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Four years ago, Chicago Fire fans were fortunate enough to see the swan song on the career of one of the greatest American soccer players of all time when Brian McBride returned to MLS after a fruitful stint with English Premiership side Fulham FC.
Upon his return, the legendary American striker helped the Fire to within one match of MLS Cup in both 2008 and 2009 before ending his illustrious career in 2010. All told, the former Fire captain's 18 league goals in 59 regular season games rank him 10th all-time on the club's goal scoring chart.
In this Q&A, I talk to Brian about closing out his memories from closing out his career with the Fire, his new foray into television with Fox Soccer Channel and his recent F.A. Cup run-out with English side Wembley F.C.
Jeff Crandall: Brian, since your retirement we've seen you pop up here and there as an analyst for broadcasts on ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. How did you decide on your post-career foray into the realm of television?
Brian McBride: The more I got out of the game, the more I became interested in it. I actually reached out to Kyle [Martino] who helped me make some connections at Fox Soccer. From there, I just had a few meetings and it worked out.
I'm really enjoying it. It's a completely new challenge for me. Talking soccer is always enjoyable but being succinct, getting your points out and being poignant at the same time is a new challenge. It gives me the opportunity also to really be a part of the sport at a high level still. It requires me to do a lot of fact finding, watch games, breakdown teams and styles of play, the importance of individuals. I get to sort of be a fan at the same time and be a part of the whole international soccer picture.
JC: The Fire are proud to have two alums be part of the Fox Soccer in-studio panel. How ironic is it to work with your former teammate on the U.S. Men's National Team (and former Fire player), Eric Wynalda?
BM: It's great. It's funny because Eric and I didn't get the chance to play a lot of games together but when I was first getting into the national team, he was around a lot. I know Eric very well and to have that sort of comfortability -- yes I made the word up, I'll take credit when it gets into the dictionary – to have that with him and Rob [Stone] always being around soccer, it makes the transition a lot easier.
JC: Another post-retirement activity was your involvement along with former greats Ray Parlour, Graeme Le Saux and Claudio Cannigia with lower-tier English side Wembley FC in the FA Cup. Talk about how that opportunity came about.
BM: To me I viewed it as a chance to be involved with a great company [Budweiser], one that I've been involved with before and their desire to be involved in grassroots soccer. That meant getting the opportunity to take part in some training sessions, as far as the coaching side and then training sessions on the mentoring side and then playing in one game. For me, that was the extent.
I know some of the guys based in Europe had things in place where they would play as long as Wembley was involved in the FA Cup but that was really intriguing to me. I got the chance to meet some really good people that are a part of Wembley FC. The owners Brian and Jean are really family-oriented, the head coach there is actually married to their daughter (that's not why he has the job he's actually a very good soccer player) and you just see the passion – at all levels it's there.
Sometimes people don't get the shots at the right time and so the opportunity Budweiser gives Wembley in the infrastructure and ability to grow with what they want to grow with is a great thing I think. I would love to do it again because it was a really good experience all around.
JC: How much attention have you had on the Fire since your retirement in 2010?
BM: I've always said I'm a Chicago sports fan. I follow the Fire not just because I played for the club but because I want to support them. I unfortunately haven't had a chance to see a lot of games recently. I've seen bits and pieces but I follow the scores, I catch the highlights and see how they're doing.
Of course it's great to see the Fire back amongst the top of the Conference. I know they're in second place now and have had a good string of games recently. It's a good thing to not only have the Fire doing well but progressing forward and I'm happy to see the way my former teammates are progressing.
JC: You came back to Chicago after a very successful stint with Fulham FC. How do you remember your two-and-a-half seasons with the Fire?
BM: It was just a great opportunity for me to spend the last part of my career with my hometown club. It was easy to get settled in, I knew quite a few of the players early on and I really enjoyed my role in the team. Missing out on making the final and winning a championship were big disappointments [in 2008 and 2009], and after that, the last season was a strange one. It definitely didn't pan out the way I would have liked.
I know there were a lot of changes and with that you have to adapt and try to make things work. When they don't, you need to plot on. I think we probably plotted on during the middle part of that season. The guys tried to get through some different challenges and for me, physically, the middle part of that season was probably too much to ask for the amount of work we were doing.
Unfortunately it made it not as enjoyable as it should be. Anything anybody does, they want to enjoy what they're doing and there are times in this career where you have to put your head down and get to work and hopefully the people that are leading you are pushing you in the right direction. Regardless of how little control or how hard it is sometimes, you've got to do the work. The greatest part about that 2010 team was that we had guys that were workers and unfortunately, probably too much so. We were too honest and come game day, we were fatigued, not sharp and when that happens you're not going to win games in MLS.
JC: What do you count as your greatest memory from your time with the Chicago Fire?
BM: Looking back on my career, I always look at sort of team experiences. From that, I sort of draw my favorite experiences as a person. There's not one that really jumps out at me as far as favorite or greatest.
I think on a personal side it would be my last home game there in Chicago. It was obviously a very memorable moment in my overall career. The reception I received from the fans and seeing my teammates out there with me, the ownership group with Andrew [Hauptman] and everybody there, that showed a lot of support to me. I was very proud and honored to be on the field with the club at that time.
Looking back, that was probably the thing that stands out. Leading up to that last year, I think there were a lot of missed opportunities that I'd love to have back, but that's soccer, that's sport. You can't look back, you have to look forward and the things you want to change, you have to make sure to change immediately and adapt. When it doesn't happen, you can look back with regret but as a player, the ones that are still playing get a chance to move forward.
I think that's what the guys that are still there [from 2010] have done – they're pushing forward. It was a good group of guys that were tight and fought together.
I'd love to be able to say my favorite memory was lifting MLS Cup but we didn't get there.
JC: It was great catching up with you Brian. Thanks!
BM: Always a pleasure!


text: quote:Originally posted by V960We raise (for our own consumption) Kobe style beef. Kinda funny to go to a barn and see a keg of beer. Steers get a quart of beer twice a day and a massage. Turns out real well except when you consider they die at the end. Actually the porkers turn out better due the treatment IMHO.

subset: commoncrawl


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Howard County football power rankings, fifth edition
Every Thursday of each week, Howard County Times football beat reporter Tim Schwartz ranks the Howard County teams based on their body of work this fall. You can tweet at him @TimSchwartz13 with comments or questions about the rankings. Last week's ranking is in [].
Photos submitted or by Baltimore Sun Media Group
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Small-scale donations dwindling for Brown
WASHINGTON — The torrent of small campaign contributions from around the country that flooded GOP Senator Scott Brown's campaign coffers ahead of his special election last year has all but dried up, as the excitement generated by his campaign has faded and some of his votes have disillusioned rank-and-file conservatives.
In 2010, then-state Senator Brown's promise to upend the Democratic status quo in Massachusetts and help derail President Obama's health care overhaul inspired thousands of Americans to send him small contributions — $5, $10, $100 at a time. More than half of the $15.2 million Brown raised by Election Day came in individual contributions of less than $200.
Since Brown took office in the US Senate, the share of those small contributions has plunged from 54 percent of his financial haul during the race to 15 percent during the first three months of 2011.
As Brown raises money for his 2012 reelection bid, he has accepted a greater percentage of large contributions from the typical Washington roster of industry political committees, business executives, and corporate lobbyists. Brown had not won the support of many of those sources before his improbable victory, and since then they have signed on as financial backers.
Brown's strategists say it was an inevitable shift after a "once-in-a-lifetime'' quest to seize the seat that had been held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.
Campaign finance specialists say Brown's financial record is a textbook case of an outsider becoming an insider.
"Generally speaking, once you're in a position of power, people who want to use that power or benefit from that power are going to try to cozy up to you as much as possible,'' said Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks campaign contributions. "If you're in office, there's a whole lot of folks that want to meet you, greet you, and influence you.''
But in rural West Virginia, a one-time Brown supporter says he felt betrayed by the GOP senator.
When retired telephone worker Stephen Colkett first heard that a Republican had a chance to win the Senate seat in Massachusetts, he sat down at his computer and did something he had never done before: gave $50 to a political candidate. But not long after Brown's victory Colkett wrote on a Scott Brown campaign website that he wanted his money back.
Although Brown still votes with the Senate GOP on most issues, he lost some of his conservative and Tea Party movement support last year as he helped Democrats with, among other things, passage of a banking regulation overhaul and a $15 billion package of tax cuts and spending that conservatives viewed as a budget-buster.
"You sold out the people. You are just another liberal,'' said Colkett, 61, who, since retiring, has run a martial-arts studio in the central West Virginia town of Harrisville. Colkett said in an interview last week that he does not plan on making any more contributions to any candidates. "I'm getting a little apathetic,'' he said.
Political analysts say Brown's loss of small-time financial support from around the country reflects the typical evolution of an incumbent senator who is tapping into the Washington fund-raising system.
But they said it also stems from a decline in active participation among conservatives who helped propel Republicans and Tea Party candidates to victories in midterm congressional elections last year. The election helped them realize a key goal: getting Washington to talk seriously about deficits.
"That was a huge success, and that took some of the wind out of their sails. People believe they can relax now,'' said University of Washington professor Christopher Parker, who conducted a recent poll that found the percentage of people enthusiastic about the Tea Party movement had dropped from 33 percent last year to 26 percent this year.
A spokesman for Brown declined to make him available for an interview and referred questions to political adviser Eric Fehrnstrom, who characterized Brown's victory last year as a "once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that's not going to be repeated.''
"His success back then in raising small-dollar donations from around the country was owing to the fact his was the only race in the country and to the unique political circumstances of the time,'' Fehrnstrom said in a statement. "Since Senator Brown's election, we have worked to give him a more traditional fund-raising operation that is heavily reliant on events and personal meetings in Massachusetts, and not on money just flowing over the transom unsolicited from all points on the compass.''
His campaign finance reports dramatically reflect that shift. Brown's out-of-state contributions went from more than 80 percent during his election campaign last year to 37 percent so far this year, according to Fehrnstrom's figures.
"The people of Massachusetts like what they see in Scott Brown and they are responding with financial support,'' he said.
Brown also is racking up a larger share from political action committees connected to corporate interests and conservative causes. Those groups accounted for 2 percent of his contributions leading up to his election and have accounted for 18 percent — or $785,000 — of the $4.4 million he has raised since his election in January last year.
The largest amounts have come from the health, financial, and defense sectors, all important industries in Massachusetts. Brown is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committees.
Brown also has had some significant out-of-state support from larger check writers, picking up nearly $400,000 in the first quarter of this year alone from supporters in Illinois and the traditional fund-raising meccas of New York and California.
The level of grass-roots support that Brown once enjoyed would be difficult to maintain for anyone, said Dennis Hale, a political science professor at Boston College. But Brown's siding with Democrats on a few key votes has made it even more difficult.
"In this environment, the people in the Tea Party, for example, are so committed to change, it's pretty unforgiving,'' Hale said. "He got one shot, one strike, he's out.''
In Brown's election, Tea Party groups created a "money bomb,'' an online solicitation that drew many of the small contributions from across the country. But it's unclear if there will be any more such Tea Party movement help for Brown.
Mark Meckler, cofounder and national coordinator for one of the largest national Tea Party groups, the Tea Party
Locally, though, Brown may not have much to worry about. Holliston resident Christen Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, said some of her allies have expressed disappointment over Brown's votes.
"People say, 'I'm not going to stand in the snow for this guy.' '' But Varley, who gave Brown $200 at a fund-raiser this month, said that in Massachusetts, there will be no alternative for conservatives and they will cast their ballots for Brown.
"You know, Massachusetts is not Ohio,'' she said. "Birthday cakes are for wishes. This is government.''
Donovan Slack can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @DonovanSlack.


text:
The Mountain Goats, or basically John Darnielle, have gone through a pretty major evolution over the years. The new single "Cry For Judas" off the upcoming album Transcendental Youth is a great example not only of how far they've come but how they've done it without really giving anything up.
This doesn't sound like anything off of All Hail West Texas and instead sounds a little more like the Goats' more produced efforts such as Tallahassee, but its got its own particular flavor as well, while still being sufficiently "Mountain Goat-y." The horns are a nice touch and the whole thing is just super catchy. I've listened to this—no lie—at least 50 times over the past few days.
The lyrics of this song (and presumably the upcoming album in general) touch on youth in that same great way The Sunset Tree did, but without being soul-crushingly depressing, which is a nice change. This song is practically triumphant. Personally, I can't wait for the album to drop this October, but until then, I'll be listening to "Cry For Judas" over and over and over and over.


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For this video, I rode as far to the right as possible, and you can see the results. The red car approaches, changes lanes, and passes me (:46) without difficulty. The SUV, on the other hand, although the lane to the left appears open, free for him to change lanes to pass, opts to scooch by me very closely (:56). The camera is mounted on my rear rack, on non-drive side, and my left elbow sticks about a foot farther into traffic than the center of this shot. The lens on this camera is somewhat wide angle, so he passed me very close indeed.
I could post similar videos except with me riding more in the center of this lane, but all you would see is this NOT happening. You might see cars occasionally riding my tail, gunning their engines, or honking, but that happens a lot less often than you would expect. The vast majority of cars do what the red car does in the video, when I send a clear message about what lane position permits me to ride safely on this stretch of street. On the other hand, the scooch pass is extremely common, if/when I invite it with a far-right lane position.
I was thinking about making three videos, riding in different positions, and I still will make some showing different experiences in this area, but this one illustrates the point: my lane position invited the SUV to scooch past me at 45 mph, so he did. That's an invitation I don't plan on issuing any more. It's not safe. Get up. Go ride.


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The latest proposal to change the South Carolina High School League's state football playoffs has intrigued officials from Bluffton High School.
A group of coaches presented last week to the league's executive committee a plan that would split the state's high schools into three classifications for the regular season and six for the playoffs. The realignment would affect all sports.
The committee is scheduled to meet again in April to vote on the next round of reclassification, which takes effect in fall 2014.
Bluffton coach Ken Cribb said he likes the basics of the new proposal, but will wait to review all the specifics before endorsing a plan.
"They're still working on it. They told the committee (Tuesday) they had a proposal that wasn't finalized," Cribb said. "They're going to send it out to all the members (of the state coaches association)."
The group still must formulate a points system for the playoffs and a new lineup of regions. It will present its plan to state coaches to endorse in March before the executive committee makes a decision in April.
The executive committee met Tuesday to consider a mock realignment proposal SCHSL Commissioner Jerome Singleton sent out last month.
Singleton's plan, which would affect only football, splits schools into five classifications and crowns five state champions. Two teams from each region would make the playoffs and compete in a 16-team tournament in each classification.
The SCHSL currently crowns seven state football champions in four classification, with Classes A, AA and AAAA dividing into two playoff divisions based on enrollment.
The committee delayed its vote Tuesday to consider the new proposal at its April meeting.
Cribb and Bluffton athletic director Dave Adams oppose the plan Singleton drew up. They both said the proposal brought up Tuesday would be more fair.
Singleton's plan would put Bluffton in a new Class AAAAA, where it would compete for the state title with schools more than twice its size. Cribb also said some stronger regions have more than two teams deserving of playoff spots.
"Football is the one sport where (enrollment) numbers really come into play," Adams said. "Sometimes, you just get outnumbered."
Cribb said the latest plan would put Bluffton in Class AAA, where it would likely play in the smaller playoff division.
When Singleton emailed his proposal to coaches and administrators in December, Cribb said he would start forming a plan that would keep the four current classes in place and have them all split in two divisions for the playoffs.
Cribb acknowledged the coaches' proposal is similar. He said he will consider it once it is finalized and either endorse it or present his own plan to the coaches association.
"Wholesale change makes people very skeptical, but I'm going to wait and evaluate it. If I think it's good, I'll back it," Cribb said.
"Everybody knows that change is coming. Something is going to happen. I'm just looking for something that's consistent across all sports and is fair to all."


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The NHL pushed back on Monday after Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta's shove in Sunday's game.
NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan suspended him for five games on Monday for his hit from behind on New York Rangers center Brad Richards.
"In spite of the fact that Kaleta doesn't shove Richards with great force, he does so at a dangerous distance from the boards," Shanahan said in his explanatory video.
Richards crashed head-first into the boards at 3:28 of the third period when he was pushed and lost his balance. He lay on the ice for several minutes afterward.
SUSPENDED: Zolnierczyk gets four games
The Rangers scored twice on the ensuing five-minute power play and ended up winning the game in a shootout. Richards returned and took part in the power play.
"I'm glad we made them pay," Rangers coach John Tortorella told news reporters after the game. "It's disgusting. It's a lack of respect. Each team wants to beat the other team, but you have to respect what's going on, on the ice."
Kaleta, speaking to reporters in Carolina before the hearing, didn't address the hit. But he said he felt sorry about putting his team's penalty killers in a precarious position, especially after New York was able to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
"It makes me feel like a bag of garbage after seeing that," he said.
Shanahan noted that Richards made no sudden moves before Kaleta shoved him.
"Kaleta is full control of this play and has ample opportunity to make a better decision," he said.
Shanahan also factored in Kaleta's disciplinary history with the league. He was suspended for four games on Nov. 3, 2011, for head-butting the Philadelphia Flyers' Jakub Voracek. He also was fined for a head-butting incident on Oct. 13, 2010. On Nov. 28, 2009, he was suspended for two games for boarding.
The 2011 suspension put him within the 18-month limit, meaning he's a repeat offender. Each game of the suspension cost Kaleta 1/48th of his pro-rated $1.25 million salary, rather than 1/99th.
As a result, Kaleta will forfeit $76,219.25 in pay.
The suspension was the longest this season, topping the four games handed down to the Philadelphia Flyers' Harry Zolnierczyk on Sunday for a charging infraction that left Ottawa Senators defenseman Mike Lundin with a concussionm.


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Each month we'll feature a local charity and promote giving back through viewer purchases at Necker's Jewelers.
Watch News 8 at 5:00 p.m. for complete coverage of the charities honored through the Gift of Giving program.
If you'd like to suggest a deserving charity to possibly receive proceeds from the Gift of Giving program, contact Lisa Short by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Five County Stadium
Welcome to Five County Stadium, home of your Carolina Mudcats! We hope you'll find it to be a comfortable, convenient and friendly place to watch a ballgame, and that you'll visit us often!
ACCESS: Five County Stadium is accessible from Hwy 264. Click here for directions.
1501 NC Highway 39
PO Drawer 1218
Zebulon, NC 27597
Phone: 919.269.2287
Fax: 919.269.4910
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: Located on the 3rd base side of the stadium. Right next to the Old Hwy 264 parking lot. Click here for the Carolina Mudcats Staff Directory.
ATM: For your convenience, an Automated Teller Machine is located right outside the Will Call window, behind home plate.
AUTOGRAPHS: Carolina League rules prohibit players from signing autographs from 15 minutes prior to the first pitch until the conclusion of the ballgame. Selected Mudcats players are available for autographs at other times to be determined during the season, and at various locations around Raleigh and surrounding areas during community appearances.
BOX OFFICE: The Five County Stadium Box Office is located at the Administrative Offices and open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. On the days of a Five County Stadium event, the Box Office is open from 10 a.m. through the time of the event. For ticket information or reservations, please call (919) 269-CATS (2287). Tickets to future home games are available during games at the Will Call Window.
BUILT: Five County Stadium was originally constructed in 1991. However, the Mudcats did not start playing at Five County Stadium until July 3, 1991 after weather complications delayed construction. Five County Stadium was later renovated beginning in 1997 and concluding in 1999.
CAMERA/VIDEO/RADIO/TV: Hand-held audio-visual equipment is permitted in the stadium. However, flash photography and video reproduction of a game is strictly prohibited. Also, no tripods or other equipment may be used that interfere with other fans' enjoyment. Please call the Front Office before bringing any questionable equipment.
CAPACITY: Five County Stadium's official seating capacity is 6,500 with the possibility of an additional 1,500 to 2,000 more in standing-room-only areas in the event of a sellout crowd.
LUXURY SUITES: Five County Stadium is home to 9 luxury suites. Each suite has its own TV, refrigerator, couch and private balcony with seating. Renting a suite at Five County Stadium is a great way to entertain clients, reward employees or simply enjoy a game as a group. Click here for more information.
FAMILY SECTION: Section 209 is designated as the Mudcats Family Section. This is a no-alcohol seating area. Seats are available upon request at the Box Office, subject to availability. A reminder that smoking is not permitted in the grandstand, but in designated areas only.
FIRST AID: Emergency medical personnel, including paramedic units, are on duty at each game for the safety and convenience of all fans.
FIREARMS: Absolutely no firearms are permitted on Five County Stadium property.
FOOD & BEVERAGE POLICY: Containers with food and/or beverages may not be brought into Five County Stadium. Concession stands and portable carts are located throughout the stadium to serve your needs.
FOUL BALLS: The Mudcats are happy to have fans keep any baseball which is hit or thrown into the stands. However, any ball or bat hit or thrown into the stands can be dangerous, so please be alert at all times. The Mudcats ask that you please do not run when chasing them. The Mudcats are not responsible for any injuries or damage, physical, mental or material, caused by a batted or thrown ball or bat or any other object. For your safety, please do not enter the playing field at any time.
GATES OPEN: Five County Stadium gates open one hour before game time unless otherwise noted.
GROUP OUTINGS & PICNICS: Discounts for group outings (20 or more) are available for all events. For more information, please call (919) 269-2287, Monday-Friday between 9 am-5 pm ET or click here for complete group and picnic information.
GUEST SERVICES: The Customer Service Booth is located behind home plate. This personal service center operates from the time the stadium opens until after the game ends. Here, fans may obtain information, offer suggestions or register complaints, and receive general assistance during visits to Five County Stadium.
INJURIES: Injuries should be reported to the nearest usher or stadium personnel, and tended to by stadium first aid personnel. The Carolina Mudcats Professional Baseball Club is not liable for any harm, injury, or damages sustained by any spectator or to any spectator's property, including all risks-whether foreseen or unforeseen- unless the harm, injury, or damages result from the clear negligence of Carolina Mudcats Professional Baseball Club.
LOST AND FOUND: Lost and found items should be taken to the Will Call Window. For more information, please call (919) 269-2287, Monday-Friday between 10 am-5 pm ET (weekend game days, after 11 am ET).
MESSAGE BOARD/PUBLIC ADDRESS GREETINGS: The Mudcats are happy to pass along greetings for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. Visit the Customer Service Booth behind home plate to arrange for your announcement.
PARKING AREAS: Public parking is available on the Hwy 39 and Old Hwy 264 sides for $5.00 per car. Cash only. Sorry, no credit cards or checks. All lots open two hours prior to the first pitch. You also receive 1 free program per parking pass.
PETS: With the exception of seeing-eye/guide dogs, pets are not permitted at Five County Stadium.
PICNIC AREAS: Click here for more information.
RAIN OUTS: In the unlikely event that a game is postponed, fans may exchange their tickets for seats to a future regular season home game (Excluding July 4th) for an equal value ticket. There are no cash refunds for tickets or parking.
If 4 ½ innings of any game are not played, the ticket may be exchanged for any available ticket of equal face value to any regular season game (excluding July 4th).
RESTROOMS: Spacious restrooms are located on all levels of the stadium. Diaper changing areas are available in both men's and women's restrooms.
SMOKING POLICY: For the health and comfort of all fans, smoking is strictly prohibited in all seating sections, restrooms, and suites at Five County Stadium. For fans wishing to smoke, designated areas are outside of the concourse.
TACKLE BOX TEAM STORE: The Mudcats Team Store is open during all games, and Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., during the regular season. Please call in advance during the off-season. The Team Store features Mudcats logo merchandise, game-worn jerseys, and much more. For more information, please call (919) 269-2287. Worldwide shipping is available. You can also shop online at The Mudcats Online Team Store.
TICKETS BY PHONE: Tickets are available over the phone through the Five County Stadium Box Office. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover are accepted. To order by phone, dial (919) 269-CATS (2287).
TICKETS: ORDER ON-LINE- Click here to order single-game tickets. (Available from mid-March through the end of the season).
SEASON TICKETS / TICKET PACKAGES: Click here for more information.
TOURS: Group tours of Five County Stadium are conducted throughout the season. Depending on the demands of game operations, tour patrons will be shown the press box, suite level, visit the field, and receive information on the construction and amenities of Five County Stadium. Please call (919) 269-2287.
WILL CALL TICKETS: The Will Call window is located behind home plate on the concourse, across from the main entrance and the Tackle Box Souvenir Stand. The Will Call Booth opens shortly before the gates open. You can pick up day of game tickets ordered by phone, tickets ordered on-line, and tickets left for guests of Mudcats staff. Suite tickets and tickets for guests of players can be picked up at the Will Call as well.


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PUBLIC HOLIDAY- refer to JOHOR/Malaysia public Holiday
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To be eligible for return, if the item received by customer was already damaged before it used by customer, received wrong item or malfunction item kindly return with original goods packaging and the return content must be complete without missing any single item as you received it
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Joyful Food Market: Barry Farm Recreation Center
August 21, 2018 @ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
At a Joyful Food Market, neighbors shop through a pop-up market for fresh, healthy groceries at no cost. Help us spread the joy of healthy eating by clicking here to volunteer!
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The following article by the expert scholar Lutfallah Gari surveys the historical sources to uncover the ancient history of the invention of spectacles. To the question "where and when were they invented?", and after a close investigation in the some original sources and a survey of secondary literature, the author shows the evidence in favor of the determining role played by Arabs and Muslims in the early history of this tremendous tool.
Lutfallah Gari*
There is no doubt that the invention of spectacles is one of the important inventions in the history of humanity. So where and when were they invented? Were spectacles known first to the West as the Western references claim? Or the Arabs and Muslims were more advanced than the West in this field as they were in many other technological fields? Early history of this tool in the Western literature was loaded with myths and explorers' stories or even some intentionally faked stories that came from ethnocentrism. Here, we review what was mentioned in the Western and Arabic sources. Hence we conclude some outcomes based on the available information.
History of Lenses
It is well known to archaeologists and museologists that glass rocks were used by early humans. It is also proved that manufactured glass was used in old eras, as it was well known to the ancient Egyptians, the Phoenicians and others. There are many tools and utensils that are made of glass which belong to the oldest known eras, exhibited in museums.
Lenses were known to several civilizations including Roman, Greek, Hellenistic and Islamic civilizations. However, according to the available evidence, these lenses were not used for magnification but for causing flames by concentrating the sunrays in the focus of the lense. Hence they were called under the generic name of "burning mirrors". We have some literature in this field that was authored by scholars belonging to Antiquity and to the Islamic civilization.
There are many old lenses in some museums that date to a thousand years BCE for some of them. However, Nimrod's lens, which was discovered in Nineveh in Iraq in 1850, is considered to be the most famous one. This lens consists of a crystal that dates back to the 7th century BCE. The lens is half an inch in diameter and nine tenths of an inch in thickness. One of its sides has an even surface while the other is convex. Its focus is 4½ inches away from its even side. The lens is kept in the British Museum in London. Some historians suggested that this lens represented a model of telescopes that were used in the civilizations of Mesopotamia. Their evidence was the accuracy of the astronomical observations recorded in Mesopotamian records. However, most investigators in this field agreed that this lens could not be used for magnification but most probably it was just used for decoration.
Figure 1: Photograph of Nimrod's lens which was found in Nimrod's palace in the 19th century.
Pliny, the known historian, wrote in his literature that the Roman Emperors used to watch brutal wrestling competitions, which usually end with the killing of slaves and captures, through a board of transparent emerald. Some researchers suggested that Nimrod used this for magnification. However, there was some evidence that excluded such a suggestion. Contemporaries of Nero and even after his era didn't use lenses for magnification. In addition, Pliny didn't mention that the transparent emerald was used for magnification and perhaps it was used to minimise sunrays or any other reasons. At this time, the Romans used to consider weakness of vision as a congenital defect with no cure for it. Hence, it used to influence the price of the slaves in slave markets. The Romans used to test the strength of the slaves' vision by asking them to read some written materials. Chinese explorers' literature suggested that the Chinese knew the spectacles for long time, although this was not documented in the literature. The Chinese used to buy spectacles from the ruler of Malacca. Some European historians suggest that spectacles arrived to China as a result of the commerce between China and Europe.
Spectacles in Europe
Figure 2: The oldest wall painting that shows a man wearing spectacles. Tomaso de Modena painted this painting in 1352 in the Italian city of Treviso.
In the 13th century, the English scholar Roger Bacon (1214-1294) wrote about the magnifiers and explained for the first time how to magnify visual objects using pieces of glass spheres. He wrote: "for this reason, this tool is useful for elderly people and people who have weakness in their vision as it allows them to be able to see any letter however small it was, if it was magnified enough." Some science historians suggested that Bacon extracted many of his knowledge from the Latin version of Ibn Al-Haytham's book Kitab al-manazir (Optics), in addition to other extra information that was added by the translators. The idea of magnifying things by glass spheres was known since Ibn Al-Haytham's research experiments that will be mentioned in the next section. However, according to the available evidence, using these magnifiers for reading was first mentioned in Bacon's book.
Julius Hirschberg, the historian of ophthalmology, mentioned that books were transported in boxes shielded with colorless beryllium stones. It was also mentioned that these stones magnified the writings which led to the discovery of the magnifiers and hence the spectacles in 1300. However, this contradicts what Hirschberg himself said about Ibn al-Haytham as an investigator of the magnifications properties in the 11th century.
The spectacles were first mentioned in the medical books in Europe in the beginning of the 14th century. For example, Bernard Gordon, the professor of medicine in University of Montpellier in the south of France, talked in 1305 about an eye drops as an alternative to spectacles for elderly people. In 1353, Guy de Chauliac mentioned other types of eye drops for the same purpose but he concluded that it is better to use spectacles if the eye drops didn't work.
Figure 3: A model of the first spectacles in the 14th century, this model is similar to what is sold by the antiques replica dealers.
There is no evidence found by historians that show the name of the person who invented the spectacles but all what we have is the near date of its invention. There are three different tales that were mentioned by the Italian scholar Redi (died in 1697). The first tale suggests that Redi owned a manuscript that was known to be dated in 1299. It was mentioned in its introduction that the author was an elderly man and couldn't read without the spectacles, which was invented in his era. The second tale, which was also narrated by Redi, shows that spectacles were mentioned in a speech pronounced in 1305 where the speaker stated that this tool was invented no earlier than 20 years before the speech date. The third tale suggests that the monk Alexander from Spina (in eastern Italy) learned how to make spectacles and he used to teach that to others. He died in 1313.
Figure 4: This picture shows a part of a painting that was painted in 1352. It is called Hugh of St. Cher.
Figure 5: Detail of a painting called "the Death of the Virgin" which was painted between 1400 and 1410.
Other books adopted the tales that were mentioned by Redi after his death. But some science historians suggested that Redi faked these stories and hence they are not reliable. Julius Hirschberg's book, which mentioned Redi's stories, was written between 1899 and 1918 in German and many of its information is old and needs updating. However, it was translated (without being revised) into English and published in 1985. As a result of that, Redi's stories were spread in English while the research articles that reject the reliability of these stories were written in Italian and weren't as spread as Hirschberg's book. There are other stories that were already rejected by Julius Hirschberg. For example, some authors claim that Marco Polo's journey account mentioned that the Chinese used spectacles for a long time. However, Marco Polo didn't mention that in his journey account and his information about China is not very reliable to historians.
Some other stories were also faked by journalists in the middle of the 19th century which claim that Roger Bacon is the inventor of spectacles as he gave a pair to his friend as a gift when he traveled to Italy. It is also claimed that he taught the Monk Alexander how to make these spectacles which were then spread.
There is another faked story which claims that one author saw a monument on a grave in a church that was demolished later, and it was written on the monument: "here rests Florence, the inventor of spectacles, God forgive his sins, 1317".
Science historians concluded that the inventor of spectacles remains unknown. Perhaps it wasn't a single inventor who discovered this tool but with many experiments using the magnifier, spectacles evolved to their current shape.
Spectacles were introduced in Europe at the end of the 13th century and the paintings started to show them in the middle of the 14th century. There are two paintings in this articles that show people wearing spectacles and both were painted in 1352 (fig. 4-5). One of these painting is a wall painting while the other is oil painted. As these spectacles were expensive, they were found listed in the inheritance records.
Some European poets such as the Italian Luigi Pulci (1432-1484), an early Renaissance poet associated with the Medici family, and Domenico di Giovanni, called 'il Burchiello' (1404-1448), mentioned spectacles in their poetry. Spectacles were also mentioned in the comedy plays in Italy. However, the mentioning of spectacles in poetry and plays included just the spectacles used by elderly people but not the ones used to treat shortsightedness. The later was first used in the 16th century as it was seen in a painting that was painted by Raphael between 1517 and 1519. The painting shows Pope Leo X wearing one of these glasses. Although some books mentioned these spectacles later after Raphael's painting, the detailed scientific descriptions of them were first found in a work of optics published in 1604 by the great German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (died in 1630).
Ophthalmologists rejected the benefits of spectacles at first as eye drops were used instead centuries after the invention of spectacles until the middle of the 19th century (160 years ago).
Magnification in Ibn al-Haytham
So far in the pervious paragraphs, only European references were used. It was mentioned before that Roger Bacon was influenced by the famous scientist Ibn al-Haytham who studied the refraction of light when it passes a colorless surface such as glass, air or water. Ibn al-Haytham said: "the shapes of visual objects appear distorted when seen through a colorless object". He explains: "this is due to the shape of the surface of the colorless objects." He also mentioned that he knew this fact but he thought more research in the subject was not necessary, as he didn't find any application in everyday life.
He also said: "Visual objects are seen by us as a result of light refraction by thick material such as water and glass bigger than their real size". Therefore, Ibn al-Haytham recognized the properties of the magnification of pictures through colorless surfaces. However, he didn't know any important application of this phenomenon. Ibn al-Haytham's studies were leading ones in the field of lenses and were at least three centuries older than Eropean studies of this field.
The poem of Ibn al-Hamdīs
'Abd al-Jabbār Ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Muhammad Ibn Hamdīs of Sicily was a poet who was born in 1055. He moved from Sicily to Andalusia in 1079 and lived in Seville and was close to its King al-Mu'tamid Ibn 'Abbād. In 1092, he moved to Tunisia and lived there until he died in 1132. In Tunisia, he was close to three of its kings. He wrote a poem that describes the spectacles. This poem was written two hundred years before the claimed date of the invention of spectacles. We present herafter this important piece of evidence in its original Arabic text and in English translation:
|يغـوص فـيـه على درّ النـهى النـظر
|وجـدول جـامـد فـي الكـف تحـملـه
|كأنـه ينـبـوع نـور منـه ينـفـجـــر
|يكـسـو السـطور ضـياء عـند ظلمتها
|شـف الهـواء، ولكـن جـسمه حجـر
|يشـف للعـين عـن خط الكتـاب كـما
|فـيـه وقـرّ عـليـها جـامـدا نـهـر
|يـنـدي الخـدود بجـرح نـالها عـرق
|أما يـُحـَدّ بكحـل الجـوهـر البصـر؟
|كحّـلت عـيـني إذ كـلـّت بجـوهـره
|من المعـمـّى عـويصـا فـكّـه عـسر
|كـأنـه ذهــن ذي حـذق يـفـك بـه
|وصـغّـر الخـطّ في ألحـاظـه الكبـر
|نعـم المـعـيـن لشـيخ كـلّ نـاظـــره
|كعنصـل المـاء فـيـه يعـظـم الوبـر
|يرى به صـور الأسـطار قـد عـظمت
- A solid stream held on the palm / inside it the vision dives via mind's pearls
- It dresses the lines with light when they are dark / as if it is a spring from which light gushes out
- It transparently shows the writings on the book to the eye; transparent like air, but its material is rock
- It leaves a wet trace on cheeks; the trace is like a river drawn by its solidness and sweating
- When my eyes had fatigue, I applied its jewels as eyeliners on them. Isn't the vision made sharper with jewels eyeliners?
- It is like a mind of a smart human, who is deciphering an obscure cryptograph that is difficult to decipher
- A good aid to an elderly whose vision got weak, and the old age made the writing small on his eyes
- Using it he sees the lines got large, as the water enlarges the fluff of squill
The poetry collection's editor suggested that what was described by Ibn Hamdis is the pen. However, this was a clear mistake. In the third verse, the poetry says: "it is transparent for the eyes and shows the writings of the book, but its body is made of rocks". This description matches the description of lenses rather than pens, as pens were made of plants or feathers at that time. In the following two verses, the poet mentions that this tool is "the best aid for an elderly man who has a weakness in his vision", and " using this tool, he will see the line magnified". Thus, this description matches the spectacles not pens. The fourth verse proves that the poet was describing the spectacles not the magnifiers as he said: "it leaves a mark in the cheek, like a river", which was the case with the old-fashioned spectacles.
The spread of spectacles amongst the Muslims
Spectacles spread amongst the Muslims after the 13th century. It started to be mentioned in the literature, poems, paintings and history books. In one of the poems of Ahmad al-Attar al-Masri a section may suggest that he was mentioning the spectacles when he says: "the old age came to me after youth, I had a strong vision and now my eyes are made of glasses":
|رمى بعــد اعتدالي باعـوجاج
|أتى بعد الصبا شيبي ودهري
|وقد صارت عـيوني من زجاج
|كفى أن كان لي بصر حـديد
In another occasion, the historian al-Sakhāwī said about the calligrapher Sharaf Ibn Amīr al-Mārdīnī (died in 1447): "he died with an age that exceeded 100 years; he had good senses and he continued writing even without using a mirror." A mirror here apparently means lenses.
Figure 9: This painting is one of Ridhā al-'Abbasī's abum, it shows a man wearing spectacles and holding a book. This painting is dated to 1650 and it is now kept in Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The early history of the invention of spectacles is troubled with the scarcity of evidence and confused with fake stories, as mentioned previously in this article. On the other hand, we note that the scientist Ibn al-Haytham, who studied light refraction in colourless materials, did not find an application of his studies; but his studies were used later for the invention of lenses.
But spectacles were mentioned in the Arabic poetry, by Ibn Hamdīs, two centuries before the claimed date of their invention (i.e. in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century).
In his monumental history of ophthalmology, Julius Hirschberg mentioned that Muslim ophthalmologist did not mention spectacles in their early books. However, European ophthalmologists themselves ignored spectacles as a tool for vision corrections. Therefore, the fact that spectacles were not mentioned in the Muslim ophthalmologists' books is not a strong evidence that they were not known in the Muslim world.
Finally, it should be noted that there is a clear reason that explains the existence of many paintings that show spectacles in European art but not in the early Islamic art as Muslims were forbidden to draw people or animals.
- Al-Farisi, Kamal al-Din, Tanqih al-manazir, Hyderabad: Osmania Oriental Publications Bureau, 1928, pp. 112-250.
- Al-Sakhāwī, Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Rahmān, Al-Daw' al-l-lāmi' li-'ahl al-qarn al-tāsi', Cairo: Al-Qudsi library, 1934-1936, p. 299.
- Atil, Esin, The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran and India, Washington: Freer Gallery of Art, 1978, pp. 36-37, 83.
- Awad, Michael, "Al-'Arab 'awwal man 'arafū al-nazzārāt", Hunā Baghdād: 149, 1956, p. 15.
- Belloni, Luigi, "Redi", Dictionary of Scientific Biography, New York: Scribners Publishers, 1981, vol. 11, pp. 341-343.
- Canby, Sheila R., Persian Masters, five Centuries of Painting, Bombay: Marg Publications, 1990, pp. 120-125.
- Drewry, Richard D., "What Man Devised that He Might See", the Internet Site of the University of Tennessee, Department of Ophthalmology, 2002.
- Hirschberg, Julius, The History of Ophthalmology, vol.2, translated from German by F. C. Blodi, partially edited by M. Zafer Wafa'i, Bonn: Wayenborgh Verlag, 1985.
- Ibn Hamdīs, Dīwān Ibn Hamdīs, edited by Ihsan Abbas, Beirut: Dar Sader, 1961, p. 203.
- Nazīf, Mustafā, Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham, Buhuthuh wa kushufuh al-basariya, Cairo, Cairo University, 1943, pp. 810-811.
*Engineer and researcher in the history of Islamic science and technology, Yanbu al-Sinaiyah, Yanbu', Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


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The "Just take 2" Mystery quilt has me intrigued and I have decided to do mine in blues and whites.
Here are my hearts ready to be cut out and appliquéd for block 5.
And the pieces stacked with their instructions for the other blocks.
I've also signed up for the block party that Lynda Hall is organizing. These are some of the fabrics I've pulled using her instructions for guidance.
So far those are the only new projects I've started, but after seeing some of the cute scrappy houses being made I feel myself slipping...and really fancy joining into the building houses from scrap challenge. I can afford one more challenge right?!
Until next time....


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Michigan Professor of the Year from Western Michigan University | Arts & Culture
Title (Max 100 Characters)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Western Michigan University)--Western Michigan University's Dr. Stephen M. Wolfinbarger, professor of music, has been named the 2013 Michigan Professor of the Year.
The announcement was made Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C., by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advamcement and Support of Education--CASE--as part of the annual U.S. Professor of the Year Program. The Awards Program, created in 1981, is the only national initiative specifically designed to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring.
"This is a well-deserved award for Dr. Wolfinbarger," says WMU President John M. Dunn of the news. "He is an incredibly inspirational teacher in our College of Fine Arts and School of Music, which in turn are among the jewels of our academic offerings. His students find success in the most competitive environments."
Wolfinbarger, who teaches trombone and has led the University's brass and percussion programs, has been a WMU faculty member since 1986. Students he has mentored have won a variety of major national and international trombone competitions. Since 2000, graduates of his studio have been admitted to some of the most competitive music programs in the United States, including The Juilliard School, Yale University, The Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory and Oberlin Conservatory.
Wolfinbarger and his wife traveled to Washington for the recognition of state winners and the announcement of four national winners. He was recognized Nov. 14 at a luncheon at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as well as at an evening congressional reception at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill.
Colorado's Sen. Mark Udall congratulated and recognized the state and national winners from the U.S. Senate floor on Thursday as well, and the winners' names were entered into the Congressional Record that day. In addition, the Wolfinbargers were invited to meet with U.S. Rep. Fred Upton and his staff on Friday and were taken on a Capitol tour.
This year, a state Professor of the Year was recognized in 36 states. CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select finalists. The Carnegie Foundation then convened the third and final panel, which selected four national winners. Wolfinbarger was selected from among some 350 faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.
In addition to the Michigan Professor of the Year honors, Wolfinbarger was recognized by the International Trombone Association in Denmark in 2009 as the sole recipient of ITA's most prestigious annual award "in recognition of his distinguished career and in acknowledgment of his impact on the world of trombone performance." He also was honored by WMU with a Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010.
Wolfinbarger earned his bachelor's degree from Evangel University, his master's degree from North Texas State University and his doctoral degree from the University of North Texas. He is past president of ITA and serves as chair of that organization's governance committee.


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Faux Taxidermy Jackalope
Rachel O's Jackalopes are each a unique work of art. I crochet each one
without a pattern so every sweet bunny face is different and has their
own personality.
This jackalope has been stuffed and mounted to a
wood plaque measuring approx 5x7 inches. There is a hole drilled in the
back, so you can hang it with a single nail (not included).
Antlers are hand sculpted from polymer clay.
Accessories and ear insides have been firmly attached with glue, but this is an art object, not a toy.
Ruler is in inches and is not included with purchase.
can appear differently on different monitors. I have done my best to
represent the piece accurately. If you have any questions, I encourage
you to ask before purchase.


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Tablets Poised To Take Homebuying Process To New Levels
Like virtually everyone else on the planet, I've finally succumbed to tablet-mania and become an owner … of an iPad. I coupled it with a totally cool Zagg Folio leather case/keyboard combo. Although it's an incredibly useful tool in so many ways, I'm particularly excited about how it can totally transform the home buying process.
Not knowing where to start in the search for a great local Realtor, a potential homebuyer from Fremont, California grabs their iPad during their lunch break and loads the Google app. They type in 'Äúfind a realtor in Fremont, CA'Äù and, at the top of the list, they see 'ÄúFind Local Realtors¬Æ – Research & Compare Realtors Online.'Äù A tap on the link takes them to HomeGain.com'Äôs homepage where they can enter their criteria and then search for a top-notch area Realtor – anonymously. As proposals start to come in from Fremont Realtors, they select a few profiles they like, click through to email the agents and ask for interviews with their top three choices. A quick tap on their Starbucks app allows them to share the address of their favorite location with the Realtors and appointments are quickly set up.


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20 January 2011
Family Names
The links between family names and geography is quite a fascinating one, especially if the names in question happen to be part of your own family history.
Here are a few links to websites you may find interesting:
Public Profiler - World Names
(I have used it mainly to find out the common surnames of particular districts, especially in Italy and Belgium.)
Public Profiler - GB Names
(I have used the surnames page with the year 1881 chosen, and have discovered more about my family origins that way.)
Guild of One-Name Studies
Wikipedia - One-name studies
Wikipedia - Surname DNA project
Many of my own ancestors' family names are very common, though with many variations in their location. Having regional family origins may sometimes become clearer through a one-name search, though it still depends on tracing back the written records step by step.
Here are links to a couple of my By Any Other Name blog posts about family names. I hope they will enhance your reflections:
Family honour and freedom
Origins of family names
And here are a few Wikipedia links to some of the very common surnames that have appeared in my family history - though none of my relatives have biographies on Wikipedia, as far as I am aware:
Bailey | Barker | Cole | Harris | Lloyd | Clark or Clarke | Rowe | Morgan | Nash | Howell or Howells | Wilson | but I am yet to find a Smith or a Jones!
What are the most common surnames in your family history - and the most unusual?
3 comments:
Thanks for an interesting article with helpful links. I think the most unusual name in my family tree is probably MUSTELL - or at least, it seems to have been uncommon in England in the early 1800s, which is what interests me.ReplyDelete
Comments on one of my Genealogy Leftovers blog posts ('Name Search Challenge') mention some very odd surnames.
Hello JudyReplyDelete
I hope things are well with you in Queensland with all the rain and floods. It must be particularly distressing for people who have lost their family photographs and other heirlooms to the unpredictable powers of nature.
I find that unusual names are a real bonus in family history research. They often lead to fascinating discoveries, and it can be easier to locate online records for them than for the multitude of ancestors with ordinary names.
In my own research, some names I thought might have been unusual turned out to be quite common in their places of origin, often just in a remote village or two. I have explored family history in Italy and Belgium, for example - even though I do not speak the languages of those places.
Is Mustell a French Norman or Huguenot name? It sounds similar to "Must Tell", don't you think?!
Best wishes from Via
I've only just seen your response to my comment! I don't know how accurate this is, but I've been told that MUSTELL is derived from a name of Old French origin, introduced into England after 1066. There are allegedly Huguenot connections a couple of generations back in my WEBSTER line (into which Anne MUSTELL married), but I have not yet researched that.ReplyDelete


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SAMJ: South African Medical Journal
On-line version ISSN 2078-5135
Print version ISSN 0256-9574
SAMJ, S. Afr. med. j. vol.99 n.6 Cape Town Jun. 2009
Treat the patient, not the result
Nesri PadayatchiI; John QuantrillII
IDepartment of Community Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, firstname.lastname@example.com
IIKing George V Hospital, Durban
To the Editor: Several episodes of nursing and laboratory staff at a specialist tuberculosis (TB) hospital presenting with flu-like symptoms, who on further investigation were found to have acid-fast bacilli in their sputum yet normal chest radiographs, have occurred. In many instances, in the absence of other evidence of TB, these staff were not initiated on anti-TB treatment. Serial sputum investigations remained negative and the symptoms disappeared. Similarly, in the same institution there have been several reports of patients referred with a microbiological diagnosis of multi- or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. Owing to the protracted period of time needed to grow these organisms, the individuals concerned are commenced on first-line TB treatment. By the time the susceptibility results are received (usually several months later) and the patients referred to the specialist TB hospital for further management, both clinical and radiological improvement in response to first-line TB treatment has taken place, which suggests that there might have been some contact with TB (drug-susceptible or resistant), and the bacillus could have infected and behaved as a commensal for a short period and not caused disease in the 'carrier'. This scenario is more relevant today, with the prevalence of MDR and XDR TB. If a chest radiograph is reported as clear by an experienced reader, and the individual is asymptomatic, then the sputum test should be repeated, including culture and susceptibility testing, before embarking on therapy with potentially toxic second-line TB drugs. Health workers should be cognisant of these confounders and remember to treat the patient and not laboratory reports or radiographs.
1. Demissie A, Leyten EM, Abebe M, et al. Recognition of stage-specific mycobacterial antigens differentiates between acute and latent infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2006; 13(2): 179-186. [ Links ]
2. Hussain R, Talat N, Shahid F, Dawood G. Longitudinal tracking of cytokines after acute exposure to tuberculosis: association of distinct cytokine patterns with protection and disease development. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2007; 14(12): 1578-1586. [ Links ]


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I know, I know, I've been going on quite a bit about the three shows now on view at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. But that's because they're so freaking amazing. And I haven't yet paid proper due to the one with the deepest roots here — Behold the Day: The Color Block Prints of Frances Gearhart.
The story of how this show came to be is an intensely local one. About a year and a half ago, my neighbor, Susan Futterman, took me to lunch to get some advice about book publishing. She'd recently retired as the head of standards and practices (i.e., the censor) for ABC, and was pursuing her love of the Arroyo arts culture of the early 20th century. A big fan of the artist Frances Gearhart, she had this idea to publish of book of Gearhart's work, hopefully tied to a show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, which seemed a logical venue.
Susan had no professional experience as either a curator or publisher, but she threw herself into this project, and all of a sudden (or so it seemed) here she was on opening night, basking in the early-20th-century glow of the remarkable works of Frances Gearhart. Susan did it, curating not only the first retrospective of a significant American artist, but tracking down long-lost color-block prints from the children's book, Let's Play, written by Gearhart and her two sisters. Susan shepherded the reissue of this book through production (a limited run is on sale at the PMCA store for $75), and restored 18 linoleum-block prints from the book to the places of honor they held in the 1920s and '30s in the children's room at the Pasadena Central Library.
To say the Prospect Park neighborhood is proud of Susan Futterman is an understatement. Gearhart's meticulous, beautiful work is now there for all of us to see, a lost and treasured book lives again, and one of Pasadena's great artists finally got her due.
Behold the Day: The Color Block Prints of Frances Gearhart
Through January 31, 2010
Pasadena Museum of California Art
490 E. Union St., Pasadena
626.568.3665, pmcaonline.org


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Jennifer Meyer wears her jewelry in the shower. And she's built a business on that idea.
"I don't want you to take your jewelry off. I want it to become a part of you," says the designer over lunch, sweeping her hand across the subtle gold pieces on her wrists, neck and earlobes. "All of these have been in the shower with me this morning — it's 18-karat gold, it's diamonds and it's an investment, and if it turns color, then someone's ripping me off."
Meyer is holding forth on a weekday, in the less hectic garden room of L.A.'s Soho House — down a long hallway, away from the see-and-be-seen power dining center.
"We're busy people," she says. "You wake up, you jump in the shower, you get breakfast ready, you get lunches ready, you take kids to school, you go to work, you pick your kids up, you put them to bed, you have dinner with your husband. Whatever it is, your jewelry doesn't need to change."
Your jewelry needn't necessarily change, but Meyer's jewelry business is poised for some changes after she was named first runner-up in November in the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund competition. Placing in the top three (alongside winner Greg Chait of Malibu-based knitwear firm the Elder Statesman and the second runner-up, shoe designer Tabitha Simmons) is more than just an honor. She'll receive $100,000 for her business and some intense mentoring, in her case from the CFDA president herself, Diane von Furstenberg.
"She's the most amazing woman on the planet," Meyer, 35, says of her mentor in a tumble of words. "She's not just interested in having tea with me. The first week after I won, she came to L.A. and she sat in my office for two hours with a notebook and a pen and literally had a zillion questions about my company. Everything. Who I needed to hire. Where my offices should be. This. That. She is such a genius."
The feeling's mutual. Reached in New York, Von Furstenberg raves about Meyer: "She's very talented, she's determined, she has clarity. She's a star."
The award capped a five-month process that proceeded through an initial application, then a winnowing down to 50 candidates, who "each have to send in a massive presentation on who you and your company are. I don't know what other people did, I did a sort of coffee-table book," Meyer says. Then 10 finalists continued in a competition designed to showcase their skills through such things as a spread in Vogue and an intimate fashion show at the Chateau Marmont pitched to the celebrity crowd.
And what of the fact that two of the top three are from Southern California? "L.A. is kicking!" Von Furstenberg says.
Simon Doonan, creative ambassador for Barneys New York, where Meyer's jewelry is most extensively featured, says her West Coast heritage is a part, but not all, of her appeal. He pronounces Meyer's work — delicate wishbone bangles, jeweled bar-shaped studs, winsome script necklaces that say "sweetheart" or "mommy" — to be "very nuanced and subtle."
"At the end of the day, she's a serious designer. The pieces are wonderfully thought out," Doonan says. "She presents as an easygoing Malibu girl, but her work is very unusual and beautifully crafted. She really understands the Barneys girl, who maybe spends a lot of time at the beach, but she's still very urban."
The beachy vibe extends to the stones Meyer's been using more of lately, including turquoise, blue lapis and watery opal.
"Turquoise I love," says Meyer. "And my grandmother loved lapis and I've always wanted to work with lapis but I really wanted to figure out a way that was authentic to me. I've been doing a lot of inlay and then [came] the lapis pyramid and all of the stones are hand-cut, they're all custom-made. So it took a really long time to figure out a way to make them in a way that was very Jennifer Meyer."
The result is striking, the triangle shape set flat in a square frame of tiny diamonds, seen in everything from her "everyday" pendant necklaces to a gob-smacking pair of special-occasion earrings with sapphire pyramids holding sizable lapis teardrops.
Mention of her grandmother had caused her to mist up, and the story of 6-year-old Jen sitting in the late Edith Meyer's kitchen doing cloisonné and enamel, firing up the finished pieces in her home kiln while snacking on Celeste pizza, homemade matzo ball soup and coffee ice cream, is a well-known part of her story. She held on to that interest through her early career as a fashion publicist in Beverly Hills for Giorgio Armani and, later, Ralph Lauren — kind of an expected path for the well-connected L.A. native and daughter of an industry titan (Ronald Meyer, president of Universal Studios and one of the original founders of CAA).
"I really always wanted to design jewelry, but I never talked about it," she says. "I never talked about it because I didn't know the first thing about it. I never went to school for it." She was talking, though, to her then-boyfriend (now her husband, actor Tobey Maguire) about trying to start somehow and he encouraged her with a favorite quote from "Star Wars" — "Do or do not. There is no try."
So she saved up some of her own money from her paychecks, as she tells it, "and then I felt it was OK to blow it on my dream.... I started going downtown and [to] Beverly Hills and Culver City and, if it said 'jeweler' on the door, I knocked on the door and went in and tried to get some pieces made."
She was particularly interested in one piece she had in mind — a leaf pendant that "took about eight molds to do," she says. She showed that and a couple of other pieces to stylist friends from her day job as a publicist, and they took it to their client Jennifer Aniston. Meyer ended up with an order of three of everything for Aniston's "The Break-Up."
From that beginning in 2005 came placement in specialty stores such as the trendy Caviar & Kind (now Roseark) and Ylang 23 and majors like Barneys and Net-A-Porter.
"She understands that customer because she is that customer," Doonan says.
Or, as Meyer puts it, "I really listen to my customer. I listen to what they like. I see what they love and I try to make them happy, while pushing the boundaries here and there."
At lunch she's dressed in an eclectic mix of a muted print Paul & Joe silk dress ("I got it when I was living in Australia last year for five months while my husband worked" — Maguire was filming "The Great Gatsby") and an oversize Burberry cardigan in the shade of mustard that really looks good only in either London or Los Angeles light, along with favorite beat-up brown Rag & Bone ankle boots.
And, of course, the jewelry she doesn't take off, pieces from her own line along with her customized gold bar necklace (for her daughter, 6, and son, 3) and a couple of sentimental pieces from her husband, like a gold Cartier love bracelet from their courtship.
"I'm loving my company right now more than I ever have," she says, digging into a brown rice bowl with salmon before heading back to the office and then her daughter's ballet class. "I'm so excited to watch it grow, and really find the balance in being a great mom and a great wife and [to] have a really successful company, and I really feel like when you find the balance and you work hard, it can all be successful. And I think that's sort of my goal at the moment."


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Pork Chops & Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce
Total TimePrep: 25 min. Cook: 3-1/2 hours
Makes6 servings
- 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup country style Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6 medium red potatoes, sliced
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 6 boneless pork loin chops (5 ounces each)
- In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the first seven ingredients. Stir in potatoes and onion. Top with pork chops. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until potatoes are tender.
Nutrition Facts1 each: 421 calories, 11g fat (4g saturated fat), 71mg cholesterol, 794mg sodium, 47g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 4g fiber), 32g protein.
Follow along as we show you how to make these fantastic recipes from our archive.
My Review
Nov 23, 2015
This is a recipe that I would like better with some tweeking. The gravy is not as thick or have as much mushroom flavor as I'd like. It also took a couple of hours longer than it said. The pork was tender but needed some more spice or something. Altogether a good basic recipe that I would prefer to build on!
Nov 16, 2015
We weren't fans at all. Maybe it was the dijon mustard?? Who knows but we didn't like it at all and threw it out. It was lacking all around to say the very least.
Mar 10, 2014
I basically used it as a stepping stone and added some spices (red pepper, onion powder), julienne the potatoes, added Publix Deli Style Mustard with Horseradish and upped the amounts a bit and it turned out wonderful.
Sep 19, 2012
This was very good and so easy to put together. After reading the other reviews I cooked it for about 8 hours and it was super tender and everyone loved it.
Sep 11, 2012
Like others have said, it takes a little longer than the 6 hrs. to cook on low. I had to cook for 7 hrs. Also, chops should be browned in frying pan before placing in slow cooker, otherwise, they look awfully anemic when done. My husband said it smelled really good and chops were tender, but there was nothing special about the recipe, and he wouldn't care for it again.
Feb 21, 2012
Due to the comments here, we have reviewed this recipe and increased the cook time to 4-6 hours on low. There are several variables that could impact the cook time, such as the thickness of your potatoes and pork chops. The age of your slow cooker will make a difference too. Newer slow cookers cook much hotter and faster than older ones.The pork chops could be briefly browned in a skillet first if desired.Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Feb 19, 2012
Had the same problem as others. Four hours didn't seem like enough cooking time. And, the pork chops weren't tender enough and the look of them was not very appatizing. The potatoes and the onions were the best part, but some of the potatoes were a bit hard.
Dec 30, 2011
We enjoyed this dish very much. I didn't have any pork chops on hand, so used a small loin pork roast, and added a jar of mushrooms. I do think the gravy is a little bland and will more seasoning next time. I think a little Kitchen Bouquet would give it a much richer look. I cooked this on "low" for 8 hours.
Dec 24, 2011
The recipe takes 8 hrs on low.
Dec 22, 2011
I have made a similar recipe for years in a baking dish long before slow cookers were around. I've always browned the chops first, then baked the casserole covered at 325 for 3 hours so that chops & potatoes are nice & tender. I'm going to try this in my slow cooker. It should work fine, but my cooker is old & very low heat, so I'll cook on high for 4 hours, then turn to low for another 4 hours. If your slow cooker produces pretty good heat, I'd say cook on low for a good 8 hours. My family always liked this dish. You can add mushrooms, carrots, green beans, whatever, to make a one-dish meal. Peel & slice some russet potatoes if you don't have the small red ones.


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NEWS- Surviving Suffolk: Tornado obliterates UVA grads' home
In spring 2006, Emily and Brian Thiede thrilled to watch their first house being built in a Suffolk subdivision. The couple– 2004 UVA grads– were married on May 13 that year, and the following week moved into their house, ready to begin married life in the brand new three-bedroom colonial.
But on Monday, April 28, less than two years after they moved in, the joy of home ownership turned to horror for the Thiedes as their house was flattened by the devastating tornado that ripped through their neighborhood, leaving a trail of rubble.
"This is the sort of thing I don't think anyone believes really happens until you see it with your own eyes," says Emily Thiede (formerly Emily Bean), who was running errands after leaving her job as a second grade teacher when she heard radio reports of threatening weather in the area.
Concerned– but only, she says, about likely traffic delays– Thiede stopped to pick up a snack at Starbucks when her cell phone rang. It was Brian.
"He said, 'Prepare yourself,'" Thiede recalls.
Brian Thiede had headed home at 5pm from his job as an engineer for Northrup Grumman, about 30 minutes after the tornado struck, to find emergency vehicles heading into his neighborhood. He was not allowed to enter, but a neighbor leaving the area gave him the shocking news: "Your house is totally gone."
Jerry Stenger, research coordinator for the State Climatology Office headquartered in Charlottesville, says the Suffolk tornado was one of 10 to touch down in Virginia that day. The other nine, scattered across the southeastern portion of the state, were relatively weak– ranked EF0 or EF1 on a scale that tops out at EF5. The Suffolk tornado ranked an EF3– with winds of up to 160mph– making it one of only 23 such powerful tornados to touch down in Virginia over the past 58 years.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado– which destroyed dozens of houses along a 10-mile path and injured 200 people but, amazingly, killed none– was active between 4:05pm and 4:40pm, and traveled forward at speeds up to 40 miles an hour. Tornados, Stenger says, are "unpredictable" and can change direction, strength, size and speed. Such was the case with the Suffolk storm, which at its largest was approximately one-quarter mile wide. By the time it hit the Thiedes' house– "roaring like a freight train," according to numerous witness accounts– it was considerably narrower and spared the houses on either side.
Emily Thiede considers that "miraculous," especially since in both of those houses children were at home.
Although the Thiedes were not home– a fact that may well have saved their lives– their house was not empty. Their two cats, Calvin and Hobbes, were inside, and Thiede says she and Brian worried far more about the fate of their animals than their material possessions.
Two days after the tornado, as the charity Operation Blessing used excavation equipment to pick through the rubble, there was no sign of their cats, dead or alive. But on Thursday afternoon, Thiede says, she got the first piece of good news. Hobbes was found, unharmed, in a neighbor's garage.
Settling into an apartment on Friday, May 2, Thiede was philosophical about the loss of her possessions. "Your things are replaceable, but living things aren't," she said. And while she was delighted to discover that her wedding album was one of the items that survived the tornado, she would gladly trade it to find that her second cat had survived.
"I can live and move on without any remorse if we get Calvin back," she says. "I don't think I would have anticipated meaning that as much as I do."
Fortunately, as it turns out, Thiede will be able to live without any remorse.
On Monday, May 5, Calvin was captured– unharmed– in an SPCA trap. He has since been reunited with the Thiedes.
2 comments
AWESOME - I am so glad you found your cat! This is great news. Here's the video we posted on You Tube and our web site. Thanks again for talking to us. Knowing you found your cats was the best news I heard today!
As Emily's aunt in California I have been following their story carefully. Even though I have seen most of the pictures before I'm very touched every time I see them again. This web site is great and helps keep us all posted. Operation Blessing really was a blessing; we didn't know before that there was such a group. It's easy to send them a donation through their web site. So glad that Calvin and Hobbs were found alive and well! Bless you guys...


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QUESTION OF THE WEEK- What's the most athletic thing you've ever done?
Patrick Fogarty:"One time I kicked a football about 40 or 45 yards. I don't remember the exact situation, but it was a damn good kick."
Dennis Kosic:"I play softball. It's a big thing for me; I've played since I was a kid."
Katherine Salmon:"Probably whitewater rafting in West Virginia. I stayed in the boat the whole time."


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Winning With Sales Incentives
Health clubs are constantly looking for the right formula to build and maintain a successful sales force. At the Maryland Athletic Club & Wellness Center (MAC), we use several different incentive programs to motivate our membership team to maintain an exceptional level of productivity.
The membership team is responsible for generating their own leads and working by appointment. They have three jobs each day. The first job is to set five appointments. The second job is to make at least two sales. And the third job is to generate three referrals.
MAC membership representatives are urged to maintain a closing rate of 50 percent or better. If the membership representatives are touring five prospects a day, they are just about guaranteed two sales a day.
Besides the three daily jobs, the membership team has a weekly revenue goal. There is a bonus for achieving the weekly goals. There is also a mid-month bonus, as well as an end-of-month bonus.
These revenue goals are set collectively for the team by the representatives and the membership director. Each membership representative's bonus is based on the percentage that he contributes to the goal. So if a representative produces 34 percent of the team's weekly revenue, that is what his corresponding percentage of the weekly and monthly bonus is based on. Trust me, this system motivates the reps!
We have come up with other bonus incentives to encourage reps to sell. To complement some of our marketing programs, we have contests amongst the membership reps. For example, MAC is doing a marketing campaign targeting former members. According to IHRSA, former members are 300 percent more likely to join than a prospect with no health club experience. So the membership rep who can contact the most former members and make ap-pointments with them in a week receives a cash bonus!
Membership reps aren't the only employees who are rewarded for working to bring in new members. Any of the MAC staff who refers a new member gets a $10 cash bonus.
None of these concepts is rocket science, but these incentives are an extremely effective way to keep membership sales at a profitable level. And they also help maximize your club's marketing dollars.
Member Referrals
At the MAC, members also receive incentives to provide referrals for membership; specifically, referrals give them an opportunity to reduce their own monthly membership fees. The members reduce their monthly membership dues by $5 for any referral that becomes a member, with no limit on how much they can reduce their dues! They come running to the membership reps with referrals!
Marketing Vehicles: Minivans vs. S.U.V.s
Pop quiz. You are distributing flyers in a parking lot, putting them under the windshield wipers of cars. When you get down to your last flyer, there are two vehicles left in the lot: a minivan and S.U.V. Do you:
a) Leave the flyer with the minivan
b) Leave the flyer with the S.U.V.
If you picked the S.U.V., congratulations. You chose wisely. In a survey of 5,400 minivan and S.U.V. buyers, Strategic Vision found that S.U.V. buyers are more likely to exercise than minivan buyers. Specifically, 32 percent of S.U.V. buyers work out, compared to 24 percent of minivan buyers.
2000's Top Fitness Trends
According to IDEA's Trendwatch 2000, the fitness programs expected to grow the most over the next year are: yoga, group strength training, flexibility/ stretching classes, Pilates, ab classes, martial arts-based classes, and classes for special populations (e.g., seniors). Keep that in mind when deciding which programs to market.
Battle of the Sexes
Here's more proof that men and women need different things from a health club - and, therefore, require different marketing to draw them in.
According to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), men and women report different health risks and behaviors. And in some cases, their responses may surprise you.
For example, stereotypes indicate that women worry about their weight more than men. However, the study reported that 60 percent of men considered themselves overweight, compared to 44 percent of women.
On the other hand, more women than men reported inactivity. According to the study, one-third of women and one-fourth of men said that they didn't engage in regular exercise.
This study suggests that men may be more in need of a weight-management program, whereas women may require a program that emphasizes exercise instead of diet.


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At Sopher + Co we make it our business to understand and add value to your personal and business affairs whilst building a lasting relationship based on trust and mutual respect.
Our people build long-term relationships with both clients and colleagues in an environment within which they feel valued. We enable the development of both personal and professional qualities through training and practical experience. Sopher + Co has over 100 employees working in 2 main locations.
Now in its 24th year, the Sopher + Co Planner is a concise tax reference guide for business owners, professionals, and private individuals.Visit
We can adapt our approach and service to suit the size and nature of your business and individual needs. Whether you are looking for assistance with one specific aspect of your business or personal finances, or you would like comprehensive support and advice, we can help.


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These deeds were reported as recorded by the office of Marion County register of deeds. Property addresses come from appraisal records. All are warranty deeds unless otherwise noted.
Helen Jean McGonigle, Wayne and Marita Schwartzman, John and Patricia Schwartzman, and Leroy and Bernice Schwartzman to Schwartzman Farm LLC; N/2 NW/4 with exceptions of Section 16 of Lost Springs Township.
Harlan J. and Grace E. Bartel, Nancy S.B. and Robert Ferree, Patricia A. and Herb Penner, and Donald J. and Gayle Bartel to NPHD LLC; N 1/3 NW/4 of Section 6 of East Branch Township; E/2 SW/4 of Section 31 of Liberty Township; and 676 130th Rd., Hillsboro.
Berns Land & Cattle LLC to Wildcat Creek Ranch LLC; part of NW/4 SW/4 of Section 36 of Catlin Township.
Nettie N. Daily, trustee, to Janet Lynne Ehrlich Priddy, Darryl L. Ehrlich, and Carol Jean Ehrlich Stevens, quitclaim deed; SW/4 SW/4 NE/4 of Section 22 of Gale Township and W/2 NE/4 of Section 22 of Gale Township.
Melissa and Dustin Enns to Vincent E. and Anne K. Driver; 205 S. Ash St., Apt. 7, Hillsboro.
Fannie Mae aka Federal National Mortgage Association to Ron J. Harder, 303 N. Locust St., Peabody.
Daniel F. Holub to Daniel F. Holub, Tamra L. Sumovich, and Timothy S. Sumovich, quitclaim deed; W/2 of 1953 240th Rd., Marion.
Janet E. Isham to Janet E. Isham, Jody Lea May, and Corey R. May; N 50' Lots 1, 2, and 3 and Lot 4 excluding N 43', Block 3, Original Town, Hillsboro.
Kansas Department of Transportation to Deer Creek Farms LLC, quitclaim deed; part of S/2 of Section 17 of Milton Township.
Hope L. Smith-Becker, trustees, to Yossen LLC, trustee's deed; part of SE/4 of Section 5 of West Branch Township.
Debra J. Stanford to Corey M. Stanford, quitclaim deed; 1128 80th Rd., Peabody.
Tampa State Bank to Clifford L. and Connie S. Hodson; 2147 Kruse Rd., Marion (Eastshore).
Frank W. Werner to Michael G. and Patti A. Woodward; 148 S. Cedar St., Marion.
James W. Wiens and Connie J. Wiens to James W. Wiens and Connie J. Wiens, co-trustees; SW/4 SW/4 of Section 16 of West Branch Township; W/2 SW/4 SE/4 of Section 5 of Liberty Township; 111 N. Buller St., Goessel.
Wildcat Creek Ranch LLC to Berns Land & Cattle LLC; part of W/2 SW/4 of Section 36 of Catlin Township.
Jean L. Winter to Jean L. Winter, Kevin Winter, and Krista Winter, trustees; 2364 K-15, Hillsboro.


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Peter Holden, billed as the Number One McDonald's Fan, leads the viewer on a tour. He claims to have visited nearly 12,000 McDonald's!
During the show we learned:
- there are >30,000 McDonald's operating worldwide.
- the oldest operating McDonald's is in Downey California, USA.
- there is a McDonald's PlayPlace in Dallas, Texas, USA that is designed to look like a Happy Meal. The show declares this to be the happiest McDonald's in the world.
- there is a diner in the Lafayette, Indiana, USA McDonald's. It has over 120 menu items not offered at any other McDonald's. Sounds interesting but gimmicky.
- Peter Holden has NOT yet been to the Arctic Circle McDonald's in Pitea, Sweden. Customers there hit the drive-thru on snowmobiles!
- Montreal, Canada is the home of the world's most unique McDonald's Cafe. There's a regular McD next door if the gourmet latte isn't enough!
- a two-storey McDonald's in Orlando, Florida, USA houses a mega-PlayPlace which hosts over 750 birthday parties per year. Pizza is available. Upstairs offers an arcade and a huge maze.
- The Roma, Italy McDonald's sits in the center of this great city. It is the most opulent McDonald's in the show - and maybe the world. This store has >800 seats! Their Big Macs are reportedly the most expensive in the world.
The McChronicles loved seeing some of the restaurants we have visited, especially the Times Square (New York City) store which, reportedly, has the largest McDonald's kitchen in the world. We also were quite interested in the stores that we have yet to enjoy.
The show will run through February 2008. Here is the schedule of next showings.
Check it out if you can.
The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: Travel Channel logo from discovery.com.


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Rumors of Randy Jackson's ouster from the American Idol judges' panel have been percolating
since the dawn of time for weeks. And now TMZ is reporting that the man commonly referred to as "the other judge," "that dude who dresses like he's enrolled in a prep school for clowns," and "the devil's mouthpiece" will definitely take on a role mentoring contestants, clearing a spot in the Simon Cowell Memorial Chair for (maybe) Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, or both. (Hey, if that seat was big enough for Cowell's ego, it can handle Minaj and Nicole Kidman's husband simultaneously.)
I can't lie and say I'm in any way upset by the possibility of a diminished role for Randy. Okay, okay…I'll miss the easy punchlines and kneejerk rage he inspired in my recaps with his relentless name-dropping and penchant for ignoring the performances in front of him (relying instead on a pre-determined script served up by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe and his minions). But other than that, "good riddance," I say.
Sure, change is scary. And yeah, I know a lot of folks subscribe to "better the devil you know." But after 11 seasons of "for me, for you," "kinda pitchy," "yo yo yo, ummm…uhhhh…so listen, dawg, check it out…" nonsense, there's no way Idol can do any worse. Right? Right?
With that in mind, I've reworked the lyrics to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" — new title, "Underachieving" — to bid farewell to Randy and to pay tribute to his remarkably consistent ability to disappoint. (Click here if you need a little musical accompaniment while you're reading.) Here we go…
Just an average Joe
But damn he made a lot of dough
He snagged an empty seat on the Idol beat
Just a waste of space?
Oh not when he would slap da bass!
He clutched his swivel chair, Simon's out of there
Young singers in a conference room
Half-choked by J.Lo's "Glow" perfume
Hit the notes, they'll be on tee-vee
It goes on and on and on and on
Viewers watching
Almost 20 million strong
They're dialing, texting through the night
Singing hopefuls
Spill their guts and their emotions
Randy, half-bored, "It's a'iight."
Phoned it in but still got paid
Nigel's script must be obeyed
Squashing threats to the "chosen ones" each and every time
Praising Lauren, crushing Haley
Season 10 brought our rage out daily
Verbal gaffes made our jaws dip low
He'd go on and on and on and on
He's a human barnacle!
He's clinging wildly to the boat
Sinking ratings
"Come on Fox, he's verbal poison!
Please give us the antidote!"
Now Randy's finally leaving
Rejoice, people…oh oh ohhhhhh
Hold up, there's no grieving
Boycott, Swaybots…oh oh ohhhh
Season 12's believing!
Tune in, people…whoa-oh-ohhhhh….
What do you think? Will you miss anything at all about Randy Jackson on the judges' panel? If so, hit the comments and share. If not, scroll down and express your unfiltered joy! And for all my Idol news, interviews, and commentary, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!Follow @MichaelSlezakTV