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This is another installment in our continuing series where we talk to photographers whose work we've appreciated on Flickr.
This week we feature Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
cinemafia: I believe, right away, most people would look at your photography and compare it to cinema. Not just films in general, but passionate art house, perhaps even noir cinema. There is a lot going on in your photographs that communicates this kind of intangible feeling, be it the rule-of-thirds composition, the available (often low-key) lighting, the telecine-like vignette. And, your images, especially those of people, always seem to tell a dramatic story – without words. Perhaps it's the mood or expression of a single person, or the "slice of life" scenes you often encounter. Do you take any specific steps to evoke this kind of experience? Do you ever do any pre-visualization, often used in film production, before photographing your subjects?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: The films of Wong Kar-Wai have undoubtedly been the biggest influence on my visual style. I first discovered them when I was 15 – not long after I started to take photographs – and, although at that time I lacked the emotional intelligence to understand or appreciate their stories and characters, I fell in love with the images. It wasn't until a few years later, when I discovered the photography of Eric Hands, which, although generally very different in style and content from my own work, brought the everyday alive for me and made me realize that the images I found beautiful, in Wong Kar-Wai and in general, were not just found in cinema but in the world around me, and that I could capture these. That said, I don't take any steps to evoke or force them: I prefer to observe rather than direct, take pictures rather than make them. Pre-visualization, then, is something that I've never done either. I prefer my approach, anyway: It means that, unlike other, more imaginative creative pursuits like writing, I don't satisfy my passion alone in a room, but am forced to throw myself into real life and the things that happen around me if I am to take the photos that please me.
cinemafia: I know there are a few particular directors of photography whose work you follow. Could you tell us some of them, and what influence they may have had on your own work?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: The films of Michael Mann have been another important influence on my work, both in their visual style and in the depth of their characters. I once read somewhere that Mann doesn't make films very often because he spends so much time researching and developing the characters. In my case the "characters" are real people, not fictional creations, but I hope that my photographs suggest all the same – a narrative, a psychological complexity, what a remarkable thing it is to be a human being. Although I can't speak for Mann's reasons for doing so, this is why I like to shoot at night: not only is it more visually interesting in its light and colour, people are different at night. During the day there is work to be done, but it is when the skies are dark that people become themselves. When the work is done, the self – what is going on in one's heart and mind – is not so easily escaped or avoided.
cinemafia: On your website you note that your life with photography began and reached a critical level between the ages of 14 and 17. Having gone so far in such a short time, and at a such a young age, what are your feelings about having been able to tell these stories and share the ideas you have with so many people?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: In William McIlvanney's novel Laidlaw, Detective Jack Laidlaw says (if memory serves, I've lost my copy) that there are two kinds of professionals: the first is the person who makes a career out of something and is competent enough at doing it that he gets by. The second has so much passion for what he does that a career in it came as a byproduct. I certainly belong to the second category. Before I started working as a photographer, it was more than a hobby, but a passion, even an obsession, and so it became inevitable that everyone thought of me as "the guy with the camera" which, at least from a professional point of view, was and is very beneficial. As for sharing my ideas and telling my stories with and to other people, I love it. I think that, while to create may fulfill some need in the artist, art is primarily created to be shown and shared. For me, at least, when I share a piece of art with somebody (not necessarily something I've made myself) it is to say "Do you understand me? Do you get me? Does this move you in the same way as it moves me?"
cinemafia: How did your work in photography affect your outside life with family and friends, your schooling? What were your experiences meeting other professional photographers, most of whom must have been much your senior?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: How has photography affected my outside life? I have struggled with this question. Although, as I've written, it means I throw myself into things more, do things I wouldn't normally do, and it encourages me to embrace any new experience that comes my way, when I read in Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda the line "This was his great strength. It was his great weakness, too, an excess of detachment from his own life," it resonated with me, and I considered that perhaps photography was detrimental in that it detached me from reality, prevented me from making a real connection with the events that were happening around me, made me a spectator rather than a participant. I began to wonder whether people invited me to parties because they really wanted me there, or because they wanted me to take photographs. But I know who my real friends are, and, on the other hand, I've met so many wonderful people and seen and done so many interesting things because I am a photographer. And to be able to make a living out of this, I consider myself very lucky indeed.
cinemafia: One of the elements in your work I pick up on right away, and you even make a declaration of it in your Flickr profile, is your propensity for truth, observation, documentation. Your images certainly bring this sense of the real, the world as-is, held up for all to regard. Do you feel that, as a photographer, you have an obligation to tell your stories from life, uncolored? Is there any instance where you believe your own personal bias or attitude may have changed the way you photographed a subject, or how you presented those photographs?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: I love nature, being in nature: beaches, forests, hills and mountains, watching a sunset. But I've never been interested in photographs of these things. All art, whether a photograph, painting, novel or film, speaks to me primarily because it gets the human condition. Art is a human endeavor, and the art that gets me most concerns itself with what human beings do, what we have done and, as is especially important to science fiction and fantasy, what we could do.
"Obligation to tell your stories from life, uncoloured." Obligation seems like too strong a word, but perhaps it is the right one. I think we as human beings have an obligation to be truthful to others and perhaps even more importantly to ourselves. This doesn't necessarily have to manifest itself in our art – that's a very personal thing – but in my case, yes, photography has been profoundly helpful to me in discovering the truth about myself and how I feel about the things that happen around me. To photograph a person is, for me, to consider more than light and lines, but the expressions on their faces and the way they think and feel. To photograph a person, and then to look at that photograph afterwards, is for me to think very hard about them, and about myself. But of course there is personal bias: cameras may be objective, but people aren't, and it is a person who decides what is included in the frame and what is excluded, and the moment at which the shutter is pressed. The subjects of my photographs are often described as pensive, reflective, melancholy. A friend once told me I had a very romanticized view of life and the world. I'm not sure if he meant it with a capital R or not, but I think I know what he means, and perhaps that's my bias, perhaps the old chestnut about the image revealing as much of the photographer as the subject is, in my case, true.
cinemafia: In your commercial work, there must be some sense of direction – of obtaining a certain result. Do you do any negotiating between those goals and your own? Or do you simply give the client what they want?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: When it comes to professional work, you must give the client what they want. If there is time, then I give them what I want, too. I learned a lot about this from my friend Ian Gavan, who I worked with shooting a conference in Las Vegas. It was the biggest job I'd ever worked on at that time, and he told me that all the client wanted was fast food, to save the gourmet shots for myself if there's time. And this is common in corporate work, where I'm often asked for "nothing too arty." Outside of corporate work, I'm lucky in that a lot of the work I do and the people I work with are other creative people who are happy to give me creative control, who hire me on the basis of my previous work and want me simply to do what I do.
cinemafia: As a working photographer, you must have some feelings about the way the industry is changing. Photojournalists are being laid off in scores, and those left with jobs are asked to take on dual roles as videographers. Commercial photography is evolving into a world steeped in digital manipulation,where tweaked subjects are placed into artificial scenes and landscapes. What are your thoughts about this new process of image-making and story-telling, and how do you see yourself fitting into (or breaking away from) it?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: Hmm, this is a tricky one. Actually, I haven't much experience of being asked to do anything I didn't particularly want to do. My abilities at digital manipulation are poor, and usually I explain this to a client at the outset. If it ever comes to the point where I have to learn to do it in order to continue to make a living, then I suppose I will, but I think it's a sad state of affairs, and I hope there will always be people who appreciate the kind of work I like to do. My main gripe with the way the industry is changing relates to the value of photography as a profession. There are more and more talented amateurs than ever, and companies are ready to take advantage of them, offering "you will be credited" as payment for the use of an image that 10 years ago could have cost them hundreds of dollars. It's an insult to the amateurs, who should charge anyone who wants to use their work for a commercial purpose, and an insult to professionals struggling to make a living, and it devalues the profession as a whole.
cinemafia: Finally, I'd like to know what are some of your words of advice for beginning photographers, especially those in their teen years. What is the most important thing for them to do when they go out into the world to take photographs?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: To quote Ian Gavan again, "Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent…persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." In business, in the world of jobs, careers and money, hard work is far more important than talent. But, don't rush. And, as the other cliché goes (but no less true for being one), it's who you know, not what you know. Make an effort to meet people, to keep in touch with them, shamelessly harass them if you have to. A degree in Business and Management would have been more helpful to me than a degree in Photography (which I don't have, anyway). I come from a working-class background and became the first person in my family to go to university for generations: that opened so many doors for me. I studied English Literature – unrelated, at least practically, to photography – but the value of a university education was not for me in the piece of paper received at the end of it, but in the people and experiences that I met throughout.
cinemafia: What things can they do now to help pave the way for a career in photography – should they choose to pursue one?
Tommy Ga-Ken Wan: My main advice for young photographers is simply to do it: If you have the passion, then embrace it. Don't be paralyzed by fear: fear for the safety of your equipment, fear that you're not good enough, fear of the opinions of others ("Poor Tommy's 30 now and still doesn't own a car or have a mortgage…"). If you have the passion, making piles of money won't matter. If you don't have the passion, don't make a career in photography. Find something that you do have the passion for, and try to make your career in that instead.
To see more of Tommy Ga-Ken Wan's work, go here.
Interview by cinemafia.


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The Primates of the Anglican Communion met at the Helnan Palestine Hotel Alexandria Egypt, between 1st – 5th February.
The meeting was chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams and hosted by the President Bishop of Jerusalem & the Middle East & Bishop in Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, The Most Revd Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon acted as the meeting's secretary.
Primates' Meetings are held in private session. A communiqué was issued at the close of the meeting. During the course of the meeting three other statements were also released, they can be found in the Document Library. There were daily press briefings and the can be found here.
All Provinces were represented at the meeting, except the Church of Pakistan, the Church of South India and the Church of North India where in each case the Moderator could not attend due to a previously booked engagement. The Primate of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines the Rt Revd Edward Pacyaya Malecdan was unable to attend as he was not granted a visa to travel.
When the primacy is vacant, it is usual for the province to nominate the Dean of the Province or the Senior Bishop to represent that province. This will happen in a number of provinces on this occasion.

subset: commoncrawl


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Today's News: Our Take - Dave Chappelle Stops Comedy Show Because of Hecklers
Dave Chappelle still knows how to stir up controversy.
The stand-up was headlining the Funny or Die Presents: The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival on Thursday night in Connecticut when he was heckled by several audience members and refused to perform his set, according to the Associated Press.
According to fan accounts, Chappelle came out and told a few jokes but stopped because of the heckling. Videos posted online afterwards show that the former Comedy Central star then sat on a stool for almost 30 minutes and responded to the hecklers, joked about the situation and went so far as to read the first few sentences of an audience member's book.
Fall TV's fresh faces: Stars to watch
"Hey man, I wanted to do a better show, too," Chappelle said, apparently responding to a person in the audience. "It wasn't my fault. Quite noisy in here."
"I like some of you. I hate some of you," he said just before he left the stage. "I forgive some of you but I don't forgive all of you. You guys have totally ruined my chances for running for Congress or something. ... Thank you. Good night."
Check out the latest celebrity watchlists
Chappelle, 40, was booed when he walked off stage, and some fans demanded their money back from the show.
This is hardly the first time Chappelle has taken a stand against hecklers. In 2011, he stopped performing at a charity event in Florida and proceeded to check his text messages while on stage. He said in a radio interview that he once lay on the stage for 10 minutes during a performance in Oakland, Calif.
The Oddball festival, which also includes Flight of the Conchords, was set to play Pittsburgh on Friday.
View original Dave Chappelle Stops Comedy Show Because of Hecklers at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


text: A major international field experiment to study land-biosphere interactions with the atmosphere was conducted near Niamey, Niger in 1991. Led by the French overseas agency, ORSTOM, it was a part of the international programs, ISLSCP and HAPEX. Niger is a desperately poor country, plagued by poor soils and erratic rainfall. The regions I visited (a 100 km square including Niamey) have deep red soils that are depleted in key nutrients. These images were taken in 1987 and 1991. They show something of the landscape and our international teams in the field and at the hotel bar! (Geolocations are rough guesses by REM.)Read More


text: HL admin February 2, 2021 Uncategorized Boy: 24, Toronto. Girl: 23, Toronto. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Tags: I am single myself and want to help others find their Zivug Continue Reading Previous PostHLNext PostHL You Might Also Like HK February 24, 2019 dg October 5, 2018 TG June 29, 2018


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Nicki Minaj Speaks Her Mind About Everything from High School to Hollywood
Meeting Nicki Minaj is an operation that's handled with military-like precision. It's 6:58 p.m. when I pull my car into the sprawling American Idol lot and 7:01 p.m. when I check in with Nicki's publicist. It's 7:02 p.m. when I get the first update: "Nicki is en route," she says urgently. At 7:03 p.m. I'm ushered to the entrance of the studio, where I see a petite blur of platinum blonde hair stride past, surrounded by a chattering crowd of hairstylists, makeup artists, assistants, and friends. They duck into a black Maybach. "She's riding to her trailer," her publicist says, pointing to one of the six massive structures 20 feet away.
I am, to be frank, uncertain what to expect when interviewing a celebrity who rides a Maybach to a trailer ten steps away. But whatever preconceived notions I may have had of Nicki Minaj, none of them fit the woman I meet, who's curled up on an oversize couch in a vintage T-shirt and pink velour track bottoms, her tiny manicured feet tucked into plush Hello Kitty slippers that coordinate with the Hello Kitty figures dotted throughout her otherwise simple trailer. She is entirely sans makeup, with the exception of doll-like false lashes. "Do you want a slice of pizza?" she asks. "It's been a long day."
No stranger to working hard, Trinidad-born, Queens-raised Nicki took her first step toward stardom by self-publishing her songs online. Before long, she caught the eye (or, technically, the ear) of Lil Wayne, who signed her to his label in 2009. Just three years later she was called the most influential female rapper of all time by The New York Times. Her career has been a Technicolor-costumed ascent—one she credits to a preternaturally strong sense of self that she developed during her teenage years. "Every time my parents fought, my mother would have us move and I would have to go to a new school, which meant I'd have to face the task of making new friends," she recalls. "I dreaded it. I had butterflies in my stomach each time: Are people going to like or hate me? Will they talk about me?"
She grew a thick skin, she says, because she didn't have the choice not to. "I encountered jealous girls a lot—it wasn't like I had nice clothes, so they couldn't be envious of that, but they were like, 'You shouldn't be that confident,' " she reveals. "Sometimes, if I felt like there was a physical threat, I would call my older brother and say, 'Can you meet me after school because I don't know what might happen?' Sometimes there'd be a fight, sometimes not. I let people know I wasn't going to be pushed around. What it came down to is that the bullies wanted me to bow down to them. And I just wouldn't."
Eventually, Nicki created her own strategy for dealing with haters: "I was a jokester. I let everything roll off my back," she says. "I always felt like I had other things going in my life outside of school, like church and extracurriculars—I was even on the softball team," she adds with a laugh. When Nicki began freshman year at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, the famed New York City performing arts institution, things finally clicked into place. "It was the first time I felt like I really fit in. Everyone there was creative," she says. "For once, I didn't feel like there was something weird about me."
Story edited for TeenVogue.com. See a selection of photos from Nicki's photo shoot and read key quotes from her cover story, then pick up the complete interview with Nicki Minaj in the June/July issue of Teen Vogue, on newsstands May 21.


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SYNOPSIS# see the implementations of this interface for details but # basically
my $obj = $factory->create(%args);
DESCRIPTIONThis interface is the basic structure for a factory which creates new objects. In this case it is up to the implementer to check arguments and initialize whatever new object the implementing class is designed for.
Mailing ListsUser feedback is an integral part of the evolution of this and other Bioperl modules. Send your comments and suggestions preferably to the Bioperl mailing list. Your participation is much appreciated.
[email protected] - General discussion http://bioperl.org/wiki/Mailing_lists - About the mailing lists
SupportPlease direct usage questions or support issues to the mailing list:
rather than to the module maintainer directly. Many experienced and reponsive experts will be able look at the problem and quickly address it. Please include a thorough description of the problem with code and data examples if at all possible.
Reporting BugsReport bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track of the bugs and their resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web:
AUTHOR - Jason StajichEmail [email protected]
APPENDIXThe rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _
Title : create Usage : $factory->create(%args) Function: Create a new object Returns : a new object Args : hash of initialization parameters
Title : create_object Usage : $obj = $factory->create_object(%args) Function: Create a new object. This is supposed to supercede create(). Right now it only delegates to create(). Returns : a new object Args : hash of initialization parameters


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Home > CPR > press_releases
College Press Releases
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RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content, such as news headlines. RSS provides interested scholars with convenient feeds of newly posted College Press Releases content.
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Friday, October 23, 2009
My Search for Mrs. J.H. Belote
So my incorrect assumption found me wasting a bit of time trying to find a likely candidate for the author of the letter.
Some other assumptions I worked with:
The letter was written 10 Feb 1908 and referred to letters and cards Mrs Belote had received for a recent birthday.
Mrs Belote said that she was a quarter century from the Sarah Ann's age of 90, making her age about 65 in 1908 so she was born about 1843.
When she was 10 years old she lived in Buffalo, NY, so probably born in New York.
Many of Sarah Ann's correspondents, other than family, lived in Branch County, Michigan as Sarah lived there many years prior to Mike's death. So that is where I started looking.
[Note that links are to census images at Ancestry.com and you will not be able to view them unless you have a subscription]
On the 1910 census I found Jeanette Belote, age 67 born Wisconsin, wife of Lewis W. Belote.
On the 1900 census I found Jeanette H. Belote, age 57, born Jan 1843, Wisconsin in Sherwood, Branch, Michigan. She was the wife of Lewis W. Belote.
Sherwood, Michigan jumped out at me as Sarah had received birthday letters of her own. Sarah Ann's letter dated 12 Oct 1903 mentions receiving a birthday letter from Bell Plant's mother-in-law of Sherwood.
On the 1910 census of Bronson, Branch, MI I found Bell Belote, age 36 wife of Horace E Belote, age 40. And on the 1900 census of Matteson, Branch, Michigan is Belle C Belote, born May 1874, wife of Horace E. Belote, born May 1870.
Mrs Belote's letter also said, "When I was 28 years old (then a wife and Mother of two boys)……" which fit perfectly with the family's 1880 census record, where they are found in Colon, St Joseph, Michigan: Lewis Belote age 43; Jeanette age 37; James L. age 6; and Horace E. age 1/12.
So I am fairly sure that Mrs. J. H. Belote was Jeanette H. Belote of Sherwood, Michigan. But what was her maiden name?
I first looked at some public member trees at Ancestry.com and found a tree named Pacific Northwest Necrology, owned by genehisthome. This tree had Lewis Waldo Belote, born about 1836, prob. Colon, St. Joseph, Michigan, died 19 Mar 1919 Tebonsha, MI. He married about 1865, Helen Jeanette Currier who was born 1843 and died 1919.
An online index to St. Joseph County, Michigan marriages has: C-421 Lewis W. Belote to Jannette Currier.
My next stop was Seeking Michigan where I found Jennette's death certificate. It gives her birth as 29 Jan 1843, New York; daughter of Rufus Currier and Mary Hunt.
On the 1860 census I found Rufus Currier, age 54, born NH; Mary, age 48, born NH; Janet, age 17, born WI; Sarah, age 12 born NY; and Oscar, age 7 born NY.
The census records I've found all agree that Jennette Helen Currier Belote was born in Wisconsin. The family didn't stay there long and based on Jeanette's birth and her letter they must have relocated to Buffalo, NY for a time before moving to Michigan.
I have not located any of these families on the 1850 census but I have found more than enough to satisfy my curiosity about a woman I am not related too! Now I will contact those that have trees that include Jennette to let them know that one of her letters survived.
2 comments:
- Judy said...
I was very happy to discover your post today, which refers to Bell (Plant) Belote.
My 2nd great-grandmother, Arabella "Bell" (Moffett) Wilmot was the daughter of Harriet Plant. Two of Harriet's brothers, Harrison and Morgan Plant, removed from Genesee Co., NY and settled in Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co MI in the mid-1800s.
The Belle C. Plant who m. Horace Belote was the daughter of William and granddaughter of Harrison.
My interest in the Plant families of St. Joseph County MI was created by the discovery of Bell Wilmot's old photo album, filled with mostly unidentified photos from about 1850 to 1874. At least four of these photos were taken in Sturgis, Michigan, and I believe they are photos of my Bell Wilmot's first cousins, all Plants.
Belle Wilmot died in April 1874. Belle C. Plant was born in May 1874, and I have speculated (but not proved) that she was her namesake.
I would love to discuss this further with you. If you think you might be able to help me identify the Plant families in my photos, I would like to e-mail them to you.
Thanks very much.
Judy Davison
- Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...
Hi Judy,
I am happy you found this post. I am not related to the Plants, at least I haven't found a connection. Maria Watson Plant was a friend of the family and wrote letters to both Sarah Ann Wisner Camfield and her daughter, Anna Camfield Carlisle. I haven't worked with the letters in awhile but Maria and Anna were close in age. In Sarah's letters to Anna she often included snippets of local gossip, including mention of the Plant family. I am hoping you will find the letters interesting or perhaps know a family member who would. The letters on my blog have been resized and I would be happy to make full size copies available. Your best bet for finding just the ones about the Plant family is to use the search box on the right side. (I still have at least one, maybe more that I have not published yet)
I'm afraid I couldn't help you identify any of the Plant family. I could help you get them online with the hope that someone else would find them and could identify them. If that interests you, please contact by email - Apple194 at gmail dotcom.


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How to drink like an 18th-century European war god
Tim and I recently acquired a bottle of Admiral Horatio Nelson's blood, and I am happy to report that it's delicious.
Perhaps some explanation is in order. "Nelson's Blood" is the nickname for Pusser's Rum, the official former tipple of the Royal Navy. After he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar:
Nelson's body was placed in a large cask of Pusser's Rum to preserve it for the long voyage back to England. Upon arrival, the cask was opened and Nelson's preserved body removed. But the rum was almost gone. The jack tars (sailors) had drilled a small hole at the base of the cask through which they drained most of the rum, thereby drinking of Nelson's Blood.Â
The British Navy continued to ration out Pusser's to its men until 1970, which is truly unbelievable once you've tasted it. It bears no resemblance to the sickly-sweet stuff in sorority rum-and-Cokes; it's as rarefied as single malt and as strong as antifreeze. If you're going to Boat Under the Influence, this is the way to go.


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Must Every Federal Bureaucrat Speak Off the Record?
Even the most banal agencies resist transparency.
Deep in a Pennsylvania cavern, federal employees are using an antiquated, inefficient method to process 100,000 yearly applications for retirement benefits.
They're doing it by hand.
The Washington Post tells the whole jaw-dropping story in "Sinkhole of Bureaucracy." It involves a multi-step process that includes hours or even days spent digitizing some files by hand, and other digital files that must be printed out.
It's worth reading the whole story. (And then reading this document and laughing in despair.) But I want to draw attention to a few tangential passages that caught my eye:
- "Here, inside the caverns of an old Pennsylvania limestone mine, there are 600 employees of the Office of Personnel Management. Their task is nothing top-secret. It is to process the retirement papers of the government's own workers."
- "The Office of Personnel Management allowed a reporter in the mine on the condition that interviews with some officials there would not be conducted on the record."
- "Now, Step 3: The file moves around the corner to an adjacent cavern. The workers there have a vital but frustrating job. They must call, e-mail, fax, badger and harass workers in other federal agencies to find paperwork that has been left out of the file. 'I used to chase people for months—literally—for one signature on one piece of paper. You want to talk about an egregious waste of taxpayer money?' recalled one worker who left the mine recently and declined to be named because of fears of retribution."
I don't want to make too much of this. A resistance to transparency at the Office of Personnel Management's records cave is far down the list of things to worry over, and despite it, the Post managed to tell the important parts of the story.
On the other hand, if transparency in the federal bureaucracy isn't so much as feigned even when (1) there are no sensitive secrets involved; (2) everyone agrees that there's a problem and a need for solutions; and (3) the fault for dysfunction lies with flawed rules imposed by Congress far more than any employee in the bureaucracy—if bureaucrats won't speak on the record even in this instance, if former employees are afraid of retribution even here, it suggests a much larger problem.
Transparency in government ought to be the default, with exceptions made to protect certain kinds of sensitive information. It's unfortunate that we have to have those exceptions, especially given how often they're improperly invoked, but they're sometimes necessary. What we have instead are federal officials refuse to speak on the record, even to discuss basic matters of fact about their agencies, when there is no legitimate justification for it. What scenario could more clearly illustrate that the complaints of transparency advocates are justified?


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Story by
Paul Sawers
Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check h Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check him out on Google+.
If you're a frequent traveler, or are otherwise fascinated by the impending arrival of flights around the world, you might want to give this iPhone app a quick look.
Flight meshes together data from FlightStats and World Weather Online to present you with real-time flight statuses, alongside the corresponding (animated) weather conditions from where the plane departed, and where it's due to arrive.
How it looks
Swipe up to view flight details, including whether it's en-route or already landed, as well as the weather details, type of plane and more.
Swipe down to add a new flight to the home screen, for which you'll need to know the airline, flight number and date.
If you have multiple flights saved, you simply swipe from left to right to search across them, and tap any airport code to see the conditions for that specific location, all beautifully animated.
Granted, the actual use-cases for such an app could be limited – those who need to monitor multiple flights, for example. But if nothing else, Flight is a seriously beautiful app that has been given a lot of attention from the ground up.
Indeed, Flight comes courtesy of Istanbul-based InnovationBox, the very same company that gave us the stunning Konvert unit conversation app last year. So we're not entirely surprised by what we see here.
The one downside, perhaps, is that Flight will set you back $3.99, which seems a little on the punchy side for something that leans further towards beautiful than useful. But that, of course, is entirely subjective.
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5 Questions You Should Answer Before You Retire}
Submitted by: Eric Bayne
Do you know how much money you will need at retirement? Do you know if you will even have that much money? The best method to know for certain is for you to start putting together your retirement worksheet today. Before you begin your worksheet, however, you will need to answer the following 3 vital questions:
How much do you want to make a year, in today's dollars, when you retire? Or, to put it another way, if you were to retire right now, what yearly salary would you require in order to keep you living in the fashion to which you have become accustomed. The majority of worksheets and calculators will have built into them projected appraisals for inflation and will be able to use this figure to calculate roughly the amount of annual income you will need at retirement.
How many years are there before you retire? This is critical because it is the number of years you have remaining in which to add funds to your financial portfolio. The spreadsheet will take the value of your current portfolio and add to it any expected contributions up to the retirement date. The calculation will show how much you can expect to have at retirement. If this amount is less than what you require, you will either have to add more money to your portfolio, change your investment strategy, or lower you expected standards of living at retirement.
What is the sum of all your sources of expected retirement income? This includes your expected Social Security income as well as any of the following investment plans – 401k, 403b, 457, Keoghs, SEP, IRA, and pension plans. It's important to get as concrete figures as you can and put them on paper. This helps to avoid the rose colored glasses scenario where you think you have more money than you actually do. A major cause of people getting to retirement and being shocked that they don't have enough money to live at their current lifestyle level is their failure at an earlier age to take a hard look at their financial situation when they had plenty of time to do something about it.
How many years will your retirement funds be expected to last? This is a sensitive question as it gets into life expectancy and mortality issues. Once you begin to collect Social Security, your income from it will be relatively constant. But Social Security will most likely cover less than half of your desired income. And in many cases, it will cover much less. This means that your remaining investments have to supply the rest of your income. In the best of circumstances, you will be able to live off of a combination of the interest and dividends from your investments and not have to touch the principal. If, however, you are forced to start drawing against the principal, your annual income from it will continually decrease until gone. Knowing how many years your retirement funds will be necessary will help you make the decision as to whether you should start to draw the principal down or accept a lowered standard of living.
How is your health? For many retired people, their medical bills are their biggest out of pocket expense when they retire. Even with Medicare, you may have deductibles to pay for. We can't look into the future and say for certain what our health will be at retirement. But if you already are taking medical treatments for a disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and so on – you can be almost certain that those bills will increase significantly as you reach retirement age. Many people when making their retirement plan, forget planning for future medical bills. But now, before your retirement, is the best time to do this.
About the Author: Eric Bayne is writer and researcher for http://www.retirementplanhelper.com . Visit his site to find out where he'll answer questions such as
what are 401k plans
and other retirement related questions.
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Austin Texas Tidbits about Life, Real Estate and Unique Happenings!
If it pops into my head, it might come out of my mouth! I've got a weird sense of humor so expect the unexpected when you read my blog. Real Estate is my profession but life is what its all about!


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Last season on Fox's teen soap, The OC, the show's nerd-chic hero, Seth Cohen, skipped out on his interview for Brown University in favor of getting stoned. When confronted about this lapse in judgment by a well-meaning friend, the quippy Cohen replies, "We' re getting dangerously close to an After School Special here." Cohen—and many of The OC' s fans—is too young to have ever watched an After School Special himself, but the shows stand for everything that the sophisticated (and always meta) OC is against. The After School Special, which dominated teen TV-watching during the 1970s and '80s, has now become a cultural shorthand for tedious morality plays.
Anyone who grew up in the pre-Internet age is bound to remember the 4 p.m. showings of After School Specials on ABC. The melodramatic teen cautionary tales always contained an awesomely literal title—"She Drinks a Little" (alcoholic mom), "My Other Mother" (foster parents), and "Schoolboy Father" (teen pregnancy)—and a Life Lesson by the 44-minute mark. If you can't remember your "Trouble River" from "It's a Mile From Here to Glory," Brentwood Home Video has a 28-episode box set (that comes packaged in a school bus) of the specials produced by Martin Tahse, who was responsible for more episodes than anyone else.
Tahse's specials, which debuted in 1974, were clearly a product of an era committed to exploring taboos. This is a time when the feminist DIY health guide Our Bodies, Ourselves was in its first edition; when Free To Be … You and Me taught us that it's OK for boys to cry; and when Judy Blume's teen heroines in books like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret were animatedly discussing tampons and sex.
After School Specials dealt with plenty of hot topics, including: bullies, inner beauty, stuttering, foster care, physical abuse, dropping out of school, death, racism, and disabilities. But they also explored lighter fare such as what would happen if you turned into a dog for a day, how to deal with curmudgeonly grandmothers, having a crush on your teacher, and how hard it is to anonymously write an advice column for the school newspaper.
The plots, which were mostly adapted from young-adult fiction, are an exercise in worst-case scenarios: If your mother has a sore throat, surely she has terminal cancer with just three months to live; if your only love is ice skating, you will certainly be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and never be able to set foot on the rink again; if your mom is an alcoholic in recovery, she will without a doubt fall spectacularly off the wagon the night you star in the school play. There's not a lot of nuance to be found. Tahse and company were never after subtlety, they were after operatic displays of emotion. After all, these shows were supposed to elicit a visceral reaction in apathetic teenagers.
With the divorce rate rising during the '70s and '80s, many episodes dealt with broken homes. Tahse provides a whole cosmology of absent parents: single moms, dead parents, widower dads, divorced parents, deadbeat dads, moms ditching the family for communes in Virginia, and multiple fathers out of town on business all the time. Here's a handy crib sheet: If there's not an absent parent (by my count in 18 of the 28 episodes), then there's probably a dead sibling ("Francesca, Baby," "Beat the Turtle Drum"). But if there's no dead sibling, then there's definitely a bratty sibling ("Daddy, I'm Their Mama Now," "Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea?" "Tough Girl").
Tahse had a special fondness for stories about teens whose passion in some creative pursuit—ballet, two episodes about ice skating, violin—goes against the traditional working-class values of their parents. Many of these episodes, like 1979's "A Special Gift," are set on farms, as if your dad's disapproval over your role in The Nutcracker is that much more trenchant if he raises sheep for a living.
After School Specials do have a silver lining: The more tragic your story is, the hotter the guy will be who has a secret crush on you in your typing class/drama club/school newspaper/Alateen meeting (there are in fact two episodes featuring Alateen crushes). Thus, if you're a city kid who got falsely busted for pot and have to live in the suburbs with your dad and stepmom ("Tough Girl"), you will flirt with a no-name actor who plays a deaf wannabe veterinarian, but if your WASPy artist mom dies of cancer before your high school graduation, your love interest will be Rob Lowe. Lowe was a perennial favorite, starring in two episodes while still a relative unknown. The specials have a parlor-game element in spotting future stars like James LeGros, Felicity Huffman, and Kirk Cameron.
The unintentional laughs are so abundant that the writers must have been adding in their own elaborately dry humor. "Daddy, I'm Their Mama Now" features a hit country song about the heroine's dead mother called, "My Honey Went to Heaven in a DC3." Or, consider the unforgettably strange bathroom scene in "What Are Friends For?" where troubled shoplifter Michelle Mudd is found drowning her antique doll while wearing a hooded cape and goth makeup. The gang violence musical from 1985, "Ace Hits the Big Time," makes Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo look like Boyz N the Hood,with its Jerome Robbins-style choreography and "Make Peace Not War" cake that manages to end a turf rivalry.
Despite the abundance of tragic hair, ominous background music, and shag carpeting, After School Specials stand out for a particular form of understatement: the total lack of miracles. Each teenager has to come to his or her own resolution. Take "Schoolboy Father," where Rob Lowe lobbies to have custody of his baby even though he's 16. He's granted a one-week trial period and, after screaming at the bassinet one night, exhausted and clueless about caring for his son, he decides that he can't raise a baby.
It's a much more realistic ending than the countless, neat teen-pregnancy plot lines of Beverly Hills 90210, 7th Heaven, and The OC, all of which borrow heavily from the mold that Tahse created. But these teens are worldly miniature adults. Even when they mess up, the consequences of their coke habits and eating disorders only seem to last an episode or two. When Tahse's run of After School Specials ended in the late '80s, talk-show hosts such as Oprah, Rikki Lake, and Jerry Springer began to air their own highly sensational accounts of adolescence in the same after-school time slots, instantly making After School Specials seem naive and retro.
Decades later, they do feel dated but they still seem relevant. Fitting in, peer pressure, drugs, family drama—those are problems for teenagers regardless of era. More often than not, teens in After School Specials made bad decisions, but they were treated as an essential part of growing up. Underlying all of Tahse's shows is an appealing faith that everything would eventually work out, both for his protagonists and viewers at home. So, when Seth Cohen worries that he's stuck in an After School Special, he could actually do a lot worse.


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Teachers Teaching Teachers #141 – VoiceThread Update with Ben and Steve along with Bill, Mattie, Mary Ellen & Colette – 02.25.09
Do you use VoiceThread? Many of us do, and as we grow with this application in our classrooms, it's great to know that the founders are still there with us, listening and improving their tool.
Perhaps you also received an email from the VoiceThread team earlier this month. Upon their release of "a major update to our Groups feature and want to share how it works and what it means for everyday VoiceThreaders." They go on to explain that the improvements mean that groups are "persistent," "borderless," and "simple." And they did profide "a Thread showing what's new and how to use it." http://voicethread.com/share/343705/.
Fair enough, but this made Susan Ettenheim and Paul Allison feel the need for more conversation! We asked Steve Muth and Ben Papell to join us on Teachers Teaching Teachers February 25.
We also invited four teachers whose art as educators includes using VoiceThread. Bill Ferriter, Mattie Ettenheim, Mary Ellen Rudolph, Colette Cassinelli and others!
Enjoy the podcast.
Click Read more to see a transcript of a chat that was happening during the webcast.


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Leading from the back Noble's seven seniors make a solid backfield
NORTH BERWICK, Maine — It's not lost on the Noble High School boys soccer team's how special its 2012 season was.
"It meant a lot for Noble soccer," said goalie Drew Martin. "We hadn't gotten into the playoffs in a long time, and we showed people that we were here to play."
The key now is to prove that it was no aberration. In 2012 the Knights won more games than in the previous three years combined, but their season ended abruptly with a lopsided loss at Greely in the quarterfinals.
The task of continuing that success falls squarely on the shoulders of Noble's seven seniors, which will comprise the bulk of the starting backfield for the Knights. In addition to Martin, Mike Gough, Jake Coffey, Billy Gagner and Keegan Whelan will anchor the defensive line while DJ Cloutier and Sean Jackson are the team's key midfielders.
"That's where we'll see what we're made of," said Noble third-year coach Matt Foster. "We'll see if we move the ball from the middle of the field and control it defensively."
For the team's upperclassmen, being on the same page will be key.
"It's going to take a lot of communication," Jackson said. "We have two junior strikers, so we need to get them into the 'senior mojo,' get them talking with us. Communication is our biggest key this year."
Communication wasn't necessarily a strong suit of the team last year, according to Jackson.
"Last year it was lacking a little, but we had better scorers," Jackson said. "This year it's going to take a lot of communication to stay in games this year."
Having seven seniors together in the backfield gives Foster confidence that his team will work well together as a whole.
"Soccer defense isn't four guys in the backfield, it's 11 guys working together," Foster said. "As a group, we definitely learned that last year. As much as it's great to have those guys back there, I've got guys stepping up as juniors who are going to get a lot of minutes as subs."
Noble also has a strong core of juniors, including defenders Jamal Durrani and Joe Langley, forwards Henry Hintermeister and Josh Emard and midfielders Brandon Ford and Bailey McKenna. Ford, Emard and Hintermeister are expected to score their fair share of goals.
Noble scored first in the quarterfinal match last fall, but No. 3 Greely scored five unanswered goals to earn a 5-1 win, ending the Knights' dream season. it was 4-1 at halftime. Noble had earned its way to the quarters with a 2-0 upset at Windham in the first round.
Since Greely plays a Class B schedule, the only chance the Knights have for revenge will be a playoff rematch. Put Coffey down as interested in one.
"It definitely motivates us a lot," Coffey said of last year's playoff loss. "Hopefully we can bring it back this year if we get another chance at them."
Foster said he knows that Noble soccer now has a target on its back, something the team was unaccustomed to in years past.
"Teams are gunning for us," Foster said. "Last year we started the season (with a win) at Biddeford, and it wasn't especially surprising for teams to see that we beat them. Then we went up to Portland and got a big victory up there, and I think a lot of other teams were surprised. We battled with teams, and teams are expecting it now. They're expecting teams to show up."
Noble opens the season on Saturday at Massabesic.
"We're going to have a very strong defense this year," Martin said. "Hopefully we'll score a lot, too."


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Pocket Opera Company
A former airport hangar, a shopping mall, the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the turbine hall of a power station – the more unusual the venue and intense the topic the more the Pocket Opera Company Nuremberg moves away from the classic world of opera to that of its audience. The members of this high-quality ensemble are all part of the established world of culture, yet with their engagement at the Pocket Opera Company they stand up for a new form of entertainment: Moving and provocative music theater.
Wagner's "Ring des Nibelungen" in three hours
In 1974, the Pocket Opera Company Nuremberg was started with the goal of breaking tradition with the world of the classical music theater, parodying it and opening it up to new audiences by presenting works in unusual venues. Illustrious names like Elizabeth Kingdon, Wolfgang Schmidt, Peter B. Wyrsch, David Seaman and Andrea Molino established the international reputation of this award-winning, oldest independent music theater in Germany.
And it is as rebellious and experimental as ever. Singers and musicians and conductor Franz Killer are all crossover artists between musical worlds. Unusual venues are part of the program and often determine the course of a production of the Pocket Opera Company.
Take, for example, the staging of "The Smiling Carcass", a piece about advertising and its effect on society. It began in the Stadttheater Fürth and ended distributed over several stories of a shopping mall.


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081213 massachusetts statehouse massachusetts state house.jpg
The Massachusetts State House in Boston. The House has approved a bill requiring disclosure of contributions to super PACs.
By COLLEEN QUINN
BOSTON — Legislation aimed at requiring super PACs to publicly disclose the source of their funding cleared the Massachusetts House Wednesday by a vote of 143-4.
Individual limits on annual campaign contributions for any one candidate were also boosted from $500 to $1,000, under the bill (H 4226).
Rep. James Murphy, D-Weymouth, co-chair of the Elections Law Committee, told his colleagues before debate began that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case paved the way for unprecedented amounts of campaign spending by special interest groups.
The bill that passed in the House will shed light on so-called "dark money" spending, he said.
Corporations, labor unions and other entities would be required to disclose expenditures in statewide, county or local races, as well as the sources of their funding, within seven days.
The top five donors to an independent expenditure group would also have to be listed in the group's TV advertisement or newspaper advertisement, according to supporters of the bill.
Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, described the reforms surrounding super PACs as "fantastic."
On Wednesday, she said her organization is also pleased to see that the top five donors must be listed in advertisements.
Common Cause would have preferred annual individual campaign contributions to remain at $500, or align with inflation, which would be around $800, Wilmot said.
The House rejected an amendment filed by Rep. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton, that would have limited to $1,000 the amount organizations, such as teachers unions and charity groups, can contribute to any candidate.
Another Supreme Court decision in April struck down aggregate federal campaign contribution limits, and the Office of Campaign and Political Finance said the ruling would apply to the state's aggregate limits of $12,500, or maximum contributions to 25 candidates for statewide and district offices. The bill codifies the elimination of aggregate contribution limits in Massachusetts.
The bill also frees statewide candidates to use their campaign accounts to make donations to other candidates in Massachusetts, as long as they are not receiving public financing.
House lawmakers declined to debate an amendment that would have required photo identification to vote, filed by Rep. Marc Lombardo, R-Billerica.
Fattman, Lombardo, and Reps. Kevin Kuros, D-Uxbridge, and James Lyons, R-Andover, voted against the bill.


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Hi, I don't know if this question is appropriate for Math Overflow but I was wondering if there is anything known about the following: Let $$ S(\alpha) = \sum_{n \leq x}\Lambda(n)e(n\alpha). $$
Then asymptotically, how small can $$ \inf_{\alpha}\left|S(\alpha)\right| $$ be relative to $x$? Also, for each $x$, if $\alpha_x$ is a value at which the sum takes the infimum, then how are the $\alpha_x$ distributed in $(0,1)$ as $x \rightarrow \infty$?
Ok, thanks.


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Echo, Chapter 2: https://dirtyscifibuddha.com/echo-chapter-2/
Author's Notes: I'm going to allay this fear right away. Yes, within the sample chapters, there will be an epic a** beating. You will stand and cheer (I hope!) as Atriya smashes the f*** out of some obnoxious idiots. Ok, there's a lot going on in this one, especially under the surface. The dynamic change here is that basically Atriya goes from being passively bothered by his problems to actually deciding to try and fix them. His training equipment, the state of his home-they are reflective of him being stuck in a state of stagnancy. I've put a good bit of focus on the rotten pomegranate as a metaphor for Hell (or Hades, to be nitpicky about it)…I'm sure you all know about Persephone. Yes, I realize I stretch a little for the art here (who keeps pomegranates in their fridge? Not me) but I felt it was warranted by the thematic backing. When he sees and is disgusted by, and also disposes of the rotten fruit it signifies that he recognizes the need for change on a deeper level.
His weapons-Here I start opening the setting a bit (along with the holo pad) I don't want to deluge you guys with fancy technology and exotic culture because then it starts to lose its meaning, especially if it isn't tied to theme. His weapons are used to illustrate his eccentricity, his lack of belonging.
Basic things such as the shower and the book passage are used to illustrate his discomfort with everyday creature comforts; the guy can't relax cleaning off or while he tries to study or entertain himself.
Verus/martial arts-In the military, I never personally encountered women that inspired me at the "badass" level. Don't get me wrong, I believe they are out there. All you got to do is crack open history books and you can read about tons of women warriors that didn't just outperform men but rose to the top of their field. Hopefully, as women are allowed to serve in combat, we will get to see more women "meat-eaters." Women that would have inspired the hell out of my younger, testosterone-addled self. But seeing as writing is where we can inject our hopes and dreams, why not have an ultimate warrior-sage that happens to be a woman? That's why I wrote in Verus. I tried for awhile to think of a good name for Verus because I'm a big fan of significant names. Even Atriya's name ties into a reveal/payoff way down the line. After a lot of combing, I decided on Verus. A little on the nose, I know. The martial arts are also indicative of Atriya's character.
The Takuan reference-Huge easter egg that pays off way way down the line. Hundreds of pages down the line. Any of you who are fans of Samurai culture will like it (I think!)
I realize I got a little Stephen King-esque describing the fruit in the last few paragraphs, but once again, I like to stretch a little bit for the art if it makes sense and it's not a crazy reach. Hope the use of "retard" doesn't offend anybody.
Okay, I think I've covered everything. I plan to release chapter 3 two weeks from now on July 15. Thanks for reading!


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MAKKAH – International Islamic Fiqh Academy issued here Sunday fatwas or religious edicts on issues concerning Zakat, waiting period for a person who has gone missing, marriage of underage girls, maximum duration of pregnancy, and the right of a guardian.
The academy issued clarification on an earlier decision about prayer timings in countries situated between latitudes 48 degrees and 68 degrees north and south.
The edicts were issued during the academy's 21st session, said Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah Abdulmuhsin Al-Turki.
The first edict said that Zakat was not compulsory on a creditor for debt which has not been repaid for any reason, but a creditor should pay Zakat on investment debt. If the investment debt has not been repaid for several years, its Zakat can be delayed until it is collected. In this case, the creditor should pay Zakat for the past years. The Zakat should be paid every lunar year. The Zakat is calculated on the investment for the past lunar year without the profits for the coming years.
The edict on the waiting period for a person who has gone missing states that the Qadhi should take a decision to declare the person dead. But the waiting period should not be less than one year and should not exceed four years from the day the person went missing. The circumstances of each case should be taken into consideration. After the elapse of the period decided by the Qadhi, the person's wealth should be divided and his wife has to observe Iddah.
As to the marriage of underage girls, the Fiqh Academy decided after reviewing many researches and hearing many discussions that the matter needs further research. It also needs more study of statistics as well as social, psychological, medical and legal findings on the subject.
As regards the maximum duration of pregnancy, the academy said that Shariah does not contradict scientific proof, and so the Fiqh Academy has decided that the longest pregnancy duration is one year after the separation of the couple.
The academy said that guardianship will be transferred to the next person if a guardian does not care for his dependent who is sick. The guardian of the sick person should permit conducting a medical procedure if it is in the interest of the sick person.
(Saudi Gazette / 17 Dec 2012)
Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Consultant-Speaker-Motivator: www.ahmad-sanusi-husain.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com


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The dreaded Lance post
January 16, 2013 § 58 Comments
Folks, the only way to move on is to just move on.
The longer you stop and gape, the longer you will remain mired where you are, knee-deep in gore at the scene of the train wreck.
He's larger than life.
He's a caricature of a distortion.
And he holds you, still, in his thrall.
Because you let him.
So enjoy this last TV drama with your best buddies and your favorite pizza. Curse or yell or laugh or cry.
And then, just as you've let him occupy you…let him go.
§ 58 Responses to The dreaded Lance post
Gotta watch, if only to understand the spin he puts onto it.
Maybe to educate those who might not have the complete back story. But not really sure I want to put forth the effort for those people that don't understand that Cycling is so much more than the Tour de France. But gotta watch, it is part of the process, finding closure.
I wondered about this, whether I want to watch or not. And
I realize I, too, my find closure in this in order to move on.
Either that or it's just another car wreck that I'm driving past; I
can't not look.
It's gonna be good viewing Wanky. We may have some big big
surprises like actual apologies. I bet there are odds makers in
London taking bets on if or if not certain words or phrases get
used and two of the words are "Emma" and "Betsy". I bet against on
Emma with $ on Betsy if somegbody'll give me 10/1 😉
Not watching. New year, time to move on. Except I just read
this. Damn! He got me again. Will do intervals on the trainer today
as penance.
A bully is only sorry when there's nothing left and no one
to turn to. I'll watch, and look for real contrition. Oprah won't
know enough to ask about Simeoni, but if he's genuinely sorry, it
will come up.
He gave everyone such an intense Cycling High, he's like
'crack'- we were all immediately hooked, and you can't say 'no' to
the urge to go back and hope for one last bump…LOL.
He was always very talented and tenacious but always still
quite evidently a pendejo. On a level playing field he probably
would have done at least as well as he did- of course we'll never
know. That said, I have no taste for celebrophagia.
Lance worked it like no other. He took it all the way to the bank. Yea he cheated…who didnt?…He was just the best at it. Thats why he was the Patron for many years. The Patron role does not include being a nice guy. It means you have to be an asshole. Its a role Lance filled perfectly. I expect nothing less of his performance on Oprah.
Thank you. Great article in USA Today. The gist, Lance is not sorry he cheated, he is sorry he got caught.
I'm going to market and sell the "Lance Patch". It is designed to wean people off of an addiction to megalomaniac, serial sociopaths possessing all of the testosterone than one nut can muster.
It's a real life soap opera. It may sound overly pessimistic, but I think this is fun. I fully understand that this is reality and it's people's lives. However, this is hilarious. Lance isn't even a real person, he's such an over-the-top character. He's almost like Harvey Dent. It's fantastic. I'll watch and then move on. I'm more concerned with the local 'cross scene than I am the pro peloton. cheers!
I respectfully disagree; one does not merely move on. We neither "move on" after 9/11 nor do we move on after children have been molested. While these examples are extreme, what Lance has done to other human beings pales to what he's done to this sport; this is not a speeding ticket where Traffic School allows its dismissal – that is moving on. He didn't just dope, he either destroyed or made concerted efforts to destroy those who were honest & truthful. For that, he does not get a Hall Pass.
Oprah & Lance are going to keep you on the hook a little longer Wanky….now a two part interview that will air on Fri. too…do you think Cloddhopper will have us over again?
As a Norcal native and die-hard Warriors fan, I have thoroughly enjoyed this season of Schadenlakerfreude. That has now given way to Schadenlancefreude. Next up: Schadenmcquaidfreude and Schadenverbruggenfreude!
I'm just curious to know if he changes my current opinion of him. I'm doubtful. http://www.thecyclistswife.blogspot.com/2013/01/cycling-doping-and-jackassery-lance.html
Cry? I cried in 1967 when my hero, Tom Simpson died using drugs in the TDF. Poof went my aspirations of becoming a pro cyclist but it has never dampened my love of the bike. I pitty all the druggies, they have to live with themselves.
But….but….he never tested positive right?
I'll be playing the Lance drinking game during the interview.
I'm calling it for what it is. And disclaiming "is" as what it is for me.
There are two phases to Lance Armstrong: Then and After Then.
From 1999 to 2005 Lance was our cycling hero. A brash American putting a stomping on the rest of the peloton. Like everyone else I was happiest when Lance attacked and won. Was it obvious (at the time) that he was doping? Of course…but I, like everyone else, didn't want to believe it. It had been thirty years since my last real hero (I still believe in you, Bunny-wunny, even if a lowly dog was able to shred you), and it was high time for another. If delusion was required, then so be it. So Lance Then was Lance the hero – our hero. Someone to root for, get excited about, and be inspired by. Even if he was a known douche.
That was Then. After Then (sometime between now and Lance's first retirement) was Lance the entertainer. Folks, it has now become theater – nothing more, nothing less. Acknowledge this. I thank you, Mr. Armstrong, for providing me more entertainment and amusement than I ever expected from you, and for reinventing yourself while maintaining your identity as a douchebag. Now there's some integrity.
So it is what it is – entertainment, amusement, and every bit as emotion evoking as his cycling exploits, albeit different emotions. People pay lots of money to see lesser, fictional drama, and here's Lance, serving it up for free – again. So I, like every other cycling dork, absolutely, positively will watch, and will enjoy the spectacle that Lance will provide. And continue to provide. Thank you, Lance, you are an inspiration. And a terminal douchebag.
By the way, if you're stuck in the Lance "Then" mode, you need help. Lots of it. And stay away from cults – you are highly susceptible.
Now, to more important things – what games to play with your cycling buddies during the interview? Please submit your best suggestions. So far, we have:
When Lance says "cancer":
1. Throw a tissue at the screen whenever Lance says "cancer"
When Lance says "I"
1. Put a poster of Lance on the wall. Provide guests with darts. Hurl darts when Lance says "I". Closest dart to eyeball wins.
If Lance says "I was forced to make decisions I didn't want to" (or similar)
1. ??
You get the idea – please share your best.
I would have to ask oprah why she wasnt as hard on douchestrong as she was on james frey (million little peices).she tore that poor guy a new asshole on tv. Guess that is me siding with REAL drug addicts again. They are my people. Takes one to know one if you know what i mean.
Love ya wanker
Not sure why the dwelling – its fair to assume he would be just as great under any system.
Lance's own incidental corruption is completely the wrong focus. It was the corrupted system that kept him protected and in-play so long as the money for itself was good.
Lance is a recently chewed-up bit player in a old very deeply corrupted system well established as the only game in town. If he wanted to cycle competitively in the first place, those were already the unspoken rules of the system…this was not his corruption to begin with.


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Welcome back to our weekly survey of the state of Our National Dialogue which, of course, is what Stephen Foster would have come up with had he written My Old Kentucky Pig Farm.In keeping with our musical motif this morning, let us begin on the set of This Week With The Clinton Guy Shocked By Blowjobs, where former Avignon Presidency hack -- and it was a biiiiggg weekend for them, as we shall see -- Nicolle Wallace got as jiggy wit' Marco Rubio as anyone is likely to get.
But first, she decided to play a little handball with history. Yes, and it's slightly hilarious that people have all this patience for a legal architecture to be crafted after the fact. If this had been President George W. Bush's administration revealing that this many drone attacks are going on, there would be impeachment hearings underway. So the hypocrisy sort of has Republicans steaming.
Let us let the opening lie slide. (All available evidence shows that the "legal architecture" of the program was "crafted" simultaneously with the program, if not before it began.) In no particular order, we knew, before it slithered out of Washington, that the administration of C-Plus Augustus had wiretapped Americans illegally, repeatedly violated international law and abrogated treaties regarding torture, obstructed justice in the Valerie Plame case, jacked around with politicizing the Justice Department, and very probably lied this country into a war. In the face of all that, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi nonetheless specifically took impeachment off the table. Ms. Wallace still has a future in being a hack, despite being the heroine of an award-winning HBO movie that revealed to a stunned world that Sarah Palin was a dunce.
Anyway, she has looked at Marco Rubio and the future of the Republican party and it is called...Thug Life!"He's everything we need and more...He's modern. He knows who Tupac is. He is on social media... "
OK, so far he's very promising for next year's student-body president at William McKinley Middle School. Do go on.
"He's part of the sort of -- he has all the blessings of the old political establishment. He's close to the younger Bushes. He and Jeb Bush and George P. Bush create what I call that axis of enlightenment when it comes to immigration. I mean, he's got the policy. He's in touch with, I think, the lives of ordinary people. And he's a very accessible guy. He talks about being a working dad and juggling his own priorities."
Let's see. Marco Rubio -- a climate-change skeptic, political hysteric, and demi-creationist -- and the governor of Florida who signed the Terri Schiavo bill and had the NAACP demonstratingin his office by the end of his term, and the governor's kid who's done virtually nothing in his public life except get busted, are "the axis of enlightenment" on the one issue on which Republicans have chosen not to be entirely insane for a few weeks. I'm convinced, certainly. What the country needs is more of the Bush family! But let's linger a bit on that other part, the one where we should all be impressed with Marco Rubio because of his mad musical tastes. I predict this one's going to be hung around Rubio's neck for quite some time, and around Wallace's as well. It fairly well defines the massive "rebranding" bunco scheme that the Republicans are playing on the courtier press. Forget that his economic policies are nutty, that his stance on social issues is retrograde in the extreme, and that something about him made the Romney people run away from him like he was on fire. Vote For Marco Rubio -- He knows who Tupac is!
Thus does the Republican party boldly move into the 1990's. Thus are eternal punchlines born.
Moving along from the latest installment of Yo! ABC News Raps!, we have to congratulate former Charles Martel ghostwriter Bob Schieffer for supplying Lindsey Graham a stage for his latest attack of the vapors. It is the opinion of Huckleberry Closetcase that, until he no longer feels compelled to yell "BENGHAZI!!" at passing strangers, which ought to be about 11 seconds after he wins his next primary race, the only way to ensure our national securityapparatus stays strong is not to allow the president to appoint anyone to run it.
I don't think we should allow Brennan to go forward the CIA directorship, Hagel to be confirmed for secretary of defense, until the White House gives us an accounting.
Huckleberry prefaced this by going up to his eyeballs in the weeds as to what the president may have done, or to whom he may have spoken, on the day the embassy in Lubya was attacked. But, invariably, it came back to what Susan Rice said on The Sunday Showz, which are the only method through which the American people get their news, and which the president used in some nefarious way to blunt the juggernaut that was the Willard Romney foreign policy team.
I want to know who changed the talking points. Who took the references to Al Qaida out of the talking points given to Susan Rice? We still don't know. Richard Burr and Saxby Chambliss have found e-mails discussing changing the talking points. So I think her story, after what we found out at this hearing, was incredibly misleading.
AND WHO ATE THE DAMN STRAWBERRIES? I was about to make a joke about Graham and a pair of rolling steel balls but...no.
The folks at Disco Dave's Disco Dance Party have been inexcusably tardy in putting up the transcripts for this week's episode, so I haven't been able to check the quotes against it, as is my wont. However, you can get some sense of the flavor of things by the casting decisions made by the show's producers. Eric Cantor led off in his newly tailored Sensible Human drag. You can say he's a Dreamer, but he's not the only one.
"The best place to begin, I think, is with the children. Let's go ahead and get that under our belt, put a win on the board,"
This brief flirtation with sincerity aside, Cantor should be more honest with "the children" he's proposing to make citizens. They will get to be citizens in a country in which, among other things, the female children among them can get batted around at someone's leisure because the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is being held up in the face of manly-man hysteria by a named...Eric Cantor.
But the true essence of the Disco Dance Party always is the Roundhouse Panel, which this week once again ran the gamut from the ambitious Democratic mayor of Atlanta, and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, through two neutral journalists (Katty Kay of the BBC and Spikey Isikoff of NBC), all the way to Bush apologist and former paid propagandist Michael Gerson, and, of course, the Dancin' Master, who was there to make sure things didn't list entirely to port. For example, listen to him make something of a case for the embattled U.S. Postal System without ever mentioning the deliberate attempt of conservatives in Congress to force it to suicide itself.
Nevertheless, the Postal Service handles 45 billion fewer pieces of mail today than just five years ago. After last year, suffering a nearly $16 billion shortfall, slashing Saturdays will only save The Post Office $2 billion and strip anywhere from 20 to 25,000 jobs from the payroll.
How could something like that possibly happen? Must have had something to do with the storm or something. The panel moved on to discussing why the president, having won re-election, and with the opposition in mad disarray over how crazy to be going forward, should now admit defeat and adopt the Romney plan on just about everything. Republican strategist Mike Murphy is very high on this strategy and believes that, say, Paul Ryan is Chou En-Lai.
The President's got to do a "Nixon to China" move to get anything done. And that's good for the country to get something done. He's got to get out of the way on immigrant, quit wagging his finger, or the deal will blow up. And the Republicans, in the short term, have the politics to hunker down. In the midterm election, some of those Senate races are in places where the President's unpopular. So the path he started on, which was, "I've got a very broad agenda, and I'm going to still keep a campaign style thing pressuring you," is not going to work with these guys. And that will result in gridlock for the country, which is horrible. If he does Nixon to China, he can have a historic stuff.
None of which will have anything to do with the platform on which he ran, and with which he beat Willard Romney like the redheaded stepchild of the seventh sister-wife. But the real star of the newly developed You Won Therefore You Lost/Bipartisanship! school of presidential power was Gerson, the man once charged with making sure all of the previous president's sentences had verbs.
He has to make the choice in this speech, what I'm watching for, is whether he tries to continue that dynamic, which is highly polarized and doesn't get anything done, or whether he tries to break the dynamic. And on economic issues, I'm talking about long-term economic growth, you can't make that dynamic without talking in realistic ways about entitlement reform, realistic ways about tax reform that's just not progressivity, but actually, pro-growth tax reform. And that would be a huge concession for the president. He's going to have to do that in order to make this system work.
In other words, the worst of all the policies that Gerson used to gussy up in his old day-job. You have to love that "realistic ways about tax reform that's not just progressivity" business. Because the basic problem with all the tax reform proposals coming out of Washington is that they are too progressive and, therefore, raising more money from the people who have the most will do nothing to address our "long-term economic growth." So saith the man who wrote speeches for an administration that fairly defined "bad policy for short-term political advantage" for the next millennium.
Concerned that the Plutocrats Pain Train was leaving the station without him, Murphy came back later to define exactly what the president has to do to some of the country most vulnerable people so as to be able later to do "historic stuff" and to be Nixon going to China,
If he wants to move now, it's got to be "Nixon to China." And there are seven magic words. If he would say this, he would unlock a lot of Republican votes. He'd have to fight his own party. But it's time for some of that. And those words are, "Chained CPI and beneficiaries pay a little more."
To which the Dancin' Master replied.
DAVID GREGORY: Right.
Of course, if Obama does this, the Republican commercials on how he "slashed Social Security and Medicare" are already filmed and sitting in a vault somewhere. This is the way our political elites think, though. Zombie-eyed granny-starving is the new black.
Stupid or monsters? Our lines are open.


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Texas Longhorn punter Alex King honors dad through football
November 16, 2012
Alex King was finished with football.
The punter, who grew up tossing the ball around with his dad, felt lost and ready to move on to something different.
"At the end of the season I was totally exhausted emotionally and just needed some time," Alex King said. "I just wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do."
He was emotionally drained after the toughest three-month stretch of his life. His dad, Dr. Michael King, died by suicide Oct. 7, 2011. With a year of eligibility remaining after the season, Alex felt compelled to take a different path.
History degree in hand, he spent a day with an investment finance company in New York.
In New York, something clicked. The business world wasn't for him: he belonged on a football field.
Alex King was born and bred a football player. His dad played quarterback at Hampden-Sydney College and his uncles, John Mack and Geoff King, played at Duke and North Carolina, respectively.
Dr. King spent hours teaching Alex the nuances of the quarterback position, refined his punting abilities and even showed him a few things on the basketball court.
"My dad definitely put a lot of pressure on Alex to succeed and be the best from a very young age," Alex's oldest sister, Katie, said. She describes her brother's athletic accomplishments as "ridiculous."
But Alex thrived on it. He dropped bucket after bucket on the hardwood, and filled up box scores during his time in high school. Alex walked on at Duke, the school Mack, sister Katie and brother Michael King attended.
Alex took the starting punter spot from Kevin Jones as a junior in 2010 and never gave it up. He solidified his role there and for a year, life was great.
Until that fateful day.
Dr. King's family knew he wasn't well. It was just a part of the family dynamic growing up. But they loved him all the same.
Dr. King was an orthopedic surgeon who dedicated his life to helping people. He was active in the Winston-Salem community in North Carolina and volunteered as the on-call doctor at local high school football games. He stood on the sidelines every Friday for years, ready to assist young athletes, observing the game he loved and aiding the community that represented a huge piece of his life.
The King children, Alex and his three siblings — Katie, Michael and Marylynn — remember their childhood home as a walk-in infirmary for local high school athletes. Kids filed in and out on the weekends for free care at the gentle hands of Dr. King.
"Dad did everything on the kitchen counter," Katie said. "Dad would look at arms, shoulders and legs. He applied braces, bandages and splints, everything short of an X-ray. He would just put on splint on and say, 'Come see me at the office on Monday.'"
Under the surface, Dr. King struggled. He battled depression and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite the family's best efforts to lift his spirits, he felt he'd been stripped of a happiness that would never return.
"He couldn't work anymore," Alex King said. "He was an orthopedic surgeon, and his work was everything. Helping people was his whole life. His job was everything to him. I think he just kind of felt like he didn't have much else to give."
On the Friday morning of Duke's bye week, Dr. King died by suicide. The act was planned, the notes left behind attested to that. But it was a raw moment for the family Dr. King left behind.
"We were disappointed and kind of shocked he went through with it," Katie said. "But not all that surprised because he hadn't been that well."
The period from that Friday to the next Saturday — the day of Alex's first game since his dad's death — was one of the toughest stretches of Alex's life.
Four days after Dr. Kings' death, more than 1,200 people gathered for his funeral, including Duke's entire coaching staff and many of Alex's teammates.
Alex was ready to attend, but he didn't have a pair of dress shoes. Katie said Alex was often at a loss to find attire for formal occasions. Since he and his dad wore the same size, Alex would often sneak into his dad's closet and borrow clothes. He did so one last time on this occasion.
Alex strode onto the stage wearing a pair of his dad's dress shoes and talked about wanting to be as good a father as his dad was someday.
Alex said, "Those are some pretty big shoes to fill." But then he paused, glancing down at his borrowed pair of shoes, and in a completely off-the-cuff line said, "I'm actually wearing his shoes right now and they fit pretty well."
That line set off a rumble of laughter and thousands of tears.
But only eight days later Alex returned to the field, this time in a pair of shoes all his own.
On five punts Alex averaged a massive 53.1 average, delivered a 60-yarder and knocked a punt inside the Florida State 20-yard line. It was a showing that Duke's current punter, Will Monday, called "one of the most impressive things I've ever seen at our position."
The Blue Devils lost that day, but Alex was given the game ball in an emotional postgame scene.
In a fashion typical of Alex's humble and quiet demeanor, he didn't draw attention to himself during the game. He stepped onto the field and honored his dad the best way possible — with his leg and an unwavering eye toward the sky.
"Ever since it happened I've been playing in his memory, and I think about him all the time," Alex King said. "I tell him I love him all the time."
Alex's entire family attended the game in Durham, and there wasn't a dry eye in the section of the stands that housed the players' families. But Katie said friends always paused in their shared moment of grief to commend Alex's maturity.
"It might make some people sad and weep and think, 'Why me?'" Katie said. "Not Alex. It just makes him stronger."
"He taught me so much," King said. "And I couldn't think of a better way to honor him than to keep playing."
But he'd have to find a new place to punt. He was welcome back at Duke, but there wasn't a scholarship available for him. Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe decided to move forward with Monday at punter.
So Alex and Katie sat on Katie's couch and made a list of every school in the country that had a need for a punter, with Texas at the top of the list.
Alex went out for the Longhorns' spring game and once he saw Austin, that was it. Texas was where he wanted to be.
"It was the only school I visited, and the only coaches I talked to," Alex King said.
Now Alex lines up in front of 100,000 fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and punts each day in his dad's honor. It's quite a different atmosphere from Duke, but fitting considering his dad's obsession with cowboys. Dr. King had cowboy paintings, sculptures and a huge cowboy belt buckle, and if he saw Alex punting in Texas he'd be thrilled. Actually, he'd probably be doing his patented laugh and clap — a move he reserved for his kids when they accomplished something he was especially proud of.
"We've talked often that if Dad could see Alex now, he'd be doing his laugh and clap," Katie said. "He'd be so proud and so blown away to see how much he accomplished."
Printed on Friday, November 16, 2012 as: Punter picks up pieces


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TNB: Sharma and Glowacz Send World's Steepest Rock Climb
What's the steepest rock climb in the world? It's not in Kentucky, Colorado or Catalunya. The world-record roof climb is in the Sultanate of Oman about 62 miles southeast of Muscat.
What's the steepest rock climb in the world? It's not in Kentucky, Colorado or Catalunya. The world-record roof climb is in the Sultanate of Oman about 62 miles southeast of Muscat. The route, Into the Light (13 pitches, 5.14a) wends its way through one of the largest known cave chambers, a spooky abyss called Majlis al Jinn—The Meeting Place of Genies.
The dimensions of the chamber are staggering. The floor has a surface area of 190,000 square feet and the volume of the chamber is somewhere around 13,000,000 cubic feet. Three holes in the ceiling provide the only access—a 500-foot, free-hanging rappel. Sun beams stream through the openings and illuminate the cave, providing ambient light. The chamber maintains a constant 63 degrees F, even when it's over 100 outside on the desert floor.
I first got wind of the Into the Light project at last summer's trade show when I ran into Chris Sharma and we spoke briefly about using removable
bolts to aid out roofs. He said he was meeting up with Stefan Glowacz in the desert to try and do a "really steep" multi-pitch climb.
I didn't have many details, but my interest was piqued. Glowacz, 50, is one of the most inspiring rock climbers of his generation, with comp wins and hard sport redpoints to his credit, but also trad big-wall first ascents in Greenland, Canada and on Mount Roraima. His first ascent of the 27-pitch North Wall of the Mullaron (5.13a A2 M4) in Patagonia was nominated for the Piolet d'Or in 2006. If he was teaming up with Sharma, I was sure it would be for something special.
The four videos (Check out Episode 4) documenting the trip made it clear that the location and climbing were amazing. And yet the videos were cryptic and left me with questions. For example, how in the heck did Glowacz and Sharma manage to bolt and send a 13-pitch roof in only two weeks? If you've ever tried to place bolts in steep overhangs you know that it's wrenching work. Did they have a chiropractor traveling with them? Or, perhaps a crew of Omanis hired by Red Bull to set the route like Sherpa fixing line up Everest? Or were they really just that inspired, stalwart and bulletproof?
So I contacted Glowacz—since the climb had been his idea—and he was kind enough to shed some light on Into the Light.
R&I: How did you come up with the idea to climb in Majlis al Jinn?
A friend told me I should check out the cave. When I saw it, I knew I had to see if there were lines you could climb. I've climbed all kinds of walls but I've never climbed a cave. I found the idea fascinating—to lower yourself into the dark bowels of the earth and then try to climb back up into the light. And the Majlis al Jinn cave is simply breathtaking. It's one of the most awe-inspiring places I've been to. When the idea took form I realized that the lines that seemed climbable would all be very hard, long and steep. No one has tried to climb the cave. Exactly the kind of challenge I like!
R&I: What was the process for gaining permission to climb there?
Well, it was really nerve-racking. The whole process took about three-quarters of a year. The Sultanate of Oman is very strict about visiting the cave because they want to protect it. We had to follow very strict stipulations regarding protection of the environment, which, of course we were happy to comply with. Protecting where we climb is a sure thing for Chris and me, so it wasn't a problem for us. We also had to explain how we'd ensure the safety of everyone involved. We had to describe how we'd set up the route and how we'd clean it. Stuff like that. But in the end it was worth it.
R&I: Describe the process of bolting a 13-pitch roof. Did you and Chris have help?
Of course we had a team with us. Cameramen. Belayers for the photographer etc. But Chris and I set the route. After having set quite a few routes in the past during my expeditions to South America, Baffin Island, Europe, I knew what we'd need and how we could probably do it. But we underestimated
the time it would take us. So it was pretty tough setting the route, climbing it, redpointing. Our strategy was to check out the moves and remember
them while setting the route so we could climb the pitches faster. It was really tough work!
R&I: What was the free climbing like? Pockets, edges, tufas? Good holds? Good climbing?
This route is really strange. Every single pitch is super steep and overhanging but in the middle of the roof there is a traverse we managed to climb with our trekking boots. We called it the
adventure hike . Overall the rock is good. We had to clean some pitches a bit but it was good to climb. The features range from sharp edges to
pockets to slopers. Basically you have everything a climber's heart desires. It's an amazing line.
R&I: What was the rock type? How was the rock quality? Can you compare the climbing to other areas?
The rock is limestone and of good quality. I mean, it's not great but it's good. You can't really compare it. Climbing out of a cave is simply out
of this world.
R&I: Did you or Chris redpoint all the pitches?
Of course Chris was able to redpoint all the pitches. I had to leave the hard ones to Chris since I burned both my hands during a fall.
R&I: What grade was the hardest pitch? What about grades of the other pitches?
The hardest pitch was 5.14a. Pitches range from 5.13a to 5.14a. The route in total is an 8b+ (5.14a).
R&I: How many days did you spend scoping/bolting/working the route?
We worked the route for 14 days. We got up early every day, climbed every day. We couldn't take rest days since the schedule was so tight.
R&I: How did you hurt yourself? How did it affect your ability to do the climb? Are you OK?
When I was cleaning a pitch both jumars unhinged and I fell. I grabbed the rope instinctively and severely burned both my hands. The second I grabbed
that rope I thought, "Damn, you idiot!" When I felt the pain and saw my hands I thought that was it. We had a doctor with us, but with burns you
need time. There was nothing we could do. So we had the choice to cancel the project or just do it. I taped my hands, grit my teeth and we finished
our project. I didn't want to let anybody down and Chris was totally motivating. I knew I wouldn't be able to climb the hard pitches, but with
Chris as my partner, it was clear it could be done. So I taped my hands and let Chris climb the tough pitches. It was a great team effort. My hands
are healing OK. It just takes some time but there are worse things.
R&I: How did you wind up doing this with Chris?
I've met Chris a bunch of times at trade shows. We always had a great
connection and we share the same climbing philosophy. We've been talking about doing a project together for a while. When I saw the cave I knew
this was it. I called Chris and he was all for it. That's how it started.
* * *
I was curious about the status of climbing in Majlis al Jinn so I contacted Glowacz. He was on the road, visiting one of his triplets in Canada, but his assistant, Dr. Nina Rebele, got back to me. She wrote: "A route topo is something we can't provide since climbing in Majlis al Jinn is only allowed after following a very strict proposal scenario with the Sultan of Oman. It took us months and a hell of a lot of paper work to get permission to climb there. The cave is technically closed for climbing, but the Ministry of Tourism is trying to increase interest in travelling and climbing in Oman. Two bigger crags are already "officially" open and the Majlis al Jinn could be open for climbing in the future. We don't know … "