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Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Introducing Loki Titanic Hurricane Mule Train Diamond Jubilee Whisky: A Whisky with a Gimmick (or two)
After spending some time studying recent trends in whisky marketing, I am proud to introduce my first whisky for sale: Loki Titanic Hurricane Mule Train Diamond Jubilee Whisky.
In honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and named for the Norse God Loki with no intention at all to capitalize on recent popular movies which may feature a character of the same name, Loki Titanic Hurricane Mule Train Diamond Jubilee Whisky is a truly unique whisky. This three and a half year old is a replica of a whisky which is rumored to have been recovered from the ruins of the Titanic (when we found it, it was very wet). Our brand ambassador, famously known as "the Tongue," carefully and faithfully recreated the whisky using a selection of the best spirits available at our local Costco. Then, while the Titanic replica whisky was ageing, a massive hurricane (well, technically a tropical storm or at least "gusty winds") broke a window to the warehouse and left the whisky exposed to the elements for nearly 38 minutes. Luckily, the whisky was unhurt and was immediately transferred to mules, which carried the casks through the Grand Canyon to improve the ageing process.
Now, for just $18,565, you can celebrate the Diamond Jubilee by tasting a whisky that may be very close to what was consumed on board the Titanic, survived a natural disaster and was subject to mule-enhanced ageing. Remember, with a name like Loki, it has to be evil!
20 comments:
LOL! That is brilliant, Sku. I'll take a whole case!
- June 6, 2012 at 5:05 PM
I just put a down payment on a bottle from the limited allotment rumored to be coming to the control state of PA. However, due to the state's massive buying power, we can get it here (if and when it arrives) for only $12,244, the same price as the 6 year old from the new Dalmore Constellation collection.
Puttin' mine on eBay!
- June 6, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Sam K, $12,244 for the 200ml. The 375ml is $18,565.
- June 6, 2012 at 5:27 PM
- Tim Read said...
The last two comments make me yearn for a "like" function on your comments, Sku.
- June 6, 2012 at 5:34 PM
I also heard the mules carried the whisky in 2000 liter tuns that held Chateau Lafite for 45 seconds.
- June 6, 2012 at 5:38 PM
Dammit, dammit, dammit! I KNEW there was a catch!
- June 6, 2012 at 5:39 PM
I'm sure its very good whiskey, but there are so many others available for under $18,000 that I'm not sure I'm ready to pay the extra $565 for it.
- June 6, 2012 at 6:50 PM
Sure, but I hear it is the container you really want.
- June 6, 2012 at 11:11 PM
This whisky was found on April 17th 2012, 06:17pm.
It got shipped to Kughalochrk, Antartica, headquarters of S.K.U Galactic Co. and analyzed through kryptnonic GCMS so each compound's proportion within the blend, name, smell and taste could be discovered.
The blend, made from barrels that had been lost, totally forgotten about then luckily found in one (of the four) corner(s) of the 600 sq feet warehouse has been crafted on April 17th 2012, 8:15pm.
The label got created, registered (and approved) within a few minutes by the brilliant minds whose job it is to do so, printed and sticked on the handblown bottle made for the occasion.
By April 18th 2012, 10.00am the limited 97,000 bottles where on shelf. Everywhere whisky is sold.
- June 7, 2012 at 6:25 AM
- sku said...
Great comments everyone! Keep 'em up.
- June 7, 2012 at 7:25 AM
ageing vs. aging
Using the Queen's English? That is a bit of a grey area.
- June 7, 2012 at 3:33 PM
- AaronWF said...
I have found that the more words in the title of a whiskey (or whisky in this case), the worse gas I get when I drink it. Am I alone?
Anyone have a bottle I can come over and sample?
- June 7, 2012 at 8:37 PM
Distillery club members are also invited to geocache the desert Southwest surrounding the canyon for a one-off Loki finishing within the last Cockerell's Bumblebee hive. Loki reigned down extinction upon this species adding a profound spiritual sweetness to the honeyed aroma and palate of this endagered whisky.
- June 8, 2012 at 6:23 AM
- sku said...
Don't even get me started on our new flavoured whisky line. Loki Peanut Butter, Jelly and Bacon Whisky is an organic, certified kosher flavored whisky which even gals will like!
- June 8, 2012 at 7:02 AM
You did it, again... flavoured and flavored in the same posting. It IS the Queen's English.
- June 8, 2012 at 10:33 AM
- sku said...
That was for you Anon. It's a labour of love.
- June 8, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Colour me surprised.
- June 8, 2012 at 10:24 PM
Hey, me and a buddy were at a Harlan Wheatly tasting in Houston and he slipped us Jim Murray's advance Loki tasting notes scribbled on a blood stained Dairy Queen napkin:
On the nose it is clear that Loki is truly a god of lies and mischief. Every waft deeply maliciously resentful of human olfactory receptors... wreaking vengeful havoc upon all one thought whisky could not be.
Alas it is upon the palate where Loki's sheer talent for mischief manifests. The ABV is a formidable adversary unleashed upon the tongue like a fire demon. A drop of water brings forth a thousand tons of sulfur; quickly animating one's soul to near astral form before a mammoth punitive legion of dryness strips it of its power and gives way to a collapsing superstructure of sherry descending upon the tongue like a viper dipped in poison with the power to destroy what it means to be human.
The finale is a nuclear-scale explosion of peat and many shelves of fine leather-bound volumes of vanilla that conceal a secret invasion of high-caliber armor piercing tannin.
There is no finish. Here Loki destroys time and refuses to be exiled from the palate by infinitely resurrecting itself. Days later Loki continues its supernatural siege to imprison the soul via inter dimensional teleportation. Flocks of scavengers fly above as one prays for the merciful abyss of death that will never come.
All hail The Great Destroyer: World Whisky of the Year
- June 9, 2012 at 6:50 PM
I heard it's already been discontinued due to shortages of stocks and that it opens an inter-dimensional portal where some guy has a chainsaw for an arm and they call this the boom-whisky.
But there's plenty on eBay at 3x the retail price from people who are opposed to eBay sales.
- June 15, 2012 at 11:47 AM
I can't wait to shove some of this in my bunker
- January 2, 2013 at 1:19 PM


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- Politico, a powerful website, announced a new opinion section featuring a voice from the left and a voice from the right. The pundits? Two white men. The announcement, referencing an old Saturday Night Live skit, used the word "slut."
- NPR reported that, while it has plenty of female hosts, women are rarely chosen as commentators (just one of dozens) or as sources in news stories (outnumbered by men about 3 to 1), so that women's voices are rarely heard as authorities on topics of the day.
- A tech blogger whose conference routinely includes 10 percent or fewer women among its speakers, wrote an inflammatory post that suggested women in tech "stop blaming the men." He defended that percentage, noting many women turn down the opportunity to speak, or that qualified women just can't be found. One of many women who responded to this diatribe on his site was called a "c***" in the comments.
- A prominent speaker who wasn't told that a live Twitter feed from the audience would be projected behind her during a keynote learned later that audience members were laughing because men in the audience were tweeting whether they wanted to "do her." They removed the tweets later, but it gave us an insight into what some men are thinking about instead of a woman speaker's topic.
- Every day, people spread these 4 common myths about women who speak in public--mostly to make them feel uncomfortable about speaking, and hoping to silence them. If you've ever joked about women talking more than men do, you've passed on one of these myths.
When the recent dust-up over the tech blogger's inflammatory remarks arose a few weeks ago, I held off commenting, in part because I didn't want to drive traffic to his site (one reason I believe he writes posts of this type). But I had to challenge myself, and I want to challenge you, too: Instead of blaming women or saying this can't be done, what are some practical and simple things that any of us can do to help a woman with public speaking? Unlike some observers, I'm not suggesting that only women should do these things. These are tasks any woman or man can do. I welcome your additions to this list in the comments:
- Talk about this issue--with your friends and colleagues, with your boss, with your professional organizations. Ask what they can do to help. Share this list as a starting point. When you see people helping to keep women silent, point it out.
- When you organize or moderate a panel, take the time to look for, invite and encourage women speakers to join it. Got an all male panel? Include women. (This is a problem even in female-dominated professions, by the way.) Get your organization to make this a rule of thumb.
- Share speaking resources with women you know. I always hope you'll recommend The Eloquent Woman or The Eloquent Woman on Facebook, but please also share the many books, blogs, seminars and other resources you find useful with women interested in speaking.
- If you're a manager, offer support for speaker training, particularly for younger women on your team. Use a low-cost alternative like Toastmasters, private coaching, or team training for the women on your team. Insist that women working on your team get speaker training. Encourage them to keep trying.
- Managers also can make public speaking and presentations skills a professional development goal for female team members, both to indicate their importance and to cause training to happen.
- Not a manager? Then ask for presentation and speaker training at work, and ask to make it part of your professional development plan. Suggest group training for you and your colleagues. Feel free to use my memo to the boss for this purpose.
- In a meeting, ask a woman what she thinks about the matter at hand. Listen to what she says. If a woman's having trouble getting a word in edgewise, help her out: "I'd like to hear what Emily has to say on this score" is all it takes.
- If a female friend or colleague is speaking, go hear your speaking friend. Congratulate her. Encourage her to do it again. Ask intelligent questions during her presentation. Tell others to go see her.
- If you're a woman who speaks on a subject with authority, make yourself known to program organizers, and publicly. Women are sometimes penalized for putting themselves forward in this way. Do it, anyway. It's okay to "toot your own horn."
- Offer to help a friend practice public speaking. Watch a video playback with her, watch her rehearse, or sit in the audience and offer observations afterward.
- Mentor another woman with less speaking experience. Let her watch you speak, and talk to her afterwards so she has the chance to ask questions. Help her get speaking gigs and opportunities to practice. Show her how to network in ways that will help her be noticed as a speaker, and talk to her about how to promote her speaking.
- Speak up and shut down the myths, mocking, negative talk and sexual slurs that attempt to silence women. A simple "that's unacceptable" should do it; if it doesn't, make a complaint. Don't let women around you be intimidated into silence.
- Before you register for a conference, figure out the proportion of female speakers. Send a message to the organizers if it's out of whack. Let them know the problem has been noticed--and ask what they're going to do about it.
Check out the community on The Eloquent Woman on Facebook, and sign up for Step Up Your Speaking, my free monthly newsletter, here.

subset: commoncrawl


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FCHS (FCHS) Class of 2015 Alumni List
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While you are reminiscing about the times you spent in high school at Fort Collins High School, you should also check out alumni photos, yearbook listings and share any reunion info if possible.


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As announced on episode 22 of the VeloReviews Podcast, I've inherited the the incredible cycling community originally created by Jeff Helfand. The announcement was made to the community on Sunday, April 3.
For readers of JustAnotherCyclist that are not currently familiar with VeloReviews – go check it out. Become a member of the greatest no-drop ride on the internet!
Over the coming weeks the resources of JustAnotherCyclist will be merged into VeloReviews. Exactly how that will happen still remains to be determined, but followers of JAC will find that there are a whole lot more resources available to them after this transation.
Stay tuned!


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President Hugo Chávez Frías' administration continued its systematic campaign to stifle critical reporting through regulatory, judicial, and legislative avenues. The telecommunications regulator fined Globovisión, the country's sole critical television station, more than US$2 million for its coverage of deadly prison riots in June and July. The regulator invoked the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, one of the region's most restrictive measures. Prosecutors brought criminal charges against two executives of a critical weekly concerning a satirical article and photo montage that depicted high-ranking female officials as playing roles in a "cabaret" directed by Chávez. The weekly was briefly shut, and one executive was imprisoned for nearly three months. The Chávez administration used its extensive state media operation to spread political propaganda and wage smear campaigns against its critics. Chávez's announcement that Cuban doctors had found and removed a cancerous tumor fueled speculation about the country's political future as the October 2012 presidential election approached. Official information about the president's health was scarce and treated as if it were a state secret.
Conatel, Venezuela's telecommunications regulator, fined Globovisión for its coverage of a tense 27-day standoff between government troops and prisoners at the country's El Rodeo II Prison in the city of Guatire. Regulators alleged the station violated the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television.
Leocenis García, owner of the weekly 6to Poder, was detained in August after his paper ran a satirical article that compared senior female officials in the Chávez administration to cabaret dancers. He was charged with incitement to hatred, insulting officials, and denigrating women. García was freed in November, but charges were pending.
The body of Wilfred Iván Ojeda, a political columnist and opposition activist, was found in a vacant lot, gagged, hooded, and bound, with a gunshot to the head, according to local investigators. CPJ was investigating to determine whether the killing was related to his journalism.
Breakdown of fatalities in Venezuela since 1992:
The administration rejected all 13 recommendations concerning freedom of expression that were made during the country's Universal Periodic Review before the U.N. Human Rights Council in October.
The recommendations, part of a larger human rights package, had called for the adoption of access-to-information legislation and the repeal of laws that criminalize insulting a public official.
Breakdown of Universal Periodic Review recommendations:
148: Total number of recommendations
95: Recommendations accepted (others were being considered)
0: Recommendations accepted concerning freedom of expression
38: Recommendations rejected, including all 13 freedom of expression items
Six critical journalists and columnists, including 2010 CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee Laureano Márquez, saw their Twitter accounts hacked in September. The hackers, going under the name N33, effectively took over the accounts. The group said it was independent of the government but was defending Chávez's honor, according to the International Press Institute. Eight opposition politicians and activists were also targeted.


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Michael Coveney: Mel Smith and other fond farewells in wake of Snoo
I was out of town on Friday and unable to attend Snoo Wilson's funeral, but my friend Peter Ansorge assures me that Simon Callow was on fine form, in a purple suit, singing Snoo's praises and recounting their hilarious adventures while researching in Sicily the film about Aleister Crowley they never managed to make.
Frances Barber read from More Light ("There are many heavens, but few as sweet as ours. If you lose me, look for the one very like England.") And Alan Rickman summoned up the deluge from Darwin's Flood. Dusty Hughes, once of the Bush Theatre alongside Jenny Topper and Simon Stokes, brought things to a rousing conclusion, the whole affair in Golders Green crematorium done without a hymn or a prayer but peculiar to Snoo and therefore curiously moving and metaphysical as a result, says Peter.
Snoo's untimely demise prompted three more thespian tragedies as we learned of the passing of two fine actors -- Paul Bhattacharjee and Briony McRoberts - and Mel Smith, the comedian, though Mel was absolutely brilliant on stage in his last two acting performances, as Churchill in a play by Mary Kenny at the Edinburgh Festival fringe, and as Michael Ball's tubby husband in Hairspray, the musical, at the Shaftesbury. He also directed the definitive version of Peter Straker's Jacques Brel cabaret.
Mel, a London bookie's son who was president of the OUDS at Oxford, started out as an assistant director at the Royal Court, and was best known for his work with Griff Rhys Jones on the BBC TV comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News (with Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson) and Alas Smith and Jones. Before then, though, he was part of another double act on stage with the tall, beaky comedy actor Bob Goody - Smith and Goody - before he struck out with Rhys Jones and Goody joined Shared Experience, appearing in the early shows there directed by Mike Alfreds, notably The Arabian Nights and Bleak House.
Bhattacharjee was found at the bottom of some cliffs in East Sussex, McRoberts under a tube train at Fulham Broadway. Immediately, there was story in The Times suggesting that the life of an actor was a particularly lonely one, which seemed a bit glib and also a bit wrong; most actors are by nature gregarious. It was suggested in the Independent, though, that Bhattacharjee had financial worries, having recently been declared a bankrupt in the High Court.
And that sounds doubly sad as he was so regularly employed on both television and stage. But who ever knows what really goes on deep down in our private lives, as Noel Coward said? Bhattacharjee was devoted to his mother and his son, and had a new girlfriend, and was appearing once again at the Royal Court, where I first saw him 35 years ago. He had played Benedick in the West End with Meera Syal as Beatrice for the RSC, and was renowned as probably the leading British Asian actor of his generation, thanks to his crucial association with Jatinder Verma's Tara Arts; his mother was of Russian Jewish lineage, so he had more mixed blood than most.
Briony McRoberts was a much loved soap star on television, appearing in both EastEnders and Take the High Road, but she was always fierce and bright as a button on stage. She was married to David Robb who plays Doctor Clarkson in Downton Abbey and who, we learn, was a volunteer of some years' experience with the Samaritans, which may or may not be an indication of Briony's state of mind. Most people who work for the Samaritans do so altruistically, not because their nearest or dearest needs professional advice or succour.
So that was a particularly bad news week, that was. But the sun's still shining and everyone's making long term plans for holidays and the Edinburgh Festival, and short term ones for Barnum at Chichester on Wednesday and All's Well That Ends Well at Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday. So, as always, in the midst of death there is life; it's the suddenness and unexpectedness of last week's departures that has brought people up short, and there is a great amount of sadness and woe washing around.


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Photo by Bill Rhodes
Growing up in eastern North Carolina, chef Mike Moore learned how to make his own luck.
"There's an old saying in the South, that if you have seven sows and one boar on the new moon, you'll always have a litter of eight piglets," he says.
Moore, who is the executive director of the Blind Pig Underground Supper Club, is teaming up with a cast of Asheville culinarians to create Seven Sows Bourbon and Larder. He's hoping the pig reference will bring him good fortune.
Like the new moon, Moore's Blind Pig creations have been ephemeral; there's only about one dinner per month, and tickets sell out just hours after they're released. Come February, he'll have a brick-and-mortar presence downtown at 77 Biltmore Ave. in the space recently vacated by the Baja Kitchen, next door to Mamacita's. (Until then, you can find him in the kitchen at The Admiral, where he's worked between Blind Pig events for the last couple of years.)
Seven Sows, a collaboration between Moore, Adam Bannasch of Zambra and Jason Caughman of Pisgah Brewing, will serve dinner and weekend brunches that feature local and heirloom products and Southern foods. The bar will focus on bourbon. Moore likes to drink his straight, and it's a habit he's hoping to popularize.
"Bourbon is something that is created here in the South, in Kentucky and West Virginia in distilleries around the South," he says. "We want to focus on it and have a great selection." He recommends Willett Bourbon, a small-batch product from a family-operated distillery in Bardstown, Ky.
Bannasch hopes the bar will be a gathering spot for downtown concert-goers. "I'm hoping it can be a place where people can come in and get a drink before a show at the Orange Peel and be comfortable with that, with not having to order a whole meal," he says. "They don't have to be into food to feel like they can go in there."
Moore's family has been in farming for generations, and that legacy will inspire the menu. He hopes to grow much of the produce at Just Ripe Farm in Weaverville. He will work with owners Chad Briar and Rachel Kinard to produce hard-to-find heirloom crops, such as Carolina cabbage collards and red-speckled butter beans. "Some of these things have been lost in time, and I'd love to bring them back and spotlight them," he says. "The South is indicative of a very agrarian lifestyle, and everything about Southern food and Southern people is that."
As chef and owner of Zambra, Bannasch has been working with area farmers for several years, and he's glad to bring the "tight-knit" relationships he's developed with them to Seven Sows.
Moore has already started sourcing regional products. He makes regular trips to Knoxville for buttermilk from Cruze Farm, a small herbicide- and pesticide-free dairy recently received featured in Condé Nast Traveler. He's also convinced distributors to carry Stump Sound oysters from the North Carolina coast.
Seven Sows won't be "New Southern" or "upscale," Moore says. He plans to offer a variety of plate sizes so diners can customize their experience depending on the occasion. "I don't want to cast our net just to reach the foodies, just to reach the people that have the huge purses," he says. "I want to cast my net to folks that want to enjoy great food or something from Renaissance South."
Bannasch also wants to keep the place accessible. "I think we're going for the average-Joe crowd who wants to come in and get some good food and some good drinks," he says. "We're not trying to redefine anything."
Moore hopes to offer bar snacks, such as popcorn with bacon and french fries with ham puree, in addition to small plates and entree portions. "You can't have a white tablecloth," he says.
The three partners hope to open Seven Sows in February 2013. Moore says now is a good time to open a Southern food restaurant, but adds that it's always been a good time to eat Southern food. "We've always been very connected to the earth and growing things and raising things," he says. "That's the reason why the food is so damn good."


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Noted for his rich, resonant tone and metronomic precision, Al McKibbon was one of the premier bassists of the early bebop era, supporting giants like Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, and Thelonious Monk in addition to collaborating with percussionist Chano Pozo to forge the sound of Afro-Cuban jazz. Born January 1, 1919, in Chicago, McKibbon was the son of a minister who played tuba and guitar, often with Al's mother on piano accompaniment. The family relocated to Detroit in 1921, where McKibbon's older brother later played with the Midwest Territorial Orchestra and recommended that his younger sibling adopt the bass. While a student at Detroit's Cass Tech, McKibbon studied bass and piano, and by 17 was gigging steadily at the local nightclub the B&C. Later, he backed Kelly Martin at the Conga Club, followed by a stint with Jimmie Lunceford's former saxophonist Ted Bruckner. In 1943, Lucky Millinder headlined Detroit's Paradise Theater, and when Millinder and band left town for a date in New York City, they took McKibbon with them. The bassist eventually settled in the Big Apple, making his first studio recordings with Millinder before signing on with Tab Smith.
In October 1945 McKibbon joined Hawkins, whose band included Monk on piano. Via Hawkins, the bassist also landed a spot on Norman Granz's first Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, which also featured Lester Young and Buck Clayton. Although McKibbon's tenure with Hawkins was relatively brief, his collaboration with Monk spanned decades -- he played on some of the legendary pianist's earliest headlining recordings, and was featured during his landmark run at Minton's Playhouse. In 1946, McKibbon joined J.C. Heard's band during its stint at New York's Café Society, and the following year he was hired by Dizzy Gillespie to replace bassist Ray Brown, who'd alienated his bandmates by beginning a romance with singer Ella Fitzgerald. McKibbon roomed on tour with Cuban-born percussionist Pozo, and despite their language barrier, the two men created the rhythmic template that would become the foundation for Afro-Cuban jazz, beginning with their work on Gillespie's seminal "Manteca" and continuing across Latin-inspired sessions including "Cubano Be," "Cubano Bop," and "Guarichi Guaro."
Although the Gillespie band splintered in 1949, McKibbon remained immersed in Latin music for the duration of his career. After playing on Miles Davis' groundbreaking Birth of the Cool sessions, he worked briefly with Count Basie, Earl Hines, and Johnny Hodges before settling in with the George Shearing Quartet in 1951, the beginning of the pianist's own exploration of Afro-Cuban music. McKibbon spent seven years behind Shearing, followed by a year with Cal Tjader, another bandleader who grabbed the Latin baton. The bassist relocated to Los Angeles in 1958, working for over a decade as a session player and also recording for film and television. In the early '70s he returned to the road alongside Gillespie and Monk on the Giants of Jazz tour -- in 1971, he also played on Monk's final recording date. Sometime later McKibbon acquired a bass created by Jacob Steiner, "the German Stradivarius," in 1650 -- his tone grew even richer and more robust in turn, and in time he moved into classical performance, in 1992 traveling to the Mojave Desert to play with a symphony orchestra recording Beethoven's Ninth amid the sandy desolation. Only in 1999 did McKibbon finally release his first LP as a leader, Tumbao Para los Congueros de Mi Vida. He died July 29, 2005, at age 86.
02 - Black Orchid
03 - Little Niles
04 - Tres Palabras
05 - Ode to Billie Joe
06 - Monsieur Philippe
07 - Isfahan
08 - Big Al's Blues
Personnel :
Ramon Banda - drums
Al McKibbon - bass
Frank Morrocco - accordion
Barry Zweig - guitar
Joe Deleon - percussion
Rob Kyle - saxophone
Robert Kyle - saxophone
Donald Vega - piano
Year Of Release: 2003
147 MB / 320 Kbps


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YogaPaddler SUP Yoga
June 8, 2017 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 6:30 pm on Thursday, repeating until August 31, 2017
Great fun whether you are a yoga enthusiast, a paddler or both. Getting wet is inevitable and fun! Drop-ins are always welcome; however, sessions with no registered participants may be cancelled so be sure and register or give us a call.


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From reporter Ruby Gonzales who notes that a judge could determine Pico Rivera's Weinerschnitzel king Ron Beilke's fate today:
LOS ANGELES – A Krikorian Premiere Theatres executive testified at Ron Beilke's corruption trial Wednesday that the theater monitored the former Pico Rivera mayor and several other council members over their alleged misuse of free movie passes.
Michael Cummings, vice president of operations with Krikorian, said at one point the company sent a letter with the passes "to help curb what we deemed was misuse of the passes." It listed their rules and restrictions.
Council members and city staff members were given the passes starting in 2005 while the Pico Rivera theater project was under way, Cummings said.
"The passes were issued so they could check out what they will have in Pico Rivera," he said, but they were never intended for unlimited use.
Beilke has been charged with one felony count of perjury, one felony count of conflict of interest and three misdemeanor counts of conflict of interest. He has pleaded not guilty to all.
Prosecutors accuse Beilke of lying when he reported on his 2008 economic-interest form that he received $240 worth of movie passes from Krikorian Premiere Theatres. The real value was $3,464, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also allege Beilke had a conflict of interest when he approved contracts related to the theater and to a street-improvement project on Rosemead Boulevard. His Wienerschnitzel restaurant is near the projects.
If convicted of all charges and sentenced consecutively, Beilke faces six years and two months in prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Sandi Roth.


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Editorial: My House of the Future?
A version of this article appears in the May/June 2007 issue of Home Energy Magazine.
May 06, 2007
Nothing frightens me more than those model "homes of the future." I recently visited one of them—the "ConnectedLife" home—at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The ConnectedLife concept is a joint creation of Microsoft, HP, LifeWare, and many others; the ConnectedLife hardware and software is available at Best Buy. The home sported all of the features that you would expect from these companies: coordination of all of the TVs and audio streams to lighting, HVAC, and security. "One remote, six main function keys. Navigation: easy." If only life were that simple. The CES model was unusual in that trained actors acted out skits to demonstrate the numerous features, from the housewife pulling up the recipes electronically to the son zoning out in media overload. It was certainly an entertaining hour, watching the actors interact with the ConnectedLife system and (it seemed) none of their family members. But the energy reality hit us on the way out, when we passed the equipment room needed to service the connected life. Server Farm would be a better name for the equipment room since perhaps half a dozen servers were humming away ...
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By at July 09 2019 11:03:49
When designing forms make sure the response mechanism is appropriate to each question. Having gone to all the trouble of filling in your form, the least you can do is provide users with information about what happens next. Customer communication is key, and since you have made the form so easy to fill in and return, processing it could also be a breeze!
Form length does not directly correlate to complexity. Many assume that making forms shorter makes them easier to complete. Though shorter forms might be cheaper to produce initially, if the reduction in content results in user confusion, the cost of resolving completion errors form fillers make as a consequence can significantly outweigh any initial savings. In general forms do need to be as short as possible, but never at the expense of clarity and usability.


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I would like to help with the design portion of the bottom of the ramp. I may not be at the event because of my new job and baby but, sense I know about building transitions and building different kind of ramps for different sports and why this transition doesnt really work for kayaking. Especially if you want to go inverted
which I do, and if it is built right, I will.
I would at least like to devote some time to helping Adam out, even if I'm not going to be there. I used hucked off the ramp the first year and couldn't quit get the flip around. From being a spring board diver in high school, and hucking off 60 foot table tops on my snowboard. I can only give this advice for success when performing any aerial moves. 1) approach. speed / technique / surface.2) set up...which in this design allows for no time to set up.( the transition from down to up is too fast to adjust your body in the right position for inversion) for barrel rolls is good though. 3) Trick 4) the landing. If you don't have the right progression you will not make it to steps 3 and 4. I definitely am not knocking the ramp because it is fun but I always try to make things better. I have looked up other ramps they use for kayaking big air comps and the biggest difference I see is there needs to be at least a four foot to six foot flat spot leading from the down position to the up tranny.
It can only happen with collaboration and work. I have volunteered building many different skate parks in Seattle wood and concrete, I have some background in engineering and Architecture but they bored me.( thats why Im a tattoo artist now) I could draw up some plans and schematics if that helps but I think it would be easier if I just hooked up with Adam. So I will try. I'm just busy as heaven I have only paddled twice this year....sad I know but if I can lend a hand I will.


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Title: Class 5 Driver - Calgary
Be our newest team member! Are you looking to join a team that rewards and promotes top performers? Would you enjoy working for a reputable, environmentally- conscious company? If so, join Stericycle, where team members can grow/develop their skills and are encouraged to be innovative. Understanding that our full-time team members work hard, you will be rewarded with competitive pay, paid time off and paid holidays, great work-life balance, medical, dental and vision coverage, company-paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match, and much more! At Stericycle, our company culture is built on a foundation of respect, diversity, commitment, and partnership.
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•Performs onsite/offsite document destruction of confidential information using mobile based shredding equipment.
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The above description is meant to provide a summary of the nature and level of work being performed; it should not be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and requirements of the job or person. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. Stericycle will consider requests for workplace accommodations for protected physical or mental limitations in accordance with its human resources policies and local laws.To the extent permissible under local law, and consistent with business necessity, Stericycle reserves the right to modify the content formally or informally, either verbally or in writing, at any time with or without advance notice.


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First and for all, I rapidly checked the forum and did not find mention of this subject (at least as a main topic) in previous posts. Nevertheless, if the 'old salts' of the forum highlight that all of this has been already discussed ad nauseam 10 years before mine registering, I will happily dive into the Great Rift to go see if I can find Kharla'ggen down there.
Although Drow are collectively depicted in RPGs and fantasy novels as almost systematically Chaotic and usually Evil, Drowtales offers a wide variety of characters, often ambivalent. Hence, based on a more or less classical DD frame, what current alignment would some of our favorite fictional heroes and villain have?
I know the main protagonists already have a list of major traits that largely helps characterize their personality. One could then consider the following as a vast exercise in futility but, hey, what the hell?
Here is my list:
Main protagonists
Ariel : Lawful Good, although her tendency to sometimes break the rules and follow her instincts or her heart could make her lean to Neutral Good.
Faen : Neutral Good
Chirinide : Lawful (very...) Good
Shan'naal : Lawful Good
Kiel : Chaotic (very...) Good (lean to)
Chrys'tel : Lawful Neutral... but she seemed to lean toward a more Neutral Good-ish before she was appointed head of the Imperial Guard. What about now, remains to be seen.
Kyo'nne : this one is hard... I'd say Neutral strict now, after having been Chaotic Neutral or even leaning Evil
Shinae : also difficult... Lawful leaning to Evil before her merging but now... Chaotic Neutral I'd say. And very twisted.
Naal'suul : Lawful leaning to Good before her sacrifice, she probably is Chaotic leaning to Good under her demon form.
Kel'noz : Lawful Neutral, leaning to Good
Major characters
Snadhya'rune : Lawful Good... oops. Chaotic Evil (very evil)
Ash'waren : Chaotic Neutral
Zala'ess : Neutral Evil (or Chaotic Evil?)
Mel'arnach : Not simple either. Neutral strict ?
Diva : Lawful Neutral, although her desire to repair her mistakes as an Empress (and a mother) could make her lean toward Good.
Sil'lice : Lawful Evil, however her recent tainting and her following introspection could make her lean to Lawful Neutral
Ana'hid : Neutral Good (very), considering she broke the mold of the rigid Kyorl
Nau'Kheol : Neutral strict
Kau : Chaotic Neutral
Nishi'kanta : Difficult... probably Neutral strict.
The Graveyard
Quain'tana : Chaotic Evil
Kharla'ggen : Chaotic (very) Evil (very)... but so much fun, what a shame.
Shimi'lande : Lawful Good
Sarv'swati : Chaotic Evil
What is yours?


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Mary Elizabeth "Lib" Surratt Lohr, 93, formerly of Kildee Drive, died Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, at Piedmont Crossing in Thomasville, where she had resided for eight years.
A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church by the Revs. Kelley Groce and Dr. Lee Dukes III. Burial will follow at Forest Hill Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. prior to the funeral at the church.
Mrs. Lohr was born Jan. 8, 1920, in Davidson County to Garrell W. Surratt and Daisy Michael Surratt. She was an active member of First United Methodist Church for many years. She served as secretary for several years, member of the Chancel Choir, received the Laity Service Award in 2006 and Special Mission Recognition in 1987. She was also a member of the Altar Guild and United Methodist Women. Her husband, John E. Lohr, former fire chief in Lexington, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her daughter, Linda Redwine and husband David of Kansas City, Mo.; her son, Larry Lohr and wife Joy of Birmingham, Ala.; her grandchildren, Allyson Nutt and husband Kevin of Kansas City, Mo., and Dr. Cartland Burns and wife Jill of Orlando; and her great-grandchildren, Leah Rudd, Kayla and Tara Nutt and husband Blaine Beller of Kansas City, Mo., and Sara, Ana, Niall and Tessa Burns of Orlando.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 310 S. Main St., Lexington, NC 27292.
Davidson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be made at www.davidsonfuneralhome.net.
Lib Surratt Lohr
Mary Elizabeth "Lib" Surratt Lohr, 93, formerly of Kildee Drive, died Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, at Piedmont Crossing in Thomasville, where she had resided for eight years.


text: 1 inch Shark Tooth Bi-metal Hole saw. Shark Tooth hole saws are professional bi-metal saws with cobalt high speed steel teeth, electron welded to shatterproof, shock absorbing alloy bodies. Shark Tooth's variable pitch tooth pattern cuts clean through stainless steel, brass, aluminum, pipe steel, nail embedded wood, hardwood, plywood, sheet metal, fiberglass and plastic.


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I am starting a new group for women in the NYC area who are interested in magick, called Babalon Salon. We will be meeting once a month, on the 1st Mondays, from 7-9pm.
Babalon Salon is open to all women who are interested in learning about the Western Hermetic Tradition. Our studies include Thelema, Golden Dawn, Qabalah, Tarot (primarily the Thoth deck), Ritual Magick, and other Occult topics; particularly as they relate to women. Beginners are welcome. We will be reading texts relevant to these topics and discussing them in an atmosphere of engaging debate and analysis. We hope to inspire and stimulate each other in our intellectual and spiritual growth.
This group is for women only.
We are on meetup:
We are on facebook:
93 93/93


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Old Salt
Posted by that crazy chick on Saturday, June 15, 2013 / Comments: (3)
my blog is one year old today
Posted by that crazy chick on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 / Comments: (7)
A year ago today, I made my first tag and created this blog, just so I could 'play along' with June's twelve tags of twenty-twelve.
The continuing monthly challenges in Tim's 12 tags of 2013, and the inky pinky promise I made to myself to participate, are all a part of the consistent commitment to creativity that inspires me to share.
The welcome and support, the amazing global community Tim has cultivated, extended to me is more I ever could have imagined.
Thank-you all - readers both old and new.vki (aka - that crazy chick)
Tiny Tab Tags
Posted by that crazy chick on Friday, June 7, 2013 / Comments: (52)


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In my 2D side-scroller game I have a bunch of actors being drawn, each of which has a single, non-animated
Texture (a png image). These actors all inherit from a base
GameActor class.
I want to add some more NPC's (e.g. tanks or cannons) that have one texture that doesn't move (the base) and another that rotates to shoot at things (the gun / barrel). How should I structure my Actor class hierarchy so as to allow for this? Should I refactor my base Actor class to allow for N textures? Or should I create a brand new sort of Actor for things that need > 1 texture (and then have to manage these actors separately from 'regular' actors)? Or is there a better approach I can't see?
Thus far I've been opting to keep things as simple as possible (KISS, right?), but am not sure how to proceed.
Any pointers greatly appreciated.


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Bullet time. It used to be the thing that separated the Max Payne games' operatic gunfights from everything else in video games. Then it got adopted by everybody and became as unexciting and commonplace as jumping. But, this new video shows how the slo-mo shooting gets a major upgrade in Max Payne 3.
Rather than just a cool stylistic flourish, it looks like Bullet Time is going to be tightly woven into every aspect of the gameplay in Rockstar's hard-boiled threequel. I love that making your gunfights look cool pays off with replenishment of a gameplay resource. Given that you're not going to have regenerating health in Max Payne 3, it seems like you're going to have to master Bullet Time to become a Payne master. It looks like you're going to have a lot of fun doing it, though.


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The Final Goodbye...
I set up the preseason roster, audio blogged or wrote what I think will happen on the ice and gave analysis on latest lighthouse news countless times with a lot of other things.
I got a little busy here for the final few days to send everyone into the season best as I could.
I hope for the best on and off the ice for the New York Islanders moving forward and I do think this team will be in contention. Off the ice I said/wrote everything I thought and not sure how it will end up but feel a compromise will happen at some point to allow the project to be constructed and this team will be here regardless until at least 2015 with no owner moving them away from a 300m dollar cable deal in the NY market whether they play at Coliseum, Queens or across the street from Msg as they have the right to relocate anywhere in New York.
Feel free to google cache, internet archive to keep viewing working links or old entries but I will not be making any more changes.
Nothing else to be done here now, once again Thank You very much.
New York Islander Fan Central Twitter Page
New York Islander Fan Central Audio-Podcast Homepage
Islander News Articles 9/11
One final day with a return to our pre 4/17 format of doing daily articles.
Newsday: Katie Strang's Islander preview reports the club will have physicals Saturday and fly to Saskatoon to open camp, she has changes and asks some questions about this years team with an earlier blog entry/training camp preview here.
Star Phoenix: Has an interview with some serious and lighthearted questions/answers from head coach Scott Gordon as the club will travel to Saskatoon on Saturday.
NYIFC Comments:
The Star Phoenix is the paper of record for Saskatoon coverage for those who will be following for the time the Islanders camp there. I'm not sure how in depth the coverage will go because the Blades hockey team is the primary team and it's season is about to begin.
The Islanders for the most part will be playing split squad games including hockeyville game Monday in Terrance, going to Edmonton and Calgary before the team plays it's preseason home games at Saskatoon, then it's on the road again to KC to play the Kings who are the home team.
NY Post: Redesigned it's pages somewhat in a much better format than Newsday but we'll see if Dan Martin or someone has anything from the players before departing.
I would expect the Ct Post will not be sending Mr Fornabaio to Saskatoon but he always seems to find a way to keep his blog updated through camp here regardless and Bridgeport did hire a new media relations coordinator to go with a very nice new look (like Islanders website) and slight logo change to the website here but having written that the lead is Mike Schroeder being hired which I audio blogged on in late July.
New York Islander Fan Central Twitter Page
New York Islander Fan Central Audio-Podcast Homepage
Provisions TOH wants in Nassau's lease
So I will work within the landscape provided by these articles and try not to make any mistakes in how I interpret what's being reported.
Sure I could get some of this wrong too nor do I know what's standard practice in such building agreements vs trying to drive away a development.
For Kate Murray/TOH it begins not even with local town issues or environment but Nassau/Tom Suozzi's " 99 percent completed " lease with Charles Wang and Scott Rechler which TOH has no part of but will not prevent them for making their own demands while holding zoning approval for what they want included in any completed lease.
And that would be only the beginning, who knows what else TOH/FPC want before giving approval and none of this has anything to do with environment, water, garbage, schools or electrical or what their outside agency requires once billing issues are settled.
Even worse let's say for argument sake the TOH approves the LH, the next step is the Nassau lease where Kate Murray wants in writing the project will create thousands of construction jobs and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue and is essentially re-writing the lease at this late date.
In short this means TOH can approve the project, Suozzi/Nassau can negotiate lease they want and right at the end, TOH-Murray can reject the project at the building permits hearing or the final step because they don't like the lease Nassau negotiated and approved.
Some of the things asked for are positive but some on paper seem completely unrealistic and a deal breaker for Wang-Rechler or any developer as if it's done to force them to walk away.
And this is only one article.
" Mr Suozzi as usual played his no LH, no Islanders card after he comments. Murray played her, they already knew this card. Charles Wang played the frustration and disappointed card.
So let's dig into the article, I know ten items were listed but things like Coliseum comes first was all in the LH proposal so some of this would not be considered new as presented.
The article reports the following so-called new provisions with even that aspect disputed by both sides:
1. The New York Islanders to play all home games at the coliseum for no less than 30 years after its completion.
NYIFC comments: Wang was only offering a ten year extension until 2025 of the existing Islanders lease. Murray, TOH had to know this so as much as we all want the Isles here long-term beyond 2025 that provision puts Wang-Rechler and Nassau on the hook to keep renovating to play at the Coliseum for at least the next thirty five plus years if current renovation happened. This is something Murray and Suozzi could have negotiated with Wang on for years now.
As an Islander fan you want the club here for the next thirty years so that's a good thing but we all know what Wang offered there and he's not going to own the club forever.
Part of the negotiating or compromise? Sure, nothing wrong there or that Wang must get everything he wants and he can still sell any time he wants but it seems this was put in at this late date to stall things when Nassau/TOH should have put that out day one. Ten years for a renovation of this size is not a long time but that should have been negotiated years ago, now it seems thrown in for leverage by TOH specifically to drive Wang away.
It's also been common knowledge the Coliseum renovation comes first as Wang has said on several occasions with a lease extension until 2025. I have no idea why Murray is quoted as saying the Isles can move after rezoning when they cannot move until 2025 as part of a new lease?
2. The developer cannot:
Apply for tax breaks
NYIFC comments: So apparently every baseball team can get tax credits or free bonds, full ownership of their new stadiums and who knows what plus NJ-Newark paid for part of Prudential Center but Wang-Rechler cannot get a tax break and to date no one has explained how Smg will have it's lease condemned without a lawsuit from their side?
Is this how TOH works with businesses or makes sure a project is killed?
3. Leave any building in mid-construction
NYIFC comments: That one seems reasonable if a building is under construction but designed to keep up the pressure on a developer to have all financing in place before any shovel goes in the ground to construct anything and this rezoning commits Wang-Rechler to build everything approved as per final plan where x building goes on x spot.
4. Sell the developer's rights to, or change ownership of, the property without town consent
NYIFC comments: That also seems unreasonable because Wang will have to co-own the property into his nineties with Mr Rechler approaching his seventies so ownership will change hands in the future or sold to an outside party. It's not unreasonable TOH is consented when a change is made.
5. The developer must:
Seek building permits from the town for any construction on the county-owned site.
NYIFC comments: This seems in line with current approval process because there will be building permits hearings as the final step before the shovel goes in the ground unless TOH wants to do that step a second time in some manner when it's time to begin actual construction.
This could also mean some buildings are altered in the future for whatever reasons but why have a final draft if that's the case?
NYIFC comments: This from the same TOH that hires Frederick P. Clark from Rye New York to do county business for a project of this magnitude when they could have hired local businesses? I don't even want to touch the reports about Kate Murray's father beyond writing what was in the newspapers when they add in who must be hired for construction jobs?
7. Make the town a third party beneficiary of the lease - a move that would give the town the right to sue for any breaches of the agreement.
NYIFC comments: So basically TOH wants ownership of this lease in the future knowing Wang-Rechler will not be around forever and TOH has to approve anyone they may want/have to sell to so they can take control of the completed LH at some point and have rights to sue them for any breaches of the agreement?
I keep thinking of Tom Gulotta's infamous " Pigs at the trough " quote about Howard Milstein a decade ago applies to the TOH here.
All this basically means the TOH wants to re-write Nassau's lease agreement which is a step they have no vote in. Nassau county will approve or reject whatever lease Wang-Rechler-Suozzi negotiate which is the out in the current lease but TOH/Murray want their say in that as well to the point they will not approve the project?
Meanwhile Wang-Rechler still own the Marriott hotel on that property.
Bottom line: TOH does not trust Wang, Rechler to complete the project or come up with the financing and feel Wang or Rechler could sell development rights while Wang can also sell the hockey team which will happen some day whether the lease ends in 2025 or it's included the Islanders play at the Coliseum until 2045. TOH also wants some financial interest as a third party and the right to sue the developers with guarantees of local permanent jobs and long-term profits.
Un-official New York Training Camp Roster
For those scoring at home it appears Nate Thompson changed uniform numbers to Wayne Merrick's old number eleven.
Not a sign he's about to be sent down with his two-way contract?
I'm not sure when this was written/posted by Islanders website or how updated because the article I linked yesterday has comments from London Knights general manager Mark Hunter that Islander draft pick Anton Klementyev will be attending training camp but in the ad for the Devils Coliseum game the Islanders website added in a training camp roster some players apparently invited are not listed yet.
For comparisons to the 2008 Training Camp roster which included Jared Spurgeon currently coming off shoulder surgery as of 8/31/09 and Jyri Niemi here in Moncton last season.
Jyri Niemi plays for the Saskatoon Blades which is where the Islanders will hold camp.
The Western Hockey League also released a full list of all the players attending NHL training camps on Tuesday 9/8.
Travis Hamonic, Niemi are listed as attending Islanders training camp and Hamonic is also listed in another article as leaving his team for camp this weekend here.
The OHL AND QMJHL websites at this time do not have a list but for what this is worth the Islanders prospect site has assigned numbers here for Calvin DeHaan (3), Casey Cizikas (53), Hamonic (36), Niemi (49), Klementyev (48), Jared Spurgeon (61) and goaltender Kevin Poulin. (60)
deHaan wore #24 with Oshawa so obviously these updates are not old despite 2002 pick Alexei Stonkus still on the prospect list.
This is the list off the Islanders ad for the Devils Coliseum game where it's listed as training camp roster.
12 Josh Bailey
67 Sean Bentivoglio
20 Sean Bergenheim
57 Blake Comeau
81 Justin DiBenedetto
41 Robin Figren
59 Micheal Haley
68 Bobby Hughes
7 Trent Hunter
28 Tim Jackman
58 Jesse Joensuu
50 Tomas Marcinko
46 Matt Martin
62 Greg Mauldin
27 Greg Moore
26 Matt Moulson
51 Frans Nielsen
21 Kyle Okposo
10 Richard Park "A"
40 Joel Rechlicz
17 Jeremy Reich
54 Tony Romano
16 Jon Sim
77 Trevor Smith
15 Jeff Tambellini
91 John Tavares
11 Nate Thompson
93 Doug Weight
4 Mark Flood
8 Bruno Gervais
38 Jack Hillen
71 Mark Katic
56 Dustin Kohn
47 Andrew MacDonald
24 Radek Martinek
44 Freddy Meyer
2 Mark Streit
25 Andy Sutton
42 Brett Westgarth
32 Brendan Witt "A"
43 Martin Biron
39 Rick DiPietro
1 Mikko Koskinen
52 Nathan Lawson
33 Scott Munroe
30 Dwayne Roloson
For those who wonder how you divide five into four Utah signed two goaltenders over the summer so a home has to be found for Mikko Koskinen or someone out of Lawson/Munroe who both just signed or resigned and carried the bulk of their AHL teams games last season have to find another team.
Michael Fornabaio in the Ct Post Sound Tigers blog also has his updated roster of signings and invites with both Utah goaltenders.
At this time unsigned former prospect Max Gratchev is not with Lewiston for their preseason, is not on any Islander or European transfer list (or KHL) nor is he listed as invited to any teams camp or at least one that made a large newspaper. If you recall he signed a late season ATO contract with Bridgeport and played in one game but the June deadline came and went so he could re-enter the draft but to my knowledge was not selected a second time.
Not the first time Maxim Gratchev has been lost according to 2007 Boston Globe pre-draft feature but this time hopefully only in terms of hockey status temporarily.
New York Islander Fan Central Twitter Page
New York Islander Fan Central Audio-Podcast Homepage
Quick Hits
Not to hit any of this stuff too hard....................however.
It seems a few years ago the New York Islanders were one of the first clubs to go all out on the camp invites and folks were critical then as Park, Dunham were brought into camp without an NHL contract and tried out to make the club.
Now it seems unless a bunch of players are invited it's a mistake again?
Times sure have changed.
Anyone ever think all these prospects need the best chance to win a spot over someone with a one-way deal and perhaps between waivers/ possible trades the Islanders already have their plan?
They still have first call on all players placed on waivers based on last seasons standings and with clubs against or over the cap Garth Snow if he wants holds the cards.
Regarding informal workouts Michael Peca still skates in Buffalo, it does not mean he's about to become a Sabre but as the Buffalo News article I posted stated this is one venue former players gather to skate before a season contract or not.
How many McCabe to the Islanders rumors surfaced because he spent part of his summers working out here?
Benoit Hogue worked out here also, it never meant he's about to be resigned by the Islanders.
If Mr Botta wants to report he has sources where the Islanders could relocate just give us all the locations interested (plus who) and please spare us the teasers.
It would also not hurt to report once again the team has a binding lease with Nassau/Smg for the next six years so maybe folks can concentrate on this season and not have them thinking Charles Wang can relocate by next summer or next week?
At the very least start being as critical of the newspapers for not covering the club as you used to be in your old job and put the blame on the papers/editors where it belongs. It would not have been a bad idea to call out the Times who had space to talk with you about Point Blank but not New York Islander hockey print coverage in their newspaper/blogs?
Bottom line here if you are going to correctly write the Isles website is 80/20 ads vs hockey content you have to blame everyone or why bother at all because the Knicks are going to be covered regardless of how brutal they have been so it's not about games and results?
I don't recall the Post spending more than a day in Moncton the last few years if that and the News/Times did not go at all.
We all get the coverage is poor and involves only part of one newspaper.
The other bottom line is Mr Botta is no longer obligated to write about the New York Islanders yet still provides excellent interviews like the one we got with Bergenheim.
As for the New York Islanders website if an amateur blog like NYIFC can have Steve Webb's update four or five days ago they are not giving the fans enough new information.
No one is asking for infomercials daily from Snow, Gordon or even the players but how about a crummy list of who is attending camp like so many other clubs have already released on their website?
It's not a state secret to do a pdf file of who is attending and post a link? Isn't the idea to get folks excited about camp and the start of hockey with a televised game in a few days?
The Ct Post Michael Fornabaio tonight had the list of Bridgeport invites so we have that, if the Islanders are not inviting anyone it should only make it easier to release the full camp list now.
The Islanders on the website for the Coliseum preseason game against NJ have the camp roster listed so perhaps I was wrong on that. Still announcing the complete roster in a separate update would not have hurt.
Bottom line Mr Wang-Rechler will get their vote/certainty (or not) at some point and it still may happen by opening night. If TOH hired agency does not do it's job over a disagreement on billing and slow the process the TOH will suffer the fallout for their part if Wang-Rechler walk away from the project after opening night.
Charles Wang is stuck in his Islander lease certainty or not unless Suozzi cannot get him a new lease agreement after a TOH approval regardless who is interested.
Mr Suozzi sure has been quiet lately, just as he was for two years after the MOU.
I'm getting interested to see how many owners still want to turn down Jim Basillie over spending 140m of their own money to carry the Coyotes under the NHL umbrella and forfeit his 200 plus million bid and relocation fee.
For those scoring at home that's about a 400m dollar swing with a relocation fee included vs owners spending out of their own pocket to run the franchise through the league.
Character has it's price too.
I'm also fascinated to see Richard Peddie and the Leafs teachers pension fund make a case for keeping a team out of Canada while the same media lobbied for another team in Canada all these years who will wrap themselves in the Leafs media flag if it comes down to a relocation vote.
I guess for them a team can only relocate to Winnipeg.
You can bet Buffalo does not want another team near them also.
By my count (or the media articles at the time) the Coyotes lose as much as the Rangers did heading into the lockout in a far more modern building so why shouldn't they stay and see if a winning club changes the financial dynamic?
So the International Ice Hockey Federation approved the disputed transfer of Jiri Hudler from the Detroit Red Wings to Dynamo Moscow on Wednesday even though he was Wings property as Radulov was a year ago?
I'm curious what can any of these organizations/leagues do to stop anyone from doing anything?
Was Rene Fasel going to call the KHL police and haul Hudler off the ice during a game for playing in the KHL or if Alexei Yashin wanted to sign with an NHL team tomorrow was the league going to lock him out of an NHL facility with league security once he came to terms with someone?
Nikita Filatov last week pretty much said (if not misquoted or misinterpreted) that if he does not get NHL ice time he could have signed in the KHL despite his NHL contract with Columbus like he was doing the Jackets a favor.
Twenty years ago we had players in Europe escaping countries to come play in the NHL, it feels in terms of contracts the same thing is still happening with no apparent hope or even discussion of a transfer agreement.
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Tavares natural position and the depth chart
Simply put you do not draft a franchise talent first overall, bring him from junior hockey all the way to the NHL with no veteran first line (or second line) players in terms of age/production and change that players position.
John Tavares is a center, that's where he should be playing if he's going to be in the NHL this season.
I have read some of Scott Gordon's comments about Tavares perhaps playing wing and the question is why?
So Doug Weight or Richard Park can be his center?
On my depth chart down the middle it's Tavares, Bailey, Nielsen for better or worse.
It appears the only opening is for Doug Weight to slide to the right side (Guerin's spot) to be his winger because Bergenheim, Comeau and Tambellini are all left wings but that means Okposo does not skate on his line because he is a right wing.
Let me set the NHL on paper depth chart and no I'm not including prospect signings.
Only Nate Thompson has a two way contract and he likely has to clear waivers, all seven defenders have one-way contracts.
I can blog about Joensuu, Figren, Smith, Bentivoglio, some of the AHL signings and the Sarnia connection in Bridgeport with Kohn, Katic and MacDonald all week and even talk about deHaan winning a job but this is where things stand right now regardless if Garth Snow invites someone or signs a fighter or a Satan/whoever or makes a trade.
How many times this summer did I say in audio blogs if you want to add you have to subtract?
Why change Tavares position when it's going to be all he can do to play his natural position at this level?
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If Intangibles go Isles way they make playoffs
What can I write that I have not written before before departing?
How about the Intangibles.
This is around the time so many worthless previews come put that don't even know the Isles lost close to a thousand games to injury mostly since January of 2008 or even report it. Do you really think they care about all the one-goal losses or blown leads?
Many of these writers don't write about four playoffs in five years before that and frankly don't care about that mediocre result (nor should it overplayed either) but will them portray them as a basement dwelling club as if they have not seen a playoff series as long as some other clubs in this league.
Many of these professional projections begin with the Milbury era or things of little/no consequence to the 09-10 season and it's because they don't follow our team enough to give us anything of relevance but have to write something.
You think most of these writers care DiPietro played sixty plus games the previous two years when they want to write about his contract?
It's not a knock on many writers either in some cases, they don't get enough space to follow their own local teams much less preview clubs they don't see play some years and sure in some cases the coverage is poor for a lot of reasons but that's old news.
If I had to do a Coyote preview I would be writing about Bob Francis or Winnipeg, how many years did Gretzky go before visiting the Coliseum as a head coach two season ago?
Rick DiPietro never went back to the city he was drafted in until 2008 to play a hockey game.
Scary how so many media folks and fans associate winning a playoff series with a successful season these days? Call me an older fan but winning a playoff series here never used to be any cause for celebration without a Stanley Cup.
But this is old news you know, time to move on.
I think on paper this team will be better than most will project, I see them in the playoff mix all the way if they are healthy if not qualifying outright.
But I wrote that last year which was a lost season before it even started.
For all sports some intangibles have to happen to be successful, the New York Islanders are frankly overdue in this department.
Last year only one intangible went huge in this teams favor and that was Mark Streit's defense and overall play.
Okposo drifting to left wing/center and his production was acceptable for a first full season as was Bergenheim's play after he and Scott Gordon got on the same page but I felt at times Okposo was cheating his natural right wing position by drifting to his left and center so much to get chances off his forehand, Scott Gordon after the season discussed why he was moved him to the left wing for a time and also had him on the left powerplay point.
Okposo has to score off his natural right wing side and what made him a top pick.
Aside from these things and maybe Witt getting back his full mobility after December, no single intangible really went the New York Islanders way all of last season unless you want to add some moderate progression from Bruno Gervais in how he played bigger and was more involved.
This time the intangibles have to be different, this time Bergenheim, Comeau, Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini have to carry their offensive weight after all the time they have gotten in the NHL despite Tambellini's benchings or Comeau being sent down. The veterans on the backline have to stay healthy or Jack Hillen/Andrew MacDonald/Calvin deHaan (if signed) or Mark Katic have to take their spots from them.
Yes, it starts with a mostly healthy roster or a manageable amount of injuries.
Yes, Trent Hunter has to get his twenty five goals and skate much better, Doug Weight has to produce at even strength and at times accept a lesser role, Richard Park has to have his hot streaks with a lesser role. Tim Jackman has to use that twenty goal ability he showed in Bridgeport and finish some of those chances his hard work created.
Yes, a Trevor Smith, Jesse Joensuu, Robin Figren, Matt Martin, Tomas Marcinko, Justin DiBenedetto or someone else does have to break through and make an unexpected impact if the chance comes for them or even Jon Sim if those forwards cannot produce.
Yes, Scott Gordon has to prove his system and methods can work with a healthy team at this level, break in a new coaching staff and somehow not put too much pressure on so many young players and has a huge task in front of him. I loved the coaches comments Bergenheim should not be worrying about scoring but when someone is drafted with a first pick in 2002 and your team is 29th is scoring of course you are going to worry about it and press.
Yes, the pressure on Tavares and to a lesser degree Josh Bailey without a prime scoring forward will be enormous especially if the club does not have a breakout offensive game.
Yes, Garth Snow is going to have to learn there are times where you have to make changes when some things simply are not working or holding back other players whether it be come waiver time before the season or to get his team out of a slump.
Yes, a lot of intangibles for this to work and for this club to be in contention. About a good seven out of every ten intangibles have to go in the Islanders favor this season with some surprises.
Last year one intangible worked out in the Islanders favor.
I know in sports sometimes you make your own breaks/intangibles.
Last year was not that time.
This time it not only has to happen but in many cases it should happen.
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Hockey in Seven Days...Final Closing at NYIFC
I guess to a degree I have been sending mixed signals about New York Islander Fan Central since last season ended, this was never my intention.
The New York Islanders have a hockey game in seven days against the Vancouver Canucks on September 14th with the club traveling to Saskatoon on 9/12.
Shockingly it will be televised on Time Warner at 10pm and repeated but will be the only pre-season game televised or at least scheduled at this time.
The Islanders half hour season preview debuts around 9/21-22 and runs only a half hour.
New York Islander Fan Central will not be covering the 2009-10 season.
If I wanted to keep things going here or even do this part-time I obviously could but I made my decision during last season and despite some blogging since 4/17, during the WC/NHL draft and some unexpected things happening like going audio for a brief time as an experiment (did not see that coming) I never changed my mind from what I decided in February.
Back on 7/29 I said it would be unfair to stop just before camp but I did extend things, left the blog viewable and the time went very quickly.
NYIFC did help what was a very quick summer go by even faster so it served a good purpose for everyone. I have done everything I wanted to test here in the last month and no longer have any need to do any more written blog entries and I got a great deal accomplished.
A month ago when the blog went private for a part of a week I got a bunch of very kind e-mails asking me to keep NYIFC visible or to keep doing the blog as I did at the end of last season knowing it would be tougher to stop just as hockey begins.
I have tried to be extra generous posting preview links with the articles lately to set everyone up as best as I could for 2009-10 because you have been so great here.
Sadly, having written this when the New York Islanders leave for Saskatoon to officially begin the 2009-10 season NYIFC is finished entirely.
I have written additional blog entries after this one here in the interim that will be released before Friday because hockey is always the story but when the team departs for Saskatoon that will be the official end of NYIFC.
At that time I will also be setting both blogs to private permanently.
I do not intend to update these pages or the sidebars any longer so to leave NYIFC visible is to present something that is sloppy and not fair to anyone.
You can always visit what these pages looked like with internet archives or Google cache old entries if you want to keep finding links from these pages.
That's about it, as I have written a few times (or said by audio) the 4/17 entry was our real goodbye and one I cannot improve upon.
Of course, when the Minnesota Vikings come calling offering me twenty five million to do NYIFC over two years we'll be right back at it next week from Saskatoon.
What will I tell you? I took the money.
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NY Times is the problem, not New York Hockey
All the News that's fit to print?
Long time since we saw that mantra at the Times.
Amazing what you get on a labor day weekend for stories from papers who rarely attempt to cover home games, fail to come out to cover press conferences when coaches are hired or even when franchise players drafted have their initial press conference after 10,000 attend a draft party.
It sure does not apply to New York hockey any longer at this paper. Since Ron Dicker left the Isles beat rare Dave Caldwell game coverage and mostly hit and run articles all negative beyond the Sugden feature last year is about all we have seen unless you are counting that Mandarin broadcast feature by the Times.
The Times even had legendary dynasty writer George Vecesy surface on 5/23 to tell us it may just be hockey has come and gone on Long Island here while claiming the league's biggest money loser at the Garden going into the lockout in 2004 cutting back here is a money machine despite the same paper contradicting him and as late as August 2009 the NY Times is still reporting Msg losses from it's sports division here.
But on this day the Times came out of it's New York Islander coverage cave here here to do a feature about the Isles dwindling coverage written by Mark Messier's biographer Jeff Z. Klein.
His content included an insulting old quote from Jaromir Jagr but he did fairly recap what Mr Botta saw in his tenure with the club over twenty years and noted the draft turnout showed there were a lot more loyal Islanders supporters than most outside observers realized.
And the NY Times are outsiders now, by their own choice and this is where the problem lies.
An expert was brought in to question blog coverage content hired by a team but none of that applied to Chris Botta who won over folks with his honestly and viewpoint regardless if we agreed every day or not as he told his story about Point Blank along with team President Chris Dey who gave his side of why a former team employee was hired to write about the club and in the biggest news out of this article was quoted as saying:
" There might be an opportunity for another entrepreneur to cover the Islanders in a similar manner " which was really the only thing new from the article beyond Mr Botta's efforts to find a new home for Point Blank which he has discussed a few times recently.
Bottom line here folks is the problem has never been the New York Islanders and it's not about any clubs record or what uniform they wore in 1996 because the Devils receive the same poor coverage regardless of how many Atlantic Division titles they win.
The Rangers have had coverage cuts also, but not nearly to the same degree.
Rangers-Islanders at Msg received only AP coverage this year from the Times (for at least one Msg game) and most Ranger road games were not covered, but the budget has been there for Mr Klein, Stu Heckel and Lynn Zinser to do many Ranger game articles and blog updates plus keep an updated European league page.
If that is the case there should be plenty of resources to cover all the local New York hockey teams regardless of record by blog or print.
This problem goes on the Times editor and their staff, a small part of it goes on a lot of Ranger fans on the print side controlling spin but all of this is old news.
This problem with the Times (and you can absolutely include Newsday, Daily News, Post and the Journal News, SI Advance) is all about selective coverage that says a lot more about their business practice and not the teams they cover.
Mr Botta's Point Blank proved the fan interest is there in New York Islander hockey so excuses by editors and sometimes the writers are about them and their own lack of knowledge.
The Times supposedly went to an SI format for all hockey teams not playing at Msg (likely because they need the Knick ad revenue) but again this goes to their judgment and not how a team performs or the Knicks would not be covered by anyone.
As for the Times, go back to a traditional format, cover all eighty two games from all three local teams and forget Europe.
New York hockey comes first and this is what New York hockey needs.
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Would I take Heatley on the Isles? Absolutely
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson wants the situation with Dany Heatley settled and did not give him a ringing endorsement today so given the captain's comments combined with the Senators management making his trade demand public it's not a question of if but when he will be traded, Ottawa has a lot more money to pay someone who does not wish to play there and will remain a daily distraction until he departs.
I know the fans/management and a few other teams spoke out against having Heatley on their club and no doubt won no fans in Edmonton after refusing to waive his NTC to play for the Oilers.
Would Heatley waive his NTC to come here so the Canadian media and the New York media can bash him as they did Alexei Yashin unless became a Ranger so at least the Ranger fans in the limited New York hockey media can blame the Senators for his problems? Perhaps.
Bottom line Dany Heatley holds all the cards and can hold out for any team he wants and reject any trade, this was part of his contract agreement and he's entitled to force the Senators to trade him where he wants or keep paying him as long as he reports to camp which he says he will do.
As a general manager this is not all about courtesy class or signing good character people, it's about fielding a winning team and filling needs. If you recall I flat out wrote Garth Snow should claim Sean Avery and give him Nate Thompson's spot last year because it's about production and giving your team the best chance at winning.
Character players leave in UFA all the time or simply are not good enough to take a team to the next level.
Has Dany Heatley had enough of Ottawa he would be willing to play with John Tavares and could the Isles and Sens construct the kind of trade where the Isles do not give up anything significant from their future?
I don't know.
For myself, if Bryan Murray wants Heatley off the roster and is willing to deal with the Isles (and Heatley will accept such a trade) Trent Hunter is on the table with Richard Park or an Andy Sutton/Brendan Witt choice or they can have a second round pick or a Jeff Tambellini/Blake Comeau choice or perhaps one of the prospect defenders aside from deHaan but that's about it.
No first rounders or Okposo, Bailey, Tavares and I would even take Bergenheim and Nielsen off the table. If that's what Bryan Murray wants he can find another team to deal with.
If you are on Charles Wang's side of the trade you have to give back salary to balance out such a deal and know going in Heatley could want off his third NHL team at some point in the future.
Would I put Hunter, Sutton or Witt with some combination I mentioned to offset most of Heatley's salary while Bryan Murray can work a deal with Mike Comrie or sign another player? Yes.
I'm well aware of what Garth Snow thinks of Trent Hunter as he said on the NHLPA website late in July and I agree with Snow and Hunter is no doubt a class act and a big time character player who does a lot of things that do not appear on a score sheet to win a hockey game.
Having written that if there is a chance to improve on the ice and fill a need you have to take it, Hunter has had two very poor seasons offensively and off his fast start last season there was no excuse for such a falloff even with Frans Nielsen's injury.
Absolutely know going in Heatley without Alfredsson or Spezza may not be the same player coming to a roster with kids.
If Garth Snow is really interested in a Satan or inviting in Mark Parrish here it should be for Hunter's spot on right wing because that's where they fit best.
Having written this it's a risk I would take for a combination of the players I wrote about.
Would Heatley, Murray and Garth Snow agree? Stay tuned.
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Tsn Isles Preview: Lazy, Sloppy and Lacking
Another example of why no one site or individual should preview thirty NHL teams would be the Tsn preview today released on the New York Islanders.
I would not want to attach my name to that either and simply would write staff who released this worthless preview of our club today which at first had the Isles at 15th in the Western Conference?
How much misinformation can a professional hockey website get wrong about New York's " First " hockey team? (could not resist a play on their words)
Did they even write anything of consequence about another player besides Tavares or go down the roster besides the poorly done " Slick Rick " comment about a goaltender who before last season started over sixty games his previous two years and was an all-star?
" Umpteenth knee injuries" would not describe DiPietro's career going into last season to any degree where he has missed any significant portions of a season.
Charles Wang never threatened to move the team to KC or anywhere and has made that clear on several occasions, all they got correct was his WFAN comment.
An article that's supposed to preview a team should include all the changes and man games lost to injury the previous season as a viable reason for it's struggles. I checked the Colorado preview and they did not bother doing this for the Avs either but their preview did tell us how many of their players will be UFA next summer?
Of course the New York Islanders could finish 15th in the East, it's no problem here to make that prediction but to present what was obviously a poorly done article even if the team was projected first is the problem.
That was just brutal and gave us nothing. I feel bad for Scott Cullen having to put his name to a fantasy preview behind that.
Lazy, Sloppy and Lacking performance by Tsn staff.
It will not be the last one either.
Nice interview by Katie Strang with Andy Sutton but to write the Mets debacle at CitiField is truly beyond comprehension with any other team in pro sports in terms of injuries is simply incorrect.
The Mets were not even close to the Islanders injuries problems last season which set a league record 580 plus games lost. (off the 402 games lost which led the NHL the previous year)
The Mets by comparison to the Islanders started the season relatively healthy while DiPietro, Sillinger, Comrie, Bailey could not play or tried to play hurt. The projected top six defenders over the six months played less than five games together as a unit.
Include Bill Guerin coming into camp off surgery and unable to play most of the preseason every single player on the roster sustained some sort or injury including Jeff Tambellini in camp last season.
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Islander-Sound Tiger-NHL Notables
What a surprise (not) Roberto Luongo got a huge front-loaded deal that will pay him ten million dollars starting next season after his current contract expires.
What folks do not get is DiPietro's 4.5m deal (much less than Luongo) was not front loaded which is why he did leave a lot of money on the table because an injury, retirement or perhaps a buyout at some point in the future would cost him money that is basically going to be paid to Luongo earlier as he will have the bulk of his money.
Charles Wang and a lot of owners cannot afford front-loaded deals to where players get 10-20 million early in the contract complete with NTC. Many corporations can take that kind of huge loss on the books which was a loophole in the CBA that needs fixing but most individual owners cannot.
Which leads us to Paul Kelly being kicked out as NHLPA leader when that CBA is up in about two years. It will be interesting to see if the next person is militant and will want a league with many franchises losing money to simply absorb even more losses that should have a ceiling of about 40m and a floor of about 30m with no front loaded deals.
Pat Flatley resigned when Kelly was fired, I wonder if Glenn Healy will do the same and is the Heals and Flats show over at the NHLPA. I have no doubt if some players who were always about big money and making their own rules (Eric Lindros) are part of the next NHLPA leadership there will be another lockout.
Here's a real shocker for Islander fans in New York, a market where the media does actually pull for the home team despite a decade of losing had both local writers rip the Luongo deal today because the league questioned the Hossa deal by the hometown Blackhawks in the Chicago Daily Herald & Chicago Tribune.
When the Islanders sign players to long term deals Newsday usually leads the pack with criticism for the home team. Goes to show how some local media in some markets do protect their own team regardless of how long the contract is or for how many years.
What do you want me to write about Katie Strang? She is covering two teams and trying to give blog entries on the Islanders. That's her editor's choice if you are looking to place blame.
Don't worry, we have Mark Herrmann to cover the home team for Newsday (not the Isles) too bad our club does not receive that coverage for a player coming here off a poor season and it sure has been a while since the local paper had a word from John Tavares.
Congratulations and best of luck to Mr Botta for being added to Fanhouse, his feed and new site was added here for as long as NYIFC is visible, when he finds a new home for Point Blank that will be added as well.
Having written that his comments on Rob Hennigar to me were unfair writing his signing was brutally misguided and that he was a non-prospect. At the very least it required a lot more elaboration if he is going to make such claims.
Hennigar was the 2007-08 Canadian College Hockey Player of the Year and signed with an impressive resume here he put up some good numbers in Utah when he got adjusted to the next level and it's obvious another NHL organization had no problem taking a chance on him.
Hennigar deserved better from a man who a year ago at this time was lobbying to get rules changed so Brandon Sugden could play at the professional level and did such a classy job making his case the rules were waived so Sugden could return.
It should also be noted his recent entry on Charles Wang and honoring tradition was also unfair in a lot of ways. Whenever Wang brought back former teams all we got from Newsday was Wang was doing it to sell tickets and Jim Baumbach questioning whether Al Arbour's win should count which if he pulled that in a market with ten writers who were big time fans of the team they would have eaten Baumbach alive faster than Steve Zipay ripped Ranger fans for ignoring the Bathgate and Howell retirements.
Mr Wang tried to make up for a lot of things John Pickett failed to do and this organization has a lot of former Islanders working here. Bob Bourne should not be the only one in the new Islanders Hall of Fame but let's give Wang a little more time because two years ago he took criticism for Core of the Four Weekend which was absurd and now he takes criticism again?
So the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Vice President to Howard Saffan is Luke Milbury, who I would gather is the son of our former general manager being Mike Milbury has a son named Luke, why was this hidden from the public until today's release?
I guess to ask this question is to answer it by writing that may not go over very well at all considering all the cutbacks in the Islanders media department, even if he does an excellent job.
So the public comment period is over for the Lighthouse and it's down to the hearing, adopting a final scope which means x buildings go on x spot and then the zoning is approved or rejected with a vote. What are the fans needed for when they cannot speak or participate?
Especially when the team is basically shutting out any fan who does not live on Long Island?
Believe it or not folks, I actually believe the TOH did not know that was the date of the Kansas City game because most of these people could care less about the hockey team or name five players much less know their preseason schedule. If they really picked the date to bust Wang's chops it just tells me they don't want the project despite all the recent (election year) talk of working together.
Finally I am almost out of things to experiment with and will likely be done by the time the club hits the ice in Saskatoon. I also added Justin Bourne's THN feed to our media blog feed section with his link and many other professional writers added to the sidebar.
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text:
When it comes to lamb, legs and rib-chops get all the glory. But shoulder chops are just as tasty and usually a little cheaper. Make them this way, as directed by "The Essential New York Times Cookbook," by Amanda Hesser (Norton). Accompany the lamb with some of the gorgeous asparagus that's bursting from the grocery shelves this week, blanched then quickly sauteed in butter. Dinner'll be done in less than 30 minutes.
Lamb Shoulder Chops with Anchovy and Mint Butter
From The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser (Norton). Serves 4.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon chopped mint
4 anchovy fillets
4 lamb shoulder chops, 1/2-inch thick
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 lemon wedges