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Long Beach
Gateway Cities (Los Angeles County) : Long Beach
Long Beach[57] is a large port city in Los Angeles County in Southern California.
Long Beach is a large coastal and port city in Southern California. It is situated at the very southeastern edge of Los Angeles County, bordering both the city of Los Angeles and Orange County, in a region known as the Gateway Cities.
Long Beach is recognized as one of the most culturally diverse cities in America. It has large percentages of Latinos and Whites (non-hispanic), as well as very sizeable percentages of Blacks (non-hispanic) and Asians. As a whole, the city tends to have a more East-Coast/Midwest vibe when compared to the rest of the coastal California cities, so people from those regions of the country may find themselves a little more at home in Long Beach.
You may hear different people say different things about Long Beach; either wonderful or horrible things. This is because the city has quite a large population, with a density rate greater than that of nearby Los Angeles. Therefore, like other large cities, Long Beach encompasses everything, such as large industrial areas, struggling neighborhoods, quiet middle-class communities, and exclusive neighborhoods.
Long Beach has some nice people-gathering amenities and genuine tourist attractions, such as a world-class aquarium and the Queen Mary floating museum/hotel. Special events are also held in the city like the annual Long Beach Grand Prix (a premier racing event held on city streets) and the annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride event. When compared to other areas like Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and West L.A., Long Beach may not always be at the top of someone's tourist visit to the Los Angeles area, but the city draws its fair share of visitors and has proven it can definitely hold its own.
The area code for Long Beach is 562. For emergency services, dial 911 from any phone.
Get in
By plane
Out of the five airports in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Long Beach can easily be reached from three: Long Beach Airport (LGB), within the city itself; Los Angeles International (LAX), 22 miles away; and Santa Ana (SNA), 23 miles away. All three lie adjacent to Interstate 405. The other two airport options are Burbank (BUR), 37 miles away; and Ontario (ONT), 53 miles away. LGB will obviously be the most convenient to use location-wise and, being a smaller airport, provides less hassle; however, LAX may offer more frequent service and better fares.
Long Beach Airport (IATA: LGB) [58]: Rental cars are available for hire at the airport, which will most likely be needed in Southern California. Long Beach Yellow Cab + 1 -562 435-6111 is another option, approximate fares to downtown hotels $30-40 one-way. City bus Long Beach Transit Route 111 (Broadway/Lakewood) connects the airport to downtown Long Beach and to the Blue Line at the downtown Transit Mall. It runs south to downtown (40 min ride) from LGB about once every half hour and costs $1.25[59]. To find the bus stop, follow the taxi signs, walk one block beyond the taxi lineup, and turn right. Be sure to ask if the bus goes downtown, since both northbound and southbound Route 111 buses use this one bus stop at LGB.
Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX) [60]: It is fairly easy to take the Metro Rail from LAX to Long Beach, although you may require a short taxi ride or transfer to another bus to reach your final destination. Look for the LAX Shuttle & Airline Connections sign on the Lower/Arrival Level islands in front of each terminal, and board the free "G" Shuttle which takes you to the Aviation/LAX Green Line Metro Rail Station. This is the closest station to the airport. Purchase a two-segment ticket from the automated kiosk ($2.50) for the two rapid transit lines you will ride. Take the Green Line train and exit at the Imperial/Wilmington/Rosa Parks Station. Then change levels and transfer to the Blue Line southbound to Long Beach. Overall travel time from LAX is about an hour and fifteen minutes or so during daytime hours. Daytime travel is fine, but it is not recommended to take the Blue Line late in the evening as the line traverses some very questionable neighborhoods. Two shared van services (Supershuttle or PrimeTime Shuttle) provide door to door service from LAX. Advise the representatives that you need a ride to Long Beach, and they will flag the appropriate van. Fare is approximately $28 one way, taking about one hour. A taxi from LAX to Long Beach is about $70. If you do not plan on having a car, the shuttle or taxi is the most convenient if you are traveling with heavy bags, arriving in the evening, or going to a final destination not near a Blue Line station.
Orange County/John Wayne Airport (IATA: SNA) [61]: City buses will offer the only public transportation to Long Beach from SNA, which will not be too convenient. Renting a car (as you will probably need anyway) or taking a taxi will be better options. This airport and LAX are about equal distances from Long Beach (abeit, in different directions) and although busy, it is somewhat less busier than LAX for a little less airport hassle.
By rail
Long Beach is linked via the Metro Blue Line to downtown Los Angeles with connections to Hollywood, Union Station, Universal Studios, Pasadena, and East LA among other locations.
Amtrak and Metrolink service Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. To reach Long Beach from Union Station, take the Metro Red Line to the 7th St./Metro Center station then transfer to the Blue Line into Long Beach. Note: the Blue Line goes through some inner city locations (Watts and Compton) and there are not dedicated security guards on the trains. It may be discomforting to take the Blue Line late at night.
By ship
Carnival Cruise Line has a home port at the new Long Beach Cruise Terminal, next to Queen Mary dock. Cruises return to this port from Baja California and the Mexican Riviera.
By car
From the west (LAX, Santa Monica) or from Orange County, take the San Diego (405) freeway. Connect to the southbound Long Beach freeway (710) if your destination is dowtown Long Beach. From the north, the Long Beach freeway (710) runs along the western city boundary, and the San Gabriel Freeway (605) along the eastern boundary. From the coastal areas of Orange County, a scenic and convenient route is Pacific Coast Highway (Rte 1).
By public transit from Orange County
There are several ways to get to Long Beach from Orange County if you don't or can't rent a car. The most direct way is to take Orange County Transit Authority's Route 50 bus servicing Katella Avenue, which passes between Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center. The western terminus of this route is California State University-Long Beach (CSULB). If you are in the Beach Cities, take Route 1 servicing the Pacific Coast Highway and also terminating at CSULB.
Get around
A car is the most convenient way to get around Long Beach. Most areas of Long Beach have free parking but be aware that much of Downtown Long Beach has pay parking lots. The free bright red Passport buses serves the Long Beach downtown and waterfront attractions.
There are several transit agencies with bus routes in Long Beach.
Long Beach is a very golf-friendly city, home to several golf courses.
Long Beach is home to two major learning facilities, a California State University campus and a Community Junior College.
Formerly known as "Iowa by the Sea", but now populated by a diverse community, Long Beach has a full range of dining options.
Aboard the Queen Mary
Stay safe
Most areas of Long Beach are fairly safe, even after dark. There are two major areas that are not quite as safe and should be avoided after dark. Caution is called for even during the daytime in these areas.
The first of these areas is in the south-western portion of the city. This area is bounded, starting from the south-east corner, by Redondo Blvd. and 4th, running north to the Signal Hill border. Along the Signal Hill border north-west to the 405 Freeway, along the freeway to the western border of Long Beach and Wilmington, down to 4th St.
The second and more dangerous of the areas is North Long Beach (north west of the LGB airport). The approximate boundaries of this area are from Del Amo and Cherry, north to the north border of the city, along the north border to the west border and back south to Del Amo. This area, which borders on Compton, has a reputation for gang activity and is one of the more active police and fire districts in the city.
During the riots of 1992, both of these areas experienced violence, looting, destruction of property.
Long Beach has its own police department operating from four main stations throughout the city. Police can be reached by dialing 911 toll-free from any phone. The Long Beach Police now receive 911 calls directly from cell phones however calling 911 from a cell phone when near freeways will connect you with the California Highway Patrol. To reach the Long Beach Police directly from a cell phone, dial +1 562 435-6711.
Fire/Emergency Medical Services
Long Beach also has its own Class 1 Fire Department. The Class 1 designation indicates that response times to emergencies average 5 minutes or less. To request emergency assistance from the Fire Department, dial 911 toll-free from any phone.
Every fire engine and truck is staffed by fire-fighters with Basic Life Support training. The department also has a number of Advanced Life Support certified Paramedic Ambulances strategically stationed around the city. Fire Department Ambulances are available for emergency medical transport to a hospital, however, be aware that you will be billed for transport.
Long Beach is well-served by hospitals. There are three major hospitals in the city, including two that are trauma centers (Memorial and St. Mary) capable of handling the most critical emergencies. All five of the hospitals listed below have 24-hour emergency rooms.
While there are three hospitals in the city, they are all south of Interstate 405. In North and East Long Beach, the nearest hospitals are located in neighboring cities.
North: Lakewood Regional Medical Center [87] - 3700 East South Street, Lakewood, +1 562 531-2550. This hospital has an emergency room reservation service. See their website for details.
East: Los Alamitos Medical Center [88] - 3751 Katella Ave, Los Alamitos, +1 562 598-1311. This hospital has an emergency room reservation service. See their website for details.
Get out


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Fan Photo Of The Week
Title:Watson Lake
Camera:Sigma Lens:18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC (OS)* MACRO HSM Shutter:1/25 sec Aperture:f16 ISO Setting:100
"This photo was made in Watson Lake, Prescott, Arizona on a chilly morning. The granite dells surrounding the lake are great subjects for textures and patterns. On this particular image, the patterns of the ice on the foreground interested me."
Title:Watson Lake
Camera:Sigma Lens:18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC (OS)* MACRO HSM Shutter:1/25 sec Aperture:f16 ISO Setting:100
"This photo was made in Watson Lake, Prescott, Arizona on a chilly morning. The granite dells surrounding the lake are great subjects for textures and patterns. On this particular image, the patterns of the ice on the foreground interested me."
Title:Frank Lee's Sunrise
Camera:Canon Lens:10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM Shutter:15 Aperture:F22.0 ISO Setting:100
Title:Rock and Water
Lens:APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Shutter:2.5 sec ISO Setting:640
Title:Dawn at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge
Lens:10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC (HSM)*
Description:This week's Fan Photo of the Week was taken by photographer Chris Hunter at one of his favorite early morning photography locations, Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. The photo was made with the Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DG HSM, on a tripod. He tells us:This photo was taken at one of my favorite early morning photography locations, Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, located near the beaches of Newport, Rhode Island. The Wildlife Refuge is located on a unique peninsula at the far southeastern end of Aquidneck Island. It offers sweeping panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as scrub brush and heavily vegetative areas as well. Coming here early in the morning, you can capture some amazing pre-dawn photography. This was the first set of images captured when I arrived at the Wildlife Refuge. Knowing that there was going to be a very wide exposure latitude to the scene, I setup on a tripod and first exposed for the foreground with a 10 second exposure. The Sigma 10-20mm lens performs great at f/16, and that aperture also allowed for a long exposure to let the waves become blurred with movement. Next, I took a series of photos, stepping down about two stops each exposure. This allowed me to darken the image, resulting in the photos that make up the midground and sky background (5 seconds and 2 seconds respectively). I manually combined the resulting images in Photoshop, using masks to blend the three image layers together. On top of that, a levels and hue saturation adjustment was done, and finally the image was sharpened using the Smart Sharpen filter.About Chris Chris Hunter is a professional graphic artist, photographer and website designer from Middletown, Rhode Island. He has been employed in the creative field for over a decade working in print design, photography, front end website design, digital prepress and identity / branding design. He is the owner of www.NewportRIphotos.com and also owns a print design, website development and multimedia production company Collective Thought Media. Chris is available for private photography instruction and will be running a series of photography workshops in the summer of 2012 in Newport, Rhode Island. You can view more of Chris' work at: www.NewportRIphotos.com and follow him on Facebook!
Title:NYC Skyline
Lens:APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
Description:This week's Fan Photo of the Week is by Chad Weisser, of Long Island City, NY.He tells us that his image, Sunset of Manhattan Dec 6th, 2012, was shot from my apartment 24th fl on East River in Long Island City, Queens. Shot at 105mm ISO 400 f 9.5, 9 shot wide pano, bracketed 3 shots each. Post production edit on LR 4.2 and CS6. My HDR is done via LR plug-in Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop for a 32 bit file, then final edits in LR for saturation, clarity, etc. Shot with Nikon D7000, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II.About Chad: I'm originally from Siesta Key, Florida. Then after high school I moved to Austin, TX, Gloucester MA, San Fran, LA, San Diego, Miami Beach, and now NYC. I have a passion for travel, and along with that passion to travel has grown into a passion to photograph those places I go. Living in some of the best cities has given me the opportunity to see some amazing landscapes and cityscapes which has helped me grow in shooting landscape, cityscapes and huge panoramics.I started off with a Nikon D80 about 5 yrs ago, and this year I upgraded to a Nikon D7000, and I hope to step up to a Nikon D800E in a year or two. Along with my Sigma 70-200mm F2.8, my next favorite lens is my Sigma 10-20mm f4/-5.6 which is my workhorse for landscapes and cityscapes. I moved to NY about 2 years ago and have had tons of things to shoot, and have grown in my field. I was lucky for 2012 to have been in 3 month long gallery shows, 1 bank that had two of my pieces up for 1 month, and recently NBC in NY featured a sunset of mine!I believe the most important quality of a photograph, as in all of art, is to evoke an emotional response. While everything in nature does this for me, selecting just the right places and moments to make a photograph that conveys those emotions is far more difficult. My camera is one of the tools I use to achieve my final results, the image you see here.Check out more of Chad's work here and here. And fan his Facebook page here.
Title:Barry Byrd's Grey Fox
Shutter:1/800 Aperture:F6.3 ISO Setting:400
Description:This week's Facebook Fan photo of the week was taken by Barry Byrd using the 500mm F4.5 EX DG lens.Technical info: Nikon D800E, Sigma 500mm F4.5 | ISO: 400 | Aperture: F6.3 | Shutter speed: 1/800sec on Gitzo tripod, Markins M10 ballhead with cable release.Male Grey Fox was barking at two Vixens- image shot on mesa south of Abilene near sunset.About Barry: Geologist from Abilene TX- 30 years nature photo hobbyist shooting macro, wildlife, avian and landscapes. Currently shooting Sigma SD9, SD14, SD15, DP1, Nikon D800E and using Sigma mount lenses, 28mm f 1.8, 50mm f 2.8, 70mm f2.8, 105mm macro, 150mm macro, 300mm f4, 50-500mm OS, Nikon mount Sigma 500mm f4.5 HSMTo see more of Barry's work, check out his website!
Title:Michael Keel's North to Burney Falls
Lens:17-50mm F2.8 EX DC (OS)* HSM Shutter:1/6 Aperture:f/18 ISO Setting:640
Description:This week's Fan Photo of the week is by Michael Keel. He tells us:I'm a 35 yr old travel writer/photographer. The main magazine I write for is WHOA (what's happening with original artists). I have been making photos since I was 13, inspired by my grandfather. whowas in the California Camera Club and Sierra Club back in the 1930′s. Amongst my travel writing and wildlife photography projects, this photo is from my personal project loosely titled, "My Childhood – Scenes of Northern California." That hopefully may turn into a book; that's the plan, but who knows–money is scarce these day. I was on a particular dirt road my grandfather taught me to drive on when I was about 13/14, or actually, just turn up dirt and make dust-clouds. At about 5:30pm, as I was pulling out back onto the main road to head back to my campsite, I turned my head to the right, and saw this fantastic scene of glowing light through contrails, clouds, and faint mountain tops. I grabbed my camera and carefully stepped into the middle of Highway 89 (we are talking logging trucks traveling at about 80MPH; I had to step a few times.) I wanted to get some good depth so I set the aperture to F/18, I was also freezing, so I upped the ISO for caution of my shaky hands.I really like this shot, kind of fits the theme of the book, searching, remembering; memories go on forever. As a family, we spent many summers, 3-4 times a year up in the Lassen Volcanic National Park area. It is where I feel at home with my photography and it is a place I feel my childhood was left or existed. A lot changed through the years with our family, especially with our father being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I hope through these photos, others can relate in a similar way, and that they also serve the purpose of promoting preservation, conservation and restoration. This area means so much to me that there is not enough words or digital space to describe the feeling.Highway 89 North to Burney Falls CA. (shot taken right after the SubwayCave/Hatcreek area.) Sigma 17-50 OS lens with Polarizer, 1/6 second f/18, 640 ISO,, 34mm,handheld.Check out his Facebook Page!
Title:Victor Neves' Fall Reflections
Lens:24-70mm F2.8 IF EX DG HSM
Description:Victor Neves used the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 plus a Neutral Density filter to make this shot of fall leaves reflecting above a waterfall. He tells us:I was able to capture this image with great results due to the following factors: It was a cloudy and drizzly mid morning, with the foliage just starting to turn color, while using a ND filter and the wonderful Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM on my Canon 7D. It is amazing how well this lens suits the Canon! It's fast and precise focus makes it feel like a more expensive lens for half the price. I took this shot at an ISO 320, F/22, 1/6 sec., 28mm focal length on Shutter Priority. This image was captured at Ponaganset Falls in my hometown of Scituate, Rhode Island.
Title:Kellie Smirnoff's Hint of Autumn
Lens:15mm F2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye
Description:This week's Facebook Fan photo of the week was taken by Kellie Smirnoff using the 15mm F2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye lens.Here's her story behind the shot:This photo was taken at Green Lakes State Park which is a New York State Park located east of Syracuse in the Town of Manilus. My twin sister and I took our cameras out to take photos of nature and the way the sun was coming through the trees and hit the moss, leaf and background we found to be stunning. It always amazes us how something as simple as a leaf can tell a story when you look at it close up. I placed the lens right up to the leaf on the macro setting and there was no doubt that the shot was going to be my favorite. The Sigma Fisheye has amazing auto focus at close range and the crispness it brings to a photo is phenominal. I love the versitility of the lens and how it brings drama and a unique look to photographs. It pulls your eye in and makes you go wow!About Kellie: My Dad has always loved photography and has instilled the love of being behind the camera to his daughters. I took a photography class back in high school (about 26 years ago) and my Dad even setup a dark room in our home for us to develop our own film. After years of not picking up a camera I purchased a camera body and found my love again. I recently purchased the 15mm F2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye and saw a new world after the shutter was release. I am a novice but find the world to be dynamic through the lens. Each person can look at a photo and have their own story and that is what I find so beautiful.
Title:Matt Bryant's Vapor Trail
Shutter:1/1600 Aperture:f/8 ISO Setting:400
Description:This week's Facebook Fan photo of the week was taken by Matt Bryant using the 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM lens. The shot was taken with a Nikon D7000, focal length 350mm, f/8 at 1/1600 second, ISO equivalent 400, manuel exposure mode, matrix metering mode. Here's his story:Taken at the Cocoa Beach Air Show in Cocoa Beach, FL September 22. We were on the beach standing in the water while taking shots of the fighter jets. This is a shot of the F-22 Raptor. The most expensive, most advanced, fighter jet in the world. The zoom range of the Sigma 150-500 came in handy for long shots and closer shots when the jets flew over the crowd. It also came in handy when the Raptor was performing high flying stunts. The stunts were out range for just about any mm length (and hard to watch during mid day sun in plain sight), but it was great to watch through the view finder to witness the maneuverability of the jet. In my opinion a prime lens would limit you to certain shots. Most of the shots were taken at full zoom, 500mm, but this shot of the raptor was taken at 350mm.My wife Cindy bought me my first DSLR almost two years ago and haven't been able to put it down. A few months afterwards we both added the Sigma 150-500mm lens to our arsenal and we have discovered a new world through the view finder. We've used it for everything from birds to portraits. Growing up I could often be found exploring the woods for animals, bugs, and what ever else I could get my hands on. Now that I've added 500mm to eye sight I've discovered a whole new world that would be easily neglected otherwise. This lens works well for many different circumstances. It's compact enough to take to a theme park and powerful enough to take to an air show.

subset: commoncrawl


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In the documentary "Anita," which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival in four sold-out screenings beginning Saturday, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock focuses her lens on law professor Anita Hill (who hadn't yet seen the film at press time). More than 20 years after Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in turbulent Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Hill is an author, professor of social policy, law and women's studies at Brandeis University's Heller School of Social Policy and Management and a frequent speaker on sexual discrimination and civil rights.
Was it worth it — "it" being the hard times you went through because of the hearings and the aftermath? Looking at it from 2013, was it worth what you went through to be where you are today?
In 1991, when I was called to testify — I was actually subpoenaed — I set myself a goal to truthfully talk about the experience I had with Clarence Thomas because I thought, and I still think, that it reflected on his ability to be an impartial judge in any case involving the law, but certainly any case involving civil rights, inequality issues. Having done that, yes, it was worth it. I have no regrets.


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Doctors say victim of Miami face-chewing attack is awake, alert
MIAMI – A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack along a busy Miami street is now `awake and alert," according to doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.
A photograph shown to reporters Tuesday portrayed Ronald Poppo walking down a hospital hallway, supported by hospital staff on either side of him.
Doctors were planning to talk more about his condition at a Tuesday news conference.
The photo showed the upper two-thirds of Poppo's face covered in scabs. He's missing his nose and both eye sockets were covered, one with gauze and one with what appeared to be a skin graft. His gray beard was trimmed, leaving a mustache over his upper lip.
Poppo has been at Jackson Memorial Hospital since he was attacked May 26 by Rudy Eugene. Emergency callers reported seeing a naked man swinging naked from a light pole on Miami's MacArthur Causeway a few minutes before the attack.
Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Eugene stripping Poppo and pummeling him before appearing to lie on top of him.
A police officer shot and killed Eugene. Autopsy results are still pending.


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Today's buildings are smart, but – that's not enough; they need to be cybersmart. As with many other technological advances driven by human nature, the building controls industry has opened new doors for users – energy management, decreased costs, interoperability and more. But the investments in cyber-secure building systems have lagged by comparison.
This must change.


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Founded in 1970, we are one of the UK's leading architectural practices with offices in London, Leicester, Leeds, Birmingham and Solihull. Our success in the UK has led to opportunities overseas, resulting in the establishment of Stephen George International in 2009 and the International Logistics Design Group in 2014.
Our strategic geographical locations combined with our talented architectural design teams enable us to offer specialisms in Masterplanning and the Industrial, Logistics, Office, Education, Retail, Residential and Refurbishment sectors. Through our commitment to the highest standards of service quality, professionalism and architecture we have designed and delivered a portfolio that is rich in both complexity and scale. Our strong client base is evidence of our ability to respond rapidly to stakeholder requirements, resolve complex site issues and produce innovative designs.
We are placed in the 'Top 100' practices by the Architects' Journal and have been listed as one of the 'Best Small Companies to work for' by The Sunday Times.


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Nevermind that Roger Federer's Grand Slam semifinal streak has been snapped, nay, smashed by Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarters of this year's Wimbledon — because the rest of the world's celebration of the tennis champ keeps on going. A few weeks after we unearthed the woman with the RF tattoo, we've come across a Chicago-based artist who's sculpted R-Fed's likeness in clay.
Raul Gautier, a recent immigrant from Mexico, took a day and a half to create this piece. Up next are figurines of Nadal and Agassi. This isn't the first time we've seen a Federer toy, of course. Nike collaborated with Michael Lau to come up with this Hulk-esque plastic mound in 2007.
For sale: Federer figurine, $650. Mr. Gautier's website will be up soon. Contact TSF if you'd like to get in touch with him.
More: See a few more looks of this sculpture after the cut…
(images courtesy of Raul Gautier)
Tags: raul gautier


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A 22-year-old by the name of Elliot Rodger went on a killing spree on Friday in Santa Barbara, California, killing seven people (including himself) and injuring 13. The reason behind his act of violence?Well, according to several YouTube videos he posted, he was tired of women rejecting him. When the story hit the news, many felt sorry for Rodger and blamed women for being "stuck up" (among other things) for the reason he went on his rampage. Really? Being denied a date or sex are justifiable reasons to kill?
Hundreds took to Twitter to turn the world's eyes toward the blatant misogyny and acts of violence women experience every single day by delivering their stories via a movement called #YesAllWomen. Here are the 17 most powerful tweets, along with important facts and figures:
1. #YesAllWomen 1
Because while millions of girls are getting raped, the media still blames her for what she was wearing. #YesAllWomen pic.twitter.com/AhrcixxWkD
— Kayla (@radicayla) May 28, 2014
Did you know? Over 22 million women in the United States have been raped in their lifetime, according to a 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
2. #YesAllWomen 2
#YesAllWomen pic.twitter.com/kocu2Zx6PV
— Martha Plimpton (@MarthaPlimpton) May 28, 2014
Per global data reported by UN Women, 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. However, some national violence studies also show that up to 70 percent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime from an intimate partner.
3. #YesAllWomen 3
Because I've been slut shamed, but yet a guy can sleep with who ever he wants and still be glorified #YesAllWomen
— Alyssa Young (@AlyssaYoung1) May 28, 2014
Men are often given high-fives for their sexual conquests, women not so much. As a matter of fact, a man responded to this woman's tweet saying: "Yes, because men and women are different, and reality is not equal. Slut."
4. #YesAllWomen 4
Feminism isn't about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world sees that strength. #YesAllWomen
— Circle of Sisterhood (@CofS_Foundation) May 28, 2014
Fact: Women will be called "bossy," while men will be commended for their leadership abilities.
5. #YesAllWomen 5
I shouldn't have to hold my car keys in hand like a weapon & check over my shoulder every few seconds when I walk at night #YesAllWomen
— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) May 25, 2014
Women walk in fear every day! According to the 2012 National Crime Victimization Survey, every 90 seconds, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
6. #YesAllWomen 6
Not ALL men harass women. But ALL women have, at some point, been harassed by men. Food for thought. #YesAllWomen
— Adelaide Kane (@AdelaideKane) May 27, 2014
A poll conducted in 2013 by HuffPost/YouGov on workplace sexual harassment showed that 13 percent of respondents reported having been sexually harassed by a boss or another superior, and 19 percent have been harassed by a co-worker other than a boss or superior. Of those who said they'd experienced sexual harassment, a full 70 percent said they never reported it.
7. #YesAllWomen 7
This is quite possibly the most terrifying thing I've ever read #YesAllWomen pic.twitter.com/kSD70RxSyL
— emily (@DieWithUrPawsUp) May 26, 2014
Most female victims are raped before the age of 25, and almost half of female victims are under the age of 18, according to a 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
8. #YesAllWomen 8
One of the most important things I've ever read. #YesAllWomen pic.twitter.com/sDqf0F3pPL
— Scott Summers (@ItsScottSummers) May 26, 2014
This tweet bears the question: Could a man really walk in a woman's shoes?
9. #YesAllWomen 9
#YesAllWomen Because recognition of human dignity elevates all of us.
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) May 26, 2014
Many on Twitter were complaining and declaring that the #YesAllWomen trend was just another way for women to play the victim role, but knowledge is power, and James Van Der Beek said it right.
10. #YesAllWomen 10
The fact that there is no "Matronizing" tells you all you need to know about the gender history of dominant power structures #YesAllWomen
— Lucas Neff (@RealLucasNeff) May 26, 2014
Is misogyny and violence against women a power game? According to figures reported by the Department of Justice in 2010, approximately 1,270,000 women are raped each year. Another 6,646,000 are victims of other sexual crime, including sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, or unwanted sexual experiences.
11. #YesAllWomen 11
#YesAllWomen because women have to avoid eye-contact with men in public in order not to "lead them on"
— Kaylee Anna (@_KayleeAnna_) May 27, 2014
12. #YesAllWomen 12
Girls grow up knowing that it's safer to give a fake phone number than to turn a guy down. #yesallwomen
— Kate Tuttle (@katekilla) May 24, 2014
Frightening fact: Earlier this year, a young girl was slain for turning down a prom date request.
13. #YesAllWomen 13
The cops who asked me "Well, what were you wearing?" when I reported an attack and attempted rape. #YesAllWomen
— Aimee Mann (@aimeemann) May 25, 2014
On May 27, the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) announced that as part of their year of programming to recognize the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, administration officials from the Departments of Justice and Education joined them on its nationwide university tour to raise awareness of campus sexual assault. The visits reinforced what OVW has known for years – to effectively address sexual assault on campus it must be informed by and meet the needs of each campus and the students it serves.
14. #YesAllWomen 14
No but seriously, don't tell me I should smile more. #YesAllWomen
— SOPHIA AMORUSO (@Sophia_Amoruso) May 27, 2014
Devastating fact: Factoring in unreported rapes, about 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail, while 15 out of 16 will walk free.
15. #YesAllWomen 15
That time a guy threatened to kill me on the subway because I told him to stop harassing me. #YesAllWomen http://t.co/eqVC5hYdpr @slate
— natalie g (@natalie_nyc) May 28, 2014
According to the 2010 Bureau of Justice Criminal Victimization report, offenders have been reported to be armed with a gun, knife or other weapon in 11 percent of rape or sexual assault victimization.
16. #YesAllWomen 16
I bet lotsa guys are annoyed by these constant unwanted #YesAllWomen tweets. I mean, you're just tryin to be a person & go about your day.
— Christine Nangle (@nanglish) May 26, 2014
And women, we're just trying to go about our day without being harassed, raped, beat up...you get the drift.
17. #YesAllWomen 17
Because we keep telling our daughters they are responsible for men's behaviors #YesAllWomen
— Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) May 24, 2014
Victims of rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment are often told it's their fault or they deserved it. But why should this be the message?


text:
|2012-03-19, 13:48
|Link #981
Senior Member
Before meeting Kite, Gon had no idea his father was a Hunter and he had no interest into becoming one either. Sorry, but their meeting was way more important than you're implying.
Removing all the Kite references, the anime is, in fact, hurt already. It will feel incredibly forced when/if they finally remember he exists. "Oh, by the way, Gon met this guy in the past before, although we've been ignoring the fact so far!!". I can't call this a good adaptation from the source when it's playing around so much with Gon's motivation.
Last edited by Goty; 2012-03-19 at 14:02.
|2012-03-19, 14:43
|Link #982
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
|2012-03-19, 15:23
|Link #983
Join Date: Aug 2004
Age: 32
Although I didn't like the changes made in the latest episode much.
|2012-03-19, 18:30
|Link #984
Kamen Rider Muppeteer
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Unknown
Age: 34
Ummm... I'm going to try and make this my last comment on the Kite matter due to accidental spoilers and whatnot.
He isn't very important now. They can always add him in a flashback later. There is nothing weird about somebody who's never been onscreen before to become an important character.
|2012-03-19, 19:19
|Link #985
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
I'm not asking anyone else to agree, but it would be nice if people understood a little better why we think that episode 1's progression changes how the story will feel for us later on. For what it's worth, Togashi is constantly shuffling characters out of the story for long periods of time, leaving us to wonder what they're up to. That's one of the (many) things I really like about the manga. I could list a huge number of people whom this applies to; I won't, since it'd spoil, but suffice it to say that in a later arc Togashi inserts a story smack in the middle to reveal the backstory of a character that seems to have nothing to do with anything that's happening. It becomes more and more clear how much potential this character has for the story, which makes the initial foreshadowing that much more powerful.
And based on how Kaito was introduced and referenced, however sparsely, it was dead obvious he'd become important in the story later. The same way the reader would expect Ging to become important in the story later. Not referencing him when they did feels almost as bad to me as if they showed Gon, completely unambiguously, wanting to become a hunter only because someone told him about it and not because he learned a thing about Ging. So I think that Togashi knew very well what he was doing introducing him when he did (and the big impact he had - saving Gon's life, teaching him an important lesson, teaching him about his father and hunters, and giving him a model of what a hunter is) and I hardly think he was making it up as he went along. That is, I don't think he intended for Kaito to be a one-time character when he started the manga.
And that's kind of the problem with revealing Kaito in a flashback later, like in the time between the next two arcs. With the first episode presented like it was it's a natural conclusion for the viewer that Gon knows about the hunter exam and about Ging because Mito told him about it. There's no reason to think that Mito hid the truth from Gon, because that's not the more obvious thing that an adoptive parent would do. And because of this, Kaito's whole story feels superfluous to me when told well after the fact. I would actually prefer that they dropped the connection entirely, introducing Kaito (if they really do, and I'm sorry, I don't think an intro silhouette in a hunter splash is proof that they will) as a complete stranger to Gon, merely an acquaintance of Ging's. Mind you, I think this has a worse impact on how the plot progresses from here, but a reference to his manga appearance now (which would have to be altered at least, since he clearly didn't give Gon Ging's hunter card) would feel very unnatural to me.
|2012-03-21, 03:30
|Link #986
Kamen Rider Muppeteer
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Unknown
Age: 34
I finally saw the episode. I liked it. Did they slightly redesign Kalluto? It's a lot easier to accept the fact that he's a boy now.
So uh, how about that Kalluto huh? Anyone else think he looks slightly more boyish than in the manga or the previous anime?
Last edited by Daniel E.; 2012-03-21 at 22:47.
|2012-03-21, 08:45
|Link #987
Amor Fati
Join Date: Oct 2011
Last edited by Daniel E.; 2012-03-21 at 22:41.
|2012-03-21, 11:14
|Link #988
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Toto y Moi pls continue your comparissons... pls dont stop... its educational... for those who dont read the manga .... and besides I like your post it has images, scripts that other commentors dont even care to put... in short they have references....
|2012-03-21, 15:03
|Link #989
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Note that he's supposed to look like a girl in-universe too. A character much later on mistakes him as one.
|2012-03-21, 20:27
|Link #990
Nitro+ fan
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hyogo
Toto y Moi, I appreciate your attempt to keep this thread from continuing to derail, and I want to reiterate how much I love your recaps. Very interesting stuff!
I'm looking forward to the next episode, but perhaps even more so than that, I'm really looking forward to the new OP and ED in mid-April. Can't wait to see what they come up with animation-wise.
|2012-03-22, 00:17
|Link #991
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
And if it was deliberate I definitely don't think it was in an attempt to make him look more masculine.
|2012-03-22, 03:08
|Link #992
Kamen Rider Muppeteer
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Unknown
Age: 34
Anyway, the anime continued a fair bit past that point actually.
Regardless of that, I currently have no reason to not believe that the anime will continue at least to the point where the manga is at now. Because the manga just concluded an entire saga. Which seems like a fair point to end the series if it finally manages to catch up to the manga (which will still take a fair while).
|2012-03-22, 10:02
|Link #993
Amor Fati
Join Date: Oct 2011
|2012-03-22, 12:17
|Link #994
cho~ kakkoii
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 3rd Planet
Spoiler for screentshot:
As can be seen from the above, Hunter x Hunter is occupying the ninth spot. This show won't be going away anywhere for a little bit.
Last edited by monir; 2012-03-22 at 14:27.
|2012-03-25, 01:34
|Link #1000
Seishu's Ace
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
One of the things you have to love is that this series gives us a chance to hear legends like Yamadera Kouichi, who plays Silva here. His historically significant roles are far too numerous to list, but he's definitely one of the all-time greats, and he nails it here.
|action, shounen
|Thread Tools


text:
Finding my way in Beijing was tougher than I'd ever imagined. But sharpening my skills at a local youth academy for ping-pong—a game at which I'd dominated friends back home for years—seemed like an opportunity not to suck. So what if it meant beating up on little kids at the school and old men in the park? This would be my key to assimilation. Nice plan—but then I stared down the pre-teen pong machines and got my first real taste of China's national pastime
On my first day at Shichahai Sports School, the elite athletic academy in Beijing, Coach Chang introduces me to his ping-pong class. "We have a new American student," he says, peering out from behind the prescription sunglasses he wears indoors. As all eyes turn toward me, I feel a rush of nerves. It's like day one of kindergarten again, only this time I have chest hair. "He claims he's been playing for more than ten years," Chang goes on, "but from what I've seen, it looks more like ten days." The class erupts into high-pitched giggles.
We're lined up in one of the school's three basement ping-pong halls, a huge gymnasium with 27 tables, a Chinese flag hanging on the wall, and video cameras mounted everywhere. ("For security," says Coach Chang.) Whereas most students attend Shichahai after distinguishing themselves at smaller regional schools around the country, I just walked in the front door mid-semester and paid the exorbitant $25-a-class foreigners' rate. (Chinese students pay $1,500 to $5,000 a year for morning academic classes and twice-a-day ping-pong lessons, plus room and board.) I enrolled knowing I'd be one of the older students. I didn't realize it'd be by a factor of three. Flanking me are two dozen gangly 9-to-12-year-olds in bright jerseys, hiked-up shorts, and near-identical buzz cuts, yet I'm the one who looks foolish.
You could call it karma. I have a history of cruelty when it comes to ping-pong. As a kid, I'd trounce my little brothers so badly over our family's table that they'd cry. When I lived in a group house in D.C. after college, I'd plant myself at an end of the table my girlfriend bought me for my birthday and pick off challengers one by one. It wasn't their fault. I simply operated at a higher level, unleashing slices and cross-slams and sidespins unfit for social settings. I took it seriously too, chatting away while ahead but getting real quiet and whispering to myself when the score tightened. Eventually, friends stopped accepting my invitations, roommates made excuses. Most people know a ping-pong jerk, and all my life, that was me.
When I left the comfort of D.C. for a job in Beijing last summer, ping-pong seemed like a natural in. The sport was everywhere, and I figured the history of "ping-pong diplomacy" that led to the re-opening of relations with the U.S. in 1971 might lend my presence some much-needed gravitas. It also seemed like a rare opportunity to not suck. Moving to a new country, especially China, is an ercise in crippling humiliation. Hailing a cab, asking directions, ordering food, even attempting to digest that food (with occasional ugly results)—every activity reinforces one's ridiculousness. Even friendly encouragement—Chinese people tend to lavish praise on foreigners for their Mandarin, no matter how shoddy—can feel infantilizing. I especially feared the challenge of making and keeping Chinese friends. Ping-pong would be my salvation. It would not only help me meet Chinese people, it would earn me their respect. Whereas in the U.S. ping-pong enjoys about the same esteem as dodgeball, China puts its champions on prime time. I'd prove I was more than just a big-nosed idiot foreigner—I was a big-nosed idiot foreigner who could excel at a sport they revere. If ping-pong could make Chinese people like Nixon, I just might have a shot, too.
My first opponent at Shichahai, a smiley kid named Wang, stands eye-level with my chest. On the orders of Coach Chang, we edge up to a nearby table and start rallying. Though rallying couldn't be less accurate. Wang serves. The ball bounces over the net and hits my side of the table. I strike it with my paddle, it springs over the net, and does not hit his side of the table. It doesn't hit anything. This must happen 25 times in a row. The physics are all wrong. It's like instead of a paddle I'm holding a pancake.
I get ushered off to a side table, where an older coach named Zhang is making like a human ball machine. Standing at one end of the table, he draws balls from a bucket and sends them skimming over the net. Each serve travels at the same speed, same angle, same rhythm. A student, hunched over like a wrestler, returns them in perfect metronomic time. All at once ping-pong looks like a sport.
When it's my turn to rotate in, Zhang begins by correcting my grip. I use the traditional "handshake" hold, same as most Americans, and the paddle hangs loosely in my fingers. I expected to learn the "pen" grip used by many Chinese players (and Americans trying to look cool). No need to switch, Zhang explains, but he moves my thumb in a way that keeps the racket locked against my hand, and bends my wrist sideways to make the paddle an extension of my arm's line. My forehand stroke now looks like a robot ninja salute.
Coach Zhang serves to me. Using my new stroke, I don't hit the ball so much as graze it. The ball topspins its way down, the table erting its own gravitational pull. Zhang serves until the bowl is empty, and another student steps up to drill. "Good!" Zhang says in English, giving a thumbs up. I feel gleeful, if also condescended to by his big English "Good!" But mostly gleeful.
The floor is littered with hundreds of balls. Drenched in sweat, I get down on my hands and knees to collect them, and as I crawl an errant shot smacks me in the face. I stand up and prepare for the next lesson. Coach Zhang says we're doing forehands again. "What about backhand?" I say. "Maybe after another eight or ten classes," he says. Some of these students have been training since they learned to walk. "No rush."
As the weeks progress, my classroom humiliations don't disappear so much as take on subtler forms. I arrive one morning during my second month to find two kids facing the wall. I ask Coach Zhang why. "They were being stupid," he says. After several minutes, they receive the second part of their punishment: They are forced to drill with me.
Another day, I come to class with a cold. When I line up with the rest of the students, Coach Chang tells me to stand on the other side of the room, lest I contaminate China's future. Most of the students at Shichahai go on to regular high schools and universities, many of which recruit for ping-pong, but the best ones graduate to Beijing's youth squad, the Beijing team, and, in a handful of cases, the national team. It's entirely possible that I've been getting wrecked by a future Olympian.
That thought consoles me when, playing a match against a little guy with a massively out-of-proportion head, I can't seem to score. The old moon gravity is back, and every ball I strike flies over the far edge. Just one point, I tell myself, one point and I'll be happy. I'm losing 10-0, when the kid deliberately serves the ball off the table: A charity point, another student later explains, to give me face. I lose 11-1.
Still, I feel my game improving. Intention and results start to align, at least during drills. Whatever muscles are engaged by bending down for hours while swinging your arm back and forth are getting stronger. But bad habits linger. I plant my feet. I don't twist. I flick my wrist lazily instead of building spin into my stroke. It feels like I need to re-learn everything daily. Try as I might, I'm not a child. "My son is easier to teach than you because he is a blank slate," Coach Chang says, referring to his 6-year-old. "He can't do much, but everything he does, he does right. You try hard, but you do everything wrong." To prove it, he parks his son in front of a table and starts a cross-shot forehand drill. The kid might as well be playing patty cake; he doesn't miss.
Explanations of Chinese ping-pong dominance range from the pseudoscientific to the cultural to the systematic; while Europeans and Americans are big and strong, Asians are quick and nimble, I am frequently told by Chinese ping-pong enthusiasts. (Never mind Yao Ming or the 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning, world record-setting weightlifter Zhou Lulu.) The Chinese also think strategically, says Chang—something he says I would understand if I read classics like The Water Margin or The Art of War. Then there's China's vast ping-pong infrastructure, a network of local, city, provincial, and national training centers that teach players using the same methods and promise their best players a life of wealth (some make close to $1 million a year) and fame (top players like Ma Long and Ma Lin are household names). Since 1988, when table tennis became an Olympic sport, Chinese players have won 24 out of 28 possible gold medals.
But China's greatest strength may be its sheer numbers. Teodor Gheorghe, the coach of the U.S. women's Olympic ping-pong team, remembers visiting China with the Romanian team in 1970 and hearing a Guangdong official lament that the province had "only 5 million players." "You can imagine how we were shocked," Gheorghe says. Unlike soccer or basketball, ping-pong doesn't require much space or equipment—just a table, two paddles, and a net (or lacking that, a row of bricks). Just as no one can throw a baseball quite like an American boy or dribble a soccer ball like a Brazilian kid, your average Chinese child grows up knowing his or her way around the table.
The Shichahai students and I get along, but in the same way they might get along with an intelligent dog. When they demand to see a one-dollar bill, I thumb one from my wallet and point out George Washington. "He's America's Mao," one of them informs the others. They ask me about the U.S.—mostly the prices of things, like iPhones—and I tell them as much as I can before they stop listening and start curiously stroking my arm hair.
One day, I rally with a tiny kid who looks like he's about to fall asleep. He serves lazily, his body limp and his eyes almost fully closed. I start mimicking him, and he laughs. Bingo. I finally have a plan.
We play matches at the end of class in which students rotate from table to table, each facing everyone else at least once. My first opponent is a kid with a bruise on his face where a classmate kicked him the other day. (They're cool now, he assures me.) I serve the first ball normally. On my second serve, though, I suddenly pull in my chin, puff out my cheeks, and bug out my eyes. He panics and hits it into the net. Next serve, I cross my eyes. His return sails off the end of the table. My strategy is working. I keep it up, flashing a goofy yokel overbite, rolling my eyes back into my head, and making farting sounds as I serve. He still wins the game, but I've discovered my secret weapon—my crane kick. The next game, I'm up against a stringy kid who can't stop laughing when I pretend to fall asleep while serving. It's the first match I've won.
This should probably count as cheating, but it feels like a breakthrough. I've turned my disadvantage—my ridiculousness in these kids' eyes—into an edge. I've out-10-year-olded the 10-year-olds. Later, when discussing my progress with Coach Zhang, I guiltily confess my clown strategy. To my surprise, he smiles and nods with approval. "That's wisdom," he says.
After several weeks of classes, I'm ready to face my first real-world test: Beijing's pensioners. It's a clear spring day—the sun actually looks like the sun, not a dull yellow moon—so I bike to a park on Houhai, a man-made lake in central Beijing, where I know I can find some pickup pong. The park is strewn with track-suited seniors engaged in a tableau of Chinese ercises. A slack-faced woman glumly rotates a giant yellow wheel, one of many pieces of public ercise equipment installed in the run-up to the Olympics. A man is draped across two railings doing full-torso sit-ups. Another in Coke-bottle glasses and a beanie pads around with his arms frozen in mid-air like he's wearing a pair of invisible water wings.
When I approach the ping-pong tables—two marble slabs resting on blue steel bars—heads turn. I'm not the first foreigner this crowd has seen, but I may be the first with his own racket case and balls. A man in a fake fur hat asks to see my paddle. He holds it by the face and taps the handle against his head, judging the quality of the wood by its sound. "How much did it cost?" he asks. Twenty-five yuan at a supermarket, I say. "The quality isn't good," he says. (A coach at Shichahai was not impressed: "Supermarket—banana, orange, apple," he said, in English. "Not ping pong.") The man in the fur hat shows me his racket. The padding on one side is fresh—he just replaced it himself—the other side is bare wood, with a deep indent where his knuckle has worn it down over three decades. "This one was three-and-a-half yuan," he says. Not only will I crush you, he implies, I will do it affordably.
A husky lady in a pink puffy vest is playing a gray-maned gentleman in orange socks and shiny black sneakers. She insists I take her place. The man, Mr. Jiao (paddle: 500 yuan), serves. He flips the ball into the air with his open-palmed free hand, the sphere nearly grazing the bare branches of the trees above us, and then clips it over the net with a stomp of his foot, perfectly timed to disguise the sound of the ball against the paddle, so I don't know whether he's hitting it with the racket's soft side or its hard side. Sometimes he gets fancy and tosses the serve from behind his back. His moves would seem more ridiculous if they didn't work so well.
Athletes always want to compare their sports to chess—fencing is chess with swords, boxing is chess with concussions. But to a greater extent than any game I know, ping-pong really is like chess, and the reason is spin. Every ball requires a split-second calculation, as the player identifies its spin and responds with the appropriate counter-spin. "In chess, you can predict the next three or four steps," Coach Zhang says. "In ping-pong, the possibilities are endless."
Mr. Jiao's spin jujitsu puts me on the defensive from the start, and he wins the first game. I get more aggressive, trying to fight spin with force, and, with the help of several strong gusts of wind, I win the second. The third is tied 10-10 and goes into extra points. He beats me with a shot that nicks the table, or, in Mandarin, a "scrape-side-ball." After weeks of getting destroyed by children, a close loss to an adult feels like a victory. We shake hands. "You don't speak very fluently," he says. I take the honesty as a compliment.
If there's one thing you learn playing American sports as a kid, it's that everyone gets a trophy. But after three months of ping-pong training, I still have nothing to show for my efforts except a wilted ego and a blister on my thumb. So when I hear there's a local tournament scheduled for early May, I sign up. The site is North Riverside Park, home to one of the city's swankier public ping-pong facilities (i.e. it has real nets). The tournament seems like the perfect chance to prove how far I've come. But first, I undertake a Rocky-style training montage.
The Shichahai classes have raised my game, but don't offer much individual attention. I need a mentor, I tell a ping-pong buddy I met at Houhai. He says he knows just the guy.
When I shake hands with Coach Deng at his ping-pong shop across town, he has just eaten, so we sit and talk—I bring a friend along to help translate—while he digests. He's bald and round and speaks with the rasp of a lifetime smoker, or perhaps just a lifetime Beijing resident. He's not a ping-pong player himself, he explains; he creates ping-pong players. "Any player I stand behind, he will win," he says, lighting a cigarette.
Between drags, he dispenses advice for the tournament. First, clothes: Wear a warm shirt for the morning, and a light shirt for the afternoon—if I make it that far. Food: "The night before, eat noodles," he says. "But only eat till you're 60 percent full." The morning of? "Noodles," he says, but this time only till I'm 50 percent full. (After hearing all about China's "Three Represents," "Four Modernizations," and five-year plans, I've gotten used to numerical specificity.) I should also be sure to bring a snack to the tournament, Coach Deng says, preferably two chocolate wafers. For lunch, I should eat noodles, followed by one more chocolate wafer in the afternoon.
I take this down, and we set off for a basement ping-pong club nearby. Inside, it looks like a fallout shelter. A long fluorescent lamp flickers above two tables. Posters of ping-pong greats hang on the walls. This, I tell myself, is where champions are made. We rally. He tests me with some tricky spin and notes my reactions, or lack thereof. Something feels off. I can't concentrate. It's like everything I learned, I've since _un_learned. I can tell he's disappointed, and this makes me perform even worse.
After a while, we break and I ask him what he thinks. "Let's start with your strengths," he says. "Your strength is you enjoy yourself." I wait for more. "Your weaknesses," he goes on—and then proceeds to list every aspect of the game: My grip is wrong, my stroke is flimsy, I don't rotate my torso, my feet don't move. The last few months suddenly feel pointless. He gestures to one of his friends, who plays ping-pong like I imagine Bruce Lee would. "He is in the sky," Deng says. "You are on the ground."
I ask what this means for the tournament. "Eighty percent of the people there will be better than you," he says. "You can barely play." Getting to a level where I could compete, he said, would take three years of practice, two sessions a week.
He then inflicts what might be my worst humiliation yet. We play a game, and he lets me win. I don't actually win—he just deliberately loses points, knocking balls way off the table or into the net. I might score points here and there, is the implication, but only because he allows me to. "I wanted to encourage you," he says afterward, grinning. Whatever his intent, the effect is the opposite. After months of being treated like a moron, this—the suggestion that I would celebrate when I know he threw the game, an act that wouldn't fool a pre-schooler—is the final insult. We don't see each other again.
The day of the tournament, I get up at 6 a.m. and bike over to the park. An hour before the games begin, the fenced-in ping-pong area is already bustling, each table flanked by competitors warming up. I rally with a man named Su, who used to work in the railway industry. He asks where I'm from, and I tell him the U.S. "You have about 200 hundred years of history, right?" he says. "Right," I say, "a bit more." He seems unimpressed.
I draw a number to see who I face first. When I spot my opponent, I'm encouraged. Phenotype aside, he could be my grandfather. The refs call our number, and we start rallying. His shots are simple, unadorned—a positive sign. Finally it's time to start. The old man serves.
At least I think he's served. My paddle misses the ball completely. Suddenly it's my first day at Shichahai and I'm getting aced. The next shot caromes off my paddle into tomorrow. It takes me several points to understand what's going on. He's got some wacky sidespin I've never encountered, and I'm not sure how to return it. I try working out the geometry in my head—if it's spinning this way, then I have to move my paddle like... By the time I calibrate, he's applying different torque, and I fail to return that shot, too. I don't even think to make a farting noise.
I'd like to say this is where I discover a spiritual reserve deep inside me or bust out some secret move I've been practicing but haven't quite mastered, only to pull ahead in a blazing comeback of furious glory. Because if that's not what happens, why even tell the story? What I actually feel as the points slip away—sorry—is the weight of failure far heavier than any single game of ping-pong deserves. A year of fears and disappointments, from language flailings to job concerns to What am I even doing here? glom together in a stomach-pit of anxiety. Months of training have produced the same results as if I'd spent that time playing Wii Tennis—possibly worse.
At least it's over fast. I lose two games in a row, 11-4 and 11-6. My opponent, victorious, comes over to shake my hand. His name is Han. He's 66. He says he's glad to see young people playing, since most of them just waste hours with video games these days. I ask how playing now is different from when he was younger. "I'm a lot slower now," he says. I empathize.
While we're chatting, the lady in charge of the tournament hands me a blue jersey with the league's acronym: DSBHQYX. (It stands for desheng binhe qiuyou xiehui, or "Victory Riverside Ball Friends Society.") It's supposed to be for the winners, but she says I should wear it anyway because people will want to take photos with me. No matter that I may be the worst player to swing a paddle on this court in its three-year history, I still receive special treatment. I wear it anyway.
A few days after the tournament, I take Coach Chang out to dinner at a restaurant that serves Chinese and Western food. He brings his wife and son, who, he reminds me, could thump me at a table. He tells me about the 20-plus years he spent teaching ping-pong in Japan, and the way it opened up Japanese society to him—from professors to politicians to industry leaders. I tell him I'm not sure ping-pong has done the same for me in China. As much as I've played, I still feel as if I'm treated as a combination clown-mascot-business opportunity.
Then again, that's what I am. It seems like an American tendency to insist we're exceptional, but then travel abroad with limited cultural knowledge and language ability and expect to be treated the same as everyone else. This attitude also presumes that the greatest sign of respect from a Chinese person is for him to pretend you're Chinese, too. That idea might make sense in the U.S., where for many—including many Chinese—assimilation is the goal. You can become American. But radical acceptance doesn't exist in China, I found, and to expect it is to misunderstand the place.
I try and articulate all this to Coach Chang. He looks at me through his tinted lenses. "You're white," he says. "Sorry." When he first moved to Japan, he had trouble being accepted. But once he spoke Japanese fluently and had lived there for a few years, he was just like everyone else. That's not going to happen for me, he says. No matter what you do, your accomplishments are always the numerator over the dominator of your foreignness.
There's a phrase among expats in China: LBH, or "loser back home." It refers to someone who gets undue attention here, particularly from Chinese women, but in his native country has no friends. When it comes to ping-pong, I'm the opposite: I was a winner back home. I left home in order to lose. Any self-help guru will tell you losing is instructive: It teaches patience and grace. It puts victory in context. It inspires greater effort next time. And while patience and grace may not be the first words that come to mind when I look back on a year of regular linguistic mishaps, irregular bathroom runs, and being out-ponged by people half my height (including 6-year-olds and 60-year-olds), these small failures have reacquainted me with both. They've also shown that sometimes, when facing long odds, it's not just OK to give up, it's important to. As Coach Deng said when I asked him if I had a chance at becoming a ping-pong champion: "Next life."


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Definition of gast
v. t. - To make aghast; to frighten; to terrify. See Aghast. 2
The word "gast" uses 4 letters: A G S T.
Direct anagrams of gast:
gats stag tags
Words formed by adding one letter before or after gast (in bold), or to agst in any order:
e - gates getas stage h - ghast ghats i - agist gaits staig n - angst gnats stang tangs o - goats togas s - gasts stags y - stagy
Shorter words found within gast:
ag as at gas gat sag sat ta tag tas
List shorter words within gast, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in gast, plus an optional blank or existing letter
List all words starting with gast, words containing gast or words ending with gast
All words formed from gast by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: ga as st
Browse words starting with gast by next letter
Previous word in list: gassy
Next word in list: gasted
Some random words: vocable aeneous fructification blab eel huarache eosin
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 5, 2009) - Shooting 61 percent from the field in the first half and holding North Florida to just 17 points before the intermission, the ETSU men's basketball team raced out of the gate and pulled away to an 88-57 win over the Ospreys in Atlantic Sun Conference action Monday evening inside Memorial Center.
With the win, ETSU improves to 10-4 overall, 4-0 in A-Sun play and maintain sole possession of first place in the league. Meawhile, the Ospreys fall to 2-12, 0-4.
"These are scary games especially coming off a big win over Jacksonville, but we came out and had a great start," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team's 10-4 record is the best start for an ETSU squad since the 2003-04 season. "I think we outscored them 18-2 to close out the first half, and I saw a lot of good things out of our team tonight."
Following a career best 39-point effort Saturday against Jacksonville, senior guard Courtney Pigram (Memphis) once again led the way offensively with a game-high 24 points. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Micah Williams (Manchester) pitched in a career high 15 points, senior forward Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) netted 13, and true freshman post Seth Coy (Montgomery, Ind.) added 12. In addition, senior forward Greg Hamlin (Flint, Mich.) matched a historic mark for the Bucs, tying the school record with six blocks on the night while scoring nine points.
In the first half, the Buccaneers wasted little time setting the tempo, pulling ahead 10-0 in the first three minutes and pushing the advantage to 25-11 with just over five minutes left before the break. ETSU then went on to truly put the Ospreys away, outscoring them 18-2 to close out the half and hold a decisive 43-17 advantage at halftime.
ETSU shot 17-of-28 (61 percent) from the floor and 6-of-12 (50 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half, while outrebounding the Ospreys 23-13. Meanwhile UNF shot just 28 percent from the field and 17 percent from outside the arc in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Bucs backed off the defensive pressure and ultimately outscored UNF just 45-40, but at that point the game was well in hand. For the contest, ETSU shot 52 percent from the floor and 44 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting the boards to a 45-31 advantage over the Ospreys.
For North Florida, Kyle Groothuis was the only player in double figures, posting 11 points.
The Bucs will hit the road again this Saturday to take on A-Sun foe Stetson in Deland, Fla., at 2 p.m. Fans can keep up with the Bucs, while getting news and notes by visiting ETSUBucs.com.


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Taylor Ikens stuck out 14 and allowed just two baserunners in a no-hitter Wednesday, sending the Amboy Clippers to a 1-0 Three Rivers victory over Bureau Valley in Manlius.
Ikens walked two, but neither runner made it past second base. He also had two hits at the plate for the Clippers (12-15, 5-8), singling to lead off the second inning. Courtesy runner Jackson Sorrells replaced him, then proceeded to steal second, move to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Andrew Klein's single for the game's lone run.
Trevin Kennedy allowed one run and four hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks in a complete-game loss.
Oregon 15, Stillman Valley 14, 11 inn.: Tyler Blume's RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning ended a Big Northern West game that originally started May 2.
Skylar Short led the Hawks (8-13, 4-6) with four hits, including two triples and a home run, and drove in four runs. Blume and Alex Cain had three hits and two RBIs each, with Cain homering. Ian Holley singled, doubled, and drove in two runs.
Cain, Oregon's fourth pitcher, went four scoreless innings in relief for the win, allowing three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Forreston-Polo 3, Milledgeville 2: Brody Grobe had two hits and scored twice as the Cardinals won an NUIC East makeup game at home.
Nathan Schneiderman had an RBI and picked up the save in relief of starter Dylan Bushman, who pitched into the sixth inning and allowed two runs and seven hits. Nick Ludwig and Colton Meyer also drove in runs for Forreston-Polo (12-8, 9-4).
Zach Herin took the loss for the Missiles, allowing three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Newman 3, Fulton 2, 9 inn.: Jaimie Hurd's deep fly ball drove in Sarah Trujillo from third as the Comets outlasted the Steamers in Three Rivers play in Sterling.
After Emma Wiemken drove in two runs in the top of the first to give Fulton the lead, Erin Pasley tied the score with two RBIs in the bottom of the fourth for the Comets. Then, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Hurd hit a long double against the Steamers' drawn-in defense to finish the game.
Neither run allowed by Newman starter Laura Turnroth was earned, and she also gave up nine hits and one walk, striking out three while pitching around five Comet errors.
Chelsea Lesniewski went the distance for Fulton (4-10, 1-10), striking out three, walking five and hitting two batters while allowing three earned runs and five hits.
Amboy 4, Bureau Valley 2: The Clippers scored four times in the second inning, and Lauren Akre made it stand up in a Three Rivers win in Manlius.
Akre struck out six and walked six, allowing single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to go with five hits. Brooke Lovgren had two hits and two RBIs for Amboy (14-7, 8-6).
Darcy Kepner drove in both runs for the Storm. Irini Petros had two hits and also took the loss in the circle.
Dakota 7, Forreston-Polo 6: The Cardinals led 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, but three errors in the frame resulted in four Dakota runs and an NUIC East loss.
Ashley Long had two hits and an RBI for Forreston-Polo. Abby Peterson went the distance in the circle, allowing seven runs – three earned – and eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
Boys tennis
Dixon 3, Mendota 2: Kurt Gale and Romulo Lobo overcame a first-set loss for a three-set win in the Dukes' win at Emma Hubbs Tennis Courts at Page Park.
Gale and Lobo earned a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles. Teammates Michael Barth and Thomas Clemens took a 6-1, 6-2 decision at No. 3 doubles. The other win for Dixon (3-8) came from Matt Kerr, a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles.
United Township 7, Sterling 2: Jonathon Downing and Jack Nitz won singles matches for the Golden Warriors in a nonconference loss at home.
Downing won 6-1, 7-6 (3) at No. 4 singles, and Nitz picked up a 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 victory at No. 5 singles for Sterling (4-9).
Girls soccer
Dixon 3, Rochelle 0: Erika Taylor scored two goals and assisted on the third as the Duchesses earned a road shutout in their regular-season finale.
Taylor scored on a first-half penalty kick, then converted Kirsten DeArvil's corner kick into a goal in the second half. Katie Provo scored Dixon's first goal on Taylor's assist, and it was Provo who was taken down in the box to set up Taylor's PK.
Wednesday's stars
Taylor Ikens, Amboy baseball, no-hitter, 14 SO, 2 BB
Skylar Short, Oregon baseball, 4 hits, 2 3Bs, HR, 4 RBIs
Jaimie Hurd, Newman softball, GW RBI 2B in 9th
Brooke Lovgren, Amboy softball, 2 hits, 2 RBIs
Erika Taylor, Dixon soccer, 2 goals, 1 assist
Kurt Gale & Romulo Lobo, Dixon boys tennis, 3-set win after losing 1st set


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Earth : Asia : Middle East : Israel : Negev : Eilat
Eilat (אילת, aka Elat) is an oddity in Israel, because it has so many tourists and relatively few Israelis. Located at the southern-most tip of the country, within its small "window on the Red Sea", Eilat is first and foremost a resort town these days, devoted to sun, fun, diving, partying and desert-based activities. 320 km (200 miles) away from the tension often felt in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, Eilat is a convenient escape for Israelis on vacation, but during the mild winter months also attracts thousands of European sun-seekers.
The climate is arid, with moderate humidity. Summertime highs often reach into the 100sF (38°C or more), and winter lows dip into the upper 40sF (ca. 8°C).
Eilat (pop 85,000) is the southernmost town in Israel, isolated from the rest of the country by the Negev desert. It is sprawled along 7 kilometers of Red Sea coastline, between the borders of Egypt and Jordan, and offers spectacular views of the Gulf of Aqaba. Originally a strategic military outpost, Eilat's first incarnation was as a port, used for importing goods from Asia, such as oil and vehicles. In the 1970s, tourists began visiting Eilat. They were attracted by the coral reefs, sandy beaches, and the dry and sunny desert climate. The town began to develop, and tourism has become its main industry, serving as a popular holiday destination for Israelis and foreigners alike. Owing to being resort driven it is sometimes called the Ibiza or Las Vegas of Israel.
Today, the 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) North Beach area is full of hotels with opulent names like Herod's Palace and Queen of Sheba. The Tayelet promenade extends the length of the beach front and hosts numerous stalls, street artists, restaurants, and fashionable shops. The promenade has great views of the bay, and each evening it is full of strolling tourists. The southern beach, which has coral reefs, is protected by the Israel Nature Reserve Authority. It has many public beaches and excellent scuba diving centers. Whereas the northern beach is reachable by foot and walkable, the southern beach will necessitate transportation. The Navy and commercial ports lie between the south and north beaches.
Get in
By plane
Eilat Airport (ETH) is right in the middle of the city. Flights to Tel Aviv are frequent and take only 50 minutes, but expect to pay around NIS 250 for a one-way trip. However, tourists can arrive in Eilat on charter flights via the Ovda International Airport (VDA), also known as Uvda, 65 km (40 miles) and nearly a 50 min drive from town.
A cheaper way to get from Europe directly to Eilat is via the nearby Taba International Airport in Egypt. Charter flights to Taba are operated by several airlines, e.g. the German "Condor" (on Wednesdays from/to all major German airports). Taxis from Taba airport to the Israeli border station at the Hilton hotel run for max. 150 Egyptian pounds (40 min), from there a taxi to Eilat is around 25-30 NIS (10 min). Or take local bus 15 (6 NIS). Border crossing normally takes less than 30 min. On arrival at the airport insist on Egyptian "Sinai only" visa, otherwise you're charged 15 USD visa tax. Note that Egypt charges 75 LE tax when leaving Taba coming from Eilat.
By bus
All buses in Eilat leave from the Central Bus Station on HaTemarim Boulevard.
Egged express buses drive from Tel Aviv (390/394) and Jerusalem (444) to Eilat hourly, the trip takes around 5 hours and costs NIS 75 one way (60 for students) or 128 NIS for a return ticket. It's advised to buy tickets in advance because assigned seating is in use.
From the Taba, Egypt border crossing take local bus number 16 to the central station for 4.75 NIS (Jan 2012).
By car or taxi
There are a couple of ways to drive from Tel Aviv to Eilat. One is via Mitzpe Ramon. Another nice alternative is from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea via Arad, stay a couple of days there or just make a short stop and then continue to Eilat. It takes approx 5 hours from Tel Aviv, and a similar duration from Jerusalem.
Taxi from the Aqaba, Jordan border crossing is around 35 NIS (Dec 2011). A tax from Aqaba to the crossing is around 5 JOD (Dec 2011).
A taxi from Nuweiba, Egypt to the Taba border crossing takes 50 minutes and costs around 110 EGP (Dec 2011).
Border Crossings
There is no fee to enter Israel (US passport).
The "Wadi Araba Crossing" from Aqaba, Jordan is 5km from the Eilat central bus station. The Jordanian exit fee is 10 JOD (Oct 2012, German passport).
The Taba, Egypt border crossing is 9km from the Eilat central bus station. The Egyptian exit fee is 2 EGP (Dec 2011, US passport).
Get around
Central Eilat, that is the Promenade Area and vicinity of the central square can be covered on foot, although during the summer the scorching temperatures make walking around unpleasant. Only the closest public beaches are a sweaty stroll from the center, and dive sites will require motorised going. A limited bus system serves the south beach, as well as the suburbs. Taxis prowl the streets looking for fares. Insist on the meter or at least agree on the fare in advanace, as Eilat's taxis are famously mercenary.
The main beach is in the North beach, and many of the major hotels are situated here. The south beach area (Coral Beach) is protected by the Israel Nature Reserve authority, but recent years have seen a decline in the marine life and reef quality. Fortunately, since the removal of the controversial fish cages from the Gulf water in 2008, a steady recovery of corals has been seen at all dive sites. While many divers head south to the Egyptian Sinai coast to Dahab or Sharm el-Sheikh, to experience better diving conditions, many divers still prefer Eilat, with far smaller crowds, interesting macro life and easy, unpressured surface entries.
The Ginsburg-Ingerman Overseas Student Program [12] of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev [13] offers short-term academic programs at the Eilat campus. The programs focus on Hebrew language, Marine Biology and Gastronomy.
As an incentive there is no value-added tax in Eilat. Therefore many duty free shops line the boardwalk and culminate in a duty free shopping centre know as Mall HaYam (The Mall of the Sea). Top brands can be found, and it is joked that the first thing an Israeli does on before leaving Eilat is to fill up their petrol tank to the brim.
The main promenade is packed with stylish restaurants catering to tourists and locals alike, offering some of Israel's finest cuisine prepared by Israel's master chefs. Mainly owned by the major hotel chains. The vast variety of restaurants understandably come at a price, but they don't get as pricey as the restaurants of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
For a Holiday resort the expected assortment of Pubs and Bars exist on the Promenade and are also densely packed in the main square.
Sleeping Outdoors
Extreme but cheap. Possible at the North Beach, next to the Jordan border, and also at the South Beach--aka Coral Beach--preferably to the south of the bar called "Migdalor". Pros: stay close to the sea and pay no money for it. Cons: temperatures can be really hot, even at night; have to find out the water/shower/etc.
Important Note: When staying outdoors please keep all your garbage with you and do not light fires – the beaches are protected by Israeli Nature Protection Organization.
The hillside around the Central Bus Station contains motels which usually have a room designated to a dorm. You can find some real gems hidden among them but be prepared to take some time checking them out.
Mid range
Eilat's North Beach is positively packed with luxury hotels, but in season rates can be as high as US$200 per night.
Get out


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When my children were babies, people used to tell me that 5 p.m. was the witching hour. That from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. your babies would reliably be fussy until bedtime. It was this and not the end of the work day that was the true origin of what we now call happy hour, because after two hours of infant screaming, happiness could best come from alcohol (for the parents — not the babies — though if you're a whiskey-on-the-gums fan, I'm not going to judge). This phenomenon in our house was a real one, especially for our second child, who had colic and never seemed to stop screaming. Luckily, my babies grew into children and the witching hour became a thing of past — or did it?
Because it seems to me that Halloween every year begins a new witching hour — or witching season — for mothers everywhere. That is, the mothers just want to cry. Each year, starting with the Halloween costumes, through perfecting and hosting the ultimate Thanksgiving meal, then coordinating holiday card photo shoots, Christmas tree crafts and school event schedules that require a Cirque du Soleil level of orchestrating, I go just about bat s&*t crazy (pun intended). It's a seemingly endless stream of school and social commitments for my kids, while I panic under a self-imposed pressure to make it so precious and memory-filled. My own needs unfortunately, take a backseat. Sure, the holiday season is about giving to others, but that doesn't mean we should neglect ourselves for a full quarter of the year.
This year, despite having a busier schedule than ever, I'm trying to be more conscious of this craziness, and do what I can to take better care of myself. So I'm not falling asleep exhausted in the kids' beds with makeup still on. So I'm not subsisting solely on seasonal sugar highs, or missing an important appointment because I was distracted writing it down. Like the advice in airplane manuals to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others — if I don't care for myself, I won't be of much help to anyone else. I'm making a resolution — now, not in January — to be bit more mindful, so that I can fully enjoy all these wonderful memories I'm trying so hard to create. Here's what's on my anti-witch agenda:
Massage. I may not make it for a massage this season, but the power of touch has been shown to offer a number of benefits, including reduced stress. So I've started a ritual with my daughter where we give each other regular hand massages and manicures. She's only 9, so I may not get the most "polished" look, but my skin gets pampered with moisturizing lotion, and seeing her little hand in mind, for no matter how long, relaxes me immensely.
Spa scents. I've long turned to aromatherapy and the healing properties of pure essential oils, and just recently picked up this great tip for creating a spa-like experience in the bathroom: When washing bath towels, I add 10 drops of essential oil to a paper towel, and toss the paper towel in the dryer. Instead of a dryer sheet's synthetic fragrance, the essential oils impart aromatherapy benefits — perfect for being enveloped after a steamy shower. Lavender oil has calming and soothing effects when inhaled (my kids love this before bedtime), and peppermint oil is great to help awaken and clarify in the morning.
Neck/shoulder soother. This is another tip that the kids can take part in, and you'll all reap the benefits. Fill a tube sock with dry rice so that it is about two thirds to three quarters full. Add 15 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. (If you don't have any essential oil you can add vanilla or almond extract from your pantry.) Carefully sew the sock shut to avoid finding rice all over your house for the next six months. Microwave and apply as needed to help relieve neck and shoulder tension.
Meditation. There's an old quote that goes something like, "Everyone should meditate for 20 minutes a day, unless you're too busy, then meditate for an hour." The premise being that the busier you are, the more you can benefit. I'll admit, I hardly ever find 20 minutes to meditate, but I am making a more conscious effort to take even five or 10 minutes when I can. Because I know I get distracted so easily at home, I've started taking this time in my car, parked in the dark recess of the office parking garage. I set my phone alarm for a few minutes, and just sit, eyes closed, trying to clear my mind. Even if I can't immediately claim any long-term benefits, it's a great way of mentally separating my crazy morning getting the kids off to school with starting the workday on a calm and professional note.
I can't be the only one frazzled by this busy season. I'd love to hear what tips you use to stay sane and find a balance between blissed out and broomstick. And as we get ready to say thanks next week at the dinner table, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude here and now to all of you for reading. Thank you.
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Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team flipped the script from the regular season meeting between the two teams as the Cru rolled to a 59-20 victory over Louisiana College in an NCAA Division III National Championships First Round game Saturday in Belton. UMHB improves to 11-0 on the season and advances to the Second Round of the postseason for the ninth straight season. The loss ends the most successful season in Wildcats history at 8-3 on the year.
After UMHB was held scoreless for the first 29:59 of the regular season meeting between the two teams, the Cru exploded for 42 first-half points on Saturday. LiDarral Bailey capped UMHB's opening drive with a seven-yard run to make it 7-0 and then hit Tyler Coker with a four-yard TD pass two minutes later to make it 14-0 Cru. Bailey would add a 23-yard scoring run to push the lead to 21-0 and an 18-yard scoring strike from Bailey to Darius Wilson made it 28-0 UMHB. Louisiana College would close to 28-6 on Ryan Montague's three-yard run, but Wilson added a six-yard scoring scamper and Bailey hit Jon Ross for 35 yards and another touchdown to put the Cru on top 42-6 at halftime. UMHB outgained LC 407-216 in the first half and held the Wildcats to just six first downs.
Wilson scored on another six-yard run to open the second half scoring before Jamie Bunting found Montague for an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 49-13. Brian Gallagher scored on a three-yard run to put UMHB up 56-13 at the end of the third quarter. Bunting threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Josh Robinson on a flea-flicker early in the fourth quarter before Edwin Munoz closed out the scoring with a 19-yard field goal for UMHB.
The Cru would outgain the Wildcats 674 to 432 in the contest, with 375 of those coming through the air. UMHB forced five turnovers, but gave the ball away three times on second-half fumbles. The two teams also combined for 23 penalties.
Bailey had a huge game for the Cru, rushing for 124 yards and two touchdowns and going 17-22 through the air for 267 yards and three more scores. Wilson accounted for three touchdowns and 80 total yards and Kamray Runnels had a career high five grabs for 67 yards. Javicz Jones led the UMHB defense with 12 total tackles and he added an interception to break the Cru single season record with his seventh pick of the year.
Bunting was 28-45 for 310 yards and two scores, but he was also intercepted four times for Louisiana College. Montague added 111 rushing yards on 18 carries and Kyle Galyon caught seven passes for 85 yards. Nate Janzen had a team-high 13 tackles and Dominic Graham added 12 stops for the Wildcats.
UMHB will now face Franklin College in the Second Round. That game will likely be played at Tiger Field in Belton, but the NCAA will not confirm game sites until Sunday. The Cru and Grizzlies have never faced each other. Franklin advanced with a 48-10 win over Adrian College on Saturday. Louisiana College was making its first NCAA postseason appearance.


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|Attention: DocWiki has reached EOL and will be decommissioned January 25, 2019.
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 6.1 -- About Firewalls
From DocWiki
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 6.1 > Web Conferencing > Configuring > Configuring External Access
Firewall Basics
A firewall is a security device set up to protect a local area network (LAN) from unwanted Internet access. However, you can provide limited access by opening specific TCP ports to allow inbound access to public servers while leaving other portions of the network protected. For example, when a user on the Internet connects to a company home page, the user must pass through TCP port 80 of the company firewall to access the web server, as shown in Figure: Typical Firewall Setup.
Therefore, if you do nothing else, you can allow external access to Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web conferences by opening ports on your network.
Figure: Typical Firewall Setup
Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web server inside the private corporate network.
End user system outside the private corporate network.
Port Access Requirements with a Firewall
As long as port 80 is open inbound on your firewall for both of the hostnames or IP addresses on your Web Conferencing server, external users who are using the meeting console are able to participate in a Cisco Unified MeetingPlace web conference. However, port 80 requires "tunneling" on the meeting console connection (the Web Conferencing hostname or IP address) and results in slower web conferencing. Therefore, for an optimal web conferencing experience, we strongly recommend that you open TCP port 80 inbound for the Home Page hostname or IP address and also open TCP port 1627 inbound for the Web Conferencing hostname or IP address.
If your deployment is using SSL, make sure port 443 is open inbound on your firewall for both of the hostnames or IP addresses on your Web Conferencing server.
If external attendees are also located behind a firewall, they must open the same ports outbound on their end.
Ports Needed for Sending Attachments
The TCP-5005 port is used to send attachments between the internal and external Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing servers and the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Audio Server. If this port is not open, attachments can go over port TCP-5003, although this degrades performance.


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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 19, 2014) – The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced Wednesday that the Buccaneers men's basketball team will play host to the Towson Tigers Friday night at 7 p.m. in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Towson is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and advanced to the second round with a 63-60 win over USC Upstate on Wednesday evening.
Fans can purchase tickets by logging into their account on the ticket link located at ETSUBucs.com and clicking on the "My Account" tab, or by calling the ETSU ticket office at 423-439-3878423-439-3878 or 423-439-4828423-439-4828. Fans that purchased seats for the first round game against Chattanooga will have the opportunity to purchase those same seats for the Towson game.
Tickets will be automatically e-mailed to fans, unless the customer selects to pick up at Will Call on the day of the game. The tournament pricing structure will remain the same:
Diamond Level (Courtside): $25.00
Gold Level (CC/DD/EE): $15.00
Silver Level (JJ/KK/LL): $12.00
Bronze Level (B/C/D/E/F): $12.00
Blue Level (AA/GG/A/G): $10.00
Children 12 and under are $5, while children under 3 are free. ETSU students will receive free admission with a valid student ID.
For more on ETSU men's basketball and the postseason CIT, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's hoops link. For more on the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, visit CollegeInsider.com.


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Santa Barbara Planning Commission meets to discuss construction violations at Ed St. George's student housing complex Beach City (April 21, 2016)
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On Sunday, December 16th, superstar Jordin Sparks will host the official VH1 Divas after-party in Los Angeles to benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.
This year's Divas, hosted by Adam Lambert, will celebrate the dance-inducing music that is the vibrant soundtrack to every major blowout bash, unforgettable party and night out on the town. VH1 is bringing together Ciara, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland and Jordin Sparks to pay homage to the greatest divas of dance music with performances featuring current and classic dance hits.
Immediately following VH1 Divas, the official after-party will commence just steps away from live show including special guest DJs, The Dolls: Mia Moretti and Caitlin Moe. As in previous years, funds raised through exclusive ticket packages that offer premium seating to the live VH1 Divas concert and admission to the official after-party, the VH1 DIVAS DANCE PARTY, will support the Foundation's mission to restore public school music education nationwide. Attendees at the after-party will experience a one of a kind dance party that will feature music from past and present Divas.
Guests will responsibly enjoy a premium bar featuring Smirnoff's new Kissed Caramel and Iced Cake Flavored vodka, an exquisite wine bar hosted by William Hill Estate Wines, all natural, unsweetened flavored water from HINT and HINT Fizz, and great food all in celebration of this historic evening. For tickets or more information please visit www.vh1savethemusic.org/divas2012.
"I'm thrilled to be hosting the official after-party for VH1 Divas," said Jordin Sparks. "With the proceeds going to benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, an amazing organization that helps keep music programs in school, I know we're going to have a great night while raising funds for a wonderful cause! I know none of us 'divas' would be the same had it not been for those musical programs and options in our schools."
VH1 Divas is one of televisions most-watched and beloved franchises. Premiering for the first time on VH1 in 1998, VH1 Divas instantly became synonymous with some of the most memorable live female vocal performances in television history – while raising essential funds for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.
The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education programs in America's public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education. To date, VH1 Save The Music has provided more than $49.5 million in new musical instruments to 1,850 public schools in more than 128 school districts around the country, impacting the lives of over 2.1 million children. Get involved at www.vh1savethemusic.org and follow them on twitter @vh1savethemusic.
Source: VH1 Save The Music Foundation


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Brittney and I are going to try this on Saturday. It looks super fun and easy.
For Ava Maria - a little quilt
5 hours ago
Time to update the header. I started this blog in 2004 and while I am still a busy busy mommy it is different now. With mine both in highschool somethings have really changed over the years but still others remain the same. I love having my little corner in the internet to document and discuss being a busy busy mommy.


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Who's ready for OSCAR DAY tomorrow?I got 5 out of 6 correct last year and let's see how I do tomorrow. Here's my list of who I want to win and who I think will win in the major categories.BEST PICTUREWant to win: MoneyballWill win: The ArtistBEST DIRECTORWant to win: Woody Allen, Midnight in ParisWill win: Michel Hazanavicius, The ArtistLEAD ACTORWant to win: Brad Pitt, MoneyballWill win: Jean Dujardin, The ArtistLEAD ACTRESSWant to win: Michelle Williams, My Week With MarilynWill win: Meryl Streep, The Iron LadySUPPORTING ACTORWant to win: Jonah Hill, MoneyballWill win: Christopher Plummer, BeginnersSUPPORTING ACTRESSWant to win: Melissa McCarthy, BridesmaidsWill win: Octavia Spencer, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTORWant to win: Jonah Hill, MoneyballWill win: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
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