Any attempt to rank or place value upon a contribution to a field-whether it be a job performance, literature, a movie, or a commercial product-depends heavily upon the wording of the question. Too often people associate questions of importance with matters of personal taste or popularity. The survey here ponders books of great importance. An important Civil War book need not be a well-liked publication or even a great piece of scholarship. Those factors aid in a books achievements, and most of the books on my list realize both marvelously. An important book, however, must be influential. Some of the most influential Civil War publications are neither popular nor considered accurate today. It must have made some type of recognizable contribution-even if that contribution carries baggage.
With such considerations in mind, I offer the first book on my list-Edward A. Pollards The Lost Cause. Few today have read Pollards work, but one would be hard pressed to find an image of Civil War history not influenced by it and the school of thought that bears its name. Published in 1867, The Lost Cause was among the first efforts by a former Confederate to justify the Souths actions in print after the guns fell silent. Portraying the South as a victim of sectional animosity and Northern bullying since the Revolution, Pollards work paved the way for a massive effort to romanticize the Old South and sanitize the reason for secession. The Lost Cause Myth, as it has become known, downplays slavery, emphasizes states rights and tariffs, deifies Confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and minimizes the military success of Grant. Long discredited by academic historians, the Lost Cause Myth nonetheless continues to influence countless Civil War -and even those with only a paltry interest in the war. Arguably no other book has had such an effect, in spirit if not in substance, to Civil War historiography than The Lost Cause.
The second book on my list counters Pollards in about every way. Ulysses S. Grants Personal Memoirs remains a popular book to this day, and is highly prized not only as great history but as a fine piece of literature. The book is amazing in both its substance and in its own story of construction. Written in the final months of Grants fascinating and tragic life, the book proved an instant best seller and provided his family with much needed finances. But that is not why it is great. From a generation full of inflated egos and published among myriad self-serving, post-war reminiscences, Grants book offers a startling, straightforward, and humble analysis of the Civil War. Void of romanticism, Grant portrayed the hard and cold facts of combat, and described his opponents-and himself-in simple and very humanly terms. Grants Personal Memoirs continues to educate and enchant readers today.
Number three on the list is Kenneth Stampps The Causes of the Civil War. Unlike the other books on this list, this publication is a collection of essays and primary documents. Some of the greatest scholars of Civil War history contributed to this book, and the fact that Stampp-one of the most influential American historians of the twentieth century-edited it makes the work a true gem. From commentary on state rights by Arthur Schlesinger to contemporary criticism of Black Republicans by the New Orleans Daily Crescent, The Causes of the Civil War offers an easy to use, invaluable reference for serious historians and enthusiasts alike. It should be a central part of every Civil War book collection.
The fourth book on my list is the least popularly known, although it is recognized as a monumental work by serious historians. Dudley Taylor Cornish was among the countless World War II veterans who used the G.I. Bill to pursue a university education. The influx of average Americans into academia helped shake off the often stuffy, traditional, and elitist approach to history of previous generations. Cornish helped lead the charge for broader historical study with his work The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865. Before its publication in the mid-1950s, the story of black Americans and the Civil War largely had been ignored, or pushed aside as a footnote. Cornish was not the first to write of the black Union experience (for instance, Joseph T. Wilson published The Black Phalanx in the 1880s), but he was perhaps the most important figure in making it a vital part of Civil War study. No person today can speak of the Civil War without recognizing the active contributions of black Americans. This is no small part due to The Sable Arm.
Finally, the book to round off my list of the five most important works on the Civil War is Michael Shaaras The Killer Angels. Academic historians may cringe at the thought of fiction being placed above excellent, high-level scholarship. But with a topic as broad as the Civil War, the effect a popular publication has on the public cannot be ignored. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and crafted into a well-received feature-length movie, The Killer Angels is often credited by Civil War as a key reason for their passion for the war. Beyond sparking an interest in thousands of people, the book has helped shape the image of notable Civil War figures. Joshua Chamberlain is almost a household name now, and James Longstreets reputation has been rejuvenated. The book got people talking-got people thinking about the Civil War. As a bridge to the public, The Killer Angels has no peer. It must be included in any discussion of important Civil War books.
Limiting the vast array of Civil War books to five, under any classification, is a daunting task (as is describing that list in 1,000 words). There is no right or wrong answer. One may not agree with the selections above, but consensus is not the goal. The discussion itself helps us establish what the war means to us today. And that is a noble venture.

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Read the following, pretty lengthy article from Mr Wang. It is a humourous article that is pretty spot on, not written by Mr Wang though, but his friend Adrian Tan, who if you all know, is the author of the Teenage Textbook and Teenage Workbook. This article was first used as a speech by AT on NTUs school of Communication and Informations convocation ceremony. Pretty insightful and is in line with the trend of the inspirational stuff that I am putting up on my blog, to keep myself inspired of course.
Well the main pondering point of this article for me is whether work is a choice? Do you choose to work in your current job? Why are you working what you are working as now? Whatever your choice is though, I think most importantly, you have to follow your heart, be happy with whatever you have and be purposeful in life. Shall not write too much, enjoy the article in full.. I love it.
Life and How to Survive It
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. Its a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when youve already won her heart, you dont need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. Youre done learning.
Youve probably been told the big lie that Learning is a lifelong process and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Dont you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that theyre wrong.
The bad news is that you dont need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. Youre in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But Im here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. Theres very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that youll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when theyre 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didnt meet their life expectancy.
Im here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, its calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you dont need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Lifes a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Dont expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term , which means death from overwork. Thats the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until theres nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
Theres a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are making a living. No, theyre not. Theyre dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan Arbeit macht frei was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didnt do that, I wouldve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction - probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I dont imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, Ill go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you dont, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. Im not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
Its not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, its often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by ones own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didnt say be loved. That requires too much compromise. If one changes ones looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. Weve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work - the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesnt happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either dont, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Dont work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
Youre going to have a busy life. Thank goodness theres no life expectancy.

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Chiara Cainero of Italy competes during the women's skeet final at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 14, 2008. Chiara Cainero of Italy claimed the title in this event. (Xinhua Photo)


BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Italian shooter Chiara Cainero won the gold of the women's skeet after a shoot-off at the Beijing Shooting Range on Thursday. Her score, 93 hits, set an Olympic record for the rule changing.

Sharing the same score with the champion, American Kimberly Rhode nailed down the silver and German shooter Christine Brinker got the bronze.

Gold medalist at the 2006 World Cup Final and runner-up in 2007, the 30-year-old collected 72 hits in the qualification round to lead among six finalists, while the American, 29, and the German, 27, notched up 70 hits as third and fourth.

With a good start, Cainero missed the first of the three targets in the second series and the last in the third series.

This dragged her to the same line with Rhode and Brinker who boasted an all-hit record so far.

In the competition later on, the trio each missed two birds in heavy rain and were forced to a shoot-off.

The baby-faced Rhode started first. She managed to knock down the first plate but let go of the second.

The brown-haired 2007 world champion did the same.

When Cainero raised her gun, her compatriots carrying Italian national flag were about to cheer.

And the pretty shooter did let them down. Two hits. The gold was hers.

"This is the first important victory for me," she was excited. Although she had victories in both European Championships and World Cups, she ended her last Olympic trip with just an eighth place.

"I feel really lucky because this morning in the qualification I was able to shoot without any background noise, which helped me reach the final," she said.

But the final in the afternoon was difficult. "The weather was bad," she said, "but the weather was the same for everyone competing today."

In the following stage of the prolonged shoot-off, Rhode rallied to down both target while Brinker lapsed again, surrendering the silver to the smiling blonde.

Although she didn't win the gold, Rhode appeared optimistic.

"I have a collection now. I have a gold, a silver and a bronze," she smiled.

The girl won two gold medals in double trap at Athens and Atlanta Olympics as well as a bronze in Sydney.

Previously a shooter in double trap event, she converted to skeet in 2006 as the former disciplined was cancelled at the Beijing Games.

"It is challenging, both physically and mentally," she had said.

Rhode conveyed her gratitude to her compatriots. "I'd like to say thank you to all the people back home for getting me where I am today."

Brinker said she was very happy as well.

"I didn't lose the gold, I won the bronze," said the girl.

She also complained about the rain. "My feet and shoes are wet, and the rain made it difficult to shoot."

Chinese shooter Wei Ning entered the final with the same score of a 70 hits. But she failed to hold her nerves and plunged to the sixth.

The dampened girl burst into tears immediately after the final.

"The problem was not about the technique, but the rain. It really affected my performances because the rain made my gun slippery so I missed several target. I paid too much attention to my posture but neglected the most important thing."

She noted that the rain also affected her mental state. "I was a little upset and in a hurry," she said.

World record holder Danka Bartekova from Slovakia and defending champion Diana Igaly from Hungary finished 8th and 13th, failing to advance to the final.

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d [5] M Safin (RUS) 36 63 62
Our man Marat absolutely had it going on until 5-1 in the first set. He was broken when serving for it, but ultimately closed it out even as Gremelmayr, a lefty with major-league wheels, was adjusting to the pace.
It was hot, 100 degrees hot. Marat passed on a hat, or on a little ice neck wrap on changeovers. And as his first serve went, so did he. Gremelmayr did little more than chase down every single ball, enough that Marat would eventually make a mistake in trying to do too much. He became erratic on his forehand, his weaker wing, and wasn't rational enough to go for fewer winners with that side and try to get it back on track.
First set serve percentage? 64%, very high for him. Second set? 40%. Third set? 46%. But by that time, he was just gone. At one point, he streaked forward to track down a drop shot, then just turned his back when Gremelmayr lobbed it over his head. Even Gremelmayr was kind of gesturing and going, "what the heck?" All he could do was shake his head as our man handed the match to him. Gremelmayr made just seven unforced errors in the match, in 156 total points, and was cool as a cucumber even when it was over after 1h45.

Hopefully Marat's coach was paying careful attention to all this. His low serve percentage has been hurting him all year. And he quickly gave up the strategy of getting more spin on his forehand to be more consistent, as soon as he got into a little of trouble and the winners weren't flying off his racquet as they did during the first half-hour.
Back to the drawing board, again. You just can't lose to a guy even his own federation didn't want to send to the Olympics.

Night session ( 8 p.m.

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Finding a wood crate in the road, you can smash it with your gardening implement to gain a bandage, which will heal a quarter of your HP in battle. A clanking sound becomes audible nearby as you make your way down the road. The narrator informs you that the small metal creatures in your path are a new phenomenon in New Arcadiatheir carnal urge for fresh fruit leads them to tiny acts of vulgarity. The fruit fuckers, as they are known, will bark angry strings of binary code at you as you approach. The screen splits, the upper frame showing a still shot of the 3D computer graphics, while the bottom frame depicts a 2D artistic rendering of the characters more closely resembling the webcomic.

Upon encountering the enemy, evocative words in huge font like or or HUGE TEXT! will pop up on the screen, alerting you to the oncoming rush of enemies. The robots will hobble up to you and assault your character with dealy bobber attacks or send a stream of searing citric acid shooting from their fruit-juicing nether regions. If you hit the space bar at just the right time, you can block their attacks, or even counter without taking any damage. Youll know when to hit the space bar by keeping an eye on the enemys hitpoint gauge, which will flash at the precise moment when you should make your move. Once your attack bar has filled up, you can swat one of the robots over the head with your rake. After a couple hits, each metallic foe explodes into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind a cylindrical piece of scrap metal. These spare parts can be collected to upgrade your weapons.

Following the giant robot treads in the dirt road, you can knock over trash cans to retrieve items like bottles of weak sauce, a condiment so mediocre that when used in battle it will render your opponents harmless. By one of the houses you find a curled up cat, which you can recruit as a support character. At first it seems not to know what to make of you, but by selecting the option of purring at it gently, T. Kemper will rub your calf cheerfully. The cat appears to be useless in these initial phases of the game, lazy even by cat standards, but will likely be of some use further along in the quest.

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We are excited to introduce a new activity on SlideShare called Presentation Tennis. This is a tribute to the awesome SlideShare community and an innovative experiment in collaborative creativity for presentation design. And unlike the contest, none of our users are going to win or lose — the SlideShare community wins overall.
The idea for PT (aka Presentation Tennis) came from Scott Schwertly of Ethos3 (who created the cool Meet Henry deck) and the first match of starts today. If youre wondering what presentation tennis is, its quite simple. Like one of those collaboratively written stories, each slide is created by a different person and added to the master slideshow at the end of each day for the next two weeks. And so in the end, we hope to come up with this really awesome presentation that has been collaboratively built up from scratch by our users.

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When I was in Jr. High my Mom and my best friends Mom decided they would sign us up for tennis lessons at the Northridge park recreation center.

I remember it was the typical San Fernando Valley heat, there was a lot of drill and kill, and I thought where is the fun in chasing this ball around the court? I couldn't wait for the lessons to end. Maybe we took two six-week session because my best friend liked it and my mom had agreed to the carpool.

It was difficult to explain what I did not like about my tennis lessons back then. It was a sport I had enjoyed watching- I thought Wimbledon on TV was really a cool thing to follow. Even had a crush on Andre Agassi, remembered the adverts always featured champagne and strawberries and I thought- now that is my kind of tennis.

Over the years I would explain when asked if I played tennis- oh, it is not for me, did take lessons once and did not enjoy it. I was pretty adamant it was out of my skill set. Then a boy asked me if I played...again I said, no.

Over time, he reasoned if I had only one or two bad experiences with tennis maybe we should try again- just for fun. Trying to find a hobby in common, he did not like yoga, I did not want to do Capoeria, we settled on swimming and tennis. We were equally opposite, I had been swimming since I was five-years old and he grew up playing tennis. Maybe it was my competitive edge or, not wanting to be a complete disaster on the court- but I started to think I should take a tennis lesson or two.

My University has a tennis pro...And soon the summer session was starting so I inquired. I went shopping for a tennis skirt, and when the guy called me- I told him I was taking a lesson. Okay, he laughed let me know when you want to practice.

I arrived to my first noon time lesson with my directors blessing and her very nice Prince racket. The tennis pro changed my name indefinitely to Lenora and I wondered if I had any eye hand coordination, but felt no pressure and laughed at my mistakes.

The tennis pro told us stories and about his non-profit to get first generation school age tennis players on the courts. The next week I couldn't wait to go back. Again the tennis pro shared stories of all the public courts in the city, how easy it is to find partners to play with. Commented that before we knew it- Lenora would be organizing matches, I laughed.

He was right, suddenly as I shared with new and familiar friends I was enjoying my tennis lessons they all started to offer to play. Two of my colleagues took up the lessons with me. Our director already plays and offered to play doubles with us when we are ready.

So it has been about a month of lessons, and already I played with my colleagues at Sea Ranch, and yesterday the tennis pro held a lesson for us at his country club...needless to say the boy that reignited my tennis interest and I may never play, but perhaps there will be others.

This week a woman I am working on a committee with invited me to her club to play. Turns out she is just starting also and her husband plays really well. I don't know why but so far all the women I have met play less well than their partners. Is it a male dominated sport? What about- the Serena's, Martina's, Anna's of the tennis world? Fortunately for me, my girlfriends are not there yet.

My tennis pro said, "Lenora, tennis is like a passport, you can go anywhere with a descent game." I assured him I had a passport and was far from having any sort of 'game!' Needless to say my mom is glad I found my way back to the sport she always wanted me to play, and so am I.

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Welcome to Anime Atom: The Online Anime Explosion (literally)
At Anime Atom you can watch more than 7000+ streaming anime episodes of the most popular anime series.
You can access all the anime episodes by navigation to the respective series via the categories placed on the right hand sidebar.
Please remember that we are trying our best to keep this site updated and would request you to report all dead video by leaving us a comment.
However, if you are interested to see Naruto or Bleach, please visit the sites linked below.
These are updated with all the new episodes and are dedicated exclusively to the respective Anime series.
Please leave us a comment with your thoughts and suggestions for us to work on.

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Tanglewood Bags, working out the various kinks in the pattern. It's not picturesque, the sewing, hence all the food pictures lately. The studio looks like I sprayed it with fabric scraps and nets of thread. In answer to several questions I've gotten, unfortunately no, the Tanglewood Bag is not really a beginner's project. Of course, I always think beginners should just dive in, and be inspired by things you really love, and then learn on the things you love — but this bag has a lot going on, and needs precision for it to look really sharp. That said, precision usually just means patience and practice and a willing attitude, so, you know. You can do that. Slow and steady.
Also, just a head's up if you are going to give making it a try (and I will be producing a pattern for this, as well as a kit, though the kit will take a while before it's available, as the binding needs to be special ordered from France, and they tell me this will take several weeks, and some of the fabric is coming from New Zealand, and that's on its way), you should make sure that your sewing machine has quite a bit of clearance under its free arm — when you remove the extension table (as if to sew around the cuff of a sleeve, for example), you want to make sure there are a couple of inches of clearance below this free arm. If not, it can be very difficult to sew the binding around the sides and handles of the bag, as this is all one continuous seam, and the bag (with all of its pins, and it is pinned to within an inch of its life) must rotate around the free arm at a few odd angles to accomodate those curves and points. All machines are different in how much space they allow. My old machine had a ton of clearance; the one I currently use seems like it has about an inch, as it is attached to an unremovable base. Anyway, I'll remind you about this again when the pattern/kits come out., so that you aren't swearing at me when you go to make this. I'm actually borrowing my friend's machine because I was swearing at myself, and I don't need that. The bags are looking so pretty, though. I'm hoping to have them available for sale in the next couple of weeks, the pattern for sale as a downloadable PDF shortly after that, and the kits ready sometime in July.
Also (I'm almost done, I promise), since I get a lot of questions from people wondering if I have sewing machine recommendations, my sad answer is, unfortunately, no. Major equipment purchases of almost any kind are not my specialty — my goal is usually to get it over with as soon as possible, and at that I would say I am awesome — so I would feel irresponsible advising anyone on something as important as sewing machines. I use a Pfaff Lifestyle 2022. I bought it several years ago and it was the best I could afford, but it's pretty low-end as far as fancy machines go, apparently. It works fine for what I need it to do, except for this free-arm-clearance issue, which is a major issue if you sew handbags. Or sleeves. If anyone knows of good sewing machine discussions, or comparisons, or reviews, will you comment here? I will then link to this post on my FAQ because I have zero doubt that anyone else's advice would be better than anything I could provide on this topic. Thank you!
Now, I gotta get to that cake. Pie. Cake. The thing with the chocolate on top.

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In the weeks leading up to training camp, I will be taking a position-by-position look at the roster. No firm roster projections will be made yet (that will have to wait until the first 53-man roster projection right before camp starts), but I hope to give you a general overview of how things stand at each position. Today, we'll look at the quarterbacks.

Total Roster Spots: 3

Locks: 2 (Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch)

Spots Open/Candidates: 1 (Dennis Dixon, Jared Zabransky, Mike Potts)

Overview: We know that Roethlisberger and Batch are firmly entrenched at the #1 and #2 QB spots. I dont think I really need to elaborate on Ben. Hes a proven commodity, a top 5 NFL quarterback that we are lucky to have. Its an absolute joy to watch him play. Batch is a solid #2, though his production declined last season. He struggled in his only significant appearance against Baltimore, and at age 33 his career is winding down. But hes better than the #2 option on many other teams, and Im comfortable with him if he has to start a game or two. If Ben goes down for a significant amount of time, though, were fucked. Batch will be a free agent after this season, and I highly doubt hell be back. At best I could see him re-signing for 1 year to allow for more time to groom our future #2 QB.

History has shown that the Steelers almost always carry three quarterbacks, so its reasonable to assume that this year will be no different. The main competition for the #3 job will be from Dixon and Zabransky. Potts is an undrafted free agent from William Mary who is camp fodder and has little to no chance of making this roster. Folks will remember Zabransky as the quarterback at Boise State who led the Broncos to an improbable comeback victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. But hes going to really have to impress in camp for him to win the job over Dixon. The former Oregon QB is supremely talented and was a Heisman candidate before his knee injury. There is no doubt he would have been drafted higher than the 5th round without those injury concerns, and the organization has made it clear they see him as a legitimate #2 QB option down the road. In addition to being more talented than Zabransky, Dixons 4.5 speed and athletic ability speaks to his versatility and makes him a viable option for gadget plays. Throw in the fact that the team invested a draft choice in him, and the job is Dixons to lose.

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Babolat Pure Drive Tennis Racquet is easily the best quality and I got it super cheap on Ebay. Below are some pics, details, and ebay listings of the same Babolat Pure Drive Tennis Racquet I got. I just love this thing! You cant beat the prices or service on Ebay, ANYWHERE!
Here are the details from the manufacturer Length: 685mm/27
Head Size: 645 cm/ 100
Weight:300 g/10.

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 In what was probably the final table tennis tournament to be played in Dylan’s lounge room, Dave Lee was once again the dominant performer. Destroying walls and egos alike with an approach bordering on brutality, Lee stretched his unbeaten run out to an impressive 15 games and, in the process, more than likely sent Darren Southwell home a distraught, withered, shell of a man.
While Lee’s continued dominance is a tremendous story—one the crowd respectfully acknowledged—the emerging North Watto rivalry between Dylan Shepherdson and Craig Tuck was the true story to emerge from last night’s competition. Clashing in eight gruelling contests throughout the evening, the two fierce rivals produced some of the finest table tennis ever seen on the hallowed floors of the North Watto Table Tennis Arena. The tragedy of the night was that this contest was continually interrupted by the ‘rotating contender’ policy, which allowed even the likes of Southwell equal time at the table. Thankfully Southwell exited the arena soon after his desperate plea of ‘Josh, come back!’ was heard echoing through the halls; this exit resulted in arguably the biggest cheer of the night from the capacity crowd (who were more than aware that this would allow for the recommencement of the Shepherdson-Tuck showdown).
Punching and counter-punching, much like falsely-imprisoned boxing icon Rubin  Carter, Shepherdson and Tuck drove each other to the point of exhaustion in an enthralling contest that spanned three consecutive games. The victorious Tuck, whose forehand was ‘on fire’, according to undefeated champion Lee (who stayed on to watch the battle), spoke to Table Tennis Weekly after the game.
‘Yep, I’m no. 2 now,’ Tuck said. ‘I’m heaps better than Southwell, which we established weeks ago, but am also now clearly better than ‘Shepho’.
‘Lee is my new target,’ he continued, ‘then…retirement.’
While the crowd groaned each time ‘punch drunk’ Southwell took to the table, the brilliant table tennis provided by each of the other athletes made the night a complete success, and ensured there will be many more in the future (though perhaps with more stringent entry requirements).

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Wimbledon 2008 - Williams VS Radwanska - Day 8 QuaterFinals
The 19-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland must be really impressed with herself. Not only did knock out Svetlana Kuznetsova on Centre Court yesterday afternoon, but in doing so, she has secured her place in the Wimbledon 2008 quarter-finals for the first time in her career.
Radwanksa won the Wimbledon Championship junior title in 2005. Not only that, but she secured the Eastbourne title a few weeks back and looked really comfortable on the grass against the Russian world No 4. yesterday afternoon.
14th seeded Radwanska now has to face former Wimbledon Tennis champion Serena Williams. Williams knocked out sister Urszula in the second round. But riding high from today’s victory, the teenager cannot wait for the challenge, saying she has nothing to lose.
“I know Serena and I know how she’s playing. For sure I saw a bit of my sister’s match against Serena, so I know what I have to do. I just have to play aggressive and that’s it.”
Radwanska admits she will have to be on top form to beat the American Williams.
“She’s a very strong player and she can hit the ball very strong. Even in Berlin she was playing unbelievable against me. I was playing not that bad and I won just four games.” She added: “It is going to be a challenge for me…I will enjoy and try my best.

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, a.k.a the kid that was strung up on wires "or something" to quote the news-folks describing a viral video for Gatorade. A damned discreet one as well, the only time you see Gatorade is when she returns to her seat and there's a bottle on the ground.
For some silly reason, a video that looks as fake as any other fake video is being picked up by news shows, so lets all pat the director Pat Baker Smith (no pat-pun intended) and ad agency element 79 partners on the back for doing a good job. Pat pat pat!
The funniest thing I heard about this ad so far was someone being miffed about the fact that it was a "ball girl" that did the amazing stunt, as if "us chicks can't super-hero like jump walls whenever we fancy". Right. I didn't see the sexism in this ad, and I squinted real hard too, but I did find it really weird that there was a sudden mention of a "ball girl", something that I've never heard of outside of porn before which sent all sorts of "it's an ad" bells ringing. God, I must be old.

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Rivals for supremacy on the tennis court, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have now become political allies off the court in an attempt to take more control over the direction of their sport.

Next Saturday in London, two days before Wimbledon begins, those three are all but certain to be voted on to the Player Council of the Association of Tennis Professionals. The election of the world's three top men's tennis players would be a most unusual move in an era when the game's stars are typically more preoccupied with hitting big forehands and maximizing their big earnings than addressing the broader issues facing the sport.

But Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are concerned about the current leadership of the ATP and about the potential impact of a lawsuit filed by Hamburg tournament organizers. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are running unopposed for three of the four slots reserved for players ranked 1 to 50. There is still a remote possibility that one of the three stars might not join the council because of regional quotas that restrict total European representation on the 10-member council to 5 slots.

"It's a great thing that the top three are involved and a great thing that they are concerned and want to help the sport," said James Blake of the United States, an outgoing council member. "Probably all we should ask of them is to go out and play the game, because they are the best advertisement for our sport right now. But they are doing more. It's like getting an A+ on a test and still going for extra credit."

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have expressed reservations about the ATP chairman, Etienne de Villiers. With his contract ending later this year, all three signed a letter in March along with the majority of the top 20 that demanded that other candidates for the chairman and chief executive position be identified and interviewed.

There has been dissatisfaction with some of de Villiers's decisions, such as the failed experiment to introduce a round-robin format at low-level tour events last year. But the bigger issue is apparently a perceived lack of communication between the players and the ATP board of directors, which is the tour's primary decision-making body. Nadal, the dominant clay-court player, has also been upset by attempts to restructure the clay-court schedule.

"Controversy - nobody likes it," Nadal said in an interview in Paris shortly after he won his fourth straight French Open. "I prefer to play tennis and have tranquillity, which in many cases we are lacking. But with the ATP, there have been moments when we were simply not informed about things that they were going to do.

"Our complaint is that we have representatives on the board who do not represent the players. They are our representatives, but they aren't representing us. They're representing the head of the ATP.

"So we're going to try to get involved at the heart of things, so in that way, we can be aware of things before they happen."

Blake agreed that the board's management style needed to change. "We don't need to be treated like little children," he said in Paris. "We are athletes, but we can make decisions, and we need to be consulted."

Though player unions and collective bargaining agreements are the rule in many professional sports, men's tennis is different. The ATP is a joint venture between the tournaments and the players. The board of directors has six members: three elected by the Player Council and three chosen by the tournaments, with de Villiers, a former Disney executive, serving as chairman and the tie-breaking vote.

The players' dissatisfaction led to the move last month by the Player Council to vote Perry Rogers off the board. Rogers, the close friend and longtime agent of the former champion Andre Agassi, has been one of de Villiers's primary allies and advisers in developing and negotiating a new structure and calendar for the men's tour in 2009.

The changes would be more evolutionary than revolutionary, but de Villiers has emphasized that he needs commitment from the top players in order to package and sell rights to the revamped tour.

The board has already approved a system whereby the top players must commit to play (or in case of injury, attend) all eight of its top tournaments or risk financial penalties and suspension. The board is also requiring that the top players commit to 4 of the 11 events in the second tier.

The four Grand Slam events, the most prestigious in the sport, are not run by the ATP.

The new commitment policy has not been welcomed by all the top players or their agents, who are concerned, in part, about losing guaranteed paydays at smaller tournaments. Rogers, who was perceived as having his own agenda by some top players, was removed despite direct lobbying on his behalf by Agassi, who telephoned several of the council members.

The decision to remove Rogers was not unanimous. The American doubles star Bob Bryan said he was one of those who voted to retain him.

"I thought Perry was really valuable to Etienne just with his negotiating skills and experience," Bryan said in Paris. "Everyone listens to Perry Rogers when he talks. I was sad to see him go. I thought it was a bad decision."

Rogers did not return a phone call seeking comment, and de Villiers declined to comment except to say that he welcomed the prospect that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic would join the council.

"How could I not be excited about our three leading players getting more involved?" he said. "The more they know, the better it will be for the game."

Kris Dent, an ATP spokesman, said that in an attempt to bridge any communication gap, the top 10 players had been offered the chance to have someone representing them in the boardroom to report back. "That offer was made months ago, and we've heard nothing back," Dent said.

Federer, ranked No. 1, and Nadal, No. 2, have developed a friendly, respectful relationship and have had frequent discussions this season. Djokovic, the 21-year-old Serb now ranked No. 3, has joined with them. "With Novak, we do talk, and I'm happy he's interested in the future of tennis; it's important," Federer said in Paris.

With Rogers out, the two remaining player representatives on the board of directors are Iggy Jovanovic, a former communications director for the ATP, and Jacco Eltingh, a retired Dutch player who was once ranked No. 1 in doubles.

Jovanovic's term ends at Wimbledon, which means that there will be two open board slots to be filled by the outgoing Player Council on Saturday. Among the declared candidates for Rogers's slot are Blake's older brother Thomas Blake and the former American tour player Justin Gimelstob. If Jovanovic does stand for re-election, he will face opposition. There is also the possibility that the outgoing council may vote Eltingh off the board and elect an entirely new threesome.

"We are at the most important moment for our sport in 20 years," said Ivan Ljubicic, the Croatian veteran who is president of the existing council. "The next two to three months are critical."

That is largely because of the anti-trust lawsuit filed against the ATP by the tournament organizers in Hamburg, whose clay-court event is set to be downgraded from the top tier of tournaments in 2009. The suit is scheduled to be heard in U.S. District Court in Delaware in late July.

"It all depends on the lawsuit," Ljubicic said. "If the ATP wins, the ATP presumably stays as is. But if Hamburg wins, we don't really know what happens. It could change the whole sport. It could cost the ATP more than it has."

The ATP has reportedly already spent more than $7 million on fees related to the case. "The $7 million figure is a speculative figure," Dent said. "I can't comment on confidential details like cost. Clearly, we're in the middle of a process. What's important to remember here is that the ATP, like most corporations, has insurance to cover most issues like litigation costs. And it's in our bylaws that members who sue us and lose must pay all legal costs in full."

With the lawsuit blocking final plans for 2009, it has been difficult to procure sponsorship, although Dent said the "interest from the commercial world has been extremely encouraging."

Dent said that if the 2009 plan goes forward, the tour has already secured a 36 percent increase in prize money for next year along with an $8 million bonus pool and "almost a billion dollars" of investment from tournaments in new stadiums and improved facilities.

Hamburg is the last of three Masters Series events on clay leading into the French Open, preceded by Monte Carlo and Rome. But Hamburg has struggled to attract all the top players in recent seasons even though it was ostensibly a mandatory event. The ATP plan is to reduce the number of mandatory spring clay-court tournaments to two: Rome and Madrid, which would move from its indoor slot in the fall and become a combined women's and men's event.

Madrid organizers are building one of the most elaborate tennis complexes in the world, which includes three stadiums with retractable roofs. "I think it's going to take European tennis to another level and be a beacon of light for the sport next year, a real sign of success," said Larry Scott, head of the women's tour. "So I think it would be a terrible shame if that did not come to fruition for whatever reason.

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1 - Pitcher; 2 - Catcher; 3 - 1st Base; 4 - 2nd Base; 5 - 3rd Base; 6 - Shortstop; 7 - Left Field; 8 - Center Field; 9 - Right Field

Major League Baseball Scorekeeping
Major league baseball scoring is done for one batter at a time. Each cell in the game card contains a lifetime record of an offensive player (batter or runner). Different connotations are made for outs, reaching base, advancing, scoring a run, end of an innings, substitution etc.

Outs in Major League Baseball

* If a batter hits the ball to the shortstop, who throws the ball to the first baseman to force the first out, it is noted on the score sheet as 6-3, with 6 for shortstop and 3 for the first baseman and number 1 circled below the diamond.
* If a batter hits a ball directly to a fielder who catches it (on the fly), it is noted as F followed by the fielder who catches it on the fly and with a circled number indicating whether first, second or third batsmen is out.
* If a batter is strikes out, it is denoted as K. K is a standard notation for strike out.
* If the batter fails to swing at the third strike, a "backward K" is used.
* A slash drawn at lower right corner denotes end of an innings.
* If a base runner or batter is caught stealing a base midway between the two bases, the base path between those two bases is filled halfway and then ended with a short stroke perpendicular to the base path. It is noted as CS (caught stealing) followed by two numbers (e.g. 2-6), 2 denoting second base and 6 denoting catcher.

Reaching Base in Major League Baseball 2008

* If a batter reaches first base, either due to a walk or a hit, the base path from the home plate to first base is drawn, and the method by which the player reaches the base is described in lower right hand corner.
* If a batter gets a base hit, 1B is written at lower right hand corner.
* If a batter gets a walk, BB is written.
* If the batter reaches base because of a dropped throw, the base path is drawn and E3 is written below.
* If the batter moves from home directly to third base, i.e., base paths from home to first, first to second and second to third, 3B is written on upper left hand corner to indicate the runner did not advance on another hit.

Advancing in Baseball Game

If a runner advances a following batter, it is denoted by the batting position or the uniform number of the batter that advanced the runner. Runs scored in major league baseball 2008
* A runner must touch all 4 bases and cross all four base paths in order to score a run.
* On completion, the Scorer draws a complete diamond and fills it in.
* By filling it in, it's easier keep tracking the runs scored.

Ending an innings in baseball Sports A slash is drawn diagonally across the lower right corner of the cell of the third out. When three players from the offensive team are put-out.

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Canterbury won the Concordia Tennis Invitational on Saturday with 38 points.
The No. 13 Cavaliers beat No. 12 Michigan City by four points, 38-34. Bellmont was third with 25.
Canterburys Caitllin Sullivan won at No. 3 singles and Rachel Horton and Chloe Hoffacker won at No. 2 doubles. Dwengers Ashlyn Rang won at No. 1 singles.
Baseball
DWENGER 13-6, DEKALB 10-5: The Saints capped off a sweep of a doubleheader on the road with a 6-5 win in the second game.
Brian Isenbarger was 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. In the first game, the Saints rallied to the win 13-10 behind an 8-run seventh inning as DeKalb led at one point 10-2.
Brandon Thews knocked in eight runs in the two games for DeKalb.
Golf
LEO INVITATIONAL: Carroll won the event at Cedar Creek with a 305. The host Lions were second at 310, while Concord was fourth a 319 and Homestead fourth with a 323. Brock White of Carroll was medalist with a 73.
ANGOLA INVITATIONAL: DeKalb won the tournament with a 313 at Zollner Golf Course. Nick Kelley led the Barons with a 74. East Noble was runner-up with a 327.
Softball
HOMESTEAD 8, WARSAW 7: The Spartans beat the host Tigers in the championship game of the Warsaw Invitational. Homestead (22-2) scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to rally past Warsaw (12-9).
NOBLESVILLE 5, SNIDER 4: The Millers slipped past the host Panthers in the championship game of the Panther Invitational. Katie Rogers had two doubles for Snider, which beat South Bend Washington 4-1 in the semifinals.
FAIRFIELD 11, NORTHROP 1: The Falcons capped off a big win over the Bruins with seven runs in the seventh inning to win the Fremont tournament.
EASTERN 2, GARRETT 1: The Railroaders fell in 14 innings to the Class 2A No. 2 Comets in the semifinals of the Eastbrook Tournament. Garrett pitcher Micah Bodey threw all 14 innings and had eight strikeouts and gave up only one earned run.

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