If the signal seems to be saturating during acquisition on a Triple Quad 5500 system using Analyst software, one option is to detune the acquisition method by using non-optimized collision energy values for the MRM transitions.
We recommend detuning the signal for an MRM transition through the collision energy (CE) parameter, which may display a more peak-like response with a clear apex over a range of voltages, and you may see a more robust decrease in signal by altering CE. If possible, refer to the CE ramp experiments completed when optimizing the acquisition parameters for each transition as a guide when selecting deoptimized CE values.
Adjusting the DP for each transition may also not be a very effective strategy to reduce instrument response. The response for DP when looking at a range of voltages on our newer instruments is not usually peak-shaped and is instead shaped like a plateau, so reducing the DP value may give the same response as a higher DP value if both voltages are on the plateau.
There are a few different types of saturation that can occur, including column saturation, detector saturation and in-source saturation. If possible, further diluting a sample can help overcome saturation issues. Dilution or the reduction in total sample volume may be considered, especially if the saturation issues are stemming from in-source saturation where the MS source is operating at its upper limit, creating the absolute maximum number of ions for a given amount of sample introduced. Use of alternative MRM transitions should also be considered to decreasing instrument response if they are not as robust as the transitions currently being used in the method.


Source - The Bodyguard, Warner Bros.
To me, the most exciting part of the computer and consumer electronics industries is also one of the dullest … storage.
Just can't figure out why it's so maligned.
A few have even proposed that like the post-PC era (ain't true) we're about to enter the post-storage era.
You know -- available, cheap, persistent, saving, protecting.
Your stuff will just be there … no lost pictures, no crashed disks, and no work product suddenly disappearing.
Until utopia is here, we'll still attend Storage Visions (just before CES).
This year's event featured Yoshiaki Shishikui, Head of Advanced Television Systems Research Division for Japan's NHK Broadcasting, who explained the work they did for the Summer Olympics and what TV is going to be like in 2020 (http://tinyurl.com/a5xzwqg).
A Peek at Tomorrow – While folks ooohhh and aaahhh at Ultra Ultra and Ultra HDTV content, NKH's Shishikui-san gave the Storage Visions attendees a peek at the kind of Super High Video (SHV) viewing they can expect in 2020. The Japanese firm tested its next-generation work at this year's Summer Olympics in Britain and it was/will be breathtaking. It's all in the capture, post production, distribution and presentation.
Super high video (SHV) made you feel like you were right there with natural 3D imagery and 22.2 multichannel sound (talk about immersion!).
Every step, from capture to delayed viewing required … tons of storage.
The way the woman in green explained the games was, "I've been watching you all night from across the room." No wonder IDC had to upgrade the world storage requirements from 30ZB to 40ZB.
Lotsa' Zeros – Even with their overly optimistic projections on the volume of content people around the globe will produce, we're continually amazing them. Last year, they boldly said we'd produce 30ZB of contentby 2020 and BAM!!! they had to increase the volume to 40ZB this year. While a lot of it only streams by and disappears, big storage buckets are still urgently needed by users, IT departments and cloud services.
Fortunately, a lot of that stuff will be transient – streaming music/video – and will never be stored.
That's a good thing because even if all of the storage suppliers – HD, flash, tape, optical – deliver on Gartner's and IDC's optimistic projections, suppliers barely keep up with demand … all of it. Of course, that assumes we consumers get ours first!
Consumer Demand – Desktop/ultrabook PCs have taken a breather in sales, but the category is far from dead as some claim. For the younger crowd, tablet and smartphone usage (and replacement purchases) will be a higher priority because of their convenience, battery life, instant connective capabilities.
Heck, we don't want much … 32GB on our smartphone, 64GB on our iPad, 4800GB OWC SSD in our ultrabook, 1TB OnTheGo portable drive, two 4TB NewerTech home clouds.
Haggard IT people and cloud sellers (formerly called outsourced storage).
They like, need that storage because they not only store their stuff but they also store all that really rich, really informative big data.
According to IDC, that big data isn't just the average 1.8M GB of information you create annually, but also that 4.1M GB of data.
It probably doesn't include all of your YouTube videos, photos, social postings and yes, that machine to machine data about you and everything. Of course, everyone wants to study that information … you know--companies, retailers, hackers, whackers and cyber bad people.
Mixed Cloud – Organizations and individuals are shoving about almost everything they can into the cloud storage solutions, even though they aren't exactly certain what the parameters, safeguards and availability are. The only people who have a good handle on the situation are the people who are out to disrupt activities or borrow information.
But most of it just sits there untagged, unanalyzed, unused because each department has its own silo of readily valuable data, and they don't share.
warehouse until someone gets around to doing something.
It probably shouldn't bother you too much except a lot of that information isn't protected…crud!
Naked to the World – Whether it's Big Data, social media posts, video or business/government documents and data, material is being produced and stored somewhere/anywhere in an increasing volume. The problem is that much of the data isn't protected or secure, and the problem only continues to grow.
Yep, it's just sitting there naked to the world … maybe. Maybe not.
Have you checked many (SLAs) service level agreements lately?
Even if you're a big company that has material stored in someone's cloud that you really want to save for legal/business purposes, it could disappear.
What if you have valuable, historical content you've asked them to archive? You know, keep it until you need it?
After the first year, about 80 percent of the content that is stored – even video content and movies –is seldom accessed.
It just makes you feel warm and fuzzy to know the information is there … just in case.
It may not be something you think much about unless you pay the data center bills. Forget the hardware cost, building cost, staff cost.
Storage Farms – Cloud storage sounds great and is in increasing demand. To meet the needs, enterprises around the globe are building massive cloud data centers to store all the stuff. The challenge/issue is that they require huge volumes of power to be instantly available, which is having a huge impact on our environment.
Data centers, by design, run at maximum capacity around the clock and consume huge volumes of energy to power and cool the systems and storage farm.
According to a New York Times investigation, digital warehouses worldwide use about 30 billion watts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear power plants.
U.S. data centers account for one-quarter to one-third of that load.
Fortunately, some folks are working on that "little" problem.
Facebook (obviously, a huge server/storage energy user) and the OPC (Open Compute Project) are working on the server issues. Through crowdsourcing, they've made some great progress in setting efficiency standards for scalable servers, storage and data center hardware.
Guess if anyone has a vested interest in lowering the cost of serving their one billion plus users, its Facebook.
The challenge is to get scalable servers that work on a restricted electrical/HVAC diet.
That's a step in the right direction. In addition, cloud storage farms and IT organizations are taking a new look at the age of content and volume/frequency of accesses.
80 Percent Rule – Industry analysts estimate that as much as 80 percent of the content presently being stored is really for archive purposes – legal, financial, historical, background data and content, which is kept just in case it is needed or for future monetization. Access to this information generally drops off to almost zero after a year even though it is retained for 10-50 years. The key goal for most enterprises is to ensure the data will be available, if ever needed, at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) possible.
Most organizations use racks of hard drives out of habit – energy usage has improved. Tape is more power conservative but has other costly side effects like constant monitoring and regular migration.
New optical-based power-down archive solutions provide safe, reliable, long-term content storage without all environmental damage. They don't require A/C or power except when accessed and they don't require replacement or migration every five to seven years.
- Data such as patient records, legal records can be requested and served up in a day.


To raise and sustain statewide funding for member organizations to help them enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
The Florida alliance, and local partnering Clubs in Florida, envisions a future in which the Boys and Girls Clubs in Florida are a catalyst for success that is in reach of every child, and whole generations of children are inspired to a high level of community engagement.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America recognizes the value of local Boys & Girls Clubs working collectively as Area Councils and creating separate state alliances under B&GCA's 501(c)(4) strategy. The purpose of the state alliance initiative is to organize a collective body of Boys & Girls Clubs into a single force of leverage and influence to secure state funding to benefit the needs of the member organizations of the alliance. State alliances were developed under the leadership of BGCA's Office of Government Relations and are considered to be separate but operating in partnership with local Area Councils to achieve the purposes outlined above.
To seek and secure resources for Florida Boys & Girls Clubs as they work to positively impact the lives of Club members with an emphasis on garnering resources for activities that result in measurable outcomes in the areas of successful academic achievement, life aspirations and juvenile crime reduction.
To ensure that the Alliance will be a responsible recipient of government and private funding by implementing effective measures and accountability standards related to programs and administration.


text:
News / Military / Afghanistan
At least 6 US troops, 6 Afghan soldiers reported killed during operation in E Afghanistan
Sunday, 09 February 2020 3:13 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 09 February 2020 3:20 AM ]
Afghan firefighters wash a road with a pipe at the site of a car bomb attack that targeted a NATO convoy in Kabul on May 31, 2019. (Photo by AFP)
At least six US soldiers as well as six Afghan troops have reportedly been killed in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province after coming under direct file during a skirmish with local insurgents.
The US-based daily New York Times cited two Afghan officials as saying on Saturday that fatalities occurred as American Special Forces were assisting Afghan army soldiers in their bid to secure an area in the province that had been overrun by Taliban militants.
Earlier reports cited spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett, as saying that "a combined US and Afghan forces conducting an operation" in the province came under "direct fire" but did not elaborate on the number of casualties in the battle.
"We are assessing the situation and will provide further updates as they become available," Leggett said.
The report further noted that the total number of casualties remains unknown.
It is yet unclear which insurgent group was behind the assault on the joint US-Afghan operation, since earlier reports had pointed to Daesh (ISIL) militants as being behind the armed encounter.
The deadly incident came as the administration of US President Donald Trump has been engaged in peace negotiations with Taliban militants in efforts to end the 19-year-old American military occupation of Afghanistan.
In his State of the Union address this week, Trump mentioned the peace talks, saying that the US military shouldn't act as "law enforcement" for other countries.
There are currently between 12,000 and 13,000 US military service members still in Afghanistan.
The development comes as a US government watchdog agency announced last week that violent attacks against US and Afghan troops have surged to record levels in the last quarter of 2019.
Violent attacks in Afghanistan surged to record levels in late 2019: US report
A US government agency says attacks in Afghanistan surged to record levels in the last quarter of 2019.
"Enemy-initiated attacks" rose sharply last year, with the fourth quarter seeing a total of 8,204 attacks -- up from 6,974 in the same period in 2018, said the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in a statement on January 31.
"A turbulent last six months resulted in increases in overall enemy attacks (6 percent) and effective attacks (4 percent) in 2019 compared to the already high levels reported in 2018," SIGAR stated in its quarterly report to the US Congress.
Attacks dropped earlier in the year but picked up again after US President Donald Trump called off talks with the Taliban near Washington after an American officer was killed in Afghanistan.
The SIGAR report further claimed that Afghanistan's security forces were struggling to take the fight to the Taliban and that they continued to rely on American military backing for more than half their ground operations.
It also highlighted an increase in the number of casualties among Afghan troops, who it said have sustained massive losses over the past five years.
The SIGAR report came two days after the US Air Force said American warplanes had dropped more bombs on Afghanistan in the past year than at any other time in at least a decade.
US dropped record number of bombs on Afghanistan in 2019
Figures released by US central command show that US warplanes dropped a record number of bombs on Afghanistan in 2019.
According to the figures released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), American warplanes dropped a total of 7,423 bombs and other munitions across Afghanistan, marking a whopping eight-fold increase from 2015.
Despite Washington's claim that its air raids target militant positions, the data released by the UN indicated the US was responsible for at least half the 1,149 civilian deaths in Afghanistan over the first three-quarters of 2019.
Afghanistan US Taliban Pentagon Nangarhar
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


My Dr Now is an urgent care center in Phoenix and is open today from 8:00am to 8:00pm. They are located at 2640 W Baseline Rd, Suite 111 and open 7 days per week.
Patients have given an average rating of 1.5 stars out of 5 for their experience at My Dr Now.
Nationally, we are seeing urgent care patients wait an average of 15-30 minutes before being seen by a healthcare provider, which would likely be the case at My Dr Now.
My Dr Now accepts many major insurance plans and multiple forms of payment, making it easier to get the affordable care you need. It is always a good idea to contact your insurance company before your visit to ensure the Clinic is in network for the service(s) you're seeking.


Rainy days are common in the South, but when it's cold and raining, what's a girl gonna do besides bake? I got my apron on and with the help of my son, we made some oatmeal cookies. Doesn't this batter look yummy??
We made small round balls with the dough and baked them in our oven.
Here's a plate of about half of them. They were delicious and the kids loved them!
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats and chocolate chips.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.


text:
/* -*- mode: C; c-basic-offset: 4; -*- */
/* ex: set shiftwidth=4 tabstop=4 expandtab: */
/*
 * Copyright (c) 2015-2016, Rice University
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Author(s): Neil T. Dantam <ntd@rice.edu>
 *
 *   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
 *   without modification, are permitted provided that the following
 *   conditions are met:
 *   * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
 *     notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 *   * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
 *     copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
 *     disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
 *     with the distribution.
 *   * Neither the name of copyright holder the names of its
 *     contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
 *     from this software without specific prior written permission.
 *
 *   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
 *   CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
 *   INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 *   MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
 *   DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR
 *   CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
 *   SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 *   LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
 *   USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
 *   AND ON ANY HEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
 *   LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
 *   ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
 *   POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 *
 */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
#include "amino/amino_gl.h"

#include "amino.h"
#include "amino/rx/rxtype.h"
#include "amino/rx/scenegraph.h"
#include "amino/rx/scene_win.h"

#include "ur10-model.c.h"

static const int SCREEN_WIDTH = 800;
static const int SCREEN_HEIGHT = 600;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    (void)argc; (void)argv;

    struct aa_rx_win * win =
        aa_rx_win_default_create ( "UR10 Demo", SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT );
    printf("OpenGL Version: %s\n", glGetString(GL_VERSION));

    // Initialize scene graph
    struct aa_rx_sg *scenegraph = aa_rx_dl_sg__ur(NULL);
    aa_rx_sg_init(scenegraph); /* initialize scene graph internal structures */
    aa_rx_win_set_sg(win, scenegraph); /* Set the scenegraph for the window */

    // start display
    aa_rx_win_start(win);

    // Cleanup
    aa_rx_win_join(win);
    aa_rx_sg_destroy(scenegraph);
    aa_rx_win_destroy(win);
    SDL_Quit();

    return 0;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
10 Most Influential Science Photographs Of All Time
Images that inspire and ignite scientific minds
Every picture speaks a story of its own. One of my hobbies, ever since I was a kid, has been to explore the historical aspects of science, physics, to be more specific. I would search the picture books of history and surf the internet going through images of scientists, scientific inventions, and events, and would try to find out the story behind those pictures, which in fact, is a very effective method to study history. I don't understand why most people find…
Europe's last forest people: the disappearance of foragers on an entire continent
Charles Hall Bodybuilding
Why Anavar Is The Most Suitable Steroid ForWomen https://t.co/2F2lWnuRn9 https://t.co/hm5OR1RxXr
Rani Baker
We Don't Know Sh*t About Dolphins, And What You Know Is Wrong
There's a Chance the Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy Is Actually a Wormhole
Ivan Amato
One Second in the Lifeblood of Us All
Cantor's Paradise
When Richard Feynman Met Albert Einstein
Tera Harmalet
A Random Story about Ants
Daniel Christian Wahl
Reweaving 'The Web of Meaning'


text:
Socfin/Bolloré Plantations: Rising Profits, Ongoing Repression
Image: Protest against SOCFIN in Pujehun District, Malen Chiefdom, Sierra Leone.
From Sierra Leone to Nigeria, through Cameroon, Guinea and Ivory Coast, communities living near the industrial palm oil and rubber plantations of Socfin/Bolloré are fighting for their rights and against repression.
On May 25th and 31th 2022, the Bolloré and Socfin groups will hold their annual meetings online amidst rising profits. Socfin's profits exploded in 2021 to reach 80.4 million euros, its highest figure since at least 2014 due to increasing prices for palm oil and rubber. These high profits are likely to continue in 2022 as the war in Ukraine has cut sunflower oil supplies and increased global demand and the price of palm oil. In 2021, the Bolloré Group, which owns nearly 40% of Socfin, also booked a staggering profit of 6 billion euros.
These profits come at a high cost for communities living near the plantations. In particular, the company's rush to get its plantations certified as "sustainable" is leading to a lot of trouble on the ground. Local communities were quite shocked to learn that Socfin had hired an international consultancy (SCS Global) to audit its African plantations in order to obtain the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate, despite many land conflicts and unresolved social and environmental issues.
Last July, local communities in Cameroon held a press conference to protest against the certification awarded to Socfin's subsidiary Safacam by the RSPO. As Emmanuel Elong, a leader of the local organization Synaparcam, put it: "Safacam does not comply with various social and environmental RSPO criteria". At least two community members reported intimidation related to the audit. In Ivory Coast where Socfin has its SOGB plantations, village chiefs and the Association of Displaced Villages also publicly expressed their opposition to SOGB's certification because of unresolved land issues.
In March 2022, the Sierra Leonean organization MALOA issued a petition objecting to the certification of Socfin's SAC plantation by RSPO. 1,475 community members signed, stating that a lot of issues were "in total contradiction to the RSPO criteria and were wrongly assessed by the auditors". Signatories now report that they are being harassed: "Land owners and chiefs who speak against the bad operations of the company or do not support the human rights abuses of the company are arrested by the police or removed as chiefs," explains a member of MALOA.
Earlier this month, the community of Marioba neighboring the Okomu Oil Palm Company in Nigeria staged a peaceful protest because the company dug a massive trench along the road between their village and the plantation. Villagers are concerned that children will fall into the trench. The company says it is needed to prevent people from stealing palm fruits, which it alleges amounts to 50 tonnes per month. During the protest, police tried to disperse the protesters. A 64-year old widow, Iyabo Butu was hit by a bullet in the knee. She needs urgent medical care and may face difficulty continuing to fish and farm. Okomu's net profit tripled last year and has doubled again in the first quarter of this year. "You talk, you will be arrested. You protest to make your voice heard, you will be shot. Now our future is in danger. How long shall we continue to endure and accept these practices of profit above human dignity?" asks Sunday Ajele, a local leader.
Socfin also provides managerial services to other plantations ridden with conflicts, as with Soguipah in Guinea. In December 2021, Soguipah workers went on strike to protest against bad working conditions and unpaid wages, and their grievances have still not been resolved. Yet, Socfin has just announced that it will cease working with Soguipah by the end of this year.
Companies like Socfin extract immense profits from the lands and labour of communities in Africa and Asia. Bolloré's continuous involvement in Socfin despite alleged human rights abuses, unresolved land conflicts and greenwashing practices is unacceptable. "We will never stop fighting for our land and we will continue to resist the repression led by Socfin and Bolloré to silence us" says Emmanuel Elong.
Action Solidarité Tiers Monde (Luxembourg)
Creatives for Justice (Switzerland)
Environmental Rights Action - Friends of the Earth (Nigeria)
Fian Belgium (Belgium)
GRAIN International
Green Scenery (Sierra Leone)
HEKS Swiss Church Aid (Switzerland)
Justiciz (Liberia)
Milieudefensie - Friends of the Earth (Netherlands)
Oakland Institute (USA)
Public Eye (Switzerland)
ReAct Transnational (France)
Rettet den Regenwald - Rainforest Rescue (Germany)
SOS Faim (Luxembourg)
Synaparcam (Cameroon)
Doing Business With the Bolloré Group
Land Deal Brief: SOCFIN Land Investment in Sierra Leone
Who pays the price of King Leopold's Bugatti?
L'ONU sommée par des ONG de rompre ses contrats avec Bolloré
Quand Washington Défendait son Champion des Palmiers à Huile au Cameroun
Cables reveal US gov't role in Herakles Farms land grab in Cameroon
Mongabay


text:
Azerbaijan Urged To Free Political Prisoners Ahead Of Eurovision
May 27, 2011 16:48 GMT
Imprisoned Azerbaijani youth leader Ruslan Bashirli
A group of Azerbaijani human rights activists and journalists is urging President Ilham Aliyev to release all political prisoners ahead of next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.
The call came in an open letter signed by more than 30 people, which was addressed to Aliyev on May 26.
Azerbaijan won the final of the pan-European contest in Germany earlier this month, meaning it will host next year's final.
"The final of Eurovision 2012 will be held in Baku and will attract the attention of the world to both the contest itself and to Azerbaijan as a whole. Therefore, we would like to draw your attention to the tense civil rights situation in the country, including violations of freedom of speech, assembly and association, and especially the issue of political prisoners, which is noted by local and international human rights organizations. This is the alarming situation of the background against which Eurovision 2012 will be held in Baku," the open letter reads.
The activists say that if no major steps are taken to reduce social tensions, then Azerbaijan will appear to be a country that is not free, despite hosting a free art event. "As you know, rock is the music of free people," the authors write.
Hikmat Hajizadeh from the Eurointegration committee, one of those who signed the letter, told RFE/RL that Azerbaijan is not an isolated island in the world.
"We have to be together with the world and Europe," she said. "We'll lose if we become a closed country. Our enemies will strengthen and we'll lose our lands."
Human rights activist Leyla Yunus said she is not very optimistic that the government will rectify all its past mistakes ahead of Eurovision 2012.
"But many believe our government is far-seeing, and one will see during the Eurovision that Azerbaijan is a developed country," she added.
The activists call on Aliyev to take steps to reduce this tension and to pardon by May 28 (the anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence in 1918) all political prisoners and jailed journalists and activists.
President Ilham Aliyev issued a pardon decree on May 26, paving the way for the release of 70 prisoners, including journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.
They include several other political prisoners, but not Baxtiyar Haciyev, recently sentenced for draft-dodging; youth activist Cabbar Savalan; and Ruslan Bashirli, a leading member of the youth organization Yeni Fikir (New Idea).
Bashirli was sentenced in July 2006 to seven years' imprisonment on charges, which he denies, of accepting money from Armenian intelligence to try to overthrow the Azerbaijani leadership in the run-up to the November 2005 parliamentary elections.
Eurovision Winners Arrive In Baku
Azerbaijani Activists Jailed Over Protest
Amnesty Launches Campaign To Free Azerbaijani Journalist; Pro-Regime Youth Fight Back


text:
Halfway to Heaven may refer to:

Music
 Halfway to Heaven (album), by Brantley Gilbert, 2010
 Halfway to Heaven: The Best of The Blow Monkeys & Dr Robert, a 2013 album by The Blow Monkeys
 "Halfway to Heaven" (Harry Chapin song), 1974
 "Halfway to Heaven" (Europe song), 1992
 "Halfway to Heaven", a 1992 song by Celine Dion from Celine Dion
 "Halfway to Heaven", a 1959 song by Conway Twitty from Saturday Night with Conway Twitty

Other uses
 Half Way to Heaven (1929 film), a film starring Buddy Rogers and Jean Arthur
 Half Way to Heaven (1931 film), a Swedish drama film
 Halfway to Heaven (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Where Dreams are Found
November 13, 2011 August 14, 2017 christophernorthjr
https://christophernorthjr.edublogs.org/files/2011/11/SonnysDream-z8yvqh-2crrtfx.mp3
Sonny's Blues
Jean Redpath
A Carnival Evening
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_Rousseau_-_A_Carnival_Evening.jpg
The song is about a young man who becomes an old man who never pursues his dreams because his mother needs him at home, sort of like Luke Skywalker's uncle needs Luke about the farm. Later in the song we are told:
Sonny's dreams can't be real, they're just stories he's read
They're just stars in his eyes, they're just dreams in his head
And he's hungry inside for the wide world outside
And I know I can't hold him though I've tried and I've tried
The lyric tells us that Sonny's dreams can't be real because they are just stories, stories from books, stories he's been told, or stories from films, television, and songs that are just made up. The school where I teach is reconsidering its curriculum. We are told on the one hand that the new standards require students to do more with non-fiction and real life type "stuff." Fiction, of course, is all made up and therefore it can't be real and cannot really tell us much about life and how it is lived, or so some would suggest to us. Of course it should be remembered that there is a great deal of non-fiction that, if read correctly, is going to be read for more than just the information it provides, that is a body of literature as worthy of study as any important work of fiction, but I fear non-fiction of this variety is seen to be as irrelevant to the school curriculum as the fiction that is being replaced.
They tell us that for the study of literature to have value it must provide students the opportunity to search and to find information. There is no point, for example, to studying Macbeth (or perhaps Edmund Burke or John Locke) if this study does not result in students learning facts they did not previously know; facts that will be useful to them in the future. The future, it seems, is all about gathering information and finding proper uses for it. I think Macbeth has much to teach us, but I do not know if there are many useful facts to be found.
The painting is of a clown and a woman standing under a cloudy, starlit sky. The title tells us it is a painting of a "carnival evening." I am not sure what an evening must possess in order for it to be a carnival, but the painting captures whatever that something is. There was an article in the New York Times, "The Children's Authors Who Broke the Rules", about Maurice Sendak and other writers of children's stories that did not play by the rules, whatever the rules are. There is much that is dreamlike, especially in Sendak, in the stories that these and other writers of children's books tell. C. S. Lewis said of his Narnia books that they began with a dream he had of a faun standing by a lamppost in the middle of a snowy wood. On one level there is, of course, nothing real in a dream. On another, though, the stuff of dreams is immensely important and it silhouettes some of the deeper realities of our lives, realities that are perhaps too difficult to face in a more realistic setting.
Even if we do not believe what the likes of Jung and Freud tell us about dreams, the literature of the world, both sacred and profane, gives great significance to dreams. Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur is packed with allegorical dreams. I particularly enjoy all the dreams that the various knights seeking the Holy Grail have. They are dreams that contain important information, life and death information, and there is always someone, usually a monk or hermit of some kind, who can tell the knight what the dream means. On at least one occasion the interpreter of the dream is a fraud whose interpretation of the dream is also a fraud. Dreams being what they are, it is not difficult to spin them in a number of different ways, not all of which are enlightening. There is a message here as well; that it is not enough to dream, but it is also important to understand our dreams correctly.
Nightfall down the Thames
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grimshaw-NightfallThames.jpg
But what has all this to do with curriculum standards and the usefulness of fiction? Aristotle thought that poetry, and by poetry we soon realize he means story telling, has value because, unlike history, it does not tell us what has happened, but what might be. Aristotle also thought that stories show us how a philosophy of life might be lived out. They answer (or suggest answers) to questions like: What are the implications of our philosophy for our futures? How do our beliefs guide our choices? What does our philosophy teach us? The problem with non-fiction, or much of it and certainly the kind of non-fiction the proponents of the new standards seem to have in mind, is that it just presents information that we can accumulate, it does not make us wise, it does not teach us what to do with the information once we acquire it. The paintings above and below are of seaports, one on the River Thames and one on the River Clyde. This is suggestive because these seaports are not on the sea but on rivers that lead to the sea. What is important is not where we are, but where we can get to from where we are. What is important in what we read is not the information that is conveyed, but where that information can take us. A manual that shows us how to properly set up and configure our computers tells us nothing about why we would want or need to set up and configure that computer in the first place.
Shipping on the Clyde
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shipping_on_the_Clyde.jpg
Both of the seaports are shrouded in mist. This mist limits our vision, we cannot see as far in a fog as we can when the horizons are clear and sunlit. To read for information only, without a clear idea as to what the value of the information is, or to even care if it has value, is to read in a fog and at the end of the day all we will have is information without an imagination adequate enough to put that information to good use, or to pass judgment on it and discard it when it has no use or is, worse yet, deceptive or unhealthy. I was told when I was in school that medieval scholars believed everything they read in books, even when what they read in different books was contradictory. This was both a strength and a weakness; a strength because it prodded them to seek synthesis, to find a way to bring these contradictory ideas together to reveal a hopefully deeper truth. A weakness because it produced a kind of naiveté that gave greater value to some of what they read than was warranted or even wise. There is something of this medieval view in the attitude we are being encouraged to take towards non-fiction. It is what justifies the teaching of informational texts in place of literature. But reading for information only is not reading critically, it is premised on the belief that what is written in books must be true and therefore can be trusted.
I am sure that I am oversimplifying the new curriculum standard and the way it is being presented, but one of the things that reading literature does, if we read deeply and well, is to make judgments about characters and ideas and the implications of the actions of the characters in the stories. When we read books like The Catcher in the Rye or The Turn of the Screw we must evaluate the narrators and the validity of the stories they are telling us. For even if these narrators truly believe the stories that they tell and believe they are telling us what happened as it truly happened, we see throughout their narratives that they are not reliable witnesses. In many ways they are the most convincing witnesses against the truth of the story they tell. We in our lives will encounter every day people who will tell us stories that cannot be true, even though on occasion the people telling the stories may honestly believe in the truth of the tale they tell.
When we read fiction well we are learning from experience, from experiences we are having with other people who, even if they are fictional, are forcing us to make judgments about what they say and do and we avoid these judgments to our peril. If we read the books mentioned above for information alone all we know at the end of the story is that Holden Caulfield had a harrowing few days in New York City and a child died in a governess' arms. What we do not know is whether the most harrowing events are taking place in the city or in the mind of the young narrator or if the governess is the child's protector or his killer.
Château Noir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Cézanne_026.jpg
There is another value to reading fiction and that relates to Aristotle's first point about the value of stories; that they show us what might be. They stimulate the imagination. Neal Stephenson in an article in the World Policy Journal, "Innovation Starvation", suggests that many of the advancements in science and technology that took place in the 1950's and 1960's had their origins in science fiction novels that speculated about the future. And even where the predictions in these novels did not come to pass, they still stimulated the imagination. Stephenson talks about waking up early to watch the old Gemini mission launches. I remember waking up to watch not only the Gemini launches, but the Mercury launches as well and like Stephenson I followed the space program from its glorious beginnings to its more mundane ending. It seems to me that as our cultural imagination went into decline so did our cultural ambitions. We exchanged a dream of visiting other planets and solar systems for a fleet of celestial cargo ships. When the imagination necessary to pursue the dream declined and vanished, the dream died. It is not necessary that the new dreams that replace the old involve space travel, but they do need to involve something large, something that inspires and rekindles our enthusiasm for accomplishing the sublime.
https://christophernorthjr.edublogs.org/files/2011/11/ErezLiebermanAidenWhatWeLearnedfrom5MillionBooks_2011X-11yo4j8-2nuk66j.mp4
What We Learned from 5 Million Books
The video is not just about collecting books digitally so that they will always be with us, but about the power of language and the value of preserving that language. Aiden and Michel in their presentation point out that much has been lost and is unrecoverable from antiquity. It may be that much, even most, of what has been lost has been lost for good reason. But we cannot know that for sure. There was a review of a new book by Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve, in the Guardian, "The Swerve: How the Renaissance Began by Stephen Greenblatt – review". The book tells the story of the re-discovery of Lucretius' book On the Nature of Things, a book that had been lost for many centuries and existed only as oblique references in the work of other ancient authors. The name of Lucretius was known as was the name of the book, but the book itself was lost. This book that was lost and was found went on to inspire many Renaissance writers, thinkers, and scientists. The Guardian is of the opinion that Greenblatt's claims may be a bit exaggerated, but it recognizes the value of the book itself.
In another review in the New York Times, "The Almost-Lost Poem That Changed the World" (which you must be a subscriber to the New York Times to read) Greenblatt is quoted saying, "I am constantly struck," Greenblatt told The Harvard Gazette in 2000, when he was named a university professor, "by the strangeness of reading works that seem addressed, personally and intimately, to me, and yet were written by people who crumbled to dust long ago." And this is at the heart of why we read literature. Books are letters of a sort, a kind of correspondence where we communicate with those long dead because the content of the conversation will always have relevance if we take the time to understand what is being said to us. Maimonides, St. Paul, Confucius, Homer, Scheherazade, and all the other writers long dead who continue to inspire the living and, if given the opportunity, many generations to come, desire to chat (and I use this word not to be flippant but to suggest the intensely personal nature of the conversation) with us. Like Socrates in the Agora they engage us with questions about life and how it is lived and what gives it meaning.
And even if we do not agree with their conclusions there is value in letting them help us shape our own conclusions, if only by accepting the challenge to think as deeply about things as they have thought, so that our conclusions, though different, will be as acutely considered. Or as Sarah Bakewell, quoting Petrarch, pointed out later in her New York Times review of the Greenblatt book, "Gold, silver, jewels, purple garments, houses built of marble, groomed estates, pious paintings, caparisoned steeds and other things of this kind offer a mutable and superficial pleasure; books give delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us and join with us in a living and intense intimacy." I wonder if a book can have an impact this profound if it is read solely for information, or what is worse, if the only books we read are those that provide information to be gleaned without inspiring the reader to do much of substance with what's been found.
Red Tree
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/mondrian/mondrian_red_tree.jpg.html
close-reading, dreams, fiction, imagination, information, inspiration, non-fiction1 Comment
One Day, Maybe
March 14, 2010 April 11, 2010 christophernorthjr
Longer Boats
Pebble in the Sky Cover
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pebble_sky_cover.jpg
I grew up in the 1950's and 60's, my father was an aerospace engineer and I grew up with the space program. I also grew up with science fiction and the belief that very shortly, probably in my lifetime, we would be visiting other planets with an eye turned to other galaxies. Many thought that before long we would be seeing photographs resembling this cover illustration from one of Isaac Asimov's science fiction novels. But somewhere between then and now other things began to occupy the culture's interests. The song Longer Boats enjoyed a bit of popularity in the early 70's and it is, as the singer tells us, about space ships. But the space ships never arrived, except in the movies.
In the movies the space ships brought two kinds of folks. There were those like ET who looked frightening to us (as we looked frightening to him) and the alien with his robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still who were either just curious and met us no harm or were actively committed to our welfare and saving us from ourselves. On the other hand there were those, like the folks in the Twilight Zone episode "How to Serve Man" or The Invaders from Mars that were committed to our destruction. There were also creatures like The Blob who were just hungry and had no real thoughts for us at all.
Martian Sunset Spirit Rover
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
This photograph probably comes as close as any to resembling the cover art found on the science fiction novels of my youth. It is of the sunset on Mars and was taken by one of the Martian "rovers" that have spent quite a long time exploring the surface of this planet. It takes my breath away every time I see it. This is not a painting but the actual surface of another planet as it looked on a certain day. There are no people there to share in this experience only the machines we have sent in our place, but this is the real dirt and dust and mist of Mars. There are some for whom the spirit of exploration has not died who would like to see this story taken a step further and to see people walk this land. But I am not sure that there are any longer enough who are committed to making this happen. Our budgets are smaller and our interests closer to home.
There were a couple of articles recently, one in the Los Angeles Times on the science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson ("Kim Stanley Robinson maps the future's gray areas") and one in the Washington Post on "New science fiction and fantasy novels" that remind us that science fiction as a genre has not gone away even if the desire to make it fact has somewhat abated. These writers often focus on this planet and how life on it might be different in the future or, in the case of Robinson in the past in ways that affect the future. Science fiction writers have always enjoyed imagining a future earth that has been transformed by human misbehavior. There is one story I particularly enjoy about a man working on his doctoral dissertation who is coaxed through an opening in the wall of his apartment to a parallel universe. What fascinates me about this story is that nearly every character in it is the man writing his dissertation at different points in time. But it was Ray Bradbury's journey to Mars that awakened my imagination to the possibility of one day doing on Mars what the Martian Rover is doing now.
Galaxy Photograph (Crossfield/Beletsky)
The image above is a photograph taken of a distant galaxy. I think it was taken from the Hubble telescope orbiting in space, but I am not sure. But it, and others like it, resembles paintings made by Jackson Pollack, or at least these photographs suggest Pollack's paintings to me. I do not know if Pollack had an interest in science fiction or astronomy but this resemblance interests me. Is the universe, like a Pollack painting, somewhat chaotic in its organization or do the kaleidoscopic displays of colors and patterns in both the painting and the universe suggest creative imaginations that think alike. The resemblance certainly suggests that art does not need to be representational to be beautiful.
Perhaps the imagination that sees beauty in random placements of color on canvas is not unlike the imagination that sees stories in the stars. We look at the stars and see bits of color on a dark night sky but our ancient ancestors saw bears and hunters and creatures of various kinds going about their business. Perhaps what we call mythology was a kind of ancient science fiction. That those that told these stories got the same thrill from them that I got from Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein. I am told, and what I have read of the mythology suggest this is true, that the classical mythmakers believed the stories they told, that they were not merely the products of vivid imaginations but a kind of history. Plato believed (or suggested he believed) that those that told the stories of Homer and the other classical writers of myth were possessed, were not in their right minds, but a bit mad. Many think the same thing about Pollack and painters like him. Perhaps his is a mythic madness as well.
Jackson Pollack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lavender_Mist.jpg
The stories change us though or at least they changed me. The myths from antiquity suggest we live in a universe populated by many strange and wonderful beings. The science fiction I read as a child and as a young adult and still read to this very day, suggest the same thing about the universe, that it is inhabited by strange and wonderful beings and if some of the beings that inhabit these stories are not kind or benevolent, well, the same was true of many of the beings that inhabited the popular myths of the ancient world.
But what makes a storyteller. As I have grown up I have seen film become the avenue of modern storytelling. I have seen its special effects grow from the sparks that propelled Flash Gordon's space ship to the warp speeds of starships and the grace and elegance with which these starships moved. But it also seems that as the ability to make magic with special effects increased these effects started to replace the stories. Aristotle acknowledged the place of spectacle in story telling but he believed that spectacle oughtn't to become the story but should always serve the story.
James Cameron TED Talk
James Cameron talks here about his love of science fiction and of how that love helped to shape him into a storyteller. Like many skillful storytellers he has been accused of borrowing his stories from others. There is probably some truth to this; there are only so many stories to tell, after all. But he creates worlds where wonderful and at times terrifying things happen. Do his stories exploit their special effects, does the spectacle over shadow the stories his films tell? Some think so. But even if they have their limitations they are powerful. Personally I have been more troubled by the limitations of some of his actors than by the inadequacy of his stories.
Three Suns (JPL)
It probably does not matter that much of what happens in a good science fiction story uses flawed science, they are exercises in what might be and perhaps in the worlds they travel different rules apply. How would we be different if we orbited three different suns that appeared at different places against the sky? The three sunned landscape of this illustration has a kind of beauty and I wonder what kind of life could develop on such a planet. But how does imagining such things make life better on a planet with one sun?
There is something in the human character that is curious and wants to know even if there is no practical value to knowing a thing or in speculating about an outcome. Stories often help us to entertain this curious bent of the imagination. And it has often happened that in entertaining the mind with such nonsense great things have been accomplished. The space program may not have solved the world's problems but it did give us Tang, microwave cooking, and the laptop computer. Jonathan Swift ridiculed the speculative scientists of his day by accusing them of attempting to pull sunlight out of cucumbers. Science may not have succeeded in pulling sunlight out of cucumbers, but they have given us ethanol, something not very different.
Is the object of science to make our lives better, to make us more comfortable, or to understand how to use our resources more effectively and to understand the forces of nature that have created those resources. If the former, science only has value if it can solve our problems. It must produce practical results or it is not worth the investment. If the latter the results are somewhat superfluous because the study of science is not about what it can do for us, but the knowledge it gives and the insights it provides into the universe we occupy. It has usually happened that this knowledge has brought with it practical applications that have solved many problems, but this is just a by-product and not a purpose. So, is the joke on Swift or on us? Perhaps it depends on whether we view science as an end or as a means to an end, as spectacle without much in the way of a story to tell or the intelligence, or an aspect of that intelligence, behind the scenes that drives the story.
art, fiction, knowledge, science, science-fiction3 Comments


text:
Why Venezuela's struggle must be our struggle
By Antonio de la Cruz
Venezuela is imploding. Rank mismanagement under both Hugo Chavez and his heir, current President Nicolas Maduro, has sent the economy spiraling out of control. The reckless pursuit of a Communist utopia has left everyday supplies scarce, including basic foodstuffs and medicines, while decades of autocracy have shattered Venezuelan democracy.
Venezuela's shocking reality should be a concern for all Americans, not only the community of almost 300,000 Venezuelan expats. To allow such damaging, naked oppression to go unanswered on our doorstep would undermine the United States' ethical standards and global influence.
In the meantime, Venezuela is paying a steep price for its leaders' utter neglect. For 14 years Chavez, and since 2013, his hapless successor Maduro have gambled on Venezuela's oil riches to subsidize social programming. But the energy bubble has burst, and the country has nothing to fall back on. With no alternative productive industry, Venezuela's economy is left with nothing more than a massive debt of about $120 billion, leaving financial default a question of when, not if. And yet, Maduro continues to blame the situation on a fictitious "economic war" being waged by opponents.
The impact on everyday Venezuelans is becoming more unimaginable by the week. The world's highest inflation rate has made the local currency practically worthless. Not that there is much to purchase. People wait in line for up to six hours simply to buy a carton of milk. Meanwhile, Venezuela's own pharmaceutical federation chief has highlighted problems distributing up to 80 percent of the country's medications. The light is quite literally in danger of being switched off in Venezuela, with increasingly frequent power outages. One way or another, a humanitarian crisis is looming.
Decades of authoritarian rule has left a neutered opposition. Street protests against Maduro's government in early 2014 were met with government violence, leaving at least 40 people dead and 650 injured, while many of the thousands arrested were tortured. Meanwhile, opposition leaders have been routinely arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges.
[More Opinion] Florida's anti-democratic 'poll tax' will cost voters — and hundreds of millions of dollars | Opinion »
Although the remaining, working opposition recently won a crushing victory over Maduro's Socialist Party in December's parliamentary elections, the overall system leaves them with little genuine power. The regime-backed judiciary has already vetoed parliamentary initiatives and granted Maduro fresh "emergency" powers. Like some of history's most notorious dictators, Maduro retains a veneer of democratic institutions, manipulating them to maintain his own authority. In reality, Venezuelan democracy is becoming a relic of the past.
And so, few options are left if Venezuela is going to change. Perhaps the only remaining significant option is international pressure. Although much of the Western world has disowned Venezuela's 'Chavista' rulers, the international community's potential impact should not be underestimated. As the bottom continues to fall out of the country's economy and the walls close in on Maduro to find an answer, he will inevitably be forced to look toward global markets and international relief.
Latest Viewpoints
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This gives global powers, and in particular the United States as the pre-eminent regional force, real leverage. There has been much talk already in this election cycle about a new America, a great America. Standing up for Venezuela is surely what this means. This is why the current drive toward normalization with Cuba must come at a price — Havana must know that full ties with Washington are dependent on reform by their comrades in Venezuela.
If we are serious about democracy prevailing in today's world order, then America must make its voice heard. Starting with the candidates for Senate and Congress in this very state.
With by far the largest number of Venezuelan Americans in any one state, if Florida's representatives won't raise their voices, then who will? Venezuela's suffering will soon reach the point of no return. The time for action, is now. The alternative is dire both for Venezuela's survival and America's soul.
Antonio de la Cruz is a political analyst and chairman of the board of the Venezuelan American Leadership Council www.venezuelan.us


Happy Valley Telephone Company proposes an aerial installation of 48 count fiber on existing aerial pole line. The existing pole line generally follows CA-3 and several logging roads between Covington Mill Trinity Center from post miles (PM) 53.81 to 57.91 No excavation wold be required.
City: Covington Mill Location Specific: The proposed project is located in Trinity County on State Route (SR) 3 between post miles (PM) 53.81 and 57.91. Near Covington Mill and cross street Long Canyon Road.
Caltrans has determined the project to be categorically exempt in accordance with Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) Class 1(b)-Existing Facilities of both investors and publicity-owned utilities used to provide electric power, natural gas, sewerage, or other public utility services. Project implementation will have no adverse environmental impacts.


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This compelling invention, Vehicle Magic-Spark Plug Intensifier Kit, is designed to increase ignition energy of the spark traveling through the spark plug electrodes to improve horses, mid-end torque, speeding up and economy throughout the RPM range. Magic-Spark CDI booster uses an electromagnetic flux generated by wide spectrum triple-core capsules which are installed on the ignition leads. The capsule-joint is governed by a microcontroller that delivers the capsule's fluctuating voltage signal, which is then assigned with a suitable waveform, frequency and cycle, making it capable of maximizing the firing power in the combustion chamber. Magic-Spark prevents the plug electrodes from gathering carbon deposit.
There are three requisites to make engine run, they are fuel, air and spark. Whilst the A to F mixture is deemed as the material of combustion, the igniter spark is the governor. It's a common arithmetic; within reason, the higher the firing energy an ignition system can produce, the more explosive torque can be delivered on the crankshaft. More torque is equivalent to more useable horsepower. A plug is a part for delivering electric current through sparkplug wires, from an ignition system to the combustion chamber to ignite the compressed Air-Fuel mixture by an electric spark. Magic-Spark Performance Sparkplug enhancer kit is a system that intensifies the spark of a spark plug while an engine is in operation. Research says that 20% to up to 40% of the gasoline that is consumed by an internal combustion engine remains un-burnt during combustion and is expelled right through the exhaust system. This phenomenon of un-burnt fuel has been recognized throughout the automotive industry and plenty of alterations have been tried, especially, in the development of sparkplugs. It has been recognized that intensifying the spark of a sparkplug has beneficial results. By reducing the energy loss, you can improve combustion energy and boost engine horsepower accordingly. That is the theory behind the Dacia Magic-Spark Spark plug intensifier. Intense electromagnetic flux created on and around the sparkplug wires boosts the ignition performance associates with the spark that travels through the gap between ground and center electrode. The spark will be much more stabile and instantaneous throughout the engine strokes thanks to the spark promotion attributable to the Vehicle Magic-Spark Plug Intensifier. Intense spark will result noticeable performance level increase, less fuel consumption and easier cold start. Because the higher firing energy that is produced by an independent electromagnetic flux works like an amplifier, neither further ignition upgrade nor modified heat range sparkplug is required. You can adapt your Magic-Spark Dacia plug intensifier kit to either stock or aftermarket performance ignition. The CDI enhancer works cooperatively with any aftermarket CDI box.
The Dacia Magic-Spark plug intensifier is a standalone electronic device that piggybacks on the existing ignition system's ignition leads. It makes the ignition spark much more intense and most importantly, it is set to just the right amount of spark intensity. Once this inventive performance ignition add-on is installed on the engine, you will get more pony, smooth throttle sensitivity and enhanced pep. irrespectively of ignition system type, i.e. CDI, Magneto, Electronic, the Magic-Spark plug intensifier is available for all ignition systems except for coil-on plug, direct ignition. Magic-Spark Dacia Ignition enhancer is non-installable on coil-on ignition systems featuring direct coil sitting directly on the spark plug connector. Please check your ignition system or feel free to contact us prior to purchase.
This spark plug intensifier energizes the arc of the sparkplug, energizes the spark and causes your Dacia's run much better. Magic-Spark prevents the sparkplug electrodes from gathering carbon deposit by boosting sparkplug efficiency. Magnum Plug Ignition Energizer will promote a more efficient burn of AFR mix during combustion process which translates to an increase in pony and fuel economy. irrespectively of ignition system type i.e. CDI, Magneto, Electronic, Magic-Spark plug intensifier is available to all ignition systems except for coil-on plug, direct ignition. Vehicle Magic-Spark Sparkplug enhancer is non-installable on coil-on ignition systems featuring direct coil sitting directly on the spark plug connector. Please check your ignition system or feel free to contact us prior to purchase.
Car Sparkplug intensifiers are a rarity when it comes to your enthusiast since these tune-up upgrades were so hard to find before, but now you do not have any excuses for ignoring it. Let Magnum assist you while shopping and your Car be different! Choose Dacia Magic Spark Plug Ignition Intensifier today and get the benefits tomorrow. 7 skilled technicians at Magnum Manufacturer Tech Staff is looking forward to guide you. Your Dacia Ignition Energy Booster will have you wondering why you did not to this sooner. If you want to augment the torque of your system with a high-tech Car Sparkplug intensifier to add a little more horsepower and acceleration, we have you covered: choose Magic Spark Plug Ignition Intensifier from Magnum where each claims is warranted. To produce better torque and horsepower has never been an easy job, but the revolutionary Dacia Magic Spark Plug Ignition Intensifier does this instantly after it is mounted on the factory ignition system and starts to modify the igniton lead of your Car.


We didn't need a multi-part, multimedia series of reports to know the Boston Public Schools fail to deliver a first-rate education to many students. Achievement scores and college completion rates among its graduates are more than enough to make that point. But the approach taken by a Boston Globe project that was published on Sunday brilliantly underscored just how dismal things are in the state's largest school district.
The year-long effort focused on valedictorians from Boston high school graduating classes of 2005 through 2007. These are not students in the muddled middle or below, whose struggles after high school might be expected, but the cream of the crop at each high school, the students who would be expected to go on and shine in pursuit of college degrees and successful careers.
The reality, sadly, was often far from that hopeful scenario.
The paper tracked 93 of the 113 valedictorians from those years. One of four did not complete a bachelor's degree within six years of finishing high school, 40 percent are earning less than $50,000 a year, and four have found themselves as far from the top as one could get — by experiencing bouts of homelessness.
Just 14 percent of those who shared salary data with the paper now earn more than $100,000 a year. That compares to 35 percent of valedictorians earning more than that amount in a survey of Boston suburban communities.
The top-of-their-class graduates faced all sorts of hurdles after high school. The story of Michael Blackwood, valedictorian of Hyde Park High School's class of 2006, captures the range of them, including family turmoil and financial stresses and an overwhelmed feeling that he was not ready for the rigor of academics at Boston College, where he got a full ride scholarship.
"I felt like Hyde Park High School did nothing, really, to prepare you for a school like Boston College," he told the Globe.
Blackwood ultimately got an online degree from a New Jersey college after becoming a father and losing his scholarship to BC. He's now a sergeant in the army.
The Boston story is actually a tale of two entirely different systems, with valedictorians from the city's three selective-admission exam high schools generally doing well. It's at the system's low-achieving open enrollment high schools, which a report last year ripped, where even the top-performing students struggle to succeed after graduation.
There are all sorts of reasons that no doubt contribute to the troubling pattern with Boston grads, including the cost of higher ed and lack of support there for students who are often the first in their family to attend college.
One glaring shortcoming in Boston: The district does not require students to complete the standard core academic curriculum the state considers a necessary foundation for college success. It's a set of courses that more than 90 percent of other students in the state are required to take to graduate, including those in Chelsea and Lawrence, districts that, like Boston, serve overwhelmingly low-income, minority student populations.
Perhaps most damning, the Globe says, talk by recently-fired superintendent Tommy Chang of requiring Boston students to follow the MassCore curriculum sequence was met with pushback within the system from those who worried it would drag down the district's graduation rate.
The Baker administration will unveil its proposal today to revamp the state's education funding formula in conjunction with rolling out its fiscal 2020 spending plan. (Boston Globe) The Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center releases a video explainer on the state of education funding.
WGBH News tries to explain to fourth graders in Abington why large portions of the federal government have been shut down for more than a month.


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text:
Porsche and Boeing to Build 'Premium' Flying Vehicles
Despite all the talk, it feels like we've been waiting for a working VTOL prototype from one of the big aviation/motoring players for decades now. But things might be moving quicker than we think if the latest announcement from Porsche and Boeing is anything to go by.
Porsche and Boeing have signed a nonexclusive agreement to build electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles with a probable view of entering the much talked about flying taxi market. According to a statement, the two companies will 'create an international team to address various aspects of urban air mobility, including analysis of the market potential for premium vehicles and possible use cases.'
Given Porsche's reputation, it's not too much of a stretch to think that the 'premium' aspect of things will mean any service will be marketed towards the higher end of things, and as much is confirmed by Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG:
"Porsche is looking to enhance its scope as a sports car manufacturer by becoming a leading brand for premium mobility. In the longer term, this could mean moving into the third dimension of travel […] We are combining the strengths of two leading global companies to address a potential key market segment of the future."
Porsche's own forecasts suggest that the urban air mobility market won't 'pick up speed' until after 2025, so don't expect any prototypes in the immediate future. That said, it's certainly something to keep an eye on. Take a look at the full press release over at the Boeing Website.
2018 was a big year for VTOL transport with Uber unveiling their plans for flying taxis, set to hit Los Angeles as early as 2020. As well as announcing their Flying Taxi Prototype, Uber also released some renderings for their planned 'Skyport' landing sites which will be used as pick-up and drop-off points when UberAIR gets the go-ahead.
Aston Martin Announces Its First Motorbike in the AMB 001
This is the All-New £30,000 Bugatti EV
Lamborghini Debut First-Ever Sian Hybrid V12 Supercar


There are a number of well known professional racquetball coaches that put on weekend long camps, Jim Winterton and Fran Davis, in particular.
In 2018, Cliff Swain and Sudsy Monchik return to putting on a series of camps at LifeTime Fitness locations in events sponsored by Gearbox Racquetball.
Get signed up for these early! The registration links are below.
Next Next post: Women Making Racquetball History Now!


Circa 1950 with original instructions. A bowl of fire turns into flowers. From the Vampire Magic Company. Hallmarked. In great condition. (there is no red knob. i Placed something under it so you could get the complete profile in the photo).


Imagine a better America. An America where one morning, every illegal alien had magically disappeared. All 15-20 million. What would happen?
Twelve-million jobs would open up with cost-of-living wages. Our schools would benefit over $50 billion per year because we wouldn't be educating 5 million anchor babies and illegal minors. Our prisons would have a 27 percent vacancy rate, saving another $10 billion annually.
Thirty to 50 billion dollars wouldn't be sent out of the American economy every year. State welfare and health care systems would realize hundreds of billions in savings nationwide.
Dare we citizens to dream? If we denied jobs, welfare, health care and education to all the people who aren't supposed to be here, America's economy would see a trillion-dollar turnaround each and every year.
If we want to create jobs, improve education and turn the economy around, all we have to do is dispose of all illegal aliens. We can't continue to be a welfare society with an open border-Mother Theresa mentality.
The time has come to fix what's wrong with our country! Maybe the one-finger salute should replace the torch in the Lady's hand.


Magda Wegrzyn is a visual artist, doctoral researcher and independent curator born in 1986 in Poland. In her works she deals with connections between visual perception, technology, and communication. She is currently a DFA researcher at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, where she obtained her M.A.
In 2013- 2014 she was a visiting DFA researcher at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki; In 2010, she studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Palermo. She collaborated with the Center of Contemporary Art in Torun, Poland (2012) and was honoured with a CIMO Fellowship and a Scholarship of The President of Torun, Poland in 2013. Magda also held the Marshal of The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Artistic Scholarship (2012 and 2010). She has participated internationally in various solo and group exhibitions.


The Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang is Krabi's best-value resort offering serious-minded MICE experiences as well as a playful sense of tropical fun. The resort's central location is ideal for hosting a wide range of events, including seminars, conferences, wedding banquets or product launches. An extensive array of activities, diverse cuisines, professional services and facilities, as well as a choice of adapted, modern accommodation ensure that groups are well-catered for.
Refresh yourself in the resort's modern rooms while taking in stunning views of in scenic Ao Nang Bay. When all the work is done, enjoy a cocktail at the pool bar or just relax at the lobby library.
Located directly on scenic Ao Nang Beach, the resort is approximately a 30 minute drive from Krabi International Airport.
Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach is ideal for hosting a wide range of corporate events or formal gatherings. Our Ao Nang Orchid Rooms offer flexible arrangements, extensive catering options, innovative technologies and space that can host up to 150 participants.
Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach provides a magical setting for you and your partner to start your new life together. The resort offers a number of beautiful, private options for both the ceremony (either traditional Thai or a modern western style) and post-wedding celebrations. A dedicated events team will plan your wedding to perfection, be it a simple garden affair or something more extravagant with shows and entertainment.
Fresh seafood, chilled cocktails and tropical fruit juices await at the Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach's stylish, laidback venues.
A convenient poolside location offering a delectable variety of light snacks, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks make this family-friendly swim-up pool bar venue an ideal place to recuperate after a long day.
This swim-up bar invites all those in the pool looking to quench their thirst. Located near the activities area, the Island Bar is where sun-drenched guests hang out for a cold cocktail or a frozen beer.
Prominently located on the roof of the resort lobby, InnAsia is blessed with panoramic views of Ao Nang Beach and the sparkling waters of the Andaman Sea. The menu features fresh seafood, exotic fruit juices and a unique selection of beverages and cocktails.
Krabi's most amazing sunsets can be enjoyed with a chilled cocktail at this cosy beachside venue. Take your pick from a selection of classic cocktails and ice-cold beers, or simply unwind with a glass of wine with your family and friends.
The resort has 173 beautifully appointed rooms and suites spread out amongst landscaped tropical gardens. This wealth of modern accommodation with garden, pool or sea views suits the needs of couples and families, as well as business travellers.
The 88-sqm Family Suite offers two connecting rooms. A themed kids' room with its own ensuite bathroom connects to a larger room for parents. Equipped with a large flat-screen TV and DVD player, the Family Suite also has a private balcony with views of the resort pool.
The 75-sqm Kids Suite offers a private kids' corner with bunk beds, a large flat-screen TV and DVD player and a spacious room for parents. Enjoy pool views from the privacy of your own balcony. Maximum 2 adults and 3 children only.
Located on the top floor of the resort, the 87-sqm Penthouse Suite is a lavish space that invites unwinding after a long day in the boardroom. The suite features a spacious balcony with sun loungers and its own plunge pool. Relax, soak up the sun or watch the magnificent sunset over the Andaman Sea. Maximum 2 guests. No children allowed.
Enjoy the newly designed room with direct pool access and premium amenities tailored for two. Enjoy exclusive benefits including complimentary wine upon arrival, happy hour with canapes, chocolate turn down service, free first filled minibar and much more. Maximum 2 guests. No children allowed.
Our Pool Access rooms enjoy a convenient ground-floor location with direct access to the large freeform swimming pool. Comfortable sun loungers on a spacious balcony are great for relaxing and soaking up the sun.
These extremely spacious rooms are found on the third floor of the Couples Wing and offer 63-sqm of living space with magnificent views of Ao Nang Beach. The huge private sun balcony is a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery. Maximum 2 guests. No children allowed.
These spacious and comfortable 37-sqm rooms feature a choice of a king-size bed or two single beds. Relax on sun loungers on your private balcony as you take in views of the sparkling freeform pool. Maximum 2 guests. No children allowed.
Featuring a fresh modern design, the Pool View room overlooks the resort's freeform swimming pool. The rooms include large flat-screen TVs with DVD players and an alarm clock with a docking station. Stay connected with complimentary Wi-Fi in the privacy of your room and throughout the resort.
These newly designed 44-sqm rooms feature views of the resort's tropical gardens. The rooms also include large flat-screen TVs with DVD players and an alarm clock with a docking station. Stay connected with complimentary Wi-Fi in the privacy of your room and throughout the resort.
Offering a peaceful haven from the bustle of Ao Nang, the Holiday Inn Krabi Ao Nang Beach is still within walking distance of the main shopping and entertainment centres. Outside of the resort, enjoy boating excursions to nearby islands, adventure sports, scuba diving and snorkelling.
Hong Islands, belonging to the National Marine Park, are four unspoiled islands within the Koh Hong archipelago. These islands can be reached within 20 minutes from Ao Nang by speedboat, or 45 minutes by long-tail boat. Set against the spectacular backdrop of Phang Nga Bay, with its countless rocky outcrops, the islands are rightly considered to be among the most beautiful in Krabi.
Fossil Shell Beach, some 17 kilometres west of Ao Nang, was once a large freshwater swamp, home to a particular variety of snail which lived in the Tertiary Age about 40 million years ago. These snails lived and died by the millions, their shells forming a fossilised layer upon the rocks.
The clear tropical waters surrounding Krabi is home to some of the region's most vibrant marine life. Dive sites include the local islands in Ao Nang Bay, the Phi Phi Marine National Park, King Cruiser Wreck Site and Shark Point Marine Sanctuary.
Southeast of Krabi Town is the Hot Springs Waterfall, where visitors bathe in natural hot tubs with waters that heat up to as much as 50 degrees Celsius. These waters cascade down the boulders before dipping into a cool stream.
A 10-minute drive east of the waterfall, the Khao Nor Chu Chi Wildlife Sanctuary is said to be the last patch of lowland rainforest in Thailand. It's also one of the few habitats of an endangered bird called Gurneys Pitta.
Krabi's dramatic limestone cliffs offer some of the best rock climbing in the country. Mostly located on the Railay Bay Peninsula, these sea-facing climbing routes involve crags, steep pocketed walls, overhangs and hanging stalactites, and are suitable for both beginners and professionals.


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text:
Russell Young
Russell Young Biography Sell Russell Young
All Art (0)
Screen Prínts. (0)
Newly Featured
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Andy Warhol Screen Print
Karen Kain, 1980
Kimiko, 1981
Judy Garland Blackglama from the Ads Series, 1985
ID # W-5588
Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967
Roy Lichtenstein Screen Print
Reflections on Brushstrokes, from the Reflections Series, 1990
Sam Francis Acrylic
Untitled Acrylic, circa 1982
$47,500 $25,000 ID # W-6401
Andy Warhol (22 available works)
Frank Stella (15 available works)
Mel Bochner (5 available works)
Rob Pruitt (1 available works)
Why Russell Young?
Artist Russell Young's artworks adorn the homes of President Obama, Brad Pitt, and David Bowie, and his popularity continues to rise among British and American collectors.
Have one to sell? Sell Russell Young fine art with us
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Russell Young Biography
Russell Young (British, born 1959)
Browse Russell Young Catalogue Raisonnés Online.
Born in 1959 in Northern England, Russell Young began his artistic career studying photography, film and graphic art at the Chester Art College. He was taken on as an assistant for Australian photographer Christos Raftopoulos, who met Young while he was living on the streets of London, homeless. The artist pursued his career in photography by immersing himself into British nightlife, in his own projects shooting live club shows of well-known musical artists such as R.E.M. and the Smiths. This exposure helped him to land work photographing for magazines, album covers, and portraits of famous artists and celebrities such as Morrissey, Bjork, Springsteen, Dylan, New Order, and Diana Ross. With his presence firmly grounded in the entertainment industry, quite fittingly Russell Young found himself directing music videos during the MTV boom. Despite his ties to pop culture and the mass market, Young would take extended breaks from directing to tend to his pastime of painting. Eventually his hectic lifestyle as an editorial photographer and music video director could no longer fulfill his creative aspirations as it once had, deciding to pursue painting and transition into a fulltime career as a fine artist.
As a painter, Russell Young is known for his portraits of iconic figures, the recurring subject across his oeuvre. Focusing on these celebrated idols for their impact on society and culture, his recognizable images are often compared to that of pop artist, Andy Warhol. His recent work consists of combining painting and photography to achieve stunning results, including his notable and frequent use of Diamond Dust, individually applied crystals that are pressed into the surface of his artworks, creating a mesmerizing effect that makes each piece unique. This remarkable technique produces beautiful images, but is not done so without conceptual purpose. By combining haunting imagery with luxurious material Young believes he can glamorize any image, while seducing the viewer to have a push and pull effect.
Russell Young currently lives and works in California and Brooklyn. Having been featured in galleries nationwide, including notable fine art capitals London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles, his pieces have graced the auction block at Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips in both the United States and the UK. Noteworthy collections include Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, David Bowie, Aby Rosen, and more, Russell Young is one of the most desired, sought-after working artists of today.


text:
Visit National Parks Near Los Angeles
United States California Los Angeles
All Los Angeles
How Long it Takes to Drive to These Popular Outdoor Attractions
Lauren Himiak
Lauren Himiak is a freelance writer and editor, and has visited all 62 national parks in the United States.
Mint Images - Frans Lanting/Getty Images
Whether you're visiting Los Angeles or you live in the Valley and want to escape for a weekend in nature, there are several National Parks within driving distance of Los Angeles.
From taking a boat to the Channel Islands National Park a little over an hour north of the city to driving more than 12 hours to Oregon's Crater Lake National Park, there's no shortage of beautiful places to spend your vacation on the West Coast.
Keep in mind that you'll likely need to stay overnight at or near many of these destinations—especially the ones that are over eight hours away. While some of these parks allow tent or car camping, you may have to book a hotel in a nearby town or city if you want to stay the night.
Channel Islands National Park: 2 Hours
TripSavvy / Alisha McDarris
Just over an hour north of Los Angeles (66 miles), you can embark on a journey to visit a set of five islands off the coast of Southern California known as the Channel Islands: Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara.
Anacapa is the closest island at just 14 miles from Ventura, which is great for visitors with time constraints, and offers the chance to scuba dive in Middle Anacapa and catch a glimpse of sea lions on Arch Rock. On the other hand, San Miguel is the furthest away at 55 miles from Ventura and is home to five seal species who mostly congregate around Point Bennett.
Santa Cruz is the largest island and features the most diverse collection of wildlife among them, but visitors are only allowed on the eastern end due to strict restrictions put in place by The Nature Conservancy to preserve the environment of species like the island fox and island scrub jay.
The Channel Islands are only accessible by park concessionaire boats and planes from the Visitor's Center in Ventura or by chartering a private boat elsewhere along the coast. Driving directions from Los Angeles are relatively simple: take the US-101, then take Exit 64 to Victoria Ave toward Channel Island Harbor, make a right onto Olivas Park Dr and follow it around to the Visitor's Center.
Joshua Tree National Park: 2.5 Hours
TripSavvy / Chris VR
131 miles to the east of Los Angeles–on the other side of Palm Springs—Joshua Tree National Park contains over a million acres of desert landscape.
Named for the yucca-like Joshua "trees" that create an ethereal and picturesque landscape in the California desert, this National Park is considered a sacred and ceremonial ground for different groups of people around the United States.
Joshua Tree is great for rock climbing, hiking, birdwatching, wildflower photography, and excellent views of the stars at night. Occasionally, some event organizers even throw small festivals and gatherings throughout the year.
When driving from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree, take I-10 east and then either exit toward Yucca Valley to enter the park from the north or continue on another 30 miles to the exit at Chiriaco Summit to come into the park from the south.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park: 5 Hours
TripSavvy / Vince Fergus
Ranging from 1,500 to 14,494 feet in elevation, and there are two adjacent parks 218 miles north of Los Angeles that protect immense mountains, deep canyons, huge trees, and diverse habitats: the Sequoia and the Kings Canyon National Parks.
The famous giant sequoia trees are among the largest living plants in the United States, and great groves of these trees—including the General Sherman Tree—can be found in Sequoia National Park. Here, you'll also find Mineral King Valley and Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental U.S.
Nearby in the mountain wilderness of Kings Canyon National Park, you can explore two enormous canyons carved out by the Kings River as well as the summit peaks of the High Sierra that dominate the landscape.
If you're driving from Los Angeles, you can take the I-5 North until you come to the turn-off for I-99 N toward Bakersfield / Fresno. Stay on I-99 N to Exit 30, toward CA-65 N to Porterville. When you come to Lindsay, turn right onto Road 204 N then right onto CA-198 E, which leads right into the park.
Death Valley National Park: 4.5 Hours
Death Valley is the largest national park unit outside of Alaska and includes more than three million acres of wilderness area. This large desert, almost entirely surrounded by high mountains, also contains the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. The area includes Scotty's Castle, the grandiose home of a famous prospector, and other remnants of gold and borax mining.
Located about 266 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Death Valley is full of breathtaking views, unique geological features like the natural bridge and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, and even several campgrounds, cabins, and a resort so you can spend the night in the park.
Driving to Death Valley from Los Angeles takes about four and a half hours along CA-14 N, US-395 N, and CA-190 E.
Yosemite National Park: 6 Hours
Yosemite is home to some of the nation's most spectacular waterfalls, meadows, and ancient sequoia trees and is located another 100 miles north of the Sequoia National Park, about 340 miles away from downtown Los Angeles.
Within its 1,200 miles of wilderness, visitors can find all sorts of natural beauty—wildflowers, animals grazing, crystal clear lakes, and amazing domes and pinnacles of granite. Additionally, Mariposa Grove is home to more than 200 sequoia trees including the 1,500-year-old Grizzly Giant.
As with the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, driving directions from Los Angeles are relatively simple. Instead of turning off from I-99 N, continue past until you get to Fresno, then take Exit 131 to merge onto CA-41 N toward Yosemite.
Grand Canyon National Park: 8 Hours
About 486 (to 507) miles to the east of Los Angeles, the Grand Canyon National Park attracts over five million people each year. The main attraction of the park, the Grand Canyon, is a mammoth gorge that stretches over 277 miles and showcases amazing depths of colorful geology. It boasts some of the nation's cleanest air and much of the park's 1,904-square-miles are maintained as wilderness. Visitors cannot help but be blown away by stunning views from almost any vantage point.
There are a variety of ways you can experience the Grand Canyon, including camping out overnight, going on a hiking tour, or even riding a mule down the steep slopes to the bottom. Additionally, there are several top-rated hotels and resorts within a short drive, and the nearby city of Flagstaff is a hidden gem of Arizona with plenty of places where you can dine, enjoy a show, or spend the night.
There are a few ways you can drive to the Grand Canyon from Los Angeles, depending on which way you want to approach this massive attraction in the Arizona desert. No matter which way you decide to leave Los Angeles, you will eventually need to make your way up to I-40 via the I-15 N, the CA-177 N, or the US-60 before coming into Flagstaff; AZ-64 N will take you straight to the Grand Canyon from there.
Lassen Volcanic National Park: 9 Hours
SteenJepsen / Pixabay
Lassen Peak erupted intermittently from 1914 to 1921 and, before the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington, was the most recent volcanic outburst in the contiguous 48 states. Active volcanism at the park includes hot springs, steaming fumaroles, mud pots, and sulfurous vents.
Located 563 miles north in California, the best time to visit this mountainous region is late spring to early fall. However, the best time for a scenic drive through the park is in August and September while the winter months offer the chance to cross-country ski or snowshoe.
Driving directions from Los Angeles are fairly straightforward: take I-5 N 510 miles to Exit 649 onto the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway in Mineral (CA-36 E), which leads directly through the park about 50 miles later.
Redwood National and State Parks: 12.5 Hours
Comprising 45 percent of all the old-growth redwood forest remaining in California, this park—together with four other parks in California—are a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. The ancient coastal redwood ecosystem preserved in the parks contains some of the most majestic forests scenery anywhere in the world.
At 734 miles from Los Angeles, you should plan on at least 12 and a half hours to make it up to the Redwood National and State Parks—and stopping halfway up the 101 isn't a bad idea so you can get a day-time view of the forests when you arrive.
To get to the Redwood National and State Parks in northern California from Los Angeles, you can take the US-101 all the way up, but it saves you 40 miles and nearly an hour to take the I-5 N to the I-580 W before merging onto the US-101 in San Francisco. Once you've passed the city on the 101, take it north approximately 300 miles until you come to exit 753 for Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway.
Crater Lake National Park: 12 Hours
12019 / Pixabay
If you've got a long weekend to kill and want to take a trip to California's beautiful northern neighbor, Oregon, Crater Lake National Park is just 725 miles away from Los Angeles—and it will take you just under 12 hours to drive there.
It is hard for visitors to forget their first view of Crater Lake. On a clear summer day, the water is such a deep blue many have said it looks like ink. With stunning cliffs towering over 2,000 feet above, the lake is tranquil, stunning, and a must-see for all who find beauty in the outdoors.
Formed when Mount Mazama, a now-dormant volcano, erupted in about 5,700 B.C. the crater left by the volcano collected rain over the centuries to eventually form Crater Lake, which is the deepest in the United States at 1,900-feet deep.
You can easily get to Crater Lake from Lassen Volcanic National Park because you just need to follow I-5 past where you turned off for Lassen. From there, continue to the town of Weed, California, where you'll take exit 747 to US-97 N, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. Continue on US-97 N about 80 miles before turning left onto OR-62 W just after Modoc Point.
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Heroic welcomes Martin "Stavn" Lund on trial!
The journey started August 2016, when the members of "Team X" created the organisation Heroic built on friendship and dedication to the game. Many top tier players have been brought up and molded in the Heroic family, names such as gla1ve, valde, niko and many more.
Heroic has always been and will be an organisation which build and develop around the players, aiming to be the very best. With some of the greatest players in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene of today, we strive to compete among the best teams in the world.
With unshakeable pillars of friendship and dedication to the game, you can follow our quest to cement ourselves in the world of e-sports.