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Posts Tagged 'Sports'
Posted by silentarchimedes on June 20, 2010
I really enjoy watching and playing soccer. I've been looking forward to the World Cup ever since the last one. And it's nice to see that soccer has developed more of a following in America, and there seems to be more excitement this year. However, when you look at some of the things that has already happened in South Africa, you start understanding more why professional soccer still hasn't taken a foothold (pardon the pun) here. In no particular order, here are reasons that can make a fan flabbergasted at soccer.
1. Vuvuzelas – Ok, seriously… I understand that if it's part of a long tradition in South Africa, it's fine, but it's just not true. They became only popular in the 1980s, and introduce in the past couple years to international soccer play. It would be fine too, if it was a few vuvuzelas that provided added excitement and atmosphere, but it is soo loud that players have complained about how it affects their communication and concentration on the pitch. Watching on TV, I can't even hear the typical sounds of competition, such as cheering, yelling, chanting, ref whistles, etc. It's a continuous annoying buzz that drowns out all other noise. How is that a respect for the game? If you want to talk about African tradition, how about some drums or African music? That would a really nice atmosphere.
2. Low scoring games and draws – There's nothing specifically wrong about low scores, but when clean sheets (shutouts) are more the norm than not, it gets a bit boring. Look at these stats for the first round of the knockout phase
– Only 25 goals were scored in the 16 games.
– An average of 1.56 goals per game.
– Thirteen times a team did not score, 15 times a team scored only 1 goal, 3 times – 2 goals and Germany scored four goals in their game.
Which leads to the abundance or high chance of a draw. Of the 16 games in the first round, six ended in a draw (two 0-0, four 1-1). That means 37.5% of the games ended in a draw.
3. Subjective refereeing – Due to the low scores of soccer games, so many issues that normally would be minor are magnified because they can affect the outcome of the game. There have been so many bad calls by referees it's hard to really appreciate the game. Two that already stand out are the denied US go-ahead goal in the Slovenia game (not to mention all the other bad calls in that game), and the two missed handball fouls (on the same play) on Brazil's second goal against Ivory Coast.
Bob Bradley – "There are times when a referee blows a foul and now thinks either he didn't make the correct call on the foul or a previous play," Bradley said. "Then literally, as soon as the free kick's taken, he blows his whistle."
Since writing this post, there's been two other obviously bad calls by referees that have impacted the game. The phantom off-sides call on Clint Dempsey's goal against Algeria and the disallowed goal off the crossbar against England's game tying goal against Germany. Unbelievable.
4. Jabulani – The controversy over the playability of the ball every single World Cup is absurd. Just play the game! Imagine hockey players complaining about the puck, or NBA players complaining about the ball (ok, it did happen once), but stop being so sensitive. Either that, or FIFA needs to establish a standard ball, like in the NFL, and stop making everything a marketing campaign.
Dutch women - Guerilla advertising campaign
5. Orange mini-skirts – Ok, I had to throw this in there, even though I understand FIFA's reasoning in protecting sponsors and making sure guerilla advertising campaigns don't occur, but still, who arrests beautiful girls in miniskirts at a sports game?? Kick them out if you have to, but arrest? Go after the beer company if you have to, but to arrest the pawns of the campaign? All FIFA did was bring more attention to the guerilla advertising campaign, and show more the heavy-handedness of FIFA.
6. FIFA – The FIFA governing body reminds me too much of the International Olympic Committee – business suits with big egos and a lack of understanding and sensitivity to its fanbase. FIFA has always enjoyed the subjectivity of soccer because it believes controversy increases awareness and passion for the game. Well, not really. Not if you are trying to break into the United States market. Americans want fairness and want calls to be called right. The controversy surrounding USA's third goal in the Slovenia game does not make casual fans follow soccer more, it makes them more skeptical of soccer's fairness. FIFA needs to get off its high horse.
FIFA also hates technology in the game, but when the entire stadium sees the ball cross the goal line in the England-Germany game and the refs disallow it, it's obvious that simple replay to determine if the ball crossed the goal line must be added. All these horrible calls by refs are ruining the sportsmanship and integrity of the game.
7. Penalty kicks – Penalty kicks are fine, if they were rewarded similarly to penalty shots in hockey, but they are not. They are given for hand balls in the penalty box, if the ref thinks there is any hint of intention. And the subjectivity of whether the hand ball denied a scoring chance is absurd. Even if there was going to be a scoring chance, the chance of a goal is so small. Usually a penalty shot in hockey is only awarded on an obvious breakaway. Of the 28 games through Sunday, June 20, five penalty kicks were given out (4 scored, 1 missed). Two of the five had an impact in the game, whether it was the winning or tying goal. Considering how low scoring the games are, it's somewhat unfair that penalty kicks play such a big part in a soccer game.
8. Inaccuracy – Sometimes you wonder if the players are kicking a soccer ball for the first time in their lives. These guys are professionals and they practice kicking a soccer ball in all possible scenarios so often, whether it's at the goal in or outside the penalty box, or a through ball to the striker. So why do so many balls sail waaaaay high over the crossbar or to the side of the goal? Why do so many corner kicks go so far to the other side and out? Why so many through kicks go either too far or too fast? I understand that many times players are trying to be too perfect or they are under too much duress, but seriously? So many of them are just pathetic.
When you look at the precision of other sports, such as Kobe draining a perimeter shot at the buzzer, or Ovechkin putting on evasive maneuvers to score a late winning goal, or Alex Rodriguez crushing a 96mph fastball into the seats for a walk-off homer or many other sports, it just makes soccer look somewhat random regardless of skill and experience. Especially to the casual observer.
9. Two yellows -> red card -> missed match – Just like the handball-penalty kicks, the way soccer handles yellow cards, red cards and automatic missed match has hints of unfairness. Once again the penalty is too severe for the foul. Not only do you get kicked out of the current match, but you also cannot play in the next game. Since yellow cards are already subjective, it seems so unfair if someone was to get a second yellow early in the game (the first one from the last game), that means an automatic red card, which means he's ejected from the current game and the next game. For all intents and purposes, a foul in two separate games has cost him and his team two matches.
Oh, and not to forget, when he gets ejected, his team cannot replace his position in the game, which means his team must play a man down! Three penalties for two yellows on a player, and we know some yellows are pretty minor fouls. For reference, if you get a game misconduct in hockey, the other team gets a power play (man advantage) for a few minutes, and the player is ejected only for the current game. Umm, soccer might want to adopt a similar penalty system.
10. Racism – Unfortunately because of the passion, alcohol and whatever other reason, we still hear stories of players having to deal with raucous fans shouting racial and derogatory phrases at opposing players. There's no place for racism in sports, especially in this day and age. Sports in the United States are more integrated and the population is more diverse than most international cultures. To read about this in soccer, the supposedly most popular sport in the world, it simply turns us off from the sport.
11. Too much passion – Americans are passionate about their sports, especially their football, but we don't kill a player simply because they messed up. We might affect them psychologically to the point their careers and lives are destroyed, but we won't take their lives away. There's already been a couple instances of this occurring in soccer, and it just seems like the sport is a little over the top.
12. Egos – Players not wanting to train (French team this World Cup)? Player getting kicked off the team in the World Cup for cursing out the coach (Anelka of the French team)? That's just the most obvious in this World Cup, but because the players are national and international heroes and they are one of the highest paid athletes in the world, their egos are also the size of, well, the world. Some of the players have more loyalty to their club team or themselves than their national teams. For example, there were so many questions of the Brazil national team because most of them play on the European club teams now.
13. Lack of sportsmanship – When flopping and diving is considered an art, something is wrong with the sport and the sportsmanship the players exude. Because the players know they can get away with it, sportsmanship goes out the window and they want that instant unfair advantage. What about the Ivory Coast player getting elbowed in the chest by Brazil's Kaka, only to fall and cover his face as if his face is in pain? Seriously, is this sportsmanship? What about players diving in the ending minutes of a game to waste time only to see the other team drag him off the pitch? Sportsmanship, guys!! Have some! In football, if you waste time, you get a 15-yard penalty. No one wants to see that. Oh yeah, not to mention Zidane's headbutt from the last World Cup.
14. Soccer is 90 min + ? – Another referee subjectivity. They determine how much injury time to add to each half, but they only have to tell the rest of the world roughly how many minutes it is. Only he knows the exact time the half or game ends. What the…
It's unfortunate because the game is actually very tactical and requires a lot of teamwork and skill. However, because of the subjectivity, the rules and the commercialization of the sport, it has turned off the big casual market in America.
What other reasons do you guys think can turn off the casual fan from soccer?
Posted in Opinion, Sports | Tagged: Dutch women, FIFA, football, jubalani, miniskirts, penalty kicks, soccer, Sports, sportsmanship, vuvuzela, World Cup | 1 Comment »
Can Alex Rodriguez jump like Cody Ransom? 60in vertical landing jump!
Posted by silentarchimedes on March 14, 2009
I must say this short YouTube video of Alex Rodriguez's replacement while he's out with an injury, Cody Ransom is pretty impressive. The guy is 32 years old this year and still has major ups. He IS 6'2″ so he might get thru as a small point guard in the NBA, but still… They should make the vertical landing jump a measurement in addition to the traditional vertical jump in the combines, not that it correlates well in a real football game.
Posted in Opinion | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, baseball, Cody Ransom, jump, Sports, vertial landing jump, vertical jump, Yankees | Leave a Comment »
Q&A on the baseball steroids scandal (FAQ)
Posted by silentarchimedes on February 13, 2009
1. What are steroids?
IUPAC recommended ring (left) and atom numbering (right) of the steroid skeleton. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
There are many types of steroids, and most of them are natural and required by animals, plants and fungi to survive. The scientific definition is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion. Common steroids include estrogen, testosterone, and cholesterol. Technically, cholesterol is a sterol, which is a combination of steroids and alcohol. The former two are in a category called steroid hormones. These steroids include the sex hormones, corticosteroids (topical steroids are used for skin rashes, etc), and anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids are the ones used by athletes because their main purpose is to increase muscle and bone synthesis. Because they are related to the testosterone sex hormone, they also have effects of maintaining masculine characteristics, such as growth of vocal chords and body hair. Anabolic steroids were first identified and synthesized in the 1930s.
2. What is the legal status of anabolic steroids?
Most countries classify steroids as controlled substances, which means that they are illegal to produce, distribute, possess and use without written prescriptions from authorized medical officials. These countries include the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands (NL), and the United Kingdom (UK). However, they are readily available over the counter in Thailand and Mexico. Hence the underground availability of them in the U.S.
However, the status of anabolic steroids is recent considering its 1930s identification. They had no legal status prior to the 1980s and were common in many sports, including football and bodybuilding. It was not until the Ben Johnson controversial Olympic victory that they were placed under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States.
3. When were steroids banned in Major League Baseball?
1991. There is a huge misconception that steroids were not illegal in Major League Baseball (MLB) before 2004. This is completely false. The truth is that they were officially banned in 1991 when Commissioner Fay Vincent sent a memo to all teams and players that illegal drugs, including steroids are illegal. [1][2]
"This prohibition applies to all illegal drugs and controlled substances, including steroids or prescription drugs…"
The exact same memo was resent by the MLB office in 1997. [3] The reason 2004 is used as the official year was because the rule was not enforced from 1991 until the pressures of Congress forced testing to become official in 2004.
4. Who is responsible for allowing steroids to become a problem from 1991 to 2004?
MLB Commissioner during the Steroid Era
This is the ultimate question. Although guilty players have gotten most of the blame for the problem, logically they were only the end result of the problem. The commissioner and owners turned the other way because the lockout of 1994 had caused baseball to drop precipitously in popularity. An historic home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa seemed the perfect antidote for low ratings. The players' union, in trying to protect their players' privacy and rights, instead seemed like they were protecting cheaters instead of looking out for the interests of innocent players. The players who used were at fault because they cheated and lowered the integrity of the game. However, it is unfair to fully blame players who felt pressured to take PEDs after seeing a culture that created unnatural stars. It seems, at least for the moment, that Arod fell into this camp. Innocent players should also shoulder some of the the blame because almost all chose the silent route when questioned if their was a problem in the game. Instead of looking out for the interests of the game, they chose to stick to union lines and protect cheating players that indirectly hurt themselves. It's hard to fault fans that wanted to see more offense, especially home runs, simply because baseball without all the hits and runs can be construed as boring. Finally, testing for steroids and especially HGH was simply not at a point yet that MLB was comfortable with.
5. What notable players have been tainted by steroids, HGH or other performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)?
Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield, Lenny Dykstra, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Ken Caminiti, Matt Williams.
This is only a list of notable players. Tens of second tier players have also been outed by the Mitchell Report. Another 103 are on the list of 104 anonymous players who tested positive in MLB's steroids survey in 2003. Alex Rodriguez is the first name to be leaked from that list.
6. Should players tainted by steroids allegations be allowed into the Hall of Fame?
This question won't be answered for at least a decade. There's a reason why retired players have to wait five years before becoming eligible for the Hall of Fame. This is to allow any attachments and emotions to the player to subside before making a more objective decision. However, the criteria for entering the HOF has always changed with the times and generations. As much as people question the statistics of the Steroid Era, baseball has always allowed questionable players into the HOF. Until the whole steroids influence is fully understood, statistics of all players who played during this era cannot be fully appreciated. At this point, the steroids players are simply the ones that have been caught. To assume someone is clean because they haven't been caught is naive. It is getting to a point that either all players are treated equally in the Steroid Era (whether they were caught or not or were clean) or that no one gets into the HOF. However, this question won't be answered for a decade and perceptions may change through the years.
7. What paths have players accused of steroids and PEDs taken when 'outed'?
Ranging from complete silence or denial to complete admittance and regret, players have had a wide range of reactions when cornered by PEDs allegations. The ones that have been most apologetic have had most success in resuming their playing careers, even if it meant a tainted legacy. Those that have shown completely no remorse or have put the blame on non-believable entities have been vilified by the public. The paths taken by the most notable players include, from strongest denial to strongest admittance:
–Complete denial and knowledge of taking steroids, even when confronted by overwhelming evidence and federal investigations, continue to stick to their stance (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens)
–Complete silence and avoidance of issue (Mark McGwire)
–Complete denial then silence when overwhelming evidence surfaced (Ralphael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa)
–Vague admittance and apology when caught (Jason Giambi)
–Full admittance and regret but with excuses such as injury or peer-pressure (Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez)
–Full admittance and then assisted officials with information about steroids, suppliers and other players (Jose Canseco, Jason Grimsley)
Notes: This Q&A is not official and is simply my personal interpretation and understanding of the steroids scandal. I will add more questions and answers as they come up. If you would like to see a Q&A added on here, please add it in the comments section and I will gladly update the post.
Posted in Ethics, Health and Fitness, Science and Math, Sports | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, anabolic steroids, Andy Pettitte, Barry Bonds, baseball, Benito Santiago, Bud Selig, cholesterol, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Fay Vincent, Gary Sheffield, Hall of Fame, HGH, human growth hormone, Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Lenny Dykstra, Mark McGwire, Matt Williams, Miguel Tejada, Mo Vaughn, PEDs, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Sports, steroids, sterol | 3 Comments »
Bud Selig – Baseball's incompetent commissioner
Posted by silentarchimedes on February 9, 2009
On the same vein as my previous article, an argument that greed is the root of the steroids scandal in baseball, the current economic crisis and global warming, there is one other commonality among the three problems, a void of leadership. One can even argue that greed becomes rampant only at the behest or ignorance of the leadership. In the three problems stated, a lack of leadership for years is what has led to the current situations. Let's look at the steroids scandal in particular.
There is something special about baseball. Through all its scandals (Black Sox, race, recreational drugs, Pete Rose and gambling) it has always ended up doing the right thing and upholding the integrity of the game, even if it meant banning its all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, or several of its top players (Black Sox scandal – Shoeless Joe Jackson) for life. No player or players were above the game, and the commissioners knew this. The commissioners also knew they were not above the game and although they existed at the whim of the owners, they were supposed to put the interests of the game at the top.
MLB Commish - Bud Selig
Well, something happened in 1992. An owner (Milwaukee Brewers), Bud Selig, was unanimously picked by the owners to become the ninth commissioner of baseball. Since 1992, he has allowed baseball to fall into a steroid scandal by ignoring the ramifications of performance enhanced statistics on the game. Any stories about players juicing were swept under the rug because of increasing television ratings and attendance due to historical records falling every year. Instead of looking out for the interest and integrity of the game, Selig exchanged it for higher revenues. Even in the past 7 to 8 years when everyone knew of the oncoming collapse, he acted in a very condescending way, as if the problem was not bigger than the game. (This sounds just like our past president and administration on the Iraq War and the current economic crisis?) Consider these players that have now been tainted by performance enhancing drugs:
1. All-time leader in home runs in career and in a season, Barry Bonds
2. Expected future all-time leader in home runs and one of the greatest players in history, Alex Rodriguez
3. Considered best pitcher in the past 25 years, Roger Clemens
4. First to break Roger Maris' decades long single-season home run record, Mark McGwire
5. Most seasons with 60+ home runs, Sammy Sosa
6. Other 400+ home runs, Jose Canseco, Ralphael Palmeiro, Garry Sheffield
The leader always sets the trail for others to follow...
That list is too remarkable to ignore. The leader must be held accountable. Selig has been commissioner or acting commissioner since 1992, about the time hints began about steroids usage. Although he might not be the cause of the problem, he allowed it to fester and grow and grow. Players that would not have used steroids were eventually compelled to use it due to lesser skilled players on par with them now because of PEDs. This is simply human nature. It is now a scandal that won't go away. As much as the players need to be held accountable for their actions, the leader also needs to be responsible for his lack of action.In any other institution where people are held accountable, the leaders are replaced by the board. The board of the United States, the citizens, overwhelmingly voted the Republicans out of office in the past elections. Even in corporations, strong board of directors have been known to push incompetent CEOs out. However, similarly to baseball, when the board is closely tied to the leader, this almost occurs too late. In baseball, when the owners overwhelmingly approve of an incompetent commissioner that was once an owner himself, then the checks and balance system fails. In my previous article, Baseball as America's Pastime continues to fall further into the past, the popularity of baseball has decreased more and more as society's attention has shortened. To compensate for such pressures, Selig's actions were always for short-term gain (ie interleague play) at the expense of long-term interests.
It is time baseball cleaned itself by removing its commissioner and the players that have cheated. It is apparent that without the pressures of Congress, Selig would not have voluntarily instituted stringent drug testing. Even to this day he acts as if nothing is wrong and that history will view him as a good commissioner that brought baseball back from its dark lockout days (Sound familiar?) As a big baseball fan, until there is strong leadership that is interested in cleaning up the game, then the game itself has lost its allure, the allure that I used to have as a kid in the 1980s watching Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield…
Posted in Ethics, Opinion, Sports | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, arod, Aroid, Barry Bonds, baseball, baseball commissioner, Black Sox, commissioner, gambling, leader, leadership, PEDs, Pete Rose, Sports, steroids | Leave a Comment »
The need for greed. And they all fall. What Arod, recession and global warming have in common.
What is going on with the world today? Many of the institutions and systems we grew up with and believed in have crumbled faster than a crumb cake in front of Santa Claus. This morning sports fans were shockingly (or not) met with news that one of the few remaining baseball superstars to not be tainted by the steroids scandal, Alex Rodriguez, failed an MLB steroids test in 2003. Considering that this news was corroborated by four independent sources, and based on past evidence of such news, this story likely has meat behind it. As the Barry Bonds', baseball's all-time home run king, steroids perjury trial heads to court, we wonder if there is anything sacred anymore in sportsmanship and fair play. The list now includes Bonds, Arod, Marc McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Raphael Palmeiro. All were heroes and idols to millions and millions of kids and sports fans.
Sports is nothing, however, compared to the deepening economic crisis affecting the country. But, then again we need to ask ourselves how did this country fall into such a dire situation in the first place? With news of unemployment reaching 7.6%, worst since 1982, most Americans are sensing a pessimism in the country and its leadership they have never felt before. Corporations that have long been stalwarts have wilted after years of trustworthy service. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG, just to name a few. Even General Electric has fallen on tough times due to untrustworthy leadership expectations and financial exposure. Then there are the frauds of individuals, such Bernie Madoff, and corporations, such as Enron and Global Crossing.
Then there is the global warming and energy crises. Due to the irresponsible and rampant use of oil and other natural resources, and the irresponsible output of chemicals into the air, river and ground, the natural balance of Earth has come under question. Dire predictions of sea levels, global temperatures, forestation, glacial coverage, droughts and diseases have left us wondering is there any hope left? Will there exist a viable Earth in 100 to 200 years?
It is truly amazing that all three of these problems have one major thing in common. Greed. Greed. Greed. What is most disturbing is that the situations did not become problems until the ultimate greed kicked in. Arod was already a once in a generation baseball player back in high school. It is fair to say that he did not do steroids as a teenager as his body structure was simply too small. Bonds was a skinny player with the Pirates but was already a five tool player on the path to the Hall of Fame. McGwire was an amazingly talented rookie with the Oakland Athletics. Why did they feel the need to use steroids and become even better than they already were? Why risk already amazing career trajectories with such greed?
Similarly, the financial companies that have gone bankrupt or bought up were very viable and successful companies (some for over a hundred years) before the ARMs and hedge funds became en vogue. Why the greed to do such risky investments in order to raise the bottom line and stock price? Was it all due to increasing stock compensation packages of executives? Was it all worth it? To dupe millions of unknowing citizens just for more personal money? What about Madoff? An already well-respected and wealthy investor; what caused him to risk everyone's money (including hundreds of other wealthy individuals and companies), just to make more money for his firm?
Finally, the earth has remained relatively stable ever since the existence of man. However, since the Industrial Revolution and especially since the widespread use of combustible engines, there has been this disregard for the side effects of using such resources. Coupled with research in biochemistry and synthetic compounds, the effects of pesticides, mercury, lead and carbons have led to a precarious global balance. Millions of animal species extinct or on the brink of survival.
Are humans, the supposedly most "intelligent" species with opposable thumbs, in fact, the dumbest species ever? Just imagine outsiders writing about the history of man and what they would write about, especially the past 150 years. Just imagine what they would write about western civilization. Just imagine what they would say about the population numbers. Or about technology and medical research? Is this the final goal of evolution? We have reached the ultimate in special survival… our only enemy is ourselves? The whole purpose of natural selection is the survival of the strong. However, part of natural selection is natural balance. A species never wants to become too powerful because then their food sources and natural enemies would disappear. Humans have, in essence, overcome both these natural laws. Through natural selection (our brains and opposable thumbs) we are far and beyond the most powerful species. In a relatively short time, our population and power increased beyond control. Humans have no more natural enemies. The machines we have created are unmatched and only destructible amongst ourselves. So what does this all mean?
The human world does not have a checks and balance system. Nature and other species have always acted as the equalizers. The closest thing that comes to that is the United Nations, and everyone knows how ineffective it is. Additionally, idealistic political systems such as communism and socialism have proven futile. Even checks and balance systems, such as the one in the United States, has a limited efficacy, as witnessed by the politics, lobbyism and other issues. Nature is having a difficult time balancing the effects of human greed and power. Diseases and natural disasters are becoming minimal in damage due to medical research and better disaster predictions. Without any natural enemies, we are left to govern ourselves and our future. As exciting of a possibility that is, the track record of that has been phenomenally pathetic.
Posted in Economics, Ethics, Health and Fitness, Opinion, Politics, Science and Math, Sports, Technology | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, arod, Barry Bonds, baseball, Bear Stearns, economic crisis, economy, energy, evolution, global warming, greed, Madoff, money, natural resources, oil, polar bears, power, recession, Sports, steroids, unemployment, Yankees | 6 Comments »
Posted by silentarchimedes on January 22, 2009
Here are my 2009 predictions. None that are too far out there. Just a basic assessment of what I think might happen in 2009.
Barack the Celebrity
Obama's approval ratings remain historically high but lower than the inauguration euphoria – Obama's ability to inspire change and leadership at such a dour time in America gives him public leeway not seen since, well, 9/11. However, Obama's pragmatism will help him keep the country on course and inspired throughout 2009. He has already made key changes in ethics regulations and state diplomacy in his first days in office. The only thing that will stop him will be… Congress.
Don't expect much from Congress – Congress had lower approval ratings than President Bush in 2008, even with the Democratic majority and push for change. Expect the same from Pelosi and Reid, who are not strong leaders and have plenty of personal ambitions to prove Congressional strength to the Executive strength. Couple with the Republicans fight for relevancy, expect a 2009 of posturing and tit-for-tats. 2010 seems like a better year for Congress because the public will side with Obama over the frustrating bureaucracy in Congress in 2009.
The market moves sideways – There will be strong forces pulling the economy from both the recession side and the growth side. It is what I call the economic paradox. As the economy falls, oil prices drop and the US Dollar rises (somewhat surprisingly). However, as global growth resumes, oil demand and commodity prices rise again and the US Dollar falls (since investors will begin investing in riskier assets instead of US Treasuries). Both are problems for America. Obama seems focused on passing bills and bailouts that will help light a fire under the economy, especially job market. However, the more he does the more inflation becomes a risk. Expect several major rises and several major slides, but by the end of 2009, the Dow Jones will still be in the 7500-9000 range.
Gold surpasses $1000/oz again – Because of the economic paradox, gold will continue to maintain its safe haven status in 2009. One of these days, gold will surpass $1000/oz again. In looking at the GLD chart, gold hit a low in mid-Nov 08 and has since built a nice rising linear resistance that it bounded in early Dec 08 and mid Jan 09. If gold breaks the upper linear resistance of $900/oz expect $1000/oz in Feb 09. If it does not expect a pullback. Aside from the technicals, 2009 is still a year of unforeseen economic strife and that will keep the price of gold high. Depending on where the economic paradox is at the end of 2009, gold will either be well above $1000/oz or testing it's multi-year lows of $700/oz again.
Gold (GLD) prices from Jan 2008 to Jan 2009 (12-EMA green, 50-EMA red)
There will only be one viable American automaker by year's end – The Big Three is already, in essence, the Small Two. Chrysler's recent gift of 35% stake to Fiat for its access to technology and services is a desperation move to prove to the U.S. government that it has a viable plan to survive. However, the U.S. government is not going to perpetually support a half-foreign owned company at taxpayers expense. As for GM and Ford, 2009 will still be a very tough market. Any uptick by buyers will simply be for fuel efficient cars built by Toyota, Honda and even Hyundai. GM is effectively surviving on federal assistance, which runs out every few months. A radical solution has to found soon. Don't fret though, because of the uniqueness of this market, hopes abound for small automakers that can make a difference in "green" vehicles.
Yankees back in business – Sorry non-Yankees fans, but 2009 is appearing to be the Year of the Yankees. A new stadium, a team salary in excess of $200 million, a re-focused Arod with Mark Texeira pushing him, injury free Posada, Matsui and Chamberlain? It's gonna be a great three-team AL East battle all summer. Yankees will win the division and make it to the World Series once again.
Posted in Economics, List, Opinion, Politics, Sports | Tagged: 2009, 2009 predictions, approval ratings, Congress, Economics, economy, gold, Obama, oil prices, Pelosi, predictions, Reid, Republicans, Sports, US dollar, Yankees | 1 Comment »
Mad props to Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald – Leaping Larry's amazing catches
Wow, another amazing leaping catch by Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. Another amazing leaping catch between two close defenders. There's a reason they call him Leaping Larry. I've always been a fan of Fitzgerald because he played ball at Pitt. I usually root for Pitt because they are in the same city as the one I went to for college. I don't remember where but I saw some report about how Dennis Green, the Cardinals' coach back in 2004 was a close friend of Fitzgerald because Larry was the Vikings' ball boy back when Green was a coach in Minnesota. Green stated that he would probably draft him third in the first round. Well, that and the fact that Fitzgerald has a good head on his shoulders and is an amazing wide receiver. All he has done since coming into the NFL five years ago is have three years of 1400+ yards receiving. You never hear him complain, especially playing second fiddle to Anquan Boldin sometimes. You never hear him do stupid things. He is one of the reasons the Cardinals are doing well in the playoffs.
The two catches he has in this playoffs have been simply amazing.
TD catch against the Falcons – Wild Card Round, Jan 2009
TD catch against the Panthers – Divisional Round, Jan 2009
Well, Larry has been making unbelievable catches since he was a freshman at Pitt. Check some of these older catches by Fitzgerald:
Larry Fitzgerald insane catch – Insight Bowl, freshman year
Behind the head catch
And here's a great compilation video that YouTube's TheFreakShow81 made of Larry's catches.
Larry Fitzgerald catch highlights
It's amazing because most of the catches occur against multiple defenders in really tight coverage. This guy has crazy sticky hands, amazing body control and awesome speed. And you'll never see him celebrate too much. When does he become a free agent so the Giants can sign him to replace Burress? (Larry signed a 4 year $40 million contract after the 2007 season, so looks like he won't be a free-agent until after 2011. Oh well…)
Mad props…
Posted in Sports | Tagged: amazing catch, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Dennis Green, Falcons, football, Larry Fitzgerald, Leaping Larry, NFL, Panthers, Pitt, playoffs, Sports, Vikings | Leave a Comment »
Posted by silentarchimedes on January 1, 2009
I was listening to Benigno and Roberts on WFAN on my 3 hour drive from New Jersey to Connecticut on Saturday afternoon. Joe and Evan, both Mets and Jets fans, were ranting with other Mets-Jets fans how that combination of sports teams to be fans of in New York City was probably the worst. Especially with the current Jets collapse after starting out 8-3 and the Mets' two consecutive late season collapses, the heartbreaking is at an all-time high. Well, as a Giants and Yankees fan, it's been the complete opposite for me. The Yankees made the playoffs 13 years in a row (and winning four championships), while the Giants just came off a stellar Super Bowl dream season, not to mention the 2000 run and this year's 12-4 season. This led me to do a quick analysis of the different combination of teams of the four major sports that fans can follow in NYC, and which ones have the best happiness and least happiness. First, I will quickly review each team's success the past 25 years (I chose 25 because I first became a sports fan of a NY team in 1984 with the Yankees, and it's a nice round number for recent success). Then I will rank the combinations in order of success.
Success will be defined as follows:
ACCOMPLISHMENT POINTS/OCCURRENCE
Winning season 2
Division winner 3
Playoff season 3
Playoff round won 5
Conference championship 15
Championship 20
Points explanation: To be clear, the team accrues points every time one of the accomplishments occur. For example, if the Giants win the Super Bowl this year, they would get points for every single accomplishment, not just the 20 points for winning the championship. That means a championship year for a football division winner would net the team 2+3+3+5(3)+15+20 = 58 points! That also means not all four sports championships are created equal, but they are pretty close, The reason for this is because the excitement and level of accomp lishment increases up to the championship game. Usually when a team wins a championship, the fans are relatively satisfied for the next few seasons. A division-winning playoff season coupled with a loss in the first playoff round would net the team 2+3+3 = 8 points. In essence, a championship is loosely equal to seven playoff seasons. Ties in football and the old ties in hockey are counted as non-games when calculating winning percentages.
So, here are the results of the nine New York City metro area sports teams and their successes the past 25 finished seasons. I will update this when the football, basketball and hockey seasons are finished with their 2008 seasons. That means I do not include the Giants accomplishments or the Jets collapse for this season in my analysis.
NEW YORK CITY METRO AREA SPORTS TEAM PROFILES
TEAM RECORD WIN PCT. WIN YRS DIV WIN
PLY YRS
PLY RECORD PLY RNDS RECORD CONF CHMP
CHAMP SUCCESS POINTS
Yankees 2235-1741 .562 21 10 13 78-50 17-9 6 4 366
Mets 2087-1892 .525 16 3 5 30-24 6-4 2 1 136
Giants 215-182 .542 13 7 12 15-9 15-9 4 3 278
Jets 180-218 .452 10 2 8 4-8 4-8 0 0 70
Knicks 1005-1013 .498 13 4 16 89-86 18-16 2 0 206
Nets 882-1136 .437 10 4 13 52-59 10-13 2 0 151
Rangers 863-807 .517 12 3 15 70-76 14-14 1 1 183
Islanders 788-898 .467 10 2 12 41-62 8-15 1 0 117
Devils 918-752 .550 18 7 18 118-98 22-15 4 3 341
WIN YRS – years above .500, DIV WIN – years team won division, PLY YRS – years team made playoffs, PLY RECORD – playoff record, PLY RNDS RECORD – how many playoff rounds team won and lost, CONF CHMP – conference champions, CHAMP – championships
It's not surprising the Yankees have had the most success the past 25 years. The Devils championship success in the 1990s make them a close second. Although the Mets had 16 winning seasons, they only made the playoffs five of those years because their records were probably closer to .500 than .600. The Jets by far are the worst team. They are the only ones to not even have a conference championship. Conference championships are a major key to a fan's happiness. All fans hope for is their team to make it to the final round… to the World Series, Super Bowl, or Championship.
However, the success points by themselves don't mean much because we can't compare teams across sports. We need to calculate the total possible points for each team and each sport. In our six points categories, the maximum is 25 (example: 25 possible playoff seasons) except the possible playoff rounds won. The only sport in which playoff rounds won is dependent on the team is football, where there is the extra wild card round. If the team was involved in a wild-card game, then that's another possible playoff round to be won. In non-playoff seasons, total possible playoff rounds is 3, discounting the wild-card round. From the total possible points each team could have accrued in the past 25 years, we can calculate a success percentage for each team.
The success percentage of the NYC sports teams in the past 25 years, from best to worst:
RANK TEAM POINTS TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS
SUCCESS PERCENTAGE
1 Yankees 366 1355 .270
2 Devils 341 1575 .217
3 Giants 278 1490 (8) .187
4 Knicks 206 1575 .131
5 Rangers 183 1575 .116
6 Mets 136 1355 .100
7 Nets 151 1575 .096
8 Islanders 117 1575 .074
9 Jets 70 1485 (7) .047
The ordering stayed the same when we used success points except the Mets jumped ahead of the Nets because there are less total points in baseball than basketball (mostly due to playoff rounds). The Yankees effectively led all categories except the number of playoff seasons and playoff rounds won. However, unlike the other three sports, baseball is the hardest to get into the playoffs, even after the wild cards were introduced in 1995. The futility of the bottom four teams coincidentally have a team in each sport. That means a fan of the Mets, Nets, Islanders and Jets have been wallowing in the most misery for the past 25 years. The top four teams are also one in each sport. A fan of the Yankees, Devils, Giants and Knicks would be the happiest four-team fan in the area.
Now that we have a success percentage associated with each team, the fun part begins. We want to find the team combinations that give fans the most happiness. However, to be realistic, we realize that many fans are not hardcore or even big fans of all four sports. I know a lot of fans that are only into baseball and football, but not the other two. Or they are fans of other cities and teams (traitors) for some of the sports. To allow for combinations that don't include all four teams, we will simply take the average success percentage of the teams involved.
Before giving the results of a lot of the possible combinations, let's highlight the very popular baseball-football fans:
NYC HAPPY FAN RANKINGS FOR BASEBALL-FOOTBALL FANS
RANK TEAMS HAPPY FAN PERCENTAGE
1 Yankees, Giants
2 Yankees, Jets
3 Mets, Giants
4 Mets, Jets .074
Wow! If you are a Yankees-Giants fan you have been three-times happier than Mets-Jets fans the past 25 years. The funny thing is that if you are a Yankees-Jets fan or a Mets-Giants fan, the Jets and Mets pull down your overall fan happiness. Being a Jets fan pulls your Yankees fan happiness down by 41%, and being a Mets fan pulls your Giants fan happiness down by 23%. Or to be an optimist, the Yankees and Giants pull up the happiness of Jets and Mets fans. Hehe…
Here are the results of most of the possible combinations of being a NYC metro sports fan. There are too many total possible combinations to list, from 1-team fans up to 4-team fans, so I will make some assumptions in order to remove unpopular combinations. I will assume that multi-sport fans have to be at least a baseball AND a football fan. That means we will only allow combinations in which each must contain a baseball and a football team.
NYC HAPPY FAN RANKINGS
RANK BASEBALL FOOTBALL BASKETBALL HOCKEY HAPPY FAN PERCENTAGE
1 Yankees .270
2 Yankees Giants .229
3 Yankees
Giants Devils .225
Giants Knicks Devils .201
Giants Knicks .196
Giants Nets Devils .193
Giants Rangers .191
Giants .187
10 Yankees
Giants Nets .184
Jets Devils .178
Giants Islanders .177
Giants Knicks Rangers .176
14 Mets
Giants Nets Rangers .167
16t Yankees
Giants Knicks Islanders .166
Jets Knicks Devils .166
18t Yankees Jets .159
18t Mets
Jets Nets Devils .158
Giants Nets Islanders .157
Jets Knicks .149
24t Mets Giants .144
Jets Rangers .144
Jets Knicks Rangers .141
Jets Nets .138
Jets Nets Rangers .132
Jets Knicks Islanders .131
Knicks .131
Jets Islanders .130
Jets Nets Islanders .122
42 Rangers .116
Mets .100
Nets .096
Islanders .074
54t Mets Jets .074
Jets .047
By far, a pure Yankees fan has had the most happiness the past 25 years in NYC. This is followed by the Yankees-Giants fans not interested in basketball or hockey. Throw in the Devils hockey fans with that combination and you are just as happy. The best four-team combo, unsurprisingly, is the top four successful teams, the Yankees, Giants, Knicks, and Devils. My combination of the YGKR is ranked 13th in happiness. If I had been an Islanders fan and not a Knicks+Rangers fan, I would've just been as happy. At first glance, this might not make sense since the Islanders success percentage is much lower than the Knicks or Rangers, but because I would not be invested in a fourth sport and team (hockey), the success of the Yankees and Giants keep me very happy even with the Islanders lack of success. The Knicks and Rangers haven't had enough success to override that extra sport disadvantage. Interesting…
On the flip side, the Mets and Jets dominate the bottom half of the rankings. Their city rivals' (Yankees and Giants) success coupled with the fact that you can't be a Mets-Yankees or a Jets-Giants fan (those that are should be forced to move to a one-team city) give their fans plenty to be sad about. If you are solely a Jets fan, you have it worst; being only happy 4.7% of the time the past 25 years. And for Joe and Evan of WFAN, well, you two have the second worst team combo.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this little exercise. If you have any comments or suggestions, please leave a comment below (You will be anonymous). Or leave a comment on what team combo you are. Sorry I couldn't put all the possible combinations on a chart. There are too many to list. And frankly, how many Nets-Rangers fans are there (without being fans of baseball and football)?
To finish up, please vote for the teams you are fans of below. Of course, you can pick multiple teams.
Posted in List, Poll, Science and Math, Sports | Tagged: baseball, basketball, championships, Devils, fan combinations, football, Giants, hockey, Islanders, jets, Knicks, Mets, Nets, New York City, new york sports fans, New York Yankees, NYC, NYC sports, NYC sports teams, Rangers, rankings, Sports, sports fan in New York, sports rankings, sports teams, Yankees | 10 Comments »
When is not a goal a goal in hockey?
Posted by silentarchimedes on December 17, 2008
Something interesting happened in the game between the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks tonight. A goal was awarded to the Rangers in the final second of the game even though the puck did not cross the goal line! Now before I explain how that can happen, I am unaware of this possibility in football or baseball. Even if a wide receiver is interfered with in the end zone, the consequence is simply a pass interference penalty that puts the ball at the goal line. In baseball, the closest thing might be a balk with the bases loaded that forces in a run without the benefit of any doing by the offensive team. However, in basketball, there does exist instances in which a basket is counted even when it has not gone into the net… which is called goaltending.
So, what happened in the Rangers-Ducks game to warrant a goalless goal? Nikolai Zherdev was on a breakaway towards an empty net when he was tripped up by Chris Pronger. In normal situations, Zherdev would be awarded a penalty shot. However, a penalty shot in this situation would be unfair to the Rangers. The official NHL rule book actually addresses this situation:
26.1 Awarded Goal – A goal will be awarded to the attacking team when the opposing team has taken their goalkeeper off the ice and an attacking player has possession and control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone on, without a defending player between himself and the opposing goal, and he is prevented from scoring as a result of an infraction committed by the defending team (see 26.3 Infractions –When Goalkeeper is Off the Ice, below).
That's awesome. I actually would've preferred a penalty shot on an empty net to formalize the goal. I equate that to an intentional walk in baseball in which the pitcher still has to throw four balls wide of home plate to formalize the bases on balls.
If you do a search on Awarded Goal in the NHL rulebook, there are actually several instances in which a goalless goal may occur. Most, if not all, occur when the goalie is removed for an extra attacker. My favorite one is Rule 67.5. To summarize, if the goalie builds a snowman in front of the net before he leaves the ice for an extra attacker, the opposing team is awarded a goal. Hahahaha!
Posted in Observations, Sports | Tagged: breakaway, Chris Pronger, Ducks, empty net, goalless goal, hockey, NHL, penalty shot, Rangers, Sports, Zherdev | Leave a Comment »
Why Andy Pettitte owes the Yankees. Just look at Plaxico Burress.
Posted by silentarchimedes on December 4, 2008
Plaxico Burress in a Yankees cap
Let me get this straight. Both Andy Pettitte and Plaxico Burress hurt themselves. Albeit one with drugs and the other with a gun. And yes, they hurt their teammates (Pettitte's might be arguable) and the integrity of their respective games. But physically, they only hurt themselves. The Giants proceeded to suspend Burress for four games and put him on the non-injured reserve list; essentially ending his season. The suspension obviously resulted in major financial repercussions for Burress. The Yankees, meanwhile, welcomed Pettitte back with open arms for the guaranteed $16 million. Even with the Mitchell Report coming out just 10-days after Pettitte exercised his $16 million option.
Now comparing Pettitte and Burress is like comparing apples to oranges. Pettitte has always been a model citizen and family man, whereas Burress has been a headcase of suspensions, fines and showmanship for the Steelers and Giants. You could also bring up the fact that Pettitte used HGH to help recover faster to help his team. Not much moral support for Burress being late to a bazillion team meetings or shooting himself in a club.
However, Pettitte still hurt the integrity of the game of baseball. To all those fans that don't care if players use steroids or HGH, imagine a game without integrity. Full of gambling and drugs. The game would become a farce, much like wrestling is now. So as much as fans are tired of hearing about performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in baseball, it's a necessary fight. Although Pettitte apologized, you can see how differently fans treat PED-using players based on their remorse. Pettitte and Giambi? Back in good grace. Clemens and McGwire? Who are they?
Which brings me to my point. Pettitte is very very lucky the Yankees welcomed him back and fully supported him. The news conference with Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi sitting to his sides as he apologized and answered questions must have been tough to watch for some hardcore baseball traditionalists. There was no compromise regarding salary. The whole contract was honored and fans even cheered for him because he owned up to his mistake. He proceeded to go 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA and a team high 204 innings. However, he battled shoulder problems all year and closed the season with a 2-7 record.
Remember this, Andy? (Robert Browman, Getty Images)
Now Pettitte is a free agent. He owes the Yankees. The Yankees would like to bring him back for $10 million. Pettitte does not want to take a pay cut from his $16 million. His agents are shopping him around, especially to Joe Torre and the Dodgers. Although Pettitte has been saying all year that he wants to pitch in the new Yankee stadium (even jokingly picking a locker in the new locker room on a tour there), when asked if he would take a pay cut to stay with the Yankees, he dodged the topic and deferred to his agents. One, Pettitte will be 37 next season. Two, Pettitte is no where worthy of a top of line $16 million contract. Three, the Yankees saved his career this past season by welcoming him back. Four, the Yankees saved his reputation by allowing him to show complete remorse and prove himself on the field. Five, he owes all the Yankee fans who supported him this past year.
Is he really going to argue over $6 million in pay? I'm sure he doesn't need the extra money after earning tens of millions in his career. If it's about getting what he's worth, well, he's not worth $16 million. He needs to give a nice Christmas present to the Yankees and their fans. Stop being business-like, show some gratitude towards the team that saved you and the fans that stood by you.
I'm one of them.
NY Times – Agents work to avoid a pay cut for Pettitte
Baseball as America's Pastime continues to fall further into the past
The disappointing 2008 Yankees Season – Stick a fork in it, the Yankees are done
Analysis: New York Yankees at the half
Posted in Opinion, Poll, Sports | Tagged: Andy Pettitte, baseball, Burress, Christmas, football, free agency, free agent, Giants, HGH, integrity, New York Giants, New York Yankees, PEDs, Pettitte, Plaxico, Plaxico Burress, Sports, steroids, Yankees | Leave a Comment »


A "domestic dispute" led to the death of two Calgary children Friday night, police say.
Nov. 30, 2009 9:06 p.m.
CALGARY — A "domestic dispute" led to the death of two Calgary children Friday night, police say.
Officers responded to a 911 call from the home in northwest Calgary and when there was no answer to knocks or the doorbell they forced their way inside.
The first thing the investigators found was the body of a 13-year-old boy.
"The officers continued searching and came upon a man and a woman in the upstairs portion of the home," Police Chief Rick Hanson said Saturday. "Both were involved in a physical struggle and officers immediately intervened.
Hanson said a subsequent search found the body of the boy's nine-year-old sister. The mother of the two children was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries while their father was taken into custody.
"We believe these were domestic-related homicides and we're not looking for anyone else in connection with this case," Hanson said.
No charges have been laid but he confirmed that the family was not known to Calgary Police.
Calgary was hit by a fast-moving snow storm Friday afternoon, which reduced visibility to near zero, and coated streets with a layer of snow and ice. Roads were closed and police were swamped with emergency calls.
The fact his officers were able to respond so quickly was a source of pride for Hanson.
"From the time this call came in to the time our officers forced their way into the house was approxmiately 16 minutes," he explained.
The 911 call was placed by the woman police found fighting with the man.
She made the call immediately after arriving home, said Insp. Guy Slater from the Calgary Major Crimes Unit.
He said investigators are hoping she can shed more light on what happened.
"We're taking a significant degree of sensitivity around this matter. We are talking through intermediaries to understand what had happened in the moments leading up to her arrival at the house," he said.
The case has some similarities to a horrifying case of domestic violence in Calgary in May, 2008.
Joshua Lall fatally stabbed his wife Alison, their three and five-year-old girls and downstairs tenant, Amber Bowerman, before turning the knife on himself.
The couple's one-year-old baby, Anna, was inexplicably found unharmed in her crib and is being raised by a relative.
"Obviously when we look at these things we draw the parallel," admitted Hanson.
"In this case, due to the rapid intervention of police officers we have someone in custody, we have the person responsible. We'll be able to find out the motivation hopefully," said Hanson, who added the problem of domestic violence never seems to go away.


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The grapes for this wine were sourced from vineyards located mostly in the lower Durbanville foothills on the southern slopes, some 250 metres above sea level and grown in dark red soils.
about the harvest: The vineyards, yielding around 9 tons per hectare, were harvested from the mid to late February between 24° - 26° Balling, when the grapes were showing ripe, yellow colours.
in the cellar : The grapes from each vineyard were individually vinified. The bulk of the wine was fermented in steel tanks at temperatures between 12° - 15° C and left on the lees for four months to accentuate the pronounced fruit character. A total of 10% of the wine was fermented and matured for four months on tight grain French oak staves with a medium toasting which adds complexity and subtle oak flavours without dominating the fruit.


text:
1990 ( 109 followers)
Sunday 7:00 PM on ABC
America's Funniest Home Videos is ABC's longest-running comedy series. The show began with original host Bob Saget (Full House)The series was an insta... (more)nt sensation on Sunday nights and ran for seven successful seasons. The show was re-launched with new hosts John Fugelsang (a stand up comedian with a one man show called Junk Male) & Daisy Fuentes (Loving), with a new hour long format, and moved to Monday nights where it would once again become a ratings success and then aired on Saturday. Then, after several years of being shown as an occasional special hosted by D.L. Hughley (The Hughleys) and Richard Kind (Spin City), ABC brought the series back on Friday nights with new host Tom Bergeron (Hollywood Squares). In September 2003, it was moved back to Sunday nights. Once again, the series has become a success. "And remember, if you get it on tape, you could get it in cash." Number of episodes: 330+ First Telecast: November 26, 1989
Season 30 Season 29 Season 28 Season 27 Season 26 Season 25 Season 24 Season 23 Season 22 Season 21 Season 20 Season 19 Season 18 Season 17 Season 16 Season 15 Season 14 Season 13 Season 12 Season 11 Season 10 Season 9 Season 8 Season 7 Season 6 Season 5 Season 4 Season 3 Season 2 Season 1
Season 30 Episode 12, Jan 19, 2020
Golf Gaffes, Boneheads, and You Had One Job
Prank You Very Much, Kids Getting Upset for Dumb Reasons, and Twins
Whoa Christmas Tree, Boneheads, and Sassy Seniors
Season 30 Episode 9, Dec 08, 2019
Gender Reveals, Magic Fails, and I Think I See the Problem
Season 30 Episode 8, Nov 24, 2019
Thanksgiving, Selfies, and Dog Park
The Teen Commandments, Riddles, and Stuck
The Prank Bank, I'm Not Buying Your Excuse, and What Are the Odds?
Things That Go "Boo!", Weddings, and Bonehead Brigade
Season 30 Episode 4, Oct 20, 2019
Wisdom Teeth, Stumblebums, and Sensitive Startle Reflex
Employees of the Month, Magic, and Kids Getting Upset for Dumb Reasons
The Pleasures of Parenting, Influencer Flubs, and Catastrophe Countdown
Season 30 Episode 1, Sep 29, 2019
Bob Saget, D. L. Hughley, Ernie Anderson, Jess Harnell, Daisy Fuentes, Charlie O'Donnell, Tom Bergeron, Alfonso Ribeiro, John Fugelsang
People who like America's Funniest Home Videos also like
When is America's Funniest Home Videos back?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In an effort to increase our overall brand awareness and give our clients a glimpse of what happens "behind the scenes", Axial Financial Group has created a series of Video Vignettes. These short videos will serve as an important piece of our re-vamped social media strategy for 2018 and beyond. We hope you enjoy our first video titled, Axial Financial Group - AFG Firm Overview.


text:
Tag: Alderman Elizabeth Chappell
Our Place, February 7, 2018
by Geneva Shore Report | Feb 7, 2018 | Our Place | 0 |
Our Place Liz Chappell, one of Lake Geneva's most uniquely intelligent council members, calls it...
Surprising Stuff, December 13, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | Dec 13, 2017 | Articles, Surprising Stuff | 0 |
Surprising Stuff Liz Chappell and Ms. Cindy Flower stood their ground. Mr. Doug Skates came in to...
Front Page, November 15, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | Nov 15, 2017 | Articles, Front Page | 2 |
The Hillmoor project went down in flames, seared and burned by the words of Liz Chappell as she delivered an unheard of soliloquy to the gathered citizenry of Lake Geneva on Monday night.
Living Here, August 9, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | Aug 9, 2017 | Articles, Living Here | 0 |
Living Here To be or not to be, that is the power of a business sign. So why does the City of Lake...
Living Here, May 3, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | May 5, 2017 | Articles, Living Here | 2 |
Living Here "What we have here is a failure to communicate." The most serious problem that the...
Little Gems, May 3, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | May 3, 2017 | Articles, Little Gems | 0 |
Little Gems The Sally Beauty Supply break-in on the 27th of April…in the middle of the night. The...
Surprising Stuff, March 8, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | Mar 8, 2017 | Articles, Surprising Stuff | 2 |
Elizabeth Chappell.Once again this rather offbeat, but solidly intellectual alderperson, comes through in speaking at the Lake Geneva City Council Meeting of the Whole (COW) on Monday night. Following Ed Yeager's brilliant speech about the value of maintaining the small town flavor
Living Here, January 25, 2017
by Geneva Shore Report | Jan 25, 2017 | Articles, Living Here | 0 |
The Lake Geneva Regional News ran a story last week, announcing that the Geneva Lake Conservancy requested the City of Lake Geneva to buy the Hillmoor wetlands area (60 acres) from its current owner, so that the conservancy could then "partner" with the city to extend the White River Trail project
Living Here, October 5, 2016
by James Strauss | Oct 5, 2016 | Articles, Living Here | 0 |
City Employee's Health Coverage Costs. The Lake Geneva Meeting of the Whole met on Monday night. And it was a great meeting. The main subject discussed, since no business can be voted upon at these special meetings, was the issue of charging the city employees more for their group medical coverage…..
Front Page, August 24, 2016
by James Strauss | Aug 24, 2016 | Articles, Front Page | 0 |
He stands alone on the street. As Gary Cooper stood on that metaphorical street in that movie so long ago. Alone. On his own. Gunfighter Utah Blaine came down from a range war up in Northern Wisconsin to fight Lake Geneva's battles. And he's given the effort his all….
Little Gems, August 17, 2016
by James Strauss | Aug 17, 2016 | Articles, Little Gems | 0 |
The Venetian Festival. There are no canals in Lake Geneva so how did this very popular annual event get its name? Well, it's now in its seventeenth successful year, and it's put on by the local chapter of the Jaycees. This merry band of young men (they allow women but you can never find any) drink a bit. And there's nothing illegal or wrong about that….
Surprising Stuff, July 6, 2016
by James Strauss | Jul 6, 2016 | Articles, Surprising Stuff | 0 |
Things don't just happen in the City of Lake Geneva, they are planned. A few years back the city wanted to obtain a liquor license to attract a certain franchised restaurant to the area. The city was unable to make a liquor license available for the certain franchised restaurant……..


The District of Taylor will be holding an emergency test siren today.
Taylor is testing it to ensure the system is in proper working order and to educate the community on how to react when they hear the siren in the event of a real emergency situation within the community.
At 5:30 PM, the test will begin. Residents will hear a messaging stating 'this is a test' numerous times.
After the message, the siren will be turned on for three minutes.
The public is encouraged to get involved in the drill. Residents are asked to seek shelter immediately when they hear the siren. There is no need to lock or barricade doors.
The three minute siren will be followed by a one minute steady tone.
The District is asking people not to call the police, fire department, district office or 911 regarding the test sirens.


Louis CK is an American comedian, actor, writer-producer, director, and editor. The famous rib cracker is estimated to be worth $25 million.
Louis was born Louis Székely on September 12, 1967, in Washington D.C. When he was just a year old, his family moved to Mexico- his father's native and returned six years later to Boston. He graduated from Newton North High School in 1985 and the same year he began a career as a stand-up comedian, performing in open mic nights in Boston comedy clubs. While in high school, CK also showed interest in writing and directing, at 17 he directed a comedic short film titled "Trash Day".
Louis CK's comedy career didn't immediately take off as he saw a prolonged period of unpaid performances. To support himself during these periods, CK worked petty jobs including as an auto mechanic, as a cook as well as at a video store and a public access TV cable. In an interview with The Hollywood reporter, CK revealed that at the beginning of his stand-up career he starved for five consecutive years.
Louis CK's first big break came in 1996 when HBO released his debut half-hour special. He then began writing for comedians like David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Chris Rock and Dana Carvey as well as performing in their eponymous shows. CK released his first hour-long special, "Shameless" in 2007. His second special "Chewed Up" released in 2008 earned him an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Special".
CK has been described many times as a risk-taker, and while that has impacted his wealth positively, he has also suffered corresponding repercussions in other times. Let's start with the positive part. In 2011, the raunchy comedian opted for a new way to distribute his fourth full-length special, "Live at the Beacon Theater". The special would be his second independently produced, directed and written one. CK boycotted the usual physical and broadcast media for distribution, releasing it instead on his own website, selling them at $5 each devoid of Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Another reason CK chose this way was to ward off piracy. Importantly, the move paid off as he soon made $1 million from the sales which was paid directly into his account as the process helped to get rid of middlemen. CK applied the same method in selling tickets for his concerts; instead of selling via Ticketmaster he sold them directly to his fans on his website for $45 each. CK netted a total of $4.5 million using this approach. That year, Forbes calculated his earnings to be around $16 million.
However, while he confessed that using the middlemen would actually pay more, the approach is a way to increase his fanbase as the tickets and specials sell for a lesser price. Other comedians saw the importance of the CK-method and adopted it as well.
Louis CK has embarked on numerous TV projects such as FX's Louie of which he is the creator, writer, director, editor and also an actor. The comedy-drama series premiered in 2010. Louis has taken up such multiple roles in a number of other projects via his production company Pig Newton which is in contract with FX Networks. Apart from acting in his self-created TV series, Louis has made appearances in numerous movies most of which he's had behind-the-scene roles. Some of them include; The Invention of Lying (2009), American Hustle (2013), Blue Jasmine (2013), Trumbo (2015), and a voice role in The Secret Life of Pets (2016).
Louis in 2016 took another risk by solely creating and funding comedy series "Horace and Pete" with $2 million of his own money. He went on to release the series online without any promotion whatsoever which put him into millions of dollars debts as the views didn't peak. In his interview with Howard Stern, CK revealed that the plan was to make his money back after the first four episodes but sadly, things didn't go as planned.
In his words; "After four episodes, the whole idea was I'm not going to have to spend my own money after that, It made a nice little amount of money, but when I got to episode four, I was 'Hey gang, I don't have any money.'" The media, as usual, blew his words out of proportion with some sources saying that the comedian is completely broke. On the contrary, the 6-time Emmy winner revealed himself on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" that "he is not so broke". Louis further explained that although he took a risk that landed him in millions of debt, he can easily clear them by selling the show which he solely owns to distribution Networks like Netflix or iTunes.
Louis' father, economist Luis Székely, met his mother, Mary Davis at Harvard. His father is Hungarian Mexican while his mom is American with Irish ancestry.
He married actress and artist Alix Bailey in 1995. The couple has two daughters, Mary Louise Szekely and Kitty Szekely. They divorced in 2008 after attending marriage counseling for over a year. The two have joint custody of their kids.
Reports have it that the couple, who have been apart for about nine years, might be getting back together as they bought a studio apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City. They reportedly spent $564,900 on the small-sized home, adding to their three existing properties.


text:
Q: bash, return position of the smallest entry in an array I have an array in bash. For example
array=(1 3 4e-10 6 4 2e-4 7 5 2 9)

I would like to know how to return position of the smallest number, in this case 3.

A: Try this:
arr=(1 3 4e-10 6 4 2e-4 7 5 2 9)

for min value and position
echo "${arr[@]}" | tr -s ' ' '\n' | awk '{print($0" "NR)}' |
sort -g -k1,1 | head -1
4e-10 3

for position of min value
echo "${arr[@]}" | tr -s ' ' '\n' | awk '{print($0" "NR)}' |
sort -g -k1,1 | head -1 | cut -f2 -d' '
3

A: $ array=(1 3 4e-10 6 4 2e-4 7 5 2 9)
$ echo "${array[*]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | awk 'NR==1{min=$0}NR>1 && $1<min{min=$1;pos=NR}END{print min,pos}'
4e-10 3

or just
$ echo "${array[*]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | awk 'NR==1{min=$0}NR>1 && $1<min{min=$1;pos=NR}END{print pos}'
3

to get just the position.

A: Like the comments say, Bash doesn't do floats.  I'd loop through the array and use perl or awk.  Something like this should work:
for i in ${array[@]}; do echo $i; done | perl -e 'use strict; my @array; while(<STDIN>) { chomp $_; push (@array,$_+0); } foreach my $number (sort {$a <=> $b} @array) { print "$number\n"; } '

A: A very "line-noisy" combination of bash and perl
array=(1 3 4e-10 6 4 2e-4 7 5 2 9)
perl -lanE '
    say 1 + (sort {$a->[1] <=> $b->[1]} map {[$_, $F[$_]]} 0..$#F)[0]->[0]
' <<< "${array[@]}"

outputs 3

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Get value from dictionary in JavaScript by key In JavaScript script I have created following dictionary.
var dictionary =[];
$(function () {
  dictionary.push({
    key: @item.Key.ToShortDateString().ToString(),
    value: @Html.Raw(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(item.Value)),
  });
  alert(dictionary['2017-09-19']);
});

In alert it shows me undefined. How can I read value from this dictionary?

A: Rather than using an array use an object
$(function () {
  var dictionary = {};
  dictionary[@item.Key.ToShortDateString().ToString()] = @Html.Raw(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(item.Value));
  alert(dictionary['2017-09-19']);
});

A: The variable dictionary is an array which consists of objects. If you want to access you need to access by index.
DEMO

 var dictionary = [];
 dictionary.push({
    key: '2017-09-19',
    value: 'test',
  });
var result = dictionary.filter(function(element) {
    return element.key == '2017-09-19';
});

if (result.length > 0) {
    // we have found a corresponding element
     console.log(result[0].value);
}


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text:
require 'active_record'
require 'models/status'
require 'models/harvest_job'

module Stash
  module Harvester
    module Models
      class IndexJob < ActiveRecord::Base
        belongs_to :harvest_job
        has_many :indexed_records

        enum status: Status::ALL
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


An energizing Summer Iced Tea, with this Iced Apple blend you firstly get the acidity from the crisp apple balanced with the sweetness from the tropical fruits finished with the punch of Mate and Lemongrass! This exciting blend of fruits, Mate Tea & Lemongrass is designed specifically to make up either as a Cold Brew or an Iced Tea in one of our fab Iced Tea Jugs and stuck in the fridge and enjoyed cold throughout the day!
Try a twist on your usual cuppa this Summer, these iced tea blends will keep you cool all season, we've also got a few tea cocktail recipes over on the blog you might want to try too! (Drink Tea Responsibly!!) Loose Leaf Cold Brew Place 8g tea leaf into the Suki teapot strainer, fill up with cold water as you would do with hot water, making sure the tea leaves are soaked in water. Refrigerate overnight, add to your serving glass full of ice and Enjoy! Loose Leaf Iced Tea For one Jug of Iced Tea - add 8g of loose leaf tea to the jug, gently pour 1 cup of hot water first onto the tea leaves, next add 3 cups of cold water, place in the fridge and let it brew, usually for 2 - 6 hours dependent on desired strength. Pour tea over ice cubes and Enjoy!
Product : Delicious and easy to use.. Friends love it too.
The best herbal infusions I've found anywhere in the world and fast delivery internationally too.
First Class Service every time. I live in NE Florida, I order on Monday morning EST = the afternoon GMT. My tea arrives on Thursday - of the same week! Staff are always charming & very helpful on the phone. I now send Tea presents all over Europe & the USA & everyone loves it. They use DHL so... First Class Service every time. I live in NE Florida, I order on Monday morning EST = the afternoon GMT. My tea arrives on Thursday - of the same week! Staff are always charming & very helpful on the phone. I now send Tea presents all over Europe & the USA & everyone loves it. They use DHL so the package has to be signed for, not a bad thing in this day & age. The tea is wonderful all across the flavours & varieties. Teapots & mini milk bottles have all arrived in one piece. I gave a lot of tea as presents at Christmas & I am now reordering more as birthday presents. Can't say better than that. A very satisfied customer.


Base:Effect: If you have at least 1 play point and Resonance is active for you, Choose: Play this card as either an Artifact Squadron or an Artifact's Glow.
At the end of your turn, randomly put 2 of the following cards into your deck: Mystic Artifact, Radiant Artifact, Prime Artifact.
Occasionally the contraptions of antiquity become the innovations of posterity.


Have you experienced knocking on doors, trying for opportunities, seeking God's will, only to find every single door (or window) close on you? I think we've all gone through situations like this. Sometimes it's a job you are seeking, a spouse, even ministry. And yet with each knock comes the annoying feeling that even through all your efforts, it's not going to work out the way you would like it to.
I recently observed something that spoke to me about this frustration. Right above our front door I saw a robin trying to make a nest on the narrowest of ledges. I knew it would not be a good spot for her nest because we open and close that door all the time. I would even go out and talk to the robin (thinking it could hear me!) telling it that there were a million trees around, why not build in them because it'd be a lot safer and make your little chicks a lot more secure! Every day I'd go out and take down what part of the nest had begun and every morning, and sometimes afternoon, I'd have to tear down its nest again. Believe me, I like animals, so it wasn't that I didn't want little birds growing on top of my front door. But, it wasn't a safe place. My actions were born out of wanting good for the birds.
It spoke to me personally, because I have been knocking on doors for quite some time and every door I knock on to seek work, has closed on me for various reasons. When this happens we normally get angry, at least I do. "Why God?" Isn't that the very question we ask Him? And yet, like me wanting a better place for the robins, the Lord directed me to learn from them. When doors close, it may well be because God is protecting us from something we can't see. He knows we'd be happier, safer, or better suited for something other than what our finite minds can comprehend.
Ephesians 3:20 says it well, "God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us"(Message). "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us"(NASB). God alone knows what our future holds and knows "how" to get us there. When we try with our self-efforts to push doors open, if it's not good for us, God, out of Fatherly love, will shut the door! He's not out to frustrate us or make us angry. He is for us and not against us. Yet so often we have to come to the end of our resources, the end of our own plans before we see what God is up to. His ways are so much better than our puny plans. He wants to bless our socks off when we are not looking for His blessing, but for our own plans to be realized.
Psalm 23 puts it this way, "He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." God is wisdom and when we wait for the door He has for us to open, He gets all the glory and we get all the benefits! That's not to say we sit on our duff and lazily expect God to serve us with grapes, but when we step aside from the plans that aren't working for us and trust He has a much better place for us or person for us, or whatever you are looking for, then God's magnificent power has a chance to work.
Now I can see many great trees for those robins to nest in and not on top of my front door, from where they will fall as soon as a wind comes along, or get disturbed every time we go in and out. I'm sure God is always chuckling at our little efforts, knowing He can do anything and everything above what we can even think to ask! But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God" Luke 18:27. So allow God room to open doors before you. Receive all His provision as you rest in His ability to do what's best for you. Even praise Him for those doors that closed on your nose, because it was meant to protect you, even if you can't see that right now. Proverbs 16:9 says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." Isaiah 22:22 confirms, "When he opens no one will shut, when he shuts no one will open." God knows your future and has it in His large, gentle hands. Trust Him with open and closed doors. Know that He wants the best for you and knows how to bring His best to pass in your life. And if the nest (open door) you keep trying to build (open) keeps on getting taken down (closing), look to Him for a much better nest (door)!
Next: Next post: God's strength in place of our weakness!


text:
Search/General
apexart :: Public Program :: Monotonic Surfaces
In conjunction with the exhibition
The Hidden Passengers
organized by Avi Lubin.
Monotonic Surfaces
a video and sound art performance
Thursday, June 26: 7–8 pm
apexart, 291 Church St, NYC
Video will show here.
download video (295MB .mp4)
Created during Karl Erickson's Arctic Circle Residency aboard a Barquentine Tall Ship sailing in the international waters around the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, the video works of Monotonic Surfaces emphasize the ecstatic and transformative potential of the environment.
In this collaborative performance, Erickson will remix the footage he took inspired by sound art works by Steven Anderson and Stephanie Richards while they perform live.
Karl Erickson's artistic interests focus on motivational language, transcendental experiences, science-fiction, raves, repetition, and counter-cultures. His primary media are video, posters, collage, and latch-hook rugs and pillows. In 2013 he was an artist in residence at The Arctic Circle and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space Residency on Governor's Island. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts and his BFA from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
A voice to the world of new and improvised music, trumpeter and composer Stephanie Richards is an innovative musician residing in the spaces between new music, performance art, and jazz. Stephanie's theatrical tendencies often result in compositional collaborations of sight and movement, as reflected in her recently commissioned works Rotations for twelve choreographed musicians and carousel.
Steven L. Anderson works in a variety of media to explore the nature of power and the power of Nature. His current explorations into energy—the combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual forces that surround us—take the form of objects made in the studio, as well as engagement with various communities in his newly adopted city of Atlanta. His career as an artist has been a cycle of collaborative and individual production, including several projects with Karl Erickson and others. Anderson is a 2014-15 Walthall Fellow, and is in the Studio Artists Program at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. His work has been exhibited in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago.
All events are free and open to the public.
apexart's exhibitions and and public programs are supported in part by the Affirmation Arts Fund, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Edith C. Blum Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.
291 Church Street, NYC, 10013
www.apexart.org
Directions: A, C, E, N, R, Q, J, Z, 6 to Canal or 1 to Franklin.


When was the last time you used your cellphone? Was it 10 minutes ago? Five minutes ago? Are you reading this on your cellphone right now?
But beyond having fun and Googling answers to your burning questions, technology apps and gadgets have made quite the impression in the travel and automotive industries. On the seas, robotic bartenders mix cocktails and facial recognition software will soon have you boarding ships without ever waiting in line. On the streets, advanced driver assistance features in new cars can kick in to help you avoid a car crash. Others can even park your car for you!
We here at Your AAA have been tracking the latest travel tech and car tech trends. That's why we have written this special guide, What's Trending: Exciting New Technology for Travel, Cars and More. Download it now!
From virtual reality travel apps and car connection to ride-on luggage and must-listen podcasts, this guide covers it all. And unlike other technology guides, this one includes travel and car safety advice from experts you can trust at AAA.
AAA knows cars. We also know travel. So if you're wondering why we have written a guide on technology, the answer is simple. Cars and travel have become incredibly high-tech, and AAA has kept a close eye on which gadgets and apps can make your life easier.
This guide comes from the car and travel experts at Your AAA. It's detailed, thorough and easy to understand. What's Trending: Exciting New Technology for Travel, Cars and More belongs in every home that travels, drives and stays connected with the technology of today.
This guide is filled with exciting apps you can try before and during your next vacation. You can learn about cutting-edge virtual reality technology that gives you the ability to see the world from the comfort of your couch. It's an incredible capability that can truly help you plan your next vacation. You work hard for your money, so why not know that your next trip will live up to the billing!
Confused about self-driving cars and the features that propel them? This guide also dives into the latest advancements in autonomous car features and when you can expect to see them roll out at a dealership near you. There are many concerns about the safety of such vehicles, and you can bet Your AAA is on top of not just the benefits, but potential dangers with these systems, too.
In addition to giving you the low-down on the latest travel gadgets and apps, this FREE guide will explain the many recent advancements in car tech.
For instance, did you know that backup cameras and automatic emergency braking features will soon come standard in new vehicles?
And have you heard of night vision? No, we're not talking about superheroes here. Many new cars are outfitted with night vision pedestrian detection, which can really help city drivers and pedestrians stay safe.
You'll also learn about how technology is changing the hotel and hospitality industries. Here's a hint: In a few years, there could be a new generation that doesn't ever remember using a room key!
The only thing holding you back from an exciting outdoor adventure is the weather – and possibly a fear of heights. But if you are one who enjoys and outdoor jaunt, then check out the apps for adventurous travel section inside this FREE guide.
Read about photography editing apps that make Instagram seem soooo 2017. You can also read about high-tech glasses you wear that will shoot your vacation videos for you as you freely enjoy your hike or walking tour. How futuristic!
We'll teach you about the latest adventure travel trends, including geocaching – a virtual worldwide scavenger hunt that can make even the tamest hiking trail an amazing adventure.
By the time you've finished reading this guide, AAA will have you telling all your friends about the coolest new apps and features coming to cars and travel!
And remember, all this technology is designed to make your life better and more convenient. Seize the day the high-tech way with all the exciting new gadgets and apps included in this FREE guide from AAA.
So I hope you'll take some good advice and download What's Trending right now. Remember, it's absolutely free. Print it off and read some now and even more later. You won't regret it!
So whether you're a longtime AAA member, or you've heard of us but never experienced the benefits of our expertise, you can take advantage of this offer right now – and be reading your AAA technology guide in moments!
Get What's Trending: Exciting New Technology for Travel, Cars and More right now, and save yourself time, money and stress!
PS: If technology isn't your thing, or you feel like you have had too much of it in your life lately, you are not alone. Download the guide to read about how to know when you need a digital detox and for fun activities to do with your family when you need to unplug for a while.


2016 YR asteroid magnitude is 27.2 H and asteroid diameter is between 10 and 22 meters. Asteroid 2016 YR closest near miss earth distance is 2,755,626 kilometers on 27 December 2016.
List of approaches near Earth of asteroid 2016 YR with distance and velocity information.


text:
(Posoki)
Country: BULGARIA, MACEDONIA, GERMANY
Run Time: 107 minutes
DIRECTIONS begins with the grim story of Misho, a middle-aged Bulgarian taxi driver with a teenage daughter. Down on his luck, Misho has been desperately trying to pay back the loan he received for his business. When a shady banker tries to renege on their deal, Misho murders him and attempts suicide. What follows is a series of vignettes about cab drivers and the dubious situations that occur during their late-night shifts. With the economy tanked, driving taxis has become a last resort. The drivers' wealthy—and often rude—customers see them as inferior, resulting in heated exchanges and violent clashes. But it's not all bad—there are glimmers of humanity in some of the encounters. As evidenced by the support for Misho coming from talk radio listeners, though, these situations mirror the social unrest in the country. The retaliation from drivers is seen as a just reaction to greed, corruption, and an economy that favors the rich. Through these compelling stories, director Stephan Komandarev paints a dramatic portrait of life in modern day urban Bulgaria. (In Bulgarian with subtitles) —E.F.
CIFF42 Screenings
Monday, April 09, 2018 at 8:50 PM
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 4:25 PM
Friday, April 13, 2018 at 11:10 AM
Stephan Komandarev
Director, producer, and sceenwriter Stephan Komandarev was born in 1966 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He graduated from the New Bulgarian University in 1999 with a degree in film and television directing. Komandarev gained wide recognition when his film "The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner" became the first Bulgarian film to be shortlisted for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film.
Pansion za kucheta (2000), Hlyab nad ogradata (2002), Alphabet of Hope (2004), The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008), The Town of Badante Women (2010), The Judgment (2014), DIRECTIONS 2017
Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova, Stelios Ziannis, Vera Weit, Vladimir Anastasov, Angela Nestorovska
Simeon Ventsislavov, Stephan Komandarev
Vesselin Hristov
Nina Altaparmakova
Anna Komandareva, Vassil Vasilev–Zuek, Ivan Barnev, Borislava Stratieva, Georgi Kadurin, Assen Blatechki, Dobrin Dossev, Gerasim Georgiev, Irini Jambonas, Vasil Banov, Julian Vergov, Stefka Yanorova, Nikolay Urumov, Sofia Bobcheva, Troyan Gogov
Print Source
ARRI Media International
rsehr@arri.de
http://arrimedia.de/international


text:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import sys

sys.path.append('../')

from src.nanoparticle import NanoParticle
from src.exciton import Exciton

def lab(r, R_Forster, L_DS, tau_D, epsilon, num_exc, aceptores):
    result = []
    for L_D in L_DS:
        print('L_D de ', L_D, 'nm. Numero de aceptores: ', end='')
        delta_t = (epsilon * tau_D) / L_D

        input_parameters = []
        output_parameters = []

        #for num_acceptors in linspace(num_acceptors_min, num_acceptors_max, num_simu):
        for num_acceptors in aceptores:
            print(num_acceptors, ', ', end='')
            num_acceptors = int(num_acceptors)
            nano_particle = NanoParticle(r, num_acceptors, tau_D, R_Forster, L_D, delta_t, 'vol')

            simu = Exciton(nano_particle, num_exc, 'laser')
            simu.calculate()
            input_parameters += [simu.get_input()]
            output_parameters += [simu.get_output()]

        eff_simu = [[element[4] for element in output_parameters], L_D]
        result += eff_simu
        print()
    return result

def plot_lab(result, aceptores, eff, title):
    l_ds = [result[i+1] for i in range(0, len(result), 2)]
    for i in range(0, len(result), 2):
        plt.plot(aceptores, result[i], 'o--')
    plt.plot(aceptores, eff, 'o-')
    plt.grid()
    plt.xlim(-10, 1010)
    plt.ylim(-0.1, 1.1)
    plt.title(title)
    plt.xlabel('Number of acceptors')
    plt.ylabel('Quenching Efficiency')
    l_ds = ['L_D = ' + str(i) for i in l_ds]
    plt.legend(l_ds + ['L_D real'], loc=0)
    plt.show()

'''
import numpy as np

exp = np.array(eff2)
minimo = [100, 0]
for i in range(0, len(result), 2):
    valor = np.array(result[i])
    if minimo[0] > sum((exp - valor)**2):
        minimo[0] = sum((exp - valor)**2)
        minimo[1] = result[i+1]
print(minimo)
'''


text:
Home Top Stories Dad of four creates mouth-watering all day breakfast loaf
Dad of four creates mouth-watering all day breakfast loaf
Darren McConachie
A FOODIE has created a mouth-watering "Breakfast Loaf" made entirely from an English breakfast.
Steve Devereux filmed himself laying row-upon-row of breakfast favourites inside a bread tin to create the masterpiece on Sunday.
In the video, the 43-year-old begins by laying down five rashers of bacon before covering them with three slices of toast.
https://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BREAKFAST_LOAF_DN_VID00.mp4
The dad-of-four, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then places fifteen link sausages before pouring beaten eggs over the top.
He then adds another three slices of toast before adding another layer of chopped up black pudding.
Sliced mushrooms are then placed on top of the creation before another six slices of toast and a final cup of beaten eggs are added.
Steve, who works for a food manufacturer, then places foil over the top of the tin before baking the calorie-packed meal in the oven for half an hour.
Steve created his loaf and put the video on TikTok. Credit: Food Made Simple
The last scene shows the loaf after being taken out of the oven and garnished with seven chipolatas.
Steve posted the video onto TikTok on Sunday where it has been viewed over 365,000 times and attracted over 15,000 likes.
Hundreds of viewers left comments after being impressed by the unique creation.
Many users were salivating at the prospect of creating such a delicious savoury treat for themselves.
LoveHeart said: "That looks delectable."
CloudyDays commented: "Who told you it was simple, Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver?"
Melissa added: "I'm vegan but that looks so good."
Glen Morgan Shaw stated: "Honestly that looks like it would slap on a Sunday morning."
Steve Bradley said: "Scooby Snack tackle."
Ashley Newton declared: "I'll take two."
Steve's TikTok page, Food Made Simple, has amassed over 500,000 followers since being set up in May last year.
The videos have received a combined total of 8.9 million likes.
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https://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2021/11/18/dad-of-four-creates-mouth-watering-all-day-breakfast-loaf/