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BNIB Alden 4081 Humus Suede Parajumper Boots Shoes - Size US 8E and 11E
Brand new in box, perfect conditions


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Last week the whole Botkier team and our fans made Botkier history hosting our first ever online sample sale. We truly could not have imagined the response that we received by all of you who participated in the Exclusive Classics Event. It was the most traffic our website ever got in one day!
A few days have passed since we had to end it early, (yes, we actually ran out of inventory!) and yet we're still recovering from the shock of it all, who woulda thunk it?!
It's been such a pleasure seeing how our classics stand up over time – we loved bringing them back in such amazing stand-out colors and trust you all will be rockin' your new Triggers, Biancas, and Sasha's all Summer long!(Coral and Periwinkle – perfect Spring/Summer brights!) It was also a longtime plan of ours to be able to extend our sale to the Botkier fans who don't live in New York City and have never been able to experience the rush and thrill of finding your "it" bag amidst the throngs of SoHo Fashionistas!
Thank you all, so very much! Until next time (maybe ; )
Much love…. The Botkier Team

subset: commoncrawl


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Ian Patrick Hughes necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 177 diseños de 54 diseñadores freelance.
I have a small and recently founded (as in days ago) LLC that needs a modest logo of the company name (Jenian, LLC). Artists have full range of whatever they want to do really, but the colors in the winning image I will probably utilize when I do the layout for the website. Which in turn will probably end-up on the shwag, etc.
So, you're kind of founding everything in terms of identity with this little image, I guess. I have several projects in the pipeline that will pay much better than this one; so I hope to form a possible on-going relationship with someone.
Jenian, LLC
Jenian, LLC is media, entertainment, and software development company that focuses on small niche markets. So, we would never build "Facebook" but we would love to build "the facebook for lonely entomologists" let's say (I'm almost serious on that one). The company will not be too public facing, subsidiary companies, products, and sites will be; so flash and pop in this logo is not of high importance.
We were founded in San Francisco and everybody loves to sail, so anything that ties the company name into the urban city company members all love so much or the bay area would be cool. I really do not have anything pictured in my head which is why I'm here.
If I knew what I wanted I'd be knee-deep in PhotoShop right now. :)
Added a few hours into the contest from the discussion area: "I understand that designers are world wide here, but this company and
all people involved eat, breath, and live San Francisco. It's us. You
have an endless amount of iconographic material to work with. The
Golden Gate, the ocean, the bay, the city scape. I think a sailing
related theme would be cool, but by no means is it mandatory. Give some
different concepts a shot if you want.
I'm totally going to work with anyone who shows interest throughout this contest."
- It just has to have the company name as the logo. I would just think to myself could I see this in the header of a website or on a polo shirt?
- Oh and a .psd for the final format would be fantastic!
- I'm not into crushing artist inspiration, so do whatever you think would be cool.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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When I headed towards Rogers Arena last night, my husband sent me a text cautioning me of what I might see when I entered the gate:
Keep your eyes peeled when you come in Gate 16. It was quite the rogues gallery when I came
As I was walking down Abbot Street (now Pat Quinn Way) to my regular gate, Orland Kurtenbach and his wife walked by for the unveiling of the street sign on Abbot St. and Pacific Boulevard. As I came inside, I saw Kirk McLean talking with a few others. Usually, I don't get phased by seeing McLean, he's in and around the arena quite a bit during the regular season, but yesterday, it felt different. There was an energy the minute I set foot through the doors. As I waited for the elevator to take me to Level 5, I started recognizing more faces, and then I thought I saw Markus Naslund which made me do a double take and I wasn't sure, but I was… Anyway, everyone was in great anticipation of the pre-game ceremony.
When I met up with my husband in our section, he told me of some of the people he saw gathered at Gate 16. He said, in a cluster, there was Brian Burke, George McPhee, Jim Robson and Bob Nicholson. Rogues, maybe, but hockey's upper echelon, definitely. As we were having our pre-game dinner, I believe we both felt at a loss for words. All we could do was smile just think of how much Pat Quinn meant to hockey and we in Vancouver were so fortunate to have felt his impact so profoundly.
When the actual ceremony began, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and legendary broadcaster, Jim Robson hosted the evening. It was respectful, memorable without being too long winded. It was perfect. Rick Ley, Bobby Clarke, Cliff Fletcher, Ron Toigo, Markus Naslund, Stan Smyl, Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, Kirk McLean, Bob Nicholson and Orland Kurtebach all joined in for the on-ice ceremony. But it was the amazing entourage of people who weren't shown publicly that astounded many. Washington Capitals GM, George McPhee, singer Michael Buble, Flames President- Brian Burke were amongst the many who gathered at Rogers Arena on that very special night.
Seeing people in the hockey world pay their respects to a man that meant so much to this game, to this city and especially to this team. Pat Quinn had an impact everywhere he want into hockey, but nowhere to the extent of Vancouver. I was still a young girl (11 or 12) when Pat Quinn took charge of the Vancouver Canucks, but I do remember the less than half full Pacific Coliseum before his arrival and how things changed when he put his stamp on the team. There was a culture, there was a vibe, there was respectability associated with the Canucks that lacked in previous regimes.
Highlights of the Pat Quinn Ceremony
- Seeing the array of team jerseys that was associated with Pat Quinn in the world of hockey. Even more so the people who wore them out as they were introduced to Rogers Arena.
- The appropriateness of the St. Patrick's Day to remember The Big Irishman.
- Bagpipes and Mark Donnelly singing his rendition of "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" paid a wonderful musical tribute.
- The combatants of the night, were the two NHL teams Quinn had the most success with as a head coach.
- All the dignitaries throughout the night that went on-air with kind words to say about Pat.
- Seeing his daughters and granddaughter with the ceremonial puck drop was a perfect way to end the ceremony.
- The one that impacted me the most during the ceremony was seeing Bure, Linden and McLean together in their old "Skate Logo" jersey brought the crowd to a rousing cheer. Memories of a team from yesteryear brought many smiles and tears of joy to some present at the arena. Most significant part of that trio together was, as they were leaving the ice after the ceremony, Linden patted Bure on the back and shared what seemed like kinds words with the Russian Rocket. Two men, who have not always seen eye to eye, as teammates and people, put their differences aside for the night to remember Pat Quinn. That's speaks volumes of how much Pat Quinn meant to people.
For those that missed the ceremony last night, or those who just want to see it again, here is the ceremony in its entirety.


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WSJ's Crovitz: "Creating The Internet" And Getting Everything Wrong
Blog ››› ››› SIMON MALOY
The Wall Street Journal's Gordon Crovitz jumped on the "you didn't build that" distortion bandwagon yesterday, attacking President Obama for citing the "government research" that "created the Internet so that all companies could make money off the Internet." To rebut the president, Crovitz offered a lengthy response to a point Obama never made, made a wealth of assertions that (according to his own sources) were wrong, and in the end actually ended up proving the point the president did make: that government-funded projects contribute to success in private enterprise.
First, let's take a look at what Obama said:
OBAMA: If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don't do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
Now here's Crovitz's take on Obama's (selectively edited) comments:
A telling moment in the presidential race came recently when Barack Obama said: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." He justified elevating bureaucrats over entrepreneurs by referring to bridges and roads, adding: "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all companies could make money off the Internet."
It's an urban legend that the government launched the Internet. The myth is that the Pentagon created the Internet to keep its communications lines up even in a nuclear strike. The truth is a more interesting story about how innovation happens--and about how hard it is to build successful technology companies even once the government gets out of the way.
It's a myth! And had Obama said that "the government launched the Internet," he would have been guilty of propagating that myth. Fortunately, he didn't say that. Nonetheless, Crovitz took it upon himself to correct the president on who "invented" the internet -- Xerox, not the government:
The federal government was involved, modestly, via the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. Its goal was not maintaining communications during a nuclear attack, and it didn't build the Internet. Robert Taylor, who ran the ARPA program in the 1960s, sent an email to fellow technologists in 2004 setting the record straight: "The creation of the Arpanet was not motivated by considerations of war. The Arpanet was not an Internet. An Internet is a connection between two or more computer networks."
If the government didn't invent the Internet, who did? Vinton Cerf developed the TCP/IP protocol, the Internet's backbone, and Tim Berners-Lee gets credit for hyperlinks.
But full credit goes to the company where Mr. Taylor worked after leaving ARPA: Xerox. It was at the Xerox PARC labs in Silicon Valley in the 1970s that the Ethernet was developed to link different computer networks. Researchers there also developed the first personal computer (the Xerox Alto) and the graphical user interface that still drives computer usage today.
To back this up, Crovitz cited Michael Hiltzik's book Dealers Of Lightning. Hiltzik responded to Crovitz's column this morning and said that Crovitz got everything completely wrong:
And while I'm gratified in a sense that he cites my book about Xerox PARC, "Dealers of Lightning," to support his case, it's my duty to point out that he's wrong. My book bolsters, not contradicts, the argument that the Internet had its roots in the ARPANet, a government project. So let's look at where Crovitz goes awry.
First, he quotes Robert Taylor, who funded the ARPANet as a top official at the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA, as stating, "The Arpanet was not an Internet. An Internet is a connection between two or more computer networks." (Taylor eventually moved to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, where he oversaw the invention of the personal computer, and continued promoting research into networking.)
But Crovitz confuses AN internet with THE Internet. Taylor was citing a technical definition of "internet" in his statement. But I know Bob Taylor, Bob Taylor is a friend of mine, and I think I can say without fear of contradiction that he fully endorses the idea as a point of personal pride that the government-funded ARPANet was very much the precursor of the Internet as we know it today.
There is a legitimate question as to when "the internet" as we come to know it today first appeared on the scene. But, again, that's not what Obama was talking about. He said that government research led to the internet's creation. The government-created Arpanet, while not "the internet," was what made the internet possible in that it was the basis from which all the tech legends lionized by Crovitz did their innovating.
Indeed, Robert Taylor -- who, in Crovitz's retelling gets "full credit" for creating the internet -- said as much. Crovitz quoted a 2004 email in which Taylor wrote: "The Arpanet was not an Internet. An Internet is a connection between two or more computer networks." Here's the part of that email Crovitz left out: "The ARPAnet was not an internet. An internet is a connection between two or more computer networks. The ARPAnet, with help from thousands of people, slowly evolved into the Internet. Without the ARPAnet, the Internet would have been a much longer time in coming."
So that's pretty dishonest of Crovitz.
And what about Vinton Cerf, who, with Robert Kahn, "developed the TCP/IP protocol, the Internet's backbone?" When Cerf and Kahn released their paper explaining the TCP/IP protocol, they made sure to note that the "research reported in this paper was supported in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense." Kahn was working for ARPA at the time, and in 2008 he told Vanity Fair that "a place like ARPA is so important" because private companies weren't going to fund the early research because it didn't present "a business opportunity."
Cerf, for his part, specifically credited the Arpanet when discussing the TCP:
The Arpanet demonstrated the effectiveness of packet switching [breaking down data into discrete chunks and then reassembling it]. And it demonstrated that it was possible to get heterogeneous computers to talk to each other through a single common packet-switched net. What Bob Kahn and I did was to demonstrate that with a different set of protocols you could get an infinite number of -- well, infinite is not true, but an arbitrarily large number of -- different heterogeneous packet-switched nets to interconnect with each other as if it was all one big giant network. TCP is the thing that makes the Internet the Internet.
You get the point: The people Crovitz credited for "creating the internet" are all on record saying how very important the government-created Arpanet was to their research. And that's exactly the point Obama was making. Nonetheless, Crovtiz concluded:
It's important to understand the history of the Internet because it's too often wrongly cited to justify big government. It's also important to recognize that building great technology businesses requires both innovation and the skills to bring innovations to market. As the contrast between Xerox and Apple shows, few business leaders succeed in this challenge. Those who do -- not the government -- deserve the credit for making it happen.
Crovitz's own sources and the people who actually created the internet would beg to differ.
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Zafira teases us by stripping down into her skimpy pink lingerie. As she bends over you can see her big puffy labia bursting outside her tight pink lingerie, She pulls her panties deep inside her to show off her perfectly formed puffy lips.


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It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
phocis850 said:
Not sure what is going on. I'm game for anything. But for money... I think the winner should be paid by Guido. Seems fair.
Drathdon said:
Being the "recipient" of said bet, I'm perfectly ok with such a proposition, or any other arrangement Phocis agrees with. :)
Can't wait to correct the injustice of my 3rd place finish last year!


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While I was in England I read Simon Armitage's book Walking Home subtitled "Travels with A Troubadour on the Pennine Way." It's a terrific account of walking the 250 plus miles of the Pennine Way in the "wrong" direction, north to south, the trip made a good deal more arduous (in my estimation) because each night our author gives a poetry reading. Blimey. I'd have been on my hands and knees by the end of that.
I do maybe half a dozen readings a year (not poetry admittedly), and although I enjoy them well enough, I do find them surprisingly knackering. The idea of doing one more or less every night for three weeks after a hard day's walk, sounds like it would become absolute torture. Or maybe it works another way. Maybe you'd just go into a fugue state: walking, reading, sleeping; walking reading, sleeping, for as long as it takes. Although to be fair, Armitage keeps his wits about him throughout the book. Not so much in this picture, perhaps:
There were two things that really surprised me (in a good way) in Walking Home. One, that Simon Armitage used to have ambitions to be a cartographer. How often do you hear somebody say that? Although in his case he did have the benefit of a geography degree. I too, in idle moments, have thought it might be very cool to be cartographer, although without ever really knowing what that entails, and certainly without having a geography degree.
The second surprising thing is his description of getting lost while walking. He writes, "I have noticed a very alarming and rapid change in my psychology, as if the claustrophobia and disorientation brings about a particular condition, the symptoms of which include fear, panic, and loss of logical thought, but also less expected and harder-to-define sensations akin to melancholy, including something like hopelessness but also close to grief."
What interests me about this description is the extent to which I recognize all these symptoms except the very last one. The fear, panic, and loss of logical thought are, I assume, what everybody feels when they're lost, and that naturally enough leads to hopelessness. But I pretty much thought I was the only one who experienced melancholy, that sense of "I'm lost and alone in the world, and what else could you expect, and why does it even matter?" But I've never made that final leap to grief. Perhaps I haven't been sufficiently lost.
I did, however, get thoroughly lost last month while I was in London, not in any life-threatening way, but because London is a place that I flatter myself I know pretty well, and because I even had a map, it was unusually humiliating. I've written elsewhere about being lost (mercifully, briefly) in the Australian desert, and that was certainly scary, but being lost in a place you think you know is actually even more disorienting.
My plan in London was to do a short walk to see two ruined city churches, St. Dunstan-in-the-East (above) and Christ Church Greyfriars (below) – both more or less destroyed by German bombs in the Blitz, but the ruins preserved as deconsecrated war memorials. The route from one to the other inevitably takes you past St Paul's Cathedral which miraculously survived the Blitz, though it does have shrapnel scars.
I decided to start at St Dunstan's, and Monument looked like the nearest tube, so off and I went, came up out of the station – which had the exits marked with street names - and I stepped into the city and I had absolutely no idea where I was. I couldn't tell which street was which, which was north or south, east or west, and I set off along Gracechurch Street, and found myself approaching London Bridge which I knew was wrong. I stopped, turned back, walked for a bit, and felt more lost than ever.
I decided there'd be no shame in consulting the map, which I thought I'd have no need of, but I got it out, and you know as a sometime wannabe cartographer, I reckon I'm pretty good with a map, but this time I couldn't make any sense of it whatsoever. I'd look at, think I'd worked it out, start walking in one direction, and a couple of minutes later realize I was obviously heading in the wrong direction again. This happened time after time. It became frustrating; it became absurd, though it never quite became comical.
It was infuriating but also, per Armitage, a deeply melancholy experience. I was lost in some deeper, non-geographical sense. It wasn't simply that I didn't know where I was, where I was going, or how I was going to get there to get, but rather that, after a while, I no longer understood why I wanted to go there at all, and in some odd way I felt like I didn't even know exactly who I was. Was I losing my mind? Was the Alzheimer's kicking in? It really didn't seem to matter.
Well inevitably I got over it before very long, found my way, found the churches, had a good (modest) walk. And I know you could make too much of this, but there was something salutary in the experience of being lost. As a psychological, existential, maybe even cosmic dilemma, it's actually far more interesting than knowing exactly where you are all the time. But to appreciate it, it does have to come to an end. Being lost only makes sense if, in the end, you find yourself again.


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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Lego on an Art Quilt?
I think I may have gone slightly over the edge on my next 3D art quilt. When I find something I think would look great as a 3D embellishment, I like to make a small sample of it. This gives me a chance to figure out what I need to prepare, how to apply the item and what attributes it brings to the quilt.
I tried out lego. It surprised me. I had originally thought I would just put it on...little did I realize all the planning it took to create a pleasing ensemble of it. And with lego only coming in certain sizes, I had to make sure there wasn't big gaps where the pieces didn't meet, or trying to squeeze too many pieces into too small of an area.
After several attempts I finally got it to work. I then drew it out on a sheet of paper to use as my template. I worked all in blue, but I think next time I would like to use an assortment of bright colours and make something a little more abstract. My background is a piece of fabric that has strips of blue fused down in a pattern similar to that of the lego, to give more depth and visual interest to the quilt.
11 comments:
- Sharon Robinson said...
I really love it Jackie! What a creative idea. One could do a whole series with them.
- March 9, 2011 at 10:15 AM
- Shiny Green Penny said...
Do your kids know you have stolen their Lego?????
- March 9, 2011 at 11:38 AM
- jlk said...
THat looks really cool!
- March 9, 2011 at 1:13 PM
- Mama Pea said...
That's very clever! Good job!
- March 9, 2011 at 8:01 PM
- Caryl W said...
Jackie...I love your lego art....you are sooooo creative!!
- March 9, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Love your lego art!
Jacque in SC
- March 10, 2011 at 9:02 AM
- Johanna said...
Wow, I never thought of how that quilt design looks like legos! But they really fit right in!
How will you attach them? I mean, sewing over them will probably not be an option :)
- March 10, 2011 at 9:11 AM
- SarahVee said...
This is awesome! I love it. I love it in blues. What a neat surprise in a quilt. How did you attach it?
I think one in bright colours would be fun too. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the follower count! I'm off to check out your giveaway.
- March 10, 2011 at 10:08 AM
- jezibels said...
Like the idea, how did you attache them? Can we do the same with lincoln logs...now that would be a true log cabin quilt! ; )
- March 10, 2011 at 5:15 PM
- Kristen said...
I wonder what my son would say if I used his legos for a quilt...I bet they would be missing from the quilt one day...love your idea! :)
- March 10, 2011 at 6:59 PM
- scarlett said...
Now you got me thinkin'!
- March 11, 2011 at 8:39 PM


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Prospect Camp Wrap-Up: Barry Smith looks back at the past five daysby Brad Boron / Chicago Blackhawks
|Barry Smith talks to the prospects (Photo by Mackenzie McCluer / Chicago Blackhawks).
With the 2013 Blackhawks Prospect Camp in the books, chicagoblackhawks.com caught up with Blackhawks Director of Player Development Barry Smith to discuss the week overall, some of the standout prospects and more.
What was your impression of this week's Prospect Camp?
"I thought it was a really good week, a very competitive week. The players' skill sets were pretty close so there were even games, very intense. I thought the skill level this year was improved from last year, as well."
Obviously you try to hit a bunch of different points over the week, but what is your main focus on the week as a staff?
"Evaluation. You put them in situations where they play one-on-one or two-on-two. You put them in small groups so you can take a look at them individually, not just as a team playing five-on-five. You also have a chance to meet them, talk to them, interview them. You get to know who the kids are, what their makeup is. It's a hands-on process.
"Then you have to assess where the guys are in their progression, so when you put the practices together they do what you want to accomplish. You put the scrimmages together with different lines and different defensive partners to see who's going to play well with who. You can do a little bit of juggling inside your camp itself.
"Now that it's over, we'll analyze what we could have done better. I always try to improve the program each year: is there more ice time we could have utilized; is there more individual play we could have done; could we have worked more with skill sets? Those are the things you have to look at."
One of the players who really seemed to stand out, and showed his experience well, was Notre Dame senior Stephen Johns. What did you think about his week?
"We know about his physicality and we know what to expect from him in that part of his game. We're looking for some other aspects, like his ability to close the gaps in the neutral zone, make good defensive reads on the rush and making offensive plays. We looked at helping him improve his overall game."
Another player who stood out during scrimmages was 2013 draft pick John Hayden, who had three goals in the three games.
"What's nice about John is that he has a physical element to his game, as well being a good skater and playmaker. He scored some nice goals, he was good on the boards, good around the net, he went to traffic that was involved physically, finished his checks, so he was a good overall player. It was a great surprise and it was good to have him as part of the camp."
Two players who didn't play in the scrimmages, but should be competing for AHL spots next year are goaltenders Mac Carruth and Kent Simpson.
"I think both of them are very talented. It worked out very well last year having Simpson go down to ECHL's Toledo and Carruth staying in the WHL with Portland. Both of those guys had a lot of games, a lot of ice time, which is necessary. This year they have a chance to battle it out to see who's going to be in Rockford. They're both really talented, both have a great chance to play and we're lucky to have them both as part of our organization."
2011 first-round pick Phillip Danault seemed to be everywhere during the week, and you could really see his compete level.
"He competes every shift. He's very good along the walls, he has a great stick, good body position and loves to take it to the net. He's not afraid of traffic and he really competes. He was involved in a battle with Viktor Svedberg who is about 6-foot-9. Having said that, he just goes after everything. I like his chances, I like his game. I think he's really going to improve."
One of the things I really noticed about him is his skating ability. It doesn't get a lot of play, but I think it's very underrated.
"He wants to be on the puck. He skates low; his chest comes down low, he bends his knees, so that's why it's a little different skating motion, with his stick way out in front of him."
Mark McNeill really came to play during today's scrimmage. He didn't get on the scoresheet, but he seemed to battle.
"I thought today was Mark's best game. He had the puck on his stick all the time, he was making plays, he was controlling the puck in the offensive zone and he moved it quite well. He used his size and his skating and his vision. He's still on a learning curve as well, coming from major juniors. We'll have a chance to watch his development this year in Rockford. I'm hoping for good things."
The plan right now is for a handful of the veterans from Rockford to make the NHL squad this coming season. With room in the top-6, do you think McNeill and Danault will benefit from that expanded playing time?
"I hope so. I hope the both of them can play. I think Mark might play more wing than center, possibly. Phillip has played mostly center, so Mark can play both. With a young team in Rockford the way it's set up right now, I think they're going to have a chance to prove themselves and get a chance to get on the ice a lot."
He was the smallest guy at camp, but 2013 pick Anthony Louis really competed and made some plays.
"He has a nose for the puck, he knows how to get open. He has very good one-on-one skills offensively, able to carry the puck through defensemen. He's still young and underdeveloped – he's only about 145 pounds so we'll see how he grows."
Another one of the NCAA guys who was at camp was Justin Holl, who will be going back to Minnesota this season. He played a lot more wing in college than defense, but do you still project him to be on the blue line?
"He's a puck-moving defenseman. They had too many defensemen and they felt that he was one of the few guys who skates well enough to play forward. This year he's going to play defense for them, so he's back at his natural position. At our camp he played defense, too. He skates the puck well, can bring it end-to-end, he sees the ice, can make plays in the offensive blue line. We'll see how he comes through his senior year."


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The Kershaw Volt was a crazy knife at a crazy price. Now Kershaw and collaborator RJ Martin have teamed up to make the Volt II. The new version features the same overall shape as the original, but that is where the similarities end. There is now assisted opening and a molded Polyimide handle. Plus, because it is built in China to Kershaw's exacting standards, it is only $25.95 at the KnifeCenter.
See these knives at www.knifecenter.com
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New Web Tool Allows Members to Estimate Health Care Costs
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is dedicated to ensuring that our members have access to information about cost and quality – two key factors guiding them in their health care decision making. We now have a new Web tool that allows members to obtain estimated cost ranges for physician office visits, and medical, surgical and diagnostic procedures performed at hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, freestanding radiology facilities and other medical facilities nationwide.
How It Works
Cost Range Estimates
Please note that this tool is not intended to display the actual cost of a selected treatment. However, it displays the estimated cost range for a selected treatment category based upon historical valid claims information. Cost estimated data is updated every six months and is based on claims previously paid by participating BCBS plans across the country. For hospitals, costs are estimated for categories of treatment and include hospital/facility, doctor and related services.
Member Benefits & Eligibility
Use of this tool does not guarantee coverage, nor does it represent the exact cost for any treatment or procedure. Members are responsible for verifying their benefits to confirm eligibility and coverage. Final costs are determined by the member's coverage and services delivered (including any applicable deductibles, copayments and/or coinsurance).
This cost estimator is an important educational resource for our members who are looking for ways to decrease health care costs while maintaining quality of care. We hope that you share our enthusiasm for providing a tool that encourages transparency and well-informed consumers of health care services.
If you have any questions, please contact your Account Consultant.
Access new cost estimator >>


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I'm no theologian, but when a religious group asks God to bless something, I'm pretty sure that's a sign they like it. So if some other folks show up and say they love that same thing, we've got a clear case of mutual agreement. They're not going to fight over whether the thing in question needs a blessing or a loving—unless the setting is a public school.
Stall Brook Elementary School, outside Boston, recently told parents that they were editing the song "God Bless the U.S.A." for an upcoming student assembly, and that their children would instead sing it as "We Love the U.S.A." A furor ensued, and it wasn't over the loss of assonance in the refrain. After a great sound and fury the school has relented and will allow, but not require, children to sing the words "God Bless." Other children and parents, it seems, will be free to sing "We Love" if they prefer. So that will sound nice.
This captures, in small, a great problem with public schooling: compelled conformity. In every community in the country, there is only one public school district. It is the official education organ of the state. As such, it cannot engage in devotional religious activities under the First Amendment. More than that, it cannot possibly reflect the diverse values and preferences of every family. It just can't. And that's why we encounter these endless battles over the place of religion in the classroom and in plays, pageants, and ceremonies. It's why the teaching of history and even of reading and math are fraught with conflicts over content or methodology. And it's unnecessary. Totally unnecessary.
A truly free society needs a well-educated citizenry. It does not need a government monopoly on k-12 schooling. In fact, it needs to not have a government monopoly on schooling. Fortunately, there is a wonderful alternative to the monopoly status quo—a system that can ensure universal access to a quality education without forcing parents or taxpayers to violate their convictions. That alternative is education tax credit programs that cut taxes on families who pay for their own children's education and on donations to nonprofits that subsidize tuition for the poor. These programs exist, they work, and they won't make us fight over blessing or loving the U.S.A.


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Summa Health System is exploring whether its patented combination of vitamins can curb the inflammation and pain experienced by some patients after knee-replacement surgery.
Summa's Walter A. Hoyt Jr. Musculoskeletal Laboratory recently opened a clinical trial for Apatone-B, an oral medication that contains vitamins C and K3.
The vitamin combination originally was developed by Summa researchers to help treat cancer by making the tumor cells weaker and more susceptible to chemotherapy.
But when Summa's cancer researchers were discussing the drug during a research meeting, Summa's orthopedic researchers began to suspect lower doses of the medication also could work for joint-replacement patients who are experiencing inflammation and pain.
All replacement joints generate wear particles, said Dr. Thomas F. Bear, chief of staff of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center and principal investigator for the study. Most people don't have reactions to these particles, but some patients experience unrelenting swelling and pain.
Less than 10 percent of the 1 million Americans who undergo knee or hip replacement surgery each year have long-term inflammation and pain that's not associated with infection or improper placement of the new joint, Bear said. Eventually, the reaction can cause loosening of the implant.
Apatone-B is believed to work by shutting down the mechanism that controls inflammation and bone breakdown.
"If this really works, every single patient with a joint replacement ought to take one of these pills with their vitamins every single day, whether you have a totally asymptomatic joint or not," Bear said. "The potential here is pretty amazing."
Summa wants to enroll 60 people in the trial, which is open to patients experiencing inflammation or pain a year or longer after knee-replacement surgery.
During the 13-week trial, half of the enrollees will receive an oral dose of Apatone-B and the other half will receive a placebo.
The study is double-blind, meaning neither the enrollees nor the researchers will know who is getting the actual medication and who is receiving a placebo. Blood tests and samples of the fluid surrounding the affected joint will be taken at the start and conclusion of the trial to assess Apatone-B's effectiveness by comparing the level of inflammation and bone loss.
Kathleen Gatian, 57, of New Franklin, recently enrolled in the study after experiencing pain in both of her knee replacements for the past five years.
"I have great mobility, but it still hurts," she said. "I'm frustrated. I know many people who have had total knee replacements and they're doing fine."
Gatian said she's excited about the possibility of taking vitamins to relieve her symptoms.
Copyright © 2011, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio


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WASHINGTON — Three U.S. officials say the White House is considering sending a small number of American special forces soldiers to Iraq in an urgent attempt to help Baghdad slow the nation's rampant Sunni insurgency.
President Barack Obama has explicitly ruled out deploying U.S. troops to Iraq for combat. But the plan suggests he is willing to put Americans into a collapsing security situation for training.
The U.S. officials said only up to about 100 special forces soldiers would deploy to advise Iraqi troops that are battling the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The insurgency represents the worst threat to the Shiite-led government since the American military left in 2011.
The U.S. officials spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the plans by name.


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LOS ANGELES ? Hulu Plus, the online video subscription service owned by major broadcast networks ABC, Fox and NBC, reached a new milestone at the end of the year with 1.5 million paying subscribers a little more than a year after its formal launch.
Its CEO, Jason Kilar, also brought in the new year with a comment Hulu's broadcast TV owners might not want to hear: that he believes online viewing will ultimately surpass TV as the main way people watch their shows.
"We have conviction that digital ultimately becomes the primary way that consumers across the globe choose to access content," he said in a blog post Thursday.
Hulu Plus lets subscribers stream a range of current shows that have already run on TV such as "Community," "Grimm" and "The Colbert Report" plus a large catalog of full seasons of back episodes of many other shows for $8 a month. It has begun spending more money on original programming as well, including a documentary series from filmmaker Morgan Spurlock that debuted in August called "A Day in the Life."
Kilar said in the blog post that Hulu Plus plans to spend about a half-billion dollars on content in 2012.
The episodes on Hulu Plus and its free counterpart, Hulu.com, come with advertising, but less than on regular TV. Hulu Plus can be viewed on smartphones, tablets, computers and game consoles as well as Internet-connected TVs. Hulu.com can be viewed only using a computer.
Last February, Kilar ruffled feathers at the networks in a similar blog post in which he declared that "traditional TV has too many ads" ? an attack on broadcast networks' lifeblood. Advertising brings in many billions of dollars every year.
He argued that Hulu's video ads are twice as effective as those on TV, partly because users can say whether the ad was relevant to them and can choose to watch a different ad. He has argued that has helped viewers, advertisers and content owners alike.
Hulu's revenue grew 60 percent last year to $420 million, Kilar said in the post.
He also said that because of the dual revenue streams from subscriptions and ads, Hulu will eventually be able to pay more per subscriber in licensing fees than other "similarly priced online subscription services," suggesting it will be able to buy more, better content.
The reference was a veiled dig at Netflix Inc., which doesn't run ads. With more than 20 million subscribers, Netflix also charges $8 a month for its online streaming plan. A Netflix spokesman declined to comment.
Spokespeople for The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and News Corp.'s Fox did not immediately comment. Comcast Corp.'s NBC owns a minority stake but gave up the right to influence how Hulu is run when it took over NBCUniversal last January.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_hi_te/us_hulu_subscribers
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The mission of the Stalking Resource Center is to enhance the ability of professionals, organizations, and systems to effectively respond to stalking.
Stalking is a serious crime that it is often portrayed unrealistically. When stalking is depicted as romantic or comical, or used casually to sell services and merchandise, it can be damaging and hurtful for victims and survivors. Additionally, it can influence our perceptions of stalking, minimizing or trivializing this very dangerous and potentially lethal behavior.
View these examples and share your thoughts.
Have you heard or seen any other examples of stalking in popular culture? Send us an email and let us know if you have.
Birchbox Shipping Email
The email apprising customers that their package has been shipped, reads:
"Want to stalk your box?"
Contact Birchbox
Virgin Produced Website
The contact information at the bottom of the Virgin Produced website says:
"Go ahead...come STALK us"
PR Team email@example.com
Is Marshall's Creek 'Stalking' Billboard Eye-Catching or Insulting?
Kevin Gleason
President/ CEO
Chip Longfellow
VP of Operational Support & Strategies
Keith Krause
Corporate Director of Operations email@example.com
Rick Steele
VP of Corporate Assets and Development email@example.com
Contact email@example.com
These two commercials aired in 2011 and were featured on the Virgin Mobile Youtube channel. They have since been taken down.
2011© National Center for Victims of Crime. All Rights Reserved.
P.O. Box 101207, Arlington, VA 22210
p.202-467-8700 | f.202-467-8701 | email@example.com
Return to the National Center


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14 March 2011 at 12.11pm | Comment on this article
As David McVicar's Aida returns to the stage, we have been behind the scenes to follow martial arts co-ordinator David Greeves and his team of 15 men as they rehearse their triumphal entrance in Act II. This is the point when the Egyptian warrior Radames returns from war as the glorious victor. Greeves' troupe pave the way for his grand entrance with a dazzling display of martial skill and ferocity, meticulous in its timing.
The moment is perhaps one of the most famous set pieces – and tunes – in the opera, whose beguilingly uplifting music belies the sinister narrative played out on stage. Director David McVicar chose to stress the macabre, dark element of the piece and asked Greeves, his frequent collaborator, to devise a suitably bloodcurdling display of warrior power. On stage, the men's faces are blank, their eyes staring out in confrontation; their chests bare and smeared with blood (a sticky mixture of sugar and real animal blood), as they enact a deadly drill of ritualized killing – so automatic to them it appears a reflex action.
The performers have been intensively rehearsing for three weeks, undergoing a gruelling schedule to build stamina and force. Their technique must be exact, honed to split-second accuracy as they brandish their katana (Japanese Samurai swords - blunted for the stage but still capable of breaking a bone). Every sweep of the blade is accurate in style and speed, matched to the tempo of the music with its steady punctuation and clarity. Each is emblematic of a specific act of combat – a cut to the neck or blow to the body – all precisely rooted in the ancient Japanese art of Battodo Fudokan (a 1000-year-old code of swordmanship).
Greeves, initially trained as a contemporary combat dancer, and has become a specialist in such theatrical martial displays. He began this process two years ago, seeking out the instruction of British Battodo Fudokan master John Evans. Greeves is quick to confess that he is no master of the art – but merely a humble pupil. Along the way, he has gained the guidance of Zhu Qihui a 32nd generation Shaolin monk from QingQing who holds a Sixth Dan in KungFu (one of the highest accolades). Zhu Qihui leads the men on stage, his sword flashing in a potent mix of ascetic grace and lethal velocity. The other warriors are a diverse crew of martial artists, combat experts, actors and dancers. All intensely dedicated to their craft, and each with his own colourful tale to tell. If you can't see them on stage, be sure to watch them in action in our film.


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By Andy Ross
Water-based vs. Oil-based
Water-based polyurethanes provide a clear finish and have low odor. You can recoat them in two hours and clean your tools with water. If you start early enough in the day, you can apply the recommended four coats and sleep in the room that night.
Oil-based polyurethanes leave an amber glow and require fewer coats. But the five-hour wait between coats and 12-hour wait after the last coat will put a bedroom out of commission for a few days—and you'll have to put up with a strong odor.
Both water based and oil based poly offer good protection; the biggest difference is in appearance. If you love the natural look of maple, apply a water-based (waterborne) polyurethane. They appear milky in the can, but go on clear and remain clear. They'll slightly accent the character of your wood without giving it the amber tint of an oil-based poly. (However, some woods, like the oak shown, cry out for that amber tint.) Water-based finishes dry fast—most within two hours—so you can apply several coats in a day and use the room that night. They have minimal odor and clean up with water too.
But water-based polys have their tradeoffs. They cost twice as much as oil-based polys. They won't give wood the rich glow that oil-based polys impart; some even consider them cold looking. When I applied waterborne poly recently, I found that it went on so clear I had to use a bottle cap to mark each 8-in. wide swath of finish as I went.
Most water-based polys contain only 30 to 35 percent solids, compared with the 45 to 50 percent solids in oil-based products. Since these solids create the protective finish, you need to apply four coats, as opposed to two or three. And you may need to apply additional coats every two years or so.
There's debate over which finish is harder, but some experts maintain that hardness isn't necessarily a good attribute of a floor finish. You want a finish that will flex along with the floor. And a super-hard finish shows scratches more readily. You'll prolong the protective life of any finish by eliminating its No. 1 enemies: dirt and grit. Sweep or vacuum the floor often and put throw rugs in high-traffic areas.


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Statement by Kathleen Adams,
Chairperson, Cheif Information Officers Cuncil Subcommittee
before the Committee on Science
Subcommittee on Technology
and Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
July 10, 1997
Madame Chairman, Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Subcommittees:
I am Kathleen Adams, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Systems for the Social Security Administration, but I am appearing today in my capacity as Chair of the Chief Information Officers (CIA) Council Subcommittee on Year 2000. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the efforts of the CIa Council Subcommittee on Year 2000, formerly known as the Year 2000 Interagency Committee. I will begin by outlining the reasons why systems changes are needed to deal with the year 2000 and then describe what the Subcommittee is doing to help Federal agencies address the problem, so that the transition to the new century is a smooth one.
Reason Change Is Needed
As you are well aware, a unique event will take place on January 1, 2000. On that day, we will experience the first century change since the start of the computer era. This event poses enormous challenges for the data processing community, as public and private sector organizations around the world prepare for the single largest integration feat since computers entered our daily lives.
The reason that the century change poses a problem is that many computer programs store and use only the last two digits of a year and assume that the first two digits are 19. Under this practice, computer logic operations work as long as dates are in the same century, but problems arise when it is necessary to usc dates in two different ccnruries. For example, subtracting December 31, 1995, from December 31, 2005, to determine someone's age would produce the incorrect answer of minus 90 instead of the correct result of 10.
The interaction of dates among different programs, systems, agencies, and levels of government is one of the factors which make the Year 2000 issue so complex. Private industry faces these same issues.
Interagency Activities and the CIA Council
In the fall of 1995, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), recognizing the critical nature of the problem and that the Social Security Administrat ion (SSA) had taken positive steps to address it, asked SSA to be the champion for Ycar 2000 and increase awareness of the Year 2000 issue . In this role, we organized an informal committee which we called the Year 2000 Interagency Committee. The purpose of the Committee was to raise awareness of the Year 2000 and address cross-cutting issues which affected many or all Federal departments and agencies. The Committee began meet ing in November 1995 with only a few representatives attending. The number of participants grew steadily with each regular meeting as more and more departments and agencies became aware of the Committee's purpose. I might mention that the hearings which your Subcommittees held in the Spring of 1996 did much to increase awareness of the Year 2000 issue, and participation in the Year 2000 Interagency Committee grew rapidly as a result.
In August 1996, the Information Technology Management Reform Act, which was enacted as part of Public Law 104-106, became effective and mandated a CIA Council to review and provide guidance on information technology issues across the Federal Government. At the CIA Council's first meeting in August 1996, it decided that the Year 2000 issue was one of the most pressing information technology issues facing the government. In November 1996, the Council made the Year 2000 Interagency Committee an official subcommittee of the Council, and our name became the CIA Council Subcommittee on Year 2000.
While our name changed, and we now have official status, our purpose has not changed. The Subcommittee's role is to raise awareness of the Year 2000 issue, address facets of the issue that cut across government, seek mutual solutions where possible, and share best practices.
Our official role has, however, given us some distinct advantages. As Chair of the Subcommittee, I attend meetings of the CIO Council to provide monthly status reports on Subcommittee activities and bring to the Council issues requiring its attention or a decision. In addition, the Council's focus on information technology issues gives the Subcommittee's activities more visibility within the Federal agencies.
It is important to keep in mind that each agency must find solutions to the Year 2000 issue that meet its unique needs, since there is no single approach that all agencies can employ. While each agency head and CIO is responsible for ensuring that his or her systems function properly on January 1, 2000, the focus of the Subcommittee is to facilitate this major undertaking by addressing cross-cutting aspects of the problem, such as interagency data exchanges, availability of various vendor products, and sources of mutual help across agencies.
Accomplishments of the CIO Council Subcommittee on Year 2000
I believe the Subcommittee is meeting its goal to raise awareness of the Year 2000 issue and facilitate timely action. The Subcommittee can point to solid accomplishments, including development of:
- A Year 2000 website on the General Services Administration (GSA) homepage, which can be reached at www.itpolicy.gsa.gov;
- Briefings on the Year 2000 issue and its ramifications for numerous government agencies, including State agencies;
- A recommended four digit year standard for interagency data exchanges, which was done in conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and approved by the CIO Council;
- A definition of Year 2000 Compliancy, which was published in the Federal Acquisition Regulation on an interim basis in January 1997;
- Standard contract language for procurement of vendor products and services to ensure they are Year 2000 compliant;
- A framework for evaluating and dealing with Year 2000 issues--a Best Practices guide for all levels of government; and
- Contacts and information exchanges with information technology industry groups to increase their awareness of how government agencies are dealing with the Year 2000 problem and address issues of mutual concern.
In addition, the Committee sponsored two conferences to bring together the stakebolders, both from inside and outside government, on the Year 2000 issue. The Subcommittee, SSA, and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (commonly known as AFCEA) sponsored the Millennium Time Bomb Conference on May 2, 1996, in Washington, D.C. Almost 500 people from Government agencies and private sector firms attended the conference to raise awareness of the Year 2000 problem and discuss experiences and approaches for addressing the problem. A follow-up conference called "Year 2000 Solutions: What Works" was held on March 5, 1997. Over 450 participants heard panelists representing Federal and State government and the private sector discuss the challenges and lessons learned in implementing their Year 2000 programs. The emphasis of this conference was on identifying solutions that are being used and are working. Twenty-seven vendors that have Year 2000 products or services were also present to answer questions and distribute product literature.
A significant accomplishment of the Year 2000 Interagency Committee is the formulation of our Best Practices guide to provide a framework for agencies to deal with the Year 2000 challenge. The guide is designed to assist Federal agencies in planning, managing, and evaluating their systems affected by the Year 2000 issue. The guide draws on the best practices of Federal agencies, as well as the private sector, for each phase of the process. These phases bave been defined as:
- The Awareness phase, in which the organization defines the Year 2000 problem and ensures that everyone in the organization is aware of the problem;
- The Assessment phase. in which the organization identifies core business areas. analyzes systems supporting these areas. and identifies resources;
- The Renovation phase. in which the organization converts databases and software and modifies interfaces;
- The Validation phase, in which the organization tests converted or replaced software; and
- The Implementation phase, in which the organization implements converted or replaced software and implements data exchange contingencies, where necessary.
Each agency will have to complete all the steps to be able to meet the challenges posed by the Year 2000 issue.
The best practices guide is availahle on the Year 2000 website, and is regularly updated to reflect current best practices.
In addition, the Subcommittee worked with OMS to develop the format for the quarterly status report each agency must submit to OMS regarding the progress of its Year 2000 program. OMS asked the Subcommittee to provide input on the report format. OMS wanted to obtain adequate information from each agency to track and monitor Year 2000 progress across Government and report to Congress. but did not want reporting to be so onerous that it would overburden the agencies with recordkeeping. Hopefully, the format for the agency status reports accomplishes these goals.
I think all Federal agencies recognize the importance of dealing with the Year 2000 issue, and they have been extremely cooperative in dealings with the Subcommittee on Year 2000. Our accomplishments would not have been possible without such complete support and cooperation.
CIO Council on Subcommittee on Year 2000 Activities
The Subcommittee is continually evaluating the need to deal with emerging facets of the Year 2000 issue. Since these issues are numerous and far-reaching. we have formed subgroups to focus on specific areas of the Year 2000 issue. We have subgroups to deal with:
- Best Practices--works on identifying best practices for Year 2000 solutions and updates the Best Practices guide;
- State Issues--works with the National Association of State Information Resources Executives (NASlRE) and other State groups to address State/Federal interface problems resulting from the Year 2000 issue, as well as items of mutual interest;
- Contract Language and GSA Schedules--works to standardize the definition of Year 2000 Compliance, provide contract language for Year 2000 compliant products, and make Year 2000 products and services available through GSA schedules;
- Data Exchange--works on problems relating to exchanges of data among Government agencies or the Government and third parties, particularly where multiple agencies are involved;
- Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software--works to obtain and provide information regarding whether commercial-off-the shelf software presently in use in Federal agencies functions or will function properly when handling dates beyond 1999;
- Telecommunications--works on issues affecting telecommunications;
- Biomedical--works on issues affecting biomedical equipment; and;
- Industry--works with industry information technology groups to increase awareness of the Government's need for Year 2000 services and products and addresses issues of mutual concern.
The subgroup structure has enabled us to focus resources on the individual facets of the Year 2000 issue by using the expertise of the Subcommittee members where it can do the most good.
We have been working effectively with the information technology industry on many issues of mutual concern. We have worked closely with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Industry Advisory Council (lAC) on numerous issues, such as standard contract language, the need for contractor support services, and COTS software. We are encouraging the industry to advise government buyers as soon as possible when Year 2000 compliant versions of software packages will be released so that government agencies can better plan their implementation and testing programs. Many Year 2000 solutions will require close cooperation between Government and industry. The Subcommittee on Year 2000, since it represents all departments and agencies. has and will continue to facilitate that cooperation by being the focal point for contact with the information technology industry groups on the Year 2000 issue.
Next Steps
While we continue to work on the activities we have in progress. the Subcommittee is currently focusing on several areas of the Year 2000 issue that we think will facilitate agencies' ability to address the challenges of Year 2000. The Subcommittee is developing a database, to be made available throughout government, which will contain information regarding whether commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software presently in use in Federal agencies functions or will function properly when handling dates beyond 1999. The database will indicate whether the product is compliant and, if it is not, when the Year 2000 compliant version will be available.
Building one comprehensive database all agencies can use will save each agency the expense and time to construct its own database of all of its vendor products. This database is being built now and will be turned over to GSA to be maintained and made available on the Year 2000 web site. At the June 1997 cm Council Meeting , the Council approved the funds to maintain this database, which we call the Y2K COTS System. It presently contains information on almost 3000 products from over 600 vendors. It will be available on the web site in September 1997.
Another important issue that we are addressing is how to minimize the burden on State and local governments resulting from the Federal transition to Year 2000 compliant systems. The data exchanges, mandated or voluntary, between the different levels of government will all be affected by the changes made to deal with the Year 2000 issue. We are focusing on data exchanges where multiple agencies are involved to minimize the impacts on the States.
I should again point out that the responsibility for ensuring that the Government's systems will function properly in the Year 2000 issue lie with the head and Chief Information Officer of each deparnnent and agency. The Subcommittee on Year 2000, like the Interagency Committee before it, does not keep track of where agencies are in dealing with the Year 2000 issue or measure the effectiveness of each organization's plan to deal with the issue. OMS has had and continues to have that role.
In conclusion, it would be impossible to overstate the importance of the need for a smooth and timely transition of the Government' s systems to accommodate the Year 2000 as we enter that year. All of the departments and agencies participating in the Subcommittee on Year 2000 recognize that there is no question of what needs to be accomplished over the next several years, and no hesitancy to work together to address common issues. I can assure you that the Subcommittee on Year 2000 will continue its work in this critical undertaking.


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Big Sandy Dam and Reservoir
General Description
The Eden Project furnishes an irrigation water supply for 17,010 acres. Project lands are in the vicinity of the towns of Farson and Eden in southwestern Wyoming about 40 miles north of Rock Springs. Project features are Big Sandy Dam and Reservoir, Eden Dam and Reservoir, Little Sandy Canal, Means Canal, Eden Canal, and a lateral and drainage system.
Unit Descriptions and Facilities
Big Sandy Dam was constructed to replace some storage in the existing off-stream Eden Reservoir and to supply water for additional project lands. The Means Canal conveys water from Big Sandy Reservoir to the Westside Lateral, which serves lands on the west side of Big Sandy Creek, and to the Eden Canal which serves lands east of the creek. Little Sandy Diversion Dam diverts water into the Little Sandy Canal which also supplies water to the Eden Canal. Water is
diverted from Big Sandy Dam to Eden Reservoir and from Little Sandy Canal into Eden Reservoir. Water is drawn from Eden Reservoir to serve Eden Canal and Farson Lateral.
Big Sandy Dam and Reservoir
Big Sandy Dam is on Big Sandy Creek 10 miles north of Farson, Wyoming. It is a zoned earthfill dam 85 feet high, having a crest length of 2,350 feet and containing about 840,000 cubic yards of material. The uncontrolled open side-channel spillway has a capacity of 7,350 cubic feet per second.
The outlet works, consisting of a concrete conduit through the base of the dam controlled by two high-pressure slide gates, has a capacity of 620 cubic feet per second. An earthfill dike with a maximum height of 18 feet, 8,300 feet long, and containing 107,000 cubic yards of material lies north of the left abutment of the dam along the eastern rim of the reservoir basin.
Eden Dam and Reservoir
Eden Dam is a series of irregular dikes originally built under the Carey Act by Eden Irrigation and Land Company about 1907. In 1959, the Bureau of Reclamation constructed a new outlet works from the reservoir through the abutment in the southeast side of the reservoir to supply the old Eden Canal.
The reservoir is approximately 2.5 miles at its widest point, and 2 miles in length with a surface area of about 1,100 acres.The outlet works consists of a concrete lined tunnel controlled by constant head orifice gates and an overflow control structure. The spillway is contained in the outlet works as an uncontrolled concrete overflow structure above the orifice gates. The spillway
has a crest width of 15 feet and crest elevation of 6713.5 feet. A 22 inch wood beam has been added to the top of the spillway to get a new crest elevation of 6715.2 feet. The spillway is used only in an emergency since the water inflow to the reservoir is controlled by diversions through the Little Sandy Feeder Canal.
Canal and Drainage Systems
The three main canals on the project are the 4 mile long Little Sandy Canal, the 6 mile Means Canal, and the 10.8 mile Eden Canal. The diversion capacities of these canals are 150, 635, and 475 cubic feet per second, respectively. Irrigation water is distributed to project farms by the Westside, Farson, and Eden lateral systems. The laterals range in capacity from 6 to 160 cubic
feet per second and have an aggregate length of 94 miles.The 53 mile drainage system includes sub-surface drains averaging 10 feet in depth, and surface
drains about 2.5 feet deep.
Operating agencies
The Bureau of Reclamation operated and maintained the project during construction under contract with the Eden Valley Irrigation and Drainage District. In January 1970, operation and maintenance functions were transferred to the district.
The route adopted by the first immigrant trains in 1842 on their journey to Oregon and California traversed an opening in the Wind River Mountains now known as South Pass. Emerging from this pass, the pioneer caravans traveled in a southwesterly direction for 25 miles to the Big Sandy drainage and the area now comprising the Eden Project. The project area is centered on the old
Oregon, Mormon, and Pony Express trails. Territorial records of 1886 show that permits were issued for settlers to divert water from Big Sandy Creek to lands within the present project area. The present irrigation development was initiated in 1907 under the Carey Act by the Eden Irrigation and Land Company.
This company created the Eden Reservoir by building dikes and an outlet works in an offstream basin to impound flows of the Big Sandy and Little Sandy Creeks. Although the company went into receivership in 1927, some land improvements were performed up to 1940.
During the late 1930's, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Agriculture investigated the project. The report of the investigations and recommended plan of development prompted authorization.
A plan of development and rehabilitation was approved by the President on September 18, 1940, as a Great Plains project under the water conservation provision of the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1940 (53 Stat. 685). Because of the long delay in construction caused by World War II, completion of the project was re-authorized by an act of the Congress on June 28, 1949 (Public Law 132, 81st Congress, 1st session).
Construction was started in July 1941. In December 1942, the construction phases were stopped by order of the War Production Board. The Department of Agriculture intermittently carried on land development during the years after 1941. The Bureau of Reclamation resumed construction activities on July 17, 1950, and, under the provisions of a 1949 act of the Congress, relieved the Department of Agriculture of responsibility for operation and maintenance and for collection of reimbursable construction costs. The act gave the Department of Agriculture authority to complete land development and settlement features of the general plan. Big Sandy Dam was completed in 1952. Final construction of the project, including rehabilitation work on the existing Eden Dam and Reservoir, was substantially completed by December 1959.
Livestock production is the principal enterprise. Crops are alfalfa and grass hay, wheat, barley, oats, and pasture.
Recreation and Fish and Wildlife
Recreation facilities are administered by the Wyoming Recreation Commission, the chief activities being camping, boating, fishing, and picnicking. During 1980, annual visitation totaled 12,785.
Climatic Conditions
Annual Precipitation:
9.44 in
Maximum (1965)
14.54 in
Minimum (1988)
4.53 in
(Rock Springs, Wyoming 1961-1990)
Mean Annual
Daily Maximum (6/23/54)
Daily Minimum (1/12/63)
(Rock Springs, Wyoming 1948-1996)
Growing Season
90 days
Elevation of irrigable area
6,500 ft
Project Data
Land Areas (1997)
Area Irrigated and Crop Value


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On a chilly spring morning, Jan Margeson steers his orange-hulled boat, the aptly named Great Pumpkin, into the predawn darkness using radar. Parallel green splotches on a screen indicate the banks of the narrow channel leading out of Saquatucket Harbor to Nantucket Sound. Once in open water, he enters coordinates into a plotter – eight miles due south of Hyannis – and, oriented by GPS satellites, the boat steers itself.
Mr. Margeson has reoutfitted the 41-foot Pumpkin, originally a Nova Scotian lobster boat, for clamming. Margeson, who's been fishing these waters for 30 years, would rather be fishing for cod. But since stocks of cod crashed in the 1990s, that once-plentiful fish hasn't recovered. Fishing is now so restricted – only 39 days are allowed this year, monitored via shipboard transmitters – that earning a living solely on cod or other bottom-dwelling fish is difficult. So while he waits for cod to rebound and restrictions to relax, he makes ends meet with clams, or quahogs (KWOH-hogs), as they're known in the Northeast. "It will help me survive and catch more fish," he says.
New England fishermen find themselves at a critical transition. Federal law mandates that overfishing end by 2010. With restrictions on fishing tight and no relaxation in sight, many fishermen are selling their permits and getting out. Others are buying them up, to be in good position if and when stocks rebound. The stock crashes have also inspired considerable introspection. Where 25 years ago, fishermen likely espoused an "endless bounty" view of the sea, today they talk about ecosystem health and stress sustainable fishing practices. They're increasingly concocting – and pushing for – what they say are both fish- and fisherman-friendly solutions. The hunters now emphasize environmental stewardship. Ecological collapse has triggered a cultural shift among fishermen, whom some call "New England's other endangered charismatic megafauna."
"There's been an evolution of ethics. People understand now how dependent they are on the ocean," says Christopher Brown, head of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen's Association. "I am nothing more than another critter. How can I be any healthier than the health of the ecosystem I depend on?"
Cod has long been regarded as a resilient fish. It rebounded quickly after the foreign factory trawlers were expelled from the US's newly established 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone in 1976. By 1982, the Georges Bank commercial cod harvest had reached 57,000 metric tons, some 19.4 million fish.
But by the early '90s, cod had begun to decline again. In 1980, researchers estimated the combined weight of all spawning cod at 93,000 tons. In 1995, it sank to a record low of 17,340 tons.
More than a decade later, large areas of Georges Bank remain closed and although some overfishing of cod still occurs, cod fishing has been greatly curtailed. But the cod haven't come back, and no one quite knows why.
Scientists suspect that other species, which are now relatively abundant, may be preying on young cod. Fishermen blame dogfish, a kind of shark, although scientists say dogfish don't eat cod. But scientists and fisherman do agree on one thing: "It was overfished," says Margeson. And much of the fault lies with fishermen, he says.
As the sun rises over Nantucket Sound, Margeson explains: When cod seemed limitless, economic gain trumped sustainable practices. Fishermen raced to catch as many cod as quickly as they could. And regulations, when they finally came, only made things worse. Efforts to try to limit fishermen's behavior failed. The ever-dwindling number of days one was allowed to fish encouraged practices that were not only environmentally costly but also unsafe. Limits on how much could be landed on a single trip – currently 1,000 pounds for cod – meant that fishermen who'd netted more might throw back thousands of pounds of dead, but otherwise perfectly good, fish.
"The discard issue was huge," Margeson says. And the waste further depressed stocks. "We all knew that something had to be done," he says. Survival rates for discarded net-caught fish are very low.
In 1991, Margeson and other Cape Cod fishermen formed the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association (CCCHFA). The idea: to go easier on fish habitat by using fishing technology – like hooks – that didn't damage the sea floor. (Hook-caught fish also means fewer discards, as fishermen can stop when the limit is reached.) More recently, the group pioneered an approach to fishery management inspired by quota systems in places like New Zealand and Alaska.
In 2004, a group of CCCHFA fishermen asked to be assigned a percentage of the year's total allowable cod catch. (Scientists recommend what should be caught in a given year.) The new approach did away with the hated trip limits and time constraints that encouraged a wasteful and unsafe "race to fish." Members could harvest at leisure, take advantage of favorable market prices and take the time necessary for low-impact fishing practices.
In theory, the approach also encourages conservation. If fishermen fish sustainably, fish become more numerous, and the value of a fisherman's allocation grows.
"The quota system is a good way to regulate fish, a good way to regulate fishermen," says Margeson.
Two years ago, another such arrangement was approved for CCCHFA fishermen using fixed gear (gill nets, longlines). And the idea is catching on. This year, New England fishermen proposed 17 such "sectors." Many say this grass-roots effort is a milestone in a region where fishermen have historically opposed hard limits on how much they can catch.
"Things are changing with breathless speed, far more rapidly than I thought they ever could," says David Preble, a retired fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council. "I thought it would take us a decade, but it's happening very, very quickly."
Several on-the-ground facts are driving the change: Congress's newly reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act says that if overfishing does not end by 2010, regional fishery management councils will lose their authority. The feds will step in. "We're on the clock," says Steve Murawski, chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries in Silver Spring, Md. "The law says we have to end overfishing."
New England has 800 to 900 active federal ground fish permits. (Ground fish swim close to the bottom and include pollock, haddock, and cod.) To achieve economic viability and ecological sustainability, some say the fleet must shrink by as much as two-thirds. The implied dissolution of the few fishing communities that remain weighs heavily on fishermen who, besides showing an almost religious devotion to their profession, can earn six-figure salaries. Many are scrambling to find ways for the same number of fishermen to make a living off fewer fish.
In Port Clyde, Maine, the two-year-old Midcoast Fishermen's Co-op has sought to brand its catch as environmentally friendly and charge more for it. By selling fewer fish for more money, the group hopes to maintain the fishing community.
Farther east along the Maine coast, where fish stocks are badly depleted and 90 percent of the fishermen now rely on lobster, the Penobscot East Resource Center's Downeast Initiative is pushing for "community-based management." The idea is that because communities closest to fishing areas have the greatest stake in their viability and know them best, they should set management rules.
"All ecology is local. Fish live in, return to, and feed in specific places," says Robin Alden, the center's executive director. "It's only through taking care of specific areas that you can take care of fish populations."
And CCCHFA hopes to thwart an unintended effect of fishing rights becoming sellable. To keep permits from migrating out of the local community, CCCHFA will buy up permits and then lease them based on certain criteria – living locally, owning a boat, paying deckhands a share of the catch, say – that foster what Paul Parker, executive director of CCCHFA, calls the "triple bottom line" of economic, social, and ecological goals. "We maintain our sense of place," he says. It's a good way for us to continue a way of life."
For his part, Margeson is determined to weather this transition, see the stocks rebound, and keep fishing. "I'm too old for a career change," he says. And besides, he enjoys it. "I love it for the freedom," he says.
The fact that fishermen have less freedom today is not lost on Margeson. Since the mid-1990s, gradually tightening regulations have done away with the notion that the ocean is a wild, unregulated frontier. And now, as New England fishermen form associations to weather hard times and overhaul their industry, they must give up more of that independence. Where autonomy was once prized, collaboration is now emphasized.
[Editor's note: The original story omitted Paul Parker's first name and attribution. The story also carried a headline and subhead that did not adequately characterize the story's content. A photo caption in the original was rewritten to clarify the fact that Jan Margeson owns two fishing boats. The video accompanying this story originally misstated the number of days allowed to fish for cod. Additionally, a previous version of this correction misspelled Jan Margeson's name.]
Empty Oceans, a series on the state of the world's fisheries, will be appearing in the Monitor's environment section. For the full series, click here.


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Saturday, 2 April 2011
Missing in knitting action
Because I've only been knitting socks I didn't think it would make for a very interesting blog read but I'm going to show you what I've been doing anyway:
First of all, how's this for a PAIR of lovely socks?
Knit as part of Sock Knitters Anonymous' March Mystery sock Knit Along and designed by Stephanie of VeryBusyMonkey. (Moogsmum managed to knit TWO pairs before I had even finished my first sock!)
I really enjoyed knitting these and waiting for each clue to be published - I even knit both socks at the same time - something I've never done before! And I love the colour - it was christened "Primrose" but I have renamed it Sherbert Lemon.
And I found a better pattern for the lovely wool from Quinn
It's called Cherry Swirls and is a really easy knit - but it's not a "flowing" knit - by which I mean it doesn't flow easily from the needles like some patterns - so it has been stuck at this stage for quite a while because I have been distracted by other more interesting patterns. But the wool is lovely and the colour is gorgeous. (Moogsmum managed to cast on and knit a pair of these in about 5 seconds flat so it's probably just me that has a problem with the pattern! We've come to the conclusion that she is a Knitting-Robot so I no longer need to worry about not being able to keep up!!)
Yesterday I cast on a new sock with some lovely handpainted yarn by Barbara at Ring-a-Rosie - my lovely local wool shop (I've spent a lot of time there lately too!).
I did the ribbing yesterday evening and then spent a lovely afternoon today knitting 5 repeats of the pattern - I'm nearly onto the heel already. The pattern is called Tadpoles which is nicely-Springly-appropriate - even if I don't have any tadpoles or frogspawn in my allotment pond (I've been spending time up there too!)
And in the evenings I have joined the hoards crocheting an Attic24 Granny Stripe blanket with a gazillion different colours
So I have been immersing myself in woolly goodness and spending more time smiling and a lot less time crying. All good.
Lucy xxx
24 comments:
- French Knots said...
Good to hear from you, very springy coloured knitting! The tadpole design looks really effective and fab in jaunty green.
I've been allotmenting too, trying to get ahead of the weeds!xx
- 2 April 2011 at 20:10
- Lina said...
Glad to hear things are more positivte for you!
- 2 April 2011 at 20:10
- Gina said...
Love those yellow (sunshine) socks. It's good to see you back... no matter how long you've been away.
- 2 April 2011 at 20:34
- Moogsmum said...
Never mind me being a knitting robot - what about you and all your lovely socks?!
I have severe tadpole envy and may have to cast these on in the morning while Mr Moog is being forced to slave over a hot stove :o)
Your mystery socks are absolutely gorgeous in that yummy yellow yarn. Such a fab pattern.
Excellent woolly post, Locket!
- 2 April 2011 at 20:57
- periwinkle said...
the happy yellow socks are my fave Lucy... lovely to see you again - missed you x
- 2 April 2011 at 22:26
- quinn said...
So much excellent sockage Lucy! Lovely :)
- 2 April 2011 at 22:31
- jodie said...
Good to hear you have been indulging in wool therapy Lucy.
I agree Moogsmum must be a knitting robot....
- 2 April 2011 at 23:44
- loulee said...
Who said socks are not interesting enough for a blog post? Love that green one. Where did you find the pettern?
All the bright colours in your granny stripe couldn't fail to keep your mood up. ((Hugs))
- 3 April 2011 at 07:34
So much lovliness going on Mrs Locket! Loving the socks, especially the PAIR of sherbet lemons. I'm very tempted to do an Attic 24 blanket too. Have a lovely Mothers Day :-)
- 3 April 2011 at 08:29
- trash said...
Loving that you will be wearing tadpoles in your shoes this Spring.
And I think Sherbert Lemon is a much better name for that colour than soppy old Primrose. Perhaps 'colourway namer' could be a new career Locket?
- 3 April 2011 at 09:57
- dottycookie said...
Tadpoles on your feet - should we call the RSPCA?
Lovely to see you back again!
- 3 April 2011 at 16:19
- sewkalico said...
Wow, your knitting is great. I am not brave enough to try socks, I think even reading a knitting pattern is beyond me. So kudos to you!!
- 3 April 2011 at 19:24
Wow! Lots of gorgeous socks happening at your place lately!! Do the timber feet come in different sizes?
- 3 April 2011 at 21:01
- Kitty said...
Sounds like you're doing brilliantly, Lucy. All that yarny goodness is so pretty. I'm going to have to 'try' to do a sock at some point, aren't I?! x
- 4 April 2011 at 11:48
- ladydi said...
Socks make a VERY interesting post, and the lemon sherbet pair is divine, as they all are. You have inspired me to bravely try something besides ordinary round and round. :>} Have you planted anthing yet? I was going to plant peas today, but it is pouring rain, so I'll wait. I don't want my seeds to wash away, as they surely would.
- 4 April 2011 at 22:29
- Thimbleanna said...
Yipee! Less time crying is a VERY GOOD thing! Your socks are gorgeous. You and Leslie put me to shame with your sock production. Thanks for all the links. I need to start a new pair -- I'd like to try the cherry swirls. (Of course, that's if I remember -- at the rate my memory has been working, I could start a new pair in 10 minutes and forget that cherry swirls was the pattern I wanted to try. Getting old sucks LOL!)
- 5 April 2011 at 04:14
- Jane said...
Lovely socks Lucy, Loving the crochet too. Jane x
- 5 April 2011 at 06:39
- Mad about Craft said...
So glad to hear from you!
The socks are lovely and so glad you seem to be picking up.
- 7 April 2011 at 22:21
- Helen said...
We have tadpoles . . . . but not gorgeous socks!!
Love Helen xx
- 9 April 2011 at 08:25
- wonderwoman said...
Wow, am in awe of your socks!! Your crochet looks brilliant too, am feeling the need to start a new crochet project!
- 9 April 2011 at 12:28
- joanie said...
They're amazing! My feet are size 3.5 if you're taking any orders ;)
- 10 April 2011 at 00:20
- Leanne said...
You are more talented than me I still have a single sock knitted to the heel started 18 months ago. I have been missing in action also the years seems to be booming past.
- 17 April 2011 at 02:53
- Marie said...
I just LOVE those yellow ones. I think I'd smile all day long if I saw those peeking out of my shoes! LOL.
I still haven't managed to make even a single sock. I just cannot get my head around 4 needles. I can't do it. I guess we have to accept that somethings just aren't meant to be. I'll have to settle for admiring the sock making of other people instead.
- 26 April 2011 at 10:13
- Bobo Bun said...
I can't believe how many socks you've knitted up. I started on sock five times and then gave up. I really want to crack it though. My favourite of all are your lemon pair. The wool is a delicious colour and such a lovely pattern. If you ever get the chance I'd love to know where the yarn is from as it's near impossible to find a good shade of yellow.
Glad to see you blogging.
- 29 April 2011 at 09:01


text:
Titans receiver and return man Marc Mariani missed the entire 2012 season after suffering a Theismannesque broken leg in the preseason. Mariani has acknowledged fearing that his career might have ended that day, but he thinks he'll be ready to go by the start of this preseason.
Earning a roster spot is no sure thing for Mariani even if he is 100 percent, but he said he expects to prove in August that he's all the way back.
"I know I have to have a good camp this year," Mariani told the Associated Press. "It's been a battle, but it's been a great learning experience."
Mariani, who broke his tibia and fibula while returning a punt and had a broken bone pierce his skin, is keeping a positive attitude about the challenge of coming back from such an injury.
"There's a lot of adversity that I've overcome, and there's a lot more that's in front of me," Mariani said. "I welcome it. . . . Even lying on the field right after it happened, you question it, you wonder, you doubt. Mentally, it's a hard hurdle to get over. Will I be OK again? Is it going to heal correctly? All those things. It was difficult, but there was so much support, so much backing that I had. It made it easier."
There's nothing easy about coming back from an injury like that, but Mariani is most of the way there.


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Stories about my ancestors and my journey searching for them. I want my grandchildren to know my grandparents!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Advent Calendar-Grab Bag
Today's topic is author's choice-a topic that helps you remember Christmases past. I have two topics that come to mind.
Our first born, Emily, was born in our hometown. However, my parents had moved to Marinette, WI that year, so we spent Emily's first Christmas there. While we were there we had Emily baptized. Her godparents were my brother Bill and my great-aunt Genevieve. Aunt Gen had been my mother's godmother, and my godmother, so we thought it was kind of cool to have her be Emily's godmother also! The picture on the right is of Bill and baby Emily.
My other Christmas remembrance is from 2002. Our son, Alex, had joined the Marines in 1999, for a 5 year enlistment. We were very lucky that he was able to be home every Christmas. However, when he came home for leave at Christmas in 2002, he announced that his leave was being cut short because he was being part of the first wave of Marines being deployed for the Iraq war. Not what a mother wants to hear ever, least of all at Christmas.
We had a really wonderful Christmas that year and the time that he had home was really short. Christmas came and then it was time to take him to the airport. I held myself together pretty well. As he passed through security, Alex looked back and, of course, I was watching him and we had a last wave goodbye.
I was so mindful that Christmas of all my ancestors who were mothers and sent their sons off to war. I thought of one who had 5 sons fight for the Confederacy, with only one of them returning. I thought of my grandmother who sent her 3 sons off to fight in WWII. Thankfully, they all returned. There is a special feeling between mothers who have sent their children off to war. There is not another feeling that you can compare it to. And I wish it upon no one. My prayer is that one day no one will ever have to deal with that.
It seemed like Christmas again when my son returned home in July of 2003!
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It was a good 15 minute ride from the airport to Laoag City proper. Before entering the town proper, you'll be welcomed by a huge arc before the bridge. The town proper is not that huge but very urbanized compared to other provincial cities.
Because most reviews I read promoted Tiffany's as the ideal place to stay in downtown Laoag, I decided to book there. Its proximity to the plaza is a plus. Also, there is a Jollibee nearby which is open for 24 hours. I was also excited to have breakfast there… because breakfast at Tiffany's is always cool. >
Tiffany's interiors were frolicked with old Hollywood pictures. The rate for an overnight stay in a single room was P675. My room rained with blue, orange and purple spots. It somehow looked like a hospital room to me though.
After parking my things in the hotel, I was off to Paoay Church. On my way to the terminal, I noticed that Calesas here are quite wide. I boarded a jeepney and paid a fare of P25 to Paoay. I discovered that jeepney passengers in Ilocos Norte pay only upon arriving to their stop that's why drivers here make sure they have enough coins for change. The ride to Paoay is approximately 35 minutes with stops at Batac Public Market, which I heard was the largest in Ilocos Norte, and General Ricarte Park.
Paoay Church is heavenly! No wonder it was classified as a heritage treasure by the UNESCO.
At the side of the church are benches made from original Paoay bricks. Behind the church is a tennis court (Ilokanos sure love to play tennis) and a basketball court. I even took a picture of Paoay hoops!
Across the road fronting the church is a souvenir shop. I bought some Ilocos Wine and tried some of its famous empanada. I found out that they use the same breading for Kwek-Kwek. I tried tuna. It took them 10 minutes to cook my order but it was all worth the time.
On my way back to Laoag, I met Vicente Ocol. He was kind enough to make a stop in front of Immaculate Conception Church in Batac for me to take a picture. He also shared a ranting about our country's current political system and how abundant life was in Ilocos Norte during Macoy's time. I find him very educational and will share his story on another blog post.
Manong Vicente dropped me in Laoag's "Barangay Liga Gym" located beside the city hall. I witnessed the championship game between St. Joseph and the team wearing FEU Tamaraw-ish uniforms. I can tell you that they got game. The fans were also very supportive yet very organized. I miss that type of fan support in Pampanga.
I visited St. William's Cathedral after the pre-Sunday mass. The lighting was superb inside which very well supported the church façade. I saw some of the passengers from the morning's flight visiting the cathedral.
Outside the church were talented skateboard junkies. The kids were about the age of 7. They reminded me when I got my first skateboard. It was then that I also realized how peaceful it is in Laoag City. If you do those skateboard stunts in the streets in Manila, you'll get ganged up.
I was excited to try Macy's Diner below the hotel. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to discover that restaurants here close at 8PM. I had no choice but to grab my Chickenjoy. It was a first for me to have Jollibee on my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Before I went to bed, I watched the Suns burn Superman and his Superfriends. It was an awesome first day for me.