text:
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A woman delivering birthday gifts to her boyfriend's daughter fell 14 stories to her death in the Bronx Thursday night.
The woman, Sienna Edwards, was apparently threatened just before her fatal fall.
Police initially said they believed the death of the 20-year-old woman was no accident and Friday night, they made an arrest.
Kenya Edmonds, 23, was charged with 2nd-degree murder and 1st-degree manslaughter.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond With More On The Story
"I don't think I could fall off that balcony. The balcony's very high," one resident told CBS 2's Pablo Guzman.
Police said that at some point, Edwards made a call to 911 seeking help. Commissioner Ray Kelly said the drama began when Edwards' boyfriend asked her to bring birthday presents to his 3-year-old girl in apartment 14B of the Clinton Towers.
The girl was in that apartment with her mother, aunt and another woman. The victim's boyfriend did not go up to the apartment himself because of an order of protection.
Police, however, believe Sienna Edwards was threatened by the women in the apartment when she went up. According to police, Edwards secretly called 911 and that the dispatcher heard what was being said.
"In the background, there are voices that say 'You're not going to leave here alive.'" Kelly said. "Approximately 10 o'clock there is a call by the occupant of the apartment that this woman fell over the balcony and it's 14 stories down. She died as a result of that fall."
The 911 operator had already sent a squad car to the nearest cell tower where Edwards secretly called 911 and picked up the women threatening her.
By the time of the call regarding the supposed accidental fall off the balcony, cops were there and took all the women to the 48th Precinct, Guzman reported.
Tenant Tashmeru Rodriguez said he saw the young woman's body from his balcony.
"She's too young, I couldn't sleep," he said.
Detectives believe Edwards may have died trying to jump from one balcony to another.
Guzman also spoke with the dead woman's mother at the precinct. She said she had been waiting since Thursday night to be told by investigators what happened to her daughter.
Share your thoughts in the comments section below…


text:
Bit of a short post this morning, but I do have a few happenings here and there to share with you all.
Christmas Tree at South Coast. Spotted this magnificence while visiting our local mall on Friday night. There is a domed area of the lobby that extends four of five stories high and there, every year, they erect one of the prettiest trees in all of Christmastime. I always look up and marvel at how they are able to string all the lights and hang all the ornaments so perfectly, so high above the ground. The tree and lights are crowned by the circular cut-outs in the ceiling design itself and all that stained glass. Feels otherworldly, but the palm trees in the courtyard below confirm we're still in California baby!
Isn't it pretty?
Recipe Sampling. I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the last week or so- probably more than I've spent in quite some time. The string of rainy days we've been having motivated me to get back to the stove and try my hand at some of the recipes I've been hoarding over the last couple of months. The one above- Cauliflower Soup (with scallops), found over at Coco + Kelley - was the stuff dreams are made of. We were surprised again last night with how good this Magic Sauce tasted over our roasted chicken and potatoes.
The Nieman Marcus-Target sale. Over the weekend, we hit up Target to check out these much anticipated goodies and my first reaction was wow, they are still really stocked up! I had expected mostly empty shelves by the time we arrived, but happily for us 'twas not the case.
Overall impression: some very fun stuff and I have to admit, we walked (skipped!) away with a few things from the collection that were on my wish list.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I haven't had the chance to tinker with it yet, this weekend for sure :)
Congratulations, Aaron and Jan :D
Welcome to the club!
Sharing life's simple joys --- from fashion and beauty finds to happy growing family stories
Love your gown Jane! Super pretty and I will definitely approach you and ask for whoever made this gown! Congratulations!!! You're one gorgeous and LUCKY girl of the night!ReplyDelete
Congrats on the Ipad. That is one lucky win.
I love the gown, my son is almost 10 months and I cant seem to get back on my pre pregnancy weight. You, on the other is very very sexy agad. I'm inggit! :-)
Nikki: Thanks! I really felt I won an award haha...
Dr. S: Thanks also :D How many more pounds to go for you? I shed off the remaining excess weight when little J was close to 10 months old. I stopped breastfeeding also around that time, because I started working already. A lot of people have been asking me how I did it, but I didn't go on a diet. After much thought, I realized these are the three things I did that might have helped me lose the unwanted pounds: oatmeal for breakfast, changed to brown rice from white for all meals, and had wheat grass every morning. E-mail me if you're interested to try wheat grass ;)
you are sooooo lucky!!!! and all you had to do was sing! congrats, congrats! enjoy the Ipad!!! and goodness, that gown is indeed stunning! i love the train and the rosettes!
Yeah, was really lucky. Just realized earlier today I won a 32g iPad pa ;) How cool is that?
Thanks also for the compliments, I really love my gown. Would have been great as wedding gown, too! :D


text:
"Young blood….I can't get you out of my mind." — The Coasters, 1957
Want to live to be 100? Or beyond?
I'm not sure I want to hit three figures on the birthday scale unless I'm assured of a sound mind and body. As we have all learned, however, life doesn't come with a guarantee.
Besides, not even the godfather of fitness, Jack LaLanne, could make it to that milestone. And my lifestyle falls somewhat short of his Spartan existence.
So I won't be packing my roller blades when I get sent off to the elder shelter. A nice pair of slippers will do.
Then there's the fact that the Century Club is pretty much ladies only. According to the U.S. Census, 81 per cent of centenarians are women.
Case in point: My dad at age 94, seeking to revisit the rough and tumble world of male fellowship, tried to start a Men's Club at this retirement home.
It was not well attended. At the initial meeting, three other gentlemen showed up. All were in wheelchairs. Two of them slept through the proceedings. Meeting adjourned.
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, most Americans don't want to stick around much longer than current life expectancy (approximately 77 for men, 82 for women). Sixty percent don't want to live past 90. Thirty percent don't want to live past 80.
People who make lots of money don't want longer lives any more than the rest of us do. Nor do people who think there's no afterlife.
And yet....
There are some 55,000 centenarians in the U.S. these days, and the number could increase as the population ages and health care evolves. A century ago, the number was near zero.
Bottom line: They may drag you kicking and screaming to 100 whether you want to go or not.
What's it like to be 100? According to a study by United Healthcare, 36 per cent of those who reach that age feel "blessed" and 31 per cent say they are happy. Most of my friends and I would fall into a new category: "shocked."
When asked which stage of life they remembered most fondly, nearly 25 per cent chose their 20s. Almost none embraced their 70s, 80s and 90s. Of course, being centenarians, a majority said they don't remember.
Many in the study said they would like to have dinner with President Obama although he was facing stiff competition from Betty White. Least likely to be invited to dine were Kim Kardashian and Kayne West but most admitted they had no idea who they were. I doubt familiarity would have changed the result.
The secret to a long life?
More than 90 percent answered "staying close to friends and family" followed by maintaining a sense of independence, eating right and having a sense of humor.
Well and good. But there is a new factor in the longevity game, one recently disclosed by scientists that re-interprets the old saying that "youth is wasted on the young."
A trio of new studies has discovered that the blood of young mice appears to reverse some of the effects of aging when put into the circulatory systems of elderly mice, according to a story in the Washington Post.
After combining the blood circulations of two mice by conjoining them — one old, the other young — researchers found dramatic improvements in the older mouse's muscle and brain.
They later discovered that injections of a special protein found abundantly in young blood — or even transfusions of whole young blood — give the same advantages as sharing a blood supply.
Old mice who were injected with the protein or who received a blood transfusion navigated mazes faster and ran longer on treadmills. They easily outperformed their control peers, who were given only saline.
I presume the young mice in the experiment became instantly grumpy, yelling "get off of my lawn."
While this may be news to scientists, many of us suspect this is exactly the sort of thing that has kept Mick Jagger and Keith Richards alive for years. Then there's the whole Dracula legend although I'm not sure the Count was finicky about the age of his subjects since he is reportedly several centuries old.
Aside from the amusing if not bizarre notion of seniors becoming an army of bloodsuckers, there is a serious side to all of this.
Neuroscientist Tony Wyss-Coray of Stanford University said he hopes to dive into human studies immediately. His new startup, Alkahest, is planning the first young-blood clinical trial at Stanford this year, according to the Post story.
Patients with Alzheimer's disease will be given young blood, with researchers measuring their cognitive condition before and after.
"Right now we can't do anything for Alzheimer's patients, and this seems so easy and simple," Wyss-Coray said.
The young mice in the three studies were the human equivalent of people in their 20s, so this would probably be the age range for donors used in a clinical trial. He said treating the big-picture issue of aging could in turn ease the burden of many diseases.
There is one of word of caution from researchers: No matter how tempted, don't try a transfusion at home.


text:
Case Studies
Working Collaboratively to Solve Our Customers' Problems
Bicron's collaborative approach to problem solving leads to savings and enhanced product reliability. Read on to find out how we helped increase the power and stability of our customers' power systems.
- Alternative Energy Equipment: Gate Drive Transformer for High Voltage Switching
Customer Challenge: Our customer, an alternative energy company, was using a Gate Drive Transformer design (not a Bicron product) for a wind power control system. The transformer was unstable and prone to false triggers, causing damage to the system. After months of analysis, the customer was unable to determine the cause of the problem.
Bicron Solution: Bicron engineers modeled the existing transformer magnetically and electrically. They found that the design was unstable due to leakage inductance and inadequate transformer capacitance. Bicron modified the design to stabilize the transformer, reduce leakage, and increase power capacity.
Benefits to Customer: With Bicron components, the improved system has seen zero transformer-related failures. The new design enabled the customer to eliminate eight capacitors, saving on related sourcing and assembly costs. It also resulted in fewer interconnects, enhancing the system's reliability and reducing the total installed cost.
- High Horsepower Motor: Transformer for Soft Start Motor Control System
Customer Challenge: Our customer produces motor control systems for their market. The transformers in their motor control systems-used with motors as large as 15,000 horsepower-were being damaged during normal field operation. Our customer was unable to determine the cause.
Bicron Solution: Bicron engineers collaborated with our customer's engineering team to analyze the problem. They found instability in the system that caused voltage spikes above the rating of the existing transformer. Bicron installed a custom-designed transformer that increased power and stability.
Benefits to Customer: Since switching to Bicron for all of their high-frequency transformers, our customer reports, "There have been no failures due to circuit performance." The company has now shipped more than 2000 motor control systems without a single transformer failure.
Join the growing list of customers who rely on Bicron
for electro-mechanical solutions.


text:
Austinites & outta-town ACL attendees: if you're going to ACL, this is the best after show on Friday….period. If you aren't going to ACL, you'll still get to see a transcendent performance. So don't argue, don't ask questions, just GO! Ya know ya wanna!!
Metal and Lace/Headhunters:
720 Red River
Austin, TX 78702
All my love-


text:
The Philippine Christian Gospel School near Sto Rosario St. Cebu City
Comment are very much Welcome
The Philippine Christian Gospel School near Sto Rosario St. Cebu City
Comment are very much Welcome
I was privileged to visit this school last two years ago. i like the location and the quality of education they offer to their students.
oicirtap alvarez said...
I went to one of the gay bars the best bars in cebu, Be careful I got it throught sexual contact. Gnorrhea is contacted through mouth,anus and penis during sexual exhange.Symptoms and signs include a burning sensation when urinating, or a white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis. Sometimes men with gonorrhea get painful or swollen testicles. I have it in my mouth and anus. Almost got it in my penis quite another of times. DiD have oral sex and anus... So guys be careful. I dont want you to experience, what i have experience.
oicirtap alvarez:
Alvarez enterprises
032-2612430,globe 09154035101 sun 09233265733
|Sinulog Pictures
|Multicab on Sale in Cebu
|Boracay Island Hotels
|Cabinets Furniture
|Bamboo Furnitures


text:
Publication date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Donna Galanti
Stay away from the window, don't go outside when it's storming and whatever you do, do not touch the orb.
Twelve-year-old Joshua Cooper's grandpa has always warned him about the dangers of lightning. But Joshua never put much stock in his grandpa's rumblings as anything more than the ravings of an old man with a vast imagination. Then one night, when Joshua and his best friend are home alone during a frightful storm, Joshua learns his grandpa was right. A bolt of lightning strikes his house and whisks away his best friend—possibly forever.
To get him back, Joshua must travel the Lightning Road to a dark place that steals children for energy. But getting back home and saving his friend won't be easy, as Joshua must face the terrifying Child Collector and fend off ferocious and unnatural beasts intent on destroying him.
In this world, Joshua possesses powers he never knew he had, and soon, Joshua's mission becomes more than a search for his friend. He means to send all the stolen children home—and doing so becomes the battle of his life.


text:
VINTAGE WADE WHIMSIE MR PLOD, Noddy Set c1958 - EXCELLENT CONDITION!
Sold for:
Start Free Trial
or Sign In to see what it's worth.
- Sold Date:
- Source: eBay UK
VINTAGE WADE WHIMSIE MR PLOD, Noddy Set c1958 - EXCELLENT CONDITION!
Up for auction is a very nice Wade whimsie figure of Mr Plod from the television series Noddy.From the Noddy series produced from 1958 to 1961. . Excellent condition for age with no chips or cracks. 99p start, no reserve! We do combine shipping for multiple purchases and are a true auction seller with all our items starting at 99p with no reserve! View My Other Items For Sale Your Postive Feedback and 5 Star DSR Ratings are very important to us and much appreciated. Please contact us to resolve ANY issues prior to leaving any feedback that is LESS than Positive WITH 5 Stars, as our aim is a 100% satisfaction guarantee. A happy customer is a returning customer! Add me to your Favorite Sellers NOTE - The photo's are of the actual item you will receive, we never re-use images. Please take a look at the enlarged images which will compliment our description. Any white marks on photographs is caused by camera reflection. Please Bid with total confidence as we offer a full refund service for any item which is found to be mis-described. UK Buyers - As well as Paypal we can accept payment via Bank Transfer. If using bank transfer please deduct 5% from your invoice total as we can pass ... read more


text:
Say hello to Sunday evening.
I'm exhausted.
Daylight savings has kicked in and ruined the three-nights in a row record of both of my children sleeping through the night.
I am so tired from lack of sleep I sometimes wonder if those glorious nights of uninterrupted sleep ever happened?
Dinner time was fast approaching.
The kitchen was quiet, but the kids were not.
Daddy had run up to the shops to replace a doggy chewed dummy so I was left alone with two hungry children at that time of the day.
Every parent knows that time of the day.
When the kids turn into monsters, their volume increases and they look so hungry they just might eat you alive.
When you are in a mad rush to get dinner ready with them running around, screaming in excitement as they hype up a little fluffy puppy who rewards them with high-pitched yips.
When you open the fridge and see a chilled bottle of wine and don't even realize you are licking your lips, promising yourself a glass as soon as the mayhem is over.
I immediately went to my super fast and easy dinner...
No making fresh dough this time.
I want fast & easy!
So I opened a few cans and chopped a few things up...
Then started with one for the kids...
Sauce, pineapple, olives, ham & cheese.
Popped in the oven for 15 minutes and started on a pizza for me...
I still had time to whip up a quick little salad...
Then when the kitchen had filled with the scent of fresh pizza, the timer went off and out it came...
Oh yeah, it looked good!
Served up with some salad...
And finally, those hungry little monsters were satisfied!
Do you have a favourite last minute meal?
How do you keep your hungry little monsters happy?
Monday, October 8, 2012
Quick & Easy Pizza Dinner
3 comments:
Just mad myself one...ham cheese salami olives and fresh basil...yumm..Read your post at the time my tummy was rumbling and jumped to it! Now ide for dinner to feed 6...ReplyDelete
Oh Clare! You're making me hungry!!!ReplyDelete
Sundays are always Lucy and I home alone. We have omelettes or crumbed fish and veg.ReplyDelete
These pizzas look good!
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text: HIGHLIGHTS Manufacturing code of this product : EA280 Anthracite finished carbon steel radiator RAL no. : 7016 Size of this product is 480 x 1185mm [Width x Height] Electric heating element : 300 Watts Pre-filled with IP 55 rated electric heating elements Electric sealed radiator with high grade of anti-corrosion thermal transfer fluid to maintain durability Image is for illustration purpose only 5 Years of guarantee against any manufacturing defects. Radiator Calculator This Item is also available in: + See Available Variations Latte EA281


text:
First Annual North Shore Pride in Salem June 30
Parade, Festival and Performances to Celebrate "Unity in the Community"
Local news anchor and longtime LGBT activist Randy Price is the Grand Marshal of the Parade, which kicks off on New Derby Street at 12 noon from the Salem Post office on Washington Street. Other special guests include openly gay Boston sportswriter Steve Buckley, Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, and members of the North Shore Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (NAGLY), who will receive the first annual North Shore Pride Community Award.
Following the parade, the community will gather on the Salem Common for a festival where organizations and vendors will provide information, networking and shopping throughout the day. On stage, performers will keep the crowd entertained all afternoon, including R&B singer (and recent Boston Pride Idol contestant) Rolla, acoustic pop act Seth Wonkka and his band, folk singer Deb Hardy, theatrical cabaret group What time is It Mr. Fox? and the world's only all-female Queen tribute band Gunpowder Gelatine. Vaudeville performer Johnny Blazes will MC, as well as perform with hir band Johnny Blazes and the Pretty Boys. The music will be punctuated by drag performances, hoop dancers, and remarks from special guests, including a representative from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition explaining the state's recently-enacted gender identity non-discrimination law, and special recognition of the career-long LGBT advocacy of Congressman Barney Frank.
Following the festival, which wraps up at 5pm, revelers are invited to attend a free after party at the Hawthorne Hotel, with DJ Jodi.
North Shore Pride, Inc., an all-volunteer organization, is planning the day-long event to bring together and celebrate the LGBT community from across the north shore region.
North Shore Pride, Inc, wishes to thank our major sponsor, Eastern Bank, whose instrumental support allowed this event to occur. In addition,North Shore Pride, Inc., wishes to thank North Shore Music Theatre, Lucas Noble Financial, Met Life and Spirit Magazine for their sponsorship. North Shore Pride, Inc. is very grateful for the support of these sponsors who have truly embraced our mission of "Unity in Our Community".
North Shore Pride Parade and Festival
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Salem, MA10 a.m. Interfaith prayer service on the Salem Common
12 p.m. Parade kicks off on New Derby in front of the Salem Post Office
1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Parade Festival on the Salem Common
5:30 p.m. – After Party at the Hawthorne Hotel (free admission, cash bar) For more information visit northshorepride.org or facebook.com/northshorepride


text:
Slow Cooked Pork Chops - Gluten Free
Here is a recipe I pulled together on Tuesday. It was Randy's birthday and he wanted meat that tasted good. I had these delicious thick pork chops, so i thought... id make a sauce.
So... here is what i did.
Slow Cooked Pork Chops
2 Tablespoons Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 Tablespoon liquid smoke (colgin's is gluten free)
1 can tomato sauce
3 Tablespoons Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (lea and perrins is gluten free)
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
Take about 2 table spoons of Oil and heat in a skillet. Then add pork chops and lightly salt and pepper. I sprinkled about 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke on each one. Lightly cook on all sides. No need to cook all the way through.
Place in a crock pot, hopefully in one layer , and then mix the sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar in a bowl. Then poor over the top of the chops. Slow cook on low for approximately 4 1/2 hours. BE very careful of over cooking pork chops though, they can dry out.
(sorry no pictures! Hubby ate way to fast!)
Also! Watch out! Im learning to cook gluten free, and I experiment like crazy, and now there is a blog that has inspired me with a challenge called "Friday Foody Fix" Im going to be creating new things and doing my best to be gluten free!
Would love for anyone who makes this to please share your opinions!!


text:
Pallets Revisited and Other Dualmode Comments
by Kim Goltermann
It has been a while since last time I contributed anything to these pages, in no small part because Ive been compelled for various reasons to pursue other interests. Nevertheless, I have not been completely idle in respect to the dualmode cause. Especially the many and varied problems involved in getting from our present deficient transport infrastructure to a more convenient and able dualmode future have caught my imagination and in turn also shaped my perception of what would be the best approach concerning a future dualmode transportation system.
John Hopkins raises many of the problems in his latest contribution and, sadly, the problems are real enough. I will therefore devote the last part of this commentary, not to a rebuttal of the problems as lined up by John Hopkins, but to a short presentation of ideas and strategies that could be helpful in overcoming at least some of the obstacles.
In the meantime will I concern myself with William Turnbulls proposal for a dualmode system. It will come as no surprise to many regular posters or readers here, that Im at odds with especially two ideas included in his proposal: 1) The use of car-ferries (pallets) rather than cars with dualmode systems integral in the vehicle (true dualmode cars). 2) The use of packets (with mechanical couplings) as opposed to single-vehicle operations utilizing a so-called Clear Path operational control principle. I will therefore seek to counter some of Mr. Turnbulls claims in the following, undoubtedly flogging the same old horse on a number of counts, but hopefully also providing a few new arguments as well.
Pallet Vehicles vs. True Dualmode Vehicles
In order not to merely repeat the many pros and cons that have already been repeatedly brought up by me and others will I jump directly to some of the reasons Mr. Turnbull mention, which in his opinion favors the pallet vehicle solution. These are in no particular order:
The condition of a true dualmode vehicle is unknown when it requests entry to the guideway system and theres no simple (quick and cheap) way to diagnose said condition before entry, whereas a pallet vehicles condition can be continually (or periodically) monitored, thereby largely preventing mechanical breakdowns during use.
The cost of providing a number of specialized carrying vehicles will, all things considered, be on par with or lower than providing the necessary features integral in all and every car that potentially will use the system.
The eternal dilemma: What came first? The chicken or the egg? A system operating car-ferries captive on the guideway will provide for all the requirements of customers/users from day one, whereas a true dualmode system will have to wait years before the number of customers attains the critical mass needed to warrant the enormous investment.
Mr. Turnbull claims that a pallet has an advantage over a true dualmode vehicle insofar it never leaves the guideways and its condition therefore will be better known, whereas we would have to assume that a true dualmode car requesting entry to the guideways could have any number of potentially disastrous defects. So what?.....we still dont know with any certainty the condition of the pallet and would have to assume it could have equally disastrous defects, unless we continually monitor (or frequently check) everything of relevance.
If we can monitor or check it on a pallet vehicle what would prevent us from doing the same on a true dualmode car, either continually or prior to entry? Its the condition at the time of use that is relevant and THAT can be verified with equal ease for pallet vehicles as well as true dualmode vehicles. Events taking place between guideway use are utterly irrelevant from a system point of view, whether the vehicles in question are stored in a controlled environment or are also used on the regular road network between guideway trips, as long as the condition is checked prior to (or continually while in) guideway use.
A pallet vehicle is supposed to be in intensive use and should it develop a defect (as it is likely to do when in constant use, whether itll be sooner or later) we are facing a 100% certainty it will happen WHILE ON the guideway, whereas true dualmode vehicles could develop defects, have them identified and corrected BEFORE entering the guideway system. This is actually the most likely scenario since the regular roads are likely to be much harsher on a car than will the guideways, thus any defect will likely occur during regular road use. The regular roads can even be considered a rigorous, continuos real-time test of vehicles; the outcome of which will be assessed prior to each guideway entry.
Immediate and automated diagnostics of a true dualmode cars condition at the authority of one or more computers IS perfectly viable. Thats the main point and to claim otherwise is out of bounds with realities. Many new cars already have most of the features. A computer assesses when regular service is due, brakes are often monitored by a computer, the entire engine is controlled and monitored likewise. Transmissions often have various computer programs one can choose from. A system monitoring the tires (including real-time pressure, wear and tear) is available as an extra on some luxury cars and will probably soon go the way of ABS-brakes, Electronic Stability Programs or Airbags and become standard items on even the cheapest models.
In short, everything in a car can be controlled and monitored by computers, always providing a real-time picture of the vehicles condition. All we need is to define which parameters are essential (or just relevant) in respect to guideway use and make certain these are rigorously monitored and upheld.
The second of Mr. Turnbulls claims I will take issue with here is the question of comparative costs of the two types of systems. Let me first make it clear that I envision a system where true dualmode vehicles will not deviate much conceptually from the cars we already buy and drive. This means that the changes will be few and the additional expenses arising from these changes will be small once the true dualmode cars are put into mass-production.The type of palleted dualmode system favoured by Mr. Turnbull is a high capacity system. A few simple calculations reveal that there would be approximately 100 cars per mile of guideway if it was utilized to 50% of theoretical capacity. This means that a system composed of 100 miles of guideway would need 10,000 pallet vehicles at 50% utilization. Add to this pallets needed as buffers at entry points, empty pallets being rerouted, pallets held in reserve to counter abnormalities and inoperable pallets awaiting repair. Were now looking at 15.000 pallet vehicles or more just in order to utilize 50% of our 100 mile guideway grid.
Of course the system operator would have to provide and maintain all these vehicles (Ill come back to that), but try for a minute to imagine where to store all these vehicles when traffic is slow and most of them therefore will stand idle. They are captive to the guideway and parking on the guideways carrying traffic is not an option, nor is parking on the entry/exit ramps. If each pallet is 20ft long (a reasonable assumption?) we would need (15,000 x 20ft/5280ft) almost 57 miles of storage guideway. These 57 miles of storage guideway will not earn the system any revenue, but will nevertheless have to be built and they are unlikely to be any cheaper per mile than the revenue earning guideways. And, what if you want to utilize, say, 75% of the systems theoretical capacity? Well, add another 5000 vehicles (at least) and another 19 miles of storage guideway.
If using the 75% utilization example, a palleted dualmode operator would have to provide 100 miles of guideway + entry/exit ramps + 76 miles of storage guideway + at least 20,000 pallet vehicles, whereas a true dualmode operator would only be required to provide 100 miles of guideway + entry/exit ramps and could still attain as high an utilization of the guideways as is practically possible.
Speaking of the pallet vehicles, all of the 15,000 to 20,000 pallets each constitute a complete and autonomous entity with wheels and brakes, suspension and propulsion system, guideway shifting mechanism, coupling devices, sensors, back-up power source, clamps to fasten the load (car), communication systems, computers, maybe even AI and what more do we have? Furthermore, they will have to be of a rugged design since they are supposed to be in more or less continuos use, indicating they will have to be heavy and therefore in a sense overengineered. These vehicles will have to be produced by someone and since that someone is not pushing out millions of vehicles as are car manufacturers, but only multiple thousands, will the price per unit be much higher, especially considering the complexity of the vehicles in question?
Furthermore, the producers of pallet vehicles will most likely NOT be subjected to the same fierce competition as exists between car manufacturers, thus there will be little motivation to rationalize production of pallet vehicles and cut costs. A pallet vehicle manufacturer will simply demand the production price whatever that happens to be plus a profit, which will most likely be high if the pallet vehicles development costs are to be recouped on a much smaller number of vehicles. Dont be surprised if ONE pallet vehicle will cost 10 times more than than ONE normal car as we know cars today. Experience from the railroad industry indicates thats what we would have to expect. NOTHING beats high numbers in reducing production costs and if we enter the market of consumer goods (true dualmode cars would be consumer goods) this mechanism becomes even more apparent.
Pallet vehicles on the other hand will never be built in the same numbers and can never be considered consumer goods. They will however be used by ordinary travelers (consumers) and the higher prices of the vehicles will eventually be paid by consumers. Consumers that will have to buy their own car to access the system anyway. Now, wheres the logic in that? The palleted dualmode proponents most common argument in favour of pallets is the what came first, the chicken or the egg? dilemma. The argument postulates that pallets will ensure that there will be plenty of paying customers already on opening day, whereas a true dualmode operator would face the problem that no one has bought the special true dualmode cars yet.
On the face of it, that argument seems valid, and the pallet proponents often use the argument to sell the down-sides/disadvantages that pallets undeniably also have, but lets examine how relevant the argument really is. Theres a few things a true dualmode operator can do to alleviate the chicken or egg dilemma. First, true dualmode cars could be offered for sale a couple of years prior to opening day which would persuade at least some customers to buy a dualmode car in anticipation of the advantages that will become apparent when the guideways open. The system operator could also make agreements with freight forwarders (vans?), taxi companies and transit operators (mini-busses?) that they will buy some vehicles up front and put them in operation on opening day. Of cause, these initiatives could only ensure that the number of potential customers would initially be FEW rather than ZERO.
Investment Requirements
Next, well consider the wide disparity between the investments a palleted dualmode operator and a true dualmode operator is required to make before they are ready for business. If we use my example from above, well see that a palleted dualmode operator with 100 miles of guideways will be required to provide some 57 to 76 extra miles of storage guideway and 15,000 to 20,000 expensive specialized vehicles that a true dualmode operator would not need to acquire. These extra items/systems represent a SUBSTANTIAL investment. It is therefore prudent to say that a true dualmode operator will most likely be financially more robust when considering the full market potential (realized when everyone has true dualmode cars) in relation to the investment made and will therefore also be able to operate with a payback formula where the debts will continue to grow during the first, say, 5 years of operations simply because revenues will be insufficient to start repaying the debts (possibly even insufficient to cover operating costs).
There are actually plenty of examples of just that in the real world, e.g. a bridge operating company has seen its debts continue to grow for its bridge between Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden), due to insufficient paying customers during the first three years of operation. Since the investment for the true dualmode operator would be significantly smaller than for the palleted dualmode operator the situation would reverse after a number years. As normal cars will (likely) be replaced by dualmode cars at a rate of between 6% and 10% annually, its likely that reversed situation will occur well before the ten year mark and from there the true dualmode system will be in a much more favourable financial situation than the palleted dualmode system. The only important thing is that the financial payback model anticipate the situation from the beginning; the rest is trivial.
Another of Mr. Turnbulls arguments is the notion that a palleted dualmode system could eventually be developed into a true dualmode system. Not likely, because if the hardware was amendable to true dualmode operations it would be much more attractive to provide that option from the onset, saving the investment in at least some of the pallets and storage guideways. It is on the other hand entirely possible to provide pallets supplementing a true dualmode system as a temporary measure to overcome what remains of the chicken or egg dilemma until such time that most cars have integral dualmode compatibility, and these temporary pallets would even have advantages in that they might be able to leave the guideway for loading/unloading/storage detached from the system.
With a palleted system you are stuck with pallets and will eventually have to initiate a completely new system should true dualmode some day be deemed more desirable for any number of reasons. At least that pertains to all pallet using systems/concepts I have seen.
Packets or single-vehicle operation?
Before commencing my critique of Mr. Turnbulls operational concept I ought to mention that Im indebted to him for coining the term Multiple Slot Clear Path operational control. I havent seen the term used before, but I knew what it was, even knew thats what I favour....I just couldnt put words to it. Also the idea of Quota Allocation is one I favour (but Ill return to that). I have no reason to doubt Mr. Turnbulls calculations , but its noteworthy that he doesnt provide any comparable calculations for a single-vehicle operating (Multiple Slot) Clear Path system. Those few figures he does provide in that respect are over-simplified and don't provide any foundation for fair comparisons. Furthermore, I find the described operational concept overly complicated for no apparent gain, in turn depending on a multitude of empirical data (which are not readily available) in order to function in an optimal manner.
But now to my main reservations: Exiting a car from the front of a 20-25 vehicle packet, transferring it to another line and letting it reenter at the back of another 20-25 vehicle packet is the equivalent of letting a vehicle on a Multiple Slot Clear Path system slip 20-25 slots during the same type of line transfer. If we introduce a Multiple Slot Clear Path system where each car has as much as 20 alternative slots to choose from when transferring at junctions, Id say there would be no problem finding a vacant slot even when operating near theoretically full capacity. We would have 98.85% chance of finding at least one vacant slot at 80% utilization and would have 20 slots to choose from. Seen in that light I find it hard to point to any advantage at all of introducing packets.
Another way to see things is to consider the two operational principles essentially the same. Mr. Turnbulls system would have one packet every 3-5 seconds while my system would have many more packets much more frequently, in the order of 3-5 per second. Mr. Turnbulls packets can have a value (number of vehicles) ranging from ZERO up to 20 or 25. My packets will either have the value ZERO or ONE. The system using large packets will attain its flexibility and avoidance of unsolvable conflicts from the fact that each packet can have any of a wide range of values, but preferably not the maximum figure. My smaller packets will very frequently have the maximum value of ONE, but will fully compensate for this as vehicles can jump from a packet to a preceding or following packet (if vacant) whenever needed; during line transfers will it even be possible to jump several/many packets up or down.
My system would have the full flexibility of Mr. Turnbulls system with the added benefit that potentially unsolvable conflicts are in fact pre-empted by delaying entry to the system a few seconds for any given vehicle. Bottom line: Theres hardly any difference, certainly none warranting the complications involved in physically coupling and de-coupling vehicles at speed.
Slot Slipping or Advancing
Returning briefly to the issue of slot slipping or slot advancing, I dont see any need for a system providing 20 optional slots at every junction. The figures I have been using indicate that 3-5 alternative slots will be plenty, especially if coupled with Quota Allocation. As Mr. Turnbull so rightly observes, entering traffic in a Clear Path system will have a tendency to monopolize the guideway use further downstream, thereby possibly preventing other vehicles from entering the system. This can be reduced, maybe practically eliminated, if a Quota Allocation algorithm is introduced that will delay upstream entry slightly every time the traffic threatens to monopolize downstream usage too much.
The difference between the way I would apply Quota Allocation and the way Mr. Turnbull sees it is that in his system is it an essential building block, whereas I consider it an upgrade or optimization option. We dont need to develop (and pay for) such an upgrade up front, but can introduce it whenever theres an obvious (empirically established) need for it. Furthermore, I see no obvious limit to how much refinement can eventually be built into such a Quota Allocation function, given theres a need for such refinement.
To summarize: I dont see much difference in capability between a packet operating and a single-vehicle operating control principle. The large apparent difference demonstrated in Mr. Turnbulls calculations only stands out because he compares apples and oranges. A simplistic rigid Clear Path system is not the same as a Multiple Slot Clear Path system applying refined measures to pre-empt bottlenecks. The only visible difference inherent in Mr. Turnbulls proposal is the obvious disadvantage of having to couple individual vehicles into trains.
Can we get from here to there?
The August 14th, 2002 contribution from John Hopkins is depressing to read, but is also necessary to read. Its depressing to read because the obstacles to a successful outcome for the dualmode idea most of us feel so passionate about appears almost insurmountable. Its necessary to read because as most of us are painfully aware most of those obstacles are real and if not completely insurmountable then they are, at least, very hard to overcome.
I have already shared some ideas on how the implementation of a true dualmode system could be enhanced by adopting certain choices and policies in my contribution of January 25th, 2001 Implementing True Dualmode: Can it be Done? While I feel these ideas and observations are still valid, I also feel it is necessary to add a few things that have only recently dawned upon me. First, it will be very difficult to implement the ultimate high-speed, extremely high capacity, MagLev supported, can-do-all dualmode system from the very outset, simply because the development challenge is so enormous, both in terms of money and time needed, that the gamble becomes too big. The auto industry is not geared to produce vehicles very different from the current ones. Therefore, I suggest the adoption of a policy of making incremental improvements and upgrades, which will eventually result in the kind of ultimate dualmode system that, among others, Francis Reynolds and myself advocate. I suggest a new dualmode system should take off from where the Automated Highway System (AHS) program landed, building on its successes but improving upon its shortcomings.
These improvements could include complete segregation from other traffic on a guideway, a system guaranteed to prevent derailment and possibly a different traffic management philosophy. Once this redeveloped AHS system is up and running, it will be time to consider an upgrade, which could include electrification (adding electric motors in newly-built cars) and operation at shorter headways. The important thing here is that the cars built for the new system will also be able to run on those guideways already built. Backwards compatibility must be maintained.. Its not entirely impossible that the old dualmode cars will also be able to run on (not utilizing the electrification) the new guideways, maybe after a minor computer upgrade.
A third step could be more safety and even shorter headways, possibly the introduction of a linear propulsion system (LIM or LSM). Again, new cars would be able to utilize all the old guideways, although this time it will be very difficult to upgrade old cars to the new guideways. A fourth step could be the introduction of MagLev for high-speed applications and who knows what the fifth step could be? The main idea is to choose a system that is amendable to all these upgrades without making the older variants completely obsolete overnight, always ensuring compatibility with existing guideways.
I believe its possible to design such a system and it would ensure that we could begin with a modest step forward without foregoing the option of the ultimate system at a later date. Moreover, I believe most dualmode developers are trying to sell the idea to the wrong people. We have heard calls for a dualmode tzar; many developers and inventors have spent countless hours trying to explain their wonderful ideas to skeptical politicians. But politicians and other political decision-makers have very little development money to spend on visionary projects and ideas. The political establishment is much more likely to pour huge sums into tested and traditional technologies making little or no impact on the problems than pour much less money into a vision that potentially could solve all problems.Forget about politics and politicians for now! Sell the promise of huge markets and a prosperous future for the auto industry instead.
Involve the Auto Industry
The auto industry will happily buy into that promise the same way the railroad industry bought into it in the 19th century and the same way the very same industry bought into it during the latter half of the 20th century. The auto industry will sell the idea of dualmode to the political establishment by its own initiative once the prospect of large profits and continued expansion makes an appearance. We, the early dualmode enthusiasts wouldnt be required to lift a finger. The car manufacturers make profits from building cars. They would enthusiastically make the switch to building dualmode cars if therere good prospects they can sell more cars and make bigger profits by doing so. Car manufacturers already spend billions developing new models in the hope they can increase their share of the market a little bit. A billion or two spent developing a practical and marketable dualmode system would do far more to safeguard and/or increase a car manufacturers future profits than would a few handfuls of new but ordinary car models.
The first on the market will have an immense advantage by securing a large share (initially 100%) of the dualmode market, just as the company developing the system (owning a decent share of the patents) would probably be able to demand license payments from its competitors. Any chief executive would consider that a sweet scenario! Also consider, its the auto industry that has the experience developing, producing and marketing the most successful, mass-produced transport solutions the world has ever seen. The car manufacturers have huge research and development facilities; they have thousands of engineers and work with many sub-contracting firms developing related technologies too and they have the development money.
In short, the auto industry is the one that can pull the dualmode idea to the fore; trying to bypass it in the development phase would be counter-productive, even self-defeating. Furthermore, the auto industry has demonstrated that it can reach agreement on universal standards up front rather than adopting them on the fly. The new, still to come standard 42V electrical system planned for future cars is an example how the industry can agree on a standard BEFORE it is even introduced into production. The same kind of agreement would obviously be needed between at least a couple of the big players before any dualmode standard was finalized, but it doesnt appear to be unrealistic given previous agreements.
Another advantage of relying on the car manufacturing industry as the main stakeholder in the dualmode project is their truly global outlook. Should a potential deal fall through with the politicians of Boston or Rome will they just turn to the politicians of Sydney, Paris or Kuala Lumpur instead. No single city, region or nation will have a veto whether dualmode will be implemented or not. Lastly, speaking of the political level; traffic planners and elected officials are becoming increasingly desperate. They want transportation solutions that work but cant find any. This desperation was readily exposed about a year ago here in Copenhagen when an ordinary citizen proposed (in an open newspaper letter) that a system of modern street-cars (trams) could solve many of the citys traffic problems. Immediately many politicians and professional traffic managers/planners jumped at the opportunity and supported the idea as if some new revolutionary type of street-car had emerged.
In fact it was more or less a proposal to reintroduce the same type of street-cars the city abandoned in 1972, and the support it gathered (and still holds) can hardly be seen as anything but an expression of sheer desperation. In my belief this sense of desperation indicates we can likely expect a significant snow-ball effect should we ever succeed in getting a dualmode system into operation somewhere in the world. Just ONE system demonstrating its worth will virtually guarantee dozens if not hundreds of large cities lining up to buy the next system. Overly optimistic? Perhaps, but the desperation is evidently there and will only grow until released. Billions are poured into systems that have little or no alleviating effect, for the sole purpose that decision-makers have a need to demonstrate an ability to "do something".
Last modified: September 12, 2002


text:
Some pics were since long in my drafts pleading to be posted. All these pics are attached to my life in some way or the other.
My mom had gifted me a crochet play set when I was a kid. It was a beginners set and that's where I developed my love for crochet. That play set had a flower loom and I loved making flowers from it. I made so many flowers but didn't knew what to make out of it. I had made a doily once before - a round one, so thought to make some other shape this time. I dunno whether it could be called a doily or not, but it is such a softee thing.
That's one among the pair of baby booties I made. Please don't ask for its other pair.
When my purse fever had caught on me, I regularly used to surf online for new and different purse patterns. That's when I came across this pattern I immediately thought to make it. I tried this in wool first and later on with glitter purse thread. The purse looked great in both the yarns. The above one is in wool.
This doily is made by naik aunty - archana didi's mom. She had gifted this to my mom, and my mom gave it under my care. Its such a lovely beautiful pattern that I want to try it in some other yarn...
I am not of a toran person, but we had to make a toran for our home science project. Thats when I made this toran.
In our home science class we were asked to make a baby poncho. When I started out one it didn't come up well. Therefore I made a sample one to show the pattern to my mom. Later on she helped me to complete my baby-sized poncho. My mom was always there when I needed her. I dunno whether I can be ever as good as her.
This is again an experimental purse. This is my design - again made during one of my purse fevers.
My mom had made a Quran cover during her time. I wanted to make same like hers, but I am not as pro as she was. I did some mistake in the pattern and had to stop at the flap part. Being a scorpion I didn't want to give up. I made another one though a lill smaller in size, but that was perfect. The above one is the first one, soon I'll post the other cover's pic.
Closer look.....
Again this is an experimental thing made to keep my small small floral hairpins, its other thing that my mom didn't let me use it for that.
My mom always used to ask to make such kinds of rumals. She made a lot during her time. Everytime I was like who uses them anymore now... But dunno y, one day dil se.. I felt like making them. So I made four each of the two patterns. The above one is the first I made.


text:
Sometimes you just have to go with the classics.
"Asgard and Vanaheim," Prospero scanned the map. "By Mitra, I had almost believed those countries to have been fabulous."
Conan grinned savagely, involuntarily touching the scars on his dark face. "You had known
otherwise, had you spent your youth on the northern frontiers of Cimmeria! Asgard lies to the north, and Vanaheim to the northwest of Cimmeria, and there is continual war along the borders."
"What manner of men are these northern folk?" asked Prospero.
"Tall and fair and blue-eyed. Their god is Ymir, the frost-giant, and each tribe has its own king. They are wayward and fierce. They fight all day and drink ale and roar their wild songs all night."
- "The Phoenix on the Sword"
Howard didn't have to look far for inspiration for the second tale of Conan the Cimmerian, and actively drew from the previous story to write it: "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" could almost be considered a direct prequel to "The Phoenix on the Sword," so obvious is the link between the two stories in the form of the above quotations.
The shortest of Howard's completed Conan stories is also, in my opinion, the most steeped in myth and symbolism. It may only be 9 pages long, but all nine of those pages are filled with all manner of subtext, some beautiful prose, unforgettable characters and imagery, and an economy which only Howard could provide.
While "The Phoenix on the Sword" is a fine tale, and firmly establishes Conan as a distinct personality from Kull, the fact remains that much of the story is carried over from "By This Axe, I Rule!": it may be the first Conan story Howard published, but it isn't entirely the first Conan story Howard wrote. At least, it isn't the first story to be entirely written and conceived to be a Conan story. "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" is, and it is in this story that we find more to distinguish Atlantean from Cimmerian, Hyborian from Thurian, and the themes of the Kull stories from the themes of the Conan series.
Howard must have thought quite highly of the tale, for not only did he subtly rewrite it and publish it in the amateur press magazine Fantasy Fan as "Gods of the North" - Amra of Akbitana is clearly just Conan with zero alterations save his name - but he even obliquely referred to it in the letter to P.S. Miller:
There was the space of about a year between Vanarium and his entrance into the thief-city of Zamora. During this time he returned to the northern territories of his tribe, and made his first journey beyond the boundaries of Cimmeria. This, strange to say, was north instead of south. Why or how, I am not certain, but he spent some months among a tribe of the Æsir, fighting with the Vanir and the Hyperboreans, and developing a hate for the latter which lasted all his life and later affected his policies as king of Aquilonia.
And, sure enough, Howard wrote a story where Conan had spent time among a tribe of Æsir, and fought with the Vanir. Howard did not make any similar references to "The God in the Bowl" or "The Black Stranger," which also failed to sell, or "The Vale of Lost Women," which Howard probably didn't even send out. Yet here are two occasions where Howard, who rarely - if ever - talked about unpublished Conan stories even in personal correspondence with fellow writers Lovecraft, Smith, Preece, Price and Derleth, making reference to a Conan yarn not known to the public at the time.
And yet, Farnsworth Wright rejected it:
Dear Mr. Howard: I am returning 'The Frost Giant's Daughter' in a separate envelope, as I do not much care for it.
- Farnsworth Wright, letter to Robert E. Howard, 10th March, 1932
As far as I'm aware, no further elaboration was given on exactly why Wright did not care for it. Some have suggested that Wright may have found the conclusion distasteful, for obvious reasons. I'd be willing to accept that - if Wright didn't happily publish "The Devil in Iron," which had an even more unpleasant finale, or "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula," which was filled with material far more objectionable, or any number of Weird Tales submissions which depicted horrendous treatment of women. My guess is that there really isn't much more to it than what he said: Wright just didn't like it. It's fairly short, a lot of the subtext could be lost on a brief scan (one can't expect an editor to pore over every story he receives), and perhaps he just didn't see the big deal. There's no accounting for taste, and "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" just might not have been conducive to Wright's palate.
All the same, Howard made sure via Fantasy Fan that the story found a small audience in slightly altered form - he could spare a nine page tale - and a heavily rewritten version of the tale was published in the Gnome Press editions. It wasn't until 1976 that the story was published as originally written, and 1989 in an accessible collection.*
Lean on your sword, red-bearded lord, and watch your victims crawl;
Under your feet they weakly beat the dust with their dying hands.
The red smokes roll from the serf's roof-pole and the chieftain's shattered hall?
But there are fires in the heather and a whetting of hungry brands.
The peaked prows loom like clouds of doom along each broken port;
The monks lie still on the heathered hill among the fallen stones.
Over the land like a god you stand, our maidens howl for your sport?
But kites await in the heather to tear the flesh from your bones.
Clouds and smoke for a broken folk, a lash for the bended back?
Thus you roared when your crimson sword blotted the moon on high,
But sea breaks and the world shakes to the battle's flying wrack,
And Death booms out of the heather to nail you in the sky.
- "A Song Before Clontarf," Robert E. Howard
Looking to the other stories Howard wrote prior to "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" can give some clues to Howard's creative mindset. Two which are of particular interest to me are "The Grey God Passes" (rejected by Weird Tales in December 1931) and "The Cairn on the Headland" (sold to Strange Tales in January 1932) - both written (in the former's case, re-written from "Spears of Clontarf," written in late 1931) a matter of months, perhaps even weeks, before Howard wrote "The Frost-Giant's Daughter." Both stories feature some of Howard's most in-depth exploration of Nordic mythology, and many tropes which we'd find in Ymir can also be found in Howard's depiction of Odin.
"The Grey God Passes" is a fantastical retelling of the Battle of Clontarf, the final battle of the legendary Brian Boru, and one of the events which brought the Viking Age to a close. However, just like Irish chroniclers before him, Howard imbued the story with supernatural elements, in the form of the Grey Wanderer and the Tuatha de Danaan. The tale is one of Howard's most epic stories, for it features nothing less than a battle for the soul of humanity - the Old Pagan ways, the enthralled heathens who make bloody sacrifice to a grim monstrous god, and the New Christian ideals. Obviously the complexities of pagan and Christian interaction are more complex in history and actuality, but "The Grey God Passes" is so rooted in myth that it seems almost besides the point.**
Fritz Leiber once wrote of this story:
"The Grey God Passes" registers Howard's debt to Celtic and Norse myth and to its master-legend of Ragnarok - the twilight of the gods - wherein not only the heroes but there gods also go down in everlasting defeat. In this tale the Conan prototype is Conn, a fugitive Celtic slave of the Vikings, a grim man wearing a loincloth and the copper collar of a serf, but with a sword in his hand. Outwardly the tale celebrates a great defeat of the Vikings and their grey god Odin in Ireland, foreshadowing their ultimate expulsion from the island. There are "kerns and gallaglachs" in the fight -- the "kerns and gallowglasses" of Shakespeare's MacBeth. With sure instinct Howard depicts Odin not as a benign all-father but as chief of a death cult, leading the wild hunt of his valkyries through the sky and able to descend and take part in the battle himself, a god whose priests tear the pulsing heart from the living sacrifice; here we see Howard adding in an Aztec element.
But most of the Celtic heroes perish, too, as foretold by the Cassandra-like Elfwoman Eevin. It is a victory for Christ, but Howard revealingly sets it down as one for "the new gods and their children" -- as if the Trinity were a pantheon. Black Turlogh observes with an ominous significance,"We too are passing, though we have conquered. The days of the twilight come on amain... What are we all, too, but ghosts waning into the night?" This fading of victory into gloom and despair is characteristic of Howard's underlying melancholy.
This depiction of Norse mythological figures as savage, brutal deities nourished by the still-beating hearts of living sacrifices is carried on into "The Cairn on the Headland." As with "The Grey God Passes," "Cairn" has a façade of one genre (in this case, Lovecraftian horror as opposed to historical fantasy) while being even more. Myth-making - or, rather, myth-destroying. "The Cairn on the Headland" is Lovecraftian in scope, but it has many of the same cues as "Grey God." Combined with several other stories, I feel these compose a miniature cycle of Howard tales centred around the idea of Norse mythological figures given the Lovecraftian Horror treatment, which I'll discuss in due course.
Further Reading
Patrice Louinet, "Hyborian Genesis,"The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
Paul Herman, The Neverending Hunt
Mark Finn, "Conan the Commercial: Seeking Robert E. Howard in His Most Famous Creation"
Deuce Richardson, "From Venarium to Ymir's Mountains"
Keith Taylor, "Black Turlogh O'Brien in England, Part One"
"The Grey God Passes" discussion at the Robert E. Howard Forums
*Thanks to Tex for clarification.
**A discussion of the religious element in "The Grey God Passes" is far outside the bounds of this post, but my thoughts are as follows:
Given Howard's criticism of Christianity in "The Temple of Abomination," one might wonder why he's in Christianity's corner in The Grey God Passes, but it isn't as simple as that: Howard isn't so much supporting the Irish for their Christianity as he is supporting the enemies of superstition and domination by evil forces, and the idea of man choosing his own destiny. The Old Gods were terrible beings which reigned over humanity using fear and cruelty. Set, Ymir, Ahriman, Thog, and Odin were all abominations - some of which may have been one and the same - which had a very real affect on humanity. They came to earth, demanded worship and bloody sacrifice, and the terrified people venerated them out of fear of retribution. Christianity was different: the God of Christianity did not appear and smite his foes with bloody abandon, or demand human sacrifice. Yet somehow, the Irish abandoned the worship of Crom and the Dagda and the Morrigan to worship this new religion that promoted meekness and kindness and forgiveness.
I think choice is the key element here. The Irish chose Christianity, Odin imposed his will on the Norse. Thus this is not merely a battle between religions, but a battle of destiny: between man's resignation to fate, and his choice to master it. For all Christianity's faults, it cannot be argued that mere evangelism and exposure has proven extremely potent, no less dramatically illustrated than Ireland, where a few monks managed to convert a nation of fierce and dangerous warriors. Even so, one has to remember that when it's a battle between Celts and Norsemen, Howard's always backing the Celts, so the fact that they were Christian at this point is secondary to the fact they were Irishmen.


text:
Folks, this is a HUGE flashing neon sign saying, "LOOK OVER HERE!!!"
They are working TOO hard to make this case look interesting.
Let us be honest; unless you are personally willing to kick down the door of OUR White House, fight your way past the SS, and evict Obama, then any discussions about his eligibility are a pointless waste of time, because if the US Government were willing or able to do anything about it, they would have done so long before now.
So, this feels to me like the "No plane at Pentagon", and "Apollo Landings were faked" distractions; planted and intended to trick the bloggers into wasting their time rather than to stay focused on the real issues of preventing a new world war and putting the blame for the economic melt-down where it rightly belongs.


text:
Yes, you can "pull" a print right on the tag. The tag is cardstock I die cut.
The background is created with lavender paint and a dirty brayer with green. Dirty brayers make wonderful experiments for backgrounds! Also a stencil was laid on the press after that (half way on tag) and a periwinkle paint brayered onto it, leaving color and the stencil background as the negative without the periwinkle color.
The eggplant was made on a separate Gel Press pull using a stamp. Purple was squirted in one spot and green on top. The eggplant stamp was also mono printed with another stamp with grape ink. Then I pressed it into the plate and viola', the double pattern revealed! Cut out the eggplant and adhered to tag.
I will be doing slide shows in the future, then on to video to give you the step by step visuals to this and many other tutorials!
Weird ideas...some work and some come out with exciting results!!!
Cre8tiveLea Yours -


text:
These guys might have missed the joke, but thankfully they are dead. The grotesquely ugly face on the left belongs to William F. Buckley, the now beloved father of the conservative movement. To his right, but only slightly, is Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. In 1957, Buckley wrote this gem in his magazine.
The central question that emerges . . . is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes — the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists.
Big words hiding small ideas. Translated into English: We hate niggers because niggers are bad.
Buckley also printed an article by Russell in the same year. Here are some highlights from that.
As you know… there are some communities and some states where the Negro's voting potential is very great.
We wish at all costs to avoid a repetition of the Reconstruction period when newly freed slaves made the laws and undertook their enforcement. We feel even more strongly about miscegenation or racial amalgamation. The experience of other countries and civilizations has demonstrated that the separation of the races biologically is highly preferable to amalgamation.
I know of nothing in human history that would lead us to conclude that miscegenation is desirable.
Nothing in human history. Wow, those are powerful words. Why would anyone think that today's conservatives still hold these pinheaded ideas spoken by their beloved forefathers?
Let's end the ugliness section of this post, shall we? Let's try to answer the question: is miscengenation desirable? Let's look at a few examples and decide for ourselves.
What red-blooded American male would want to gaze upon the inferior half-breed hinder of Mariah Carey?
I'll answer the question later, hypothetical question asker, because right now I'm occupied looking at this girl's butt.
What evil would result if we let Mexicans take our white women?
Jessica Alba would happen. She is born after the Supreme Court decided states can't ban marriage between Mexican-Americans and "whites".
Nice going, Supreme Court.
Searching the internets, I can't find any recent laws in the U.K. against mixed race marriages, but polls taken show British views on the races are no more advanced than the views in the U.S., and may be a little behind ours. Still, they never made a law that would have prevented a man of Indian origin and a Swiss woman from marrying, so that means they did not try to prevent the happy day that Indira Varma came to earth.
You have the undying thanks of Matty Boy. I also think there's a monkey around here who'd like to say...
No! Bad monkey! Get back! Go get your own! Go stalk Salma Hayek! I called dibs!
In conclusion, I'd like to remind conservatives that it is a bad idea to codify into law the stupid prejudices of the most backward members of our society.
I don't know, hypothetical. It's probably just a reaction to something the president elect said.


text:
I've been sitting here for 15 minutes, fingers poised over the keyboard in hopes that inspiration will fill my sails. No such luck; they hang heavy and slack, mildewed, cobwebbed, a few hairy holes appearing here and there. So, I thought I would post one of my shots for the patina loving V-8 owners out there.
To share a comment, click: Along For The Ride Image Works
Sunday, January 26, 2014
One of those days...
9 comments:
- AnonymousJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:40 AM
Beautiful x 8ReplyDelete
Thank you!ReplyDelete
Is that a GM version? It is not the Ford version I remember.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the nice shot.
Hi Jim, I took this about two years ago...I just don't remember.Delete
- AnonymousJanuary 27, 2014 at 9:47 PM
I can sit here and stare at the beauty of the design, remembering things as they were. Thanks John!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you!Delete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
- Replies
Thanks Bill!Delete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
If you're an Android user and feel like you might be missing out when it comes to using Apple's AirPlay feature to stream your music to another device then you're in luck. Turns out the popular App DoubleTwist, which allows you to sync and play your iTunes media on your Android device now incorporates a bit of the AirPlay magic.
While the DoubleTwist App is free you do need to purchase the $4.99 AirSync add on to make this all work, but if you're one of those that wants to stream your media around your house, the $4.99 is probably worth it. There's also support for Sonos systems, but that's still listed as in Beta. And of course the AirSync add on also allows you to sync wirelessly between your device and your library.
Via Engadget


text:
Status: Closed
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
195160attr:bar195251attr:barrestaurant mexicanrestaurants
Be the first NJ.com user to add photos or videos of Jose Tejas
Best Food and ambience Hands Down. It is a personal favorite with me and my wife. Love their margaritas (Gold ones On the Rocks) while waiting for the buzzer to BUZZZZ....., Oh yeaah.. that will be for an hour any day...But who cares... and if you can grab the seats by the pub table and order the fries , your wait can be really really a good one.
This review is hidden. View review


text:
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Can somebody else please just tell me what to do?
See, I have the world's best boss.* And his birthday is Thursday. And he is one of those people that buys himself everything that he needs. But wine! He always likes having wine. And the Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati has a great selection. (And um, I could maybe also pick up some wine for me. And cheese. And $100 worth of other random things from the international section. Jungle Jim's is awesome and bad for my wallet.)
I am trying to justify this. I don't think it's working.
Truthfully, I probably don't have time. School has started back up again so I am back to coaching. I took a pay cut this year so we could hire another part time coach. Of course, the thinking was that I might be pregnant and want a lighter schedule. Instead, I am not pregnant and it turns out that my coaching load has not lightened very much. Basically, I am working two less hours a week for a $1500 pay cut. Crap. This does mean that I am going to try and be better about saying no. Last year I got a lot of begging from the students to come in extra and stay later, etc. But no more! (I say now, even though I already broke one pledge to not coach the student who makes me want to go all reverse Latrell Sprewell on him. He also happens to be a non traditional student who recently started trying to have a baby with his wife despite his incredible lack of maturity. I do not see this ending well.)
I was kind of hoping y'all would just vote on the options or something in my last post. I am not good at making decisions about my life and neither is A. (We tried to go to a political fundraiser dinner not long ago and the traffic was so bad that we said fuck it and drove away. Since we were dressed up and hungry we wanted to go to a restaurant...but it took us an hour of driving around and discussing it before we decided on one. A full hour. There are really not that many non-chain restaurants in Indy.) If this is how we deal with restaurant choices we are fucked when it comes to deciding whether to do another round of IVF. I am still looking at adoption stuff. And embryo donation. And considering what I can do to optimize my IVF chances...
I need somebody else to play Choose Your Own Adventure with my life because I apparently can't chose which page I want to be on.
* About a week after we failed IVF I was driving my boss to pick up his car from the shop and he asked if the IVF worked. When I told him it didn't he said if we decided to try again he'd pitch in five grand. I would never take it, but I love that he offered .Additionally, he keeps the work fridge stocked with beer, lets me bring my dog to work and reiterated that if I do have a kid we'll put a nursery in the office. Best. Boss. Ever.
16 comments:
Can I have your boss? He sounds fantastic!ReplyDelete
Wow - yes, Best.Boss.Ever!! I want one too!!ReplyDelete
I'll tell you what to do. Get back on that damn horse and try again! The hardest part is over. When my first IVF didn't work I thought I was gonna die. But I didn't. You see, I'm too tough to die. Very much like you. So don't be too proud and take help (and money) when offered from your parents or boss. It's not like you are going to smoke crack with it is it are you? You are trying to make a family!!! You will only regret not doing it. If you need your butt kicked I'll do it or a hand to hold. But get on with it! And take care. These days are very hard. I do understand. Almamay IVF Vet (15 IVFs, 7 IUIs)ReplyDelete
I should have added that we have 1 living boy (IVF number 11) who was worth ALL the heartbreak. You will never regret trying your best.ReplyDelete
Get that man some wine. Good Lord.ReplyDelete
I think I agree with the above - if it were me, I would do IVF until you knew for sure you couldn't do it anymore, and you felt totally 'done'.
And if you feel like it's enough - then it's ENOUGH. Onto adoption we go.
I agree that you have the best boss. Also, this is the third time this week I have had a verbal or internet discussion about the awesomeness of Jungle Jim's, which you should obviously take as a sign that you were meant to go there...ReplyDelete
Oh, and regarding your last post, I meant to tell you that I also live in the Indy area, and my cousin's adopted a child from a local agency. I can get you in contact with them if you want to ask them some questions.
Your boss sounds amazing!!! I would totally get him that wine (and some tasty cheese for you!!!).ReplyDelete
Gah!!! Smartphone +blogger ate my novel (aka comment)ReplyDelete
To sum up- i wish i could tell you what to do. But I would have taken even more money and shot myself with tons of drugs if i had to do ivf as many times as financially possible. Adoption is amazing and a road the hub and I initially thought we'd take, but after my kidney loss a biological connection became important. But that's me. Take your time- you still have some. Think on it. Imagine all scenarios and make your decision. Then think on that a week- if your gut says no, think some more. You guys will do what's right for you.
And your boss sounds awesome & I would skip lunch and get some wine! :-)
I hate it when I read a post and then get distracted and forget to respond!ReplyDelete
Life should come with a manual that is custom made for each of us!
We have spent an hour before (actually probably several times, but we've been together since 1992!)searching for or deciding over which restaurant to go to.
We JUST spent a few weeks arguing over which duvet/comforter thingie to buy!
I don't know what to say... you will do what is right for you. I think LOTS of talking about it would be a smart thing! And maybe some booze...
IVF eventually worked for us but you know it took us 2 failed cycles, 3 fresh, 1 frozen, and 3 miscarriages to get us where we are. It was a bitch, but it was worth it. I'm pretty sure we'd have been good with adoption also, but the whole process (invasiveness) intimidated the hell out of me. Which is kind of funny because, hello? wasn't IVF invasive? yep.
Let us know how you're getting along!
- AnonymousAugust 22, 2012 at 11:56 AM
I definitely think you should try IVF again. It's crazy expensive and very hard physically and emotionally, BUT it is worth a second shot. That's my vote. Then you can decide to move on from there to other options without looking back if it doesn't work.ReplyDelete
I know I keep asking, but if you've answered, I've missed it. Did you have your WTF appointment with the RE yet? Are there things they'd tweak for next time if you did another round of IVF? Do they have a better sense of things now? I think you need that info before you decide anything.ReplyDelete
And also, you need more wine. Wine is definitely necessary for decisionmaking.
Can you just move to VA so we can talk over a drink? :)ReplyDelete
I should have posted before organization pictures but it would have been ridiculously embarrassing. Picture piles of clothes on my dresser because I can't be bothered to shove them in a drawer and literally a closet hat I'd piled halfway full. It was chaos at it's finest.
So really, I'm just giddy about my stuff all making sense
and being functional. We will see how long that lasts!
Definitely best boss ever!!!!!!!ReplyDelete
Unsung Lullabies and Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother are two books that helped me a LOT
Can I come work for your boss too?! SO cool of him on many levels!ReplyDelete
Wish I could give you the magic answers - I would say charge forward with another IVF, but I know how daunting it can be. Thinking of you!!
Hope you are OK. It takes some time to recover from the first knock in the teeth after a BFN. Hang in there. xxxReplyDelete
World's Most Popular Cars, Hot Speed Cars, Hot Cars with Hot Girls, Cars Latest Pictures with all info, Latest updates Cars Models and Company Cars, Strange Vehicles, Concept Cars, Top 10 Expensive Cars in the World.ReplyDelete
Visit this Link for More Strange Vehicles and Cars with Latest info and Pictures


text:
"The universality of Hitler's knowledge may surprise or displease those unaware of it, but it is nonetheless a historical fact: Hitler was one of the most cultivated men of this century. Many times more so than Churchill... or than Roosevelt; or Eisenhower, who never got beyond detective novels."
- General Leon Degrelle
Adolf and the "Black Box"
The "black box" or "cockpit recorder" is a recorder used in an aeroplane to determine the cause of a crash, so that faults can be eliminated and increase air safety.
"it was in fact Hitler who first hit on the idea of installing a Black Box in planes: After the fatal Heinkel crash of Fritz Todt, Hitler's munitions minister, in February 1942, Field Marshal Erhard Milch told his staff at a meeting recorded by stenographers that the Führer had asked him if all important planes could have voice recorders installed in the cockpit so that the cause of such mystery crashes could be determined."
- British Historian, David Irving
Adolf conceived the "cockpit recorder" after a friend died in an air crash. He ordered that important aircraft should be fitted with a magnetic-wire recording device so that the cause of a crash could be determined.
Later magnetic tape would be used for this purpose. The first ever sound recording on magnetic tape is of a speech by Adolf Hitler.
David Warren of Australia is normally credited with the invention of the cockpit recorder in 1954. In fact Warren deserves great credit because he never knew that Adolf Hitler had already conceived this device twelve years before. Adolf Hitler's recorder saw use in the German Air Force, but was lost after Germany's defeat
Adolf and the Olympic Games
In 1936 the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, Germany.
Adolf authorized the use of several revolutionary new ideas for the games that are still used today.
The last relay-runner enters the stadium at the LustGarten in Berlin,
to light the Olympic Flame and start the 11th Summer Olympic Games.
A new opening ceremony began two weeks before the 1936 games. At noon on July 20 a Greek "high priestess" and fourteen girls wearing classical robes gathered in the ancient Stadium of Olympia, and used parabolic mirrors to focus the sun's rays on a wand until it burst into flame. A torch was kindled and a chant sounded: "Oh fire, lit in an ancient and sacred place, begin your race". Then one of Pindar's Pythian odes was sung to ancient instruments. After that the Olympic flame was carried by 3,075 relay runners all the way from Greece, passed from torch to torch until it finally lit a huge brazier in the Berlin stadium where huge crowds, and the German Chancellor cheered the official opening of the games. This beautiful and emotional Nazi-created ceremony is still used today, and has become the most popular of any of the Olympic events.
The 1936 Olympics were the first to be broadcast on television. Twenty-five large screens were displayed in Berlin, allowing people to see the Games for free.


text:
Let the games begin! For the NCAA, those are the sweetest 4 words that can be uttered. After a tumultuous off-season off scandals, bribes, chicanery, payoffs, controversy and general lunacy, the on-field action will finally take centre stage. So no talk here about the problems that Ohio State, Miami, North Carolina, Auburn, Oregon and LSU are going through. (Well just a little because it will affect the on-field product)
Now I won't preview every single Division 1-A side. It would take me 6 months for that and by then, the bowl season would be in full effect. And no I won't make bowl projections either. At least not the smaller to mid-sized bowls. I will project a top 25 with a National Champion. Which I'll be wrong about because my predictions are never right. But its fun to do so here it goes.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide: First things first. The last 5 National Champions have come from the SEC, so it makes sense to pick the best team from the SEC to win the National Championship. Why Alabama? First, they may have the best coach in the nation in Nick Saban. A master recruiter, motivator, and strategist, Saban always gets the best from his players. Secondly they have the best defence in the nation and defence wins championships. Linebackers Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower are studs who will terrorize offences. Thirdly they do a great job replacing the skill set. RB Mark Ingram and WR Julio Jones are both in the NFL now but Junior RB Trent Richardson could be All-American this year and WRs Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks are solid players. Finally the schedule. Their toughest game is against LSU but its in Tuscaloosa. Roll Tide to the National Title.
2. Oklahoma Sooners: Just how mad are the Sooners? Well let's see here. With all the talk about Texas A&M going to the SEC, long time rivals Nebraska moving to the Big 10 and hated Texas getting their own TV network, the Sooners feel left out. But they have the best team in the depleted Big 12 and they should run the table to the National Title game. QB Landry Jones still has top WR Ryan Broyles to throw to. While LB Corey Nelson is already developing into one of the nation's best defenders, and he's only a sophomore. Coach Bob Stoops knows how to win in the regular season and I can see the Sooners in New Orleans in January.
3. LSU Tigers: This pick is tricky. First the off-field issues surrounding QB Jordan Jefferson and two others who were involved in this bar fight recently. How this will affect the Bayou Bengals long-term will go a long way in determining what type of season they will have. Don't get me wrong this is a good football team. WR Russell Shepherd is a scary deep threat and the defence is still ferocious even though CB Patrick Peterson is applying his trade in the NFL now. But can coach Les Miles aka The Mad Hatter squeeze an SEC title from all this controversy? We won't know until the winter.
4. Stanford Cardinal: It begins and ends with Andrew Luck. The consensus first overall pick in next year's NFL draft, and Heisman Trophy favourite, is the main reason why Stanford is highly thought of. Luck is a tremendous talent who has all the skills that a quarterback needs. They also have a huge break in the schedule has high-powered Oregon will visit Stanford Stadium this year, thus avoiding a trip to Eugene for Stanford. Luck carries them to a Pac 10 title and a Rose Bowl berth.
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers: New conference, new rivals, same defence. At least the people in Lincoln hope so. The blackshirts are back and they still possess a punch. Granted they don't have Ndamukong Suh anymore but this defence is still a beast. DT Jared Crick is being compared to Suh and if he lives up to that comparison, he'll be the best DT in the country. The big question is can QB Taylor Martinez recover from nagging toe and ankle injuries? If so then expect Nebraska to represent the Big 10 in Pasadena in their first season in the Big 10.
6. Florida State Seminoles: It's been a while since expectations were this high in Tallahassee. But with coach Jimbo Fisher changing the culture, the Seminoles are ready to make a run at the BCS. They're not quite ready for a National Title, but should win the ACC. EJ Manuel replaces the departed Christian Ponder at quarterback and must continue the offence with the same efficiency as Ponder did last season. Manuel is helped with a three-headed running back attack consisting of Chris Thompson, Jermaine Thomas, and Ty Jones. With a solid defence and an excellent running game the Seminoles should play in the Orange Bowl this year.
7. Boise State Broncos: The little school that could. They never seem to go away this Boise State side. Sure they get ignored for having a weak schedule or they don't play in a BCS power conference, (they should be in the Big 12 but I digress) but the Broncos are getting more respect. An opening week encounter against Georgia in Atlanta should quell the soft schedule critics, unless they lose of course. But once again Boise State will do enough to be in the National Championship picture, the flaw in the ointment that they are every year.
8. Oregon Ducks: Team Nike were oh so close to winning the National Championship last year. A heartbreaking loss to Auburn in the National Championship games broke the hearts of the people in the Pacific Northwest. But the Ducks are still going to be tough. QB Darron Thomas returns for his Junior season and his showing improvement every season. While RB LaMichael James is a Heisman candidate and a potential first round NFL draft pick. However a young offensive line, a defence with question marks, scandal surrounding James and an agent, plus a schedule that has the Ducks traveling to Stanford, Washington and a neutral site opener against LSU is too much to overcome for these Ducks to win that elusive National title.
9. Texas A&M Aggies: Its beginning to look like College Station is the new home of college football in The Lone Star State. With Texas Tech going through turmoil and Texas falling back, the Aggies are the team in football mad Texas. Coach Mike Sherman has done a splendid job turning around this once moribund program and made them winners. QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray and WR Jeff Fuller lead the offensive attack for the Aggies. If the defence can stop the opposition, the Aggies could surprise in the Big 12.
10. Virginia Tech Hokies: One thing you can count on from coach Frank Beamer's squad. They will have terrific special teams. But the Hokies need more than that. They do have special athletes on offence. QB Logan Thomas is being compared to Cam Newton while RB David Wilson is an All-American track star. Together these two will lead a Hokies attack that has plenty of potential but little experience. However the defence wasn't very good last year and must improve significantly in order for the Hokies to challenge for the ACC title. Not this year.
11. Oklahoma State Cowboys: There is plenty of excitement in Stillwater these days. No Barry Sanders isn't coming back. Neither is Jimmy Johnson to coach the team. But the Cowboys think they have a team that can challenge state-rival Oklahoma in the Big 12. QB Brandon Weeden was all the Big 12 first team QB and scouts are starting to take notice. WR Justin Blackmon is a deep threat and could be playing on Sundays in 2012. However the defence is young and vulnerable. They have to play above expectations in order for the Cowboys to be successful. With the Sooners coming to Stillwater on December 3, this season could be very memorable for Oklahoma State.
12. Georgia Bulldogs: This is a make or break year for head coach Mark Richt. While his players love him, the alumni and media have been calling for Richt's dismissal after a couple of mediocre seasons. The Dawgs have yet to replace Matthew Stafford at QB but they think they have a stud RB in freshman Isaiah Crowell. Georgia has a huge test right off the bat when they face Boise State at the Georgia Dome. A win can go a long way in restoring the lore of Georgia football. I say this team will be the surprise team in the SEC.
13. Wisconsin Badgers: This team is old-school. Run first power offence. A classic Big 10 team. The offence is led by the duo of Montee Ball and James White. The defence however will have to improve this year if the Badgers want to go to Pasadena. With Nebraska now in the Big 10 that will be easier said than done. Plus with road trips to East Lansing and Columbus on the itinerary the Badgers will be hard pressed to win the conference.
14. Arkansas Razorbacks: Another team that came oh so close last season. A heartbreaking loss to Alabama followed by a blowout loss to Auburn ended the Hogs National Championship dreams. With Ryan Mallet in the NFL, Arkansas will be hard pressed to do the same this year in the SEC. Can Tyler Wilson replace Mallet at QB? Can Dennis Johnson adjust to being an every down back? Can WR Greg Childs return to form following a knee injury which cut short his 2010 season? Can the Hogs overcome road games in Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge? Too many questions for the Hogs to win the SEC.
15. TCU Horned Frogs: What a season it was for TCU last year. With now raised expectations, the Horned Frogs look to duplicate last year when they went undefeated and knocked off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. It won't be easy. QB Andy Dalton is gone to the NFL and the Frogs will have to find a replacement fast. RB Ed Wesley and WR Josh Boyce are still productive weapons on offence but I don't see TCU in a BCS bowl this season.
16. South Carolina Gamecocks: No surprise that head coach Steve Spurrier is confident in his team's chances. Confidence is something Spurrier has never lacked. But will it translate on the field? Expectations are high in Columbia but the SEC is a minefield and many strange things happen. Road trips to Athens and Fayetteville will be tough tests for the Gamecocks. RB Marcus Lattimore is a star even though he's just a sophomore but uncertainty at quarterback will set South Carolina back this season.
17. Florida Gators: Now that Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow are gone the Gators can focus on football for a change. New coach Will Muschamp is a defensive guru and should improve the Gators D. The Gators had a very disappointing season last year and it may take them a couple of years before they contend for a National Title. But Muschamp is a good hire and they will be an improved team this year. Sharrif Floyd is a rising star at DT and will fit into Muschamp's system perfectly. A tough schedule with trips to Auburn, Baton Rouge and Columbia will hurt the win-loss record, but should provide valuable experience to the young Gators.
18. Michigan State Spartans: Its been a while since the Spartans won 11 games in a season…until last year. Yes Michigan State won 11 games last year and they thought they had arrived as a National power. However they were destroyed 49-7 by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl and now questions are being asked. Was last year a fluke? QB Kirk Cousins will lead the offence again while RB Edwin Baker had an outstanding year in 2010. The schedule is tough. Trips to South Bend, Columbus and Lincoln will definitely test the Spartans' mettle.
19. Auburn Tigers: The defending National Champions. But no more Cam Newton. Yes he's gone but the Tigers are still on the prowl. But the scandal involving Newton and his father will have an effect on Auburn. Add to that road games at Fayetteville, Baton Rouge, and Athens will also pose a problem for Auburn. They won't repeat but they will be tough.
20. Ohio State Buckeyes: Scandal. That's the first word that comes to mind when I hear about Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressell are both gone. But the dark cloud that hangs over Columbus remains. Yes this is still a good football team. John Simon is a force on the defensive front and centre Michael Brewster is one of the best offensive linemen in the country. But the Buckeyes and their scandals will struggle to remain in the Top 25 throughout the season.
21. West Virginia Mountaineers: Pass, pass and when all else fails pass again. That will be the theme for West Virginia this year. QB Geno Smith will be calling WR Tavon Austin's number on many occasions. Austin is a potential All-American this season. If Smith can adjust to the spread offence, the Mountaineers should win the very weak Big East.
22. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: While I don't see them as National Championship threats, the Irish are headed in the right direction. Coach Brian Kelly has breathed life into the program and has the players believing. They ended a 10 year losing streak against USC last season and the Irish hope to build off that. The defence is the strength of the team led by enormous NT Louis Nix III and LB Manti Te'o. The Irish could sneak into a BCS bowl game this year. But the offence may not be good enough to reach that lofty goal.
23. Arizona State Sun Devils: A surprise team last year that lost some real heartbreakers, the Sun Devils are expected to contend for the Pac 12 title. Led by RB Cameron Marshall, the offence should be a well-oiled machine. This is an experienced team with 17 starters returning so they won't be an easy team to beat. But treks to Eugene and Pasadena could make the road to the Rose Bowl treacherous.
24. Penn State Nittany Lions: Joe Paterno keeps on ticking. The 84-year-old continues to man the sidelines at State College and shows no signs of slowing down. And once again he will field a solid team. JoePa loves linebackers and he has another good one in Michael Mauti. Despite battling injuries, Mauti still recorded 67 tackles and should lead the defence this year. Penn State probably doesn't have enough offence to win the Big 10, but they will be formidable opposition for anyone who crosses their path.
25. Utah Utes: Newcomers to the Pac 12 this season, Utah hopes that playing in a BCS conference will give them more respect and credibility to pollsters and voters. However it also poses challenges. Treks to USC , Tucson, plus a cross-country flight to Pittsburgh will be difficult for the Utes. QB Jordan Wynn will lead the offence while DT Star Lotulelei and LB Matt Martinez will lead an improved Utes defence. They will adjust and they do avoid Stanford and Oregon on the schedule. But the Utes won't win the Pac 12 this season and will fight to stay ranked all year.
Alabama vs. Oklahoma is my pick for the National Championship. The Tide will roll to the title!