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Local dimming on TVs
Direct-lit, edge-lit, full-array
Local dimming is a feature on LED TVs that dims the backlight behind parts of the screen that are displaying black. This makes blacks appear deeper and darker on those parts of the screen, which can be a big bonus for people who watch videos with darker scenes, like movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, the feature can also introduce a few issues to the picture.
To test local dimming, we play a test video on the TVs to see their local dimming capability in action. We then subjectively evaluate the TVs based on whether the feature improves picture quality.
Test Results
When it matters
Local dimming is meant to increase contrast by making black look deeper. Local dimming functionality will, therefore, make the most difference when watching a dark scene in a dark room. Lights being on in the room would lead the TV to reflect that light, which means you won't really see the benefit of local dimming in a bright room.
Local dimming can be of noticeable benefit to picture quality, but it can also lead to blacks losing detail, or light blooming off of bright objects and into darker portions of the screen. If local dimming is a feature that sounds appealing, you should pay close attention to the results of this test, just to make sure you get a TV that does this feature well.
Our tests
Local dimming video
Our local dimming video represents how well the backlight can adjust when dimming a moving image involving bright and dark elements. For the purposes of our video, we always show the maximum local dimming setting in this video, but we test all the different options and will mention which mode we consider the best to use, and why.
This test is meant to show a couple of things:
- Number and size of dimming zones: With local dimming, different groupings of LEDs – called zones – are dimmed or brightened at the same time. With many small zones, it's easier to illuminate just the parts of the image that are supposed to be brighter, with little light bleeding into darker portions. Fewer, larger zones, on the other hand, will dim and brighten big portions of the image, often leading things that should be dark to look lighter. By looking at how much space is brightened around the white dot at any given time, you should be able to get an idea of the size and number of zones.
- Responsiveness: Local dimming is not perfectly synchronized with the movement of bright objects on a dark background. By looking at how much lag there is between the repositioning of the dot and the brightening/dimming of the backlights, you can get an idea of how responsive the TV's local dimming is.
In this test, we play the above video on a TV while the local dimming feature is enabled, and then record how the TV plays the video. The backlight setting is also adjusted to have a 100 cd/m2 white on a checkboard pattern when local dimming is enabled.
Our backlight test verifies the configuration of the TV's backlight. Direct backlighting (sometimes referred to as Full-array) means there are LEDs placed all over behind a TV's LCD panel. Edge-lit TVs only have LEDs along the sides of the screen (usually two opposing sides), and these LEDs are responsible for lighting the entire screen. They perform quite differently for local dimming, so this result is quite important.
Direct-lit TVs just need to analyze the video, figure out where the spots are that need to be dimmed, and then dim the LEDs that are directly behind that part of the screen. This makes them better at only dimming dark portions of an image and brightening only the parts that should be lighter. Edge-lit TVs can't just dim LEDs located behind the relevant parts of the screen (they aren't there), and so edge-lit local dimming tends to be much less precise. Using local dimming on this kind of TV will usually lead to either horizontal or vertical bands of the screen becoming dimmer, corresponding to the locations of the LEDs on the edges. In short, if you want decent local dimming, get a direct-lit TV and not one that is edge-lit.
Our local dimming score is based on the subjective impression we get from enabling dimming on a TV. We consider performance with the video test from above, but also how well the TV's dimming performs with regular video and still images.
We check the following:
- Sizes of the zones: The smaller, the better.
- Responsiveness: There is a trade-off here. Local dimming that responds too quickly to movement will make blooming more apparent, but a TV that is too slow will darken bright objects that are in motion.
- Aggressiveness: Another trade-off here. A TV that turns off the backlight as soon as something is dark will lose detail in the surrounding shadows (and similarly, a TV that turns the backlight on to the max for bright objects will create too much blooming). At the opposite end of the spectrum, local dimming that is too weak won't darken the blacks enough to make a noticeable difference.
Because of these trade-offs, how 'good' any individual local dimming feature comes down to personal preference. You shouldn't only look at our score to determine whether you will like the local dimming on a given TV. Ideally, a TV will offer a few settings options for you to choose whatever compromise you like.
A perfect score would go to a TV that can display very bright highlights next to deep blacks, without any blooming. This is impossible for an LED TV but is something all OLED TVs can do.
Additional information
Why local dimming exists
The contrast of LCD and LED TVs has been topped-out at 5000:1 for over 10 years, so even now, blacks on LED TVs are very dark gray, at best. This is because LCD and LED models are backlit, meaning they rely on a light behind the panel to make the picture visible, and the LCD layer is not able to prevent all light from escaping out of the screen. This combination means black still gets illuminated a bit and so has a brightness. This reduces contrast.
In an attempt to mask this shortcoming, some LED TVs employ local dimming to target dark portions of the screen and dim the backlight in those areas. The intended result is that dark portions will become darker, but everything else will be left as bright as it should be, thus increasing the contrast between dark and light. However, there is always a trade-off because the backlight is not precise enough. Even the best local dimming introduces issues to the picture, so some people will much prefer to leave local dimming off when it is available.
Downsides of local dimming
Local dimming can introduce minor problems on some TVs.
- Light blooming around bright objects and into the darker space. You can see an example of that in the video above and on the left.
- A trail of light following moving bright objects. See example above and to the right.
- A loss of detail in dark areas.
- Unintended portions of the screen being dimmed.
- A fluctuating brightness of the screen.
How to get the best results
Some TVs offer different local dimming settings. Low settings will usually dim the backlight less, but the downsides of local dimming (see section above) also won't manifest quite as badly. Higher settings will dim more, but will also make downsides more noticeable.
Local dimming preferences are subjective, so if you have multiple options, try out the different settings and choose whichever one you like best. Apart from that, there is no way to get better results from local dimming. If this is a feature that matters to you, be sure to get a TV that scores highly in this test.
Related settings
- Contrast: This setting affects the contrast of the TV's panel, not the effectiveness of local dimming. If you're after deeper contrast, setting your contrast setting to maximum is a good first step. Note that this can sometimes reduce the amount of detail in highlights.
- Peak brightness: Some TVs also include a setting that can make white highlights extra bright. It operates on a similar principle to that of local dimming, but in reverse. This setting is important for HDR media.
- Micro dimming: A Samsung feature. Processes the video in an attempt to mimic local dimming. It doesn't dim the backlight, but instead, changes the contrast of different areas of the picture. Video purists usually dislike it, because it messes with the video settings of the TV, changing contrast from frame to frame. We don't recommend using it.
- CE dimming: CE Dimming on some Samsung TVs does dim the LEDs of the panel, but not locally. It dims the lighting for the whole panel during darker scenes. Some people do not like it, because you can sometimes notice the whole screen dimming sometimes, like during the end credits of a movie. It's not as bad in 'Movie' mode, and 'PC' mode gets rid of it altogether.
- Frame dimming: Frame Dimming is the equivalent of edge-lit local dimming, but with even fewer zones. Instead of changing the light for a specific region of the screen, it is the lighting of the whole frame of the screen that changes intensity. You can see it as a very basic version of local dimming. It is better than no dimming at all for dark scenes, but it is nowhere near real local dimming.
- HDR: a TV with a good local dimming implementation will do well with HDR because it will be able to further brighten the highlights. Learn more about HDR.
Other notes
- We perform our local dimming test on all OLED TVs as well. This is so that people can compare how well an LED TV's local dimming implementation stacks up against OLED TVs' picture, which is able to display the video used in our test perfectly.
Local dimming is a feature that dims the backlight of LED TVs in order to improve the depth of blacks. It's useful for people who are watching dark scenes on an LED TV and want black to look deeper and darker, but because there are always some downsides, it's not useful on all TVs, or for all viewers. We play a pattern on each TV with local dimming to see how well the feature is implemented. We then score the TVs based on whether a positive difference is made to the blacks and the picture in general, or if unintended downsides are introduced.
Apart from choosing a local dimming setting that you like (when available), there isn't anything else that can be done to improve local dimming. For that reason, if you want good local dimming performance, the most important thing is to get a TV that scores highly on our local dimming tests.
Questions & Answers
Before asking a question, make sure you use the search function of our website. The majority of the answers are already here.


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"The party gives no directions to those appointed to Constitutional positions. We have a complete hands-off policy. Irrespective of change of government, constitutional mandate, decorum and tradition need to be respected by the government of the day, that is our expectation," Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said. (Agencies) Latest News from India News Desk
"We expect the government of the day to follow primary norms, traditions and practices of continuation of constitutionally-appointed persons to high offices," Surjewala added.
He was reacting to a query whether the Congress high command has asked the Governors to quit in the wake of change of guard.
Media reports have it that the fate of more than ten Governors, including Karnataka's HR Bhardwaj and Punjab's Shivraj V Patil, appointed by the previous UPA government, hangs in balance with indications that the new dispensation may politely ask them to vacate the Raj Bhavans.
Officials said that the Narendra Modi government is unlikely to go for wholesale sacking of Governors but there is every possibility that some of them may be politely asked to put in papers to pave the way for new appointments.
"It is quite normal for a new government to ask some of the occupants of Raj Bhavans to resign as their scheme of things may not suit those holding the high constitutional posts," an official said.
Among the Governors, Bhardwaj (Karnataka), Jagannath Pahadiya (Haryana), Devanand Konwar (Tripura) and Margaret Alva (Rajasthan) will complete their five-year term in the next three-four months.
While Bhardwaj had a strained relationship with the previous BJP government in Karnataka, Alva reportedly shares cordial relations with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
Those who will complete their tenure in six to eight months are Kamla Beniwal (Gujarat), MK Narayanan (West Bengal), JB Patnaik (Assam), Patil (Punjab) and Urmila Singh (Himachal Pradesh).
Beniwal's spat with Modi government in Gujarat over appointment of Lokayukta in the state is well known.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was appointed as Kerala Governor in March this year, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra was given a second term in April 2013 and former Home Secretary VK Duggal was appointed as Governor of Manipur in December 2013.
The other Governors who may come under review of the NDA government are BL Joshi (serving his second term in Uttar Pradesh), BV Wanchoo (Goa), K Sankaranarayanan (who is serving his second term in Maharashtra), K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu), Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), DY Patil (Bihar), Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil (Sikkim), Aziz Quereshi (Uttarakhand), Vakkom Purushothaman (Mizoram) and Syed Ahmed (Jharkhand).
Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutta, Arunachal Pradesh's Lt General (retd) Nirbhay Sharma, Nagaland's Ashwani Kumar and Meghalaya's KK Paul may also come under the scrutiny of the new government.
"The party gives no directions to those appointed to Constitutional positions. We have a complete hands-off policy. Irrespective of change of government, constitutional mandate, decorum and tradition need to be respected by the government of the day, that is our expectation," Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.
Latest News from India News Desk

subset: commoncrawl


text:
So I'm on my way to work this morning, driving along, happily listening to my audiobook (Tony Horwitz is a pretty good writer, just finished Voyage Long and Strange and am now listening to Confederates in the Attic. Good stuff.) I glanced up at the digital billboard near Lowes/Home Depot and had to do a double take. The ad was simply a blue background, the Twitter logo, and the words "Follow Ashton Kutcher" and gave his twitter address. That's it.
I remember thinking, "That is incredibly odd. Is this guy really that in need of attention that he pays for advertising to drive people to his twittering or tweeting or whatever it's called?" But as with most things, there was a bigger story here. Once again, Google came to the rescue.
Apparently, Kutcher and CNN were in some kind of race to see who would be the first to reach 1 million twits – I mean followers. This more than likely explains the billboard. CNN lost by about 1,200. Now we'll get to hear from all the talking heads and pundits about how one person gained a greater following than the giant news media that is CNN.
For all those poor saps who started following Kutcher's or CNN's blatherings and are now discovering that you can't "unfollow" them, there is good news. CNET tells how to unfollow either one of them (or both!). You can thank me by following my tweets. 😉
Filed under: current events, misc |


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Easter, 2016
China Research Seminar
Chuan Lyu Lectures
EAS Postgraduate Research Seminar
Faculty Research Day, 2016
Monday, 23rd May, 2016 from 9:40am to 4:30pm in Rooms 8 & 9
Cambridge Lectures in Islamic Art
Series of talks promoted by the Cambridge Shahnama centre for Persian Studies, Pembroke College
Khamriyya as a World Poetic Genre
Comparative Perspectives on Wine Poetry in Near and Middle Eastern Literatures
Monday, 20th - Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016
Room G21, Faculty of Classics, Sidgwick Site
Workshop details and programme
Arabic in the Ottoman Empire
Thursday, 21st and Friday, 22nd April, 2016
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
The 2016 Ra Jong-Yil Lecture in Korean Studies
Lessons from Korea
Ambassador Kathleen Stephens
Former American Ambassador to the Republic of Korea
William J. Perry Distinguished Fellow, Stanford University
- Friday, 3rd June, 2016 at 5:00pm
Old Library, Darwin College
[ poster ]
Engaging China in a Globalizing Age
Friday, 27th May, 2016 at 4:00pm in Rooms 8 & 9
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
A round-table discussion organised by Prof. Jeff Wasserstrom, Dr Rachel Leow and Prof. Hans van de Ven.
Magic Mirror: Reflections of an American Composer in Japan
Special guest lecture by Dr Marty Regan, Texas A&M University
Monday, 16th May, 2016 at 5:00pm in Rooms 8 & 9
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
American composer Marty Regan presents his works for traditional Japanese instruments and discusses challenges encountered in intercultural composition and issues of musical identity. His presentation will also include a brief performance demonstration of the shakuhachi (end-blown bamboo flute) as well as a discussion of the intersections between Japanese musical aesthetics and other forms of creative expression and aspects of Japanese culture.
[ poster ]
Five Years at the Asian Development Bank: US Policies and Asian Priorities
Special guest lecture by Robert (Skipp) Orr
Tuesday, 17th May, 2016 at 5:00pm in Rooms 8 & 9
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
Robert (Skipp) Orr is a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, who began as an academic in Political Science with a Japan focus. He left academe to among other things become head of Boeing Japan before becoming an international advisor for the Obama campaign in 2008, which resulted in the ambassadorship.
[ poster ]
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Seminars
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Unit, University of Cambridge
Judah Halevi's Pilgrimage: The View from the Diwan
Annual Genizah Lecture by Professor Raymond Scheindlin
Tuesday, 10th May, 2016 at 5:00pm
Runcie Room, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge
[ poster ]
China Goes Global: New Perspectives on Chinese Migration in China and Abroad
CRASSH Conference convened by Rudolph Ng
Monday, 27th & Tuesday, 28th June, 2016
St Catharine's College (McGrath Centre and Ramsden Room)
Fifth Korean Screen Culture Conference
Thursday, 2nd - Saturday, 4th June, 2016
King's College London
Japanese Taster Day for School Students
Monday, 18th April, 2016 from 9:45 - 15:15
Emmanuel College, St Andrew's Street, Cambridge
[ poster ]
Iraq's disappearing religions, and why they matter
Aradin Charitable Trust Spring 2016 Lecture by Gerard Russell
Wednesday, 18th May, 2016 at 5pm
Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge
[ poster ]
Lent, 2016
Sights & Sounds of Japan
The Japanese Studies group presented a programme of events on Friday, 11th March, 2016 inviting participants to experience different aspects of Japanese traditional culture as it is lived today.
East Asian Studies Seminar Series
China Research Seminar
EAS Postgraduate Research Seminar
Iranian Cinema - Film Series & Discussion Series
Persian Calligraphy Workshops
Woolf Institute Panel Series: Muslim-Jewish Relations
What do animated cartoons tell us about Egypt's politics?
Tuesday, 9th February, 2016 at 5pm in Rooms 8 & 9
Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge
Between Escapism and Strife
A Tribute to The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School
Turbulent World - Lent, 2016
Series of talks promoted by the Centre of Islamic Studies
Draw Me a Gun: Children's Books in the Trenches of the Arab Hanoi
Tuesday, 8th March, 2016 at 5.30pm in the Sir Arthur Quiller Couch Room,
Divinity School, St. John's College
Cambridge Middle East History Group present a talk by Zeina Maasri, American University of Beirut/Brighton
[ poster ]
Exploring the Independent Music Scene in Egypt
and its Role in Society
Friday, 4th March, 2016 at 5.30pm in Room G.21, Faculty of Classics
Cambridge University Arab Society and Cambridge University Middle East Society present a talk with Cairokee and Zap Tharawat. Cairokee are one of the most influential music groups in Egypt and the Middle East today. Zap Tharwat is a rapper and a poet. The art of both Zap Tharwat and Cairokee specifically, and many in the independent music scene in Egypt generally is distinguished by its ability to reflect the opinions of the youth not only about the current political status but about many other societal issues.
Nineb Lamassu - Stolen Title: Genocide, Massacres, and Asylum
Friday, 22nd January, 2016 at 19:15 in Keynes Hall, King's College, Cambridge
A night of Poetry and Music from Iraqi-Assyrian poet Nineb Lamassu and folk artist Helen Saint Vincent.
A Bird's-Eye View of Near Eastern Intellectual History
Prof. Rémi Brague opens Aradin's Spring 2016 Lecture Series
Wednesday, 17th February, 2016 at 5pm
Boys Smith Room, Fisher Building St John's College
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Seminars
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Unit, University of Cambridge
Michaelmas, 2015
Asian Studies Seminar Series
China Research Seminar
DEAS Postgraduate Research Seminar
The Dissolution of the Japanese Empire and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Postwar East Asia
ERC Project Guest Lectures
University Language Centre Language Programme (CULP)
Pilot course for introductory Persian (Farsi)
Tuesdays at 5pm, Room 7, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
Wright Lecture Series
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Seminars
Mongolia & Inner Asia Research Unit, University of Cambridge
Centre of Islamic Studies at the Festival of Ideas 2015
The Centre of Islamic Studies will be organising three events at this year's Festival of Ideas.
- Rapping Our Way to Islam [ poster ]
- Bridging the Middle East with the Rest of the World through Perfumery [ poster ]
- Islamophobia: New Findings, New Perspectives [ poster ]
How Can the International Community Effectively Engage North Korea
One-day conference
Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities
Alison Richard Building, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DT
Birkbeck Lectures 2015: Islam in South Asia
- Tuesday 17 November at 5.00 pm: Barbara D. Metcalf (Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Davis) on '"Outsider" Authority in Islam: The Writings of a Nineteenth-Century Muslim Queen'
- Wednesday 18 November at 5.00 pm: Barbara D. Metcalf on 'When Authorities Clash: The Differences of two Islamic Scholars over the Secular and Plural State'
- Thursday 19 November at 2.30 pm: Richard Eaton (Professor of History, University of Arizona) on 'Theorizing Historical Space in Precolonial India: Sovereignty, Religion, Literary Networks'
In the Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Blue Boar Court, Trinity College (off Whewell's Courts, entrance on Trinity St opposite the Great Gate)
Professor Boyd Hilton firstname.lastname@example.com
For earlier events see the Events Archive for the Academical Year 2014-2015


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Photo credit: More magazine Canada website
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Mariatu & Me: Article by Susan McClelland in More Magazine
Photo credit: More magazine Canada website
Posted by Annick Press - Children's Book Publisher at 10:20 AM 0 comments
Labels: Mariatu Kamara, More Magazine, Susan McClelland, The Bite of the Mango
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Dirty Dog Boogie Podcast Review on Just One More Book
Listen to a podcast review of Dirty Dog Boogie by Loris Lesynski. Just One More Book!! thinks it's"flipping, flopping, bouncing, buzzing, twitching, itching, hissing, humming, fizzing, popping, whizzing, waltzing, shaking, leaping, rug-cutting rhyme"! What do you think??
Posted by Annick Press - Children's Book Publisher at 3:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: Dirty Dog Boogie, Just One More Book, Loris Lesynski, podcast
Friday, August 22, 2008
Mortimer on Oprah's Kids Reading List
Great news! Mortimer has been included in Oprah's Kids Reading List: 6-9 Years!
Posted by Annick Press - Children's Book Publisher at 5:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: Michael Martchenko, Mortimer, Oprah, reading list, Robert Munsch
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Math for Mom and Me
A little rambling on my roots: I rarely think about the fact that my ancestry is Chinese, but recently there's been some excitement surrounding that culture. The Olympics? Maybe for some. But for me, it was the arrival of the Complex Chinese version of The Great Number Rumble in my mailbox, and on its heels, the news of an impending deal for Simplified Chinese rights.
Posted by Annick Authors and Illustrators at 1:37 AM 1 comments
Labels: Cora Lee, foreign editions, Gillian O'Reilly, math, Mobius strip, Pi Day, The Great Number Rumble
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Podcasts on Open Book Toronto
Over the next few months Open Book Toronto will be featuring the Annick podcast series.
Listen to interviews with key authors as they discuss their latest books. And if you want to find out more about our authors and their books, visit our website.
Catch the first story about Melanie Little, author of The Apprentice's Masterpiece, here.
Posted by Annick Press - Children's Book Publisher at 4:16 PM 1 comments
Labels: Melanie Little, Open Book Toronto, podcast, The Apprentice's Masterpiece
Monday, August 11, 2008
Writing by the Sea
Hello from the Rock! I'm sitting at my writing desk overlooking a spectacular view of the ocean. A winding road lined with wildflowers leads to the lighthouse, my daily walk.
Last year I bought a little cottage beside the sea in my beloved Newfoundland, so I could work here for part of the year. Now I'm halfway through my second summer and I have to pinch myself every day to make sure I'm not dreaming. Yes, it's that much fun! I've been fixing up my house, painting it yellow and blue, baking bread and hobnobbing with my friendly neighbours.
In fact, it's so much fun that I have to give myself a stern lecture every day, right after I pinch myself: Charis, get to work! I open up my e-mail and look at the art for A World Full of Ghosts, coming out next winter. Yikes! Marc Mongeau has created a series of spooky but hilarious illustrations. I'd like to pore over the details for an hour or two but I have to get on with my writing.
Today I want to finish the chapter about Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time) for my book about children's authors. It's tough going: I always find the first chapter the hardest to write, as I find my way into the book.
Every so often, searching for just the right word or phrase, I look up from my computer. The ocean is still there, stretching away to the horizon. I take a deep breath, pinch myself again, and then turn my thoughts back to Madeleine L'Engle, tesseracts and time travel.
Posted by Annick Authors and Illustrators at 11:07 AM 0 comments
Labels: A World Full of Ghosts, author, Charis Cotter, Kids Who Rule, Madeleine L'Engle, Marc Mongeau, Newfoundland, tesseracts, Wonder Kids


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Well if they're like the ones in the link I mentioned you should buy a bunch of them and sell them to people at a profit...
By the way, can you please stop quoting entire posts that include pictures? It just gets annoying to see everything twice. You generally don't need to quote the person who posted above you if their post in really short either, we'll probably figure out what part you're referring to.
Ohh, yeah sure. Lee molds go for 25-50$ on ebay.
100-150$ for a custom machined mold to you're dimensions and expectations.......
Can't go wrong with that mold....
PLUS the mold in MrCrowley's link is made from brass.
I used to think this until I got my lathe/mill, you'll be surprised how complex seemingly easy operations can be.
Welcome to custom machining. Lee molds are mass produced on CNC machines. All custom tooling is already made.
And for the record, I quoted ~$18 + shipping for an entirely convex four cavity bullet mold on about the second page. I don't have time to make it (and didn't then), but still.
$150 is what someone would charge you if they wanted to actually make a respectable hourly income. This thread is about favors, so the absolute least you can do is post dimensioned drawings, work with us to make the design easier to produce, and stop getting all indignant about the favor we're offering to do you with no expectation of any favors in return
sorry for hijacking this thread but what is the advantage of casting over swagging?
from my point of view swagging seems simpler and healthier...
Children are the future
unless we stop them now
The ID of SCH 40 PVC 1/2 inch is: .602 nominal with a minimum of .578 and a maximum of .626. These numbers are based on the .010 wall tolerance and .004 pipe OD tolerance.
The ID of Type K (Green) Copper is: .527 nom, .516 min, .538 max
The ID of Type L (Blue) Copper is: .545 nom, .536 min, .554 max
The ID of Type K (Red) Copper is: .569 nom, .562 min, .576 max
So now you decide what bullet OD you need and what tolerance.
Do you now understand the dilemma the machinist has with out a dimensional drawing?
Dewey....I doubt it.
This IS making for a good read though.
@ Poland...Advantage?? Cost and simplicity I suppose.
"It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others" – unknown
Liberalism is a mental disorder, reality is it's cure.
well assuming you want to buy carbins dies then I can see how it can be more expensive... but for lead all you need is a die (not a problem for someone with a lathe),a block of metal with a hole cut in it and a press
does it really make it that much expensive?
Children are the future
unless we stop them now
Well the die die has to withstand significant pressure, and be wear resistant. With a proper mold, casting should be faster than swagging, and should flow better into weird regions (like the little ribs everyone seems to want on their molds that serve no purpose for spudders and make the mold much harder to make.
You state you can get molds for $25-$40 yet you still ask for help. Just shows how cheap you are. A CNC, custom 3 cavity mold to your specs should cost you $350-$450 and yet you complain that "100-150 is a complete rip off!!!!! You need to link up with the real world.
i said i can get molds for 25-40 bucks but thats for muzzleloaders which dont fit my barrel really well,
i would like to have a mold that fits my barrel,
350-450 might as well, by a 30-06
a single bullet mold for my gun shouldnt cost that much to do,
its not that hard to get a piece of metal drill a hole down the center, along with it being able to fit into my gun and split the metal block in half
I don't mean to be a jerk or anything, but seriously? Just use a drill, and get a block of wood, drill the hole your self, then use a saw and cut it in half. Easy. And the price range is $0-$5. If that.
ill try it, but hopefully it will fit in my gun right
Like I said, just use a drill bit that is just a hair smaller than the ID of your barrel, and use it.
Do you understand when you cut the block in half, your mold will not be a "round" diameter bullet but elliptical shaped.
Two piece molds are not made the way some of you think.
Stop and think about it for a few minutes before you make such simple assumptions.
If you cut a solid ball in half then glue it back together again, it will not be a true ball shape again.
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I'm back from a summer hiatus, and I decided it was time to do a piece I've been wanting to do for a while. There's a personal story behind this: One night last December, I was meeting up with a friend at a local fast food restaurant (I got there on public transportation because I don't drive, which makes my interest in this subject highly ironic) when I noticed a motorhome I thought was quite strange in the parking lot. From the brief sighting, I decided it was probably a 1970s Dodge van chassis, and the rest was evidently home-built. Some time later, I decided to see if there was any documentation of this or similar RVs. A few searches led me to this at the website Weird RVs:
Source Weird RVs: "Something is missing here"
As can be seen, this van follows the lines of a cab-over Class C RV, with the drastic difference that the camper body is too short to cover most of the exposed van bed. The end result converges on the design of a "sleeper" semi truck. The camper hull clearly provides a bed over the cab, and it would be feasible to fit a kitchen, lavatory or even a shower in the remaining space with no more than moderate ingenuity (though all of the above would be tricky indeed!) The remainder of the bed is open to a variety of uses. such as motor bikes, light watercraft, or a hitch for a fifth-wheel trailer home. The last application, while redundant at face value, would clearly be of some convenience if two people were in the van. In particular, it would allow the occupants to take turns driving and using the facilities without stopping or violating laws against having occupants in a moving trailer. The specimen I sighted was loaded with a mix of loose goods, and to my recollection there was some lining around the sides of the bed, which I suspect may have been a later modification. All in all, this type of RV is one of the more impressive examples of home-builder ingenuity, and an especially convenient way to flee civilization with as much of one's worldly goods as possible!


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Freshmen: Lorraine Hoppes
Serena bid a tearful farewell to her youngest daughter (probably anticipating the drama she would cause!)
I'm pretty impressed with how pretty Lorraine turned out, I was kinda worried when she was a teen
I cheated a little before Greek House try outs and invited the Greek House members over to the dorm for some social time to work up Lorraine's relationships, she seemed to get along well with everyone
In the meantime, Lorraine declares her major, Economics is typical for the business minded fortune sim
The next evening she invited everyone over again for her official hazing ceremony
It didn't take long for her to get accepted
Back at the Greek House, everyone is up to the usual activities (at least they are with their significant others)
Anise and Keith have their first woohoo? I could have sworn they woohooed before in their first half of college ::shrugs::
Columbia earns her Games Hobby Plaque
And then celebrates by calling over the matchmaker
Check out the schnoz on this guy... Geez
While Columbia is enjoying her time with the big schnoz, James invites Magenta over for a little quality time
In the middle of both of their dates... Columbia decides she wants to flirt with James... In front of Magenta (wtf ACR, seriously?)
While James is groveling to Magenta, Columbia then hops in the hot tub with her (now over) date...
Since Columbia is a complete ho... I put her on birth control
After --- leaves, Columbia calls back the matchmaker... nothing notable happens on this date
The next morning brings Columbia's third date of the round, also nothing notable
Lorraine invites over fellow Fortune sim, Malcolm Landgrabbe... not surprisingly, they chat about wealth for a while
Mmmmhmmm... This is working out perfectly
And here is my cliffhanger ending...
Next time: Who is in bed with whom and who's being cheated on? And lots more!
((Well ACR at uni is totally insane... really, really insane and totally frustrating. At least my monogamous couples are behaving themselves for the most part. Columbia is a total ho, I have no idea what I'm going to do with her. Sorry it was so short but even a short post is better than nothing at all right? I'm itching to play again so maybe I'll have something in the next few days to post. Next up we'll have Devivio 3 then maybe more Uni if I can bring myself to finish it up, if not we'll move on to other houses in the hood so stay tuned...))


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Yahoo's Jerry Yang has resigned from the company he co-founded in 1995. It was announced on Tuesday that Yang is quitting Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding with immediate effect.
In a parting letter to Board Chairman Roy Bostock, Yang insisted that he is fully supportive of the efforts of new CEO Scott Thompson. Nevertheless, his departure comes at a time when some analysts are questioning Yahoo's direction, with some worrying that the company does not have a strongly defined presence in the 21st century online world.
The problem, as many see it, is that Yahoo does lots of things but is not dominant in many areas. Ask the average person what Yahoo's core business is, and they might not be able to tell you. Nevertheless, the company remains a big player in the online advertising world.


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Something seems rotten – but it's not in Denmark. It's in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where judges are denying citizens their day in court, and unjustly preventing them from having their cases heard by a jury of their peers.
This isn't coming from us. It's coming from Senior Judge Donald Lay. This summer he wrote dissents in not one … not two … but three cases. In each instance, he charged that his colleagues improperly granted summary judgment – that they threw out claims of workplace wrongdoing against employers, even though there were disputed facts that a jury might have found in the workers' favor.
In one dissent, Judge Lay took the rare step of criticizing not just the majority's ruling, but the entire circuit-wide trend: "Too many courts in this circuit, both district and appellate, are utilizing summary judgment [to dismiss cases] where issues of fact remain."
Apparently no one's listening. Last Thursday the Eighth Circuit granted summary judgment against a worker who alleged that his employer fired him because he is Hispanic. Rather than letting a jury sort out the contested issues, as the law requires, the court downplayed – even ignored – obvious facts that supported the worker's claims. The three-judge panel on the case consisted of Bush I appointee James Loken, Reagan appointee John Gibson, and Bush II appointee Steven Colloton.
Here's the story. Adolfo Ramirez was promoted from supervisor to Area Manager at GDX Automotive. At that time, the company gave him a written promise that he would enjoy a 90-day grace period, during which he could return to his old job if things didn't work out. A little over a month into the new assignment, Ramirez tried to exercise that option. But his boss rebuffed him, saying, "Amigo, you can do this job." This was the same boss who, at staff meetings, "jokingly" asked Ramirez, a U.S. citizen, to show his "green card."
A month later – still within that 90-day grace period – GDX decided to eliminate Ramirez's Area Manager position as part of a workforce reduction. Based on both the written agreement and his past performance as supervisor (which was good enough to earn him a promotion), Ramirez expected to resume his former duties. Instead, he learned he was being terminated. All of the supervisor positions had been filled - by non-Hispanics.
GDX denied acting out of ethnic bias. It said it let Ramirez go while keeping the non-Hispanic supervisors because he had performed poorly as Area Manager. The Eighth Circuit bought the company's defense. According to Judges Loken, Gibson and Colloton, the facts were so clear-cut that the case didn't deserve to go to trial. A jury never got to decide.
But wait a minute. What about the written agreement GDX had with Ramirez to let him return to his job as supervisor? And what about the fact that GDX lulled Ramirez into keeping the Area Manager position by saying he "[could] do this job," only to turn around and say he was performing that job too poorly to return to his job as supervisor – the job he'd performed well enough to earn a promotion? Nothing doing, as far as the Eighth Circuit was concerned. Without even flagging these obvious questions, the court flatly concluded: "The record establishes that [GDX] perceived that Ramirez performed poorly as Area Manager, and [Ramirez has not] directed us to evidence suggesting that GDX's perception was unfounded. …"
In other words, the judicial equivalent of closing your eyes, putting your hands over your ears and repeating "I can't hear you," over and over again.
And those off-hand remarks about Ramirez's heritage? On their own they may have been insufficient to prove discrimination - but might not a jury decide that they rounded out the picture? Again, nothing doing. Rather than considering those remarks as part of a bigger story, as it should have, the court examined them in isolation – and, unsurprisingly, saw bubkes.
As Judge Lay observed, the Ramirez case is but one recent example of the Eighth Circuit's readiness to deprive people of their day in court. In another example, Green v. Franklin National Bank of Minneapolis, a 2-1 majority, consisting of Bush II-appointee Michael Melloy and Reagan-appointee Roger Wollman, upheld summary judgment against a worker who alleged she was fired in retaliation for complaining about racial harassment. Judges Melloy and Wollman credited the bank's assertion that it terminated Green for refusing to work, rather than because she'd blown the whistle. But as Judge Lay pointed out in dissent, the facts of the case "call[ed] into question whether Green actually refused to work … thereby undercutting the very essence of the bank's [defense]." In other words, more eye-shutting, more ear-covering, more "I can't hear you."
In the end, a jury may have weighed the facts in Ramirez, Green and similar cases and reached the same conclusions as the Eighth Circuit. But under the law, that was for the jury to decide - not the court. Everyone agrees that judges may legitimately use summary judgment to weed out unmeritorious cases. But they may not use it to usurp the jury's authority to weigh disputed evidence.
That's what Judge Lay was saying. One day, perhaps, the active judges on his court, nine of 11 of whom were appointed by Presidents Bush I, Reagan and Bush II, will listen to him.
Ramirez v. Gencorp, No. 05-3825, slip op. (Sept. 14, 2006).


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Me at the grave of Brigadier General Joseph L. Hogg
Well, I finally had a day off without kids to baby sit and went on a mini-Civil War Gasm with my buddy Jerry in Mississippi. If you know Jerry, you know we had a blast. We have begun a hobby of visiting as many Confederate generals graves as possible and having our pictures taken with them. Our first stop was in Corinth, Mississippi at the museum located on the site of Battery Robinette where Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Lewis Hogg is buried. He didn't die in battle here, but from dysentery about three months after his promotion to brigadier general and without seeing any action whatsoever. Colonel William Peleg Rogers is also buried there, killed in the charge that overran the small earthen fort. He commanded a brigade in the action there and by all rights should have been a general officer. Despite the fact that a petition was signed begging President Davis to promote the man, he remained a colonel. The reason being that he and Davis had an argument during the Mexican War and Davis being the type person who held grudges would never forgive Rogers.
This brings us to the funny part of the story. Jerry and I wore our shell jackets on this trip. We were in a hurry because after all it was a Civil War Gasm. (Civil War Gasm definition is where you hit as many places as quickly as possible and we had places to go before dark.) We entered the museum to find the park ranger talking to a group of people. The entire group paused to watch us pass right by and out the back door of the museum at a high rate of speed. We exited the museum and walked around to the gate to find it locked. We then re-entered the museum by a side door and exited through another door out of sight of the ranger and group. We made each others picture beside General Hogg and Colonel Rogers graves, walked back around the building to Jerry's truck and left. It was only later that we decided that this is how ghost stories begin. We can just imagine someday reading about ourselves as the park ranger writes a book about the first sergeant and private that passed right through the museum and beyond a locked gate to be seen no more.
Me at the grave of Colonel William Rogers one of my personal hero's.
We left Corinth and headed southwest toward Ripley, Mississippi. About six miles beyond Ripley is a small town called Blue Mountain. Here in Blue Mountain Cemetery is the resting place of Brigadier General Mark Perrin Lowrey. His grave was easy enough to find, the cemetery not much more than an acre and his being the only one with an obelisk. General Lowrey was one of Patrick Cleburne's brigade commanders. He had fought in the Mexican War and returned home determined to become a preacher. Despite the fact that he couldn't read or write, he proceeded to accomplish his goal. His wife taught him reading and writing and he became a Baptist minister. He rose to the rank of general during the Civil War and following the war returned to the ministry and also founded a female college in Blue Mountain which later became Blue Mountain College. He died in the railroad depot in Middleton, Tennessee while awaiting a passenger train.
Grave of Mark Perrin Lowrey
Leaving Blue Mountain, Mississippi, Jerry called my attention to something I had never realized before. It seems the laws of mathematics cease to exist in this old southern state. We arrived at a sign that declared the intersection a four way stop. The problem was, we only counted three roads. One might think this was a simple accident, but we'll come back to this later.
We then drove west to Holly Springs, Mississippi where there are four generals buried in one cemetery. We arrived and entered the first cemetery entrance we came to. There on the right within twenty feet of the entrance we found the grave of Major General Edward Cary Walthall. If you know my luck, you'll know this was a complete accident. Walthall was the little known Confederate general that Forrest chose to help him fight the rear-guard for Hood during the retreat from Nashville. It would prove to be Walthall's best performance of the war.
Major General Edward Cary Walthall
We then got lucky and found the graves of Samuel Benton and Winfield Scott Featherston. Benton was only a colonel leading a brigade at the Battle of Atlanta when artillery shrapnel nearly tore his foot off and a piece lodged just inches from his heart. His foot would be amputated and his promotion to brigadier general would arrive from Richmond just two days before his death. The authorities in Richmond had not known he'd been wounded.
Brigadier General Samuel Benton
Brigadier General Winfield Scott Featherston began the war in the Virginia army and made a name for himself at the Battle of Ball's Bluff. From that point on he would serve as a capable officer but made no special name for himself. He would be shipped to the west where he would finish the war with the Army of Tennessee. His grave was as easy to find as Walthall's which was a good thing because it was about a ten degree windchill factor and I told Jerry that if a limb was to hit my ear, it would shatter like glass.
Brigadier General Winfield Scott Featherston
This brought us to the most difficult part of finding Brigadier General Daniel Chevilette Govan's grave. His marker is relatively flat without the enormous obelisks to mark the position. Jerry has a sixth sense or so he claims, sometimes it gets a bit off on him. He told me to check some markers about forty yards from the truck. I almost left my camera in the car because I don't trust Jerry's sixth sense, but I carried it along just in case. Lucky for me because, it did indeed turn out to be General Govan. This was truly our lucky day, my ears having lost all feeling along with my fingers, toes, and nose. Govan is the Arkansas brigadier who stood next to his close friend Patrick Cleburne at Franklin and said, "General, there won't be many of us to return home to Arkansas after this battle." Cleburne simply replied, "Well, Govan, if we are to die, let us die like men."
Brigadier General Daniel Govan
It was at this point that Jerry's sixth sense began to get goofy or at least I think it did. He still claims he was right, but on that point I still remain dubious. He claimed he had an intuition that there was someone buried beneath a cedar tree he could see across the cemetery. He refused to leave the cemetery without investigating this mystery person. We drove across the cemetery to the cedar tree in question and sure enough, there was someone buried beneath the tree. I simply shook my head. Of course there was someone buried beneath the tree, it is a cemetery. He argues that he never said it was anyone buried there that had anything to do with the Civil War, he simply said there was someone buried there.
Leaving Holly Springs headed back home we again encountered a four way stop sign with only three roads. Jerry wanted to stop and take a picture of the intersection, but luckily he chose to pass on by this time. It was a typical Civil War Gasm for me. Out prowling the country with a fellow Civil War nut and we got photographs of us by six Confederate generals graves. I only wish I could do this everyday.


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The focus on game birds got me thinking about how common it is to see pheasants sparring at this time of year, even though their breeding season doesn't begin until the spring.
Do look out for today's Yorkshire Post in which I concentrate on this subject in my monthly column.
The exhibition runs until November 28th and it is already shaping up to be a good one - if wildly busy. There are various events taking place throughout the fortnight.
Later today we have a walk to spot winter migrants with experienced birdwatcher Michael Flowers and tomorrow there is a walk to find red kites on the Yorkshire Wolds.
On Tuesday night my neighbour, the gardener Gilda Brader and the couture designer Jennie Palmer will be showing visitors how to make floral and fabric decorations for Christmas. This event has already sold out!


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My Favorite Flirts is a feature that lets you reach your favorite Flirts easily from My Account or on 1-800-TO-FLIRT.Manage My Favorites
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"Call me now, baby, I'm waiting for you. Let's explore your dirtiest fantasies. Let's get off together. I badly want to please you tonight. Let me be your Naughtie Natalie..."


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My Book Cover!
It's official! Here's the cover for my first novel. If you received my newsletter last week, you may notice Allie's suit is now red.
A Distant Melody
will be released by Revell in March 2010 and is now featured on their website at
Here's a brief summary of the story: Never pretty enough to please her gorgeous mother, Allie Miller will do anything to gain her approval--even marry a man she doesn't love. Lt. Walter Novak--fearless in the cockpit but hopeless with women--takes his last furlough at home in California before being shipped overseas. Walt and Allie meet at a wedding and their love of music draws them together, prompting them to begin a correspondence that will change their lives. As letters fly between Walt's muddy bomber base in England and Allie's mansion in an orange grove, their friendship binds them together. But can they untangle the secrets, commitments, and expectations that keep them apart?
A Distant Melody
is the first book in the
Wings of Glory
series, which follows the three Novak brothers, B-17 bomber pilots with the US Eighth Air Force stationed in England during World War II.
So many of you have lavished me with prayer and encouragement, critique and advice, for which I am deeply grateful. The name on the cover is almost a lie - none of this could have happened without the support and love (sometimes in the "tough love" category) of my family, friends, and critque partners. Thank you all! I love you!
A Distant Melody
book cover


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GCH CH Claircreek's Impression de Matisse
A Best In Show at the Old Dominion Kennel Club of Northern Virginia spring show has been for decades one of the most prestigious titles in the dog game.
The seven hoping to secure the award from BIS judge Dorothy Collier were the English Setter, GCH CH Weymouths En Fuego, the Afghan Hound, GCH CH Tells Matrix Reloaded, the Portuguese Water Dog, GCH CH Claircreek's Impression de Matisse, the Colored Bull Terrier, GCH CH Banbury Bedrock Bright Star Bright, the Smooth Coat Chihuahua, GCH CH Sonnus Filho (Sanchez), the Tibetan Terrier, CH Aurora's Welcome To The Jungle, and the Bouvier des Flandres, GCH CH Stonepillar's Steel Blu.
GCH CH Sonnus Filho (Sanchez)
This year's title goes to the US' Number One Dog All Breeds, the Portie, Matisse. The Reserve award went to the Chihuahua, Sonnito Matisse continues on his record pace, now standing at 36 BIS and 48 Working Groups this year.


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Students used this handout in Google Classroom to record their work. We were looking for how the humans interacted with the gods and/or how the gods treated one another.
|You can access the handout HERE.
A favorite assignment among third graders, designing their own constellation and creating the story behind it was next--our "something old." In this two-day activity, students plan their stories and stage a picture for their final projects. Students brainstorm possible constellations and stories using the handout below.
|You can access the handout HERE.
Check out some of the students' work on their constellations and stories:
And now for our "something new"--a visit to Scholastic's website called Myths from Around the World. Again using Google Classroom, students accessed the site and read myths and legends of their choosing from a wide variety of cultures.
After reading myths and legends of their choice, students then accessed a world map on Google Maps--the "something new." Their work came full circle as we returned to our original conversation about the purpose of myths--to explain something in nature, to teach a lesson, or to celebrate a hero's story. On the map, students were to place a pin on the country from their reading and identify the purpose of the myth. You can see their work below:


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I knew school would be starting. I knew football season was starting—which meant social interactions and my mom's bag of popcorn with marshmallows at the bottom. The small things.
And the colors! If you check my closet, you'll see the reds, yellows, golds, and browns. I can't get enough of it. My family loved to go up in the mountains to see the leaves changing colors. I would stare out the windows just waiting for another explosion of color.
It's fun to share some of these same activities with my kids. We have gone up to the mountains with the kids, but not as often as I'd like. Hopefully this year I can remedy that.
Instead of football like I grew up with, we now spend all our time at soccer practices (one would argue that soccer is actually football in most countries). With six kids playing, we're busy! As I sit at their practices and games, I eat up the chill to the air and the need for jackets.
So what do you like to do in Fall?


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Advances in Difference EquationsVolume 2010 (2010), Article ID 765259, 8 pagesdoi:10.1155/2010/765259
1Department of Mathematics, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, South Korea2Department of Mathematics Education, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, South Korea
Received 14 December 2009; Accepted 19 March 2010
Academic Editor: Panayiotis Siafarikas
Copyright © 2010 Eun-Jung Moon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In 2009, Kim et al. gave some identities of symmetry
for the twisted Euler polynomials of higher-order, recently. In this paper, we
extend our result to the higher-order twisted q-Euler numbers and polynomials. The purpose of this paper is to establish various identities concerning higher-order twisted q-Euler numbers and polynomials by the properties of p-adic invariant integral on ℤp. Especially, if q=1, we derive the result of Kim et al. (2009).


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Jazz has a pretty well-established canon. There's some tinkering around the edges, but generally a few artists and albums come up time and again, with good reason.
But it's fun and worthwhile, on occasion, to revisit some of the forgotten classics -- or simply the forgotten.
Over the next few posts, I want to throw out the names of a few albums I really like that I don't hear mentioned too often. Coincidentally, the first few I have in mind are all from the 70's, a sort of lost decade perhaps, but which produced plenty of good jazz.
For starters:
Don Cherry, Relativity Suite (1973)
Don Cherry is certainly in my personal canon -- as I mentioned in an earlier post, Complete Communion is one of my all-time favorite albums and is itself overlooked. This one gets even less attention.
First off, Relativity Suite is worth hearing for the personnel alone: Cherry, Haden, Redman, Carla Bley, Paul Motian, the scarcely recorded Charles Brackeen, Leroy Jenkins and others...sort of a beefed up Liberation Music Orchestra, but the music here is Cherry through and through (I don't actually know that he wrote everything, but it has his feel for sure).
Don Cherry was a brilliant assimilator of sounds. Here, he melds India, China, some straight New York City and Midwestern free jazz and New Orleans. And it always sounds organic, never contrived, not just ok, I'm gonna hire a sitar player for this date. In other words, it's not that one Indian sounding song on a Beatles album. No, Cherry's experiments are always thoroughly thought-out and really well-executed. The pieces fit together.
I think that's probably because he was a guy who actually went out into the world, devoured its music and understood that the diversity of music on the planet truly is relative.
I love that Don Cherry wasn't content with his place on the cutting edge of a massively important innovation in American music, but insisted on getting the rest of the world in on it as well.
He's also got a way with melody. Like his cohort Ornette Coleman, he has a seemingly endless store of them.
Check out the soaring strings, searing horns, chants, pretty melodies (Trans-Love Airways in particular) and the inimitable Ed Blackwell bringing it home.
Edit: that video was removed..here's another track from the album.


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Pediatric neurosurgery
The neurosurgeons at UC Davis Children's Hospital are committed to setting the standard for the surgical treatment of infants and children with neurologic diseases. In cooperation with pediatric experts across the UC Davis Health System, the hospital's pediatric neurosurgery services provide advanced clinical care and surgical intervention for children suffering from diseases that affect the developing brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system.
Neurosurgical problems seen by pediatric neurosurgeons are often quite different from those commonly seen by adult or general neurosurgeons. Because pediatric neurosurgical problems often are present for life, children with nervous system problems frequently require close, ongoing follow-up from childhood — sometimes as early as the newborn period — through the teenage years. As a result, pediatric neurosurgeons have special, long-term relationships with their patients and their families.
Our neurosurgeons diagnose, treat, and manage problems affecting children's nervous system and head and spinal deformities, including:
- Problems and injuries of the brain, spine, or nerves
- Gait abnormalities (spasticity)
- Birth injuries (weakness of arms and legs)
- Epilepsy and movement disorders
- Brain and spinal cord tumors
- Neurovascular disorders
- Spina bifida
- Hydrocephalus
- Craniosynostosis
Our team
With years of experience treating children with complex neurological disorders, our team combines compassion and clinical expertise to give your child the best care available.
Assistant Professor Marike Zwienenberg-Lee, a specialist in pediatric neurological surgery, is certified by the American Board of Pediatric Neurosurgery. She is an expert in the treatment of brain tumors, craniofacial disorders, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and spinal dysraphism (spinal cord abnormalities caused by malformation of the spinal column during fetal development). She strives to educate and empower parents to make complex healthcare decisions to best meet the needs of their child and family.
Her research interests include studying the effects of injury to the developing brain and its long-term impact on neurological functioning. She is particularly interested in the damage that moderate brain injury can have on the cognitive development of young children and teenagers. She is developing pediatric brain injury models that will allow neurosurgeons to better understand the pathophysiology of injury and develop more targeted future interventions.
Professor and Chair of UC Davis Department of Neurological Surgery, James E. Boggan, has more than 25 years experience in pediatric neurosurgery. He has been recognized as one of the top two to five percent of neurosurgeons by US News and World Reports. He is interested in the innovative use of lasers and other energy sources for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors. He has served as co-director of both the Center for Skull-Base Surgery and the National Science Foundation Center for Biophotonics.


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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Rainbow Overload
Bam Bam McCunningham plopped himself on his bed after a twelve hour shift at the go-go bar. As he slid his size 7 pumps off his size 9 feet a good two or three ounces of glitter fell out of each shoe. He pulled his pantyhose off and noticed a small run in the left leg. "Occupational hazard," he muttered. Bam Bam served drinks in the raucous and raunchy gay bar in Western Queens called Otis' Place. Of course no one called it Otis' Place because it didn't roll off the tongue like it should. Everyone called it Opies. Bam Bam didn't like being a cocktail server but it was only until he got his big break as a writer. Every week he submitted a story somewhere and every week he got a rejection letter from someplace else. In the meantime he served drinks at Opies. In drag. When his vintage pink princess phone rang, his first inclination was to ignore it, but he thought that anyone calling this late must have something very urgent to discuss. "Hello?" After a few seconds of silence, the other end of the phone erupted in sobs that he immediately recognized as coming from his BFF from second grade, Lisa. It turns out she was just dumped by her boyfriend who realized he was gay. It was the fourth boy in a row she had dated who came out of the closet. In fact Lisa and Bam Bam had been a couple all through high school so she had quite the history of falling in love with the wrong man. But now he was her closest confidant. Most people referred to Lisa as Bam Bam's Fag Hag, but she preferred the title of Fruit Fly. He consoled her for two hours and promised to meet her for a champagne brunch the next morning followed by a day of shopping and then a mani/pedi. When he hung up the phone he was exhausted. He decided to leave the makeup on and go right to sleep but his Yorkshire terrier Bruce had other ideas. Bruce jumped into his lap holding his pink leash in his mouth and yelped at him asking to be taken for a walk. Bam Bam couldn't resist the cute face and knew that avoiding the walk would only make for a messy morning when Bruce decided to relieve himself on the new rug Bam Bam had just purchased from Crate and Barrel. Five minutes later, Bam Bam and Bruce were walking outside in the cool early morning spring air. With his dog at his side and the sound of Judy Garland pulsing through his iPod, Bam Bam found himself reinvigorated and not ready for sleep at all anymore. Once he returned home, he decided to put on his writing hat and get to work on his next piece. With his cute Jackie O. pillbox sitting jauntily on his head and Elaine Stritch playing in the background, he took a sip of his Cosmopolitan and began writing his one man play about coming out of the closet in a small Southern town.
6 comments:
That was a cute and sweet story. I really love your blog, sometimes you make me miss serving and bartending, and other things you post make me thank God I'm solely doing hair and makeup again!
Merry Christmas and I hope 2012 comes along and makes a few of your dreams come true!
- December 20, 2011 at 1:27 PM
- Practical Parsimony said...
Only dates gay guys? Hmmm...
I really liked the story. So, when will we see the story BamBam wrote?
- December 20, 2011 at 2:05 PM
- Corina said...
AS a Fruit Fly myself, I would like to totally also to read Lisa's story. Thanks for the nice break in my day!
- December 20, 2011 at 2:14 PM
- Corina said...
OH! And I LOVEEE ELaine Stritch! Do you remember her TV show, where she was a writer, and moved to England to write, and she had this butler..OMG I love that show!!!
- December 20, 2011 at 2:15 PM
You're hella awesome, love your blogs <3
- December 20, 2011 at 2:22 PM
- Lolamouse said...
Does the Bitchy Waiter perhaps have an alter ego who owns a pillbox hat? Love the story so far!
- December 21, 2011 at 7:57 AM


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She jerked her head back and forth unnaturally, not to the rhythm of the beat, but to the madness in her mind. On each trip backward, she opened her mouth wide and emitted a wail of nothingness, not anger, sadness, elation, or discouragement.
The girl was severely handicapped and accompanied by her tired grandmother and a young nephew. The embarrassed lady shushed and quieted her while the boy pushed her wheelchair and goaded her into wailing more loudly and more often. The trio shopped in the little pantry that distributed food to the needy of our county. It was hard to hide their presence.
The wheelchair was filthy as were her clothing. When her mouth gaped, it revealed teeth that were brown and black and sorely in need of care. Her eyes were unfocused and whatever they were looking for, it certainly was not next to the pork and beans on the back shelf. She sat at an odd angle in the wheelchair, her shoes were untied. The boy was not all that careful about the path on which he pushed, resulting in collisions with the shelves filled with laundry soap, lettuce, and lemons. Her mind did not appear capable of responding to conservation or even obvious details of her surroundings. She just did not understand.
We helped them through the pantry, but our feeble efforts were really not needed, as they moved quickly through the food available two days before Thanksgiving. The selection was a little different that day, as some holiday staples were added to the usual mix. Towards the end, the family struggled to move around other shoppers waiting to turn the corner, and weariness and impatience lined the face of the grandmother and the faces of the other patrons. We bagged her selection quickly, wished them all a Happy Thanksgiving and God's blessings and helped them on their way.
I don't know where they live, what they drive, or who they'll go home to. But I can tell you for certain, this young lady will not have a Happy Thanksgiving.
I wonder why God allows girls and families to suffer. As I've volunteered at this charity, I've talked to addicts from 18 to 75. I've helped the mentally ill and the criminally active. I've shared Jesus Christ with some and prayed with many. I wonder about those who are my age that must depend on charities for sustenance. I wonder.
Friends of mine are quick to counsel, explaining that God has a plan. It's easy to say that when bank accounts are full, homes are warm, and faces are friendly. It's not as if I don't agree, He does have a plan. But when I'm serving right in the middle of the mess, I wish his plan would be executed quickly and ferociously. I wonder and I wish.
There is one certainty that I never wonder about, and the awe and humility it gives me was startling that day. This girl with her stringy hair, feeble mind, lack of control, and filthy clothes will one day be transformed. It caused me to pause that day as I've never done before. Do you believe, as scripture tells us, in heaven, the least will be the greatest, and the greatest will be least? Do you believe that it truly is the kingdom upside down? Well, if you do, let me paint a picture for you then.
On the day when our Lord returns we'll see a wheelchair bound girl with no control, who wears someone else's discarded clothes unwashed, who cannot utter a sentence of her own, who drools incessantly, whose teeth rot in her mouth, who rarely has her hair brushed or combed, and who is shunned by almost everyone she meets. We'll see her all right. But in a wondrous instant, she will be radiant, clothed in splendor, with perfectly fitted white clothing, clean and bright. Her smile will be filled with straight white teeth and it will light up the heavens. She'll have a focused gaze on her Lord, her wails will be replaced with shouts of joy and songs of praise. Her mind will be clear and sharp and precise and full of knowledge. She'll be welcomed by all and loved by everyone. She'll not have to depend on anyone but God. She, finally, will be home. And that...is heaven.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, look forward to what awaits you Christ-follower, but serve mightily while you're here, the lowly ones you meet will one day be great in the eyes of God.


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Become a fan
All I can say is Sean is friggin awesome, a great communicator, and just friendly which is really nice when you feel like you're about to lose it. I was taking a 1986 Toyota RV from Walla Walla, WA to Big Bend National Park and lost my transmission outside of Boise. They saw the RV Thursday morning for the first time and I was back on the road Friday evening with a rebuilt transmission. Thank you so much to this whole crew for keeping our spirits up and getting us back on the road. This was awesome!
Sean and his crew did awesome!!!! My driver side wiper wasn't working so I took it in and they found it was just a problem with one of the wires and didn't charge me a thing even thought they worked on it for a while trying to figure out what was gong on. I will definitely be going back to them and the great customer service.
I dread car repair places, and so today when a check light went off in the middle of a 3-day road trip I was not amused to say the least. I happened upon AAMCO and let me say, I am SO GLAD I did! I let the guy know what was going on and before they wrote a ticket up he said let's just see what the light is on for. Twenty minutes later I found out it was just because of low air in one tire, probably from the drop in temp as it was only low by one point. Ten minutes later I got a full report my tires were visually inspected, filled, and the light was off. No charge. On my way for the last full day of driving. They were kind, efficient, and thoughtful! Thank you!!
I went into the Aamco on fairview and never has it been fun for me to go to a car shop but when I walked in the environment was great and the workers so friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend going here for any car care needs!
Aamco did a great job with my oil change! They checked all my fluids and did the job in efficient time with no cut corners! Customer service was also great! Very friendly and kind! Big thank you and surely coming back!!


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Fingerprinting children..""...the system was preparing pupils for a world in which terrorism was rife..."
"I have not been able to find a single piece of published research which suggests that the use of biometrics in schools promotes healthy eating or improves reading skills amongst children. I am concerned that these reasons are being given as a justification for fingerprinting children. There is absolutely no evidence for such claims."
Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, Director of Studies, Sociology of Education, Homerton College, Cambridge, 20 Feb 2007, quoted on the website of Pippa King, resolute campaigner to stop the use of fingerprinting children in schools, for collecting information on diet, running libraries and half ass schemes for attendance... often without the agreement or prior knowledge or discussion with parents.
Visit her site Biometrics in Schools to get up to date on the latest developments ...an Early Day Motion, laid down by Greg Mulholland, No 10 Petition you can sign and links to many many sources including a Forum run for them by NO2ID - it is astonishing how schemes are being introduced at local level with no national guidelines or policies to control them.
So far this is the Gubment response
The Register had the story of MP Greg Mulholland's request for a debate on the subject of fingerprinting children on 29th January -He said "Legal opinion, including that of the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, has stated that this practice contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998. Does he agree that it is time to debate this important subject in the House?" Mulholland asked Jack Straw, leader of the House of Commons ex Foreign Secretary and War Criminal.
The Department for Education and Skills does provide guidance for schools and local authorities on data protection and the security of personal data which would include Biometric data.
However we are currently working with the British Educational and Communication Technology Agency (Becta) and with the office of the Information Commissioner to update the guidance including around the use of Biometric technologies.
Straw refused, claiming ignorance (there is so much he is ignorant of) : "I am not aware of the practice [of fingerprinting children at school], but obviously people have accepted it," he said.
"There is a problem with ensuring people's identity, and one of the ways of doing that is to use biometric data," he went on, "Security in libraries is a big issue for younger and older people."One head teacher's reason to install a biometric system in his school "...the system was preparing pupils for a world in which terrorism was rife, and their privacy would be further invaded" From the York Press January 2007


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Jodi gave me a fab book on felting, and I had to try out the technique of putting round wood beads tightly in the fabric before felting, holding them in place with mini rubber bands. I had a feeling I wouldn't actually enjoy a felted scarf tho, so I warned Julie I was pry making a scarf for HER as opposed to me. She did put it on promptly when I gave it to her, so I hope she likes it. I didn't have enough of one color to do the scarf quite as long as the pattern called for, or enough to do the flowers in the same color. I would like to do a cream one with just bubbles all over the ends.. but I have to decide if anyone I know would want it first. :)
Here is my v-day card. I love the typewriter stamp/die set from My Favorite Things, but I really have trouble getting the typewriter to stamp cleanly. I have found I need to re-ink the ink pad, then stamp on a foam pad, and stand up to press really really hard to get a good impression. Not sure if this is normal for the stamp, but it is the only way that works for me.
I had a small problem with this card, and wanted to give a tip in case you do the same thing. I always score my cards on my Scor-Pal , and there is a small arrow on the 4.25 inch mark. However, there is a nice star a few notches over, and the star is much more obvious to me, so I sometimes score there by mistake. I have in the past gotten frustrated and thrown the paper away in anger, but I learned to just pretend I wanted a scored background instead. On this card I did random scor lines in both directions to cover that up. I think the stamped hearts look cooler with the scor lines.
Have a great day,


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I am reliably informed by a member of our friendly catering team (which means that I haven't checked any of the facts that follow, but I'm going to repeat them anyway) that the rocket boosters on the American space shuttle were built to a size based roughly on the width of two horses' backsides.
You see the boosters had to travel to the launch-pad by train, passing through a tunnel along the way. The gauge of the US railway line, 4ft 8½ inches, dictated the width of the tunnel - and the American rail tracks were based on our own British ones. So how was the gauge of our tracks determined? Well they were based on the width of the tram tracks which came earlier. The tram tracks were set at roughly the same distance apart as the ruts created by horse-drawn vehicles, to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the wheels. How far apart were those ruts in the road? …About the width of two horses trotting side by side.
Now I don't want to sound too dramatic, but NASA aren't the only organisation to have faced an issue that originates from the days of horse-drawn vehicles. Here in the medieval village of Cartmel, people often wonder how we manage to get 20,000 racegoers through the narrow roads and rural lanes that surround the racecourse.
If I had a pound for every person who suggested that we should build a new road around the village, I might just be able to pay for one; not that anyone who has received my tips on a regular basis is likely to give me a pound for anything. (This Saturday, by the way, I'm going for Jonny Delta in the 4.40 at York).
So we went to "plan b" – and brought in the professionals. SEP Events Ltd have been helping the public to gain access to many of Britain's busiest events since 1989 including: the Aintree Grand National, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, music festivals and this week's Great Yorkshire Show. In addition to helping us devise a traffic management system which is sanctioned by the County Council, SEP Events design the appropriate road signage, set out thousands of road cones and provide staff for all the key positions including most of our car parks. They are the NASA of the car-parking universe.
SEP's traffic management system involves the creation of dedicated one-way routes into the racecourse, which are reversed half way through the day to facilitate the get-away. In the meantime, we try to keep surrounding lanes available for local residents to negotiate their way around the village to continue with their normal business. So if you're approaching the racecourse next week and think you know a short-cut, please help us to avoid gridlock by sticking to the signed routes and don't rely on your sat-nav, especially if you're driving a space shuttle or a horse drawn cart.


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With love and loss tangled together, how was she to know where her life would lead?
Allie Kirkland has always heard the call of her father's unfinished destiny. When she's offered a production assistant's job on a docudrama filming in the hills near Moses Lake, Texas, the dream of following in her director-father's footsteps suddenly seems within reach. The reenactment of the legendary frontier settlement of Wildwood is a first step into the film industry. A summer on set in the wilderness is a small price to pay for a dream.
But in 1861, the real Wildwood held dangerous realities. Town founder Harland Delavan held helpless residents, including young Irish schoolteacher Bonnie Rose, in an iron grip. Mysterious disappearances led to myths and legends still retold in the region's folk songs. Eventually, the entire site was found abandoned.
When filming begins, strange connections surface between Allie and the teacher who disappeared over a century ago, and everyone in Wildwood--including Blake Fulton, Allie's handsome neighbor on the film set--seems to be hiding secrets. Allie doesn't know whom she can trust. If she can't find the answers in time, history may repeat itself...with the most unthinkable results.
My Review:
What an intriguing book! So intriguing I didn't know whether to categorize it as women's fiction or contemporary romance with a dollop of suspense thrown in!
Wildwood is told from two first person points of view - Allie in present day and Bonnie Rose in 1861. I really liked the contrast between their two voices which I don't think could have been achieved if it had been written in third person POV. Allie is a hip and snappy and ultra 21st century 20-something while Bonnie Rose's Irish heritage slips into her ever so proper 19th century journaling. Very distinct and really adds to the allure of the story.
I have to say that I don't think I've ever read a book that kept me guessing more than this one...and guessing about a lot of things! From how Blake actually fits into the scenario to what actually happened to Bonnie Rose, not to mention trying to figure out the end game of a few other mysterious characters. I was on tenterhooks the whole read, madly creating possible scenarios and just as quickly scrapping them in favour of something else. Wildwood really kept this reader on her toes.
And this is a story of substance -- well two stories that finally merge into one incredibly fulfilling conclusion. Again, the contrast between what both heroines are struggling with really highlight the different centuries. I loved how Allie developed a connection with Bonnie Rose and how searching out the truth behind her disappearance helps her find a longed for balance in her own life.
An incredibly well-crafted story that gobsmacked me! :-)
Giveaway Opportunity:
If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Wildwood Creek please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . to protect yourself from spammers. If you email me, please be sure to put the title in the subject line so it is easier for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday February 23 2014. Offer open to international readers. Good luck.
"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".


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1 week ago
Say: Though the sea became ink for the Words of my Lord, verily the sea would be used up before the Words of my Lord were exhausted, even though We brought the like thereof to help. Say: I am only a mortal like you. My Lord inspireth in me that your God is only One God. And whoever hopeth for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his Lord. [Cave Dwellers]


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Sukin is an Australian beauty brand sold across ten countries, offering natural, and recognised vegan, skincare that's free from harsh chemicals, such as SLS, parabens and mineral oils. Instead, Sukin's products contain powerful and effective ingredients such as botanicals and essential oils, bringing you skincare that really works for your skin. Something else that I really appreciate about the brand is that Sukin is a 100% carbon neutral company, and all their packaging is environmentally friendly. I met with some of the brand's representatives at the Natural and Organic Products Show, where they were launching their new Super Greens range, and they very kindly gave me Sukin's Facial Recovery Serum to try out for myself.
Sukin's Super Greens Facial Recovery Serum* | rrp £18.00
Sukin's brand new Super Greens range - which consists of a moisturiser, serum, exfoliater and face mask - contains detoxyifying green actives such as Kale, Spirulina, Parsley and Chlorella, which contain antioxidants and vitamins to help restore a healthy glow. Sukin's Super Greens Facial Recovery Serum also contains Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil and Vitamin E which helps to lock in moisture for a dewy complexion. The serum has a very light, milky consistency that absobs into your skin incredibly quickly, making it perfect for use in either the morning or evening. It's so much lighter and fresher on the skin than the facial oils that I'm accustomed to using, but it still leaves my skin feeling hydrated, nourished and soft. It hasn't been a revolutionary addition to my skincare routine but I do think it's a very nice, gentle and light product that's comfortable to use and does help my skin to look and feel better. I don't think that it will necessarily offer enough hydration for very dry or mature skin, but for most other skin-types I think it would be a nice addition to your routine that will help to leave your skin looking plumper, fresher and more glowing.
The Facial Recover Serum was a lovely first introduction to Sukin's wonderful natural skincare range and it's left me keen to explore more from the brand. Have you tried anything from Sukin before? Do you use serums?
The Facial Recover Serum was a lovely first introduction to Sukin's wonderful natural skincare range and it's left me keen to explore more from the brand. Have you tried anything from Sukin before? Do you use serums?


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Nature Inspired Tiles
These Nature Inspired tiles by Harvey Maria have made an impact on this Children's Bathroom with what looks like residential lawn. What a fun place for kids. The complete look has been pulled together with the original sink from the kitchen refinished and painted green to match the room. Read more about this at Living Etc


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Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad | Tuesday 12 April | Bangalore | 16:30
Tuesday's solitary Indian Premier League match will see the pre-tournament favourites, the Royal Challengers Bangalore welcome the Sunrisers Hyderabad to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Can Chris Gayle and co guide RCB to an opening-day victory or will David Warner and his charges upset the applecart on Tuesday evening? Let's take a look!
To Win Match
Bangalore 11/20| Draw 35/1| Hydearabad 31/20
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore were rather busy in the latest IPL Auction purchasing Shane Watson for just under $1.5m, Stuart Binny and Kane Richardson for $300,000, Travis Head as well as Samuel Badree to name a few. This to go along with retained players such as Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Chris Gayle, David Wiese, Adam Milne and Varun Aaron makes the Royal Challengers the favourites in the competition.
On the batting front, Bangalore has easily the most powerful line-up in the tournament. Their top four could include Gayle, Kohli, Watson and De Villiers which, safe to say, is more than enough to worry any bowling attack in the competition. The problem for them, though, will be getting all of these power hitters to fire at the same time. In 2015, Bangalore had three batsmen in De Villiers, Gayle and Kohli amongst the tournament's top six run-scorers which saw them reach the qualifiers, but apart from those three the next best batsman in the side, Mandeep Singh, managed a meagre 157 runs. De Villiers and Gayle have been in shaky form lately and if these two struggle then Bangalore may have to look to less experienced players to perform.
Bangalore's attack includes two of the fastest bowlers in cricket, Varun Aaron and Adam Milne, both capable of consistently bowling at speeds of 145kph plus. These two are likely to lead the attack in the absence of Mitchell Starc and Samuel Badree who will both miss significant portions of the tournament. Yuzvendra Chahal will be hoping to replicate his excellent season in 2015 when he took 23 wickets at an average of just 18. Other bowlers that can make a difference are Harshal Patel who took 17 wickets last season at a good economy rate and David Wiese who was a surprise hit last season, taking 16 wickets. Shane Watson may also be asked to bowl an over here and there. Kane Richardson is another bowler with a good T20 record who can make an impact.
The biggest problem for Bangalore will be which four overseas players to include in their matchday team. Gayle and De Villiers are likely to be included while the amount of money spent on Watson means he will most likely play a role which will probably be that of opening batsman. That leaves place open for a bowler, if they decide to go that way, which will be one of Milne, Richardson or Wiese. If Watson does play then Wiese is unlikely to be included as Stuart Binny is also an all-rounder option and so that fourth overseas position will likely go to Richardson or Milne. This should leave Bangalore with a side that is well-balanced and in a good position to win their first game of the 2016 campaign.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Like Bangalore, Hyderabad were also fairly active in the 2016 IPL Auction. They purchased Yuvraj Singh, who will miss the first two weeks due to injury, for a crazy $1.05m and Ashish Nehra for $825,000. That is a lot of money spent on two players over the age of 34. They also invested in young Bangladeshi left-arm bowler Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Deepak Hooda and Ben Cutting. Players retained include the likes of Karn Sharma, KL Rahul, David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan, Trent Boult, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kane Williamson. This leaves Hyderabad with and impressive roster of Indian players who can make as big an impact as the overseas players.
Hyderabad's batsman are some of the best in the world. In their captain, David Warner, they have one of the most feared opening batsman in world cricket. Warner was also the leading run-scorer in last year's tournament with 562 runs at an average of 43. Dhawan and Williamson are both likely to play a big part in Hyderabad's season and they will be banking on these two to fire on all cylinders. Morgan and Yuvraj will also be looking to make an impact with the bat, despite Morgan being out of form and Yuvraj being out for the first two weeks. Others to look out for are Deepak Hooda, who has an impressive strike rate of close to 140 in T20 cricket, Naman Ojha and Aditya Tare.
When it comes to bowling, Hyderabad certainly are well stocked. Boult, Cutting, Henriques, Nehra, Kumar, Rahman and Sran are all extremely capable of winning matches on their own. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was their highest wicket taker in 2015 with 18 wickets. Moises Henriques also impressed last season with 11 wickets at an economy of just 6 and an average of a touch over 14. They may be looking for Mustafizur Rahman to bring his impressive World T20 form along with him as he can be a destructive T20 bowler with his impressive off-cutters. Barinder Sran recently made his Indian ODI debut and he will be looking to use that experience for his teams benefit here. Karn Sharma will look to play a big role with his leg breaks and it remains to be seen whether or not David Warner will look to use Trent Boult as he tends to rely on swing of which there may not be much available in India.
Hyderabad have a nice balance of batsman and bowlers. I expect Warner and Williamson to both be included along with Moises Henriques and Mustafizur Rahman whose wily off cutters and slower deliveries may be more effective than Trent Boult's pace and swing. That being said, Warner may look to go with the more experienced Boult who has bowled well to the strong Bangalore line-up's batsmen before. Along with the four overseas players, Nehra, Dhawan, Karn Sharma and Deepak Hooda will all have roles to play if they are to see off the powerful hitting that Bangalore possess. Expect Hyderabad's bowling line-up to consist of Rahman or Boult, Kumar, Nehra, Sharma and Henriques. They will need to make early in-roads into that Bangalore line-up if they are to be successful.
Verdict: Royal Challengers Bangalore 11/20
Bangalore's batsmen will need to fire but I can't see them losing this match. They usually start IPL well and I can see this season being no different. On the two occasions in which they have played against Hyderabad at home they have come out on top. Kohli has been in scintillating form lately and I would not be surprised if he carries that form into the IPL. The only issue Bangalore face is which overseas players to pick, but they are all so strong that it may not make a difference which combination they go with. Hyderabad's bowlers are well experienced but, apart from Nehra and Rahman, most are lacking game time. They may well be slightly rusty going into this game and any bad balls will be severely dealt with by Bangalore's batsmen. Warner and Dhawan haven't been in fantastic form either with Australia using Warner in the middle order in the World T20 and Dhawan being dropped by India for the semi-final.
Bet on this match now at Hollywoodbets.net! Haven't got an account? Open one here!


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In The News: Buccaneers Winners, Even In Loss
I was beginning to think the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps simply had forgotten how to lose.
Since a third-place finish in 2004, the Buccaneers had won every competition they entered – 64 straight – until coming in second on Sept. 3.
I'm not a big drum and bugle corps guy, except when I'm watching a parade and catch myself tapping out the beat with my foot on the curb.
Read the rest of the article here.
Posted by News Editor on Monday, September 12th, 2011. Filed under Current News, DCA News.


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Exchange-traded funds saw inflows of $15.6 billion in November bring year-to-date inflows to $154.0 billion, putting them on track to match or exceed 2008's record-setting inflows of $168.3 billion, according to data from Morningstar.
Investors added another $3.9 billion to Taxable-bond ETFs, bringing the year-to-date total to $48.0 billion. International-stock ETFs also had a strong showing in November with inflows of $5.2 billion.
The popular PIMCO Total Return ETF raked in $450 million in net new assets in November and is on pace to surpass $4 billion in assets before the end of the year. The ETF has returned 6% over the last six months, outpacing the 4.6% return of its open-end big brother, PIMCO Total Return.
For the second consecutive month, iShares topped all providers in terms of inflows, allowing it to eclipse Vanguard for the highest year-to-date inflows. For example: iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) saw a $2.3 billion inflow while Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) had a $900 million outflow last month.


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This is a repost of a blog I did 4 years ago. It is as important today as it was then and maybe more so.
Daniel Bonds is working on his master's degree and his thesis work involves mobile home parks and tornado safety. His preliminary work shows that most do not have a safe place to go in the event of a tornado here in the Midlands.
Furthermore, many living in such places do not know the different between a tornado and a hurricane. They believe that they can simply evacuate to the local school or some other shelter when a tornado approaches which is a mistake. Experience and the science has confirmed that in a tornado situation a mobile home must be abandon even if it is tied down. The risk of being killed in a mobile home is significantly higher than in a traditionally built home.
|Mobile home lifted off its blocks (foreground) with what is left of the home up against the trees along with an overturned vehicle. Image Credit: NOAA.
|Severely damaged mobile home from a tornado near Georgetown, SC in 2001. Note the overturned car in front of the mobile home. Image Credit: NOAA.
There is evidence of the link between extreme weather and climate change. Large tornado outbreaks are becoming more frequent. It is imperative that if you live in a mobile home, that you have a plan and a nearby place to take shelter. This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in South Carolina, the perfect time to make such a plan.
And now the repost of Pigs Can't Fly, But Mobile Homes Can.
This is not about bashing mobile homes or the mobile home industry. Mobile homes, or manufactured housing as many in the industry like to say, provide an affordable alternative to traditional homes for many families. Even I considered buying a mobile home early in my career in Oklahoma City, the most tornado prone city in the world.
However, many who buy mobile homes are not aware of the risks and the salesman is not going to point them out unless he can make money off of it. When I was considering my move to a mobile home it included construction of an underground tornado shelter. My mobile home and shelter would have been stocked with NOAA Weather Radios. The shelter would have had emergencies supplies and communication devices. In addition, it would have had a mechanical wrench to open the door if it was covered by debris.
I recently received an email from someone who wanted to know if the bathroom was a safe place to go in a mobile home as a tornado approached. Truth of the matter is that there is no safe place to go in a mobile home during a tornado. That is why you are encouraged to leave and seek more substantial shelter.
If you live in a mobile home, the first thing to do in preparing for severe weather is to make sure the home is tied down securely. A professional should do this and the home should be tied down to withstand at least 100 mph winds. This will help keep the mobile home from flying away in a severe thunderstorm. However, this does not make it safe in a tornado or hurricane.
Next make sure there is a substantial shelter nearby. This can be a designated shelter, traditional home, or a constructed storm shelter. Make sure you have a NOAA Weather Radio with a battery back up and know how to use it. Know where you live and the surrounding communities so that you will know how close the severe weather is to your area.
Finally, have a plan and practice it with the entire family. When severe weather strikes you have to know what to do automatically.
There is only so much you can do to secure a mobile home. The tie downs are a must, but they do not make it safe in a tornado or hurricane. Here winds can exceed 100 mph and the ties may fail. The home can be totally destroyed even if the ties hold.
I remember a case near Lawton, Oklahoma and I think it was in the early 1980's. A tornado hit a mobile home that was tied down to withstand 110 mph winds. The tie downs did their job and the mobile home did not fly away. However, it was completely destroyed and the person inside was killed. The tie downs kept the home in place, but the winds ripped apart the home as the seams broke. Thus, it literally disintegrated in its place. The debris flying around the mobile home were like missiles and were deadly. The tie downs could be plainly seen in the aftermath holding the debris in place.
Therefore, you should not have any illusions about the safety of mobile homes in severe weather. They can be a dangerous place to be. However, if you plan for such events you can rest a lot easier.
Consider this piece of advice. Move to more permanent shelter whenever a tornado watch is issued. Tornadoes can occur at any time and you may not have time to seek proper shelter. Then return to the home when the danger has passed. Never try to ride out a direct hit from a hurricane in a mobile home. The danger again is too great.