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Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
versión On-line ISSN 2309-8775
versión impresa ISSN 1021-2019
J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol.55 no.3 Midrand ene. 2013
Laser-based assessment of road aggregate particle shape and texture properties with the aim of deriving comparative models
J Breytenbach; J K Anochie-Boateng; P Paige-Green; J L van Rooy
Research was undertaken using an innovative three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning tool to study the shape and texture characteristics of road aggregate particles. Aggregate materials used for road construction, including G1 crushed rocks of different geological origins, recycled aggregate and alluvial gravel (not used as aggregate) were used for this study. Representative samples were scanned using the laser system to collect 3D aggregate data for analyses and, subsequently, develop comparative models. The objective was to arrange the aggregate particles in a sequence based on their surface texture. Two models were proposed and key aspects evaluated against each other. Ultimately, one model was selected that may be improved and used for further research. The study found that, while it is possible to use the 3D aggregate scan data to produce comparative models, distinguishing between particle shape and texture proved a daunting task. It was also concluded that particle elongation must be considered as a major influencing factor.
Keywords: road aggregate, particle shape, particle texture, laser scanner, particle mode
The study forms part of a PhD research project (Breytenbach 2013), which is aimed partially at deriving a tabulated range of particles that could graphically or numerically represent a range of aggregate shape and texture properties. The proposed model, if validated, should be able to arrange particles in a certain sequence based on their texture properties. The method would lend scientific substantiation to particle shape characterisation instead of using visual observations, which have previously (to a larger extent) been used to quantify aggregate particle shape and texture.
An innovative study using three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology in the application of road materials is under way at the CSIR. The laser scanning method is applied to road construction aggregate using different approaches, attempting to study aggregate particle properties in great detail and for different applications. Emphasis has thus far been placed on particle shape and surface properties (Anochie-Boateng et al 2010) and the Flakiness Index (Anochie-Boateng et al 2011a), among others.
This paper describes the application of the laser scanning method in an attempt to refine the description of particle textures and shapes. The two comparative models proposed endeavour to sort aggregate particle data obtained from coarse/angular to smooth/rounded particles.
A number of advanced methods have been applied to study the particle shape properties of aggregates. Rao et al (2002) attempted to quantify the angularity of particles and ultimately showed that their approach (using image analysis) could distinguish between rounded gravel and crushed stone. Fletcher et al (2002) discussed an aggregate imaging system (AIMS) using back-lighting. It is clear that this method is able to determine the angularity of coarse and fine aggregate, as well as relative dimensions, thereby enabling the identification of flat or elongated particles. Other back-lit systems have also been used (Fernlund 2005; Ken et al 2009), while Descantes et al (2006) and Bouquety et al (2006) used videographers in combination with a back-lit system.
Kim et al (2003) analysed materials using a laser-based approach. The digital image technology (DIT) calculates the volume of a particle, as well as the minimum square aperture through which a particle could fit.
However, the approaches discussed above are based on imaging techniques, which could at best capture two-dimensional (2D) physical attributes of the aggregate particles. In reality, aggregate particles are three-dimensional; accordingly, any improved techniques or methods should be able to address the physical properties in three dimensions.
The approach used in this research is based on 3D scanning techniques that were recently introduced by the CSIR (Anochie-Boateng et al 2010; Anochie-Boateng et al 2011a; Anochie-Boateng et al 2011b). Details will not be repeated in this paper.
Scanning procedure
Scanning of aggregate particles is done according to a protocol developed specifically for the laser scanner at the CSIR (Anochie-Boateng & Komba 2010). The approach adopted consists of four steps which can be summarised as follows:
1. Scanning: The first step entails physical processing of the particle by means of scanning. During the first phase, four faces of the particle are scanned (the particle is placed on a rotating table in the scanner). The particle is then rotated in order to scan the remaining two faces which were not in line of sight during the first scan phase (i.e. top and bottom).
2. Alignment: During this step the data obtained from the two scanning phases are orientated by the user. In essence, this step simply rotates and moves the two scans (dataset) into the correct orientation relative to each other.
3. Combining: Software is used to combine the correctly orientated data.
4. Merging: The combined data are merged into a single object and saved as a single particle presented in three dimensions. Any refinement (e.g. removal of small imperfections or overlapping areas, etc) is also executed during this step.
The scanning density used by the scanning equipment can be varied according to the user's requirements. The density used affects the resolution of the final result and also the amount of time required to scan the particle. A higher scan resolution results in a longer scan time. The maximum scan resolution of the equipment is 0.1 mm and the time required to scan a particle is also affected by the size of a particle.
Particle selection
The aggregate particles and materials used during this study are part of other ongoing projects running congruently at the CSIR. The sourced aggregates used in this study included the following geological materials:
■ Quartzite (G1 aggregate from stockpile) -
Magaliesberg Formation, Pretoria Group, collected in Pretoria, Gauteng
■ Granite (G1 aggregate from stockpile)
- Johannesburg Dome, collected in Midrand, Gauteng
■ Tillite (G1 aggregate from stockpile)
- Dwyka Group, Karoo Supergroup, collected in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal
■ Hornfels (G1 aggregate from stockpile)
- Tygerberg Formation, Malmesbury Group, collected in Durbanville, Western Cape
■ Dolerite (G1 aggregate from stockpile) -Karoo Supergroup, collected in Trichardt, Mpumalanga
■ Recycled aggregate - National Asphalt plant in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
■ Alluvial gravel - Quaternary aged surface deposit sampled from the river bed of the Molopo River, some 120 km west of Mafikeng, North West Province; this material is not an aggregate source.
Each material was screened (using a sieve stack) into different particle sizes for the purposes of scanning. The bulk samples were screened into the +26.5 mm, +19.0 mm, +13.2 mm, +9.5 mm, +6.7 mm and +4.75 mm constituents. Particles of 37.5 mm size and larger were not considered as they fall outside the COLTO (1998) specification for G1 crushed rock aggregate. Particles smaller than 4.75 mm were not scanned due to practical limitations of the scanning device.
Once the bulk samples had been graded into their fractions, 30 particles were selected from each size constituent of each material. Table 1 summarises the number of particles used. In a number of materials the 26.5 mm size fraction had some shortages, as the materials were shared with other research projects. After selection, the particles were cleaned and oven-dried (at 105°C for 24 hours) and left to cool before being scanned.
Data capture
Scan data were captured in a spreadsheet format and entered manually into Microsoft Excel®. The final result was six spread sheets (i.e. 26.5 mm, 19.0 mm, 13.2 mm, 9.5 mm, 6.7 mm and 4.75 mm) which contained data on all material types scanned.
The parameters that were recorded in the dataset include the material type, the number of the sample particles and the three primary dimensions (i.e. length, width and depth/height). The volume (mm3) and total surface area (mm2) of each particle were recorded directly from the scan results. The scan data and/or spreadsheets are not included in this article due to their volume (i.e. 1 149 datasets).
Two working concept models were developed using the scan data, one of which was ultimately abandoned as the model was heavily affected by factoring in the so-called "elongation value" (the ratio between the minimum and maximum dimensions of a particle). The second model proved to be superior to the first in that it discerned between differences in particle textures, as opposed to being excessively affected by the particle shape. The second model was further refined to develop a reference system for each particle size to enable comparison of particle textures.
Data manipulation
The data arrangement described above was done specifically with the aim of calculating another parameter to be used in analysis. In spreadsheet form the parameter was labelled "elongation value". The Flakiness Index was previously assessed by Anochie-Boateng et al (2011a) using the same laser scanning system, but the approach adopted here (i.e. using the elongation value) simplified data analysis considerably.
In order to make provision for the effects of elongated or flattened particle shapes, data were divided into subgroups to assess whether the elongation/flatness would affect the derived model(s). It was therefore necessary to derive a descriptor for this assessment. Particle data were divided into "regular" and "elongated" subsets, based on the ratio between the maximum and minimum dimensions of a particle. An elongation value was calculated as follows:
EV = elongation value
Length = the particle's maximum dimension
Depth = the particle's minimum dimension
Particles with an EV > 2 were considered to be "elongated", while particles with an EV < 2 were considered to be "regular". The spreadsheet data were sorted based on the calculated elongation values and subdivided accordingly. Once data sorting had been completed, limited descriptive statistics and histogram analyses were done to verify data properties and identify potential shortages in data ranges.
Data were processed for all particle sizes and subsequently two comparative models (one for elongated particles and one for regular particles) were produced for each size fraction.
Proposed Model One
The first model considers three parameters, namely particle volume, particle surface area and the calculated elongation value. The "model value" is calculated as follows:
V = particle volume (mm3)
A = particle surface area (mm2)
EV = elongation value
Histogram analyses for the regular and elongated datasets are illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively. From the histogram of the elongated particles (Figure 2) it is clear that there are no data for the model value range between 6.0 and 7.0, which produced gaps in the output chart for the model. This underlines the effects of factoring in the elongation value and the limitations it imposes on the derived models.
After revision of the histogram data, model values were sorted in ascending order and model value ranges were calculated. Ten random values within the data range were selected and the closest corresponding particles were entered into a table. Table 2 shows the models selected for elongated particles and Table 3 shows the models selected for regular particles.
The tabled results reflect the findings of the histogram analyses in which gaps were found in the data range proposed for the elongated particles. Factoring the elongation value into the model also introduced a bias towards elongated particles in both datasets. Subsequently, the results show little refinement in data, particularly for the elongated particles. Considering that the aim of the model was to sort the particle data from coarse/angular to smooth/rounded particles, it is clear that this model was only moderately successful for regular particles and largely unsuccessful for elongated particles.
Proposed Model Two
The results from the first model led to the second model, in which the elongation value is no longer factored into the model value:
V and A are defined in Equation 2.
The subsequent histogram analyses show an improvement in model data presentation. Although the histogram for regular particles (Figure 3) shows little improvement over the same dataset for Model One, the histogram for elongated particles (Figure 4) no longer has the previous gap in data for the second model.
The calculated model values were again sorted in ascending order, but this time 10 equal increments were identified between the minimum and maximum data values. The datasets were used to identify the nearest corresponding value and the applicable particles were again entered into a table. The results are summarised in Table 4, while Table 5 and Table 6 show the results for elongated and regular particles respectively.
In this instance the results showed significant refinement based on the data from the second model. The refinement is perhaps more clearly observed in the elongated particle results than in the regular particle results. Model Two shows good potential for arranging particles from rough/angular to smooth/rounded, although there is still room for improvement.
Model comparison
From a visual comparison of the results of the two proposed models it is clear that the second model refines and arranges data more effectively from rough or angular particles to smooth or rounded particles. The limited calculated model data in Model One may be due to factoring the elongation value into the calculations.
The research was undertaken to determine whether a three-dimensional laser-based scanning method could be applied to the modelling of the shape and texture of road aggregate particles in an attempt to arrange particles based on their surface texture. The laser scanning technique applied was relatively successful in producing comparative models that can be used to describe or classify aggregate particle shape and surface texture properties. The scan data obtained from scanning various aggregate materials were used to develop and compare two derived models.
The results indicate that the second proposed model shows better potential for describing the shape and surface texture properties of the aggregates, compared with the first model. Nevertheless, further development is required. It was found that factoring an elongation value (EV) into the proposed model (i.e. Model One) had a negative effect. The data with the elongation value factored into the model were heavily biased towards the inclusion of either elongated or flat particles. Generally, neither of the proposed models could effectively discern between particle roughness and angularity as the two parameters appear to be strongly co-dependent.
It is suggested that the approach used in Model Two be considered for further analyses and investigations of particle properties. Additional scan data obtained from mixed geological sources will also assist in the further refinement of the models. Further studies may have to investigate how elongation properties can be combined with surface area or volume separately, as alternatives.
The work presented in this paper received funding from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Strategic Research Panel (SRP) project TA 2001-001. The authors would like to acknowledge the CSIR R&D office for funding this SRP project. Mr Julius Komba of the CSIR and the University of Pretoria, and Ms Sibongiseni Lusawana of the CSIR and Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria assisted in the scanning of the aggregates used in this research.
Anochie-Boateng, J & Komba, J 2010. Laser scanning protocol for determining aggregate shape and surface properties. Report No CSIR/BE/IE/ IR/2010/0061/B, Pretoria, CSIR. [ Links ]
Anochie-Boateng, J, Komba, J J, Mukalenga, N & Maharaj, A 2010. Evaluation of 3D laser device for characterizing shape and surface properties of aggregates used in pavements. Paper presented at the 29th Southern Africa Transportation Conference, Pretoria, August. [ Links ]
Anochie-Boateng, J, Komba, J & O'Connell, J 2011a. Laser-based approach for determining flakiness index of aggregates used in pavements. Paper presented at the 30th Southern Africa Transportation Conference, Pretoria, July. [ Links ]
Anochie-Boateng, J, Komba, J & Mvelase, G M (2011b). Advanced and automated laser-based technique to evaluate aggregates. Paper presented at the IRF International Road Congress, Innovation in Road Infrastructure, November, Moscow, Russia. [ Links ]
Bouquety, M N, Descantes, Y, Barcelo, L, de Larrard, F & Clavaud, B 2006. Automated measurement of aggregate properties: Part 2 - Flakiness index. Materials and Structures, 39(1): 13-19. [ Links ]
Breytenbach, I J 2013. The effects of particle shape and texture characteristics on shear properties of compacted crushed stone aggregate used in road construction. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, South Africa. [ Links ]
COLTO (Committee of Land Transport Officials) 1998. Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Works for State Road Authorities. South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), Midrand, South Africa. [ Links ]
Descantes, Y, Fosse, Y & Ehret, G 2006. Automated measurement of aggregate properties: Part 1 -Crushed and broken surfaces in coarse aggregate particles. Materials and Structures, 39(1): 3-12. [ Links ]
Fernlund, J M R 2005. Image analysis method for determining 3-D size distribution of coarse aggregates. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 64(2): 159-166. [ Links ]
Fletcher, T, Chandan, C, Masad, E & Sivakumar, K 2002. Aggregate imaging system (AIMS) for characterizing the shape of fine and coarse aggregate. Paper presented at the 82nd Annual Transportation Research Board, July. [ Links ]
Ken, C, Pan, Z & Xuemei, Z 2009. A description method for arbitrarily shaped and sized granules in 2D image. Journal of Electronics (China), 26(3): 423-427. [ Links ]
Kim, H, Haas, C T & Rauch, A F 2003. 3D Image segmentation of aggregates from laser profiling. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, 18(4): 254-263. [ Links ]
Rao, C, Tutumluer, E & Kim, I T 2002. Quantification of coarse aggregate angularity based on image analysis. Transportation Research Record, No. 1787, TRB, National Research Council, Washington D.C., pp 117-124. [ Links ]
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IZAK BREYTENBACH obtained his MSc degree in Environmental and Engineering Geology from the University of Pretoria in 2009. He is a Professional Natural Scientist registered with SA Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and a member of the South African nstltute for Engineering and Envlronmenta Geologists (SAIEG). He works as a consultant in the engineering geologica and geotechnical field.
DRJOSEPH ANOCHIE-BOATENG Is a Princlpa Researcher at CSIR Built Environment. He obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, United States, in 2007 and has worked at the CSIR for the past five years. At the CSIR he leads a team that employs modern laser scanning and numerical techniques to effectively address the difficulties associated with the characterisation of shape/surface properties of road aggregates (natural, recycled, marginal) and railway ballast. He is a member of local and international transport infrastructure committees, including the South African National Roads Agency Ltd materials cluster, and the Transportation Research Board, USA, mineral aggregate committee.
DR PHIL PAIGE-GREEN is a self-employee consultant in the roads and geomaterials field. He obtained his PhD in Engineering Geology from the University of Pretoria in 1989 and has recently -etired from the CSIR after 37 years' service. He is a Fellow of the South African Institute for Engineering and Environmental Geologists (SAIEG), a registered Professional Natural Scientist with the SA Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and an Associate Member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). He was recently Vice-President for Africa of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) and President of SAIEG.
PROF LOUIS VAN ROOY obtained his PhD degree in Engineering Geology at the University of Pretoria in 1992. He started lecturing in the Department of Geology at University of Pretoria in 1985 and has lectured to undergraduate and postgraduate mining, civil engineering, engineering geology and geology students. His research interests include the durability of basic igneous rocks for use in civi engineering construction, problem soils and safe development on dolomite land. He has supervised a number of MSc and PhD students and is author or co-author of more than 30 papers in journals and at conferences.


text:
…and one day someone offered the native inhabitants some beads to buy it.
A man named Rodney Lockwood and a bunch of people with money and nothing worthwhile to use it for, have decided to put a one billion dollar price tag on Belle Isle. They've done so without any consideration for all of the people and organizations who work so hard to maintain the park and its environment for the use of the entire community. And, get this, they want it to be a "Commonwealth" with its own laws, customs and currency.
The proposed "Commonwealth" will also have a citizenship requirement. Any interested citizens must complete an application, which is reviewed by a board of unidentified persons. In order to become a citizen of this proposed "Commonwealth" you must have mastery of the English language, have a good credit score (exactly what that is to the board is unknown at this time), no criminal record and you must pay a $300,000 "citizenship" fee which will be used to repay the investors and build an infrastructure for gas, electricity, sewers and a monorail. Did I mention that Belle Isle is approximately 5 miles long? Although Monaco, which Lockwood claims to have used as his point of reference, is smaller than Belle Isle, there are so many reasons why this is just complete foolishness. First what happens to the wildlife and other resources currently on Belle Isle? Why should Lockwood and his sheep get to retain use of said resources while no one else does?
Lockwood's proposal has all the makings of the next great Ponzi Scheme. With YOUR $300,000, they will pay back investors (primarily Lockwood), build skyscrapers, condos, a sewer system, a monorail that goes 5 miles, print currency and what not. After all they will have just spent $1 billion to buy the "land" that is Belle Isle, so you can't expect them to develop it without your help, right? Hence the credit check and minimum "citizenship fee" requirements. And no, you won't get that money back. Any money left over, Lockwood claims, will be used to back the currency. So "Islanders" are going to use U.S. Dollars to back their monopoly money? But U.S. Dollars are backed by the value of gold. I'm not impressed. You want your own currency but you need the U.S. Dollar to give it value? Lockwood would have impressed me more had he said he was going to use duck or goose poop to back the currency. Duck and goose poop are biodegradable and abundant on Belle Isle. A highly intelligent person could develop a way to turn it into a valuable resource. I'm just saying.
Lockwood states "citizens will come from all over the world. People who desire to live in a beautiful city, free from excessive government and oppressive taxation, who want unlimited opportunity to lead a life of their own making will emigrate to Belle Isle. Perhaps 50% will come from the United States, and the balance from other countries. This diverse population will make Belle Isle a very cosmopolitan city, with an interesting culture." But when that fantasy fails and they need law enforcement, they will be asking for it from Detroit and the United States. Yet, under this proposal, the rest of us, wouldn't be allowed to go on Belle Isle. *hmmm…interesting*
Lockwood owns Lockwood Construction. Therefore, it's safe to assume that his company would be building all of the proposed construction related to his own plan. How convenient. Again, does this not seem like a well thought out Ponzi Scheme to you? Lockwood also proposes that Belle Isle will have commerce related to finance, investments and insurance. Sounds like he wants to make it a mini-Wallstreet but with limited access for the rest of "us". No offense to New York City, but there are a lot of architectural designers and engineers that have traveled to Detroit in the last several months to consult on many forthcoming projects. These subject matter experts have said that Detroit, and its Belle Isle, do not need to be transformed into a replica of any other city in the world. That if done right, Detroit can be a robust and beautiful DETROIT, not the next Monaco or Manhattan. By the way, the Grand Prix will have to take place elsewhere if Lockwood gets his way, and rightly it should be. Why should the "Islanders" get to benefit from all the fast cars zooming by while others can't? With 35,000 people paying a whopping $300,000 each, they can afford to get their own Grand Prix.
This is the most ridiculous use of money I've heard of yet. But Lockwood seems determined to make this happen and he has enlisted the help of many wealthy fools. I mean folks. Do any of them want to buy Pluto while we're at it? It doesn't technically belong to me, but since it's vacant, and I don't agree with its current use, I figure I might as well see what I can do to profit from it.
I have a counter proposal for Lockwood and his merry band of geniuses. First, everything on Belle Isle would need to be relocated to another park in Detroit or destroyed completely. And I mean everything. Every building, structure, plant, and animal. Including the fountain, the golf course, the Detroit Yacht Club, marina and the Casino. The "Islanders" should have to start from scratch building their utopia. Since they want their own laws, customs and currency, they should have their own country. Therefore, they should relinquish their citizenship from the United States and forego all of the rights afforded to them as citizens. Including the rights to vote, bare arms and have healthcare. I'm serious. They should be required to use the resources found (or left) on Belle Isle and pay tariffs on all products and goods they buy from the United States and Canada. That includes food, clothing, and building supplies for their skyscrapers, condos, sewer system, and monorail. That also means, they can't operate a business or "export" goods and services from Belle Isle into Detroit or Canada without abiding by international trade agreements and treaties [take that Lockwood Construction]. There would need to be an Immigration and Customs check point at the base of the Belle Isle Bridge and Jefferson Avenue that stops "Islanders" and checks for identification before they can come into Detroit. "Islanders" should not be allowed to own or operate boats without authorization since the Detroit River is considered an international waterway and is patrolled and protected by the United States and Canada. They could own the cars they took with them to Belle Isle, but wouldn't be able to drive them anywhere but on Belle Isle, because they're not United States citizens. I say just build a fence around them and call it a day. If Lockwood and his friends don't want to share Belle Isle with us, why should we share everything else with them?
Under my proposal we wouldn't have to accept their currency or employ them at our companies if we chose not to, after all they can't scream discrimination and we couldn't pay them in their own currency because it wouldn't be in circulation here. Plus, its value would probably be less than a Peso considering it's backed by the dollar, which is backed by gold (I told you duck poop made more sense). They'd have to have their own sports teams and stadiums for them to play in. They'd have to build their own schools, hospitals, have their own fire department and police as well. After all, that's an additional 35,000 people. We're already short-handed on law enforcement and public safety personnel here in Detroit. Because "Islanders" would no longer be recognized as U.S. citizens they wouldn't be protected by any U.S. laws, which is what Lockwood wants, right? They would have human rights, of course, but everything else, they would need to establish for themselves like the first settlers did. I've seen pictures of the first settlers. Did that look like fun to you?
I mean if you're going to do something Mr. Lockwood, fully commit to it. Don't pick and choose what you like and not take some of what you don't. How is that fair? Lockwood wants to isolate "us" from "them" yet keep all the benefits "we" have and take possession of our largest city park in the process. That's like a group of people trying to buy New York's Central Park then putting an electrified fence around it, so that no one else could have access to it. If this were New York City, Lockwood's idea alone would be considered treason.
Lockwood's utopia could result in additional work and even taxes for the rest of us, without us having the benefit of being able to go to Belle Isle freely. Let's take car ownership as one example. Automobile purchasing and ownership is regulated and monitored by the State of Michigan Secretary of State. We pay taxes to the State of Michigan when we buy cars, sell cars and we pay fees each year to maintain licenses and registrations. Under Lockwood's Dumb World Order, "Islanders" wouldn't have to pay taxes. But those taxes have to be paid by someone, right? I seriously doubt the State of Michigan is going to waive those fees for 35,000 people. Lockwood wants those fees and taxes to be paid for the "Islanders" by the rest of "us". It's logical that some "Islanders" would already have vehicles so it's only fair that they can retain them when they relocate to Belle Isle. However, because they are no longer U.S. Citizens, they can't license or insure them, therefore as I stated before, they can only drive them on Belle Isle. In order to drive them outside of Belle Isle, they should have to pay to license, register and insure their cars as Detroiters currently have to do. Why should the State of Michigan or its citizens absorb costs to adhere to "Islanders" currency and laws? The costs to print "Commonwealth of Belle Isle" license plates, registration tags each year, driving records, driver's licenses would come out of the pockets of the rest of "us" (higher fees to register our vehicles and renew our registrations) if "Islanders" are allowed to remain U.S. Citizens. Instead force Lockwood and his "Islanders" to develop a method of their own, since they want to do everything else on their own. Go Hard or Go Home. At the very least, then they should be charged more money by the State of Michigan if they can't develop their own system. And they should have to pay in U.S. Dollars like the rest of us. No monopoly money.
I repeat: Lockwood has come up with the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. Although on the surface it may seem well thought out because he has his FAQ neatly typed, it's a hot mess of epic proportions waiting to happen. In other words, it's fuckery. Anyone investing in Lockwood's idea is being taken on the world's greatest Ponzi Scheme and clearly has too much time on their hands and too much money as well. The truth is, even if Lockwood does get the City of Detroit and State of Michigan to go along with his foolishness, he still needs at least 35,000 idiots with $300,000 each, who meet his standard of a mastery of the English language, no criminal record and whatever he considers to be good credit (which could be a score of 900) in order for his plan to be successful. I say this: if Lockwood wants to own his own COUNTRY, which in essence is what he wants, he should find an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean to "settle" where the only contenders are potentially non English speaking natives with spears or carnivorous animals. Whoever is left standing, gets the island.
Belle Isle doesn't belong to the City of Detroit GOVERNMENT; it belongs to the PEOPLE.
Of course, Lockwood might run across this blog one day and address some of the concerns I brought to light, causing him to make adjustments to his plans. However, that would just prove my point. The "Commonwealth of Belle Isle" plan is a selfish plan developed by a man with a selfish agenda of his own. It has nothing to do with beautifying an existing resource. It's discriminatory at its root and has more long term negative impact than positive on the citizens of Detroit, Michigan and the United States, if allowed to come to fruition.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Too little too late, too little too late
It's probably too little too late
It's too little too late, too little too late
I can see it's too little too late, too late, too late
[Verse 1]
I used to look in your eyes, and see an angel
Now when I look, all I ever see is anger
Closest of friends turned to strangers
I can't put my finger on the incident that changed us
Staring at the old pictures with the frames crushed
Upset cause we ain't remain the same us
Sharing a child didn't change much
It wasn't working out, time to hang it up
Used to be so deep in love
Now we just hate each other's guts
I'm trying my best to adjust
Too little too late, apology ain't enough
Ran out the good. times got tough
We just fell apart due to the absence of trust
But time doesn't move backwards for us
And I'm very disappointed at what happened to us, yeah
Wish I could tell you to your face
But it's probably too little too late
Wish I could take it all away
But I know it's too little too late!
Apologize for my mistakes
Although I see it's too little too late
It's too little too late, too little too late
Oh, too little too late!
[Verse 2]
Honestly, I wasn't ready for the next
Truth is I wasn't finished with my ex
But I try to move on nonetheless
But that was just a bandaid, cause the scar was still fresh
I used you to deal with the stress
My baby momma snapped my heart out my chest
Leaving you to make do with what was left
How could we move so fast and not expect to wreck?
Now I'm just picking up the wreckage
You won't talk, I reconcile through records
But the time we shared, were still special
However brief, believe me, I don't regret it
What a wonderful person, I won't forget you
But I ain't shit and you deserve much better
I am man enough to say that I apologize dear Shanté
I know a lot of people they vent
They vent through poems. They vent through
Love letters, and notes. Some people gonna see counselors
Me, music is my therapy. That's how I release, that's how I relieve
That's how I vent. And straight up, I'm only human, so I
You know I make mistakes as well, and I can't take them back
I can only learn from them and prepare for tomorrow
And sometimes I contradict myself, but again, I am only human
And Kelcha, I never hated you, but somewhere along the line
I hurt you, and instead of worrying that I...
You set out to hurt me back
I don't understand, but it is what it is
And you, Shanté I never hated you either, but I hurt you
I think you actually loved a nigga, but
Foolish me to think I was ready to move on
I did to you what I swore not to do
And I apologize to you for that
As a matter of fact, I apologize to you both


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Two weeks have passed since a neighbor knocked on Nortasha Stingley's door with the grim news: Her 19-year-old daughter Marissa had been gunned down just blocks from their Park Manor home.
"I asked her, 'Where's Marissa at, where's my baby?' " Stingley said, fighting back tears. "She said, 'Marissa got shot,' and pointed to her eye."
Stingley said she talked to detectives later that day and hasn't heard from them since. Now about two weeks later, she fears her daughter has been forgotten.
"I have done everything in my power to keep my kids safe," said Stingley, a single mother who also has two sons, 6 and 18. "This is the one time I couldn't. I just want to know why. What happened to my baby?"
Police reported no arrests as of Wednesday and could provide no description of the shooter, except that he fled in a black SUV after opening fire at another car about 2:30 a.m. on June 25 at a stoplight at 73rd Street and King Drive.
Marissa Boyd-Stingley was one of five passengers inside that other car. She was shot in the head, and another woman, a neighbor, was wounded in the hand. Three men, one age 18 and two age 20, were also shot: One in the chest, one in the shoulder, and the other in the hand, police said. Boyd-Stingley was the only one who died.
Nortasha Stingley said she had felt something wasn't right that night and had called her daughter early that morning, worried.
"I woke up and sat straight up in my bed and called her," she said. It was shortly before 1 a.m. "I asked her where she was and told her I loved her and to be careful. God woke me up to tell my baby I love her one last time and I thank him for that."
About two hours later, Stingley heard banging on her first-floor window and rushed to the door, thinking it was her daughter. But it was her neighbor saying her daughter had been shot.
The next moments are a blur to Stingley. She remembers cursing and crying and finally screaming for the neighbor to leave her house. She could only think of what more she could have done to save her daughter.
Earlier this year, her daughter had come home from Central State University in Ohio, concerned about her mother's health after an accident. Stingley had fallen down and was knocked unconscious, cracking her front teeth, she said.
While Stingley underwent medical tests, her daughter cared for her 6-year-old brother Levell. Still, Stingley said she did not feel at ease with her daughter's decision to come home.
"My chest was heavy and I didn't know why," she said. "I didn't like the company she was keeping. Something just didn't feel right."
She worried about a young man Marissa had met -- a man who was in the car when the shots were fired. Neighbors had warned Stingley about the man, telling her he was "no good," she said. The man and her daughter, along with other friends, had been at the lake on the day of the shooting and were on their way home.
None of the people who were with her daughter that night has contacted her to share information about what led up to the shooting, Stingley said.
"I want the people in the car to sit down with me and the police. I want to know what happened that night," Stingley said. "Why isn't the mayor, the governor, the first lady coming to my house for my baby? She was good, she wasn't a criminal. She was a student. Why doesn't anyone care?
"I laid a foundation of morals, respect and decency for my kids," Stingley said as she sat in her living room next to her daughter's high school diploma. "My daughter's only mistake was going out that night with possibly the wrong people. Did she deserve to die because of that mistake?
"This hole in my heart is where my daughter used to be. I have to be strong, but things will never be the same."
Stingley busies herself with her two other children, Levell and Thomas, 18.
Levell, at 6, doesn't quite understand that his big sister is gone. "Marissa ran away," he said. "I miss her. ... Please find Marissa."
Thomas just visited Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he is scheduled to attend in the fall. He works filing cases at the Cook County Circuit Court.
"Marissa was a well-rounded person," he said Wednesday as he was leaving his job. "She cared about others more than herself."
Thomas said he would like to know why there is so much ammunition and weapons in the street. "I think they should open a draft and send these people to the military since they like to handle weapons," Thomas said.
As for the person who killed his sister, Thomas said, "I want them to come forward."
Twitter: @neacynewslady


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Tim Clark to head up Future's Games portfolio content
Future Publishing's announced that ex-Official PlayStation Magazine editor-in-chief Tim Clark is to become the company's new EiC of its gaming arm.
Opm headlines
GT5 community features detailed
The latest issue of OPM has detailed some of the community features of Gran Turismo 5, such as "My Lounge".
OPM gives FFXIII 9/10 - whole thing scanned
FinalFantasy-XIII.net's posted the entire OPM review of its namesake. What's that site going to do after March?
OPM podcast goes live, talks about videogames
The UK OPM's put the first episode of its podcast live: and here it is. It's "the team" talking about reviews from the latest issue, and so on. There's quite a big chunk on Batman: Arkham Asylum, some rabbiting about baseball and some other stuff. Listen to it. It's doubtful you have anything else to […]
FFXIII - Edge and OPM playtests scanned
FinalFantasy-XIII.net's posted up scans of Edge and OPM playtests of Final Fantasy XIII, the first in the world. The images are of excellent quality, and both features are extensive. Get to it. The demo's out on April 16 in Japan.
Official PlayStation Mag getting its very own site
Official PlayStation Mag UK is finally getting its very own website. Rather obviously, the site plans on having everything PlayStation-related, including news and an online community, right alongside sister site GamesRadar. The site's mainly just a place-holder at the moment, you can still head on over there and sign up for stuff, including celebratory giveaways.
Celebrate Killzone 2 launch by playing online against OPM
OPM's announced a 24-hour online gaming marathon for tomorrow, all in celebration of Killzone 2's launch. The mag's entire team will be online for 24 hours starting 8.00am GMT this morning, playing a variety of games throughout the day. Get all the details and PSN IDs through the link.
OPM gives Resident Evil 5 5/5, review scanned
The US OPM's given Resident Evil 5 top marks in its review, as you can see in these scans. The text's a little small on those images, but not so much that you can't see the glow. There are negatives, however. "If there's any quibbling to be done about Resident Evil 5, it's that much […]
Mirror's Edge gets 9/10 in OPM
The British Official PS3 Mag's scored Mirror's Edge as a 9/10, saying it's good but hard. Like what we did. The entire thing's been scanned and posted. Here, here, here and here. The Mirror's Edge demo's out today for PS3.
OXM gives Far Cry 2 9/10, calling it "this year's equivalent of Assassin's Creed"
OXM's next issue will contain the mag's Far Cry 2 review, and it's a nine. "Far Cry 2 is this year's equivalent of Assassin's Creed… when it comes to enveloping the player in exotic sights and sounds, Ubisoft has absolutely nailed it," says the piece. "What separates Far Cry 2 from other shooters of this […]
Opm latest
OXM gives Far Cry 2 9/10, calling it "this year's equivalent of Assassin's Creed"


text:
South Carolina has a massive backlog of road and bridge maintenance that it simply can't address with its current limited resources. The answer to the state Department of Transportation's problems isn't reducing those inadequate revenues even further by cutting the gas tax.
Rep. Baraki Sellers, D-Denmark, has pre-filed a bill to reduce the state gas tax from 16 cents a gallon to 14.4 cents, calling it a regressive tax that most hurts the poor. Sellers want to supplant diminished gas taxes with general budget revenues as part of a broad tax reform package.
The DOT's revenue woes can be resolved more simply by raising the gas tax, which currently provides most of its funding. South Carolina's gas tax is the second lowest in the nation and hasn't been raised since 1987.
Another solution to the DOT's financial problems would be better management at the top. The state highway commission has demonstrated an unfortunate willingness to support politically driven road projects at the expense of maintenance and priority construction needs.
This year, the DOT had trouble paying contractors on time and had to seek millions in advance payments from the federal government to get up to date. Meanwhile, it was forced to suspend $24 million in projects, mostly for maintenance.
DOT's leadership problems are an impediment to addressing its underlying revenue shortcomings. Why would the Legislature grant the DOT more money when the agency has demonstrated its inability to use its scarce resources to best advantage?
DOT reform will enable lawmakers to take a more objective view. Without more revenue, the agency will continue to fall further behind on improvements to existing roads and bridges.
When roads aren't maintained, the result is a hidden tax to motorists in additional car repairs, tire replacement and their safety.
The gas tax should be viewed as a user fee by which the motorists who drive on South Carolina's roads share the cost to maintain them.
If it's not sufficient to the need, the tax ought to be increased.
The next time a Republican politician tells you the GOP is dedicated to protecting you from higher taxes, look him straight in the eye and tell him that's a lie.
Republicans cannot claim to favor lower taxes while they insist on making the taxpayers pay for their presidential primary. They also can't claim the party will keep its promises.
The South Carolina Republican Party had promised to help pay for the primary. The primary is expected to cost about $1.5 million. The General Assembly set aside $850,000 to help pay for it. That will be added to the $180,000 candidates have paid in filing fees. And the GOP said it would cover the rest of the costs.
But several counties, including Spartanburg County, sued, claiming they would have costs that county taxpayers shouldn't have to expend on behalf of a political party. The Supreme Court ruled incorrectly that the counties will have to cover the cost. ...
South Carolinians should understand that the presidential primary is not an election. It is not the preliminary round of the general election that will be held in November. It is not a function of the government.
It is a function of the Republican Party. ...
In fact, the South Carolina Republican Party has recently gone to court in an unsuccessful attempt to limit who can vote in its presidential primary. It didn't want those who identify with the Democratic Party to be able to vote in its primary. Yet it wants all taxpayers to be forced to pay for that primary.
In fact, the party should be able to limit who votes in its primary. The members of that party should decide who that party wants to nominate. But they should cover all the costs of that process.
Instead, Republicans have decided that you, the taxpayer, should cover the costs of their primary. Not just unforeseen costs, but even the costs the GOP had earlier promised to cover. So never let them tell you again that the Republican Party watches out for the taxpayer. It's just not true.


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Who's in Your Neighborhood?December 28th, 2012
Where do members of different ethnic and racial groups choose to settle and where do they buy land and houses when they become mobile and middle class? Is upward mobility inevitably linked to ethnic and racial discord and conflict?
Although he started out looking at immigration and ethnic history, Todd Michney became interested in black neighborhoods on the urban periphery. Most historians have focused on large, segregated inner city neighborhoods where a majority of the black population lived before World War II, but Michney takes a different approach. He noticed that immigrants from southern and eastern Europe—mostly Italians and Jews—interacted with African-Americans, settling in many of the same neighborhoods in outlying areas. "There didn't seem to be nearly as antagonistic a pattern of race relations that others had identified," he said and wondered what was going on.
The turn of the 20th century and into the 40s saw a growing black middle class and the beginnings of the suburban dream. African-Americans who were upwardly mobile sought a higher quality of life and better living conditions. They steadily started moving out of inner city areas. "Even working class individuals went to the periphery to buy land cheaper and build homes—sometimes room by room," Michney says. "I felt I started to uncover a whole world that didn't fit."
Upon examining residential patterns of the 50s and 60s, Michney says he found that all-white, middle-class ethnic neighborhoods of Cleveland, Ohio were "threatened" not so much by African-Americans moving in as by ethnic residents moving out. As Jewish and Italian residents achieved higher economic status and moved to outlying suburbs, their departure provided the opportunity for middle class African-Americans to improve their living conditions by moving into vacated properties. While there was some racial tension and isolated conflicts relating especially to swimming pool access, whites in these areas moved away much more slowly than has been recognized and some developed friendly relations with their new black neighbors in the meantime. But as whites continued to move further and further out, African Americans, sharing the same aspirations, followed suit.
During this later period, Michney says that intraracial conflicts arose over maintaining a reasonable quality of life in those neighborhoods that were largely African-American. As whites moved out and less affluent blacks moved in, conflicts developed over housing upkeep, how available liquor should be, overcrowding, schools, and commerce. "One really interesting pattern I am not sure I can explain is the scapegoating of southern black migrants," Michney adds. Even though most African-Americans suburbanites were only one or two generations removed from the South, they started to place blame, saying that rural southerners did not know how to live in an urban setting. "This occurred despite the fact that most of the new black residents came from urban areas and had jobs and stable families," notes Michney.
"We have to rethink our assumptions about how residential patterns were shaped in the early 20th century," says Michney. The claim was that African-Americans moving into an area would cause property values to decline; they would bring in crime; they would not keep up their property. But from the perspective of the African-Americans, they were seeking good housing and good living standards—all the same goals as the white residents. "Whites did not give the African-Americans a chance in the 50s to see how they would really fit in," Michney comments. Ironically, then, fears of losing one's investment led whites residents ultimately to move away, even in those instances when their encounters with incoming African American residents had been benign.
In the early twentieth century, African-American Clevelanders generally lived in compact areas but in close proximity to Czech, Italian and Jewish immigrants. Their children all went to the same schools. Michney says that most of the black and white former residents he interviewed talked about friendly neighborly exchange, even though historians have emphasized that immigrants, who were not initially viewed as white, basically had to adopt an anti-African-American attitude to be accepted by the larger white population.
What historians have often seen as the problem and how indigenous residents assessed the situation were not the same, Michney explains. A shrinking industrial base in cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit created a competition for jobs and economic insecurity made it harder for people to maintain their housing stock. Banks were less likely to lend to blacks and shopping malls moved further out. That is an important part of the story but not how residents typically imagined their situation, he says. Local residents were concerned with maintaining the livability of the neighborhoods—by cutting off the easy source of liquor, starting their own local businesses, and keeping money in the community.
The Community Council movement, which tried to bring together people from different backgrounds starting in the 40s, has received little press, Michney notes. These councils were somewhat successful, noting that Jews were more open to the idea, Catholics less so. "Jews were more willing to participate in the dialogue, but since they tended to be more upwardly mobile they often moved away sooner," he says. Catholics on the other hand were less open and typically sent their children to parochial schools, although Michney found some of these desegregated before the 60s. Several observers actually noted that desegregation tended to alleviate racial tensions, especially between Italians and blacks. "In fact," Michney states, "there was often more tension between the various white ethnic groups than between blacks and whites."
"Racial conflicts are less now," Michney says," but we still see some of the same sort of reasoning on when and where to move. Today the African-American community remains split with the middle class doing quite well up until this last recession. Working class and poor blacks are increasingly alienated with some as frustrated as in the 60s. Ancestry is not destiny, but there is still a glimmer of those patterns."
Todd Michney is an assistant professor of history. He received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He specializes in African-American history, urban history, race, ethnicity and labor. His upcoming book, Changing Neighborhoods: Black Upward Mobility in Twentieth-Century Cleveland, is a citywide study of the city's black middle class. He anticipates using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to represent statistical data and settlement patterns in strikingly new and innovative ways.
Tags: Cleveland, ethnic neighborhoods, residential patterns, suburban, urban


text:
Apple's Cook on New Products: 'Take the Time to Get It Right'
Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said its strong fiscal second-quarter might silence chatter that the company is in decline. He paused before adding: "Maybe it will take some new products."
Cook knows that's the biggest question hanging over the company: whether it can repeat the innovative success with a new product category – as it did with the iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. He has promised that Apple will break into new product categories this year, but so far has revealed nothing.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cook said Apple is hard at work but it will not rush.
"You want to take the time to get it right. Our objective has never been to be first. It's to be the best. To do things really well, it takes time. You can see a lot of products that have been brought to market where the thinking isn't really deep and, as a consequence, these things don't do very well. We don't do very many things so we spend a lot of time on every detail and that part of Apple isn't changing. It's the way we've operated for years and it's the way we still operate. I feel great about what we've got coming. Really great and it's closer than it's ever been."
How close is that? Cook lets out a laugh and said he didn't accidentally tip his hand. The company, he said, is closer to announcing a new product than it was at the end of January, yesterday or ten minutes ago. Not much help.
Cook did say that Apple's 15% year-on-year increase in earnings per share and rising gross margin – both their highest in six quarters – are proof that "the current product line can do amazingly well."
He added: "New things will only make it better."
Cook also made it clear that new products may extend beyond hardware. What about mobile payments? Apple has many customer credit cards, and fingerprint sensor in its iPhone 5S. It also has made some recent moves in the area.
"I think it's a really interesting area. We have almost 800 million iTunes accounts and the majority of those have credit cards behind them. We already have people using Touch ID to buy things across our store, so it's an area of interest to us. And it's an area where nobody has figured it out yet. I realize that there are some companies playing in it, but you still have a wallet in your back pocket and I do too which probably means it hasn't been figured out just yet."


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JPMorgan Chase shareholders should vote against the re-election of three board members because they failed to properly oversee risk-taking that led to $6.2 billion of losses on the so-called "London Whale" trades, an influential proxy advisory firm said.
ISS Proxy Advisory Services said in a report released late Friday that directors David Cote, James Crown and Ellen Flutter should not be re-elected at the company's annual meeting this month because of "material failures of stewardship and risk oversight."
The report by ISS ratchets up pressure on directors to reduce Dimon's power at JPMorgan, the biggest bank based in the United States, as some stockholders push for more supervision of the outspoken executive.
A statement from JPMorgan spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau on Saturday said: "The company strongly endorses the re-election of its current directors and disagrees with ISS's position."
ISS also renewed its recommendation from a year ago that CEO and Chairman of the Board Jamie Dimon give up one of those two titles. ISS said investigations of the derivatives loss, which surfaced right before last year's shareholder meeting, showed that JPMorgan executives need more independent oversight and that the company is too big and too complex for one person to be able to do both jobs.
Shareholders will meet on May 21 in Tampa, Florida. They will vote on the re-election of the company's 11 directors and on a non-binding proposal from four institutional shareholders calling on the board to have a chairman who is independent from management. A similar advisory proposal failed to pass last year, receiving only 40 percent of the vote. That vote was five percentage points more than similar proposals at other companies that year.
The independent chair vote is developing into a major test for Dimon, 57. It comes as criticism, and sanctions from regulators, over poor risk management have piled up since the "London Whale" losses surfaced at the bank, which has $2.39 trillion in assets, the most of any U.S. bank.
The trading debacle has picked up the same "London Whale" nickname that hedge funds gave to a JPMorgan trader for the outsized derivatives bets he placed for the company.
The ISS recommendations on the re-election of directors shows the shareholder debate over governance of the company is broadening beyond Dimon.
The three directors who ISS singled out for replacement were members of the board's risk policy committee in December 2010 when the committee was shown a presentation by management that highlighted large profits from trading strategies in the firm's Chief Investment Office, where the derivative losses later occurred.
The presentation said the CIO strategies had contributed $2.8 billion of "economic value" since inception, with an average annualized return of 100 percent, according to a report released earlier this year by the board on its review of the matter.
ISS said the large profits showed that the CIO had changed from a unit that hedged risks to "what was essentially a proprietary trading desk" and should have prompted the committee to act against the practice.
The company statement added: "While the company has acknowledged a number of mistakes relating to its losses in CIO, an independent review committee of the board determined that those mistakes were not attributable to the risk committee."
In its proxy statement for the coming meeting, the board said that the actions taken by the company after the "London Whale" debacle show it to be strong and independent.
After the loss, the board added a member to the risk policy committee - new director Timothy Flynn, a retired chairman of auditor KPMG International.
ISS, which researches proxy issues and makes voting recommendations to institutional investors, praised the company for putting Flynn on the panel and recommended that shareholders re-elect him as well as seven other directors.
Last year, ISS recommended that all director candidates nominated by the board be elected.
The advisory firm said the JPMorgan board needs "refreshment" and the panel should search "for seasoned directors with financial and risk expertise" to replace Cote, Crown and Futter.
Cote is chief executive and board chairman of technology and aerospace company Honeywell International Inc ; Crown is president of investment firm Henry Crown and Co, and Futter is president of the American Museum of Natural History.
The company's statement on Saturday also said: "The members of the board's risk committee have a diversity and breadth of experiences that have served the company well."
ISS said it had discussed the board's independence and the qualifications of the risk policy committee members with the board's presiding director, Lee Raymond, on April 26 before reaching its conclusions. Raymond is a former CEO and chairman of the board of Exxon Mobil Corp.
ISS criticized the board for deferring to management and said the panel "appears to have been largely reactive, making changes only when it was clear that it could no longer maintain the status quo."


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Original illustrations for Plates II, III, XLI, AND XLVII in "The starfishes of the Hawaiian Islands," U.S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1903, Part III, pages 987-1130.
Original illustrations for Plates 50-54, 56-58, 111-113 in Asteroidea of the North Pacific and adjacent waters. Part 1. Phanerozonia and Spinulosa. United States National Museum Bull. 76, pages 1-419 [Original plate 111 has only figs. 2a, 2b, 3, 3a, 4, 4a, 5, 6; figs. 1, 2 are absent, but present in published version] 1911
Original illustrations for Plates 14 and 77 in Asteroidea of the North Pacific and adjacent waters. Part 2. Forcipulata. United States National Museum Bull. 76, pages 1-245. 1928
Original illustrations for Plates 35, 39, 41, and 153 in "Starfishes of the Philippine seas and adjacent waters," Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. Bulletin 100, v.3, pages 1-712 [Original plates are labeled "31, 35, 37, 134," respectively] 1919
Original illustrations for Figures A, F, G, and J and Plate XVI in Asteroidea. Discovery Reports. 20: 69-306, [Original plates are labeled "A, F, G, J, and XVI," respectively] 1940
Original illustrations for Plate 26 (Bonelliopsis alaskana) in "Echiuroid worms of the North Pacific Ocean," Proceedings of the United States National Museum: 96 (3198): 215-292. 1946
Original illustrations for Plate 11 (sipunculus galapagensis) in "New genera and species of echiuroid and sipunculoid worms," Proceedings of the United States National Museum 97 (3218): 351-372. 1947


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Or find a doctor at another Johns Hopkins Medicine Member Hospital:
Nagi F Khouri, M.D.
Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science
Languages: English, Arabic, French
Expertise: Breast Biopsy, Breast Cancer, Diagnostic Radiology, Mammography, Stereotactic Biopsy, Ultrasound
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Phone: 410-955-7095 | Fax: 410-614-7663
Johns Hopkins Medicine - Green Spring Station
10755 Falls Road Pavilion I Lutherville, MD 21093
Phone: 410-955-7095
Dr. Nagi Khouri is an Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Radiology and Radiological Science and the Department of Oncology. His area of clinical expertise includes diagnostic radiology, with a focus on breast imaging and breast cancer.
He was the first to introduce image guided breast biopsies in Maryland. From 2002 to 2012, Dr. Khouri was the Director of Breast Imaging at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Nagi F. Khouri earned his M.D. degree from the American University of Beirut in 1971. Following his residency training at Johns Hopkins in 1975, he was board certified in radiology and joined the Johns Hopkins faculty as a chest radiologist.
Dr. Khouri's research interests include interventional breast procedures and tomosynthesis.
Dr. Khouri was voted among the top 10 Women's Imagers by Medical Imaging in 2006 and 2007. He has focused his international efforts on promoting breast health for women in the Middle East and the developing world, working with governments, hospitals, medical organizations and NGOs.
- Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science
- Associate Professor of Oncology
Departments / Divisions
Centers & Institutes
- MD, American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine (1971)
- American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine / Diagnostic Radiology (1973)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Diagnostic Radiology (1975)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Radiology (1976)
Board Certifications
- American Board of Radiology / Diagnostic Radiology (1975)
Research & Publications
Clinical Trials
Pre-Operative Radiation and Veliparib for Breast Cancer
Selected Publications
- Subhawong, A.P.; Subhawong, T.K.; Khouri, N.; Tsangaris, T.; Nassar, H. "Incidental minimal atypical lobular hyperplasia on core needle biopsy: correlation with findings on follow-up excision." Am J Surg Pathol. 2010 Jun;34(6):822-828.
- Jacobs, M.A.; Stearns, V.; Wolff, A.C.; Macura, K.; Argani, P.; Khouri, N.; Tsangaris, T.; Barker, P.B.; Davidson, N.E.; Bhujwalla, Z.M.; Bluemke, D.A.; Ouwerkerk, R. "Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, spectroscopy and multinuclear ((2)(3)Na) imaging monitoring of preoperative chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer." Acad Radiol. 2010 Dec;17(12):1477-1485.
- Mattoso, R.; Khouri, N.; de Jesus, L.; Marcilio de Souza, C.A. "Risk factors for graft dysfunction in the late period of renal transplantation." Transplant Proc. 2009 Jun;41(5):1594-1598.
- Jain, A.; Haisfield-Wolfe, M.E.; Lange, J.; Ahuja, N.; Khouri, N.; Tsangaris, T.; Zhang, Z.; Balch, C.; Jacobs, L.K. "The role of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of axillary nodes in the staging of breast cancer." Ann Surg Oncol. 2008 Feb;15(2):462-471.
- Ouwerkerk, R.; Jacobs, M.A.; Macura, K.J.; Wolff, A.C.; Stearns, V.; Mezban, S.D.; Khouri, N.F.; Bluemke, D.A.; Bottomley, P.A. "Elevated tissue sodium concentration in malignant breast lesions detected with non-invasive 23Na MRI." Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2007 Dec;106(2):151-160.
- Cooney, C.S.; Khouri, N.F.; Tsangaris, T.N. "The role of breast MRI in the management of patients with breast disease." Adv Surg. 2008;42:299-312.
Activities & Honors
- Top 10 Women's Imagers by Medical Imaging, 2007
- Top 10 Women's Imagers by Medical Imaging, 2006
- Advisory Committee to the Jordan Breast Cancer Program, 2009
- Advisory Committee to the Lebanon Cancer Program, 2010
- Breast Cancer Advisory Committee for DHMH, 1995
Patient Ratings & Comments
The Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to physician related questions on the national CG-CAHPS Medical Practice patient experience survey through Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score. Comments are also gathered from our CG-CAHPS Medical Practice Survey through Press Ganey and displayed in their entirety. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.
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Fatah officials celebrated popular inauguration of terrorist square
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Mar. 14, 2010
Senior Fatah officials joined Fatah youth movement
in "popular inauguration" ceremony for terrorist square
Senior Fatah official: Inauguration was postponed
due to "technical reasons," not Israeli pressure
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Although world pressure forced the Palestinian Authority to cancel the official ceremonies to name a square after the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi last week, several senior Fatah officials participated in a "popular inauguration" organized by Fatah's youth movement. According to the PA, the square is now named after Mughrabi and an official ceremony, including placing a monument, will take place at a later date. Thursday's "popular inauguration" was on the 32nd anniversary of "the Coastal Road Massacre" of 1978, in which 37 were murdered in a bus hijacking.
Among the senior Fatah officials participating in the popular inauguration were Tawfiq Tirawi, member of the Fatah Central Committee and former head of the PA Police in the West Bank, and Jamal Huweil, a Fatah member of Palestinian Parliament from Fatah.
[Tawfiq Tirawi (center) at the popular inauguration of the Dalal Mughrabi square.
Poster Text:
"On the anniversary of the Coastal Road Operation we renew our commitment and our oath that we uphold the charge and that we will not stray from the path of the
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi Square, Shabiba students' movement / Palestine] [
, March 12, 2010]
Palestinian Media Watch first reported
in January that the square was to be named for Mughrabi, After the initial story, PMW published five follow-up bulletins, including one reporting that
the day chosen by the PA
for the naming ceremony was to be March 11, the anniversary of the terror attack. Israeli news reported that PM Netanyahu asked George Mitchell and then Vice President Biden to put pressure on the PA to cancel the event. On March 10, the PA cancelled the official ceremony.
Click here to see timeline of PMW reports and other news stories related to the cancellation of the official ceremony.
Trying to minimize the impact of world pressure on the PA, Adnan Al-Dumeiri, spokesman for the PA Security Apparatus, announced at the "popular inauguration" that the official inauguration was postponed "due to technical reasons and not because of Israel's request."
Fatah spokesman Dr. Fayez Abu Aytah called terrorist Dalal Mughrabi "a symbol in the history of our national struggle" and emphasized "the right of Fatah, of the Palestinian Authority, and of the Palestinian people to celebrate the anniversary of her [Mughrabi's] Martyrdom."
These statements were among a series of PA statements and events meant to emphasize and reinforce the message to the Palestinian population that Dalal Mughrabi, in spite of the international condemnation, is still to be glorified as a Palestinian hero and honored as a Martyr.
The following are statements made by Fatah officials and reports in the official PA papers supporting the "popular inauguration" of the terrorist square:
"The Palestinian Authority yesterday postponed its inauguration of a square named after the self-sacrificing Dalal Mughrabi in the town of El-Bireh, in the wake of an official Israeli protest, but this did not prevent tens of youth from inaugurating [the square] in a popular fashion...
Members of the El-Bireh council, who requested anonymity, said that the inauguration of the square had been postponed after the senior PA personnel received a message from the Israeli government...
Adnan Al-Dumeiri, a spokesman for the security apparatus, said that the inauguration of the junction had been postponed 'for technical reasons, not in the wake of a request by Israel.' He added, 'Neither Israel nor any other body is able to prevent us from taking pride in our history.'
Siham Barghouti, Minister of Culture, told Agence France Presse: 'It is our right to honor our
(Martyrs) and to name our streets after the
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi on the anniversary of her martyrdom, and this is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people.'
Tens of young men and women gathered at the junction at the hour when the official inauguration was to have taken place, bearing pictures of Dalal Mughrabi, in the presence of senior Fatah personnel.
Mustafa Abu Rabi'a, one of the senior Fatah personnel in Ramallah and El-Bireh, said: 'Today is the popular inauguration of the junction named after the
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi...'
Jamal Huweil, a Fatah member of the Palestinian Parliament (Legislative Council), who was at the square, said that the fact that Israel prevented the naming of the junction after Dalal Mughrabi represented 'impertinent and unacceptable intervention'.
Tawfiq Tirawi, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said: 'We shall not submit to any threats, and we are here today to celebrate our history and our battle in naming the square after Mughrabi.' A large boulder with Dalal Mughrabi's name on it was to have been placed at the junction, but it was not delivered yesterday. Giant photographs of Dalal Mughrabi were hung at the junction, located close to the Political Guidance headquarters."
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
, March 12, 2010]
Headline: "In response to what Netanyahu calls incitement - Fatah: We are proud of Dalal Mughrabi, and she is a great symbol in the history of our national struggle"
"Fatah spokesman, Dr. Fayez Abu Aytah, said that the Israeli Prime Minister's words concerning what he referred to as acts of incitement on the part of the Palestinian Authority, were said as part of the twisting of facts and the fabrications against the [Palestinian] Authority...
Abu Aytah responded to statements by the Israeli Minister of Information, who described the
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi as a terrorist. Concerning the intention of the Palestinian Authority to inaugurate a square named after [Dalal Mughrabi] in Ramallah, he said: 'The
(Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi is a symbol in the history of our national struggle, and the Palestinian people is proud of her sacrifice. Likewise, Fatah is proud of Dalal's affiliation with it as a movement of national liberation which is continually innovating new methods of struggle.' He emphasized: 'It is the right of Fatah, of the Palestinian Authority, and of the Palestinian people to celebrate the anniversary of her Martyrdom in a manner that is worthy of her, as a heroine, a commander who fought with honor against an occupation army. It is our right to eternalize her name; we do not wait for anyone's approval to emphasize our loyalty to the Shahids (Martyrs).'"
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
, March 11, 2010]
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text:
Open source prima donnas to crush IBM, BEA and MS in 2008
And David Beckham's issues with FLOSS
Meat Cast If you have anything at all to do with open source software, you'll want to listen to Episode 2 of Open Season because there's a good chance we said something good or bad about you.
Yes, Mulesource's Dave Rosenberg, Alfresco's Matt Asay and I are back again, building on the tremendous success of our first show. In Episode 2, you'll hear Rosenberg and Asay deal with their insecurities after one listener - a CEO at another open source software maker - charged them with being the two biggest prima donnas in the FLOSS field. You'll also hear us tackle a host of other subjects detailed below in the show notes.
As proof that we listen to our, er, listeners, we've broken this show up into two sections. The first consists of our witty banter. The second consists of our attempts to provide useful information for anyone looking to do business in the open source software market. Those of you that want to skip the banter should head to minute 35 or so in the broadcast.
Sincere thanks go out to the thousands of you that tuned in to the first show. As always, you can send any feedback to me at email@example.com. We hope to have Ubuntu chief Mark Shuttleworth on the next episode. In the meantime, enjoy.
You can subscribe to the show on iTunes here or grab the Arse feed here. Ogg Vorbis coming, I swear.
Target Practice
We hit the following:
- Open source legal guru Mark Radcliffe's naughty trains
- Open source in Utah
- Bleak Wired photo of Darl McBride
- Matt Asay vs. Novell
- Ubuntu's mini server OS for VMware
- The 'Calista Flockhart' hypervisor from VMware
- Net App sues Sun and Fishworks
- OSI approves GPLv3
- Open Source David Beckham
- BEA disses open source
- InfoWorld's Best of Open Source list
- Page One PR - the friend of open source
Minute 35 - Open Source Business Help
- Developers learn the hard way about open code
- Sales people learn the open source way
- Good documentation equals dollars
- How Mulesource beats Tibco and BEA through solid software and value triggers
- When big vendors attack and how to defend - Oracle and IBM go after Mulesource
- Alfresco and MuleSource vow to kick big guys in the groin in 2008
- Documentum questions Alfresco and open source - Alfresco doesn't care
- Sharepoint - Microsoft's brilliance
- Mulesource News coming - break your silos
- Ashlee's book gets ready to ship
- Mark Shuttleworth possibly to star on next show
- Mulesource vs. Hyperic in Wii tennis tournament
- Dave drinks Red Monk kool-aid and starts blogging again
- For next show: Indemnity vs. Customers Concerns
See you soon. ®


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The University of Illinois has received a five year, $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the photosynthetic properties of key food crops, such as rice and cassava. The project, entitled 'RIPE- Realising Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency' has the potential to benefit farmers by improving the productivity of staple food crops. Increasing photosynthetic efficiency has the potential to increase yields and reduce the use of irrigation and fertilisation, however to date there has been limited research on photosynthetic properties of crop plants. The University of Illinois research team will apply recent advances in photosynthetic research, model simulations and crop bioengineering to the RIPE project. Stephen Long, the Project Director and Professor of Crop Sciences and Plant Biology at Illinois said:
"The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation predict that the world will need to increase staple crop yields by 20% by 2050. Photosynthesis promises a new area, ripe for exploitation that will provide part of the yield jump the world needs to maintain food security"


text:
The importance of sleep to functioning and health will be the focus of an address at Hope College by sleep researcher Dr. James B. Maas on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Maas will present "Sleep to Win! Everything you must know about sleep, but are too tired to ask!" through the college's Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine. His multi-media presentation will examine topics including why most people are sleep deprived and the serious consequences for thinking, performance, health and lifespan; the importance of the different stages of sleep and the need for maximum sleep; whether or not napping is healthy; what causes insomnia; how to establish a bedroom environment for maximum sleep quality; and strategies for sleeping well. Reflecting the lecture series' focus, he will also consider how athletes can increase their athletic performance overnight.
Maas, who is CEO of Sleep for Success, is a leading authority and international consultant on sleep and performance. His publications include "Sleep to Win!", a book for athletes co-authored with Haley Davis; "Sleep for Success!", a book designed for business executives, students, parents, seniors and athletes, co-authored with Rebecca Robbins; "Power Sleep," a "New York Times" bestseller that has been published in 11 languages; and "Remmy and the Brain Train," an award-winning children's bedtime story designed to help improve daytime alertness, mood and performance.
He lectures around the nation, and has presented programs for a wide range of organizations, including IBM, Apple Computers, the World Presidents' Organization (WPO), the World Business Council (WBC), the Naval War College, the United States Figure Skating Association, the National Basketball Association, the NFL New York Jets, the NHL Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators, MCI/Universal Studios, and scores of prep schools, colleges and universities.
In the past two years, there have been more than 200 articles in the popular press about his work on sleep and performance. He has appeared frequently on national television on programs such as "Today," "NBC Nightly News," CNN, "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning," "The View," "Regis & Kelly," ABC's "20/20" and "Oprah."
Maas retired from Cornell at the end of 2011 after having taught more than 65,000 students during his 48 years on the university's faculty. At Cornell, he was the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, a professor of psychology and had chaired the department of psychology, in addition to serving as a professor in the graduate fields of Education and Communication. He was also a professor at the Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar.
He received the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching at Cornell, and four times was recognized as the faculty member most influential in mentoring a Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholar, so designated from the top one percent of the student body.
He has held a Fulbright Senior Professorship to Sweden, has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, and is a past-president of the American Psychological Association's Division on Teaching. He also received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Teaching Award for being the nation's outstanding educator.
Maas is a noted filmmaker who has produced nine national television specials for PBS in the United States, for the BBC in England, for the CBC in Canada, and for Dutch, Danish and Swedish National Television. His films for organizations such as the National Geographic Society, General Motors, EXXON, Upjohn, Metropolitan Life, the McArthur Foundation and the United States Department of Transportation have won 44 major film festivals.
He received his B.A. from Williams College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell.
The Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine is designed for health care professionals with an interest in physically active patients, and is intended for students, educators and clinicians alike. It is co-sponsored by Shoreline Orthopaedics, Holland Hospital Rehabilitation Services and the college.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.


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I'm planning to apply for U.S. law schools as well, but I was wondering how I would convert my GPA in to their system?I go to a canadian school that uses the percentage system...so it's even more confusing.Can anyone help?
An 89% is only a 3.56?Something has to be wrong here.
maverick - that chart doesnt work for canadiansi believe this link will help you outhttp://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/c_omsas_b.pdf


text:
Forgot your password?
The Rip Curl Dawn Patrol wetsuit jacket is a stylish top for warmer water temps. Built for users who need lots of stretch at a low stretch price, this wetsuit top boasts key technical features that won't blow your budget. The Dawn Patrol features Rip Curl's exclusive E4 superstretch and Ultralite neoprene throughout, extremely durable flatlock seams, mesh skin chest and back panels, a boardshort loop connector, and a small side zipper for easier entry/exit. 1yr warranty.


text:
User talk:Milliams
Insert non-formatted text here<math>Insert formula here</math> == Headline text ==Italic text == Headline text ==File:Example.jpgMedia:Example.ogg
22.214.171.124 20:06, 13 April 2007 (CEST)<math>Insert formula here</math>Bold textItalic text
why did you delete "Development/Tutorials/Programming Tutorial KDE 4/First program" ? I need it as a template. And why did you delete your other contributions to the programming tutorial ? I liked them. Can you please revert ? --Tstaerk 13:10, 30 June 2007 (CEST)
My page Standard Shortcuts is a direct reply to request for discussion @ Projects/Usability/HIG Questions. I've put it to another page for organizing's sake. If this bothers you, I can merge it with the originating site. Dukat 20:37, 2 May 2008 (CEST)


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NEWS UPDATE: January 13, 2010
Legendary Muppeteer Jerry Nelson has released a solo album filled with tons of great music featuring Jerry's signature voice. Be sure to check it out and maybe even spend ten dollars on some incredible music by a true legend.
Lisa Alexander - As previously mentioned here on the Mindset, the Muppets appeared on America's Funniest Home Videos this past Sunday evening. As promised, the show was filled with Muppets—so much so that, instead of my usual activity of counting the commercial breaks I had to sit through to see the Muppets, I found myself barely able to keep up with them as I scribbled down notes.
Before the show even starts, we see host Tom Bergeron on his cell phone, complaining that he can't find a big celebrity to celebrate America's Funniest Home Video's 20th Anniversary. He runs into Kermit, who is on his cell phone looking for ways to volunteer. (Kermit has apparently gotten a snazzy new cell phone since Studio DC: Almost Live. I wonder if he knows how to use this one.) Kermit and Tom explain their respective troubles, wish each other luck, and go their separate ways… only to come running back, index fingers pointed, to declare, "YOU!" (A very profound statement.) Naturally, Kermit volunteers to be a big star for AFV, and Tom is delighted, though suddenly befuddled when Kermit uses that ominous word "we." With a mere whistle, Kermit summons a small stampede of Muppets and explains that they're a package deal.
During the theme, the announcer tells us that, in honor of AFV's 20th anniversary, tonight's show is a Muppet Palooza, and the Electric Mayhem gets top billing. (I have no idea what the Muppets have to do with AFV turning 20, but hey, the Electric Mayhem got top billing!) Tom then explains that for one night only, they've got an in-house band—The Electric Mayhem, of course—and there they are, looking quite content at the back of the stage.
Tom's next action is to introduce "one of the biggest stars in the business," Kermit the Frog. Kermit and Tom only talk for a little bit before a burst of applause brings Pepe hurrying in. The king prawn's new outfit—a neutral-colored sweater over a neutral-colored button-down shirt—doesn't really strike me as something Pepe would choose for himself, but the wardrobe change has not dampened his personality. He immediately says to "Mr. Burgerbuns," "I heard applause. Did somebody say my name?" He then volunteers to take Tom's job as host, and sends Tom out to get him coffee. In the frog/prawn banter that follows, Kermit tries to explain that Tom is the host, and isn't going to leave just to get Pepe coffee, so Pepe also orders a muffin for himself and a bagel for Kermit. Tom doesn't even try to interrupt them—not that he would've been able to—and talks over them to cue the funny videos.
The Electric Mayhem is all tropical as we cut to and from a commercial break, playing a Jamaican-style melody and decked out in straw hats. All of them are feelin' da rhythm, mon, and Floyd blinks at the camera.
Then Tom has an amphibian question for Kermit, who immediately starts on a rather defensive tirade that no, you do not get warts from kissing a frog. Tom explains that his question is actually about the next video—a frog making rather cat-like noises when a woman squeezes him. Tom wants to know what the frog was saying. In spite of a slight difference in dialect, Kermit manages to translate—and censor—the other frog, so Tom challenges him to translate the other animals in the following clips. Sadly, we never find out if he can. After several noisy animal clips, we cut to a voice-over promotion of "Give a day. Get a Disney day." with the AFV theme in the background.
The next time we see the Muppets, Kermit is standing behind a handy-dandy waist-high wall that is just perfect for hiding Muppeteers, and Tom wants him to guess what happens in some clips. The first one takes place in a swamp, and Kermit accurately predicts who falls in. Next is a clip of a woman eating a plate of prawns. It stops on a shot of the woman dangling a prawn over her mouth, and before Tom can give Kermit any choices of what happens next, Pepe comes rushing on, thoroughly objecting to the video (as well he should), and he identifies the prawn on the screen as his cousin Minolo. (We've heard a lot about cousin Minolo, so it's nice to finally meet him. …Sort of.) Kermit uneasily suggests that the video is using stunt shrimp. Pepe certainly hopes so, because cousin Minolo owes him money. Meanwhile, Tom still can't begin to compete with the frog/prawn banter and is forced to talk over them as he cues the next videos.
This is about the halfway point of the show, and the only Muppets we've seen talk are Kermit and Pepe, which makes you wonder where the other Muppets are… and then we see The Electric Mayhem still groovin' a tropical tune, man, and all is right with the world. Imagine how many Muppeteers that tied up for the entire length of the show. On the other hand, they've been keeping it pretty mellow for a while now, so either they're going wild when we're not looking, or somebody slipped Animal some Prozac.
After a commercial break, Tom thinks Kermit will like the next set of videos, which are all of weddings. Kermit is instantly all nerves, which I'm pretty sure is the first time we've seen him get skittish about someone else getting married. It turns out he's right to be nervous, because Miss Piggy hears him talking about weddings, thinks he's proposing, and immediately rushes out with bouquet in hand, already wearing a veil, with the band ready to play the Wedding March. Tom and Kermit explain that they were talking about the clips, and Tom apologizes for the mix-up, wanting to make it up to Miss Piggy. She makes him an offer: head, gut, or groin? Karate-chop delivered, she flounces off stage, leaving Tom to collapse. Kermit offers Tom some sage advice, cues the videos, and calls for the medic.
Later, Tom apparently wants some refreshments to help recover from that chop, and we see him backstage wanting to know what The Swedish Chef is serving. The dishes are Chef's Surprise—pretty much a blast of confetti—and a classic serving of Swedish Meatballs in a nice throwback for the hard-core fans.
The Electric Mayhem has a quick costume change and starts playing polka. Their polka-playing skills have dramatically improved since The Muppets Take Manhattan, but that doesn't mean their tastes have changed; after playing polka for a full commercial break, Zoot looks like he's in pain. Maybe his vest is too tight?
Miss Piggy, looking gorgeous as ever, decides to join in the volunteering and tells Tom she will help bring about world peace by singing. (Clearly, she's picking up subliminal messages from the Fraggle hole at her hair dresser's.) She sings a cute little ditty to the tune of AFV's theme while Tom awkwardly squirms his way through a second Miss Piggy encounter, this time avoiding a chop.
As the show nears its end, Kermit and Tom talk to us about volunteering with another plug for "Give a day. Get a Disney day." Tom also wants us to film ourselves volunteering and send the funny stuff to the show. Kermit suggests we read to tadpoles.
When it's time for the audience to vote, Bunsen and Beaker arrive to inform Tom that voting is no longer necessary with their new Laughometer. You simply wire the audience to the machine, and it measures their laughter to determine the winner. To demonstrate how safe it is, Bunsen has Beaker wired to the machine, with the predictable but ever-hilarious results, complete with light-up eyes and smoke. The electrocuted Beaker turns to Tom for comfort while the audience votes the old-fashioned way.
After the winner has been announced, Tom hangs out with Kermit, Miss Piggy, the Swedish Chef, Bunsen and Beaker, and a couple chickens we haven't seen since the initial stampede, but Pepe is not in the shot. We then see the Electric Mayhem, now playing AFV's theme, and a new talent is revealed—Zoot plays flute! He's pretty good at it, too. We then cut back to the other Muppets and see why Pepe was running late; he changed out of that sweater-combo and back into his usual black-shirt-and-chain outfit.
This was a fantastic appearance. All of the Muppets—and their performers—were definitely in top form. Kermit's facial expressions were especially excellent, and I was very impressed by the frog/prawn banter. (By the way, try saying "frog/prawn" ten times fast…) Poor Tom really couldn't even begin to compete with the Muppets, which is probably why there were so many times that he appeared without them, and possibly why he complained about having to follow a polka number.
While The Electric Mayhem didn't have any lines, they were definitely a presence, and one that has been sorely missed. They had more costume changes than Miss Piggy, and the constant culture-switching reminded me of the opening spreads in Langridge's Muppet Show comic books, where we've seen them don berets and shake maracas. It's a nice, subtle consistency, and it shows that they're paying attention and putting in effort.
Of course, I would have loved to have seen more Muppets, but I'm an insatiable fan. Realistically, if you consider how many Muppeteers were needed at all times to perform the Mayhem, it's absolutely wonderful that we got as many additional Muppets as we did. My only real complaint is that I wish they'd cut back to Kermit to see if he could translate any of those other animal clips, especially since the last video of that set was of a pig. That's a comedic opportunity they shouldn't have missed.
Overall, I'm thrilled with the appearance. Between this and last week's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I'd say 2010 is off to quite the Muppetational start.
The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier
Jan 13, 2010
America's Funniest Home Videos Review
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