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2014 NFL Mock DraftDownload App

2014 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting Best Possible Picks for Each 1st-Round Team

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 23:  Teddy Bridgewater #5 of the Louisville Cardinals throws the ball during the game against the Memphis Tigers at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on November 23, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky.  (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Patrick ClarkeCorrespondent IJune 12, 2016

The first round of the 2014 NFL draft will likely make or break several teams' seasons next fall, especially those looking to land a franchise quarterback.

But the significance of Round 1 doesn't end there.

Here, I'll project the best possible picks for all 30 first-round teams.

1. Houston Texans (2-14): Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina

There's no question that South Carolina pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney is the top talent available in 2014. He certainly made an impact at his pro day earlier this month, doing his best to win over scouts and coaches. Afterward, he told SI.com's Chris Burke:

I want to be the best. I say to myself every morning, "Just be great today." I just want to be one of the best ... to be talked about forever. I think I showed ‘em I’m a fighter, I’m going to push through everything they’re going to throw at me. That’s what it’s about: show ‘em that you got what it takes. You’re out here running around, they want to see how far they can push you before you break.

Still, the Texans desperately need a franchise quarterback, which could lead them to pass on the destructive defender.

2. St. Louis Rams (from Washington [3-13]): Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn

Auburn's Greg Robinson is a top-five talent with very few weaknesses. At No. 2 overall, the 6'5", 330-pound tackle makes perfect sense for the Rams, who should look to bolster their offensive line in anticipation of Sam Bradford's return from a torn ACL.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12): Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida

GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 01:  Quarterback Blake Bortles #5 of the UCF Knights throws a pass during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against the Baylor Bears at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 1, 2014 in Glendale, Arizona.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Gett
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

If Houston passes on Central Florida's Blake Bortles at No. 1, the Jacksonville Jaguars are likely to wind up with the local product.

Chargers.com's Ricky Henne breaks down Bortles' game, which has drawn comparisons to Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger:

For those unfamiliar with him, Bortles is a well-built, strong arm passer who at 6-5, 232 pounds is being compared to Ben Roethlisberger but with better mobility. He can make every throw with good zip, and has excellent pocket presence remaining poised in the face of heavy pressure. When plays break down, he beats opponents with his legs, capable of picking up chunk yards in space. Bortles possesses a high football IQ and is a tireless worker always striving to be better.

Overall, Bortles' durability and composure in the pocket make him an attractive pick.

4. Cleveland Browns (4-12): Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville

With Bortles off the board, Cleveland is likely to take Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, an accurate passer who displays encouraging poise in the pocket.

5. Oakland Raiders (4-12): Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 23:  Quarterback Johnny Manziel #2 of the Texas A&M Aggies warms up before taking on the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 23, 2013 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The Raiders need a spark if they hope to turn the corner following a decade-plus of struggles. Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel's big-play ability and potential make him an intriguing first-round talent, but one Oakland would be wise to take a chance on.

It would appear that Manziel is also one of the more intelligent players available in 2014, per ESPN's Jeremy Lundblad:

6. Atlanta Falcons (4-12): Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo

Atlanta is desperate for a dynamic pass-rusher and Buffalo's Khalil Mack has the potential to become just that at the next level.

Mack finished his college career as the NCAA leader in tackles for a loss (75) and forced fumbles (16).

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-12): Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M

Bob Levey

Assuming Robinson is the first tackle off the board this spring, Texas A&M's Jake Matthews could potentially find a home in Tampa Bay.

There's no question a team drafting inside the top 10 will fall in love with his toughness and ability to fire off the ball.

8. Minnesota Vikings (5-10-1): Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State

Quarterback remains a massive question mark for the Minnesota Vikings, and with three of the top available signal-callers already off the board in this scenario, Fresno State's Derek Carr would be the best possible addition for Minnesota.

9. Buffalo Bills (6-10): Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson

It's unlikely that Sammy Watkins will still be available for the Buffalo Bills at No. 9 overall. But there's no doubt they need a talented wideout more than any other team in the top 10.

Watkins' blend of hands, speed and big-play ability make him a top-five talent.

10. Detroit Lions (7-9): Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama

The Lions could target a topflight receiver to bolster their passing attack, but a safety makes more sense in Round 1 following the acquisition of Golden Tate in free agency and the losses Detroit has suffered in the secondary this offseason.

11. Tennessee Titans (7-9): Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State

STILLWATER, OK - OCTOBER 5:   Cornerback Justin Gilbert #4 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys returns a kickoff against the Kansas State Wildcats October 5, 2013 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Wildcats 33-29.  (Photo
Brett Deering/Getty Images

Alterraun Verner's move to Tampa cost Tennessee a Pro Bowl cornerback. Many consider Oklahoma State's Justin Gilbert to be best cornerback available in 2014, and he'll likely still be on the board when the Titans find themselves on the clock at No. 11.

12. New York Giants (7-9): Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh

The Giants must address their recent losses up front on the defensive line. Following Linval Joseph's depature in free agency, New York should seriously consider Pittsburgh's Aaron Donald at No. 12.

Donald displays tremendous pass-rushing skills, powerful hands and an ideal motor.

13. St. Louis Rams (7-9): Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M

The Rams will have a shot at Watkins at No. 2 overall, but if they go in a different direction, they should have a shot at Texas A&M wideout Mike Evans, who could make an immediate impact as a big-bodied possession receiver and chain-mover.

14. Chicago Bears (8-8): Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 21:  Darqueze Dennard #31 of the Michigan State Spartans breaks up a pass intended for DeVarius Daniels #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 21, 2013 in South Bend, Indiana.  (Photo by Jonathan
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Defense was a big problem for Chicago in 2013. As a result, the Bears will want to patch up their secondary through the draft.

Michigan State's Darqueze Dennard does everything well and would provide a big boost on the back end.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8): Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State

Another team in need of help in the secondary is Pittsburgh. With Gilbert and Dennard already off the board, Ohio State's Bradley Roby could be the answer.

Roby lacks the same level of focus as those other guys but is a topflight athlete with incredible cover skills.

16. Dallas Cowboys (8-8): Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri

In the wake of DeMarcus Ware's departure, the Cowboys are left with a void at defensive end. Therefore, Missouri's Kony Ealy would be an ideal pickup for Dallas midway through the first round.

17. Baltimore Ravens (8-8): Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame

It's very possible the Ravens could target a safety with their Round 1 pick this spring. However, with so much money invested in quarterback Joe Flacco and the running game being virtually nonexistent in 2013, a versatile offensive lineman like Notre Dame's Zack Martin also makes plenty of sense.

18. New York Jets (8-8): Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State

CORVALLIS, OR - OCTOBER 26: Wide receiver Brandin Cooks #7 of the Oregon State Beavers runs with the ball during the first quarter of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Reser Stadium on October 26, 2013 in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/G
Steve Dykes/Getty Images

Oregon State's Brandin Cooks brings speed and a change of pace to the wide receiver position that the Jets could use as they look to retool on offense.

19. Miami Dolphins (8-8): Xavier Su'a-Filo, G, UCLA

Watch for the Dolphins to target a top-tier guard like UCLA's Xavier Su'a-Filo in an effort to restore order on their offensive line.

Su'a-Filo's versatility is impressive and sets him apart from other players at his position.

20. Arizona Cardinals (10-6): Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY - OCTOBER 18:  Calvin Pryor #25 of the Louisville Cardinals intercepts a pass in the end zone during the game against the Central Florida Knights at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on October 18, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky.  (Photo by Andy L
Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Calvin Pryor, Louisville's hard-hitting safety, would fill a big need in Arizona. The 5'11", 207-pound defender is also a force in run defense, which is key considering the Cardinals play the Seahawks and 49ers twice a year.

21. Green Bay Packers (8-7-1): Dee Ford, DE, Auburn

The Packers' pass rush was disappointing in 2013. Sure, adding Julius Peppers helps, but Green Bay could use another dynamic edge-rusher.

Auburn's Dee Ford is somewhat undersized but displays incredible pass-rush skills and instincts.

22. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6): Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA

Philadelphia's major needs this offseason are on the defensive side of the ball. And if he's still on the board at No. 22, converted fullback Anthony Barr would be a great pickup at outside linebacker.

Barr would also be an exceptional value pick at this stage of the first round.

23. Kansas City Chiefs (11-5): Gabe Jackson, G, Mississippi State

Free agency resulted in the loss of some quality players up front for Kansas City. That's why a big, physical guard like Mississippi State's Gabe Jackson makes sense at No. 23 overall.

24. Cincinnati Bengals (11-5): Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame

Stephon Tuitt's combination of size and speed is eye-popping, and his versatility is also a plus. With former Bengals pass-rusher Michael Johnson signing with Tampa this offseason, Tuitt would be an ideal fit in Cincinnati.

25. San Diego Chargers (9-7): Jason Verrett, CB, TCU

An upgrade at cornerback would be a huge pickup for the Chargers. Durability is the biggest concern surrounding TCU's Jason Verrett, but his ability is undeniable and makes him a first-round prospect.

26. Cleveland Browns (from Indianapolis [11-5]): David Yankey, G, Stanford

Michael Conroy

Stanford's David Yankey would provide much-needed length and toughness up front for Cleveland and should be available toward the end of Round 1.

27. New Orleans Saints (11-5): Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State

Outside linebacker is a big-time need for New Orleans this offseason. Ohio State's Ryan Shazier is arguably the third-best available behind Mack and Barr and boasts superb range against the run.

Shazier's instincts and playmaking prowess on third down are hard to ignore also.

28. Carolina Panthers (12-4): Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

Offseason losses in the secondary mean the Panthers will be looking to bolster key defensive positions this spring. Cornerback is one of those key spots, and Virginia Tech's Kyle Fuller would be an excellent fit in Carolina, where he could showcase his ball skills and physicality.

29. New England Patriots (12-4): Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU

OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 19:  Trae Elston #7 of the Ole Miss Rebels defends a pass intended for Odell Beckham Jr. #3 of the LSU Tigers during a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Oxford, Mississippi.  (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have big needs at wide receiver, and LSU's Odell Beckham Jr. is one of many possible fits. Beckham boasts quality speed but sets himself apart from the pack by committing to blocks and playing with a competitive edge.

30. San Francisco 49ers (12-4): Marqise Lee, WR, USC

Marqise Lee's ability to separate from defenders and display above-average ball skills make him a first-round talent in 2014.

The San Francisco 49ers are just one of many teams that could benefit from his offensive prowess.

31. Denver Broncos (13-3): C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, AL - OCTOBER 19:  C.J. Mosley #32 of the Alabama Crimson Tide breaks up a pass intended for Hunter Henry #84 of the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bryant-Denny Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Broncos could use some depth on defense, especially considering they'll be in championship contention again in 2014. Alabama's C.J. Mosley is far and away the best inside linebacker available this spring, and if he's somehow still on the board late in Round 1, he'd make a lot of sense for Denver.

32. Seattle Seahawks (13-3): Louis Nix III, DT, Notre Dame

Seattle's defensive line was instrumental in its Super Bowl triumph last February. And with the Seahawks releasing Red Bryant this offseason, Notre Dame's Louis Nix III would have plenty of room to operate.

Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter.

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World FootballDownload App

Soccer: The Top 10 Young Footballers To Watch Out for This Season

Allen JosephCorrespondent IDecember 30, 2016

As football becomes more global, the football clubs are willing to spend more money on scouting networks which extend to every continent in this planet to unearth new young talents. It wouldn't be long before Scouts are given the same importance and salary of a manager.

While the scouts are busy doing their work let us have a look at the Top 10 young players who have made heads turn or who are expected to make heads turn in their direction this season.

1. Bojan Krkić, 19, Barcelona.

On 16 September 2007 (aged 17 years and 19 days at that time), Bojan made his official debut for Barcelona against Osasuna, breaking Lionel Messi's record of the youngest Barcelona player to feature in a La Liga match. He has already established himself as an exciting new talent in the Barcelona first team. Has exceptional talent and could become as influential as Lionel Messi.

2. Lorenzo De Silvestri, 21, Lazio.

Is a product of the highly successful Lazio youth system. During the 2007–08 season, De Silvestri established himself as a regular in the Lazio side with several impressive performances as an attacking right back. He made 24 league appearances, as well as six in the UEFA Champions League. Is widely regarded as one of the best young talents in Italy.

3. Mario Balotelli, 19, F.C Internazionale.

On 16 December 2007 Balotelli made his first team debut in a 2-0 Serie A win against Cagliari. On 30 January 2008 Balotelli gained national attention after he scored two goals against Juventus in the return leg of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, being instrumental in a 3–2 away win for the Nerazzurri.

Balotelli's role in the 2009–10 season is expected to be much more prominent than the previous season, owing to the loss of several key strikers over the prior few months, leaving Balotelli as the third choice, behind new summer signings Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito

4. Breno, 20, F.C Bayern Munich.

In December 2007, Breno officially signed for Bayern Munich having refused to sign with Real Madrid who wanted a bone analysis to prove his young age. Has captained the Brazilian U23’s and is widely regarded to fill up the void left by compatriot Lucio’s departure.

5. Stevan Jovetic, 19, Fiorentina.

On 10 May 2008, Serie A club Fiorentina signed him for a reported fee of £7.3 million. Jovetić was a founding member of the Montenegro national team who played their first game against Hungary in March. Famously scored both goals in a 2–0 victory over European giants Liverpool in the Champions League this season. Despite interest from various clubs, looks set to stay with the Viola.

6. Adem Ljajic, 18, Partizan.

Attacking midfielder dubbed “little Kaka” which to be honest is high praise indeed. Even though he has only a handful of first team appearances behind him, he was rated highly enough to catch the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson. He is set to join England's Manchester United in January 2010.

7. Davide Santon, 18, F.C Internazionale.

Santon is a product of the Internazionale youth system. He is an attacking right back, with the ability to play also on the left side. Recently, he has also become subject of praise from Italy head coach Marcello Lippi, who defined Santon "A predestined that reminds of a young Paolo Maldini."

He also played in Inter's home draw with Manchester United, playing directly against FIFA Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and showing great performances against the Portuguese winger.

Ronaldo himself said about Santon: "I was impressed by Santon; he is a really interesting lad and a great footballer." Already drawing comparisons with Italian legend Paulo Maldini, looks set to become one of the world's finest fullback despite having very few first team opportunities.

8. Alexandre Pato, 20, AC Milan.

Milan officially confirmed the signing of Pato on 2 August 2007. Pato is a highly rated forward who is a key piece in the Milan rebuilding process. Despite a pretty dull start to the season, he is capable of turning Milan's season around along with compatriot Ronaldinho.

9. Aaron Ramsey, 18, Arsenal.

On 10 June 2008 it was confirmed that after meeting officials from Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton, Ramsey had decided to join Arsenal, who paid Cardiff City a total of £4.8 million for the player. Wenger described Ramsey as "a player with a fantastic engine, good build, good technique and good vision.

Ramsey is named amongst host of young players poised to shine in 2009 by Despite his young age, looks certain to be a star and is already a key figure for Wales.

10. Ivan Rakitic, 21, Schalke 04.

Born in Switzerland Rakitic won the Swiss young player of the year award. However he has preferred to play for Croatia. He can be deployed in both attacking and defensive midfield roles. Has been rumoured to have a whole lot of top European clubs on his trail after impressive performances for Schalke 04.

Anyway, that’s the best I could get out of my crystal ball. What does yours predict?

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Friday, February 3, 2012

The Radiant, Gradient Way: Color Practice

No one can watch the inside of your mouth when you play the flute, thank goodness. However, when talking to students about color changes, an X-Ray machine might come in handy. You could demonstrate how the position of the tongue, the jaw, and so many things come into play when you change the sound of the flute from loud to soft, harsh to light, bright to dark. Using such words is usually the best we can do when trying to describe musical timbres. That can be tricky though, one flutist's dark can be another's bright. Words are not always sufficient.

Thank goodness for imagery. Here is a collection of ideas to help stimulate the aural imagination. I was inspired by Photo Shop's gradient tool to make the following images.

Let's take one note and see what kind of spectrum can be produced. I chose B natural because it is the Moyse thing to do, but choose a note that is good for you. The purpose is to take a full breath, play a single note while going from one aural extreme to another. What happens in the middle can be quite interesting, I find. You can also practice these exercises backwards.

Some people work well with color imagery, so an exercise like this might work:
Another exercise could be to imagine a trumpet-like sound, then go to the extreme of complete air noise. I thank Harrie Starreveld for this suggestion.

You can also consciously control the position of your tongue by producing different vowel sounds. For example thinking a deep, open O sound, to a rather closed I (think of the word "eye"). I spelled it "aye" in the example. In preparation for this, I like to sing the exercise first to get a feel for how the tongue moves and how it changes the harmonic components of the sound.

Peter Lukas Graf also has an interesting approach. He describes different categories of sounds starting with those that are rich in overtones, think of the opening of the second movement of Cesar Franck's Sonata in A, to those that are poor in overtones, think of the opening of Debussy's L'Apres Midi. Of course it is a simplification, the music of Franck and Debussy require a variety of colors, but these are the associations that stick. If such imagery is useful, here is an illustration:
Any other ideas?

  1. I prefer the term "shade of color" rather than just "color," because I think each note has its own unique color, or sound wave frequency, and our choice is how to shade it (light to dark, diffuse to intense, etc.), the same way actual colors (light wave frequencies) have different shades (light to dark red, blue, green, etc.). I also like to specifically refer to the effects of aperture size and shape and different blowing angles as the main variables that affect these shades. Your approach is more conceptual, which may be the way some people learn best, but some, like me, are the more "meat and potatoes" type who need detailed physical descriptions. Thanks for posting about this.

  2. Thank you Rick, I have also had feedback on the question of shades of dynamics, too. I left out the question of dynamics, leaving that up to the player to explore.
    I understand your needing more physical description, too. It has has been very helpful to me in the past if someone just hints about the tongue position or the angle of the air.

  3. Here are some useful sources of information on the subject brought to my attention by Jennifer Cluff:

    For Novice to Intermediate Students: Tone Development:

    Tone Warmups 17 pages - (free pdfs for students to print)

    Flute Tone Colour Exercises for Intermediate to Advanced Students - Books:

    De La Sonorite by Marcel Moyse
    (See: Fullness of Tone exercise)

    Tone Development Through Extended Technique by Robert Dick
    (See: Singing while playing and vowel sounds used in playing registers)

    Playing in Colour: Improving Tone for Advanced Players by Ann Cherry
    (This describes tone colour experiments very colourfully).

    The Art of Playing the Flute by Roger Mather (Volumes 1-3)
    (Much on developing various tone colours and using them in performance.)
    For more titles and direct links to the above flutes to see covers, go to:


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mrslappy it's the first of tha month, so cash your checks and get up #foodstamps
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abcteach blog

Looking for ways to smarten up your summer vacation? Then look no further! abcteach has just launched our new Family Activity Planners to help your kids get off the couch and into active learning.

The Family Activity Planner series was designed by abcteach educators with easy, at-home teaching in mind. Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or tutor, these planners provide kid-friendly activities that are both age-appropriate and relative to core subjects. Best of all, we’ve paired them with supporting abcteach materials to help reinforce hands-on learning!

My Vacation

Water Wonderful

Fun at Home

My Neighborhood

Think Green

My Family and I

Back to School

We hope that you enjoy the new learning opportunities found within our Family Activity Planners. The selection of themes is growing fast, so check back soon for more ideas. Best of luck and have a wonderful summer!

~the abcteach team

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Watch Movies Online: Top 10 Film Streaming & Review Sites

Posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2013 by

This blog is for film streaming lovers! On this top 10 list you will find the best ways to watch movies online, read movie reviews and enjoy film streaming for free. Ready? Steady? Got the coke and popcorn handy? Go!

Why Would you Watch Movies Online?

Everyone loves going to the cinema but with the economic crisis, the Fiscal Cliff and other ‘treats’ that life spawned us with, it became a luxury that few people can afford on a daily basis. Along comes the internet! Why pay good $ when you can enjoy all the hottest new releases, free of charge, in the comfort of your living-room? Especially now that anyone can purchase a streaming TV box that connects wirelessly to your TV screen and streams any movie you want to watch directly onto your television!

It’s called the Roku LT Streaming Media Box, and it streams movies and TV shows from online sources like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, Pandora, HBO Go, Crackle, Disney, NHL Gamecenter, among many others. It will costs you just $49.99, but this amount is negligible compared to cinema tickets, coke and popcorn at the outrageously expensive  cinema kiosk and the cab fare to get there…

But What Are the Best Film Streaming Sites?

This is exactly what this top 10 list is all about, along with the best movie reviews sites and some bonus material we curated for you… We hope that you will like our choices (share it with your friends if you do!). Are you still here? Go watch a movie!

Watch Movies Online:

1. All My Faves Film Streaming

The All My Faves Film Streaming Homepage has actually came to life quite recently… While researching for this blog I came across tons of film streaming sites, some very good, most quite horrible. The good ones simply aggregates all the streaming links of a specific title to one page, allowing you to choose your favorite stream. So it got me thinking: hey, we can do that! After a couple of day’s work the All My Faves Film Streaming Homepage was born. We have curated all the best links to all of the hottest new releases and displayed them in the All My Faves visual design concept. We promise to keep updating it regularly, so go ahead and browse through our free film streaming library, find your favorite title and start watching!

2. Hulu (US only)

Hulu is basically the biggest and the most popular place to watch free movies and TV shows online in the US. You can watch tons of free movies on this site, from blockbusters to esoteric documentary films, and the ones you can’t are probably on Hulu Plus – the paid version that gives you more HD quality movies and more TV shows to choose from. The Hulu Plus service will cost you only $8/month and they offer a free week trial. Try it for free, and then decide if you can live without it…

3. Netflix

Netflix is probably the only real challenger for the online film and TV streaming throne. It’s everybody’s favorite subscription service for renting movies and TV shows, and more recently streaming them online. Subscribing to Netflix’s streaming service will cost just under $10/month and if you will want to rent a specific title that isn’t in their streaming library it will cost you some extra… All in all they provide a great service and top notch quality. The first month is free of charge so there is no reason not to give Netflix a try.

4. Amazon Instant Video

If there is a growing online demand for a product, you can bet that Amazon will get involved! After conquering the online retailing world, Amazon is looking for new products to sell and the growth of the film streaming demand got their attention. Shopping for the movies or TV shows has just became way simpler, they’ve created Amazon Instant Video – a service that lets you instantly stream any movie or TV show you find in their ever-growing library. If you want to pay-as-you-watch, then Amazon Instant Video is the place for you.

5. Xfinity TV (US Comcast customers only)

Xfinity TV is Comcast’s answer to Hulu and Netflix. If you’re a paid-up Comcast subscriber, and you want things to stay that way, you can stream all their TV content from your computer. Aside from Comcast’s vast quality TV shows, there are also lots of movies for you to stream as well. The interface is beautiful and is extremely user friendly, so if your a cable TV addict and already pay Comcast for it, you can now enjoy film streaming online as well for no extra charge.

For Those Who Don’t Want to Pay

6. WatchFreeMovies & Zmovie

Though the internet if full of websites that promise you free film streaming, most of them are spam sites that make you feel that you’re being conned. While researching for this blog WatchFreeMovies and Zmovie stood out as the sites with the best combination of quality content and minimum spamming… We liked them so much that most of the links we use on the All My Faves Film Streaming HomePage are from these two sites. So if you want to watch new releases without paying a dime, check these sites out.

And Now Some Extra Treats…

7. New Generation Review Sites: Flixster & A Better Queue

Instead of pointing you to tycoons like IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes, we decided to introduce you with two trendy newcomers.  Flixster is a community of movie lovers who share film reviews and ratings. The idea is simple, once you register you browse through titles in a Pinterest like interface, you can click on movie you wish to see or rate and comment on ones you have seen already. Your Facebook friends reviews pop up first so you can read the opinions of people you trust before you choose a movie to see. A Better Queue on the other hand is not a social review site, it lets you filter Netflix’s instantly streaming movies by Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, years, and genres. It basically gives you all the info you need on movies you can instantly watch! Then it links you directly to the film’s streaming domain at Netflix.

8. Blogging the Reel World: /Film

Every John Doe thinks he can blog about movies. While I agree that everybody is entitled to an opinion, I choose the ones I listen to very carefully. /Film is exactly the kind of blog I go to, when I want quality and insightful reviews that is providing a personal point of view on the cutting edge of breaking news. /Film is concentrating on the geek/genre centric side of the movie universe, it’s reviews are personable and opinionated with reviews from a select group of four or five people who know what they are talking about. There is a point where a site is no longer ‘just another blog’ and becomes a main player in the industry it covers, /Film has earned the movie industry’s respect and is now on the junket list for most of the major movie studios, attends advance press screenings and visits movie sets.  This is why we think it’s a blog worth reading, check it out and you will see what we mean…

9. The Art Of The Trailers:  iTunes Movie Trailers

If the sources above didn’t help you  decide which movie to see, then maybe iTunes Movie Trailers will. At first glance you may raise your eyebrow wandering what is so special about a site that gives you trailers you can watch on YouTube… But a closer look reveals the site’s charm, it is a true tribute to movie trailers, designed beautifully and has extras such as a synopsis, releasing date, cast and production details, galleries from the set, etc. Also on this site you will find some exclusive trailers, mainly for niche films, that you will not find anywhere else. If you love the films you will love this uncharacteristic Apple tribute for the movie trailers.

10. Forget the Film, Watch the Titles!

Forget the Film, Watch the Titles is a Submarine Channel project dedicated to the exciting art of title design (film, tv, games, events) and its creators. Watching a movie is often a getaway from the everyday life. The transition from reality to its onscreen alternative has to be smooth otherwise you will not experience the film to the full. Here comes the role of the Titles, in few moments it is supposed to get you exactly in the mood the director intended you to be in, it can be engaging or wildly entertaining, funny, exhilarating, or simply drop dead beautiful. To make a long story short, making a good title sequence is a work of art. Personally, I have never paid to much attention to the titles, but as I browsed through this website, I realized their genius. Subconsciously my mood was altered into the mood the artist, I mean the director, wanted me to be in. Have a look and share my enthusiasm.

Do you think you know of other sites that are just as good or even better? Let us know with a comment below, a Facebook message or a Tweet!

Final tip: We’re all for freedom of choice on the Internet, and we’ve told you about the whole spectrum of film streaming sites and the ‘watch movies online’ experience. While we’re offering links to all the sites – in good faith that they’re posting only legal content – we certainly recommend that if you choose the less mainstream options, you both protect yourself with an ad blocker, and understand that we have absolutely no responsibility for any content posted on any site we link to. So as long as that’s clear… go watch movies online!

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Tuesday, November 02, 2010

How well off are Estonia's pensioners?

A bit of number-crunching for you. I was just watching the new Have I Got News For You, and it mentioned that the new UK government was raising old-age pensions, to a flat rate of 140 pounds per week.

That's 20 pounds per day, or 600 pounds per month for ease of calculation - about 10 823 kroons. The Estonian statistics database tells me that the average old-age pension in Estonia was 4 766 EEK in the second quarter of 2010.

Of course, the cost of living is higher in the UK as well. I've yet to find a clear source of data for actual Purchasing Power Parity coefficients between countries, the closest data is GDP by PPP - and using absolute GDP numbers, you can use that to determine actual PPP factors. But an easier comparison is The Economist's Big Mac index. Here's the latest historical data: a Big Mac costs the equivalent of 3.68 USD in Britain, and 2.85 USD in Estonia. This gives us a factor of 1.29. So, the cost of living in the UK is 29% higher than in Estonia.

For a UK pensioner to have the same purchasing power in Estonia as they enjoy in the UK with this new increase, they would only need 8390 EEK.

So on average, British pensioners are 76% better off than Estonian ones.

I'd love to compare working people's relative wealth as well, but the UK doesn't seem to be publishing good wage statistics - the closest I got was this, which is a bit out of date, and only reports gross numbers. If a reader can point me at a better source of numbers, I'd appreciate it.

Monday, November 01, 2010

The Krugman Fallacy

This started as a Facebook comment, but got long enough to post as a separate article on here.

It's in reply to an editorial by Paul Krugman in the NY Times:

The key thing to bear in mind is that for the world as a whole, spending equals income. If one group of people — those with excessive debts — is forced to cut spending to pay down its debts, one of two things must happen: either someone else must spend more, or world income will fall.

Krugman's being disingenuous. He says that globally, spending equals income, and if you don't spend, others don't get income; and that people with high debt levels stop spending, which is a Bad Thing(tm).

However, where does the borrowed money come from? Either from "quantitative easing", which means it really does come from nowhere, or from capital markets, which is money that was saved and invested (i.e. not spent) by others.

Spending your way out of a recession is a short-term fix. Long-term, the world needs fiscal responsibility (not necessarily austerity, but responsibility), so that people do save money and put it into banks and treasury bills, so that the capital markets do have liquid cash to lend to businesses.

(The severity of the financial crisis was not due to a lot of lost money - it was due to the financial institutions' unwillingness to extend credit to businesses, even ones in good fiscal shape. Global business does not work on cash up front, it works on promises backed by banks, and when banks stop supporting the promises, the entire machinery seizes up. That was the main problem - the billion-dollar losses only impacted the banks' employees and shareholders.)

In this crisis, quantitative easing kinda-sorta did the job it was supposed to, in the short term. But its usefulness is limited to emergency relief. If you keep pumping liquidity into capital markets via quantitative easing, you just get hyperinflation.

Krugman says that government should pump money into the economy, if the private sector is too scared to spend. That's fine, but where does the money come from? Either from quantitative easing, which has been stretched to the limits already (because that's what the US and the Eurozone have been doing), or from capital markets. Where do capital markets get the money? Either from quantitative easing, or from private sector savings.

Krugman's advice for the US is to spend on public works, driving up internal consumption. That's money that will never be compensated by liquidity gathered from outside the US economy. (Germany pumped money into its economy briefly, before switching to austerity; and it actually managed to stimulate industrial production and export growth. The tax revenue from that, the influx of liquid cash into the German economy, will probably outweigh the money spent on the stimulus.)

Krugman advocates debt relief for homeowners, saying that it will do less damage to the economy than mass foreclosures. He's technically right, but the argument doesn't reflect the big picture: without great damage, there will be no change in behavior, and without a change in behavior, the mistakes that led to the global crisis will simply be repeated.

You can blame the greedy and unethical investment bankers all you want - and don't get me wrong, they are complete bastards and deserve every last morsel of hatred they are getting - but all of their evil schemes would never have worked if it was not for the greed and short-sightedness of the everyday consumer, who wants a McMansion and a BMW and a 60-inch plasma TV, and ignores the fact that he can't actually afford any of it. Politicians won't say it, for obvious reasons, but the underlying cause of the financial crisis is not the greedy lenders - it's the greedy borrowers.

The failure of the financial oversight mechanisms to prevent the bubble is so apparent because the mechanisms themselves are so obviously necessary: nobody ever actually expected the lenders to not be greedy. It was always assumed that their greed will expand to fill any available volume. That greed can be checked by two means: government regulation, and the common sense of the borrowers. Yes, government regulation failed. That is no excuse for borrowers to escape responsibility for their own common sense.

Back to Krugman's arguments. For capital markets, and by extension the globalized economy as a whole, to be efficient and healthy in the long term, there needs to be a supply of genuine assets, genuine liquidity. Any kind of deficit spending must be covered by money borrowed from people (or companies) who saved it. People who have actual asset-equivalent that is not being used right now, and can be given to someone else to use for a time.

These savings only appear when the private sector spends less than it earns. It's a crucial and irreplaceable component of a healthy financial system. It's not about morality, mr. Krugman - it's about mechanics.

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Archive for June, 2013

Testing positive

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013

Just a couple of days ago, my wife and I watched Flight, the Denzel Washington movie about a pilot who performs a heroic feat to save a planeload of passengers only to lose his career to his drug and alcohol addictions. Without getting into the issue of whether or not a crew could have pulled off the scene of upside-down flying to save the day, I’ll address the addiction issue. Specifically, is it possible that someone could get away with this problem for as long as Whip Whitaker did? And happens if they are caught?

Flight_film_posterLet me start with the premise of drug testing. Every employee of an airline that might have any contact with security situations is subject to drug testing as a new hire. It’s unavoidable. The FAA requires that companies thereafter randomly sample 25 percent of the qualifying employees on an annual basis, and it has to be done throughout the system. In other words, Delta cannot just target its Atlanta employees, and JetBlue cannot just target its JFK employees to save on travel expenses for the testers. The drugs that are tested are of the illegal street variety, as well as alcohol.

In a large company, it’s possible to go years without getting tested. When I was with Comair, I got tested once in my first 12 years, and that was for my new-hire screening. Then, one day, I pulled into the gate in Cincinnati at the end of a trip, and a young lady with a clipboard was waiting for us. Having seen this scene before, I knew one of us was getting a “wizz quiz.” As I shut down the airplane,  she looked at me, smiled, and pointed at me. Fortunately, I was already set to “produce,” or as Forrest Gump would say, “I gotta pee!”

It’s important to understand that refusal is not an option. In fact, it’s viewed as an admission of guilt.

As the company shrank over the next several years, I was selected by the computer for two more tests (that I remember). Simply put, the fewer employees, the greater the chance you will be tagged for a test.

What the movie Flight doesn’t address is how Whitaker didn’t get tested or caught before the accident. Further, there is a scene in which he is shown sneaking vodka bottles and pouring them into his orange juice. On an airplane with first class passengers, this is easier to get away with because the flight attendants can just record the drinks as having been “comped” to a first class frequent flyer. In a single class operation such as we had at Comair, getting away with this would have been much harder. Not impossible, but harder.

The next question is, what if an employee knows he or she is about to get caught? I can’t speak for every company or all of the various employee groups, but generally speaking for pilots, there is a chance to come clean before the test. If you are on any prescription drugs that might cause an issue, disclosure is the best option. If you have used illicit drugs or alcohol, you should openly acknowledge that as well, and follow whatever union protocols are in place. You will still get in trouble—possibly severe—but you will also be more likely to have a chance to enter a rehabilitation program.

The Human Intervention Monitoring System (HIMS) program is a nationally recognized substance and alcohol abuse program that allows pilots with addictions to seek the help they need. I’ve known several pilots who successfully recovered from their drinking problems to return to the cockpit (a process than can take several years). I’ve also known of more than a few pilots at several airlines who showed up under the influence of something, denied it, and got caught. They were let go immediately, and their careers were over. And don’t forget, those drug tests follow you to any number of jobs you might want.

As a point of how much compassion a company can show toward its employees, we had a few pilots who were in rehab during the strike in 2001 (credit julien). While the company had discontinued insurance for the pilots, the ones in rehab were still covered. As one of our senior managers said at the time, “We’re talking about lives here.” The rest of us understood.

Whitaker’s character at some point would have been tested. He would have had the option to come clean. If he hadn’t, he would have tested positive, and his airline would likely have terminated him. In his case, the FAA still would have likely suspended or revoked his certificates, and he may still have been prosecuted and imprisoned for reckless endangerment, flying drunk, and general stupidity. As an aside, the movie never addresses why the first officer, who later acknowledged that Whitaker “reeked,” didn’t face repercussions either. In reality, he probably would have.

The moral of this post is this: If you need help, get it; if you know someone who needs help, find out how to help them get it; and if you are on an airplane with a pilot who clearly is not well, deal with it immediately.—By Chip Wright

Your instrument training tips

Friday, June 14th, 2013

04-348_IFRTrainingSince many pilots start instrument training almost immediately after completing their private pilot certificate, I wondered if our Facebook friends had any tips for those about to take the plunge. Turns out, you do—probably based on personal experience. As with almost any aviation topic, there were some divergent views.  Here’s a sampling:

  1. “Learn paper! Get the iPad out of the cockpit until you can master paper plates!”—Patrick Smith, seconded by Jim Chambers.
  2. On the other hand, “Use what you’re going to use in reality. This isn’t primary training anymore so if you’re going to use an iPad for charts use it in training. That way you won’t be fumbling your first time out alone with your orginazatiom of electronic charts. Learn your GPS, it will save your butt in training and in real life.”—Miranda Noble Rydstrom
  3. Get experience flying in actual instrument conditions—Anne Scheer Wright, seconded by Steven Bristow, Bill Green, Sam Grice, and Brian Harman.
  4. “As an instrument instructor for Army flight school, I would encourage instrument students to focus on their basic instrument (BI) skills for getting too focused on the advanced (AI) procedures such as departures, approaches, etc. If your BI is bad, your AI will be even worse.”—Wylie Mathis Sr., seconded by Mackey Simbajon, Luca Simioni, and Cm Thrasher.
  5. Use a simulator to help you practice approaches.—Daryl Sweeney, seconded by Brad Rodriguez, Jim Chambers, Chad Baker, and Alejo Echevarria.

Some had very specific suggestions for choosing the right CFII.

  • “Find an instructor who has experience outside of instructing. Someone who has worked as a Part 135 pilot and has flown a great deal in the ATC system.”—Collin Hughes
  • “A few things: 1. Make sure you are working with a syllabus that your instructor initials after completing tasks satisfactorily. 2. Interview the instructor to make sure he’s a good fit. 3. Ask the instructor if he is working as a CFI in order to build time to head off to a corporate or airline job. If he is, ask if he is currently interviewing and where he is in the process. 4. Is he willing to use a simulator to accomplish part of your training. 5. How can he integrate the use of a home simulator, like FSX into your training.”—Kevin Jarchow

There were many more suggestions, and you can read them all on our Facebook page. In the meantime, I’ll close with this very smart advice from Damian M. Campayo, because it happens to tie in brilliantly with an article in the upcoming issue.—Jill W. Tallman

  • “Keep money in reserve. You’ll need it to keep your currency!”

Bessie Coleman’s journey to flight

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

Jean Moule last wrote about being a 67-year-old student pilot for the Flight Training blog. She is an emerita faculty member of Oregon State University, and a published writer and artist. Visit her website. —Ed.

Bessie_Coleman_and_her_plane_(1922)Who was the first American to hold an international pilot license?

Early in my training, my flight instructor introduced me to this aviation pioneer, Bessie Coleman. Steve Larsen, CFI, knew from my observations that I needed familiarity with the existence of Black women in aviation to help me, a woman of African descent, feel more comfortable in the left seat. He had connected me to another Black female student pilot as well.

Curious and inspired, I spent hours in Coleman’s history. Because flight schools in the United States would not teach Blacks, Bessie taught herself French, then went to France to learn and earn her pilot’s license.

Bessie was born in Texas in 1893 as one of 13 children of sharecroppers. She was gifted in math, loved books, and walked eight miles round trip to attend a one-room school for Blacks. She went to Oklahoma where she managed one term at a university, but had to leave due to lack of money. She returned to Waxahachie, Texas, and worked as a laundress. The small southern town had little to keep her challenged and engaged.

In 1915, at 23, Bessie moved to Chicago. She lived with her brothers and worked as a beautician, one time named as the best and fastest manicurist in the city. In Chicago Bessie heard and read stories of World War I soldiers and pilots as they returned from Europe. The stories opened possibilities. She and her brother, a soldier, talked.

“Those French women do something no colored girl has,” her brother teased. “They fly.”

Taking the challenge, Bessie decided to become a pilot. Due to both race and gender discrimination, she gave up trying to enter a flight school in the United States and began her study of French. She learned the language well enough to grasp the principles of flight and aeronautical terms in that language.  Then she went to France.

She completed a 10-month course in seven months. She earned her license and returned to the United States. She earned her living barnstorming and performing aerial tricks, specializing in stunt flying and parachuting. Beyond her own support, her goal was to start a flying school for African Americans.

Bessie’s high-flying skills wowed audiences of thousands. She was well known all over the United States, with huge headlines whenever she would be in the air.

During a rehearsal for a show in 1926, she leaned out of an airplane flown by her mechanic to check her parachute-landing site. The airplane began an unexpected dive toward the ground.

Bessie, unbelted and thrown out, fell 1,500 feet to her death.

The mechanic was unable to gain control of the airplane and died as well.  A misplaced wrench was later found lodged in the wreckage of the engine.

Thousands mourned for Bessie. Ten thousand people attended her three funerals. After her death at age 33, others took up her cause to begin flight schools that allowed Blacks entry.

Some of those who learned to fly in her memory and inspiration in these flight schools were early enrollees in the World War II Tuskegee Airmen Division.

Now I had a family link: My grandson’s great-grandfather was an instructor in that WW II division.

Bessie’s legacy continues down through the years: In 1929 the aviation school she worked to establish was founded in Los Angeles. Roads, highways, and flying clubs for women were named after her. In 1995 the U.S. Postal Service issued the Bessie Coleman stamp. And every year on Memorial Day, the Tuskegee Airmen fly over Brave Bessie’s grave and drop flowers in her honor.

My children have all flown commercially, as have my grandchildren. One grandchild, Chance—great-grandson of Tuskegee Airman Instructor James A. Hill—leads the rest: Before he was 5 years old he had flown on 120 flight segments.

For leading the way, I give my thanks to Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, the first American aviator of any race or gender to hold an international pilot license, the first person of African descent to be licensed in the United States, a pioneer in aviation education for all people, and a motivator for my own flying.

Here’s to Bessie, a woman of my hue and the first American licensed to fly anywhere in the world. Here’s to all those who venture into the air!

Bessie said, “Do you know that you have never lived until you have flown?”—Jean Moule

Diaries of an interviewee

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013

People ask me all the time how to get ready for an interview with an airline, and how to do well in an interview. There are two pieces of advice that I frequently offer, and in many cases the advice applies to non-aviation interviews as well.

diary250First, keep a diary. If you are interested in an airline job, do a search online for common questions. Most of them fall into the category of “Tell me about a time…” Also called TMAAT, these questions are just that: relaying a time that you had to deal with a given situation. For those going into their first airline job, you can substitute the opener with “What would you do if…./How would you handle….” You may be surprised at how many other experiences relate to this besides flying.

The best way to avoid coming up empty-handed is to keep a diary. Download the list of questions and start answering them on paper as best you can. If you don’t have a story, then wait. At some point, you probably will. There are only a few questions that you don’t want to have an answer for. For example, if an interviewer asks if your integrity has ever been questioned, the best answer to have is a solid “No.” That isn’t to say that you’ll never have disagreements (you will), but you don’t want your motives or character questioned.

Another reason to keep the diary is to make sure that you have stories that span a long period of time. You don’t want be stuck with a bunch of stories that took place in a six-month window, and it isn’t worth risking a lie to make it sound better. As events happen, write them down with dates, places, and names. You can with-hold the names in the interview (and you should, or refer to everyone as John Doe). Also, know where to find the entries in your logbook that correspond to the stories.

The second piece of advice that gets mentioned by me and ignored by others is to pay for professional interview preparation. Most people don’t realize that they make certain mistakes when they speak, whether grammatical, speaking too softly, or using “um,” “ah,” or the dreaded “like” too, like, often like. A professional will help you polish up your answers, put them in a coherent order, and tell you how to emphasize your accomplishments without sounding like a braggart or an arrogant jerk.

Other common mistakes consist of answering questions that weren’t asked or giving too much information that may create doubt, or worse, a whole new series of questions that you had not anticipated.

A good, professional interview prep will cost a few hundred dollars, so prepare for it just as you would for an actual interview. Better still is if you can get it video recorded so that you can review your performance.

There is a lot of hiring going on now, and those that are best prepared will get the best jobs first. Who knows? Maybe the work you put into the interview will be a good story in your diary for the next job that you really covet.—Chip Wright


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What to Know About Your Summer Move

Author: Alecia Pirulis

Bridge in Summer

Are you preparing to move? Look around — what time of year is it?

Most people — especially families with children, college students, and military personnel — want to move in the summer. Because of this, summers are busy — moving companies are overwhelmed, it’s hot outside so it is more difficult to move, and in many parts of the country, rain is a major factor during the summer months. If you are moving to an apartment, it may be more difficult to find an apartment during the summer when everyone else (especially in a college town) is moving, as well.

Ideally, the best time to move is in October or November — right before the more extreme winter temperatures kick in, but after the peak summer heat. Rain isn’t a major factor, and the summer moving frenzy has ended so moving companies have more flexibility (and sometimes even better rates). And now that kids are back at school, families are settled in and the college kids have already staked claim on their apartments. If you can schedule a move during the fall, great — if not, well, here are some tips to make your summer move easier:

If you absolutely must move in the summer, try to do at least part of the move yourself. This will save money and time since moving companies are so busy during summer months that they may not be able to work around your schedule. Also, rates are sometimes higher during the summer, so doing at least some of the moving yourself will help offset those higher moving costs.

Be careful what you pack — especially when moving a long distance. Certain items can’t take prolonged heat and could be ruined in the sweltering high temps of summer. It is best to take those items with you in your air-conditioned car. Also, take precautions in the summer — for yourself, your children, and your pets. Make sure they have a comfortable place to escape the heat (and stay safe since doors will be open and heavy items will be moved) and be sure everyone has plenty of water.

Wear sunscreen. No, you aren’t spending the day at the pool, but you will be in the sun more than you realize. Dress comfortably and cool — but again, you aren’t at the pool. Skip the flip-flops and wear tennis shoes instead for safety reasons (you don’t want to risk dropping something on your toe or slipping out of your sandals while carrying a heavy box).

Be careful with perishables. You have to clean out the fridge for the move, but food can spoil quickly in the summer heat. If you can’t get everything to your new home or apartment fridge quickly, be sure to pack everything in coolers filled with ice.

People move slowly when it’s hot! Don’t try to rush the move. Start as early as possible, before temperatures heat up, and get the heaviest items loaded first. In the heat of the day, expect everyone to slow down a little — especially the movers. When summer temperatures soar, it is safer to move slowly and take frequent breaks. Be patient — it will all get done.


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If you’re the DIY type who likes to save money by skipping trips to the salon, you may have some experience with at-home waxing.

The best eyeliners out there are meant to be easily blended and perfectly smudgeable so you can create smoky eyes and countless other looks.

If you have experience, knowledge and a great work ethic, you shouldn’t have much to worry about when it comes to nailing an interview, but how can you seal the deal?

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is the ideal combination of chic and casual, always showing up to events wearing fashionable clothes and perfectly styled makeup.

Tips for Creating Optical Illusions that Brighten and Open Your Eyes

Rashida Jones, the actress who made appearances in The Office and stars in Parks & Recreation, is a natural beauty.

In this product video, Beauty Bridge makeup artist Erica Carr discusses Babor – Mineral Powder Foundation.

When you have a fantastic blush for cheeks, it’s not hard to get really excited about it.

Jessica Biel is now engaged to Justin Timberlake, and judging by the way she chose to paint her nails for the Hollywood premiere of Total Recall, she’s pretty excited about it.

Let’s take a minute to go through your makeup routine.


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Friday, November 2, 2012

Raved now integrated with GrubHub and OpenTable

Raved has now integrated with GrubHub and OpenTable to support their services within the Raved app for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices. Raved is a convenient way for consumers to discover, save and share great places to eat, drink, shop and get things done – all based on trusted recommendations from friends and TasteMakers they follow. Utilizing key features from GrubHub, the number one online and mobile food ordering service, and OpenTable, the leading online reservation system, Raved users can now instantly access food menus, order food or make reservations for their favorite restaurants, all in a simple display and from within a single app.

Raved combines a mobile-first approach with a unique friend-powered recommendation engine to let users:
  • Discover great places that friends and TasteMakers they trust recommend
  • Save favorite places to get useful info and deals on the go
  • Share places they love so their friends can love them, too
Following the successful launch this past summer, Raved has now already accumulated over eight hundred thousand users and their friends and given them access to more than 9 million total “Raves” for nearly two million places and services they love.
“Being able to access GrubHub within Raved means users will never be more than a few taps away from great food from their favorite restaurants,” said Steve Sanger, GrubHub’s vice president of business development. “Raved’s innovative use of social recommendations enhances the easy ordering process diners have come to expect from GrubHub.”
“Partnering with these great services was a natural evolution and a great fit for Raved,” said Henry Vogel, CEO of Raved. “With Raved, users are able to build their personal directory of favorite places. Being able to check menus, order meals or make reservations for your favorite restaurants helps make that personal directory even more valuable and furthers our mission to make Raved the one-stop solution for consumers to find, save and share great places so they can better explore their world.”

Raved provides an intuitive and highly visual interface built atop aggregated data from various social graphs, content sources and a database of almost 20 million U.S. merchants. Users don’t need to find or follow anyone to get started; Raved can automatically integrate 'friends' and their 'likes,' 'check-ins,' and more from users’ social networks like Facebook. Users can also discover great new places by browsing Raved 'PlaceLists' filled with recommendations from featured users, publishers and review sites. As users 'Rave' places, the app makes it easy for them to create and publish their own ‘PlaceLists’ of great places they want to explore, remember or share with friends.

Raved also pulls in lots of rich content about places like photos, addresses, store hours, posts to Facebook, special deals and offers, and links to other useful information and services. Plus, since one never knows when they'll find a memorable spot, Raved now helps make sure users have all the important information about those great places at their fingertips on their Android and iOS devices wherever and whenever they need it.

  Install Raved For Android From Best Apps Market.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Tribez now on Android

Game Insight, a world leader in mobile and social games, has announced that its smash-hit, free-to-play strategy game The Tribez, which was previously released for iPad and iPhone, is now available for Android devices.  The Tribez has already become a top-10 app in 26 countries and a top-10 grossing app in 40 countries--and now, this wildly successful and highly addictive strategy game is on its way to Google Play!

In The Tribez, players take the role of a hapless adventurer who is hurled backwards in time to arrive in a lush, prehistoric fantasy world, and is quickly appointed as chieftain by friendly, but primitive, tribes. The Tribez is a lighthearted game that offers gorgeous, colorful graphics, a full musical soundtrack, and 27 levels across numerous worlds to explore. In the game, players build up and protect their fledgling nation by enjoying a variety of different types of gameplay, including city-building strategy, resource harvesting, treasure hunting, and even timed challenges that require quick wits and even quicker reflexes to ward off attacks from angry savages.

As the game progresses, players will learn more about the lore of this strange new world, as well as about their role as prophesied saviors, from 10 unique and hilarious characters. They can also take full control of their villagers, who work tirelessly to build up players' wealth and prestige. Hands-on chieftains can actually reach directly into the world to pick up, and drop off, different villagers at key locations to ensure that the job gets done!

In addition to gathering crops, resources, and shiny gold coins for your coffers, these faithful subjects will construct more than 50 different types of buildings and help players complete more than 100 quests. Along the way, players will also unearth buried treasures, fight off incursions from angry barbarians, and even discover new life forms lurking deep inside dark, mysterious caves.

Weezer Performance During Boxworks

Imagine the surprise on my face when I won tickets to BoxWorks, imagine the bigger surprise when I was able to attend a meet and greet with the band that played the after party. Weezer happens to be the favorite band of Box's CEO Aaron Levie. If you are not familer with Box or it's uber-young CEO here is a little rundown via Crunch Base.

Aaron Levie co-founded Box with friend and Box CFO Dylan Smith in 2005. The Box mission is to provide businesses and individuals with the simplest solution to share, access and manage their information. Aaron is the visionary behind Box’s product and platform strategy, which is focused on incorporating the best of traditional content management with an easy to use user experience suited to the way people collaborate and work today.

The current trend with companies that are successful today is to throw a conference to highlight their product and Box has followed suit. Boxworks was a smash hit and drew not only a large crowd but interesting speakers ranging from the CEO of EBay to the lead singer of 30 Seconds To Mars. Box is a company on the rise and the drive and ambition of the individuals and charge are sure to lead them to even bigger things. So BAM fans check out a little video from Weezer's performance at Boxworks and then install the Box Android App, I'm sure your productivity will improve. A special thank you go to Mark and Jade over at Box for providing a great Boxworks experience and showing that Box is a company that treat people well. Don't forget to follow Box on Twitter because their Social Media guy Mark is a good guy: @BoxHQ

Install The BOX Android App from BAM

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Keep The Presidential Debate Alive With Face Chop

 Though the real polls don’t open for another month, the world can cast their votes right now, on their phones, in Face Chop: Decision 2012.

Face Chop: Decision 2012, the new mobile game from Mayonnaise Games lets players weigh in on the election in a new type of poll: chopping faces from across the political spectrum.
In Classic mode, players can play as a Democrat or a Republican, and chop faces from the other party to rack up votes. In Arcade mode, the player has one minute to chop as many faces as they can, and even find bonus faces to take "voting" to a whole new level. Independent? Play in Democracy Mode, where both parties get equal face time.

Along the way, players can unlock new ways to chop and show their true feelings about the politicians, from slime streaks to barbed wire to the American flag--but there’s not a hanging chad in sight.
Poll results will be tabulated in real time within the game and on the Face Chop website. Who will win the Face Chop Election?

Face Chop: Decision 2012 is available now for on Android

For more information please visit the Face Chop website at Vote early and vote often!

Install Face Chop On BAM

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Big Win Football Brings The Gridiron To Your Android

Hut hut! After 200 million games played across the chart-topping Big Win Sports franchise, the long awaited American Football game is now available for FREE .

Kick off the American Football season by creating your own dream team and then sit back and watch them crush your online competition. Use Big Impact cards to throw bombs, make game-changing interceptions, power through impenetrable defenses and much more.

From the opening kick-off to the final whistle Big Win Football is the gridiron game for everyone.

Big Win Football features:
  • Full team and player customization for the ultimate fantasy football team.
  • Bronze, Silver and Gold card packs for finding new players and improving skills.
  • Big Impact cards for boosting player power! Create a game plan with “Iron Curtain” “Can’t Catch Me” “The Big Boot” and many more.
  • Earn coins and Big Bucks by playing games, leveling up, and winning Daily Big Bowls.
  • Accessible and addictive gameplay for everyone!

Install Big Win Football from BAM

Monday, October 1, 2012

Ninja Feet Of Fury is a Ninjatastic new game!

Who likes Ninjas? BAM does! Check out this brand spanking new ninja game from
ZyMo Entertainment.

Ninja Feet of Fury is ZyMo Entertainments first foray into the mobile market, having previously worked on downloadable console games such as Burgertime World Tour and Scary Girl.

With Ninja Feet of Fury they set out to create a runner game that hardcore gamers would love to play. Ninja Feet of Fury puts you in the roll of a new ninja who must dive, jump, swing, and run on walls to survive the final trial. Grades are given for each obstacle you successfully navigate, with rewards given for precise controls and fast reflexes.

If you are a fan of Temple Run, Ninjas, or just love playing mobile games check out Ninja Feet Of Fury.

Install Ninja Feet Of Fury from Best Apps Market

Thursday, September 20, 2012

A Space Shooter Blitz launches today on Android

Set your phasers to “love me” because it’s time to become the king of the galaxy! Frima Studio is happy to announce that A Space Shooter Blitz is now out for free on iOS, Android and Facebook. Challenge your friends to a hectic, retro-style “Bullet Hell” shoot ‘em up with Commander P. Jefferson at the helm of the mighty USS Eradicator. Make a quick stop at Jenna’s shop to gear up: pick from a series of cool power-ups and get ready to blast some aliens! In a crazy fast-paced one-minute blitz, shoot as many enemies as possible without getting hit to get your score rolling. Watch that multiplier index: the higher it goes, the more enemies there are, the harder the game gets, and the faster you rake in points. At the end of this survival challenge, take down a special boss in an epic battle to send your score through the roof!

A Space Shooter Blitz features:
  • Fast One-Minute “Blitz” Rounds - With a one minute blitz, take down as many enemy waves before time runs out!
  • “BURN THEM ALIENS!”- Build the score multiplier while wiping off the scum of the galaxy. Avoid damage to the USS Eradicator to keep racking up points!
  • Cross Platform to a galaxy far far away- Share progress, achievements, and score across all platforms and compete against others to reach the top of the weekly leaderboards.
  • Put the “Epic” in Boss fights- Random Boss Fights emerge to give an epic battle against Commander P. Jefferson. Fire away to annihilate them quickly and cash in your extra points.
Install A Space Shooter Blitz from Best Apps Market

Check out Frima Games: Frima is Canada’s largest independently owned game developer. Since 2003, the company has been developing world-class media including virtual worlds, social and web based games, console titles and mobile apps. Their services also include the animation and special effects expertise of Frima FX as well as the concept art development of Volta. In addition to working with world-renowned clients such as Electronic Arts, Activision, Warner Brothers and Ubisoft, Frima develops successful, original IP titles such as A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! and Zombie Tycoon. With over 350 artists and programmers in-house, Frima produces high-caliber products that are as remarkably outstanding artistically as they are technically. For more information, please visit


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Tag Archives: Dave Lindorf

Robert Wexler Cries Impeachment on BlogTalkRadio

Congressman Robert Wexler pushed for impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney on BlogTalkRadio tonight.

Florida Progressive Radio and Kenneth Quinnell of the Florida Netroots Caucus hosted Rep. Wexler; Bob Fertick of Democrats.com; Dave Lindorf, author of “The Case for Impeachment;” and David Swanson with AfterDowningStreet.org, to discuss the impeachment of Cheney and the Wexler Wants Hearings campaign.

Listen to the full archive of The Impeachment on Florida Progressive Radio for more information.


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Friday Video – Slade, “Run Runaway”

The opening drums might be faker than 60% of Posh Spice’s body, and sadly you’ll have to look elsewhere to hear them, because they were cut off of this upload, but hot damn, does this song still sound cool to us now. Not every rock song made it out of the ’80s alive. Most of Tom Werman’s productions, in particular, sound hollow and dated, and when a friend played a homemade best of Dokken he had made, the question that kept popping into our heads was, “Didn’t we just hear this song?” Ah, but “Run Runaway” still sounds awesome today. Huge power chords, those chugging synthetic drums, the fiddle, the chain gang backing vocals…love, love, love. The clip the band shot, though, is just silly, with lead singer Noddy Holder just making goofy faces at the camera for a good 10 seconds straight. Imagine Michael Bay or McG putting a shot like that in a video. The urge to hyper-edit will surely consume them.

All right, so maybe this isn’t a video to watch, but rather to listen to. And remember, Quiet Riot’s biggest hit was written by these guys, which would explain why the band went back to the Slade well for their next album by covering “Mama Weer All Crazee Now.” (That one didn’t work out so well, peaking at #51.) Happy Friday, everyone. Rock on.

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.

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Entry 0176

tea-8I enjoy tea. I don’t always get to indulge my love of tea as often as I might like, but I do quite enough making a nice, hot cup of tea now and then. I think Douglas Adams summed up both how to prepare, and why Americans generally don’t like it, far better than I could hope to. Of course, I tend to think Douglas Adams did most things far better than I could hope to, so my opinion might not be the most impartial.

For work, I tend to buy Twinings Earl Grey, the 25 count in bags. Yes, yes, I know bags are blasphemous, but I don’t really have the time to deal with loose-leaf at work. Plus, being stuck using a microwave to heat my water really limits my options.

I did try the English Breakfast today, and it has almost no flavor. Not very impressed. I’ve got no idea what I did wrong, either – I heated the water for the same amount of time (just to the start of the boil), I let it steep for a full five minutes, and yet when all was done all I could taste was the sugar I’d added. I don’t add a lot of sugar, but that’s all the flavor it had.

At home I prefer to use loose leaf, and switch between Earl Grey, a rather nice black-tea blend I’ve been picking up at the international market here (not sure of the name), and some yerba mata I from Teavana. I make it by the mug, generally, using my trusty electric kettle. I hope to move up to ceramic kettle at some point, but only if I know I’ll be having more than one cup of tea at a time.

I usually put in two lumps of sugar (I actually prefer honey to sugar, but it’s not always on hand), although I’ll toss a third one in occasionally. I like to keep my tea right on the edge of sweet and bitter – I find the mixture to be refreshing. I rarely use milk though – I don’t buy it very often, and when I do it tends to sour before I remember I have it.

As I write this, I’m struck by what a large impact tea has had on this country, a country that doesn’t really enjoy drinking it at all. One of the major events preceding the American Revolutionary War, the Boston Tea Party, would not have happened at all if it weren’t for both taxes and tea, two things most Americans don’t actually like.

I wonder if those guerrillas had targeted some other tasty beverage (or taxed food item), if we might not be the coffee drinkers we, as a nation, tend to be today. Imagine, if you will, a country free of StarBucks, a country were beat-poets hold their competitive poetry sessions in tea-houses, a land where the morning stimulant of choice takes just a bit longer to brew correctly.

Perhaps then I could go to a restaurant, order tea without having to preface it with the word “hot”, and be delivered something that is actually drinkable. Then again, I’m sure we’d have invented and “perfected” the art of instant tea, mangling it even more than we do today.

I guess I’ll just stick with things how they are.


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Arenal to Sarapiqui

June 4th:

Today, the group woke up at Lavas Tacotal in Arenal after a relaxing night in the hot springs just below the volcano. We ate breakfast at the resort, consisting of rice, beans, eggs, toast, pineapple, plantains, and a cup of fresh mixed fruit juice to wash it down. We then loaded our suitcases atop of the van and headed to our next destination, La Quinta, located in Sarapiqui, a small rural location in the north central lowlands of Costa Rica, which was our shortest ride yet. On our way, we stopped by a small souvenir and ice cream shop, where they had a huge family of iguanas staying outside on the patio. The group was able to get close enough for pictures and even had one member of the group, Brandon, hold one of the iguanas in his arms for a picture, then wound up getting bit by one on the hand. A couple of the members bought a unique flavor of ice cream made from a cactus fruit at the parlor, tasting very similar to raspberry. We left from there and finished our journey to La Quinta, arriving around 11:30 a.m., just before lunch. We had the option of grilled chicken or tilapia, along with rice, mixed vegetables, and fresh juiced cas.imageimage

After lunch, we had the option of either white water rafting or exploring the nearby area, where there was a river, lagoon of cayman, and a rain forest with exotic poison dart frogs, sloths, howler monkeys, and many more species of fauna and flora to experience. Two of the members in the group decided to go white water rafting along the Sarapiqui, where the saw many toucans and other birds, along with a chance to cliff dive off a 30 foot rock with a Tarzan swing into the water. Back at the resort, the rest of the members explored the river, bareback rafting down the rapids, instigating an intense verbal brawl with about 30 howler monkeys that started to surround the group through the trees. The rest of the group swam for a while at the pool until a storm arose, which caused horrible lightening, causing the power to go out for a short while.

One of the temporary workers of the resort, named Aaron, happened to be from North Carolina, is doing an internship as part of his degree program at Appalachian State in recreational management. He took one of the members, Brandon, on a very informational private tour through the resort, explaining the national leaf (sustainable tourism certification) system, and its importance to Costa Rica. He pointed out many features that have been implemented within the resort to become a ‘5 Leaf’ resort, analogous to America’s ‘5 Star’ hotels, but focused towards the environment, not the quality of stay, where the infrastructure, as well maintenance of the resort, factor in the leaf given. The resort is one of only around twenty, throughout all of Costa Rica, that has been certified as a ‘5 leaf’ resort, making it a pristine resort to visit for tourists from all over the world. The development was also primarily an effort to reforest the river-adjacent land, where a huge investment was taken to rejuvenate and diversify the species within the area by creating a lagoon, along with a broad species of plants and trees to foster as much wildlife as possible.

As the storm settled in, we all congregated at the dining area for dinner, as we listened to lectures from our peers to inform us about their specific topics pertaining to the relevance of the area and our visit to the pineapple farm that we will have the next day. Kyle informed us about agroforestry, along with soil and water quality, while Nonnie and Taylor gave a speech on pineapples and their effect on the local community and environment. For dinner we had the option of tilapia, pork chops, or beef fajitas, aside mash potatoes, zucchini squash, and rice, with fresh cas juice to drink. After dinner, we then parted with an early night, where most of the group was settling down for bed around 10 p.m.

~ Brandon Hackney


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Go Ahead, Make My Washington Biopic

Published:April 18, 2012 by Brendan Wolfe

From Variety:

Paramount Pictures is in negotiations to acquire “The General,” a George Washington pic with Darren Aronofsky attached to produce and direct from a script by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage.

Par is exclusively eyeing the project under its first-look deal with Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures banner. If the studio doesn’t close a deal in the next couple of days, others get a shot — and interest is expected to be high, with Aronofsky coming off the $329 million worldwide gross and awards success of “Black Swan.”

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but sources tell Variety that the script is more of an “Unforgiven”-like tale rather than a straight historical drama. Paramount had no comment on the negotiations.

Of course! George Washington meets Black Swan meets Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven! Sadly, my Photoshop skills are not what a post like this demands.

IMAGES: gDub; Aronofsky

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How Tall Does This Man Look to You?

Published:April 2, 2012 by Brendan Wolfe

… this man being, of course, James Madison, our fourth, but also our shortest, president. I ask because the staff of Encyclopedia Virginia was in lovely Harrisonburg this past weekend attending the annual Virginia Forum.

[Quick Digression: Thanks to Chris Arndt and the other organizers for another great conference this year. And congratulation to EV alumna and Columbia University senior Veronica Hylton on the presentation of her excellent paper, “Geography of Religion: A Case Study of Religious Affiliations in Albemarle County, Virginia, 1850–1860.” We also were happy to see a number of EV contributors, including Henry Wiencek (George Washington), David Rawson (Printing in Colonial Virginia), Ron Heinemann (Harry F. Byrd Sr.), James Sweeney (Harry F. Byrd Jr.), James Hershman (Massive Resistance), Brian Daugherity (Desegregation in Public Schools), Peter Wallenstein (Desegregation in Higher Education), and Ervin Jordan (Charlottesville during the Civil War). We even saw a few future contributors!]

Anyway … We managed to tear ourselves away long enough to take a quick tour of the James Madison University campus, and there we found a life-sized statue of Mr. Madison himself (above), a man so small that one of his contemporaries swore that he must have been carved from soap. We overheard a tour guide give the president’s height as not a hair over four-foot-ten (or possibly -eleven), and for several days we have been regaling our friends with this vital statistic.

However, it seems that most sources (including this one) list his height as five-four or five-five. John Adams still towered over him, in other words, but still. If you can’t trust a JMU tour guide, then what has the world come to? Thomas Jefferson, by the way, was our third president and our third tallest president, at 6 feet two and a half.

In case you’re interested, this source gives Madison as a true success story in the world of height-impaired men, placing him alongside Attila the Hun (5 feet), Elijah Wood (5-5), Tom Cruise (5-7), and Napoleon (who is listed only as “diminutive” but was actually about 5-7).

UPDATE: In the comments below, our friends at Montpelier suggest that Madison was even taller than we had thought!

IMAGE: Life-sized James Madison statue on the JMU campus in Harrisonburg (Peter Hedlund)

2 Comments on “How Tall Does This Man Look to You?”

  1. Tiffany Cole

    Here at Montpelier we recently addressed this same, longstanding debate ( Much to our dismay, Madison’s small stature seems to take precedence over his many significant achievements – Father of the Constitution, architect of the Bill of Rights, etc.

    I’d like to second your congratulations to the Virginia Forum organizers. I attended Friday’s sessions and was thrilled with the lectures. I am certain that James Madison, who felt that “knowledge will forever govern ignorance,” would be proud of the scholarly work presented.

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Herb of the Month: Basil

by in Healthy Recipes, In Season, August 1, 2011
basil on pizza
Basil on pizza, one of the many ways to use this versitle herb.

In parts of Italy, men sport a sprig of basil on their lapel if they’re looking for love. Although an interesting fashion statement, we’ll enjoy basil as part of our healthy eats instead.

Basil Basics
The herb basil (Ocimum basilicum, Labiatae) is part of the mint family. It seems to have originated in India about 4,000 years ago. The ancient Greeks called it the “King of Herbs.” The herb gained popularity in England in the 16th century and was brought to the Americas by English explorers.

Basil can be found in different shapes, sizes, and colors — there are over 60 varieties. The most common are large-leaf Italian sweet, purple opal, Thai, lemon, tiny-leaf and African blue. Sweet Italian (a.k.a. sweet Genovese) is probably the one most recognized. The bright green leaves are rounded, have a pungent flavor that’s a cross between licorice and cloves.

The main producer in the U.S. is California, but basil is also grown commercially in India, Israel, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Italy and Morocco.

Nutrition Info
One-quarter cup of chopped basil has only one calorie, but is brimming with antioxidant vitamins A and C. It also contains more than one-third your daily dose of vitamin K.

Basil is also bursting with phytochemicals such as the antioxidants rosmarinic and caffeic acid. Orientin and vicerin are other phytochemicals that help protect cells from damage.

Basil has been used for years to help alleviate ailments such as mouth ulcers, earaches, hair loss, indigestion and itching. It’s also used to as a homemade bug repellent—just crush and rub onto skin.

What To Do With Basil
Basil is traditionally used in Mediterranean, Thai and Italian cooking. Many varieties pair nicely with tomatoes and garlic—such as in a homemade tomato sauce, pesto, or pizza. Fresh basil leaves can be torn and tossed into salads or pasta dishes. Besides savory dishes, basil works wonders in sweet dishes like yogurt or sorbet. Fresh leaves can be added to vinegar or oil—the flavor will seep into the liquid, infusing its flavor.

Basil can be dried or frozen. To freeze, layer herb between sheets of wax paper and place in freezer. The leaves will darken, but the flavor will remain.

Shopping and Storage Tips: Choose basil with bright green leaves without brown or yellow spots. Place cut stems in container of water and keep on the windowsill for up to one week (be sure to change the water every other day). Basil can also be stored in the refrigerator wrapped in a damp paper towel for up to 4 days. To lengthen shelf life, place basil in a contained, cover with olive oil, seal, and store in refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Recipes To Try:

Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian and consultant who specializes in food safety and culinary nutrition. See Toby’s full bio »

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Russel and Katya at Pacific Music Awards

Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman and his partner Katya Paquin enjoyed attending the 5th annual Pacific Music Awards at the Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau City on Saturday night.

Russel’s attendance was noted in speeches by Pacific Island Affairs Minister Georgina Te Heuheu and Vui Mark Gosche. And Niu FM’s Sela Alo – a presenter at the awards along with his breakfast show co-host Te’eva Tagaloa-Leniu – name-checked Russel, then made a joke at Melissa Lee’s expense, saying the National MP was “still on the motorway”.

The Green Party’s candidate for Mangere, Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua opened the night with a prayer that spoke of music ‘to help us through the recession’.

It was also a night that celebrated family and community. Niuean reggae musician, and Polynesian Panther Tigilau Ness was honoured with the Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award. He spoke on stage, surrounded by his grandsons, then was surprised by son Che Fu, who performed in honour of his father.

Russel met David Tua and complimented the Tuaman on his freestyle rap performance. Tua had opened his speech with a Maori mihi, then switched to eloquent tautala lelei for a Samoan language greeting, then addressed the audience in English, before his compelling hip-hop performance that urged young Polynesian men to stay away from gang culture and represent their families and communities with honour and respect.

Reverend Mua’s son Feleti “Sabre” Strickson-Pua and his band Nesian Mystik were stars of the evening, winning four awards – the Nui FM Best Pacific Urban Artist Award, the Radio 531pi Best Pacific Group Award and the coveted Tui for the S3 Best Pacific Music Album for ‘Elevator Musiq’.

Well-known female hip hop and R’n’B artist, Ladi 6 took out the award for Pacific Blue Best Pacific Female Artist for her debut solo album ‘Time is not Much’.

Other winners at the S3 Pacific Music Awards 2009 were Devolo, who won NZ Commission Best Pacific Male Artist for ‘Heaven & Hell’

Best Pacific Gospel Album was awarded to Oyster Music – various artists for ‘The Gospel According to..’

The Phillip Fuemana Award went to Sweet & Irie. And the Manukau City Council People’s Choice Award went to the South Auckland Community Church Band

Also acknowledged for his outstanding achievements and success in the music industry internationally was Savage for his hit single ‘Swing’.

Pacific Music Awards chairperson Reverend Mua said the award winners of the 2009 S3 Pacific Music Awards truly highlight the success and achievements of Pacific music artists within the industry.

“During these hard economic times it’s great to be able to celebrate something as uplifting and positive as Pacific music.”

Amen to that Reverend.

One thought on “Russel and Katya at Pacific Music Awards

  1. I can feel a JFK & Jackie moment coming on. 😉

    Although I’m sure that the Pacifica community of South Auckland would be a far more relaxing place to celebrate local musical excellence, than some of the arenas attended by that early ’60’s president…

    Congrat’s to Ladi6, one of my favourite performers – and very generous – a laydee I’ll always have on the top of my favourites list! :-)
    A fitting end-of-NZ-Music-Month celebration.

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