I was in China last October, 2007, to document the return of Xiao Fu to his hometown of Shanghai after 30 years abroad. The only problem was that the city he knew did not exist. In fact the land of his entire upbringing was now just a foundation lost for a venture capitalist whose enterprise was also lost in view by the smog mix of a million lives. Can where we started be found centuries later when the skyscrapers become empty and return to the ground as used metal?

Xiao Fu was the star performer. His bow was from 1760 and was worth over US$300000..to be continued.

What is a group of dragons called?

I posed this riddle a month ago. In truth, the question itself is a bit misleading, "Do dragons even group together?" The answer plays upon that suggestion, for the answer is...

...a wilderness of dragons.

I first found this phrase in a book by Tolkien, and I believe that it is actually a quote from Beowulf. As far as I can gather from my research, 'a wilderness of dragons' is an infrequent idiom, but it has been used by various authors.

Thyself reckon dead, and then thou shalt fly
Free, free, from the prison of earth to the sky!
Spring may come, but on granite will grow no green thing;
It was barren in winter, 'tis barren in spring;
And granite man's heart is, till grace intervene,
And, crushing it, clothe the long barren with green.
When the fresh breath of Jesus shall touch the heart's core,
It will live, it will breathe, it will blossom once more.

-Jalal-ud-Din ar-Rumi
translated by E.H. Whinfield

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:11 (KJV)

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 (ESV)

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10 (ESV)

Today marked the final day of the Shanghai Masters Qualifiers and other than the match involving Liang Wenbo and Atthasit Mahitthi which has been held over until the venue, all of the matches have now been completed. Click here for the full draw.

Afternoon Matches

Day to remember for legends

With 14 world championship finals and six world titles between them both Steve Davis and Jimmy White are undoubtedly snooker legends, but success in recent years has been somewhat harder to achieve. Today however, both showed that they still have the talent and they still have to hunger for the game by winning their final qualifying matches this week and qualifying for the TV stages of the Roewe Shanghai Masters later this month.

First to win was Jimmy White who recorded a stunning 5-1 win over 1997 world champion Ken Doherty. Again as in many of his matches this season White’s performance wasn’t one full of high breaks, but his determination and ability to fight this week was enough to beat an opponent playing his first ever match at Prestatyn. With the venue being as small and as intimate as it is, Ken can be forgiven for being a bit lost away from the TV venues that he has become accustomed to, but he will nevertheless be disappointed with this latest setback. Hopefully he will be back though, Ken is one of the nicest guys on the tour and is still classy enough to fight with the best.

White was then joined in the TV stages by six times world champion Steve Davis who recorded a very impressive 5-3 win over the dangerous Gerard Greene. Greene on the back of a good win yesterday against Steve’s namesake Mark was always going to be a tough but to crack but breaks of 64, 50 and 54 were enough to see him home. Davis will meet defending champion Dominic Dale in Shanghai in what is bound to be another close match.

Fellow veterans follow suit

Northern Ireland Trophy finalist Dave Harold kept up his brilliant form today with an excellent 5-1 win over Rod Lawer. The most impressive aspect of Dave’s performance today was his scoring which with breaks of 62, 84, 44, 83 and 41 ensured that Lawler was always on the back foot.

Similarly impressive was Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien who won 5-3 in what was a high quality encounter with Ian Preece, highlighted by a break of 137 in the penultimate frame. Preece who yesterday recorded the highest break of the week and of his career fought well to level the match at 3-3 but Fergal moved up a gear when he had to and sealed the win.

Also progressing were Anthony Hamilton who won 5-1 against livewire Michael Holt and interestingly the 1995 World semi-finalist Andy Hicks who won his third match of the week in beating Michael Judge 5-2. In a match where nearly every frame seemed to go the distance, Hicks managed to follow White’s example and keep his nerve in these situations

Youth hits back

The veterans didn’t have it all their own way today however as Joe Swail slipped to a 5-3 defeat against teenager Judd Trump. In a performance highlighted by a tremendous break of 135 Trump showed some of the promise that has put him up to a career high position of 41 in the rankings to earn a match with Mark Selby in the last 32

Evening Matches

Welsh Wins

Two of the most comfortable wins tonight belonged to Welsh pair Matthew Stevens and twice world champion Mark Williams who both recorded 5-1 wins tonight. Stevens overcame Alan McManus, gaining some measure of revenge following defeat to the Scot in last week’s Northern Ireland trophy. Williams meanwhile beat Mark Joyce by the same scoreline as his quest to regain a place in the top 16 goes on.

Big Breaks

The match of the day however was that between Stephen Lee and Leicester’s Tom Ford. Ford started brilliantly with a run of 106 which set him on the way to a 4-1 lead and seemingly a comfortable win. Lee showed his class however and fought back well taking the next three frames. With the scores level though, Ford finished off the match as he started it with his second century of the match to seal an excellent win.

Similarly Stuart Pettman secured a place in Shanghai by winning the last two frames in his match against Nigel Bond to win 5-4. The match got off to a flying start with first Bond making a break of 119 before Pettman went one better with a 120 and then 114 to move into the lead. Bond then fought back to go 4-3 ahead following a lengthy seventh frame but it was Pettman who was to prevail and earn a shot at world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan in Shanghai.

Five star performances

Less close however were the matches involving Jamie Cope and Stuart Bingham. Cope, looking to break into the top 16 for the first time this season managed to see off Welshman Jamie Burnett without losing a frame whilst Bingham did likewise against 36 year old Mike Dunn.

Today’s results in full:

Round Four

Steve Davis 5-3 Gerard Greene 19-65(50), 80(64)-34, 74(50)-0, 68-18, 65(54)-25, 40(30)-70(40), 60-68, 57-34

Dave Harold 5-1 Rod Lawler 92(62)-0, 84(84)-0, 71(44)-38, 83(83)-4, 36-61, 53(41)-6

Fergal O'Brien 5-3 Ian Preece 80(50)-53(39), 57(57)-66(48), 66(39)-12, 74(50)-0, 37-74, 0-90(82), 137(137)-0, 63(36)-18

Ian McCulloch 2-5 Ricky Walden 66-44, 70(40)-13, 8-46, 46-63, 50-73(42), 0-69(40), 14-73(35,38)

Joe Swail 3-5 Judd Trump 0-135(135), 69-22, 38-54, 42-64, 77(66)-16, 73-63, 0-92(92), 52-65(38)

Ken Doherty 1-5 Jimmy White 37-92(44), 28-73, 0-82(82), 24-80(42), 88(50, 38)-0, 8-70(37)

Anthony Hamilton 5-1 Michael Holt 62(32)-39, 66(52)-54, 76(76)-32(32), 61(43)-14, 48(44)-83(72), 71(67)-28

Michael Judge 2-5 Andy Hicks 66-67(38), 67(40)-54(54), 79-6, 25-69(39), 0-71(59), 23-86(82), 43-73(64)

Barry Hawkins 5-2 David Morris 73(56)-12, 66-54(54), 6-85(70), 67(47)-21, 49(44)-70(38), 87(49)-4, 103(103)-0

Stuart Bingham 5-0 Mike Dunn 70-34, 71(38)-36, 94(68)-52, 74(74)-10, 70-42

Stephen Lee 4-5 Tom Ford 0-106(106), 9-71(71), 87-25, 14-81(45,35), 13-69(56), 64(36)-14, 71(56)-64, 65(40)-1, 0-138(100)

Mark Williams 5-1 Mark Joyce 97(38,37)-4, 53(41)-54(37), 101(77)-4, 68(67)-43, 76(38)-28, 63(39)-60(35)

Matthew Stevens 5-1 Alan McManus 67-37, 70(46)-43, 81(80)-0, 74(73)-28, 1-83(69), 69(36)-28

Jamie Cope 5-0 Jamie Burnett 69-48, 71(42)-45, 67(33)-55(55), 81(48)-1, 62(45)-17

Nigel Bond 4-5 Stuart Pettman 119(119)-18, 0-120(120), 1-115(114), 74-49, 70-1, 0-88(88), 66-13, 47-72, 13-72

[gallery]

Copyrighted Photographs by Stephen McGee

September 4, 2008 will forever be known as a historic day in Detroit's political landscape.  The youngest mayor in the city's history resigned from office after an 8-month scandal that rocked city government and led the headlines daily. Although it seems the debacle is coming to an end, this is by no means is a time for celebration.

Mayor Kilpatrick was the youngest mayor elected in the city's history in 2001. When he entered office, he promised "revolutionary" changes to the city. Some of the Mayor's accomplishments include the RiverWalk, the Westin Book Cadillac hotel and condominiums, new residential developments throughout the city and property tax relief for Detroit's neighborhoods.

As a Detroit resident and advocate of the city's revitalization, I supported the Mayor's vision and recognized his accomplishments. At the same time the events that have unfolded this year have been a major distraction and damaging to the city. Closure is necessary for us as a city, region and state to move forward.

Mayor Kilpatrick cannot blame anyone but himself for the situation he is in today.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mayor Kilpatrick, Christine Beatty, their families and the city of Detroit.

White sets up Doherty clash

Crowd favourite Jimmy White maintained his 100% Prestatyn record this season by beating former Welsh Open finalist Andrew Higginson 5-3 on Thursday afternoon. Although White failed to hit top form in terms of his scoring, he showed his experience to come through several close frames to reach the fourth round, finishing the match appropriately by winning the eighth frame by just five points. He now faces the 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty in what is an intriguing match-up for the right to play in Shanghai later this month. Doherty, the likeable Irishman, will be looking to build on a solid start to the season himself however and put a run together that will help him to regain a top 16 position for next season.

High break

Scoring well however was Welshman Ian Preece who not only progressed to the next round with a 5-2 win over Marcus Campbell, but also recorded his highest break in professional competition. His previous best was a 134 break that he made in qualifying for the 2004 World Championship but in frame six today he bettered that by five points with a sublime 139 to put him 4-2 ahead at the time. Next up for him is a tricky clash with Irishman Fergal O’Brien tomorrow.

Round 1 runs come to an end

All but one of the players still in the draw who played in Monday’s first round matches bowed out today with defeats for Lee Spick, Andy Lee, Robert Stephen, Stephen Craigie, Matt Selt and Matt Couch. Indeed the sole remaining player Atthasit Mahitthi is yet to progress to round four as his match with Liang Wenbo has been held over until the venue.

Selt and Craigie’s impressive runs in the tournament were ended by experienced pros Jamie Burnett and Mike Dunn respectively. Burnett in particular played well, recording a break of 114 and not dropping a frame in a 5-0 win while Dunn secured a 5-2 victory. Both Selt and Craigie however will take a useful 900 points from the event along with some match experience that can only be useful for the rest of the season.

Couch meanwhile went down 5-2 to Alan McManus who maintained his impressive recent form and set up a rematch with Matthew Stevens who he beat 5-2 in Northern Ireland just last week.

High standard

Arguably the match with the highest standard today however was Gerard Greene’s 5-3 victory over Mark Davis, a match containing one century and five over breaks over 50. Given Davis’ good form in his last couple of ranking events going back to last season when he qualified for the World Championship, this was a very good result for Greene who lost to Doherty in Northern Ireland. Next up is snooker legend Steve Davis and Greene will be hoping for better luck than in their meeting in the first round of the 2005 World Championship where Davis prevailed 10-9.

Today’s results in full:

Round Three

* held over to Shanghai

Gerard Greene 5-3 Mark Davis 22-68, 108(108)-8, 75(44)-21, 23-77(53), 59(53)-44(36), 83(83)-6, 7-86(57), 70(57)-0

Jimmy Michie 4-5 Rod Lawler 44-72(34), 10-73(48), 43(38)-74(32), 76(38)-50, 68(36)-1, 63(41)-34, 35-76, 64(59)-57, 29-60(51)

Marcus Campbell 2-5 Ian Preece 64(31)-50(36), 33-60(49), 62(44)-44(36), 1-84(54), 0-139(139), 35-78

Ricky Walden 5-3 Lee Spick 39(39)-76(45), 69(69)-7, 99(99)-0, 2-84(80), 10-108(48, 60), 63(42)-45, 81(38)-41, 110(101)-6

Judd Trump 5-2 Andy Lee 71(52)-18, 58(58)-61(46), 70(38)-63, 79(68)-7, 89(70)-47(47), 35-57(33), 66-33

Andrew Higginson 3-5 Jimmy White 55-65, 54(36)-63, 38-74(43), 62(40)-53(40), 6-74(74), 74(74)-1, 80(68)-17, 54-59

Michael Holt 5-1 Robert Stephen 104(74)-6, 64-50, 68(49)-18, 0-68(51), 77(36)-50, 66(61)-9

Dave Gilbert 2-5 Andy Hicks 9-60, 21-68(44), 42-45, 70-0, 27-57(54), 71(71)-29, 42-58(34)

Tom Ford 5-2 Andrew Norman 129(125)-0, 0-106(91), 93(62)-16, 27-71(70), 72(55)-46, 80(45)-6, 79(35)-47(39)

Mike Dunn 5-2 Stephen Craigie 117(39,69)-0, 97(91)-8, 0-79(31,48), 64-52, 0-67(46), 71(47)-30, 77(71)-24

*Liang Wenbo 0-0 Atthasit Mahitthi

Rory McLeod 3-5 Stuart Pettman 106(45,57)-0, 41-53(39), 50-66(36), 66-52, 62-61, 22-72(72), 11-67(48), 50-78(47)

David Gray 3-5 David Morris 20-65(43), 65(43)-21, 66(51)-42(37), 9-62(35), 7-82(73), 73-50, 26-82(82), 20-56(34)

Jamie Burnett 5-0 Matt Selt 64-54, 80(54)-42(36), 60(38)-15, 115(114)-0, 57-47

Alan McManus 5-2 Matt Couch 86-51, 28-52, 68(60)-35, 70(69)-8, 31-86(54), 72(51)-36, 72(46)-16

Adrian Gunnell 3-5 Mark Joyce 45-67, 67(48)-4, 11-65, 41-73(39), 76(46)-0, 72(40)-34, 50(40)-74(45), 8-90(77)

LONDON is my Mother; in her wombe had I both Birth and Breeding. What Sonne can see his Mother woefully afflicted, dangerously sicke, and desperately forsaken; but he must needs weepe for her teares, labour her recovery, and lend a hand (at least) to hold her vp?

His text is Hippocratic, and he goes on to name the third cause of the plague as 'The corruption of the Aire'

Which corruption ariseth as well from sublinarie accidents, as from the Influences of the Starres. For noysome vapours arising from filthy sincks, stincking sewers, channells, gutters, privies, sluttish corners, dunghils, and vncast ditches; as also the mists and fogs that commonly arise out of fens, moores, mines, and standing lakes; doe greatly corrupt the Aire: and in like manner the lying of dead rotting carrions in channels, ditches, and dunghills; cause a contagious Aire.

Man has to consume air because, says Bradwell, as meat and drink are the nourishments of our bodies so air is the nourishment of the soul. Bradwell recommends flying from areas of pestilential air, to somewhere far away, 'where there are high hills betwixt you and the infected coast; which may breake of those blasts of wind that would at somtimes blow that corrupted Aire from thence vpon you.' The house you fly to should be on high ground, away from noxious ;fennes, moores, marishes, and mines', and it should be in the North, which is colder and drier.

One should keep away as long as there are still signs of contagion. Bradwell tells his reader to

Learne therefore of the Wolues of Thracia, who in Winter, when the rivers are covered with ice, will not venter over for their prey (though they be never so hungry) till they haue layd their eare close to the ice; then if they heare no noyse of water vnder it, they know the ice is thicke enough to beare them, and over they goe; otherwise not

For anyone who wants to know more about bogs and fens and stagnant water being the cause of ill health in the C17th, I recommend Mary J. Dobson's 'Contours of death: disease, mortality and the environment in early modern England' which you can download as an e-print here.

Not such a good day for the PIOS brigade

Though six of those promoted from the PIOS last season won yesterday as reported previously in this blog, today was a much less successful day with with Kuldesh Johal, Peter Lines, Daniel Wells, Simon Bedford and Paul S Davison all bowing out in the second round.

However, Matt Couch had another excellent win, whitewashing former UK quarter finalist Barry Pinches 5-0, the Norwich cueman scoring a mere 56 points in the entire match. Next up for Couch is Scottish veteran Alan McManus who will be hoping to build on a much improved showing in the Northern Ireland Trophy last week. A note on McManus, like a few players on the tour this season he is playing with a new cue so it will be interesting to see how he gets on.

Craigie and Selt march on

The other two standout results went to Stephen Craigie and Matt Selt who overcame two experienced and talented opponents to reach the third round. Craigie, the talented 18 year old from Newcastle, followed up yesterday’s win over Stefan Mazrocis with a 5-2 victory over Joe Delaney. Delaney who qualified for the World Championship in 2007 is no mug at all so this is another good result for him and it will be interesting to see how he fairs against Mike Dunn tomorrow.

Selt showed similar class to get past Robert Milkins, a player who although ranked down in 51st place these days is more than capable of a good run when playing well. In a match where high breaks were at a premium, Selt showed great resilience to come back from 3-1 down at the mid-session interval and win a series of close frames to close out the match. Next up for him is another Scottish veteran, Jamie Burnett.

The Whirlwind wins again

It was always going to be interesting to see whether White keep up his promising start to the season and the signs are good as he won his fourth ranking event match of the season today. Having reached the last 48 of the Northern Ireland Trophy and the semi-finals in the Paul Hunter Classic recently, this time he saw off China’s Li Hang 5-3, finishing up in style with a break of 78. Having started in round 2 due to John Parrott’s non-participation (due to a clash with a prior charity engagement), he is now just two matches from reaching the TV stages of a second consecutive event.

Davis (no not that one) does the same

Finally Mark Davis who not only qualified for Northern Ireland but managed to record an outstanding win against Ding Junhui last week managed to see off James McBain 5-3. In a match with nine breaks over 40 Davis recovered from being 3-2 down to win the last three frames and set up an intriguing match with Gerard Greene in the third round.

Today’s results in full:

Round Two

Mark Davis 5-3 James McBain 57(40)-60, 79(51)-5, 76(45)-39(39), 26-72(45), 16-94(77), 72(48)-1, 71(48)-64(56), 68(40)-32(32)
Rod Lawler 5-1 Peter Lines 64-50(34), 52(51)-66(65), 80(66)-45, 92(45)-0, 71(70)-0, 58(48)-29
Ian Preece 5-1 Daniel Wells 70-15, 67-6, 65(65)-24, 75(30)-9, 38-61, 70(56)-7
Liu Song 3-5 Lee Spick 107(107)-10, 60-71(30), 77(77)-11, 0-86(86), 74(74)-0, 9-71(50), 18-66(34)
Martin Gould 1-5 Andy Lee 52(38)-68, 23-68, 17-63, 64(48)-67, 99(85)-16, 9-76(34)
Jimmy White 5-3 Li Hang 86(53)-1, 73(40)-13, 38-48, 9-106(54), 63-42, 56-28, 9-68(46), 78(78)-7
Paul Davies 2-5 Robert Stephen 47-72(38), 60(45)-20, 46-67(35), 75(75)-0, 40(40)-79(79), 14-58(30), 35-51
Andy Hicks 5-3 Kuldesh Johal 105(105)-11, 89(39,48)-1, 38-68(63), 41-65(32), 52-67(61), 58-44, 70-42, 62(34)-40(32)
David Morris 5-3 Jin Long 51-73(42), 68(51)-29, 77-24, 31-101(94), 19-84(50), 82(82)-6, 74(74)-19, 54-29
Joe Delaney 2-5 Stephen Craigie 54-46, 5-81(65), 13-69(44), 12-65, 21-59, 83(58)-6, 44-79
David Roe 3-5 Atthasit Mahitthi 65(58)-58(42), 62-70, 65-61(45), 32-69(50), 67(56)-26, 64(36)-72, 0-66(42), 46-65(36)
Andrew Norman 5-3 Vinnie Muldoon 96(60)-28, 101(101)-7, 72(71)-8, 36-72(31,30), 82(62)-0, 1-72(63), 0-130(65,650, 69-48(41)
Mark Joyce 5-1 Paul S Davison 80(47)-66(37), 17-110(110), 72(68)-0, 81(67)-0, 70(30)-27, 82(52)-24
Rob Milkins 3-5 Matt Selt 2-78(33), 69(55)-24, 56-22, 76(76)-0, 45-59(58), 9-84(42), 64(32)-78(36), 50(33)-71
Barry Pinches 0-5 Matt Couch 0-85(85), 11-66, 32-80(45), 0-82(76), 13-72(51)
Stuart Pettman 5-3 Simon Bedford 68-50, 31-74(74), 12-84(69), 61(61)-60(60), 68(51)-50(37), 28-71(65), 68(68)-62(56), 65-19

Today marked the start of the second ranking event of the season as the qualifiers got underway in Prestatyn once again.

Good day for PIOS Graduates

Of the eight players to qualify for the main tour via the PIOS last season, six have managed to progress into round two. The first was Leeds based cueman Kuldesh Johal who took his second victory of the season with a 5-3 win over the 2008 EBSA European Champion David Grace. His reward is a meeting with former World semi-finalist Andy Hicks for a place in round three tomorrow morning.

One of the most emphatic victories of the day however went to last season’s PIOS runner-up Peter Lines who managed to whitewash Welshman Andrew Pagett 5-0. The score is perhaps slightly harsh on Pagett, many of the frames being tight affairs with both players scoring in every frame, but Lines was ultimately well worth the win. He will now face Rod Lawler in the next round for the right to face Dave Gilbert later in the week.

The other winners from the PIOS group were the 2007 Paul Hunter Scholarship winner Daniel Wells, Paul S Davison and Matthew Couch who recorded a very impressive 5-1 win against Liu Chuang, the player who gave Ronnie O’Sullivan a fright in the first round of this year’s World Championship.

Bad day for veterans

Less impressive today were the results of Stefan Mazrocis and Patrick Wallace who both slumped to 5-1 defeats against their younger opponents. Mazrocis, the Dutchman famous for defeating Peter Ebdon in the first round of the 1997 World Championship, was soundly beaten by Newcastle's’s Stephen Craigie despite making a strong start with a break of 73. Craigie, described by Snooker Scene assistant editor Dave Hendon as someone who “could prove a handful” hit back by taking the next five frames and secured the first of what will surely be many victories on the main tour.

Wallace, like Mazrocis a former World quarter-finalist also suffered his second defeat from two matches this season, losing to China’s Jin Long. Long, back on the tour for a fourth time, opened the match in some style with a break of 116 and never really looked back, making three further breaks over 50. His reward is a clash with Irishman Joe Delaney in round 2.

Best of the rest

The second whitewash of the day was handed out by Matt Selt who responded to the recent controversy surrounding him in the best possible way. His 5-0 victory over the struggling Michael Georgiou is his second win of the season and included a high break of 112 in what was a dominant performance.

The highest break of the day however went to England’s Lee Spick who notched up 130 in a 5-1 win over Declan Hughes.

Today’s results in full:

Round One

James McBain 5-2 Aditya Mehta 063(60)-15, 75(43)-45(45), 26-83(53), 121(121)-1, 74(61)-62(62), 43-78(59), 60-54

Peter Lines 5-0 Andrew Pagett 56-24, 88(68)-6, 77(69)-32, 64-43, 67-16

Daniel Wells 5-3 Wayne Cooper 67(67)-16, 7-113(42,58), 63-24, 43-67(42), 86-37, 80(76)-0, 47-60, 71(51)-17

Lee Spick 5-1 Declan Hughes 75(62)-48, 130(130)-7, 63-20, 62-42, 31-73(38), 104(36,36)-10

Rodney Goggins 2-5 Andy Lee 67(50)-39, 46-62, 68-55(46), 53-58(35), 22-84(40), 16-48, 7-69(49)

Jamie Jones 2-5 Li Hang 13-76(68), 45-67, 1-75(75), 29-64, 75(72)-13, 65(39)-19, 38-53

Scott MacKenzie 2-5 Robert Stephen 14-97(35,36), 70-7, 102(96)-14, 54(41)-73, 23-62, 55-60, 34-59(43)

Kuldesh Johal 5-3 David Grace 43-58, 100(31)-29, 15-62(36), 85(65)-22, 71(58)-8, 71(30)-29, 40-63, 62(49)-8

Patrick Wallace 1-5 Jin Long 0-116(116), 18-81(66), 20-76(69), 66-9, 52-75(63), 41(35)-60(47)

Stephen Craigie 5-1 Stefan Mazrocis 17-77(36), 73(73)-0, 63-31, 66(42)-48, 53(43)-17, 68-40

Lewis Roberts 1-5 Atthasit Mahitthi 73(39)-76(38), 81(66)-14, 37-72(54), 41-67(33), 16-73(73), 6-73(50)

Supoj Saenla 2-5 Vinnie Muldoon 28-67, 31-66, 61(38)-48(48), 43-58, 11-86(73), 69-0, 16-42

Paul S Davison 5-1 Chris McBreen 64(41)-51(43), 34-60(43), 78(36,34)-41, 60(60)-1, 82(61)-0, 66-18

Matt Selt 5-0 Michael Georgiou 58-19, 129(112)-0, 71(47)-29, 63-5%(55), 68(38)-60(38)

Matt Couch 5-1 Liu Chuang 81(430-47(34), 83(37,46)-8, 53-27, 16-72(38), 50-36, 58-28

Simon Bedford – BYE

]]> http://placeofparadox.wordpress.com/?p=479 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:35:06 +0000 The Brothers Detwiler http://placeofparadox.wordpress.com/?p=479 "Love in the Christian sense is primarily God’s own love. 'God is nothing but an abyss of eternal love.'* Christian love is spontaneous, overflowing. It is not like the world’s love, evoked by a desire for its object. It is without respect of persons. It is love even for our enemies."
Samuel Zwemer, Islam and The Cross
*Quote attributed to Martin Luther

"[Christian love] is prepared freely to find its kindness thrown away and lost, as also Christ has found. For how could Christian love fare better in this world than the love of God and of Christ?"
Ander Nygren, Agape and Eros

With the draw out last week for the Roewe Shanghai Masters and all but one of the final qualifiers decided, it is time to examine the paths ahead for the top players and see who might have a shot at a deep run into the tournament.

The top quarter

Defending champion Dominic Dale enters the tournament in the unusual position of being top seed and faces six times world champion Steve Davis. This promises to be a very close match, Davis playing very well to beat Gerard Greene 5-3 in what was his first win of the season while Dale pushed rising star Mark Allen all the way in Northern Ireland. In round two the winner will face either Ding Junhui or surprise Northern Ireland finalist Dave Harold who maintained his strong run of form with an impressive win in qualifying against Rod Lawler. Harold made a series of high breaks in that match and will fancy his chances of causing an upset in front of Ding’s home crowd.

In the next section are Neil Robertson and Stephen Hendry though having both lost their opening matches of the season, it is by no means certain that they will meet again. Robertson faces the experienced Fergal O’Brien while Hendry has a tie against Ricky Walden who surprisingly overcame Preston’s Ian McCulloch in the final qualifying round. If Hendry can get off to a good start I fancy him to have a good run here to kickstart his season.

The second quarter

The big story here is that owing to the seeding quirks resulting from Dale’s win here last year, both Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby have been paired together in this section, scheduled to meet in the quarter finals. As well as Mark King and Marco Fu who are no mugs and there are also some potentially tricky qualifiers floating in the section too. Jimmy White who has won all of his qualifying matches this season, including a superb 5-1 win over Ken Doherty, will push Mark King hard as well as Anthony Hamilton who is up against Marco Fu.

The third quarter

Stephen Maguire and John Higgins headline this section and are poised to meet in the quarter finals, though Ryan Day and Peter Ebdon will have something to say about that. Looking at Ryan Day’s draw however, he looks like he will face either the attacking Liang Wenbo or the talented Mark Allen in the first round and that will be a tricky one either way. We will have to wait to find out who though as their qualifying matches have been held over to Shanghai. If Allen could safely make it through his first few matches then I would fancy him to at least make the last 16 and possibly go further. The other dangermen in this section are Barry Hawkins who has started the season well and Tom Ford who beat Stephen Lee in a tremendous match in Prestatyn.

Last but not least

Fresh from the back of his victory in the Northern Ireland Trophy, world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan could potentially face a few familiar opponents if he wants to make it three titles in a row. Seeded second due to Dominic Dale’s victory here last year, he faces Stuart Pettman in his opening match before possibly coming up against Joe Perry and then Ali Carter once again. In what is arguably the toughest quarter of the draw however this is by no means a formality with twice world champion Mark Williams, the highly talented Jamie Cope and Matthew Stevens possible opponents should they win their matches.

In the first instalment of what will become a regular feature on this blog following each ranking event, it is time to analyse where last week’s results leave the latest provisional rankings.

The top three

It might still be very early in the season but following Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 21^st ranking event victory, this time culminating in a comfortable 9-3 win over Dave Harold, it is apparent that he already appears to be in an extremely strong position when it comes to retaining his number one ranking for the 2009/2010 season. With a lead of 6,225 points over second place Stephen Maguire and 10,300 points over Shaun Murphy in third, barring the wheels totally coming off this season then it is hard to imagine him being caught.

Speaking of Maguire, his quarter-final place consolidates his second place and gives him a comfortable lead over Shaun Murphy who falls further behind the top two following his early exit to Mark Williams. Following a 4-0 win over Mark Selby in the Final of the Paul Hunter Classic yesterday however, he will surely be confident of going on a better run over the next few events.

Fight for fourth

A bit further back is where the real interest is though, with just 1,800 points separating Mark Selby, Ali Carter, Ryan Day and Joe Perry. Given the strong form of all four players towards the end of last season it will be intriguing to see how this battle unfolds over the course of 2008/9. Carter appears to have kept the momentum from his first World final going into the new season so perhaps he will be the one to watch. Marco Fu is not far behind either and certainly capable of going on a good run.

The old and the new

A bit further back are a mix of legends and some of the most talented young players on the tour. John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, and Ding Junhui take us down to 13^th with Dave Harold on the back of his Northern Ireland final at his highest position in years in 14^th. On recent form I am tipping Mark Allen to be the one to watch from this group as it is surely only a matter of time before a player with his potential takes the next step and is a regular face in the latter end of the ranking events. Would not be surprised to see him win an event this season…

Who else?

Who else is worth flagging up then? 2002 World Champion Peter Ebdon sits perilously in 15^th now and he will be keen to go on a good run sooner or later. Despite never being to bring out his best form in the best of nine matches, his 5-0 defeat to Liang Wenbo last week was a very disappointing result to say the least. Without really going deep in a tournament since his brilliant victory in the 2006 UK Championship, it will be interesting to see whether he can recapture that old form that made him so difficult to beat when at his best.

Current World number 10 Neil Robertson will be hoping to bounce back from a hugely disappointing 2007/8 season and get back to the form that won him two ranking titles previously, but the early signs were not good in Northern Ireland. A disappointing defeat to the dangerous Ian McCulloch leaves him 23^rd in the provisional rankings, his lowest position in a number of years. Hopefully he will pick up his form soon enough because an on-form Robertson would be great for snooker.

Of the other players to recently fall out of the top 16, Stephen Lee’s run to the last 16 this week puts him up to 27^th while Ken Doherty, Matthew Stevens and Steve Davis remain on the fringes of the top 32 following the tournament. It is imperative for these guys to win their opening qualifying matches as much as possible this year as the difference between winning and losing in most events is 875 points, not an insignificant amount with the field as close as it is. In order to get back into the top 16 though they will probably need a run deep into an event, but with a favourable draw all are more than capable of doing that. Graeme Dott further back in 44^th place provisionally needs more than one however, following his nightmare season last time around.

Finally, Jimmy White’s highly impressive run to the TV stages in Northern Ireland moves him up six places to 59^th, crucially inside the top 64 bracket that would secure him a place on the main tour for another season. Still very early days but if he can have similar runs in another couple of tournaments, he’ll have every chance of remaining there. With the Shanghai qualifiers starting tomorrow we will soon see…

Number 1 points: 34,700

Number 16 points: 15,475

Number 32 points: 10,969

Number 48 points: 8,563

Number 64 points: 6,176

]]> http://stephenmcgee.wordpress.com/?p=262 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:30:08 +0000 stephenmcgee http://stephenmcgee.wordpress.com/?p=262 There was a lot of waiting for over 200000 Michiganders trying to catch a gander of Barack Obama today at the Heart Plaza in downtown Detroit. I live about 1 mile away from Heart Plaza so my goal was to park as close as I could without getting stuck in after event traffic. I took Atwater drive and parked within a 20 minute walk. Now with this being Labor Day, I was hoping that the GM Starbucks was going to be not excercising the holiday.  And much to my happiness there were four baristas ready to take my order. With a caramel macch I was out the door charged to document this event. First photo I took was of a group of pigeons that reminded me of the workers taking a lunch break over the skyline of New York photograph.

Getting closer to the crowd the noise made it clear that there were a lot of people waiting for Obama. You needed to arrive 3 hours earlier than I did to be able to get a golden ticket to get into the actual event. For the 40000 others like me who did not, we were stuck outside watching a huge screen. Obama took the stage and the crowd erupted. Just a few days after taking the nomination, I was expecting a go get'm speech from Obama. Instead in what seemed to be only 3 minutes, Obama hit the Detroit crowd with as few of words as he could have said to make his points clear and still woo us, the audience.

In between photographs I was pumping my fist in support after he opened up his speech with singing the Aretha song, "Chain Chain chain" which received a lot of clapping and started the mass to become a choir. From what I hear, Obama cut short his planned speech and instead asked for prayers for those in the Gulf Coast facing the wrath of Hurricane Gustav. After the moment of silence he stated that in this America, many of us are going through silent storms in our own lives.  Even though the speech was only a few minutes long, I was further charged to vote for Obama. As quickly as it began it had ended and the exodus had begun.It was clear some supporters were disappointed in Obama's small speech but I have a feeling he will be back here before the election.

McCain's big week is being trumped in the news by the hurricane in the South. I have a friend, Garrett Hubbard, who is there right now covering the hurricane for USA Today.

For his second event in Michigan, Obama went to Monroe and began speaking a little after 1:15 p.m., telling the audience that he was again going to shorten his speech in light of Hurricane Gustav, just as he did earlier in Detroit.

He championed the labor movement saying "if it had not been for organized labor America wouldn't have the middle class that we know. "

Referring to Hurricane Gustav, Obama said "in times like these it's a reminder that with all our differences, we are one America.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080901/NEWS15/80901024

Anyways, today a new mom at our church asked Stephen if he wanted to hold her little girl and I was expecting the usual reaction from him: eyes wide with fear and voice faltering, he would politely decline and then run as fast as he could in the opposite direction, preferably towards a female-and-baby-free-zone like the men's restroom. Instead he agreed and took the little baby in his arms. Granted, he did look a little awkward at first, but after a minute he relaxed. It was really beautiful to see him holding her, smiling down at her. One of those moments that really gives you the warm fuzzies:-) I am anticipating lots of milestones and firsts with the baby, but more than anything, I can't wait to see Stephen be a daddy to our little one.

Speaking of Stephen, he just got a new guitar today! He had some money saved up from the Volkswagen swap meet last weekend where he got rid of a bunch old parts from his VW collection. (Oh, you didn't know we were VW enthusiasts? Yes, we actually had EIGHT Volkswagens at one point... unfortunately, only one of them ever ran and it only made it a whopping 15 or so miles before the engine blew up.  We have since worked our way down to just 3...) Stephen actually made about $900 at the swap meet! Who knew people would actually buy that junk?!?!? :-)

Anyways, Stephen has been looking at guitars for a while now, and since he *made* me buy the new sewing machine a while back, I talked him into spending a little bit of his money on something fun. He taught me a couple of chords on his old guitar when we got home, and we had a really fun afternoon rocking out! Ha! I may have had 8 years of piano growing up, but there isn't a musical bone in my body!  I know Babycenter.com says Baby's ears won't finish developing for a couple more weeks, but I promise I could feel him/her moving when I was singing! Maybe it was in protest? :-)

Next item on the agenda: the Soudan Mine.  (Well, Mom, Sister, and Laura went to see some wolves at a wolf sanctuary but there are no pictures from that because the camera's battery was dead.)

When we arrived at the mine, Joey and I accidentally got ourselves on the Physics Lab tour, and almost went down 3,000 feet into the earth with them.  Just in time, though, someone realized that we were in the wrong group and shoved us off to go find the other three.

Joey was disappointed, he wanted to see the Physics lab.

Twenty minutes later, after watching a really cheesy video on the mine made in the 80s, we were all wearing our fashionable red hard hats and ready to descend into the bowels of the earth.

Joey and I missed the memo that Brother was taking a picture, I think.

Not sure what I'm looking at here, but clearly it's not the camera.

3,000 feet in a rattly mine shaft elevator later, we arrived at the main loading area.  We got into the mine train and shivered in our seats until they closed the doors and the train started moving.  (Then we really shivered! It's cold down inside the earth.)

Brother and Pops had a car to themselves.

Me, The Kid, Stephen and Joey shared our car with Matt, he worked at the museum and tried not to laugh at us as we yelled and messed around during the 5 minute ride in the dimly lit tunnel.  Stephen looks miserable.

I got scared once.  Everybody else egged me on.

So there are about 50 pictures from inside of the mine and, if I were Brother, I would have posted all of them.  But they all looked like the same piece of rock to me, so I skipped them.  The tour was interesting, though.

When it was over, we all piled back into the train cars and buzzed back up to the elevator.  We got the lead car, so as the train chugged along we all sang - at the top of our Laird lungs - "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!"  It was great.  (Well, Joey and Stephen didn't have Laird lungs, but they still sang too.)

The only part I didn't like was the horrible elevator shaft ride we had to take to get down there and back.  It felt like we were going 100 miles an hour, and we were at a 5% incline, so staying on your feet was a challenge.

Here we are in the sunshine again.

OK, so our tour guide was the cat's meow.  He was really funny and unique and he could spin a story so well he'd make you cry.  (I know because I almost did.)  He was telling about how his dad used to work in the Soudan Mine and how he gave up his hearing to provide for his family, etc. etc. etc. and how kids these days are losing their hearing to listen to music loud on their iPods, and there I am trying not to cry, because Brother and The Kid are within poking distance...and they were still teasing me for my Dorothy Moulter waterworks earlier that day.  (Brothers, I tell you what.)

This is our tour guide.  He looks like a mountain man.

This is a Larry Car.  We took the picture especially for Gramps because his name is Larry.

The sign said "keep out"...so we got right in.

This is the place where the iron ore would have gotten dumped into the trains.  I didn't go out there, though, because The Kid got distracted by this set of stairs just to the left of this picture, and he said "Let's go down there and make them all jealous!"  So we did.

We found this really cool railway hopper, which you can't see much of in the picture.  But just know that it was impressive.

We look very mighty, don't we?

We climbed up and were going to get IN the train car, but Brother's camera battery died just then and we didn't feel like finishing if it wasn't going to be on camera.  So we climbed back up the stairs and asked if everyone was jealous of us that we got to go down there.  They weren't, really.

The clock said 5:30 when we got in the car, and we had 6:00 reservations in Ely, at 30 minute drive.  So we hauled it and were just in the nick of time.

After eating a very tasty meal on at the Chocolate Mousse we visited the shop next door. Joey cut his toe on a display and was bleeding all over the place, so we had to dig out the first aid kit AGAIN.  Poor Joey.  Around 8:00 we packed into our stinky vehicles (damp tents and portage shoes smell like death) and drove to our hotel in Duluth.

In the morning, we tried to take a scenic drive but all wound up getting carsick.  We ditched that idea and headed for the touristy spots down by the harbor.  But first we all had to take coupley pictures.

Aww, cute.

Sick.

Sick.

Normal.

We headed over to the raising bridge to watch this ginormous boat go through.  We waved to all the people on the deck, and they waved back.  The thing was huge, like the entire size of DTS.  Maybe bigger, actually.

The bridge raised far, far above our heads...but I forgot to get a picture of it.  Sorry.  There was a long line of cars waiting to drive over it when it finally came back down.

I think this bird looks mental.

Joey bought me cotton candy because he knows how much I love it.  We ate it while we rode the fifty-cent trolley around to get a view of the harbor and Lake Superior.

My parents look pleased with themselves that they have all of their kids in one place at the same time.

We saw a place we thought we'd stop for lunch "The Original Coney Island".  How the Original Coney Island wound up in Duluth, MN, I don't know.  But it did.

The Kid drank his Mountain Dew with gusto.

Sister pouted.

I had to share Onion Rings with Brother and Laura and I only got three, mostly because Brother hogged them.

Everyone was supposed to be eating something in this picture, but Mom, Stephen, Pops and Laura missed the memo.  On second thought, I think Pops is chewing.  (I wonder if Stephen maybe didn't like his meal?  He looks out of sorts.  Muahahaha.)

This picture gave Brother the willies.  So I posted it here so he'd have to look at it again.

Pops tried on some great hatwear in the Duluth Pack Store.

This one's my favorite.

I hope Laura bought this hat because it's cute!

Last stop in Duluth - the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!  We made Sister pose with this bear because she hates bears and thinks they're scary.

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!

We buzzed off to Cloquet where we had Chinese and birthday celebrations.  Then we drove down about 40 miles north of the Cities where we stayed at a hotel and watched Michael Phelps' team compete in the relay. We were screaming so loud I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out.

In lieu of a cake, we had all picked out chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Duluth, we thought those would be tastier, but we still needed a candle, so we stopped by Wal-Mart (I know, I know, Cloquet didn't have anything else). I found a big, round candle to set in the middle of the chocolates, which I planned to arrange tastefully around the candle so Mom could blow it out, then have something to set on her desk at work as a reminder of the event.

Unbeknownst to me, everyone was also planning to have one for ME at the same time.  Sneaky hosers.

So we arrived at the restaurant early and hid Mom's presents, which I had wrapped in the car on the way to the restaurant.  I hid the chocolates, candle and the plate they would be displayed on and we all sat at the table waiting for Momsy to come in.

We ate the meal like normal and then, when she left we grabbed her presents and I arranged the chocolates and lit the candle with this blowtorch-like thing we had gotten from the server.

Mom came back in and looked very surprised and cute indeed.  Then everyone turned to me and said surprise to ME too!  YAY!

Mom looks cute here, mostly because she got the joke pulled on her and she pulled one on me at the same time.  She's always cute like that.

My presents were wrapped beautifully but looked a little worse for wear because they had been squashed in the back of the van for over a week.  This one in particular had taken one for the team...both its handles fell off shortly after this picture was taken.

Mom and I blew out the candle on our "chocolate" cake.  Please observe the trendy "birthday candle".

I can't figure out what's going on in this picture and neither can Brother.  Everyone is laughing very hard except me, Pops and Stephen...and I kind of look wilted.  So it seems like someone must have pulled some kind of joke on me, or I missed the joke....or something.  (Does anyone remember?)

Mom opened her presents and looked as pleased with each one as she does every year.

I opened mine with great fervor as well.  I got lots of books (two about Pandas, one about holiday traditions - yay! - and two Beverly Lewis ones).

One of Mom's presents was a canoe frame for one of our Boundary Waters pictures, and a little "Family" piece to sit beside it.  It's for her new office....since her old nick-knacks got washed away in that nasty flood.

It was a fun surprise and nice to be able to celebrate Mom's and my birthdays with family.

Yesterday was my real birthday, and Joey wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner.  At lunch I went to Sambuca, which is a restaurant that I really like around here but poor Joey has never been, and I had my favorite grilled salmon with Gorgonzola sauce.

Yum.

Then, in Hebrew class, I found out that he had made reservations for us to have dinner at Sambuca for my birthday dinner!

Oops.

We wound up going to La Duni instead.  We smuggled my camera in and tried to take covert pictures at the table without using the flash, so they're kind of dark.

I always like La Duni's chips and salsa.  We asked our server (WHO WAS SO STINKIN' CUTE!  I absolutely loved her) not to bring any more once we polished this bowl off because we wanted to save room for our entrees.

Joey's mean and took this picture of me eating.

So I got two pictures of him chewing, one of which involved the flash...and then everyone looked at me.  I was embarrassed.  I'll let you figure out which one I used the flash on accidentally.

We ordered limonada berries to drink and it was delicious.  I had to water mine down because it was a touch too sweet for me.

We forgot to take pictures of our entrees and dessert, but rest assured that both were delicious. We ate and talked  and laughed and ate some more for about an hour and a half.  Then we realized that we were going to be late to buy my present!  We only have one car, so he hadn't been able to get to the store.  I didn't mind, though, and we made it just in time.

Joey took me into Helzberg where he showed me a very lovely, dainty white gold and diamond cross.  He had picked out the exact same one my eye was first drawn to (he has good taste).  When we were first married and on our way to China, he bought me a silver cross to remind me that God is always with me, even when I'm afraid (I'm scared on airplanes and it's a long flight to China) but..he sort of vacuumed up the chain on that cross a couple months ago.  He had planned to replace it and was waiting for me to forget about the other one.

Sneak.

He made me wait until we got home to open the bag.

WHAT COULD IT BE?!

Ooh, a sparkly box.

It's a new and beautiful cross!

I really like the chain, it's one of my favorite parts.  It's really delicate.

Up close it looks like this.

Thanks Joey!  I love you!

My birthday words of wisdom this year?  (A tradition that I grew up with and one that Joey and I are continuing.)

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  ... Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.    -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

This year Joey and I have learned a lot about community, especially in the body of Christ.  It may seem easier to do life by yourself, but it's so much better to do it with others surrounding you to encourage, sharpen and point out things you would otherwise miss.

I'm so thankful for my friends who hold me accountable: Laura S, Laura W, Becca and Rachael.  They've taught me a lot about myself and God just through being together for the last year.  THANKS GIRLS!

(I sort of think The Kid is picking his nose in this picture but I can't be sure.)

Pops usually digs around in the cook kit for awhile to find something that he knows he brought but can't remember where it got put.

He usually finds it.

About 11:00 after breakfast is cleaned up and everyone's tired of sitting around, we go on a day trip!  Our first (and pretty much only) day trip was to the Hoser Islands, which we named after Sister.  Then Pops started calling them the Sister Islands and that kind of stuck better than the Hoser Islands.  The Kid, Joey and I had made an expedition to them earlier that morning and had found....WILD BLUEBERRIES!

Everyone knows that's the primary reason I go to the Boundary Waters.  I love wild blueberries.

So without much fanfare, we loaded everyone up into three canoes and paddled out to the Sister Islands, where the four of us girls picked blueberries until there were none left at all.

Wild blueberries are easy to miss, they grow low to the ground in sunny places, usually on a good, exposed rock face.  They're tiny blue jewels and they taste like nectar.

LOOK AT THEM!  Oh I just want to eat them all up.

Once we finished picking all the blueberries on the island, we realized we needed to move on to exploit the natural resources of another.

The Kid is always disappointing I guess.

We didn't find any more blueberries on the other Sister Islands, so we headed back to camp around 3:00 and I learned how to chop wood with a hatchet.

I wouldn't say I'm very good at it.

This is grave punishment indeed.

I'm fairly certain that I've been removed from The Will far more times than I've been reinstated, so my chances are not looking good.  When Mom saw the new and improved "DOUGLAS" that we/Joey made for Pops following the demolishment of his old office in the Evil Cedar Rapids Flood of 2008 she declared that Joey was permanently in The Will and not allowed to be removed anymore.  (Due to the large quantity of editing and compilation that the new and improved "DOUGLAS" took.)

I'm not sure how Pops feels about this, seeing as he wasn't consulted first.  Joey has been totally taking advantage of his non-exempt status.

On Monday afternoon of our trip to Boundary Waters, Pops felt that it was wise for us to put up the rain tarp.  His weather report said it was going to rain on Wednesday and we all wanted to be ready!  There is nothing worse, folks, than being stuck in your tent during rain.  It's much better to be stuck under a rain tarp and wearing rain gear...at least you can move around under a rain tarp.

The tree situation was sketchy at best, so everyone but me scoped out which trees would be best to hang the tarp from.  Laura got right in the action and held the tarp up while the guys tried to guesstimate how high to tie the knots.

I really like Brother in all these pictures (light blue shirt) because he looks very concerned and intense throughout the whole process.  It gets better later.

Joey, my fearless husband, refused to put on shoes.  Observe:

Those are Brother's feet on the left and Joey's on the right.  I'm sorry for those of you who have a foot aversion, just forget you saw this picture.  Anyway, keep the "no shoes" thing in mind as you keep reading.

Another classically concerned look from Brother.  I can just imagine his thoughts: "Oh, will we find a branch to tie the rope around?  What if we can't?  Can I build one one of rocks and sticks and duct tape?"  The possibilities are endless, really.  Brother is an engineer and he's always thinking of crazy stuff.

Stephen stepped back a few paces and got the view from a different angle.  His insights were valuable.

There was a branch up just out of reach, so Joey suggested that he climb the tree to tie the rope around it.  Then some wiseguy (probably Joey) thought "Oh, how about just climb on Pops' shoulders and do it from there!"  Please take careful note of Brother on the corner of all these pictures.

Poor, poor dad.

Brother steps in to save the day....

(I think he's trying to ensure that he gets a "double portion" of The Will someday.)

I can just see my dad wondering if he's going to survive having Joey stand on his shoulders.  POOR DAD.

With very little incident, Joey tied the rope around the branch and that side of the tarp was hung.  One more to go, and the tree they'd have to use for this last corner was looking even more tricksy than the other one where Joey tried to kill my dad.

Joey tied the rope to the purple Nalgene bottle, just like MacGyver would have done, and threw it up over the branch.  The Nalgene bottle got stuck.  Very, very high up in the tree.  So, Joey climbed it....barefoot.

He stood both feet on that rotted off branch.  I was sure he was going to die or severely injure himself.  (But he waited two days before he did that, which was nice of him.)  After several tense moments, he got the Nalgene bottle unstuck and the rope strung just the way it needed to be for the rope.

He shimmied down the tree and cut his feet up.

Then I bandaged him up.

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (before the rain) and swim across the channel.  The water in the lake was freezing cold, so Stephen braved it and dove in the water first.  The challenge was to race to him...if someone refused to get in the water, they got dunked.  (Which is way bad punishment.)

See above, Pops is losing...but as you can also see he has a very good running start.  Me (in the 70s suit which you are not allowed to laugh at - it was very functional), well, I look just plain timid to get in the water.

Oh look, Jenna totally lost.

And, if you squint, you can barely see us on the shore of the channel.  It took FOREVER to swim/float there and back.  We were all very, very tired.

At the age of 11 Prof. Stephen Hawking went to St Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father's old college. Prof. Stephen Hawking wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at University College, so he did Physics instead. After 3 years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science.

Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no-one working in that area in Oxford at the time. Prof. Stephen Hawking's supervisor was Denis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph.D. he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College.

After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Prof. Stephen Hawking came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton.

Prof. Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great Scientific development of the first half of the 20th Century. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear. Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science.

Prof. Stephen Hawking's many publications include: The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with G F R Ellis, General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, with W Israel, and 300 Years of Gravity, with W Israel. Prof. Stephen Hawking has 3 popular books published; his best seller A Brief History of Time, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays and most recently in 2001, The Universe in a Nutshell.

There are .pdf and .ps versions of his full publication list. Prof. Stephen Hawking has 12 honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. Prof. Stephen Hawking is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Stephen Hawking continues to combine family life (he has three children and one grandchild), and his research into theoretical physics together with an extensive programme of travel and public lectures. Prof. Stephen Hawking suffers from ALS.

What is ALS?

ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a rapidly progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that is characterized by degeneration of a select group of nerve cells and pathways (motor neurons) in the brain and spinal cord. This loss of motor neurons leads to progressive paralysis of the voluntary muscles. The heart is not a voluntary muscle, and therefore, remains unaffected by the disease. However, since breathing is controlled voluntarily by the chest muscles, death usually occurs when the chest muscles are no longer able to help the lungs achieve adequate oxygenation. Generally, there is little impairment of the brain or the senses.

"Amyotrophic" means:A = absence ofmyo = muscletrophic = nourishmentlateral = side (of spine)sclerosis = hardening or scarring ALS is not contagious, but it is fatal.For the most part, the battle is short, with 80% losing their lives within three to five years of diagnosis. While between 10% and 20% live ten years or more after diagnosis, others live only a few months. While the cause is unknown, research is being conducted in areas relating to genetic predispositions, viral or infectious agents, environmental toxins and immunological changes. For some people, the muscles for speaking, swallowing or breathing are the first to be affected. This is known as bulbar ALS.

The term "bulbar" refers to the motor neurons located in the brain stem, that control the muscles used for chewing, swallowing, and speaking. ALS symptoms, and the order in which they occur, vary from one person to another. In 85% of cases, ALS effects the lower portion of the spinal cord first. This is known as limb onset ALS. In these cases, muscle weakness, cramps and weakened reflexes affects the muscles in the arms and legs as the first signs of ALS. The rate of muscle loss can vary significantly from person to person with some patients having long periods with very slow degeneration. Signs and Symptoms Upper Motor Neuron Degeneration muscle stiffness or rigidity emotional lability (decreased ability to control emotions) excessive fatigue dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) dyspnea (shortness of breath) dysarthria (a speech disorder caused by impairment of the muscles used for speaking) incresed or 'b risk' reflexesgait spasticiy Lower Motor Neuron Degeneration muscle weakness and atrophy involuntary contraction of muscle fibres muscle cramps weakened reflexes flaccidity (decreased muscle tone)difficulty swallowing disordered articulation shortness of breath at rest.

Is ALS a Rare Disease?

ALS is not considered a rare disease. Approximately 2,500-3,000 Canadians currently live with ALS. 2 or 3 Canadians lose their battle to this devastating disease every day. In Ontario, roughly 1,000 people have ALS at any one time. "ALS is clearly the most common cause of neurological death on an annual basis," Dr. Michael Strong, clinician at the University Health Sciences Centre and research scientist at the Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario.

What Causes ALS?

We don't really know what causes ALS, but we do know that it can strike any adult at any time. While the usual age at onset is between 45 and 65, people as young as 17 have been diagnosed in the past. Between 5 and 10% of ALS cases are found in the same families, meaning that they are "familial", and are definitely linked genetically. But for the most part, diagnosis is sporadic and we don't know how it is caused.

What are the early symptoms?

ALS usually becomes apparent either in the legs, the arms, the throat or the upper chest area. Some people begin to trip and fall, some may notice muscle loss in their hands and arms and some find it hard to swallow and slur their speech. ALS is difficult to diagnose. There is no specific test available that will either rule out or confirm the presence of ALS. Diagnosis is usually made through a 'diagnosis of exclusions'. Neurologists conduct a number of tests, thereby ruling out other disorders that may cause similar symptoms, such as strokes or multiple sclerosis and if nothing else is positive and yet the symptoms continue to worsen, ALS is often the reason.

What are the effects of ALS?

Because ALS frequently takes its toll before being positively diagnosed, many patients are debilitated before learning they have ALS. The disease usually does not affect the senses - taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing - or the mind. ALS has a devastating effect on patients and their families. As they cope with the prospect of advancing disability and eventually death, it consumes their financial and emotional reserves. It is a costly disease in its later stages, demanding both extensive nursing care and expensive equipment.

What can be done about ALS?

There is no known cure at this time and very little in the way of treatment that will have an effect on the disease itself.

Is there hope for people with ALS?

Research is looking to find not only the cause of the disease so that a cure can be developed but also other medications or treatments that can help until a cure is found. With improved knowledge about ALS, healthcare providers and families can help people living with ALS live life more fully. The services offered by the ALS Society of Ontario help improve the quality of life for those who live with ALS and their families.

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Once the contraband was purchased, we had to hide it in our luggage and hope that Pops didn't decide to get curious and go poking around in our packs and bags. He didn't.

We arrived at Duane's quite a bit later on Sunday evening, contraband still hidden in our bags. The original plan had been for each person to pack their own Pepsi in, but Pops was just too all over the place.  There was no way to get the Pepsis around without him getting wise to us, so we had to come up with Plan B. Brother, because he is strong like an ox, volunteered to put all the sodas in one of his extra stuff sacks and carry them in his pack.  ALL OF THEM.  It was like an extra seven pounds.

The next day, when we arrived at camp, Joey and I put the stuff sack of Pepsis from Andrew (because his tent was right next to Pops', and Pops had been poking around in there for something earlier - ACK!) and buried them in one of our packs.  One thing we could be certain of was that Pops would not touch the packs Joey and I had brought in.  So we were safe.

The next day when we were swimming we began to ponder how e to get our Pepsis cold.  Brother was working on a plan that involved rope, a heavy rock, and the Pepsis.  The idea was to submerge them in the middle of the lake, maximizing the water's cooling potential and giving us ice-cold Pepsi to drink with our pizza (which Pops and I traditionally make when I'm along).  We had somehow convinced the parents that it was a good idea to have our main meal at lunch, the thought of caffeine after 5:00 was making us kids nervous about our chances of sleeping that night.

The parents were none the wiser.

So, about 8:00 on Wednesday morning, Joey, Brother and I went out "to get water from around the Sister Islands".  Really what we were doing was submerging the Pepsi, but we didn't want Pops to see what we were doing.

Once the Pepsis were tied to a very heavy rock and the rope was fastened to a floating log, we got our water and went back to camp.

Four hours later, Pops and I began making pizza.  I totally screwed up the first pizza, but it somehow turned out OK.  We always forget how we did it last year and so the first attempt is kind of the sacrificial lamb, but it all winds up working out OK in the end.

First you spread the dough on the camp stove, attempting to not burn your fingers.  Like so.

Then you have to flip it so the other side gets done also.  Toppings are added to the side that's cooked and it's best to throw a cookie sheet over top to melt the cheeses.

Voila!  Perfect pizza.

But, despite our activity and attempts at distraction, Pops noticed some people were missing.

"Where are Joey and Andrew?" Dad asked.

"Oh...around," I said.  I could see them just paddling back up in the canoe. They had retrieved the Pepsi!

Then...

"How does everybody feel about PEPSI FOR LUNCH!" Joey yelled, coming up the hill, holding a dripping wet sack full of Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

Brother began snapping pictures with the camera he had brought along for the occasion.

A cheer arose from the ranks.

"What?!" Mom gasped, cute as a button.

"HEY!" Pops' jaw dropped really far and he looked very surprised.  "How did you get those in here?"

We related our adventures to Dad, who laughed at our antics and was kind of surprised we managed to pull a fast one on him, I think.  Everyone's morale was raised about 20% by the appearance and subsequent consumption of the Pepsi.  Much pizza was also eaten, because it was tasty.

(I like this one because Mom is actually drinking Pepsi in it.  She usually refuses except for two occasions: late night drives where she has to stay awake, and when she eats pizza.)

This picture is golden.  I'm probably in trouble when Pops sees it, too.

And then, several hours later, Joey fell on a saw trying to cut the log we had used to mark where the Pepsi was in the lake.  I kind of blame it on caffeine.