonics. The list of ears around the world who supplied basic material is too long to print here, but it includes many names familiar from these catalogues, and many from the still young soundscape and phonograpic community. Full details of people and places are given in the booklet, along with artwork and thorough notes. You have to trust me on this, it's a really engaging record. Sometimes unbelieveable. I don't think you'll regret giving it a chance.
Only available at this price as part of the ReR Sale Offer (minimum) 4 titles)
Code: ReRCC2
Price: £5.00


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XD Series Wheels by KMC have both strength and beauty. These cast aluminum… wheels range from simple to extravagant and make your ride look as sharp as you do. With beautiful finishes that resist rust, they'll draw complements wherever you go. Crafted from the finest materials available, they're not just for show and are designed to be as functional as they are stylish. They also come in a wide range of sizes.
Xd865 20X9 6X135 Red-Mill Blk-Lp 00Mm
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Product Name | SC 10 |
Brand | MIPRO |
Sale Price | Php 1,320.00 |
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Product Details | Storage Bag for MIPRO MA 101 Portable Series |
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A low profile, slip-on shoe, the Vans Classic Slip-On has elastic side accents and padded collars for extra comfort. It also features the Vans flag label and signature waffle outsoles for firmer grip.
Composition:100% Canvas
The materials used in the manufacturing of these styles (including adhesives) are free of any animal by-products and therefore are 100% vegan.


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Florida State Tops Preseason AP Top 25 Poll
Defending champion Florida State picks up right where it left off last season, atop the college football rankings. The Seminoles were a near-unanimous selection in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, earning 57 out of 60 first-place votes.
The Seminoles bring back a load of key performers from last year's championship team. The offense will once again be led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, who rewrote the history books with over 3,800 total yards and 38 touchdowns last season as a redshirt freshman. Meanwhile, the defense returns seven starters from a unit that led the nation in scoring defense last year.
Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma (all of whom received one first-place vote) and Ohio State round out the top five. Auburn, which fell to Florida State in last year's national title game, comes in at No. 6.
The SEC continues to be football's top conference, holding eight of the Top 25, but the Pac-12 isn't far behind with six. And the top of the poll is much more balanced than in recent years, with teams from the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 all cracking the Top 5.
This is sixth time Florida State will start the season ranked No. 1, but the first since 1999. That year, the Seminoles became the first team in history to hold the top spot all year during an undefeated national championship season.
- Florida State (57)
- Alabama (1)
- Oregon (1)
- Oklahoma (1)
- Ohio State
- Auburn
- Michigan State
- South Carolina
- Baylor
- Stanford
- Georgia
- Wisconsin
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Mississippi
- Arizona State
- Kansas State
- Texas A&M
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Missouri
- Washington


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American delays flights over loose seat problem
Oct. 9, 2012, Fort Worth, Tx. - American Airlines is cancelling dozens of flights as it scrambles to fix seats that could pop loose during flight.
October 9, 2012 By Carey Fredericks
Airline officials said late Thursday that they had come up with a fix for the seats, and they began pulling 48 Boeing 757s out of
service to make repairs. All the planes should be back in service by Saturday.
The seat repairs, however, could inconvenience thousands of passengers. American said the work caused it to cancel 50 flights on Thursday and 44 on Friday. Each 757 that American operates in the U.S. has 188 seats.
It's the latest black eye for American parent AMR Corp., which is operating under bankruptcy protection and trying to fend off a
takeover by US Airways Group Inc. Flight cancellations and delays surged in September, which American blamed on a slowdown by pilots who are unhappy that American cancelled their labour contract.
Since last week, seats have come loose on three American Airlines flights involving 757s that had been recently refurbished. The seats had been removed and reinstalled as part of the work.
Federal officials said they are continuing a safety investigation into the events at the nation's third-biggest airline.
American originally said the problem was due to a clamp that holds rows of seats to tracks on the aircraft floor.
But officials offered a new explanation Thursday, saying that a combination of wear, poor design and even soda spilled into the
tracks caused pins to pop out of the grooves.
The airline has used the same seats for 20 years without incident until now, said David L. Campbell, American's vice-president of safety.
"The fundamental design of this seat is not as robust as some of the latest designs,'' Campbell said in an interview.
A spokesman for the seat manufacturer, Weber Aircraft LLC, declined to comment beyond saying that his company is still
A spokesman for American said later that Campbell agreed that removing and reinstalling the seats might have hastened their
failure to stay in place.
Campbell said the new fix will consist of installing an additional locking mechanism that was designed by American's engineers and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA issued a statement saying that it approved of American's decision to conduct more inspections. The agency said its safety investigation was continuing and it would "take additional action as appropriate.'' The agency is likely to examine whether American adequately inspected the seats after the cabin-refurbishment jobs.
Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer with Boeing and director of the Airsafe.com Foundation, said American made the right decision to inspect more planes once it discovered the extent of the problem.
No other airlines have reported loose seats. United Airlines doesn't use the same seat, and US Airways uses different hardware to mount seats, said officials for those carriers.


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CLEVELAND – The mannequin was life-sized, with a mop-like wig and creepy, slanted eyes. Ariel Castro kept it propped against a wall of his house and liked to use it to scare people. Sometimes he drove around town with it in the back seat of his car.
"He threatened me lots of times with it," said Castro's nephew, 26-year-old Angel Caraballo, who was terrified of his uncle as a little boy and unnerved by him as an adult. "He would say: `Act up again, you'll be in that back room with the mannequin.'"
Castro installed padlocks on every door leading into his dilapidated home on Seymour Avenue. He kept the basement bolted shut, too. When relatives showed up at his front door, he made them wait for half an hour before emerging, and nobody was ever allowed past the living room.
"He had told me to stay in the kitchen," said Elida Marie Caraballo, Castro's niece, who was at his house about seven years ago with Castro's daughter Rosie. "I didn't know why."
In the days since Castro's arrest on charges of keeping three women imprisoned in his home for a decade, relatives and acquaintances have sketched a portrait of him as a man with a twisted sense of humor, a compulsion for secrecy and a towering, terrifying rage that led him to savagely beat, torment and control his common-law wife, Grimilda Figueroa.
He was a "monster," they said.
The image stands starkly at odds with the picture drawn by some neighbors, fellow musicians and others. They described the former school bus driver as an affable guy who played bass in a merengue band and rode motorcycles around town.
"You can talk to him and you think he's a nice guy," said Frank Caraballo, Castro's brother-in-law. "I think it was a female thing. He was really controlling with females. You know, he didn't want no one to touch his daughters. He wanted to know everything his wife did."
Castro, 52, is being held in jail on $8 million bail under a suicide watch, charged with rape and kidnapping. Prosecutors said they plan to bring additional counts, possibly including murder charges punishable by death for allegedly forcing at least one of his pregnant captives to miscarry over and over again by starving her and punching her in the belly.
A DNA test confirmed Friday that he fathered the now 6-year-old girl born to one of the women while in captivity.
Castro was represented in court on Thursday by public defender Kathleen Demetz, who said she is acting as Castro's adviser if needed until he is appointed a full-time attorney. She said Friday that she can't speak to his guilt or innocence and that she advised him not to give any news interviews that might jeopardize his case.
Figueroa left Castro years ago and died last year after a long illness. During their early years together, Castro worked in a plastics factory and treated his wife well, relatives said. But after their first child was born, they said, something snapped in him.
He beat Figueroa relentlessly, her relatives said. They said he pushed her down the stairs, fractured her ribs, broke her nose several times, cracked a tooth and dislocated both shoulders. Once, he shoved Figueroa into a cardboard box and closed the flaps over her head, they said.
Figueroa filed domestic-violence complaints accusing Castro of threatening many times to kill her and her daughters. She charged that he frequently abducted the children and kept them from her, even though she had full custody, with no visitation rights for Castro.
He kept his wife and children imprisoned, cut off from friends and family, according to relatives. Figueroa couldn't even unlock her own front door, they said.
"When I go over there to visit her, and I ask her, `Nilda, I'm here, open the door,' she's like, `I can't. Ariel has the key,'" Elida Caraballo recalled.
Castro forbade Figueroa to use the telephone, relatives said. After warning her not to leave, he would test her to see if she obeyed.
"He would go creeping downstairs, not telling her that he's home, spying on her," Caraballo said. "See who she's calling. Next thing you know, he'll pop upstairs."
One day, Figueroa was returning home with her arms full of groceries when Castro jumped into the doorway with the mannequin, frightening her so badly that she fell backward and smashed her head on the pavement, Caraballo said.
The mind games are echoed in the police report this week on the escape of the three women held at his home.
According to the report, their big break came when Amanda Berry, 27, discovered that the main door was unlocked, leaving only a bolted screen door between her and freedom.
But she feared it was a test: Castro occasionally left a door unlocked to test them, Berry said. But she called to neighbors on a porch for help and was able to squeeze through.
Castro was strange in other ways, relatives said. He would take his nephew and nieces to fast-food restaurants and let them split a fountain soda, forcing them to pass the drink around. He would let each one sip just enough
Source: Associated Press


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Get in touch with us today for a FREE quote and UK design service.
It's important to have sports court line marking in Albert Village DE11 8 applied to the surface of a court or pitch to make sure that the facility can be used for competitive use and training with a variety of sports. We may apply line markings for tennis, football, basketball, hockey and multi sports in one area to create an all purpose facility at a school, college, club or residential court.
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We are able to install line markings to a number of different courts in Albert Village and surrounding areas, including macadam, polymeric, synthetic grass and more. If you would like to have line-markings applied to your facility, we are able to complete the linings in a number of different colours. For more information regarding the different coloured markings which we may install, please fill in our contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Yes, I am on vacation. No, I could not resist...
Warriors shock Mavs in Game 1: And, all of a sudden, my "Warriors in 7" (or, more accurately, Warriors AT ALL) doesn't look SO crazy. A healthy Baron Davis is a Top 10 MVP-caliber Baron Davis.
(I could talk about the Mavs giving up home-court advantage as quickly as they seemed to earn it during the regular season, but I'd much rather point out that the Warriors are now 4-0 against the Mavs this season with Nelson as coach. Matchups, matchups, matchups...)
Nuggets shock Spurs: Hell, I should have picked THIS upset, too. Want to know why
Barbosa out-duels Bryant: Leandro Barbosa may have had "only" 26 points to
More NBA Playoffs: So, I guess the Raptors fans still carry a WEE bit of a grudge against Vince Carter (Pistons fans are just plain being mean when they boo Darko)...
Luol Deng as the next Dwyane Wade? I don't think so, but that was Deng's "breakout" game...
If the Wiz could hit more than 33 percent of their shots, they might not get swept by the Cavs (but that's no guarantee). Cavs fans better hope LeBron's ankle heals up...
Is this the first-round playoff series that T-Mac finally escapes?
Red Sox sweep Yankees: What will they play – like 45 more times this season? It's hard to get TOO worked up. But it certainly establishes a certain early-season bragging rights. And perhaps foreshadowing...
(Update: I'm already getting crap in the Comments for not mentioning the "back2back2back2back." So there you go.)
Bonds Watch: 740, and by all accounts, he is hammering the ball this month (6 HR this season). If you presume that, no matter what you think about the rest of his career, he's clean now, that's pretty impressive a 42-year-old can crush the ball like he is right now. (All those "over-under" picks on when he hits 16 more and passes Hank Aaron are going to be WAY long.)
MLB Studs: The Orioles, who have won 4 in a row (and 8 of 9!) after sweeping the Blue Jays in
NFL Draft: OK, this final few weekdays before the draft are filled with more lies, deception and misdirection than any other stretch of the year (in any sport). I find it hard to put too much stock in anything a coach says or any gossip an NFL "expert" reports.
However, I do appreciate the attempts by the NFL; it's a nice reminder that they're in the business of winning games and running businesses, not serving as fodder for sports-talk radio, TV and online. (Like, say, the Bucs not being interested in trading up from No. 4 in order to get Calvin Johnson; maybe they know that the WR will be there for them without paying the price of a trade?)
Now, how about NON-draft-related rumors, like the Chiefs looking to trade Larry Johnson? (Speaking of rumors, can't wait to see what Fanhouse lead-blogger Michael David Smith – aka "MDS" – will do with his new platform at ProFootballTalk. Looking forward to that.)
Jordan Classic: It's going to be very interesting to see game MVP Corey Fisher in a backcourt with super-frosh Scottie Reynolds next season for Villanova.
Back to my mini-vacation... But, as always, please feel free to add/expand on any of the day's biggest storylines.


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Guidelines for UV exposure
guidelines for UV exposure |
UV exposure duration from HelioClim-1 - International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines on limits of exposure to UV - 2004.
Daily values - Europe / Africa (Meteosat coverage) - 1985-2005. This service implements the ICNIRP Guidelines on protection against UV radiation regarding exposure of the skin. Reference: Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation of Wavelengths Between 180 nm and 400 nm (Incoherent Optical Radiation). Health Physics 87 (2): 171-186; 2004. These guidelines are indicative as ICNIRP states that the use of the ICNIRP exposure guideline in an outdoor setting poses many problems of adequate dose assessment for the skin. Reference: ICNIRP Statement - Protection of Workers against Ultraviolet Radiation. Health Physics 99(1):66-87; 2010. Provider: TRANSVALOR / MINES ParisTech / Armines (France).
Outputs: duration of UV received by a worker outdoor, in minutes.


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I've been thinking a lot lately about how vintage style dressing is perceived - by ourselves and by the world around us. Two of my favorite outfits lately have been my pink swirly dress and my red suit, both coordinated with matching beige sandals and pocketbook. There's something about these ensembles that makes me carry myself slightly differently - in a sort of prim, ladylike way. (It must be the little purse!) And I've found myself being given the chivalrous treatment by men while in these outfits - doors are opened for me and elevator buttons are pressed.
Even the cat calls have gotten polite! (Cat calling is a hobby of many men in New York.) Where I'd gotten accustomed to a "Hey Sexy!" I'm now being called pretty. And the cat callers are noticing my outfits. While wearing the red suit: a man grinned at me in a predatory manner, and then said, unexpectedly, "That's a very pretty suit!" And while wearing the pink dress: "That's a pretty red dress - with a pretty lady in it!" (Everyone thinks my pink dress is red for some reason. Maybe it really is red and I'm the only one who hasn't noticed?).
In light of this, I've been thinking back to the chapter titled "Sex" in A Guide to Elegance. The author created lists of things that men find attractive or not, saying that she would once and for all separate "fact from fiction" on the matter. On the attractive list is "full skirts, tiny waists, and a long-legged look" and "collars on suits and jackets." On the unattractive side? "revealingly tight skirts and aggressively pointed bosoms" and "spike heels." (I find the idea of aggressively pointed bosoms very comical. Do they think our bosoms are going to come out and get them? Brings new meaning to the torpedo look!)
It's a bit of a twist to imagine men being turned off by tight skirts and spike heels. But I do think there's something classically appealing to men about the New Look era of dress even if they're socially programmed to like things short and tight. But truthfully, there does seem to be something girlishly feminine about a lovely shawl collared jacket that men find attractive, especially when paired with a full skirt. And the vintage look is often portrayed as whimsically sexy in movies (think Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer.)
But all this begs the fundamental question: do we care what men think about how we dress?
I do care what my husband thinks, mostly because Jeff has great instincts about clothes even though his own sartorial motto has always been "I'm no fashion plate." He'll tell me when my French darts look nipply and when my bow ties are too big. He'll even catch slight fitting issues that take a garment from problematic to perfect. But I can't say that I'm trying to send any covert sexual signals to him through my dress. In honesty, I think I would be disappointed if that were my mission. If I'm looking to "snare" him, the best way is usually through humor and intellect. And I think I'll keep it that way, thank you very much.
As for men on the street? Eh. It's kind of charming to see cat callers suddenly turn gentlemanly and appreciative of a shawl-collared suit, but I'd really rather not have any unsolicited comments on my looks from the peanut gallery.
And, of course, it must be said that all of this works purely on a heteronormative level. (Please excuse the academic jargon.) In other words, labeling what men find sexy is based on the assumption of a heterosexuality in which men are the pursuers and women are the prey, dressing only to claim the prized male gaze for themselves. It's certainly uncomfortable from a feminist perspective, which is why I think so many modern women are loathe to admit to dressing for men.
Now: as for the old adage of women dressing for women? Duh. Who else is actually going to know the difference between a shawl collar and a notched collar? Talking outfits with the girls is one of the great pleasures of being a woman, I think. Plus, it must be said, any compliments from women are generally not considered to have sexual or predatory undertones (because that would make women sexual aggressors and we can't have that!).
How about you? Do you think men find vintage style sexy? Do you care?


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A group opposed to affirmative action in higher education is taking the unprecedented step of looking for plaintiffs online.
The Project on Fair Representation is advertising for college applicants willing to challenge Harvard University, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
When the Supreme Court issued a ruling last spring that made affirmative action programs more legally difficult to sustain, project director Edward Blum promised that more "costly and polarizing litigation" would soon be filed against university affirmative action programs across the country.
But a year later, the plaintiffs apparently had not materialized, and so the project has now launched websites dedicated to finding challengers.
The group promises to pay all expenses and notes that in its previous litigation, no college applicant had to testify or "talk to the media."
The group has litigated for more than a decade against what it deems to be unconstitutional racial classifications. Last year it won two Supreme Court decisions: the partial victory in the affirmative action case, and a total victory when the Supreme Court struck down a key section of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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I don't like being a tabloid reporter of sorts…but this was just too good to be true…and even better because it IS true.
Anyway here's the story…
Source: http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/8879912/danica-patrick-says-dating-ricky-stenhouse
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick's personal life is no longer a secret — she's dating a fellow driver.
Patrick revealed to The Associated Press that she and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are a couple, ending widespread speculation about the nature of their relationship.
"I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard," she said during an exclusive telephone interview with AP.
"I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this," Patrick laughed, sounding almost giddy as she said the two-time Nationwide champion's middle name is Lynn and he prefers she use his first name.
The couple waited until the end of Charlotte Motor Speedway's weeklong annual media tour to go public with their relationship, which started as a friendship as they raced each other the last two seasons in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse became a mentor of sorts to the 30-year-old Patrick, who left IndyCar after the 2011 season to make the full-time switch to NASCAR.
"We are dating, and I know there's been a bit of a runaround this week at the media days and poor Ricky got grilled (with questions)," she said. "It was out of respect to NASCAR, to all the manufacturers, the new cars, the teams, the sponsors, just to allow the news of the day to be about racing and not let anything interfere with that. So, it's Friday now, so that's why we waited until the end of the week to be up front about each other."
Stenhouse confirmed the relationship.
"Yes, we are dating," he said. "I don't normally say too much about my private life, always been focused on the track. I didn't want to confirm at media day so that we could keep the focus on the season, the Gen-6 (car), my sponsors and team. That's what it's all about for me."
Patrick's public relations representative denied ESPN.com's request for an interview on Friday. Stewart-Haas Racing would not comment.
Patrick remains one of the most recognizable drivers in auto racing, even if wins have been hard to come by. There was speculation that her appeal with advertisers had waned, but sponsor Go Daddy said Patrick will again appear in the website domain provider's commercials during the Super Bowl next month.
"Go Daddy respects our spokespeople's privacy and does not comment on their personal lives," GoDaddy.com spokesperson Stephanie Bracken told ESPN.com.
Patrick announced in November she and husband Paul Hospenthal were divorcing after seven years, and said in the Jan. 3 filing that her marriage to the 47-year-old Hospenthal was "irretrievably broken."
Speculation immediately shifted toward her relationship with the 25-year-old Stenhouse, who has never been married. While her policy has always been not to talk about her personal life, Patrick said she made an exception this time to end the gossip and so the two could be open about their relationship.
"I think that moving forward into the year, it's a matter of do you say anything at all, or do you just carry on?" she said. "As opposed to speculation and people making up their own stories or talking amongst themselves or us feeling uncomfortable walking into each other's (motorhomes) moving forward, or around our teams or anything, it's just easier to be up front and get it out of the way then to have any kind of awkward speculation."
Stenhouse was asked during the media tour's stop at Roush Fenway Racing if he was dating Patrick. He dodged the question, saying "we've got a great relationship," and then turned attention back to racing.
The subject will be hard for the two to avoid as they compete against each other this season for rookie of the year honors in NASCAR's top Sprint Cup Series. Both are moving up from the second-tier Nationwide Series at the same time.
Patrick said she won't race Stenhouse any differently.
"Obviously, we've been racing together for a couple years now, him and I have always gotten along, we've always had a lot of respect for each other on the track, there's never been an issue out there," she said. "I always say I'll race people how they race me until they do something to make me change my mind. I don't anticipate that changing at all, or us having any issues on the track."
Stenhouse echoed that attitude. "It won't affect how I race on the track. I want to go out and win, I race everyone hard," he said.
"This relationship in no way violates any rules or regulations of the sport, so we have zero concerns, particularly since we're talking about two fiercely competitive individuals who both want to win NASCAR races and be the best at what they do," said David Higdon of NASCAR marketing communications.
Patrick rocketed to worldwide prominence when she challenged for the Indy 500 win as a rookie, becoming the first woman to lead laps while finishing fourth in 2005. She finished a career-best third in 2009. She began dabbling in NASCAR in 2010 in the Nationwide Series, and moved full-time last year leaving IndyCar and the 500 behind.
Patrick has struggled in stock cars, notching just seven top-10s in 58 Nationwide races since 2010. Still, she was voted by fans the series' most popular driver last year.
In the Sprint Cup Series, where she'll drive this season for Stewart-Haas Racing, team co-owner Tony Stewart handpicked 10 of the hardest tracks for Patrick last season to force her to learn on the fly in preparation for this year. Her average finish in the 10 races was 28th and her best finish was 17th in her season finale at Phoenix.
Stenhouse has won eight races over the last two seasons to become the first driver since Martin Truex Jr. in 2004-05 to win consecutive Nationwide titles. He was promoted this year by Roush Fenway to the Cup Series to replace 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth.
I think it's cool. I hope it lasts.


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The PHP development team announces the immediate availability of PHP 5.4.23. About 10 bugs were fixed, including a security issue in OpenSSL module (CVE-2013-6420). All PHP 5.4 users are encouraged to upgrade to this version.
For source downloads of PHP 5.4.23 please visit our downloads page, Windows binaries can be found on windows.php.net/download/. The list of changes is recorded in the ChangeLog.


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Baku-APA. The Vatican raised the possibility Saturday that the conclave to elect the next pope might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15 to 20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that "this is a question that people are discussing."
Any change to the law itself would have to be approved by the pope before he resigns.
But if Vatican officials determine that the matter is just a question of interpreting the existing law, "it is possible that church authorities can prepare a proposal to be taken up by the cardinals on the first day after the papal vacancy" to move up the start of the conclave, Lombardi said.
The 15 to 20 day waiting period is in place to allow time for all cardinals who don't live in Rome to arrive, under the usual circumstance of a pope dying. But in this case the cardinals already know that this pontificate will end Feb. 28, with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and therefore can get to Rome in plenty of time to take part in the conclave, Lombardi said.
The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Palm Sunday Mass followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. In order to have a new pope in place in time for the most solemn liturgical period on the church calendar, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, because of the strong tradition to hold installation Mass on a Sunday. Given the tight time frame, speculation has mounted that some arrangement would be made to start the conclave earlier than a strict reading of the law would allow.
Questions about the start of the conclave have swirled since Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, by announcing that he would retire, the first pontiff in 600 years to abdicate rather than stay in office until death. His decision has created a host of questions about how the Vatican will proceed, given that its plans for the so-called "sede vacante" — or vacant seat — period between papacies are based on the process starting with a papal death.
"In this moment we are not prepared," said Cardinal Franc Rode, the former head of the Vatican's office for religious orders who will vote in the conclave. "We have not been able to make predictions, strategies, plans, candidates. It is too early, but we will get there. In two or three weeks things will be put in place."
Meanwhile, a German journalist who has published several long interviews with Benedict over the years suggested that the pope strongly foreshadowed his retirement during an August conversation.
Peter Seewald said in an article for the German weekly Focus published Saturday that the pontiff had told him that his strength was diminishing and "not much more" could be expected from him as pope.
"I am an old man and my strength is running out," Seewald quoted the pope as saying. "And I think what I have done is enough."
Asked by Seewald whether he was considering resignation, Benedict responded: "That depends to what extent my physical strength will compel me to." The summer interview, as well as another in December, were for a new Benedict biography.
Seewald's 2010 book-length interview with Benedict, "Light of the World," laid the groundwork for a possible resignation.
In it, he quoted Benedict as saying: "If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign."
He stressed then, however, that resignation was not an option to escape a particular burden, such as the scandal over sexual abuse by clerics which had erupted earlier in 2010.
In Saturday's article, Seewald recalled asking the pope in August how badly the 2012 scandal over leaks of papal documents, in which the pope's ex-butler was convicted of aggravated theft, had affected him.
Benedict said the affair had not thrown him off his stride or made him tired of office. "It is simply incomprehensible to me," he said.
The journalist said that when he last saw Benedict about 10 weeks ago, his hearing had deteriorated and he appeared to have lost vision in his left eye, adding that the pope had lost weight and appeared tired.
Benedict, however, appeared in good form on Saturday for some of his final audiences. He met with the Guatemalan president, a group of visiting Italian bishops, and had his farewell audience with Italian Premier Mario Monti.
"He was in good condition," Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina told reporters afterward. "He didn't seem tired, rather smiling, lively — and happy and very clear in his decision to resign."
Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan and a leading contender to succeed Benedict, said several of the visiting bishops noted at the end of their audience that they were the last group of bishops to be received by the pope. "'This responsibility means you have to become a light for all,'" he quoted Benedict as saying.
Lombardi also gave more details about Benedict's final public audiences and plans for retirement, saying already 35,000 people had requested tickets for his final general audience to be held in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 27.
He said Benedict would spend about two months in the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome immediately after his abdication, to allow enough time for renovations to be completed on his retirement home — a converted monastery inside the Vatican walls.
That means Benedict would be expected to return to the Vatican, no longer as pope, around the end of April or beginning of May, Lombardi said.
He was asked if and when the pope would meet with his successor and whether he would participate in his installation Mass. Like many open questions about the end of Benedict's papacy, Lombardi said, both issues simply haven't been resolved.