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It is hard to describe the Bill McGoldrick Acoustic Duo without inevitably invoking the "odd couple" cliché.
McGoldrick is a 57-year-old ex-rocker who spent the past few decades touring with a variety of bands before deciding he was ready for a different kind of arena; the other half of the duo is Pamela Stiebler, a 23-year-old folk singer and budding songwriter who as a teen was a backup singer for bands in her native Brazil.
One thing the two have in common is a Berklee College of Music education; he graduated in the mid-1970s, and she is anticipating receiving her degree in May.
And the two found each other, as many odd couples do, through Craigslist.
"I had been thinking for a couple of years about doing an acoustic act," McGoldrick said. "I was tired of playing in bands. I'd done it for so long. Dealing with all the egos, all the issues . . . and musically, you tend to get swallowed up in most bands. It's hard to get six or seven people to play well together and be one hundred percent in sync. I wanted to get away from all of that and play a pure acoustic thing."
So he posted an ad for a vocalist, and it drew the attention of Stiebler, who was living in Montreal trying to learn French and preparing for Berklee.
"Initially I was on Craigslist to look for housing in Boston, and then I checked to see if anyone was looking for a singer," Stiebler recalled. "That's what led me to answer Bill's ad. I sent him a video, and when I came to Boston to look at apartments, we met in a local park and I had my audition while sitting on a park bench. The same week I moved to Boston, I played my first gig here with Bill, out in Holliston."
Stiebler is the lead singer, while McGoldrick plays guitar and sings backup. Although Stiebler is majoring in songwriting at Berklee, she has yet to muster the courage to perform an original piece, despite McGoldrick's encouragement.
"It's been great performing with Bill," Stiebler said. "In bands, the sound gets really loud and the equipment often isn't that good. In a duo like this one, you can hear yourself and express yourself. Hearing a song with only vocal and guitar helps people to see and understand the song in a really raw way, without the drum fills and all the other flourishes of a band."
This fall, the Bill McGoldrick Acoustic Duo has become one of the region's most popular acts, appearing regularly from Providence to Woburn.
The schedule for the next two weekends has them performing Friday night at the Main Streets Market & Cafe in Concord, Saturday night at the restaurant 3 in Franklin, next Thursday at Noon Hill Grill in Medfield, and Dec. 7 at Pejamajo in Holliston.
Though the act bears his name, McGoldrick is unstinting in his praise for Stiebler.
"Pam is one of the best singers I've ever worked with, and I've been doing this for a hundred years," he said. "Her sound is influenced by R&B and soul singers, but she has a unique voice that should be heard by lots of people in the world and eventually will be, I'm certain. There's a purity in her voice. It's flawless and beautiful."
Because of this, McGoldrick has no problem letting the young singer take the lead when they perform.
"Pam's left hand will signal me to go higher, lower, faster, slower. I know how to do what I'm told because I've been married for many years. Our act is pure, clean, acoustic. We go from R&B to soul to blues to country to pop to rock and roll. We play some Brazilian stuff from Pam's background as well. The music can be very delicate with two people. You can really get to the nuances of songs."
For more details on the Bill McGoldrick Acoustic Duo and a complete schedule, go to www.billmcgoldrick.net.
GUITAR MASTERS: International guitar duo Loren and Mark, comprising New York musician Loren Barriger and New Zealand native Mark Mazengarb, will appear in concert Friday at 8 p.m. at the Amazing Things Arts Center, 160 Hollis St. in downtown Framingham.
Their self-titled debut album received the Syracuse Area Music Award for "Best Americana Album" last year, and they followed up that recording with "Onward," released in August.
General admission tickets are $20; students and seniors, $19; Amazing Things members $17; and ages 11 and younger, $10. Call 508-405- 2787 or visit www.amazingthings.org.
OPEN STUDIOS: More than 40 Fountain Street Studios artists, ranging from emerging to internationally recognized talents, welcome the public to an open studios event Friday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
View paintings, photography, fabric art, prints, and handcrafted jewelry while taking in musical performances, portrait demonstrations, and book signings at the historic Bancroft Building, 59 Fountain St. in Framingham.
For more details or directions, call 617-750-5003 or go online to www.fountainstreetstudios.com.
JEWISH CULTURE: On Sunday, Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Newton hosts LimmudBoston, an all-day, volunteer-driven conference celebrating Jewish culture.
The lineup of more than 90 events, including classes and concerts, will provide something for everyone, beginner to scholar, secular to observant.
Speakers include Rabbi Benjamin Shalva of Temple Reyim in Newton; Terezin and Auschwitz survivor Edgar Krasa of Newton; Brookline family dynamics expert Ruth Nemzoff; Larry Ruttman, author of a book on Jews and baseball and a lifelong Brookline resident; and Rabbi Moshe Waldoks of Brookline, co-editor of "The Big Book of Jewish Humor."
The conference opens at 8:45 a.m. and runs until 7 p.m. at Mishkan Tefila, 300 Hammond Pond Parkway, Chestnut Hill. To register or for more information, go to www.limmudboston.org.
HOLIDAY SAX: The Friends of the Marlborough Public Library will present a holiday program called "Saxophones Under the Tree" on Wednesday at 7 p.m. featuring Sax-O-Four, a quartet of saxophones that plays jazz, light classics, theme music, and holiday classics.
The free concert will take place in the library's Bigelow Auditorium, 35 West Main St. in Marlborough. For more information, call 413-648-9663.
ARTFUL COMEDY: New Repertory Theatre is continuing its performances of "Chesapeake," a comedy by Lee Blessing, Wednesdays through Sundays until Dec. 16 in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St. in Watertown.
Tickets are $36. For a schedule of performances or to purchase tickets, call 617-923-8487 or go to www.newrep.org.
SEASONAL TEA: Gore Place, the historic estate at 52 Gore St. in Waltham, will once again be offering its very popular Santa Teas on Dec. 8 at 1 p.m., Dec. 15 at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and Dec. 16 at 3 p.m.
The event features a special children's menu, activities and a visit from Santa with songs and stories. Admission is $35, or $30 for Gore Place members. Tickets should be purchased at least one week in advance.
To order tickets, call 781-894-2798 or e-mail events@ goreplace.org. For more details, go to www.goreplace.org.Send ideas to nancyswest@ gmail.com. Please list the date of your event in the subject line.


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1. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingMylenium Feb 10, 2010 11:28 PM (in response to kdb10000)
No, can't do. This is all hard-coded. Just buy yourself a different mouse. Macs can even handle any USB mice and you can get good ones for 20 bucks.
2. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingjhhhh1 May 18, 2010 1:51 AM (in response to Mylenium)3 people found this helpful
NO, I like using this mouse. What sort of idiot hard codes such a non-standard behaviour.
3. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoominghaleonearth May 20, 2010 6:15 PM (in response to kdb10000)
This is a goof right? That's the answer? "Get a new mouse" is the frakin' answer!?
4. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingdmccullum Jun 4, 2010 1:36 PM (in response to Mylenium)
Seriously? I just spent $2600 on your buggy, backwards software, and your response to our issue is to recommend that we go and find a different mouse to use?
What if we love using our current mouse?
And Adobe wonders why people hate on them so much...
5. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Jun 6, 2010 6:29 AM (in response to haleonearth)
The problem is with Apple not Adobe on this one. I have several apps that are difficult and frustrating to use with the Magic Mouse. My standard mouse has software specific functions you can assign to buttons and behaviors from the System Preferences. For each app I use I have assigned mouse behaviors for the most common keyboard shortcuts. For example in AE I never have to go to the tool bar or remember the keyboard shortcuts for the pen tool, the roto brush, the selection tool, new layer or the type tool. These functions are assigned to the mouse buttons. The scroll wheel has no effect on the scale of my comp window because I turned off that function in the mouse configuration settings in the system preferences. The same goes for all of my Adobe apps. I seldom have to click on a tool bar or go to a menu to run my normal workflow because I assign one of the 12 mouse buttons to 12 of my most common tasks.
In Apple Mail (which I think is a real pain to use with a Magic Mouse) I can read, delete, save attachments, organize to folders, and organize my mail without ever pointing to a specific message or touching the keyboard because every action that I take except answering or composing a new message has been assigned to a button.
Apple created some nice functionality in the Magic mouse, but without the ability to customize the mouse on an app by app basis you're always going to run into behaviors that slow you down or frustrate. The magic mouse even frustrates me in Final Cut because it's always doing things that I don't expect.Don't blame Adobe for Apples shortcoming.
6. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingdmccullum Jun 6, 2010 8:19 AM (in response to Rick Gerard)
...Except that I love my Magic Mouse and I don't have any problem with it except in the Adobe apps. And I don't need or want a 12 button mouse—I have a 104 button keyboard for that stuff. And finally, Apple has rarely if ever compromised my user experience due to laziness or poor cross-platform coding, while Adobe has...http://adobegripes.tumblr.com/... So, yeah, I still blame Adobe.
7. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingjhhhh1 Jun 7, 2010 5:26 AM (in response to Rick Gerard)
The Magic Mouse works absolutely fine in Apple Mail, don't spout such nonsense unless you actually use one.
The only applications I have had trouble with the Magic Mouse is Adobe apps and Cinema4D, Photoshop CS5 now scrolls like treacle http://adobegripes.tumblr.com/post/637696077/photoshop-magic-mouse-scrolling-cs4-vs-cs5-yo u when CS4 worked beautifully.
While both After Effects and C4D have terrible 100% hard coded scroll wheel zooms. Personally I think the ball is firmly in Adobes court to allow the user to control the ability of the scroll wheel in their application, why should I have to turn scrolling off completely when scrolling panels in After Effects works fine. To suggest Apple should include a preference pane to customise scrolling in every single application on your computer is ridiculous when you can count the apps at fault on 1 hand.
You can keep your 12 button mouse, I don't want RSI and consider less to be better in this case.
8. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Jun 7, 2010 8:54 AM (in response to jhhhh1)
Didn't mean to start a war here. Point was that Apple, unlike Logitech or even Microsoft, does not allow customization of mouse functions on an app by app basis. There are things that I really like about the Magic mouse, but I don't like it for apps like Photoshop, AE, C4D, or even mail, because I want to be able to do the things I do most often without reaching for the keyboard or drilling down a menu.
I don't much care for the scroll wheel zooming in AE so I turned it off on the Mouse Control Settings. Seems like a valid option to me. Customization of mouse functions should be IMHO in the mouse configuration, not on the app preferences.
For most Apple Apps the Magic Mouse is great. I use it all the time on my 13" MacBook Pro. I like the gestures idea, but browsing through, sorting, organizing, flagging more than 200 emails a day is a pain with any mouse that you can't assign functions like flag, delete, next message, or move directly to a button. I'd rather left click than ctrl click or right click and dig through a menu just to flag a message. I'd rather just move my finger slightly to the right and click the mute button on my mouse to delete an email than mouse way up to the delete button or reach for the delete key with my other hand. I'd rather just press the forward button with my thumb to save an attachment. It's just easier and I can get through my daily e-mail in about half the time.
Pick a workflow that you like but don't criticize me for setting up my system so that I don't have to move from the bottom right corner of the number two 30" monitor to the top left corner of the 30" number one monitor just to pick a tool. I set up my tools so that my work is easier, more productive and so that my hands don't ache at the end of the day.
9. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingkdb10000 Jun 7, 2010 8:54 AM (in response to Rick Gerard)
Rick says:
"I don't much care for the scroll wheel zooming in AE so I turned it off on the Mouse Control Settings. Seems like a valid option to me."
My original question was how to turn off Scroll Wheel Zooming in After Efects. Everyone says I can't. But you saying I can? How? Where are these "Mouse Control Settings" in After Effects?
10. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Jun 7, 2010 2:28 PM (in response to kdb10000)
You don't, and IMHO shouldn't adjust mouse properties in the app. You adjust them in the mouse settings in the System Preferences. There are no mouse settings in AE.
Apple does not have app specific settings or the ability to turn off the scroll so you're stuck unless you want to use another mouse.
11. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingkdb10000 Jun 7, 2010 2:58 PM (in response to Rick Gerard)
That is what I thought, but your previous posts left a little uncertainty, so I wanted to make sure.
I am back to begging Adobe to take off this "feature" so that people purchasing new Apple systems with the latest Apple mouse can actually use the program properly.
Even better, since CS5 really doesn't have much new over CS4, continual rounds of "Just Do It" updates of issues like these might make up for this lackluster release.
12. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingdmccullum Jun 7, 2010 3:28 PM (in response to Rick Gerard)
I strongly disagree with you on this point. If the mouse behavior needs to be adjusted to work properly with an app, then the preferences to do so should be in the app itself. It is not Apple's job to make up for lazy coding on the part of Adobe or any other software company. Adobe's response to this issue, and similar responses to other issues, are setting it up for a major fallout the moment a roughly comparable application appears on the field. Case in point: Flash.
13. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingannabe11a Jun 7, 2010 6:02 PM (in response to kdb10000)
Words cannot express the profundity of my desire for a professional grade, MODERNIZED, Mac-centric graphics editing program! I am so tired of all the horrendous PC Windowisms constantly littered onto my system via Adobe. Adobe UIs are HIDEOUS! Would some company out there please hear us and save us from this tired, stunted ickyware!
14. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Jun 7, 2010 7:32 PM (in response to annabe11a)
If you hate it don't buy it, don't use it. There are options at any price point you want.
You might want to try Combustion (last updated in 2008) for about a grand, Fusion at about at about $7K, Flame at somewhere in the low to medium six figures, or Inferno at a mid six figure price, or on the other end of the price point FX Home for about $150. I'm sure there are others. Your results may vary. Your satisfaction may vary. Your frustration level may vary.
If you want to make suggestions or feature requests you'll find a form here. Adobe listens. That's why CS5 now access every GB of ram you can stuff into your machine....
15. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingDavid Wigforss Jun 8, 2010 4:29 PM (in response to Rick Gerard)
I thought Fusion was Windows only... Combustion has been discontinued, I thought.
Nuke is a possibility for OSX if you'd like to spend more than the entire CS suite.
You Mac users crack me up...
EDIT: Haha. Woops, I almost forgot Apple's own compositing and motion graphics programs: They discontinued Shake (where's that followup program? Too busy working on Ipad apps? Thanks for purchasing, eliminating windows version, and killing it altogether), so I guess you're left with Motion. Have fun. Cya. Nice knowing you.
16. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingkdb10000 Jun 8, 2010 4:29 PM (in response to David Wigforss)
OK so I made the feature request as Rick suggested. It's nice to know that Adobe listens. Too bad they're not going to DO anything about it. But knowing that they "listen" helps to lessen my frustration. I love when corporations "handle" me. I don't think I will waste energy on hoping that they will make this a more inclusive features for all Macintosh users.
17. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingbogiesan-gyyClL Jun 9, 2010 8:56 AM (in response to kdb10000)
This zoom behavior bothered me too for a few months.
I got over it; small price to pay for everything else I get out of AE.
18. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingkdb10000 Jun 9, 2010 8:57 AM (in response to bogiesan-gyyClL)
Why should I have to pay ANY price in reduced usability? Why can't they make this NON-STANDARD behavior optional?
19. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingfruition design Aug 23, 2010 11:13 AM (in response to kdb10000)
End of problem.
20. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingjhhhh1 Aug 24, 2010 1:31 AM (in response to fruition design)
This solves absolutely nothing.
Also if I turned off the scroll wheel entirely in AE then I wouldn't be able to scroll the timeline which works fine with the Magic Mouse. The only thing that doesn't work is the ridiculous zoom behaviour.
God even this textbox I'm typing into has had the standard OS right click behaviour destroyed so you can't auto-correct spelling mistakes in your browser.
21. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Aug 24, 2010 5:16 AM (in response to jhhhh1)
The right click to correct spelling in this text box is overridden by the java than makes it possible to do live formatting. You'll see the same thing in any site that uses this engine for live formatting.
The magic zoom behavior is annoying but would be completely fixable if Apple allowed full app by app mouse behavior customization. I have to admit that whenever I freelance on another system that is using any of the apple mice that the zoom behavior in the comp window is very annoying. It's only with my fully programmed mouse that I never see the problem.
22. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingjhhhh1 Oct 11, 2010 2:41 AM (in response to Rick Gerard)
I don't see what there is to fix… They are called SCROLL wheels not zoom wheels, they should scroll as the default action and zoom as an option if you really want that so badly.
Yeah I know why this text box is broken, I just find it hilarious that someone invested time to program a spell checking function into this text box and all the useless formatting options (Text alignment? really? LOL) at the expense of the browsers standard functions (which should include a spell checker anyway these days)
Formatting functions don't even work by the way, just tried to right justify this post. Why bother including them at all
23. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingcaptdigital Mar 5, 2011 1:22 PM (in response to Rick Gerard)
Feh. If Adobe actually DID listen, they would have taken one of the following steps (in order of likelihood):
- added all the features to Illustrator that FreeHand had 10 years ago that are STILL missing.
- continued to update/upgrade FreeHand (not as stupid as it sounds...look at how many different clothes detergents Proctor & Gamble makes that compete with one another).
- release the source code with a Creative Commons license, and allow developers to create an open source alternative to Illustrator (okay - THAT would be suicidal for illustrator, but a guy can dream).
I know a few things about the way Adobe (and all software companies for that matter) work. I worked for competitiors of theirs, and a company they acquired. Lots of friends still work there at Adobe.
Problem is, what we don't see as consumers is what REALLY goes on there - the jockeying for dominance by one product group over another, the limited resources and the constant battle for them between fixing what's broken (not a money-maker but helps the customers) or adding new features (attracts new customers but introduces more bugs). At Micrografx, we used to joke that a X.0 release was our "X.UH-oh" version. At one time tech support guys would ask each other, "did they want help with the "original recipe" or "extra buggy." But what really kills me is I have a lot invested in FreeHand. And it had features and functionality that is simply not in Illustrator, even now. That's insane. To make an analogy in another area, it's like GM buying Chrysler for their variable-speed transmission, and other cool technology, then discontinuing all the unique features and products, and continuing to sell the same old stuff. I realize that vector drawing is a mature category, but we deserve better than Illustrator.
Even worse is the Windows-centric nature of Adobe. Back in the day, Adobe was a Mac company, first and foremost. Their Windows products were...um...kind of a joke. Illustrator 1.0, for instance, cost $100 more than it's Mac counterpart, and could only PRINT in color...it couldn't display anything in color on the screen. (!) Somewhere along the way, someone made a decision to develop on Windows (with a huge advantage in overall market share, this makes financial sense) and port the code to Macs. That's a BIG mistake, because ported code is, by definition, bloated and unresponsive. It's a cost-effective way to do business...right up until your users wise up. Unfortunately, by going for the larger Windows market, Adobe's forgotten that in graphics, Macs are still the choice of a majority of graphics professionals.
How do they diss Macs? Let me count the ways: let's take video, for instance. Take a Mac and a PC. Equip both with the same CPU, RAM, and Hard Drive. See which one plays back video faster. Surprise! It's the PC. Why? Bloated code. Same is true for Flash. And Photoshop.
The only thing that allows Adobe to get away with listening to their bean counters instead of their customers is they have VERY little competition. In fact, where they DO have competition, they are (surprise again) competitive. Final Cut almost destroyed Premier. But Adobe got serious about improving Premiere, and today it's begining to win the hearts and minds of the Apple faithful.
As I see it, there are two solutions here. I'm good with either one.
- Someone (like Apple) steps into to make quailty apps on the Mac that will make it a two horse race. Adobe will improve...or die.
- Apple buys Adobe and folds CS6 into their software line, like Final Cut Pro and Logic Studio.
Don't care which happens. But I'm really very unhappy with the state of things as they are. So...Adobe...ARE you listening?
24. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingMarc Rühl Mar 12, 2011 7:55 AM (in response to kdb10000)
I would call this hard-coding-stuff a bug. I have a Logitech Mouse and use ControlerMate to control its buttons.
There I disabled the mouse-wheel completely for After Effects and added some custom-shortcuts. Unfortunately After Effects just ignores my settings and interprets the mouse-wheel like the standard-configuration. And ControlerMate isn't a software which adds something after the action happened, it replaces the manufactures drivers.
25. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingalan.helton2000 Jun 17, 2011 9:37 AM (in response to kdb10000)
I'm just gonna go ahead and chime in here...
The work that most of us do with After Effects is so time consuming we don't have time to buy a new mouse, or change software, let alone boycott the company.
And let's face it. After Effects is awesome, despite many of its short-comings. However, Apple computers now come with Magic Mice. Also, they are amazingly useful devices. After Effects is the only program that becomes jittery to the point of unusability using this mouse and adds hours to a project just waiting for a frame to redraw after accidentally zooming in or way out to postage stamp size. There's more too. Those who have many open compositions: did you know you can scroll in the tab area to change which comp you're viewing? You didn't? A useless feature you say?
It's unacceptable that there is no option to turn off these bugs. You, developers, are wrong. I understand it's a lot easier to direct someone to alternative software suites instead of adding a checkbox. Maybe you can add it to your "Secret Menu" where everything else that makes the program actually usable is also stored.
Now that my three minute break is up, back to work!
26. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingalan.helton2000 Jun 17, 2011 9:39 AM (in response to kdb10000)
Disable one finger scrolling.
27. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingtomprager Jul 1, 2011 11:06 PM (in response to kdb10000)
In the graphics programs I use -- AI, PS, IND -- the zoom problem doesn't occur when you simply swipe. Swipe-to-scroll is handy, and I wouldn't want to disable it system-wide or in any single application. The zoom problem occurs when you option-swipe. This is a problem because my left hand is constantly, almost involuntarily, working the shift-option-command keys, and at random times I happen to be pressing option while moving my fingers ever so subtly on the mouse, causing my screen to zoom out to birds-eye view; very irritating! MagicPrefs should have simply added a "disable option-swiping" checkbox to their otherwise brilliant bit of freeware.
28. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingparker572 Dec 14, 2011 11:22 AM (in response to kdb10000)1 person found this helpful
This won't stop the scrolling, but the keyboard shortcut "Shift+/" will make the preview window zoom to fit. It's an easy command as those two buttons are right next to each other on the keyboard. It doesn't fix the problem, but it seems like the best way to quickly and easily return the preview window to normal. Also, just pressing "/" will zoom to 100%. I'm using CS4, but I assume it's the same on other releases.
29. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingBenLFrey Oct 9, 2012 12:48 PM (in response to kdb10000)
The "correct" way to handle this would be either to treat zoom and scroll as two separate things (like indesign, photoshop, and illustrator do, by the way) and require a keyboard/mouse combo for the scroll wheel to become a zoom wheel, or to put a little "lock view" icon somewhere in the composition preview window.
I just got a new Mac, and it came with a magic mouse, which I have never used before. I've always avoided Apple's mice because I didn't like them, but I DO like this one. I hadn't used AE for the first 2-3 weeks of using this machine, and just started a new motion graphics project this morning.
Now the Magic Mouse that I have been using on AI, PS, ID, FL, AU and DW without any issues whatsoever is completely useless in AE thanks to this "feature."
Why not have a little toggle lock button built into the panel's bottom menu stuff. Even a menu checkbox to turn off scroll wheel zooming would be fine.
Or at least let us set some reasonable zoom bounds (25-200% would be workable) so that you don't find yourself staring at a single pixel "preview" without warning...
"Buy a new mouse" is an absurd response. Fixing this issue would be trivial. It is a bad UI practice to use a scroll wheel as a zoom wheel without a helper key. What other apps do this, other than FPS games with sniper rifles? Maybe Adobe is being tapped to develop the next Call of Duty and they wanted to get some practice?
30. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zooming4s6uaw345u Oct 22, 2012 10:31 PM (in response to BenLFrey)
yes, this is incredibly frustrating.
just bought the new After Effects, etc - and my magic mouse keeps zooming in on scroll even after I disable all of it's possible checkboxes in the system preferences. it's soooo frustrating. and having to buy a new mouse without that functionality seems rather annoying. I vote for AE preferences to simply disable that feature when I don't want it.
31. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zooming97024 Jan 30, 2013 3:55 PM (in response to kdb10000)
I actually created an account, logged in, and decided to respond as the information (as recently as 2012) that is being provided is incorrect on so many levels. It's quite easy to disable the scroll wheel, even on a magic mouse. For Mac OS X users take the following actions:
Open Settings > Click on "Universal Access" > Select the "Mouse & Trackpad" tab > Click the "Mouse Options..." button > Deselect "Scrolling".
The scroll wheel on your mouse, regardless of type, will be disabled until you so choose to re enable it.
32. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingBenLFrey Jan 31, 2013 6:48 AM (in response to 97024)
You probably should have actually read the thread content instead of creating an account. Nobody has any trouble at all understanding how to disable the scroll wheel on a system-wide basis. Nobody.
That isn't the problem, and never was. The problem is that AE handles the scroll wheel function incorrectly, and in a way that is particularly incompatible with the magic mouse, and there is no way to turn off that "feature" of AE.
People want to use the scrolling function of their magic mouse on just about every application EXCEPT AE. I, for one, constantly use the scrolling functions. If I use a mouse that doesn't have a scroll function, I feel like I am missing a limb.
The solution for me to this problem is that I have a second, wired mouse stuck off to the side of my machine, and whenever I need to use AE, I grab that mouse, then go back to using the one I want to use for every other application in the world.
That's how bad it is.
Telling people to turn off scrolling system-wide is not helpful. Being a condescending jerk while doing so just makes you look incompetent.
33. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingPECourtejoie Feb 1, 2013 12:01 AM (in response to BenLFrey)
Ben, Kdb, and others that don't linke that behavior should make a feature request to get a preference that disables scroll wheel zooming in the comp windows : https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform
34. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel Zoomingjhhhh1 Feb 1, 2013 2:24 AM (in response to PECourtejoie)
PECourtejoie, If that was the first response instead of Mylenium's utterly unhelpful and insulting "buy a new mouse for $20" then you could have saved us a lot of trouble. In fact what does this "MVP+++" badge even mean? Mostly Valueless Post? seen as you're the first badged person in this thread to offer something that isn't just an insult or nonsensical rambling.
I have already made this feature request on several occasions, replied to this thread almost 3 years ago and yes this still bothers me on a daily basis.
The joys of a lazy company running the monopoly on creative software.
35. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingSzalam Feb 1, 2013 7:34 AM (in response to jhhhh1)
wolfpuncher wrote:
In fact what does this "MVP+++" badge even mean? Mostly Valueless Post?
The badge is given by the forum system based on the number of posts a user has made that have been marked helpful or correct by other forum users. Note that Mylenium has over 27,000 posts on the Adobe forums, many of which (especially dealing with very technical things with After Effects) are extremely useful. I know of nobody better at troubleshooting program issues. And, in this case, his post is a workaround we have to use until Adobe gives the option to disable scroll wheel zooming. It is not unhelpful or insulting; it is the only solution (besides sending in a feature request, which everyone with this issue should do). The AE team is very small and therefore has to prioritize fixes based on number of users effected and the severity of the fix.
wolfpuncher wrote:
The joys of a lazy company running the monopoly on creative software.
Should Adobe put more resources to the After Effects team so that they can deal with issues like this? I think so. It's atrocious that the Photoshop team is so large compared to the After Effects team, considering that After Effects does most of the same stuff as Photoshop with the added complexity of video standards, codecs, animation, etc. I'm amazed that AE works as well as it does considering the small team that's working on it.
While you may consider Adobe lazy, please don't think of the AE team as such. Whenever I've dealt with them, I've found them to be very passionate about their work and dedicated to making a quality product as best they can.
36. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingBenLFrey Feb 1, 2013 7:37 AM (in response to PECourtejoie)
Nobody "likes that behavior." It's the functional equivalent of having the steering wheel of your car control the windshield wipers when you don't have your foot on the gas pedal. There is never a time when it is more desirable than the alternative.
I've already submitted a feature request. I've submitteded probably dozens of them for various Adobe products through the years. Well, many of my requests were filed as "bug fixes" and not "feature requests" because let's be honest...most of these are UI bugs, not "features."
I have had literally one of my bugs get fixed (in InDesign) over the years. I started submitting bugs back in CS3 days. One of my favorite (show-stopping, force-quit-inducing) bugs in InDesign still remains, is completely reproducible on any Mac with InDesign from CS2 through CS6. You can force the entire system to hang just by trying to change the color of text in a table with the swatches panel open. Since CS2. If it is a big enough table, InDesign WILL lock up and then implode. If the Bug/Feature reporting tool worked then that bug wouldn't exist anymore. Based on prior evidence, there is almost zero chance that Adobe will fix this scroll to zoom problem. They can't even be bothered to fix actual show-stopping bugs nearly a decade and 5 major releases after they were first reported.
37. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingMike Bethany Mar 20, 2013 6:54 AM (in response to Rick Gerard)
I would beg to differ. Who hard-coded their app to use a non-standard mouse wheel scroll (in violation of their own standards)? The Apple touch mouse does suck though; with all their design brilliance Apple has yet to make a good mouse or keyboard.
38. Re: Turn Off Scroll Wheel ZoomingRick Gerard Mar 20, 2013 9:40 AM (in response to kdb10000)
You can't turn it off, but with a little practice you can avoid the problems. I've used a Magic Mouse with AE since they came out. At first I had a little trouble with the same problem you are having, but after about a week the problem magically went away because I practiced. I can't remember when the last time was that I accidentally changed the view in an AE comp window by accidentally scrolling with my Magic Mouse. I do use it to change the view when I want to though.
I also have to beg to differ on the keyboard. I love my Apple keyboards and I can work on them much longer without hand pain than I can on the Logitech or Microsoft keyboards on my PC. The Mac keyboards have had two or three times the use, at least twice the abuse, and they are (one after 6 years) still working perfectly. Mice, keyboards, and cars are a matter of personal taste. Also, every time I have broken, damaged or otherwise screwed up my Magic Mouse, Apple has replaced it for free by just making a Genius Bar appointment.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
If you're one of the thousands who helped "Frank's Marriage Proposal in Central Park" go viral, we're regret to inform you that your romantic dream is dead. It was all a hoax.
"Frank," as it turns out, is actually one Doug Darwin, and the proposal — allegedly filmed by a bunch of hidden cameras and streamed live — was in fact designed as a promo for new company Thinkmodo, dedicated to "mining the marketing potential of viral videos."
To tell the truth, we were slightly relieved to learn this was fake, given that the rendition of "Stand by Me" is really awful and would have been a desecration to anyone whose favorite song it actually was. Although not as relieved as we were that this one was fake. At some point, the circle of viral proposal videos has to die — it might as well be by its own hand.
Surprise! Central Park Wedding Proposal Viral Video Was A Hoax [Mashable]


text:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Practice Quizzes
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Selected Pieces of U.S. Environmental Legislation
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Governmental Agency List
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Bureau of the Census
Council on Environmental Quality
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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), established in 1972, works to encourage sustainable development through sound environmental practices everywhere. Its activities cover a wide range of issues, from atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, the promotion of environmental science and information, to an early warning and emergency response capacity to deal with environmental disasters and emergencies. [From UNEP Mission Statement page]
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Center for Health, Environment and Justice
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Clean Water Action
Common Cause
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Conservation International
Consumer Federation of America
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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
The Palestinian Authority and its supporters around the world regularly single out Jewish "settlements" on the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria as, if not the sole, then certainly the primary obstacle to peace.
But US Secretary of State John Kerry said before his departure from the region earlier this week that, in fact, Jewish settlements are not the primary obstacle to peace.
During a noisy press conference at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, Kerry was asked if Israel's failure to fully impose a Jewish building freeze in compliance with Palestinian demands was the reason he had yet to succeed in getting the two sides back to the negotiating table.
"The answer is no," Kerry stated emphatically, adding that "there are any number of obstacles, but we are working through them."
In fact, the original "Oslo" accords never prohibited Jews from building homes in Judea and Samaria, though the Palestinians often claim otherwise. In later agreements, Israel committed to not building new Jewish communities, but always insisted on allowing natural growth of exiting towns.
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Eli F Swisher
1882 - 1912
Son of Eli G & Mary Swisher
Vesta E Swisher
1886 - 1958
Contributed on 6/14/09 by WAAnderson
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Thank you for visiting the Ohio Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Ohio, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
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text:
Visiting Experts to Address Domestic Violence at Upcoming Event
Date: 10-01-2012
Joe Wills
Public Affairs
Melissa McGowan
Regional & Continuing Education
The Center for Regional and Continuing Education and the California State University, Chico Research Foundation will present the 2012 Domestic Violence Update on Nov. 9 on the CSU, Chico campus.
The update meets the California Rule of Court requirement that Family Court Services staff, court-appointed evaluators and mediators receive annual domestic violence training. It is offered by In Service to Families, Children and The Courts, a professional development series created through a partnership among Butte County Family Court Services, Regional and Continuing Education, the CSU, Chico Research Foundation and local professionals.
Presenter Emberly Cross, JD MSW, the coordinating attorney at the Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic in San Francisco since 1996, is returning to CSU, Chico to provide the mandated training portion of the program. She will identify changes in civil and criminal laws affecting domestic violence survivors, perpetrators and their children; explore the continuing changes in Family Courts as a result of the Judicial Council's Elkins Task Force; and help attendees understand the requirements surrounding and options available for children wishing to participate in child custody cases in Family Court.
Gabriella Grant, the director of the California Center of Excellence for Trauma Informed Care, located in Santa Cruz, Calif., will be on hand to present key concepts related to trauma-informed service provision with a specific emphasis on domestic violence survivors. The focus will be on general knowledge of trauma-informed concepts, research and resources; how to apply trauma-informed approaches to discussing challenging issues related to service provision; and specific interventions to use when working with clients and caregivers.
The Domestic Violence Update is intended for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, mediators and custody evaluators, nurses, physicians, educators, law enforcement, and attorneys interested in the current laws and research in the field. Attendees can earn six hours of BBSE, BRN, MCEP, and MCLE continuing education credits.
The Domestic Violence Update will be held Friday, Nov. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Colusa Hall Conference and Event Center on the CSU, Chico campus. Additional information and online registration can be found at http://rce.csuchico.edu/inservice, or by calling Regional and Continuing Education at 530-898-6105.


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September 2013
Terrorists killed over 60 people, wounded over 170 and held hostages in a mall in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Nairobi is the largest city in the country as well as its center for trade and industry. Although the city is only 90 miles (145 km) from the equator, it has a moderate climate, because of its high elevation.
The city was founded in 1899 as a camp on the Mombasa-Uganda railroad line. In 1905 it replaced Mombasa as the capital; the country was then Kenya Colony (a British protectorate). The city boasts several universities and large cultural collections and the Sorsbie art gallery.
Kenya gained its independence in 1963. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, it was run largely by one political party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU). The 1990s saw elections marred by violence and fraud. In August 2010, Kenyans overwhelmingly adopted a new constitution in a national referendum. The new constitution introduced additional checks and balances to executive power and significant devolution of power and resources to 47 newly created counties. It also eliminated the position of prime minister following the first presidential election under the new constitution, which occurred on 4 March 2013.
Kenya is slightly more than twice the size of Nevada. Its terrain consists of low plains that rise to central highlands bisected by the Great Rift Valley; it has a fertile plateau in the west. The climate of Kenya varies from tropical along the coast of the Indian Ocean to arid in its interior.
CIA World Factbook, The Columbia Gazetteer, 9/2013, 9/2013
This map has also been used:
- Kenya, January 2008


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I am wondering what everyone's opinion of chapter 7 is. I think that it is the key to the book, but it is not easy to understand. In this chapter Sam points out several things that might provide an alternative to faith, several areas for further investigation. However I don't feel that many people will be interested because what he is advocating is something that will dethrone the thinking mind. If there is one thing that we humans are attached to it is our thoughts. Anything that threatens the thinking mind threatens the illusory permanent self. The illusory self will react to this the same way that it reacts when it's faith is questioned, by going unconscious or retreating into denial. I'm guessing that most of you probably just scratched your heads at chapter 7 and thought it a bit weird, am I wrong?
I read Chapter 7 from the perspective of someone who's been studying the history of the battle between a belief in "religion" vs. a belief in "science" over move than 100 years. I think that this history, and misunderstanding what's really been going on, is largely responsible for the sorry mess we find ourselves in both politically and socially, and that we have to understand this mess before we can get ourselves out of it.
Of course I can't really go into over 100 yrs. of history in a comment. I think that what essentially happened is that a continuing debate was set up, and that the rules of debate meant focusing on winning rather than on establishing what's true and false. If this had been a dialog rather than a debate the political and social results would probably have been more benign. Now someone like Sam Harris comes along, looks at the mess, and tries to find some way past it. He's not the only person in this position. Even the secular humanists, in their official association, are beginning to explore whether some recognition of our spiritual side isn't necessary. Until extremely recently the argument has been that we must live by "reason" alone, science is the perfect expression of "reason," and that's the way things are. The result was that huge chunks of human nature were dismissed as mere hokum. Considering that they've insisted there isn't any such thing as "spirit," this is amazing.
Sam's answer may not be perfect, but at least he sees the dilemma, the hardened positions we've gotten ourselves into whether they're ultimately rational or not, and suggests some possible ways out of it.
And just what are those hardened positions? At the extreme, the result is "religious" fanatics functioning as the moral police, and "science" fanatics functioning as the thought police. Think about it.
[quote author="JustThis"]I am wondering what everyone's opinion of chapter 7 is. I think that it is the key to the book, but it is not easy to understand. In this chapter Sam points out several things that might provide an alternative to faith, several areas for further investigation. However I don't feel that many people will be interested because what he is advocating is something that will dethrone the thinking mind. If there is one thing that we humans are attached to it is our thoughts. Anything that threatens the thinking mind threatens the illusory permanent self. The illusory self will react to this the same way that it reacts when it's faith is questioned, by going unconscious or retreating into denial. I'm guessing that most of you probably just scratched your heads at chapter 7 and thought it a bit weird, am I wrong?
I shared my opinion of Chapter 7 when I started the thread "Harris on Mysticism," but I'll opine again here. Chapter 7 is not only embarrassing; it's out of step with the other six chapters, all of which emphasize rational, discursive thinking. You've nailed it when you describe Chapter 7 as "advocating…something that will dethrone the thinking mind." Why on earth would one ever advocate that? Isn't it precisely Harris's opponents (and ours) who would dethrone the thinking mind and put their (mystically or miraculously) revealed religious teachings on the throne instead? Mysticism, says Harris, has its own set of teachings, foremost of which is the one you highlight: the self is an illusion—you and I don't exist, let alone as separate beings. If my self is literally an illusion, how can it (or I) react to being challenged? If you don't exist, to whom am I responding?
Those who say we can't get by if we give pride of place to reason and rationality have a mistakenly narrow view of reason, i.e., as denying the importance of emotion, love, moral and aesthetic value, and so on. No reasonable argument I've ever seen shows that those things are unimportant. Famous so-called "excesses" of reason (e.g., episodes in the French Revolution, "scientific materialism") aren't excesses of reason; they're deficiencies of reason, and they can be shown to be such only by further and better use of reason.
Chapter 7 strikes me as a failure of nerve: Harris extols reason when using it to expose the folly of traditional religious faith, but he pulls back when it comes to his own cherished notions. His subtitle contains the phrase "the future of reason." I hope that future doesn't amount to a dethroning of the thinking mind. In a world in which we have to live among others, the only alternative to reason is force.
Notice how uneasily the things Harris says in Chapter 7 sit with things he says elsewhere in the book. On p. 204, he praises the Sermon on the Mount as the height of enlightened wisdom. But the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount are exceedingly pacifistic: "Resist ye not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also…. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you," etc. Square those teachings with Harris's entirely correct condemnation of pacifism in Chapter 6. On p. 206, he endorses "spiritual teachings" that would help us "realize that we stand perpetually free of the vicissitudes of experience." That's quietism! Square it with the rest of the book, which compellingly describes the horrific and very real experiences caused by unreasoned religious zeal. If the unfortunate people who jumped from the WTC rather than be burned to death by the conflagration had only realized that they were perpetually free of the vicissitudes of experience! How can you blame Osama, then, if the miserable experiences he caused are just so many illusions that we would all do well to get over (and that we're "free of" anyway)? On pp. 192 (Chapter 6, alas) and 219 (Chapter 7), Harris praises love and compassion and decries the emotion of hatred. Yet he certainly writes as if he hates those who purposely inflict misery in the name of faith, and who can blame him? If it takes some hatred to motivate people to oppose what reason tells us must be opposed, then hatred has value as a means to that end.
Maybe Harris really believes the pacifistic/quietist stuff and just writes as if he condemns pacifism and hates Osama. If so, he's misleading us. Forum participants who've defended Harris against my criticisms of Chapter 7 almost never actually quote from the book, as I have done. If we're discussing the book, I hope folks will offer textual evidence.
I'm not sure how you jump from "self (ego) is an illusion" to advocating the dismissal of the thinking mind. You say,
"If my self is literally an illusion, how can it (or I) react to being challenged? If you don't exist, to whom am I responding?"
Just think about that for a second, what does "my self" actually mean? It is as if you already know that you are an existent, living, thinking being and then you posit a "self" that is somehow separated from you. Why I think that extra self (or ego) is an illusion is because it refers to the relational aspects of your being or the soul/mind/spirit that you imagine yourself to be. This other self is constructed outof the roles we play in society and the fictions that we are constantly trying to live up to or project. If you were to ask someone "who are you?" they might answer, "I'm an accountant, the father of two children, , a husband and a writer." Those nouns all refer to the illusary self that one imagines one's self to be, they describe your relationship with others and the particular actions that you do in order to live up to those sorts of descriptions. But the real you, the you who you really are, is not captured by those descriptions - the mystic search for the authentic you begins by realizing the nature of "the illusary self."
As far as the pacifism that Sam approves (sort of) in the NewTestament (Christ) and then disapproves of in the notes on Gandhi - I can only say that the context of the need for pacifism must be condisidered. If we should adopt pacifism in the face of fundamentalists who are willing to blow themselves up for their cause, we will get blown up with them. But the idea of pacifism itself is not degraded, it all depends on the context in which you intend to practise pacifist actions. Also, there are varieties of pacifism, from absolute to relative non-violence to a kind of passive acceptance that promotes no action at all.
How do we know that thoughts and the thinking mind exist, it cannot be studied directly by science. How do we know that the self exists? How do we know that consciousness exists, science does not officially recognize consciousness.
On pg. 219 Sam says "Your consciousness, while still inscrutable in scientific terms, is an utter simplicity as a matter of experience."
We know that consciousness exists because we all experience it. How do we know that thoughts exist, because we are aware of them. How do we know that the self exists, because we are aware of it. But are we? What is your experience of self right now?
The single biggest article of blind belief or faith that humans possess is the belief in the existence of a permanent individual self.
Most of us take consciousness for granted and don't bother to explore it.
On pg. 221 Sam Says" The mystic has realized something about the nature of consciousness prior to thought, and this recognition is susceptible to rational thought. The mystic has reasons for what he believes and these reasons are empirical. The roiling mystery of the world can be analyzed with concepts (this is science) or it can be experienced free of concepts this is mysticism). Religion is nothing more than bad concepts held in place of good ones for all time."
"There are many ways to explain meditation, what it is, what it does, how it works. Meditation, it is said, is a way to evoke the relaxation response. Meditation, others say, is a way to train and strengthen awareness; a method for centering and focusing the self; a way to halt constant verbal thinking and relax the body-mind; a technique for calming the central nervous system; a way to relieve stress, bolster self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and alleviate depression. All of those are true enough; meditation has been clinically demonstrated to do all of those things. But I would like to emphasize that meditation itself is, and always has been, a spiritual practice. Meditation, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, or Islamic, was invented as a way for the soul to venture inward, there are ultimately to find a supreme identity with Godhead. "The Kingdom of Heaven is within"-and meditation, from the very beginning, has been the royal road to that Kingdom. Whatever else it does, and it does many beneficial things, meditation is first and foremost a search for the God within. I would say meditation is spiritual, but not religious. Spiritual has to do with actual experience, not mere beliefs; with God as the Ground of Being, not a cosmic Daddy figure; with awakening to one's true Self, not praying for one's little self; with the disciplining of awareness, not preachy and churchy moralisms about drinking and smoking and sexing; with Spirit found in everyone's Heart, not anything done in this or that church…
Meditation is spiritual; prayer is religious. That is, petitionary prayer, in which I ask God to give me a new car, help with my promotion, etc., is religious; it simply wishes to bolster the little ego in its wants and desires. Meditation, on the other hand, seeks to go beyond the ego altogether; it asks nothing from God, real or imagined, but rather offers itself up as a sacrifice toward a greater awareness. Meditation, then, is not so much a part of this or that particular religion, but rather part of the universal spiritual culture of all humankind-an effort to bring awareness to bear on all aspects of life."
Ken Wilber "Grace and Grit"
[quote author="JustThis"]Psuedomystic,
How do we know that thoughts and the thinking mind exist, it cannot be studied directly by science.
I'm curious as to the basis of this claim. You didn't elaborate directly.
As a matter of fact some very serious neuroscientists are pursuing this avenue of research. They seem to think it can be studied by science. Similarly there are efforts underway to study the neurological correlates of meditation and meditative experience. See the works of Fransico Varela, Richard Davidson, Paul Ekman, Daniel Goleman, Antonio Damasio and especially read "Destructive Emotions: How can we overcome them?", A scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama, narrated by Daniel Goleman (many of the above named researchers were participants in this dialogue).
Strictly speaking science has a hard to studying things which can't be defined and measured. How are you going to define and mesure happiness or confusion? Science can study brain waves and try to correlate them to mental states but then it is forced to use first person accounts of what is going on in the mind.
Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the book with me right now so I can only be sketchy with this, but I would urge you to read this one yourself. The book is called "Destructive Emotions: How can we overcome them?", A scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama, narrated by Daniel Goleman. I had referenced it previously. In that book is described the methodology that was being developed by Fransisco Varela, who you may recognize from autopoiesis fame, in which 1st person (subjective) accounts are used directly and correlated with 3rd person (objective) measurements. I believe Davidson and others are continuing that development since the sad loss of Varela. The methodology is kind of new to neuroscience, but, of course, has been used in medicine (where does it hurt) and psychology for quite some time. What really matters is not the correlation of any one individual's account with their recorded brain states, but rather the pattern of many individuals' accounts correlated with the pattern of their collective brain states.
Two of my most prized books are Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" and Damasio's "Descartes' Errors" - Now you've made me want to read them all over again!
[quote author="CanZen"]Two of my most prized books are Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" and Damasio's "Descartes' Errors" - Now you've made me want to read them all over again!
Great. But do get Goleman's "Destructive Emotions". I think there is a tremendous value in trying to find common ground between introspection (of the kind in Buddhist meditations) and objective observation.
I also highly recommend all of Damasio's book. I'm working on "Looking for Spinoza", getting entries for my annotated bibliography.
Those are interesting books but if you want to find the truth develop a strong meditation practice and look for yourself. Daniel Goleman is a long time meditator.
In fact I do practice meditation [30 years+]. I'm a little cautious about the "T" word (truth), but I definitely feel that my brain has benefited from the experiences.
I have just read through the two threads (the one started by pseudomystic, and this one, up to the present).
Mr. Harris is very explicit, about the difference between "irrational thinking", as used above in this thread, and mysticism (or mystical experience).
The key is reliance on DOGMA, on some unquestioned, sacrosanct set of beliefs which admit of no challenge by evidence—which characterizes religions as critiqued in the book, and something that can be actually accessed by individuals, inquired about, and *discussed* among them (and the response above to what Mr. Harris mean by 'not suceptable to linguistic analysis' is spot on, in my view)
Harris is endorsing no dogmas, regarding mystical experience, any more than he is espousing any dogma about, say, qualitative experiential differences that might arise from different means of achieving orgasm.
Mystical experience is "empirical", just as musical experience is.
His different treatment of mystcism vs religion in general, rests on this distinction (dogma, aka "anti-rational", vs dogma-free and intersubjectively available for further inquiry), which he makes repeatedly and very emphatically, in his book.
I found, therefore, that there was no impugning whatsoever of his critique of the nature and dangers of irrational thinking, and of the rabid subscription to millennia-old nonesense mythologies, by his inclusion of the material on mysticism.
Indeed, it filled what, in its ABSENCE, would have been a weakness in the book, in as much as human beings DO demonstrably have a thirst for some kind of life-altering or disposition-altering ... consciousness altering, would be the traditional phrase… experience.
Religion hitchhikes, to some degree, on this universal human thirst for something other than workaday, nose-down, task-oriented experience.
By discussing something that might give humanity a means of addressing that thirst, without needing to become irrational and dogmatic, Harris' inclusion of the remarks on mystical experience complete a logical piece of the architecture of the book's mission (as I interpret it.)
Tom K.


text:
By Sheethal Shobowale, KF9, Peru
I had the pleasure of attending Asociación Arariwa's 25th anniversary celebrations. In true Peruvian form, the celebrating lasted two weeks with lots of fanfare – a parade, music, dancing, eating and of course, Cusqueña (Peruvian beer) and sweet Peruvian wine.
Just for some background on the organization, there are three divisions of Asociación Arariwa -
- ARARIWA PROMOCIÓN – Whose mission is to support rural development, strengthen production systems, fortify institutions and improve quality of life.
- CENFOPAR (Centro de Formación y Producción Arariwa) – Whose mission is to develop a better alternative technical education for young people, creating new community leaders as well as promote adult education and their economic activities.
- UNIDAD DE MICROFINANZAS – Whose mission is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of low-income women and their families by offering financial and educational services.
UNIDAD DE MICROFINANZAS is the division I know and love. This division is Kiva's socio and partner. And this is where I have spent most of my time in Cusco.
The first event was a Sunday parade in the Plaza de Armas (main square in Cusco). I wore the Arariwa uniform and marched with the rest of the staff and directors. After the parade, there was a lunch for the whole staff at a traditional Peruvian restaurant.
Here's a rather hard to watch video of the parade. I was marching and filming (and holding the Arariwa banner!) at the same time, hence the shaking.'
The next weekend, there was a sporting event in the morning and a party at the Arariwa offices that lasted into the wee hours of the morning with a ton of dancing (just as Bryan Goldfinger, my Kiva Fellow colleague mentioned in a past post). Members of the Board of Directors and staff made several powerful speeches about the growth and importance of the organization to the lives of so many Cusqueños. Currently, Arariwa has more than 14,000 microfinance clients in the Cusco area and has made an impact on so many more people, when you consider the families of Arariwa's clients.
There was entertainment, a live band and of course a lot of dancing. We ate the popular Cusqueño dish called chiriuchu that is normally eaten in June during the Festival of Corpus Christi. I met staff from the Arariwa offices outside of Cusco – Urubamba, Siquani and Quillabamba and danced a traditional Andean Peruvian dance called Huayno with many of them (or at least I tried .
Unfortunately, my Flip camera got lost during the festivities so I can't post the videos I took of the speeches and the dancing (I asked someone to take of me dancing). Here are some photos I took of the parade (I'm wearing the Arariwa uniform for the parade) and some photos that other staff members took of the party -
I was honored to be part of the celebration and am happy to be working with such a meaningful organization.
Please help me continue to make Asociación Arariwa successful for the next 25 years – Please LEND to Asociación Arariwa entrepreneurs on Kiva!
Sheethal Shobowale is serving as a Kiva Fellow (KF9) at Asociación Arariwa, in Cusco, Peru./>


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Energy Pipeline: Colorado oil regulators contemplate tougher rules to avoid flooding problems in field
DENVER — Colorado oil and gas regulators will spend the next few months contemplating potential changes to rules governing oil and gas sites after widespread flooding last fall damaged infrastructure enough to spill 43,000 gallons of oil.
While the flooding caused 220 million gallons of sewage to flow downstream amid hundreds of billions of gallons of rain that fell in less than a week, eyes turned to the oil and gas industry for changes, officials said Feb. 6 at a special meeting led by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The intent of the meeting was to look at lessons learned after the September flooding that devastated communities across the Front Range.
"There was a real disparate emphasis placed on what was happening in oil and gas, when infrastructure was such a huge challenge, when tens of thousand homes were damaged. It was just extraordinary scale all going on at the same time," said Tisha Schuller, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
Schuller was one of eight presenters at the special meeting, which was an overall evaluation of the oil and gas industry's efforts to prevent environmental damages, and lessons the industry could learn from the event.
She likened the flood to the water contained in a one-gallon jug, with 43,000 gallons being just a fraction of one drop.
"Since the flood, we've committed to looking for lessons learned, and ongoing improvements. … In fact, at the end of the quarter, we'll have a report we'll present and discuss our recommendations on how operators can continue to learn and what can be improved upon."
In its own look at the flooding impacts, the COGCC has come up with several recommendations to guide oil and gas companies in repairing their damaged tank batteries and infrastructure in the field, and the placement of new infrastructure in the future. In an area of 20,000 well sites, there were 43 spills.
"We believe there were two types of lessons learned," said Mike Leonard, south region field inspection supervisor for COGCC. "(First), best management practices that may be implemented to prevent or mitigate future events.
"Second, is our internal policies and training needs."
While the wellheads generally survived without much damage, the area's tank batteries didn't fare so well, Leonard said.
"It appeared to us that facilities that were more robustly constructed and planned to be out of the flow patterns were less damaged," Leonard said.
Recommendations included using metal barriers rather than earthen berms surrounding storage tanks, better anchoring of equipment, placing substantial barriers to such facilities upstream, or building facilities to align with stream flows, and locating facilities as far away from flood prone areas as possible, to name a few.
Laura Belanger, a water resources and environmental engineer with Western Resources Advocates, called on the commission to make many of the suggestions requirements to ensure all oil and gas companies followed the same procedures.
But such calls weren't met with much enthusiasm.
Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer said it seemed that the rules already in place to ensure safety in the oil field worked in this case.
"I'm a little curious and concerned if you're going to do extensive rule-making," Kirkmeyer said after the presentations. "Yes there were some tanks (that were damaged), probably older ones. Maybe some of the (companies) need to go back and reinforce older tanks."
She added, "But let's not miss the point here. The rules worked. When the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment comes out three days later and says what's in water is E-coli and not oil, I think you've all done a good job."
Catherine Shull, executive director of Progressive 15 in Fort Morgan, a political action group for northeast Colorado, echoed Kirkmeyer's sentiments.
"I'm not sure I see a wholesale need for change in regulations," Shull said. "Some things you can move around and maybe make stronger. In a 500-year flood, and I've seen at least one other — I went through the '65 flood — we did remarkably well on this one."
Regulators will continue to discuss the best practices and bring it back for a regular commission meeting for more public discussion.
Commission Chairman Tom Compton said a formal rule-making is not set in stone.
Kirkmeyer said one way the COGCC can improve on the situation in a future flood would be to combine and share its geographic information system mapping with counties.
In fact, she said, commissioners are concerned about potential flooding with spring run-off, which would be a good time to implement such cooperation with the state.


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The CAPSTONE-14 exercise will test state, regional and national response and recovery capabilities for a major earthquake in the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones.
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois and several other states will join federal agencies, volunteer organizations and the private sector in a large-scale earthquake exercise June 16-20.
The exercise will test state, regional and national response and recovery capabilities for a major earthquake in the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones.
"A catastrophic earthquake would cause massive destruction throughout the region, affecting millions of people," said Jonathon Monken, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA). "Roads, bridges, utilities, communications networks and other critical infrastructure would be seriously damaged, if not completely destroyed. This would present incredibly difficult challenges for emergency responders throughout the region."
Monken said the CAPSTONE-14 exercise is one of the largest homeland security or emergency management exercises ever conducted. It will enable participants to examine state, federal and private sector plans and procedures for responding to and recovering from a catastrophic event.
States participating in the CAPSTONE-14 exercise include Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The states are members of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), which led the three-year planning process for the CAPSTONE-14 exercise. Several CUSEC associate states also will participate in the exercise. Monken serves as chairman of the CUSEC board.
Federal participants include the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Northern Command, Federal Aviation Administration, Illinois National Guard and U.S. Geological Survey.
Illinois' exercise activities will be supported by participation from many state agencies and statewide response organizations participating in the State Incident Response Center (SIRC) in Springfield; private sector and volunteer organizations participating through virtual and physical Business Emergency Operations Centers; and a Joint Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (JRSOI) for processing response teams before and after deployment.
During the first four days of the exercise, Illinois will focus on alert and notification; situational awareness; communications; mutual aid and interstate assistance requests; response coordination; evacuation; mass care; medical surge; and volunteers and donations management.
On the final day, IEMA will host a facilitated discussion to explore policies, procedures and resources needed to address long-term recovery issues, such as housing, restoration of schools, government services and industry, economic recovery and more.
In all, nearly 200 people will participate in Illinois' portion of the CAPSTONE-14 exercise. Nearly 50 private sector businesses and organizations throughout the multi-state region also are taking part in the exercise.
Monken said history shows a large-scale earthquake in the Central U.S. is a real possibility. During the winter of 1811-12, a series of earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, each estimated to be around magnitude 8.0, were among the largest temblors ever recorded in North America.
More information about the earthquake risk affecting Illinois and preparedness tips are available on the Ready Illinois website at www.Ready.Illinois.gov.


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new editions now available!
A new expanded edition of Just for Today from Living Life Fully Publications:
Over a year of "Just for Today" passages from our popular e-mail daily quotations, and our new expanded edition includes over 180 reflections on those thoughts. Full of ideas and focal points that you can use to help to make your day brighter and more fulfilling as you focus on different ways of giving and awareness of the blessings in your life! Click on the image to the left for the print version. Kindle Version
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One full year's worth of our daily meditations that until now have been available only on our site or through e-mail. Now you can have the entire first year's worth of daily meditations for just $2.99 on your Kindle. (Print edition now available here.)


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A long-time reader completes his account of the late August 1961 showdown between the first-place Cincinnati Reds and the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers:
The Dodgers' ten game losing streak (August 14 through August 24) obscured the fact that Cincinnati wasn't playing very well either. During the same stretch, the Reds had lost four of the seven games that weren't against Los Angeles. And now, Los Angeles had won the first two games of their series in Cincy.
According to Reds reliever Jim Brosnan, manager Fred Hutchinson was so nervous before the Sunday, August 27 doubleheader that initially forgot to bring his lineup card to the pre-game conference at home plate.
Joey Jay (18-8) was Hutchinson's Game One starter, with Stan Williams (11-10) on the mound for L.A. In the fifth inning, consecutive doubles by Jim Gilliam, Wally Moon, and Duke Snider helped stake the Dodgers to a 3-0 lead. Cincinnati got one back in the bottom of the inning, but Williams remained in command. "Best slider he's ever had," Frank Robinson muttered after he struck out for the second time.
In the top of the seventh, the Dodgers added two more runs, on RBI singles by Snider and Frank Howard. They now led 5-1.
In the bottom of the inning, however, Williams began to hang his slider, and Cincinnati reduced their deficit to just one run. Gene Freese struck the key blow, a two-out, three-run homer that chased Williams. Ron Perranoski came on to get the third out.
Brosnan retired the Dodgers in order in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, Dodger second baseman Charlie Neal, who had entered the game as a pinch runner, opened the door for the Reds by booting Jerry Lynch's lead-off grounder. With one out Leo Cardenas tripled off the scoreboard to tie the game.
Eddie Kasko then batted for Johnny Edwards, which created a favorable matchup against Perranoski, who had struggled against right-handed hitters all year. Walter Alston was having none of it – he replaced his left-hander with Larry Sherry. Then, to set up the double play, he ordered that Kasko be walked.
With Brosnan due up, Hutchinson countered with Wally Post. The veteran outfielder delivered a double to drive in Cardenas with the go-ahead run. Kasko stopped at third. Sherry halted the bleeding by retiring Freese and Chacon, but the Reds were now ahead 6-5.
The Dodgers had one more chance, and Hutchinson was taking none. Having already used his two top relievers – Bill Henry and Brosnan – he turned to ace starter Jim O'Toole to close the game. O'Toole accomplished this with only four pitches.
Game Two pitted Don Drysdale (10-7) against Ken Johnson (4-2). Drysdale was a future Hall of Famer and was Johnson just a journeyman. But Johnson actually had the better ERA for the season and the Reds had hammered Drysdale in his two prior starts against them in 1961.
They pounded him on this day, as well. Vada Pinson started the fun with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Reds added another in the fourth, and three more in the sixth. The last two scored on a double by Johnson, the Reds pitcher, which gave Cincy a 6-1 lead.
The Dodgers finally chased Johnson in the eighth, but Brosnan came on in relief to limit the damage to just one run. The Reds lead was 8-3.
In the ninth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with two out and Wally Moon, a dangerous left-handed hitter, at the plate. Hutchinson came to mound and said, "Why don't we let [left-hander] Henry strike out Moon and get this over with?" "Why not?" Brosnan replied, and Henry did the deed.
Cincinnati had restored their three and half game lead over Los Angeles.


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Canada is the land of moose, hockey, and maple syrup. You can now add crazy low prices for select Windows Phone 8 devices on mobile carrier Roger. We just got an email from a rep letting us know that right now you can pick up an HTC 8X, Lumia 920, or Ativ S at some crazy low prices.
Our friend within Rogers let us know about this current deal. It's too good to pass up, so check it out. All Windows Phone 8 devices are now available on 2 year deals without internet at the following prices:
HTC 8X 8GB - $0 / 2 years
HTC 8X 16GB - $29.99 / 2 years
Nokia Lumia 920 - $29.99 / 2 years
Samsung Ativ S - $29.99 / 2 years
There you have it. If you or a friend/family member were about to jump on board Rogers and wanted a new Windows Phone 8 device you've got a fairly impressive deal to check out. With all the flagship Windows Phone 8 device from each OEM available for a cool thirty dollars I'd have a tough time deciding which I wanted. Go take advantage of this!
Thanks for the tip Kevin!


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NOTE: Mattel will take a break for the holidays so there will be no Q&A for January 1st. The last Q&A for the year is December 15th! Thanks to Veebs for the info!
| MOTUClassics.Com
MOTUClassics.Com: What's the latest update on Snake MAA? If it's not done to the armor the figure comes with, can we get some silver armor in a future weapons pak?
That certainly is a great suggestion. We are still reviewing the figure and whether any changes are even possible at all (i.e. swapping some shared parts, deco options). In the end we may need to go with the option that is logistically easiest and most cost effective. Stay tuned as we work out the details. But do know there will not be any further tooling or parts beyond what was shown at NYCC.
| Poe Ghostal
4.) Robert M. Radcliffe asks: The mini-comic accurate Skeletor head sculpt packaged with Demo-Man is great, but the paint deco is completely different from the source material, with a green skull and big red eyes, instead of a yellow skull with tiny beady eyes. Is there a chance a source accurate deco version of this head may see release in the future?
At this point production has already started on this figure but we certainly could look at this suggestion for a repaint down the line!
5.) Damien asks: Vikor is a great figure – I feel one of the most awesome figures in a line of awesome figures. But fans were not demanding a Vikor figure. At all. No one ever asked for one. Yet Mattel made it (and we thank you!). The same could be said for Carnivus and most NA characters. With that in mind; can we get some kind of explanation as to why a figure no one ever asked for has no problem being thrown into the line — but when another character that fans are actually asking for comes up, we're told there isn't enough demand (Illumina, for instance).
Vikor is a concept design based on the most recognizable character in the entire MOTU word – He-Man (same goes for Demo-Man being a concept design for Skeletor, also one of the most popular figures in the line). That was a big reason why we wanted to do these figures. A great way to add new-ness to our main hero and villain in a unique way. It was also, as you stated, a fun way of doing something few were expecting and keep the line fresh and exciting!
| Pop Culture Network.com
3) Gygor's bio states he was released to bolster Skeletor's forces, yet BG Evil-Lyn's bio indicates he didn't join the Evil Warriors. Is Gygor the leader of another faction, or is he simply THAT dangerous just by himself?
He was released to booster the Evil Warriors, but once out went a bit off on his own. He is one bad monkey with his own agenda.
4) It was mentioned before that you were considering a Castle Grayskull in 2013 but scrapped the idea since the subscription numbers are the lowest since it's inception. At NYCC it was stated that if we were to see a Castle Grayskull it would have to be a movie year. Is this indeed a confirmation of Castle Grayskull as well as the fact that we will not see a Master of the Universe film release before 2014?
No, we have not confirmed a released date for a feature MOTU film at this time. It is currently in development with Sony.
| hordak.de
1. Will the Temple of Darkness Sorceress be available at the Eternia Fan Meeting in february, 2012 in Xanten/ Germany and how much will she cost at German Conventions?
No. She will not be ready that early in 2012 but we will try to work with some of the international show that happen in Q 3 and Q 4 of 2012 to get some stock.
2. When revealing the Slushhead figure Toy Guru told us his helmet can be filled with water. Is his head still swappable like the other heads or will this limit the feature?
We are not far enough along in development on this figure at this point but that is the idea. More to come once we confirm with design.
3. Is Fisto's fist interchangeable with the arm attachments of Hurricane Hordak, Roboto, Trap Jaw and Horde Prime?
While we have seen fan requests for this, Fisto was not designed with a removable fist and it is too late to make this change at this time.
4. The year 2012 seems a little bit overloaded with the 30th anniversary line, new stands, Granamyr and the standart sub. If the Wind Raider performs well (is there really any doubt?) will Mattel release the next vehicle in 2012 or will it rather be moved until early in 2013 to keep costs for collectors a little bit under control?
There definitely will be no vehicle in 2012, mostly due to putting our efforts in 2012 toward Granamyr. We just don't have the resources to do both in one year.
5. When we see the figures all sculpts are final, but when Spector was announced this figure caused a lot of discussion. One thing people criticised was the spare symbol on his armor. Here is one suggestion: why not use the colourchange feature that the SDCC Orko had? that way you could use warm water to make the symbol visible and the figure would become much cooler with this little gimmick. Think about it!
This certainly is a cool suggestion, but as with all the 30th anniversary slots, we are allowing the creator of each slot to see their specific design made as a figure. We kept Photog just as Nathan designed him, Draego-Man as the Horsemen designed him (and we are trying to find a way to get out his dropped accessories due to cost) and Spector as Scott designed him. While we know some fans are not keen on the spade, it comes with the character and we're sticking to it out of respect for the character's creator.
| MOTUCfigures.com
1.) You recently revealed that the 2012 SDCC exclusive will cost $30 instead of $25 like the previous 2 years. Just to manage expectations- Is this just due to the rising cost of figures or should we expect a little something more from next year's exclusive?
A little of both.
2.) Though I personally LOVE the Horde Prime figure, some folks were a bit disappointed that this character didn't get the large-sized figure treatment. Can you tell us why the decision was made to do Horde Prime as a regular-sized character?
From Toy Guru:
"Originally Horde Prime (whom we were calling Horde Supreme) was going to be our club exclusive figure. Before we had Filmation rights, he was extremely unique as he was a Filmation character that was never actually seen. This was a bit of a loophole (normally we are not ones to go for "loopholes", but oddly this one was legally clearly open to us so we went for it) and we thought doing Horde Supreme would be a great Club Figure because no one had seen the face and he was "slightly" Filmation without stepping on their rights (again, because he was never actually seen in the show). Our idea was (and still is!) people would see the face for the first time on the figure. When we got the Filmation rights the loophole of doing Supreme/Prime was less special as we had rights to all Filmation characters and we scrambled to get Shadow Weaver into the line to celebrate this. But we really didn't want to loose out on doing Horde Prime/Supreme so he was bumped to another spot in the year (and that figure was bumped out of the year entirely to accommodate the addition of Shadow Weaver and retaining of Prime). So I suppose the answer to your question is he was standard size because he was originally slotted in as the Club Figure which was a standard sized figure due to the 20.00 sign up fee."
3.) It has been stated for awhile now that you are looking into better shipping for international fans... but things are still the same. Is this something you are still looking into, or are international fans just stuck with the current options?
Yes, this is still something we are actively exploring. For domestic customers too!
4.) Another international shipping question- There was mention that you were trying to "un-combine" the forcibly combined subs, as many international buyers would prefer they still ship separately. Is there some definite solution at hand?
We are still working on locking in a solution.
5.) Have you guys considered perhaps giving the Wind Raider a special sale date earlier in the month (like say, December 1st), similar to what you did last year with the PKE Meter for Ghostbusters? The earlier date would help avoid site traffic and gives buyers a better chance at having them before Christmas. Plus, since this is the first vehicle in the line, a separate sale would make it feel a little more special!
No, it will go on sale on the same date to help customers save on shipping.
| Kastor's Korner
Kastor's Korner: In the mini comic that Temple of Darkness Sorceress is based on, her outfit was a feathered one-piece with white collar, while the upper portion of her outfit and sleeves were actually skin-colored. Is it too late to add this deco change to make her more accurate?
Matty: We will certainly run this suggestion by the Horsemen and design to see if it is feasible to make these changes and if it is something they want to do. In the end, we try to leave it to the Horsemen to make final call on deco whenever possible.
Kastor's Korner: Have you seen more sales generated from updated core MOTU characters versus Princess of Power and New Adventures figures during the monthly sales? If so, would it be feasible to package extra heads of MOTU characters with less desirable characters as a secret accessory?
Matty: No, they actually all sell about the same. MOTUC is one popular toy line! We will do extra heads with characters that call for them but we will not be using extra heads purely as a sales gimmick.
Kastor's Korner: We have seen many original MOTU figures with action features translate those features with some very cool tributes in the Classics line. But some original figures, such as Modulok, had swappable parts features not unlike the modern line's swappable heads... is it likely features of a character like Modulok would feature a one-to-one replication of all the original's swappable parts, or would the feature likely be trimmed down in the number of accessories, but still pay homage to the original?
Matty: It may be possible but we simply have not gotten to Modulok yet so these type of discussions simply have not taken place.
| Elkk Thunder's Toyroom
4- Will there be a Mattycollector event at Toyfair in February again? Any details for the fans on day/time?
Yes there will be an event but we do not have details yet. Stay tuned!
The sites listed below are the sites who want to participate in the Q&A round-up in these threads and on the He-Man.org homepage news entry.
Be sure to check out their sites! There's a lot there to see in addition to the Q&As.
ElkkThunders Toy Room
The Ultimate She-Ra Guide
See what the fans are saying HERE!


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Get Involved profiles Rocky McMillan, founder of Glebe FC
Sky Sports News profiles Rocky McMillan, the founder of London youth football club Glebe FC.
Last Updated: 17/01/13 6:21pm
Rocky McMillan was a city trader for 20 years but he's now chairman of Glebe FC.
Rocky's voluntary role sees him commit six days a week to the club he founded in 1995.
"We joined the London Football Association with one team of 12 lads," he said. "We've grown year on year and we've now got 26 teams with nearly 350 kids."
Glebe FC sides range from under-seven to under-18 level, and, under Rocky's guidance, have earned plenty of on and off field success - the Glebe capturing seven London Cups and numerous League titles, as well as being awarded an FA Charter for Excellence award.
Leyton Orient's Elyon Egbeku is a former Glebe FC player and has fond memories of his time under Rocky's tuition.
"He took me to my first trial at Crystal Palace," said the youth team striker.
"Rocky knows a lot of people, he's got a load of friends in the game and it's good having someone like that around you who can advise you."
But Rocky believes his club have an important role to play aside from their success in local leagues and tournaments.
"When there were the riots in London last July we had 80 or 90 16-17-year-olds training that night," he said.
"We know they weren't involved. Would they have been ionvovled? They certainly come from that area. But they were playing football."
For more information on Glebe FC, visit the club's official website: www.glebefc.co.uk