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Mythic Co-Founder Says Free-to-Play "Apocalypse" Coming
Mythic Co-Founder Says Free-to-Play "Apocalypse" Coming
Mark Jacobs, the former CEO and co-founder of Mythic Entertainment, expects the free-to-play market to decline within a few years.
One of the most prominent and profitable trends to emerge from the videogame world in recent years has been free-to-play. The free-to-play model and the microtransactions that accompany it have pulled many an online game back from the edge of oblivion, and turned more than a few into profitable and thriving properties. In the wake of this success, developers and publishers across the spectrum have been working hard to elbow into the expanding free-to-play market.
According to Mark Jacobs, co-founder and former CEO of Mythic Entertainment, however, companies chasing this current gravy train may, in fact, be sealing their own doom. "Free-to-play is just another model, and just like every other model in the industry, it will hold its special little place for a while but then there will be consequences," said Jacobs, speaking to VG247. "Those consequences in a few years will be a bit of an apocalypse. You're going to see a lot of developers shutting down, and you're going to see a lot of publishers going, 'Oh yeah maybe spending $20 million on a free-to-play game wasn't the best idea ever.' That's part of the reason, but the other reason is equally as important, that if you go free-to-play, you really have to compete with every other free-to-play game out there."
Trying to head off the impending free-to-play armageddon, Jacobs is tailoring his current MMO project toward a different crowd. Camelot Unchained, currently in the process of being Kickstarted, will be aimed at smaller but more dedicated audiences. "Camelot Unchained is going to be a niche subscription game," said Jacobs. "I'll take a smaller subscription base that is dedicated, is energized and is excited to play our game, and to work with our game, than ten times that base where I have to deal with a lot of people who really don't care."
Time will have to tell if Jacobs is right about free-to-play games. Currently, the market is still expanding and while there are free-to-play failures, they don't loom as large as the prominent successes the model has helped to create. That said, it wouldn't be the first time and unforeseen ceiling has emerged to cap a growing trend, and if Jacobs is correct more than a few will be bumping their heads when it appears.
Source: VG247
Ah DDO.
OT: Of course it will, all bubbles burst eventually.
I'm a believer in circular existence, so I think it will come around in however many years to the subscription model again.
Should click on the source and read the whole thing. What isn't clear in the article is Jacob's basic point is that the already crowded market is going to explode within the time frame he mentioned as devs who are currently working on or will soon start their games bring them to market.
Not keen on the notion of a Kickstarted MMO, MMO's are expensive to maintain as a rule... unlike a single player game where you make the game and perhaps knock out some patches and DLC , MMO's need to be looked after for a long time.
As for the F2P market...
It depends entirely on what the developer is focusing on (or at least the perception of developer focus) , example Piranha (PGi) who is working on Mechwarrior Online seems to be hyper focused on making items to sell the players, ways to get players to buy more MC all the time... and not really on the game itself which at my last attempt to play was in dire need of fixing.
From my perspective I feel it depends entirely on how soon does a F2P game throw up the real cash option into your face, with LoL I didnt feel I ever needed to, I was progressing at a good pace, got all I wanted at a good pace... never felt I hit a wall I had to really work at to break through (or pay up).
MW:O ... hero mechs which are slightly superior to the none real cash variants, consumables with real cash only versions that are superior, slow progress to getting new mechs... and worst of all, a metric tonne of MC only items (cosmetics) in each patch and very little in progress to fixing the game (server side aiming checks + lag, balancing, performance, matchmaking + noobstomping, boating + silly mechanics which work with random dice rolls but not with precision aiming options in a FPS, questionable features (third person view when driving mechs about)).
The F2P market is getting saturated but a lot of the titles are blatant cash grabs which very quickly show the real money wall, so yes lots of titles but only a few real stand outs at the moment.
Actually a smaller niche MMO is possible, it's just that their is the problem of how much server space is needed to make it work at launch. Also, as Dark Souls has kind of proven, sometimes a niche game can become a booming success, which provides the whole problem of expanding the server space to accommodate.
It's kickstarter, though. I say let people experiment with all the crazy ideas they want, since something good is definitely going to come out of it.
One of the reasons DDO is doing so well as F2P is because they actually do the F2P price model rather well. Unlike so many other games. Although DDO has taken a trend for the worse lately with all the astral shards crap.
If Camelot Unchained brings back some of the magic that was Dark Age of Camelot, I'll certainly be on board. DAoC was the only MMO I ever played where I felt the subscription was worth every penny and that the vast majority of the expansions held immense amounts of content. How I long for the days of dropping the mighty hammer of Thor on the heads of a dozen unsuspecting Albs while sieging a keep.
Yeah I agree that the Free to play market will dip and balance out over the next few years after the gold rush period ends. I think the free to play games that handle their micro transactions and game balance fairly well will likely survive any bubble burst mostly but the others we will likely see crash and burn quite badly.
Hmmm, wonder if there would be a different option besides subscription and F2P.
Yep. It's bound to happen, there's space for free-to-play, but it's the nature of things that we'll go too far first. People don't realise that you can't look at Lord of The Rings Online and say they're making millions with free-to-play if we do it then we will too. There's only a limited pool of people and every F2P MMO lowers the potential profits for every other F2P MMO.
And isn't the conversion rate of freeloaders to payers 3%? You can only support so many games off only 3% of the market actually paying for things (unless they're spending 10x what they'd spend on a normal game. Which is unfair for the non-payers to benefit from other people giving so much)
its plausable.
the market is getting over saturated with these games and besides time you dont really lose much when quiting them.(unless you payed for something in game)
friends you can always find on other free to play MMOs and you might even change with all your clan into another game since you dont lose too much (again, besides time and reputation) when changing and everyone can theoretically afford it.
plus people (devs and publishers) are getting really lazy and the games are getting therefore quite repetetive.
plus games seem to get more and more boring the longer you play them (without mods and friends).
free to subscribe.
The majority of players are freeloaders in most other genres as well, except there they are called pirates.
This might also lead to increasing the pool of MMO players. There are whole demographics of PC gamers, who just ignored the MMO market because there was no chance of freeloading at all, but now even they might end up spending a few dollars on the long term.
Every bubble bursts, but every new business model is a bubble. When TV programs were first invented, they were basically a free-to-watch alternative to cinemas, where the production is effectively funded from all the merch that people are buying thanks to the ads placed beteen the films.
Yet the TV model never bursted.
Just because something is a quickly growing business model, doesn't guarantee that it's growth is fueled by nothing but hot air, maybe there really is a market behind it.
I agree that F2P definitely brings more people into the genre. Way more. That's why it's so successful now. But lets do the maths on it.
You need to bring in 34x more people just to break even on value to the MMO economy. (Which lets recognise for a minute is huge. If there were say 20 million MMO player's before (that's probably a little low. I'm basing it on the idea that WoW had 11 million ish alone) then you need 680 million MMO players before you start even having the same amount of money as you had before. That's 1 person in every 12 alive right now, playing an MMO.
That's not possible. We either need to get the conversion rate a lot higher, or those people paying have to be paying way more than someone did on a monthly subscription. F2P can become profitable for the industry as a whole, but not in it's current form.
(I'm actually a little surprised at just how high that number is. I actually thought it was going to support your side of the argument and I was going to follow it up with how it'd struggle to expand. But the number turned out huge)
Will it decline?
Of course it will.
Will that be the "apocalypse"?
There is room in the business for more than one business model. People trying to defend their particular flavor by crapping on others are ham-fistedly trying to market their own idea. Maybe someone should remind them that this is not the 60s, and marketing ethics have advanced a bit since then.
Or F2P MMOs need to be cheaper to make and sustain than subscription ones.
Read the other half of my previous post, about the TV industry business model. That analogy really works here:
That's why TV doesn't offer cinema production values, that's how a big and stable economy of dozens and hundreds of TV channels and shows can be supported, even though freeloaders fund a fraction of a cinema ticket's price.
Well I'm glad the guy is at least aware of his dedicated cult of followers. He'll get exactly what he is looking for when this game comes out.
Though I have to wonder if he he sees far enough into the future to realize that his little cult of content locusts just might treat this Camelot Unchained as all the other corpses they've left behind since DAoC and Warhammer. What happens if you cater to a niche that you believe is dedicated, only for them to not like the changes you've made? What happens if it isn't "DAoC" enough? What happens if the locusts devour your content then move on and you don't have a FTP model to fall back on?
Its an interesting concept, and it might work. But I have to wonder if this guy really knows his niche players, he might be surprised by how much they have changed.
Well I guess it's a good thing some of the MMOs that took to the F2P/Pay-if-want-to model early have already carved out their own little niches.
Games like Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online are still pretty active and seem to have a pretty decent userbase respectively.
Oh yes Astral Shards are getting a bit annoying. Especially since they changed the way you turn in those collectibles now. I wish they would go back to when you would turn it them in for a random potion or item depending on who you turned it into to. At the very least if you couldn't use it you could sell it for a meager amount of money. Now it's like "Oh no you need about 100 more of those things and maybe about 50 of those other things for this stuff now. Oh but if you bought astral shards you can buy gems from us!"
There are technically no freeloaders in the TV business. Also the really do work on the model that you can get pretty much everyone in the world watching TV.
But in principle I agree with you, there is room in the business for a couple of high quality F2P mmos and lots and lots of little ones providing they really are little and can survive on low business numbers.
But that doesn't mean there isn't going to be a F2P apocalypse. There wouldn't be a crash if there's signs that the big executives and CEO's understand that F2P isn't a miracle cure and can only compete in a market carefully limited on budget accepting and sustaining small scale games.
There is 0 sign of that. So there will be a crash. Activision and EA will keep on trying to launch big scale MMOs and doing hash jobs of F2P and it will blow up in their faces and lots of MMOs will shut down and then the MMOs run by smarter people with a clearer understanding of how the model works will survive and we'll reach your safe zone
Mechwarrior Online definitely a cash-grab right now, and they're going to get bit hard by it if they don't start fixing the myriad of gameplay balance problems, and soon.
I have no doubt that is the real reason Microsoft pulled rights to release MechWarrior 4 for free; it's a far, far superior game to what it as supposed to be generating hype for.
Yea, people will cotton and and it will become a less desireable alternative. Free 2 play usuall just means pay 2 win. The games may be free to go on, but you're more or less always at a severe disadvantage unless you want to pay a monthly fee for the best weapons etc.
Well, the problem is that the free to play market is simply too greedy and too expensive. The original success of the model was a lot of people who couldn't really afford or justify $15 a month jumping into FTP games to at least play the free content, which was fairly substantial, and then sticking around to spend something, or viewing what they spend as a donation. This was a godsend to games that were making virtually nothing, or losing money.
The problem is that the FTP trend has turned into a "pay to win" or "pay for everything" market that has become focused on inconveinencing players who don't wind up paying constant money, and largely producing more and more paid content. In some cases creating intentionally overpowered content attached to a cash-lottery system which requires players who want to be on top (or remain there) buying keys, chance rolls, or similar things, oftentimes in large quantities.
Some of the better FTP games have been fairly balanced. Star Trek Online, my personal favorite, included a mechanic by which you could slowly obtain any paid content just by playing the game and accumulating and refining dilithium. A trend which also has an equivilent in Champions Online, and the upcoming Neverwinter. Giving Cryptic Money tends to mostly speed the process (greatly) rather than being strictly nessicary, and also their profits have gone into expanding the game outside of just adding more "cash shop" items including a couple of large adventure zones (Nukara, Romulus), new grindcore maps, and of course the upcoming Romulan expansion.
That said, for every STO type game out there, there are tons which exist largely just to hopefully hook people and then hit them with a massive bill to keep playing in a way that is fun. Or games like "DC Universe Online" or "The Old Republic" which are what I like to call "faux free to play games" because for all their pretensions they mostly try and force people into a subscription model anyway (which I actually prefer, but it defeats the purpose). Both of those games feature things like currency caps in order to prevent free to play players from participating in or having much effect on the in-game economy, along with no "ala carte" option to remove that, and other assorted permanant barriers. In short you can pay as much as a lifetime subscription to a subscription based game for those titles and still not get an experience anywhere close to what someone dropping $15 a month gets.
At any rate I expect there to be a collapse in the FTP market simply due to all the greedy idiots jumping on the bandwagon, producing derivitive, but expensive, games which they have no desire to expand other than more paid content. People are catching onto this as time goes on, and I expect a lot of those to collapse. I expect a lot of the more reasonably run games like STO (which still exists to make money, and get you to buy stuff, but isn't as obnoxious about it) to stick around and perhaps more of them, but I expect a lot of those jumping onto the model expecting monster profits and success for little effort to collapse just as those who tried to dial in subscription games did. What's more while they already did their thing, and made a ton of money while lasting a number of years, I expect some games like "Atlantica Online" which got greedier over time to collapse on their own weight right now. With some games you are seeing situations where the survival of the game is literally resting on a relative handfull of fanatics that pay hundreds of dollars each month, while most people pay little or nothing. That's not a state of affairs that can
As much as I hate to agree with anyone from Mythic, I do kind of agree with him, but for seemingly differant reasons. I'll also say that he has a good attitude about intentionally making a subscription niche game, it's a surprisingly healthy one. More MMOs should have such reasonable attitudes. Of course whether he's being honest about that or not remains to be seen, I saw something similar with "The Secret World" which was being presented as exactly that, yet apparently behind closed doors it was being promoted as this huge, blockbuster, mainstream success that was going to have Funcom rolling in subscription dollars. Anyone could tell you just by looking at the premise that this really wasn't going to happen, though it would collect a solid user base if they maintained it as promised and didn't set expectations too high. This lead to Funcom's stock majorly tanking, and far less tham the promised support for The Secret World where new content has been arriving at a trickle, and it's unknown if we're ever going to see the central plotline continue into Tokyo.
I think that F2P games are having a lot of competition and that will hopefully add standards in game design. I've played several F2P games and find myself switching between them whenever an issue, such as balancing, arises. My one worry is that a lot of crap-ware titles will flood the F2P market (not unlikely by large misguided corporations like EA rather than smaller devs) and people will turn away from them.
I'd like to agree but unfortunately he's got no idea what he's on about.
Free-to-play isn't exactly a "fad", something that just became popular randomly and will fade away over time. It's been a trend in response to the triple-A subscription market. They couldn't compete with the quality of subscription games, so they instead made their games free and offered a micro-transaction system with the hopes of making back their money that way. Thing is, it turned out to be a really, really good way to make money, and as these companies grew, their games got better looking to the point where they no longer looked woefully inadequate next to triple-A games. And over time, they started taking tiny chunks out of the subscription model's profit markets, leading to many of these games switching over to the F2P model to cash in on the trend and regain lost players. Even the world leader in the subscription model, WoW, is now faltering heavily under the increased pressure of so many other valid options available in the F2P market.
Nowadays, F2P doesn't mean "lesser quality" nearly as much any more, so there's no negative stigma. The only thing that will kill the F2P market, at present, are companies like EA screwing it up with poor micro-transaction systems. But even EA can't kill this trend, IMO, it's gotten too big and popular by now.
There already is: Buy-to-play (i.e. the one typically used by non-MMO games).
It's a model that both GW1 and GW2 chose, and it seems to be working pretty well. It's uncertain whether or not it will pik up and become a trend, though.
Oh Wow! Lookie here! It's yet another "Industry Veteran" seeking to predict the next BIG direction in gaming that will dominate all others, while at the same time pimping for a handout because his next doomed project happens to correspond to his highly prescient made up analysis. Wow! Who would have thunk it.
Dear Mr Jacob's. You gave me a great game that I enjoyed. You however also more recently Shit in a box, charged me $59 for it, plus ongoing subscription fees, all while proclaiming it was the next big thing and grabbing money from my pockets like a Dickesonian street urchin. You have no credibility. Please go shut up and sit in the corner alongside such other chatty industry veterans as American McGee until such time as you actually produce another game that I and my fellow gamers might wish to play. We don't currently believe you anymore than venture capitalist investors do. That's why you are begging for money on kickstarter. (And quite frankly the scam of trying to "leverage this new project off of your old succesful game, while not really doing so, but the dweebs will think it is" is kinda offensive.)
You know what the next big trend in gaming and game pricing models is? do you really want to know? It's simple. People will pay appropriately for perceived value. It does not matter if it is subscription, or ftp, or cash shop, or sticking quarters in the machine. Make a good game, and price it in line with what the consumers feel is a good match for the entertainment value it provides. There's a reason why Gabe Newall, Notch, Blizzard and the Angry Bird guys are some of the wealthiest game dev's on the planet these days. Even though they all used wildly differing pricing and payment models for their games. For Fluq's sake stop looking for fads. Stop chasing the next big thing, be it ftp or always online, or motion gaming or whatever. Make a good fluq'ing game. Price it accordingly and give it a low barrier for entry. Then and only then we will talk.
Coming from a guy that did not realise why his first game was successfull and then produced a train wreck of a game with an IP so strong they just needed to translate it to a digital format, all i see here is someone wanting to draw attention to his kickstarter game because no one in the industry would take the risk to give him money.
So yeah.. guess that happens when EA gives you the boot...
I think he's probably right. Especially with bigger companies either hoping to hop on the haywagon this late in the game, or to salvage properties that started out subscription-based (*cough* Old Republic *cough*). There's only so much time people have to spend, and they're probably still going to give it to the games that give them the best experiences for their time and money- a factor many eager to go F2P don't seem to fully recognize.
It's gonna be kinda sad and Ironic when his game inevitably fails and has to either go free to play or go under completely.
It's really just a matter of the model and the market saturation. Good F2P games work to keep players coming back. When push comes to shove, really good F2P experiences can offer an almost unlimited reason to have people coming back again and again and to keep investing money itno. That means they are a time sink, which means that there is not a place in the market for a million and one F2P games. People who think F2P is permanent are little stupid. But since it's here, there will probably be one good F2P game per genre and that is all the market will allow for. People are going to go where they are already financially and temporally invested, to that which is familiar they have already sunk cost into.
There is no "magic bullet", and I agree that developers and publishers who blindly apply the free-to-play model without understanding when and where it's appropriate, what game designs work best with it, how much to invest in it, and the level of saturation of the market, which can affect the viability of releasing yet another free-to-play game, are more unlikely to do well. The thing is, gamers are willing to pay for games under the traditional models; they simply demand that you are not trying to dick them over in the process. Offer an enjoyable, well-crafted game for not a ridiculous sum of money and gamers will buy it. WoW shows that the subscription model does work; your game simply has to not suck.
Publishers need to also better gauge their sales expectations. There is an audience for just about everything, but one needs to understand how big that audience is and what its buying habits are. You have to understand your ability to compete in a particular market segment/demographic before you ever start trying to invest in the game, so you can better gauge how much to invest and determine what are your chances for success.
In the area of DLC, DLC is not inherently bad. In fact, DLC can a good thing to help the game feel there is more value in the initial investment of the game. The problem has been in the way publishers have gone about releasing DLC. They've been using DLC more as a scam to squeeze more money out of gamers rather than as a value-added and expansion of the initial release.
The existing models work; you just have to understand what conditions allow them to work and what conditions don't. Then you have to ensure that the conditions under which the model works are likely to be existent to improve your game's chance of success. If you just slap stuff together, you're always going to get hit-or-miss results that will likely be more miss than hit. Free-to-play works, but only to a certain degree and only under certain conditions. Of course, nothing is certain, but there are ways of improving the chances for success. Approaching things haphazardly will only give you hit-or-miss type success, usually with more miss than hit. If publishers just jump on the model blindly without thoroughly understanding the caveats associated with it, they'll be more likely to end up failing miserably. The ability of your company to succeed and thrive will be more a matter of blind luck than deliberate, conscious effort.
That's all just my opinion on the matter. I can't claim to be an expert; so, take whatever I say here with some grains of salt.
ADDENDUM: Was just looking at a few of the Free-to-play games on the App Store and reading the comments. I must say, game developers are really working hard to turn the entire game industry into the biggest rip-off in existence. The way some of these Free-to-play games zing you for every little thing is disgusting. What's worse is that many of the people commenting about the games mention that they would be perfectly fine to just pay for the game outright, as long as it's fun and engaging. These tricks and fad cash-grab models game developers and publishers keep using to squeeze money out of gamers is unnecessary and will only result in more gamers simply walking away. Just make a fun, engaging, well-crafted game for a decent price!!! It's not rocket science or hyper-geometrical mathematics. It's very, very dirt simple that even a complete idiot can understand it. All this other bullshit with DRM, DLC, pay-2-win freemium scam, subscriptions, always-online, etc. is nothing but gimmicky wastes of time, energy, effort, and money. Just make a fucking decent game and sell it for a fucking decent price, for fuck's sake.
He has explicitly stated that he'd shut the whole thing down before doing that, most recently in the mmorpg.com thread on this topic.
He also says his latest project has nothing to do with DAoC but let's be honest that's what he's trying to recreate success around.
Eh, yeah calling the f2p market shrinking is pretty obvious to most considering the offerings of many of the titles being bland generic rip offs(pretty much anything by Perfect world) or forced f2p to survive and still failing(SWTOR).
Not to say plenty of games don't break that mold. For all the faults of Mechwarrior online at the moment I know it's still got lots of stuff ahead and that it's an honest to goodness mechwarrior game that feels like a proper mech game that I grew up playing.
Not sure how you get nothing to do with DAoC from his statement that this isn't a sequel to it.


text: Thanks for your help guys. Just wanted to leave a record of how I fixed the problem for future reference.I did not want to change any of the source code in case I needed the same code without the changes in the future so I ended up getting a logic level converter(they are very cheap).I got the Sparkfun logic level converter and there is one little detail that should be kept in mind when using it. Since i2c lines need 2 way communication, make sure to use the bidirectional Tx lines on the logic level converter and not the Rx lines. Anyway, in the end I did not change any of the code and my setup was as follows:Arduino +5V to VCC on GY-521 and to Hv on the Logic Level ConverterArduino +3.3V to Lv on the Logic Level ConverterArduino GND to GND on Gy-521 and both GNDs on the Logic Level ConverterArduino analog input pin A4 to ch1 Tx on Hv side and ch1 Tx on the Lv side to SDA on GY-521Arduino analog input pin A5 to ch2 Tx on Hv side and ch2 Tx on the Lv side to SCL on GY-521thanks again for your help

subset: commoncrawl


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A forum about Atari 16/32 computers and their clones. This forum is in no way affiliated with Atari Interactive.
Moderators: Mug UK, Zorro 2, Greenious, spiny, Moderator Team
Bikerbob wrote:...
SO, a pull (I have a proper puller) and clean the chip and socket with ISOpropo and we are back in business with the blitter, it is a non atari blitter btw, the kind that exxos sells, so, wonder if this machine has had issues with a blitter in the past, or on later boards they were using generic blitters.
troed wrote:R224 and R225, right?
czietz wrote:What is a "non Atari Blitter", BTW?
Users browsing this forum: zelm77 and 4 guests


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Monday, May 24, 2010
Muffin Tin Monday - seeds, plants & flowers
This week sees the Springtime mini-series theme continue with "seeds, plants, and flowers".
Top row: a bouquet of cheddar tulips, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with organic fruit leather decoration (using mini-cookie cutters), broccoli bushes (that's a plant, right?) ;-)
Bottom row: a pink flower cup with sunflower kernels, natural applesauce with flower sprinkles, flower shaped pasta drizzled with EVOO and lightly seasoned.
It's not exactly what I had pictured doing for this week, but I had some "help" from a certain three-year-old, so results varied. :)
Want to see some other MTM meals from today? Check them out by clicking over to Muffin Tin Mom site here.
15 comments:
- Lisa said... [Reply to comment]
Super Cute!!
- May 24, 2010 at 9:00 AM
- Mommyof2girlz said... [Reply to comment]
Great tin, love the flower pasta idea and the fruit leather flower..too cute :)
- May 24, 2010 at 9:03 AM
- Christina said... [Reply to comment]
I love it! The pb&j flower looks great.
- May 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM
- Tifani says... said... [Reply to comment]
So beautiful, Melissa!! Perfect as always. Mine didn't turn out like I thought it would, but it does taste good. The kids have been in the Oreo dirt all day.
- May 24, 2010 at 10:32 AM
- The Ross Family said... [Reply to comment]
I love your tin.
- May 24, 2010 at 10:37 AM
- Jenny said... [Reply to comment]
Healthy, fun lunch! Love the fruit leather on top.
- May 24, 2010 at 12:40 PM
- JDaniel4's Mom said... [Reply to comment]
The sandwich is so cute!
- May 24, 2010 at 12:53 PM
- oh amanda said... [Reply to comment]
How adorable! I love adding the sprinkles to the applesauce--so easy!
- May 24, 2010 at 2:18 PM
- Jamie said... [Reply to comment]
Everything is so cute! You did an awesome job!
- May 24, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- Jenn @ BentoForKidlet said... [Reply to comment]
This is so cute! I love all of the fun shapes and bright colors :D If Monday weren't such a lazy day around here I might give the muffin tins a try lol
- May 24, 2010 at 8:39 PM
- frosty said... [Reply to comment]
Did you see my sad attempt at a muffin tin? My 3 year old saw your blog and begged me to make him one this weekend (actually two)
- May 25, 2010 at 8:40 AM
- UtahJenny said... [Reply to comment]
That is so pretty, almost too pretty to eat! But I bet it was gobbled up quickly.
- May 25, 2010 at 9:50 AM
- Amber said... [Reply to comment]
This is so adorable
- May 25, 2010 at 2:03 PM
- Melanie said... [Reply to comment]
love that flower pasta - my two year old would love that. :)
- May 28, 2010 at 2:50 PM
- Melissa said... [Reply to comment]
The best thing about flower pasta (and wagon wheel pasta too) is that it's so much easier for little ones to eat with a fork since the tines go right through the holes! :)
- May 28, 2010 at 6:53 PM


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Our lounge area provides a relaxing space where library and computers are put at your disposal. We stage regular art and musical events and are partners with some of the hottest spots in town.
We offer:
-air-conditioned rooms for single or double occupancy, providing single or \'king size\' beds, private shower and toilet facilities, television, telephone and free Wi-Fi.
-air-conditioned rooms for group or family occupancy of 3 or 5 people, providing single and bunk beds with private storage area, private shower and toilet facilities, television, telephone and free Wi-Fi.
-air-conditioned rooms for group, family or single use of 4, 6 or 8 people, providing single and bunk beds with private storage area, communal shower and toilet facilities, and free Wi-Fi
Please note :
Cancellation policy : 48h
Check in : 14.00
Check out : 11.00
Breakfast not included
Credit cards accepted
Taxes not included : 0.39euros pppn
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
Hostel Facilities & Policies
- 24 Hour Security
- Air Conditioning
- Bar
- Book Exchange
- Breakfast Not Included
- Café
- Child Friendly
- Common Room
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Elevator
- Free City Maps
- Free Internet Access
- Free WiFi
- Hot Showers
- House Keeping
- Internet Access
- Key Card Access
- Linen Included
- Security Lockers
- Luggage Storage
- Meals Available
- Outdoor Terrace
- Pool Table
- Reading Light
- Safe Deposit Box
- Taxes not included
- Tea & Coffee Making Facilities
- Tours/Travel Desk
- Towels For Hire
- Towels Included
- Vending Machines
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 2 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
Must-Read Hostel InfoThis property has specific Terms & Conditions.
Please note :
Check in : 15.00
Check out : 11.00
Breakfast not included
Credit cards accepted
Taxes not included : 5% of the room night, with a maximum of 2,53€/adult/night
- Cancellation policy which is actually 72 hours for general bookings and 14 days for the groups
- Towels are not included in the dorms, only in private rooms
- No vending machines
- No meals available, only snacks
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
Excellent location for this Hostel in the centre situated in a beautiful 18th century building, right on the rue de la République in the heart of Avignon, at 500 m of the central station, 400 m of good parking facilities (Parking Jean Jaurès) and within 10 minutes walk of the historical sites of Avignon.
From the central station: Walk out of station, through the city gates and onto rue de la République - you're there!
From the TGV station: Take a bus to Avignon central station - follow instructions above!
From Avignon airport: Take a bus to Pont St Bénezet, go through the city gates and walk toward the Palais des Papes, Place d'Horloge and then descend into the rue the la République - you're there!
Located Near
Avignon is a city of historical importance with its Palais des Papes, where the popes resided in the 16th century. The Pont Saint Bénezet, the link between Italy and Spain in the middle ages; who doesn't know the song. Les Jardins des Dons which were built next to the palace and provide breathtaking views; the Place d'Horloge, Avignon central meeting place connected to la rue de la République, and much more all within the 4.3 km city walls dating from the 14th century.


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Cherie Buckner-Webb
I have a charge to keep.
Cherie Buckner-Webb is a 5th-generation Idahoan who has worked for several corporations in Boise and now has a consulting business specializing in helping companies with diversity issues and doing motivational speaking. In 2010, Buckner-Webb was elected to represent District 19 in Boise in the state House of Representatives. It appears that she is the first African-American to be elected to the Statehouse in Idaho's history. She is also well known for her gospel singing.
Marcia Franklin - Is it a stereotype or does it have some reality to it that Idaho has been a haven for racists?
Cherie Buckner-Webb: It is a reality. There's a reality that is not as overt as there was in northern Idaho. I can remember - if I can be so direct - John Birchers being here in the 70's. I can remember folks being very concerned about gathering together when they were working on the civil rights legislation. I was a youngster then but I remember this very well, hearing about John Birchers. I remember at age seven or eight having a cross on the front yard and hearing who might be responsible for that.
So, is it a stereotype? It is probably a stereotype to those that haven't experienced the results of people filled with hate based on religion and race and ethnicity, but for those of us that have felt the sting of it, yeah, I'd say it's a reality.
Franklin: What happened when you were seven or eight?
Buckner-Webb: Sitting down to dinner my mother got up for no conceivable reason, went to the front door, opened the door, hollered to my dad that the people across the street that their house was on fire. She could see a blaze in their window. Dad ran down the front stairs and went oh. The cross was burning in our front yard.
Franklin: Were you scared?
Buckner-Webb: I was young. I didn't know better. I really didn't know much. My mother - my dad put it out of course, he put it out and my dad was ready to take it to the alley and my mother said "No, put it here on the front porch. Put it here and make it visible."
And of course my dad called the police. I don't remember many details about it, but I remember what happened afterward and there was a hue and cry from our family saying we needed to move.
My father wanted to get rid of it, put it away. My mom wanted it out there visible. Ultimately my mom moved it into the mantle, on the mantle in the dining room and kept it forever.
My mother's family (and) my father's family were very worried for us as kids. There were three of us at that time - I had a younger sister and older brother. Mom said you're still walking to school - that was Central School for my brother and I. And we were careful. There were phone calls and hang ups and things like that but my mom really tried to make it business as usual for us but it was probably never business as usual after that.
Franklin: Where is the cross?
Buckner-Webb: It's gone now. It was forever in our front room and then it was in the garage forever and ever and I think finally my father....covertly took it out and dumped it. My mom was very distressed when she found out it was gone. My mom said this is a talisman to keep us in the fray and the fight, to know it's not to take things for granted.
Buckner-Webb, upper left, with her sister and brother when
Franklin: Was there was a vibrant African American community here?
Buckner-Webb: You know; it's really interesting. The River Street area was always thought of as to be the predominantly African American. It never was. There were a lot of African Americans living there but the percentage of African Americans was still less than the white population in that area. But there was a concentration - if you will. When it's a very small number it doesn't take very much to be a concentration.
There were also a number of black folks that lived in the 800 block of Bannock street. My great-grandfather lived there and then also my grandmother and grandfather and there was like four or five people right along that street - maybe six on that one 800 block.
I found out later - I live on 23rd and Bella Street - I found out that three or four black people lived on that street. Then also on Harrison Boulevard there was a woman that we talk about often that owned property. Two lots, two houses on Harrison Boulevard. She's Mamie Green. She was a cook. That's like probably 19 - early 50's. Amazing.
Franklin: What is the history of your family here?
Buckner-Webb: In 1908 my paternal great-grandfather moved to Idaho. Well, let's see, actually it was 1905. He came immediately from Colorado to Boise. He was born in St. Louis, as was his wife. My great-grandfather Hardy.
He said he was sent to Idaho to found a church. The Lord sent him so he established St. Paul Baptist church and he was the first pastor and the actual builder, physical builder because he was a carpenter of this church. (It's the) Idaho Black History Museum now.
His father-in-law, Louis Stokes came to help him in the physical building of the building so that's when it started.
Franklin: So your family dates back much further than I would imagine some of the white supremacists.
Buckner-Webb: They'd be surprised. I always want to say, "You're in my house." You know, that's what I say often. My father's father's family came in the 20's to homestead in Homedale and Nampa. Then they ultimately came to Boise.
My mother's family came with the railroad and none of them worked for the railroad but a couple of the girls married guys of the railroad later then ultimately to Boise from Minidoka and Pocatello to Boise.
Franklin: Did you experience much discrimination or harassment growing up?
Buckner-Webb: There have been a few things like the cross burning in your front yard, finding out from a wonderful girl that was a great friend of mine that I walked to school with every day, the fifth grade, that she loved me very much but we'd never be able to be too close because she couldn't send the missionaries to be with me. That was one of the first times that I realized that a religion would discriminate on people. She was LDS. And we were great friends, we really were, but she was just so hurt. And I remember going to my mom and said, "What's the deal? This is a God thing?"
My brother probably got a little more than I did. He was an athlete, he was very popular but you know, athletics can be rough.
Franklin: So there wasn't much?
Buckner-Webb: And I think part of that is related to the fact that there were so few (of us.)There were so few and I think that makes a real difference. You're just under the radar you know, in a way.
Now my mother was quite a civil rights activist so I got some attention because of her, and I think some of that was because they may have thought that she was impossible and they'd be careful. On the other hand my father was an athlete - or he had been an athlete. He refereed ball and he was very amiable and well known in the community, went to Boise Junior College and had been around here for a long time so that helped mitigate in my favor. So no, I really didn't experience a lot of racism.
But I do vividly remember the civil rights legislation. I do vividly remember going with someone to knock on doors for fair housing to see who would rent to whom and finding out that you call and the house is available and when you get there "No it's not available," because I took part in that and I enjoyed that with my mother.
I remember the Watts riots and folks being very distressed with black people in general...I remember when Martin Luther King passed away, the fight to be able to have a demonstration or anything in support of his death. I remember that very well.
So maybe not overt. Covert would be more what I would call the discrimination and racism.
Franklin: Were you ever worried because of the Aryan Nations compound?
Buckner-Webb: In my business I travel all over the United States and I work with people and whenever I introduce myself and say I'm from Boise, Idaho I don't know who is most shocked and surprised - white folks or black folks.
I don't know which one because black folks say, "Oh you poor child. I'm so sorry for you," and white folks tend to say, "I didn't know there were any black people in Idaho."
Franklin: But the Aryan Nations didn't worry you personally?
Buckner-Webb: I am of the mind that the Aryan Nations had a compound but I'm not of the mind that they were exclusively in northern Idaho..... and the way my mother raised me was to be vigilant and to be aware. Not suspicious and crazy but to be vigilant and aware and not to assume that hate only resides someplace with a sign over it.
Franklin: So do we still see that?
Buckner-Webb: I absolutely see it. In Boise, Idaho we now have 102 different languages spoken in the schools. I see parents of good intent who love their children saying absolutely abysmal things about children in their schools that are not dominant culture children.
I see stereotypes about their physicality, what they eat, drink, think. All kinds of things even with children in the school systems.
I see the same thing happening when an athlete at Boise State University is like a hero and then on television invites a white girl to become his wife. Ian Johnson. And I remember the hate - the mail, the letters, the things in the newspaper. Those kids caught it. They got a bad time because she was marrying this black guy. He was called a monkey, he was called all kinds of things. She was called all kinds of things. Her parents had to deal with backlash. Yeah, yeah, it's still here.
I see members of the gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender community continually being victimized. I see those that are perceived to be part of that community being victimized - physically, emotionally, professionally. I mean the list goes on and on and on and on.
I see people persecuted for their religion in this state. It goes on and on.
We're unconsciously incompetent. We don't even know what we don't know in many instances, particularly when it has to do with bigotry or discrimination or even hate sometimes. We're not even sure what the source is. We don't even realize we're doing it sometimes and then up it pops.
Franklin: I've heard that some black students at Boise State wear athletic clothes when they walk around downtown, even if they're not athletes, just so they don't get harassed.
Buckner-Webb: There's a saying and I even say this in corporate American when I'm doing it and I've found it to be true no matter where I go in the United States. You see two or three white people together it's a meeting. You see two or three black people together it's a revolution.
I mean, that's one of the perceptions. In corporate America and that's who I work with on a day to day basis. We find people of color, not just black. I'm talking about all kinds - Hispanic, others, finding that the rules of the road are very different.
Franklin: Why did you want to work for the legislature, which is a very white body?
Buckner-Webb: Well I've been operating in a very white body my whole life.
I will tell you that I was invited to run or asked to run for the legislature probably three or four times over my lifetime and I think that I had to get to this stage in my life to be able to do that. And some of that is to have just lived long enough. Some of it is to have raised my children to be adults so they won't get the backlash of whether I do well or do poorly or I offend someone or align with someone that maybe is not acceptable to one or another group.
Actually what made me run is I was really upset about education funding. I was furious. I was out of town working and I kept reading this stuff in the newspaper getting madder and madder. And as I came to make the decision, I was out of town, came back to town two days before you had to file and I went to an event at Boise State University. It was a film that Sonja Rosario had produced. I think it's called "Idaho's Forgotten War," and the woman in question, Amy Trice was there, and I was asked to do the invocation and let me tell you, I agonized over the invocation because I wanted it to be - oh my gosh, I just felt emotion. I don't know where that came from.
Anyway, the film was very powerful to me. One little woman who had six kids said "You know, this isn't right and I've got to do something about it." I went up to her on the break and just shook her hand. She just touched me in such a powerful way....she was so grounded in what she was doing.
And somehow or another that little lady gave me so much encouragement. I went up to her, shook her hand and she said "One woman can make a difference," and I went, "Oh my." Went back to my seat and I said "I'm on."
Another thing I believe is that everything that happens in your life prepares you if you're alert to it. I worked for Boise Cascade for ten years in timber wood products and I experienced a different part of Idaho than I would in Boise. I worked in Council, Cascade... rural Idaho, sawmill communities. Different sensibilities, different kind of culture.
I remember the first time that I went to the sawmill up north to get my tour and the wonderful manager was walking me through and this is where the log comes here and then we put it on the green chain and we do this and this and we got to one point and he stopped talking and he said "We need to go back in."
And I said well, what is it? And (he) said "Well, I didn't know how to say this, but we call the next piece of the equipment the nigger."
I said, "Oh yeah? We'll be calling it the log turner now won't we?" I think we'll be doing that - because I was a purchasing manager then. It was the nigger. So things pop up, pop up, pop up. It was kind of interesting.
So, again that helped prepare me for a different sensibility and there I would imagine was probably never any overt - it had been so much a part of the vernacular that folks didn't realize how it might be perceived. It's real interesting how things happen.
Franklin: Your campaign - did you receive any discrimination?
Buckner-Webb: I went to this wonderful training to prepare you to run for office and they were telling you how when you knock on the door you just walk right up to the door and stand right as close as you can to the front door and I said "I don't think I'll be doing that."
And they talked about you could knock on doors until probably close to 8:30, 9:00 - don't think I'll be going that late unless it is in my neighborhood.
So there are a lot of really interesting things that came to bear - but no, I didn't feel any slamming your door because you're whatever. It was a wonderful, amazing experience.
Franklin: When I asked the Democratic Party chair if you were the first black elected to the legislature he said he didn't know, said he hadn't even thought about it.
Buckner-Webb: It was funny, neither did I. By all indications I'm the first black to be elected to the legislature. And as I went down the walls and looked just to make sure once I got there I didn't see anybody that looked like me. I was double checking. Or - it's a secret, you know what I'm saying? You never know. You know, a drop of blood? You know what that does!
Franklin: And that makes you feel....?
Buckner-Webb: It makes me feel I have a charge to keep. That's a term that I use all the time and when I was young I heard it in the church. There's a song that says "A charge to keep a charge to keep I have, a God to glorify."
When you're the first--- and I've been the first of many things in my life -- the black student body officer, the first this or the first black on the Junior League - check that action--I think that you have a responsibility because ....you're kind of the representative for all.
I don't want to perpetuate that, but I'm conscious of that, so I'm proud to be the first and I know that I have a responsibility to represent, represent my folks - women of a certain age, black folks and women too.
Franklin: If Reverend Butler had heard you sing maybe something would have-
Buckner-Webb: Don't know. You know I would have loved to have met him. Isn't that crazy? I would love to have met him. I'm always amazed by the psyche that creates greatness and depravity too. I'm just interested to know that.
Franklin: Does your election mean that Idaho is changing or is it just the district you're in?
Buckner-Webb: Well I've got to tell you - people have asked me is it because of the district you're in and I'm going to tell you, I don't believe that. I don't believe that. The district I'm in is probably one of the best in the state of course for progressives and that kind of thing, but great things happen across this state too. We've seen people doing great things from a variety of locations and when I even think about Vernon Baker living where he lived. Well, heck. He was right up there in northern Idaho doing his thing and lived a peaceful wonderful rich life - that from his lips.
I hope Idaho is changing. I hope Idaho is improving. There are a lot of good things about us historically. I don't think that it is by accident that I ended up here or that my family ended up here. 25:45 I want to stay here. It's contingent on a lot of things. My intention is to be here till the end. I hope my kids feel that way. So there's some work to do so that it will be the place that we want it to be to draw and attract and retain people.
Franklin: Why did you feel that it was important to stand up last year in the rotunda on Human Rights Day in front of the governor and his wife and remind people of what was going on with the human rights commission potentially being defunded?
Buckner-Webb: It was a non-issue to me. It was intuitive. We were there to celebrate Human Rights Day and Martin Luther King Day and the travesty was that there was the risk of the human rights commission being eliminated. And so perhaps I was invoking my great grandfather.
I had a charge to keep. It was important to bring to people's attention - this is just not a day of celebration and coming together in a room and listening to the echo and listening to the music and patting ourselves on the back. This is about action. It's about action. We are compelled and committed to make this a better place than the one we arrived to.
We need to leave a legacy that we can be proud of. It's not enough to come together for the joy of it. There's a charge to keep.
Franklin: So even at the risk of offending -
Buckner-Webb: You know what? I don't think I gave thought to offending him. I didn't think he'd be thrilled, but it was the right thing at the right time and there was a group of people that were like- minded just by virtue of why they were there, to say this is an opportunity for you to take action
Franklin: You did have one experience during your campaign that was racist.
Buckner-Webb: It was some of my yard signs that were defaced. As they were picking up the yard signs at the end of the election....a wonderful young man that came from Arkansas to be my intern saw, I think it said if I recall correctly, it said "Kill the nigger bitch, signed KKK" and he was very much upset by that.
Franklin: So we have room to grow.
Buckner-Webb: We have much room and still there is time and still there is work.


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IPUD staff appreciation event
Inverness Yacht club is a community that continually hosting events ranging from themed dinners, cuisines around the globe, barbecue regattas and full moon paddles. IYC members are always finding ways to get together. If you have an idea for an event you would like to run fill out the IYC event form and let the festivities begin! The facility is also available for private events.
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Earlier Event: December 4Private Party ?
Later Event: December 11Youth Sailing Committee Meeting


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New parents often worry about every aspect of the child's development, including their baby's feet. Common concerns include inward facing toes, feet that are turned outward, and flat feet. These usually go away, but check with your pediatrician if you are concerned about your baby's development.
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anthonyalsop necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 170 diseños de 43 diseñadores freelance.
Digital Sport Summit
We are a business that highlights the intersection of sport and digital (including social) media! We love both, and we love bringing the community together.
We host conferences, free social events and bring the community of sports business professionals together in Australia.
Those that work in the sports industry
Those that love social media
Marketing professionals
Public relations professionals
Sports agents
Digital agencies
We run a conference and networking events centered around the
intersection of sport and digital technology (mobile, iPad, social
media, fantasy sports, etc)
We need a logo that can be used for both the conference (Digital Sport
Summit) and the networking events (Digital Sport Social), however for
the purposes of this competition, please use 'Digital Sport Summit' as
the name to be used in the logo.
The logo should should evoke some or all of the following ideas:
modern, sharp, tech, sport, strategy, social media, mobile,
community, networking
At this stage, we DON'T want to see any sporting equipment in the logo
(e.g. rackets, balls, bats, etc).
We don't mind about colors. Be funky!
We will require the logo source file in AI format
Please visit our current website http://www.digitalsport.com.au to get an idea about our conference/events.
Edit: Please don't think you have to have written text as the logo, the first batch of entries look rather similar. Surprise us with some creativity.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Cheshire's Peter Lockyer stars as Jean Valjean in the touring production of "Les Miserables" pokaying this weekend at the Shubert Theater in New Haven.
Broadway credits include "The Phantom of the Opera," "Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme," "Miss Saigon" and "Cyrano: The Musical."
He also played the role of student Marius in the 10th anniversary production of "Les Miserables" on Broadway, as well ad the China premiere of the show.
He was a special guest in Barbra Streisand's European Concert Tour. He was also in the television production of "Gyp[sy" starring Bette Midler.
Lockyer as performed in smphony concerts across the US including the premiere of Boublil/ Schönberg's "You You Hear the People Sing!"
Information: www.shubert.com


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Front Seam Maternity Tankoh020
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These maternity tank top designs are super cute and high tech. Our testers noted that with spagetti straps the shirt must be made well and these maternity shirts are. The dense, high quality 4-way stretch fabric allows room for the entire 9 months. Fits well after pregnancy without looking like a maternity top. A bamtex sports bra is built in for medium support and dry comfort. Wear it to your pregnancy yoga class or for biking. A maternity tank that is nice enough to wear to dinner and perfect for layering. Voted a favorite of our testers for looks and comfort.


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Experience College Station
Close to Texas World Speedway and Texas A&M University
Race to our Days Inn Bryan College Station hotel, near Texas World Speedway. Our hotel is within easy driving distance of exciting attractions and activities, making for a fun and relaxed stay. Whether you are our guest for just one night or an extended stay, we offer comfortable accommodations at a great price. We provide free shuttle service to and from Easterwood Airport (CLL).


text:
Play Thunderball
Thunderball is closed for the night
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You can buy up to ten play slips at a time, and play up to seven lines of numbers on each play slip. Select 'Add lines' to get started.
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Artist description:
~ another weird miku by me..hope u all love it,,plz rate and comment my sexy miku,, hahaha ~ (^_^)
Java Draw Created Dec 18, 2009 338 x 470px Unless noted Copyright 2009 Pink Fazzy.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
Perfect!!! i especially love the backround, Everythings so pretty :D
wow! looks great 5h
Whoa *O* Pretty
Wow! This isn't weird =3= This is amazing xD I love the background AND MIKU :D 5/5 and collection :3
aw she's so cute. love the eyes! 5h
Ha,ha It's really nice!!!! I love the backround!!!! 5+++++++++++
Cute. Collection add to the biggest Vocaloid collection on RMD. :3
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oh amazing ~__- 5h
I love the eyes :D 5 hearts :D


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Floyd falters after early success in loss to Nats
WASHINGTON -- Gavin Floyd looked like a No. 1 starter for three innings of Wednesday's 5-2 White Sox loss to the Nationals.
He recorded four strikeouts, allowed a two-out Ian Desmond double in the second and issued a leadoff walk to eight-hole hitter Kurt Suzuki, who he stranded at third.View Full Game Coverage
WASHINGTON -- Gavin Floyd looked like a No. 1 starter for three innings of Wednesday's 5-2 White Sox loss to the Nationals.
He recorded four strikeouts, allowed a two-out Ian Desmond double in the second and issued a leadoff walk to eight-hole hitter Kurt Suzuki, who he stranded at third.View Full Game Coverage
But from the fourth to the sixth innings, Floyd had the distinct look of a hurler who wasn't going to be good enough to top Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann or a loaded Nationals lineup on this muggy night.
Floyd yielded five runs on eight hits over the next 2 1/3 innings, as he lost his second consecutive start to begin the season. The White Sox lost their second of three games against the Nationals in the first Interleague and road action for the South Siders, who slipped to 4-4.
"You get to that fifth, sixth inning, and it's hard to get through it," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "They just put a lot of pressure on you. They swing the bat pretty good and they have good speed. Once they get on, they move around, and he couldn't get out of it."
"It's something to look at, re-evaluate -- maybe different location would be better," said Floyd, who thought he made pretty good pitches, even ones that were struck solidly. "Early on, I was cruising, and then one hit after the other and tried to keep making pitches."
The White Sox actually took a 1-0 lead in the first on Jeff Keppinger's single, Alex Rios' double and Adam Dunn's RBI groundout.
Rios has hit in 14 straight games dating back to 2012. His streak of four consecutive games with a homer ended, leaving him one short of the franchise record, but he drove in the team's second and final run in the sixth with a groundout.
As much as jumping out to an early lead becomes a boon for White Sox pitchers, the overall early theme for the team's offense is they could have had more. Rios opened the fourth with a single, but left too early on a break for second and was caught stealing after Zimmermann stepped off the mound, and a leadoff single by Conor Gillaspie in the fifth was erased by a Tyler Flowers double-play grounder.
Ventura's crew finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position Wednesday and is 1-for-16 over the first two games of the series. For the season, the White Sox are 6-for-45 in these RISP situations.
"We've had opportunities in a lot of games to jump out to either an early lead or tie some games up or blow a game open with big hits that we really aren't getting right now," said Dunn, who got the start in left and made a nice running catch in the seventh against his former club. "We had second and third, one out, and we only get one. Again, [Zimmermann] has to make a living too. He's out there battling and he made some good pitches."
"I had a really good fastball, and me and [catcher Kurt Suzuki] just stuck with that all night," Zimmermann said. "We threw a lot of fastballs inside and got a lot of broken bats, and when I had to mix in some off-speed [pitches], it was pretty good. I gave up a few hits and got some ground balls when I needed them."
Bryce Harper tied the score on the first pitch of the fourth, launching a second-deck shot to right for his fourth homer of the year. The Nationals (6-2) added another run in the frame via Desmond's double and a Danny Espinosa single.
Their lead grew to 3-1 in the fifth on Ryan Zimmerman's single, and after Alejandro De Aza came home on Rios' sixth-inning grounder to cut the lead to 3-2, the Nationals knocked Floyd from the game with two in their half. Espinosa doubled home Desmond, who tripled, and Denard Span's single that trickled under Alexei Ramirez's glove with a drawn-in infield scored Espinosa.
Floyd struck out seven and walked three, throwing 84 pitches in 5 1/3 innings. Zimmermann was just a little bit better, giving up two runs on seven hits over seven innings, fanning four.
"You know, his fastball was really good," Dunn said. "Obviously, his velocity was there, but he was spotting up pretty good and putting it in tough places to hit."
Nate Jones and Hector Santiago combined to throw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out four. But for the White Sox to win on this night, they need Floyd to finish as well as he started.
"His velocity is fine. Maybe the command he needed to have he didn't have in the middle," said Ventura of Floyd, who got touched up for three runs in the fifth inning of his first start against the Royals. "That's a tough lineup. You can go through it one time, maybe twice, but they're tough that third time through.
"Starters have to be able to get through that sixth inning. As a starter, that's kind of what you need to do to get us to that point. Otherwise you wear the bullpen out for the whole trip."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk's Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin.


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1918 Warren County Farmers' Directory – C Surnames
Abbreviations Used in this Directory a–Acres; Ch — Children; O–Owner; T–Tenant or Renter; R –Rural Route; Sec-Section; Maiden name of wife follows directory name in parentheses (); figures at end of information–year became resident of county. Star (*) indicates children not at home. Name of farm follows names of children in quotations marks. In case of a tenant, the farm owner's name follows the figures giving size of farm. Example: ABBEY, William L. (Lena Riggs) Martha and Cora Abbey, Mother and Sister; Kirkwood R1 Tompking Sec8-5 T80a H.M. Abbey Est. (1886) Tel. Farmers' Line Kirkwood MEANS ABBEY, William L. –


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U.S. Border Patrol agents from the station in El Centro, Calif., helped rescue a pregnant woman from the perilous currents of the All-American Canal near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
According to the CBP, a concerned citizen flagged down an agent Tuesday around 2:20 p.m. to report a woman in distress in the canal near Anza and Weed roads, just west of downtown Calexico, Calif.
Agents saw the woman needed help and deployed a rescue throw-bag into the water for her to hold on to. She grabbed on, and agents pulled her to safety, the CBP said.
Agents soon discovered the woman was pregnant.
She told authorities she was experiencing numbness in her lower extremities, a possible early sign of hypothermia. Emergency medical crews transported the woman to El Centro Regional Hospital for further evaluation.
CBP officials said the woman was an undocumented immigrant attempting to enter the U.S. illegally via the All-American Canal, an 80-mile-long waterway known as a deadly passage into America. Hundreds have drowned in this canal while trying to cross the border.
After being released from the hospital, the woman was transported to the El Centro Sector Border Patrol station for processing on suspicion of illegal entry into the U.S. The woman's name was not released.


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Spring BlossomMore Info
CYBEX by Karolina Kurkova
CYBEX by Karolina Kurkova
A special collaboration between CYBEX and Karolina Kurkova. #CYBEXbyKKMore Info
The new CYBEX Platinum "Rebellious" Fashion Collection transforms this way of life into a stylish and luxurious design statement – full of spirit and sophistication. Inspired by fashionable non-conformists of our time, CYBEX interprets the latest trends with expertise, elegance and a clear message.More Info
The CYBEX for Scuderia Ferrari collection is a testament to the Ferrari legacy: capturing its rich heritage of excellence, uniqueness, and high performance.More Info
Crystallized. Calmness. Strength and happiness. The new CYBEX Fashion Collection KOI blends the symbolism of the enigmatic underwater creature of Japanese mythology with state-of-the-art technology, materials and tailoring.More Info
Follow nature's path. Nature springs to life in the new Birds of Paradise collection as CYBEX transports vivid and exotic wildlife into the big city. Shimmering and colorful parrots and plants are added as elaborate embroidery to the award-winning CYBEX Platinum Range.More Info
The third collaboration CYBEX by Jeremy Scott is called »Cherubs« and combines humorous adaptations of classic motifs with a striking color palette.More Info
The sweeping expanse of the universe, where stars, planets and galaxies move beyond space and time in an everlasting dance with gravity was fashion's new shooting star Anna K's inspiration for her SPACE ROCKET collection for CYBEX.More Info
Iconic product and interior designer Marcel Wanders presents his first collaboration with CYBEX.More Info
Jeremy Scott is the last rebel of the international fashion world. His creations have the power to polarize and have become the hottest topics among the style elite. In his second collaboration with CYBEX, Scott once again flexes his revolutionary muscle, shifting paradigms by bringing heaven down to earth.More Info


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Save money on Amazon.com and support this site!
Hurricane Sandy Emergency Relief Fund
The Freethought Society, a group of freethinkers founded by Margaret Downey near Philadelphia, Pa has started an effort to provide relief to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.
If you need assistance because you were impacted by Hurricane Sandy, you can request help with the Freehtought Society here.
If you would like to contribute to help Sandy victims, click here.
What's going on?
Orange County Atheist TV Show #18 with Margaret Downey
This show was recorded a few years ago, it features Margaret Downey when she was the President of Atheists Alliance International.
Anti-Superstition Party
See the website, Friggatriskaidekaphobia.com:
The Freethought Society's (FS) next Anti-Superstition Bash will be held on Friday, May 13, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM in the beautiful Corinthian Yacht Club. The Club is located at 300 West 2nd Street, Essington, PA 19029. FS will host a "Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center," which will be equipped to assist party attendees in getting over all their superstitions and start the process of ending magical thinking. The general admission (includes light fare) is $10 with $5 discounts available for students and seniors. Cash bar only. No BYOB. There is no charge for children under the age of 13.
Connect with other Philadelphia Atheists on this page: http://www.meetup.com/atheists-215/events/16570661/
Special Guests:
PZ Myers will be in attendance. See his announement, "Friggatriskaidekaphobia time" on Pharyngula
Tom Flynn, Executive Director for the Council for Secular Humanism. See announcement on Center for Inquiry website.
David Silverman, President of American Atheists
Come be part of a human tree of knowledge!
The Chester County Commissioners have chosen to reject the offer to donate the Freethought TREE of KNOWLEDGE Courthouse Winter Holiday Display
The Freethought Society is going to gather on Saturday, December 4, 2010 to create
The FS
of KNOWLEDGE
PLEASE JOIN US Saturday, December 4th
** at 4:00 pm **
by the Veterans' Statue at the Chester County Courthouse
Corner of Market and High Streets, West Chester, PA
Be sure to bring a flashlight. Everything else will be provided, including all signs.
Each participant will hold one of the Ornaments from the Tree of Knowledge,
as we join together to create the
***Human Tree of Knowledge***
*Apple Cider*
*Freethought Holiday Songs*
*Member Statements*
Tree of Knowledge battle in West Chester
Carol Everhart Roper has all the details on the Tree of Knowledge this year, here is a snip:
West Chester, PA is a lovely, historically important town. Some years back, Newsweek voted it as one of the top ten small towns to live in. I live here, and I understand, and agree. It's really a wonderful place, most of the time.
You might recall that this is the courthouse building which proudly displays a bronze Ten Commandments plaque by the front door - and won a legal challenge by closing that door to traffic and calling the plaque 'historic' not 'religious'.
It's also the birthplace of the Tree of Knowledge winter holiday display. The ToK has been a symbol of non-theist participation in the holidays, and as such, has given non-theists and other believers who treasure learning and knowledge a public representation of their own.
The Story Behind the Story
The public is invited to hear Freethought Society president Margaret Downey on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 7:00 PM in the Community Room of the Norristown Library (1001 Powell Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania).
Downey's presentation "The Story Behind the Story" will highlight her journey from being baptized Catholic to becoming an outspoken and proud leader in the nontheist community. The presentation is a continuation of the essay "My 'Bye Bull' Story" which was originally published in 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists.
This presentation will include a PowerPoint slide show and essay creation literature.
Downey is a national atheist speaker. Her presentations receive rave reviews. Below is commentary from people who have attended this presentation:
"You delivered a great presentation to the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs last week! I am still getting phone calls and emails from members and "drop-ins" complimenting me on your presentation and thanking me for bringing you to town. Thanks again for your tireless devotion to freethought and for sharing your time with us."
Becky Hale, Freethinkers of Colorado Springs
Tree of Knowledge links
The Tree of Knowledge was discussed on several blogs in the last few weeks. Here are some of the places it's been discussed:
Freethought Radio discussion with Margaret Downey about the Tree of Knowledge.
Richard Haynes talks about a hate filled Christian who blogged the Tree of Knowledge
America.gov blog on The Tree of Knowledge
Hemant Mehta blogs Tree of Knowledge
sidenote: Margaret will be at Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County on January 24th.
Will atheist groups agree to a Unity Convention?
For several years Margaret Downey has been suggesting an Atheist Unity Convention in which many atheist groups unite to form a single convention in that year. Groups such as CFI, American Atheists, FFRF, AHA, AAI and others would get together for one big convention.
This weekend Margaret will try to get enough support from the host organizations to go ahead with this goal. If you would like to see such an event, you should contact the President of the organization you belong to and express interest.
Here are two articles about The Unity Convention:
Friendly Atheist on Unity Convention.
PZ Myers on Unity Convention
Staks on Unity Convention
VIDEO: The Tree of Knowledge 7 mins (by Brian Sapient) 2009
Thoughts from yesterday when we put the tree up:
"The TREE OF KNOWLEDGE is up, installed on the south lawn of the Chester County Courthouse in the heart of West Chester - right next to the creche display. Margaret Downey, Brian Sapient, two brothers, Nicholas and Ian Stark, another young man named Andrew and I worked some five hours in the steady rain and mud but we were successful!" - Carol Everhart Roper on Facebook
[Margaret Downey was] "cold, wet and tired after a full day at the Chester County Courthouse installing the Tree of Knowledge. Time for some hot tea and warm bath. The tree looks great and I am so grateful to the volunteers who helped today. The rain did not deter us." - Margaret Downey on Facebook


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In addition to calculating individual trips, you can also make a one-off contribution, using either cash or your Asia Miles.
Your cash donation, in the range of HK$10 to HK$999,999, should be rounded off to the nearest dollar.
For Asia Miles, the redemption range is 100 to 999,999 miles.
Learn more about the flights that can be offset for different contribution amounts.
I would like to make the following one-off contribution to the FLY greener project.
Copyright © Cathay Pacific Airways Limited 國泰航空有限公司


text:
German Election Overturns Political Order
Merkel Is Triumphant, but Landscape Altered, With Setbacks for Left, Right
BERLIN—Sunday's election rattled Germany's political landscape, kicking a bastion of the conservative establishment out of parliament for the first time since 1949 and catapulting an upstart anti-euro party to national prominence.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to keep her post for four more years, with her Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party drawing a remarkable 41.5% of the vote. But while it cemented Ms. Merkel's dominance, the election left the rest of German politics in disarray....


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Max Weinberg, N.J. county clash over waterfront trail
The longtime drummer for the E Street Band is threatening to sue Monmouth County to block cleanup and repairs to the trail, which he says caused erosion that threatens his property.
ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- A waterfront path along the Jersey shore was a little piece of paradise until Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on it in 2011, and Superstorm Sandy came along a year later and destroyed it.
Now, hopes of restoring the popular 2.5-mile stretch of the Henry Hudson Trail along Sandy Hook Bay between Atlantic Highlands and Highlands are in jeopardy, partly because of legal action threatened by Bruce Springsteen's drummer Max Weinberg and a municipal judge.
Longtime E Street Band member Weinberg and Atlantic Highlands Muncipal Judge Peter Locascio, who both have homes along the trail, have filed notice that they may sue the county, claiming the work that was done to create the trail — including the removal of vegetation and detritus along the trail — created erosion and worsened the impact Sandy had on their property.
Monmouth County stopped work on the trail after legal papers were filed in January. Now people in the area say they are concerned because merchants in both towns who had benefited from the trail's traffic are suffering and residents who had enjoyed the recreational path are barred from using it.
"My biggest fear is that Monmouth County might not have the financial or political wherewithal to fight these two guys, and so they end up leaving the trail unfixed," said Garret Newcomb, who owns Kranky Cycles in Highlands. "The Bayshore would be so much better off economically if that trail were back in place."
The threatened legal action is one of several reasons why the county has not restored the trail, said Karen Livingstone, spokeswoman for the county parks system. Officials have not yet identified funding, and permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection will be needed if the trail is redesigned to withstand future storms, Livingstone said.
E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg files a legal notice that has stymied work on the Henry Hudson Trail between Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. iPHONE VIDEO BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
"Superstorm Sandy really did a lot of damage to the trail," Livingstone said. The damage included destruction of four footbridges, officials said.
In his notice, Weinberg claims that work on the trail caused more than $500,000 in damage to two properties he owns on Bayside Drive. Locascio — his next-door neighbor — makes a similar claim but does not specify a dollar amount.
In their legal filings, they reason that the clearing of vegetation and detritus around the trail, not just the effects of Sandy, led to the erosion at the bottom of the bluff on which their homes sit. Both claim they are concerned that the erosion could compromise their homes.
"The initial removal of vegetation to construct the trail, and continued 'maintenance' of cleared vegetations has exposed the toe of the bluffs to accelerated erosion of the toe during storm surges," engineer Geoffrey Goll wrote in a letter accompanying Weinberg's claim.
The trail was built by Atlantic Highlands on a railroad right-of-way in 2009 for about $1 million and turned over to the county parks system the following year.
Weinberg and his wife paid $1.1 million for one of the properties in 2010 and $550,000 for the second property in September 2012, only a month before Sandy. Locascio and his wife bought their home for $70,000 in 1977.
Attorney Michael Fasano, who represents Weinberg, and Locascio, who represents himself, could not be reached for comment. Monmouth County officials would not comment on the notices, citing potential litigation.
But Adam Hubeny, Atlantic Highlands' administrator, questioned the argument that missing shrubbery, and not the intensity of a storm such as Sandy, could have led to the hill's erosion.
"If any storm of this magnitude rolled into any hillside location, it would have caused erosion," Hubeny said.
Cleanup work on the trail began earlier this year, but the Department of Environmental Protection ordered the county in late spring to stop digging a ditch parallel to the path because the work went beyond the scope of the original permit, said Bob Considine, a DEP spokesman.
"The county is free to reconstruct the trail as it is authorized in the permit," Considine said.
The park system's Livingstone said it is unlikely the trail will be rebuilt exactly as it was. The county is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to obtain funding, she said.
Since the trail closed, bicycle, sandwich, coffee and flower shops in the center of Highlands have experienced a downturn in business, Highlands Councilwoman Tara Ryan said.