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Chris Eboch on Perfecting Your Plot
I have opinions on the publishing business, but I'll leave those discussions to others. My strength is writing craft. I've given writing workshops around the world, I've critiqued hundreds (possibly thousands) of manuscripts, and I've judged a dozen contests, so I know where writers struggle. (I've also written 20 traditionally-published and eight indie-published books.)
One thing people agree on when it comes to indie publishing (or traditional publishing, for that matter) is that you need a great book. But how can you tell if you have one? Frankly, most writers are not good at judging their own work. Sometimes we're so in love with the ideas and characters that we can't see the flaws in the manuscript. Sometimes we know what we wanted to convey, so we don't realize we didn't put it clearly on the page. Sometimes we're simply not experienced enough to recognize the problems, let alone know how to fix them.
Even critique group members and beta readers can only help so much. Some critiquers are great as cheerleaders, line editors, or grammar mavens, but don't know how to see the big picture. Some may sense problems but not know how to offer advice for fixing them. In my freelance critique business, I've worked with many clients who have worked through a manuscript with a critique group but still feel it needs help. They are always right.
Hiring a professional editor is a great option (visit Karen R. Sanderson's blog, The Word Shark, for some Editor Spotlights). But before you do that, make the manuscript as strong as you can on your own. This will help you get the most from the pro's feedback, while saving time and money. (I don't recommend that you self publish without getting professional editorial help, but if you do, it's even more important that you thoroughly edit on your own.)
See the Big Picture
"Big picture" revisions can include cutting or adding chapters, reordering scenes, changing your plot, and developing character arcs and themes. For this kind of revision, it's important to see what you really have in your manuscript, not simply what you intended to do.
I developed a system for my own use which I share in my book Advanced Plotting. The goal is to first step back from the manuscript and view it as a whole, so you can see the big picture. This helps you find places where something is missing; sections that don't make sense or don't fit smoothly into the whole; scenes that are redundant or otherwise unnecessary; and other problems, such as chapters without enough conflict.
Once you understand the big picture problems, you can plan how to fix them. From there you can narrow your focus to the scene and paragraph level, finding and fixing smaller flaws.
If you outline before writing, you can also use this exercise to analyze your outline before you start writing. This can reduce your need for later revisions.
You can get The Plot Arc Exercise as a free Word download from my Kris Bock website (left-hand column), but here's a brief overview:
Write a one- or two-sentence synopsis for your manuscript. What genre is it? What is it (briefly) about?
Define your goal. Do you want an action-packed page turner? A novel that explores an issue and makes people think? Keep the synopsis and goal in mind when you're making decisions about what to add, cut, or change in the manuscript.
Outline. Don't be intimidated by the word. You don't need Roman numerals or subheads, just a brief description of what happens in each scene. Think of it as the equivalent of a photo album of your vacation. If you try to remember what happened on your vacation, you might get confused about what you did on each day, and you might even forget some of the highlights. A chronological photo album, with one photo per event, helps keep your thoughts organized while triggering memories of each event.
Writing an outline after you finish a draft of your novel helps you see what you did. You're not going to edit yet, but rather analyze and make notes. You can use this outline in many ways.
Here are some things I like to do:
- Make a note of the number of pages in each chapter. If some are unusually long, I may want to divide them. If I can't find a good cliffhanger spot as a new chapter break, that's a sign I may not have enough action in that chapter.
- For each scene/chapter, list the emotions. Underline or highlight the major emotion. This helps ensure I have strong and varied emotions. If a scene only has fear for five pages, that's not as emotionally powerful as a scene that has fear… relief… surprise… and more fear. Ups and downs are important.
- Keep track of subplots by briefly mentioning what happens in each chapter where that subplot appears. I might use a purple pen to keep track of the romantic subplot and a green pen to track a subplot with the main character's father. I can make sure I didn't neglect a subplot for too long.
Find or Design Your Own Tools
You can take my Plot Arc Exercise and adapt it for your own needs. You can also find a variety of other tools to help you analyze your plot. If something doesn't feel like a good fit, don't give up on the idea – try some other methods. Be patient with the process. It takes time, but the results are worthwhile.
Here are several sources for analyzing your plot:
- Advanced Plotting includes a tool for analyzing your plot, plus articles on fast starts, developing middles, plot points, cliffhangers, and more advice on making your work stronger
- The Plot Arc Exercise is available as a free Word download
- Christopher Vogler explained how novelists can use the archetypical structure of The Hero's Journey, and you can find many examples of those stages online
- Darcy Pattison's Novel Metamorphosis offers another way to inventory and analyze your novel
- Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer, has several books on plotting and structure
- The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet lists 15 plot points. (See also his Save the Cat book)
- Lee Wardlaw at Project Mayhem shares a simplified version of a Plot Map
- An example of plot mapping via Caroline Starr Rose
- Links to cool plot tools from Molly Blaisdell
- For more story analysis, visit Doug Eboch's Let's Schmooze blog on Screenwriting
I hope you've found this post helpful. If you're interested in some of the issues that come up when self-publishing novels for children, I've blogged about that here.
Chris Eboch writes novels for ages nine and up. The Eyes of Pharaoh is an action-packed mystery set in ancient Egypt. The Genie's Gift is an Arabian Nights-inspired fantasy adventure. In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone challenging his power. In The Ghost Miner's Treasure, a brother and sister help a ghostly miner find his long-lost mine. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog.
As Kris Bock, Chris writes novels of suspense and romance involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Counterfeits starts a new series about stolen Rembrandt paintings hidden in a remote New Mexico art camp. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. In What We Found, a young woman finds a murder victim in the woods. Rattled follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.
Whispers in the Dark is on sale for $.99 through March 22.
See Chris Eboch's books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.
See Kris Bock's books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.


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Principal Investigator(s):
Marine mammals are increasingly threatened by interactions with fishing gear, ocean noise, pollution, direct harvest, ship traffic, competition for food with fisheries, and coastal development. Managers must set limits to these sources of human-caused mortality and disturbance to marine mammals without compromising human welfare. Currently, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act limits the allowable number of deaths caused by fisheries with a simple model called Potential Biological Removal. NOAA has also recently committed to developing mapping tools to better understand where underwater noise overlaps with the distribution and density of cetaceans.
Although these two approaches are a vast improvement to the status quo, there are still major limitations: 1) they do not consider the cumulative impacts of all threats, and 2) they assume largely unrealistic population dynamics. This Working Group proposes to develop a new framework for setting removal limits that incorporates cumulative impacts, and also allows for more realistic population dynamics, especially with respect to social complexity in marine mammals. The analyzes will provide managers with clear guidelines for managing the threats that marine mammals encounter in space and time.
UPDATE: October 2013
NCEAS support allowed this working group to develop the first comprehensive database of social behavioral, ecological, and demographic data for marine mammals. Once complete, they plan to use these data to examine the relationship between population dynamics and sociality (defined here as the broad system of conspecific attachment, association, knowledge, communication, culture and behavior in group-living species). In addition, this working group is developing a quantitative index of sociality, an innovative method of estimating phylogenetically-corrected demographic and life history parameters, and species-specific demographic rate estimates essential for conservation and management.
This Working Group has also successfully developed and implemented an expert opinion survey to assess cumulative impacts of multiple stressors on marine mammals, and are developing a framework to integrate the elicited expert knowledge with empirical data for input into a population model. The work with NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center will aid in the conservation of these culturally significant marine species by providing better-informed forecasting models to decision-makers. Further, the methods they are developing will provide detailed estimates of demographic parameters crucial for the study and management of rare and data-deficient species.
- Gerber, L.R., and E.White. 2013. Males Matter: Frequency dependence in matrix population models.Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12177.85.
- R. Wildermuth, J.A. Anadon and L.R. Gerber. 2012. Monitoring behavior: Assessing population status through rapid behavioral assessment. Conservation Letters doi:10.1111/j.1755-263X.2012.00298.x.
- Wildermuth, R.W., J.D. Anadon and L.R. Gerber. In review. Cost-effective conservation: Rapid behavioral assessment indicates population viability. Ecology and Evolution
- Wildermuth et al. In prep. A conceptual framework for sociality index. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
- Moore et al. In prep. Accounting for cryptic impacts in management models for marine mammals
- Gonzalez et al. In development. Functional response between population and sociality data
- Gonzalez et al. In development. New sociality index: empirical relationship between sociality vital rates
- Peavey et al. In development. Cumulative impacts conceptual model, expert elicitation
- Johnson et al. In development. Population model for assessing cumulative impacts using MSE.
This work is supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a Center funded by NSF (Grant #EF-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California.
Photo Credit: NOAA

subset: commoncrawl


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World Water Week is taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, under the overarching theme "Water in an Urbanising World". The World Water Week organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute, is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development.
For those of us not in Stockholm there are live webcasts with some sessions of World Water Week broadcast live on the website. You can follow discussions online and tweet at the same time! Follow the week's updates from different social media channels and redistribute them online.
Did you know that between 50-100 liters of water per person per day are needed to ensure most basic needs? Or that the basic requirement for a lactating women engaged in even moderate physical activity is 7.5 litres a day?
You can find a wealth of useful statistics and documents on the Water for Life website part of the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' which officially started on World Water Day, March 22, 2005.
The challenge of the Decade is to focus attention on action-oriented activities and policies that ensure the long-term sustainable management of water resources, in terms of both quantity and quality, and include measures to improve sanitation.
According to the World Health Organization, each and every day some 3,900 children die because of dirty water or poor hygiene; diseases transmitted through water or human excrement are the second-leading cause of death among children worldwide, after respiratory diseases.
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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Win a Trip to New York State to Golf at the Rock and Jock Golf Tournament
Hit the links this summer in beautiful Central New York.
Enter below for your chance to fly with a friend to New York State to golf in the Rock and Jock Golf Tournament at the Colonie Golf and Country Club in Voorheesville, NY, near Albany. Both of you will get a slot to play in the tournament – which will also feature celebrity golfer John Buccigross, host of ESPN's SportsCenter.
The prize also includes two rounds of golf, lunch for two, and dinner for two on August 19, 2013.
We'll put you up for two nights, and if golfing all day doesn't do enough to help you unwind, we'll give you $300 to spend any way you want while you're at the tourney.
To enter the contest, you must become a VIP. But you really should do that anyway – sign-up is free, and qualifies you for tons of contests like this one, plus games, prizes, and exclusive content.


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JERUSALEM, March 21 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday Palestinians "have a right to be a free people in their own land" and asked Israelis to see the world "through their eyes."
Obama, in a speech delivered to Israeli university students at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, said he recognizes the difficulty in the resolving issues between Israelis and Palestinians, but he said peace "is the only path to true security."
"Given the demographics west of the Jordan River, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine," Obama said.
"Given the frustration in the international community, Israel must reverse an undertow of isolation. And given the march of technology, the only way to truly protect the Israeli people is through the absence of war -- because no wall is high enough and no Iron Dome is strong enough, to stop every enemy from inflicting harm."
Obama said, "The Palestinian people's right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized."
"Put yourself in their shoes -- look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day.
"Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land," he said.
The speech came after Obama's meeting Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where he urged Palestinian leaders to resume peace talks with Israel, despite ongoing Israeli settlement building.
Obama, at a news conference with Abbas, reiterated the commitment of the United States to "an independent and sovereign state of Palestine."
"We will continue to look for steps that both Israelis and Palestinians can take to build the trust and the confidence upon lasting peace will depend," he said. "We cannot give up on the search for peace. Too much is at stake."
Obama called for direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
"There is no shortcut to a sustainable solution," he said.
"The Palestinian people deserve an end to occupation and the daily indignities that come with it," Obama said. "Palestinians deserve a state of their own."
Obama's arrival in Ramallah came hours after rockets fired from Gaza landed in the Israeli border city of Sderot. He condemned the attack, saying it is a violation of the cease-fire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians -- "a violation that Hamas has a responsibility to prevent."
He accused Hamas, which rules Gaza but is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, of caring "more about enforcing its own rigid dogmas than allowing Palestinians to live freely."
Following the news conference, Obama visited a youth center with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Events included a dance performance and a roundtable discussion with Palestinian youth.
During a state dinner at the home of Israeli President Shimon Peres, Obama was presented with Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction, which he accepted "on behalf of the American people."
Referring to Peres' role in the formation of Israel, Obama recalled the names of previous Israeli prime ministers, including David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachim Begin and Yitzhak Rabin -- "these giants have left us. But you are with us still, a founding father in our midst," Obama told Peres.
Speaking of prospects for the peace process, Obama said, "All things are possible, even those things that in moment of darkness and doubt may seem elusive."


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At The Club
Club News & Announcements
Airgunforum.net Rules of Membership
AirGunForum.net Rules Of Membership
Joining and continuing membership of the AirGunForum is conditional on agreement to be bound by these rules.
AirGunForum.net is a members' only bulletin board provided as a free-of-charge service to the shooting community. As such, members accept that no promises or guarantees regarding the availability of the service are made or implied.
The forum staff give their time and expertise to the forum without reward or remuneration. Members are required to remember this at all times when dealing with staff.
As the board is not constantly monitored members are held solely and wholly responsible for the content of their posts. In the event of any complaint or threat of legal action, AirGunForum.net reserves the right to reveal whatever details are held about members as necessary.
The staff endeavour to monitor all posts but, with due regard to their voluntary status, 100% is not always achievable. Members are asked to be vigilant and report posts they consider to infringe the board's rules. Staff will take action, within a reasonable timespan, to edit or delete posts they consider to fall outside the boundaries acceptable to the board.
Members are welcome to question a staff member's decision, by email or private message to the staff member concerned, but discussion will not be entered into on the open forum.
In the event of their being no satisfactory resolution to a dispute between a member and a staff member, a member may appeal directly to the forum owner. Although the owner will make every possible effort to be fair to all concerned, in any dispute his decision is final.
You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use AirGunForum.net to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, racist, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by AirGunForum.net or you have written permission from the copyright owner to do so. Furthermore, it is a condition of membership that a valid email address and an identifiable location (e.g. country of residence) are entered into a member's profile. Members should ensure that these details are kept up to date.
Should problems arise with recorded details or conduct, members may be warned by forum staff, their posting rights may be suspended for a period, or they may be expelled completely from the forum and their membership records deleted.
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The forum's focus is airgunning, so members are requested to ensure their posts have some relevance to airgunning.
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Improving the quality of life in Bowling Green and the surrounding communities we serve is part of The Medical Center's mission. Through our expansive Bowling Green health and wellness programs, The Medical Center helps individuals take charge of their health and make positive changes to improve or maintain their health and well being.
Whether it is our health education classes, health screenings, disease management programs or membership programs, The Medical Center at Bowling Green, KY has programs designed for people of all ages.


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Confined Space Emphasis Program
What is a confined space in general industry?
Any type of space that:
- Is large enough and configured such that an employee can bodily enter and perform work.
- Has limited openings for entry and exit.
- Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
What is a permit-required confined space in general industry?(General Industry is covered by Title 8, Section 5157.)
Any type of space that:
- Has all three of the characteristics above, plus one or more of the following:
- Has a hazardous atmosphere – or has the potential for a hazardous atmosphere – including too little or too much oxygen, and/or the presence of toxic or explosive gases or vapors (such as hydrogen sulfide or methane).
- Has a material that can – or potentially will – engulf an employee, such as grain, sand or sugar.
- Has an internal configuration (such as floors that slope downwards) that can – or potentially will – trap or asphyxiate employees.
- Has any other recognized serious safety or health hazard, such as machinery with moving parts, sources of electrical shocks, steam (burn hazard), or liquids (drowning and fire hazards).
What is a confined space in construction, agriculture, marine terminals, telecommunications, grain handling, natural gas and electric utilities?(These specified industries are covered by Title 8, Section 5158.)
Any type of space that has both of the following:
- Existing ventilation that is not sufficient to remove dangerous air contamination, too little oxygen or too much oxygen which either exists or may develop. Dangerous air contamination is an atmosphere that presents a threat of causing death, injury, acute illness, or disablement due to the presence of flammable and/or explosive, toxic, or otherwise injurious or incapacitating substances.
- Access for the removal for a suddenly disabled employee is difficult due to the location and/or size of the openings.


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home | metro silicon valley index | movies | current reviews | film review
Phillip Caruso PETAL EXTREMITIES: Even a beautiful garden can't keep Uma Thurman from dark thoughts about her past in 'The Life Before Her Eyes.'
My So-Called Life
The memory of a high school tragedy haunts a grown woman in 'The Life Before Her Eyes'
By Richard von Busack
SOME TWIST endings should be left to twist slowly in the wind. Still, The Life Before Her Eyes' punch line—it was fresh 125 years ago anyway—isn't completely unworkable. A poetic director, preferably female, could have made something out of this story. Despite Sofia Coppola's limitations, this is material that would have suited her perfectly. Diana (Uma Thurman) lives the luxury-car commercial life, inhabiting a fine old two-story house surrounded by at least a half-acre of perfect flowers—it looks like the filmmakers took the cameras to Butchart Gardens. She drives her seemingly perfect little daughter to Catholic school. In the opposite direction, her husband, a bearded philosophy professor, pedals off to college on his bicycle. Diana's day is shadowed by the anniversary of the high school shooting that changed her life. Although she has chosen to lock out the memories, they intrude. In unusually shapeless flashbacks, Diana's past life unfolds. When she was 17 (Evan Rachel Wood plays her then), Diana's best friend forever was a religious girl named Maureen (Eva Amurri of Saved!). One day, a rejected young male got an automatic rifle and went on a rampage. Maureen and Diana were cornered in a flooded school bathroom. The killer drew on them, asking them to pick which one of them should live. And then we cut away to the present. The perfection of Diana's middle-aged life is cracking; her daughter keeps running away from her teachers and hiding. And her husband appears to be having an affair with a student.
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The otherwise very literal director Vadim Perelman demonstrates the same vagueness about class conflict and the price of things that he showed in House of Sand and Fog. And once again, he is doing a movie where knowledge of these matters is essential. Diana claims she came from the wrong side of the tracks, a small-town girl with a rep for sluttiness. But the small town is a perfect Connecticut village. At least Diana's particular badness is manifested in her getting an abortion. It's a bloody, botched trauma; 2008 movie abortions always are. And her decision is a cause for later grieving, over one of those fields of crosses that the anti-choice put up as memorials to the unborn. Perelman isn't much of a hand for symbolism. Symbols better seen out of the corner of our eye are slammed right in the middle of a frame. The events in both of Diana's lives seem unmoored in time. It is all explained, if not satisfactorily, and yet still doesn't add up. In this film, the flowers are arranged better than the flow of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Amurri is an underrated actress, even if the film's bead on her character is wobbly. Wood's fine-boned, luminous face almost draws us into a story without a center. Michigan poet Laura Kasischke's novel has an idea that could be transformed into a dreamy, haunting movie. But even if the theme were handled better, it would still be a movie to be swallowed, not understood. If picked apart, this self-pitying story tries to match the pain of middle-aged malaise with the pain of a Columbine-style catastrophe. It is one thing when teenage dreams die a natural death by age. It is another when they are ended by murder.
THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES (R; 90 min.), directed by Vadim Perelman, written by Emil Stern, based on the novel by Laura Kasischke, photographed by Pawel Edelman and starring Uma Thurman, opens April 25 at selected theaters.
Send a letter to the editor about this story.


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With the third season underway as of Sunday night, it's time to recognize that Game of Thrones is truly the king of contemporary TV. It's no longer a show about gratuitous nudity and even more gratuitous violence, but rather it's a modern epic, superbly designed, acted, and produced. But for some reason or another, there are a lot of people out there who haven't seen it. That's understandable, namely because it appears on HBO, which requires a pricey subscription, but that doesn't count as an excuse. The DVDs are already on the shelves of your local electronics store and every episode can be purchased on Amazon Instant Video or iTunes. It's time to relinquish your hesitancies and bow to the "Thrones."
Here are a few reasons:
1) Every single character is compelling in their own right.
Most TV shows these days have one or two characters that drive the story forward. Usually those heroes are shiny, intelligent, and charismatic, each of them the epitome of their show's ideal of perfection. Meanwhile, the supporting cast drags behind, weighing down the plot and wearing away at your patience. With Game of Thrones, it's hard to pick a favorite character since they're all so deeply developed. There is no flawless hero and there is no villain to loathe without some shred of sympathy. Do you root for Robb Stark, the son forced into waging war against the crown because of his duty to his family? Do you cheer for Tyrion Lannister (played by the Emmy-award winner Peter Dinklage), the dwarf with a sharp tongue and a knack for outsmarting his opponents? What about Arya Stark, the tomboy bent on avenging her father? Or Jon Snow, the illegitimate son trying to make a name for himself as a hero? Or even the striking Daenerys Targaryen, whose beauty is only exceeded by her relentless ambition and pursuit of retaking her father's kingdom? There's literally no character for you to dislike.
2) The overwhelming amount of acting talent.
The headliner of the first season is Sean Bean, the famous actor from Fellowship of the Ring and GoldenEye, who rules every scene with his steely stare's burdened sense of emotion. With a sharp eye, you'll also notice a swath of recognizable faces, such as Chris and Carrie from the first two seasons of Skins (the UK version) or Tonks from the Harry Potter series. And, of course, you have Peter Dinklage, who can't go through a scene without making you laugh at least twice. His ability to communicate fear, intelligence, and loneliness while still cracking jokes should compel you to at least give the first few episodes a try.
3) The production value.
Every set piece, ship, and castle is laden with its own intricate detail. Each character's armor has its own unique design. Each city and town not only looks different (unlike many TV show sets, which are often repurposed and reused from episode to episode), but they also have their own individual feel to each them. Qarth positively shines in the sun. Winterfell aches with biting cold and hard-packed mud. Westeros' warm beauty belies its poor, downtrodden citizens.
4) The meaning in modern times.
Even though the series may on the outside appear like another piece of throwaway fantasy entertainment, its true meaning actually delves into our notions of humanity, morality, justice, and government. It often asks us who has the right to rule: the people, the man with the strongest army, the woman whispering in the king's ear, or the young girl with the birthright? What is justice? Is it fair to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives in order to save just one? Is torture truly a means to an end, or is it just a form of sadism? What about love, marriage, and sex? Can we trust in monogamy, or are we bound to slide into seeking carnal pleasure elsewhere? And, lastly, what is honor? Does it even exist? Who sets the standard for what is right and wrong? Are we accountable to ourselves, our gods, or our friends and family?
As I said, it's not hard to catch up on the series. The first two seasons comprise of only 10 episodes apiece, so you can easily grind through them in a weekend or two. Jump on the bandwagon of this pop culture phenomenon while you can, and enjoy the fantastic ride to follow.
New episodes of Game of Thrones air on Sunday nights at 9pm on HBO.


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Time: March 17, 2017 from 8pm to 9:30pm
Location: Downtown Independent
Street: 251 South Main Street
City/Town: Los Angeles
Phone: 2136171033
Event Type: film
Organized By: Downtown Independent
Latest Activity: Mar 14, 2017
"There should be a subgenre of documentaries solely defined by their capacity to incite righteous anger in the audience. Titles would include 'Blackfish,' 'Inside Job,' 'The Act Of Killing,' and Ted Braun's 'Betting On Zero.'"
From Darfur Now writer/director Ted Braun comes a riveting docu-thriller following controversial hedge fund titan Bill Ackman as he puts a billion dollars on the line in his crusade to expose Herbalife as the largest pyramid scheme in history. Herbalife claims Ackman is simply a market manipulator out to make a fortune from short-selling their stock, but Ackman insists Herbalife deliberately targets low-income and immigrant communities and robs them of their life savings. Blending tales of high-stakes corporate intrigue with working-class people caught in the crossfire, Braun paints a stirring picture of the American Dream gone wrong.
BETTING ON ZERO premiered at TriBeCa Film Festival in April, 2016, where it earned a special jury mention for investigative filmmaking.
Friday 3/17 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM
Sunday, 3/19 6:00 PM
Monday, 3/20 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM
Tuesday, 3/21 4:00 PM
Wednesday 3/22 6:00 PM, 8:00 PM
Tickets available online here!


text:
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Date: January 12, 2012 08:11AM
I am curious to know how many of you are following 80/10/10 or have tried it. I would also appreciate it if you would share your experiences.
I'm seeing great results so far. My body fat is way down, closer to where I want it to be. After years of unsuccessfully trying to achieve flatter abs through raw diet and exercise, I finally can see a major improvement. I really had to look at my fat intake and make the adjustment. I was definitely overloading on nuts, seeds, and avocados before.
My athletic performance is also through the roof! The 80/10/10 diet does seem to be working.
The only drawback is that I am craving cooked foods more than ever.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Jgunn ()
Date: January 13, 2012 05:53PM
Roxeli my diet generally revolves around the principles of 80/10/10 but i rarely take the time anymore to track it . When i do i find at times im more like 70/15/15 or even 60/20/20 lol
some days i gravitate towards more fruit ..some days more greens ..some days more fats I also tend to eat more greens then fruits in the winters as up here n the northwest that is wha is more available to me
it sounds like 80/10/10 is really working for you and thats great , i am not an athelete by any stretch so I cant compare notes with you there .. but i can say i really enjoy my long distance endurance rides in the summer full of fruit and smoothies far more then in years gone by sweating up a storm just to get around the block lol
...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 05:54PM by Jgunn.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 14, 2012 01:41AM
Thank you for the reply Jgunn.
I think I might have lowered my fat intake too abruptly and probably should have weaned myself off of it more gently. I think that is what triggered the cooked food cravings. Regardless, I am so pleased with the results that I'm sticking with it. I'm going to up the greens and see if that helps stave off the cravings.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: WheatgrassYogi ()
Date: January 14, 2012 02:32AM
Jgunn Wrote:
> .... When i do i find at times im more like 70/15/15 or even 60/20/20
I'm surprised you stay Regular with such a varied Diet. I do Best eating the same thing day-in and day-out. It's closer to 90/05/05......WY
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Jgunn ()
Date: January 14, 2012 04:23AM
i guess for me the variety is the spice of life , i get incredibly bored fast if i dont switch things up
...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Diogenez ()
Date: January 15, 2012 01:03AM
working great for me also i have great increase on every aspect of my life because of it from mental clarity endurance strength and recovery .
life vs lifelessness
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 21, 2012 05:06AM
Can someone refresh me on the 80/10/10 breakdown. I know it got posted, but I can't seem to find it through all the shmegma. It sounds like a great diet to rid oneself of excess musclature and fat.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 21, 2012 05:07AM
Wouldn't it be great to go on vacation. Seaworld perhaps?
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Diogenez ()
Date: January 21, 2012 05:36AM
seaworld doesn't treat animals properly so now. maybe to nature to re-wild
rawalice. i think it can be said as simple as . eat fresh ripe whole organic food , stuff you can make a meal out of 1 thing type stuff
life vs lifelessness
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: January 28, 2012 05:05AM
The best thing about 80/10/10 is the slow, insidious neurological damage that it does. Slowly the fatty myelin sheath around your neurons thins, until you experience excess sensitivity, anxiety, fear, dread, etc..
It's not good for your brain, long-term. Your body is designed to need more fat than 10% of total calories. 25% protein, 35% carbs, and 45% fat is probably closer to a long-term SUSTAINABLE macronutrient ratio.
I've been doing raw food diets since some of you still believed in the Easter bunny. I speak from hard experience, both my own, and that of many other raw foodist friends.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 28, 2012 10:35AM
run diogenez run!
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 28, 2012 02:38PM
I am sorry if "raw food diets" damaged your health, but I politely point out that you and some of your acquaintances are not a statistic.
It is a provocative assertion you are making, so I'm off to look for data that suggest that 80/10/10 demyelinates the axons and causes brain damage. Then, will look for data that suggest your recommended ratio of 45% fat is ideal. I imagine Drs. Barnard, Esselstyn, Fuhrman, McDougall, Ornish, Oz, etc., be shocked, shocked! to learn this . . .
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: omega-3 ()
Date: January 28, 2012 04:02PM
I feel a zillion times better now that I'm eating a lot more fat than that. Coconut rocks my world. 80/10/10 or something like that may be good for a short period cleanse, but in my experience it's not at all sustainable. You get really flaky/spacey and just malnourished. I think there may be a time for extreme low-fact, but it's not all the time. Follow your instincts,
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 28, 2012 08:57PM
So far, I feel great on 80/10/10. My athletic performance is through the roof. My obliques are showing now that my tummy fat is down. I'm in the best shape of my life and with less training than before. I also notice I lose less hair in the shower. My skin is neither dry nor oily but just right for once. Unlike my girl friends, I am not experiencing the annoying symptoms that come with menopause. My libido is the healthiest its ever been!
I have always been one of those people whose body wants to store fat (even more of a challenge now at age 50). Even with all the exercising I was doing, the abdominal fat was not budging. My arms, shoulders, and legs were ripped, but the abs were still lacking making me look unbalanced. Maybe once my body is cleansed it'll stop storing fat and I'll be able to increase my fat intake. I am definitely going to experiment with this and see where it takes me. I will tweak my diet as needed along the way.
Here are my results so far:
Before 80/10/10 (and working out way too much):
After 80/10/10:
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 28, 2012 10:45PM
Wowo, roxeli--Amazing transformation! Congrats!
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 29, 2012 02:39AM
Thank you Tamukha. The 80/10/10 diet has been great so far.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 31, 2012 03:15PM
Congratulations. You look great. How long have you been doing 80-10-10?
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 31, 2012 07:35PM
@ Paul,
I'm just now at 2 months of eating 80/10/10 but that picture was taken after only 5 weeks into it. The stubborn fat just disappeared. I'm still amazed.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: January 31, 2012 10:09PM
Your personal courage and testimonial are powerful evidence of what a low fat plant based diet is capable of. You have got me thinking! Thank you very much for taking the risk for self-disclosure. It is empowering! Best.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: February 01, 2012 08:35PM
If you're stubborn and hard-headed enough to ignore me, feel free to learn from your own hard experience.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2012 08:36PM by cherimoya_kid.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: cy ()
Date: February 01, 2012 08:46PM
My only problem is the sweets.I do almost 90% veggies and 10% fruit,but the raw chocolate doesn't leave me. I have done everything.I think that i"ll quit.
The chocolate won.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: February 02, 2012 04:23AM
cy Wrote:
> My only problem is the sweets.I do almost 90%
> veggies and 10% fruit,but the raw chocolate
> doesn't leave me. I have done everything.I think
> that i"ll quit.
> The chocolate won.
If you want to control cravings, eat fats, and supplement with natural minerals like Terramin clay. That works.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: cy ()
Date: February 02, 2012 07:55PM
Wow ! I'm gonna check this out. Thanks.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Prana ()
Date: February 02, 2012 08:32PM
cy, let us know how that works for you.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: February 03, 2012 06:51PM
@ cherimoya kid,
I'm not ignoring you. My diet is my own. I am following what feels right to me and what has given me the best results. If I reach a point where I have to tweak my diet because of adverse effects, than I will do just that. Not everyone on 80/10/10 has had the same experience you had. Everybody is different. That is why I started this thread, so we can exchange our experiences.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: February 04, 2012 03:26AM
roxeli Wrote:
> @ cherimoya kid,
> I'm not ignoring you. My diet is my own. I am
> following what feels right to me and what has
> given me the best results. If I reach a point
> where I have to tweak my diet because of adverse
> effects, than I will do just that. Not everyone
> on 80/10/10 has had the same experience you had.
> Everybody is different. That is why I started
> this thread, so we can exchange our experiences.
The really worrisome thing about 80/10/10 is that the neurological damage is so gradual, that you don't realize that it's happening. Then, by the time it has really gotten bad, your brain is so damaged that your judgment can become impaired. That's a problem, because your own good judgment is the best defense you have against taking something like that too far.
I'm not saying that will be your fate, but many bright souls like DurianRider have clearly become VERY neurologically imbalanced, and Dr. Graham is aging horribly, worse than many SAD eaters. It's the long-timers on these diets that you need to really pay attention to, both the good and the bad things that are going on with them.
Whatever. Your fate is your fate.
Re: 80/10/10
Date: February 04, 2012 03:34AM
Cherimoya kid,
Could you clarify why you feel the 80-10-10 leads to neurological damage? B-12 deficiency? Something else? I think it would help me to understand your assertion if you could say a little more about why you feel this is the case.
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: February 04, 2012 08:04AM
Hey Kid...show us some evidence, like a few studies that support what you're suggesting, ok. Oh, and nice tat Roxeli
Re: 80/10/10
Date: February 04, 2012 01:07PM
Or even specifics about his own terrible experience with 80/10/10, including what his daily regimen looked like(I don't recall its being revealed before, but I'll check past threads). This tendency to categorically assert that this regimen is absolutely harmful while this other regimen is absolutely salutary is a nettlesome trend. No matter who does it
Re: 80/10/10
Posted by: Anonymous User ()
Date: February 04, 2012 04:26PM
Tamukha Wrote:
> geo,
> Or even specifics about his own terrible
> experience with 80/10/10, including what his daily
> regimen looked like(I don't recall its being
> revealed before, but I'll check past threads).
> This tendency to categorically assert that this
> regimen is absolutely harmful while this other
> regimen is absolutely salutary is a nettlesome
> trend. No matter who does it
Fair enough, fair enough.
Here is EXACTLY what happened with me.
I was eating basically mostly bananas and a few wild greens (plus a few other low-fat fruits from time to time) plus fermented goat milk (raw homemade goat yogurt, from raw milk). This went on for a few months. I noticed some social anxiety, jumpiness, and tooth sensitivity, especially right after eating my daily bananas, but it wasn't completely crippling, so I persevered.
Then I cut out the goat milk, and things got worse. The social anxiety got scary bad. I started experiencing dread and panic attacks.
Then I started eating mostly cold-weather fruits (like apples and pears), because I found the oranges/bananas/plantains tended to make the anxiety attacks much worse.
I was eating spinach for my greens at this point, because it was winter, and the wild greens weren't growing.
At this point I spent 3 months in Costa Rica, eating wild coconut, wild mango, and wild greens (the wild greens were just the plant called greenbriar). I noticed that I was always much calmer after eating the coconut, and very anxious after eating the mangoes.
I was experimenting to see if the "All-Wild" concept worked better than the 80/10/10 concept. What I actually DISCOVERED was that the lack of fat was jacking up my brain so much that I felt it was unsafe to continue.
The only difference between my extremely FAST decline on the apples/pears/spinach diet and the slower decline of most 80/10/10 dieters is that I was eating even less fat than they do, and so it happened much faster.
As far as evidence of my claims that a low-fat diet is dangerous for the myelin sheath, people, that's obvious.
An 80-90% fat diet is the single most helpful thing to control epilepsy. Why? Because the myelin sheath is MADE of fat. In fact, your brain is about 80% fat. Epilepsy is nothing more than electrical signals randomly shooting around in the brain in an uncontrolled way.
It's pretty much the same as if you had a bunch of bare copper wires sitting in a pool of seawater, and then ran electricity through one of the wires. Guess what happens? ALL of the wires get electrified, immediately.
Eating a high-fat diet would be like putting insulation around those wires. The electricity then stops jumping randomly from wire to wire.
Google "ketogenic diet" and "epilepsy" and you'll discover that it's a big thing for treating that disease.
Panic attacks are, in my view, a result of two things--weakened myelin sheath, and excess sugar. The sugar fuels the brain, making it work, work, work. This causes excess electrical activity in the brain. Then, if the myelin sheath is weak, electrical impulses start randomly firing all over the place. If this happens in a certain region of the brain, you get a panic attack. Maybe I don't have the PROCESS exactly right, but the CAUSES (weakened myelin sheath and excess sugar) are 100% on the money.
The weirdest panic issue was that I felt like I had to travel, travel, travel whenever I had just eaten a bunch of sweet fruit. Exercise definitely helped, but so did just getting on a bus (buses go everywhere constantly in Costa Rica, since most people there can't afford cars) and going somewhere.
I don't know what to make of that "I panic if I stay in one place" thing, but I doubt I'm the only one who has experienced that.
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text:
What a difference a week makes.
One week ago I sat back, adrenaline, anger and high blood pressure going, to ponder one of the worst opening day debacles I had ever seen. The last dozen years or so have given us such a varied assortment of tormenting losses, but last week's stinker was definitely a candidate for the top ten worst Bills losses – that's saying something. Not only did the Bills get absolutely blown out, they showed amazing deficiencies in areas where we thought they had strength and suffered some key injuries. There was really almost nothing to be happy about – no silver lining.
While a win against the Jets was by no means a guarantee, being able to compete against such a division rival would be required for any team with serious playoff aspirations – that didn't happen. So week two became (at least in my mind) a must win game. Go 0-1 against the Jets and you start the season in a hole – go 0-2 losing to Kansas City at home and they might just start shoving dirt on top of you.
Fast forward to week two and I'm in a much happier place than I was a week ago. While I am not booking a hotel for a home playoff game just yet, I am pleased to see the Bills win in a commanding fashion and showing strength where they should.
The game started a bit slowly, but it was great to see the defense make a few stops for losses and actually forced a punt, something they didn't do until garbage time in week 1. The offense took over and went 3 and out after a terrible Ryan Fitzpatrick play where he rolled out and waited way too long to find a wide open Chris Chandler, then skipped the ball to him when he finally threw it. From the comy confines of my living room I could hear the fans boo – Fitz had blown an easy one and they were not happy (and I was glad my kids weren't around to hear me).
The Bills performed better on their second defensive and offensive appearances. They held the Chiefs to 3 and out and then started a drive at their own 16. The drive featured a 19 yard run and catch by C.J. Spiller, a 20 yard scramble by Fitzpatrick to convert a third down, and was capped off by a beautiful 17 yard scamper by Spiller to paydirt.
Another 3 an out by KC – the defense was able to get some more rest – always nice to have some relatively fresh guys for later in the game so early stops are critical. The Bills took the ensuing possession down the field in 7 plays featuring a pretty 38 yard run by Spiller and punched it in for another 6 points (Spiller's second touchdown).
Being up by 2 touchdowns, you start to relax and enjoy the game a bit more don't you? The Bills defense didn't relax, though – on the net KC drive Marcell Dareus sacked Matt Cassel to notch Buffalo's first of the season on the 86th defensive play of the season – a bit later than most of us had expected.
By halftime the Bills were up by 3 touchdowns, had racked up 2 sacks and held the Chiefs 2 headed running attack of Jamaal Charles and Payton Hillis to just 47 yards on the ground. They had also recovered 2 fumbles and had shutout KC – a world of difference from the previous week.
The rout was on in the second half – 2 more touchdowns including a punt return by Leodis McKelvin. At the peak the Bills were up by 32 points and they never looked back – one of the few games you can, as a fan, kick back and just enjoy without getting an ulcer.
For a team that started out just about as badly as you can start a season, the win was more than just a win – it was redemption and a chance to show that the team is relevant. The Bills had a lot of pre-season hype from the national media – playoffs were predicted by many – but that disappeared faster than the media ripped Mario Williams after being dismantled by the Jets.
The defensive line played a very solid game. Kyle Williams was a beast, at one point literally running right over a fullback and making the sack. Dareus showed why he was drafted so highly and could be a fixture for years to come. Mark Anderson was quick and had some plays in the backfield and Mario was the Mario we were looking for – collapsing the pocket and recovering a fumble.
Not to be outdone in the trenches, the Bills offensive line played a great game keeping Fitzpatrick clean and making some great run blocks.
The defensive secondary, destroyed last week, played a fairly solid game – Buffalo's young corners could certainly use some more seasoning – they have the talent but need the experience. Even the linebackers played a decent game – it's amazing how much better they are when the defensive line is stopping the play from getting past the line of scrimmage.
The best performance has to go to Spiller – what a superb day he had racking up 123 yards and 2 scores on the ground and adding another 47 yards in the air – 170 yards on just 18 touches. Spiller is definitely a talented back, but he's playing with the confidence he's lacked up until now – all you need to do is look at his decision making and see how he's running with authority to know that the 2012 model Spiller seems much improved over the 2011 model.
On the down side, Fitzpatrick had another shaky game. Granted he didn't turn the ball over and had made some plays with his feet, but he was not sharp at all when throwing the ball. Fitzpatrick finished the game with a passer rating of 120.1, showing you just how misleading that number could be. Most of his yardage came after the catch – there were no successful shots down the field and several incompletes were way off target.
If you've watch Fitzpatrick you know he's inconsistent. It is quite possible that he has a very solid game next week, but it's also quite possible we could be calling for the Jackson era to start ASAP next week – you just don't know what you're going to get.
Don't get me wrong – I like Fitzpatrick – I really do. He brings leadership and intelligence to the game. From what I've read he's a really fantastic guy personally and is well liked by his teammates. But make no mistake about it – if the Bills manage to live up to the pre-season hype and do something this season it's likely that it will be in spite of Fitzpatrick, not because of him. Going on 2 decades after Jim Kelly and the Bills still need a good to great quarterback to get them to the next level, and I don't see Fitzpatrick as that guy. For that reason I was surprised that the Bills did not draft a quarterback to start to develop – perhaps they felt that player didn't exist in April.
If they Bills stick to what they do best they'll become a run first team, a relative rarity in a pass-happy NFL these days. Fitzpatrick will need to manage the games – make smart plays, don't try to be a hero, make plays with your feet. The defense will need to continue to put pressure on opponents, especially while a young secondary learns to come into their own.
The Bills need to get on a roll and gain some momentum – having a winning record by beating Cleveland next week will be a must if they hope to weather the storm of back to back games against New England and San Francisco in weeks 4 and 5. It is very possible the Bills could lose to those two tough opponents and being 1-4 after week 5 will absolutely kill the Bills – at a minimum they need to be 2-3 and have played competitively against the Patriots and Niners if they are going to be in consideration at the end of the season.
So, which team will show up in Cleveland on Sunday? Which Cleveland team will show up? I'm hoping for another Kansas City – it's so much more fun and so much less painful.


text:
Looking for some suggestions.
I've been talking with my print publisher, Hyperion, about giving away free ebooks in the Jack Daniels series.
I've been an active believer of Internet promotion since I first became a writer. My blog gets over 20,000 unique hits every month, my website gets almost as many, I have 13,000 MySpace friends, 10,000 people who have signed up for my mailing list, and if you Google "JA Konrath" you get 143,000 hits.
I try to maintain a large Internet presence, because more and more people are using the net. According to http://www.internetworldstats.com, there are more than 1.1 billion Internet users.
The more I do on the Internet, the likelier chance I have of people finding me. The more people that find me, the more who will read me. And, of course, the publishing industry has known for years that a certain percentage of readers will become buyers. Publishers give away millions of ARCs and galleys, hoping they will be read and talked about.
Which brings me to ebook downloads.
An ebook costs nothing to manufacture or distribute. It can be copied by pressing a button, and sent around the world by pressing another button.
And yet, for all the excitement about ebooks a decade ago, they aren't really big sellers. In fact, looking at past royalty statements, I haven't sold many ebooks.
The reason is threefold:
1. Ebooks are too expensive. Readers don't want to pay $16.95, or even $6.95, for a text download, when they can buy the print book for the same price. And the print book is easier to read.
2. Too many formats and restrictions. Consumers need special equipment and programs, and books that can be read on one device can't be read on another device. Some ebooks can't be printed, or put on two computers at once. It's confusing, and not user-friendly.
3. The majority of book buyers don't care much about the Internet. That's slowly changing. But I've spoken at over a hundred events, and I have had thousands of fans show up to see me, and I always ask them how many have visited my website. Surprisingly few have. Mystery readers buy print books, not ebooks. They don't care if an author has a website.
By giving ebooks away for free, I don't want to turn my print readers into ebook readers. That isn't going to happen, because my average reader (a woman in her mid-fifties) isn't going to give up the joy of reading a book on the beach to hunch over her computer to read. She doesn't have a Blackberry or a PDA or a Palm Pilot, nor does she want one.
I want to reach the audience that is already online---the Internet people---and turn them into print book fans. And I want to do this by giving away free ebooks.
If you Google "ebooks" you get 50 million hits. People are reading online. But, based on my ebook sales, my fans aren't among them.
Giving away free ebooks will help reach this potential audience. And as my audience increases, so will my print sales. Here's why:
First, because people who wouldn't read me normally will give me a try if it is free. Some of those people will become fans. Fans who talk about me, buy my books as gifts, and even buy copies for themselves.
Second, because not many people like to read entire books online, there is a percentage that will read some of it, then go out and buy the book to read it in the bathtub, on the beach, before bed, etc. People are likelier to download a full ebook than simply an excerpt, because there is a perception of greater value. An exceprt is a teaser to get someone to buy a book. A free ebook is a gift, and the attitude towards free ebooks is warmer and more welcoming.
Third, because this will help me reach an audience I haven't been able to reach. I've been to the mystery conventions. I've won some mystery awards. The mystery fans already know who I am. But how do I reach the larger audience? The regular fans?
I know I can reach thousands of people on the Internet. I can do this without spending a lot of money. And it won't cost Hyperion much, because my backlist ebooks haven't been selling very well.
This is cheaper than print advertising. Cheaper than touring. And I'll do most of the work.
Here's my plan:
I'd like to make WHISKEY SOUR, BLOODY MARY, and RUSTY NAIL available for free on my website, blog, and MySpace page.
I'll use two formats, pdf and HTML, as these are universal and able to be used on the most devices. Downloads will be handled on my site.
I'll encourage folks to download these files, and share these files with their friends and family. Business author Seth Godin did this with his first ebook, UNLEASHING THE IDEAVIRUS, and went on to become a bestseller in print. Sci-fi author Cory Doctorow has had hundreds of thousands of free ebook downloads, and still sells like crazy in print. The publisher Baen/Tor has had an ebook program for years. Dave Weber's novel ON BASILISK STATION has been available for free for several months. Over that time it's become Baen's most popular backlist title in paper.
Naturally, the fear is if we give away ebooks, people won't buy the print copies. I believe the opposite is true. When Napster (the original file sharing site where teenagers traded their music online) closed down, CD sales did not go up as expected. Sales went down. Getting music for free didn't prevent sales, instead it encouraged people to try new music, which they then went out and bought.
I'm read for free in libraries all the time. And many of those people who discover me at the library later buy my books.
I believe that ebooks are another way to get noticed, and get read. Publishers spend a lot of money on marketing and promotion. Here's a way to spread name-recognition and brand-awareness for free.
I'd really like to give it a shot. If I'm wrong, and my sales go way down, we've learned something. If I'm right, we've figured out a new, inexpensive way to promote authors.
Hyperion decided on a compromise. They're allowing me to give away 1000 downloads of one of my backlist titles, and see how that goes.
In order to do this effectively, I need to know several things.
1. Which book should I give away? The first book in the series makes the most sense. But giving away the newest book might spur more interest in that book.
2. How should I go about giving these 1000 away? I have a blog, website, newsletter, and MySpace page to do so. Should this be a contest? Or should they go to the first 1000 people who respond?
3. How can I leverage this to get as much bang for my buck as possible? Enlist other bloggers? Draft a press release? Take out a few ads?
Let me hear your ideas and suggestions. You might be doing something like this for yourself, someday soon...
Friday, March 30, 2007
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text:
Military Rule in the Candidates
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest, because______
some dishonest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be honest
some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be dishonest
some people who claimed on the survey to be at least a little dishonest may be very dishonest
some people who claimed on the survey to be dishonest may have been answering honestly
some people who are not job applicants are probably at least a little dishonest
The average life expectancy for the United States population as a whole is 73.9 years, but children born in Hawaii will live an average of 77 years, and those born in Louisiana, 71.7 years. If a newlywed couple from Louisiana were to begin their family in Hawaii, therefore, their children would be expected to live longer than would be the case if the family remained in Louisiana.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn in the passage?
Insurance company statisticians do not believe that moving to Hawaii will significantly lengthen the average Louisianan's life.
The governor of Louisiana has falsely alleged that statistics for his state are inaccurate.
The longevity ascribed to Hawaii's current population is attributable mostly to genetically determined factors.
Thirty percent of all Louisianans can expect to live longer than 77 years.
Most of the Hawaiian Islands have levels of air pollution well below the national average for the United States.
The average life expectancy for the United States population as a whole is 73.9 years, but children born in Hawaii will live an average of 77 years, and those born in Louisiana, 71.7 years. If a newlywed couple from Louisiana were to begin their family in Hawaii, therefore, their children would be expected to live longer than would be the case if the family remained in Louisiana.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most significantly strengthen the conclusion drawn in the passage?
As population density increases in Hawaii, life expectancy figures for that state are likely to be revised downward.
Environmental factors tending to favor longevity are abundant in Hawaii and less numerous in Louisiana.
Twenty-five percent of all Louisianans who move to Hawaii live longer than 77 years.
Over the last decade, average life expectancy has risen at a higher rate for Louisianans than for Hawaiians.
Studies show that the average life expectancy for Hawaiians who move permanently to Louisiana is roughly equal to that of Hawaiians who remain in Hawaii.
Insurance Company X is considering issuing a new policy to cover services required by elderly people who suffer from diseases that afflict the elderly. Premiums for the policy must be low enough to attract customers. Therefore, Company X is concerned that the income from the policies would not be sufficient to pay for the claims that would be made.
Which of the following strategies would be most likely to minimize Company X's losses on the policies?
Attracting middle-aged customers unlikely to submit claims for benefits for many years.
Insuring only those individuals who did not suffer any serious diseases as children
Including a greater number of services in the policy than are included in other policies of lower cost
Insuring only those individuals who were rejected by other companies for similar policies
Insuring only those individuals who are wealthy enough to pay for the medical services
A program instituted in a particular state allows parents to prepay their children's future college tuition at current rates. The program then pays the tuition annually for the child at any of the state's public colleges in which the child enrolls. Parents should participate in the program as a means of decreasing the cost for their children's college education.
Which of the following, if true, is the most appropriate reason for parents NOT to participate in the program?
the parents are unsure about which public college in the state the child will attend.
The amount of money accumulated by putting the prepayment funds in an interest-bearing account today will be greater than the total cost of tuition for any of the public colleges when the child enrolls.
The annual cost of tuition at the state's public colleges is expected to increase at a fasterate than the annual increase in the cost of living.
Some of the state's public colleges are contemplating large increases in tuition next year.
The prepayment plan would not cover the cost of room and board at any of the state's public colleges.
Company Alpha buys free-travel coupons from people who are awarded the coupons by Bravo Airlines for flying frequently on Bravo airplanes. The coupons are sold to people who pay les for the coupons than they would pay by purchasing tickets from Bravo. This making of coupons results in lost revenue for Bravo.
To discourage the buying and selling of free-travel coupons, it would be best for Bravo Airlines to restrict the
number of coupons that a person can be awarded in a particular year
use of the coupons to those who were awarded the coupons and members of their immediate families
days that the coupons can be used to Monday through Friday
amount of time that the coupons can be used after they are issued
number of routes on which travelers can use the coupons
The ice on the front windshield of the car had formed when moisture condensed during the night. The ice melted quickly after the car was warmed up the next morning because the defrosting vent, which blows on the front windshield, was turned on full force.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously jeopardizes the validity of the explanation for the speed with which the ice melted?
The side windows had no ice condensation on them
Even though no attempt was made to defrost the back window, the ice there melted at the same rate as did the ice on the front windshield.
The speed at which ice on a window melts increases as the temperature of the air blown on the window increases
The warm air from the defrosting vent for the front windshield cools rapidly as it dissipates throughout the rest of the car.
The defrosting vent operates efficiently even when the heater, which blows warm air toward the feet or faces of the driver and passengers, is on.
To prevent some conflicts of interest, Congress could prohibit high-level government officials from accepting positions as lobbyists for three years after such officials leave government service. One such official concluded, however, that such a prohibition would be unfortunate because it would prevent high-level government officials from earning a livelihood for three years.
The official's conclusion logically depends on which of the following assumptions?
Laws should not restrict the behavior of former government officials.
Lobbyists are typically people who have previously been high-level government officials.
Low-level government officials do not often become lobbyists when they leave government service.
High-level government officials who leave government service are capable of earning a livelihood only as lobbyists.
High-level government officials who leave government service are currently permitted to act as lobbyists for only three years.
A conservation group in the United States is trying to change the long-standing image of bats as frightening creatures. The group contends that bats are feared and persecuted solely because they are shy animals that are active only at night.
Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the accuracy of the group's contention?
Bats are steadily losing natural roosting places such as caves and hollow trees and are thus turning to more developed areas for roosting.
Bats are the chief consumers of nocturnal insects and thus can help make their hunting territory more pleasant for humans.
Bats are regarded as frightening creatures not only in the United States but also in Europe, Africa, and South America.
Raccoons and owls are shy and active only at night; yet they are not generally feared and persecuted.
People know more about the behavior of other greatly feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and greatly feared animal species, such as lions, alligators, and snakes, than they do about the behavior of bats.
Meteorite explosions in the Earth's atmosphere as large as the one that destroyed forests in Siberia, with approximately the force of a twelve-megaton nuclear blast, occur about once a century.
The response of highly automated systems controlled by complex computer programs to unexpected circumstances is unpredictable.
Which of the following conclusions can most properly be drawn, if the statements above are true, about a highly automated nuclear-missile defense system controlled by a complex computer program?
Within a century after its construction, the system would react inappropriately and might accidentally start a nuclear war.
The system would be destroyed if an explosion of a large meteorite occurred in the Earth's atmosphere.
It would be impossible for the system to distinguish the explosion of a large meteorite from the explosion of a nuclear weapon.
Whether the system would respond inappropriately to the explosion of a large meteorite would depend on the location of the blast.
It is not certain what the system's response to the explosion of a large meteorite would be, if its designers did not plan for such a contingency.
The fewer restrictions there are on the advertising of legal services, the more lawyers there are who advertise their services, and the lawyers who advertise a specific service usually charge less for that service than lawyers who do not advertise. Therefore, if the state removes any of its current restrictions, such as the one against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements, overall consumer legal costs will be lower than if the state retains its current restrictions.
If the statements in the passage are true, which of the following must be true?
Some lawyers who now advertise will charge more for specific services if they do not have to specify fee arrangements in the advertisements.
More consumers will use legal services if there are fewer restrictions on the advertising of legal service.
If the restriction against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements is removed, more lawyers will advertise their services.
If more lawyers advertise lower prices for specific services, some lawyers who do not advertise will also charge less than they currently charge for those services.
If the only restrictions on the advertising of legal services were those that apply to every type of advertising, most lawyers would advertise their services.
The fewer restrictions there are on the advertising of legal services, the more lawyers there are who advertise their services, and the lawyers who advertise a specific service usually charge less for that service than lawyers who do not advertise. Therefore, if the state removes any of its current restrictions, such as the one against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements, overall consumer legal costs will be lower than if the state retains its current restrictions.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument concerning overall consumer legal costs?
The state has recently removed some other restrictions that had limited the advertising of legal services.
The state is unlikely to remove all of the restrictions that apply solely to the advertising of legal services.
Lawyers who do not advertise generally provide legal services of the same quality as those provided by lawyers who do advertise.
Most lawyers who now specify fee arrangements in their advertisements would continue to do so even if the specification were not required.
Most lawyers who advertise specific services do not lower their fees for those services when they begin to advertise.
wer with explanation:
Defense Department analysts worry that the ability of the United States to wage a prolonged war would be seriously endangered if the machine-tool manufacturing base shrinks further. Before the Defense Department publicly connected this security issue with the import quota issue, however, the machine-tool industry raised the national security issue in its petition for import quotas.
Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the machine-tool industry's raising the issue above regarding national security?
When the aircraft industries retooled, they provided a large amount of work for too builders.
The Defense Department is only marginally concerned with the effects of foreign competition on the machine-tool industry.
The machine-tool industry encountered difficulty in obtaining governmental protection against imports on grounds other than defense.
A few weapons important for defense consist of parts that do not require extensive machining.
Several federal government programs have been designed which will enable domestic machine-tool manufacturing firms to compete successfully with foreign toolmakers.
Opponents of laws that require automobile drivers and passengers to wear seat belts argue that in a free society people have the right to take risks as long as the people do not harm other as a result of taking the risks. As a result, they conclude that it should be each person's decision whether or not to wear a seat belt.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn above?
Many new cars are built with seat belts that automatically fasten when someone sits in the front seat.
Automobile insurance rates for all automobile owners are higher because of the need to pay for the increased injuries or deaths of people not wearing seat belts.
Passengers in airplanes are required to wear seat belts during takeoffs and landings.
The rate of automobile fatalities in states that do not have mandatory seat belt laws is greater than the rate of fatalities in states that do have such laws.
In automobile accidents, a greater number of passengers who do not wear seat belts are injured than are passengers who do wear seat belts.
The cost of producing radios in Country Q is ten percent less than the cost of producing radios in Country Y. even after transportation fees and tariff charges are added, it is still cheaper for a company to import radios from Country Q to Country Y than to produce radios in Country Y.
The statements above, if true, best support which of the following assertions?
labor costs in Country Q are ten percent below those in Country Y.
Importing radios from Country Q to Country Y will eliminate ten percent of the manufacturing jobs in Country Y.
the tariff on a radio imported from Country Q to Country Y is less than ten percent of the cost of manufacturing the radio in Country Y.
the fee for transporting a radio from Country Q to Country Y is more than ten percent of the cost of manufacturing the radio in Country Q.
it takes ten percent less time to manufacture a radios in Country Q than it does in Country Y.
During the Second World War, about 375,000 civilians died in the United States and about 408,000 members of the United States armed forces died overseas. On the basis the those figures, it can be concluded that it was not much more dangerous to be overseas in the armed forces during the Second World War than it was to stay at home as a civilian.
Which of the following would reveal most clearly the absurdity of the conclusion drawn above?
Counting deaths among members of the armed forces who served in the United State in addition to deaths among members of the armed forces serving overseas
Expressing the difference between the numbers of deaths among civilians and members of the armed forces as a percentage of the total number of deaths
Separating deaths caused by accidents during service in the armed forces from deaths caused by combat injuries
Comparing death rates per thousand members of each group rather than comparing total numbers of deaths
Comparing deaths caused by accidents in the United States to deaths caused by combat in the armed forces
Toughened hiring standards have not been the primary cause of the present staffing shortage in public schools. The shortage of teachers is primarily caused by the fact that in recent years teachers have not experienced any improvements in working conditions and their salaries have not kept pace with salaries in other professions.
Which of the following, if true, would most support the claims above?
Many teachers already in the profession would not have been hired under the new hiring standards.
Today more teachers are entering the profession with a higher educational level than in the past.
Some teachers have cited higher standards for hiring as a reason for the current staffing shortage.
Many teachers have cited low pay and lack of professional freedom as reasons for their leaving the profession.
Many prospective teachers have cited the new hiring standards as a reason for not entering the profession.
A proposed ordinance requires the installation in new homes of sprinklers automatically triggered by the presence of a fire. However, a home builder argued that because more than ninety percent of residential fires are extinguished by a household member, residential sprinklers would only marginally decrease property damage caused by residential fires.
Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the home builder's argument?
most individuals have no formal training in how to extinguish fires.
Since new homes are only a tiny percentage of available housing in the city, the new ordinance would be extremely narrow in scope.
The installation of smoke detectors in new residences costs significantly less than the installation of sprinklers.
In the city where the ordinance was proposed, the average time required by the fire department to respond to a fire was less than the national average.
The largest proportion of property damage that results from residential fires is caused by fires that start when no household member is present.
Even though most universities retain the royalties from faculty members' inventions, the faculty members retain the royalties from books and articles they write. Therefore, faculty members should retain the royalties from the educational computer software they develop.
The conclusion above would be more reasonably drawn if which of the following were inserted into the argument as an additional premise?
Royalties from inventions are higher than royalties from educational software programs.
Faculty members are more likely to produce educational software programs than inventions.
Inventions bring more prestige to universities that do books and articles.
In the experience of most universities, educational software programs are more marketable that are books and articles.
In terms of the criteria used to award royalties, educational software programs are more nearly comparable to books and articles than to inventions.
Increase in the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the human bloodstream lower bloodstream-cholesterol levels by increasing the body's capacity to rid itself of excess cholesterol. Levels of HDL in the bloodstream of some individuals are significantly increased by a program of regular exercise and weight reduction.
Which of the following can be correctly inferred from the statements above?
Individuals who are underweight do not run any risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream.
Individuals who do not exercise regularly have a high risk of developing high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream late in life.
Exercise and weight reduction are the most effective methods of lowering bloodstream cholesterol levels in humans.
A program of regular exercise and weight reduction lowers cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of some individuals.
Only regular exercise is necessary to decrease cholesterol levels in the bloodstream of individuals of average weight.
When limitations were in effect on nuclear-arms testing, people tended to save more of their money, but when nuclear-arms testing increased, people tended to spend more of their money. The perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe, therefore, decreases the willingness of people to postpone consumption for the sake of saving money.
The argument above assumes that
the perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe has increased over the years.
most people supported the development of nuclear arms
people's perception of the threat of nuclear catastrophe depends on the amount of nuclear-arms testing being done
the people who saved the most money when nuclear-arms testing was limited were the ones who supported such limitations
there are more consumer goods available when nuclear-arms testing increases
Which of the following best completes the passage below?
People buy prestige when they buy a premium product. They want to be associated with something special. Mass-marketing techniques and price-reduction strategies should not be used because______.
affluent purchasers currently represent a shrinking portion of the population of all purchasers
continued sales depend directly on the maintenance of an aura of exclusivity
purchasers of premium products are concerned with the quality as well as with the price of the products
expansion of the market niche to include a broader spectrum of consumers will increase profits
manufacturing a premium brand is not necessarily more costly than manufacturing a standard brand of the same product
A cost-effective solution to the problem of airport congestion is to provide high-speed ground transportation between major cities lying 200 to 500 miles apart. The successful implementation of this plan would cost far less than expanding existing airports and would also reduce the number of airplanes clogging both airports and airways.
Which of the following, if true, could be proponents of the plan above most appropriately cite as a piece of evidence for the soundness of their plan?
An effective high-speed ground-transportation system would require major repairs to many highways and mass-transit improvements.
One-half of all departing flights in the nation's busiest airport head for a destination in a major city 225 miles away.
The majority of travelers departing from rural airports are flying to destinations in cities over 600 miles away.
Many new airports are being built in areas that are presently served by high-speed ground-transportation systems.
A large proportion of air travelers are vacationers who are taking long-distance flights.
If there is an oil-supply disruption resulting in higher international oil prices, domestic oil prices in open-market countries such as the United States will rise as well, whether such countries import all or none of their oil.
If the statement in the passage concerning oil-supply disruptions is true, which of the following policies in an open-market nation is most likely to reduce the long-term economic impact on that nation of sharp and unexpected increases in international oil prices?
Maintaining the quantity of oil imported at constant yearly levels
Increasing the number of oil tankers in its fleet
Suspending diplomatic relations with major oil-producing nations
Decreasing oil consumption through conservation
Decreasing domestic production of oil
If there is an oil-supply disruption resulting in higher international oil prices, domestic oil prices in open-market countries such as the United States will rise as well, whether such countries import all or none of their oil.
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the statement in the passage?
Domestic producers of oil in open-market countries are excluded from the international oil market when there is a disruption in the international oil supply.
International oil-supply disruptions have little, if any, effect on the price of domestic oil as long as an open-market country has domestic supplies capable of meeting domestic demand.
The oil market in an open-market country is actually part of the international oil market, even if most of that country's domestic oil is usually sold to consumers within its borders.
Open-market countries that export little or none of their oil can maintain stable domestic oil prices even when international oil prices rise sharply.
If international oil prices rise, domestic distributors of oil in open-market countries will begin to import more oil than they export.
The overall reaction in glycolysis can be summarized as
The curvature movement of plants in response to the stimulus of water is called
Two organelles directly involved in mitotic cell division
nucleus and mitochondrion
ribosome and nucleus
centriole and golgi apparatus
nucleus and centriole


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BetterRide Women Mountain Bikers on a Tear!
What a weekend for some of our women BetterRide mountain bike skills campers!
BetterRide coach, athlete and US National Champion Jackie Harmony won her third Pan American Championship, this time in Argentina!
Two time BetterRide camper Eric Tingey winning the Cactus Hugger in Utah ahead of two time BetterRide Camper Jen Hanks!


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An OC graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication Electronic Media-Interactive Media will:
- Have been encouraged to sustain or adopt a Christian worldview characterized by participation in a Christian community.
- Have been encouraged to balance successfully career, family, church and community.
- Be familiar with the appropriate theories of communication.
- Have developed the appropriate writing styles and skills expected by future employers or graduate programs.
- Have an understanding of the fundamentals or research and be able to interpret research findings.
- Understand the ethics of communication.
- Be able successfully to pursue a career in broadcast graphics or broadcast design or in other motion graphic careers.
Student must complete a minimum of 126 hours including the major, core, and minor if required. Elective hours may be needed to reach 126 hours.
56 hours, no minor required
1. 10 hours mass communication core courses
- COMM-2613 - Media, Faith and Culture
- COMM-4631 - Senior Seminar in Communication
- COMM-4713 - Media Law
- COMM-4723 - Media Ethics
2. Five hours experience-
You must take COMM-1371, COMM-1381, or COMM-1391 each semester after completing COMM-1211. After satisfying the major requirement, additional workshop hours will count toward the 126 hours required for the degree. Internships may be substituted for two of these hours.
3. 29 hours interactive media courses required
- COMM-1211 - Introduction to Electronic Media
- COMM-1391 - Interactive Media Workshop
- COMM-2643 - Media Production
- COMM-2723 - Scriptwriting for Television and Movies
- COMM-3633 - Audio for Media
- COMM-3653 - Television Field Production
- COMM-3703 - Motion Graphics
- COMM-3723 - Interviewing
- COMM-3733 - Media Marketing and Sales
- COMM-4513 - Administrative Aspects of Electronic Media
- COMM-4763 - Advanced Media Production
4. 12 hours required
- ARTS-1103 - Technology for Graphics
- ARTS-2243 - Interactive Media Design I
- ARTS-2743 - 3D Modeling I
- COMM-3143 - Basics of Visual Communication
Related Careers
- Actor
- Anchor/Reporter
- Animator
- Digital Media Professional
- Director
- Editor
- Events Planner
- News Manager
- Photographer
- Producer
- Public Relations Specialist
- Sound Engineer
- Teacher/Professor
- Videographer
- Web Designer
- Writer
Interested in getting more information?Request Information Apply Now


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« Back to Pirates Community Newsletter index
The Pirates Fantasy Baseball Math Program was designed to help students in grades four through eight improve their mathematics skills in a way that's fun and engaging. It utilizes actual statistics from current Pirates players as well as player cards the students create to compete against one another in simulated baseball games and tournaments. The program promotes higher order science, technology, engineering and math skills (STEM) in preparation for math-based careers.
The program debuted on a limited basis in 2011 and Pirates Charities expanded it last year in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Thirteen Boys and Girls Clubs sites and five schools within the Diocese of Pittsburgh implemented the curriculum beginning in February of 2012 and continued with it during the remainder of the school year. A total of 418 students participated in the program, which culminated in a playoff tournament and World Series at PNC Park last June.
Pirates Charities, with the generous support of Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington and his wife Becca, underwrites the cost of the Fantasy Baseball Math Program -- which includes Fantasy Baseball Math classroom kits, training sessions for teachers, program expenses and PNC Park events. The program is open to any public school, private school, or non-profit organizations that operate an after-school program. The Pirates are pleased to announce that more than 1,200 students at 42 different sites are participating this year.
Teacher training took place in early February, and before the end of the month teachers had begun to introduce the Fantasy Baseball Math Program to their students. The official Opening Day for the program is set for Monday, April 8. That's the day when students at all of the sites begin to play against each other in elimination-style tournaments.
Pirates Charities will provide prizes for each site's tournament winner. Then on Saturday, June 1, one team (two students) from each site will take part in the Fantasy Baseball Math playoffs and World Series. In addition, all teams that participate in the playoffs will be invited to the Pirates 7:05 game against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday, July 9 and the World Series champions will be recognized on the field prior to the game and participate in a ceremonial first pitch.


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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — The smile looked genuine.
For the first time in nearly two years, Dwight Howard's smile looked like the real thing and not the forced teeth sucking he's had to do with people and cameras in his face from Orlando to Los Angeles and all parts in between.
If it's the new environment, as Howard was officially introduced as a member of the Houston Rockets earlier today, so be it. But something tells me he'd have worn that same smile anywhere, so long as it wasn't Los Angeles.
Much has been made of his unhappiness while wearing a Lakers uniform, while playing alongside Kobe Bryant and for Mike D'Antoni. There is no need to rehash it now, not on the day that Howard finally looked relieved enough to crack that mile-wide smile of his for real.
For all of the people who have felt the need to smash Howard for the way he's handled things, everything from the way he waffled his way out of Orlando to his unease during his season with the Lakers to his stint as the most coveted free agent since LeBron James leading up to The Decision, he deserves this moment. And I say that after having taken plenty of shots at Howard and his process myself.
But if Houston is where is the heart is and playing alongside James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin, and for Kevin McHale, is what gets his juices flowing, then more power to him. NBA careers don't last long enough for elite players to play under any extra stress.
Howard knows his championship clock is ticking after nine seasons in the league and just his one appearance in The Finals. He's fully aware that his third stop has to produce some hardware or he's in danger of wearing the label as a underachiever, something most of the great big men before him shed at one time or another during their playing days.
He'll have all the resources you could ask for in Houston. General Manager Daryl Morey is an innovator and fearless. He'll do whatever it takes to make sure Howard's current surroundings are conducive to winning at the highest level. McHale has championship experience that should prove to be invaluable for a post player trying to refine his game and continue to hone his craft at this stage of his career. Harden is a budding star who will take on the late-game, big-shot pressure that Howard has struggled with throughout his career. And Parsons and Lin lead a supporting cast willing to do whatever is needed to make sure the Rockets' biggest stars have a drama-free work environment.
It's up to Howard now. He can't blame his franchise, the front office, coach, teammates or anyone else for his shortcomings on the floor. The Rockets made a commitment to him that he must now reciprocate in the form of turning back the clock and playing the dominant force he was as recently as three years ago.
I know it seems like an eternity to some of you, but the man averaged 23 points, 14 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as recently as three years ago. We're not talking about some fading star who's seen his best days. Howard is just 27 and he's only begun what should be the prime of his career.
He's smiling because he knows that, because he realizes that this "fresh start" he's getting in Houston could serve as the spark he needs to shake off the past two years and return to his rightful place as the best and most dominant big man in the league, not only in the eyes of a few, but in the eyes of everyone.
No words will convince the masses, though. Only actions will suffice.
That smile, the genuine one, is a start.
But it's only the beginning.
The heavy lifting is on the way.