By Craig Thomas

Here are the Big 12 honorees for Missouri for the 2009 season. (MU Rank) unless otherwise noted.

FIRST TEAM:

Danario Alexander

- WR Danario Alexander (Sr.) – 107 catches, 1644 yards, 137 yd. average (1st NCAA), 13 TDs (led all MU receivers in each category), team captain

- LB Sean Weatherspoon (Sr.) – 104 tackles (1st), 14 for loss (2nd), 4.5 sacks (2nd), team captain

- K Grant Ressel (Soph.) – 38 for 38 on extra points, 24 for 25 on field goals, hit game-winner against Kansas in final seconds

SECOND TEAM:

Kurtis Gregory

- OL Kurtis Gregory (Sr.) – started all games past two years, repeat 2nd team selection, team captain

- DT Jaron Baston (Sr.) – 23 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, 12 starts, team captain

DEFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

- DE Aldon Smith (Fr.) – 59 tackles (5th, best on D-Line), 11 sacks (1st), 18.5 tackles for loss (1st)

READ MORE ABOUT THESE TIGERS

Alexander more noticeable on field than off – Sam Wilson

Alexander can be compared to the greats – Robert Mays

Weatherspoon has great personality – Robert Mays

Ressel didn’t waste time – Sam Wilson

Gregory is a valuable leader – Craig Thomas

Baston rebounded to become a leader – Robert Mays

Smith had to wait for opportunity – Craig Thomas

I never went out too much with guys. I didn’t like them and I never, ever trusted them. I still don’t but sometimes I make exceptions. Out of the 5 relationships I’ve technically (let us refrain from complete accuracy here) been in I only count 3 of them. The other two weren’t wanted. The first was somewhat forced as everyone else labeled us within 24 hours and, so as not to hurt the others’ feelings (communication does not exist in high school and only rarely in the age of adulthood) we acquiesced and went out for probably 3 weeks. We didn’t see each other at all for that time. I spent it calling him almost daily in order to break up with him only to be met each time with a message saying that his service had been shut off. Finally he called me to do the very same and I admit that I did not attempt to hide my joy at that phone call. The other was my best friend and I told him time and time again that not only was I uninterested but that it just would not work. Eventually I was beaten down and said yes. That quasi-relationship didn’t even make it a week and messed things up between us for quite a while afterward. The aforementioned relationships were 2 and 4 respectively.

1 and I had been friends since early grade school when we called school buses “cheddar boxes” and beat each other up regularly (we never showed mercy). We were occasional best friends, really. Of course it was inevitable that we’d end up together. I’d liked him for however long and he’d liked me. Everyone around us knew it before we did. We swore we would be together forever. Well, we made it for just short of 18 months but our relationship was awful. Emotional abuse, lying, and cheating among other things. I broke up with him a few times but I was and am a pushover so I would always take him back. He used to break up with me too and I never begged him to stay. I always told him “I’m not going to force you into a relationship you don’t want to be in” but he would invariably get me to take him back. Finally he fell in love with a girl he met 4 days prior to breaking up with me for good, via AIM, when I wasn’t even online. I was sad, yeah, but I think moreso I was just relieved. I didn’t cry and actually stopped being [clinically] depressed not long afterward.

3 had been wooing me for a few years and I always told him no, I’m with 1, I love him, we’re going to be together forever. He asked that if by chance 1 and I broke up I’d be with him after. In fact, several guys took a number and stood in line behind 1, assuring me that they could do better by me than 1 ever could. But 3 was great and he was nice and I’d known him for a while already and he trusted me so I went for it. We lasted maybe a month and a half before we mutually decided to break up. It was in the best interest for both of us but we could remain friends. We did remain friends but it was hard for me, far harder than it was for him.

It was a year and a half before I even considered getting a boyfriend again. I told myself and everyone around me that I had given up on love, it wasn’t for me and I wanted to play no role in it. But then this tortured soul decided to start talking to me. I guess he hadn’t caught the wind of the “hot but crazy bitch does not say yes” memo but I didn’t sense any ulterior motives and I liked him immediately. This guy was genuine. He made me nervous, my heart faint, and my butterflies flutter. I gave it time, didn’t try to rush things…okay maybe I did a little bit but only because he was too scared to do it himself. He liked me, I liked him. He was a scared puppy and so was I but I was ready to give him a chance. Well, my heart was but my brain wasn’t. Or vice versa. Either way, I wanted to be with 5 but I didn’t want 5 to be like 1. I took the plunge and asked him out. We got married and had a few – oh, wrong story. But it’s almost been 3 months and I’ve got a bit of faith and a bottle of Jack so hopefully we do this right (JK about the Jack. Alcohol is the deal breaker.).

I love love love him and he loves me and this color should be reminiscent to him of certain secret like notes I wrote.

Aku sayang kamu,
Jeg elsker deg,
Scarlet Walters Rawrson

I am a mother, at least for a short while. But in this time I have begun to understand the immense struggle and responsibility that comes with having a baby. I know full and well that caring for this baby is not nearly the same as caring for an actual baby but I am a teenager and am too ill-equipped to take care of a living being.

So while many people tell me that Elliot is not a real baby and I should not treat him so carefully, he is real to me. As a mother I must protect him as best I can. I must keep him away from harm and love him the best I can. I must attend to his woes no matter how tired or busy I may be. The three a.m. feedings and five o’  clock in the morning cries indicating he just wants to be held are all made up for by his coos, of which I have very nearly fallen in love with. I have never felt anything more satisfying than knowing that I have made my baby happy.

I have no shame in singing to Elliot. I dance with him also. I talk to him and tell him I love him. My boyfriend, who has assumed the role of the “father” in this situation, has been wonderfully supportive (though I’m sure he laughs at me still). Maybe I am taking this assignment far too seriously but I do know that the way I treat this beautiful robotic baby I call Elliot Stephen Gilson-Eakins reflects on what kind of mother I will be when I do decide to bear my own little human.

My son came home from PreK with a paper pilgrim hat the other day.  After admiring his handiwork, my mind went to the obvious place.  

Pilgrim names.

Spokane’s Spokesman-Review reminds us that back in 1620, first baby born to the Pilgrims in New England was named Peregrine.  Big brother was called Resolved.  

There were, of course, plenty of men called John and William and women named Mary and Anne.  

The more interesting masculine names worn by Plymouth Rock arrivals included:

• Isaac
• Bartholomew
• Love
• Wrestling
• Moses
• Desire
• Degory (though he may have been Gregory.  Or Digory – we don’t know much about him.)
• Giles (brother to Constance, Damaris and Oceanus)
• Oceanus (born en route to Plymouth – see above)
• Solomon
• Jasper
• Myles (Standish, of course)

There were fewer women, but a few stand-out names:

• Remember
• Humility
• Constance (sister to Damaris, Oceanus and Giles) 
• Damaris (see above)
• Priscilla

I’ve read estimates that only around 25% of the Purtians ever had names that would’ve seemed unusual in their day.  If that’s true, then 75% answered to ordinary appellations for their time, like James and Elizabeth.  

It also seems surprisingly consistent with modern day experience.  Around three-quarters of all kids born in the US receive a Top 1000 name.  In the nineteenth century, names ranking in the 900s were only given to a few kids; today, names at those same rankings are worn by a few hundred.  Really unusual names have never been terribly common – but neither was there a moment where every boy was Robert and every girl was Jane. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel of scandal amongst the Puritans, The Scarlet Letter, introduced a few unusual names not worn by the original settlers, including Hester and Pearl.  Most of the other names were unremarkable – Arthur and Roger aren’t popular today, but they don’t make you think of the novel, either.  

Even in fiction, not every Puritan was called Flee-Fornication.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Name the most powerful narcotic in the world,” he asks the former beggar boy. “Oil,” the mentor says. ” More than opium, more than heroin. The pipelines are syringes. The addicts pay anything for their supply, kill for it, steal for it, topple governments for it.”

This gripping, high-concept thriller about an oil-eating microbe is written by best-selling author R. Scott Reiss. “Black Monday” is in movie development for release in 2012.

A plague that will cause the death of millions. A plague that will destroy countries. A plague that will plunge the world into a dark age. A plague that will make nobody sick…

When the first planes go down — in Europe, in California, in Asia — authorities blame terrorists. All flights are grounded as world leaders try to figure out how the global assault has been coordinated. And when cars, ships, and factories stop running too, it becomes clear that the common link is oil. Somehow a microbe, genetically engineered to destroy petroleum, has infected the world supply. The world descends into a new dark age.

Dr. Gregory Gillette, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control, is a disease hunter specializing in microbes that attack human beings. When the Pentagon taps him to be part of the Rapid Response Team assembled to track and kill the devastating Delta-3 bacteria, he quickly discovers that his expertise is ignored, his presence meaningless. The leader of the task force is an old nemesis who sidelines Gillette.

Gillette returns home to Washington, where he watches in horror as food becomes scarce, neighbor attacks neighbor, and government collapses. With winter approaching, the capital faces anarchy and Gillette faces a choice: to stay with his family or to disobey orders and find the microbes’ antidote through clues that may not even be real.

Best-selling author R. Scott Reiss

“Black Monday is an involving thriller with a timely theme. The author’s use of the present tense provides an excitement and immediacy that rapidly propel the narrative forward…Reiss includes enough solid detail to make his improbable plot seem almost realistic. He handles his complicated scientific explanations with aplomb, takes the time to focus on a variety of compelling characters, and creates a terrifying scenario that will make thoughtful readers think twice about the world’s dependence on the ultimate narcotic–oil.”~~Mostly Fiction Book Reviews

Read a chapter excerpt from Black Monday

www.blacklabelmusic.nl

sphere thirteen is self-relative

Origin of the problem…

Επί ένα χρόνο μας ενημερώνουν
ο Έφηβος, οι φίλοι και οι συγγενείς του Αλέξανδρου.

Επί ένα χρόνο μας λένε :

ΔΕΝ ΤΟΝ ΦΩΝΑΖΑΜΕ ΑΛΕΞΗ

τον ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΟΠΟΥΛΟ

Μα κουφοί είμαστε;

Δείτε στον Έφηβο  εδώ  (10/11/2009)  και  εδώ  (10/01/2009).

Αυτό ας είναι το τελευταίο  http://www.tvxs.gr/v25616

Ο Αλέξανδρος από τη φωτογραφία της τάξης μας στην Γ' Γυμνασίου, 6 μήνες πριν την δολοφονία του.

Πλησιάζει η μέρα που κλείνει ένας χρόνος από την δολοφονία του συμμαθητή μου Αλέξανδρου Γρηγορόπουλου, από την ελληνική αστυνομία, την ώρα που διασκέδαζε στα Εξάρχεια.

Σας παρακαλώ όλους σας,

αν γράψετε κάτι για αυτόν, οτιδήποτε,

ή μιλήσετε με την παρέα σας για αυτόν,

να γνωρίζετε οτι το όνομά του ήταν

ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ Γρηγορόπουλος και όχι Αλέξης Γρηγορόπουλος.

ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟ τον φωνάζανε οι φίλοι του, η μητέρα του, οι συγγενείς του. Οι συμμαθητές του αν δεν τον φωνάζαμε Gregory, παραφράζοντας το επώνυμό του, πάντα ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟ τον φωνάζαμε. Κανένας, μα κανένας και ποτέ , δεν τον αποκαλούσε  Αλέξη. 

Μόνο μετά τον θάνατό του κάποιοι δημοσιογράφοι που δεν κάνουν καλά την δουλειά τους και μας παραπληροφορούν καθημερινά και κάποιοι πολιτικοί που ποτέ δεν είναι καλά ενημερωμένοι και συνήθως παίρνουν αποφάσεις μέσα στην άγνοιά τους, κατάφεραν τελικά να του αλλάξουν το όνομα. Μην τους αφήσετε να σας κάνουν, για μια ακόμη φορά, ο,τι αυτοί θέλουν.

 ΣΑΣ ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΩ ΟΛΟΥΣ, ΟΣΟΥΣ ΔΙΑΒΑΖΕΤΕ ΑΥΤΟ ΤΟ ΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ :

- Αν μιλήσετε με τους φίλους σας για αυτόν, ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟ να τον προσφωνήσετε.

- Αν κάποιος από την παρέα σας τον ονομάζει με άλλο όνομα, διορθώστε τον, πες τε του οτι το σωστό είναι ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.

- Αν κάποιος δημοσιογράφος τον προσφωνεί αλλιώς, στείλτε του e-mail και πες τε του ότι κάνει λάθος και ότι το σωστό είναι ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.

- Αν ακούσετε κάποιο πολιτικό σε κάποιο μέσο να τον προσφωνεί αλλιώς, τηλεφωνήστε στο μέσο και πείτε ότι ο φιλοξενούμενός τους κάνει λάθος και ότι το σωστό είναι ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.

 Αυτό που του έχει μείνει πλέον είναι η μνήμη των κοντινών του στο ΟΝΟΜΑ ΤΟΥ που είναι ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ, ας μην αφήσουμε να του το πάρουν και αυτό!!!

The Barilla pasta magnets on currently displayed proudly have prompted this week’s post.  They’re a new addition to our kitchen after we were given them during the celebrations of international pasta day last Sunday.  I imagine that for anybody else reading this, your own celebrations were fairly low-key, but for those of us in Rome, Milan and Naples, Barilla saw to it that we were fed bowl upon bowl of free pasta.

In Rome, the celebrations were held in the Giardinni San Angelo next to Castello San Angelo.  To look at this castle, you’d struggle to find any suggestion of the work of ancient Romans, and as far as I know, you’d eventually have to give up on the fruitless quest; there are no signs at all.  However, originally the castle was built as the tomb of Hadrian.  His statue still stands in the gardens and his name is given to the nearby piazza Adriana, but the building itself has been drastically altered.

The original building was designed by the Emperor himself who had always held a considerable interest in architecture.  It was a grand, white marble structure, and if the Pantheon is any guide (another project the Emperor was involved in) it would no doubt have been a fabulous building. It was known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian until the sixth century, but before we look at why the name was changed, it’s time for some background.

After the Roman Empire in the west had fallen, Rome had become something of a ghost town.  The papacy continued to operate from there, but otherwise the city’s halcyon days of political and cultural significance were behind it.  Hobbes described the papacy of the time as “the Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave.”  Pope Gregory I began to change all of that, however, and under his guidance, the city was successfully portrayed as a destination for pilgrimage.  With the tourist trade dollar flooding in, Gregory began to claw back the glories of old Rome.

However, none of this rejuvenation could happen until the plague that was coursing through Rome had ended. That supposedly happened after Gregory saw a vision of St Michael above the Mausoleum and the name was changed accordingly.  After that, pope after pope added to and reinforced the building to make it the Vatican’s defensive stronghold.  During the 1527 sack of Rome, one pope remained holed up in there for months.  It was this period that saw the Castle become the building we recognise today.  (And incidentally, it was also in this period that Hadrian’s remains were removed elsewhere and later destroyed in a fire).

As we sat next to the castle munching on our trofie al pesto, I noticed an inscription explaining that the park we were sitting in had been created by another figure from Italian history, namely Mussolini.  Whilst you see his building work etc on a daily basis over here, it came as a surprise to see something carved in stone explicitly naming him as responsible for the Gardens.  Rather than rewriting history, however, the inscription was left as it was; as yet one more layer of history serving as a backdrop to contemporary Rome and all of its pasta-based events.

Бонусная система от Gregory в Сыктывкаре!
На карточкy заносится сумма полученных бонусов в соотношении 1 бонус = 1 рубль. При накоплении определенного числа бонусов владельцам будет начисляться скидка
* 5% — скидка при накоплении суммы 4 900 рублей
* 10% — скидка при накоплении суммы 30 000 рублей
* 15% — скидка при накоплении суммы 60 000 рублей
Адрес: ул. Коммунистическая 52, ТЦ Аврора
тел. 39-11-21, 39-11-31, 39-11-41

Все скидки города Сыктывкаре

Really, love is just an idea and/or feeling. Love has no body and therefore has no eyes thus making it, in a way, blind. Although, can something be blind if there is no way that it could ever see regardless? In this case you could argue that no, love is in fact not blind because it is not actually possible for love to see or not see. However, love may be blind in accordance to how one thinks of what the embodiment of love is. For example, if I say that my boyfriend is the ultimate paragon of love then yes, love is blind for my boyfriend cannot see. But if that same boyfriend could see then love would not be blind because his eyes would be, hypothetically, in perfect working order. So it’s all really kind of philosophical if you ask me. That is, of course, unless I completely missed the point.

Marshall George (Liam),

Hamish Patrick (Jacob, Campbell & Hannah),

Makaire Gregory,

Anzac William (Stanley),

Paddy Eric Russell,

Gaine (Bon),

Rhiley (Neveah),

Bartholomew Terence (Ben),

Franco Edward (Macauley),

David Maurice (Annalise),

Cory Jay (Chloe),

Kingston Graeme,

Freddie & Monty (Findlay & Lachlan),

Niko Fabian (Talia),

Angus & Charlie,

Cooper Joseph (Fletcher, Spencer & Sebastian).

Alexys  Jordan (Chiyanne & Markhus),

Lucy Anna (Kate, Cameron, Tom, Emily & Hamish),

Ruby Anahera Nooroa Julia,

Penny Rose (Jodie & Molly),

Tilly Kate (Sam & Emma),

Lara Maria (Guy),

Honor Amelia (Angus & Lucy),

Lexi Sophia,

Bessie May (Franklin, Honor, Bodeen & Shoshanna),

Amelie Pamela (Oscar, Rosa & Grace),

Julianne Isla (Caroline),

Martha Olive (Emily),

Saffron Mary (Sam),

Hazel Belle (Scarlett),

Sofia Adele (Theo),

Zana Rose (Claudia & Oliver),

Zanthia Anne Ruby,

Cassara Jane (Corey & Sienna),

Annabel Henrietta (Charlie & George),

Trelise Mae (Georgia & Alex),

Clara Mary Jane

Arwyn Myra

Juliet Prudence

Eilish

Elle Frances (Nell, Thomas & Molly)

Billy Susan (Tane)

Holly Anne & Cameron Maree

USA Today/David Colton—Compared with the neck-biting ecstasies of Twilight and True Blood, the vampires of Hollywood’s past are downright chaste. Not a drop of blood was shown in the original Dracula of 1931, and it wasn’t until the Hammer studio films of the 1950s that the screen flowed crimson.

Now two of horror’s top film historians take a look at the cinematic roots of the vampire phenomenon.

In Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, a revision of a 1990 title, author Gregory William Mank explodes many of the myths about the Hungarian-born Lugosi, the screen’s first Dracula.

Though Lugosi was a hit in Dracula on Broadway, he was only the sixth choice for the screen role, finally accepting $500 a week (half his previous fee) to star as the immortal Count. Lugosi claimed for years he turned down the role of Frankenstein’s monster, but in truth was rejected in favor of Karloff. And no, Karloff did not joke that Lugosi was “putting us on” at Lugosi’s funeral in 1956. Karloff wasn’t even there.

The Mank book, which he calls an “obsession” since his first interviews with Lugosi’s ex-wife in 1974, is meticulously researched and more than 300 pages longer than the original. It grandly paints a portrait of the two stars and the spooky past of Universal, Hollywood’s top scare studio of the 1930s and 1940s.

More @

Back to Halloween Main Page

If you find any broken Tweets or Links, please report them in the comment section.

If you like what you see, may I recommend you start following me on Twitter to enjoy the benefits of real-time content as it materializes.

If you choose to follow @rlavigne42, please leave me a comment. I will make sure to check out your Tweets in return.

If you see a Tweet you appreciate, please Pay it Forward by ReTweeting it.

If you find an blogger you like, please Join Me in following Them.

My Thoughts Enclosed…Rb

Halloween is almost here!  And we won’t disappoint with today’s wild guests.

First up, we’ve got the insane Greg Hall, author and head honcho over at Choate Road and The Funky Werepig!  This interview is sure to go in the gutter right away, where we’ll proceed to mud wrestle and slap each other with rats.

Next up, we’ll have David Jack Bell, author of the intense, seriously spooky The Girl in the Woods.

MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS OF THE MODERN AGE:

A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases and the Cure of Advanced Cancer. – Max Gerson. M.D.
Audition. - Michael Shurtleff.
Autobiography of a Yogi. – Paramhansa Yogananda.
Cosmic Voyage. – Courtney Brown. Ph.D.
Hands of Light: A Guide To Healing Through The Human Energy Field. – Barbara Ann Brennan.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Light on Hatha Yoga. - Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
Hero With A Thousand Faces. – Joseph Campbell.
Man’s Search For Meaning. - Viktor E. Frankl.
Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance. – Abraham Maslow.
Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing. – Jed McKenna.
Stranger in a Strange Land. – Robert A. Heinlein.
Tantric Quest. – Daniel Odier.
The Bible Code. - Michael Drosnin.
The Holographic Universe. – Michael Talbot.
The Lost Teachings of Atlantis. – Jon Peniel.
The Only Planet of Choice: Essential Briefings from Deep Space. - Phyllis V. Schlemmer.
The Starseed Transmissions. – Ken Carey.
Who Am I. – Ramana Maharishi.

SOME FAVOURITES (An introduction to the Author):

A Man For All Seasons (A Play) - Robert Bolt.
Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown.
Duino Elegies – Rainer Maria Rilke.
I Am Jackie Chan - Jackie Chan.
Illusions – Richard Bach.
Life of Pi – Yann Martel.
Lion of Macedon & Dark Prince - David Gemmell.
Microcosmic God – Theodore Sturgeon.
Perfume – Patrick Suskind.
Rainmaker – John Grisham.
Red Dwarf & Better Than Life – Grant Naylor.
Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie.
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts.
Siva – Ramesh Menon.
Switch Bitch – Roald Dahl.
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho.
The Bourne Identity – Robert Ludlum.
The Celestine Prophecies – James Redfield.
The Doomsday Conspiracy – Sidney Sheldon.
The Godfather – Mario Puzo.
The Lost World – Michael Crichton.
The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett.
Twelve Angry Men (A Play) - Reginald Rose.

Posted by Buellboy
(our resident auto-tune expert)

Huffington Post––Michael and Andrew Gregory are back with their NINTH installment of “Auto-Tune the News.” So far they’ve taken on Sean Hannity in a gorilla costume, spiced up climate change speeches by GOPers, and used Arianna Huffington’s serious words on the drug war to make light of their own reckless youths. Now they’ve moved on to the health care debate, Keith Olberman, Congressman Alan Grayson and President Obama’s Peace Prize.

Enjoy!