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Today’s Truth

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

Psalm 34:15

Friend to Friend

Pastor James Moore of Houston, Texas tells the story of a young man whose wife died, leaving him with a small son to raise alone. After a beautiful and moving memorial service, the young man and his son returned home from the cemetery.

Family and friends had all gone home. The man was lost. Numb with grief, he decided he and his son would go to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do.

After tucking the little boy into bed, the young father laid in the darkness – heartbroken and weeping – wondering how he could go on without his wife beside him. The voice of his son broke through the darkness with a haunting question, “Daddy, where is Mommy?”

The father could not speak. He simply got up and brought the little boy to bed with him. The child could not fall asleep. He was confused by the day’s events. Although he did not really understand all that had happened, the child knew something was very wrong. He tossed and turned, disturbed and restless, occasionally asking questions like “Why isn’t she here?” and “When is she coming back?”

When the weary father had run out of answers and the anxious little boy had run out of questions, he finally said, “Daddy, if your face is toward me, I think I can go to sleep.” The father turned toward his son, wrapped his arms tightly around him, and asked God to strengthen them both for the days ahead. In just moments, the little boy grew quiet and was soon fast asleep.

The father lay there in the darkness for a while, staring into the beautiful face of his son. A new resolve took root. It was just a tiny broken seed, but that is all faith requires when placed in the hands of God.

So in childlike faith, the shattered and desperate young man cried out to God, “Father, I don’t see how I can survive this. The pain is just too much, Lord! The future looks so lonely and so miserable. But God, if your face is toward me, I think I can make it.”

Girlfriend, that is exactly what the Messiah came to teach us – that God’s face is always towards us. No matter where you are, no matter what you are facing – rest your wobbly and oh-so-feeble faith on this bedrock conviction – you and your God are in this together.

Let God replace your fear with His peace.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7, NASB).

Expect God to meet your every need.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19, NIV).

Believe God is your safe place.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1, NIV).

Rest in God’s plan for your life.

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).

Trust God to deliver you from the darkness.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand (Psalm 40:2, NIV).

Know that Jesus Christ will never leave you or forsake you.

God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you’ (Hebrews 13:5, NCV).

Pain can rip our lives apart. We frantically try to find some way to put it all back together, but the broken pieces don’t seem to fit anymore.

You may be desperately clinging to the broken and mismatched remnants of your life, wondering how you can go on. Whispers of the enemy creep into your heart, soul, and mind, taunting you with the lie that you are just too dirty and too broken for God to love or use. You might as well give up, the devil taunts. Do. Not. Believe. Him.

Trust God. Like the children of Israel, just stick your toes in the water, and watch God part the raging sea before you. His face is always toward you.

Let’s Pray

Father, I come to You – desperate and broken. I don’t have the strength to go on, Lord. You are my first and last hope. Hear the cries of my heart, God. See the shattered pieces of my life.

Jesus, I come … I come.

Now It’s Your Turn

Read Philippians 4:7 (NIV) “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Make a list of the dark places in your life today. Surrender each one to God. Ask Him to bring light into your heart and mind and help you walk in His peace today. When the waves of darkness come, remember each one now belongs to your Father.

More from the Girlfriends

You and I were created to live life at its best and to experience a life of victory. To live that kind of life requires an unshakable faith that will see us through every storm and every trial we will ever face. In Mary’s new MP3 download, 4 Steps to an Unshakable Faith, she shares the four steps we can take to experience an unshakable faith and shows us how we can apply it to our lives.

Be sure to check out the FREEBIES on Mary’s website and connect with Mary through email or on Facebook.

5 Responses to “When His Face is Toward Us”

  1. Dawn says:

    This was beautiful and I had to finally comment. My mom told me about your website and I have been following you for about 2 months now and I have been so blessed with your inspirational stories and prayers. Thank you and I’m going to post this one on Facebook cause I know so many people who would/could be blessed by this story. God bless you all and thank you girlfriends in God. 🙂

  2. Janelle says:

    I’m so glad my classmate from long ago clicked the Share button on this article. EVERY WORD of this was written for me, for this very dark time in my life. The Holy Spirit has breathed fresh courage into my soul through these words. Thanks be to God!

  3. Kimberly lampron says:

    Hello Mary,
    I absolutely love the work that you do for the Lord. I receive an e-mail of the daily devotion and it really is the high light of my day , on the days that I can get to my e-mail. I am a woman who struggles with addiction. I am in a treatment center for women , I have been there for 7 months and I am waiting for my next destination . I have taken steps to put my life back together. First , I have sought a higher power, who I choose to call God, I am a member of A.A, alcoholics anonymous. I am currently in the process of seeking employment, which is my last goal at the treatment center, but being middle age and not having a work history , it has been difficult. I was wondering if you could please pray for me. I pray that God will make his will for me clear, so that I can see what and where He wants my next move to be. I loved todays devotional, as I always do. I am turned , facing toward God, looking at His face …I know that for me I have been standing on Jeremiah 29:11 and I am waiting on God. Thank you so much for all that you do, maybe you have a book or something that you think would help me connect me more to God.

    Thank you so much.
    God Bless
    Kimberly Lampron
    979 Pleasant St
    New Bedford MA, 02470

    • Kimberly, thank you for your post…and for your encouraging words. I am so challenged by your courage and your faith in God. I know He will honor both. Stay in the Word, friend. It is the greatest book you can be in to help your faith grow. Our prayer team will be praying for you as you seek Him. He has a plan for your life! I encourage you to read Proverbs each day … maybe one chapter. It is a book of common sense and practical living. God bless you as you walk in Him.

  4. Shawece P. says:

    This has helped me so much. I was just speaking to my cousin and sister about how I am feeling worthless and alone. I have not been able to feel God for months now. I pray and pray and pray and nothing seems to happen. I sit in church and cry because I feel numb. Reading this devotion and writing down all of my dark places and giving them to God feels amazing, I feel like these burdens is no longer mine and that the things that are blocking me from having a deeper connection with God are not as big as I remember. I can take a deep breath.

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"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well…" 1 Thessalonians 2:8


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Ben Carson Just Said the One Thing Liberals DON’T Want to Hear! [WATCH]

During his confirmation hearing to become secretary of housing and urban development, Carson, in his polite way, stated his definition of equal rights. That he believes no group is entitled to an extra helping of equality.

In this particular case, he was asked by Ohio’s Sen. Sherrod Brown if he would enforce LGBT protections in the public housing sector. His answer was awesome.

“Of course, I would enforce all the laws of the land. Of course, I think all Americans should be protected by the law.

“What I have said before is I don’t think anyone should get ‘extra rights.”

BOOM!!! Why is this so hard for Liberals to understand?

But wait, there’s more. Enjoy!

In his opening remarks to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the former presidential candidate talked about his experience with “housing insecurity” and talked about the plight of his mother.

“She didn’t have any skills, basically a third-grade education, and we had no place to live,” he said. “She couldn’t afford the house so we ended up moving to Boston, moving in with relatives. So I have actually in my life understood what housing insecurity was. And we were there in Boston for a couple of years.”

He said his mother told him, “The person who has the most to do with determining where you live is you.”

In remarks prepared for the hearing, Carson said, “I want to help heal America’s divisiveness, and I think HUD is positioned to help in that healing. One of our biggest threats right now is this political division, racial conflict and class warfare. It is ripping this country apart.”

“If we can give those people hope, then they can move out of those situations,” he testified. “But giving them hope starts with giving them a safe and productive environment.”

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Nancy Pelosi Attacks the MSM: Claims They Helped Russia… and Their Response is SHOCKING

This woman. Do we even have words to describe someone like her? How has she been in office for so long? All we’ve got to say is she leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

And the press! If a Republican calls them out, they let everyone know. But Pelosi, she gets a pass? They just take it if it comes from a Democrat apparently.

By T. Becket Adams

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., attack on the press this weekend has provoked little outrage from reporters, which is curious considering the industry’s near-obsession with anti-media messages coming from the White House.

The House minority leader accused the press of acting as an accomplice in Russia’s reported undermining of the 2016 presidential election.

This is no small accusation.

“I do think, with all due respect in the world for the press, that the press could have done a better job [highlighting Russia’s alleged meddling in the election],” Pelosi told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Russian hackers broke into the private email accounts of Democratic National Committee staffers and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. The hacking group WikiLeaks published the electronic communications in installments during the presidential election, which were then covered by the nation’s largest newsrooms.

Pelosi said this weekend that journalists were wrong to report on the content of the stolen emails. She also said reporters were wrong to ignore that Russian hackers were responsible for the leaks (nearly every story published during the election was careful to note that the emails had reportedly come from Russian sources).

“[I]nstead of printing every email that came out, and saying this comes to you from Vladimir Putin, they were, hah, hah, hah, John Podesta said this or that,” the House minority leader griped this weekend.

Reporting on the leaked emails was worse than just wasted time, Pelosi continued. It actually benefited Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election, meaning reporters acted as accomplices, she added.

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Thursday, December 26, 2013

The Lady Who Crossed Three Centuries

"Alice was born a slave in 1686 and remained a slave throughout her one hundred and sixteen years of life.

When she died in 1802, with her died a good part of the memory of Africans in America. Alice did not know how to read or write, but she was filled to the brim with voices that told and retold legends from far away and events lived nearby. Some of those stories came from the slaves she helped to escape.

At the age of ninety, she went blind.

At one hundred and two, she recovered her sight. “It was God,” she said. “He wouldn’t let me down.”

They called her Alice of Dunks Ferry. Serving her master, she collected tolls on the ferry that carried passengers back and forth across the Delaware River.

When the passengers, all white, made fun of this ancient woman, she left them stuck on the other side of the river. They called to her, shouted at her, but she paid no heed. The woman who had been blind was deaf."

~Eduardo Galeano, Children of the Days

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Another Woman Exiled

"At the end of 1919, two hundred and fifty “foreign undesirables” left the port of New York, forbidden to ever return to the United States.

Among those heading off into exile was the “highly dangerous foreigner” Emma Goldman, who had been arrested several times for opposing the draft, for promoting contraceptives, for organizing strikes and for other attacks on national security.

Some of Emma’s sayings:

“Prostitution is the greatest triumph of Puritanism.”

“Is there anything indeed more terrible, more criminal, than our glorified sacred function of motherhood?”

“Heaven must be an awfully dull place if the poor in spirit live there.”

“If voting changed anything, it would be illegal.”

“Every society has the criminals it deserves.”

“All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight and therefore induce the young manhood of the whole world to do the fighting for them."

~Eduardo Galeano, Children of the Days

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Joy of Saying

This day could be any other day.
No days in Enheduanna’s life are known.
A few facts are: Enheduanna lived four thousand three hundred years ago in the kingdom where writing was invented, now called Iraq,
And she was the first woman writer, the first woman who signed her words,
Also the first woman who wrote laws,
And an astronomer, a sage of the stars,
That she suffered exile,
And in writing she sang to the moon goddess Inanna, her protector, and she celebrated the joy of writing, which is a fiesta:

like giving birth,
creating life,
conceiving the world."

~Eduardo Galeano, Children of the Days

Saturday, December 14, 2013

10 Amazing Women Who Led Rebellions

"Male revolutionaries such as Che Guevara have gone down as heroes for leading rebellions against “the Man.” But forgotten by history are the women who took on far greater powers than Fulgencio Batista. Throughout the ages, women have led rebellions and revolutions which took on the might of the Roman Empire and the vast wealth of the British East India Company" ~Mark Pygas

Check out this awesome article on

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The International Museum of Women

The International Museum of Women is an online museum that inspires creativity, awareness and action on vital global issues for women.

The mission of the International Museum of Women is to inspire creativity, awareness and action on vital global issues for women.

IMOW was founded in 1997.  Visit their Facebook timeline to see women's history milestones since 1000 AD!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Exciting news!

This Wednesday, National Women's History Museum will testify at a Capitol Hearing on the establishment of a National Women’s History Museum! Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Marsha Blackburn, along with NWHM President & CEO Joan Wages, will testify about the need for the Museum.

Show your support by writing to your members of Congress:

Friday, December 6, 2013

Danger: Bicycles!

“I think bicycling has done more the emancipate women than anything else in the world,” said Susan B. Anthony.

Her companion in the struggle, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, said, “Woman is riding to suffrage on a bicycle.”

Certain physicians, like Philippe Tissie, warned that the bicycle might provoke abortion and cause sterility, while their colleagues insisted that this indecent apparatus might leave to depravity because it gave women pleasure when they pressed their intimate parts against the seat.

The truth is the bicycle gave women mobility, allowed them to leave the house and enjoy a dangerous taste of freedom. And it was the bicycle that sent the pitiless corset, which impeded pedaling, out of the clothes closet and into the museum.
~Eduardo Galeano, Children of the Days


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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Eight months!

By some miracle of organization, I took Auletta's eight-month pictures, put them on SmugMug, and am posting them here, all on her actual eight-month birthday! Don't get used to it. It won't happen next month, for reasons to be disclosed.

Anyway, here is the cuteness:

One of those dresses I bought a year ago when I found out I was having a girl. It has turned out to be as cute on her as I'd hoped, and good on sweltering days like today.

I signed Auletta up for a program at the library for 0-3-year-olds and their caregivers, which meets three mornings a week, starting today. I keep calling it storytime, but it actually involves like one story and then various songs, rhymes, games, etc., all with a predictable amount of chaos given the age group. Auletta, if I may say, is one of the best behaved children there, probably because she's still essentially immobile. She is starting to crawl backwards but in such situations seems content to sit and watch the bigger kids crawl and walk, and grab them if they get too close. Storytime is as much for me to meet other moms as it is for Auletta to meet other kids, although she is so rarely around children her own age that I think it will be good for her to start socializing, to the extent that infants socialize. Also I am hoping the time spent in the library will make her additionally nerdy.

1 comment:

Deanna said...

You have excellent taste in dresses. :) I have found that time spent in libraries does lead to book-loving children. Alexandra attends the Tuesday evening Pajamarama storytime at the Bothell Library (where Catherine works) - and yes, they get to wear their jammies to storytime. She loves it, and we usually let her play on the library computers (they have some very fun math/reading game programs) afterward.


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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Restaurant Review: The Sleepy Chapel Sandwich Shoppe

This afternoon I stopped for lunch at the Sleepy Chapel Sandwich Shoppe. This eatery is located in the shopping district of Villageville, a place I had avoided for years because for some mysterious reason the drive up there always induced a panic attack in me. What was it about the sedated greenery on the sides of the highway, the droning scent of summer and slumber, that made me feel trapped in my own car as I drove to Villageville? Painful thoughts attacked my psyche as I stayed in the right lane so as to be able to exit whenever I wanted to (much as some people like to sit near the exit in a movie theater, in case the figures on the screen loom too large, and the excessive soundtrack pummel the delicate mind). This somnolent village, once I'd arrived, seemed pleasant but oddly disturbing in its agrarian gentlemanliness. But I always made the trip because of my love for the Sleepy Chapel. Every year I would overcome my anxiety, get in my car with a well-highlighted set of printouts from the automobile association's site, and set forth for Villageville. And today I again had the longing to visit Villageville. After the car trip, which for once was in no way harrowing, oddly enough--my experiences last year traveling to numerous eating establishments may have inured me for good to interstate driving--I parked in the municipal dirt pit, got my ticket, and made my way to my destination, the one-of-a-kind Sleepy Chapel Sandwich Shoppe.The Shoppe itself is, like many of the other buildings in Villageville, a red brick building which seems to absorb somehow the heat of the sun and to be in a state of endless drowsiness. How amazed I was to see that the Shoppe, which a year ago had opened at 10 am (which I consider rather late for a restaurant) now, according to the sign in the window (a cartoon chef held on a tray a clock with moveable red hands) was to open at 11. Eleven o'clock! I pulled out my cellphone and noted that it was now 10:30. I had exactly a half hour to spend waiting for the Shoppe to open. What would I do? What was going on with the Shoppe that their hours of operation were becoming more and more circumscribed? I decided to go for a brief stroll, walking for fifteen minutes in one direction, upon which point I would turn in the opposite direction, taking another fifteen minutes to return to the Sandwich Shoppe. I thought it just might do the trick, and bring me back to the restaurant in time for opening.As I strolled along Village Street (not to be confused with nearby Village Road, Village Avenue, Villageville Street, and Village Circle), I glanced into the windows of the shops. The paint everywhere was peeling. A number of charming thrift shops charmed me, but I was intent on keeping my senses clear until I was ready to dine at Sleepy Chapel. Finding a long-lost childhood lunchbox might skew my critical eye for the entire day, and that would be doing you, the readers of these reviews, a grave disservice.After my half-hour's walk, I stepped into the Sandwich Shoppe. And who did I see sitting at one of the antiqued, green wrought-iron tables but my old friend Jacques Wool? I rushed to greet him, tripping on a rug but quickly righting myself. I shook hands with Jacques and sat down to join him for lunch."I see you have overcome your little anxieties and have made the trek to Villageville!" Wool said. "Though sometimes I wonder whether it is indeed worth the effort. The Sleepy Sandwich is not what it used to be. That is for certain!" Jacques leaned back in his chair and a gale of laughter stormed from his lips. Jacques continued, more soberly, "Once, I told you to check this place out. But you must realize, I am only human. And so is this Sandwich Shoppe! This may no longer be the food palace I once deemed it to be. This may be my last time in this joint. I am glad that you were able to be here for my farewell to Villageville!"The waitroid arrived then. As usual, Jacques ordered the cigar-flavored smoothie. I decided on the wonderful Eggless Omelet (all the ingredients you'd expect in an omelet, without the eggs--we're talking genius, here!). "I mean, really," Jacques stated, "is it worth the angst? You look like a ghost, man! Like a freaking specter!" Jacques cackled. "And for what? A plate full of diced ham and onions? I don't think so. You make the harrowing journey to Villageville once a year, and something about driving on that interstate gives you anxiety attacks--big time!" As we talked, I noticed that they'd turned on the music. The Buggles' "Living in the Plastic Age" was playing. "I haven't heard that one in years," I said. Jacques said, "What, the phrase 'big time'?" Our waitroid returned and set down our lunch. Before the server could leave, Jacques clenched his forearm and said, "Wait a moment, R2D2. I want to ask you a question. There's a big tip in it for you if you have the correct answer." Jacques blew a personfied cloud of smoke into the air and said, "My friend here has a problem. I think he has a certain sensitivity that is making him act strangely when he comes to Villageville." The waitroid looked at Jacques quizzically. Jacques said, "I think our friend here has a morbid sensitivity to...pinecones!" The server looked at though Jacques were either being nice to him or mocking him, and he couldn't be sure. "Pinecones?" he asked. Jacques said, "Yes, I think the highway to Villageville is lined with many pinecones, and these cause him to have a strange reaction. Maybe he was traumatized in the past. Maybe as a child a pinecone hit him on the noggin--and now he is afraid of them!" Jacques laughed heartily and pounded the table with his fist. "Whatever you do, do not--and I mean, do not--serve this man pinecones!" The waitroid answered noncommittally, and walked away. "What in Hades was that all about?" I asked Jacques. "Oh," Jacques said, forming a devilish point at the end of his Van Dyke beard, "you will see soon enough. Now that I've broached the subject, the true import of the symbolism will penetrate your subconscious mind." I started tucking into my omelet, pulling the sheet over my nose and mouth. "Jacques," I said, "you're a loon." Jacques slurped his cigar smoothie. It sounded like the suction in a dentist's office. "My friend, you need to get at the root of these phobias. But perhaps the Sleepy Sandwich is not the place for such explorations."The omelet as usual was fantastic. The diced ham and onions were well-polished and clicked pleasantly in my spoon. Jacques seemed to find his cigar smoothie rather satisfying--it appeared to put him in a mellow mood. "Did I ever tell you," Jacques said, "about the aspiring food critic who never actually ate at any of the restaurants he reviewed? Scandalous! He simply picked up copies of their take-out menu's and made up reviews out of whole cloth. Imagine! And no one was none the wiser--not any, not one!" Jacques absently tapped his forehead with his spoon. "Of course, he was apprehended. People cannot go through these kinds of clandestine machinations without being exposed. The idiot, he wrote a review of a restaurant that had been turned into a reptile shop! You can imagine how his editors reacted to that review when he phoned it in to them. They threw him out into the street! You may have your numerous faults as a restaurant critic, my friend, but at least you visit the eateries you are reviewing! I can say that much for you. You give us at least that much credit as readers--darn it, as human beings! Food criticism is not a game of jumping jacks!" At this Jacques slammed his fist on the table. "Food criticism is the most highly evolved form of reviewing in our century--and this man was playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey with it! Madness! Who knows how many people, taking him at his word, journeyed down to that reptile shop expecting it to be Shambles' Steakhouse? It's an insult! A literal insult!" Jacques' face was flushed with anger as he sat there panting, his aviator glasses misted over with rage, like seeing a red neon light through a car window on a rainy, foggy night. After a few minutes of trembling fury, Jacques seemed to calm down again. He slurped his cigar smoothie once more, then shrugged with upturned palms and pursed lips. "But if that's how he wanted to play the game, who am I to say no? I am not Milton Bradley."The waitroid returned and offered us dessert. I love dessert at Sleepy Chapel. I ordered the avocado cobbler; Jacques had the Calcium-Lover's Sundae. Lunch with Jacques was amazing always, but I needed to psychically prepare myself for the stressful ride home. "You think about those pinecones," Jacques reinforced as he shook my hand. Oddly though, as I pulled my car onto Village Street, the prospect of driving on the highway no longer caused me any anxiety. In fact, I was home before I knew it. Perhaps talking with Jacques had done the trick. Or more likely it was the confidence I'd gained through my many food-inspired roadtrips and daytrips of the previous year. Whatever the cause of my newfound calmness on the interstate, it showed that just as I could get used to new dishes like the fabulous avocado cobbler, so could I get used to the unfamiliar road to Villageville. I was glad I had overcome this driving phobia, because I had already begun to map out a number of restaurants in the surrounding area that I wished to travel to and enjoy.

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USF World - Calendar Event Details
Title: CPT Workshop
Date: Wed. Feb 24, 2016
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

F-1 students, who are planning to work off-campus while still in school, will learn the details of the Curricular Practical Training (CPT) application process. CPT is a required work authorization for international students wanting to do an internship, summer work experience or co-op while still in school. The Office of International Services will present and be available for Q&A.

Location: Patel Center Auditorium
Contact: Kristen Zernick
Contact Email:
Contact Phone: 813-974-6825
Lecture by Antonio Eligio Fernandez “Tonel”
Fri. Jan 12
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HSK and HSKK - Chinese Proficiency Tests for Adults
Sun. Feb 11
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2018 Chinese New Year Celebration
Sat. Feb 17
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YCT - Youth Chinese Test for K-12 students (Spring 2018)
Sat. Mar 24
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USF World - Calendar Event Details
Title: USF Hispanic Heritage Celebration Kick-Off Event
Date: Thu. Sep 30, 2010
Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Description: The USF Hispanic Heritage Celebration will begin on Sept. 30th, 2010 with a reception at 5 PM and a special program at 6 PM. The event is free and open to all.
Contact Email:
Contact Phone:
Lecture by Antonio Eligio Fernandez “Tonel”
Fri. Jan 12
Click Here>>
HSK and HSKK - Chinese Proficiency Tests for Adults
Sun. Feb 11
Click Here>>
2018 Chinese New Year Celebration
Sat. Feb 17
Click Here>>
YCT - Youth Chinese Test for K-12 students (Spring 2018)
Sat. Mar 24
Click Here>>


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USF World News

Study Abroad Video Contest
September 26, 2014

InternationalStudent.com is awarding a $4,000 Scholarship to the winner of their Study Abroad Video Contest. To enter, students are required to submit a video no longer than five minutes long explaining their plans for a study abroad trip in a creative way. Past winners have included animations, stop-motion films, and videography submissions. Awards will be given to the “Viewer’s Choice Award” winner, two runner-up students, and the Grand Prize winner. All submissions are due by October 22nd, 2014.

Read more and enter>>


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Global use appropriate security measures to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of data used by its system.

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Global will never share, sell, or rent individual personal information with anyone for their promotional use without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to Global is only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information, and to contracted service providers for purposes of providing services relating to its communications with you.


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Getting To The Point – Experts

Factors to Consider When Selecting a Residential Construction Contractor

Individuals who are needing to update or manufacture their home frequently go up against a test as it incorporates diverse endeavors, for instance, arranging, and moreover exploring on additional items and materials that will be used for the improvement system. It is therefore why an individual is required to enlist a residential construction contractual worker to help in the arranging and execution of the development and this includes setting up a financial plan, searching for the correct materials and workers to do the development.

There are a good number of factors that should be taken into consideration when hiring or looking for a residential construction contractor. The most essential factor to consider is to make an inquiry or two from individuals who have gotten the administrations of a private contractual worker, this is on the grounds that they will have the capacity to prescribe the best private temporary worker to procure. Apart from asking friends and relatives, it is also important to go through the reviews of the different residential construction companies to ensure that you get the best of the best in the construction industry.

The private contractual worker ought to likewise have the essential accreditations which demonstrate that the idea of their business is legitimate and in the meantime have a permit that demonstrates that the organization is qualified and has the aptitude to carryout private development. This is on account of employing a residential construction temporary worker who isn’t authorized may prompt loss of cash for the individual and in the meantime the individual might be on the wrong side of the law.

Before enlisting any residential construction temporary worker it is critical to check their portfolio or past ventures to see the nature of work done by the development organization, this is on the grounds that one may wind up completing baffled by the work by the development contractual worker. Any residential construction specialist ought to have a protection approach which shields them from any type of damage they may manage amid work.

This is because the construction industry is considered as risky as one may get injured at any time, and if the contractor is not insured, then this means that the client may end up being held liable for the injuries that the worker sustained. Thus it is vital to guarantee that the residential construction temporary worker has a protection cover. It is likewise vital to think about the distinctive rates offered by the diverse residential construction contractual workers as it isn’t prudent to employ a temporary worker who charges high rates as this may make a budgetary strain the person as this implies they may need to delve further into their pockets.

The Essentials of Builders – The Basics

Discovering The Truth About Builders


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Salon Contacts

Glow Spa and Salon is conveniently situated on Queens Road Central, the commercial hub of Hong Kong.

You’ll find us on Queens Road Central, opposite Top Shop, next door to Crawford House.

Please note some appointments can be arranged out of opening hours if booked in advance.

For questions and bookings contact us via telephone or the email form below.

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Hong Kong

Glow Spa and Salon
9F Parker House,
72 Queen's Road Central,
Hong Kong

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Homemade Ravioli

Ravioli or tortellini are very simple for making. I didn’t find in my town a store where I can buy gluten free ravioli, so I decided to make them. If you have the same problem, lead my steps. You need only three ingredients to make a dough. Flour, eggs and oil. If you want to fill them, you can do it in a various ways. The filling could be sweet or salted. It is the same with the shape. Just be creative and experiment.

If you want to try my ravioli filling,
you have to blend the following ingredients:

2tbs cheese cream
2tbs sour cream
1 clove of garlic
fresh basil leaves

There are a plenty of ways how to eat ravioli. I made one special new recipe for my first homemade ravioli, that I will tell you next time. I can just say that it was really delicious.

Now you can watch a short video how to make your own homemade ravioli. Enjoy!

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Friday, April 29, 2016

Hair Band Friday - 4/29/16

1.  "Get Your Shit Together" by Danger Danger

2.  "Ice Cream Man" by Van Halen

3.  "Used to Love Her" (live) by Gun N' Roses

4.  "Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe

5.  "Overture" by Def Leppard

6.  "Mr. Gone" by Mr. Big

7.  "Kid Ego" by Extreme

8.  "Midnight/Tornado" by Skid Row

9.  "Got Me On The Line" by Ratt

10.  "Shine On" by Britny Fox

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Retro Videos of the Week: "Manic Monday" by The Bangles and "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor

Continuing the Prince love fest, this week, we're going to have two Retro Videos of the Week.  Both are songs Prince wrote, but that became hits for other artists.

When you hear "Manic Monday" by The Bangles, it sounds like a classic mid-'80s Prince pop hit.  Because it was.  Prince originally wrote the song in 1984 for the band Apollonia 6, but then pulled it from their album.  A couple years later, he offered it to The Bangles (allegedly in an attempt to bed Susanna Hoffs, which I have to assume was a worthy trade for both sides), under the pseudonym Christopher (his character's name from Under the Cherry Moon).  The Bangles took it, and it became their first hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 -- starting a string of 8 consecutive Top 40 songs for the band in the U.S. -- and cracking the top five in several other countries.

Four years later, cue ball Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor covered another Prince song and basically made it her own.  "Nothing Compares 2 U" was originally written in 1985 as part of Prince's side project, The Family, but it was never released as a single.  O'Connor covered it five years later -- apparently without letting Prince know beforehand, which isn't unlawful or anything, but maybe just a common courtesy thing in the music industry.  From what I have read, Prince and O'Connor got in a fight about it.  But regardless, O'Connor's version became a huge hit, so Prince couldn't be too mad about it, given the songwriting royalties he reaped from its success. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in April and May 1990, and hitting #1 in 14 other countries.  And it's almost impossible to hear the song without getting a mental image of the now-classic video, with the close-up of O'Connor's pained face as she sings.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Tuesday Top Ten: Prince Songs and Album Covers

Life is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last
--Prince, "1999"

If you live outside Minneapolis, you may not have heard that Under the Cherry Moon star and director, Prince Rogers Nelson, died last week.  In addition to acting and directing, "Prince," as he was known, was one of the most successful musicians of all-time.

In a five-month period in which the music world has lost Lemmy, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, two founding members of Jefferson Airplane, Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, Pfife Dawg, Merle Haggard, and now Prince, I'd have to say that Prince is the biggest loss of them all (and that's certainly not meant to be a knock on any of the other musicians).

Prince was an insanely talented musical wizard, who could play just about every instrument, which he did on most of his albums (on top of writing, arranging, and producing all the songs).  When you hear the phrase "guitar god," you don't necessarily think of Prince, but good Lord, he could shred with the best of them (see his solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" during the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction concert).  I think it's hard to categorize his music because it spanned genres, from pop to soul to funk to R&B to gospel to hard rock to new wave to jazz to disco, and many others –- and often with multiple genres fused together in the same song.

I'm not going to pretend that I was some gigantic Prince fan, or that I have a ton of his albums (after all, he did have 39 studio albums).  I have a handful of Prince's albums, and I like them all.  I will probably buy more, now that I've been listening to a lot of Prince lately.  Frankly, I don't know how it's possible to hate Prince, unless your name is Tipper Gore.  The man was a one-of-a-kind talent, and I'm sad I never got to see him live, since the clips that I have seen seem to indicate he put on a hell of a show.

In honor of the Purple One, I'm going to list my ten favorite Prince songs, followed by what I think are the ten best Prince album covers.  His album covers were often as interesting and diverse as his music, ranging from the avant garde to the funky to the just plain weird.

Here are my ten favorite Prince songs, in alphabetical order:

1.  "7"
This was a top 10 song in 1993, but I honestly have no recollection of hearing it until I was in college.

2.  "1999"
This song still feels as fresh now as it did when it was released.  What's crazy to think about is that, when the song came out in 1982, it was 17 years until 1999.  As a kid, that seemed like such a long time away, and perhaps because childhood seems like it lasts forever, it felt like it took a lot longer than 17 years to get to 1999.  Now, it's 2016 –- 17 years after 1999 –- and it felt like the last 17 years have flown by in comparison.  Such is life.

3.  "Bambi"
Unlike most of the songs on Prince's 1979 self-titled sophomore album (which are relatively soft and mellow), "Bambi" is a glammy hard rocker, showcasing Prince's guitar skills and showing the world that this little man from Minneapolis could rock.

4.  "Darling Nikki"
If it weren't for this song (or at least a Senator's daughter listening to it in front of her mother), we may not have "Parental Advisory" stickers on albums.

5.  "Let's Go Crazy"
This is probably my favorite Prince song.  It always puts me in a good mood.  And if you haven't seen the slowed-down bluesy version he performed at four in the morning during the SNL 40th Anniversary after-party, click here for a treat.

6.  "Little Red Corvette"
When I was a kid, I obviously didn't understand what 75% of Prince's lyrics meant.  For instance, I assumed "Little Red Corvette" was about a little red Corvette.  It never occurred to me that there are no little Corvettes.  Now that I'm older, things are slightly less muddy.  For instance, I now understand following stanza:  "I guess I must be dumb / 'Cause you had a pocket full of horses /Trojan and some of them used."  Turns out, it's not about having small wooden horses in one's pocket.  Not only is it a great song, but Chevy's full-page ad after Prince's death, inspired by the song, was pretty spectacular.

7.  "Purple Rain"
The title track to Prince's most successful album (complete with accompanying feature film!) is a heart-wrenching, soulful classic, with a wicked guitar solo.  And my buddy Daniel does a killer karaoke version of this.

8.  "Raspberry Beret"
If there has ever been a sweeter-sounding song about a drugstore clerk who bangs a strange chick wearing a French hat made of small fruit in a barn, I haven't heard it.

9.  "Sexy MF"
This song is pure James Brown funk.

10.  "When Doves Cry"
Just a great song.  I always wondered how Prince's parents felt about the lyrics describing them as "too bold" (father) and "never satisfied" (mother).

And now, here are my ten favorite Prince album covers.  Some are pieces of art, some are ridiculous, and some are hilarious.  These are in reverse chronological order because the last three are the best three.

10.  Art Official Age (2014)
If anyone can pull of the three-eyes-and-shiny-gold-suit-from-the-future look, it was Prince.  I also think he kind of looks like Tony Iommi on this album.

9.  LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)
This could be a Jimi Hendrix album cover, wrapped in an early '80s Journey album cover, wrapped in mid '70s Rainbow album cover.

8.  Trax from The NPG Music Club, Volume One: The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
Fantastic '70s vibe on this one.

7.  The Rainbow Children (2001)
This one has a very cool painting of four musicians that reminds me of New Orleans for some reason.  New Orleans makes me happy.

6.  Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999)
Is that Prince or Sacha Baron Cohen?

5.  Lovesexy (1988)
There's not much you can say about this one, other than, well, it's Prince, naked, on a giant flower.  At least he has the modesty to cover his nipples

4.  Around the World in a Day (1985)
This one is a cool, psychedelic album cover, inspired by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

3.  Purple Rain (1984)
One of the most iconic album covers of the '80s.

2.  Dirty Mind (1980)
At the dawn of Prince's decade, he needed to make a bold statement.  This is how Prince made a bold statement:  bandannas and thongs.

1.  Prince (1979)
This is just hilarious.  He looks like an exploited 16-year-old trying his damnedest to grow a mustache.
But then when you flip the album over to the back, you realize this is no boy.  No, no.  This is a man who owns and rides a fucking Pegasus.  Naked, of course.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Mini Hiatus

I would just like to let you all know that I am going to be in America's Wang next week, a portion of which will be spent stalking three-toed cats in Key West, so I won't be posting anything, other than maybe some Midwestern Eavesdropping if the opportunity presents itself.  I hate to leave you all empty-handed for a whole week, so I invite you to read every post on this blog from the very beginning.  Or, if you actually have things to do over the next week, but you want to waste 15-20 minutes, you can just read about the last time I was in Key West, ten years and one week ago.  Hopefully, I won't end up in the Truman Medical Center this time around.

Hair Band Friday - 4/15/16

1.  "How Can Yo Do What You Do" by Mr. Big

2.  "Miss You In a Heartbeat" (acoustic) by Def Leppard

3.  "What About Love" by Heart

4.  "Texas" by Junkyard

5.  "Sinner's Swing!" by Van Halen

6.  "Gettin' Better" by Tesla

7.  "Shotgun Blues" by Guns N' Roses

8.  "Talk To Your Daughter" by Bulletboys

9.  "Spiders" by Ozzy Osbourne

10.  "Tonight (We Need A Lover)" by Mötley Crüe

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Retro Video of the Week: "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling" by Irene Cara

This morning, we happened to be listening to the radio during breakfast.  For some reason, Jester refuses to listen to grindcore in the morning, so she put the radio on a station that plays more variety from the '90s til now.  Despite the station's slogan, they also play songs from the '80s now and then.

This morning, they played the inimitable "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling" by Irene Cara. My two-year-old son, Son, is unable to hear any song without dancing or moving his body in some manner, so when this song came on, he threw his sippy cup of orange juice across the room, swiped his waffle off the table, and got out of this chair.  He then proceeded to gyrate to the song, and pump his fists in the air back and forth as if he had just learned that a Paw Patrol marathon was about to start on Nick, Jr.

I wish I had taken video of that, but I didn't, so you'll have to settle for the actual music video to "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling," which was the de facto theme song from the 1983 Jennifer Beals-Michael Nouri vehicle Flashdance.  Flashdance, of course, was the story of a typical Pittsburgh young woman in the early '80s.  Her name was Alex, but it may as well have been any other female name because you've heard the same story a thousand times.  By day, she works as a welder in a steel mill.  At night, she pursues her dream of becoming a dancer by performing in a cabaret and dousing herself with buckets of water.  Despite having no formal training in dance, with the help of her boss at the steel mill, she manages to get an audition with the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory.  I don't want to spoil what happens next, so you'll just have to watch the movie to find out how things end up for Alex. Spoiler alert: she makes it in!

"Flashdance . . . What a Feeling" was Cara's only #1 hit, and it was a pretty huge song.  Not only did it top the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks in a row in 1983, but it also hit #1 in ten other countries, was in the top 5 in four other countries, and was in the top 25 in three other countries.  It won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  It was even ranked as the #26 song on Billboards All Time Top 100.  Enjoy.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Guns N' Roses Songs

I'm posting this a little bit early (for those of you west of the Eastern time zone anyway) because I have a lot of shit to do tomorrow. Just so we're clear, I will not be having sex with feces tomorrow. "Shit," in that context, is a synonym for "things," and "do" can be read in its common usage, rather than as a slang term for "bang," "pork," or "give the pickle tickle."

As you may have heard, Guns N' Roses is embarking on a stadium tour this summer.  Axl, Slash, Duff, and Dizzy Reed have gotten together for the first time in 20+ years (and maybe some other GNR members may join in on the fun).  Having never seen GNR back in the day, I have dreamed about this moment since I was in high school.  They are coming to Soldier Field on July 1, and I may have gone a little overboard and bought a VIP package that includes front row seats.  Needless to say, I'm more excited for this concert than I have been for any other concert I can remember.  Now please, Axl, be cool.

In honor of this momentous occasion, I am bestowing on you my ten favorite Guns N' Roses songs.  As you can tell, Appetite for Destruction is one of my favorite albums ever.

10.  "Paradise City" (Appetite for Destruction)
This is a classic. That unmistakable opening riff and drum beat always puts me in a happy place. "Paradise City" is essentially two songs. The verses are fast and rough and often unintelligible, but that chorus is one of the greatest sing-along choruses in rock history. And then the last part of the song is in double time, turning into a debauched jam, and everyone gets laid. Because that, my friends, is what happens in Paradise City.

9.  "Get in the Ring" (Use Your Illusion II)
If there was one thing about Axl Rose that a lot of people realized pretty quickly, it was that you should not piss him off.  From showing up late for shows or throwing beer bottles at fans, he was mercurial.  "Get in the Ring" is his "fuck you" to all the haters.  Apparently Axl did not like the way that certain metal magazines were "rippin' off the kids," so he did what any self-respecting musician would do: challenged them all to a fight. Most prominently, he posited that Bob Guccione, Jr. of Spin (son of Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, Sr.) is "pissed off 'cause [his] dad gets more pussy than [him]." Axl then invites Guccione to fuck him and suck his fuckin' dick. Interestingly, Guccione accepted Axl's invitation, although the two never actually fought, which is unfortunate because I would have liked to see Axl kick Guccione's bitchy little ass.

8.  "November Rain" (Use Your Illusion I)
The last epic of the hair band era, "November Rain" is one of those songs that I just can't turn off whenever it comes on the radio or my iPod.  It's GNR's "Stairway to Heaven."  It starts slow and orchestral, and then builds and builds and builds until Slash is just fucking wailing out a solo as Stephanie Seymour's body is laid to rest.  And on that note, let's not forget how amazing the video was.

7.  "Nightrain" (Appetite for Destruction)
When I was a kid, I thought this song was about the band's journey on a very fast train.  As it turns out, it's about a cheap wine that was one of the only things the band could afford to drink before they made it big.  One of the highlights of my adult life is drinking Night Train while listening to "Nightrain."

6.  "Yesterdays" (Use Your Illusion II)
One of the more sentimental songs in the GNR catalog, "Yesterdays" is about not looking back ("yesterday's got nothing for me").  Axl belts out the song, and you can understand why he's so adamant about forgetting his past.  After all, he did grow up in Lafayette, Indiana.  The stench from nearby West Lafayette must have been unbearable.

5.  "Nice Boys" (G N' R Lies)
This one is off of the "live" side of Lies, and it's a cover of Australian hard rockers Rose Tattoo.  (By the way, Axl Rose has a rose tattoo.)  The song is all energy, culminating with the all-too-perfect chorus of "nice boys don't play rock and roll."

4.  "My Michelle" (Appetite for Destruction)
As you can imagine, as a ten-year-old, hearing the first line of this song was eye opening.  "Your daddy works in porno / Now that mommy's not around / She used to love her heroin / But now she's underground." I mean, holy shit.  Does it get more real than that?  Interestingly, "My Michelle" is based on a woman named Michelle Young that the band used to hang out with. Axl originally wrote it as a romantic song, but then decided to be honest about Michelle's life and completely changed the song into the dark and raunchy song it became.

3.  "Mr. Brownstone" (Appetite for Destruction)
I used to think this was just about some dude who was lazy who had a mean landlord named Mr. Brownstone. It turns out it's about two dudes who were lazy who had a mean heroin habit. Either way, it's a badass song, and I think it is the perfect embodiment of GNR.  It rocks, it's catchy, and it's about hard drugs. And even if it's about becoming a heroin addict, the song does have some of the best advice you can get: "I don't worry about nothing because worryin's a waste of my time.

2.  "Used to Love Her" (G N' R Lies)
"Used to Love Her" is on the acoustic side of Lies, and it's a tongue-in-cheek, good time song about a guy who killed his woman and buried her in his back yard.  Because she. Would. Not. Shut. Up.  We've all been there. I've always liked this song, not only because I think it's funny and catchy, but also because it reminds me a lot of the Beach Boys' version of "Barbara Ann," where it sounds like there's just a group of guys sitting around a room, jamming, and having a good time. Of course, in lieu of playing "Al's famous ashtray," the guys from GNR were probably playing a coke mirror, but I don't think we should judge.

1.  "Rocket Queen" (Appetite for Destruction)
"Rocket Queen" was, is, and will always be my favorite Guns N' Roses song.  As the last song off of Appetite, it's a suitable ending to the greatest selling debut album of all-time.  The song is apparently about a chick the band knew in LA, Barbi Von Greif, who wanted to form a band called Rocket Queen, and it's kind of an ode to her.  What a perfect name for female '80s Sunset Strip scenester, by the way.

There are two distinct parts to the song.  The first part starts off with a bang, as Steven Adler drives the song with a relentless drum beat, followed by Duff's driving bass line.  Then you get that raunchy riff from Slash that repeats throughout the first part of the song, before Axl breaks in and does what Axl does.  I have always loved the first lines of the chorus:  "Here I am, and you're a rocket queen / I might be a little young, but honey, I ain't naïve."  As a 10-year-old, I could relate –- not to the part about the rocket queen, but about being young, but not naïve, honey.  Then again, I'm pretty sure Appetite for Destruction was the sole reason I was no longer naïve when I was 10 years old.

During the break, right around the 2:20 mark to the 3-minute mark, you can hear a woman moaning, which is, in fact, the sound of Steven Adler's girlfriend at the time, Adriana Smith, copulating (or pretending to copulate) while getting banged in the studio.  The only problem was that it was Axl Rose, and not Steven Adler, who was banging her.  Needless to say, things between Adler and Smith kind of deteriorated after that.  Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that things between Adler and everything deteriorated after that.

Then, around the 3:25 mark, the song kicks into the second part, which is essentially a different song, but the parts flow together quite well.  The second part is a relatively touching message of hope and friendship from Axl, who explains that he'll be there for this chick whenever she needs him.  "If you need a shoulder / Or if you need a friend / I'll be here standing / Until the bitter end" has to be one of the genuinely nicest and supportive lines in the Guns N' Roses catalog.

Friday, April 08, 2016

Midwestern Eavesdropping

Random fortysomething European woman: "You can never be to old to laugh about farts."
Eavesdropper: RDC

Hair Band Friday - 4/8/16

1.  "Keep Your Eye on the Money" (demo) by Mötley Crüe

2.  "Rest In Peace" by Extreme

3.  "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Bon Jovi

4.  "Best of Friends" by Dangerous Toys

5.  "You're In Trouble" by Ratt

6.  "I Still Think About You" by Danger Danger

7.  "18 and Life" by Skid Row

8.  "I Love Rock & Roll" by Joan Jett

9.  "Shake & Tumble" by FireHouse

10.  "Don't Damn Me" by Guns n' Roses

Thursday, April 07, 2016

Retro Video of the Week: "The Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden

Last night, I saw Iron Maiden at the United Center.  Those guys are still amazing. The stage show and backdrops (and Eddie) are  Musically, they have not lost a step.  All three guitarists still kill it.  Nicko McBrain effortlessly plays about 150 drums.  Steve Harris is still the best bassist in the world, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't aged in 35 years.  Bruce Dickinson can still hit every note he did thirty years ago.  I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone else 57 years old (or older, or probably younger) who has a more powerful voice.  And he flies a 747!

In honor of Maiden, I'm going with the title track to their 1982 album, The Number of the Beast.  The song "The Number of the Beast" is a classic metal anthem, with Dickinson giving us one of the best wails in music history at the end of the introductory verse.  In true Maiden fashion, combining influences from pop culture and classic literature, the song was inspired by both the movie Damien: Omen II and a poem by Robert Burns.  And, of course, the song -- with its references to Satan and 666 -- was a target for religious groups, who accused the band of being Satanists (and, in doing so, helped drive record sales higher).

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Tuesday Top Ten: NCAA Tournament Championship Games Since 1978

In case you missed it, last night's NCAA Tournament championship game between Villanova and North Carolina was one for the ages.  UNC's Marcus Paige made an insane acrobatic three with 4.7 seconds left to tie the game at 74.  Villanova then called a timeout to draw up a play.  They went with something nearly identical to the play Indiana ran in December 2011 to beat Kentucky on Christian Watford's game-winning three.  The Wildcats' senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono brought the ball up the court, before dropping it off to Kris Jenkins, who buried a 25-footer as time expired, giving Villanova its second NCAA title in school history.

It was a hell of a finish to a hell of a tournament.  The first weekend of this year's tournament was the most exciting in recent memory.  After a less-than-thrilling Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and national semifinals, Villanova and North Carolina put on a show in the title game, going back and forth until the thrilling end.  With the win, Villanova becomes the first Catholic school to win the title since, well, Villanova in 1985.

But the question immediately became:  where does this rank amongst the great NCAA championship games?  That seems like a tall task, so I'm just going to try to tackle that question as it relates to games in my lifetime.  The 1978 NCAA Tournament was the first of my lifetime, so apologies to those of you who witnessed the epic three-overtime game in the 1957 championship, or Loyola's overtime upset of two-time defending champ Cincinnati in the 1963 championship game, or even IU's "perfect half," outscoring Michigan by 26 in the second half of the 1976 title game to finish off Division 1's last undefeated season.

Save for the 1988 "Danny and the Miracles" championship game, I have watched every NCAA Championship game in its entirety since the 1987 title game, and I have seen the highlights of just about all of the other ones in my lifetime.  There have been a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones.  Here are what I think are the ten best NCAA Tournament championship games of my lifetime:

10.  1979:  Michigan State 75 Indiana State 64
The game itself wasn't as good as the other ones on this list, but this game was probably the most important NCAA title game in history.  It was Magic vs. Bird, Round 1.  Indiana State came into the game undefeated –- the last school to make it as far as the NCAA championship game without a loss -– but they were still seen as somewhat of an underdog.  This game is still the highest-rated NCAA basketball game in history, and it is credited not only with increasing interest in the Final Four and NCAA Tournament, but also with revitalizing the NBA, as two of the league's biggest stars over the next decade battled on a national stage for the first of many times.

9.  2008:  Kansas 75 Memphis 68 (OT)
In the 2008 final, both Kansas and Memphis were stacked 1-seeds, and the game played out just as everyone college basketball fan had hoped.  Memphis was looking to become the first team from a non "Big Six" conference (ACC, Big 8/Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10/Pac-12, or SEC) since UNLV in 1990, while Kansas was gunning to throw off the "always a bridesmaid" label and win its 3rd NCAA title.  It was a close game throughout, although Kansas was down nine with a little over two minutes left, but stormed back.  After Memphis's Derrick Rose made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left in regulation to put the Tigers up 63-60.  Then, the Jayhawks' Mario Chalmers hit a step-back three from the top of the key with 2.1 seconds left to force overtime, where the Tigers just couldn't quite make the shots they needed to make.

8.  1993:  North Carolina 77 Michigan 71
Just so we're clear, I hated Michigan in the early '90s.  Even though my mom and nearly her entire side of the family went to Michigan, I never liked the Wolverines.  My hatred grew to a rolling boil in the early '90s with Fab Five because, out of nowhere, everyone was suddenly a Michigan fan and felt the need to talk shit to me, knowing that I was an Indiana fan, even though none of these clowns had any connection to Michigan.  (By the way, IU went 3-1 against the Fab Five, and Michigan's sole win has since been vacated.)  Anyway, you can imagine that I was particularly livid in 1993, when IU was the #1 team in the country and beat Michigan twice, but then lost Alan Henderson for the rest of the year due to a late-season injury.  The Hoosiers lost in the Elite Eight and were the only #1 seed that didn't make it to the Final Four.  I was rooting hard for North Carolina against Michigan, and my spite paid off.  With 20 seconds left in the game, Michigan was down two and inbounded the ball to Chris Webber, who promptly traveled, but the referees were the only three people in the universe who didn't see it.  But as the kids say, ball don't lie.  After bringing the ball past the half-court line, Webber got trapped by UNC's defenders and called a timeout.  The thing was, Michigan didn't have any timeouts left, so that was a technical foul.  Carolina hit its free throws to ice the game and send the Fab Five packing.

7.  1985:  Villanova 66 Georgetown 64
Lead by future NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, Georgetown was a 10-point favorite and had beaten Villanova, an unranked 8-seed, twice that season already.  The Wildcats' head coach Rollie Massimino said before the game that his team needed to play a perfect game to beat Georgetown, and they did, shooting an astounding 78.6% from the field for the game and missing only one shot in the second half.  Even with those stats, the game still came down to the final seconds, with Villanova hitting free throws over the last minute to complete the biggest upset in NCAA title game history.

6.  2010:  Duke 61 Butler 59
Played in Butler's hometown of Indianapolis, this was a David vs. Goliath game.  Duke, a 1-seed, was playing in its 15th Final Four and its 10th NCAA title game.  Butler, a 5-seed, made it past the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.  But the Bulldogs were scrappy, keeping pace with the Blue Devils throughout the game.  No team led by more than 5 or 6 points.  After Duke's Brian Zoubek missed the second of two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, with Butler down two, Gordon Hayward -- the Baby-Faced Assassin -- put up a half-court shot that bounced off the backboard and rim, nearly making the greatest shot in NCAA title game history.

5.  1989:  Michigan 80 Seton Hall 79 (OT)
This was the first NCAA championship game I watched live in its entirety, and it was a great game, but first, let's talk about how we got there.  Just before the NCAA Tournament started, Michigan head coach Bill Frieder announced that he was accepting the job at Arizona State.  Rather than let Frieder coach the Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan AD Bo Schembechler fired Frieder and promoted assistant Steve Fisher to the head coaching position.  All Fisher did was take the Wolverines to the title game, where they faced Seton Hall.  The game went into overtime.  With Michigan trailing by three with less than a minute left, Wolverine Terry Mills hit a jumper to cut the lead to one.  Seton Hall then failed to score on its possession and fouled Michigan guard Rumeal Robinson with three seconds left.  Robinson coolly sank both free throws, and the Pirates missed what would have been the game-winning shot, giving Michigan its first and only NCAA title.

4.  1982:  North Carolina 63 Georgetown 62
This was the game in which a UNC freshman named Mike Jordan hit the game-winning shot with 15 seconds left to become Michael Jordan.  Then, Georgetown guard Fred Brown had a brain fart and accidentally passed the ball right to UNC's James Worthy, who missed both free throws, giving the Hoyas one last chance.  However, Sleepy Floyd missed the would-be game winner from half court, and His Airness was born.

3.  2016:  Villanova 77 North Carolina 74
Every time one team would get ahead by 6 or 7 points, the other team would claw its way back.  Villanova got up by ten with 5:29 left and was up six with less than two minutes left before UNC hit a couple big shots, including Marcus Paige's Jordan-eqsue three with 4.7 seconds left to tie it up.  And then Kris Jenkins etched his name in NCAA Tournament lore, sinking the game winner and sending the Wildcats into pandemonium and the Tar Heels into tears.  I'm putting this ahead of the Jordan game because MJ hit his game winner with 15 seconds left, while Jenkins hit is as time expired.

2.  1987:  Indiana 74 Syracuse 73
Clearly, I'm biased, but this was a great game.  It was the first NCAA title game I remember watching.  We were on vacation out of the country, so my dad asked a fellow IU grad to tape the game for him, should the Hoosiers make it that far.  Of course, we didn't have a VCR, so we had to borrower the friend's VCR to watch the tape of the game that he had recorded for us.  The game itself was fantastic.  Trailing 73-70 in the final minute, the Hoosiers' Keith Smart made two baskets, including the now-famous 18-foot fall-away jumper from the corner with five seconds left to give IU its fifth NCAA championship.

1.  1983:  NC State 54 Houston 52
There was no way #1 ranked Houston, a 7.5-point favorite featuring three future NBA first-round picks (Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon, and Michael Young) and a team that hadn't lost since mid-December, was going to lose to 6-seeded NC State, a team that had to win the ACC Tournament just to get into the Big Dance.  But that is why they play the game.  One of the most enduring sequences in college basketball history occurred in the final seconds.  With the game tied at 52, Wolfpack guard Dereck Whittenburg -- after nearly getting the ball stolen from him -- chucked up an air ball from 35 feet out with a couple seconds left.  As it came down, center Lorenzo Charles grabbed it out of the air and dunked it home for the winning basket and one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history.  And then, of course, NC State head coach Jim Valvano ran around the court frantically just looking for someone to hug.  That sequence could not have been scripted better if Angelo Pizzo had written it.

Friday, April 01, 2016

Hair Band Friday - 4/1/16

1.  "Rock Me To The Top" by Tesla

2.  "On The Edge" by Great White

3.  "Hangin' On" by Winger

4.  "Shout At The Devil" by Mötley Crüe

5.  "Blame It On The Love of Rock & Roll" by Bon Jovi

6.  "Hysteria" by Def Leppard

7.  "Welcome to the Jungle" (live) by Guns N' Roses

8.  "Electric Love" by Cinderella

9.  "Up All Night" by Slaughter

10.  "Comin' Home" by Danger Danger


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Tuesday, 3 January 2017

The Vision: Little Better Than a Beast

Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta
The Vision: Little Better Than a Beast (2016)

Here's the second half of the story for which the first half was collected as Little Worse Than a Man, and which I suggested might be the best thing Marvel have ever published. Little Worse Than a Man seems to be the story of a family of robots settling down and attempting to blend in with regular folks, except with a very different tone to how that may sound and somehow managing to turn those chuckles and overly logical misunderstandings into something both poignant and chilling. Little Better Than a Beast completes the title quotation from The Merchant of Venice, presenting a conclusion which seems initially shaky in how it relates to what has gone before, until you realise that it's simply because all humour has been stripped from the increasingly harrowing psychological drama. It's not that the jokes aren't there, but you'd have to be lacking something fairly basic to keep on finding them funny - which, by the way, is probably deliberate. The dynamic of the story derives from the relentless and guileless optimism of inherently flawed people, or at least beings. That which makes them human in turn destroys and debases their humanity.

As you might gather from the above, it's quite easy to forget that this is still essentially a superhero book, and we're reminded when various Avengers appear - notably an Iron Man these days looking one hell of a lot like Robert Downey Jr. I'm not entirely sure whether it's down to the beautifully understated art, the narrative depth, or a combination of the two, but when the capes start flapping it's actually kind of shocking, almost frightening in the same way that The Dark Knight Returns was frightening back when it first hit the stands; and we are reminded that, realistically speaking, superheroes would be fucking terrifying if they were real.

Thankfully though, superheroes are hardly the point of the story. The point might be simplified as the gulf between that which we would like to be and that which we cannot help being, although by the same token Hamlet is probably just a play about a bloke who sees a ghost. You really need to read this one to appreciate it. For a book full of flying guys with capes, this story feels at least as dark as anything written by Michael Gira for a Swans album, and there are a few moments which I found just plain horrible and yet unfortunately necessary; so fuck it: like I said before, this is probably the best thing Marvel have ever published.

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