A few months ago I did my first pottery trial… and viola!

OK, it took 2 months for the pottery workshop to dry and bake it, so I had almost forgotten about it.  But I am so happy about the outcome.  Of course, there are many things that I wanted it to be different.  Like, I thought it were a bit deeper and kind of like a reversed cone.  But it’s nice.  Another shot below. The small round one supposedly resembles a bean, which is for putting chopsticks.

数ヶ月前、はじめて陶芸にトライしてみました。手ひねりなので形はぼこぼこですが、初めてにしては満足な出来！

工房の方が乾かしてくれて釉薬（漢字が変換できない。。）をのせて焼いてくれました。その間約２ヶ月。ほとんど忘れていた頃にやってきました。実際に手にしてみると反省点がてんこ盛りなので、また是非チャレンジしたいです。小さいのは一応ソラマメの形の箸置きのつもり。。。

2009-10 NCAA College Football Computer Simulated Playoffs

Round One

The opening round of the computer simulated playoffs are in the books, and four teams have advanced to the quarterfinals to play the top four seeds, all of whom received first round byes.

For a better understanding of these playoffs, see my December 7, 2009, post.  In the opening round, the four bowls hosting these games were the Outback Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, and Gator Bowl.  

In the Outback Bowl, #5-Seed Florida did nothing offensively in the first half against #12 seed LSU, but the Gators outscored the Tigers 13-3 in the second half to win 16-9.

In the Alamo Bowl,  #6 Boise State started the game with a nine play, 80-yard touchdown drive and never looked back in t 34-13 win over  #11 Virginia Tech. 

In the Holiday Bowl,  #7 Oregon scored two touchdowns in the final 6:41 to come back and beat #10 Iowa 27-19.

In the Gator Bowl, #9 Georgia Tech rushed for 145 yards in the first quarter while building a 14-0 lead over #8 Ohio State and then held on as the Buckeyes rallied in the second half to make it a 30-24 final

Here are the statistics for the games:

Outback Bowl

Alamo Bowl

Holiday Bowl

Gator Bowl

Quarterfinal Round

In the next round, #5 Florida takes on #4 T C U in the Cotton Bowl; #6 Boise State plays #3 Cincinnati in the Capital One Bowl; #7 Oregon plays #2 Texas in the Rose Bowl; and #9 Georgia Tech plays #1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

These games would be the four New Year’s Day Bowl Games.  Wouldn’t it be great when all four January 1 bowls would actually mean something and guarantee that every game contributed to the real National Championship?

Check back on January 2 for results of the college football Elite Eight.

All the awesome late night filming sessions with Shane that ended in Horror.

Watching Chris Ebling rip that park everyday he had the chance.

The microwave burgers from Sam’s Club.

Everyone misses the BOWL!

Punching Romine in the balls everyday.

Crazy lock ins!

Dodgeball!

Selling skateboards all day and night!

I miss the wrist bands.

Picking up beer cans all AM.

The weird curving skateboard assembly counter.

Kick flips.

Mark Janni

Working everyday with the home boys!

Demos.

Lakai showing up out of nowhere.

The Lounge Area.

Skate Camps.

Telling Kids they had to wear their helmets and watching sadness enter their lives.

Red Bull Girls!

Never having to worry about the rain!

Late night after hour sessions.

Mental break downs while trying to film.

Sparky!

The Havik Promo Video.

Goofy Versus Regular!

Watching people eat crap from my office window!

Dillon Forgy!!!

Havik was one heck of a great time. All these things bring back some super sweet memories. Looking back on Havik it all seems like a dream. But I know it wasn’t cause most of my dreams are weird and awkward. Havik was just about as perfect as it could have been. I only wish we were still there today skating, dreaming, selling, assembling, sweeping, punching, and living the dream. I want to thank all the people that helped make Havik as great as it was. Every kid that came to skate camp, every person that came to the lock ins, every employee that worked hard, everyone who filmed and skated, everyone who paid, every single person that loved that place as much as me. Feel free to add the things that you miss about Havik! I want to hear all your stories and good time fun time banging! Havik lives on in my memories and in every person that shared in one heck of an awesome place!

This is a VERY simple project.  It is great for beginners and as a break during a long or hard project.  Perfect for all those nick-nacks that seem to magically appear!

Supplies:

US 7

Gauge: 5.71 SPI,  2 skeins

Bottom: CO:55

Side: CO:45

Finished Size:

Bottom: 7″

Sides: 6″ high x 24″ long

Assembly:

Both pieces are Stockinette stitch.  On the bottom and sides knit unit around 9 or 10 inches, or desired size.  If you want a different size, just remember that when you felt and item that it will decrease by 20%.

Sew sides together and the bottom piece to side and then felt.

Finishing:

To shape: To get square shape of bowl to stay I took a small bathroom trash can and placed the bowl over the bottom and allowed it to dry.

The form has met my intention, finally, in the glazing.

Amen is all I have to say about that…for now

The CaliBowl is a revolutionary new dish designed to keep the food on track from the bowl to your mouth rather than taking a tumble onto the table or floor. The bowl is designed at an angle which pushes the food onto your utensil (or dip scooping device), avoiding any spillage or overflows. Like a wave, it pushes all the food back onto whatever you’re eating with. They’re durable, unbreakable, and come in tons of bright, fun colors. And starting at only $13.99, their prices won’t break your bank either!

More Free winners on the way! This past weekend, I started off the Bowl season with 2 wins on Saturday, Midd Tenn State wins OUTRIGHT sunday… PLUS  a good day in the NFL capped off with a Panthers WIN  and a 7-1-3 week  ATS… Just like last year…Closing Strong again in December thanks to the bowl games… It the “Most wonderful Time of the year” I already bet the Monday night NFL game, and have  SOLID plays in more bowls this week…I was at the very first Las Vegas Bowl back in ‘92..as a member of the media, when I was a national sports talk show host in Vegas..Great Game and I covered the spread + the points ..

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights went into Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida as heavy favorites to beat the Central Florida Knights, so it wasn’t a very big surprise to see the outcome of the St. Petersburg Bowl.  Central Florida kept the game close up until the second quarter when their quarterback, Brett Hodges, threw an interception returned 19 yards for a touchdown by Billy Anderson.  In the third quarter, Rutgers quarterback, Tom Savage, threw his second touchdown of the game, this one to Mohamed Sanu, who also had two rushing touchdowns.  Rutgers beat Central Florida 45-24, winning their fourth consecutive bowl game.

Bowl Season is here.  One of the most talked about voting systems (outside of Florida) there is for the sporting world.  There are a lot of bowl games coming up in the next 3 weeks so without writing 5000 words previewing all them in one post, I am going to break it down a couple games at a time to make it manageable to read with your morning coffee.  Let’s get started.

St. Petersburg Bowl – Rutgers (8-4)  v. University of Central Florida (8-4)

Tropicana Field

This match up is weird to me.  When you break it down and really look at it, it’s almost like sleeping with your cousin.  First things first, it’s the Knights v. the Scarlet Knights.  Both teams went 8-4.  Rutgers hung around the top 25 for a bit before losing to bottom dwellers Syracuse towards the end of the season.  UCF had a big upset win over then ranked number 14 Houston.  This is Rutgers fifth bowl game in five years, UCF making it for the third time in five years.

Both of these are not really offensive juggernauts.   UCF is averaging a little over 200 passing yards a game where Rutgers is a little under 200.  Their rushing attacks are almost identical.  138.5 and 138.4 for UCF and Rutgers, respectively.  Rutgers’ back Joe Martinek, who had almost 1000 yards this season, will have a tough time running against UCF’s D who ranked 4th in the country on run defense; only allowing 83 yards a game.

Quarterbacks for both teams are fairly accurate.  Both are good drop back style QB’s and can throw the ball long.  But the big deciding factor in this game will be the offensive line.  Rutger’s freshman QB Tom Savage was sacked 34 times, the most in the Big East.  And UCF senior QB Brett Hodges threw 11 TDs this past season.  Both quarterbacks will need good protection.

Prediction:  Rutgers 38, UCF 31

New Mexico Bowl – Fresno St (8-4)  v. Wyoming (6-6)

University Stadium

Who playing who?  This could be the worst bowl game to start the bowl season.  This game could turn into the Ryan Mathews show.  Mathews, Fresno St running back, is averaging over 150 yards rushing a game.  Do the math, that is over 7 yards more than Heisman invitee and runner-up Toby Gerhart of Standford.  The kid just flat-out runs.  He leads the nation with 7 runs of at least 50 yard.  In a loss this season to Boise St he had 235 yards rushing with TDs of 60, 68 and 69 yards.

The Wyoming defense allows a little more than 170 yards a game on the ground.  Their D will be in the trenches most of the night.  It is hard to imagine them stopping Mathews all night.  And they won’t.  The biggest thing will be to limit the big runs.   They can not give up big runs and still expect to win this ball game.

Wyoming will have freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, Mountain West’s freshman of the year, behind center.   He started the last 9 games of the season and threw for over 1500 yards.  He led them to three straight victories to the end the season and get them a bowl game.

Prediction: Fresno St 42, Wyoming 17

New Orleans Bowl – Southern Mississippi (7-5) v. Middle Tennessee (9-3)

Johnny Floyd Stadium

When you look at these two teams and where they are from, I can not think of a better place for them to play then Johnny Floyd Stadium.  Just saying it sounds fitting.  This game should be high scoring with both teams averaging over 400 yards a game in offense.  Middle Tennessee is looking for their first 10 win season since 1992 and this will be only their second bowl game since entering the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1999.  As for the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss, they are making this their 12th bowl game in 13 seasons.  The game will turn into a classic Blue and Gold game (Golden Eagles v Blue Raiders, get it).   Key to this game will be defense.  Midd Tenn ranks in the top for in tackles for a loss and sacks per game.

Prediction:  Toss up.  This is the first meeting between the two schools.  Blue 24, Gold 17

Author: Jay Nault -
Source: articledashboard.com

Fiesta Bowl tickets are always in demand, as this BCS game is one of the most high-profile college bowl games in the United States every January. The Fiesta, event tickets
, Bowl came, event tickets
, from humble beginnings, but the event’s rise in the world of college football is a tale of success and high-end development. If you haven’t seen the game, perhaps you don’t understand how much it means to several people who got together, event tickets
, to form the event more than 30 years ago.

About the Game

The Fiesta Bowl was first played in 1971, and the biggest reason for its foundation was the frustration that executives associated with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) were feeling in regards to their championship teams. At that time, the WAC did not have an automatic bowl tie-in like the Big, event tickets
, Ten and Pac Ten did with the Rose Bowl, and for two consecutive years, 1968 and 1969, the WAC champion, event tickets
, did not receive any bowl invitation. In 1970, WAC champion Arizona State, a team that had gone undefeated, received only a minor bowl invitation.

As a result, organizers decided to get together to form a game that gave the WAC champion an outlet for postseason play. Originally, the, event tickets
, game was not high-profile, but it didn’t take long for the Fiesta Bowl to, event tickets
, begin to attract big-time teams. This was due in part to the success of perennial WAC champion Arizona State, as they were highly-ranked every season.

Fiesta Bowl tickets reached the top tier of bowl tickets in the mid-1970’s, when Florida State and Nebraska each agreed to come to the desert to face the Sun Devils. The game always drew thousands of fans and got good television ratings, but everything began to change when Arizona and Arizona State joined the Pac Ten in 1978.

However, the Fiesta Bowl committee decided to up the ante, as they moved the game to New Year’s Day from late December and began to heavily recruit at-large teams that were highly-ranked, given that their WAC tie-in was no longer in place, event tickets
, . Their efforts were a success, and several classic Fiesta Bowls unfolded over the next 20+ years.

Ultimately, the Fiesta Bowl reached its apex of development in the 1990’s, when the Bowl Coalition and ultimately the BCS were formed and included the Fiesta Bowl as part of its games, event tickets
, that helped to decide a national champion. As of now, the Fiesta Bowl hosts the national championship game every four years, and Fiesta Bowl tickets are sure to provide you with big-time teams competing for high stakes in Arizona.

How adorable are these cute little gingerbread men and women? I couldn’t resist…as with every year I have to make my special gingerbread people.  It’s a fun, festive ritual that I take part in and enjoy every second of the process from grading cutting shapes with my cookie cutters to decorating the clothes and features on the gingerbread people.  Here is a wonderfully delicious gingerbread recipe that will surely compliment your gingerbread house this season.

I was so excited to make these gingerbread guys and gals because I used two of my new Open Sky products, my Winco Aluminum Rolling Pin, which was fabulous and created an even and smooth surface for my cookie cutters and my Copper Bowl, which was perfect for mixing my ingredients to create the gingerbread dough.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger
• ½ tsp. cloves
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. wheat germ
• ¼ cup ground flax seeds
• 1 stick butter, unsalted and softened
• 1 tsp. honey or agave nectar
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 cup sugar or stevia
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat several baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, flax seeds, wheat germ and salt; mix well. Beat butter, honey, oil and sugar in another large bowl with an electric mixer until it forms a creamy texture.
• Add egg, molasses and balsamic vinegar; beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
• Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.
• On a floured surface, roll each portion separately to create a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut cookies using cookie festive cutters. Combine scraps and roll dough again to make additional cookies.
• Place cookies on baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies, about 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Decorate with icing and personalize each gingerbread man and woman.

In The News…

95% Celiac Disease Sufferers Go Undiagnosed

Companies Fall Short in Advertising Health Foods To Children

2010 Predicted Food Trends

Coffee and Tea May Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Try a One Size Fits All Dinner for Vegetarians and Meat Eaters

Chef Creates Healthy Pizza

….Ahem…

u mite need teh halp of a nice stranger.

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Jimtherotundartist via Advanced Lol Builder

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T – MINUS: 11 DAYS…In less than 2 weeks Temple will play in the Eaglebank Bowl against UCLA. This is Temple’s first bowl game in 30 years and is a huge milestone for the program. After I finished editing the “Ultimate Highlight” I was asked by one of the producers from Temple Update, another teleivsion program here on campus, to recut the video using uncopyrighted music. Unfortunately Temple Update never ran the piece and OwlSports couldn’t fit it into their show either sooo I’m hoping it will air sometime before the bowl game. Right now I’m keeping my fingers crossed I get issued a press pass to cover the bowl game. My professor, Matt Fine, sent in press pass proposals but now we are just waiting to see if they were approved. In the meantime check out the preview piece below.

Christmas is near which means that cookies are everywhere in this holiday season. One of the reason why I choose the bake cookies for my first challenge. Making biscuit is my weaknesses. I have never been able to master it. Even today, I have found many difficulties during the cutting the dough process.

This Vanilla cookie recipe is very basic and simple compare to the other biscuit recipes out there. All you need is a good timing and have fun with the cookie shaped cutter.

However, after many many over burnt cookies, these are the results: 

With the help of the fairy Icing Sugar, These are the final look: 

Verdict: Sweet!

Ingredient:

• 225g plain flour, extra for dusting
• 150g butter, cut into small pieces
• 150g caster sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

 Process:

• preheat the oven to 180 degree C
• sift the flour into a large bowl
• add the sugar into the flour, mix
• add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fince breadcrumbs
• add the vanilla extract and mix together to form a firm dough
• roll out the dough on a light floured work surface to a thickness of 1 cm
• stamp out with whatever shaped cookie cutter that you wanted to be
• arrange them on theprepared baking tray
• baked them for 10-15 minutes or until just coloured
• tranfer to a wire ack and leave to cool completely.

*original recipe is from “I <3 SUGAR” by lovefood. However, I changed one of the ingredient measurement and one of the process cos it works for me

Happy trying guys

xoxo,

Aby

There’s no cure for today. I am mostly sleepy and worn. The doubts are getting to me though. There’s some hope somewhere but I can’t feel it right now.

AH, maybe i’m just dying to kill myself this year…. I think I may have joined one too many clubs this year when I’m suppose to be doing college and scholarship apps… they are taking ocean bowl and science bowl as well as Science bowl sooooooo serious this year, as well as SkillUSA too… gosh, would it hurt for them to not be so up tight about it this year? Maybe they all need to take a chill pill since it is so obvious that they need one like RIGHT NOW!