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Friday, January 25, 2013

Catherine Violet Hubbard

The events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012 were so overwhelmingly tragic and unbelievable that it tended to make things somewhat abstract.  I found myself thinking in numbers, 20 children, 6 adults, all dead - there was no individuality in the numbers.  No searing sense of any one specific hole in the universe.

Then came the pictures of each 6 and 7 year old but somehow it continued to be this massive collage of the more "safely" viewed overall group.  I know I'm not explaining this well but for some reason, at least in my experience, large numbers are easier to deal with than focusing on one.  10 million killed in the holocaust.  A horrible thing, but too big to really grasp or even, in some ways, mourn.  But meet one individual with a tattoo on her arm and listen to her stories and, BAM, it all hits home, becomes personal, becomes something that will haunt your waking and sleeping hours.

That's what happened to me when I saw the photo of Catherine Hubbard.
Catherine Violet Hubbard
The eyes and the smile, and what I saw behind them, were mesmerizing.  I could actually "see" the life that lay before her.  And what a good life that was going to be.  There's so much humor in that face.  And an openness that says "Got a challenge for me?  Bring it on!"

She would have been the kind of child/young girl/woman I always envied.

Cathy as a child, rambunctious, curious, leader, Katie as a tomboy-ish, but feminine, young teen and Catherine, the take-no prisoners and don't-waste-my- time-with-stupidity proud and lovely woman.

I found out what I could about Catherine (I can't assume that she was called Cathy) but it wasn't much.  Initially, all I knew was that she was 6 years old and would remain 6 years old forever.

Then came an amazing connection.  In her obituary, her parents asked for donations to a Newtown Animal Shelter in lieu of flowers, due to Catherine's enormous love of animals.  Animals have been my great love, almost my religion, ever since I can remember.

 “Catherine loved all animals,” say the Hubbards. “She would chase down strangers just to pet their dogs, squeal with delight as butterflies landed on her arm and sit for hours watching baby birds in a nest. We would overhear her whispering to insects and animals…her words: tell all your friends that I’m kind.”

I instantly made a contribution to the shelter in Catherine's name and vowed to make that an annual thing to do.  It was all I could do to try to "cement" a relationship between me and that darling girl.

Just recently I received a letter from the shelter, which said in part:  Many of you asked how donations in Catherine’s memory would be used. Today, it is our great pleasure to announce plans to build the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, a place where all creatures, great and small, can know the touch of a kind hand and be safe from harm.

I totally lost it.  "All creatures, great and small, can know the touch of a kind hand and be safe from harm."  Before Catherine entering my heart, that alone would have brought me to tears.  But to know that that wonderous goal was going to be carried out in her name was too much to bear.

All I wanted at that point to be as I was in my 20s, 30s or even 40s.  That Marianne would have instantly quit her job and moved to Newtown to say "How can I help bring this sanctuary to fruition?"

Unfortunately, my life at this point doesn't allow me to spontaneously drop everything and follow my instincts any more.

So, money, prayers and perhaps an occasional visit to Newtown to see the progress is all I can do.  It won't be enough.  There is nothing that can ever be "enough."

She is 6 years old and she is dead.  I am not a formally religious person, but I have to believe she is somewhere where she is "safe from harm" and where she feels nothing other than the "touch of kind hands."

If anyone reading this wants to blow a kiss to Catherine, send whatever you can to:

  Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary
The Animal Shelter

P. O Box 475
Newtown, CT 06470

Monday, January 21, 2013

Thoughts on Inauguration Day, 2013

Quite a day.

Images and thoughts (in random order as they come to me) -----

John Lewis, who 50 years ago joined MLK in jail cells and marches, including the March on Washington (which I claim as one of my most valued memories), now watched an African-American elected to a second term.

The fact that this event took place on the day we honor MLK - it would seem too staged if it appeared in a fictional work, but was so moving in reality.  Add to that, the fact that at Obama's last inauguration the statue of MLK was not on the Mall, but today it was, directly in the President's direct line of site.

Myrlie Evers speaking, again 50 years after the murder of her husband, Medgar.  Mostly I remembered what had me sobbing for a long time after Obama's initial election --- upon the news that Obama had been elected she went to Medgar's grave and told him "You did not die in vain."

JT singing "America the Beautiful."  (Could have done without Kelly Clarkson or Beyonce, but that's just me.)

Richard Blanco's poem which I thought wtas quite good (but I'll always remember Maya Angelou's and compare all to that!).  I wish I'd known beforehand that he was gay - it would have added even more poignancy to his line - "days giving thanks for a love that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother who knew how to give, or forgiving a father who couldn’t give what you wanted."

Bubba looking so hale and hearty - there have been pictures of him in the press looking haggard, with captions insinuating he was close to death.  He still looks pretty good to me.  I hope Hillary runs in 2016, 'cause I'd sure love to have Bill back in the White House.

The seeming (and hopefully REAL) normalness of Barack, Michelle and the two girls.  They look like the family I always wanted.  Openly loving, warm and caring.  Now that I think about it, that's not "normal," it's special.

Biden giving about 20 secret service men heart attacks by running to the side of the road to schmooz and hug.

News that a statue of Rosa Parks will be put into Statuary Hall sometime this year.  Not sure who said it, but the comment "From the back of the bus to Statuary Hall!" was made.

Obama referencing "Stonewall" in his speech.  (Look it up if you don't know what the reference is to.)

His grin as he walked down Pennsylvania Avenue - he almost looked young again.

I'm sure there are more things that will stick in my mind, but for now this seems to be what I recall most.

Friday, January 18, 2013

RIP, Showing Up For The Muse

After 1637 posts, covering 6 years and 2 months, my niece/godchild has shut down her blog, for various good (at least from her perspective) reasons.  But it leaves a hole in the blog world (not to mention in my life) which my blog can't fill, but which my blog will at least balance out - one gone, one revived.

I doubt this blog will mean to any what Tilly's blog meant to so many - so many different things to so many different people.  For me it was a way to keep track of her and to view her life vicariously.  The only plus for me is that in order to keep track now, I'll have to do it one on one with her which will be great.  But unless she takes notes on a daily basis and makes sure to fill me in on everything, be it via snail mail, email or telephone, I won't know her daily ups and downs, challenges, victories, doubts, insights, fears, struggles  - or see her daily artistic uploads, and photographs (how will I know the next time she takes her two grown sons deep into the swamps of Southern Miami, hip deep searching for rare tiny blue orchids?).

So, while I will undoubtedly have more "direct" contact with my beloved girl, I am sad that I will lose so many on-going details of her daily life.  So, my Tilly, if you're reading this, start making daily (DETAILED) journal entries today (and you can call me weekly just to read them to me) -- and try to bang out a painting or two a week just to send me, as well as a roll of film of every adventure you have (be it a bicycle jaunt with Michael through land that should belong ONLY to allligators or art show openings or the doings of the HMAA).

Now that I've totally depressed myself about the loss of her blog, I will sign off promising to continue my own blog on a regular basis (hoping I can find something to write about ----- ).

So as I bid farewell to "Showing Up for the Muse," I bid hello again to "What if, I Wonder and Pet Peeves," (why did I name it so badly?)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

in case the world is waiting -----

Stay tuned - there's a blog coming.  Things that need writing about are swirling around in my head.  Been doing a lot of "head" searching (vs. soul searching).  It's coming.  I can just feel the excitement building.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My apologies ......

While I doubt that anyone to whom this apology is directed will ever read this (or the post I'm apologizing for), I feel I need to say how soorry I am for my flip "Boy, was I prepared for nothing...." comments.  After seeing the devestation that Hurricane Irene caused so many (in my state and in others), and learning that hundreds of thousands are still without power three days after the storm passed, not to mention the 30 some people who lost their lives), I realize how crass and self-centered my comments were.

I was just trying to be amusing (?) in outlining how super prepared I was and how I needn't have done any of it.

But that was just me.  Some folks as close as 15 miles away are still without power and have had flood damage done to their land and homes.

I can only hope that those that were impacted were also highly prepared and that those preparations at least somewhat eased what they went, and are still going, through.

My heart goes out to all of you - please forgive my words.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Irene Who?

The scary predictions.

The 24/7 news.

The adverbs.  "Horrific."  "Historic."  "Devestating."

Power outages could last as long as a week.

Tension building by the hour.  I found on where the Weather Channel was on my TV; had never watched it before. was locked in on my laptop.  Four two-galloon water botles in the trunk of my car.  Canned foods loading down my cabinets.  Lots of Starbuck's bottled coffee to fill in for the week that my Keurig would be out of commission.  Cell phone fully charged and waiting.  Patio cleared of anything that could possibly be blown around and sent through my bay window.  Pre-cooked meals that would be edible cold, if necessary.

I'd overlooked nothing.  Do your best, Irene.  No boy scout experience, but nonetheless I'm prepared.  Beyond prepared.  Even two small bags packed.  One for me, to cover at least two days if I had to take up the offer to go to friends who had a generator, the other with food supplies for me during that time (so as to not use up their limited supply - plus some additional boxes of Kraft's Mac & Cheese for their boys).

Bring it on, Irene.  You don't scare me.

My internal clock must have taken in all the information about the timing.  Irene was schedule to "hit" NW Connecticut at around 3am.  I woke at 3:30.  It was raining and that was about that.  Turned on the Weather Channel and saw that it was still on its way.  My thinking was that I might as well stay up and welcomg Irene when she arrived in full dress and if I stayed up for the next several hours I'd be tired enough to go back to bed when the electricity went.

Finally went back to bed around 10am - with electricity flowing through every lamp and appliance.

It's now about 2pm and it's raining.  Not that hard, but it is raining.  There appears to be a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and flowers.  There are maybe 20 to 30 leaves scattered around my patio.

So, allow me to paraphrase the Thane of Cawdor,

National meteorology is but a walking shadown, a poor player
That struts and frets their hour upon the channels
And then is heard no more: it is a tale,
told by alarmists, full or sound and fure,
resulting in nothing.

Let me say that I am by no means intending to take lightly, or to diminish in any way, those that have been impacted by Irene.  It's just that it was clear to those of us who paid attention on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat that we were all going to die on Sunday!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Wow - June 28th was my last post.  I can't believe it's been that long.  Just a bit shy of 2 months.

And has it been because my life has just been so full of fun and frolic that I haven't been able to find even a few minutes?  Don't I wish.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I haven't written.  Normal depression has been around, as it always is, but that's not very unusual.

Heard an amazing comment on depression - not sure where, but it stuck with me.  It was said by someone who suffers from chronic depression.

You can tell someone who is depressed "see, right over there on that table?  there's a guaranteed cure for your depression if you'll just go get it, reach for it."  The depressant (depressee?) will look longingly over at the table but just won't be able to make the stretch or the walk to the cure.  Just too hard.

It sounds so stupid but it's so spot on.  It's not that we're too lazy or tired to walk to the table holding the cure, it's just that we literally can't.  It's too hard, and the table seems way too far out of our reach.

It's a really good thing that I can't afford to retire.  Without my job I think I'd turn into a total basket case, moving from bed to couch and back again, and no where else.

Coffee, cigarettes, tv and books - that's about all I'd need.  Well, and also the occasional pint of Haagen Daas, box of chocolate donuts and M&Ms.

As much as I gripe about my job, it is my salvation.  Apparently the work ethic is not impacted by depression.  I am definitely a wait till the last minute person, but when it's crunch time I can churn it out better than anyone.  And my clients love me.  They think I'm bright, chipper, always available and that I truly care about them.  Hmmmm - never realized that depression makes great actors out of us.

Right now, my depression and anxiety have a focus, an unfortunate one, and one that's making me crazy.

A week and two days ago, at around 8pm, I let out one of my kitties.  He often spends the night out and so when he didn't return when I called him before going to bed I was not concerned.  I knew he'd be curled up on one of the deck chairs in the morning, waiting for breakfast and some loving.  Well, he wasn't there.  I was a bit concerned, but not all that much.  I knew that if I came home at lunch I'd find him waiting.  Nope.  And when I got home from work, still no Marcel.  That evening the concern went full force.  I walked around, calling, whistling (to which he always comes!) ... and nothing.

The next day, making my rounds of the compound where I live, trying to get everyone on the lookout, I learned that at the far end of where I live two cats had gone missing about two weeks before mine.

Concern was now bordering on panic and I kept looking, kept hoping, but by Friday evening had pretty much given up hope of finding him.  That evening my immediate neighbors came over and told me that their cat, Whispers," had been missing since Wednesday night, two nights after Marcel first went missing.

There has been talk of a fox seen in back yards....but a fox taking down even one cat, much less four?  I don't think so.  No one has heard coyotes.  Those who have dogs say that their dogs have not raised any fuss over any animal noises.

Then the day before yesterday I learned that four cats from a neighborhood about half a mile away from me have gone missing in the past two or three weeks.

I am now so freaked out, I can't stand it.  I keep thinking of all kinds of horrible, sinister things that could have happened.  I can't sleep, not even with the TV on (which can usually shut my mind down enough to be able to fall asleep).  I just keep picturing horrible things.

It's so awful just not knowing.  I pray he is dead, and not suffering somewhere.  If I could only be sure, I'd feel 100% better.  And my little guy, Cinqo, seems a bit lost.  And even though he never went out the way Marcel did, he did go out from time to time, always coming back rather quickly.  But I don't dare let him out now - he's been out about twice in the past four or five days, both times with me out there on the deck watching his every move.  And I think he misses his big brother.

And so do I.

I just realized that my last blog was about dead bluebirds and now I write this about dead cats .....I might as well rename it the Blog of Death and Destruction.

Going to put this to a merciful end now - will be back shortly with something better to write about (I hope).

Thanks for listening.


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Showing posts from February, 2011

Improve math skills of your kids - Learn step-by-step arithmetic from Math games

Math: Unknown - Step-by-step math calculation game for iOS.

Math: Unknown is much more than a math game. It is a step-by-step math calculation game which will teach users how to calculate in the correct order rather than just asking only the final calculated results.

The app consists of four basic arithmetic operations which are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In order to get started, users who are new to arithmetic can learn from animated calculation guides showing step-by-step procedures of solving each type of operation. It is also helpful for experienced users as a quick reference.

Generally, addition and subtraction may be difficult for users who just start learning math especially when questions require carrying or borrowing (also called regrouping). The app helps users to visualize the process of carrying and borrowing in the way it will be done on paper. Once users understand how these operations work, they are ready to learn multiplication and division.

For most students, division is considered as the most difficult arithmetic operation to solve. It is a common area of struggle since it requires prior knowledge of both multiplication and subtraction. To help users understand division, the app uses long division to teach all calculation procedures. Relevant multiplication table will be shown beside the question. Users will have to pick a number from the table which go into the dividend. Multiplication of selected number and divisor is automatically calculated, but the users have to do subtraction and drop down the next digit themselves. Learning whole calculation processes will make them master it in no time.

Math: Unknown is a helpful app for students who seriously want to improve arithmetic calculation skills.

Chain Drives Design (Part 1)

Chain drives are used to transmit rotational motion and torque from one shaft to another, smoothly, quietly and inexpensively. Chain drives provide the flexibility of a belt drive with the positive engagement like a gear drive. Therefore, the chain drives are suitable for applications with large distances between shafts, slow speed and high torque.

Usually, chain is an economical part of power transmission machines for low speeds and large loads. However, it is also possible to use chain in high-speed conditions like automobile engine camshaft drives. This is accomplished by devising a method of operation and lubrication.

Compare to other forms of power transmission, chain drives have the following advantages:
Chain drives have  flexible shaft center distance, whereas gear drives are restricted. The greater the shaft center distance, the more practical the use of chain and belt, rather than gears. Chain can accommodate long shaft-center distances (less than 4 m), and is more versatile…

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 6)

In this post, you'll find the video clip to show how to use the excel program to solve system of equations using Gauss Elimination method and download link.

You can find the links related to this series of post below:
Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 1) Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 2)Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 3)Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 4)Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 5) Free download excel file of equations solver with Gauss elimination method
You'll need the following password to unzip:

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 5)

Let's continue from [Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 4)]. Now you know how to enter data and solve a set of linear equations using our program. Now it's time to see how to setup another set of equations. Let's try to solve system of equations with 10 unknowns.

From the following screen, click "Main Menu".

Program will move to main screen with pop-up windows. Enter number of equations to be solved, for this example, enter 10 and click OK.

Warning screen will appear as follows. Please note that the program allows to keep only 1 set of equations at a time. Existing equations will be deleted we you set new equations. If you wish to solve new set of equations, click "Yes".

Program will move back to the calculation screen. You'll find matrix [A] with 10x10 dimensions, vector {B} with 10x1 dimensions and vector {X} with 10x1 dimensions. The program erased all existing data and create new table automatically.

Try enter the f…

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 4)

After you download an excel program Gauss Elimination Method from our web site and open it, you'll find the following screen.

You have to click "Options..." and "Enable this content" to enable the VBA otherwise the VBA code will be blocked and can't run the program.

The program will show a form asking for your agreement confirmation.

After you've agreed, you'll find the main screen, then click Start.

You'll find the menu whether you need to review or recalculate the previous equations or you want to add new equations. Let's try review the earlier equations by clicking at "Existing equations" button.

The program will move to another screen where you can change values in matrix [A] or vector {B} and recalculation to solve the equations with the same number of equations. For this example, the dimension of matrix [A] is 3x3. So if you want to solve another set of linear equations with 3 unknowns then you can modify this existing table …

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 3)

From post [Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 2)], we know the procedures of Gauss Elimination method to solve system of linear equations. But if we write excel VBA program based on those procedures, we may encounter with problems and cannot get the calculation result. You can find more details regarding problems and how to correct them from [Numerical methods in engineering]. We will explain one problem that may occur. It's division by zero.

For example, we want to solve a set of simultaneous equations as follows using Gauss Elimination method.

The first step of Gauss Elimination method is to divide equation (1) with a coefficient of x1 which is 5. This is fine to do that. But imagine if the equation (3) and (1) are swapped as follows, we will encounter with "division by zero" problem.

Actually we will have problem if the value in diagonal term of matrix [A] is zero or has very small value. So we can avoid this problem by swapping equations…

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 2)

The the previous post [Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 1)], the basic information regarding Gauss Elimination Method has been shared. In this post, we will have at more details about Gauss Elimination method.

Why called "elimination"?

The general form of system of equations is like this.

The Gauss Elimination method starts from forward elimination by dividing equation (1) with coefficient of x1. Equation (1) now becomes:

Multiply equation (1) with coefficient of x1 from equation (2) then we get:

Then we subtract equation (2) with equation (1). Equation (2) becomes:

Or we can write it as

Repeat the same procedures for the remaining equations and we get the system of equations as follows:

We can see that the first term in equation (2) to (n) are eliminated for this round of calculation. For the next round, we will repeat the same procedure, only we change the coefficient to equation (2) i.e. dividing equation (2) with a'22 and multiplying i…

Solving System of Equations using Gauss Elimination Method (Part 1)

Sometimes engineers need to solve a system of equations to obtain solutions for their engineering design works. This kind of problems consists of several number of unknowns and equations that cannot be solved easily without good knowledge of system of equations solving method and understanding of computer programming. If we need to solve a set of linear equations with 2 - 3 unknowns, it will be easily to solve by hand calculation. There are several methods available for solving them. But when we need to solve much more unknowns e.g. 20 unknowns or 1,000 unknowns, computer software is unavoidable.

System of equations with "n" linear equations can be expressed as follows:

We can write it the matrix form as [A]{X} = {B}

The dimension of matrix [A] is (nxn), vector {X} is (nx1) and vector {B} is (nx1).
There are several methods to solve a set of simultaneous equations e.g. Cramer's rule, Gauss elimination or Gaussian Elimination method, Gauss-Jordon method, matrix inversion…

Peaucellier–Lipkin and Sarrus Straight-line Mechanism

The Peaucellier–Lipkin linkage (or Peaucellier–Lipkin cell), invented in 1864, was the first planar linkage capable of transforming rotary motion into perfect straight-line motion, and vice versa. It is named after Charles-Nicolas Peaucellier, a French army officer, and Yom Tov Lipman Lipkin, a Lithuanian Jew and son of the famed Rabbi Israel Salanter.

Until this invention, no planar method existed of producing straight motion without reference guideways, making the linkage especially important as a machine component and for manufacturing. In particular, a piston head needs to keep a good seal with the shaft in order to retain the driving (or driven) medium. The Peaucellier linkage was important in the development of the steam engine.

The mathematics of the Peaucellier–Lipkin linkage is directly related to the inversion of a circle.

There is an earlier straight-line mechanism, whose history is not well known, called "Sarrus linkage". This linkage predates the Peaucellier–Li…

Hoekens Straight-line Mechanism

The Hoekens linkage is a four-bar mechanism that converts rotational motion to approximate straight-line motion. The Hoekens linkage is a cognate linkage of the Chebyshev linkage.

"DESIGN OF MACHINERY" by Robert L. Norton shows the link ratios that give the smallest possible structural error in either position or velocity over values of Δβ from 20° to 180°.

The followings are some interesting examples of Hoekens straight-line mechanism from youtube.

Walking robot

Marble machine

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Wheelchair basketball champion promotes Paralympic sports worldwide

From CNN:
Childhood polio left him using a wheelchair, but that's never stopped Paralympian Ade Adepitan (pictured) from achieving his goals.

When he was growing up, there was little awareness of disability sports, the Nigerian-born wheelchair basketball champion says.

"Because I had a disability, because I did not know about the Paralympics, I always assumed that my only way of competing at sport was competing with other able-bodied people," said Adepitan.

But hard work, coupled with innate determination and passion for sports, helped him achieve an illustrious athletic career that culminated in 2004 when he won the bronze medal at the Athens Paralympics as a member of Great Britain's wheelchair basketball team.

Adepitan's aim off the court is to further raise the profile of disability sports. A familiar face to British sports fans, he's an ambassador for London's 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

These days, most kids are generally aware of disability sports, but "there's a lot more that can be done," Adepitan said.

"I think it's a great opportunity for us to increase the profile of Paralympians, increase the profile of Paralympic sports and also get better facilities," he said of the 2012 Games.

Since retiring from international action in 2006, Adepitan has forged a new career in media as a television presenter. As part of his work, he works on a program that shines the spotlight on Paralympians.

The aim, he said, is "to get the public to know who they are, know what they are about and fall in love with them so by the time 2012 comes around, the public will know who they are and support them."

Despite all his accomplishments as an athlete and entertainer in Britain, Adepitan is quick to point out that he's never forgotten his African upbringing.

"You can't escape your heritage," Adepitan says. "Not that I want to escape it, I mean it's part of me -- being African is part of me."

Adepitan says he'd like to take his expertise back to Africa to see if he could help disability sport on the continent.

"It would be really nice to go back and help set up an academy of sport, coach some players, do some workshops, just bring back some of my knowledge. I've played sport at an elite level for 20 years so I think I must know something that I can bring back for the guys."

One of the things that holds Africa back when it comes to disability sport is the price of Paralympic equipment, Adepitan says. He believes that if more resources are made available, the continent will then be able to play a major role in the Games.

"Africa has a big part to play in Paralympic sports and the effect of the Paralympics and Paralympic sports in Africa will be huge on educating and empowering disabled people in Africa."

Born near Lagos, Nigeria, in 1973, Adepitan moved to the United Kingdom with his family at the age of 3.

As a youngster, he wasn't drawn to wheelchair basketball. "I didn't always use a wheelchair and I felt getting into a wheelchair would be a step backwards," he said.

But his mindset changed when he attended a training session of the Great Britain wheelchair basketball team. Watching those athletes compete prompted him to take up the sport that helped transform his life.

"I was totally blown away by them," Adepitan recalled. "They blew away all my preconceptions of what wheelchair sport was about. These guys were athletes, they had massive arms."

From that moment, he decided he would set out to be a Paralympian and compete at the highest level, he said.

Adepitan says he never dreamed that one day he would be recognized for being an athlete or being a TV personality rather than for having a disability.

"(It is) just a really nice feeling and it feels like I have kind of accomplished something and kind of had an impact on the world."


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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

hot and bothered

Last night Medusa came back from work all hot and sweaty, fuming and cursing. she had been travelling since three in the afternoon, in what ought to be a pleasant monsoon weather, but instead is blinding, scorching, sweat-inducing summer. medusa cursed all those who never have to trek for ten minutes in the heart of the industrial wasteland, where there is no shade, and only heat, she abused those who do not travel at the back of a "super", which prides itself in travelling at break-neck speed, and therefore filling its occupants with a maximum of iron dust and industrial pollution. not to mention the sun. the blinding, head-aching sun.

and when she reached home, there was no power. presumably because at this unexpected heat wave the use of ACs had gone up again. fat load of good a power cut does. those who had been taking much earned rest after a long day slaving in front of computers at an air conditioned office, having travelled to and fro in air conditioned vehicles, would simply use up some more fossil fuel and keep the AC on.

How will they ever know the the pleasure of having one's own sweat trickle down one's back, making the bed and the pillow soak, when one's hanky gets wetter than an wet tissue, and the gloom cast by the absence of electric light?

Medusa knows that individual actions of eco-friendly-ness will not stop the downward spiral in which the earth's weather seems to have gone. but what is to be done? it seems so bloody hopeless that ranting about the bourgeoisie who take taxis and use ACs brings about more pleasure than harping on and on about nameless-faceless individuals and interests that control corporations.

in the meantime, the temperatures rise. you may control the weather that you live in, but can you control the weather in which your food is grown? and if you can't, then aren't you and medusa in the same sinking boat, and shouldn't you be doing something about it?

  1. It's quite cool here. Feels quite autumnal, I remarked to someone yesterday.

  2. Anonymous11:55 PM

    qohvnwgdgfbbqfysrxrb, yahoo Scanner, PPSlNgY.


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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Pages: 407
Date: 03/02/2010
Grade: 4
Details: no. 2 The Spellmans

Before I get into the story in the book, I have to address the cover of the copy I read.
Who designed it? Did they read the book before coming up with the picture? (Probably not.) Did they even bother to find out what the story was about? (Unlikely). For those who tend to  judge a book by it's cover let me say the following: no investigations are conducted on a bicycle, and no dogs are part of the investigation. I can't believe nobody involved in the publication of this book picked up on these, rather obvious, flaws.
With that off my chest, I can now focus on the story.
When Izzy Spellman is arrested for the fourth time in three months it is her elderly lawyer friend, Morty, who bails her out. It is also Morty who points out to her that this time it is serious and she'll have to explain herself in court and maybe face jail. Morty however is more than willing to defend her, provided Izzy gives him the full story.
And as Izzy tells her story we learn about four months filled with suspicious behaviour.
There is her father who is constantly coming home with wet hair, her mother's mysterious midnight excursions, and her brother's sudden and radical change in behaviour. But most of all, there is the very suspicious new neigbour of her parent's, John Brown (a very suspicious name to begin with), who won't give any details of his past and is behaving in a most suspicious way overall.
Izzy being Izzy can't help herself and has to investigate, finding herself at the wrong end of many sticks and in no end of trouble.
This really is an outrageous book, with a story that has very little to do with life in the real world. And there were times when I just wasn't sure if I even liked the book.
But... I had a hard time putting this book down. The characters and the absurd story captivated me, and I'm now looking forward to reading the third instalment fairly soon.

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Potion Explosion accessibility teardown

Potion Explosion (2015) – Accessibility Teardown

Context of Document

This is not a review of this game. You will find the review linked in the introduction.

Meeple Like Us is engaged in mapping out the accessibility landscape of tabletop games. Teardowns like this are data points. Games are not necessarily bad if they are scored poorly in any given section. They are not necessarily good if they score highly. The rating of a game in terms of its accessibility is not an indication as to its quality as a recreational product. These teardowns though however allow those with physical, cognitive and visual accessibility impairments to make an informed decision as to their ability to play.

Not all sections of this document will be relevant to every person. We consider matters of diversity, representation and inclusion to be important accessibility issues. If this offends you, then please stop reading now. This will not be the blog for you, and we have no interest in debating with anyone whether these issues are worthy of discussion. You can check out our common response to common objections.

Teardowns are provided under a CC-BY 4.0 license. However, recommendation grades in teardowns are usually subjective and based primarily on heuristic analysis rather than embodied experience. No guarantee is made as to their correctness. Bear that in mind if adopting them.

If you like what we're doing with Meeple Like Us, please consider liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and sharing our content. Drop us a comment too in the discussion section below! We appreciate every thing you do to help us get the word out!

  • 26/9/17 – Erroneously claimed that the potion stoppers had a different tactile profile depending on type – they don’t, as noted by this comment on BGG.  I’ve removed that text.
  • 26/9/17 – Added some emphasis in the colour blindness section regarding physical marble variability – that was mentioned elsewhere, but it’s relevant in that section too.

Version Reviewed

Heidelberger Spieleverlag German first edition

Potion Explosion is as much a toy as it is a game – that big marble dispenser is not just a triviality at centre of the table.  A lot of the thrill of play comes from the tactility and fun of throwing marbles into the thing and then picking them out in every greater handfuls.   We gave it three and a half stars in our review because it’s a decent game with an excellent gimmick.  How accessible is that gimmick likely to be though?  You can trust me to report on this – I got an O in my Potions O.W.L. back in the day.

Colour Blindness

Colour is used as the primary, and indeed only, source of information in a number of places.  The first of these is the marbles themselves, which come in red, blue, black and yellow varieties:

Colour blind marbles

I don’t know. I don’t know. I just don’t know.

In a charitable analysis, it’s fair to say that the yellow and red marbles are a noticeably different shade for those with Protanopia or Deuteronopia.   However, the degree of contrast between them is not high and is going to be significantly influenced by environmental conditions such as lighting and the physical composition of the marbles – that isn’t necessarily reliable between boxes.  This is how they look in the dispenser:

Colour blind dispenser

You got to pick a marble or two

I think you can tell the difference between yellow and red, but if you look at the bottom column of the second slider there are certainly edge cases as the light shifts.   You also have to take into account variance in the marbles themselves.  They’re not uniform.  The second, third and fourth marbles in that slider are respectively yellow, red and red.  While the yellow and red ones are noticeably contrasted, the middle one is more of a judgement call.   I think it’s enough to consider this a problem, but I appreciate here opinions will vary.

Protanopia only

Do you think you could play like this?

The contrast between the colours is more marked on the potion tokens – the red looks more like brown here and a different texturing is used on the blue ingredient bars.

Potion ingredients

The colour difference is more noticeable here

Different potions are identified by stopper style and a symbol that is prominently marked on the front.  These exhibit palette overlaps, but no information is lost as a result because of the different stylistic elements.

Potion stoppers

Don’t stopper believing

I’m torn here.   I suspect the game is playable in optimal lighting conditions but I also suspect it’s going to be difficult where the illumination is not good, or cannot be controlled.  Colour matching is such an important part of the game too that if a single marble presents itself in a different shade, it’s possible to misjudge an entire chain of explosions because of it.   I’m inclined to say that we tentatively recommend Potion Explosion.   The colours, after all, are possible to differentiate.  It’s just not as clear a differentiation as I would want to see.

I’d be interested to hear though from colour blind players with more embodied experience of playing it – I will adjust this recommendation accordingly if anyone posts a comment.

Visual Accessibility

The different marbles, of course, have no tactile identifiers to distinguish them – since marbles are your key element of game state, we’d suggest the game is all but totally inaccessible to those for whom total blindness must be considered.  There’s a lot of tactility to working out game state here once you have a potion in front of you – holes indicate the number of marbles needed, and the presence of marbles themselves is a tactile indicator (albeit one that is subject to being mistakenly rolled away).   If you have some degree of colour differentiation you can almost certainly make out what ingredients are needed.  If not, compensatory strategies are possible.

Close up on potions

Easy to put your finger in these holes

The dispenser here is the key source of inaccessibility.   On one hand, it does make setup a breeze because you just pour the marbles into it and then flick the ones that get stuck into an adjacent hole.   This turns what is often a visually inaccessible exercise in many games into a task that is over in seconds.  However, you can’t get around the fact that identifying potential explosions is a visual exercise.  More than that, it’s one that requires mental branches to ascertain the impact of cascading explosions.  We looked at one of those in the review.

Close up on the dispenser

An explosion of possibilities

There is a mitigating factor though.  You’re only assessing an individual slider for potential explosions – they only propagate vertically, not horizontally.  That permits a player to exhaustively examine each possible selection because the problem space is only one dimensional.  This is made a little more complex because of the role that potions and the aid of the professor will play in permitting other options.  I think it’s likely manageable – perhaps with an associated support tool like a spreadsheet or notepad.  It’s not going to be great for game flow, but it’s a technical possibility.

It becomes more difficult if you’re playing aggressively and trying to cut off the routes an opponent has to their ingredients – all the tactile clues disappear when you’re considering someone else’s game context.   You can inquire about it though without leaking much game information – after all, what the dispenser looks like after you’re done is an unknown factor, and it’s not like anyone can necessarily utilize your query to screw you over.  Most of the game state is played entirely open.

We’re prepared again to offer a tentative recommendation here – your mileage will vary but given how the game is prone to deep, intense cogitation anyway it doesn’t necessarily have a lot of impact for that to be focused on an external representation rather than the dispenser itself.   However, that’s always going to be a sub-optimal solution.

Cognitive Accessibility

Being able to set up chains of explosions, or even see how they’re going to be triggered, is an intensely costly cognitive process.   Identifying one single explosion is simple enough but ideally you want to be able to identify current and future opportunities for cascades.    Essentially that requires parsing the game state for colours that will be adjacent if a marble is removed, and then the colours that will be adjacent when those colours are removed, and so on.  It means holding several varying copies of the game state in your head at once for every marble you are considering.  Some of this is done intuitively as a result of visual pattern matching, but some of it needs more consideration.

This is complicated too by the fact your collected potions will let you nudge that game state in different ways if you want – you can engineer the circumstances of your own victory.  Similarly with the assistance from the professor – you can remove a single marble at the cost of two victory points, and that might be the difference between a disappointing turn and a satisfying cascade.    Multiply all of this cost by however many players are present if you want to play aggressively.   While luck is definitely a factor in play it’s not the dominant one – someone that can mentally parse the logistical puzzle at the core of the game is going to do much better than someone that can’t.

Now, I don’t want to over-egg this – you don’t need to find the optimal marble to make good progress towards brewing your potions.  You just need to pick a good one – picking up a dozen marbles isn’t much good if you end up discarding ten of them.  The right explosion is not necessarily the biggest one.   That in itself opens up a new consideration – ‘what is the difference between what I need and what this marble will get me if I select it?’.  It’s entirely possible for anyone, regardless of cognitive accessibility considerations, to stare at the dispenser in mute silence for minutes without coming to a clear conclusion.

There’s no reading required of play, because everything is entirely symbolic.  However, the potion symbols aren’t necessarily great for permitting easy recall of what they’re supposed to do.  They’re representational, rather than descriptive.

There are some really nice features here though – the slots left for marbles in each of the potions permits the game to work on implicit rather than explicit numeracy, and the colour matching of marbles to slots means that it greatly reduces the cognitive burden of what is essentially an economic allocation.    Nobody needs to be able to count, they just need to fill the holes with the right colours.  With a different component design the resource management would be a cognitive concern.  Here, it’s handled beautifully.  I really, really like this even if the cost of it is a million little didcots littering every inch of my kitchen floor.

This is only some of them

Similarly great is the fact the rules are so instantly tractable, and how the act of selection has a one to one fidelity.  It’s not a case of ‘pick a cube, now that cube represents a worker you can spend to get a wheat’.  It’s ‘pick a marble.  That marble is the marble you need’.  It reduces the distance of abstract association to its smallest possible value.    It’s like the difference between using a computer mouse and a touchscreen – the mouse needs you to learn how to adapt your movement to their screen representation.  The touchscreen is a more instantly intuitive interaction medium.

Another really nice feature is that the dispenser is just fun to manipulate, and in the end if you’re just looking to have fun with some friends you don’t lose all that much by eliminating the competitive element.   Potion Explosion scaffolds well – you can select the simplest potions (and perhaps only a smaller number of them), you can remove the cost from the professor, you can play collaboratively for maximum score.  So much of the game is in the satisfying selection of marbles that you can structure a less cognitively costly activity around it.   It’s actually fun to see other people make impressive chains of explosions.  If you wanted to play it as a homebrew variant with trading and collective score-keeping I think you’d still enjoy the experience and be able to share it with people exhibiting a very wide range of cognitive accessibility profiles.

Our recommendation here is multivariate.   Let’s break it down into use-cases.

  1. If you want a game that a multi-ability group can play correctly and have fun, Potion Explosion probably isn’t it. The cognitive challenge in selecting good moves is considerable and it needs people to be on an approximately equal mental footing.
  2. If you want a game that players with roughly the same cognitive ability can play together, Potion Explosion is likely suitable. The cognitive challenge here is only an issue if players have significantly varied capabilities.   It’s otherwise simply satisfying to play with the dispenser and brew potions.
  3. If you want a game that you can house-rule that a multi-ability group can modify and play together, Potion Explosion is almost certainly a game you should consider.

Overall then we recommend Potion Explosion in this category provided you don’t mind ensuring relatively equal cognitive abilities are represented around the table, or that you’re happy to house-rule it into something collaborative.   Otherwise, we’d advise you consider other games more appropriate for your specific usage scenario.

Emotional Accessibility

There’s only one element of direct player versus player interaction, and that’s through the Elixir of Blind Love.  While it’s possible that might be frustrating, especially if a lot of people are doing it, you can only steal ingredients from an opponent’s pool.  If those ingredients were directly useful they would have been thrown into potions where they couldn’t have been stolen.  It’s at worst annoying, even if it does permit players to gang up on someone else.  The cost for the target is relatively low, and if you want to avoid it you simply leave that potion out of your setup.   You can choose which six you include for a game – that doesn’t have to be one of them.

A more persistent issue is in the way the game permits for runaway leaders, and thus significant score disparities.  Success breeds success in Potion Explosion because it leads to brewing more potions, which permits for more ingredients to be gathered, which allows for more potions, which generates more points.

The nature of play means that sometimes you’ll see the absolute perfect combination of ingredients slide out of the secret compartment of the dispenser only to watch your opponent pull of a fantastic chain of explosions that you were never permitted the opportunity to exploit.   That’s the nature of the luck based distribution of marbles though, and it’s as likely to happen in your favour as it is in anyone else’s.

These are minor quibbles though – Potion Explosion is really a very easy going game of pattern matching.   It’s unlikely to present many opportunities outside the norm to upset people.  We’ll offer a strong recommendation here.

Physical Accessibility

Play is certainly possible via verbalisation, although the game doesn’t do anything specific to enable it.  You can come up with a convention for numbering though that permits unambiguous referencing – ‘take the blue marble that is five up on slider two’, for example.  Everything else is handled through implementing the set mechanics of the cascading marbles.

There’s a reason I made specific notice in the review of how much fun it was to play with the marbles.  It’s because it’s so much fun to play with the marbles.   At its core, Potion Explosion is a simple but competent matching game.  If you wanted that, then there are all kind of digital games that do it so much better and in a fully accessible way.  Potion Explosion is special because you’re playing with marbles.  It’s a tactile experience, whether it’s throwing handfuls of them into the dispenser (which is enough to make you grin with glee) or carefully slipping one out and then happily scooping up those that explode.   It’s not an insignificant thing to lose that element.

If physical impairments are less severe than would require verbalisation, it’s still not a particularly positive story.  It’s easy to nudge marbles out of position because the sliders are not very deep.   If you do that, you’ll have a devil of a job putting the game back the way you found it.  As you try to push marbles back up a slider they’ll often fall off into the adjacent runners, by which time you may as well just give up.   You can adopt a convention that any marbles dislodged in this way are just discarded into the back of the dispenser, but that may not be particularly satisfying if it screws someone up in the process.

The dispenser too is somewhat flimsy – you can glue the pieces in place, which is fine, but when it’s loaded with marbles it’s not easy to move without upsetting things.  If you haven’t glued it, simply pulling it towards you might result in you dislodging the front panel which would then cause the marbles to spill out everywhere.   The result is that its position has an accessibility implication.  Either it stays somewhere central where everyone can reach it, which might not be optimal if one or more players has a physical impairment.  Or perhaps it stays where one person can reach it and everyone has to get up to make their selection.   That also may not be optimal if a physically impaired player can’t move out of someone’s way to make it easier to access.

When you distribute marbles into the dispenser, a certain degree of care is needed.  In the video I posted in the review for example, the combination of pouring from a plastic bag and filming with one hand meant that one went bouncing happily off the side of the table and under a cupboard.

That’s a problem with a lot of the physicality in Potion Explosion – in the end, marbles won’t stay put unless you’re very careful.  You might have a handful of a dozen of these to deal with, and if you place them down they might well roll – some containers to hold them will be useful here.  When you put them in the potions they sit quite happily but they’re easily dislodged.   A hand spasm, or someone knocking a table, might send them rolling away and force everyone to go scampering after them.  There is a small bag of replacement marbles provided, which is a nice touch, but the simple fact this is included is a fair hint that rogue marble motion is a thing to take into account.

We don’t recommend Potion Explosion in this category.

Socioeconomic Accessibility

One of the students on the box is a girl, but she’s flanked by two boys and facing a male professor.   You might be willing to offer a little leniency here though since almost everything about Potion Explosion is designed to evoke the spirit of Harry Potter.  You could think of the students on the box as pound-shop versions of Ron, Hermione and Harry listening to the knock-off Dumbledore at the desk.

Potion explosion box

Henry Porter and the Order of the Faux Niece

The manual is written in second person perspective, and this is very effective at eliminating default assumptions of masculinity.   The gender balance then isn’t terrible, but it could also be better.

Potion Explosion has an RRP of approximately £40, and it supports a maximum of four players at a time.  However, you really can’t complain at the components you get – a big bag of heavy, chunky marbles along with a massive number of potion tokens and the Ikea potion dispenser that sits in the centre of it all.  It’s as much an ornament as it is a game, and as such you’re paying at least in part for what is likely to be the most visually distinctive game in your collection.

We’ll recommend Potion Explosion in this category.

There’s no required reading level for play, and no formal need for communication except to occasionally say ‘whee’ when you throw a handful of marbles into the back of the dispenser.  We strongly recommend Potion Explosion in this category.

Intersectional Accessibility

The cost of interpreting the game state is going to be a serious issue when dealing with an intersection of visual and cognitive accessibility – when the marbles can’t be assessed visually it’s necessary to hold a more detailed model of the game in memory than would otherwise be required.  That would be enough to negate our recommendations, tentative as they may be, in these categories.

Similarly, an intersection of visual impairment and colour blindness would nudge these out of being tentative recommendations.   I’m already somewhat dubious about the colour blindness issue but even that is contingent on players having otherwise clear sight.  If that were not the case, the game would likely be inaccessible.

A communicative impairment paired with a physical impairment would render verbalisation more difficult to enact, and this would have a corresponding impact on the quality of the game experience.  We noted above that Potion Explosion is playable with verbalisation but you lose a lot of the fun that comes with manipulating the game.   As such, while we don’t recommend Potion Explosion in the physical category anyway, we’d certainly understand if someone wanted to ignore this and give it a go.  This intersection would put substantial additional barriers in the way.

There might be quite a bit of downtime between turns, especially with the higher player counts.  There’s a lot to consider before you pick your marble, and it’s possible for people to stare for quite some time before working out what to do.  This creates a pair of complicating factors.  The first is that when dealing with attention issues stemmed from the intersection of emotional or cognitive impairments it might be difficult to keep focused on play.  The other is that a certain degree of impatience is to be expected if people are taking too long to make their moves, and this might apply some pressure likely to exacerbate emotional considerations.   Nobody likes to feel as if they’re being rushed, after all.  If not as if people can necessarily be planning their moves while you take yours – the state of the dispenser as it arrives in their turn may bear little resemblance to what they hoped.

Potion Explosion isn’t an especially long game and you can scale the time length up and down through adding and removing available skill tokens.  It’s also a game that lends itself well to players dropping out – all that need be done is to distribute their skill tokens to the bank and their marbles to the dispenser.  While they may have taken potions out of play, there are enough of these that it’s unlikely to be an issue.   It’s not possible for someone to simply deal themselves back in after this, but the game usually doesn’t last longer than an hour at larger counts.

We’ve seen better, and we’ve seen worse.  Given how peculiarly unique Potion Explosion is in terms of its interaction profile it’s only to be expected that it wouldn’t generate a wholeheartedly glowing accessibility report.

Colour Blindness C
Visual Impairment C
Emotiveness A
Fluid Intelligence B
Memory B
Physical D
Socioeconomic B
Communication A

Some of the tentative grades here are especially tentative.  I am not at all convinced about the colour-blindness impact, although the publishers say they have tested it with colour-blind players and they found it workable.  I’d be keen to hear observations from colour-blind readers that have tried it themselves.   There is so much variance in this particular case with regards to the physical marbles, the severity of colour blindness, and the environmental impact that I don’t feel confident in saying much either way.

Potion Explosion adds yet another data point to Meeple Like Us, and like many games it broadens the problem space rather than shrinks it.   We haven’t looked at a marble based game before, and now we see a whole pile of things that are unique to this rather distinct gameplay interface.  We’ve published over eighty of these teardowns now and we’re still finding games that are utterly unique.

We gave Potion Explosion three and a half stars in our review – it’s a lot of fun, with a great deal of charm and a hook that makes it unlike anything else you’ll have on your shelves.   It’s not quite Potions at Hogwarts, but for those of you that never got an acceptance letter you might find it’s a reasonable alternative.    For those of us that did – it’s really nothing like it.  It’s good enough for the muggles I suppose, but we know better.   See you all at the reunion in Hogsmeade!

If you like what we're doing with Meeple Like Us, please consider liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and sharing our content. Drop us a comment too in the discussion section below! We appreciate every thing you do to help us get the word out!


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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Oak Grove

I was doing a little research on places to go, and I found this place in Northern Stockton.  It had a lake and a playground so I thought it would be fun.  But like we have found, things in Stockton are just a tad bit shady.  This park you actually had to pay to enter. Odd right? And when you entered, it was no more than a standard park. Covered in goose poo.  Oh well. It was nice to get out and see new things.  I think Oz really enjoyed the poop :)

so brave to cross the tunnel

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text:
Japanese Name ウーゴ
Romaji Ūgo
First Appearance Shin Megami Tensei IV
Affiliation East Mikado
Age About 40
Japanese VA Yōhei Tadano
English VA Derek Stephen Prince
"Let us vow an oath together in His loving sight that this peace shall be everlasting."
—Hugo, Shin Megami Tensei IV

Hugo is a character from Shin Megami Tensei IV.

Appearances Edit

Personality Edit

Despite Hugo's status, he is viewed as a man without sympathy, thoughtfulness and vision. For that he is disliked by the Samurai, particularly given his tendency to assume command of them without warning or consent.

Profile Edit

Shin Megami Tensei IV Edit

Hugo is the Abbot of the Monastery in Mikado Castle with Gabby acting as his right-hand woman. In the emergency meeting ordered by Hope, he reveals to the Samurai that the Black Samurai's books turn people into demons. He theorizes that she is in league with the Unclean Ones country since her books are written in mystic script like the gauntlets. He orders the Samurai to venture into the depths of Naraku and capture her in the Unclean One's country.

He mentions a special reward and lets Gabby tell the details for the quest, before continuing. Along with Gabby and Hope he attends all-night meeting to determine the best course of action. K reveals that he was a former Samurai before becoming the Abbot and was able to convince the King and the people that everything he did was for them.

He gives three Challenge Quests called Relic Recovery, which require a Laptop PC, Power Cable, and Wind Turbine. Once Flynn has done the three delivery quests he has posted at K's Tavern he will be at the Monastery where Flynn can talk to him. He gives a quest for Flynn to find a relic called Wine in Tokyo, and states that a friend's wife wants it. He accidentally lets it slip that he's speaking of his own wife and starts the quest Bring Back Wine. After obtaining the Corked Bottle, Hugo is overjoyed at obtaining the wine and tells him not to mention it to anyone else.

After the Black Samurai's capture he oversaw the ceremony to award the prentice Samurai for their efforts and takes charge of the public execution of the Black Samurai. Despite their mission cleared, Hugo plans on having the Samurai return to Tokyo and obtain more Mystic Relics, which angers Walter and leads Hugo to insult Hope's leadership for Walter's bad manners. He prefers to call the extermination of humans turned demons as "executions" rather than murder and tells Samurai within the Kingdom to view it as such. Hugo has also ordered the Samurai to search the Casualries dwellings for literature during the execution.

He allows the Black Samurai to speak her last words, but quickly orders the Samurai to kill her after she speaks out against God. He does not know that Gabby and Hope have been meeting in secret behind his back for missions concerning the Black Samurai, and hasn't been talking to her recently. Talking to him in the Monastery has him cursing the Black Samurai and her mysterious revival, along with revealing that he knows the prentices have been meeting with Gabby, and asks that if it is important that they inform him.

He contacts them after they learn the truth behind Red Pills and Tayama's "Utopia", telling them to return to the Kingdom and go to Shene Duque. In Mikado he has become the new mouthpiece of the new leaders of the kingdom, and is struggling with dealing with fellow monks at the Monastery, who can barely type in passwords in mystic script in order to record all the data in their scriptures into a PC. Before joining Jonathan or Walter, a monk at the monastery will suggest that Hugo may know something about Gabby since he is the mouthpiece of the new leaders, with the possibility that he might fear her.

Hugo reveals that he now knows it was Gabriel in the form of Gabby that chose him to be Abbot, but he allowed his greed for relics and the power he got to rule over the kingdom get the best of him. In the Chaos route he mentions that Hope wants the people to evacuate, but he doubts that anyone in the kingdom would accept him as he lost the trust of the people. He tells Flynn that what he sees before him is a pitiful man who had power beyond his control and to look with his heart's content.

In the Neutral route once the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado becomes accessible, Hugo will tell Flynn that Isabeau had already explained everything and has already begun moving to Tokyo, while also expressing a different side of himself, as he apparently read books given to members of the Casualry cast by Lilith. At the end, Hugo apparently contains a fascination with alcohol, despite him being a priest as members of the church are not allowed to indulge themselves in anything alcoholic.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Edit

Hugo is briefly seen in the core game as Nanashi and his allies infiltrate Mikado. He tries to give a speech to the massed Samurai, but is interrupted by Jonathan, who immediately transforms into Merkabah and announces to everyone present that further contact with Tokyo is forbidden.

He has an expanded role as a key player of the Explosive Epidemic on Mikado DLC. The citizenry of the entire country has transformed into human-angel hybrids via the Demon Gene, and most are linked to Hugo, identifying themselves as his eyes and ears. The Hugo-controlled mobs engage Nanashi, trying to make him waste his time before the Gene's spread becomes unstoppable.

Hugo himself is at the Monastery, where he engages Nanashi as Demonic Hugo, a divine messenger. He may explain the reality of the epidemic's situation at the cost of one turn. If allowed to do so, he starts by saying that many years before, the angels granted Mikado's ancestors the Demon Gene, a creation of God that allows Him to fuse angelic traits onto humans. He believes that through it, he has transcended Humanity and even the Archangels themselves, to the point he's only matched by God.

When confronted, he opens his robe to reveal a cosmos within. At this point, Hugo claims he has become YHVH's voice, and that He activated the Demon Gene through him. In combat, he uses several unique spells: Revelation, which greatly increases his attack and grants him Smirk, Evil-Crushing Flash, a powerful Light single-target attack, Heavenly Punishment, an all-target Gun move, Nightmare, which greatly lowers the defense of one target, Forfeit, a move that greatly lowers one target's attack, and Irrational Glimmer, a party-wide Almighty attack.

After enough damage has been inflicted, Hugo will stagger in disbelief, unable to comprehend "the Lord's light" was felled. Dagda proceeds to mock him, saying he's plucking the Mikado citizens' souls and claiming it's for them while he only wanted obedient pawns. The furious Hugo rebuffs the accusation and summons a Horde of angels and possessed citizens to stall Nanashi. When they are destroyed, Hugo claims that as a leader he's burdened with responsibility, receiving God's word and interpreting it for everyone else, equating his words with God's.

In the end, however, he dies, reaching for the universe in his chest. With his death, every single person in Mikado, who were bound to him, is killed as well.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: ApocalypseEdit

Race Level HP MP
Strength --
Dexterity --
Magic --
Agility --
Luck --
? 99 20000
Physical Phys Gun Gun Fire Fire Ice Ice Electricity Elec Force Force Light Light Dark Dark
- - - - - - Null Weak
Ailment Resistance ?
Normal Attack ?
Skill Affinities Gun Gun +2 · Light Light +5 · Support Support +4 · Almighty Almighty +3
List of Skills
Skill Effect
Evil-Crushing Flash Heavy light damage to one foe.
Heavenly Punishment Heavy gun damage and Debilitate to all foes. Pierces resistance.
Revelation Fully buffs (+3) user's attack and bestows smirk.
Riot Gun Severe gun damage to one foe. Smirk +Pierce Gun
Dekunda Negates all stat debuffs from all allies.
Nightmare Fully debuffs (-3) one foe's defense.
Forfeit Fully debuffs (-3) one foes' attack.
Irrational Glimmer Severe almighty damage to all foes.

Hugo Design
Early Hugo designs
Gabby Hugo IV Prayers
Hugo as he appears in Shin Megami Tensei IV -Prayers-
Hugo manga
Hugo as he appears in Shin Megami Tensei IV Demonic Gene
Demon Hugo SMTIVF
Demon Hugo portrait

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Monday, June 11, 2012

It's Monday

I hope she brightens your Monday.

I'm tired!  I've been working a lot of extra days lately.  Brynn had her baby Friday, so I've been checking my phone constantly for new pictures, videos and updates.  My baby sister's birthday was Saturday, because I was working I didn't even get to see her!  I missed my cute cousin's 4th birthday party (which Bella would've had so much fun) because I worked yesterday.  And by Wednesday, the whole side of my family will be soaking up sun on the beach!! I'm so jealous.  I only got to spend a few short moments with my sweet girls this weekend, including when Jacob brought them up to the hospital to eat lunch with me yesterday.  {Thanks babe for spending part of your day in a hospital cafeteria just so we could "hang out" this weekend together}.  For the next 3 days I'll be working 3 long 12 hour shifts, getting home at 8:15...or later because I'll be grocery shopping after I get off.  Ugh.

Lucy's facial expressions are how I feel...but I can't look at them without grinning.  I love her to pieces!

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Monday, September 30, 2013

Elle's Studio New Releases NOW AVAILABLE!!!

I'm excited to say I was able to contribute to the layout kits! How fun are these! Check with out and get one of each!
Happy Creating!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Capture Life :: Elle's Studio

Here's a peek into the new Capture Life post up on the Elle's Studio blog today!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

PreK :: Back to School with Crate Paper

Crate Paper is celebrating Back to School all this week!
Check out the blog for some fun inspiration!

Just as everyone warns us: our little ones grow all too quickly. A few weeks ago, I took our youngest to her first day of Preschool. After signing in, they handed her a notebook and asked her to sign her name. I thought, "Wow, epic fail." I hadn't prepared her as I should have. Well, although the first few days were just squiggles on the paper; now a week later, she keeps getting better and better! I'm so proud of her and I wanted to document that in her album. The technique I used was simple. I asked Ella to write her name on a manilla tag using a white crayon. I then used a few different colors of mist to "reveal" her letters. The wax of the crayons acts as a resist to the mist; creating a unique way to highlight such a special accomplishment.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Happy September & Capture Life :: Elle's Studio

Seriously, how did we already get to be nine days into September?
Fall is almost here, and I'm so excited for cooler weather!

Today's post over on the Elle's Studio blog shows a bit about what's been keeping me so busy as well as shares a few tips on photographing in low crappy kitchen lighting.

Here's a peek into the post before you head on over ...

Also, don't forget tomorrow is the reveal day of the September Tag Kit!
They just keep getting better and better. I am in love with the colors this month.

Related Posts with Thumbnails


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Thursday, July 23, 2015

rarigs : new york family photographer

my sister's in laws are on the blog!
you know these guys, you've seen them here & here
every year at silver bay we do an updated session. this year we did it after nora & sydney's baptism.
so here are a couple of these babes during the service.

max was hilarious. to everyone but his parents, that is.
he couldn't help himself he just wanted to splash! throughout the entire ceremony :0

two of the sweetest little girls!

lindsay & sydney!

ally & charlie

the lovely ladies!

i love this one!

stephani, nora, jeff & max!

josh, dave, kristi, ally & lindsay!

molly, sydney, charlie, doug, natalie!

momma & god momma with their sweet nora june!

judi & sue's families celebrating the beautification of bay beach in their parents honor.
charlie & ruth lupton are a huge part of silver bay's history.
most fondly morning dip with donuts & crazy charlie sauce!
if you ever get to silver bay i suggest trying both :)

thanks so much for being such amazing families rarigs & nagy's!

love spending time with you up at the bay!

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Gold Member Since 2014
Audited Supplier
Guangzhou Mega Plastics Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

PVC Leather, PVC Leather Stocklot, PVC Artificial Leather manufacturer / supplier in China, offering PU PVC Artificial Leather Pomotion 1106, High Fixed Moroccan Leather Bag L012#12, PVC Tarpaulin Roll, PVC Coated Canvas Tarpaulin and so on.

(/ )

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PU PVC Artificial Leather Pomotion 1106

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3,000-4,999 US $0.56
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Product Name: PVC /PULeather
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MaterialPU/PVCPatternFinished (OEM)Backing Knitted,knitted, woven, jersey
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Thickness0.9-1mmPlace of OriginChina(Guangzhou)ColorVarious
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Guangzhou Mega Plastic Manufacturing Co. Ltd is a list manufacturer and exporter specializing in Productions of PVC vinyl / sponge flooring, PVC /PU leather, PVC transparent sheets, PVC table cloths, PVC tarpaulin, with 5 Calender Production Line Import from Japan & Germany.

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Delivery Time10 days after the deposit and sample confirmed
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PackageRoll with OPP bag
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0.70MM54"(140CM)30 M37KG25000M
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PVC Flooring / PVC Leather Rexin / PVC Transparent Sheet /Film
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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Egg and bacon muffins -- a new favorite breakfast!

I found this recipe in my most recent Weston A Price journal. I knew my girls would like it because they love anything you can call a "muffin," but I was very surprised at how much my husband liked them! I used a very flavorful smoked turkey bacon from Trader Joes and a bunch of garlic powder and he loved the strong flavor. I love the fact that these muffins warm up wonderfully in our toaster oven so I can make a bunch ahead of time for a super healthy quick breakfast or protein-filled snack. And don't worry if you despise cottage cheese (like my husband) because once the muffin is cooked you cannot even tell that it is there!

1 pound breakfast meat (I actually only used 4 large slices of bacon, 1/3 slice for each muffin)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup chopped veggies (they recommend onion, garlic, peppers, carrots, green onions, etc, but I skipped all those for the first try to make sure my family did not reject them simply because of the add-ins :)
12 pastured eggs, beaten
1 cup cheese, shredded or crumbled (I used a little of parmesan and cheddar)
herbs and spices of choice (sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, etc)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Grease 12 muffin cups. Cook meat. Use leftover grease or favorite healthy fat (coconut oil, tallow, butter, ghee, or lard) to saute chopped veggies. In a large bowl, beat eggs then add everything else. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into each muffin cup, sprinkle with cheese, and cook between 15 to 20 minutes, until egg has set.


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Comic News Insider

Your podcast for everything comic book, animation, sci-fi and pop culture!

New episodes every Wednesday. Visit our official website.

Hosted by Jimmy Aquino.

Feb 25, 2014

Reviews: Loki Ragnarok & Roll #1, New Warriors Vol 5 #1, Undertow #1, Star-Crossed (on the CW)

Jimmy is joined in studio by the podcast wife Erica Schultz! Jimmy hung in an ice bar with pal Grace Helbig and new bestie Chester See and he tells of the frozen goodness. They chat about the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer,...

Feb 18, 2014

Reviews: Fuse #1, Mercenary Sea #1, Royal Masters of War #1, She-Hulk #1, X-Force #1

Jimmy is back in NYC and has Emily Edwards back co-hosting. They chat a bit about his Jacksonville trip and Toy Fair toys. News includes: the podcast wife Erica Schultz is writing the comic book version of ABC's hit show Revenge,...

Feb 12, 2014

Reviews: Apocalypse Al #1, Batman: Joker's Daughter #1, Ms. Marvel Vol 3 #1, Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1, The Walking Dead (midseason premiere), The Lego Movie

Jimmy is back in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida and records from the awesome comic book shop Superhero Beach (whom also sponsors this podcast)! Joining him...

Feb 5, 2014

Reviews: Dredd:Underbelly One Shot, Furious #1, Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #1, World War Mob #1

Jimmy is joined in studio by the fantastic husband/wife creators of Disconnected Press, Conor and Lizzie Boyle! They came over from the UK just to co-host the podcast! Okay, they were here for the Super Bowl as well but...


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Thursday, April 17, 2008

too much to do

So the birthday party is done (yeah!!) and the Bridal shower is done (woot!) so that means I have a long list of stuff that needs to get done ASAP.

1) Charlie's Pillow covers
2) SCA Scroll
3) Sam's present (at least one is now done, I just need to finish the other)
4) plant the garden

These are the immediate ones that HAVE to be done. I have a list of 'would like to do if I only had more time'

IPOD monster
wrist warmers
A Bagsket
Random Cat toys
A plastic Bag holder
Grocery Bags
dice bag swag for hubby
frame my daughter's art work
free range monsters
home made granola bars

This list has been shoved to the side for the time being. I have more important things to do like listen to Erin READ me a book. Yes folks, the 5 year old has gotten the reading bug. Her sight word list is a bit shaky but she's getting it. She has read 5 books for me (with a little help on some of the big words) and she's a top reader in her class. There is an issue with few words (said, is, it, the) but we're getting over it. I think she needs to see the words in context and not randomly thrown at her.

I am awfully proud of her - she's only 5. Its amazing as to what the schools are expecting of the kids now - 5 years are expected to read already. That was first grade for us. Crazy.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A sugar by any other name...

We took a road trip to an amusement park and at a rest stop let the boys pick a beverage from the vending machine. From the backseat:

"Mine has less than 1 percent real fruit juice!"

"Well mine has phosphoric acid!"

"So! Mine has corn syrup!"

"Yeah, well mine has HIGH FRUCTOSE corn syrup!"

So there.

Jeffrey also enjoys his sugar as a fluffed up solid.

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Recent Posts

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Heart Rhythm Disturbances

Heart Receipt via FOUND magazine

This bag is giving me palpitations:
2007 Miu Miu Tie-Dye Tote
How can I get my paws on it!?
This Velvet Leaf piece has caused a slightheart murmur:

Clorivak said...

mmmmm.....guh. that cloak is making me twitch thinking about me wearing it. i will be a sparrow with your ass...anytime.


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Sunday, June 2, 2013

A wading Gull, as photographed by Carolyn André

With all of life's complexities, it is good to notice some of the simpler things in nature. Carolyn André was heading back up the coast and she stopped several times to take photographs. I was struck by the sweetness and peacefulness of this Gull wading in the water.

 When spring winds arrive the ocean becomes turbulent and very beautiful.

Thanks to Carolyn for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

French Dessert - Macaron

How does one describe a macaron? Here's the Wikipedia answer...
A macaron is a type of small circular cake, typically made from ground almonds or coconut (and/or other nuts, with sugar and egg white.

The name of the cake comes from the Italian maccarone  meaning "paste", and referring to the almond paste ingredient.

How does a macaron taste?
It's crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle. When I tasted the first macaroon, It just melted in my mouth.

Macaron Class in Trivandrum
The three-hour French Macaron Class focuses on the creation - start to finish of these elegant, sophisticated, and colorful pasteries.
During the class, students are divided into groups and work through the steps from dry ingredients, to creating the batter, to piping, and then finish with a box of beautiful macarons for you to take home with you!

4 Different types of macaroon filling taught in the class:
  • Orange Ganache
  • Pumpkin spice buttercream
  • Lemon Curd
Date - 20th April 2015,10:00 am ( Monday)
Location :- Poonthi Road, Kumarapuram, Trivandrum

Come and learn one of the French desserts which is fast becoming one of the current 'sweet' crazes across India.
Perfect Dessert after Dinner

Gift Macarons to Your Friend
Ingredients to make Macroon in Bangalore

Key ingredients are almond meal,

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Monday, April 11, 2016

Jedenáctého Dubna Dva Tisíce Šestnáct

Hello Everyone!

Wasn't Conference amazing!?!? We finally got to watch it, and in English, so that was great. Everyone I've talked to loved it! What a power house weekend of spiritual upliftment! I can't wait to keep reading and studying the talks over the next six months!

As we're winding down to the end of this transfer (we have 3 weeks left), I've been reflecting on what we've done while I've been in Bratislava. I've been thinking about what we've done to help the area here. I kind of feel like we had to start near the bottom when I first got here, because most of our investigators dropped us when they found out we weren't the other sisters. I can definitely see a lot of progress when I look at where we started and where we are now, but we definitely aren't the smoothe-running area that I think Bratislava has the potential to be.
This past week we taught a ton of lessons, but I don't think hardly any of them were sit down, planned ahead lessons. We had a lot of great street lessons, but that's where we've kind of been getting stuck. Our pool of people has certainly grown, we're in contact with quite a few people with awesome potential, but right now we're stuck with people who were counted as new investigators because we had an awesome street lesson, and they set up with us, and then the next week they cancelled or they didn't show up. So we end up not having any sit down lessons, and no member lessons, and then we have all of these not-really-but-technically-investigators.
It's just pretty complicated. We have so many great people, they just won't meet with us! Which leads us to more contacting, and more street lessons, and for some reason the new people we find do the exact same thing. I feel like we're in this vicious cycle of almost-progress. I really want to meet with these people, but I don't want to keep calling and texting and bugging them, but also, this message is important! I have faith that these people can come to know the gospel is true, they have so much potential and they are all great people, but they are all "busy" and can always meet "next week." I just feel a little bit stuck in a whirl pool.

Bratislava is growing, and doing well over all. The people in this branch are so amazing. I love them all so much. It's easy to get frustrated when you look at where the branch is and where you think it should be, but then you look at each individual member and you can just feel how much they love the gospel and how grateful they are for all the blessings they've received.

The work is moving forward, slowly but surely. There is a reason that we are meeting these awesome people, maybe they just aren't quite ready to hear everything that we have, and they just need a little more time. I know that with faith and hard work, we can really do a lot of good in this branch, and they deserve it.

The Lord really is behind this work. Sometimes we don't always see the reasons that people make the decisions they do, or why things have to be the way that they are, but I know that He knows, and that's all that really matters.

I hope you all have an amazing week, and that you continue to listen to the words spoken at conference. It was truly amazing and I already want more! Thomas S. Monson and all the leaders of the church are truly called of God, and it is a huge blessing to be able to hear what they have for us every six months. I love Conference!

Have an amazing week everyone! Thank you for all your love and support. :)

s laskou,

Sestra Schaerrer

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19 November 2006

The year is 1984. It is the peak of the Reagan era (1984 is the year Reagan is re-elected through a landslide win). Yuppies rule. Being greedy, selfish and ruthless is in. Judge Reinhold's character (Gerald Hopkins) epitomises these 'values'. Here's a snippet of a conversation between Gerald and Billy, the main protagonist of the film:
Gerald: Guess who almost signed for unemployment today?
Billy: I give up.
Gerald: You... But Mr. Corben had second thoughts. He gets so sentimental around the holidays.
Billy: Imagine that.
Gerald: If it was up to me, I would have fired you in a second.
Billy: Well, a merry Christmas to you too.

Billy, although a kid, works in a bank to support his family (doing all kinds of blunders, hence the conversation). Everybody in his town sort of has small jobs, because the main factory just got closed down. Moreover, Mrs. Deagle, the landlady, is very mean, and won't condone people not being able to pay the rent. But Christmas is near, so everybody just puts on a brave face and tries to live through their problems...

Enter Gizmo. He's a cuddly, lovely koala-like sentient pet Billy's father found in New York's Chinatown. But the Chinese who sold it warned Billy's father against getting water onto the 'mogwai' (móguài actually means demon in Chinese) and against feeding it after midnight.
Of course, both events happen, and the nice, furry pet spawns an army of evil reptile-like monsters (the gremlins) who wreak havoc in the small town, drinking booze, smoking cigars, destroying property, burning out building, and killing Mrs. Deagle and looting the department store during a night of terror for the inhabitants.
Predictably enough, Billy and Gizmo manage to dispatch the gremlins. The morning after, news commentators who flock to the disaster-struck city describe it as having been the scene of riots.

For me, the film is an allegory of the Reagan era, and of how Americans should have reacted to it: by rioting, killing the landlords, looting the department stores. The gremlins are within us, as shown by the fact that they are created out of Gizmo's very body. They embody the anarchic tendencies that we all have but that we hide deep within ourselves.

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Stoke , Loud and Proud

Photo Gallery

Gordon Banks

Grounds Visited

Tickets & Travel

Visiting Stoke

Bolton Disaster

Contact Us

31 August 2008

August hopefully brings to an end of 6 months of access problems that have besieged this site of late

Fingers crossed the site is now back up and running again.. though inevitably it will take a little while to update a number of sections..

Though make no doubt despite the critics we and the club are back and intend to stay around for many years yet.

Thanks to those that have continued to be supportive.


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Metal Lyrica - The Largest Metal Lyrics Archive
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Killer Instinct

Album: ''Killer Instinct'' (2002 Demo)
1. The Battle Of The Broken Heads
2. Killer Instinct
3. Slave Machine
4. Blind Legion

Fast Food: Thrash Metal

Album: ''Fast Food: Thrash Metal'' (2003 Split album)
1. Killer Instinct
2. The Shadow of Death
3. Thrash Maniacs
4. The March
5. Hipocrite World
6. That's Our War
7. Tsavo
8. Humanity
9. Unborn
10. Like A Serial Killer
11. Dizzyng Nightmare
12. Ratos De Farda

Violent Mosh

Album: ''Violent Mosh'' (2004 EP)
1. Let The Violation Begin
2. Thrash Maniacs
3. Artillery Attack
4. The Plague Never Dies
5. Shadow Of Death *
6. Killer Instinct *

Chemical Assault

Album: ''Chemical Assault'' (2006)
1. Atomic Nightmare
2. UxFxTx (United for Thrash)
3. Destined to Die
4. Addicted to Mosh
5. Brainwash Possession
6. Ordered to Thrash
7. Toxic Death
8. Lethal Injection
9. The Plague Returns
10. After Nuclear Devastation

Violator got together at early 2002 by friends that have no pretensions beyond playing the old Thrash Metal. The essence keeps the same since that. Four Thrash Maniacs - Pedro “Poney Ret” (vc/bs), Pedro Capaça (gt), Márcio “Cambito” (gt) e David Araya (dr) - crazy about Vio-lence, Whiplash and Exodus that breath the spirit and the ways of Old School Metal.

After a live rehearsal demo (Killer Instinct - 2002), two underground compilations (Metalvox .. 1 e Fast Food Thrash Metal both from 2003) and a plenty of gig in all dirty holes from Distrito Federal and neighborhoods, Violator got the opportunity to travel to Asuncion and play in Paraguayan lands. Among that, the band was invited as an open-act for the Thrash Metal legend, Destruction and the American deathbangers, Malevolent Creation.

In the first months of 2004, the band got in touch with Kill Again Records label from Metal Bloods Editor, Antônio Rolldão and after that union, what was supposed to be a second demo, turned into an EP, Violent Mosh. Four songs of intense Old School Thrash Metal, no open for modernity.

The strong label work, together with a hunger for playing live, results in over 40 gigs in the next two years. Violator travel through 10 Estates and had the honor to meet thrashers from all over Brazil. The tour for ending the EP promo, Moshing With Violence Tour 2005 cross Brazil north-east and allowed the band to play in the middle of Amazon Rainforest, in the city of Portel, after facing 20 hours of boat.

One of these thrash gigs was record for the fist edition of Da Tribo Rock Magazine. It came o stores of all country, with a DVD that register Violator performance in Campinas/SP. Violent Mosh was also the first release from the band in foreign lands. In a K7 tape version, just like the old 80s bands, the EP was discharged in Bolivia by Grim Art Prods. A 666 copies limited edition.

The search for the EP overflowed all expectative, what leaded to another release fom it, but this time as a split with one of the greatest Brazilian Thrash bands, Bywar. From the union of Violent Mosh with Invincible War first álbum from the São Paulo headthrashers - Violent War was born, and brought a Violator special bonus, a version for Taurus Massacre, historical band from Brazil.

In late 2005, the band got the worst news of all times. The guitar player, friend and brother, Juan Leda, got to leave the band to continue the studies in Argentina, land of his family. The farewell show was with Filandian thrashcore Maniacs of Força Macabra, a gig to remember, with underground spirit and United Forces. Those were feelings that the band always believed.

Juans left out, did not decrease the will of doing Thrash, living Thrash and breathe Thrash. Violator follows the beginning of 2006 as power trio. After six months locked up at Orbis studio in Brasília, the band comes up with the first full-lenght, Chemical Assault. The album release, in october of the same year, is also the return of the group with two guitars. Márcio Cambito joins the band and brings even more speed to the picks ans insanity to the alive perfomance. The spandrels violators are stronger than ever. The Violation Has Just Begun!

Thrash Metal

Nuclear Apocalypse, Political Issues, Thrashing

Brazil (Brasília, DF), formed in 2002

Kill Again Records

Pedro Arcanjo : Bass, vocals
Pedro Augusto : Guitars
David Araya : Drums
Marcio Cambito/Enei - Guitars (Slaver)

Juan Lerda : Guitars

Search lyrics by band name or use our Advanced Search engine:
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Events for June 2, 2017

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Southeast Victory Rally

June 1 - June 4
|Recurring Event (See all)

An event every day that begins at 12:00am, repeating indefinitely

Country Inn & Suites, 877 Edelweiss Strasse
Helen, GA 30545 United States

Join us in the mountains of North Georgia for the 12th Annual Southeast Victory Rally! Once again, we meet in the little Bavarian town of Helen, Georgia and party in the mountains at one of the largest Victory-specific motorcycle events in the country! Enjoy some of the best riding in the country and party at …

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