text:
The NBA lockout officially ended this evening, when the players and owners ratified the new CBA in Manhattan, and everything else has already fallen back into place: The Clippers signed Caron Butler to a $24 million deal, the Knicks lost out on an opportunity to sign a great point guard, and the Lakers won everything. Basketball is back!
ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that a three-team trade between the Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets (who are, it's worth mentioning, currently owned by the league) will send Paul to Los Angeles, where he and Kobe Bryant will presumably take over the world and Mike Brown will not be allowed to speak in the huddle all season long. Pau Gasol would go to Houston, and the Hornets would get Lamar Odom, along with "either Luis Scola or Kevin Martin, and possibly both, as well as draft picks."
And it gets more terrifying for any non-Lakers fan: If the deal goes through this way, Broussard thinks L.A. will still be able to use Andrew Bynum as the "centerpiece of a trade offer for Orlando's Dwight Howard," which would essentially give the Lakers a rebooted Kobe-Shaq duo along with the league's best point guard. It's going to be a fun season.


text:
While NASA prepares to deliver the space shuttle Discovery to its final museum home, some high-profile guests have visited the vehicle over the past few months to bid their goodbyes: the men and women who helped build the iconic space plane, and the privileged few who flew on it.
The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to fly from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Washington, D.C. atop a modified Boeing 747 aircraft on April 17, weather permitting. It will be delivered to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., to be placed on public display for posterity.
But before the orbiter departs from its soon-to-be-former Florida home port, many special visitors have come to say farewell, said Stephanie Stilson, NASA's flow director for the transition and retirement of the space shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center.
"There are a number of people who have come back for one last opportunity to sit in the seat and experience it," Stilson told SPACE.com. "Our center director, Bob Cabana, flew on Discovery multiple times, and he has gone into Discovery many times before, but he had his moment to say goodbye. Mike Coats, who is the center director at the Johnson Space Center, came by, and others too."
In February, during celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, Cabana and Glenn climbed aboard Discovery and posed for pictures on the shuttle's flight deck. [Photos: Inside Shuttle Discovery]
Glenn was a member of NASA's first astronaut class, and his Friendship 7 flight, on Feb. 20, 1962, was one of several important milestones that came out of the agency's so-called Project Mercury.
In 1998, at age 77, Glenn became the world's oldest astronaut after flying to space again on the shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission.
Cabana is a veteran of four space shuttle missions, including two flights aboard Discovery. Cabana piloted Discovery on the STS-41 mission in 1990 and the STS-53 mission in 1992.
Other current and retired astronauts have visited Discovery since the orbiter was retired from service, Stilson said, as well as engineers who have helped build and maintain the vehicles over the course of NASA's 30-year program.
"It is nice to get to share that with them one more time and hear their experiences, and share their stories of what they were able to do with these great vehicles," Stilson said.
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I stopped at Walmart today after work. I had to pick up a few things. As I was walking past the men's clothing area, something caught my eye. I noticed something weird over at a wall of t-shirts. One of the t-shirts had a design on it that looked remarkably like something related to Nazis. Specifically, the Totenkopf or "Death's Head." In other words, it looked like Walmart was selling a Nazi t-shirt.
I took a picture of it with my camera phone:
The Totenkopf
The Death's Head symbol was worn by the members of the German Nazi SS. The Totenkopf on the Walmart t-shirt looks very similar to the divisional insignia of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf. As you can see, It's almost an exact copy:
Neo-Nazis love the Totenkopf
Neo-Nazis sometimes use the Totenkopf image because it is not as easily identifiable as other Nazi symbols such as the swastika. You might see one of these tattooed on someone's arm while standing in line at Burger King and think it's just a poorly done pirate skull.
It's not.
Is Walmart purposely trying to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it? I doubt it. They won't even sell CDs with bad words on them. I doubt someone at Walmart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas decided to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it.
Whoever designed this shirt had to know the origin of the skull.


text:
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|September 26, 2008, 09:28 PM
Staff Alumnus
Join Date: October 14, 1998
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11,546
Long Range International
LRI Long Range Shooting Course:
500 Miles to nowhere. I left Ogre Ranch after 9AM... a late start... Friends and Family delayed, but quite honestly I was reluctant to leave my boys. I wanted to bring them with me.
The drive was long but not bad at all... crossing the 500 miles I went through some of the most gorgeous country I've ever seen. Oceans of grassland, dotted with Pronghorn. So many antelope that I couldn't believe it. There was a Speed Goat everywhere I looked. Most of the trip I'd see them individually, but as I moved further north east, I began seeing them in larger groups. Even a good sized group that could have numbered about a hundred. I've not seen that many in one group in almost fifteen years.
LRI is located near Lance Creek Wyoming. Now, you guys know I bust on Vernal, Utah for being a small town. Vernal is cosmopolitan compared to Lance Creek. I'll try to remember that next time I complain about the lack of good eateries in Vernal. In about a week once this is through.
LRI HQ is a simple steel building that was built in a week. Hastily done, but accommodating. Plenty of room for everyone, plenty of space. The bathroom has a door, there is a shower, urinal, toilet, sink, and there is a Washer and Drier. Everything one needs. Military bunks that could have been taken straight from Ft. Benning's Harmony Church, where I did my Boot Camp way back when. Brought back nightmares of Drill Sergeants in Campaign Hats. Luckily those nightmares did not materialize as Shep and his crew of Instructors are casual and laid back.
September gave us a cold snap so this first night, it was cold. As it would be every night of the course. All of us gathered the night before class started so we could start first thing Monday morning. We bull****ted that night, and we could see our breath while speaking. The space heaters can not keep up. This is why LRI has no scheduled winter courses. While it was chilly, it wasn't too cold. We were told to bring layering clothes for cold weather so no one was uncomfortable. If you got too cold, Shep's dog, Ruben, could come over and give you a friendly hump to warm you up.
After driving all day, everyone was just happy to be able to walk around and bull****. Most guys at there are former military, so everyone had stories to tell. Looks like a good group so we'll have a good class once in starts first thing in the morning.
Day One:
We woke up and had chow at 7:30. A great breakfast. We had some class time on the fundamentals and got damn near overwhelmed with information and mathematical formula. Because our class was small, we got through the bookwork quickly. Theory is just that until you put it into practice. Since the weather was on our side here, we decided it was time to head out to the range.
We went to the 100 yard range for zeroing. We worked some drills that I wont get into because they are LRI intellectual property. One fun training drill that I will talk about is the Colored Dot game. There are 4 colors, and rows of four in different patterns, and this was on four different target boards. You get your name called, you get a color called, and you shoot that colored dot on that row, on each target board as quickly as you can. It was a lot of fun and a good challenge.
We had a lot of discussion regarding the critical importance of tracking your cold bore shots. Lots of misinformation out there floating around the Gun Shop Commando Circuit about what a Cold Bore Shot is. What I didn't know was just how far off those CBS's can be... and the importance of tracking them. Reason being, so when you make a CBS, you know where it is going to hit. This is why you have to be consistent with your cleaning routine, because it has an effect on your CBS. Drastic effects. These effects were different for each rifle at the course. I never really thought about the CBS like this before. Another reason to keep a Data Book – for each of your rifles.
Day Two:
The food here is fantastic... Chow time isn't your normally chow hall mess. Larry is a Master Chef... a Grilling Ninja. You will not be disappointed when you drag yourself back in from the range and smell the food he's been cooking up. Hot coffee and water for Tea or Hot Chocolate was always ready and waiting.
Our days start out at the 100 yard range where we work the FBI Drill and track our CBS. Once that was done we move out to the long range course. We checked our zero at 200 yards and found where we were hitting at distance. This day was about finding our Scope Dope from 200 yards out to 600 yards and hitting at those ranges became clockwork. We discussed Max Point Blank, Wind Drift, and we worked drills between 4, 5, and 600 yards. We also worked on Sniper – Spotter Teamwork.
Day Three:
I'm eating so much good food, I feel sick. My bad knee is kicking my ass. I came to the course with a torn meniscus and ACL tendon, so moving is done with gritted teeth and Tylenol. The LRI Staff were accomodating and while I moved slower, they made sure I didn't miss anything without holding up the rest of the class. If you have some sort of health or mobility issue, LRI can still work with you so you come away knowing how to get the most from your rifle. In spite of my pain, I'm enjoying everything. CBS, FBI Drill, and we worked from 700 to 1000 yards. Once we found our scope dope for each range... yes, at this point we were already hitting at a Grand. Brilliant! Shooting at a grand, I got scope bit hard enough to cause bleeding. Jason, one of LRI's former Marine Snipers, asked me if I needed a bandaide. "**** a bandaide," I said, as I jacked another round in the chamber and hit the 1000 yard plate. This just taught me a lesson to be mindful of crawling up the stock.
Now that we can shoot, we have to push it further. To start out on the next phase, first we had to learn how to draw a Range Card. This is basically a map of your field of fire. On this you jot down your ranges to anything out there... target reference points, any identifiable features... known ranges. Also include your scope-dope for those TRP's. Makes things easier. I'll leave the details of drawing a good range card to the Masters at LRI. There is a lot more to it, and there are different kinds of range cards you can draw. While this is a standard practice for military operations, it has applications outside of the military. If you are a hunter, you can draw up range cards of your fields of fire from your favorite tree stand or hunting blind. If you are a police sniper, take the time to draw range cards from likely positions from landmarks such as roof tops or towers... having that information at your fingertips could come in very handy in the future.
While we were doing drawing our range cards, the LRI instructors removed the field markers on the rifle range, and scattered the targets around... they were no longer at known distances. 10 steel plates, numbered, and we had to estimate the ranges and jot down our estimated scope-dope for each. Then we did an evil little drill where we have to shoot each plate based on our estimates. Marine Snipers do this all the time... this is their bread and butter as Marty, one of the instructors, explained. The way you do this is with your mil dot reticle in your scope, working a math formula, and there you go. My problem is that I didn't have a Mil Dot reticle. I had the Rapid Reticle from PFI. There is a way to mil out ranges with the PFI scope – but we didn't cover this. This was the first time that my brilliant PFI RR800-1 scope became a handicap. You have to shoot a score of 80. I lead the class with an 84 on the first drill.
Day Four:
I was hoping someone would give me a Negligent Discharge and accidentally shoot me in my knee. It kept me up all night... again... We had an MRE for lunch the day before, which means I couldn't take my normal morning constitutional. Evidently I wasn't the only one. Farting was abundant. Thank goodness the wind had picked up to clear the air.
We of course did the CBS tracking with the FBI drill, worked some more unknown distance drills, and then we went out hunting.
I'll just give you the highlight reel now...
The Vehicle Assault Course. The LRI Assault Jeep is a monster. Huge tires, big cage for stand up shooting while on the move... which is perfectly legal at LRI. Not in Utah. Damn it. For this course I used my SIG 556. I rocked the course, not just hitting each target, but double or triple tapping each one – just because I was having too much fun.
Town Raiding. Six of us jumped into the LRI Assault Jeep and we went raiding prairie dog towns. Jason spotted a coyote and called out for me to shoot it. My rifle wasn't at a friendly angle and thanks to the roll bars in the Jeep, I couldn't move my gun into a better position fast enough, so Jason shot it. I didn't mind at all. It was a good shot and the coyote didn't even twitch. Matt and Shep then had to step coyote excrement as Jason posed for a photo, holding up the dead coyote. Shep clipped the ears for the bounty which is 25 bucks.
On an interesting note, calling in coyotes with commercial made calls didn't work here, but pounding around in the Assault Jeep, blasting Hard Rock, scaring wildlife in six counties evidently does. On the other hand, using these calls, Mule Deer respond with gusto. We tried to hunt coyotes... and I used a small arsenal of my best calls. Didn't call one bloody coyote in with them... but two doe Mulies came in at a dead run. Frantic, they were. They got within 20 yards of me, standing up in the open, and they just looked at me with their ears up... it was like they were saying "What!? What is it?!" They snooped around, walked past Matt and then wandered away. I've never seen that before.
Another thing I never saw before was a hawk who swooped in for a strike on a prairie dog that I was about to pull the trigger on. He swooped in and perched right there stretching his talons... magnificent bird.
Lefty-Twofer. Jason had a brutal shot which nailed a P-dog sitting in a perfect side on shot position. His bullet clipped the dog in the back of the neck and severed the spine letting the head fall forward unattached. Because I spent a lot of time rolling in Jason' Chevy in the Shotgun position – I had to shoot left handed. This proved to be a challenge, but no handicap. I made some fantastic shots. The best one was two head shots with one bullet, left handed. These little P-Dogs would be instantly turned inside out in a very violent, graphic manner. It was a horror show.
Now, this was all done shooting 55 grain V-Max bullets with my Savage .22-250 which Rob Bonacci, LRI's Armorer sorted out for me... The bloody gun could extract a fired shell, but not eject it. He fixed that. Then gave it a tiger stripe camo paint job. And he put a target crown on my carry pistol. Rob is a fantastic gunsmith who really knows his craft. If your gun has a problem, Rob will fix it.
The other students there were solid good guys. Good shooters. Travis and Chris from Magpul Dynamics, with their purpose built sniper rifles. Dimitri from LA. Matt from Min. Matt was the most improved shooter, coming in with his new hunting set up. A Weatherby Vanguard in .300 WSM topped with a Nikon Monarch BDC rifle scope. He couldn't get that gun to group at all at first... yet went away owning anything out to a 1000 yards with authority. Dimitri, man... he shot group at 1000 yards that was about 5 inches with a .308 using factory rolled ammunition... Federal Gold Match. I about fell over when I saw that. The instructors are good people... Shep, Marty, Jason, and Rob did a great job and put on a course that I will never forget. Larry with the cooking... Stan Wolfe... what can I say about Stan? The man is an institution... he is developing a new mounting system for optics on long range guns that allowed me to hit at 1100 yards – easily – in high wind. He's Old School Marine, being a Veteran of the Korean War. Stan has come out to each and every LRI course, and while not a student of the course or an instructor per say, he had a lot of wisdom he passed on to anyone who wanted to listen.
Then there is Ruben. An insane Wire-Haired Griffon... which is a hairy sort of sporting bird-dog. The floor was his territory, so don't leave anything on it... or on your bunk in easy reach... or your sleeping bag with arousing looking lumps. Because Ruben would either steal it or hump it. Including old men such as Larry and Stan. Oh, this was funny.
Ruben was easily distracted with a laser, I found. He would chase it with determination. The trick is to get him chasing a laser, then lead it under or behind the couch and turn it off to make it look like the dot was hiding. Ruben would be occupied with this for a good long time. So if you get Ruben interested in something that belongs to you... get him to hunt that laser dot and he'll leave you alone.
I had a great time at LRI and I was reluctant to leave this shooter's heaven... As the road from LRI turned back from dirt to pavement, the music on the radio changed to the news, and instantly I was back in the real world.
I look forward to going back as soon as I can.
|September 26, 2008, 09:29 PM
Staff Alumnus
Join Date: October 14, 1998
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 11,546
Gear Observations: Dimitri was a genius when he busted out elbow and knee pads... and then a saint when he let me use them to help my busted knee. I think brining knee and elbow pads is a great idea... and I would recommend bringing them. Since you spend a great deal of time in the prone, bring a pad of some sort to lay on.
The Remington XCR Compact Tactical performed very well... but it wasn't perfect. First thing I had to get done was to build up a check rest. This allowed me to be more consistent with my positioning. I had a hard time loading the 4th round in the magazine. Sometimes it would load #4 with no problem, other times, it would jam it up and you would have to dump all the rounds. The good trigger got better as the class went on.
The PFI RR800-1 scope was brilliant. I really like this scope, and I really like this rifle/scope combination. The accuracy potential is impressive. The yardage marks in the scope made hitting much easier. You still have to find your range, calculate your wind... and your scope will tell you where to hold for the shot. Because you zero this scope for 100 yards, and the one hundred yard line is so high, it is a little different holding the gun on that mark... you naturally want to hold for 400 yards, the center of the reticle. But don't do it... hold where PFI suggests and you will be DNO... Dead Nuts On. That is, you will be DNO if you bring ammunition that falls within PFI's suggested performance range. Unfortunately I brought the wrong ammo for the task at hand. I brought with me Winchester Super-X 150 grain cartridges. Here is what I learned. The rate of twist is not good for 150 grainers and Winchester Super-X loads are inconsistently loaded. This is a statement that I make in the same tone as saying getting kicked in the balls hurt. It's not just obvious, to you, but it's obvious to all those around you. The ballistic coefficient of these soft points are horrible. They have roughly the same drag as a Pontiac Aztec with the parking brake on. They bleed energy to the point that after about 500 yards, the bullets hardly any mark on the steel plates we were shooting at. You will want to use heavier bullets, and you will want those loads to be Match Grade... regardless of weapon or caliber. If you can't get Match ammunition, get the next best thing.... and by that I mean not ammunition from Remington or any Winchester White or Silver boxes. Get Hornady. If not Hornady TAP, then Hornady Custom. If you can't get Hornady, then Black Hills. If you can't get Black Hills, then get Federal Premium or Federal Fusion. These rounds have higher BC's than others, and more importantly are loaded more consistently. Don't skimp on your ammo, get the best you can. Not just that, but get a lot of it. I went through damn near 400 rounds. That's a lot. If you reload, pay extra attention to your loading and craft each cartridge with the utmost attention to detail, using the best components... and make sure they work in your set up.
While, the ammunition that I used was different from PFI's suggestion, The PFI scope worked quite well. At 100 yards, I zeroed for the 100 yard mark. At 200 yards, the scope was DNO. At 300 yards, this is where the ballistics departed from PFI's ranges and to hit at 300 I held for 250 yards. So I found my Dope for 300. I wrote that down in my data book.
Did I mention your data book? Bring a new one to this class... and consider starting from scratch if you already have one you are working on. Because the cats at LRI are going to give you more information that you are going to want to track. Go to staples and get a small spiral bound note pad, a good pen, and a mechanical pencil for drawing range cards.
LRI showed us a few interesting things. One being, scope failures. We had a number of scopes **** the bed at the LRI course. We had a Burris crap out on one individual. We had two Leupold Mk IV Tacticals go down. I had a Leupold Vari-X III fail me... luckily it was zeroed when it stopped adjusting so it's stuck... but where I needed it anyways. So I'll deal with that later. Does this mean Burris and Leupold scopes wont hold up? Not hardly. Anecdotal evidence is just observations regarding one scope on one gun and you don't know what may have happened to the scope before the failure. I have seen these scopes on other guns go through hell and back. Eventually, every scope will fail. That's just going to happen. It's only a matter of time. My Vari-X III is an ancient early example of the breed. It's been fired more than any scope should have to endure.. and it's still shooting. Hell, I killed 4 prairie dogs with it on my lunch break after I zeroed another gun. One thing that can lead to an early failure of a scope, is improperly mounting. The rings and scope have to be aligned perfectly or you get uneven pressure and stress through the tube. There are lots of very subtle factors at play here... but they amplify each other during recoil. Another thing that can lead to a failure is environmental stresses. Are you leaving your scoped rifle in your trunk during the heat of the day, then shooting the hell out of it? Do you thing that scope will live a long life like that? We can't control the process of manufacture or the quality control that went in to your individual scope... but we can control how we treat it. Your scoped rifle is a precision instrument... you have to treat it as such.
Photos from the course can be found here:
|September 27, 2008, 10:45 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: December 18, 2006
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 1,902
Thanks for the review. Since I've gotten a job that allows me a little free time, I have been really eyeballin' his shooting class. In speaking to LRI on forums, he seems like a real nice guy, so I would only assume his colleagues are as well. Seems like your experience confirms that. This is definitely one experience on my "to do" list. As soon as my wife gets out of school, I might make my way up there.
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LMFAO Talk 'Joke Band' Status, Skrillex + Living in Home of 'Wonderland' Murders
LMFAO are just as famous for their goofy onstage antics as they are for their catchy-as-double-hockey-sticks hits. It's hard to even fathom where some of their more out there ideas come from (like, say, a dancing neon zebra), but the hip-pop duo revealed their biggest influences and interests, as well as the philosophies they swear by, in a new interview.
In a chat with the New York Times, Redfoo did most of the talking. Redfoo was born Stefan Gordy and is the son of Motown mogul Berry Gordy — a link that he says played a huge role in his approach to music.
"The same reason why we're doing music is the same reason why Motown did: to make the world a better place and to make people happy," Redfoo said. "The main message is, just have a good time."
The band doesn't believe they're a "joke band," despite their lighthearted attitudes and performances. Sky Blu wasn't bothered by the misconception, telling the Times, "I don't think it bothers me. We're just funny people that make music seriously."
Redfoo expounded with a comparison to legendary mockumentary 'This Is Spinal Tap.' "A joke band is making fun of bands. When I hear that stuff, I'm like, they just don't see what it really is," he said. "There are bands that make parodies of being in a band, like Spinal Tap. That's a big influence. They're making fun of a rock band, but they write lyrics that are better than real rock bands," Redfoo added. "And Tenacious D: They're funny, and I don't think they're making fun of bands. Even Steel Panther, who are inspirations to us, they're kind of like doing a whole hair-metal thing, but these dudes are really talented."
Someone else they think is talented? Dubstep king Skrillex. "I met him at a Steve Aoki party," Redfoo said of asymmetrically-styled DJ. "His first EP hit, and it was like, what is this sound? What is this growling? This is so hard, but then it's so beautiful," he gushed. "That was the thing with Skrillex: It can be so beautiful, and then it can go so raw, kind of like System of a Down."
Redfoo also talked about living with Sky Blu for a bit. Apparently Sky, who's also his nephew, is a pretty easy roomie to have. "I had an apartment, and he used to sleep on the floor, and he was pretty good. If he used a sleeping bag, he'd tidy it up," Redfoo said. Then he revealed something spooky. "Then we moved into the house. We call it the Wonderland house. It was the real house where the Wonderland murders took place," Redfoo said.
For those unaware, the Wonderland murders and the Wonderland house have a pretty sinister history, culminating with four murders in 1981 that were suspected to be by a porn star's hand. You can check out the details of the case here.
"We didn't know it at first," Redfoo said of their home's prior tenants. "The house was $2,500 a month; we were like, 'Score!'" So did it freak them out? Not necessarily, but they still took some precautions. "I don't really believe in the supernatural, as far as the negativity," Redfoo said. "Our parents were upset and scared. We saged the house." (Saging is a method some spiritualists use to cleanse houses of negative energy.)
One thing the 'Sorry for Party Rocking' duo does believe in? 'The Secret.' "I would say it's even stronger than a belief; to me it's hard-wired as science, as a fact," Redfoo said of the positive thinking guide. "We do it every day: whatever you imagine, whatever you think about it, what you're drawn to is what you attract in your life. If you're thinking about making a hit song, and you think I want everybody in the world to love it, then you kind of make it up, and you do it."
Watch the LMFAO 'Sorry for Party Rocking' Video


text:
|Why is the ocean blue?
|Blue Whale
|Pacific Ocean
|I can see the tracing blue of your just beneath the surface
|How to destroy the world using a spaceship and an elephant
|The Ocean
|Arctic Ocean
|Jacques Cousteau
|Glee! the great storm is over!
|As I Ebb'd with the Ocean of Life
|Atlantic Ocean
|Day at the Beach
|The ocean will one day give up its dead
|Thermohaline circulation
|Can you hear me knocking?
|Foster's Lager
|Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
|Rosy fingered dawn
|Herbs to get in touch with the element of water
|Ariane 5
|The Weeping Cherry
|Gotta get out


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NOTE: Blimey! is no longer being updated. Please visit http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com for the latest updates about my comics work.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Dandy adventure strips
The world's longest running comic The Dandy is 70 years old any day now. Issue No.1 was cover dated 4th December 1937, which means it would have been in the shops a few days before that.
A proper history and tribute to the comic would take more time and reference than I have, so as a nod of respect to the first comic I ever had (and which helped me learn to read) I just want to focus on a period in the mid 1960s. In particular the adventure strips that appeared in The Dandy at that time.
Adventure strips have been absent from the pages of The Dandy for quite a long time now, with the exception of Robin Hood reprints and the rather lighthearted Comet series, both last seen a few years ago. Apparently today's readers prefer total slapstick fun, but 40-odd years ago myself and many others eagerly looked forward to every Monday's installment of the latest serial, just as much as we enjoyed Desperate Dan or Corporal Clott.
There are four serials in particular that I'm going to spotlight here. There were far more than that over The Dandy's long history, but these four were the ones that I encountered as a child and are the ones I'm most familiar with.
The Crimson Ball: Dandy Nos. 1144 (29.10.1963) to 1174 (23.5.1964) Artwork by Jack Glass.
Having started reading The Dandy from January 1964 I came into this strip almost halfway through its run. Yet the impact of the bizarre premise hooked me immediately. The story concerned a mysterious large red sphere, apparently indestructible, which bounded into airfields to smash up our military aircraft. As the story progressed we learned that the ball was controlled by an swarthy masked enemy agent sitting inside the object (known only as "the master of the Crimson Ball" and his country of origin never revealed). Schoolboy Peter Jones took it upon himself to try and trap or sabotage the Ball, aided by the authorities.
The Red Wrecker: Dandy Nos.1190 (12.9.1964) to 1205(26.12.1964) Artwork by Charlie Grigg.
Helping his Dad in the garden, schoolboy Bobby Wilson opens a packet of seeds "with foreign words on it" and the wind blows them onto the garden. Huge red cacti immediately shoot, causing chaos and destruction. The situation worsens when it develops that a mysterious stranger is sowing the same sort of seeds all across town. Bobby, who accidentally discovers the formula for the only weed killer that can destroy the plants, becomes involved in the mission to stop the Red Wrecker and the "master criminal" behind it.
This particularly dynamic two page spread appeared in The Red Wrecker story from The Dandy Book published in 1964:
The Stinging Swarm: Dandy Nos.1224 (8.5.1965) to 1254 (4.12.1965) artwork by Jack Glass.
A gang of crooks with bee-keepers veils affixed to their hats use a swarm of bees with paralysing stings to help them commit robberies. The bees would appear in the unlikeliest of places; swarming out of pillar boxes or into cinemas, to temporarily paralyse their victims. Jack Glass' art, always fairly stiff but strangely appealing, was perfect to show people frozen in mid-run. Again, a schoolboy becomes the only person able to stop the menace because he's the one person the swarm avoid. Why? The final chapter revealed all; the bees didn't like his home-made hair oil!
The Umbrella Men: Dandy Nos.1255 (11.12.1965) to 1290 (13.8.1966) Artwork by Charlie Grigg.
A gang of crooks set out to rob and plunder, but these aren't ordinary bandits. Dressed like city gents in pinstripes and bowlers, the crooks zoom into action using their jet-propelled umbrellas! In this serial, Toby Judd is the schoolboy who sets out to thwart the villains, and he's aided by Gypsy boy Armand Lengro who has a radio that can tune into the bandit's frequency.
What all of these strips had in common was that the hero was always a schoolboy. Not surprising, as The Dandy's readership were mainly boys of that age. However, looking beyond that we see that although all four strips were totally different, they each share a similar tone; that of everyday objects becoming something menacing. A ball, a plant, bees, and umbrellas; all familiar to The Dandy's young readership but given a sinister twist to make them objects of mass panic. DC Thomson scriptwriters were always very good at creating a scenario the kids could relate to, even in fantastic situations such as these.
Curiously, The Beano in this same period had a completely different approach to its adventure strips. General Jumbo, The Iron Fish, The Q-Bikes, and Billy the Cat for example were all about children using technology or abilities to help people. The threats in those four Beano strips were comparatively minor; small time crooks, bullies, escaped zoo animals etc. Over in The Dandy, the heroes were ordinary children with no special abilities or gadgets, facing threats to the entire city from technology and science gone wild. While The Beano was showing how technology could be beneficial, The Dandy was showing it to be a threat. (Admittedly at the start of the sixties The Beano ran the serial The Great Flood of London, - recently reprinted in Classics from the Comics, - but for the most part The Beano of the sixties was fairly tame in its adventure strip subject matter.)
I must admit it was always The Dandy's adventure strips that appealed to me more than The Beano's gimmicky heroes. The increased threat-level and bizarre situations of The Red Wrecker and The Stinging Swarm, with always one boy fighting overwhelming threats to the city, seemed to me to be more heroic than Jumbo Johnson using his army of remote controlled toy soldiers to subdue a bully. Sadly, neither Dandy or Beano publish adventure strips now, (with the exception of the odd annual strip) but they'll always remain exciting memories for those of us who were there at the time.
With thanks to The Dandy Monster Index by Ray Moore for the information on issue numbers.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Black Dossier, grey market
Shhhh. Anarchists Moore and O'Neill produce new book The Black Dossier. Book tells secret history of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. How characters from "fiction" engaged in covert activities unknown to us. Dossier contain many surprises: suppressed Fifties comic The Trump; unfinished Shakespeare play Faeries Fortunes Founded; The New Adventures of Fanny Hill; Billy Bunter? Jimmy Bond? Jane? Yes maybe cannot say. Sex very literate. Story nice and meaty like pie cooling on windowsill. 3-D climax, free specs enclosed. Etcetera, etcetara. Much more than just a comic book. Book not allowed in UK but book so good you have to buy. Get Uncle Sam to send you one or buy from cyberwebs or man in mac in alleyway. Top secret. State Secret. Thinking about this book is a THOUGHTCRIME. Looking at these secret photos is an EYECRIME. Look with eyes shut or Big Brother will confiscate your retinas. This information is INFOCRIME. Turn yourselves in.
Normal service resumes next blog.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Flashback 1969: TV21 & Joe 90 No.1
One of the few items I bought at the Memorabilia Show yesterday was issue No.1 of TV21 & Joe 90, a comic I originally had in 1969 but sold years ago considering it not very good. True, by this time TV21 was past its best (and would deteriorate even more before its closure in 1971) but the comic still contained some worthwhile material.
By 1969, City Magazines' would-be mini-empire of tv comics had crumbled. The perfunctory but far from awesome TV Tornado and Solo had long gone, and Joe 90 Top Secret was merged into TV21 after just 34 issues. Apparently Joe 90 was selling better than TV21 but lost out to the older title, presumably because the publisher felt that "TV21" had more longevity as the name of a comic. This would explain why the content and tone of the merged comic was more like Joe 90 than TV21. Gone was the faux-futuristic cover date of 2069 and the pro-Gerry Anderson theme. The revamped TV21 & Joe 90 was now a traditional tv adventure comic.
Publication of the first issue had been delayed for two weeks (due to a strike perhaps?) and the original cover date of 13th September 1969 was blacked out, and printed below was the new date of 27th September 1969. Football now dominated the cover (thankfully replaced by artwork reflecting the strips with issue 4) in a misjudged attempt to appeal to a wider readership. (Those readers would soon defect to IPC's new Shoot! footie magazine.) There was also a price rise, from 7d to 8d, and the first strip inside was a two page football story Forward from the Back Streets; a rags to riches tale more suitable to The Hornet. Could things get any worse for fans of the "old" TV Century 21?
However the rest of the comic still held some interest for regular readers. The merger had brought Land of the Giants and Star Trek to TV21, both illustrated in full colour by Gerry Haylock and Harry Lindfield respectively. In many cases the scripts for LotG were better than those of the Irwin Allen tv series, but the Star Trek strip never seemed to quite attain the wit or sophistication of the tv show.
Don Lawrence, one of the most skilled comic artists in British comics, illustrated The Adventures of Tarzan on pages six and seven. A simple complete story in which Tarzan rightfully beats up a big game hunter and rescues a lion from "a lonely heart-broken life behind bars".
Another complete story, Meet The Saint, followed, with Vicente Alcazar providing the artwork for an uninspiring Simon Templar story.
The Joe 90 strip itself only took up a page and a half in black and white, drawn by Michael Strand. (Suggesting that Star Trek and Land of the Giants had been more popular than Joe 90 Top Secret's lead strip.)
TV21's major asset, Thunderbirds was still on board for the merger, although now relegated to just one page. However, it was still drawn by Frank Bellamy, albeit with a much more pedestrian layout that readers had come to expect of him. Clearly things were afoot, - a budget cut presumably, - and Bellamy left a few issues later, the strip turned to black and white, and John Cooper stepped in as replacement.
By coincidence the facing page to the Thunderbirds strip featured an ad for Letraset Action Transfers, - also illustrated by Bellamy! As we know, comics needed Bellamy more than he needed comics as he could always find work outside of the genre on ads such as these, or artwork for the Radio Times, etc.
Issue one of TV21 & Joe90 ended with the humour strip The Kid King, written and drawn by ex-animator Roy Davis. His style was very simplistic but suitable for adding a lighter balance to the comic. (Roy Davis would later produce numerous scripts for IPC and Fleetway. Although his "scripts" were always done as pencil roughs. He provided many of the scripts for The Vampire Brats, a strip I drew for Buster in the 1990s.)
On the back page of issue one was an ad for Sugar Smacks, included here purely for nostalgic reasons. Sugar Smacks (Kellogg's version of Sugar Puffs) featured promotions like this throughout the sixties, with the box design changing to reflect whatever children's tv show was popular at the time. (Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, and Joe 90 had each featured previously.)
All in all, though a far cry from its 1965-69 heyday, TV21 & Joe 90 was still a reasonably good comic, and much more mature than some of the dumbed-down tv titles of today. However, the comic was doomed. Soon to lose its license to produce Gerry Anderson strips, the comic fell from tabloid to standard format in 1970, added a bunch of non-tv related strips, and merged into Valiant in 1971. But by that time, a new tv adventure comic had arrived, Countdown, which was out to gain TV21's lost readers. More on that here.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Memorabilia Show
There's another Memorabilia Show at the NEC this weekend and I attended today's event. These shows have been running successfully since 1994 and never fail to draw huge crowds. Originally just a "table top" event of dealers selling collectible wares, the shows have expanded over the years to include star guests from film and tv, available to sign autographs (for a price) and chat with the fans. In recent times a stage area has also been added, so that guests can be interviewed and take part in a question and answer session. (An excellent alternative to standing in line to meet the actors.)
Comic creators also often guest at the shows, although there weren't so many in attendance this time. There also seemed to be less people selling comics, although comics have never dominated the events. The very first Memorabilia Show had a variety of collectibles, including beermats, old newspapers, and tin toys, but now its settled into more of a cult memorabilia event. Movie-related merchandise seems to be in the majority, and there's also a recent inclusion of sporting memorabilia on display (and guests from the world of sport).
If you've never attended a Memorabilia Show it's worth going along, even for a browse. Taking place in one of the huge halls at the NEC, the event runs 24th-25th November. Admission price £11 per adult. Next event: 29th/30th March 2008.
Here's a few photos from today's show. As always, click on the pics to see them full size:
Above: Comic artists Andrew Wildman and Mike Collins hard at work all day selling sketches for the very worthy Draw the World Together charity.
A classic Dalek wanders around the hall. Always good to see Daleks having a break from conquering the universe to shop early for Christmas, but they're so commonplace at these events now that people pass by nonchalantly.
Actor John Schneider (Smallville, Dukes of Hazard) interviewed on stage.
John's website: http://www.johnschneider.tv
Actor Greg Grunberg (Alias, Heroes) prepares to sign autographs for fans.
Mike McLean, proprietor of Aberdeen's Asylum Books and Games with his stall display of superhero statues and busts. Mike also sells comics online, so visit his website for details.
British filmmaker Neil Marshall, director of Dog Soldiers and The Descent is interviewed about his upcoming movie Doomsday.
For a price, attendees could be turned into zombies or "disfigured" with scars thanks to the skills of a professional make up artist on the Gorezone magazine stand. Must be a bit embarrassing on the train journey home.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Nemi collection hits the UK
Visiting my local Waterstones yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see Titan Books have recently launched the first UK volume of Nemi strips by Norwegian cartoonist Lise Myhre. A surprise because Amazon and Titan's own website states the publication date to still be several months away (March 2008). Hopefully this quiet release won't affect sales too much, as Nemi has the potential to be as huge a hit as it is in Norway.
Goth chick Nemi Montoya first appeared in the Norwegian comic Larsons Gale Verden in 1999, a 44 page monthly reprinting Gary Larson's Far Side strip along with other American strips such as Dilbert and originated Norwegian material. (Such collections of newspaper strips are very popular in Norway and Sweden.) At the time Norwegian comics were undergoing something of a renaissance and Nemi (pronounced "Nemmi" by the way, rhymes with semi, not "Neemi" as some think) was a strip that appealed perfectly to the cool young adult readership and to the growing Goth culture. Not that Lise had manufactured it that way, but because the character was created from the heart. Nemi Montoya was a character who refused to reject the childlike wonder of life but who also had an astute view of the world, resulting in a strip with streetwise wisdom and real laugh out loud moments.
Nemi's success was amazing to behold, but not unexpected. The strip appeared daily in one of Norway's top newspapers Dagbladet, (and is now in 60 newspapers worldwide). The popularity of the strip soon saw 32 page softback collections of Nemi strips, then a monthly Nemi comic followed (mainly featuring Nemi strips plus other material chosen by Lise, including reprints of EC comics, Liberty Meadows, Lenore, and others). Lise herself, a thoughtful, articulate and genuinely funny person, appeared in numerous tv and media interviews, crowds of comic fans would thunder towards her panel interviews at the annual Raptus conventions, and she was voted "third sexiest woman in Norway" in Mann magazine in 2002. A true comics superstar with the celebrity status only enjoyed by a few.
From when I first saw Nemi on a trip to Norway in 1999 I thought it would be perfect for a UK audience and although I can't speak Norwegian I made a point of picking up the Nemi comic on every subsequent trip. Lise made a few black and print outs of some translated strips for her English speaking friends, but regular Nemi was what we needed. A few years ago the free UK newspaper Metro began to run translated Nemi strips on a daily basis, and they can be read online here: http://www.metro.co.uk/nemi
Titan's Nemi collection takes the exact same format as the Norwegian hardback Nemi books and as such is perhaps the most impressive book that Titan have released so far. With 144 pages in full colour, the contents are a mixture of gag strips, the 15 page Free and Fearless story from 2001, various Nemi covers (proving Lise's impressive design talents), and a short interview with Lise. Priced at just £9.99 this is great value.
Interestingly, the book's cover (a piece drawn in 2002 for one of the early softbacks, seen below, left) is censored for Titan's version (below, right), - Nemi's cigarette has been deleted. (Although she is shown smoking in the interior strips.)
Hopefully, Nemi will be available to buy online soon, once the "March 2008" date is rectified. Until then, if your local bookshops don't have it in stock, give them the order details ISBN-10: 1845765869 or according to Metro, "Metro readers can buy the Nemi book at a special price of £8.99 including P&P (RRP £9.99) by calling 0870 423 0682".
Above: Lise Myhre in 2003 at the Raptus comics festival in Bergen, Norway.
Interviews with Lise Myhre:
UPDATE: As if by magic, hours after this blog appeared Titan have updated their info and the book is now available to buy directly from them online:
Monday, November 19, 2007
More Fifties classics from Marvel
The ever-reliable and informative Marvel Masterworks Resource Page has recently announced that late February will see the publication of the second volume of an Atlas Era Heroes book. This 240 page hardback will reprint the controversial Captain America "Commie Smasher" stories from the 1950s (which, in a bit of revisionist history in 1972, Marvel claimed featured a Captain America impostor). Other stories from the same period will include the Human Torch and Bill Everett Sub-Mariner strips.
Whilst Marvel's Sixties strips have been reprinted countless times, their 1950s material hasn't had nearly as much exposure. Recent years have rectified this oversight and Atlas Era Heroes Volume 2 will be the fifth book in a steadily growing line of Fifties collections.
Previous volumes in this series are Atlas Era Heroes Volume 1, Atlas Era Tales To Astonish, Atlas Era Tales of Suspense, and, most recently, Atlas Era Strange Tales which reprinted pre-code horror comics. (Although Marvel Comics of the Fifties have become known as Atlas Comics, "Atlas" was only the name of the distributor. The company was still Timely Comics back then.)
Although arguably not as mature in tone as the EC Comics of the 1950s, these comics are still worth a look as they contain artwork by some of the finest comic artists of the period. The aforementioned Bill Everett is there, as are Joe Maneely, and early John Romita amongst others. The stories themselves range from the mundane to the bizarre, but they all display a firm grasp of telling a short complete story clearly and tidily, with an emphasis on plot rather than soap-style relationships. A skill that seems forgotten in most US comics today.
Some of these strips were reprinted in Britain in the 1950s, in long-forgotten black and white L.Miller comics, but in these quality volumes the strips appear in their original context, in chronological order (not that it matters for these are complete stories) and in full colour. The books can be expensive, but with the current weak dollar against the pound, it's often worthwhile looking up comics dealers on eBay.com to buy them directly from the USA. Even with a charge of around $11 airmail postage it still often works out cheaper than buying them from UK outlets.
UPDATE: As can be seen from the samples below, the reprints seem to be very faithful to the originals. The Human Torch page on the left is from Young Men No.24, compared to the restored version on the right from Atlas Era Heroes Vol.1. - and in case you were wondering about the somewhat camp title of the comic, nothing could be further from the truth. Back then, comics with titles such as Young Men and, I kid you not, magazines called Man to Man and Man's Action were considered to be tough-sounding titles for "real men"!
And here, on the left, is the original cover of Strange Tales No.8 (taken from the excellent http://www.atlastales.com website, - a place all comic fans should visit) compared to the reprint version from Atlas Era Strange Tales on the right:
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Comic oddities: Tarkan
Unlike today, with comic racks in High Street shops dominated by pre-school magazines by the major publishers, the 1970s saw an assortment of comics come and go from a variety of publishers, large and small. One of the shortest lived oddities was Tarkan, launched in late February 1973 from Simavi Publishing Ltd.
Tarkan was a reprint of a popular Turkish comic written and drawn by Sezgin Burak. The title character was a warrior in Atilla the Hun's army, "the great hero of the Turks" who fought the Romans. The weekly British comic featured just 16 pages, half the length of a 32 page IPC comic, but all in full colour (albeit flat and slightly off-register colour). Most UK comics at that time would be mostly black and white, but Tarkan's flimsy format still made it look poor value in comparison.
The storytelling technique was unsophisticated but slightly more adult than the usual fare British readers would be used to. Tarkan beds a woman at the end of issue one, although the English translated caption states that "Gently Tarkan pushed her away, for he had come on a mission of hate, not love". Presumably it was a completely different scenario in the original Turkish text, as the couple are both (discreetly) naked in the next moment.
According to the late Denis Gifford's Complete Catalogue of British Comics the comic only ran for 34 issues in the UK. I must admit I gave up on it after issue one, although that was more to do with the style being unfamiliar than the quality of the comic. At 13 one is less willing to give unusual comics a chance unfortunately, and given Tarkan's short run, I'm guessing most kids of my generation felt the same.
However, in its native Turkey Tarkan is apparently hugely popular. From briefly researching the character I found that the series began there in 1967 and featured in 21 magazines with a total of 15 adventures. (The one that ran in the UK weekly, the undramatic sounding Mario's Pigeons being the fifth adventure it seems.)
From 1969 the character was also adapted into a series of films with scripts written by Burak. YouTube currently has the 1971 film Tarkan, Viking Kani (Viking Blood). "Cheap and cheerful" would be one description. Here's a clip (best viewed with Firefox or Safari browsers):
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Dan Dare returns? He's been back for five years!
The imminent arrival of Virgin Comics' new Dan Dare monthly continues to excite journalists in the national press, as this recent article in The Independent shows. All good publicity for the new comic, but I'm yet to see a national newspaper or tv feature mention the fact that Dan Dare has been around in brand new adventures for the past five years!
Proof of this is the latest issue of Spaceship Away which thudded through my letterbox this morning. Produced under official license from the Dan Dare Corporation it contains new Dan Dare stories produced by several artists, one of which being Don Harley, one of the original illustrators on the strip when it was in Eagle back in the 1950s. If that isn't a respectable pedigree to classify the Spaceship Away strips as "proper" Dan Dare then I don't know what is. (Admittedly the current issue only features one page drawn by Don, as he had other commitments, but he has produced several pages for previous issues. Besides, the replacement artist, Tim Booth, does a meticulous job of getting it right. This is indeed classic Dan Dare.)
Spaceship Away doesn't have the mega-bucks of Richard Branson's Virgin empire behind it. The thrice-yearly comic magazine is published by lifelong Dan Dare fan Rod Barzilay and after shelling out a license fee to the Dan Dare Corporation and a print bill for the luxurious glossy printing (plus other costs) I doubt it breaks even. Under the circumstances you'd think the Dan Dare Corporation might give Spaceship Away a plug when they're interviewed for the national media, (after all, this is a mag that has kept their property alive for several years) but if they do give it a mention it doesn't seem to make it into print.
Therefore expect to see more media gushing over the "return" of Dan Dare throughout this month, with journalists not bothering to shatter the myth by mentioning Spaceship Away. Most media articles on the Virgin comic so far haven't even mentioned that Dan Dare will only be available in the UK in comic shops or subscription.... just the same availability as Spaceship Away in other words.
Speaking of which, subscriptions to Spaceship Away are available from their official website:
Ignored by the national press and unfortunately not likely to excite superhero fanboys, Spaceship Away needs all the support it can get. It definitely deserves it. With 44 full colour pages every issue and professional quality artwork, the comic magazine should be essential reading for anyone who claims to miss the heyday of the traditional UK adventure comic.
My blog regarding the previous issue, which came out in July, can be read here.
Proof of this is the latest issue of Spaceship Away which thudded through my letterbox this morning. Produced under official license from the Dan Dare Corporation it contains new Dan Dare stories produced by several artists, one of which being Don Harley, one of the original illustrators on the strip when it was in Eagle back in the 1950s. If that isn't a respectable pedigree to classify the Spaceship Away strips as "proper" Dan Dare then I don't know what is. (Admittedly the current issue only features one page drawn by Don, as he had other commitments, but he has produced several pages for previous issues. Besides, the replacement artist, Tim Booth, does a meticulous job of getting it right. This is indeed classic Dan Dare.)
Spaceship Away doesn't have the mega-bucks of Richard Branson's Virgin empire behind it. The thrice-yearly comic magazine is published by lifelong Dan Dare fan Rod Barzilay and after shelling out a license fee to the Dan Dare Corporation and a print bill for the luxurious glossy printing (plus other costs) I doubt it breaks even. Under the circumstances you'd think the Dan Dare Corporation might give Spaceship Away a plug when they're interviewed for the national media, (after all, this is a mag that has kept their property alive for several years) but if they do give it a mention it doesn't seem to make it into print.
Therefore expect to see more media gushing over the "return" of Dan Dare throughout this month, with journalists not bothering to shatter the myth by mentioning Spaceship Away. Most media articles on the Virgin comic so far haven't even mentioned that Dan Dare will only be available in the UK in comic shops or subscription.... just the same availability as Spaceship Away in other words.
Speaking of which, subscriptions to Spaceship Away are available from their official website:
Ignored by the national press and unfortunately not likely to excite superhero fanboys, Spaceship Away needs all the support it can get. It definitely deserves it. With 44 full colour pages every issue and professional quality artwork, the comic magazine should be essential reading for anyone who claims to miss the heyday of the traditional UK adventure comic.
My blog regarding the previous issue, which came out in July, can be read here.
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Council will Review Issues Related to Native American Participation in USDA Farm Programs
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2012--Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the appointment of members to the Council for Native American Farming and Ranching, a committee created to advise him on ways to eliminate barriers to participation for Native American farmers and ranchers. The Council is being appointed as part of the Keepseagle settlement.
"The Council for Native American Farming and Ranching will help Native governments, businesses, farmers and ranchers and tribal governments partner with USDA to create jobs, drive economic growth and strengthen tribal communities," Vilsack said.
Keepseagle v. Vilsack was a lawsuit alleging that USDA discriminated against Native American farmers and ranchers in the way it operated its farm loan program. The Obama Administration worked to settle the lawsuit in 2010 and the settlement was subsequently approved by the court.
The Council will suggest changes to Farm Service Agency (FSA) regulations and also provide internal guidance or propose measures that would promote the participation of Native American farmers and ranchers in all other USDA programs and support government-to-government relations between USDA and tribal governments. The Council is a discretionary advisory committee established under the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, in furtherance of the settlement agreement.
Those appointed to the Council include:
Gilbert Harrison, Rancher, (Navajo Nation), Shiprock, N.M.
Henry Holder, Farmer/Rancher, (Choctaw Nation), Soper, Okla.
Michael Jandreau, Tribal Chairman, (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) Lower Brule, SD
Gerald Lunak, Natural Resources Director, (Blackfeet Nation), Cut Bank, Mont.
Jerry McPeak, Farmer/Rancher and State Legislator, (Muscogee Nation), Warner, Okla.
Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk, Inc., (Winnebago Tribe of Neb.), Winnebago, Neb.
Angela Sandstol, Natural Resources and Conservation official, (Native Tribe of Tyonek), Tyonek, Alaska
Edward Soza, Farmer/Rancher, (Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians), Banning, Calif.
Mary Thompson, Farmer/Rancher, (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Cherokee, N.C.
Sarah Vogel, Civil Rights Attorney and former Agricultural Commissioner for North Dakota, Bismarck, N.D.
Mark Wadsworth, Natural Resources/Range Management, (Shoshone-Bannock Tribes), Blackfoot, Idaho
Four (4) USDA officials are also appointed to the Council:
Dr. Joe Leonard, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights;
Janie Simms Hipp (Chickasaw Nation), Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Tribal Relations;
Bruce Nelson, Administrator, Farm Service Agency;
Chris Beyerhelm, Director, Farm Loan Programs, Farm Service Agency;
Members of the Council are appointed for two-year terms by the Secretary. The appointees include: Native American (American Indian and Alaska Native) farmers or ranchers; representatives of nonprofit organizations that work with Native farmers and ranchers; civil rights professionals; educators; tribal elected leaders; senior USDA officials; and other persons the Secretary deems appropriate.
The Council will hold its first meeting this summer. It will work with the Office of Tribal Relations, the FSA, and other USDA agencies to improve the success of Native farmers and ranchers who access USDA's entire portfolio of programs to build and achieve profitability in their businesses. Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, USDA is addressing civil rights concerns that go back decades, and today's announcement of the appointment of the Council for Native American Farming and Ranching is another step toward achieving that effort.
The Council for Native American Farming and Ranching will provide guidance that will ensure that all Native American eligible applicants for USDA programs are served in an equal and fair manner. It will enable USDA to enhance business opportunities for Native American farmers and ranchers, tribal governments and the tribal communities they serve, and those interested in improving tribal economies through food and agriculture production.
Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, USDA has instituted a comprehensive plan to strengthen the Department as a model service provider and to ensure that every farmer and rancher is treated equally and fairly as part of "a new era of civil rights" at USDA. He and President Obama have made it a priority to resolve all of the past civil rights cases facing the Department, and today's announcement is another major step towards achieving that goal. In February 2010, the Secretary announced the Pigford II settlement with African American farmers, and in October 2010, he announced the Keepseagle settlement with Native American farmers. Meanwhile, Secretary Vilsack continues to advocate for resolution of all remaining claims of past discrimination against USDA.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).


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This is a great dessert that I adapted (sort of) from a recipe in The Best of America's Test Kitchen, which by the way, is my current favorite cook book. I love the science behind the process. These test chefs develop recipes, try out products, taste ingredients, and mess with cooking utensils until they come up with the right mixture using the right cookware. Then they fill us in on assorted tips and tricks for culinary success, so we don't have to bang ourselves over the head with a rolling pin when a cake falls or the fish buckles. Yikes! I'm glad they do all this testing and retesting so the rest of us can sit back and take credit for wonderful treats. Keep in mind that The Test Kitchen isn't gluten-free, but nobody's perfect. And we can adjust for that.
I served these cool and refreshing Key lime treats on Christmas Eve during a full-blown Colorado snowstorm. Key lime, as in the Florida Keys. You know, warm and sultry. Not
Arctic and frosty. Oh well, no one complained as they're rich, sweet, and slightly tarty. And that's a nice combination, wouldn't you agree?
See below for photos I took at my house and just a few blocks from downtown Golden, Colorado on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after. See – it's been cold and snowy around here.
The outhouse? Oh that. Hey, everyone has priorities and mine happens to be a fancy KitchenAid built-in double oven with convection options. We all have to make choices.
Key lime treats
what you need
2 cups finely pulsed gluten-free graham cracker crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
4 tablespoons brown sugar
5 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons grated lime zest *
pinch of salt
2 cans (14 ounces each) sweetened condensed milk *
2 large egg yolks
1 cup Key lime or fresh lime juice *
what you do
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing the extra foil to hang over the edges of each side of the pan so you can lift out the baked Key lime treats. That way they don't stick to the pan. Lightly coat the foil-lined pan with oil spray.
2. For the crust: blend the crackers in a food processor until finely ground. Add brown sugar and pulse to combine. Drizzle butter over the crumbs and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened with butter. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until a deep golden brown, about 18 minutes. Cool the crust while making the filling. Do not turn off the oven.
3. For the filling: while the crust cools, combine cream cheese, lime zest, and salt in medium sized bowl. Add condensed milk and blend until well mixed and no lumps of cream cheese remain. Whisk in the egg yolks. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).
4. Pour the filling over the cooled crust and smooth with a spatula. Bake until set and the edges begin to pull away slightly from the sides, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack, 1 to 2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least two hours.
5. Remove from baking pan by lifting all four edges of foil extensions (you might need help with this). Using a good knife, cut into squares. Refrigerate until serving.
* Don't use bottled lime juice. Regular limes are fine to use, it's not necessary to use Key limes as it takes way too many to get 1 cup of juice. Grate the lime zest before juicing them and avoid the bitter white part just below the lime skin. I used 5 limes total for the juice and zested 3 of them to get 2 tablespoons of lime zest.
* Sweetened condensed milk is a blend of milk and sugar that is concentrated to form the base for a variety of sweet desserts. The water has been removed from the milk and sugar added, yielding a thick, sweet product. While sugar isn't inherently "bad"– too much of it definitely can be and there's a lot of it in these treats. To ease my conscience, I used Santini sweetened condensed milk because it's the only one available that is organic. I always choose organic if possible.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!


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- Condition: New
- Availability: Orders placed before 1PM PST (excluding holidays and weekends) ship same day.
- Weight: 0.23 LBS
- Shipping: Calculated at the Checkout
- Material: Satin
- Color: White and Gray
- Size: 14 x 108 Inches
- badges: black
- badges: clearance
Designed to complement wedding tablecloths, satin table runners in White and Gray have always been the go-to reception table accent for wedding planners, event coordinators and fine dining professionals. These 14 x 108 inch White and Gray table runners feature the rich, silky-soft appearance that satin table linens are known for. Each White and Gray satin runner is luxurious to the touch, wide enough for wedding reception tables, and adds the perfect hint of glam and color.
MATERIAL. Satin
GSM. 95 (A measure of the weight and thickness of the fabric)
SIZE. 14 inch W x 108 inch L
COLOR. Gray and White Striped
CARE INSTRUCTIONS. Warm water in gentle cycle is fine but it is advisable to use cold water with normal detergent. Bleach is not recommended for this color. Don't wash with other materials. Wash like colors together. Dry on a low heat setting. Avoid overloading the machine and make sure that both the washer and the dryer are in good working order. Do not overdry.
For more information about our wholesale table runners, please call us at 877-450-8383.
All sales for items marked CLEARANCE are final. NO return or exchange is allowed for any CLEARANCE items.


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- Chile
- Joined on Sep 09, 2015
Hi!, I'm @lorebarsby from Chile, I live in Santiago with my husband and two little daughters. I met the scrapbook in 2013 and since then it was love a first sight and I don't go a day without seeking scrappy inspiration. My Family are the primary subject matter of my layout, they are my inspirations for scrapping, I'm rarely without a camera to capture the moment. I don't really have a certain style, but I would define my style as simple an colorful.


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Military Electronics Repair Services and Radar System Upgrades
Duotech Services is a Requirements Driven Company structured to solve the engineering, reverse engineering, repair and re-manufacturing problems of military and civilian agencies, as well as aerospace and commercial users of electronic and electromechanical equipment.
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For companies who only need one or more items repaired we are responsive to their small quantity repair requirements. For equipment that does not have documentation, or has non-available parts, Duotech is able to reverse engineer and develop technical data.
Instead of scrapping repairable equipment we offer you solutions to keep your legacy aircraft in the air and your obsolete mission-critical equipment functioning. Duotech Services is your repair services connection… with or without technical data!
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So what have we learned?
LIGHT is king! Cameras cannot hold a candle to your human eye. As a matter of fact, you can think of a camera as having sunglasses on. The amount of light that gets sprinkled onto a camera's electronic sensor is determined by your lens, or 'Aperture' of your lens.
ISO – Even though the hole is sooo small, cell phones are getting better and better, mainly because the ability of a sensor to pick up light gets better every year thanks to technology. (and Sony, I cant believe I am saying this because I have never been a huge fan of Sony's Business tactics. but it is true. Just about every camera you can think of has a Sony created sensor)
Shutter Speed – During the day we have plenty of light to play with, this is why even older DSLR's with less sensitive sensors can bust out crisp vibrant images at noon. But who likes light saturated photos with no depth? You will need an Instagram filter to give it some depth. A great deal of photographers will wait until the golden hour, dusk or dawn. When there is less overall light traveling to the sensor on your camera, it will take longer for your sensor to create an full high quality image no matter what camera you have. How does your camera regulate how much light gets to your sensor over time? It finishes the shot with a click, or light-blocking 'shutter' to cover the sensor when the shot is complete.
Aperture – FINALLY! Congrats if you made it here from the beginning! This is where most people get crossed eyed because there are soo many ways to make a salad, so hang in there and try to remember that Aperture at its core is basically one thing. THE SIZE OF THE HOLE.
So the last step of the whole process is to focus or pinpoint the light onto the sensor properly. This is where a good lens can flaunt its advantages. Aperture is literally how big the opening of your lens is. Some huge lenses let a lot of light in, are heavy and expensive. These are called 'quick' lenses. These are great for low light situations because they allow your little turd of a sensor to get slammed with as much light as possible in as little time (quick shutter speed) as possible. 'Fast lenses' Otherwise known as Low F-Stop or Large Aperture.
So if a large hole or Aperture is called a fast lens, then you should automatically know that a high f-stop or 'slow lens' has a small opening allowing less light in. There are many variables like glass quality, amount of glass, and surface coatings that make a lens 'fast' but the size of the opening is the most important to remember therefore at night you want a 'fast lens' and during the day you can get away with a 'slow lens' I plan on writing an article on why you would not just use a fast lens all the time, there are plenty od reasons why but one of the largest reasons is that because a large point is focused onto a small point, it creates a shallow depth of field. This is good for buttery out of focus backgrounds but horrible for group shots where you need multiple people in focus.
As you master the Triangle (Shutter Speed, ISO, & Aperture) You will find favorite start-up settings depending on your lens, the amount of light available, and environment. (what you want to keep in focus)
1. If there is a lot of light available (Maybe a studio where you have access to multiple lights) Then you will want to start with the best ISO your camera has available. (200 on my camera) Since you have plenty of light, set the shutter speed to as fast as possible so you don't end-up with a shot-ruining blur when people move at the last second. Now you can set your aperture to be a small hole since you have a lot of light, or you can get creative and slow the shutter speed to accommodate for a larger hole (low fstop) to create beautiful bokeh rich portraits.
2. If you are inside walking around and limited light, then you will want to start with a high ISO sensitivity setting to pick up as much light as quickly as your little sensor can handle. Since your sensor still can't pickup light as fast as the human eye, you will need a long shutter speed as well as a large hole to let as much light as possible through. (Low f-stop setting) In this setting, since you are walking around, you will want to experiment to find a short enough shutter speed that doesn't blur images but long enough to take rich photos. Some DSLR's will require a tripos to keep the camera still as well as a still environment at night. This scenario shows off the true nature of your camera. Once you understand how limited a sensor is, you will then be able to exploit its limitations in a creative way to create engaging unique master pieces with the click of a button.
Aperture or f-stop is a decision you will need to make before the shot but do not be afraid to experiment. In most scenarios you might not even need Manual mode, but you need to know the triangle to be a successful photographer. If I am trying to control depth of field, (what is and isn't in focus) I put my camera in Aperture Priority mode (Av on my camera)- and allow the camera regulate the shutter speed. If I am trying to stop any action or try to get creative with motion blur then I will use Shutter Priority Mode. (Tv on my camera)
Try to always remember that a camera is like you wearing sunglasses at night, it cant see much of anything the moment the sun shifts over the horizon. You might need to find creative ways to light up the main attraction of your photo.
TIP: Photography captures light from a single micro-moment. A true photographer will use the light available to him/her even if they have to reflect it, this is one of the biggest difference between a beginner and old soul. (Simple example: Someone offered to take a photo of you and your loved one at night in front of your favorite pizza place. You see a towering light post as the main source of light for the area so you immediately ask to move over 4 feet and shift direction slightly so the light is at a 45-55 or so degree angle to light up your faces in an otherwise seemingly dim environment.)


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In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.
Common terms and phrases
AGVA American Amusement artists ASCAP Association ball Bally band Bell Bill Billboard Billboard October 23 Blue Bonus Broadcasting Bros BUTTONS AND BOWS candy CAPITOL RECORD CATALOG cent Chicago Chicago Coin cigarette Cincinnati Circus City Club Coast coin machine Columbia Company Continued Decca delivery DeLuxe Dinning Sisters disk diskers DISTRIBUTOR DRUGSTORE COWBOYS equipment fair feature firm Hollywood Hotel industry Jack juke box King label locations Louis manager Manufacturing matinee meeting ment merchandise Mercury milk MILLS months night NOVELTY October 15 October 23 operators Park Phone PHONOGRAPHS plans platter play player pluggers production radio RCA Victor reported ROCK-OLA score Shuffleboard spot stations tele television Tex Williams theater thru thruout tion tune TV-AM union vaude vender vending machine vocal WANT week wire Write Wurlitzer York


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NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- For the second time in the past month of the fall tennis season, top-seeded Maria Mosolova of Northwestern was issued an early first-round exit at the hands of the wild-card selection at an ITA National Championship -- only this time it was to one of her best friends.
Fresno State's Anastasia Pethukova upset top-seeded Mosolova in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, in first-round action at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, hosted by Yale University, Nov. 5-8, at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn.
Even though Mosolova suffered another wild-card upset to Tennessee's Caitlin Whoriskey at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, the 2008 ITA National Women's Player to Watch and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year has been the top-ranked women's singles player in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Preseason Rankings for the past two years, making her an obvious favorite heading into this tournament.
Both Petukhova and Mosolova are from Moscow and have known each other for years and developed a close bond. In addition to knowing Mosolova's tendencies, Petukhova utilized her trademark footwork and athleticism in the victory. The victory over Mosolova gives Petukhova four wins over ranked opponents this year, two of which were against top-15 players.
"She was playing a friend, so she was able to stay calm and focused," head coach Simon Thibodeau. "Anastasia played well against a solid opponent and was moving well out there."
Another surprise upset in women's singles was UCLA senior Yasmin Schnack's victory over third-seeded Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia in straight sets. After the 11th-ranked Schnack took the early lead, winning the first-set tiebreaker, Gullickson incurred a knee injury that slowed her down in the second set. She was able to finish the match, falling 6-2 in the second set, but due to the injury will not be able to continue playing in the consolation draw.
"Chelsey started out playing well, and then Schnack raised her level of play and took the first set and eventually won the match," said Georgia assistant coach Frank Polito. "Chelsey wasn't able to run down a lot of shots in the second set like she normally does." On the men's side, not only did the top seed advance to the round of 16, but all of the top-seeded players except the eighth seed picked up first-round victories.
The men's singles draw is highlighted by top-seeded J.P. Smith of Tennessee, who recently achieved a feat that only two others have accomplished in the history of the ITA Men's All-American Championships, by capturing the singles and doubles titles in early October. Smith cruised into the next round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over UCLA's Amit Inbar.
Joining Smith is the No. 2 seed as well as the 2009 Campbell/ITA National Men's Player of the Year, Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State. Nedovyesov is currently atop the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings but was ousted in the first round of the D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American by eighth-seeded Eric Quigley of Kentucky. Nedovyesov won in straight sets over conference rival Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech, winning in a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (6). In doubles action, two top-seeded men's teams and the third-seeded women's squad were upset in round one. One of the better matchups of the day also produced the biggest upset in the doubles draw. Miami's Laura Vallverdu, the 2009 NCAA Women's Singles Finalist, and her partner Gabriella Meija, defeated the 2009 NCAA Doubles Champions, Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova of Cal, 9-7. This marks the second straight ITA Championship that the champion duo has lost in the first round. On the men's side, a hotly contested match between the No. 2 Oklahoma State team of Nedovyesov and Bessonov and Alex Lacroix and Antoine Benneteau went into a tiebreak, where the Gator duo was able to close out the upset, 9-8 (2). The other upset of the day should probably only be deemed an upset due to the loss of a seeded team. USC's Robert Farah and Steve Johnson were the runner-ups at this event last year, losing to Cory Parr and Steve Forman of Wake Forest in the finals. In fact, Farah, with former teammate Kaes Van't Hof reached the finals in 2007, as well. In today's match vs. Wisconsin's No. 4-seeded Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka, the Trojan tandem breezed into the quarterfinals with an 8-3 victory.
These championships feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: champions from Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held across the country during October, the ITA National Small College "Super Bowl" champions, the singles semifinalists and doubles champions of the D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American Tennis Championships and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, and at-large and wild-card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee. Play resumes Friday with women's quarterfinal doubles matches beginning at 8 a.m. ET.
For complete results and event information, visit www.itatennis.com.


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Schedule a Showing - Listing ID 20231677
- Price: $119,900
- Status: ACTIVE
- Address: 704 16th Street
- Wheatland, Wyoming 82201
- Bedrooms: 2
- SqFt: 744
Please enter your preferences in the form. We will contact you in order to schedule an appointment to view this property. For more immediate assistance, please call Shirley Forgey at 307-358-3586.
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Data last updated:Sunday, September 24th, 2023 at 12:59:38 AM.
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. The data relating to real estate on this web site comes in part from the Wyoming MLS Internet Data Exchange Program. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than the listing office named are marked with the Wyoming MLS IDX logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing broker. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
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Vice President
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 4, 2003
Secretary Ridge Inaugurates New Homeland Security Program at Southwest Border
FAST Program to Tighten Security and Expedite Movement of Trade Across Border
El Paso, TX A key U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program to counter terrorism and to facilitate trade has been extended to the U.S./Mexico border, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced today.
The program, Free and Secure Trade (FAST), provides expedited CBP processing for companies that adopt CBP-approved security measures. To be eligible for FAST treatment, manufacturers, importers and carriers must participate in another CBP antiterrorism program, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism or C-TPAT. Under C-TPAT, companies develop and implement security plans to enhance operational security. These measures vary depending on factors, such as the nature of the business and where in the globe a firm conducts its business. Each security plan is reviewed by CBP supply chain security experts.
Truck drivers seeking FAST eligibility must submit information enabling CBP officials to assess whether the applicant poses a risk. Approved applicants receive a FAST-Commercial Driver Identification Card.
Additional security features are also built into FAST for the US/Mexico border. Manufacturers and carriers participating in US/Mexico FAST are required to use high security mechanical seals on all containers or trailers destined for the United States. Customs and Border Protection will continue to scrutinize these shipments with enforcement tools such as X-ray technology, canine screenings, and other equipment to help ensure that the integrity of the FAST program is not compromised. CBP also expects that the additional security will enhance its continuing drug interdiction efforts along the border.
"Mexico is one of our largest trading partners and it is absolutely critical that we prevent terrorists from infiltrating the commercial chain to launch an attack," said Secretary Ridge. "I anticipate the same degree of success with FAST on the Mexican border as we've seen on the Canadian border."
FAST lanes have been operational on the US/Canadian border since September 2002. By utilizing private sector resources and cooperation, FAST protects cross border commercial shipments from being infiltrated by terrorists and streamlines CBP processing of these shipments.
"This is another important step in providing the maximum amount of protection for our people and for our economy," said Robert Bonner, CBP Commissioner. "Installing FAST on the southern border will also speed up the importation of legitimate goods from Mexico into the U.S."
To expedite processing of FAST shipments, special FAST lanes are available to program participants at designated ports of entry. In addition, special radio frequency transponders on FAST trucks transmit information about commercial shipments, which further expedites processing.
The US/Canada FAST program currently is operational at five northern border ports of entry - Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan; Buffalo and Champlain, New York; and Blaine, Washington. The US/Mexico FAST program debuted today in El Paso.
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Randy Travis Naked During DWI Arrest
More details are now available regarding Randy Travis' arrest in North Texas on Tuesday night. As previously reported, the singer was nabbed for suspicion of DWI, as well as retaliation and obstruction, after he allegedly crashed his car and "verbally threatened" a police officer. Reports are now surfacing that Travis was naked at the time of his arrest, which came just before midnight.
The Associated Press originally stated that the Grayson County Sheriff's Office had Travis jailed in Sherman, Texas — 60 miles north of Dallas — without bond. The 53-year-old singer has since been released on a $21,500 bond and is currently awaiting a court appearance. Sgt. Rickey Wheeler tells the AP that Travis was arrested near his hometown of Tioga, Texas.
"Travis had a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and several signs of intoxication," Wheeler said. "While Travis was being transported, Travis made threats to shoot and kill the troopers working the case."
Representatives for Randy Travis have declined comment on the incident. Travis was driving a Pontiac Trans Am when it struck barricades in a construction zone. He refused a sobriety test, so a blood test was administered.
In February, the singer issued a statement after his early 2012 arrest for public intoxication. At the time, he said he was "committed to being responsible and accountable" in the future.