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A starport visa was a specific type of documentation that allowed a traveler to freely enter or leave a starport on a given planet. There were two types of starport visas: open, which anyone could use, or personalized, which could only be used by a particular individual. During the Onderon Civil War, government officials had ceased issuing starport visas, making them supremely valuable. Traveling to Onderon in the company of Mandalore with the intention of contacting Jedi Master Kavar, the Jedi Exile was given a personalized visa upon her arrival to the Iziz starport. While in Iziz, the Exile was approached by many people looking for a starport visa. Each of these individuals had what seemed to be compelling reasons for needing to leave the planet.
During her time in Iziz, the Exile came into the possession of two extra starport visas, one open and one personalized. In the Iziz Cantina, there was a Twi'lek slicer by the name of Kiph who had the ability to slice a personalized visa into an open visa; the Exile took advantage of his services to modify the personalized visa. She was then able to give away the two visas to the individuals of her choice.
Behind the scenesEdit
In the game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the player character has a choice of 5 individuals that they can give the visas to: Gormo, a stranded freighter captain; Xaart, a Republic spy; Sakarie, an Exchange operative; Tolas, a greedy merchant and Terlyn, a desperate mother of two children. The player will gain light side or dark side points and there is opportunity to gain influence with different companions depending on the player's choices.
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (First appearance)


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Washington (CNN) -- The agricultural industry in the United States could face a crisis if the country doesn't find a way to attract more legal farm workers from abroad soon. That's one of the conclusions reached Wednesday at a congressional hearing.
The House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement met to evaluate a migrant farm-worker visa program frequently used by Mexicans to legally work on farms and ranches across the United States. The H-2A visa program was created for that purpose back in the late 1980s.
Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-California, in his opening remarks as chairman of the subcommittee, said, "There are simply not enough Americans willing to do, to take the jobs of migrant farm workers. In fact, our government's policy for generations has been to remove Americans from such labor."
The lack of American farm workers and the labor needs of the agricultural industry coupled with low wages in Mexico create a situation in which the demand attracts many Mexican workers who enter the United States legally or otherwise.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey, which canvasses hired farm workers, over the period of 2007 to 2009, 48% of farm workers in the country admitted they were in the United States illegally.
The agricultural industry has repeatedly asked the federal government to streamline and expedite the H-2A visa program as its labor needs have grown over the years.
Lee Wicker, deputy director of the North Carolina Growers Association -- an organization with 600 grower members and the largest H-2A program user in the country -- said the current program is ineffective. Wicker called it "costly, time-consuming, and flawed. Farmers have to complete a lengthy labor certification process that's slow, bureaucratic, and frustrating."
Immigration remains a political hot-button issue in the country. Far from finding a way to legalize farm workers already in the country, many legislators at the federal and local levels are calling for stronger enforcement of the current immigration laws.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the argument that the country doesn't have enough farm workers and therefore has to import them is flawed. "I'm thinking about a nation that has a lot of people that are riding along on this boat and not pulling on the oars. Wouldn't a logical nation want to employ all of those that are eligible to work before they would bring people in, especially given that we have 71 welfare programs?" said King.
But Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, the subcommittee's ranking member, said Wednesday at the hearing that a hard approach, including deportations, wouldn't solve the problem.
"If we somehow deported the 1 (million) to 1.5 million undocumented workers on our farms and ranches right now, there are too few Americans jumping at the change to fill those jobs, and I suspect that's why we're having this hearing," Lofgren said.
Agricultural states like California and Florida would greatly benefit from an expedited visa program for farm workers. But Rep. Dan Lungren, D-California, says the appetite for such measures in the U.S. Congress is just not there.
"I doubt anybody running for president, including the incumbent, is going to run on the fact that he's going to be softer on immigration enforcement that he has been," Lungren said.
He went further, saying that if no action is taken, "we're going to have... a crisis in agriculture."

subset: commoncrawl


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Primary Renal Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are
extremely rare in the kidney, with fewer than 100 cases
reported1. NETs usually present as solid tumors with or
without cystic components. We report a rare presentation
of a well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor as a large
completely cystic lesion in the right kidney without any
evidence of metastasis or carcinoid syndrome. Very few
case reports of NETs of such a large size have, so far, been
reported in literature. A 47-year-old man presented with
an incidentally detected large non-tender and mobile
mass in the right iliac fossa. USG showed a large 23.5 x
14.0 cm cystic space-occupying lesion with mixed echoes
abutting the right kidney. Contrast enhanced computerized
tomography (CECT) showed a predominantly cystic mass
arising from the upper pole of the right kidney with a small solid enhancing nodular projection on the inner wall. Thick
internal enhancing septations and multiple calcific foci were
also present in the wall. The lesion was seen to compress the
right pelvicalyceal system with moderate hydronephrosis
(Figure 1A-B). Laboratory investigations were within
normal limits. The Renal scan showed mildly impaired
right kidney function. The patient underwent a radical right
nephrectomy. On gross evaluation, a large circumscribed
cystic tumor arising from the upper pole of the kidney
partly within the renal parenchyma with extension
outside the kidney capsule was identified. The lesion was
completely cystic with a thick nodular hemorrhagic wall
(Figure 1C-D). The renal interface was well defined and
separated by a fibrous capsule (Figure 1D inset). Histology
had a characteristic trabecular and ribbonlike pattern.
The neoplastic cells had rounded regular nuclei with stippled chromatin and minimal mitotic activity (<2/10
HPF) was observed (Figure
Figure 1:
CECT: A) Axial: cystic mass
arising from upper pole with
solid enhancing nodular
projection (arrow).
B) Coronal reconstruction:
thick internal septae (arrow).
C) Total nephrectomy
specimen showing large
cystic tumor.
D) Well-defined renal
interface (black circle), extrarenal
extension with cortical
cyst (arrow) and thickened
mural nodule (yellow circle)
Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor in the kidney
is extremely rare1. Renal NETs are usually solid and
may show a cystic component. Our case was completely
cystic with a size of 23.5 cm in diameter along with
a mural nodule, which is a rare presentation of renal
neuroendocrine tumors. The pathogenesis of renal
neuroendocrine tumors is controversial. They have been
reported to arise in congenital anomalies like polycystic
kidney disease, horseshoe kidney and mature teratoma2.
Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors are incidentally
detected in 2530% of the cases. The NET in our case
was also incidentally discovered during an ultrasound of
abdomen despite its large size2. Calcification in the renal
cyst wall may occur. Metastasis is a rare event and may occur to the regional lymph nodes, liver, bone, breast, and lung3. Metastatic potential is higher in solid tumors, larger
than 4 cm, outside the renal capsule and with a mitotic rate
of more than 1/10 high power fields1. Positron emission
tomography (PET-CT) and octreotide scintigraphy
are useful for diagnosis, staging, and monitoring after
treatment for the development of recurrence or metastasis
of neuroendocrine tumors4.
Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors should be
considered in the differential diagnosis of predominantly
cystic lesions in the kidney. Other lesions presenting as
renal cysts include clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC),
especially in cases with low nuclear grades, papillary RCC,
chromophobe RCC, collecting duct carcinoma, or even
oncocytoma and they may all occasionally demonstrate
focal to extensive cystic formation. Simple benign cysts
are commonest and may become complicated in case of
hemorrhage, infection and ischemia. On radioimaging,
cystic NET tends to be hypodense, does not usually enhance
in arterial phases and may show calcification. Large size
and extrarenal extension herald metastatic potential despite
low-grade morphology and such patients should undergo
rigorous oncologic surveillance after nephrectomy.
1) Mardi K, Negi L, Srivastava S. Well differentiated neuroendocrine
tumor of the kidney: Report of a rare case with review of literature.
Indian J Pathol Microbiol. 2017;60:105-7.
2) Romero FR, Rais-Bahrami S, Permpongkosol S, Fine SW,
Kohanim S, Jarrett TW. Primary carcinoid tumors of the kidney. J
Urol. 2006; 176:2359-66.
3) Ouyang B, Ma X, Yan H, He J, Xia C, Yu H. Renal carcinoid tumor
with liver metastasis followed up postoperatively for 9 years.
Diagn Pathol. 2015;10:182.
4) Tanaka T, Yamamoto H, Imai A, Shingo H, Yoneyama T, Koie
T, Hashimoto Y, Ohyama C. A case of primary renal carcinoid
tumor. Case Rep Urol. 2015;736213.


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Shantae Half Genie Hero Ultimate Day One Edition Nintendo Switch (Pre-owned) Description
Iconic genie Shantae is back in her most thrilling adventure yet! The award-winning 2D platforming series levels-up to stunning new heights thanks to an eye-popping new graphical style, an infectious soundtrack and incredible new game features.
Transform into different creatures, dance through dynamic, danger-filled stages, complete quests for friends and face-off against awesome screen-filling bosses in an action-packed thrill ride without equal.
All our pre-owned games are quality tested & fully playable, but bonus content or codes for online play may have been redeemed. Game may not include original artwork and/or manual.
Pre-owned games may have minor scratches but are guaranteed to work.


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For nearly 20 years, Texans have flocked to Russo's New York Pizzeria and Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen for an authentic Italian meal and New York-style pizza.
On the heels of the restaurant's recent addition of gluten-free pizza to the menu, consumers will soon be able to find Chef Anthony Russo's new gluten-free pizza line in their local grocery stores.
As a growing number of consumers are leaning toward gluten-free options for dietary restrictions, Russo's new line of pizzas will offer an authentic but healthy Italian option for consumers.
From the pizza crust to the cheese, all components of the pizza will be 100 percent gluten-free. In addition, the facility the pizzas will be produced in will be gluten-free.
"As gluten-free products have become a larger demand in the United States, we wanted to do our part by providing consumers with a great tasting and healthy meal, and something they can throw in their oven after a long day of work," says Anthony Russo, founder of Russo's New York Pizzeria and Russo's Coal Fired Italian Kitchen.
"As the company remains passionate about freshness, only the finest ingredients will go into our gluten-free pizzas. While we will initially launch the product line in Texas, we look forward to introducing the pizzas nationwide over the next several years."
The new pizza line will initially launch onto retail shelves in Central Texas in 2012 and pizzas will be available in six different varieties, including Greek, New York Style, Margherita, Chicken Rustica, Pepperoni, and Italian Mozzarella, as well as Mulberry.
All pizzas will be made with 100 percent fresh mozzarella. The pizza crust will be vegan, made with rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, and extra virgin olive oil, infused with honey and Italian seasonings. All pizzas will also include a Chef Anthony Russo family recipe, dating back to the 1930s in Avellino, Italy.
In addition, the Chef Anthony Russo brand will be offering a shelf stable pre-made gluten-free pizza crust for those interested in trying out their own pizza recipe.
The brand is also launching an organic extra-virgin olive oil made with Sicilian olives, which is cold pressed and unfiltered. Russo's Organic Olive Oil line can already be found in Central Market stores throughout Texas.
Future products on the horizon also include fresh made gourmet pasta sauces, gourmet salad dressings, gourmet dipping blends, and a line of gourmet spice blends.
Scott Treadaway will spearhead the product line's expansion into retail stores as the newly appointed director of sales. With more than 20 years of experience in the food industry, Treadaway has spent time with food giant Nestle USA, as well as Red Monkey Foods, which is one of the nation's fastest growing private label gourmet spice suppliers.
"I am excited to be on board to help Chef Russo expand his pizza line and organic extra virgin olive oil on a national level," Treadaway says. "Chef Anthony's restaurants have become a gathering place for families. The new line of products will help make dinner time for families at home more enjoyable."


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The potential opportunities ahead for farming are obvious to those of us working in agriculture, and the increasing interest from the research and AgTech industries to upgrade our sector reinforces that optimism. As farmers are called on to increase production while reducing their ecological footprint and input resources such as water and chemicals, research outcomes and technology that can deliver real solutions are becoming increasingly important.
Agriculture has dealt with siloed, disjointed research and tech solutions for some time, and this challenge is increasing as less traditional and new players become more involved. Research data is only useful when it is understood - as Google's chief economist Dr Hal Varian said, we must, "be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualise it, to communicate it..." Similarly, the design and development model often used by AgTech players is different to the traditional RD&E framework that agriculture has relied on and has become accustomed to.
To ensure more rapid and appropriate research and AgTech outcomes for the sector, the industry models for these less traditional and new players must be made more applicable to suit agriculture's needs and identify symbiotic solutions that are scalable to farms. Better communication at the input and output ends is needed to ensure more informed concept/product design and to get the 'solution' into the right channels for it to be available for farmers.
QFF has an important role to play in bridging this divide and continues to engage with the less traditional and new players to help fill these gaps. Work with Telstra to realise and implement telemetric water metering on farm; CSIRO to augment carbon modelling tools; Griffith University on a nutrient farming strategy; and UQ, USQ and others to progress risk management options are some current areas of focus. With an integrated model and improved channels for meaningful extension, farmers can make more informed decisions about research outcomes and technology to remain productive into the future.


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The navigable river Nene extends from the junction with the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal to the mouth of the river on the Wash at Crab's Hole. The navigable river is 88 miles (142 km) long and has 38 locks.
Peterborough (31 miles inland) was the tidal limit until the lock and sluice were built at Dog-in-a-Doublet in 1937, a further five miles towards the sea. The Middle Level Navigations connect to the Nene at Stanground Lock, along a short arm from the river, just outside in Peterborough. There is also a 0.6 mile arm - The West Bridge Arm - in Northampton, which has been kept navigable over the years by IWA's Northampton Branch.
The maximum size of boat that can navigate throughout the river is
length: 78' (23.7 metres)
beam: 13' (3.9 metres)
height: 7' (2.1 metres)
draught: 4' (1.2 metres)
There are no limiting structures, other than the A17 at Sutton Bridge, downstream of Wisbech, and the Port of Wisbech can accommodate craft upto 260' (79.2 metres) x 40' (12.2 metres) X 17' (5.1 metres).
Peterborough - East of Thrapston Bridge
Northampton - West of Thrapston Bridge
From Northampton (junction with GU Northampton Arm) to Bevis Hall (2.5 miles upstream of Wisbech):
Environment Agency
Aqua House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, PETERBOROUGH, PE2 5ZR
E: email@example.com
Environment Agency website
From Bevis Hall to the mouth of the river at The Wash
Port of Wisbech (part of Fenland District Council)
The Boathouse, Harbour Square, WISBECH, PE13 3BH
E: email@example.com
Fenland District Council website


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Essential Skills
To register for credit courses you first need to apply to a college program. Apply online
ABES 051 Essential Skills
Effective date: January 2013
This course supports students to develop and increase essential skills in reading text, numeracy applications, document use, writing, oral communication and thinking skills relevant to the curriculum in trades training programs that have no formalized math and/or English prerequisites. This course will also help prepare students to acquire test-taking strategies relevant to their program.
Course offerings vary by term; search Camlink for scheduled sections
- Credits
- 0
- Format
- 6 lecture hours and 4 lab hours per week
- Tuition
- TBD plus additional fees. Effective from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021.
Last updated: July 15, 2020 2:39 pm


text:
Associated Press: A settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by former college athletes who alleged the NCAA failed to cover the full cost of their education has been formally approved by a federal judge. The NCAA will create a $10 million fund over the next three years to reimburse former student athletes for educational costs they previously incurred. The NCAA will also make an additional $218 million available to current Division I schools to pay for benefits given to athletes enrolled between the 2007 and 2013 academic years.
Andrew Carter, Orlando Sentinel: Are college fantasy leagues just another example of the exploitation of college athletes — just another way for a company to make money off an athlete's name while the athlete receives nothing?
Don Walker, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez earned more than $167,110 in outside income in 2007 by giving speeches, doing radio shows and appearing as an analyst on network television, records show. Alvarez's largest source of outside income was his work as a Fox network analyst for the Bowl Championship Series. For that weekend work, Alvarez was paid $30,000.
Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: A video containing lyrics related to drugs and guns was removed from Bob Stoops.com. The embarrassment comes 10 days after freshman receiver Josh Jarboe was kicked off the team for posting a rap video on YouTube that contained lyrics about carrying guns and shooting people.
Awful Announcing: ESPN has sold the naming rights for the Lee Corso Picks segment on "College GameDay" (where Corso puts on the mascot head) to Chick-fil-A.
Dave Dye, Detroit News: Offensive lineman Justin Boren, who transferred from Michigan to Ohio State, said he continues to receive abusive emails from Wolverine fans.
Bob Condotta, Seattle Times: Another bowl game? A group wants to revive the Seattle Bowl, which disbanded after the 2002 season because of financial reasons. The group reportedly is seeking assurance it would have the support of the Pacific 10 Conference, which already has contracts with seven bowls.
Jim Moore, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Washington State coach Paul Wulff isn't exactly a disciplinarian when dealing with his band of troublemakers. Plus, Cougar receiver Jeshua Anderson will be sidelined for at least six weeks after hernia surgery.
Chip Towers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia left tackle Trinton Sturdivant may have suffered a season-ending knee injury in a scrimmage.
Dugan Arnett, Lawrence Journal-World: Another running back is leaving Kansas. Donte Bean's departure comes a day after Carmon Boyd-Anderson decided to leave.
Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun: Is Maryland's Ralph Friedgen is trying to instill a fighting spirit into his team? He showed players a tape of the Ali-Frazier "Thrilla in Manila" fight last week.
Scott Wright, Oklahoman: Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy is still a man, but now he's 41.
Natalie Meisler, Denver Post: Fifth-year senior Billy Farris was named Colorado State's starting quarterback.
Allan Turner, Houston Chronicle: Texas A&M selected a 2-year-old sable and white AKC-registered collie from Topeka as its successor to Reveille VIII.
To bypass registration, go to Bug Me Not.


text:
Software Due Diligence
"Will the software support our business goals?" Construx's software due diligence reviews illuminate technical risks while shielding intellectual property details. We analyze code, design, technology, and development sophistication to help you make solid business decisions.
Our software due diligence team has both technical knowledge and business experience. We've reviewed over 350 systems using a combination of custom tools and techniques that focus on key technical questions and (as needed) translate answers into non-technical business findings.
We work quickly (most software due diligence engagements are 1-3 weeks) to provide insight into:
- What will it take to modify and add new functionality
- Maintainability and automated testing
- Scalability risks and strengths
- System design, code size, technologies, and complexity
- Open source and other dependencies
- Security and privacy risks
- Development capability, data center practices, defect/incident analysis
- Defect/incident analysis
- Sophistication and robustness of algorithms and data models
- Internationalization, portability, or other quality attributes
- Your specific questions
We have significant experience on many platforms (including Windows, Linux, mobile, and embedded), many business domains (accounting to telecommunication, medical devices to entertainment, etc.), and most current programming languages and technologies. We know how to handle sensitive software code and intellectual property.
Acquiring a software company? Contact Construx about software due diligence.


text:
On Monday, the fight over sensible gun laws in Maine was renewed as the Legislature held a public hearing on extreme risk protection orders, or the "red flag" bill.
The legislation, if adopted, would allow the police or members of a person's family to seek a court order to have firearms temporarily removed from the possession of someone in crisis. Extreme risk protection orders are good policy and promote public health. They also save lives.
If Democrats were of one mind, they could enact the policy despite Republican opposition. But Democrats are not of one mind, and the ultimate showdown could come down to progressives in the Legislature versus a more conservative – at least on guns – Gov. Janet Mills.
During the Democratic primary, Mills' opponents took aim at her for her record on guns. Mills responded – carefully and precisely. She was looking ahead to the general election and tried to avoid kicking the gun hornet's nest.
Now, the "red flag" bill is the first test of whether she remains more closely aligned with groups such as the Gun Owners of Maine and the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine or with the vast majority of voters who support efforts to reduce gun violence and who helped to elect her.
In public comments to date, I'm not optimistic. Mills has said she's hoping for a bill that would bring together gun advocates and those who support more aggressive action to combat the scourge of gun violence.
But I can tell you from experience – I managed the unsuccessful background check campaign in 2016 – there is no effective policy that the Gun Owners of Maine, and perhaps even SAM, will support that might keep guns away from someone.
If you honestly believe – and for all their faults, I believe that they are sincere – that efforts to keep guns away from criminals or people who are a risk to themselves or to others is a form of despotism or a way to seize the guns of law abiding citizens, I'm not sure how you can expect a good faith compromise.
A compromise with the diehard gun enthusiasts that would actually be effective at reducing the death toll of nearly unfettered access to weapons is as rare as a unicorn that poops rainbows. Sure, maybe it exists, but I've never seen one.
Republicans – maybe every one of them – will take the easy way out. No need to rile up part of their base. They're going to oppose any restriction on guns.
So it comes to Democrats. Will they pass a law that could be effective or will they settle for some "victory" that allows them to say that they did something while accomplishing very little.
I'm a gun owner. I love to shoot. I grew up in a family where guns where always present. My uncle Buddy kept a long-barreled .44 Magnum hanging in a cowboy holster from his bedpost. My uncle Ed had an intricately carved Type 99 Japanese rifle that he'd gotten after World War II. My grandfather had a .30-cal. M1 carbine that's still one of the coolest I've ever fired. And I've fired a bunch.
I have my dad's guns to this day. I don't hunt anymore, but I keep them, hoping to pass them down to my kids someday. But I would not hesitate – not for a moment – to get them out of the house if I thought they posed a risk to my family or the public.
If you read this column regularly, you know that I'm a fan of Mills. What she has done around health care, particularly, will literally save lives. On guns, we have been in a different place. And I'm afraid that we still are.
Fifteen states have red flag laws similar to the one being considered in Maine, and they have earned bipartisan support around the country. Hopefully, Maine will join them.
I consider myself a pragmatist and an incrementalist. Small improvements matter. But I can't support a bill on this issue that lets political leaders pretend that they did something and then take cover.
My kids practice taking cover in school – in case of the worst. If they are expected to have the courage to withstand a school shooting and to find a place to hide if they're unlucky enough to be caught in the halls during a lockdown, then I think we should expect our political leaders to have the courage to reduce the risk.


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Medline Empower Rollator Walker with 8" Wheels (Choose a Color)
Product Details
About this item
- Multipurpose rolling walker can adjust in a variety of ways
- Simple seat latch lifts the seat allowing space for step-in support
- Folds completely flat for easy transport or storage
The Empower is a multipurpose rolling walker that can adjust in a variety of ways for easy customization. Fusing together user feedback and technology, Medline has created a comfortable, adjustable and dependable option for those looking for an advanced rolling walker. The Empower weighs only 17 lbs. and supports users up to 300 lbs. Adjustment points are in a bright yellow for easy identification. The simple seat latch lifts the seat allowing space to walk into the rolling walker for step-in support. The walker folds completely flat, making it easy to store.
Mobility Solutions Guide Stay mobile with the right equipment for you or your loved one. Check out our Mobility Solutions Guide.
Policies & plans
- Comes equipped with a convenient, foldable cup holder, removable storage tote, tray organizer and reflective tape for safety
- Convenient loop-style brakes push down to lock and pull up to release
- Padded backrest flips enable sitting from either side
- Height-adjustable legs accommodate users ranging from 4'11" to 6'4"
- Adjustment points are bright yellow for easy identification
- Extra-thick memory foam seat is super comfortable
- 8" wheels glide smoothly over most surfaces
- Folds completely flat for easy transport or storage
- Seat height is adjustable from 20"- 5"
- Height ranges from 31"-37"
- Weight capacity: 300 lbs.
While we strive to obtain accurate product information, we cannot guarantee or ensure the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of any product information. Carefully read and follow all package directions. SamsClub.com assumes no liability for inaccuracies or misstatements about products.
Manufacturer Info
Assembled Country
Assembled Size
Item is adjustable
Component Country
Shipping Info
Standard - 2 to 6 business days
California Proposition 65 WARNING
Member reviews & questions
"Membership is required to complete an in-club or curbside pickup purchase at Sam's Club."


text:
I've read that you have a greater chance of being killed by a vending machine than of winning tonight's Powerball drawing.
I believe in math.
I also believe, a little bit, in fate. So I bought one Powerball ticket. One. That way, if it's meant for me to win, I've done my part to open the door for Fate to do its work. Buying twenty tickets wouldn't, mathematically speaking, significantly increase my chances – but there's a good chance I'd wish I had that forty bucks back at some point. Two bucks, I can squander.
So do your thing, Fate. I've got a long list of people I could make a little happier with a few million dollars in my grubby little hands. 🙂


text:
N515BW in school ballpark after forced landing.
N515BW against chain link fence.
Tree that was struck during forced landing.
Empty fuel tank.
The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.
Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Lincoln, Nebraska
Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Data Summary - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Location: Omaha, NE
Accident Number: CEN18LA085
Date & Time: 01/24/2018, 1418 CST
Registration: N515BW
Aircraft: QUARTZ MOUNTAIN AEROSPACE L-11E
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Defining Event: Loss of engine power (total)
Injuries: 2 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Instructional
During an instructional flight, the two pilots—an airline transport pilot giving instruction and a commercial pilot receiving instruction—flew to two airports and made an instrument approach at each airport. Upon returning to the pilots' home airport and while on another instrument approach, the engine lost all power. The pilot giving instruction assumed control of the airplane and made a forced landing in a school baseball field. During the forced landing, the airplane struck trees and a fence, causing substantial damage to a wing spar.
During a postaccident examination, a total of ½ gallon of fuel was drained from both tanks. The airplane's fuel capacity was 42 gallons, of which 40 gallons was usable. The airplane had been serviced with fuel several days before the accident, and the service technician estimated that 34 gallons of fuel was on board the airplane at the beginning of the accident flight. The pilot giving instruction reported that he had visually verified that the airplane was "full of fuel" before the flight, and he expected that there would be enough fuel for 4 hours of flight. The pilot giving instruction planned 3 hours of flight time, and the airplane's Hobbs meter indicated 3.1 hours of flight time.
Probable Cause and Findings
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The instructor pilot's inadequate preflight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.
Fuel - Fluid level (Cause)
Fuel - Not inspected (Cause)
Personnel issues
Preflight inspection - Instructor/check pilot (Cause)
Identification/recognition - Instructor/check pilot (Cause)
Factual Information
On January 24, 2018, at 1418 central standard time, a Quartz Mountain Aerospace (Luscombe) 11E, N515BW, struck trees and a fence during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power in Omaha, Nebraska. The certificated airline transport flight instructor and certificated commercial flight instructor receiving instruction were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The rental airplane was registered to and operated by Oracle Aviation, LLC, Omaha, Nebraska, and operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Millard Airport (MLE), about 1100.
According to the instructor's accident report, the airplane was full of fuel (verified visually), which should have provided about four hours of flight time. The planned flight time was 3 hours. They flew to Wayne Municipal Airport (LCG), Wayne, Nebraska, and Central Nebraska Regional Airport (GRI), Grand Island Nebraska, where they made an instrument approach at each airport before returning to MLE. The airplane was on the GPS (Global Positioning System runway) 12 instrument approach, about 5.3 miles from MLE, when the engine lost power. Following the emergency checklist, the engine regained power for about 10 seconds. The instructor assumed control and made a forced landing in a school baseball field near a road intersection. During the forced landing, the airplane struck trees and a fence, causing damage to a wing spar.
The airplane was towed back to MLE where Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors from the Lincoln, Nebraska, Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) examined the airplane. They drained a total of ½-gallon of fuel from both tanks. Both the tachometer and Hobbs meter indicated a flight duration of 3.1 hours.
The instructor noted that a similar incident occurred about two weeks earlier. In that case, the pilots were able to land at the airport. No determination was made as to why the engine lost power, but the instructor surmised that either the tanks did not hold 42 gallons, or the engine was consuming a "significantly greater amount" of fuel.
According to the service technician, when he serviced the airplane a few days before the accident, and it was not full of fuel. He added fuel to a level "just above the tab portion" of the fuel neck. Using another similar airplane, the technician demonstrated to FAA inspectors how he fueled the airplane to his customary level. He then added 6 additional gallons (3 gallons per tank) to reach the full level. It was estimated about 34 gallons of fuel was on board the airplane.
History of Flight
Loss of engine power (total) (Defining event)
Emergency descent
Off-field or emergency landing
Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
Certificate: Airline Transport; Commercial
Age: 68, Male
Airplane Rating(s): Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land; Single-engine Sea
Seat Occupied: Right
Other Aircraft Rating(s):
Restraint Used: 3-point
Instrument Rating(s): Airplane
Second Pilot Present: Yes
Instructor Rating(s): Airplane Multi-engine; Airplane Single-engine; Instrument Airplane
Toxicology Performed: No
Medical Certification: Class 2 With Waivers/Limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: 12/13/2017
Occupational Pilot: Yes
Last Flight Review or Equivalent: 12/05/2017
Flight Time: (Estimated) 16046 hours (Total, all aircraft), 60 hours (Total, this make and model), 13400 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 30 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 10 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft)
Pilot Information
Certificate: Flight Instructor; Commercial; Private
Age: 26, Male
Airplane Rating(s): Single-engine Land
Seat Occupied: Left
Other Aircraft Rating(s): Helicopter
Restraint Used: 3-point
Instrument Rating(s): Helicopter
Second Pilot Present: Yes
Instructor Rating(s): Airplane Single-engine; Helicopter
Toxicology Performed: No
Medical Certification: Class 1 Without Waivers/Limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: 03/01/2017
Occupational Pilot: No
Last Flight Review or Equivalent: 11/03/2016
Flight Time: (Estimated) 1420 hours (Total, all aircraft), 7 hours (Total, this make and model), 1337 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 30 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft)
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: QUARTZ MOUNTAIN AEROSPACE
Registration: N515BW
Model/Series: L-11E
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Year of Manufacture: 2008
Amateur Built: No
Airworthiness Certificate: Normal
Serial Number: 1006
Landing Gear Type: Tricycle
Seats: 3
Date/Type of Last Inspection: 12/21/2017, Annual
Certified Max Gross Wt.: 2280 lbs
Time Since Last Inspection:
Engines: 1 Reciprocating
Airframe Total Time: 276 Hours as of last inspection
Engine Manufacturer: Continental
ELT: C126 installed, not activated
Engine Model/Series: IO-360-ES
Registered Owner: Oracle Aviation, LLC
Rated Power: 185 hp
Operator: Oracle Aviation, LLC
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: MLE, 1051 ft msl
Distance from Accident Site:
Observation Time: 1415 CST
Direction from Accident Site:
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Visibility: 10 Miles
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility (RVR):
Wind Speed/Gusts: 5 knots /
Turbulence Type Forecast/Actual: / None
Wind Direction: 140°
Turbulence Severity Forecast/Actual: /
Altimeter Setting: 30.22 inches Hg
Temperature/Dew Point: 3°C / -2°C
Precipitation and Obscuration:
Departure Point: Omaha, NE (MLE)
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Destination: Omaha, NE (MLE)
Type of Clearance: IFR; VFR Flight Following
Departure Time: 1100 CST
Type of Airspace: Class D
Airport Information
Airport: Millard (MLE)
Runway Surface Type: Grass/turf
Airport Elevation: 105 ft
Runway Surface Condition: Snow; Wet
Runway Used: 12
IFR Approach: Global Positioning System; Practice
Runway Length/Width: 3801 ft / 75 ft
VFR Approach/Landing: Forced Landing
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 2 None
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 2 None
Latitude, Longitude: 41.196111, -96.112222 (est)


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I was just going to comment on my distinguished colleague's article. Then, I read it. So, due to the fact that it was complete bullshit. I decided to write my own.
Jim Calhoun is Uconn. As much as Geno Auriemma is the women's program, Calhoun is the men's program. Calhoun takes players who aren't necessarily top recruits, and rarely are good citizens, and turns them into great teams and great individuals. Kemba Walker is the first McDonald's All Amercian Uconn has had since Rudy Gay left in 2006. The other big name coaches (Roy Williams, Mike… umm Coach K, Bill Self) get High School All Americans every year. With the fascists at the NCAA forcing High Schoolers to spend a year in college now, these recruits are critical to programs.
In a comment you said,
"You really think recruits solely come to UCONN for Jimbo?," well, yes actually they do. They know what he has produced since 1986. He turns great athletes that have been somewhat overlooked into NBA stars. Of the guys he coached currently in the NBA you could create a pretty solid team. Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor, Charlie Villanueva, and Rudy Gay have all turned out pretty good.
To say that Calhoun is washed up, is just a lack of research. Calhoun is 556 and 204 in his career at Uconn. Connecticut had one bad season in recent years in 2006-07, the season after the departure of Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Rudy Gay, and Hilton Armstrong. Since then they are 55 and 14. And also, they did just lose in the National semifinal, so I guess all but two coaches in the country are washed up.
This is a program that means very little to people outside the state of Connecticut, but means everything there. Uconn is not like a University of Texas, UNC, or Kansas where they can recruit in state and get guys who grew up dreaming of playing there. Uconn has local kids growing up wanting to play there, but Connecticut produces rich, five foot five white kids, not basketball players.
To say that this game was lost because of a lack of heart is also not true. Uconn did not give up. On the contrary, by the end they were playing too forcefully, AJ Price was trying too hard to run the show, and everyone went cold. You also failed to mention that MSU was playing in front of a home crowd.
The "distractions" you speak of took place when the NCAA tournament had already started and did not seem to affect Uconn all that much until they lost in the final four to a number two seed in an away game. Obviously this occurred as a result of the distractions. Unless you are speaking of the reporter telling Jim Calhoun, basically the CEO of one of the only currently profitable corporations in Connecticut, that he ought to take a pay cut. The reporter, who was first off, not a real reporter, and second of all, a douchebag, deserved to get yelled at, and did. Look at John Calipari's new contract and go tell him to take a paycut.
It would be a shame for Calhoun to leave because it would turn Connecticut into purely a women's basketball state. The state needs Calhoun or else the program will end up in ruins.
"It's time for you to go Jimbo. Not because of your health, but
because the program shouldn't be about you."
The program is about him, just like any good college program should be about the coach. They have four years max to make guys mesh and win. Calhoun has done this as well as anyone else for the last 23 years. He may be underrated in fact. Uconn was ranked #2 in the preseason, and lost their smartest and best defensive player (Sorry Thabeet, you're a pussy) to injury. They finished #3. I guess you would have only been happy with a national championship. Washed up, yeah, so's Tom Brady.


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Hauntingly Revealing Children's Portraits in Galina Kurlat's Tintypes
The children in Galina Kurlat's latest photo exhibit, Shadow Play, stare out with an almost unanimous intensity. "We have subjectivity," their faces tell us. "Take us seriously – and don't disrespect our private worlds," is a more common, unspoken theme. These almost shockingly intimate, black-and-white portraits, a characteristically diverse New York bunch ranging in age from three to fourteen and captured on tintype from the shoulders up, are on display at Peter Halpert Fine Art's new gallery space at 547 W 27th St. in Chelsea through Dec 1.
To what degree does Kurlat's medium define or underscore the message here? Her sense of light and shadow is most strikingly evident in the grey areas, in every sense of the word. To call these pictures haunting and enigmatic is an understatement. On the surface, their rustic quality has a gothic sensibility enhanced by the fact that none of these kids are smiling (for the record, Kurlat only had to admonish one of the kids not to). But what's most revealing about these shots is their depth.
Obviously, the greatest challenge in taking pictures of kids is simply to get them to sit still. Compounding that is the way we typically shoot children – on the fly, with goofy faces on both sides of the lens. Kurlat's chosen medium here – a nineteenth century process – raises the difficulty another notch. With a tintype, you only get one shot. Your eye has to be attuned to catch a particular expression or pose in a fraction of a second. And if you don't, there's no handy filter or clever post-production technique available as a quick fix.
Many children inhabit extremely rich worlds of imagination, places that adults so often lose the ability to access. There's reverie, even occasional fatigue in the kids' expressions here, but the prevalent pose is pensiveness. There are even a couple of fleetingly stricken, "Damn, I forgot to close the door to my imagination," moments, most notably with a pair of siblings who appear to be about six and eight. As is the case occasionally here, their gender isn't immediately apparent, adding to the otherworldly effect.
Much as Kurlat's medium looks back to the past, these portraits project the kids into the future. It hardly takes imagination to see these faces as future college students, parents, businesspeople, athletes or artists themselves. It's as if they're telling us, "This is one possible thing I can be if I put my mind to it." That's something we should all take just as seriously – and it's a good thing that Kurlat's work is there to remind us.
Lilian Caruana's Fascinating, Bittersweet New Photo Book Offers a Rare Glimpse of the Mid-80s New York Punk Rock Scene
In one of the initial CBGB crowd shots in photographer Lilian Caruana's new book, Rebels: Punks and Skinheads of New York's East Village 1984-1987, an audience member appears to be wearing a swastika patch. A closer look reveals a famous Dead Kennedys quote: "NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF." In many ways, that capsulizes the unexpected complexities of Caruana's collection of black-and-white photos and brief interview quotes. It's more bittersweet, strikingly insightful historical document than it is nostalgia.
In her introduction, Caruana puts the era in perspective. By the 1990s, punk fashion had been completely co-opted by corporate interests. Violent evictions by the police put an end to the Lower East Side squatter movement, paving the way for the destruction and suburbanization of a long-thriving artistic neighborhood. With a finely honed sense of irony – in the true sense of the word – and a wry sense of humor, Caruana portrays a long-lost subculture in their irrepressible DIY milieu.
In what might be the most surreal shot of all, a blonde girl who looks all of about fourteen sits on a mattress, her legs wrapped in a repurposed American flag. Her blank stare fixes on a black-and-white tv propped up on a milk crate. A Ronald Reagan movie plays on the screen. The pillow to her left is from the Bellevue mental ward. Decorations on the wall are sparse: a grimy handprint and a label peeled off a torpedo of Budweiser. The year is 1986.
As Caruana explains, the individuals in her portraits come from a wide swath of social strata. Collectively, they feel disenfranchised. Bobby sees himself as exploited at his minimum-wage job and isn't beyond taking a little extra from the till to make ends meet. Dave, an Army deserter, longs for the American dream but not the mortgage and suburban drudgery. Matt comes from a more affluent background but is similarly alienated by outer-borough conformity.
As grim as their worldview may be, these people seem anything but unhappy. They lounge with their pets – a colorful menagerie including rats, kittens and an iguana – practice their instruments and strike sardonically defiant poses. Recycling may be all the rage in yuppie circles now, but punks were doing it forty years ago, if only because it was a practical survival strategy.
Unsurprisingly, the Cro-Mags, the Exploited, Agnostic Front and Battalion of Saints are the bands most often visually referenced here. But what these photos remind over and over is the vast difference between the Lower East Side hardcore contingent and their bridge-and-tunnel counterparts. Hardcore may have been more relentlessly aggressive, monotonous, and implicitly violent, compared to punk. But the LES crowd was far more likely to be politically aware, multi-racial, tolerant and open to women. In other words, they remained closer to punk's populist roots than the high school boys whose moms would drop them at CB's for the Sunday afternoon hardcore matinee and then drive them home to Long Island in the family Chevy Suburban. Other photographers have made big bucks shooting the famous and the semi-famous in that same part of town at the height of the CB's scene a few years previously; Caruana's work both dignifies and illuminates a time and place too infrequently chronicled.
Piano Titan Vijay Iyer Scores a Harrowing Multimedia Performance
Last night at National Sawdust, pianist Vijay Iyer joined with bassist Linda May Han Oh and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan to create a somber, stunned, broodingly opaque and occasionally picturesque backdrop for Teju Cole's allusively harrowing spoken word narrative, Blind Spot. Informed by history, portraiture, archaeology and Greek myth, Cole's vignettes traced decades of humans being inhuman to each other, and how conveniently we forget.
Cole didn't waste any time making his point. One of the first of the photo projections in his series of vignettes was a snapshot of a simple piece of poster graffiti in a Berlin neighborhood which once housed a gestapo torture complex. The message was simple. In black-and-white English, it said, "Sign here." Cole related that when he returned a week later, the poster had been replaced by a billboard. "Darkness is lack of information," he mused later during the performance. Is it ever.
Cole nonchalantly offered that his way of seeing had been radically changed by a blindness scare and then an apparently successful eye operation. The unseen seems to be as central to his work as the visible. An elegaic sensibility wove through his quietly provocative, interconnected narrative. Death – by torture, drowning, car accident, Klansmen and genocide – was a constant and pervasive presence.
The music matched the words and visuals. Iyer set the stage with a simple binary chord, a distant star against an obsidian sky. From time to time, the group improvisation became more programmatic – rushing water imagery and a sudden gust off a Swiss lake, for example. The most harrowing moment was when Cole related visiting the site of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing and referenced both McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison's roles in John Coltrane's classic elegy for the victims, Alabama. Iyer and then Oh both quoted Coltrane's pianist and bassist briefly – Oh's sudden, frantic downward cascade might have been the night's most stunning moment.
There were many others. Iyer began by working uneasy harmonies against a central tone, raga style, eventually building a Satie-esque menace while Brennan bowed her bells. As the night went on, Oh became more present, whether with an unexpected, circling series of harmonics that evoked Stephan Crump, or spare, emphatic accents moving with a slow but immutable defiance away from the center.
Brennan took the lead when Iyer went into Lynchian soundtrack mode, adding shivery chromatic phrases over macabre piano allusions that Iyer quickly embellished so as to keep the suspense from ever reaching any kind of resolution. The three finally reached toward closure with a concluding requiem, but even there the gloom didn't lift. Earlier, Cole recalled a medieval painting that depicts Agamemnon offering his daughter as a sacrifice to the gods so that he could start a war with Troy: the anguished tyrant has his back to the viewer, unable to face what he's just done. These days it looks more and more like the House of Atreus is us.
Iyer plays Tanglewood on July 13 with violinist Jennifer Koh. The next jazz event at National Sawdust – always a pleasure to visit and revel in the exquisite sonics there – is on August 30 at 7 PM with perennially unpredictable guitar luminary Mary Halvorson; advance tix are $25.
Philip Grossman Risks His Life to Document the Second Worst Disaster in Human History
Over the past several years, photographer/filmmaker Philip Grossman made several trips to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in Pripyat, Ukraine. Notwithstanding the Soviet Union's bungling attempts to downplay the disaster and evacuate the area during the crucial first few hours of the April 26, 1986 meltdown at Reactor #4 there, considerable documentation of the disaster's aftermath exists. Filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko took a camera into the disaster site in the days afterward: he was dead within the year. One hopes that Grossman either used an unmanned drone (as film footage he's taken there seems to indicate), or that he at least had sufficient protective gear, if such a thing even exists. To say that the matter-of-factly haunting and foreboding full-color images he's assembled are a heroic achievement is an understatement. Many of them, as well as a film of the area as it looked in the spring of 2011, are currently on display at the Wald and Kim Gallery, 417 Lafayette Street, 4th Floor through June 28. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 6 PM; ring the fourth-floor buzzer.
Grossman's photos both underscore a familiar narrative and open frightening new ones. The army of half a million "liquidators" enlisted by the Soviets to secure the area and clean up the worst of the toxic wreckage may have actually amplified the disaster's effects many times over by stripping metal from abandoned buildings and vehicles and selling it for scrap, effectively poisoning an unknown and probably significant amount of the Soviet steel and aluminum supply. Grossman's shots, particularly of the interior of homes and municipal buildings in the area, reconfirm this deadly harvest. The same applies to the random bundles of metal beams and building materials lying around, seemingly for the taking (let's hope that a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand years from now, when all this material is practically still as deadly as it is today, that people will know to leave it where it is).
But that's been documented elsewhere. What Grossman has to offer that's new is the disaster site as it exists today. The concrete "sarcophagus" built to contain the most toxic part of the reactor complex looks like a crack house, as if a good snowstorm would be enough to cave it in. Grossman's shots of the skeleton structure for a fifth reactor, abandoned in the wake of the meltdown, are chillingly ironic. Even more chilling is a look at what's left of the control room for Reactor #4, juxtaposed against another control room at the site that wasn't consumed in the initial blaze. Cheapness and a cynical disregard for maintenance leap from the dust and fading plastic: how many other reactors like this are there in the world, and why haven't they been shut down yet?
Grossman's photos of the surrounding area show a ghost town. There are a couple of low-rent memorials; homes where the only things left are old shoes and beer bottles; a preschool full of decaying, murderously radioactive stuffed toys; an abandoned hospital, a recreation center and sleepaway camp for children. The implications are extreme: perish the thought that this could have happened in the summer and subjected even more children to the consequences. The official Soviet report of the health effects of the disaster mirrors the coverup of the early days: we'll probably never know the full amount of casualties. The World Health Organization estimates that cancers caused by radioactive poisons released at Chernobyl killed a million people worldwide, a shocking number tempered by the WHO's notoriously alarmist predictions. And yet, for the reliably pro-industry WHO to come up with such a staggering estimate could well indicate that the death toll so far may be even higher.
And will be in the decades and centuries to come. There are two "sons of Chernobyl," as they're called in Russia, on the way. The contaminants in the water table inching toward the Black Sea are expected to reach there in thirty years or so. There's also the threat of forest fires in the area. Over the past decades, fire crews have routinely been sent into the forest there to hose down the soil to help prevent the kind of conflagration that could literally rekindle the catastrophe. Almost thirty years after Chernobyl, more than half of all wild mushrooms in Germany, thousands of miles away, remain too contaminated with nuclear toxins for human consumption. At least the Germans had the sense to make it illegal to harvest those mushrooms, or, for that matter, to sell wild game meat.
Meanwhile, the United States and other nations continue to allow the importation of vehicles and products from Japan. What's even more troubling, of course, is that the Fukushima disaster released more lethal radioactive contaminants than every previous nuclear meltdown – Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, LP-1 in Idaho and Oak Ridge in Tennesee – plus the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombs, plus every atom bomb test and nuclear leak in history, COMBINED. In simpler terms, the world became more than twice as deadly on March 11, 2011. Levels of nuclear contamination in Tokyo, a hundred miles from the Fukushima disaster site, are so high that if that the city was in the United States, it would be off limits not only to human habitation but also to human traffic: the danger of spreading those toxins via car and truck tires is considered too high to risk in this country.
The Japanese response to Fukushima in many ways was the same as the Soviets' was to Chernobyl. According to an official Japanese government website that was abruptly taken down about a week after the Fukushima calamity, only forty people were killed by the meltdowns there. But while high levels of toxins as deadly as those released at Chernobyl continue to drain into the Pacific – whether the result of leakage, deliberate dumping, or both – the carnage left in the wake of Chernobyl may only be a small fraction of the toll Fukushima may ultimately claim. Can anybody say "global extinction event?"
Lourdes Delgado's Photos Reveal an Intimate Side of the NYC Jazz World
This is how the other half lives. Lourdes Delgado's photographs currently on display at the Instituto Cervantes document numerous New York jazz luminaries in their own homes from 2002 to 2008. From a New York perspective, it's vicarious to the extreme, considering that space is the most sought-after status commodity in the five boroughs: ""Oooh, Kenny Barron's got a house!" – in Brooklyn, of course. In addition to their historical value, Delgado's black-and-white shots often vividly illustrate their subjects' personalities, intentionally or not (she allowed those photographed to choose their spots, and what they wore). Paradigm-shifter Matana Roberts, always the free spirit, cheery in her vinyl clutter; the late Dewey Redman, regal in his African costume beneath framed posters from innumerable obscure European festivals; legendary drummer Chico Hamilton on his couch with his plants, warm and welcoming; conduction maestro Butch Morris exuding a stern zen calm, notwithstanding the wine stains on the couch; guitarists Mike and Leni Stern relaxed in their hippie pad with their Abyssinian cat, keyb guys Craig Taborn wary in his impeccable, OCD-neat space and Robert Glasper sleepy in his messy crash pad with just a futon and headphones. Pianist Joanne Brackeen has wall-to-wall mirrors and a big stuffed giraffe; rising star vocalist Gretchen Parlato sleeps on her couch with her furry friends. Sax titan Benny Golson has Ikea furniture; trumpeter Jack Walrath and first-call drummer Kenny Washington each surround themselves with a museum's worth of vinyl records.
Ironies abound here, as does a resolute joie de vivre and ability to get the most out of spaces that non-urban dwellers would find ridiculously small. First place for resourcefulness goes to drummer Sylvia Cuenca, who hides a full kit beneath her loft bed, her Rhodes piano just inches away. Tuba player Marcus Rojas manages to fit two kids (one wearing a Shostakovich t-shirt), his tubas and bass, among other things, into a cramped Manhattan apartment. One of the most offhandedly striking shots depicts a young Marcus and EJ Strickland, saxophonist and drummer looking tough in their dreads in what looks like mom's crib circa 2002. As expected, the promoters have more space than the musicians, notably George Wein, looking small and distant in the back of his rather palatial digs past the piano and the Persian rugs. Other small details, such as the instruments and albums favored by the artists, appear everywhere, often very surprisingly. Many musicians are so accustomed to being photographed that they typically put on a "photo face;" that Delgado captures so many of them here so candidly is no small achievement. The exhibit runs through July 29, free and open to the public, at the Instituto Cervantes, 211 E 49th St. Hours are 1-9 PM Mon-Fri, Sat 10:30 AM – 3 PM, closed Sundays.
Guitar Fetish Photos at the Morrison Hotel Gallery
Photographer Jonathan Singer's current exhibit at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in the old CBs Gallery space at 313 Bowery positions the guitar as lurid fetish object. It's hardly a new concept, but he takes it to the next level. At the celebrity-packed opening last week, Duke Levine's twangy noir instrumentals played in the background as the crowd ogled the dark-shadowed, Rembrandt-esque portraits – that's how much dignity Singer accords these instruments. Most of them owned by famous rockers at one time or another, they're worth literally millions of dollars: viewing this show is sort of the equivalent of a stroll through the most choice goodies at a specialty dealer like Retrofret. Taken out of context, the guitars themselves show their age, whether the worn-down frets on a late 50s Telecaster, the cracked veneer on the oldest mandolins and acoustics or the faded patina of a 1930s National Steel model.
As expected, most of the show comprises early models of iconic models: Telecasters, Strats, Gibsons and Gretsches, one of the most stunningly beautiful being Chet Atkins' personal Gretsch with Bigsby tremolo bar and matching amp. But the most mouth-watering shots, unsurprisingly, depict the rarest models. A handful of National electric mandolins, a circle of vintage 1950s Kays, a Kustom, a trio of Elkos with their tone buttons shimmering in the low light, and a posse of Fender Jaguars all lend their dangerous curves to an atmosphere dripping with desire. There are also three acoustics hand-painted by Annie Haslam, whose lushly shapeshifting aquamarine landscapes make perfect sense in light of her decades-long career leading anthemic art-rockers Renaissance. The photo exhibit is destined for the Smithsonian, but signed, limited edition prints are available from the gallery. It's currently showing in two locations, the gallery's Bowery branch and 116 Prince St. location in SoHo, through mid-March.
J. Henry Fair's Environmentalist Photography: A Pre-Apocalyptic Exhibit?
Photographer J. Henry Fair's new exhibit, Landscapes of Extraction: The Collateral Damage of the Fossil Fuels Industries at the second floor gallery at Cooper Union is as important as it is surreal. And is it ever surreal. Esthetically, Fair goes for vividly colorful landscape shots of future Superfund sites: that is, if there is any Superfund left to clean up the decapitated mountaintops, lakesize cesspools of lethal sludge, and seemingly innocuous construction sites he shoots from a distance. Fair's photos are accompanied by a series of multimedia stations and a grimly informative running text detailing the processes he documents: deep sea drilling, mountaintop clearcutting, messy metal refining and chemical manufacturing. And those matter-of-factly calm if predictably messy construction sites are actually hydrofracked natural gas wells.
"Fracking," in the gas business is slang for "fracture," a necessity when drilling through shale deposits to unleash the lucrative gas beneath. Hydrofracking began in the 70s, originally a process where high-pressure water was used to break up the rock. These days, courtesy of what's commonly known as the "Halliburton loophole," pushed through by the Bush regime in 2005, natural gas companies are allowed to use whatever liquid they want, no matter how caustic or lethal it might be. Furthermore, the law exempts the drilling companies from having to reveal the contents of their lethal concoctions on the grounds that they're "trade secrets." As Fair documents, what's no secret is that highly toxic amounts of radium have turned up in groundwater running into the water table from these sites recently (ostensibly, there's supposed to be a buffer zone around each well, although a particularly eerie aerial photo shows a portion of Garfield County, Colorado with wells side by side – from above, the effect is that of a graveyard). And while radium is silently lethal, there's no ignoring the water in your kitchen sink catching fire, vividly described in Josh Fox's documentary film Gasland. Gas leases are lucrative: it's not hard to imagine the residents of a neighborhood or town hit hard by the depression signing up for them en masse, only to discover their property polluted to the point of being unhabitable, never mind unsaleable. Is the current process of hydrofracking the teens equivalent of what munitions manufacturing became in the 90s, a convenient way to dispose of nuclear waste? Fair's investigation doesn't carry that far.
He also takes a sobering look at mountaintop clearcutting (a cause famously taken up by activist/gospel bandleader Reverend Billy), where coal companies like Massey Energy basically blast the top off mountains in Appalachia, raining down all sorts of debris, some more toxic than others, on the community below. Ultimately, Fair emphasizes, what's happened since the invention of the steam engine is that millions of years worth of carbon have been re-released into the environment in the last 250 years, a blink of an eye and the equivalent of an explosion in evolutionary terms. The potentially apocalyptic environmental crises we face today, from global warming, to oil spills, to the highly contested effects of hydrofracking, are the blowback from that explosion. The exhibit is a must-see; it's up through February 26 at Cooper Union (enter through the back entrance at the main building on the triangle between Bowery and Fourth Avenue at Seventh Street). Hours are Monday-Friday, 12-7 PM, Saturday 12-5 PM.
Lilian Caruana Captures the Vulnerable Side of the Punk Esthetic
What is most stunning about Lilian Caruana's photographs of punk rock kids in New York from 1984 to 1987, now on display through January 7, 2011 at the John D. Calandra Italian-American Institute, is how much space they have. As anyone who lived in New York, or who came here at the time can attest, it was a vastly more spacious place, offering freedom to pretty much anyone who sought it. Caruana, an Italian immigrant, draws on the populism of legendary Life Magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith in an engaging series of black-and-white portraits offering a compassionate view of life as an outsider.
Caruana's intent was to capture her subjects' individuality, and it was fortuitous that she took these pictures when she did, when individuality of expression among young New York immigrants was not only not forbidden but actually pretty much de rigeur. Even then, the punk scene was not necessarily a nonconformists's club: there were Nazi and racist elements, especially among the hardcore kids. But many of the people who came here did so not necessarily because they wanted to, but because there was nowhere else to go, and because they had the option of being pretty much by themselves if they felt like it. And because they could afford it. How times have changed. These East Village shots could be from another universe. There's not a single $500 bedhead haircut, posse of overdressed, tiara-wearing suburban girls or their Humvee stretch limo, or for that matter, anyone, anywhere, except the subjects of the photos themselves.
Several capture squatters in their lowlit afternoon hovels: a scruffy but seemingly cheerful couple reclining by the window on a mattress; a young guy with a Simply Red haircut enjoying a smoke while playing with a trio of kittens who seemingly could have run off into the adjacent hole in the apartment wall if they felt like it; a girl on her bed, leaning on a Bellevue Hospital pillow and watching a war movie on an old portable tv at 4:35 in the morning, her wall decor limited to the label off a Budweiser torpedo bottle (those were the days before the forty-ounce) and what might be a bloody handprint. The multi-racialism and inclusiveness of the era is evident in the diversity of Caruana's subjects, especially in her portraits of mixed-race couples. One of them playfully does the bump in front of a gated storefront, the guy holding one of those big Bud bottles – young people drinking on the street in broad daylight were not typically subjected to police persecution in those days. Another pose on their rooftop, the street below them empty save for a battered Chevy Monte Carlo and a shiny new Mazda coupe passing by. As is the case with an Iron Cross-wearing, heavily tattooed guy – his face out of the frame – down the block from an independently owned diner long since vanished from the neighborhood. The shot most likely to be destined for iconic mall-store t-shirt status depicts a father and toddler son with identical mohawks – again, this was from an era fifteen years before the hairstyle became popular with members of the military and the police force. The tattoos are homemade; expressions of peace, freedom and nonviolence predominate among the t-shirts and graffiti; and perhaps most obviously, none of these people seem the least bit threatening.
The John D. Calandra Italian-American Institute is located at 25 W 43rd St. (5th/6th Ave.), on the 17th floor. Gallery hours aren't listed at their site: you may wish to call before visiting, (212) 642-2094.
Mick Rock Puts His Diversity On Display at Morrison Hotel Gallery
Legendary photographer Mick Rock has a new book out, Mick Rock Exposed: The Faces of Rock n Roll and accompanying exhibit up at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in the old CB's Gallery space just south of Bowery and Bleecker. It's a must-see: the book is out just in time for the holidays and ought to do just as well if not better than his previous Bowie and glam-themed collections. As he explained before the show's celebrity-packed opening Tuesday night, this is an eclectic book: he's never been swayed by popular trends. Although Rock will forever be associated with iconic images like the covers of Lou Reed's Transformer and the Stooges' Raw Power, his portraiture over the last forty-plus years is extraordinarily diverse, ranging from Japanese kabuki theatre stars, to a somewhat notorious, self-referencing show featuring Kate Moss in all kinds of provocative poses, to bands as dissimilar as German proto-punks Can, current-day blues belter Shemekia Copeland and gypsy punk stars Gogol Bordello.
As much as Rock has an eye for drama, he often goes for understatement. The best of the most recent images here are an absolutely hilarious Snoop Dogg, looking old yet ganjifically defiant in a George Clinton kind of way (Rock and Snoop seem to have a great mutual appreciation), and a considerably clever spin on an otherwise cliched PR shot of Lady Gag "passed out" in a dirty, trashed bathtub. That shirtless guy standing over her, face out of view? That's Jack White.
Fans of Rock's legendary glam-era photography won't come away disappointed. A Ziggy-era David Bowie is captured in black-and white, pensive and shirtless in an empty room; on the train to Aberdeen with guitarist Mick Ronson; onstage performing "guitar fellatio" as Ronson solos, and in an absolutely brilliant if worrisome 1972 shot where he joins Lou Reed (hiding behind his shades) to support a completely trashed Iggy Pop, who has a pack of Lucky Strikes stuffed in his mouth.
Iggy and the Stooges also figure prominently. A black-and-white shot from 1972 captures the band looking particularly young and vulnerable, a skinny Ron Asheton taking a stab at trying to appear menacing behind his innocuous wireframe glasses (this was before he discovered aviators). The most wrenching of all the photos here is a color headshot of Iggy onstage in 1977, dripping with angst and longing: it's the visual equivalent of Gimme Danger. There are also a couple of vividly sad Syd Barrett black-and-whites, one where he strikes a karate-like pose in an empty room – he alone knows what it means, if anything – and another with him reclined haggardly on the hood of a battered old Buick convertible (look closely – it's parked in front of a sparkling new MGB-GT coupe) somewhere in England. By contrast, Rock had the presence of mind to capture Madonna in black-and-white in 1980 (wearing a 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates World Champions tee, licking her shoulder lasciviously – she already knows she's a star). Everything here that isn't sold out already is on sale at depression-era prices (a limited edition Transformer print signed jointly by Rock and Reed is three grand). The Morrison Hotel Gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday, noon to 7 PM: shows here turn over fast, go now if you're thinking about it.


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The shutting down of seven foreign tourist offices by the Government of India has sent the travel trade in a tizzy. TRAVTALK asks industry experts about the impact of this decision on the tourism business within and outside the country.
Plagued with the vacancy of several posts and lack of senior officers, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to close down some of its foreign offices. The Ministry will now open a new office at Moscow, with the Russian Federation as the fourth largest source market for India in terms of foreign tourist arrivals. TRAVTALK brought together Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO); Vikram Madhok, Hon. Treasurer, PATA, Homa Mistry, CEO, Trail Blazer Tours (India), Bharat Bhushan Atree, Managing Director, Caper Travel Company and Sandeep Jain, Hon. Joint Secretary, IATO, to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of this sudden move by the Ministry
Rashmi Verma, Secretary—Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
We are not closing down our offices, we are only restructuring our overseas presence in terms of creating some major hubs in the international market. Now, we will perhaps have 7-8 hubs where we will have our presence through these foriegn offices. In rest of the countries, we will be having India Tourism Marketing Representatives (ITMR), and they will be carrying out work under direction of these hubs, which we will be creating in our key markets. Also, these hubs will be engaging PR agencies, who will be working in some of these key markets and emerging markets. Thus, the whole structure is being revamped. We are not just looking at closing of offices, as we might relocate some offices as well. However, the numbers might come down in terms of hubs. Regarding the low manpower at the existing offices, I would like to say that we did not fill the existing offices because we were in the process of restructuring our overseas offices. However, now, all the manpower we have around the world will be relocated to the hubs, and thus the number of people in each hub will be much more than what it is currently.
Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO)
These offices should not be shut down completely but strengthened with more staff and experienced officers. Active steps should be taken to participate in exhibitions and undertake activities to promote India rather than wait for the clients to come to them. We were not informed of the news officially but only through sources that a decision was in process to shut the foreign offices in April and as IATO we addressed the same to the then Tourism Minister. In October we met the new Minister and were assured that steps are being taken to ensure that these offices would not be closed down. However, we were shocked when the decision was announced in December despite having written to the Ministry to review the same. These foreign tourist offices were not meant to generate enquires. They were very helpful in identifying the right tour operators with whom the trade could interact. Their main role however was to create awareness about India and project it as a viable destination to promote. They are not responsible for individual marketing. I believe money has to be invested in promoting India through social media and other media platforms. We also need to fund the foreign offices to gear up and deal with crisis. If leveraged properly, the foreign offices are capable of crisis management. Now that the offices are being closed down, there is a need for more roadshows in the untapped potential markets for inbound tourism.
Homa Mistry, India Travel Award winner, CEO, Trail Blazer Tours (India)
The change is welcome and the shutting of these offices is by far the best decision. Management by the right people at these offices has proved beneficial in the past. So if the decision has been taken to shut them down, I am sure the authorities have thought of an alternative to spend the money in some other direction. I do not feel that the numbers should come down in any way with this decision. The destinations as products are already competing amongst themselves but it is the people who run the show and decide the results. We have to look at the bigger picture where the plan is to participate more in exhibitions and roadshows with government and private partnership. With these proposed plans, a higher number of inbound tourists are expected to be generated. Thus, we are headed in the right direction. The traditional marketing method has to be revamped. If we need to capture the attention of a larger audience in today's age with lesser investment, social media is the way forward. Also, we have to invest funds to target the young generation. Digital marketing is an important tool to counter negative sentiments about India and then we can walk the streets for sales. The government of the day is bringing in change in various aspects of travel and I feel that we should appreciate the same. The change may be different than expected in terms of marketing strategies, etc. but I feel that the future will be better.
Bharat Bhushan Atree, India Travel Award winner, MD, Caper Travel Company
Closing down the offices is a rash decision which has not been thought over well. I believe that if the offices were not doing justice to their roles, issues should have been resolved rather than just shutting them down. In fact, out of the seven offices, three were located in cities from where we received the maximum number of tourists. When we meet tour operators at newer destinations, they need an additional push to promote India. The foreign offices would create a sense of assurance among the local trade regarding the political and socio-economic stability in India and also validate the idea of promoting India as a tourist destination. They may not have generated leads but played a major role in the gamut of things to create goodwill for India. Social media is important but offline media promotions are equally important. Also, the foreign offices host festivals where the local community is invited to celebrate. If the rationale behind shutting the foreign offices is to cut expenses, then shifting these offices with the embassies or Air India offices sounds like a solution. The idea is to have a separate entity to do the promotional and marketing work professionally. There are only two markets from where we get the charter business—the UK and Russia where the latter is far ahead.
Vikram Madhok, India Travel Award winner and Honorary Treasurer, PATA
I believe NITI Ayog has taken a learned decision to shut a few offices. I agree that we need some form of representation abroad for India but the current offices are not up to the mark. We are staffing these officials who are probably not the best resources. If we really want to move forward in showcasing Incredible India, we need professionals to run the offices along with the Ministry and get the best people to man these offices. What the NITI Ayog has in mind for these offices is a closely guarded secret. However, the position has been made clear that the government is eager to scale up the numbers for inbound tourism and create platforms to promote Incredible India. Logic defies me as to why a foreign office is being opened in Russia. It could be linked to a G2G position. Also, a strong economy of the nation allows its citizens higher disposable incomes and hence the propensity to travel. The USA economy is solid currently which is also an important market but with the same logic, Russian economy is not the strongest and people do not have large sums of money to spend on long haul holidays. I would put the money in training the guns for the top source markets like the Americas, the UK, France, etc. that generate maximum inbound tourists rather than venture onto newer markets such as Russia.
Sandeep Jain, Hon. Joint Secretary, IATO
There has been a shift in the market from the traditional to the emerging. Given the present scenario where the foreign offices are being shut down, there is a need to spend the money on positive publicity for India. Though social media and digital marketing are important tools of today's age, traditional media platforms like print, electronic and hoardings are equally important for promotion. Also, one-to-one roadshows hold value along with inviting the foreign tour operators to India and allow them to experience the destination themselves. There is also a need to tap new markets and potential tour who have a wide market reach to the Southeast Asia and the Middle East and convince them to include India in the itineraries. I believe that shifting the foreign offices within embassies is a good idea because the presence of embassies in most of the countries gives us a wider reach. Also, embassies are a point of contact for the local market and can help with the right data regarding the consumers and trade as well. However, professionals within the embassy have to handle the job while the embassies can monitor the activities well.


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Fan Expo occurred over the Labour Day weekend, and for the third year in a row, I came back as a volunteer. Being how busy my weeks are, I once again could only commit to working Saturday/Sunday. As a volunteer, it's mandatory that we do four shifts during the Con, so I ended up pulling double shifts for the weekend. For the past two years I got assigned to work Volunteer Registration, which in the end really meant that I was a Floater and worked wherever I was needed. I didn't mind it, honestly, and I was fully expecting to be there again this year. But then assignments came and I found out I got moved to Autographs! I was f**king excited! I mean I knew I was gonna be dead tired by the end of it, but didn't matter. Because despite having to work all weekend, I still got to see most of the celebrity guests, and got to work with some of them. Well, work with the celebs, really means working with the handlers/agents who work with them. But still, close proximity!
I got to work Gillian Anderson's line on Saturday. When she left, I got to work Katie Cassidy's line, which was in between Danielle Panabaker and John Barrowman, so I got to see all three of them. On Sunday, I worked the lines for Jewel Staite, who brought her husband and adorable baby boy as well. Getting to work Jewel's line was pretty awesome, because her and her handler were just so great to work with. But also, on the one side of Jewel's booth was Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, and Ben McKenzie; on the other side, Mark Hamill. Like I said, AWESOME.
Despite all the craziness and busyness of the weekend, volunteers were still allowed to enjoy their time. That meant if there was a photo-op or autograph we wanted to get, or even a panel we wanted to go to that fell during our shift, our Team Leaders/Coordinators were very accommodating. Working in Autographs, it was easy to get them, as long as we paid for them like everybody else. We were told not to straight up ask the celebs for a free autograph, ESPECIALLY while we're on shift, because it makes the volunteers look bad and we're all (including the celebs) there to work. And honestly, it's understandable. So with that being said, even with double shifts, I managed to do a photo-op with Hayley Atwell, and got autographs from Ben McKenzie and Charlie Cox.
I had never done a photo-op at a Con before, but I've always known that it goes really quickly. So it barely even registered that I met Hayley. Walked into the photo-op area, quick "Hi!" to Hayley, took the picture, and out. It was barely 10 seconds. Enough time for a not great picture (there's a reason I hadn't done photo-ops, I just generally don't like taking pictures), but not enough time for me to get awkward.
During a bit of a lull while on shift and kind of close to the end of the show, I went over to get Ben McKenzie's autograph. And guys, I totally forgot how much of a crush I had on Ryan Atwood! I mean every time he walked over to his booth, I'd have a stupid smile on my face. Then when I actually went up to get his autograph, I couldn't even get anything O.C.-related to come out of my mouth. It was the standard pleasantries: "Hi, how are you? Are you enjoying your time here in Toronto?" I was just total fangirling! Ben, for what's it worth, was just so nice and thanked me as a volunteer for the hard work we put in over the weekend.
By 4:30 Sunday, the majority of the celebs were done and gone, and it was then just a matter of cleaning up the booths. So after cleaning up and such, I was pretty much done my shift before the Con was even over. I looked over and saw Charlie Cox was still signing autographs, and he stayed there until the very end. I was just hanging around at that point, and impulsively decided to get Charlie's autograph. End of the day, not much of a line, whatever. Anyways, when I got up to meet Charlie, he read and mispronounced my name, which happens all the time, so I just waved it off and said "It's T." Charlie being adorable was like, "Oh, sorry! T? I love tea! I drink it all the time. Because you know, I'm English." It was cute, especially with the accent; I fangirled, obviously. And then, even after he got through signing for everybody that was left, I don't know for sure how it was instigated, but he was about to leave and then came back to take a group picture with a few fans (and us volunteers that were still hanging around lol). I am still looking for that picture.
It was such a busy weekend, but my third year volunteering turned out to be the best year so far. Working the autograph lines was such a fun experience, tiring as it was, though so completely worth it. My only hope is that I get to do it again next year!


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ASUS PG348Q 34" 100Hz G-Sync Curved Monitor With IPS Panel
34" ASUS PG348Q NVIDIA G-Sync, 100Hz Curved IPS Panel, 3440x1440, 5ms, 1,000:1, DP v1.2/HDMI/USB 3.0, Tilt/Height/Swivel
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Protect against installation damage for 28 days.
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ScanProtect is an enhanced warranty specifically designed and offered by Scan to reduce the risk of any mishap or damage to components during installation.
Our aim with ScanProtect is to encourage our customers to upgrade or build their own PC confidently. For a small additional fee our customers are provided with complete peace of mind.
ASUS - Curved Screen - Gaming Monitor - 34" - IPS - ROG Swift - PG348Q
ASUS Curved Monitor | ROG Gaming
The curved Swift PG348Q expands your scope, allowing faster target acquisition while increasing immersive visuals with a 34-inch 3440x1440 curved ultra-wide IPS panel. It is filled with technology to increase the display performance both in and out of game, such as rapid refresh rates and G-Sync. It also boasts a suave ASUS ROG logo LED to shine against your desktop surface.
Curved Display
Panoramic Gaming Arena
The ROG Swift has been designed so that each point on the curved screen is an equal distance from the viewers eyes, creating much more comfortable visuals - even on those long gaming sessions. Plus, the size of the Swift monitors curve is more likely to fill your peripheral vision, making films and games more immersive than ever.
Designed for Gamers
Award Winning Curved Gaming Monitor
ROG Swift PG348Q has received critical acclaim – winning the 2016 CES Innovation Award. This genius curved screen features many clever design techniques to help with comfort and cooling, and has been finished in ROG's new Armor Titanium and Plasma Copper colour scheme. This ergonomic curved display will swivel (+50° ~ -50°), tilt (+20° ~ -5°), and adjust height (0 ~ 115mm).
Monitor Refresh Rate
100Hz Refreshing Curved Screen
An enhanced refresh rate will not only create consistantly better visuals but can even help you win games! By decimating lag and motion blur the curved Swift monitor gives you an upper hand in a variety of game genres. This fast refresh rate allows you to game at the highest visual settings whilst letting you react instantly to what's happening on-screen - always get that first shot.
*For smooth gameplay, G-SYNC requires a GeForce GTX 980Ti and above to overclock the refresh rate up to 100Hz
ROG Swift Turbo Key
Exclusive Swift PG348Q Turbo Key
The Turbo Key embedded into the ROG Swift is positioned on the reverse of the curved screen. This key lets you toggle refresh rates on the fly, seamlessly switch your curved display from 60Hz to 100Hz mid-game. Overclock the displays refresh rate for the smoothest gameplay yet.
Smooth Gaming Visuals
NVIDIA G-Sync Embedded Gaming Monitor
Experience NVIDIAs G-Sync and its capability to create smooth, uninterupted game-play. By syncing frames that your GPU renders to the refresh rate of your monitor, the G-Sync embedded into this curved display will eliminate screen tearing and minimize stuttering.
GamePlus Technology
Take Control of Your Games
ASUS exclusive GamePlus technology is embedded into the curved PG348Q gaming monitor. This tech is ready to help you attain victory in games, simply press the hotkey and select from the above enhancements.
Timer: The on-screen timer keeps tabs on recurring drops, respawns & other time based events. Can be moved around the screen.
Crosshair: Choose between four persistent crosshairs and tune their position, ensuring pinpoint accuracy in first-person shooters.
FPS Counter: Shows the rate at which frames are drawn by the display. Used to evaluate the performance impact of different graphic settings.
GameVisual Technology
Enhanced Game Visuals
ASUS GameVisual Technology gives you six display mode presets to optimize visuals for different types of content on your curved gaming monitor. This unique feature can be easily accessed through a 5-way joystick or the On-Screen Display (OSD) settings menu. Display modes are, RTS/RPG, FPS, Racing, Cinema, Scenery and sRGB, below are a few examples:
RTS/RPG: Enhances colour saturation & contrast sharpness for brighter colours & detailed visuals.
FPS: High contrast settings enhance the visibility even in dark scenes.
Scenery: Provides a greater brightness range and introduces more contrast gradations. Tweaks colour saturation for greens & blues, idea for environmental photos and videos.
Curved Monitor Connectivity
Various Monitor Ports
The curved ROG Swift PG348Q monitor has a wide selection of connectivity options including DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI. There are also four USB 3.0 ports for your mouse and keyboard, they can even charge your mobile devices while gaming.
Monitor Vent Design
Clever Curved Cooling
The ROG PG348Q curved monitor features a custom heatsink that's twice the size of those found in other monitors, to ensure it stays cool during marathon gaming sessions. Cooling is also aided by a Smart Air Vent design that uses convection currents to generate airflow within the curved monitor. This fanless cooling system ensures that the curved ROG Swift operates silently and remains maintenance-free.
What is Nvidia G-Sync?
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For further information regarding Scan's warranty procedure please see our terms and conditions
- Duration:
- 36 months
- Type:
- Direct
- DOA Period:
- 1 days
- Manufacturer:
- Telephone:
- 01442 265548
Additional Notes:
Manufacturer's warranty is reprinted here for your information only. Warranty terms subject to change without notice.
Subject to 3 years manufacturer's warranty, directly with ASUS.
Asus provide a direct drop & pick warranty replacement service.
We recommend that you retain your retail packaging within the first 28 days of purchase.
This Warranty does not cover any damage due to abnormal use or conditions, misuse, neglect, abuse, accident, improper handling or storage, serial number altered, defaced or removed; or has had the warranty seal on the system altered, defaced or removed, exposure to moisture, unauthorized modifications, alterations, or repairs, improper installation, improper use of any electrical source, undue physical or electrical stress, operator error, non-compliance with instructions.
Date Issued: 11th May 2020
PC monitor manufacturers tend to focus on a particular buzzword or acronym almost every year. In the past, we have been treated to HD (high definition), denoting the screen is capable of running a minimum 720p resolution.
Date Issued: 15th May 2015
Choosing a monitor is not an easy decision to make, and not just because of the large number of variations in resolution, refresh rates, sizes and connectivity options. There are also varying panel technologies used to form each display that need to be considered. These panel technologies can be grouped into three broad categories which cover the vast majority of monitors sold in the consumer market.


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