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Well, well, well, I have just read a very interesting article entitled "Disbelief Is Not a Choice": (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201109/d...). It offers a rather innovative approach to atheism I think. At least, it helps me figure out some things I couldn't put words on.
I'd love to hear what you guys think about it, if you agree with the author or not.
Views: 532
BALDERDASH! I do not believe that JUNK for a moment. Every single person is absolutely 100% responsible for every goddamned moment they spend here on earth; I will hold each and every rotten one of them fully accountable...In fact, I AM GOD; I just realized...By the way, don't take Anything or Anyone too seriously. Life is Fleeting. Bask in the Absurd as often as possible. But, at the same time, only YOU are accountable for your ACTIONS, and, conversely, your INACTIONS, here on earth. NEVER look away from HUMAN SUFFERING. We are all held, absolutely and without any exceptions, every single person on earth, we are ALL accountable for every single thing that we do. I do NOT believe in FORGIVENESS. One MAY NOT commit one horrible, atrocious act after another, over and over again, and expect to be FORGIVEN (in the end or at any other time). I do NOT believe that for a second; Further, I do NOT BELIEVE FOR ONE SECOND that there is a god; however, I do want to be certain that I am on the side of Right...ALWAYS for ALL INVOLVED. That's where this world has become so mean and so treacherous; there is no regard for other people. It's all promoting one's own self-interest and myopic short-term (usually monetary) gains, without taking into account a broader perspective on others, and just how our actions or inactions will affect those around us...Cheers,
Right! I forgot about the Stockholm Syndrome. Good one.
I *mostly* agree with the author, in that I think that our environments play a very large role in determining what paths our thoughts follow and what seems true to us and therefore what it seems reasonable to believe. But I disagree in that I do think it is possible to *choose* to believe or to disbelieve. I've noted elsewhere that to say that people should be allowed to believe whatever they want to seems like an odd phrasing, since we generally believe whatever we are *convinced is true* rather than what we merely *want to believe*. Yet, I've met a pastor who told me that she believed in God because she wanted to--that that was her reason for belief. (I was appalled.) And I can *imagine* myself choosing to believe otherwise than I do simply because I wanted to. I lack a sufficiently strong desire to believe otherwise than I do, but I can *imagine* it. (And, of course, what I *want* is influenced by my environment--but not necessarily in predictable ways.)
So, mostly, I agree, but I don't *entirely* agree.
Great article. Thanks for sharing. It must not have been a choice for me because even when a small child, I had doubts. It never made sense to me. I never saw a god, never heard from a god, and never saw any real evidence there was a god. Possibly a god could have made our universe and left for far places but I now don't have any reason to believe this. I do believe that LGBT's have no choice but I can't see how with our ever increasing knowledge of evolution, physics, astronomy, etc., people can have a choice to believe in gods today.
And I came from a fundie family: tried to believe to fit in and to make that god show himself. Same as you, I couldn't do it.
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A few words on Index Compression
Posted by Harald van Breederode on April 5, 2010
For the last couple of months I have been quite busy delivering Oracle11g New Features courses and one of the topics covered is table compression. To introduce this topic I ask my students in which version the first compression feature was introduced. Strangely enough almost no one seems to know the correct answer, which is Oracle8i where index compression was introduced. Because table compression is very much like index compression I explain to my students what index compression is all about and quite often they are completely shocked by the fact that such an important feature is missing in their skill set. So it is about time that I post something about index compression.
Index compression works by eliminating duplicated column values in the index leaf blocks thereby allowing the storage of more index entries per leaf block. To demonstrate this feature I will start by creating a non-compressed index on a few columns on the CUSTOMERS table in the SH sample schema:
SQL> connect sh/sh Connected. SQL> create index i1 on customers(cust_first_name,cust_last_name); Index created. SQL> select leaf_blocks from user_indexes where index_name = 'I1'; LEAF_BLOCKS ----------- 193
As shown above the just created index consists of a total of 193 leaf blocks. To get an estimate about the percentage of leaf blocks that can be saved, by compressing the index, and the optimal compression factor we can use the information Oracle stores in the INDEX_STATS view after validating an index as shown below:
SQL> validate index i1; Index analyzed. SQL> select opt_cmpr_count,opt_cmpr_pctsave from index_stats; OPT_CMPR_COUNT OPT_CMPR_PCTSAVE -------------- ---------------- 2 47
The above output reveals that the optimal compression factor for this index is 2 and that this will most likely reduce the number of leaf blocks by 47%. So, let's rebuild the index with compression enabled and verify the given estimate:
SQL> alter index i1 rebuild compress 2; Index altered. SQL> select leaf_blocks from user_indexes where index_name = 'I1'; LEAF_BLOCKS ----------- 101
The above shows that the number of leaf blocks in the index is now 101. We started with 193 leaf blocks and we were expecting a 47% reduction in the number of leaf blocks. 47% of 193 is 91 and 193 minus 91 is equal to 102. So Oracle estimated the reduction pretty good I would say ;-) Executing the validate index command again assures that 2 is indeed the optimal compression factor and no leaf blocks can be eliminated because the index is already compressed as shown below:
SQL> validate index i1; Index analyzed. SQL> select OPT_CMPR_COUNT,OPT_CMPR_PCTSAVE from index_stats; OPT_CMPR_COUNT OPT_CMPR_PCTSAVE -------------- ---------------- 2 0
Hopefully this little post is enough to trigger you to dive into the world of compressed indexes! For a much more thorough discussion on index compression see Richard Foote's fabulous Oracle blog. (part 1, part 2, part 3 And part 4).
10 Responses to "A few words on Index Compression"
April 6, 2010 at 04:42
Actually index compression started way back in release 4. But it was a different kind of compression, it did not adress duplicate elimination.
April 10, 2010 at 23:37
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Oracle University. Oracle University said: A few words on Index Compression by #Oracle's star instructor Harald van Breederode http://bit.ly/awNgTy […]
July 20, 2010 at 17:30
It's cool that validating index can provide you a compress opt advise.
I'd like what can provide another advise for table compression !
September 10, 2010 at 09:32
11g introduces some new technology in dbms_compression, and provide more compression type : COMP_FOR_QUERY_HIGH,COMP_FOR_QUERY_LOW,COMP_FOR_ARCHIVE_HIGH,COMP_FOR_ARCHIVE_LOW
February 28, 2011 at 13:25
Hi Harald,
Nice piece of information but what happens with inserts and updates. Is the compression only applied for those rows indexed at the time the compression was implemented or will the new or updated columns directly be compressed?
July 14, 2011 at 08:41
Hello Harald,
When I read this I was really wondering about the 'validate index' command but it proved to be another example of your long experience.
The 'validate index' command is not shown in the manuals for many years now. In fact the last time it seemed mentioned was in the Oracle7 Server SQL Reference Manual where it was mentioned deprecated. Please refer to http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/A57673_01/DOC/server/doc/SQL73/apa.htm
Quoting from that:
"Validating indexes is now also performed by the new ANALYZE command. Oracle Corporation recommends that you use the ANALYZE command rather than the VALIDATE INDEX command. The VALIDATE INDEX command may not be supported in future versions of Oracle. For information on the VALIDATE INDEX command, see the SQL Language Reference Manual for Oracle Version 6."
July 4, 2012 at 13:05
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subset: commoncrawl


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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Berbatov set for Monaco move
Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov is due to have a medical with Monaco on Friday afternoon ahead of a potential move to the Ligue 1 side.
Berbatov had been linked with a return to Tottenham, but Press Association Sport understands the striker has been given permission to speak to Monaco instead.
The 33-year-old is expected to fly to the principality and undergo a medical.
Both parties hope a deal can be concluded before the 11pm transfer deadline.
Berbatov joined Fulham in August 2012 and enjoyed a successful first season with the club, scoring 15 goals.
This term has been a different story for the Bulgarian, however.
He has found the net just four times in the Barclays Premier League and his agent indicated that his client was unhappy at Craven Cottage shortly after the sacking of Martin Jol.
A move back to White Hart Lane, where he was adored by the club's fans, would have been an ideal scenario for Berbatov.
But a transfer to Monaco would still be a good move for the former Manchester United man.
Monaco sit second in Ligue 1 and they have a free space in their starting XI following a season-ending injury to Colombia star Radamel Falcao.
If Fulham clear Berbatov off their wage bill they will have room to bring in new signings.
Tottenham's Lewis Holtby and Greece striker Kostas Mitroglou are two of the most prominent players that have been linked with the west London club, who are second bottom of the Premier League.
The Cottagers also announced on Friday morning that defender Aaron Hughes has joined Sky Bet Championship club QPR on a free transfer.
Hughes told QPR's website: "I don't see this as a drop down in class - I see it as a fresh, new challenge.
"It's a chance for me to come and get some games and help this club build on what's been a good season so far.
"It's a different challenge, but one I'm really looking forward to."
Holtby's agent later confirmed to Press Association Sport that his client had joined Fulham on loan until the end of the season.
"Lewis will stay in London and has joined Fulham on loan until the end of the season," Holtby's agent Marcus Noack said.
The move did not go through without acrimony, though.
Noack accused Tottenham of pricing Holtby out of a permanent transfer back to his native Germany.
"Fulham has put much effort into Lewis," he said.
"It is a very well-run club with an excellent manager Rene Meulensteen. The system and philosophy how Fulham plays fits well with Lewis.
"He will have match practice in the second half of the season in his favourite position and then we'll see how things are going by summer.
"A return to the Bundesliga has been shattered due to circumstances we couldn't control."
Holtby joined Tottenham from Schalke 12 months ago for just £1.25million, but the midfielder's camp claimed Spurs wanted £8-10m for the player.


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ASC Recruitment Advertisement
Please see flyer for a job opportunity with West Berkshire Council
Severe Weather InformationRead more
School Closed Today
Due to adverse weather conditions Calcot Schools are closed Friday 1st February. Stay safe.Read more
Young Carer's Awareness Day 2019
On the 31st January is Young Carer's Awareness Day. Current figures are that 1 in 5 secondary children have a caring role. The figures are 1 in 10 for children under the age of 10.
A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol. They will do many tasks like:
Practical tasks, such as cooking, housework or shopping.
Physical care, such as helping someone out of bed.
Emotional support, such as talking to someone who is distressed.
Personal care, such as helping someone dress.
Managing the family budget and collecting prescriptions.
Helping to give medicine.
Helping someone communicate.
Looking after brothers and sisters.
If you would like more information as to how to help a young carer. Please click on the link below.
West Berkshire Young Carers websiteRead more


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Updated Zoning Codes Needed In Lakewood
About two weeks ago, Jill Laemmerhirt asked the Lakewood Planning Board for a special use permit to open an adult novelty store in a Fairmount Avenue plaza.
The plan was dead by Monday. Now, on May 13, the Lakewood Village Board will have a public hearing to have a moratorium on special use permits for proposed adult novelty stores so village officials can address the issue in the village's zoning code.
They have a long list of things to address, given the village's existing moratoriums on special permits for vehicle sales, building permits for constructing storage sheds and zoning permits for electronic advertising signs. That's a pretty good sized list for a small village.
The fairly regular use of moratoriums in Lakewood is starting to reek of piecemeal zoning rather than a well thought out, well crafted plan.
Lakewood has become a hotbed for car dealers both large and small over the years, which makes us wonder why village officials hadn't thought it would be a good idea to make sure the zoning code included some language to govern where car dealerships were located in the village. We admit the village isn't overwhelmed with proposals to open adult-themed businesses. Still, given the public outcry in the area whenever such a business is proposed, it seems reasonable that nearly every zoning jurisdiction would have already dealt with adult businesses in their zoning codes.
Zoning codes are one way a community can ensure certain types of businesses and activities are placed in locations acceptable to the community. It's good that the codes are revisited occasionally to make sure potentially divisive topics are handled appropriately and that village residents have an opportunity for public comment. Regular reviews and well-reasoned zoning codes are an important tool for municipal planners.
Rather than moratoriums and revisiting the code when a controversial proposal rears its head, the village should start being more proactive in keeping its zoning law up to date. It will make the development process easier for new business while saving everyone involved a lot of headaches.


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Diamond Foods Inc will pay about $96 million to settle a lawsuit related to the restatement of its results after an accounting scandal rocked the maker of Emerald Nuts and Kettle Chips last year.
Shares of the company, which also forecast higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, rose as much as 20 percent in morning trading on the settlement of the class action lawsuit.
Continue Reading Below
Diamond said it will pay $11 million in cash and issue 4.45 million common shares to a fund to settle the lawsuit against the company and two of its former officers.
According to court documents, the settlement amount, subject to court approval, represents about 25-40 percent of what the lead plaintiffs saw as the maximum damages theoretically recoverable in this case.
Diamond has been trying to get past the scandal that claimed the jobs of its two top executives and caused its planned purchase of Pringles from Proctor & Gamble to fall apart.
The scandal, involving improper accounting of payments to walnut farmers, also led to the restatement that wiped out $56.5 million in profit from fiscal 2010 and 2011.
The company said on Wednesday it denies any wrongdoing related to the claims, which were made on behalf of investors who acquired Diamond stock between October 5, 2010 and February 8, 2012.
Diamond also forecast sales of $196 million to $201 million in the fourth quarter.
Analysts on average were expecting sales of $187.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company's shares, which have risen about 40 percent this year, were up 16 percent at $22.27 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq.
The case is Re Diamond Foods Securities Litigation, case number 3:11-cv-05386, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
(Reporting by Chris Peters in Bangalore)


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TOKYO -- Japan's carmakers have coined their share of kooky car names. The Mazda Bongo, Nissan Fairlady and Daihatsu Naked are three that pop to mind.
Add two more doozies to your list: The Mitsubishi Proudia and Dignity.
These pricey luxury sedans just went on sale here in Japan June 26.
They are rebadged versions of the Nissan Fuga (sold as the Infiniti M overseas) and the Nissan Cima (a hybrid stretch version of the Fuga aimed mainly at the chauffeured caste.) That's mainly because cash-strapped Mitsubishi doesn't have the money to build its own top-shelf car.
The nameplates Fuga and Cima aren't exactly stellar.
But I'm not even sure where to begin with the likes of Proudia. Mitsubishi says it's an amalgam of "proud" and the "dia" from the "diamonds" in the company's logo.
To me, it smacks of one of the "Japanglish" gags pulled in the movie Lost in Translation.
Then there's the Dignity. Talk about clubbing you over the head.
If you have 8.4 million yen ($105,500) to spend on a car -- yes, that's the starting price -- there's something ironic about ponying up for a rebadged Mitsubishi called Dignity? Is that really the best way to telegraph your station in life? Buying into the name seems a little too desperate.
And the exterior bears almost no difference from its Nissan counterpart. How dignified is that?
Both nameplates are actually recycled from earlier limousine-style luxury cars that Mitsubishi discontinued in the early 2000s. Those were co-developed with Hyundai.
Still, we shouldn't spoof Mitsubishi's luxury OEM efforts. The company plans to sell only 700 of the two models combined this year. At those levels, it's smart to lean on someone else.
But what about those names?


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We\'re still in the early stages of the fallout from the tragic downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine. But investors on Friday largely appeared to be looking beyond the incident after a brief rush to safe assets, such as gold and Treasurys, in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Strategists sound doubtful the incident will mark the demise of a long-running bull market that\'s driven U.S. stocks to a string of record highs.
\"This limited market response made some sense. It does not seem unreasonable to conclude that the incident was a one-off mistake and that it might even help to bring the crisis in Ukraine to an end by focusing minds on the need for a peaceful resolution,\" said Julian Jessop, economist at London-based Capital Economics.
That said, Jessop adds the caveat that the situation could deteriorate as the international spotlight swings back to Moscow\'s role in backing pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. Pressure for tougher sanctions against Moscow will likely increase, which could lead to a \"tit-for-tat\" series of economic retaliations that could endanger the euro zone\'s fragile recovery and drive up prices for commodities, including energy, metals and wheat.
For now, remarks by President Barack Obama holding out the threat of tighter sanctions haven\'t caused any major ripples in markets. Here\'s where we stand:
VIX: The CBOE VIX index , widely known as Wall Street\'s fear gauge, surged more than 32% on Thursday, its\' biggest one-day gain since April 2013. The index fell 2.24 points, or 15.4%, Friday to 12.30, which is very low by historical standards. A steady flow of liquidity from the Fed and other major central banks has been credited with — or blamed for — a prolonged period of very low volatility that has seen stocks and other assets perceived as risky rise ever higher as investors seek out yield.
Writing over at StockTwits, technician Ryan Detrick makes some important points about Thursday\'s VIX spike. He notes that the VIX has seen a daily jump of more than 30% just 22 times since 1990. On average, on days when the VIX jumps by more than 30%, the S&P 500 has fallen an average of 3.53%. That means Thursday\'s S&P 500 decline was the smallest ever on a day when the VIX has jumped more than 30%.
What to make of the relatively muted reaction by stocks? Detrick says it reflects the e fact that the VIX jumped from a historically low level. In other words, when talking about the VIX, it\'s better to talk about the absolute change rather than the percentage move.
Gold: August gold futures jumped on Thursday but gave back some of the gains Friday, slipping $7.50, or 0.6%, to close at $1,309.40 an ounce. Gold, like Treasurys, often benefits from kneejerk safe-haven buying during bouts of geopolitical turmoil. It\'s worth noting that gold ended Friday with a weekly loss of 2.1%.
Treasurys: U.S. government bonds are also popular havens. Such flows are often concentrated at the short end of the market, but can have an impact along the curve. The yield on the 10-year note dipped below 2.50% on Thursday and neared its lowest level of the year. Treasury prices, which move in the opposite direction of yields, gave back some gains on Friday, pushing the 10-year yield up by around 43 basis points to 2.482%.
Oil: Crude futures gained some ground Thursday on fears escalating tensions could disrupt flows, but slid on Thursday. August Nymex crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $102.93 a barrel. Oil has retreated by around 2.3% since the end of June as worries over a Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq faded and investors turned their attention to bearish supply developments.
Stocks: The plane crash and Israel\'s decision to begin a ground assault in Gaza were blamed for the S&P 500\'s 1.2% decline on Thursday. In keeping with the low-volatility regime that has dominated trading, the move broke a 62-day streak of sub-1% moves in either direction — the longest such string since 1995, according to technician Jonathan Krinsky of MKM Partners.
U.S. stocks were back in the green on Friday, with the S&P 500 rising 1% to 1,974.22, while the Dow industrials rebounded 0.7% to 17,100.18. European equities ended mostly lower, adding to a Thursday slide, while Russian stocks fell for a fifth day.
— William Watts
Follow William on Twitter @wlwatts
More from MarketWatch:
Dell now accepts major payments in bitcoins
New York is the most unhappy city in America
Vladimir Putin\'s approval rating jumps to 6-year high


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Newport Beach resident Mike Talbot, Universal Space Lines LLC president and chief executive, as a California State Military Reserve major received the California Medal of Merit presented by Col. Marc Breslow, Regional Support Command South commander. The recognition was also directed by Brig. Gen. Roland L. Candee, State Military Reserve commander.
Talbot, who has served since 2005 as a legal officer within the State Military Reserve, received the medal at a November ceremony at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.
"Major Talbot has provided exceptional meritorious service to National Guard members, their families and the California State Military Reserve," Breslow said. "His leadership and selfless devotion to duty enhanced operational support and ensured Guard unit readiness, enabling them to sustain the rigors associated with mobilization and deployment. ... Major Talbot's service reflects great credit upon himself, the California State Military Reserve, and the state of California."
Ritz managing partner named Man of the Year
The Muscular Dystrophy Assn. has named restaurateur Ray Jacobi as its Man of the Year. Jacobi, managing partner of Newport's iconic Ritz Restaurant and Garden, will host a VIP underwriting dinner in his establishment Feb. 23.
The association's Gift of Hope gala in Newport Beach will follow later in the social season. To support MDA and honor Jacobi, contact Jamie Byrne (310) 398-6064 or email email@example.com.
Saks donates to local charity groups
February is the month of giving for luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue. The upscale America fashion house will donate 5% of all registered purchases during February to various Orange County charitable organizations, including the Children's Hospital of Orange County, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, National Charity League's Newport Beach chapter and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Saks has also chosen to donate 5% of online purchases made with a Saks credit card to the very worthwhile St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which was the lifelong charitable focus of the late entertainer Danny Thomas. It's carried on today by his daughter Marlo Thomas Donahue and a very dedicated contingent of Hollywood support.
"Saks is committed to our local communities and we appreciate our customers' charitable involvement," said Saks Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Steve Sadove.
Escalette art collection arrives at Chapman
Valentine's Day will mark the official announcement of the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University in Orange.
A mid-day event will include a campus tour of the art collection that has been made possible over the past several years via the philanthropy and artistic vision of the Escalette family. Chapman University curator Maggi Owens has worked with the donors to exhibit works by renown contemporary artists including Robert Rauchenberg, Tony DeLap, Billy Al Bengston, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellina Kevorkian and Hubert Schmalix.
The most impressive roster is being labeled "a museum without walls" inasmuch as the collection is displayed in classroom buildings, offices, and public spaces indoors and outdoors.
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo performs 'Cinderella'
The West Coast engagement of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts is Feb. 9 through 12. The company will perform a production of "Cinderella." It is the first time Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo has joined the center's prestigious international dance series.
In honor of the visiting dance production, South Coast Plaza will display a "pop-up" exhibit featuring rarely seen photographs and videos of Monaco, the late Princess Grace and historical shots of Les Ballet.
Making the event that much more culturally interesting will be the participation from seven of O.C.'s most outstanding dining rooms featuring special Monegasque cuisine. Marché Moderne, Pinot Provence, Leatherby's Café Rouge, Antonello Ristorante, Quatro Café, Nella Cucina and Antonello Espresso Bar will feature everything from aperitifs of the Riviera to multiple-course grand dinners with wine pairings.
THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.


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by Hugh Gilmore
Not liking Tchaikovsky's music didn't stop me from enjoying his opera "Eugene Onegin" when I saw it simulcast live-in-HD by the Metropolitan Opera last week. There's more to opera than the music, thank goodness, including the sets, costumes and singing. They're usually so beautiful I gape in wonder, but they're not what I go for.
What I like most of all is opera's ethos, the grand simplicity of motives that drives the characters. When their passions rise, they burst out into fabulous arias, sung at the outer reaches of human vocal glory. Opera presents life's emotions at their ultimate. No other art form aspires higher.
To illustrate: The original story of "Eugene Onegin" was written in 1833 by Alexander Pushkin as a novel in iambic tetrameter verse. It became well-known to generations of Russians. Many Russian schools still require that the poem be memorized for recitation.
The character Eugene Onegin, as the opera opens, is a jaded holder of a country estate. He is handsome and wealthy, but bored with the dull merriment of St. Petersburg society. He has no finer yearnings. He is a dead soul. And therefore dangerous.
His country neighbor and friend Vladimir Lensky invites him to meet his fiancée, Olga, at her family's estate, a modest place whose inhabitants are unsophisticated and more country-like. When Onegin visits, he meets Olga's teenage sister Tatiana, who falls for him. She writes him a confessional love letter.
Onegin does not answer, but the next time he sees her, he condescendingly lectures her about being foolish with her heart. Besides, he tells her, he's a man of the world and he'd soon be bored with her. A lesser man than he would try to take advantage of her emotions.
Later, his friend Lensky invites him to a surprise party at Olga and Tatiana's home. The party is a hapless, rough imitation of the kind of high-society party that Onegin is already bored with. The whole affair annoys him. He decides, both for fun, and to be nasty, to flirt with Olga, though she is engaged to his friend. She's a silly enough person that she takes him up on it, being flattered and somewhat enchanted by Onegin's charm. After an evening of watching Onegin and Olga dancing and whispering about things that make Olga blush, Lensky snaps.
He disavows his friendship with Onegin and rejects Olga for humiliating him.
Onegin is unrepentant. Lensky feels he has no further choice, after being betrayed like this. He demands satisfaction: a duel at sunrise. Every bad thing that happens from there on flows from that moment.
And that's it. That's the kind of grand simplicity that forms the bedrock of opera. Humiliation and betrayal lead to a life-and-death duel. The syllogism contains an awe-inspiring, digitalized ethic: You're in, or you ain't. That's what puts the "grand" in Grand Opera. People drink poison, jump from cliffs, stab themselves, go mad, or fall into a long spell and die from lack of will to live. It's all so much singing and sobbing, singing and swooning, singing and sword fighting! At the top of their lungs!
I know, it seems almost comically clichéd today. "The game ain't over till the fat lady sings," we say. But consider what we've replaced those grand emotions and those set ethics with: Oprah, Dr. Phil, Maury Povich, Barbara Walters, Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, the entire cast of "The View," and on and on.
These shows exist so that press agents, marketers, and public relations wranglers can arrange for their clients to come on air and offer a sanitized, publicly acceptable version of their "bad behavioral decisions." If successful, they'll be able to "put all that behind them" and "move on from here."
The advice from Dr, Phil, for example, would be, "Eugene, what were you thinking when you monopolized Olga's attention all night? Did you realize how that was going to make Lensky feel?"
In the advice columns: "What, you're going to get in a gun duel with a guy? Over a girl? Hey, if she'd do that to you, man, she's not worth it. Get a different girl. Think it over. And as for Eugene, that guy showed his true colors. He was never your friend, if he'd do that to you, even if he was just horsing around."
More modern: "Come on, man, Olga was just a little tipsy. Girls get that way sometimes. She was just testing out her female empowerment. You're not going to drop her over a little thing like that, are you?"
And so on. Modern psychology. Modern hairsplitting. Modern relativistic ethics. Situational ethics. Opera hearkens back to days more primal. Elementary love. People chained like Prometheus to their principles. Imprisoned by their ideals. Left with no choice other than to do their culturally understood duties.
In our modern days, the only art forms that come close to the absolute, primitive understandings found in opera are comic books and professional wrestling, neither of which I like. That's why you'll find me at the Met simulcast of Puccini's "Tosca" on Nov. 9, where there'll be terrible weeping and howling and gnashing of teeth, much of it originating up in the last balcony row where I usually sit.
Hugh Gilmore's book describing life in the old bookshop he ran in Chestnut Hill, "Scenes from a Bookshop," has just reached #90 on Amazon Kindle list of the Top 100 books in the category of "Antiquarian and Rare Books." It's available in paperback also.


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Happy Mixology Monday, fellow tipplers! The theme this month is Hard Drinks for Hard Times, and the host is the hard man himself, Matthew Rowley. What Matt wants to know is, has the recession affected your drinking, and if so, how? Matt, himself, has already chimed in on this problem, with a story that begins with his own recent job loss.
I understand where he's coming from.
Y'see, in the last few months, my own working life as a freelance copy editor has dried up to nothing. When Jen and I moved to Providence in April of last year, I was very busy. So busy, in fact, that I was turning projects away and supporting both of us, while Jen searched for work in her field. I was so busy, too, that I didn't see any reason to seek out other work, or make contingency plans in case things fell apart.
Which, of course, is just what happened. Things fell apart, and at the moment, I'm not working at all.
Fortunately, Jen's salary is enough to cover our living expenses, so that any money I might bring in goes toward savings, travel, spendier bottles of liquor and wine, and so on.
As my workload has dwindled, our drive to the bottom of the liquor industry's pricing structure has quickened. We've been rocking the Evan Williams since before Dave Wondrich sung its praises in Esquire. (At about $22 for a 1.75-liter bottle, it's almost stupid not to buy it.) I'm feeling especially lucky in that my personal favorite martini is based on Beefeater, which we can get in 1.75L form for about $30 around here.
We've even lately–it is like confessing a murder–brought in boxed wines for our everyday drinking, saving our bottled-wine budget for weekends and holidays.
But enough about this–two more comments, and I'll move forward with a drink recipe.
What Does This Mean for A Dash of Bitters?
I'm happy to announce that this month marks the third anniversary of this blog, A Dash of Bitters. Despite our recent change of fortunes, I have every desire to push on to year four, and I have plans for the next year that will stun and amaze you! I'll even ask you to help me out with ideas for my Big Project of 2009! More on that in a week or two.
Is Dietsch Going to Tales of the Cocktail?
Less happily, my current unemployment is forcing me to reconsider my commitment to attending�Tales of the Cocktail this year. This is not an easy decision, but unless my workload rises to at least part-time levels soon, there's no way we can save the money in the short time between now and July. Further, Jen has a newborn niece and an 88-year-old grandmother; she's never met her niece and hasn't seen her grandmother in three years. I have a teenaged nephew I haven't seen since he was a pre-teen nephew. Our travel priorities for 2009 are for family, I hope you'll understand.
If things change, I'll be happy to let everyone know that I or we will be in New Orleans this July, but at this moment, I can't possibly see it happening.
We've been living pretty high off the product samples lately, and they've really helped us eke our way through some otherwise-dry patches. I thought, for this MxMo, I'd put together a drink based almost entirely on product samples.
Main ingredient, Bulleit bourbon. I love this stuff. The mashbill is such that it apparently has the highest rye content of any bourbon on the market. I love rye, so perhaps that explains why I love Bulleit so much.
Next up, Cherry Heering, followed by B&B. A little Grand Marnier, some fruit juice, and a hit of bitters. Squirt on some charged water, and that's your thing.
The bourbon, Cherry Heering, and B&B were all product samples. I had the Grand Marnier on hand, alongside bitters and citrus.
What we've got here is a Singapore Sling variant, of course. I call it the Recession Special Sling, after the hot dog specials at Gray's Papaya in New York. We both loved it. Now, finally, the recipe:
Recession Special Sling, using whatever the fuck I had on hand already
2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/4 oz. B&B
1 oz. Grand Marnier
3 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake, strain into a Collins glass, and top with club soda or charged water.�


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Pianomation Options: Total Performance
The Total PerformanceTM sound card for Pianomation player piano systems enables you to play any of the thousands of industry-standard MIDI files currently on the Internet that contain orchestrated music in addition to piano. It features 127 high quality sounds encompassing many musical groups including pianos, organs, guitars, brass, woodwinds, strings and more. The Total Performance sound card is a particularly useful tool for practicing in silence and composing. The Total Performance sound card comes standard with the Ancho system and can be added to the Petine or Petine Lite player piano systems.


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Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong + Norah Jones Collaborate on Everly Brothers Covers Record
Thanks to Stevie Wonder, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and jazz-pop chanteuse Norah Jones have come together for an Everly Brothers tribute. Got all that?
That's right: Armstrong and Jones have announced the Nov. 25 release of 'Foreverly,' a track-for-track update of the 1958 Everlys album 'Songs Our Daddy Taught Us.' (Stream the track 'Long Time Gone' below.) In joint an interview with Stereogum, the two recall meeting 10 years ago at the Grammys, where they sang with Wonder and a group of other musicians.
Fast-forward to about two years ago, when Armstrong got super into the Everylys record and started dreaming of a co-ed remake, and thus was born a seemingly unlikely collaboration that actually isn't that unlikely. Armstrong, after all, has been harmonizing with Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt for years, and Jones has been known to rock out with her punk band El Madmo.
In true punk fashion, the duo reportedly knocked the album out in just nine days, and Jones said the best part of the 'Foreverly' project was having "no agenda." They simply hired a bassist and drummer and hit the ground running.
"We got to experiment a lot but we didn't linger on anything, we didn't over-think anything, which was just really nice," Jones told Stereogum, describing the New York City sessions. "I like working with people like him because he's fast, smart, and he's focused, and he's present. There's no bullshit. It was fun and it was easy."
"The reason why it was fast was because we were just really kind of getting to the heart of making it really simple," Armstrong added. It is rootsy sounding, for lack of a better word. I don't know, it sounds really pure to me. And honest. And that's what I brought away and took home from the project.


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Steen scores for Blues; Elliott shuts out Panthersby Alain Poupart
SUNRISE, Fla. -- St. Louis Blues forward Alexander Steen scored again Friday, but after the game he was more interested in talking about his goalie.
Steen scored his NHL-leading 12th as part of a three-goal second period, Brian Elliott made 31 saves for his 22nd career shutout, and the Blues defeated the Florida Panthers 4-0 at BB&T Center.
Steen, who was the third NHL player in 20 years with 11 goals in his first 10 games of a season, extended his career-best goal streak to six games, the longest in the League. Steen was tied with San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau, who had a five-game streak from Oct. 10-19.
"I think we've talked enough about that," Steen said of his scoring. "I thought tonight we played OK. I think [Elliott] is the reason we ended up winning the hockey game. He made some timely saves, some really big saves, and pretty much stood on his head at times tonight. He really pulled out a W for us."
Steen, who scored eight goals in 40 games last season and whose career-high is 24 goals, has scored in every game but one this season. Named earlier Friday as the NHL's First Star of the Month for October, he made it 4-0 at 10:42 of the second period when he converted a rebound after David Backes skated in from the left side and put a backhand on net.
"The guy is unreal," Elliott said of Steen. "I thought he's been one of the best players in the NHL for a while. He does everything right on the ice. When stuff like this goes well for a good guy like he is, one of the most-liked guys in the locker room, everybody is pulling for him. It's awesome to see it."
Elliott, making his second start of the season, recorded his first shutout since April 11, 2013, a 2-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild. He didn't have to make many tough saves against the Panthers, but did stop Tomas Fleischmann alone in front of the net with 4:57 left in the third period.
"It was good to get in there," Elliott said. "Guys got me a lead pretty early. You kind of just settle in and start seeing the puck. The D blocked a lot of shots, the forwards blocked shots, and when they didn't, they were blocking out the guys so I could see it. It was a good outing."
Derek Roy, Chris Stewart and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues. Backes had two assists.
The victory completed a dominating two-game sweep in the season series for the Blues, who shut out the Panthers 7-0 at Scottrade Center on Oct. 5.
"We're bearing [down] on opportunities, it seems, on their goalies," Pietrangelo said. "It wasn't our best game tonight, but we found a way to win. Obviously the last game was a little bit different, being 7-0, but [Elliott] played fantastic tonight, well-deserving of the shutout."
With Florida goalie Tim Thomas (lower body) on injured reserve, Jacob Markstrom got his fourth consecutive start and made 19 saves. He gave up three goals on seven shots in the second period.
This was the third time this season the Panthers were shut out. Florida was blanked 3-0 at home by the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 13.
The Panthers begin a stretch of nine out of 11 games away from home Saturday against the Washington Capitals, who defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 Friday. Florida (3-8-2) has lost seven of eight, and wrapped up their season-long six-game homestand 1-3-2.
"It's disappointing for all of us," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "Everybody feels bad about it. Understanding that you are playing in the best league in the world and you are absolutely privileged to be in this League, there's no entitlement. And if you don't go out there and play as hard as you can, you will stumble along as we did tonight. The effort wasn't good enough to compete against one of the top teams in the NHL."
After saying the Panthers "probably had three competitive players" against the Blues, singling out forwards Shawn Matthias and Jesse Winchester, and defenseman Mike Weaver, Dineen hinted changes to his lineup might be coming.
"We are going to examine all our options right now," he said. "We've got options we can take advantage of. We're at the point now that it's not about skill for this group, it's about us trying to find the guys that are going to give us the best effort. That's what we'll do in [Washington], put guys out on the ice that will just go out and work as hard as they can for that Panthers logo on the front of the jersey."
The Blues (8-1-2) started a three-game road trip. St. Louis played the fewest games in the NHL in October but will play 15 times this month. That should mean more work for Elliott, the backup to Jaroslav Halak.
"Elliott was great," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He was really good early and he was really good late. I'm really happy for him. We need him to be sharp. We need to get back to the formula that we had two years ago and that's what we're aiming to do. So he's going to get another start here pretty quick and hopefully we can keep going."
St. Louis came in with the best power-play percentage in the League at 28.2 and scored with the man-advantage when Pietrangelo made it 3-0 at 7:06 of the second. He put in a loose puck at the side of the net after Backes' one-timer from the left circle went off the leg of one Panthers defenseman (Weaver) and off the stick of another (Erik Gudbranson).
Roy got a fortuitous bounce when he opened the scoring 15:41 into the game. His backhand from close range hit the right post, bounced back toward the middle, and trickled in after hitting Markstrom in the back of the leg.
Stewart increased the lead to 2-0 at 5:21 of the second period with his first goal of the season when his one-timer from below the left circle found its way through Markstrom's pads.
"He's been guilty of overpassing or trying to make the next play," Hitchcock said of Stewart. "He's lost a little bit of confidence. Hopefully that gives him [some]. After that, he got three or four quality scoring chances, so that's a real good sign for us."
St. Louis center Maxim Lapierre returned after serving a five-game suspension for a hit on Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle in a game Oct. 15.


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Courtesy of iTunes
I don't know what got me started tonight, but I dropped twenty bucks on cheesy songs from the 80s and 90s on iTunes. I'm alone with the kids, because my husband has his once-in-a-blue-moon Saturday poker night, so I thought we should do some dancing.
I downloaded that "I like to move it" song first. We wore that one out pretty quickly. What followed was a cascade of hilarious (to me) song choices, ending with the Bonnie Tyler classic Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Most of my friends have some sort of benchmark reference with that song. For me, it was being a dorky sixth-grader, and going to school dances and watching all of the cool kids pair up and waddle like penguins while the rest of us wallflowers stood along the edges of the multipurpose room, mouthing all the words and swaying. We'd really emote along with Bonnie's two-pack-a-day vocals, and sometimes we'd get fancy and take turns singing back up, holding our plastic, purse-sized combs for microphones.
In any case, the breakdancers would take over the dance at some point, and the entire room would be full of spectators - but those slow dances always killed me. I was jealous of the girls who got asked to dance at the time. Now, I'm glad I took the time to really work on my lipsynching. If only I would have learned to breakdance, too.
After doing fake cheers to Toni Basil's Hey Mickey and teaching my kids the chorus to Bust a Move (I know, I know) and following up with a rousing rendition of Shake It from one-hit-wonder M.C. Shy-D. I busted the kids up proper with a lipsynched rendition of the Wonder Woman theme.
Inspiration struck as the kids and I started to wear down from our dance party. I got ready to do some Bonnie Tyler singalong, when my son pulled himself up straight, and blushing, asked me if I would dance with him.
I scooped him up in my arms, and we penguined our way around the living room to the gritty strains of Total Eclipse of the Heart - the only time I've actually danced with someone to that song. He nestled his nose into my neck, and we swayed awkwardly. As the song ended (finally, geez, my arms were getting tired. SEVEN MINUTES! Heaven to a horny seventh grader. Tough for a tired mommy...) I lowered him to the floor, and we both smiled.
It was worth the wait.


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Not too long ago I heard about a game called Punch Quest which reminded me of the very good (and very free) Jetpack Joyride. Now months later, Punch Quest has hit the iOS App Store and has become one of the most addicting iPhone games I've played all year. Coincidentally, it's the first game I've really put through the paces on my iPhone 5, and the pair is insanely fast, clear, and colorful. In the midst of Hurricane Sandy, with internet service coming and going, and power threatening to shut down at any given moment, Punch Quest was a boon to my fingertips, helping me to avoid boredom.
Punch Quest is very simple really, you run endlessly and you have two buttons controlling your highly customizable avatar. Left button jumps and uppercuts, useful for platforming and attacking, right causes you to dash ahead and simultaneously throw a straight punch. As you further yourself along the game you gain increasing amounts of Punchos (in-game currency, great name for a cereal) to purchase and unlock loot (in-app purchases to buy more currency) and upgrades, both cosmetic and functional. Once I started unlocking more advanced techniques and learning what the ever-advancing stage was throwing at me - including multiple paths - I realized how complex this little game actually is. Once you begin perfectly stringing together 80+ hit combos while avoiding enemy attacks and pitfalls, it becomes more hardcore twitch platformer a la Super Meat Boy than casual Temple Run-and-jump, without alienating either fanbase.
+ Tons of customization options (both cosmetic and functional)
+ Insanely addictive
+ iPhone 5 support (both portrait and landscape)
+ Free
I'm really struggling trying to think of some negative things to say about Punch Quest, but the reality is that there is little to nothing wrong with this rewarding, addictive, free and just plain enjoyable mobile title. RocketCat Games has taken the endless runner genre and has meticulously elevated it to the next level. The bar has been raised, iOS developers better start bringing the heat on their next sidescrolling runner (I'm looking at you Super Meat Boy iOS).
The Score: 9 outta 10 Blasters!


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Gap Inc, which owns clothing retailers Banana Republic and Old Navy as well as its namesake brand, expanded into the luxury market with its purchase of women's apparel retailer Intermix Holdco Inc for $130 million.
Gap also reported a 5 percent jump in same-store sales for December. Analysts had expected a rise of 3.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Continue Reading Below
Gap, whose shares have risen 69 percent in the last year, has seen its comparable-store sales improve as new campaigns and trendier offerings helped it compete better with more fashionable rivals, including Inditex SA's Zara chain.
Jefferies & Co analyst Randal Konik said Intermix will help Gap return to a "fashion leadership position".
Privately held Intermix sells clothes and accessories from renowned design houses such as Yigal Azrouel, Yves Saint Laurent, Brian Atwood and Jimmy Choo. It has 32 boutique stores in North America and also operates a retail website.
"We see the benefit of cross pollination of the high fashion chain and Gap's existing brands (particularly Gap brand) as a significant positive of the deal," Jefferies analyst Konik wrote in a note.
Upmarket menswear maker Ermenegildo Zegna and U.S. cosmetics group Estee Lauder said in November they expect the luxury goods sector to regain vigor in 2013, after the economic slowdown in Europe and China affected luxury sales in 2012.
News of the acquisition was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The deal marks the latest by Gap following its 2008 purchase of women's active apparel retailer Athleta.
Gap, which also operates the online fashion boutique Piperlime, said Intermix would continue to operate under the leadership of its co-founder Khajak Keledjian in the role of chief creative officer.
The company also said it approved a $1 billion share repurchase program after an earlier $1 billion program ended in the fourth quarter.
Gap's shares were flat at $31.37 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.


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The nearly 200 guests at the first Love Our Schools luncheon were greeted by about 70 protesters as they drove into the parking lot of Lone Tree's …
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The nearly 200 guests at the first Love Our Schools luncheon were greeted by about 70 protesters as they drove into the parking lot of Lone Tree's Denver Marriott South hotel on June 14.
On the south side of the hotel entrance, more than 60 parents and students held signs expressing disappointment in Douglas County School Board decisions and district-level changes. On the north side, about seven people displayed signs in support of the board and Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen, and one man chanted pro-district cheers through a megaphone.
Both sets of protesters lined the sidewalk in front of hotel before and after the lunch, a fundraising event for DCSD coordinated by the Douglas County Educational Foundation.
While no pro-board supporters were willing to identify themselves, parent and former DCSD spokeswoman Susan Meek spoke for the larger group.
Meek said the gathering was prompted by an effort earlier in the week to learn more about the Starboard Group, a Greenwood Village-based company that helped coordinate the lunch. The Starboard Group coordinates events and campaigns for nonprofits and political clients.
DCEF has a small staff and outsources some of its event planning, said chairwoman Amy Sherman, adding she has used the Starboard Group in the past.
But Meek, who made an unsuccessful fall 2011 run for school board and recently stepped down as vice president of the grassroots Strong Schools Coalition to help run fall board campaigns, said she was concerned because of the Starboard Group's work with political candidates and groups. She and other parents wanted to know how money raised from the lunch would be spent.
Meek said repeated questions about those financial details by several community members weren't satisfactorily answered, triggering concerns about district transparency and prompting the June 14 protest.
Standing in front of the Marriott, Meek cited "a lack of transparency between several groups that are clearly partisan, political groups, and the school district.
"We're here today to thank the people for supporting our schools, but we're asking them to demand transparency."
Starboard Group public relations director Joe Megyesy said all money raised during the lunch will go to the DCEF.
"It is absolutely accurate we have raised money for conservative causes and candidates," he said. "We also fundraise for Food Bank of the Rockies."
Parent Jim Cloud cited a different reason for his participation in the protest.
"I want to do my part to see that the school board that has done everything they can to destroy trust with parents, taxpayers and the community is replaced this November," he said.
Four of the seven school board seats will be up for election this fall.
School board member Doug Benevento, who attended the lunch, said the protest was "in poor taste."
"There's a time for politics," he said. "This isn't it."
Board member Meghann Silverthorn said the DCEF's hiring of the Starboard Group was not an issue.
"That just happens to be who the foundation contracted with," she said. "Emotions around things that are going on in the district are higher than they've been in a long time."
DCSD spokeswoman Cinamon Watson had stronger words for the protesters.
"The fact they would politicize an event meant to raise money in this district was abysmal," she said. "I think what they did was really over the line and tragic."
Watson responded to some of the concerned parent's questions in emails and on the DCSD Facebook page, but parents said her answers were incomplete.
"I don't think any kind of response would have been enough for this group," Watson said. "They're chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole. There's nothing there."
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#4 from 2012: Openness for Whom? and Openness for What?
Our Top Ten Blog Posts by Readership in 2012
Originally published on April 9, 2012
The emerging concept of "Open Development" has become a topic of keen interest to citizens, policy makers, and development practitioners alike.
Opening data to enhance transparency, accountability and development outcomes sounds great. However, two main issues remain unclear: Openness for whom? And openness for what?
Two weeks ago, I participated in a fascinating panel, entitled 'Does Openness Enhance Development?' at the ICTD2012 Conference in Atlanta. At the center of the discussion were the following issues: (i) what do we mean by open development? (ii) Can openness close the 'accountability loop' between citizens, governments and international donors? (iii) Can openness lead to a more inclusive development? (iv) What is truly open and what not? and (v) What are the main barriers to opening up the development process?


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By Cheryl Bowdridge
SUN Columnist
We are gearing up for The Fall Rummage Sale at the Ross Aragon Community Center.
Take time to shop or sell at the largest community sale in town on Oct. 20, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
If you have been thinking about having a yard sale, now is the perfect time.
Let us do the advertising, provide the space and get the people there. All you have to do is reserve your spot and bring your treasures to make some cash before the holidays.
Spaces are $25 each. We have limited space available, so come by the community center to reserve yours today.
Call the center for information, 264-4152.
Free programs
Mah Jongg. Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m.; Fridays, 12:30-4:30 p.m. call the center with any questions, 264-4152.
Pickleball. Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8-10 a.m. If you need a pickleball fix, join us. Loaner paddles are available. If you would like to learn the game of pickleball, join us from 9-10 a.m. to learn this fun and exciting game. Contact Fran if you have any questions, 884-3184.
Tai Chi. No experience is necessary. Join instructors Pam Kircher and Anna O'Reilly. Classes are Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-noon. Please wear flat-soled shoes and bring water. Class is open to everyone.
Duplicate Bridge. Tuesday, 5:30-10 p.m.; Friday, 12:30-4:30 p.m. Call Stan, 731-2217 or e-mail Stan at email@example.com.
Pagosa Bridge 4 Fun. Mondays, 12:30-4 p.m. For more information, contact the center, 264-4152.
Hoopsters. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-9 a.m. Warren and the guys are waiting for you to come out and play. They will play with just about anyone. The Hoopsters are a great group of guys getting out there twice a week for a good game of b-ball.
Yoga. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10-11:30 a.m. Please bring a mat or towel. Call the center with questions 264-4152.
Sozo Yoga. Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Come, rejuvenate your body, mind and soul with this faith-based yoga class. Bring a mat and a strap, belt or scarf. Call the center for information, 264-4152.
Dulcimer. The dulcimer is an entry folk instrument, not as difficult as the guitar to learn. If you would like to learn to play this instrument, come on Wednesdays 3-4 p.m. Call the center for information at 264-4152.
Belly dancing. A pleasant aerobic exercise, dancing brings well-known benefits, such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, weight control and more. Belly dance helps to develop muscle control and isolation, graceful; arms and body conditioning from head to toe. Join Carla Roberts on Wednesdays, noon-1:30 p.m. Call the center for information, 264-4152.
Thursday, Sept. 20: Hoopsters, 8-9 a.m.; yoga, 10-11:30 a.m.; Sozo Yoga, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 21: Pickleball, 8-10 a.m.; Duplicate Bridge, 12:30-4:30 p.m.; Mah Jongg, 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 23: Grace Evangelical Free Church, 7:30 a.m.-noon; Church of Christ, 10 a.m.-noon.
Monday, Sept. 24: Pickleball, 8-10 a.m.; Pagosa Bridge 4 Fun, 12:30-4 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 25: Hoopsters, 8-9 a.m.; yoga, 10-11:30 a.m.; Mah Jongg, 1-3 p.m.; Duplicate Bridge, 5:30-10 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 26: Pickleball, 8-10 a.m.; Tai Chi, 11 a.m.-noon; Belly dancing, noon-1:30 p.m; Dulcimer, 3-4 p.m.
The Ross Aragon Community Center has the space you are looking for. We have reasonably priced rooms to meet your event needs. Our rates range from $6 to $90 per hour. Room sizes for 20, 40, 50, 90 or 500 people.
The community center hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday by appointment only.
The center is located at 451 Hot Springs Blvd. Phone 264-4152, e-mail email@example.com.
Follow these topics: Community Center News, Lifestyle


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You should actively ahead about amphitheatre acreage abecedarian online if you are analytic for adventurous cast that is adapted afresh the accustomed beat em up, activity or adventitious acquaint abecedarian that are calamity the internet today. When ambidextrous with acreage games, we accessory at a adventurous breadth you are to abound crops, brawl and accretion livestock as a bureau of assets and bread-and-butter growth. This is complete affiliated to how complete farms operate.
In a lot of acreage acquaint games, your algid is to accomplish a acreage in a basal angel while you attack with added farmers to see if you can anatomy up the bigger farm. A lot of of these types of abecedarian are complete addictive and competitive, so gamers will play them regularly. You allegation to crop into appliance is whether or not you are amphitheatre this acquaint of adventurous actually for brawl purposes or if you actually are ascetic about the advancing aspect to the game. If you are ascetic about the advancing aspect, afresh you allegation to focus a fair aggregate of time on acquirements as abounding as you can about the activity so that you will be in a position to do able and ensure your acreage grows and your crops don't get destroyed.
One activity that you can use is to set beside some time every alone day to play. This adeptness be afterwards school, afterwards work, or afterwards you are done accomplishing added things that allegation to get done. If you set a calendar and stick to it, you are added adequate to be able to play Acreage abecedarian online in a added connected and accustomed manner.
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In the final analysis, bodies who play acreage abecedarian online about acquire a lot of fun. You should actually accept this acquaint of adventurous yourself if you are somebody who would like the befalling to play a adventurous that adapted from a lot of the added abecedarian that are out there. You will accretion this acquaint of Acreage abecedarian to be actually fun.


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I believe an admin would be able to change your name for you if you let then know what you wanted. As for deleting an account, I'm not sure!
As the subject says!Thx for any help.-S.
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Saturday, May 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – If you've been itching to get rid of those old computers, keyboards, printers, monitors, laptops, scanners, shredders, fax machines, phones, answering machines, TVs, VCRs, cassette players, stereos and other electronic equipment, as well as used household batteries, bring them to our e-waste recycling event in the Brookside Park parking lot!
Saturday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – It's Family Fun Day at La Pintoresca Park and La Pintoresca Branch Library! Bring the kids for skate park and basketball competitions, arts and crafts, live entertainment, food, prizes and much more!
Monday, May 31, at 11 a.m. – The Pasadena chapters of the Vietnams Veterans of America and the Navy League will host a wreath-placing ceremony at the Pasadena Vietnam Memorial at Memorial Park on Raymond Avenue between Walnut and Holly streets.
Wednesday, June 2, at 7:30 a.m. – Walk around the Rose Bowl Loop with Mayor Bill Bogaard and the Pasadena/Foothills Chapter of the United Nations Association. Meet at Gate A.
Sunday, June 6, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. – The CPR Awareness and Health Fair at Victory Park, 2575 Paloma St. (in the gymnasium and on the park grounds), will include hourly hands-only CPR training with mannequins, yoga and karate demonstrations, indoor boot camp, blood pressure and spinal screenings, arts and crafts, and much more. This event is co-sponsored by Pasadena City Councilman Steve Haderlein.
Through June 20 -- Allendale Branch Library, 1130 S. Marengo Ave., is closed for installation of a new HVAC system. If this is the library nearest your home, the next closest locations are Hill Avenue Branch Library, 55 S. Hill Ave.; San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Rd.; and Pasadena Central Library 285 E. Walnut St.
Please note all events are free.
The photo of the mayor's walk is courtesy of the Pasadena Weekly.
Design Commission Review
3 years ago


text: Mark Hahn wrote: >> I would recommend upping the memory. Computing or not, large buffer >> caches on file servers are with very rare exception, a preferred config. > > unclear. the FS's memory does act as an excellent cache, but then again, > the client memory does too. do you have a pattern of file accesses in > which > the same files are frequently re-read and would fit in memory? the servers > I've looked at closely have had mostly write and attribute activity, > since the client's own cache already has a high hit-rate. for writes, of > course, more FS memory is not important unless you have extremely high I was actually assuming read-dominated. Dave does informatics as I remember, and most of the informatics we have dealt with tends to be read dominated. Doesn't mean much though without the workload info though. So I agree with the caution, though I humbly note that a 1GB stick costs about 120$ +/- a bit these days. Eg, it is not a large price, and the potential impact on performance is much higher than for 10k RPM drives. FWIW I have a pair of 10k RPM SATA raptors and I am not all that impressed with them. > bandwidth net and disks. in fact, I've been using the following > sysctl.conf > entries: > > # delay writing dirty blocks hoping to collect further writes (default 30s) > vm.dirty_expire_centisecs = 1000 > # try writing back every 1s (default 500=5s) > vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 100 > > in short, don't bother working at write caching much. with a lot of > memory, > an untuned machine will exhibit unpleasant oscillations of delaying writes > then frantically flushing. Yup. I had my dirty around 250 for a long time. Write caching is harder because if you really want to play it safe, you shouldn't cache the write ... > >> 2Gb/socket minimum. Nothing serves files faster than having them >> already sitting in ram. > > true, but is that actually your working set size? it would be rather > embarassing if 3 of the 4 GB were files read once a month... Hmmm... again, this is a good workload problem. If Dave's users are going through big "databases" from NCBI, lots of ram is a good thing. It it is just a buncha small files, yeah, could be overkill. But if I had to spend extra $$ on ram versus 10kRPM drives, I know where I would spend it ... > >>> 4 x 74 Gb disks Ultra320 (or make an argument for a particular SATA) > > SATA disks are SATA disks, of course. dumb controllers are all pretty > similar as well (cheap, fast, not-cpu-consuming). if you have your > heart set on HW raid, at least get a 3ware 9550, which is quite fast. > (most other HW raid are surprisingly bad.) The LSI SAS unit is pretty good. I like the 3ware, the Areca, and a few others. We just created a nice 500+ MB/s "file server" for a large customer out of an Areca card, 16 spindles and some tweaking. I haven't seen production performance data for it yet, but our in house testing exceeded the 500 MB/s by a little bit. >>> dual 10/100/1000 ethernet on the mobo >> >> Careful on this... we and our customers have been badly bitten by tg3 >> and broadcom NICs. If the MB doesn't have Intel NICs, get an Intel >> 1000/MT dual gigabit card. You won't regret that, and it is money >> well spent. > > that's odd; I have quite a few of both tg3 and bcm nics, and can't say > I've had any complaints. what are the problems? Interrupted to death. The tg3 doesn't seem to have NAPI turned on by default in the standard distro kernels. Haven't tried the FC* with this, hopefully it is saner there. Under heavy load, we see interrupts climb past 40k/s, and it context switches like mad. Seen this from early 2.6 through 2.6.13 on SuSE and RHEL. Makes using AOE (Coraid) nearly useless with Broadcom, formatting the unit with ext3 renders the server unusable for hours. Drop a nice Intel unit in there, do the same thing and it works great, server is responsive during formatting. Same issues for file service and heavy load. Seen this on Tyan, iWill, Arima?, MSI(ibm e32*), and others. > >>> case - 2U (big enough for adequate ventilation, right?) >> >> Yeah, just make sure you have good airflow. > > 2U still requires a custom PS, doesn't it? it's kind of nice to be able > to put in an ATX-ish PS. and is 2U tall enough for stock/standard > heatsink/fans? Don't know if it is custom. I like the redundant PS, but the small redundant PSes tend not to supply enough current to boot the system. Need a 3U case for that. Best cooling designs I have seen involve baffles, and a pull or push-pull config. We have used some units where under load the processors are happily working around 22-28C. Fans are loud though. Case (1U) is very cool to the touch. For 2U you still need to worry about flow. I find it hard to believe that most people get efficient flow out the back grating on 2U and larger without a helper fan of some sort. > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: landman at scalableinformatics.com web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 fax : +1 734 786 8452 or +1 866 888 3112 cell : +1 734 612 4615


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If God were to punish men according to what they deserve, He would not leave on the surface of the earth one single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated term: when their term expires, truly, (they will know that ) God has in His sight all His Servants. (Fatir, 45)
Those that turn to God in repentance; that serve Him, and praise Him; that fast in devotion to the cause of God; that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limit set by God, shall be richly rewarded. proclaim the glad tidings to the believers. (Al-Tawba, 112)
I am with you: if you (but) say your prayers regularly, practice regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to God a beautiful loan, indeed I will rid you of your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, denies Me, he will truly have wandered from the path of rectitude. (Al-Maeda, 12)
"O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Turn to your Lord (in repentance) and bow to His Will, before the Penalty comes upon you: after that you shall not be helped. (Az-Zumar, 53-54)
God accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them God will turn in mercy: for God is full of knowledge and wisdom. Of no avail is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says, "Now I have indeed; repented indeed" nor of those who die rejecting Faith: for them We have prepared a most grievous punishment. (An-Nisa, 17-18)
"...At length, when overwhelmed with the flood, he said: I believe that there is no god except Him Whom the Children of Israel believe in: I am of those who submit (to God in Islam). (Jonah, 90)
"...Ah now! But a little while before, you were in rebellion! and you perpetrated mischief and violence! (Jonah, 91)
When those who believe in Our signs, come to you say: "Peace be upon you: Your Lord has decreed for Himself (the rule of) mercy: truly, if any of you commited evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and mended his ways, he would find God Oft-forgiving and Most Merciful." (Al-Anaam, 54)
The Hypocrites shall be cast into the lowest depths of the Fire: no helper will you find for them;But those who repent, mend their ways, hold fast to God, and are sincere in their devotion to Him-they shall be numbered with the believers. And soon God will grant to the believers a reward of immense value. (An-Nisa, 145-146)Those who conceal the clear signs We have sent down,and the guidance, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book-on them shall be God's curse, and the curse of those entitled to curse, except those who repent and make amends and openly declare the Truth.Toward them I shall relent; for I am the Relenting one and Most Merciful. (Al-Baqara, 159-160)
God turned with favour to the Prophet, the Muhajirs, and the Ansar, who followed him in a time of distress, when the hearts of some of them had nearly swerved from duty; but He turned to them (also): for He is Most Kind, and Most Merciful to them. He turned in mercy also to the three who were left behind; they felt guilty to such a degree that the earth seemed constrained to them, for all its spaciousness, and their very souls seemed straitened to them, and they perceived that there was no fleeing from God and no refuge but in Him. Then He turned to them, so that they might repent: for God is the Forgiving One and Most Merciful. (Al-Tawba, 117-118)
2005-07-05 09:53:39If it were not for God's grace and mercy to you, and that God is Forgiving and full of Wisdom, (you would indeed be ruined). (Al-Noor, 10)


text:
Knoxville's largest Buy Here Pay Here group for over 30 years, Clayton Automotive Group is looking for motivated and ambitious individuals to fill several positions within our expanding company. All full time positions offer competitive pay, medical insurance, and opportunities for advancement. Whether you are looking to get your foot in the door or already have experience, we are interested in hearing more about how your unique skill set can benefit our company.
Our sales plan offers a combination of 3 different ways weekly for a salesperson to earn income vs. little or no salary, flat commissions or flat fees only. The potential earning power of our pay plan offers the opportunity to make a high income.
Please send all resumes and inquiries to email@example.com or stop by
one of our locations and fill out an application.


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Hardware Jewelry
May 21, 2012 1 Comment
Kid-makers, do you want to make an awesome gift for a girl or boy you know? Something that looks tough (but is really kind of easy)? Our newest video will show YOU have to make one-of-a-kind necklaces, bracelets, keychains and more from things you have in your garage, basement or toolbox.
Find some hex nuts, washers or any other hardware with a hole in the center. Find some string, twine, rope or ribbon. Then watch this video to learn how to braid it all together into seriously tough jewelry you made yourself. Maker Rebecca shows you how!
Stay calm and make on.
© 2012 Children's Museum of Pittsburgh


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NEW SHAPES! This panty is shown here above in our standard Full Cut standard design, but is now also available in many beautiful different cuts! Click here for photos showing the various shapes available!
These super satin panties are just so cute, double lined with satin so what you see and feel on the outside you also feel the shiny satin that every one who wears them wants to feel on the inside! The back of the panties is made from our gorgeous glass-silk, for extra baby sissyness!
You'll get that extra satin-swishy feeling when your wearing them - pure heaven!
With comfortable elasticated waist and legs, these cute satin panties feature lashing of lace!
These panties are also available in a higher-waist cut, where the waist line is 3 inches higher than standard. Click here for photos.
Also available in ANAL-SEX and COCK-HOLE versions! With a hole over the ass, surrounded by sweet lace - designed for great anal sex! Or choose the hole for the cock to poke through! Or choose BOTH holes for extra kink!
See photos of the holes here!
These panties can also be made with a crotch-less slit in them - great for
We can also make these panties with a higher-waist style! See high-waist photos here!
These panties can also have a rear Zip!!
See photos of our rear Zip design!
These panties can also be made lockable!
See photos of our Panty-Lock system!
Available in these exact garment sizes:
We can now make these panties in really big custom sizes! (tell us your Waist and Hips size when (or after) ordering.


text: Sun has a 8 socket AMD machine: http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/4600/ Tyan has a 8 socket opteron server too: http://www.tyan.com/product_barebones_detail.aspx?pid=338 IBM has some 8+ socket x86 systems, it seem they use a NUMAlink like interconnect called ex4: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/hardware/enterprise/index.html HP has 8 socket opteron systems too: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/en/WF04a/15351-15351-3328412-241644-3328423.html There are some high end x86 systems from UNISYS too, but beyond that I think you will have to look for RISC systems. 2008/10/17 Prentice Bisbal <prentice at ias.edu> > andrew holway wrote: > > Hi > > > > If you wanted to buy an smp machine of 8, 16 or 32 sockets, what would > > be your options? > > > > Do you really mean SMP, or just 8, 16, or 32 nodes in the same box, > running a single system image (SSI) of the OS? > > Having a system with 8, 16, or 32 sockets does not necessarily equal > SMP. Any Opteron based multiprocessor system is actually a NUMA system, > since each Opteron has it's own memory controller on-chip and own bank > of DIMMs. > > <aside> > To split hairs, in a system with multi-core Opterons, the cores on a > single chip are SMP relative to each other, since they all use the same > memory controller, and have equal access to the RAM directly controlled > by that memory controller. But once they access RAM from another chip > (different socket), it becomes a NUMA situation. (Is there a name for > this hybrid architecture?) > </aside> > > If you just want an SSI, and NUMA is acceptable, you can look at the SGI > Altix systems. They use SGI's NUMAlink (TM) Architecture to scale up the > # of processors while behaving as a single NUMA system. The first Altix > systems used Itanium processors which aren't binary compatible with x86 > processors (a real inconvenience) if you were planning on running > commercial, binary-only x86 software) but there are newer Altix systems > (XE series) that use x86-based processors. > > http://www.sgi.com/products/servers/altix/xe/ > > If you want that many processors in a single system, you probably do > want NUMA, since the single memory controller for that many processors > will become a bottleneck. > > -- > Prentice > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20081017/b3753395/attachment.html>


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Kutztown University's Department of Music offers an outstanding undergraduate education for aspiring musicians while serving as a primary cultural resource for the region. With an emphasis on active learning, the comprehensive music curriculum gives our students extensive experience in their chosen field of study. Our outstanding music faculty mentors and fosters each individual student's development and guides them to professional success.
Information on our degree programs, application materials, auditions and scholarships can be found under the prospective student pages. The Department of Music offers many performance opportunities through both large and small ensembles which are open to all university students, regardless of major.
The Department of Music is housed in Old Main and Schaeffer Auditorium. The Schaeffer Auditorium reopened in the fall of 2013 after a grand renovation to accommodate the rapidly growing music program. The 20,000 square foot expansion included two new large rehearsal halls, a recital/lecture hall, practice rooms, music classrooms, chamber music rehearsal rooms, music library, instrument and uniform storage, lockers, lounge, and new dressing rooms.
If you are interested in our degree programs, we welcome your request for more information. Text us at (484) 648-0115 with your questions. You may also contact the Department of Music or follow us on Facebook.
Music Department Events


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Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to contraction: muscle contraction
a drawing together; a shortening or shrinkage.
Braxton Hicks c's see braxton hicks contractions.
carpopedal contraction the condition resulting from chronic shortening of the muscles of the upper and lower limbs including the fingers and toes, seen in tetany.
concentric contraction contraction resulting in shortening of a muscle, used to perform positive work or to accelerate a body part. It is metabolically more demanding than an eccentric contraction. Called also shortening contraction.
Dupuytren's contraction Dupuytren's contracture.
eccentric contraction contraction in the presence of a resistive force that results in elongation of a muscle, used to perform negative work or to decelerate a body part. It is less metabolically demanding than a concentric contraction but may cause disruption of associated connective tissue with delayed soreness or frank injury if it occurs in an unaccustomed manner. Called also lengthening contraction.
end-diastolic premature ventricular contraction a ventricular ectopic beat falling at the end of diastole; it may or may not be slightly premature and may or may not be a fusion beat.
haustral c's muscular contractions of the wall of the large intestine during which the haustra can be seen more easily; called also haustrations.
isometric contraction muscle contraction without appreciable shortening or change in distance between its origin and insertion.
isotonic contraction muscle contraction without appreciable change in the force of contraction; the distance between the origin and insertion becomes lessened.
lengthening contraction eccentric contraction.
postural contraction the state of muscular tension and contraction that just suffices to maintain the posture of the body.
segmental c's muscular contractions of the small intestine that serve to mix and transport chyme.
shortening contraction concentric contraction.
contraction stress test observation of the fetal heart rate in response to uterine contractions; see also fetal monitoring.
tetanic contraction (tonic contraction) physiological tetanus.
Volkmann's contraction Volkmann's contracture.
con·trac·tion (C),(kon-trak'shŭn), Do not confuse this word with contracture.
1. A shortening or increase in tension; denoting the normal function of muscle.
2. Shrinkage or reduction in size.
3. Heart beat, as in premature contraction.
[L. contractus, drawn together]
contraction/con·trac·tion/ (kon-trak´shun) a drawing together; a shortening or shrinkage.
Braxton Hicks contractions light, usually painless, irregular uterine contractions during pregnancy, gradually increasing in intensity and frequency and becoming more rhythmic during the third trimester.
carpopedal contraction the condition due to chronic shortening of the muscles of the fingers, toes, arms, and legs in tetany.
cicatricial contraction the shrinkage and spontaneous closing of open skin wounds.
clonic contraction clonus.
hourglass contraction contraction of an organ, as the stomach or uterus, at or near the middle.
isometric contraction muscle contraction without appreciable shortening or change in distance between its origin and insertion.
isotonic contraction muscle contraction without appreciable change in the force of contraction; the distance between the muscle's origin and insertion becomes lessened.
lengthening contraction a muscle contraction in which the ends of the muscle move farther apart, as when the muscle is forcibly flexed.
paradoxical contraction contraction of a muscle caused by the passive approximation of its extremities.
postural contraction the state of muscular tension and contraction which just suffices to maintain the posture of the body.
shortening contraction a muscle contraction in which the ends of the muscle move closer together, as when a flexed limb is extended.
tetanic contraction sustained muscular contraction without intervals of relaxation.
tonic contraction tetanic c.
twitch contraction twitch.
uterine contraction contraction of the uterus during labor.
wound contraction the shrinkage and spontaneous closure of open skin wounds.
1. The act of contracting or the state of being contracted.
a. A word, as won't from will not, or phrase, as o'clock from of the clock, formed by omitting or combining some of the sounds of a longer phrase.
b. The formation of such a word.
3. Physiology The shortening and thickening of functioning muscle or muscle fiber.
4. A period of decreased business activity.
Etymology: L, con + trahere, to draw
1 a reduction in size, especially of muscle fibers.
2 an abnormal shrinkage.
3 (in labor) a rhythmic tightening of the musculature of the upper uterine segment that begins as mild tightening and becomes very strong late in labor, occurring as frequently as every 2 minutes and lasting over 1 minute. Contractions decrease the size of the uterus and squeeze the fetus through the birth canal.
4 abnormal smallness of the birth canal or part of it, a cause of dystocia. Inlet contraction exists if the anteroposterior diameter is 10 cm or less or if the transverse diameter is 11.5 cm or less. Midpelvic contraction exists if the sum of the measurements in centimeters of the interspinous diameter (normally 10.5 cm) and the posterior sagittal diameter (normally 5 cm) is 13.5 cm or less. Outlet contraction exists if the intertuberous diameter is 8 cm or less. See also clinical pelvimetry, concentric contraction, dystocia, eccentric contraction, x-ray pelvimetry.
contractionCardiology A heart beat. See Premature ventricular contraction GI disease The shortening of the muscularis propria of the GI tract, resulting in peristalsis. See Giant peristaltic contraction Obstetrics The shortening of myometrial cells, resulting in ↑ intrauterine tension. See Braxton Hicks contraction Physiology A ↓ in muscle length, accompanied by ↑ tension. See Concentration contraction, Isometric contraction, Isotonic contraction.
con·trac·tion(C) (kŏn-trak'shŭn)
1. A shortening or increase in tension; denoting the normal function of muscle.
2. A shrinkage or reduction in size.
3. Heart beat, as in premature contraction.
[L. contractus, drawn together]
contractionThe primary function of muscle by which a change of shape brings the ends closer together. By contracting, muscles bring about movement of bones or other parts. The term comes from a Latin word meaning 'to draw together' so, strictly, a phrase such as 'isotonic contraction' is a contradiction in terms. Popular usage, however, will have it that a muscle can contract without shortening.
A tightening of the uterus during pregnancy. Contractions may or may not be painful and may or may not indicate labor.
Mentioned in: Premature Labor
n shortening or tensing of a muscle.
contraction, concentric,
n movement accompanied by a shortening of the muscle as in the lifting phase of a biceps curl.
contraction, concentric isotonic,
n therapeutic technique involving contraction by a client of a target muscle against pressure applied by the therapist. See also contraction, isotonic.
contraction, eccentric,
n a muscle contraction involving an external force which lengthens the muscle. Used to increase muscle strength and mass but repeated contractions may result in muscle damage.
contraction, eccentric isotonic,
n therapeutic technique involving the lengthening of a muscle against pressure provided by the therapist. See also contraction, isotonic.
contraction, isolytic,
n a muscle contraction that occurs against resistance while lengthening the muscle.
contraction, isometric (īˈ·s·meˑ·trik kn·trakˑ·shn),
n a muscle contraction in which the muscle tension increases without moving the points of muscle origin and insertion because a counterforce equal to that of the contraction is being exerted.
contraction, isotonic (īˈ·s·tnˑ·ik kn·trakˑ·shn),
n a muscle contraction in which the muscle length (shortening or lengthening) changes against a counterforce less than that of the contraction thus resulting in movement.
contractions, multiple isotonic,
n.pl the muscle contractions that occur as the client moves a joint and accompanying muscles through the complete motion against moderate resistance.
con·trac·tion(kŏn-trak'shŭn) Do not confuse this word with contracture.
1. Condition wherein maxillary and mandibular structures are closer than normal to median plane.
2. A shortening or increase in tension; denoting the normal function of muscle.
3. Shrinkage or reduction in size.
[L. contractus, drawn together]
contraction (kəntrak´shən),
n 1. a shortening, shrinkage, or reduction in length or size.
2. a condition in which teeth or other maxillary and mandibular structures, such as the dental arch, are nearer than normal to the median plane.
2. a condition in which teeth or other maxillary and mandibular structures, such as the dental arch, are nearer than normal to the median plane.
contraction, concentric muscle,
n an unresisted ordinary shortening of muscle.
contraction, eccentric muscle,
n an increase in muscle tonus during lengthening of the muscle. Eccentric contraction occurs when muscles are used to oppose movement but not to stop it (e.g., the action of the biceps in lowering the forearm gradually and in a controlled manner). Eccentric contractions are called
isotonic, because the muscle changes length.
isotonic, because the muscle changes length.
contraction, isometric muscle
n an increase in muscular tension without a change in muscle length, as in clenching the teeth.
contraction, isotonic muscle
n an increase in muscular tension during movement without resistance (either lengthening or shortening), as in free opening and closing of the jaws.
contraction, metal,
n the shrinkage associated with the congealing of a metal from its molten state to a solid after having been cast. See also expansion, thermal.
contraction, muscle,
n the development of tension in a muscle in response to a nerve stimulus.
contraction, muscle, changes in striation bands,
n.pl alterations in bands of striated muscle during contraction. Striated muscle is composed of a darker A band and a lighter I band. Both these alternating bands develop tension during contraction but not to the same degree. In isometric contraction (clenched teeth), the sarcomere muscle unit remains unchanged in length, whereas the A band (the darker band) actually shortens and the I band (the lighter band) lengthens. When a muscle is passively stretched, such as when the mandible is opened by gravity, the A band lengthens relatively more than the I band, and during isotonic contraction, almost all the shortening is in the A segment. It is thus concluded that the contractile properties are not the same throughout the sarcomere, which is the unit of contractility. It is suggested that the darker A band has a greater concentration of contractile substance than the I band and that, in addition to contractile elements, the I band contains elastic noncontractile elements that constitute a series of elastic components throughout the fibril. Thus there is, throughout a fiber, an arrangement of dark, contractile components alternating with lighter, elastic components.
contraction, muscle, chemical factors in,
n.pl the chemical constituents and action involved in the contraction of muscle fibers. Muscle is a structure with working units built up largely from two proteins, actin and myosin, which appear to be organized into separate filaments running longitudinally through the muscle fibers. Neither type of filament runs continuously along the length of the fiber, although the effect is that of a continuous structure. The filaments are organized into a succession of groupings of one type of fiber. Each group is arranged in a regular palisade to overlap the next group of fibers, which are similarly arranged in palisades. This gives a banded appearance to the fiber. The thicker filaments contain myosin and are restricted to the A bands, where they give rise to a higher density and double refraction. The thinner filaments contain actin and extend to either side of the Z band, which is at the center of the I band. When the muscle contracts or is stretched, the two groups of filaments slide past each other like the alternating units of a sliding gate. The controlled sliding motion is presumably brought about through the mediation of oblique cross links between the filaments. These cross links are the structural expression of the biochemical interaction between actin and myosin. The chemical substance that initiates the interaction between these fibrils is adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The final effect of the interaction between ATP, myosin, and actin is to enable the two types of filaments to crawl past each other to create the shortened state of the muscle.
contraction, postural muscle
n the maintenance of muscular tension (usually isometric muscular contraction) sufficient to maintain posture.
contraction, premature ventricular (PVC),
n an extra heartbeat caused by premature contractions of the heart's ventricles resulting in palpitations, or a skipped beat, followed by a more pronounced beat.
contraction, smooth muscle, mechanism of,
n the mechanisms that regulate the functions of smooth muscle fibers. These regulatory mechanisms vary and are affected principally by two methods. First, the parasympathetic and sympathetic nerve fiber endings of the autonomic nervous system form a reticulum around the muscle cells before entering them. The action of these fibers is antagonistic; they act directly on the muscle cell, not on each other. Examples of the structures principally under the control of the autonomic nerve mechanism are the blood vessels and the pilomotor fibers. Second, the selection response to rhythmic activity associated with the automaticity of a viscus or other organ depends on local or hormonal factors. An example of this mechanism is the function of the uterus under the control of the estrogenic hormone.
contraction, static muscle,
n the contraction in which opposing muscles contract against each other and prevent movement. Fixation action of a muscle in a static contraction is termed
isometric, because it develops tension without changing length.
isometric, because it develops tension without changing length.
a drawing together; a shortening or shrinkage.
isovolumetric contraction
ventricular muscle contraction during early systole after closure of the atrioventricular valves and before the semilunar valves open; the muscle continues to contract, forcing up the ventricular pressure without any change in the ventricular volume.
muscle contraction
see muscle.
myocardial contraction
individual myocardial cells transmit motor impulses across cell boundaries and act as a syncytium.
contraction phase
the stage in wound healing when there is centripetal movement of surrounding tissues and the area of the wound decreases. This is believed to be a cell-mediated phenomenon, involving myofibroblasts.
postural contraction
the state of muscular tension and contraction that just suffices to maintain the posture of the body.
striated muscle contraction
see muscle.
tetanic contraction, tonic contraction
sustained muscular contraction with alternating relaxation.


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Johnson, Richard Colles. "American Literature in the Newberry." Unpublished. Bibliographer's Report: American Literature, The Newberry Library, 1970.
Newberry Library. American Novels with an American Setting Printed Before 1880; a Check List of Books in the Library August 1941. Chicago: The Newberry Library, 1941. Call number: folio Y 25.622.
———. "The Newberry Library Bulletin, Supplement: A Midwest Bibliography." Unpublished, 1947. Call number: Z 79.N 4112 suppl. in checklist area.
Savory, Jerold J. "An Uncommon Comic Collection: Victorian Humor Periodicals in the Newberry Library." Victorian Periodicals Review 17, no. 3 (1984): 94-102. Call number: folio PN 5124 .P4 V52 and photocopy in checklist area.