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Posted by Editor on 07/26/09
Mont Ste Anne World Cup XC - Pendrel and Absalon Claim Victory
This report made possible by Shimano
Report by Mike Badyk & Rob Jones
In the fifth round of the Mountain World Cup at Mont Ste Anne, Quebec, Canadian National Champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) and Julien Absalon (Orbea) claimed victory on a rain-slicked course. This was the second World Cup victory of Pendrel's career. For Absalon it was the fourth consecutive World Cup victory of this season.
We had mentioned in our race preview that the track here is brand new and much more technical in nature than seen here previously. Many of the pros described it as the most technically demanding course on the World Cup Circuit. Making things even more interesting was the weather. Many of the locals had been remarking that they have yet to have a summer and it has been raining an awful lot. Sure enough, the day started cool (15C) and windy, and true to form with this summer, 10 minutes before the start of the women's race the skies opened up and it poured rain. With the forecast being so poor well in advance of today's race the organizers added a "chicken run" on the now infamous new rocky descent. The technical nature of this section attracted a huge crowd of spectators waiting to cheer on both clean rides and crashes.
The women's World Cup was four laps of the 5.7 kilometre course. In an approach that hasn't been seen here in recent memory there was no start loop. This mandated a lightning fast start to be the first into the singletrack in the woods after the opening fire road climb. Up the climb it was Katrin Leumann and Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) in the lead followed by World Cup leader Marga Fullana (Massi). The climb didn't do much to separate the pack and they entered the first section of woods en masse.
Out of the woods Marie-Helene Premont (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), the perennial home-town favourite and defending champion, gained an eight second lead on Fullana, followed by Irina Kalentieva (Topeak Ergon), Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher), Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost) and Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Pendrel was sitting tenth and Emily Batty (Toronto Trek Store) was in 15th.
By the end of the lap Pendrel had taken the lead, followed by Premont, Kalentieva and Koerber together at seven seconds. The first lap was completed in 23:11.
Pendrel steadily increased her lead on Kalentieva and Koerber in lap two, followed closely by Nash, and then Premont. Fullana was in 14th and having real difficulty on the technical sections. Much to the disappointment of the partisan crowd, Premont had had a flat towards the end of the first lap, and then ran into suspension problems, dropping her out of the top-ten. Although Pendrel had the lead she was also showing the signs of a crash on the rocky descent, mainly an abrasion on her chin. By the time she reached this spot on the third lap she was opting for the Chicken Route.
On the final lap Pendrel was in cruise control, looking very comfortable in the lead. Nash was still in second place, but Kalentieva was catching her, and would pass to take the silver medal. Lene Byberg (Specialized) had worked her way up from a poor start to overtake a fading Koerber for fourth, while Koerber managed to hang on for the final podium spot.
Pendrel was very pleased with her win, especially considering her crash and other aspects of the race. "It was a great day. I was a little worried at the start. I didn't start as fast as I wanted to. I was a bit behind in the first singletrack. It was all single-file. Luckily the girls that were at the front didn't string too far ahead. I was able to use the climbs and the fitness sections to bridge up. Once I saw the front I wanted to hang onto it and make as few mistakes as possible. I took the lead from Marie-Helene at the end of the first lap, just before the switchbacking climb. The rain made things very slick and the degree of technical difficulty was high but I got better every lap."
Premont was philosophical with her placing. "It wasn't the best day for me. I was feeling good on the first lap. I had a rear flat tire and I had to stop and change it, and then I had to come back. It just wasn't the best day for me. I would have liked to win here at Mont Ste Anne, but that's life. My fitness was better than it was at Nationals, but still not as good as I had hoped for."
Premont also spoke about the course with respect to next year's Worlds. "It's a nice course. I really like it and I know I can do well here." We asked "Will we see you racing next year." She laughed and said "I might be!"
Other Canadian finishers were Emily Batty (Toronto Trek Store) in 15th, 23rd was Mical Dyck (Toronto Trek Store, 32nd Amanda Sin (3Rox Racing), 36th Sandra Walter (Local Ride), 39th Marie-Claude Surprenant (Equipe Quebec), 41st Caroline Villeneuve (Norco), 46th Josiane Mathieu (Equipe Quebec), and in 47th was Kathleen Villeneuve.
In the women's U23 category the winner was Aleksandra Dawidowicz, finishing ninth overall. With her win she took over the series points lead. Batty was the second place U23, standing fourth.
After this round Fullana remains the World Cup Points leader, but has lost ground to 4 riders including Pendrel who moved up to fourth from fifth. Osl remains in second with Kalentieva in third.
A large men's field of 104 riders took the line for a total of 6 laps. The off and on rain that had plagued the women had fortunately stopped by the time the men started. The clouds remained low all afternoon and it looked like the heavens would open at any moment but they never did, much to the relief of the riders. However, it did remain windy and cool for the duration, and the track was still wet from the morning's downpour.
Without a start loop, the whole key for many was to try and get to the front from the gun. The start was done at very high speed by the field. Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida Biking Team) took the early lead, followed at 15 seconds by Martin Gujan (Cannondale Factory Racing) at the front of a large chase group.
At the end of lap one, Näf was still holding the lead with Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles) in second at 32 seconds and Absalon 41 seconds back in third. Just behind Absalon was a small group with Gujan, Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) and José Hermida (Multivan Merida).
By the second lap, Absalon had become comfortable with the conditions and had caught and passed Kabush. He continued to gain time on the lead as Näf started to tire. Meanwhile, Hermida was slowly reeling in the leaders. By lap three, Näf had only one second on Absalon, with Kabush at 20 seconds and about to be caught by Hermida. It didn't take long for Absalon to take the lead and once he was at the front he started to open a gap on the chasers. Meanwhile, Näf continued to go backward, dropping to fourth by the end of the lap.
Into the second half of the race, Absalon was riding comfortably, followed by Hermida at 29 seconds, Kabush at 32 seconds, and Näf at 58 seconds. In fifth was a surprising U23 rider - Alexis Vuillermoz (LaPierre International). Jean-Christophe Peraud (Massi), Todd Wells (Specialized), and Burry Stander (Specialized) were chasing just behind Vuillermoz.
With the top four firmly in place, the battle for the final podium spot was all that was left. The first to put on a charge was Stander, who by the fifth lap had moved up after his U23 opponent Vuillermoz hit the wall after a strong start and rapidly dropped out of the top 10 to finish 19th. Also blowing up was Wells, who fell to 15th by the finish after ridng as high as fifth.
Creating even more excitement was a last lap flat by Näf, who lost some time to Stander initially but then charged back to maintain his fourth place. Course conditions hadn't improved much, with even the lead moto crashing on the top of the rocky descent.
Absalon cruised in with a winning time of 2:06:05, 32 seconds up on Hermida and 2:48 up on Kabush. A tired Näf had a enough left in the tank to retain fourth, 4:50 back. Stander claimed fifth (and the U23 win) 5:42 behind. Raphael Gagne (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) was the fifth-placed U23, in 33rd overall.
Two years ago Hermida also placed second to Absalon, with Kabush also third. Last year it was Absalon winning, with Kabush in second. Clearly this venue favours Absalon, Hermida and Kabush.
Absalon has always performed well at Mont Ste Anne, going back to his World title in the Junior category in 1998. "I was concerned at the start of the race. Through the first 2 turns at the start I wasn't in a good position. Through the first lap I tried to work my way up. Näf was very strong at the beginning of the race but he started to drop back and I took the lead. I had to work hard not to make mistakes. It was really, really slippery out there. It was a very technical track, but I like that. To win here under these conditions is very satisfying. It is the most technical track of the year. I'm very excited that the World Championships will be here next year."
Hermida, one of the most congenial racers on the circuit, also liked his result. "I lost some time at the beginning of the race. It was quite complicated and it was important without a start loop. I should have been more focused on the start. Julian and I both lost time. Overall, I thought I could catch him. In the beginning he had a gap of 30 seconds and it didn't change during the race so I thought I could attack and get him on the final lap, but it didn't happen."
Kabush was pleased by his result. His season hasn't been up the standards he has set in recent years. "I have a history of doing really well here. I started on the third row so I was really focused on the start. I got a really good start and I was climbing really well. This is a course that really suits me. The World Cup has been up and down this year and I'm happy to have a good result for my team. It's been a while. It felt good to be back in the action. Being back in North America has been good for me. I feel grounded again. I'm 100% healthy now."
In the World Cup Points Series, Absalon has 480 point lead over second place Stander. Hermida jumps to third from sixth with his placing here, while Kabush jumps 10 spots to 14th.
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Captivate is Samsung's new Android powered smartphone for AT&T, and along with T-Mobile's Vibrant it's the first of the Korean phone maker's "Galaxy S" devices to hit a US carrier. Featuring a 4″ screen with Super AMOLED technology, a super-quick 1GHz processor, and Android 2.1 OS paired with Samsung's own TouchWiz 3 user interface, Captivate is the first true iPhone alternative for AT&T users. Android lovers will hate me for making the Apple comparison yet again, but it's true: Walk into an AT&T store and now you've got a similarly-sized, similarly state-of-the-art smartphone to pit head-to-head with iPhone 4 in the battle for your phone budget dollars.
Lightweight, distinctively styled, and outfitted with a huge display, HD video camera and a powerful mix of business, communications and social networking software, Captivate is a high-powered piece of technology. While I'm not a fan of a few of Samsung's choices regarding their custom skin and software widgets, in general I think they did a nice job of trying to bridge the gap between showcasing Android's flexibility and power and also delivering an easy-to-use consumer device loaded to the gills with features and communications tools.
Design and Features
The original Galaxy S looked a lot like an iPhone. A lot. From the rounded-corners rectangular design to the wide-bezel touchscreen front panel to the grid of icons UI, it was hard to look at S and not think, "Samsung's iPhone killer, eh?" While T-Mobile chose to retain that original Galaxy's styling, AT&T went a different route with Captivate, giving it a more angular style with a few distinctive touches. I'm not a huge fan of this phone's styling, but that's a pretty subjective matter that you can judge for yourself. I will say that Captivate's trick battery panel mechanism is pretty neat, even if I couldn't figure it out without the help of another review friend.
Like I said when Samsung unveiled the first Galaxy S phone back in April, 4″ just might be the screen size sweetspot for the new generation of superphones that's invading the cell phone world this summer. Apple's iPhone has a 3.5″ display and HTC's Evo 4G and Motorola's Droid X have 4.3″ screens, but for my money Samsung hit it right on the nose with the 4″ display found on AT&T's Captivate and the rest of the Galaxy S family. Captivate's display is noticeably larger than iPhone's, which should help it attract attention on store shelves, but still small enough to make the device plenty light and pocketable overall.
Weighing just 128 g (4.5 oz) and measuring 106 x 64 x 10 mm, Captivate is indeed plenty light and pocketable. Some may say that the phone also feels plasticky and cheap, which I'd be hard pressed to argue with. Then again, Captivate's design adds just enough heft and texture to make it feel a bit more sophisticated and solid than either the original Galaxy S or T-Mobile's Vibrant.
The front of the device is dominated by that 4″, 800 x 480 Super AMOLED display, which is flanked by the standard four-button row of touch-sensitive Android controls. The top of the device features a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB port covered by a neat sliding plastic door, and there's a rocker switch on one spine of the phone and a lock/power button on the other. You get a 5 megapixel camera with HD video capture (but no flash) on the back panel of the phone, mounted in one of two metallic grey plastic panels that flank the removable battery cover. Said battery cover is fashioned from some kind of composite material that feels like metal and is finished in a checkerboard pattern that I'm not really very fond of. Get the battery cover off and you'll find a 1500 mAh battery, microSD card slot and SIM card slot lurking beneath.
Captivate comes with a USB cable, a modular charger, stereo headset, and manuals in its box. You also get a 2GB microSD card preinstalled in the device to compliment 16GB of internal storage. That's more room for media and files than you'll find on any other phone in AT&T's line up save the 32GB iPhone 3GS and 4.
Samsung's take on Android has evolved some over the past few years, and Captivate comes with the latest version of their TouchWiz user interface installed as part of the Android 2.1 operating system. As said before, TouchWiz makes Android look a lot like iPhone's iOS, with similar looking icons arranged into a similar looking grid with a similar looking four-icon dock at the bottom of the home screens. The result is a user experience that's arguably more novice-friendly than standard Android, but also arguably less attractive. Personally I'd argue in favor of plain ol' Android 2.1 (better yet, 2.2) instead of TouchWiz, but custom skins seem to be the current favored method of making your Google Phone stand out from the pack, so I guess we have to live with 'em for the time being. A 2.2 "FroYo" update has been promised in the coming months, no doubt with TouchWiz 3.x still firmly in place.
Usability and Performance
The first Captivate that Samsung sent me was plagued by malfunctions that kept sending me back one screen or out of apps entirely, and eventually had the front-panel buttons flickering on and off like a faulty set of Christmas lights. Samsung swapped that one out for a new unit that's performed like a champ since Day One. Apparently a very small number of Galaxy S devices have suffered from similar problems, and everyone I've spoken to has reported no problems exchanging their phones for new ones in proper working order.
That said, Captivate is an excellent smartphone. One of the best on the market, even. Reception and call quality have been solid during testing in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, CA, and the phone functions equally well via "normal" speaker, speakerphone, or wired/wireless headset. Samsung has a deadly, deadly combination going here with their multitouch Super AMOLED displays paired to their zippy 1GHz Hummingbird application processors. Captivate moved from app to app, from pinch to zoom, and from still photo viewing to video playback with nary a hitch of the sort that give most Android phones the hiccups. Battery life was even decent given the size and brightness of that display – I regularly got through the day without having to recharge the device before bed, which is on par with iPhone 4 and a bit better than HTC's Evo 4G and Droid Incredible.
Media playback on Captivate was terrific – high quality video clips really pop thanks to the Super AMOLED tech, which is bright and vivid like AMOLED but more usable in direct sunlight. Photos and videos captured with Captivate are of above average quality so long as they're shot in decent lighting – 720p HD video in particular was quite impressive – and they look stunning when viewed on the device. Built-in wired and wireless sharing makes it possible to zap your media to a PC or HDTV for family viewing, and a Samsung media store is coming soon to the entire Galaxy S lineup.
The obvious question, of course, is "Is this the best mobile phone display on the market?" My answer is No, but it's second-best. iPhone 4's display is smaller than Captivate's, but it's higher resolution and packs pixels in at a higher density, which to my eyes results in a richer experience when viewing text, graphics, and images/video. The same content viewed on Captivate has a wee bit more "pop" to it (colors leaping off the screen) but just a bit less sharpness and depth than on iPhone 4. On the other hand, I'd take Captivate's display over any of HTC or Motorola's current offerings, hands-down.
Then again, because Captivate's screen is physically larger than iPhone's, it's a wee bit easier to type on the Samsung than the Apple. Samsung's soft QWERTY board is quite good, and you also get the stock Android QWERTY and Swype's one-finger input method pre-installed on Captivate. While I still rate Motorola's Droid X as the easiest touch-only phone to type on, I go back to that 4″ display sweet spot thing in saying that Captivate strikes a great balance between all of the pluses of a noticeably larger-than-normal display without too many of the minuses that come with a ginormous form factor.
Samsung's custom software is interesting, if not altogether great. On the one hand you've got a pretty plain jane user interface that offers up seven home screen panels, live wallpaper support, a home screen dock and a bunch of extra widgets and apps, a few of which (Daily Briefing, Buddies Now) are actually kind of handy. On the other hand the look and feel of TouchWiz is way more cartoon-like than elegant, you can't opt-out of the custom skin in favor of stock Android, some of the widgets are pretty half-baked, Samsung's English language labels and dialogue boxes are full of weird diction and grammatical errors like, "And then you can see the new feeds on the idle by widget" (from the Twitter Sync dialogue). And the phone flat out refused to connect to my Mac in mass storage mode, though it did mount as a drive on my Windows laptop.
Beyond that, AT&T has locked Captivate down so you can't sideload unsigned Apps onto the device. Ma Bell also saw fit to remove the standard Android Amazon MP3 store in favor of their own AT&T Music app. They also threw a bunch of AT&T bloatware – I mean, exclusive features – on the thing, including FamilyMap, Hot Spots, Maps, Navigator, Radio and YPMobile. Why would anyone use AT&T Navigator instead of Google Navigation? Seriously, I'm asking you. Please tell me.
Frankly, I'd love to get my hands on Captivate – or any Galaxy S phone – running a fully open, stock version of Android OS 2.2 with access to Samsung's widgets to use or not as I see fit. Captivate is a great piece of hardware, and while it's more than useable with Sammy's software installed, TouchWiz doesn't do much for me. But like I said, I can see the Android newbie or first-time smartphone buyer being attracted to Captivate's colorful array of icons and iPhone-like dock.
Despite some questionable software decisions on Samsung's part and some questionable "value add" decisions on AT&T's part, I heartily recommend Captivate as a top-notch Android device. It's also the best smartphone currently in AT&T's lineup for anyone who doesn't want an iPhone. Don't take that to mean Captivate is/isn't better than iPhone 4 – they both have their merits, they're both excellent devices, and they both have the power to make their new owners very, very happy. Beyond that I'll leave the judgement of "Which is the best?" to your individual tastes.
That said, Captivate's brilliant display is great for media consumption, big enough for decently comfortable typing, and responsive enough for easy pinch-and-zooming your way around Web pages and photo galleries. With 16GB of onboard storage, an above-average camera with HD video capture, and easy syncing to your Google account and social networks, Captivate offers a compelling option for folks with particular – and varied – smartphone wish lists. If only AT&T wouldn't lock the darn thing down so tight. At least they kept Google as the search engine this time, right? Sorry, Backflip…
And, hey – if you don't like the way Captivate looks you can get basically the same deal in a different package in the Vibrate over on T-Mobile. Or wait a month or two for Sprint and Verizon's Galaxy S phones, the Epic 4G and Fascinate, to ship. Same phone, different looks, different carriers. Now isn't that a novel concept?

subset: commoncrawl


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With number 3, "Did you help me ...?" doesn't make sense. The speaker would know whether or not the other person had helped the speaker.
Number 4 is OK if it fits the context.
If numbers 3 and 4 are supposed to relate to the same circumstances then perhaps 3 should be "Did you help me by asking your friend if I can join them?"
Interested in Language


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Jim Sterling writes, "As it stands, Razor's Edge is a slight improvement of something that needed to be thrown away and started again from scratch. A turd, Team Ninja demonstrates, can indeed be polished -- but it still stinks."
"A turd, Team Ninja demonstrates, can indeed be polished -- but it still stinks."
It's Jim Sterling. Unless it's Kirby or Call of Duty, almost all of his reviews that I read seem to be outright hateful.
wow thats bad.. This was one of the games i was actually looking into for it but i had a feeling not much will change
@ PopRocks359. Bet you wouldn't say that if were any other game. To many people a seven is an instant failure but you are excusing a 5.5? Why? Because it is a Wii U game? It's amazing how gamers will excuse anything that they want to succeed. Now that the first reviewed Wii U game gets a seven SUDDENLY a seven and 5.5 is 'not bad'. So we have started the Wii U excuses early have we? VITA games get sevens but that is a badge of failure that proves how worthless the VITA is. But this is nothing but the fault of the evil reviewer.I am sure you wouldn't be questioning his judgement if it was above an eight
Jesus people play the game for yourself, then decide. Video games like any art form are subjective, just because he didn't like the game, doesn't mean you won't. I don't care if you bash the game, but at least play it. For example, NieR was panned by critics but many people, including myself, enjoyed the game, hell I think it's a classic. I know 95% of people who bash Ninja Gaiden 3 just watched the IGN review and copy pasted it. I'm not saying Ninja Gaiden 3 was amazing, it was okay, nothing compared to the first two, but when people bash a game when they clearly never played it and just base it of a review, that's where I have a problem. Play it for yourself, make your own opinion on the game, don't hide behind a reviewer.


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Mission awareness trip
Oct. 18 ñ 25, 2008
Together with Guatemala and Honduras, Chile is one of our pioneer projects. CFCA has been involved in Chile since 1982. The project center, located in Valparaiso, serves 4,500 children and 641 aging through six surrounding subprojects. The countryís name seems to have come from the Aymara word Chilli, which means ìwhere the earth ends.î†
A program rich in benefits
For sponsored children and their families, sponsorship benefits include education, health, help with housing, a loan program and a variety of livelihood training courses such as sewing, knitting and hairdressing.
Children who have trouble in the regular school system receive special attention, tutoring and care. The CFCA sponsorship program offers after-school care and learning opportunities.
Mothers who complete the beauty shop course are able to set up their own salon at home. Mothers who complete the sewing courses can apply for a no-interest loan to purchase a sewing machine and begin their own business. The CFCA center also offers domestic violence counseling and support.
The 641 sponsored elderly in Project Valparaiso can participate in literacy training, Tai-chi, creative theatre, folk dancing, guitar classes, choir and a variety of livelihood projects. They also receive services which improve their quality of life, such as podiatry care, hairdressing and dental prosthesis. CFCA also provides the elderly with breakfast, lunch and a snack in the afternoon before they head home. Many of the sponsors on the mission awareness trip purchased things made by the mothers and the elderly.††
Home visits showcase vibrant spirits
On day two of the trip, 11 of us made the swing through rural communities served by the project.
We were able to accompany Father Jose Maria, member of the Spanish delegation on this trip, to visit Elena, one of the sponsored elderly. Elena smiled as she spoke of her 19 grandchildren. She is enjoying her government-subsidized two-bedroom home.
We also visited the rural home and family of Manuel, 14, sponsored by John. The mother had taken the youngest boy, Maximiliano, to town because he had come down with a fever. I like a lot of things about this familyótheir good vegetable garden, a small pond for raising fish, swept dirt floor and an outdoor shower and latrine.
Our final visit of the day was to a beautiful young family in the small town of Catapilco. Charles and Pat have sponsored two of the four girls for the better part of 10 years. Appropriate gifts made it seem a lot like Christmas morning. We were invited to share a wonderful meal with the entire family.
A day for the elderly
This is the day to enjoy, appreciate and encourage our sponsored elderly. After visiting the shrine of ìEl NiÒo Dios,î a sanctuary adorned with many plaques of favors received, some 300 sponsored aging members, plus the sponsors and staff, gathered at a very pleasant conference center in Limache. The elderly were all color-coded according to their assigned bus. After a nice lunch, we spread out on a large grassy area to watch performances representing some of the activities available to sponsored elderly. Three sponsored aging, each one physically challenged in some way, offered a spontaneous performance about life during the 60ís and 70ís.
Workshops with mothers and children
Wednesday was our day to devote to the 90 sponsored families in Playa Anchaóconsidered a ìhigh-risk area,î especially with heavy drug dealing. We visited a day care, school and community health center there, enjoyed a typical lunch, and then participated in a beachside workshop with the mothers. The theme was searching for the hidden treasure of non-violence.
Friday morning was devoted to visiting two historical places in Santiago: the Presidential Palace known as ìLa Moneda,î and the colonial church and museum of San Francisco. In the afternoon, we were invited to visit with Valparaiso mothers and children in several workshopsósewing, knitting and hairdressing for the mothers, games and learning for the children. Lorena, assistant teacher for the children, is now a university student in early childhood education. She herself was sponsored for 17 years. Lorena expresses profound gratitude to her sponsors and to CFCA.
Hope amidst the challenges
I live in gratitude for each member of our CFCA family. I ask your prayers for the families of our 4,500 children and 641 aging in Chile. Even in very challenging situations, CFCA can and does inject a great deal of hope.
For Cristina and me, it will be good to be home in Guatemala for a couple of days. On Nov.3, we go up through Kansas City on our way to India, followed by three days of staff formation in the Philippines.†
Godís blessings.
Bob Hentzen


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Wayne Allensworth is the author of The Russian Question: Nationalism, Modernization, and Post-Communist Russia (Rowman & Littlefield) and most recently, Field of Blood: A Gripping Modern Western Set on the USA's Southern Border.
It's Not Okay to Be White
The Truth About Afghanistan
Ritual, Tragedy, and Restoration
Spying on the American Remnant
What the Editors Are Reading
Against the Barbarians
The End of Politics
Six Midterm Reflections
The Angry Summer
Homesick in America
Fire in the Minds of Men
Never and Always
A Manner of Speaking
Collateral America
Holy Among Fools
Sing Me Back Home
Palm Sunday
Left Behind
Singing Our Song
Disconnected: Our Virtual Unreality
Playing the Trump Card
Manual Control
A Long Time Gone
An American Tragedy
Obama's Manufactured Border Crisis
Silver or Lead: The Reverse Assimilation of the Southwest
The Con Man
The Brothers Tsarnaev: Assimilating Terrorists
Welcoming Terrorists, Locking Down Citizens
Giving Up, Giving In
It Will Be Sudden, It May Be Soon
Ray Bradbury, R.I.P.
More Human and More Tragic
The Best Are Not the Brightest
Unspoken Questions
A Gentleman and a Scholar
Breivik: No Patriot, No Christian
Osama in Pakistan
Libya and Putin
Not Necessarily Muslim
Russian Migrants
The Bookman
Reaganism and the External Threat
Who Won the Cold War?
Child Abuse, the State, and the Russian Family
Anatomy of a Murder
Is Putin Returning?
Obama Goes to Moscow
Unnatural Causes
What "Terrible Lesson" Can Russia Teach Us?
Change is in the Air
The Journeys of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Stumbling Into (Another) War
A Case of Russophobia
Anarcho-Tyranny in Action
Something Big
Georgians In Londonistan
A Crackdown On Christians
The Day of Conception
Children of a Lesser God?
Well Into Spring, Even With Snow
Our Terror Sanctuary
The Yuma Amnesty Files
No Country for Honorable Men: The Prosecution of the "Border Patrol Two"
Iraq as "Intelligence Failure": We Told You So
Goodbye, Mr. Bond
Islam, Immigration, and the Alienists Among Us
A Broad Path to Destruction
Influx of Illegal Aliens
Russia's Demographic Crisis
The Fire Next Time (A Message to Culture Warriors)
"October Surprise"
Christians in Iraq
An Adversarial Culture
War Images
Losing the "War on Terror" at the Border
Downing Street Memo
A Place to Stand
Why Russia Does Not Fear an Iranian Bomb
Becoming Extinct
A Rumor of War
War on the Home Front
Everything Dies
Key Proposals
Remembering the Alamo
The Bush Clan at the "Oligarchs' Ball"
The League of Frightened Gentlemen: U.S. Occupation and Iraqi "Sovereignty"
Strange Bedfellows
Firing the Government
Managed Democracy
Johnny Cash, R.I.P.
The Real War
Palestinianization and the Iraq War
Murder in Politics
Hardened Line
Avoiding a Crisis
A Place Called Home
A Surprising Threat of Veto
Memorial Day
Paying the Price
Giving Up Saddam
Cancelling a Contract
Hard Bargaining
Living With the Questions
Little Goodbyes
You Can't Get There From Here
Remembering Tender Mercies
All the Time in the World
The Next Sound You Hear
Christmas, Texas
The Trees of Autumn
Mighty Seer, in Days of Old
Chief Target
The Season of Rain and Death
Been There, Done That
The Problem With Religious Secular Zealots
What's Wrong With "Compassionate Conservatism"?
Apocalypse Now
Wolfs Fang, Fox's Tail
The "Suffering Love" of Patriots
Sources of Contention
The Face of Battle
Preaching to a Strange Nation
The "Russian" Mafia in America
To Hell and Back
Shifting Sands
The Ghosts of Christmas Past
White Self-Hatred and the Christian Spirit
Getting to Know the General
The Russian Demon
The Revival of Russian Paganism
Radical Populism on the Volga
Bond and Betrayal
The Nationalist Imperative
Murder in the Wasteland
People From Nowhere
Russia's Chechen Crisis
Grassroots Extremism
The Rise of the Red-Browns
Getting Solzhenitsyn Right
The Vanishing Craftsman
A Walk on the Dark Side
Shades of White


text:
Join us as we celebrate Geography Awareness Week with National Geographic and friends. This year's theme is "Geography: Declare Your Interdependence."
Many of us think of a tropical paradise when we hear any reference to Costa Rica.
Truth be told, it is a country of economic contrasts: posh shopping malls and crowded slums, luxury hotels and thatch-roofed villages.
Tourism and development help some, but leave others struggling to overcome the challenges of poverty.
CFCA serves more than 6,700 children and youth through the San Jose project in Costa Rica. CFCA mothers groups there started with 15 moms. Today, 2,700 mothers of CFCA sponsored children in Costa Rica belong to mothers groups.
Many families in Costa Rica face a harsh reality. They live in slums and near river basins or dangerous areas threatened by landslides.
In these rough areas, hope can seem like itís just out of armís reach. But the CFCA mothers groups can give families a much-needed boost.
Just look at one mothers group in Heredia that learned how to sew, for example. These 15 women have come together to learn several new trades and confide in one another for support.
ìWe promote the self-esteem with each other and we find topics of motivation,î said Maribel, mother of two children in the Hope for a Family sponsorship program. ìWe talk about our new projects and we find alternatives. Then, we finish by sharing a cup of coffee.î
The best part? Sponsored children see the impact these groups have made on their own mothers. They see the commitments their mothers have made and suddenly their own commitment to the program and going to school increases.
Maybe someday the deep economic disparities families face in Costa Rica will be lessened, allowing all to enjoy what many of our tourist-y, rose-colored glasses have allowed us to see.
Until then, we can be optimistic knowing that the Hope for a Family program is changing the lives of many thousands in Costa Rica, providing a path out of poverty and giving a positive outlook to future generations.


text:
about six years ago
Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Damien Brunner returned from a 14-game absence and registered a goal and two assists, as the New Jersey Devils notched a 7-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday at Prudential Center. Eric Gelinas also collected a goal and two helpers, while Mark Fayne, Ryan Carter, Ryane Clowe, Jaromir Jagr and Adam Henrique each scored once for the Devils, who were coming off a 1-1-2 road trip. Cory Schneider backstopped the victory with 26 saves. "I thought we all did a great job out there tonight," said Schneider. "We got those quick goals and that always makes things a lot easier for me." Alexander Steen scored St. Louis' lone goal, while Brian Elliott allowed three goals on nine shots before being removed late in the first period. Jaroslav Halak turned aside just 10-of-14 shots in relief for the Blues, who have lost four of their last six games. "We've got some tough games coming up in the next couple of days and if we don't come together real quick we're going to have some lessons taught to us," said St. Louis center David Backes. New Jersey jumped on top with a pair of quick goals, as Fayne found the back of the net 2:27 into the game before Carter backhanded home a rebound 24 seconds later to double the Devils' lead. Steen sliced the margin in half with his 25th of the season at 8:47, but the Devils answered under two minutes later when Reid Boucher's backhand feed from below the goal line deflected in off the skate of Jagr on the doortstep to make it 3-1 at 10:27. Halak then entered for Elliott and held New Jersey off the board until the early stages of the second stanza, when Clowe potted a power-play marker at 1:03 to give the Devils a 4-1 lead. Henrique beat Halak high to the short-side with New Jersey on a power play late in the second before Brunner buried a one-timer from the low left side with the Devils skating on a man advantage at 1:18 of the third to make it 6-1. Gelinas accounted for the final margin when his blast from the red line took a strange bounce off the ice and snuck past Halak at 12:04. Game Notes New Jersey's seven goals marked a season high ... New Jersey's Marek Zidlicky, Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias each picked up two assists ... St. Louis fell to 15-6-3 on the road this season ... Brunner was activated off injured reserve prior to the game ... Steen set a new career high with his 25th goal of the season ... New Jersey went 3-for-4 on the power play, while St. Louis went 0- for-3.
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text:
What do you want to make today? I would love to put the kettle on to heat some water for a cup of Vanilla Rooibos Tea with a splash of Vanilla Spiced Rum Creamer (in the door, by the orange juice). This is my newest sipping obsession. However, it doesn't make for much of a recipe to share. How about we do something with those ripe and juicy (and admittedly very out of season) blueberries?
Last summer, I made a Blueberry Streusel Bar recipe from Fine Cooking. It was packed with blueberries and lots of crumbly streusel, but seemed to be a little dry and missing something. I enjoyed the dessert, but didn't find the bars calling me to dig in for seconds. More filling. That is what the recipe needed, and that is what I gave it when I recreated Blueberry Lemon Crumble Bars. They are still packed with blueberries and lots of VERY crumbly streusel (you won't want to try to snack on these in bed), but layered into the middle is a hearty dose of creamy, lemon filling. These Blueberry Lemon Crumble Bars call me back for seconds On My Plate.
(adapted from Fine Cooking)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, separated
2 cans (14 ounce, each) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (Really, squeeze the lemon. The better flavor is worth it.)
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
3-4 cups fresh blueberries
Heat oven to 350.
Line a 9x13 pan with foil, and butter the bottom and sides of foil
Combine flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Blend the butter into the flour mixture to form a crumb mixture.
Transfer 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture to another bowl and reserve for topping.
Blend 1 egg white into the remaining crumbs and then press mixture in the bottom of the pan to form a crust.
Bake 10-12 minutes until it forms a dry top.
Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk the condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, egg yolk, and remaining egg.
Let stand for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
When the crust is baked, pour filling over in an even layer.
Sprinkle blueberries evenly on top of the filling layer.
Sprinkle reserved crumble topping over the blueberries.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the topping is brown and filling has set (bars won't jiggle when pan is moved).
Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. (If you are impatient, the filling will ooze and the crumble will crumble even more than normal.)
(Yield: 24 bars)


text:
The thinking is that, if you don't hash through every conflict right away with the one you love, it'll lead to resentment and, ultimately, huge relationship blowups.
I want to talk about how (though that might work for you in real life), there needs to be a point in your book where your characters ignore the hell out of that advice.
The saying is supposedly derived from a Bible quote: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath (Ep 4:26). But um, sunset? Wrath? That sounds like an exceptional fictional scene to me!
Do your characters get upset... and then forgive each other right away?
Does one character seem to pop up in every conflict-filled scene to work as a peacemaker, diffusing the tension?
Are your characters upset with each other because of some sitcom-esque misunderstanding that can be (and is) easily resolved?
|It's okay to get in on the anger action as you write.
*That sounds creepy. But really, think about it---if you're like me, that character might just be a manifestation of your conflict avoidance. There is no room for that in fiction, where conflict is key. Kill the character, or eliminate them completely.


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"In the 32 districts of Istanbul, I am since 1994 the only female deputy mayor. I am responsible for social projects concerning women, children and employment projects."
Inci Bespinar, born in Istanbul, is the deputy mayor of Kadikoy district, on Istanbul's Anatolian side. She studied in Ankara and later returned to Istanbul. When her children were born there were no Kindergardens or public (and affordable) childcare so she had to stop working. When her children got older, Bespinar started working for the Kadikoy municipality focusing on the improvement of the situation of women.
A formative event for her was the case of a woman who came to her for help some years ago:
"There was a very beautiful woman, Esma, I will never forget this. She had blue eyes and a very light skin. One day she told me that her legs were aching, because she was beaten up so badly that the bones wouldn't grow together again. Some weeks later I had the most painful experience of my professional life. I read in the newspaper on page three: "Woman killed by her husband with an axe'".
Bespinar helped set up the first public shelter in Kadikoy. She also set up training centres for migrant women, where they can obtain basic school education, and qualification for a future profession. For many years Bespinar has worked to improve the situation of women in Kadikoy:
"Which problems do women in Turkey have? First there is a very serious education problem, secondly there is an employment problem and there is the problem that women experience violence by men, be it the husband, father and brother. These all affect basic human rights."
"If there were 10 Kadikoys in Turkey, the country would change more rapidly…"
- Gemeinde Kadikoy (Englisch)
- ESI Bericht: Geschlecht und Macht in der Türkei. Feminismus, Islam und die Stärkung der türkischen Demokratie (June 2007)
October 2008


text:
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RAJIV GARG is an Assistant Professor of Information, Risk, and Operation Management at McCombs School of Business. He received his PhD from the School of Information Systems and Management at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University. He received graduate degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, both from University of Southern California and an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in India. His research interests are on the intersection of economics, marketing, and information systems with a focus on digital, social and mobile platforms. Rajiv is a senior member of IEEE and has been serving on the board of various small corporations in the past decade. Rajiv's research work has appeared in the MIS Quarterly (MISQ), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS) and various peer reviewed conference proceedings.
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text: Simple urine tests for four proteins might be able to detect early kidney disease in people with lupus, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study. Although it might take years before such tests could be used clinically, the findings suggest they could pinpoint kidney disease better than tests currently in use, the researchers said. "Our goal was to accurately detect something in the urine that appears only in disease," said Dr. Chandra Mohan, professor of internal medicine and immunology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, available online and in today's issue of The Journal of Immunology. "If this testing regimen proves effective in humans, physicians might be able to predict and diagnose kidney damage noninvasively, as well as monitor whether treatments are working." Kidney disease is the major cause of death and disability in lupus patients, Dr. Mohan said. Early detection and treatment lead to a longer and better-quality life. The researchers found that in mice, four proteins protease, PGDS, SAP and SOD show up in larger quantities in urine as kidney damage progresses. Each of these proteins is either present in humans or has a human equivalent. The researchers currently are studying whether the same correlation between urinary protein levels and disease occurs in humans. Lupus is one of many autoimmune diseases that attack internal organs, tissues, joints and other parts of the body. The researchers focused on systemic lupus erythematosus affecting the kidneys, the most common and serious form of lupus. Currently, kidney damage in humans is detected by performing a kidney biopsy, Dr. Mohan said. A kidney biopsy involves taking a tissue sample with a needle, a process that is invasive and can be stressful to patients. In the current study, the researchers used mice that have a condition similar to human lupus. They screened urine for proteins both before and after the mice showed symptoms of kidney disease and found that 71 proteins appeared in urine after the illness became physically evident. The researchers then focused on four proteins that were present in high levels after symptoms appeared. These proteins or their analogs had not previously been known to be present in the urine of patients or mice with lupus kidney disease. Dr. Mohan said monitoring urinary levels of these four proteins might also reveal more about the mechanisms of lupus. Each protein is involved in a different biochemical process, so the stage of the disease at which each appears in urine might prove informative, he said. Testing for these proteins might also have the potential to monitor kidney damage that results from diabetes, hypertension and other conditions, said Dr. Mohan. Other UT Southwestern researchers participating in the study were Dr. Tianfu Wu, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Yuyang Fu, former postdoctoral fellow in internal medicine; Dr. Deirdre Brekken, adjunct assistant professor of pharmacology; research associate Mei Yan; Dr. Xin Jin Zhou, professor of pathology and internal medicine; research associate Kamala Vanarsa; research intern Nima Deljavan; and Dr. Chul Ahn, professor of clinical sciences. Dr. Chaim Putterman of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine also participated in this study. The research was supported by the Lupus Research Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center


text:
updated Sat 02-Jan-10
[Tours front page]
Welcome to the UK Steam Railtour pages. This is an unofficial list of scheduled steam-hauled excursions over Network Rail lines during 2009. The information is updated regularly, and is provided in good faith, but is not guaranteed accurate! No responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. Always check with the rail tour operator for current information, as tours are often cancelled or amended at short notice.
Comments, updates, corrections (or criticism) are very welcome. Please email to: webmaster at uksteam.info or by Fax to 08701-640942. A very special thanks to all those who have contributed information - especially details of planned tours, train times, and updates on main line locomotives. Please keep sending it !
|2008|Jan|Feb|Mar |Apr|May|Jun|Jul |Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov |Dec|2010|
|This week|
|Tour promoter details|
|Steam operating companies |
|Coaching stock|
haulage will be by diesel or electric locomotive)
are frequently changed and individual vehicles may often be swapped between sets.
Some trains may be formed with vehicles from two or more sets.
[Tours front page]
no responsibility can be taken for any errors or omissions.
Comments by email to: webmaster at uksteam.info


text:
There's a warming pleasure in being surprised by a long-time favorite movie that unexpectedly pops up on television. Such was my great good fortune when our Public Television station recently delivered an uncut and uninterrupted broadcast of Local Hero (1983. Oh, my. Almost thirty years ago), written and directed by Bill Forsyth.
Local Hero's plot setup deliberately and deliciously crosses us up. Knox Oil and Gas, a large and rapacious oil company based in Houston, sends out "Mac" McIntire, a hotshot young executive, to buy up an entire village – a remote beach town in Western Scotland – with plans of converting the area into a giant refinery.
Insulated from the corrupting effects of modern society, Ferness, sparkles with quaintness and "pixie dust." The village innkeeper, Gordon, is also the mayor and the town accountant (so he'll represent the town in the upcoming negotiation.) Though holding down three jobs, Gordon determinedly makes time for a startling number of romantic interludes with his spectacular wife, Stella.
So that's the set-up – an "all business" American, dispatched to an idyllic Scottish village, his heartless employers bent on turning the place into yet another venue for profit and pollution. This is the standard arrangement for a story in which "the People" band together and rise up in protest, to protect their pristine ecosystem and their cherished "Quality of Life."
The surprise twist in Local Hero?
The townspeople can't wait to sell out, a secret they must keep to themselves, in hopes of driving up the price.
The big "third act" obstacle is that beachcomber – and beach owner – Ben Knox (whose last name is mysteriously the same as the oil company's) refuses to sign off on the deal, preferring instead to hold onto, and continue "working", the beach.
Another major thread in the story is "Mac's'" gradual thawing and ultimate conversion to the Ferness lifestyle, to the point, where, while drunk, he proposes trading lives with Gordon, Gordon returning to an advancing career in Houston, and "Mac" inheriting Gordon's responsibilities, including Stella.
The story is fresh, fine and fun. But what captures my heart every time are the multiple quirkily delightful little touches Local Hero provides.
A few examples:
- Throughout the movie, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster), head of Knox Oil is continually hounded by a "psychologist", whose therapeutic approach involves verbally, and if Happer would let him, physically abusing his "patient", in hopes of curing his, unspecified, psychological difficulties.
- Ferness's spiritual leader is a black minister from Nigeria.
- Though the village is entirely traffic-free, whenever "Mac" crosses the town's only street, he gets perilously close to being run over by a driver on a motor scooter.
- A Marine biologist, aptly named Marina, may actually be a mermaid, a revealing "tell" – aside from her ability to remain under water for astonishing periods of time – being that at one point in the movie, she exposes distinctly webbed toes.
This leads to a wordless scene, in which we discover Danny, a youthful Scottish Knox Oil employee smitten with Marina, lying underwater in a bathtub.
Finally, Danny rises up, immediately checking a stopwatch, to determine how long he's remained submerged. Danny then takes a long, deep breath, and once again drops back beneath the surface, in an unexplained but understood attempt to develop underwater breathing capacities that will impress Marina.
- Victor, a middle-aged, Russian fisherman comes ashore on his annual visit, to reconnect with friends and also check on his, unashamedly capitalist, financial investments, dutifully managed by Gordon.
During the evening's communal gathering, Victor gets up to sing "his song", a country-and-western swing tune, whose first line which a thickly Russian-accented Victor energetically brays out is, "Yes, I was born to be a cowboy…"
The upbeat ending is a win for everyone, except perhaps "Mac", who is ordered back to Houston, with only a pocketful of seashells to remind him of the heaven-on-earth he has temporarily called home. Throw in the "Northern Lights", a meteor shower, and a primally haunting score by Mark Knofler (of "Dire Straights"), and you have a movie "critics have called" – I love that meaningless phrase – "whimsical", "wry", a "warm and deceptively slight comedy."
I call it magical, enchanting, funny, deeply satisfying and sublime. And I recommend it highly.
Unless you like noisier comedy.
In which case, I'd stay away.


text:
It's chibi time! Before I went live yesterday I was trying to contemplate what I could draw that would make for a cool and fun tutorial. As I started to go live I looked to the left and saw the word "Griffin" in the fantasy category. Did you know that there is only five gryphons in that section? Instead of drawing a new fantasy creature of the same concept, I thought it would be fun to show you guys "how to draw a chibi gryphon, step by step". The end result is a drawing that is extremely amazing and cute. The face is the best part about this fantasy chibi creature and I'm sure that you will all agree with me when I say that this is an epic lesson. Although most of the time drawing gryphons can be a bit complicated, this version is relatively easy. You can even turn this baby bird into a great Valentines Day gift by drawing hearts and adding some red to the pink background color. In general these bird hybrids are one of the most popular fantasy creatures around to this day. Another one of my favorite creatures is the phoenix and of course the unicorn. Maybe I will do a complete series of fantasy chibi characters. I mean wouldn't you think that drawing creatures of myth is an awesome concept to start? Anyways, that does it for this description. I will be back later with some more drawing fun. Peace out guys and keep flying high with colors in your eyes.
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text:
The Story of the Play
|"All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together."
-Jack Kerouac
|Deaf, dumb and blind boy
He's in a quiet vibration land.
Strange as it seems, his musical dreams
Ain't quite so bad.
-The Who
Howdy cast,
At last night's rehearsal, Anatoly told the full story of the play. Here it is:
Dr. Caligari is searching for immortality. He lost his wife in childbirth and never recovered from it. In a desperate moment, he strikes a deal with three witches for immortality. As everyone knows, witches never deal straight, and granted Caligari super-intelligence and told him that with this knowledge he could find immortality on his own. So began his research.
Caligari's son Cesare was troubled from birth. The boy cried everyday, and sobbed in his sleep every night. One night while dreaming of his mother, the boy realized he could end his suffering by joining her in death. He looked inwardly and convinced his body to die. He told first his pulse to slow, then his arms to go numb, then his breathing to slow. But the boy was not going to die.
Caligari was reading when a familiar noise left his ear: his son's crying. He discovered the dying boy and commanded him to stop this meditation. The boy, compelled by his father's hypnotism, could will himself no closer to death. Letting go of his conscious mind, Cesare fell into coma.
His son's attempted suicide sent Caligari into a deeper depression and mania. He lost his home and began wandering the streets carrying his shell of a son with him wherever he went. It was out of distorted love that he began parading his son in circus acts.
Then begins the play. These earlier events are discussed by three witches. The witches take some time to explain each principle character and the villagers as well. All characters of the village except the Old Woman who sits by the chapel are flawed soulless creatures destined for paralyzing Depression and Madness.
On Saturday evening, a girl, her father and her fiance go to the fair. The couple is to be wed the next day in the cathedral. They see a new booth at the fair and pay to enter the tent, "Synambulism, what's that?" Olympia, the girl, asks. They see Caligari strut out an old man. They seem him surge with life as he displays his son, a sleepwalker. They see this creature lurch from his coffin and point to Alan. Alan has been commanded to ask a question. "When will I die?" He whispers. "After the next moon," is the reply. Alan is deeply shaken, and abandons his fiancee and father-in-law to run to his home. The father goes after him, the girl stays for a moment.
Olympia is fascinated with the creature. She sees into his dreaming soul and falls in love. Caligari does all he can to resist their attraction. If they were to fall in love, he reasons, he would be left completely alone in the world. Caligari resolves to fulfill his son's prophecy and kill Alan, then leave the village before the relationship can progress.
At Alan's apartment, Caligari waits until everyone is asleep, then sets upon Alan. He commands sleepy Alan to destroy himself, and hands him a knife. Under the grip of mania, Alan cannot refuse. Alan doe! s not die, but runs from home and village into the wilderness. Caligari feels like he has won.
Alas, his son has spent the night wandering from his coffin. He searches for the soul of his love. They find each other in the streets and dance a soul dance.
The next day, Olympia and her father search for Alan. In his apartment, they find blood. The old woman knows where it leads and tries to tell them. They follow the blood to Caligari's tent, and beyond into the wilderness. Along the! way they are set upon by Caligari and Cesare. Olympia's father is driven mad. Instead of killing Olympia, Cesare attacks his father. Then he picks up the stunned Olympia and carries her further into the wilderness.
[–Church bells ring, the wedding is scheduled to begin, but the bride and groom are nowhere to be found. The gathered villagers begin murmuring rumors of murder and madness. An out-of-breath messenger arrives and tells the tale of the stolen bride and bloody groom, and of the madman's monster carrying her away. The villagers grab their pitchforks, torches, etc. and march toward Cesare.–]
Cesare is short of breath, he has been running for too long. Olympia comes to her senses and calmly asks to be set down. Cesare obliges, and they face each other. Olympia takes Cesare's head in her hands and kisses him. Cesare's eyes shift, then blink, then stare. He looks around, and then at her, then around then at her. Olympia says, "Cesare, may I ask you a question?" Cesare nods. Olympia says, "How long will you live?" He takes a great gasp, then falls to his knees. Olympia calmly watches Cesare die. Olympia loses her soul at this moment, and takes no notice of the villagers gather around her, asking if she is okay. They grab her arm and lead her back to the village chapel.
[–At the chapel Olympia shakes lose of her guardians an d yells at them. They chalk it up to the stress of the situation and leave her alone in the village square. She collapses sobbing by the old woman, who takes her hand and coos her to calmness. Caligari walks through the village square carrying his Cesare puppet in one arm, and suitcases in the other. He is going to leave town quietly. Olympia sees the puppet. She runs at Caligari, grabbing for the puppet while wailing and crying. Caligari will not give up the puppet and she will not let go of it. Their fight escalates and the villagers run out to them. They surround the fight and Caligari lashes out at each as they attempt to restrain him. His touch drives them mad. Finally he reaches to touch Olympia. Instead of going mad, she falls asleep. Caligari is all alone with the old woman in a village square littered with gibbering mad men. He picks up his puppet, his suitcase, then sets each down. He walks to the middle of the square and sits down quietly.–]
Fade to Black.
The lights come up on the madhouse. All villagers are present, including two senior and one novice nurse. They make the rounds to each mad character, and the senior nurses describe each madness. We find Olymipa and Alan dressed in torn wedding cloths, w! e find a policeman directing imaginary traffic, we find two prostitute s believing they are 5 years old, and we find Olympia's father there too. The nurses finish their rounds and leave the hospital, then slip out of their outfits back into gypsy robes. The laugh and cackle to themselves. As they leave the stage they stop to glare at the old woman, who has Cesare and Olympia's soul in each hand. They walk past the witches and into the House, then out the back of the theatre. "Mad, mad, we're all mad here." One witch says. "Well, they'll be alright." Says another witch pointing to the disappearing group. They cackle again, and the show fades to black.
MORALE OF THE PLAY: Without your soul, your body/mind will go nuts and eat itself.
This is the narrative that guides the play. Additional scenes can and will be developed.
[–The bracketed paragraph was not dictated from Anatoly. It just fills a plot hole.–]
Originally submitted February 25, 2009 by Assistant Director Brian Lyke
Tags: Anatoly, Antohin, Article, Assistant Director, Brian Lyke, Assistant Director, concept, director


text:
Google gave $25,000 to honor the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission while the search titan was under investigation by the agency for antitrust violations.
Google gave the money to Common Sense Media, an advocacy group, that gave an award to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz for his work helping children, according to Bloomberg News. Comcast, AOL and Goldman Sachs also contributed to the event.
However, at the same time, the FTC was investigating whether or not Google was violating its rules by favoring itself over other companies in its search results. The federal agency dropped the 20-month probe earlier this year, and Google volunteered to make changes.
U.S. & World
"It's a little bit odd that they're donating to Common Sense Media at the exact same time they're trying to influence Jon Leibowitz," Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Bloomberg. "It really looks terrible."
However, a Google spokeswoman said that Google has supported these organizations for the last five years and the investigation had nothing to do with its actions. Oddly enough, Leibowitz announced on Feb. 1 that he will be leaving the commission.
It seems odd to us that the FTC seemed lackadaisical about letting Google help pay for a party for its agency chief while it was under investigation. Perhaps this isn't unusual for the agency and perhaps we should be paying more attention to who is donating to such events.


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Bath Sub-Aqua Club is affiliated to the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC). The club currently has around 50 members of mixed ages and qualifications. The club meets every Wednesday evening at a local school pool and afterwards at 9pm in the Forester & Flower pub, Combe Down, Bath.
Diving is arranged for most weekends (weather permitting) off the Dorset and Devon Coast. Weekend trips and longer holidays are also arranged in Britain and abroad.
Full diver training is avaliable from total beginner to Advanced Diver level and for those who hold qualifications from other diving associations (PADI, NAUI, SAA) who wish to cross over to BSAC. Refresher courses can also be organised.
"Come and Try It" sessions can be arranged by appointment for individuals or groups of up to 4 at a time. To learn to dive or to attend a "Come and Try It" session you must be medically fit and over 18 years of age.
We have also put together this 'Welcome Pack' that gives more information about the club and our activities.
Club Dives
Routine club dives mainly take place from south coast locations such as: Plymouth, Weymouth, Lyme Regis, Kimmeridge and Penzance. If you have joined us as a qualified diver, or have completed your training, you are then free to attend any organised club dive (space permitting).
For trainees, training dives will be organised at a local venue known by club members as 'the pond' or a sheltered seaside location such as Plymouth, Weymouth or Kimmeridge. The pond is a local reservoir and when full it is has a max. depth of 13m. It is a good sheltered water location with a gently sloping base; much of the reservoir is at 6m or less. Unfortunately there is little to see but if you are lucky you may spot a trout!
The club carries out a wide range of diving from wreck dives through to night dives. Many divers dive for the pleasure of experiencing the underwater realm, but there are many other hobbies to pursue. For example:
- Underwater photography
- Underwater archaeology
- Wreck exploration
- Marine ecology and conservation
Finding Out More?
The first step is to explore this site further and the links to other diving resources found in it. The 'About the Club' section gives further information about the club, where we meet and how we are organised.
The 'Getting Started' section gives information on the training given, the equipment you will need to start diving amd the cost of training with us.


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MM9 is out now! some of our contest winners have already received their books, and we're getting great word-of-mouth. To add to the fun, we asked author Hiroshi Yamamoto if we could reprint the essay from his Japanese website on the topic of the MM9 universe, and the giant monsters—or kaiju—we all love. MM9 translator Nathan Collins translated the essay also added some handy annotations for non-Japanese. Check it out!
The World of MM9
by Hiroshi Yamamoto
translated and with annotations by Nathan Collins
This is a world just like ours except for one difference—kaiju. Periodically, giant monsters attack populated areas and leave many victims. In this world, destructive kaiju are considered natural disasters, the same as earthquakes or typhoons.
In Japan, a section of the Meteorological Agency known as the Monsterological Measures Department, or MMD, stands against the Kaiju threat.
The men and women of the MMD never fire weapons, as battling the kaiju is the role of the Japan Self-Defense Force. Instead, the MMD's cause is to prevent disaster, by hurrying to the scene, uncovering the monsters' true nature, exploring potential countermeasures, and predicting the paths of the kaiju.
Their work is thankless, with heavy criticism from the outside world, as inaccurate forecasts sometimes lead to people ending up in harm's way. But their efforts have undoubtedly saved the lives of many Japanese.
MM stands for Monster Magnitude, a scale of kaiju size. Any monsters over MM5 pose a natural threat to humanity, and upon nearing a populated area may be terminated unconditionally.
MM8 signifies a body volume equivalent to 1,600 to 4,000 tons of water. In the archetypal bipedal reptilian monster, this would equal a body length of between 40 and 50 meters. The largest recorded kaiju in history was an MM8.9.
An MM9-class kaiju has never been confirmed by modern monsterological science, only mentioned within ancient legends and unreliable eyewitness accounts.
The seeds for this story came over twenty-five years ago, from a silly conversation I was having with a friend, who was a tokusatsu [live-action movies and TV featuring special effects] genre geek.
The question came up: "Who names kaiju, anyway?"
Week in and week out, new kaiju appeared in tokusatsu TV shows like the Ultra Series. Some of the giant monsters were named for reasons made apparent in the episode, for example: Kurumanikurasu hated cars [kurima = car; nikumu = to hate] or Gomes's scientific name was Gometeus. But other names seemed to have just been doled out to the creatures.
Take Kaiteigagan from Ultraman Ace. There's no scene where the monster is named, yet everyone calls it Kaiteigagan. Who gave it a name like that? Yapool [the series' antagonist]? Someone in the TAC [Terrible-Monster Attacking Crew]?
Then the answer popped into my head: "It's gotta be the Meteorological Agency."
In a world where kaiju appear every week, the people would surely regard the monsters as though they were natural disasters. A kaiju forecast might even be broadcast at the end of the evening news. The first kaiju of the year would be called Kaiju One and eventually be assigned a name. Talking about it, my friend and I became animated.
I always kept that silly discussion in the back of my mind, wanting to use it in some form, some day.
The other hint for my story came from a doujinshi [self-published] series called M-HUNTER. In the world of M-HUNTER, giant monsters and space aliens were commonplace (although there's no Ultraman). The stories follow the Hunters, who specialize in the capturing and killing of kaiju, and I enjoyed seeing familiar kaiju appear in unexpected roles.
M-HUNTER inspired me to want to write more, but the series had well covered the kaiju hunter setting. Then I realized I could write not about the people who killed kaiju, but rather about the people whose jobs were to counteract the monsters.
This novel, MM9, is a heavily-revised compilation of serialized short stories originally published in the mystery periodical Mysteries!
When I first proposed the stories to my editor, I was turned down. The editor said, "This is a mystery magazine." Accepting that, I made my next submission more mystery-like.
But soon after, I received the issue and was surprised at what I saw. They had printed a mystery with a time machine by Taku Ashibe, and a science fiction piece with a robot by Hiroe Suga!
When I protested, "Why are time machines and robots acceptable but not kaiju?" I was given the okay without any further trouble. You never know until you ask. Thusly I accomplished the heroic feat of getting a kaiju story into a mystery magazine.
At the time, I only had two stories conceptualized. As I tried to come up with more, I was really worried about what I would do. I ended up writing each piece while still thinking of the plot ahead.
For some time I had been dissatisfied with the dearth of kaiju fiction, especially when compared with the large number of kaiju movies and kaiju fans. Even among light novels, kaiju are rare—even though the novels are filled with main characters using superpowers or supernatural abilities to defeat monsters, and with giant robot battles.
What surprised me when talking to people from the generation after me—people who grew up in the 80s and 90s—was that they felt almost no connection to the Ultra Series or kaiju. Having never watched the real thing, their knowledge of kaiju or Ultraman comes only from The Science Fiction Textbook [a popular book series examining the science of science fiction works]. So to them, kaiju seemed ridiculous.
Tokyo turned into a sea of fire by the first Godzilla, Tokyo Tower snapped apart by Mothra, Fukuoka devastated by Rodan, the pure cool of King Ghidrah's destructive beam, the horror of Hedorah, and the great tornado summoned by Seamons and Seagoras…Any who never experienced these scenes on the tube or the screen can't possibly imagine the sense of wonder contained within those moments, and how they excited us and filled us with fear.
Kaiju are ridiculous? Then so are giant robots and super powers and time travel and the sinking of Japan! Aren't silly settings entertaining because they are written with a serious approach?
As I wrote, the biggest questions I had yet to answer were: "Why do giant monsters exist when science states they shouldn't?" and, "Why is the history of this world exactly like our own?" A world where kaiju have always existed couldn't possibly have exactly the same history as ours. But I had decided to write the story with a straight approach, and I didn't want to ignore those points.
That's why I introduced the fictional parallel anthropic principle, which ended up being very useful. I was happy myself when everything held together through the end.
[Warning: the following are notes on each section of the book and will be best enjoyed after reading. Plot spoilers ahead!]
Part 1: Crisis! Kaiju Alert!
A SDF submarine collides with a kaiju in the waters of Ogasawara. The kaiju—possibly an MM9—is confirmed heading for eastern Japan. If the monster is allowed to reach land, Japan could see devastation equal to the great disaster of 1923. Ryo Haida and the MMD Mobile Unit hurries to the kaiju's location.
This is the first story, a simple introduction to the setting and our characters. After I wrote this, I read Hiro Arikawa's The Bottom of the Sea, and became depressed by the overlap between our stories. To make things worse, hers was more interesting.
Part 2: Danger! Girl at Large!
A twenty-meter-tall girl has appeared near Gifu City—she is Kaiju Six, codenamed Princess. She can't understand our speech and is too large to hold in custody. The MMD agonizes over whether to give the order to kill. Meanwhile, a cultist plot lurks behind the scenes.
The seed for this story came from Ultraman Tiga's "Monster Zoo." I hated that episode, hated it. It made me think, "If you have that useful a power, why didn't you ever use it on other kaiju!"
[In "Monster Zoo," a giant mutated mole-rat kaiju appears at a zoo, but is seemingly docile. GUTS forces, taking pity on the creature, decide not to kill the kaiju until the creature makes an aggressive move. At nightfall, the kaiju's eyes turn red and its fangs grow, and the giant monster turns violent. Ultraman Tiga battles the kaiju, but as he is about to deliver the killing blow, Officer Rena yells for him to stop. Tiga then sends out a cellular transformation beam that tames the kaiju and shrinks it down to normal size. The creature joins the other animals in the zoo.]
I like that they approached the issue, but I think you mustn't run away from the conclusion. Creatures that endanger the lives of many must be killed, no matter how tragic it seems. Actually, the episode of Ultraman Taro with King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise takes on this theme with more sincerity (even if the ending is fairy tale).
[The two kaiju and their offspring are victim to poachers and betrayed by the military, but in the end, Ultraseven is able to bring the only two survivors, King Tortoise and Mini Tortoise, to a safe place in outer space.]
Another inspiration was C.L. Cottrell's novelette, "Danger! Child at Large." It's one of my favorite SF works, a suspenseful story about a young girl with incredible super powers who escapes a secret military lab. The title to this section is a reference to this novelette.
At first, I had a different ending for this section, but as I developed Princess's tale, I realized I could use her to foreshadow the final story. I know I'll get criticism that I'm "too soft," or that I'm a "writer of convenience," but I find the story believable, and I hope the exciting finale will earn me forgiveness from my readers.
I made Gifu City the setting because I went there with my family when I was invited to a science-fiction convention. The Mobile Unit first encounters Princess behind the hotel where we stayed.
Part 3: Menace! Attack of the Flying Kaiju!
In early 2006, a kaiju flies to Japan across the Sea of Japan—Kaiju One, Glowbat. Because the monster is only a MM1.5, the MMD are off guard. But a shocking discovery reveals that this kaiju is not going to be easy to deal with. Meanwhile, Ryo is off-duty, enjoying an evening with his date…
I wrote this story specially for the novel.
I had four elements I wanted to include when writing this piece:
1) Ryo is supposed to be the main character, but he doesn't stand out, so make the story feature his efforts.
2) Write about the daily lives of the members of the MMD, which I hadn't been able to get to in the serials.
3) Present a flying kaiju.
4) Explain to the reader that the world contains not only kaiju but yokai.
Putting those four elements together, I got the story of Ryo, off-duty, getting drawn into a kaiju incident.
In truth, through each installment of this series, I put less thought into how each kaiju would be defeated as I did into how to make it difficult to defeat each kaiju. If the SDF were able to launch an all-out attack, a smaller kaiju would be defeated easily. In order to make the stories more interesting, I needed to create situations where they couldn't be attacked without due care. The same is true in this section as in part two with Princess, part four with Megadrake, and part five with XXXXXX.
Glowbat is a kind of kaiju that used to appear frequently but has recently not been given much screen time in Japanese TV shows. I wanted to at least give it a place in the novel. I pictured Glowbat not as live-action costume kaiju but rather a Harryhausenesque stop-motion animation monster.
Also, I was allowed to tour the back halls of The National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, which was a great help in the writing of this section. For security purposes, I've changed the layout a little bit from the real version.
Part 4: Scoop! Twenty-Four Hours with the MMD!
A documentary crew comes to the MMD. Chief Kurihama is worried about making a mistake on camera. From Suita, Osaka come reports Kaiju 5, Megadrake, from Suita, Osaka.
From the start I had the idea to have a TV crew come in. I also needed this section to insert an explanation of the parallel anthropic principle through Yuri's dialogue.
But I had some struggle coming up with the concept for the kaiju itself. After all, an unconventional monster would be more interesting. Then I had the thought that not there haven't been many notable plant kaiju, and I created Megadrake.
Before I started writing the story, I tried to draw the monster to solidify an image in my head.
Normally, the focus of plant kaiju is on the aboveground portion, but I went the opposite route and made the roots take the majority of the kaiju's body. I thought of the design so it could be made into a kaiju suit and worn, not that the decision mattered for anything. I didn't retain the mandrake form, but well, kaiju are like that.
I wanted to scout for locations for this section, but I didn't have time for a scouting trip, and instead made do with the area around the Midosuji Line's Esaka Station, only a twenty-minute walk from my house. It felt good to destroy a place I knew well.
Part 5: Arrival! The Colossal Kaiju of the Apocalypse!
A MM9-class many-headed dragon is discovered dormant beneath the ground on Kojin Island in the Seto Sea. Is the monster the legendary Yamata-no-Orochi? Faced with the impending danger of unprecedented catastrophe, the MMD goes on full alert, while a mysterious organization makes its move. The curtain rises upon a great kaiju battle to determine the fate of the world!
This is the final section.
The novel had heretofore been limited because I couldn't let the kaiju go on too big a rampage. One of the kaiju causing great damage would mean a defeat for the MMD.
But thinking that the climax needed a colossal kaiju running amok, I ended up with this story.
I had the idea from the beginning of the series that the final kaiju would be Yamata-no-Orochi [an eight-headed dragon of Japanese myth], but when I tried to draw what the monster looked like, I couldn't come up with anything good.
When I went to design the kaiju, I imagined King Ghidrah, but the monster's elegant design relied on the balance of its giant wings. Without the wings, the kaiju's torso was too long and appeared lacking. When I thought about it, I realized that The Birth of Japan [a 1959 fantasy epic featuring a battle between Susano-o (Toshiro Mifune) and Yamata-no-Orochi] and The Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon [a 1963 animated feature film] almost exclusively depicted Yamata-no-Orochi's necks, and almost never showed the monster's full body. But with wings, the Orochi would simply be King Ghidrah.
After much worry, I revised the plot to contain a kaiju that looked like Yamata-no-Orochi but was different. After dozens of sketches, I placed something besides wings on the kaiju's back, providing balance and impact to the design. For the monster's backstory, I stitched together pieces of Japanese lore and biblical stories and Greek legend [and a dash of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu!], but I'm personally pleased with my preposterous explanation of Susano-o and the slaying of the giant serpent.
I scouted the location for the last battle, Kobe Port Island, just before the amusement park was closed down. As I wrote in the book, the park closed in March, 2006, and is currently being torn down.
Other References
I wouldn't go so far as to call MM9 an homage to the Ultra Series, but there are homages to that and other special-effects works scattered throughout. Almost every mention of a historical kaiju attack references something.
For example, the Great Kanto Kaiju Disaster of 1923 was of course modeled on Godzilla. Eve was from Reptilicus, Eugene from Gorgo, Ray from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Glenn from The Amazing Colossal Man, Allison from The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Arnold from Tarantula, and Niuhi from Gamera vs. Jiger. I've mixed together bits and pieces from the kaiju and special-effects movies I've seen, including Them!, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Deadly Mantis, Ultra Q, Spectreman, and on and on. Note that for purposes of the novel, the dates of each kaiju's appearance don't match up with each film's release date.
As for the names of the author Hideyo Tomono or Dr. Akihiko Inamoto, anyone who is a special-effects fan will immediately know who they are. [Actors Hideyo Amamoto and Akihiko Hirata, perhaps?]
But this kind of pastiche is not only for fun. I think if you read to the end, you'll see the book has meaning. At the very least, I'm extremely satisfied with what I was able to write.
This is love!


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graph courtesy of O'Reilly Media, Bernard Golden,
and Sourceforge.net
A new O'Reilly Radar report dubbed "Open Source in the Enterprise" points out the exponential growth that has been shown in the popularity of open source over the past few years. Many companies are starting to use open source software such as OpenOffice as a replacement for costly alternatives like Microsoft's Office 2007, and Linux is starting to shift to the general market more and more, becoming less and less of a "geek thing". Apache is still at the top of the web server charts, running the servers of 51% of the top 100 US websites.
O'Reilly suggests at least six reasons for this massive increase in the popularity of open source. These include the ease of scaling and agile nature that open source products most often have and the reduced amount of comittment and vendor lock-in that users receive. The report also says that the cost is also a great factor, because anyone would use free solutions over paid ones if they were of similar quality. Finally, the quality and security of open source, as well as the diversity of development locations are credited for open source's jump.
Further reading
- Found via The Open Road: O'Reilly study uncovers multiple reasons for open source's impressive rise
- O'Reilly Radar: Open Source in the Enterprise
- The Register: Apache rules web server landscape


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Boost Your Self Confidence By Purchase Choices?
Someone who has momentarily lost confidence in her intelligence is more likely to purchase a pen than a candy bar, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The pen helps restore her belief in herself as an intelligent person.
Authors Leilei Gao (Chinese University of Hong Kong), S. Christian Wheeler, and Baba Shiv (both Stanford University) look at how subtle manipulations such as having someone write with his or her non-dominant hand can measurably reduce a person's self-confidence. The authors call this the "shaken self," and believe it persists until the person is able to do, acquire, or think about something that restores the self-confidence.
"We show that threats to an important self-view can momentarily shake one's confidence in that particular self-view, resulting in the choice of products that help restore confidence in that self-view," write the authors.
In one of the studies, the researchers asked participants to write about health-conscious behaviors with their dominant or non-dominant hands. Then some of the participants wrote essays about the most important value in their lives (an activity designed to restore confidence). All participants assessed their moods and self-esteem levels and then chose between a healthy snack (an apple) and an unhealthy snack (candy bar). Participants whose confidence was shaken (by not using their dominant hand) who didn't get to self-affirm with the essay were more likely to choose the healthy snack—to restore their health-conscious confidence.
The authors focused their research on the "shaken confidence" phenomenon in people who were generally self-confident rather than people who chronically lack self-confidence.
"Specifically, we show that the effects of lowered self-view confidence on consumer choice can be eliminated by both direct self-view bolstering strategies (for example, purchasing products to restore the specific shaken self-dimension) as well as indirect strategies (for example, affirming an unrelated self-value)," write the authors.
Journal of Consumer Research, June 2009 print edition: 081204152434010 DOI: 10.1086/596028
The "Shaken Self": Product Choices as a Means of Restoring Self‐View Confidence.
Leilei Gao, S. Christian Wheeler, Baba Shiv
The present research shows that when a confidently held self‐view (e.g., "I am an exciting person") is temporarily cast in doubt, individuals are motivated to choose products that bolster their original self‐view (e.g., choosing brands with exciting brand personalities). The findings across three studies suggest that subtle manipulations can temporarily "shake" one's self‐view confidence, resulting in an increased propensity of choosing self‐view‐bolstering products in a subsequent choice task. The consequences of the "shaken self" for product choices are examined in different self‐domains. The findings also suggest that the effects of the shaken self are attenuated when individuals have the opportunity to restore their self‐view confidence prior to the final choice task.


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About NRSB
The mission of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board is to (1) provide an open forum for discussion, and (2) organize and oversee studies on safety, security, technical efficacy, and other policy and societal issues arising from the application of nuclear and radiation-based technologies, including:
- Exposure to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, including assessments and amelioration of biological, health, and other effects.
- Generation, use, remediation, and disposition of nuclear materials and radioactive (including mixed) wastes.
- Malevolent uses of nuclear and radiation-based technologies.
- Risks, benefits, and/or efficacies of nuclear and radiation-based applications, including medical applications.
The board also supports the participation of the United States in the Radiation Effects Research Foundation and sponsors the annual Gilbert W. Beebe Symposium on radiation health effects.


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The Yomen spring celebration is one of many traditional acknowledgements and celebrations of the natural cycles of the earth by the local Native Peoples. If you knew what to look for, each season brought a new opportunity for bounty from the ever changing living landscape. Throughout the morning and afternoon of this event, various California Indian traditionalists provide dancing, storytelling and singing to celebrate the coming of spring, a welcome time of new growth and the guarantee of fresh foods and warmer weather. Explore the Historic Site with guided tours, every hour. Petroglyphs, hundreds of bedrock mortars and a large midden area accentuate the story of the Nisenan People who thrived on this land for thousands of years. Other activities make it a great event for the whole family. Children's activities include bracelet making, petroglyph rubbings, a scavenger hunt, and acorn pounding. The Museum itself provides a glimpse into the cultural and material life of the Maiduan people with dozens of exhibits and interactive displays. Throughout the museum, demonstrators show how traditional skills are still being practiced, creating tools and crafts that would provide all life's needs in a Nisenan village. In the shade of an ancient oak, traditional Native artists exhibit their unique items for sale. When you get hungry, you will have many choices of foods, beverages and treats. This is a free community event at Maidu Museum & Historic Site.
Sacramento4Kids is an online family resource guide for kids within the Greater Sacramento area. From Events, Arts & Music, Birthday Parties, Camps, Child Care, Classes, Deals, Discounts, Schools, Field Trips, Health Providers, Kids Eat Free venues, Places To Go, Sports, and for Special Needs children.
9245 Laguna Springs Dr.
Suite 200
Elk Grove CA 95758


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Hear Erika Wennerstrom's powerful, emotive rock band perform songs from its latest album, Arrow.
Heartless Bastards On World Cafe
Set List
- "Parted Ways"
- "Got To Have Rock And Roll"
- "Simple Feeling"
- "Skin And Bone"
The Cincinnati band Heartless Bastards is led by Erika Wennerstrom, whose husky vocals have fueled the group's progression into a powerhouse rock force on its fourth studio album, Arrow. The new record marinates in all that is classic rock — catchy hooks, big riffs, a powerful voice — but also sets itself apart with Wennerstrom's distinct voice.
That said, Arrow's strength doesn't just come from Wennerstrom. After many lineup changes in the last decade, the band's new-found cohesiveness has played a part. Arrow was written fresh off a month-long tour to best capture the group's live sound; its songs will no doubt continue to morph as Heartless Bastards' members make their way across the country on a spring tour.


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PS Mobile
Sony opens public preview of Unity for PlayStation Mobile development
Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that starting today, a public preview of Unity for PlayStation Mobile will be made available.
PS Mobile headlines
PS Mobile users get free Bike Rider DX and Rock Boshers DX today
PlayStation Mobile users can download Bike Rider DX and Rock Boshers DX free of charge today.
Forevolution releases on PS Mobile & PS Vita
Forevolution is the latest game to join the PS Mobile family. It's a real-time strategy game starring a host of weird and wonderful creatures, all depicted in a colourful comic book art style.
Sony handing out a free PS Mobile game each week for six weeks
Sony has announced it will be giving away one free free PlayStation Mobile game per week for the next six weeks in North America. The freebies start today with Samurai Beatdown, the side-scrolling slash-em-up. To get your free game, load up the PlayStation Mobile Store on PS Vita or PlayStation Certified Device. A new game […]
Lemmings is back for PS Mobile
The first 30 levels of the latest version of Lemmings are available for free for phone, tablet and PS Vita.