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Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Cata 10/25 Difficulty Balance Issues: Addendum
Here're my thoughts on the matter:
Healer/Tank/Raid ratio:
The relative tank/healer/total-raid-size ratio is different for each raid size. Currently, 10s run either a 1/1 per party or 1/1.5 per party ratio (2-3 healers); 25-mans run between a 0.4/1 per party to 0.12/1.4 per party ratio (2-3 tanks, 5-7 healers). Simply put, there are more available healers than tanks per party in a 25-man raid, allowing for more focused tank-healing without that tank's healer having to worry about raid-healing at the same time. To give an example, 2 healers in a 10-man with two tanks each have a tank to heal AND the rest of the raid, while in a 25 they will have the raid-healing job taken over by 3-4 other players, in addition to some extra hots, bubbles, splash-heals, cooldowns, etc. to help with the tank healing from the raid-healers.
Why does this matter? Well, when gear and raid buffs are homogenized in Cataclysm, the tanks should, in most cases, have the same health pool regardless of their raid size. Damage from the boss will have to be balanced with consideration towards how many healers (in terms of HpS) will have their sole attention on the tank... and to some extent, how many raw healers there are in the raid who have tank-saving cooldowns available to help out in emergencies. Otherwise, if it's the same damage to match the same tank stats, then having more healers available to help that tank in the 25-man (or even just having the complete focus of one healer who doesn't have to OT or raid heal as well) will make it seem easier than in the 10-man. Similarly, designing the boss to do more damage in the 25 (to counteract the higher concentration of healers and cooldowns) will make the tank seem squishier than in the 10, and run a higher risk of a tank being one-shot in the 25 when they could've taken the hit in a 10.
There are other ways to counter this, however: the 25 could require more concurrent tanks (be it by adds or damage-sharing links like Lana'thel/Marrowgar), or adds may do more damage in a 25 than in a ten (requiring more attention from the 25-healer and letting the ten-healer do raid heals in conjunction with healing the add tank), or raid damage could be made more avoidable in the ten, freeing up the "raid healing" to allow those healers to focus on their tanks while keeping the raid healers busy in the 25.
It may also be that 3 healers becomes the accepted standard for raid-balance purposes on 10-man fights (as it has leaned more heavily towards in ICC with 10-strict guilds), allowing at least one healer as a "raid healer" who can cross-heal while allowing each tank a more focused healer of their own, and mechanics in 25s could be made to consume the higher number of available cooldowns to balance them out.
It's stuff like this that makes me happy I'm not the developer/designer tweaking these mechanics :)
~~Please read the comments for further discussion on the topic, as many great points have been raised! ~~
25 comments:
Tanks in a 10 man and a 25 man will not have the same gear... at least not initially.
25 mans will be designed to drop more loot badges whatever, and 25 man raiders will ALWAYS gear up faster then 10 man raiders. This will help with this very problem as well as try to keep people raiding 25's that already are.
Granted at the end of an instance's life, raiders will be the same, but at that point, the difficulty disparity won't be as much of a problem.
Assuming a similar loot table on each boss as there is now, 25 man raiders will gear up at least 1.5 times as fast as a 10 man. Probably twice as fast on average if the rumors are true with the loot drop numbers.
At the start of an instance, whether the first raid, or subsequent raids, serious raiders will more or less be balanced again gear wise, and then we start again.
All this means is that initial bosses will need to be easy intro like bosses for both 10 and 25. (The lower Citadel in ICC for example) and increase in difficulty as it does now.
That means 25 man raids can have bosses that hit harder without making them feel like they are getting RNG'd. Not to mention the ICC debuff mechanic can scale in 10's differently then on 25's....
It's not going to be as big of a deal as people think I don't think.
- May 4, 2010 at 2:46 PM
- Kae said...
Excellent points, all, but I think the gearing-speed differential will really just impact how quickly the guild is able to progress. Some may view difficulty as being told by the speed of progression, but would everyone accept this? I can easily see great numbers of raiders crying foul if a 10-man is made easier than a 25 just because the 25 gears more quickly, and it would go against Blizzard's promised "equal difficulty" in terms of raw mechanics.
Maybe instead of raw mechanics, they will base the difficulty on how many times a similarly skilled group of players (with the same strat) wipes on the fight before they defeat it.
A lot of players have been insisting that they need a bigger carrot to continue running 25s, but I do agree with you that if they're set up to gear more quickly, the 25s will progress faster, assuming skill being equal.
- May 4, 2010 at 2:59 PM
- Mark said...
Equalizing the ilvls of the gear was probably the biggest mistake of the proposed change, and if they switch it back to how it is currently they will solve a lot of issues with the new system. It's entirely redundant to the shared lockout since people are only going to be getting one or the other set of loot anyway.
Effectively, ilvl won't matter since each raid is tuned around the gear that drops in the instance anyway. The only reason it's an issue now is because it lets 25-man raiders steamroll the 10s with better gear, and because the itemization between the two sizes is different. With a shared lockout and loot table, this isn't an issue anymore.
Really, ilvl is completely irrelevant if you're only raiding one raid size; gear's only purpose is to make you more capable of completing the content that you are working on. That's probably the reason why Blizzard is just making them equal ilvls in the first place. The problem is that it ignores the psychological advantage of having them be separate, which I like to call the "Zomg Bigger Numbers" draw of 25-man raiding. With disparate ilvl gear, they could also get around the need to further incentivize 25-mans since they can just say "Well, your gear is better".
- May 4, 2010 at 4:05 PM
- Mark said...
To further clarify, different ilvls of gear means that *all* the numbers are different (health, damage, healing), so there isn't an easy direct comparison between the two raid sizes. It effectively nullifies comparisons like the one in the OP.
- May 4, 2010 at 4:12 PM
I agree with you Rul. Sharing lockouts would be the simplest method. Though, in past experience people are drawn to 25mans simply due to the higher iLvl. maybe making the 10man people feeling less important.
Keeping the same iLvl between 10s & 25s means they don't have to create as many pieces of gear. Also for encounter purposes they would increase boss hp, and increase rate of dmg on the raid. If all mobs HP is proportionally the same for potential dps output then the encounters may be able to be constructed more easily.
Not saying Blizzard is being lazy, but perhaps more efficient :)
- May 4, 2010 at 4:33 PM
More efficient means more encounters? Which keeps everyone happier.
- May 4, 2010 at 4:34 PM
- Kae said...
Yeah, it's not like the raid-difficulty balancing is new... it's just being brought (dragged out with much screaming) into the sunlight with Cataclysm, like a monster hiding under the bed that many 25-man raiders insisted wasn't real: reality was that they usually just didn't care, since they got their best loot from the larger raid. Now it's being stuffed into a specimen jar and studied under microscopes.
OS-3Drakes. 'Nuff said. :)
- May 4, 2010 at 4:42 PM
- Kae said...
Oh, I did want to point out that they've said raids can alter their size between 10 and 25 within a single lockout week, the same way we can alter difficulty now.
I'm curious what this will do in terms of achievements and "ten-strict," and makes me wonder if having 10-strict in cataclysm will actually still be valid... as 25-man guilds who are earning gear more quickly swoop in and kill a boss on ten man for whatever reason: be it missing raiders that week, or deciding to split their 35 raiders into 3 teams for the week, subbing in alts to flesh out some groups as needed, or even saying "hey you guys fail at standing in fire, we best ten are gonna kick you out and kill this one boss by ourselves."
- May 4, 2010 at 4:51 PM
- Mark said...
That on-the-fly size switching is the only justification for keeping the gear identical between the two.
Really, when you break it down, ilvl is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors to begin with -- the current content is always balanced around the current gear. Higher tiers of gear do two things: 1) Make all older content easier and 2) Make characters who have completed more content more powerful than newer characters, neither of which have any bearing on progression content.
Honestly, I really like the fact that 10-strict consists of people who understand that lower ilvl gear is irrelevant. It really helps separate the wheat from the chaff.
- May 4, 2010 at 5:38 PM
- Mark said...
In other words, instead of just incentivizing 25-man raiders to run 25-man raids, they should also be *disincentivizing* 25-man raiders from running 10-man raids. The current system doesn't do that at all (if anything it's the opposite) and I'm not convinced that the proposed system does it to the appropriate degree either.
- May 4, 2010 at 5:43 PM
- Mark said...
Heh, this is becoming a bit of a Vortex roundtable. I'd be interested to see what other 10-strict raiders' thoughts on the matter are :)
- May 4, 2010 at 5:51 PM
- Hana said...
I'm a 10-man strict raider, Rul, and while I was surprised about the shared loot table for Cataclysm, it doesn't bother me.
If I was solely in it for the gear I wouldn't be doing strict. =P The only time gear bothers me is when a 25-man raider makes fun of one of my raiders for having inferior gear.
Come Cataclysm that won't happen anymore.
- May 4, 2010 at 8:23 PM
I am not sure what blizzard is trying to do here. Whether it is just make things easy on themselves or trying to get raiding down to 10 mans, but I just don't see people wanting to do 25's without better incentives than they can get from 10m.
I lead a strict 10 guild and I love it because it allows all the content without the hassle of an extra 15 people. No need for dkp or loot drama and less people to have to please. So when you take away the 1 reason ppl raid 25's (better gear) I fail to see why anyone would do it.
Honestly I think they should do this. Allow for separate tiered raids 10 and 25 like they are now but put restrictions on them. You cannot get into a 10m raid with 25m gear on. That would allow us strict 10's to still do what we do and the 25s can still do what they do. But no longer will they just get their 25m gear and roflstomp their way through content. At least not as easily. A 25 man would still have an advantage because they could practice encounters in 25 and then do it in 10m but at least they have to do it in 10m gear.
Regardless it will be interesting to see how this plays out through Beta and into live.
- May 5, 2010 at 3:11 AM
- Mark said...
See, Hana, that's the part that I actually like. I love it when 25-man raiders snub 10-strict people for having inferior gear because I find it really amusing because of how irrelevant it is. I might just have a different perspective on it though since I did progression 25-mans most of the way through Ulduar before switching over to 10-strict and I know firsthand how much more difficult 10-strict raids are and how much better the players are in comparison (all else, such as schedules, being equal).
I was actually lamenting to Attack earlier tonight about how much mudflation really ruins parts of the game. I was doing Heroic UP (Hail to the King, Baby!) and the tank quit (a dps stood in whirlwind and died zomgragequit!) and I had to spend 5 minutes convincing the group all wearing 232+ ilvl gear to just pull trash without a tank. We did it and, not surprisingly, no one took enough damage to drop below 80% health. Unfortunately we ended up getting another tank before I could try to do the last boss, but we probably could have handled that as well. It's disappointing how risk averse the general WoW playerbase is, especially when they've been afforded gear to create these types of fun challenges for themselves. Since when is dying in a video game while attempting something challenging a big deal? Some of my fondest memories in WoW involve 2- and 3-manning low level dungeons at the appropriate level range (pre-BoA gear). It was tough and took forever, but damn did it make you think up creative solutions to content you'd normally steamroll over. Heck, my very, very first dungeon run back in May 2005 involved myself (priest), a warlock (some nub now known as Nazantia) and a rogue tank. We probably didn't know any better at the time, but we went in and cleared it despite our quest greens and total nubbery (we used a VW tank at one point. Seriously). Anyway, this is getting really tangential for a comment, so I'll stop it here. I just really blew me away how passive players of this game have become over the years.
- May 5, 2010 at 6:01 AM
- Kae said...
WotLK's "tank-and-AoE" paradigm has also coddled players quite a bit. I'm rather excited (in a cruel sort of way) to see the complaints on difficulty fly back and forth as mechanics like CC on trash pulls and raid repositioning become more common than they are in this expansion.
I like a challenge... I don't want to be handed my candy by just saying "please." Well, figuratively speaking.
- May 5, 2010 at 9:28 AM
I want to point out something.
I am in it for the gear. I am in it for the gear so we can defeat things, so I can feel amazing about accomplishing something that felt impossible.
As a tank i want the best gear I can possibly get since it only makes every encounter easier.
Having said that, I am NOT in it for the gear when it comes to character epeen and all of that bull crap that goes along with folks who are loot whores. My quest for gear is simply a means to an end. A way to kill bosses easier. There is an important distinction.
I was never jealous of 25 man raiders and their higher iLvl gear, since I was happy with obtaining the best gear I can within the 10's. It makes no real difference to me if 10's and 25's have different ilvl gear as long as 25's can't go into 10's and steamroll the place and saying.. "Hey you 10 strict guild you suck look, we're ahead of you in progression." ZOMGNERDRAGE!!!!!!111!!11oneone
The only thing that pissed me off about 10's and 25's is the lack of Shineys. Blizz treated 10's as second class citizens with rewards.
Hello Mimirons head, Legendarys, invincible.
Frankly, it's only those shineys that made me jealous about 25 man raiding. Yes ... we put in all that hard work on yogg+0, and got... a tentacle ... trinket... yay?
Sure, say what you will. It's about the accomplishment, and it was. There's no reason for us to go and do Yogg+0 aside from accomplishment... cuz the reward sucks!
Tangent back to the point of this topic. And I will be brief.
I don't care what ilvl my gear is come the Xpac. Just give us the same risk vs reward, with the same shinies. Give us the same loot. I don;t care if it is slighly lower ilvl, but just don't make the difference in ilevel be equivalent to a whole tier upgrade in power between 10's and 25's. That's just silly. If it will be the same ilvl. Give the 25 mans something else to keep them in 25's so I can stop swimming in their tears. Give then an incentive. How about an extra boss per instance that drops the same kind of gear, (perhaps a guarantee of an extra tier token or 3 per raid-lockout) so it always makes them psychologically 1 step ahead of 10 mans in progression. Oooh Ahh.. a boss 10's cant get! SHINEY!
As long as it's not an important end boss, i don;t think 10's will be pissed about it.
- May 5, 2010 at 9:51 AM
I'm expecting:
- 3 tank encounters to be the standard in 25 man, with some requiring even more
- more of the tank-switch-and-dot mechanics, such as the Gormok bleed
- hopefully less of the damage-split mechanics (saber-lash), which reduce your OTs to /follow bots
Additionally, I've very interested to see how the holy paladin beacon mechanic turns out, and the different effects this change has on 10 vs. 25. It's clear the intent is they will not be able to float 2 tanks on their own anymore.
- May 5, 2010 at 10:54 AM
- Mark said...
Yeah, Alyae, that's pretty much spot on the attitude about gear that I think is reasonable to have. Gear is a means to an end; provided that it meets that end (which I would argue that 10-strict itemization currently does), it's a win.
I do agree with you on the itemization aspect though. With a shared lockout though, it's a pretty moot point. There is absolutely no reason that every item could not be the same but a scaled down version of the 25-man one (including legendaries), kind of like what occurs now with normal and heroic loot (instead the normal would be in 10-man and the heroic item would be from the same encounter in 25-man). I just don't see "gearing up more quickly!" as being as quite a big incentive as "have gear with bigger (irrelevant) numbers!" It's all psychological really.
Also, I would be far, far more upset with a 25-man only content than I've ever been about extra shinies like legendaries and mounts. That's probably the worst case solution.
- May 5, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I have issues with 25man raiders getting the mounts, and other fluff items.
I have felt jealous over those, I won't lie. But I feel MORE jealous because of itemization. I've found that 25man loot is generally better itemized. I'm speaking from a tank perspective.
*Off topic*
They're removing weapon skill, can you please remove, or at least trivialize Hit/Expertise for tanks? I switched a couple pieces cause they are really big upgrades. I dropped 2.5% expertise. Because of that my threat dropped 1-2k.... <--My nerdrage.
*On Topic*
I 100% agree with you Rul. iLvl doesn't matter. In fact I often think about if we couldn't see how much dps/hp/heal we were doing... Just the percentage. I have 100% hp. The boss hits me for 10% hp. DPS hits the boss for .01% hp. I know that model is broken.
- May 5, 2010 at 3:25 PM
- Avatar said...
I agree, the balancing act the devs need to do is not going to be easy, and do not envy them. However if they can pull it off, I think it would be a really cool choice that guilds could make.
- May 7, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Yes, I bet a plethora of Blizzard programmers are now working on balancing the difficulty of 10 and 25 content. How can they do it? They cannot. Why don't they realise it? They do realise they cannot. But admitting that won't get them all a secure job for the duration of expansion doing endless and constant balancing in vain.
Trying to make the same raid in various formats was abad idea from the start. I am "strict 10 man" raider now, I have been for most of WotLK. But I don't accept all those too easy arguments that 25 mans are too much of a hassle to organise, there is no sense of camaraderie, no pressure on individual performance, etc. Real 25 mans (e.g. TBC ones) were less of a hassle to organise as people actually wanted o do them because they were fun and complex, not just because ilevel, and camaraderie and individual responsibility certainly were present in those too with all the complex, varied mechanics. It was WotLK that reduced 25 mans to mass-zerg version of 10 mans and thus spoiled all the variety and fun in them.
How will progression raiding in Cata look like? It will be chaos incarnate! Encounters will without a doubt vary in difficulty between formats and I wouldn't be surprised if constant QQ-balancing resulted in the variations swinging from one side to another every patch.
25 man guilds will survive as they will have a huge advantage. They will be able to cherry pick formats on encounter per encounter basis, progressing where fight is easier and farming in 25 man to outgear strict 10 man guilds very fast. Of course they will face the management issue of 15 raiders being sidelined for some fights, but in a progression oriented environment it will just become a necessary practice. Very good guilds should be able to keep strong all around rosters, others will have a core for progress and a bunch of your standard leet-kids all too happy to give that 10 man progression-wiping session a miss as "their cat is ill" or "their internet cable broke" etc.
Strict 10 man guilds will of course be at disadvantage as some encounters will be roadblocks in 10 man and "EZmodes" in 25 man, and gearing will be MUCH slower, not only due to extra badges and higher drop/raider ratio, but also due to all those loots that go to waste on off-specs or are just subject to DE as you happen not to have a specific class / spec.
Surely it will be better then in WotLK. And surely it will give 10 man guilds some sort of credit for hard work put into raiding by eliminating the ridiculous gear ilevel discrepancies between formats. And the tears of "all-so-skilful, 10 mans are for scrubs, leet-kids" that must realise that Cata will deprive them of their leet-lootz as they won't be good enough to make it to core progression 10 (and thus will have to accept others' gearing priority), are sweet in deed. Not a perfect scenario but a light ahead nonetheless.
- May 12, 2010 at 9:46 AM
- Kae said...
I disagree that 25s in TBC were any easier to organize than they are in WotLK: organization is more than just finding bodies to fill a raid slot. Organization involves the training of the guild--including those slackers who think fire/poison/death runes keep their feet warm--and the rotation of players; it involves dealing with cliques, dealing with loot drama, and attempting to placate everyone to a level of raiding/loot/happiness that will prevent them from leaving and taking their friends with them for "greener pastures."
Those organizational difficulties are seen with any size of raid, and the work load increases with the more players you have. It was harder in vanilla with 40; Cata 25s will be as hard to lead as WotLK 25s in terms of actual raiding-guild organization/management: it's all about the number of people you're having to herd.
I also disagree that it's "impossible to balance" the instances for 25 vs 10. Anything can be balanced, it just may not be per individual boss: one boss may be easier on 25, another may be harder. As long as two groups with the same average gear level and skill level are able to complete the instance in a similar amount of learning time, I'd count that as balanced, no matter that the 10-man spent more time on Boss A and the 25-man spent more time on Boss B.
I *do* agree that 25s will gear more quickly, between higher ratio of gear drops for them, and lower chance of disenchant for lack of a player who'd want it. Gear generalization (especially in respect to spirit=hit) will make disenchants a little rarer, but not by much due to plate/mail/leather/cloth restrictions. Thus, I expect 25s to progress more quickly than pure 10s: is that a reward/carrot in itself for some players to remain raiding 25s? Is it not still balanced in terms of difficulty, in spite of that?
- May 12, 2010 at 10:15 AM
- Kae said...
Oh, a note to explain my point of view on "ease" of TBC raid organization: I helped lead a 40/25 through vanilla and into TBC. Trying to herd 40-some-odd cats (via rotations for the 25-man raid) to down Vashj led me to true, physical panic attacks. All those players wanted to be there and I felt at home with them, sure, but they had their fights, they had their drama, there was the share of leeches. The guild split and fractured at times over disagreements on loot or personal problems (drama queens). End-bosses in WotLK don't seem very different to me in terms of mechanics difficulty: Yogg, Algalon, Anub, Lich King. I just seriously don't see the current 25's as any less stressful to organize and lead now than they did in TBC, based on the ever-growing number of burnt out raid leaders and hellish stories I hear from those still leading.
- May 12, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Well, in respect of TBC 25 man raids I used "easier" not in a sense that mechanics of guild / raid organisations were any different but in a sense that they were more worthwhile to attend and as such it was easier to manage a roster as players were more motivated. In general a quality of pool of players available was higher thus making it easier. For one, all those players that moved to strict 10 man raiding were there at disposal of 25 man guilds, also all those players with limited in-game time that were force into pugging in WotLK as "progression raiding" require crazy amount of time due to farming related gear inflation, were at disposal of guilds in TBC.
I agree it never was easy. I agree managing a 10 man guild is easier. But people did run those guilds, and will run those guilds for the same reason people run amateur football teams, choirs, etc.
As for balancing, it is possible to balance a 10 man encounter and a 25 man encounter to provide a similar learning curve and challenged for a similarly skilled and geared group of people (through intensive testing I assume). But trying to do this on every single encounter in game, while keeping mechanics very similar (stressed many times by Blizzard), is an exercise in futility.
Firstly, forcing same / very similar mechanics on different raid formats does nothing more than cripple both of them (especially 25 man format). When I think of the most fun encounters and specific mechanics in TBC for example, I just cannot see the fights being redesigned to 10 man without the best aspects being completely destroyed. I am quite sure it would be easier to design two completely separate raids (one 10 man and one 25 man), both great and unique, and having generally similar difficulty level, rather than copying the fights and simplifying them to match both formats. Would I rather have a fun 10 man only raid and a fun 25 man only raid then 2 watered down versions f one raid? Sure I would!
Secondly, "small differences" in difficulty make a huge difference when it comes to progression. You may say now that small imbalance won't bother you, but it will. If the playing field is uneven, even by a small margin it causes resentment, no way around it. If you get stuck on a given fight in 10 man for a few resets and 25 man guilds are rolling through it, you'll feel bad. And what is worse, the "obvious solution" for it will be not to suck it up and improve, but to QQ for Blizzard to "balance it". And rightfully so! If they said the difficulty should be the same, then it should! And obviously there is only one way the "balancing" goes isn't there?
Thirdly, what about "in-build" differences? I.e. generally 25 man raids have more lag and latency, more chance of someone DCing, having RL emergency, it is harder to find 25 real quality players then it is to find 10. What about those? Those will vary hugely as well. How in the world will they "balance" the encounters for it?
What I am saying is that it is a poor and silly idea to try to do 2 versions of the same raid (and trying to keep them somehow the same difficulty instead of e.g. designing new content is not something I'd like Blizzard programmers to do). If making 2 riad size versions of the same raid is good, then making 4 versions is better! How about 10 versions? I mean it is easier to organise 2 people "raid" than 10 man raid isn't it?
- May 12, 2010 at 12:04 PM
- Kae said...
We've chosen already to run 10-strict. Currently, balance is tipped in favor of 25s... based purely on world progression, 10-man is actually harder, as no 10-strict guild has succeeded in killing hardmode LK yet. Whether that is from difficulty or from having fewer ten-strict guilds around (rarer to find a hard-core progression 10-strict guild like it is to find for 25s, simply for community spotlights), I can't say, as both raid sizes have different pros and cons going for them. There are examples bosses being easier or harder than for the other size, in both cases, as well. And I'm honestly not that torn up about it, as long as it is POSSIBLE to get it done without having to use (in the case of WotLK) 25-man gear as a crutch.
It's really not as though their attempts to balance ten and 25 are anything new, and there will always be mistakes (in both versions)... but things can be patched. Things can be balanced more closely. And if 25s beat 10s to kills due to faster gearing or some slightly off-balance mechanic? So what. I'm not competing with them... I'm competing with the game's content and, at most, other 10-strict guilds who ARE tackling the same content and raid-makeup problems as I am. ;)
- May 12, 2010 at 12:55 PM


text:
A mysterious picture popped up on the website for Independent Festival Awards winner Fez, leading some to believe that the unique platformer has a date with Xbox Live Arcade.
It's not the "something wonderful is about to happy!" message that has people talking, it's the tiny green A button stuck in the bottom right corner of the speech box.
Could it mean that the game is soon to appear on the Xbox 360's arcade? With the Game Developers Conference right around the corner, I imagine we won't have long to find out.
SOMETHING AWESOME THIS WAY COMES [Polytron, via infinite lives]

subset: commoncrawl


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The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; AF ablation product; insertable cardiac monitor systems; mechanical circulatory support; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software. Read More… Industry, Sector and Symbol Stock Exchange NYSE Industry Electromedical equipment Sub-IndustryHealth Care Equipment SectorMedical Current SymbolNYSE:MDT Previous Symbol CUSIP58505510 CIK1613103 Webhttp://www.medtronic.com/ Phone353-1438-1700Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.48 Current Ratio2.75 Quick Ratio2.28Price-To-Earnings Trailing P/E Ratio25.55 Forward P/E Ratio17.85 P/E Growth2.43 Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$30.56 billion Price / Sales4.42 Cash Flow$7.25 per share Price / Cash Flow13.89 Book Value$38.76 per share Price / Book2.60Profitability EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$5.22 Net Income$4.63 billion Net Margins17.11% Return on Equity14.76% Return on Assets8.23%Miscellaneous Employees90,000 Outstanding Shares1,340,380,000Market Cap$134.94 billion Next Earnings Date5/28/2020 (Estimated) OptionableOptionable Receive MDT News and Ratings via Email Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for MDT and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. MDT Rates by TradingView Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Frequently Asked Questions What is Medtronic's stock symbol? Medtronic trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "MDT." How often does Medtronic pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for Medtronic? Medtronic announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. View Medtronic's Dividend History. How were Medtronic's earnings last quarter? Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February, 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters' consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The medical technology company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.80 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 17.11%. Medtronic's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. View Medtronic's Earnings History. When is Medtronic's next earnings date? Medtronic is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, May 28th 2020. View Earnings Estimates for Medtronic. What guidance has Medtronic issued on next quarter's earnings? Medtronic updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday, February, 18th. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.64 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.63. What price target have analysts set for MDT? 25 brokers have issued 1-year target prices for Medtronic's shares. Their forecasts range from $99.00 to $135.00. On average, they anticipate Medtronic's stock price to reach $122.13 in the next twelve months. This suggests a possible upside of 21.3% from the stock's current price. View Analyst Price Targets for Medtronic. What is the consensus analysts' recommendation for Medtronic? 25 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Medtronic in the last year. There are currently 1 sell rating, 4 hold ratings and 20 buy ratings for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Buy." View Analyst Ratings for Medtronic. What are Wall Street analysts saying about Medtronic stock? Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Medtronic stock: 1. Northland Securities analysts commented, "We continue to wait for a definitive breakout in key categories in terms of growth. In fairness, Medtronic continues to improve operational efficiencies." (8/21/2019) 2. Needham & Company LLC analysts commented, "Market open, Ellex announced preliminary FY19 revenue below our expectations and IFRS EBITDA slightly narrower than our expectations. iTrack, 2RT and Tango lasers delivered FY19 y/y revenue growth, but overall growth was below our estimates. Ellex announced the appointment of Maria Maieli, current CFO, as Interim CEO. Ellex expects to release final F2H19 results on August 29, 2019." (7/23/2019) 3. According to Zacks Investment Research, "The declining CRHF segment raises concern for Medtronic. Escalating costs and expenses continue to weigh on Medtronic's bottom line. On a positve note, in the past year, shares of Medtronic outperformed its industry. The company is successfully registering sustainable growth across major groups and regions, in addition to displaying successful achievement of synergy targets. The company is focusing on geographical diversification of its businesses. This apart, the company has been seeing certain favorable developments in its Diabetes business. The updated 2019 guidance with raised EPS view increases investors' confidence on the stock. Meanwhile, we are optimistic about the recently-closed acquisition of Mazor Robotics which is expected to fortify Medtronic's position in spine surgery." (5/20/2019) Has Medtronic been receiving favorable news coverage? Headlines about MDT stock have been trending very negative recently, according to InfoTrie Sentiment Analysis. The research group scores the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than six thousand news and blog sources in real-time. The firm ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative five to positive five, with scores closest to five being the most favorable. Medtronic earned a news sentiment score of -4.0 on InfoTrie's scale. They also gave media stories about the medical technology company a news buzz of 6.0 out of 10, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat likely to have an effect on the company's share price in the near term. View News Stories for Medtronic. Who are some of Medtronic's key competitors? Some companies that are related to Medtronic include Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Stryker (SYK), Becton Dickinson and (BDX), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Boston Scientific (BSX), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), Baxter International (BAX), DexCom (DXCM), ResMed (RMD), IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX), Teleflex (TFX), Steris (STE), Hologic (HOLX), Insulet (PODD) and Varian Medical Systems (VAR). What other stocks do shareholders of Medtronic own? Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Medtronic investors own include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Walt Disney (DIS), AT&T (T), NVIDIA (NVDA), AbbVie (ABBV), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Home Depot (HD), Intel (INTC), Starbucks (SBUX) and CVS Health (CVS). Who are Medtronic's key executives? Medtronic's management team includes the folowing people: Mr. Omar S. Ishrak, Chairman & CEO (Age 63)Ms. Karen L. Parkhill, Exec. VP, CFO & Principal Accounting Officer (Age 54)Mr. Bradley E. Lerman, Sr. VP, Gen. Counsel & Company Sec. (Age 61)Mr. Michael J. Coyle, Exec. VP and Group Pres of Cardiac & Vascular Group (Age 57)Mr. Robert J. W. ten Hoedt, Exec. VP and Group Pres, Europe, Middle East & Africa (Age 58) Who are Medtronic's major shareholders? Medtronic's stock is owned by a variety of of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include State Street Corp (4.32%), Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA (3.95%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.47%), Franklin Resources Inc. (1.36%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.23%) and Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. (0.67%). Company insiders that own Medtronic stock include Bradley E Lerman, Carol A Surface, Geoffrey Martha, Hoedt Rob Ten, Hooman Hakami, James T Lenehan, Karen L Parkhill, Michael J Coyle, Omar Ishrak, Richard H Anderson, Richard Kuntz and Robert John White. View Institutional Ownership Trends for Medtronic. Which major investors are selling Medtronic stock? MDT stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA, Renaissance Technologies LLC, Boston Partners, FMR LLC, AQR Capital Management LLC and Manning & Napier Group LLC. Company insiders that have sold Medtronic company stock in the last year include Bradley E Lerman, Carol A Surface, Geoffrey Martha, Hoedt Rob Ten, Hooman Hakami, Michael J Coyle, Richard Kuntz and Robert John White. View Insider Buying and Selling for Medtronic. Which major investors are buying Medtronic stock? MDT stock was acquired by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Investec Asset Management LTD, Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc., M&G Investment Management Ltd., Geode Capital Management LLC, Point72 Asset Management L.P., DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, Eaton Vance Management and Capital Research Global Investors. Company insiders that have bought Medtronic stock in the last two years include Karen L Parkhill, Omar Ishrak and Richard H Anderson. View Insider Buying and Selling for Medtronic. How do I buy shares of Medtronic? Shares of MDT can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity and Charles Schwab. What is Medtronic's stock price today? One share of MDT stock can currently be purchased for approximately $100.67. How big of a company is Medtronic? Medtronic has a market capitalization of $134.94 billion and generates $30.56 billion in revenue each year. The medical technology company earns $4.63 billion in net income (profit) each year or $5.22 on an earnings per share basis. Medtronic employs 90,000 workers across the globe.View Additional Information About Medtronic. What is Medtronic's official website? The official website for Medtronic is http://www.medtronic.com/. How can I contact Medtronic? Medtronic's mailing address is 20 ON HATCH LOWER HATCH STREET, DUBLIN L2, D02. The medical technology company can be reached via phone at 353-1438-1700 or via email at [email protected] MarketBeat Community Rating for Medtronic (NYSE MDT)Community Ranking: 3.2 out of 5 ( )Outperform Votes: 1,426 (Vote Outperform)Underperform Votes: 777 (Vote Underperform)Total Votes: 2,203MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Medtronic and other stocks. Vote "Outperform" if you believe MDT will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote "Underperform" if you believe MDT will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. This page was last updated on 2/29/2020 by MarketBeat.com StaffFeatured Article: Pattern Day Trader - What is the PDT Rule?


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The Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Awards are presented annually to ASTC members and/or their employees in recognition of extraordinary accomplishments that not only enhance the performance of their own institutions, but also significantly advance the mission of science-technology centers and museums. The following awards were presented at the 2012 ASTC Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, October 13.
Leading Edge Award for Business Practice
Carnegie Science Center, Chevron Center for STEM Education and Career Development
The Chevron Center for STEM Education and Career Development at Carnegie Science Center is a "community connector," bringing together a coalition of corporations, K-12 formal education, higher education, and foundations with the common goal to address challenges in STEM education and workforce development in the western Pennsylvania region. The Chevron STEM Center, launched in 2011 with $1.9 million in unrestricted funds, encompasses the Science Center's existing informal science education programs for students and has embarked on new initiatives, including partnerships with area school districts to develop and strengthen STEM curriculum, a database of regional STEM programs, and a public awareness campaign aimed at parents.
Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience (small center)
The National Ag Science Center, Ag In Motion
Ag In Motion is an innovative one-of-a-kind Ag Science Field Trip on wheels. This 53-foot (16-meter) mobile science lab is designed to be a memorable experience for every youth who steps through its doors. From the exterior graphics and trailer design to the laboratory lessons and on-board videos, the student experience is designed to excite, engage, and entice further science study.
Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience (large center)
Scitech, Aboriginal Education Program
While providing science outreach in many of the regional areas of the vast state of Western Australia, it became apparent that Scitech's capacity to serve the specific needs of the remote Indigenous Aboriginal communities was diminished through lack of resources and the need for more culturally relevant programs. Scitech's Aboriginal Education Program has addressed the challenges of access and equity by shipping trucks with interactive exhibits out, and flying educators and explainers in. At the same time, the center developed a comprehensive suite of engaging science activities for children, parents, and teachers that recognize the communities' unique Aboriginal culture and language.
Leading Edge Award for New Leadership in the Field
Denise Amyot, President and CEO, Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation
For developing an innovative and expansive pan-Canadian energy literacy initiative.
Leading Edge Award for Experienced Leadership in the Field
Joanna E. Haas, Executive Director, Kentucky Science Center
For leading her institution to fulfill its role as the state science center of Kentucky.
To see all the Leading Edge Award nominees, visit the ASTC YouTube channel.


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Monday, June 27, 2011
For the Love of Books
I took a break from writing today to 'fiddle' with my books. That's what I call it when I play with them. I rearrange and reorganize them on my shelves. I dust them and run my hands over their covers. I smile as I remember the particular pleasure one of them has given me. I doubt if I'm any different from a little kid playing with action figures and dolls.
Every genre is represented on my shelves, from the west that never was to the future that never will be. Every kind of cover can be found there, from the garish to the literary. These books hold dreams for me. I remember when I wanted to be John Carter of Barsoom, or Dray Prescot of Scorpio, or Flandry of Terra. I wanted to fly aboard the Enterprise, sail aboard the Nautilus or the Hispaniola. I wanted to ride with the Sacketts. I think it was just yesterday.
Once in a while I feel like I ought to cull my books a little, strengthen the herd by getting rid of the weak. But the few times I've attempted it, I've always regretted it. Even if I don't like a book, I find that I have to keep it around because someday I'll want to refer to it, even if it's just to pan it. I still have some of the first books I ever bought, back when my grade school had a reading program and you could get them for 25 cents each. I also buy books that I once checked out of libraries or that friends had loaned me. I didn't have much money in the old days so I scrounged for reading material however I could. Now that I have a bit more disposable income, I find I enjoy spending it on those pleasant memories from the past.
I love my Kindle and I've discovered many great reads that I might not otherwise have found, but it will not, cannot, replace the actual thing for me. I even 'fiddle' with my ebooks, placing them in folders by genre on my computer. But it isn't the same.
I often wonder if mine will be the last generation to treasure books so highly. My students certainly don't seem to value books. Most people today who see my collection express either amazement or amusement. Not many of them suffer envy. I'm already considered an eccentric because of how much I read and how many books I own. I wonder how long it'll be before I'm treated like the little old lady with 72 cats, how long before I become the: "creepy guy with all the books who keeps to himself?"
I think I might relish the role. And one thing for sure, I'm well suited for it. How about you?
24 comments:
- Ty said...
I love(d) my books and used to have thousands of them, but a few years ago I went through the culling process and get rid of all of them except for about two dozen. The ones I kept were either ones I knew would be difficult to replace, or were signed/special editions. I'm not suggesting everyone do this, of course, but it gave me a sense of freedom. However, I do not think it odd at all that someone would have their own personal library. I might do it again someday if finances and my lifestyle permit, but the last decade has had me moving around a lot and I'm probably looking at another move in the next year. Frankly, I got tired of lugging all those books around. And I figured if I ever had to replace any of them, how hard would it really be to do? Maybe it will be.
I still love books, and would love to have a large collection of the, but that's a game for someone a little less on the move than I have been of late.
On a related note, I'd never known the screenwriter Tidyman had written a novelization of "High Plains Drifter." Now that's a book I'll have to search out.
- June 27, 2011 at 1:03 AM
- nephite blood spartan heart said...
I'm right there with you Charles, I rearrange my books every so often-always imagining that I was being a kid and his toys again.
For me there is an excitement over my collection, a sense of pride and satisfaction. No amount of great jacket art (that my computer is full of) is quite the same as holding these wonderful covers in hand.
I just found the Weird Tales w/ Scarlet Tears a short time ago and am still looking for The Sorcerers Shadow (on the strength of the cover alone-if I like the story within bonus)
Maybe I am old fashioned but I want the massive library regardless of e-convienence.
- June 27, 2011 at 1:23 AM
- Paul R. McNamee said...
Right there with you, all.
Like the e-convenience of Kindle but nothing replaces at least one book case full of favorites (and, yes, I have far more than one bookcase...)
- June 27, 2011 at 7:38 AM
- Tom Doolan said...
I don't think the "book lover" generation is dying, it's just dwindling. I am a bookophile myself, and will spend long lunch hours scouring bookstores for rare finds. I have boxes of books in storage, simply because the apartment doesn't have room for shelves. My wife and I often discuss our dream home, and how it will have a finished basement with one wall dedicated to nothing but books.
But, I say the generation isn't dying because my 15-year old daughter is already on her way to being a book-lover as well. granted, her tastes are very different than mine (she's a Twi-hard), but she loves her books, and refers to her Twilight set as "her babies."
- June 27, 2011 at 8:49 AM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Ty, the last move was agony, and a lot of that was becasue of the books. THere were so many of them. If I move again I'm hiring someone. I can't do that packing again.
David J. West, the Sorcerer's shadow is well worth it. I think it's Smith's best Sword & Sorcery, and I liked all of his work.
Paul, Can you imagine if you, me and David put our collections together? Whoa!
- June 27, 2011 at 8:52 AM
- the walking man said...
My mom only had one cat when she passed but she had over 3000 books in her two bedroom apartment. Me personally I kept one dickens my grandmother read to me when I was four or five...the rest I let the others do what they wanted with them.
I cna see from your choices you really are a fan of pulp Charles and to me that is a good thing.
- June 27, 2011 at 9:11 AM
- Jewel Amethyst said...
I can't say I'm particularly attached to books that I have read. Once I read them, I pass them on. Books for my kids are a whole different story. I find it impossible to part with them as each has a particular history. And I just keep accumulating more.
- June 27, 2011 at 11:39 AM
- BernardL said...
Right there with you, buddy, old cat lady syndrome and all. :)
- June 27, 2011 at 12:31 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Mark, I've become even more so as I've gotten older. Guess the subtlety I knew as a youth has passed on.
Jewel, Josh has the books I bought him as a kid, but many of them I've bought my own copy of for that very reason.
Bernardl, We should write a story about how book lovers save the world after an alien invasion! I'd buy it.
- June 27, 2011 at 1:35 PM
- KeVin K. said...
When Valerie first saw my apartment, a bit over three decades ago, she found it very strange that my living room had three walls of home-made floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of paperbacks. (My library could make a collector cry -- and for one such triggered a hissy fit about the effects of oils and acids on pulp -- because I actually read the books and handled at least one daily.) Those books were lost -- or rather recycle into nests and snacks by rats that did not know climate controlled storage rooms were supposed to be rodent free. My current collection takes up only one one wall of the home office I share with Valerie (who enforces a strict lose-one-to-add-one rule to control expansion). I'm well known at Solomon's Used Books and Pat's Paperback Exchange.
And yes, every now and then I set aside an afternoon to fiddle with my books. Sort, dust, and reread a few remembered passages.
- June 27, 2011 at 2:14 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Kevin, I'm not planning on leaving the house I'm in for a long time so I've really thrown off the reins on my buying lately. Not that the reins were ever very tight.
- June 27, 2011 at 3:35 PM
- Angie said...
If you're going to be the creepy guy with all the books, I'll be the crazy book lady. :) For all that my own publications have been e-books so far, I'm with you on preferring paper books. There are books and authors I love but can only get in electronic format, and books and authors I'm not sure of so I appreciate being able to pay less to try an e-book, but if a favorite e-book gets a paper edition, I buy it.
I lost all my books, about five thousand or so, back in 1990, and I'm back up to around the same number. I'm still looking to replace a lot of what I lost. And I'm with you as well on not being able to cull; more than once I've gotten rid of a book I was sure I'd never want to read again, only to want it a year or three later. :/ Easier just to keep them all.
- June 27, 2011 at 5:10 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Angie, your experience has been like mine with discarding books. I once realized I wanted to write an article on bad books but had given the bad ones I wanted to talk about away. No articl, not at least until I readded those books and had them for references.
- June 27, 2011 at 6:03 PM
- Liane Spicer said...
I love my books. I'd defend them with my life except that burglars don't want them; the ones who broke in last year for some strange reason seemed to prefer jewellery and electronic items. Most of my books are packed in boxes because of my current living arrangement. I haul those boxes down now and then to find something and end up spending hours just going through, remembering the stories and the times in my life each represent.
Conversely, I find it much easier to get rid of books I've acquired in recent years. I keep buying them on Amazon but I'm flat out of storage space so I end up giving them away on my blog, to friends, or to school libraries.
Cyber books will never replace the real thing for me. I keep hoping the whole e-book phenomenon would just - go - away. I'll be an eccentric old book lady too. I'm even practising the crazy hair look...
- June 27, 2011 at 11:46 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Liane, I know what you mean about the boxes. I have some in my closet but it constantly seems like I'm wanting a book that is packed away in one of those boxes. yet I hardly ever seem to find it.
- June 28, 2011 at 1:57 AM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Liane, I know what you mean about the boxes. I have some in my closet but it constantly seems like I'm wanting a book that is packed away in one of those boxes. yet I hardly ever seem to find it.
- June 28, 2011 at 2:01 AM
- Ron Scheer said...
Enjoyed your thoughts on this subject, Charles. Thanks. I've always loved owning books, even before I really got into reading them. Over the years (usually whenever I moved) I have given away a lot of them. For long periods, I've relied almost totally on books from the library.
Lately, with the intro of ebooks I've begun acquiring paper books again, like they were vinyl records - something already old-fashioned, quaint, and disappearing. They have to be hardbacks, and it's fun to shop for and find a good condition used book.
Here's the but, though. I find reading ebooks and paper books equally enjoyable. They are imaginative worlds that I happily plunge into and let the dreary, boring over-mediated everyday world slip slide away.
As for my students, I tell them if they don't read books, all they have is common knowledge, and common knowledge is pathetic. It may not convince them, but it plants a seed. . .
- June 28, 2011 at 2:36 AM
- eric1313 said...
No doubt!
Last time I moved I brought with me several boxes containing my rather eclectic book collection. I was asked by more than one person "why don't you go through there and sell the ones you don't want?"
I have it, I store it and carry it around from place to place, therefore I want it.
Reading on the internet might be handy (certainly, holding the control key and wheeling the mouse up to enlarge print is becoming more and more standard for me), but nothing compares to a book that I love.
- June 28, 2011 at 3:39 AM
- Steve Malley said...
I'll miss books, but the sacrifice is worth it: the young'uns coming up have rediscovered that love of written story. Sure, they carry a library of several thousand volumes around on their kindles (or even their phones), and yeah, their idea of browsing a bookstore involves mouseclicks, but so what?
This new generation coming up LOVE to read, and I think that's great! :-D
- June 28, 2011 at 4:42 AM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Ron Scheer, I enjoy reading on my Kindle too, and listening to it read me stuff. I'm finding that as I get older, the covers do mean more to me than they used to, so that is a little plus with holding an actual book in your hand. Good point about the "common knowledge." I hadn't really thought of it that way but I may use that with my students now.
eric1313, I sure do like that ability to enlarge the print myself. And exactly, I carried it with me is an indication that I did and do indeed want it.
Steve Malley, I sure hope so. And it may be true. It's definitely a good thing if they are and I do see some of that for sure. I'll have to do a poll with my students this year.
- June 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM
- pattinase (abbott) said...
Sadly, I think books will never be valued as highly again. They are too disposable on e-readers to value much.
- June 28, 2011 at 12:55 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Patti, I agree. They are going to be treated much more casually than most of us bibliophiles treat our print books. but I guess we can't dictate to the world, no matter how much we might want to. Even in the old days, loaning books to friends, I never got them back in the condition I loaned them.
- June 28, 2011 at 2:10 PM
- Chris said...
I love books, and I love when I go to other people's homes to see the books they have. I try and keep my horde culled, though, just because of space concerns and future moves. Doesn't mean I love them any less.
As for eBooks, I get the same out of reading them as print books. However, I have yet to feel the excitement of getting a new eBook anywhere near to the excitement of holding a new print book in my hand, reading the back cover, looking at the front, etc. I can't imagine that ever changing.
- June 28, 2011 at 11:31 PM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Chris, yes, the actual reading experience of the ebook on a Kindle doesn't differ much from a pritned book, except that my thumb gets more of a work out. The sensory experience is definitely different, though.
- June 29, 2011 at 2:01 AM


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CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Anthony Raffa scored 21 points as Coastal Carolina defeated Virginia Military Institute 72-49 Saturday, snapping the Keydets' five-game winning streak.
The Chanticleers (8-8, 3-2 Big South Conference) took control with a 12-2 run midway through the second half to lead 56-42 with 4:13 remaining. Warren Gillis, who finished with 12 points, had two baskets, including a 3-pointer, during the run.
Coastal Carolina closed the game by scoring 12 of the final 15 points.
The Keydets (9-8, 4-1), who had been averaging 82.6 points per game, were held to their lowest total since Jan. 23, 2008, an 85-41 loss to Winthrop.
Rodney Glasgow and Stan Okoye had 16 points apiece for VMI. Okoye also had 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, but he made just 6 of 21 shots. The Keydets shot 30.4 percent (17 of 56).
Okoye moved into fourth on VMI's career rebounding list with 827.


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By Kelly Murray
(CNN) — What would it take to change sexes? In humans, it involves complicated surgeries and rigorous hormonal therapies, not to mention hefty social and psychological ramifications. But in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, tiny orange-and-blue fish are naturally transitioning from female to male, and male to female, all the time.
Bluebanded goby fish, about 2 to 2.5 inches long, are able to change their sex when it suits their position in social hierarchies.
Matthew Grober, associate professor of biology at Georgia State University, has received funding from the National Science Foundation to better understand what mechanisms cause some of these fish to change sexes. In his lab, fluorescent lights accentuate dozens of aquariums lined with grayish-green algae where his bluebanded gobies thrive.
"We can detect within minutes, via changes in behavior, when a fish begins the transition, and it generally takes one to two weeks to complete the transition from female to male," Grober explained.
One indicator of typically male behavior is movements associated with male courtship, such as rapid zig-zag movements called "jerks," as described in a 2007 study that Grober co-authored.
Although natural sex change is exceedingly rare across the animal kingdom, bluebanded gobies are not the only creatures capable of it. Other examples include the clown fish and the limpet snail.
Groups of these fish have a skewed sex ratio in their natural environment. In other words, goby groups are not 50% male and 50% female, as one might expect. Instead, as Grober explained, "Gobies most often live in groups called harems that usually consist of one male and four to five females."
In a natural setting, if the leading male dies, the most dominant female remaining in the group will take leadership of the harem and then physically change into a male.
Why would the female change her sex? The answer lies in evolutionary biology.
An organism's evolutionary success depends on the number of genetic copies of itself it leaves behind in the population. So, a male fish, which mates with all of its harem's females, has much more success in spreading genes than any given female.
For example, a male in a harem of four females has four times more reproductive success than any of his females because each individual female has only the harem's one male partner with whom to mate.
Just as in humans, in many sex-changing fishes, social context often determines an individual's behavior.
The bluebanded goby observes and reacts to the behavior of others around it, so as to optimally position itself within the social hierarchy. Other fish observe that individual's behavior and react to it, and so on.
Grober wanted to know if the same mechanisms that regulate female-to-male sex change also work in the other direction. Using saltwater aquariums in his lab, he designed an experiment that used isolated groups of all males and all females.
Each group had one fish that was significantly larger than the others to encourage one individual to achieve dominance over the rest of the group. Grober and others argue that while a larger fish is more likely to achieve social dominance over its smaller harem mates, size alone doesn't completely determine which fish is the most dominant.
His research group observed instances of aggressive behavior (approaches, flaring fins, head-standing) and submissive behavior (retreat or avoidance in response to aggressive behavior) in these groups. Taking all individual interactions into account, they could determine each fish's social status within the group.
The fish demonstrated male-to-female sex change in this experiment. But something else remarkable happened: One of the fish remained male, and it was the only fish to retain its dominance over the group.
For sex change in either direction, there seems to be one guiding social principle: If subordinate, be female. Because each group had only one dominant individual, each group ended up with only a single male.
Hormones also play a role in the sex changes of these fish.
In one experiment, Grober and colleagues set up pairs of female bluebanded gobies, so that one fish was clearly subordinate. When they loaded up the subordinate with a potent male hormone, 11-ketotestosterone, it was able to make her look like a male, but her female-typical social behavior didn't shift in a male direction. She continued to behave as a female.
"My team successfully demonstrated that while hormones do have a direct effect on the fish's physical structure (like gonads, genitalia and fins), the fish's behavior answers more to its position in the social hierarchy," he said.
So what can we Homo sapiens learn from these fish?
Researchers' efforts are showing us that two seemingly distant vertebrates actually share quite a lot of characteristics. As Grober firmly asserted, "Us IS them."
In both people and these fish, behavior answers to social context; it's only partly determined by physical sex and size. Sexual behavior in humans and gobies is malleable: It is able to change based on an individual's placement in the social hierarchy.
Grober argues: We should not think of fish as being like robots or automatons, because they make complex decisions regarding reproduction just as humans and other social animals.


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Thousands of Russians chanted "Russia will be free" in a march through Moscow on Tuesday to protest against President Vladimir Putin, shrugging off his tough new tactics intended to quash any challenge to his rule.
Protesters streamed down a leafy central boulevard in the first major rally since Putin was sworn in on May 7, saying they would not be deterred by police raids on opposition leaders' homes and a new law stiffening fines for public order offences.
"Those who fought are beyond being scared," said Valery Zagovny, a 50-year-old who served for the Soviet army in Afghanistan and was wearing the medals to prove it. "Let those behind the red-toothed walls of the Kremlin be scared."
Welcomed by a heavy downpour some joked had been orchestrated by the president himself, protesters waved flags and shouted "Russia without Putin" despite the absence of leaders who had been summoned to appear before investigators.
Leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov ignored his summons for questioning about violence at a rally on the eve of Putin's inauguration, and led a group of marchers carrying red flags and chanting "Putin to jail!" and "All power to the people!".
Helmeted riot police manned metal barriers along parts of the route, but the police presence was lighter compared with some earlier protests. Ilya Ponomaryov, an opposition lawmaker, said about 60,000 to 70,000 people had turned out, much higher than the police estimate of 18,000.
After tolerating the biggest protests of his 12-year rule while seeking election, Putin has signaled a harsher approach to dissent since the start of his new term as president.
In power since 2000, Putin easily won a six-year term on March 4 after four years serving as prime minister.
His mantra of ensuring stability finds deep support among the elderly and many outside the cities, as have his strong measures against the protesters, accused by some of his backers of being spoilt urbanites financed by foreign powers.
But opposition leaders say Putin's heavy-handed tactics show that the former KGB spy is deeply worried by the protests that have undermined his once iron-clad authority.
On Friday, he signed a law increasing fines, in some cases more than 100-fold, for violations of public order at demonstrations, despite warnings from his human rights council that it was an unconstitutional infringement on free assembly.
Police and investigators raided the apartments of Udaltsov, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny and socialite Ksenia Sobchak on Monday, seizing computer drives and discs, photographs and other belongings as armed guards stood outside.
"The authorities are in a panic," Udaltsov told reporters.
"They are trying to conduct primitive, repressive actions, but I am sure they'll only achieve the opposite effect. These sorts of searches annoy and outrage people, and people in even greater numbers take to the streets."
Many protesters are middle-class city dwellers who have benefitted from the oil-fuelled boom Russia has experienced during Putin's years in power but want more of a say in politics and fear his prolonged rule will bring economic stagnation.
They have turned to an opposition which is still in its infancy, lacks a clear leader and looks unlikely to topple Putin, still Russia's most popular politician, any time soon.
Mikhail, 34, an athlete from Moscow, barely contained his anger while he watched the march.
"These people here are idiots. All those who think these protests can change something and bring something better than Putin to power are idiots," he said.
"I don't know of anyone more adequate and better equipped to rule our nation and take it out of the crisis if necessary."
Pro-Kremlin rallies were planned later on Tuesday, and Putin looked calm as he presided over an awards ceremony in an ornate Kremlin hall.
Police largely left big winter protests alone but began to crack down after Putin's election, beating protesters at the rally on May 6 and repeatedly dispersing groups trying to set up Occupy-style camps since then, briefly detaining hundreds.
They have detained 12 people over violence at that protest on charges punishable by more than a year in jail, and the latest summonses seemed to carry the implicit threat that opposition leaders could potentially face similar charges.
"I am not afraid I will be fined. I am not going to fight or scream, why would they fine me? And if they do, I won't pay, I'll go to jail and be considered a political prisoner," Nina Lobachyova, 73, a retired economist at the march.
But Daria, a 22-year-old student at the state nuclear corporation institute, said most of the people she knows who went to the first big protest, over alleged fraud in a December parliamentary vote won by Putin's party, were staying away.
"They are afraid of problems at work or of being detained and missing the exams we have scheduled tomorrow," said Daria, who held a sign urging Putin not to rule 12 more years, as he could if re-elected in 2018.
She would not give her last name for fear of problems at university.
Authorities gave permission to Tuesday's rally, but the law Putin signed on Friday says participants at public gatherings where order is deemed to have been violated with injury or damage to property can be fined as much as 300,000 roubles ($9,200), about 60 times more than the previous maximum.
Alexei Malyukov, a businessman, was attending a protest for the first time and brought his 14-year-old son. "We are against revolution, but we also want a change in power."
By Alissa de Carbonnel and Nastassia Astrasheuskaya
MOSCOW (Reuters) – (Additional reporting by Andrey Ostroukh and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Steve Gutterman; editing by Elizabeth Piper)


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Jennifer Lopez Says She Was Told 'To Lose A Few Pounds' At Start Of Career
It may be popular for women in entertainment to rock curves, but it wasn't the case when Jennifer Lopez burst on the scene in the late '90s and the multi-talent has opened up about the critiques that she received over her body.
In a Q&A with InStyle.com, Lopez, who is set on debuting her Cardi B and DJ Khaled-featured collab, "Dinero," on Thursday, admitted that she's always been proud of her body even amongst the industry chatter. "I got a lot of flack for it from people in the industry," she says. "They'd say, 'You should lose a few pounds,' or 'You should do this or do that.' It finally got to the point that I was like, 'This is who I am. I'm shaped like this.' Everybody I grew up with looked like that, and they were all beautiful to me. I didn't see anything wrong with it. I still don't!"
Thankfully, the star stood by her own opinion of her body and her persistence has impacted several folks, including fellow celebrities. "So many people have come up to me over the years -- famous people, people I meet on the street, fans, everybody -- and they say that very thing: 'Thank you so much. I have the same type of body. I used to think I was fat, but now I feel beautiful,'" the 48-year-star admitted. "My generation was very much focused on size 0 models. It was just so unattainable for most normal people, including me. My mom and my grandmother were the ones who drilled into me, 'This is how we are, and this is what's beautiful.'"
"My dad loved my mom's body -- all the men in our family loved the women's bodies," she adds. "Being curvy or not being six-feet tall was never a bad thing; it was actually something that was celebrated. And so, later on, when I brought that in front of the world, I wasn't really trying to send a message. I was just being myself."
Photo: Getty Images


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Liv & Maddie in Disney's "Liv & Maddie"
Cameron was born in Seattle, Washington on January 15, 1996. At the age of eight, she began acting in community theater. Then when Cameron was fourteen she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting professionally. There she attended Burbank High School and sang in their National Championship Show Choir.
Since 2013, Dove has starred in the dual lead role of Liv and Maddie in the Disney Channel original series "Liv and Maddie." The show premiered on September 15, 2013. The pilot episode gained 5.8, which was the most-watched in Total Viewers in two and a half years. Cameron has also starred in "Cloud 9" with Luke Benward, which premiered on January 17, 2014.
Abrams Artists Agency
750 North San Vicente Blvd. East Tower
11th floor
Los Angeles, CA 90069


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Terrell Owens told GQ magazine that Jeremiah Trotter told him not to read the part of the Eagles-scripted letter the wide receiver was to read in 2005 that included an apology to Donovan McNabb.
Trotter called Owens' claim a "super lie" in a text message to The Inquirer on Wednesday night. He added, "I'm very upset with T.O."
The former Eagles linebacker also tweeted the following to Owens: "yo man y u lying to GQ Mag I never told u that call me ASAP!!!!!"
Below is an excerpt from the GQ article that will run in the February edition of the magazine that includes Owens' take on his infamous non-apology to McNabb after his much-publicized feud with the Eagles quarterback. The full story is here.
"To say I regret anything would be a slap in my grandmother's face," he says. "Are there some things I might do differently now? Sure."
Such as?
"Some of the things in Philadelphia." He sits back in his chair, seeming to catalog the events in his head: proclaiming that he didn't care what fans thought of him, the locker-room tussle with his teammate Hugh Douglas, the various flare-ups with Donovan McNabb. But definitely not his attempt to renegotiate his $49 million, heavily back-loaded contract. "I was not paid competitively, and that was that," he says. "The teams talk about how we should keep to our end of the bargain, but then they dump you at the point at which you'd actually start earning out, and that is supposed to be okay. Why don't they need to keep up their end?"
How about the decision not to publicly apologize to McNabb for suggesting in an interview immediately after the Eagles lost the Super Bowl that the quarterback had "got tired" on the field? For a moment, he is silent. Could he actually be on the verge of admitting he made an error?
"Well, I probably should have done...," he begins, rubbing his hand along the contours of his massive shaved dome. Then he stops himself. "No. No. Listen, I was in the locker room before the press conference, and my team captain, Jeremiah Trotter, read through that apology they wrote for me. He got to the bottom part, the part where it had the stuff about Donovan, and he did this." Owens snatches a piece of paper from the table and rips off the bottom three inches. "This is the team leader we're talking about; he told me not to do it."
His only real mistake, Owens insists, was "timing. I might not have said or done things at exactly the right moment" (though it's hard to imagine the right time to publicly dis your QB). He concedes, after some prodding, that he lacks an essential social skill that has cost him. "I am not," he says, "a tactful person."


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The brand new EP from Stevenage-based anarcho punks Bad Breeding is out today! Listen to the Abandonment EP here.
The band recorded the EP on the eve of a European tour, in one room in Berlin with Ben Greenberg (Uniform) at the controls. The result captures all the urgent turbulence of their live
Björk has released three remixes of 'Arisen My Senses' by Kelly Lee Owens, Jlin and Lanark Artefax! You can listen to the EP digitally today here, or pre-order the 'slug genitalia' coloured vinyl on the OLI Shop here.
The artwork for the EP is taken from the official 'Arisen My Senses' music


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Denamarin has no known side-effects.
Directions for Use:
Tablets should be given on an empty stomach at least one hour before a meal
for optimal absorption ( overnight fast preferred). For owners who find it difficult
to administer tablets to their pets, Denamarin tablets may be disguised in a
small bite of food. The number of tablets administered may be gradually reduced,
or increased, at any time at the recommendation of your veterinarian.
For pets 13-34 lbs. = 1 tablet per day
Store in a cool dry place. Keep tablets in original blister pack until used.
Tablets are sensitive to moisture and extreme heat and should not be split or
How does Denamarin work?
When liver function is compromised, the exact cause can often be difficult
to determine. Supporting the liver, regardless of the cause, is essential to
keep it working properly.
Administering SAMe (S-Adenosylmethionine), which is found in Denamarin, has
been shown to markedly increase liver levels of glutathione,1,2 an important
compound for liver health formed when SAMe is metabolized. The SAMe in Denamarin
has also been shown to help protect liver cells from cell death3,4 and may help
cell repair and regeneration.5
Denamarin also helps support your pet's liver through the administration
of silybin. Silybin is an active part of an extract from milk thistle, known
as silymarin, and has been shown to support liver function by helping maintain
a healthy oxidative balance.
The new chewable tablets of Denamarin allow dogs to receive SAMe and silybin
in a tasty treat, eliminating the need to "pill" your dog daily. Additionally,
the chewable tablets allow for quicker uptake of the SAMe and less variability
between dogs when compared to enteric-coated tablets.
While best known for supporting the liver in dogs and cats Denamarin also
has a place in supporting brain health. Research is looking into dog aging and
associated decreases in levels of S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in cerebrospinal
fluid, which surrounds the brain. Denamarin provides SAMe in a stabilized form
to help with brain health and act as a neuroprotector. Denamarin also provides
a bioavailable form of silybin which supports oxidative balance.
Denamarin has no known serious side-effects. Your veterinarian can evaluate
the length of support needed through follow-up examinations, blood work, and/or
other laboratory work. At home, watch for improvements in your pet's attitude,
appetite, and activity level.
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Each and every purchase helps support our chapter's foster rabbits!
Shop at Bunny General℠ and help foster rabbits with each purchase. 100% of the proceeds go toward helping our foster rabbits while they are in our care. Whether you are looking for general supplies, the perfect treat for your furry friend, or perhaps a great gift for a fellow rabbit-lover, look no further, Columbus HRS offers a variety of rabbit care items and wonderful gifts.
We stock the following products:
Above items pickup only:
CHRS Ornament
Laser-engraved wood ornament:
"I Love Rabbits
These aren't just for Christmas! Hang one on your refrigerator, your car's rearview mirror, or on your wall at work.
Approximately 3" x 3". $6 each. Add $2.00 for shipping.
House Rabbit Handbook, How to Live with an Urban Rabbit
NEW - Fourth Edition, by Marinell Harriman
The book that originated the term "House Rabbit" continues to be the mainstay of rabbit understanding, appreciation, and care. After 14 printings of the Third Edition, we are revising once more, keeping pace with an ever demanding readership. Diagram and photo illustrations cover heath care, litterbox training, diet, exercise, toys, and behavior. The accumulated insights of many caregivers help to make life with a house rabbit mutually gratifying. $12.00 Add $2.00 for shipping.
Emergency Decals
During an emergency, let Firefighters and EMS crews know you have rabbits to rescue. Place our emergency decal on your door or window to alert rescuers to your furry friends. Four rabbit pictures to choose from with each in singular and plural wordings. $4.00 each, or 2 for $7.00, includes tax. Add $1.00 for shipping.
CHRS Chapter Designer Checks
You can now order bunny checks for our chapter! Our organization code is OH2 0. Click here for a larger image.
Rabbit Health in the 21st Century, A Guide for Bunny Parents
This is a book about rabbit health from a caretaker's perspective and is written for people with little or no medical or veterinary background. Rabbit Health in the 21st Century is not intended to ever replace a visit to a veterinarian. Its goal is to help rabbit caretakers play a more active, informed role in their rabbit's health-care decisions. It received a complete Medical Review from Noella Allan, DVM, one of Kansas City's top rabbit specialists. $18.00 Add $2.00 for shipping.
Multimedia Rabbit: House Rabbit Care Software
Everything you need to know to keep your rabbit companion healthy and happy. Over 150 full color photos, video clips include trimming toenails, grooming, thumping... & more! $10.00 (includes shipping).


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Can a woman's longing for a father hinder her ability to have a healthy relationship with a man her own age? Zhong Man Qing (Lin Chen Xi) was abandoned at birth but had the good fortune of being raised by three moms who found her and gave her all the love, support and encouragement any child could need. But despite growing up a confident woman, Man Qing has always longed for a father figure, and she is elated when the wise Zheng Da Shan (Jason Wang) enters her life to provide counsel during a difficult time in her life. When Man Qing meets Da Shan's withdrawn son, Zheng Yu En (Mo Tzu Yi), she is gradually won over by his pure love for her, although she in turn is more drawn to his father's affections and attention. Can Man Qing help repair the broken father-son relationship or will her love drive the two men further apart? "An Innocent Mistake," also known as "Sin Beauty," is a 2012 Taiwanese drama series directed by Xiang Xiu Qiong.
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28 December 2009
Assorted Leftover Bottles
* * *
This wine comes from the time when Bonny Doon's Ca' del Solo line was still whimsical and lighthearted. With a move to biodynamics and a trimming of the wild mix of grapes and products, Ca' del Solo wines now bear very unusual labels. This older label reminds me of the children's book Madeline, though this little girl is obviously not an orphan.
There's not a lot of information out there about this wine--a few reviews of various vintages going back to the 90s, but Bonny Doon is a company that has grown, shrunk, exploded with products, focused on a handful of wines, reinvented itself, and has built up certain mythologies about its products. Like how people mistake the Ca' del Solo line for Italian wines, or think the Big House wines (no longer part of Bonny Doon) were actually made by prisoners. Press releases and company info on old products seem to disappear completely, like the Fraise strawberry liqueur I tried in 1997, leaving us with second- and third-hand accounts and reviews.
Our mystery white is the 2005 Ca' del Solo Malvasia Bianca from the Central Coast of California. $12, 13% abv. Lots of lime on the nose, like lemon curd but with more of a lime tang--think Key Lime Pie. Plenty of fruit flavor here, and a quick finish. Tropical fruits like papaya and pineapple. I had it with a little cold pasta salad, and it definitely needs something salty like olives to balance out the touch of sweetness. I would have liked to have tried this in its youth; I have nothing to directly compare it with, but I think there might have been some more sparkle a few years ago.
* * *
Different European countries have different rules and regulations when it comes to what kind of grapes can be grown in various regions. France is pretty strict; I often think that Italy and Spain are more accommodating because they have thousands of indigenous grapes that might only be a few hundred distinct vines with ten names each. (It's possible for a wine grape to have over 150 different names.) In Italy the IGT system has permitted well-crafted wines to be produced using plots planted with both indigenous Italian vines and imported French vines. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are popular blending grapes, even as far south as Sicily.
One relatively mainstream example is the 2005 Bonizio Cecchi from Maremma, Italy (the western corner of Tuscany). $10, 12.5% abv, 90% Sangiovese, 10% "other" red grapes. This little Tuscan IGT has a little blackberry and clove on the nose, with mild tannins and cherry flavors. It performs well for the price and was a decent accompaniment to a pepperoni pizza.
* * *
This is a very inexpensive Pinot Noir, decent enough for the price. After Sideways a lot of people rushed out and bought the cheapest Pinot on the shelf. Many of those folks were sorely disappointed, but it doesn't mean that bargain Pinot doesn't exist. It's just hard to find. I've often considered taping a note to my wallet that says, "Don't buy a Pinot Noir under $20. They've never made you happy."
But for the same reason that I've always dated [REDACTED], I decided to try another bargain California Pinot that showed up at the local shop. This is the 2006 Jargon Pinot Noir that retails for a paltry $7, 13.5% abv. Surprisingly, it is pretty soft and smooth, with decent black cherry notes, but lacking real complexity. Just a touch of acidity, tannins are pretty much nonexistent. It's the kind of wine I'd suggest for a diner if my local diners actually served wine.
* * *
A lot of folks like to beat up on Red Truck, and while it pales in comparison to fine Burgundy or Bordeaux I've always thought it was a fun table wine. Better in previous years, I think, but it's a great "gateway wine" for men. If a guy has never tasted wine before, flowery labels and French language aren't going to convince him. But if there's half a hog on the smoker, and you pull out a slightly chilled wine that has an old pickup truck on the label... You might have just made a convert. In five years he'll be criticizing your Barolo vintages and explaining why he prefers Spiegelau glasses over Riedel.
The 2006 Red Truck is $12, 13.5% abv, and shows notes of plum, brambles, with notes that are vegetal. Just a touch of herbs. Big tannins and acidity but they subside with an hour of breathing. The grapes are a proprietary blend of Syrah, Petite Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, and Mourvèdre. While this may sound like a confused mess, it's probably close to the spirit of pre-Prohibition California "red wine" that used to flow out across the country years and years ago. Fortunately, you'll get a chance to enjoy it in bottle or cask form instead of having it shipped in tankers via train.
* * *
I'm an unabashed fan of the metric system and curse the archaic, illogical standard system we use here. However, for historical and literary purposes I do find obscure forms of measurement fascinating. Fathoms, leagues, hogsheads... Italian miles versus German miles versus Arabic miles... Gold gets measured in troy ounces, and horses get measured in "hands" from the ground to the withers, units now standardized at 4 inches. 14-16 hands is pretty average for a horse. (Similar human body-derived units are feet, paces, cubits, and the Selleck, used to measure mustache thickness.)
Another random wine selection based on the name is the 2007 14 Hands Merlot, $12, 13.5% abv. It's comprised of 85% Merlot, 14% Syrah, and 1% "other", sourced from a variety of locations in Washington state. Pacific Northwest wines are growing in popularity and availability, and it's always interesting to talk to people that just got back from a trip to Washington or Oregon wine country. They talk about it in this dreamy way like they've been to France.
Jammy, with an initial cherry and blueberry nose that can be overwhelming. After some breathing, it mellows out and you're able to get notes of chocolate, tobacco, and tomato vines. Definitely fruity, with medium tannins and a long chocolate-covered-cherry finish.
7 comments:
- Wine Tonite! said...
You make a very good point up top about 2nd and 3rd hand reviews as wel as lost or confusing information about for wines on the internet. Have you heard of the OwnIt! initiative by Cruvee that is trying to provide accurate and streamlined wine data across the web and allowing the wineries themselves to control that information? (http://yourwineyourway.com/)
Have a Happy New Year!
- 29 December, 2009 05:41
- Benito said...
I've heard about the project but haven't followed it closely. The few times I've attempted to build a database out of my own notes I've gotten frustrated and quit. Simple things like a region field get complicated based on how much detail you want. Or grapes: should a search for Zinfandel also pull up Primitivo as well? Greek wines listed using the Greek or Roman alphabet? I recently tried a wine that was a 50/50 blend of 2007 and 2008 vintages, which I think is more significant than merely calling it NV.
Of course, I run into the same problem with organizing my DVDs. Some people go purely alphabetical; I prefer genre groupings with subgroups by director or lead actor. I spend way too much time thinking about these things. :)
Cheers, and Happy New Year,
- 29 December, 2009 10:50
- The Wine Commonsewer (TWC) said...
I haven't had the Red Truck in a while, so it may be better this year. My complaint is that it is afflicted with that sickly sweet taste that is often passed off as cherries, a code word for predictably crummy wine. :-)
I've often considered taping a note to my wallet that says, "Don't buy a Pinot Noir under $20. They've never made you happy."
Good advice. I have to say that in my entire life I've only had three or four Pinots that were really good. All were more than twenty bucks.
I'm almost ready to conclude that I'm not really a pinot noir kind of guy and maybe it's nothing more than that.
Happy New Year, Ben.
- 30 December, 2009 09:26
- The Wine Commonsewer (TWC) said...
Speaking of disappearing info, I always think it odd that wineries sometimes take their own tasting notes down after they've sold out a particular vintage.
The other problem with winery info is that it tends to be optimistic. :-)
- 30 December, 2009 09:36
- Benito said...
The better Pinot Noirs I've had were a bit on the pricey side and had been aged properly. Obviously I don't get to enjoy that kind of wine very often, but when it's made well and handled properly it can be amazing.
Happy New Year to you as well!
- 30 December, 2009 13:03
- Michael Hughes said...
Yeah I did kinda wax poetic when I got back from Oregon & Washington. You simply must go! That 14 hands is a great little merlot.
- 01 January, 2010 10:09
- Benito said...
I wasn't just praising your lovely words about the area--I've heard similar dreamy tales from many others. Indeed, I visited Oregon at the age of 13 and didn't touch a drop of wine or visit a vineyard, but the state occupies this magical place in my memory. Great seafood, great cherries, forests/mountains/coast/desert... it's like a mini-California.
- 01 January, 2010 16:53


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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit in federal court today on behalf of three city residents — one a school committee member — to block the panhandling ordinances that took effect in late January.
The civil suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Worcester, by lawyer Kevin P. Martin claims the ordinances are unconstitutional, violate free speech and the right for people to peacefully solicit donations in public.
Mr. Martin, a volunteer lawyer from the Boston firm of Goodwin Procter LLP, also said in the suit that the ordinances target the poor and homeless. The plaintiffs are listed as Robert Thayer and Sharon Brownson, two people described as homeless city residents; and Tracy O'Connell Novick, a member of the school committee here.
"The laws are intended to prevent so-called 'aggressive' begging, but in fact prohibit a great deal of peaceful conduct which is protected expression," Mr. Martin said.
City Solicitor David M. Moore said as of Monday afternoon the city had not received the complaint. He said the city would respond accordingly in court.
He believed the two ordinances would hold up in court. "It is not targeted free speech. It is based on public safety issues," Mr. Moore said. While talking about ordinances directed at aggressive panhandling, Mr. Moore said the city reviewed similar ordinances in Los Angeles, Washington state and New York. All of those ordinances faced First Amendment challenges and were upheld by the courts, Mr. Moore said.
The suit asks for a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing the ordinances and for a judge to find the ordinances unconstitutional.
The two ordinances make "aggressive" panhandling illegal and limit panhandling within 20 feet of number of different locations such as outdoor cafes, automated teller machines and public restrooms. There are restrictions against panhandling after dark as well.
Soliciting cash from drivers while standing in a street, walking into traffic or standing on a traffic island is not allowed under the ordinance. The ACLU notes that rotaries and traffic medians are used by politicians and others as forums for public speech.
"Individuals like Plaintiffs Robert Thayer and Sharon Brownson who depend on assistance from strangers for basic necessities like food and shelter now risk arrest if they stand peacefully and quietly on a sidewalk what a sign that says, 'Please Help," if there is a public restroom, bus stop, or pay phone within 20 feet, or if they step into stopped traffic to receive a proffered donation," the civil suit states.
The complaint continues, "Local politicians like Plaintiff Tracy Novick are now prohibited from campaigning on traffic islands and rotaries that have traditionally been used for political speech."
She campaigned on traffic islands in 2009 and 2011 and intends to run for re-election this fall.
The suit claims the city has shown intent to selectively enforce the ordinance by targeting the homeless, while allowing others to violate the ordinance without repercussions.
The ACLU cites the February protest by activists objecting to the city's panhandling ordinances. The group stood in Lincoln Square with a couple standing in the median strip asking for donations. Police did not respond to that protest.
Christopher Robarge, Central Massachusetts field coordinator for the ACLU of Massachusetts, had testified in front of city councilors during different meetings about the ordinances and warned that overly broad ordinances have been overturned in the past.
"My message to the council before they passed these ordinances was you have a right to free speech, and the content of the signs is irrelevant," he said.
Although the heart of the ordinances was to drive down what was deemed "aggressive" panhandlers, the ordinances also affected other groups such as organizations that used "tag days" to raise money and politicians campaigning in the city, Mr. Robarge said.
There are existing laws that can address aggressive panhandlers, ACLU officials contend.
"Rather than narrowly tailoring the ordinances to the stated goal of protecting public safety, the City has instead chosen to proscribe a wide range of peaceful and constitutionally-protected expression, none of which implicates any safety concerns," the civil suit said.
The ACLU accuses the city of violating the right to equal protection of the laws and enforcing the ordinance against the homeless and poor. Some homeless people have been arrested already. Those found in violation can be fined $50.
"I think that there is sort of a cruel irony there," Mr. Robarge said. "It seems to be a further criminalization of being poor."
The suit said Mr. Thayer and Ms. Brownson have been homeless for three years and regularly stand on sidewalks and next to roadways asking for help or money. They don't approach or touch vehicles unless a driver gestures. He only steps in the roadway to collect a donation, the suit said. They have both been told by police that they cannot panhandle on the sidewalk next to a roadway, the suit claims.
Contact Scott J. Croteau at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottCroteauTG