Once the mark of the urbane, independent, devil-may-care or rakish personality and worn by such heroes as Bogart and Sinatra, the bow tie somehow began to connote the opposite type. By the ’70s, it was widely perceived as the mark of a nerd or geek. Think of Jerry Lewis in nutty character or Mayberry’s spooked deputy sheriff, Barney Fife. In recent years, this stereotype has been reinforced by Pee-wee Herman and by presidential candidate Paul Simon—nerds, albeit men of courage under their less-than-formidable exteriors.

If you have swagger, a bow tie can be a badge of courage. The four-in-hand-only Hitler no doubt trembled at the bow-tie alliance of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

There are also many practical advantages to the bow tie. It won’t droop into your soup or get caught up in the cogs of machinery, so it’s a good choice for men of action. The bow is not for the timid of heart or the broad of face. The crucial fact is that it must not be too large—the mark of a clown—and it must be hand-tied carelessly. The anal-retentive clip-on look is the sign of a compulsive hand washer or a potential Unabomber. It looks like it might squirt water or suddenly go for a spin. But a beautifully asymmetrical, slightly tousled bow is a perfect look for a romantic nonconformist man of style. It’s best as an alternative, not a uniform, but it definitely has its place in our repertoire.

this site has some dope styles (http://www.beautiesltd.com/ )

In America, cops or police officers, or most commonly pigs are many things.  The most accurate description of cops in the United States of America is as follows...

Cops are simply Tools of a Flawed, Corrupt Judicial System on a Power Trip

When was the last time you were glad to see one of these coffee drinking, doughnut and fast food eating creatins?

The answer is most likely never.  The primary duty of these oinkers is to extort the poor people of America to keep the rich happy.

When a poor black man with 3 kids in the car for, going 60 in a 55mph zone, the American cop made a choice.

With the $350 dollar ticket, the black man will no longer be able to pay for correct food for his kids, but he must give the $350 back to the city and state government.

The city and state government put the money right into the pockets of the police whose resources are used to keep the rich areas richer while neglecting the poor areas.

On the other hand, when Schwartz Finklestein III gets a speeding ticket in his Bentley for $350 he just gathers the spare change from his ash tray and no harm is done.

This unfair way to punish the poor for breaking a made up, un-important law, with a significant part of their income is a disgrace.  While the rich are free to break as many laws as they want, because the fines are like pennies to them.

This is just scraping the surface of the many reasons to hate the boys in blue.  It is mind-numbing how someone would want to be a police officer.  A day's work consists of dealing with the low level scum of the earth and harassing the very few good people of America.

There is Only one reason why People Become Cops

Having Napoleon complex is the only reason why people become cops.  Whether they were the puny, antisocial losers in high school, or simply the offspring of conservative, in-the-closet homosexual Christian perents, people who become cops have a self-serving, hidden agenda.

Cops are usually small brained, fat pigs who have no sense of right from wrong.  Their ethics is preprogramed by the corrupt and dysfunctional United States Government.

This is never more evident than in small town cops.  Small towns with negligible crime rates are infested with baton wielding, gun pulling maverick douche bags who want to show their power to all the people who probably picked on them in high school.

Their job is a joke, so they try to ruin the day of normal, hard working people to justify their pathetic existance.  If they are not using their power trip to ruin the day of innocent people, they are showing their incompetance of not doing their important duties when they're needed.

When there is a real crime, police officers, cops or pigs will be nowhere to be found.  They may be at the coffee shop eating doughnuts and drinking coffee, or harassing smoking teenagers but they are never there when needed.

Going on and on about the worthlessness of cops may be pointless but there is one thing that is for sure.  American cops are pathetic human beings and no doubt one of the top 58 reasons to hate America.

Life centers on LAPD officer Charlie Crews, a cop who served 12 years for a crime he did not commit.  Once exonerated Crews promptly sues the city, winning a huge cash settlement along with reinstatement to the police force as a detective.  Teamed up with Dani Reese (Sarah Shahi), a cop with her own troubled past, Crews does his job while subjected to the suspicious glares and questions of his fellow officers.  Tying the series together is Crews' search for the corrupt cops who set him up to take the fall in a bank robbery conspiracy 12 years earlier.

Far from the melodrama that has become Law and Order: SVU, Life manages to deal with serious issues and have a bit of fun as well.  For example, Charlie's zen-like attitude toward the world is countered with  frequent harassing traffic stops of his ex-wife's new husband; or his home life in a  mansion that he has not bothered to furnish.  It's a challenging show dealing with issues of revenge and redemption without ever forgetting that it is entertainment.  Life provides a blend of cop drama and humor reminiscent of Hill Street Blues with top notch writing and acting all the way.  I would be remiss not to mention Adam Arkin's fantastic turn as Charlie's prison pal and accountant.

Life is definitely superior television and without a doubt my favorite new show from this past season.  I take it upon myself to spread the word to all who will read and take my advice.  Go buy or rent the DVD and then tune in Monday, September 29 at 10/9c to NBC.  You will not regret it.  Great stuff!

Cops are fuckers.  Oh how i despise them.  Whenever i hear about cop death, i get a boner.

In a video of the incident the officer can be heard saying, "Chill out, it's just a dog. You can buy another one." I bet he's wishing he didn't say that now. According to News Channel 2 in Texas, local leaders say that menacing phone calls are flooding city hall.

Officer Paul Stephens has been reprimanded and subsequently apologized to the couple. Pet activists are lobbying for Stephens to be fired. The couple is still contemplating suing the city.

 Fuck yeah. Evidently God gave me the gift of a semi blond colored beard which contrasts with my hair in a really nice seventies porn star way. My new name is Thomas Woodbluff (Middle name/street where I grew up), purveyor of the Playa Vista porn ring.

I'm also getting a motorcycle and signing up to be a CHIPS officer. I'm gonna grow this thing to stardom.  This mustache could make me the ruler of the earth.

Oh snap, it just did. This is me, ruler of the fascist world giving a speech at a club med convention.

I'm pretty sure Hitler ruined this type of mustache for the history of human kind. It boggles the mind to think that no other person on earth can ever rock this thing again. Except for me motherfuckers, the fascist king of porn.

Brenda!!!! Brenda!!!!! You sleep with me now!!!!

Fotos 1, 2 e 3 in Sítio Oficial dos Jogos Olímpicos Beijing 2008 - Foto 4 in Sítio Oficial dos Jogos Olímpicos Londres 2012 - Fotos 5 e 6 in Sítio do Comité Olímpico do Reino Unido - Fotos 7, 8 e 9 in Mirage.Studio.7 no post London Olympic 2012 - Fotos 10, 11 e 12 in Sítio Oficial dos Jogos Paralímpicos Beijing 2008

[gallery]

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Numa fantástica Cerimónia de Encerramento, o adeus a Pequim, Beijing 2008, e um até já a Londres 2012. Vanessa Fernandes foi a porta-bandeira de Portugal nesta cerimónia. Os próximos serão em 2012 na cidade de Londres, de 27 de Julho a 12 de Agosto (faltam 1.433 dias).

Para mais informações consultar:

• sítio oficial dos Jogos Olímpicos Londres 2012>>
• sítio do Comité Olímpico do Reino Unido>>
• e o sítio oficial dos Jogos Paralímpicos Beijing 2008>>

————————————

A cerimónia incluiu a entrega de medalhas da maratona masculina. O recorde olímpico da Maratona masculina, 2h:09':21'', que pertencia a Carlos Lopes desde 1984 nos Jogos Olímpicos de Los Angeles, foi hoje batido por Samuel Kamau Wansiru, do Quénia, com o tempo de 2h:06':32''. A medalha de prata foi ganha pelo atleta marroquino Jaouad Gharib ( 2h:07':16'') e a de bronze por Tsegay Kebebe, da Etiópia, (2h:10':00'').

• De Portugal, Paulo Gomes foi 30º a 11':43'' do primeiro (2h:18':15'') e Helder Ornelas foi 46º, a 16':48'' (2h:23':20'').
• José de Sousa, do Brasil, foi 38º a 13':53'' (2h:20':25'').
• Nelson Cruz, de Cabo Verde, foi 48º a 17':15'' (2:23:47).
• Marilson dos Santos, do Brasil, desistiu aos 30 Km.
• Franck de Almeida, do Brasil, desistiu aos 20 Km.
• João Nyiamba, de Angola, também desistiu quando já tinha percorrido cerca de 20 Km.
• Augusto Soares, de Timor-Leste, não iniciou a maratona.

————————————

• Quadro de medalhas
  Actualizado em 24/08 (13:00 - hora de Lisboa)
  Cl.	País	O	P	B	Total
  1	China	51	21	28	100
  2	Estados Unidos	36	38	36	110
  3	Rússia	23	21	28	72
  4	Grã-Bretanha	19	13	15	47
  5	Alemanha	16	10	15	41
  6	Austrália	14	15	17	46
  7	Coreia do Sul	13	10	8	31
  8	Japão	9	6	10	25
  9	Itália	8	10	10	28
  10	França	7	16	17	40
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  23	Brasil	3	4	8	15
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  46	Portugal	1	1	0	2
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  81	Venezuela	0	0	1	1

Nos Jogos Olímpicos Beijing 2008, 87 países conquistaram 958 medalhas - 302 de ouro, 303 de prata e 353 de bronze.

Entretanto, é a hora de dar o lugar aos 13º Paralímpicos, Beinjing 2008, de 6 a 17 de Setembro. Portugal vai estar representado em 7 modalidades (atletismo, boccia, ciclismo, equitação, natação, vela e remo) com 45 atletas.

Para os acompanhar e para obter mais informações poderá consultar o sítio oficial dos Jogos Paralímpicos Beijing 2008>>

A organização dos Jogos está atribuída ao BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee Olympic Games) e é supervisionada pelo IPC (International Paralympic Committee).

Os Paralímpicos tiveram início em 1960 em Roma. A primeira participação portuguesa verificou-se na quarta edição, em 1972, em Heidelberg, na Alemanha, com a presença de uma equipa de basquetebol em cadeira de rodas. Foi retomada a participação em 1984, nos jogos de Nova Iorque, onde Portugal conquistou 14 medalhas com uma delegação de 15 atletas. Na última edição, Atenas 2004, Portugal participou com 42 atletas, nas modalidades de atletismo, boccia, natação, equitação e ciclismo e conquistou 12 medalhas: 2 de ouro, 5 de prata e 5 de bronze.

Daha fazlası burada.

(Fonte: sítio oficial dos jogos olímpicos - Foto Xinhua)>>

Agora, só amanhã, dia 24, os atletas portugueses entrarão em acção. Será às 00:30 (hora de Lisboa) que Paulo Gomes e Hélder Ornelas participarão na Maratona.

————————————

• Quadro de medalhas
  Actualizado em 23/08 (15:45 - hora de Lisboa)
  Cl.	País	O	P	B	Total
  1	China	49	19	28	96
  2	Estados Unidos	34	37	36	107
  3	Rússia	21	21	27	69
  4	Grã-Bretanha	19	13	15	47
  5	Alemanha	16	10	15	41
  6	Austrália	14	15	17	46
  7	Coreia do Sul	13	10	8	31
  8	Japão	9	6	10	25
  9	Itália	7	10	10	27
  10	Ucrânia	7	5	15	27
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  22	Brasil	3	3	8	14
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  45	Portugal	1	1	0	2
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  79	Venezuela	0	0	1	1

Até ao momento, 86 países já conquistaram 928 medalhas - 290 de ouro, 291 de prata e 347 de bronze.

(in xinhuanet Photo credit: Xinhua/Li Ga)>>

• António Pereira, nos 50 Km marcha, foi 11º com o tempo de 3h:48':12'', novo recorde nacional. Augusto Cardoso foi 40º (4h:09':00''), a 31':51'' do primeiro. Joao Vieira desistiu. Do Brasil, Mário José dos Santos Jr. foi 41º ( 4h:10':25''), a 33':66''. A medalha de ouro foi para o italiano Alex Schwazer com recorde olímpico (3h:37':09''), a medalha de prata para o australiano Jared Tallent (3h:39':27'') e a de bronze para o russo Denis Nizhegorodov (3h:40':14'').

————————————

• As duplas brasileiras de voleibol de praia Márcio Araújo/Fábio Luiz e Ricardo Santos/Emanuel Rego ganharam, respectivamente, a medalha de prata e a de bronze.
• Maurren Higa Maggi, no salto em comprimento, conquistou a segunda medalha de ouro para o Brasil.
  

————————————

• Quadro de medalhas
  Actualizado em 22/08 (17:00 - hora de Lisboa)
  Cl.	País	O	P	B	Total
  1	China	47	17	25	89
  2	Estados Unidos	31	36	35	102
  3	Grã-Bretanha	18	13	13	44
  4	Rússia	17	18	22	57
  5	Alemanha	14	9	13	36
  6	Austrália	12	14	16	42
  7	Coreia do Sul	11	10	7	28
  8	Japão	9	6	10	25
  9	Itália	7	8	10	25
  10	Holanda	7	5	4	16
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  26	Brasil	2	3	7	12
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  41	Portugal	1	1	0	2
  …	…	…	…	…	…
  77	Venezuela	0	0	1	1

Até ao momento, foram conquistadas 258 medalhas de ouro, 259 de prata e 319 de bronze, 836 no total.

NOTA: A nossa Rosa Mota, perante a possibilidade de ser uma candidata a presidente do Comité Olímpico Português foi sensata: "Os jogos acabam no dia 24, portanto, aguardemos com calma...". Ao contrário de Vicente de Moura que fala em vez de estar calado...

Muito se tem falado nos ultimos dias no falhanço do Projecto Olímpico de Pequim. O Diário de Noticias chega mesmo a colocar em grande destaque de primeira-página (ocupando a quase totalidade da mesma) com "14 Milhões gastos em Projecto Olímpico falhado". Pois bem, não posso concordar. Ou pelo menos não sem antes fazer uma outra análise... Quantos milhões são gastos pelo Estado Português no Futebol?! Quantos milhões foram gastos, por exemplo, para o Euro 2004?! Menos mas ainda expressivo... quanto não se terá gasto para o Mundial 2002, Mundial 2006, Euro 2008... ?! Parem um bocadinho para pensar.

Estes jogadores de futebol recebem verdadeiras fortunas para no final, a maior parte das vezes, não fazerem nada de especial. E os atletas Olímpicos e respectivos treinadores que treinam a maior parte das vezes à sua própria custa (sim, monetariamente falando), usando as suas próprias férias para os treinos, etc. Para no final quando as coisas correm mal serem enxovalhados, dizer-se que foram gastos 14 Milhões para um projecto FALHADO?! Pois bem, eu não considero FALHADO um projecto que nos rendeu 1 medalha de prata, essa para começar, e mesmo sem medalhas são de louvar todas as participações dos portugueses. Com eliminações mais prematuras ou não, falhanços, desilusões, etc. todos estes atletas deveriam ter muito mais do nosso apoio do que aquilo que realmente têm. Esses sim trabalham NO DURO para levar mais alto o nome de Portugal.

Claro que fico contente quando a Selecção de Futebol chega longe num Mundial ou Europeu de Futebol. Sou Português, como haveria de não ficar contente?!

Mas fico mais orgulhoso de 72 atletas olímpicos com resultados modestos nos Jogos do que 22 ou 23 milionários do futebol que tragam uma Taça do Mundo.

Em jeito de Post Scriptum, porque na realidade já tinha atirado cá para fora tudo aquilo que queria dizer, ou se calhar não mas pronto... Acabei de ler outra pérola, desta feita no 24h: "Houve desportistas que ganharam mais de 1000 euros por mês durante quatro anos e nem foram aos jogos". E a isto eu respondo... Querem mesmo saber quanto é que um deputado ganha por mês durante o mesmo periodo de tempo para na maior parte desse tempo não fazer NADA e nem sequer por os pés NUMA UNICA sessão da Assembleia?!

I had a second date - if it is indeed a date - with Copper on Sunday night. He came over and we pretty much just laid around on the couch and watched TV. It was nice to be cuddled, nice to have someone to just hang out with at home, doing nothing. Chex Mix, beer and The Girls Next Door: it was a good way to spend a lazy Sunday.

Last night, Captain called me and we talked for about twenty minutes. The first three were nice and awkward, as they always seem to be with him, but we talked about books and history and other nerdy things for awhile, so we were both in our element and not so awkward anymore. Awkward returned when he tried to ask me out, and I do have to share it because it's kind of cute.

Him: "So, I'm coming back into town this weekend." (He is stationed about 100 miles from here.)

Me: "Oh, that's nice."

"Yeah, I've got a friend I have to pick up at the airport on Friday at like, 6:30."

"Mmmhmm."

"So, I don't know, maybe after that we could, um, whatever."

"You and your friend?" (This is my attempt at coyness.)

"No I meant you and me could, like, I don't know..." He's talking all stumbly which is kind of endearing.

"We could whatever?"

"Well, you know."

"Hang out?"

"Yeah. I mean, if you want to."

And so I have a date on Friday night with the Captain. For Saturday, I have plans to go to a winery with a friend who I know, just KNOW will invite along a certain fellow she's been trying to get me to meet for months. Hooray wine, boo setup.

But I'm tired. Straight up tired, physically tired. None of this feels like it did when I first met the Ex-Fiance, or Tim, or E. I think I had it wrong when I wrote before about a "click," because maybe that implies one of those all-of-a-sudden things that are really out of the ordinary. I don't necessarily need that. But the warm fuzzy just-starting buzz isn't there. The giggle-giggle-I-like-him feeling. The I-want-to- look-just-right-when-he-comes-over feeling.

Now it's more of an I-don't-even-need-to-shave-my-legs-since-I-don't-want-anyone-rubbing- them feeling.

It's not that I don't like these guys. I think they're both nice and I have a good time hanging out with them. I like the texts and phone calls. I like to be held. I like to be kissed. And while it's probably too early to just call it with either one of these nice fellows, this "meh" feeling is kind of disconcerting. Dating is supposed to be fun, not meh... and it usually was before.

Today I wore my dance shoes to work because I knew I'd be on my feet and in dress clothes all day. I used to wear them when I was in theater, and I could stand or dance in them for hours in rehearsals. And this afternoon they gave me a whopper of a blister for the first time. First. Time. Ever.

So is it the boys or is it just me?

In actuality, this was not the first vehicle I ever owned.  In one of his rare attempts to be worthy of a more glowing nickname, Dead Beat Dad, procured a car for me which he delivered to me a scant few days before the start of my Senior Year in High School.  I was participating in a school program that enabled me to skip my last two hours of class in favor of having a job, but I needed transportation in order to make that work.

Dead Beat Dad, had made a commitment at the end of my Junior year to make sure I'd have a vehicle to drive when Senior Year started.  This was before I learned not to rely on the commitments of Dead Beat Dad.  Things got kinda sticky as the summer progressed and there was still no sign of this mysterious vehicle.  Finally he arrived with my first vehicle, that which shall not be named...  Except for right now.  The vehicle he procured for me was a 1980 Plymouth Champ.  It was a five speed manual transmission (which I did not know how to drive) with major rust spots and a broken mirror.  It was an ugly piece of shit for which he'd paid a mere $400.00 but I didn't care 'cause I finally had wheels.

The car lived about four months and then it went to the big parking lot in the sky.

It's possible that I may have contributed to the demise of this vehicle a little bit.

On one particular evening, I was out with some friends (Bernardine and Aimee) and we stopped at the grocery store behind my house.  There was a shopping cart sitting out in the side lot of this store where there were no other cars.  The cart was straddling the short line between two parking spots.  I raced through the parking lot to that space and slammed on my breaks, effectively stopping in the parking space and sending the cart rolling to the opposite end of the lot in a shot.  Bernardine (Bernie) screamed and Aimee (ever the goody-goody) reacted with shock and disdain.  You know, the kind that is a thin veil for the amusement that really existed, despite her fear of letting it show.

I was emboldened.  Later that evening we went to a movie and when the movie was over, I drove us around to the backside of the movie theater.  This theater was on the end of a long shopping center that included, among other things a grocery store.  The area behind the grocery store had a large open lot to allow room for the delivery semi-trucks to maneuver.  There was also a section that was slanted fairly steeply toward a drain.

I had long since learned that this slanted area made an excellent ramp.  I decided I was going to freak out my friends, so I drove around to the back of the shopping center and punched it.  It was dark and there was a set of head-lights coming the other direction but there was plenty of room to avoid a collision so I went for it.

Forty-five miles per hour behind a shopping center, up and over the ramp and down with a crash!  Bernie screamed, "Woo hoooo!" and laughed.  Aimee gasped and then allowed herself a chuckle.

And then the lights.  There was red and blue flashing off the building on one side and field on the other.  I was just so surprised I couldn't even get it together to be scared.  I stopped the car and rolled down the window to wait.  The officer walked up to my window with an ear to ear grin on his face.

Officer Shiflet: How're we doing tonight?

Me: (red faced and probably glowing in the dark.)  Ok, sir.

Officer Shiflet: I noticed your little stunt back there.  What was that all about?

Me: Well, um...  I was just, uh... showing off... a little...  f-for my friends.  (I was sure I was going up the river)

Office Shiflet: (Grin growing slightly)  Why would you do that with me coming the other way?

Me: Well... I mean, um... I saw headlights and all, but um...  Well.  (And then I blurted it out.)  I didn't know you were a cop!

Officer Shiflet doubled over in laughter.  With tears streaming down his face he said, "Let's slow it down a bit shall we.  Now get outta here, you crazy kids!"

CoP Mission 3-5 is the Level 40-capped BCNM against Diabolos which takes place in The Shrouded Maw. In order to get to the BCNM area, you need to pass through a 40-cap tower of Pso'Xja and also have completed a mini-quest in order to get the Pso'Xja Pass required for access to the area.

I already had 2-3 definite people for this mission, satisfying some of my job requirements for the BCNM.

Preparing for Battle

Here was our setup:

Inamorata (Ceri) ~ NIN/WAR (Sword mainhand)
Darkmoose (Aramina) ~ WAR/NIN (Axes)
Quietgansta ~ WAR/NIN (Axes)
Lazzlo ~ BLU/NIN
Morsel (Dmer) ~ RDM/WHM
Varus ~ WHM/BLM

The reason so many of us have names in parenthesis are because for half of the group, we were working our way through CoP for our second characters. Also coming along for the trip was Quietgansta's second character, Sammie, who was on WHM/BLM 75 and tagged along in case we needed a Raise in the lobby after getting Reraise dispelled.

I gave everyone a shopping list for the BCNM of the following items:

• 2-3 Poison Potions
• Refresh/Regen Drinks as applicable
• Hi-Potions
• Food
• Sufficient Ninja Tools
• Some form of Sneak/Invisible to get through Pso'Xja

We got all the way to the entrance to The Shrowded Maw with no incident, but when we got there, Lazzlo could not enter. It was very much at least partially my fault for not checking that everyone have their Pso'Xja Pass before leaving for the fight. Sammie escaped out with him, and I logged to Aramina and headed up as WHM/NIN in order to farm the chip needed for his pass. It took until the 2nd round of pops in the first basement of the Nue tower until we got a Carmine Chip from a kindly Snow Lizard. I also got to show off a little bit of me kicking ass on WHM/NIN (coming WHM/RDM had been a thought also).

Anyway, we dropped Lazzlo at Holla to ride to Jeuno and get his pass, and I headed back on Aramina with Sammie. Now we had two WHM75 in the lobby area ^^

{What's the battle plan?}

As was always that case for me in CoP, and especially since SE made these fights no EXP loss, I told everyone to prepare for a Dry Run on the fight.  The primary purpose for the Dry Run would be to practice positioning, Buffing and Debuffing, Stunning Nightmare, etc.  We planned to fight it tough, but to be prepared to wipe, raise, reset and go for real.

Diabolos has a few signature moves that you need to watch for in this fight, which in no small part influenced the setup for this fight.

• Nightmare (Stunnable) ~ AoE Sleep + Very Strong Bio that doesn't wake you
• Camisado ~ Single Target physical attack with knockback
• Ultimate Terror ~ Drains Attributes
• Noctoshield ~ Phalanx
• Dark-based magic ~ Sleep II, Drain, etc.

The plan was for going in with no medications, and only cheap food like Mithakabobs for everyone.  For this fight not only do you almost need a Stunner, you really need a backup for the off chance that he'll try to use Nightmare twice in a row.

We establsihed a TP Stun order for the melees, with the understanding that the BLU was our primary Stun at all times.  We also all made macros for our Stun TP moves alerting the next TP Stunner that they were on deck.

Example:

/ws "Smash Axe" <t>
/p {Smash Axe} ~ {Stun} !!! ~ Next is Queitgansta

Our stun order was Darkmoose > Quietgansta > Inamorata (Flat Blade), which left Inamorata until last so she could focus on tanking and shadows.  Also, the fact that none of the Warriors were using weapon skills made it a whole lot easier for her to keep hate.

Upon entering, Varus gave everyone Protect and Shell II, got up his own Reraise, Stoneskin, etc. and the melees all got their intial Utsusemi up and ate whatever cheap food that they had on hand (I think was 4x Meat Mithkabobs, although most of us had Sole Sushi for the {Full Attack!} attempt that would be coming after the Dry Run.  Once MP was full, we headed to the end of the platform above the 5x5 tile floor where Diabolos was waiting for us.

The Battlefield is made up of 5 rows of 5 tiles, some of which will get removed during the course of the fight.  There are certain tiles that will never be removed, and this leads to the following optimal positioning for the fight:

Swirly Gate
OOTOO                             T = Tank and Melees
OODOO                            D = Diabolos
OOOOO
OOOOO
OOMOO                            M = Mages

I fired a Holy Bolt (which landed for about 100 total damage) from the top, and Diabolos drew us all down to the floor and we all took up positions.  Varus got Hastes going and Morsel started debuffing Diabolos, while Inamorata was tanking, QuietG and I were plugging away and building TP.  All the while, Lazzlo was throwing down some spells like Bludgeon and Jet Stream, and tossing in a steady flow of Head Butt in between, but always sitting back ready for Nightmare.

Morsel landed not only Slow, but Silence (which lasted the entire fight) and a killer Paralyze that seemed like it was procing 30-50% of the time.  All of that made tanking very easy for Inamorata, and Diabolos' HP bar was steadily dropping.  I never felt the need to call {Full Attack!} and start burning meds and 2-hrs, because I wanted to see how it went without it and we were doing fine.

In the end I ended up jumping the gun on my Smash Axe and used it on a Camisado (which I did manage to Stun) by mistake, and when Diabolos tried to use Nightmare (only once), he got hit with both Head Butt and another Smash Axe from Quietgansta.  By the time that Diabolos got down to 20%, it became very obvious to everyone that we would win, so Quiet went ahead and popped Mighty Strikes, and I used my TP for Avalanche Axe for the kill shot.

We ended up finishing about 90 seconds longer than the record, which we could have easily beaten on a full powered run.

Aftermath and Review

After the fight, Morsel, QG, Lazzlo, and I all went and did the cutscenes to close out 3-5, then 4-1, and flagged 4-2.  While in Misareaux Coast, I OP warped Aramina out and got the Spheroid battle for CoP 6-2 out of the way, so she is now officially ready for Airship.  Seeing as there is no EXP loss, I'm going to go do Airship solo on BST/NIN just to see how the fight area looks.  It's always good to have recon, and being in Sealion's Den, it makes it really easy to get to the place for a trial run.

For anyone reading this, I hope that our very easy success gives anyone hope that this is far from an impossible fight, and it's really easily winnable as long as you do your research and go prepared.  I always tend to overprepare for these things, but I have learned many times that for CoP Missions, you do not go with a thin margin for error unless you intend to be disappointed.  I wish that I had taken better mental notes during my Phomiuna Aqueducts run (Mission 2-3) because I put together a low-man team and we did the entire mission with 5 people from start to end.  It took us maybe 45 minutes from the time that we entered the Aqueducts until mission complete.  Considering most people are looking for an alliance of some sort for that mission, that shows that it's really doable with a lot less.

Now all that being said, I don't take noobs with me.  I ask serious questions before we set out that help me ascertain the ability of the people that are going with me, and I try to bring people who I know as much as possible.  Simple things like checking your Fomor Hate can be the difference between an easy win and a tragedy and wasted time, and when someone doesn't get the importance and lies to you about checking/clearing it, that screws over everyone.  As a leader, I don't hesitate to kick people for that stuff at all.  I am willing to cut people a little slack for things like the missing Pass for the Maw, and maybe getting agro on the way to a BCNM, because believe it or not, I've been guilty of most of that stuff at least once.  However, I used the feeling of guilt for making everyone wait to encourage me to not be "that guy" again.

If you are leading a mission, make sure you ask all of the questions.  I forgot one and it cost us easily over an hour.  Now, we took a quick vote and decided that it was best to just farm the chip for the pass, since we all had time, but Lazzlo went as far as to trying to find a replacement for himself just so he wouldn't let us down.  He certainly did a tremendous job in the BCNM, and redeemed himself wonderfully.

Congratulations to all who participated in this adventure, and to those with whom I'll be doing more CoP in the near future (QG, Morsel, Inamorata, and probably Varus), I'm looking forward very much to Sacrarium and Promyvion Vahzl, and I'm sure that we'll manage to make it through Ouryu alright, but I still need to figure out a setup with the jobs that we have.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a cop whose family and partner are brutally murdered. He embarks on a maverick path, venturing into the underworld to find those responsible for the murders. Payne finds that he faces enemies from beyond the natural world and that he will be betrayed.

The 2001 video game Max Payne was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan, the creator of the television series The Shield, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg as the star in the titular role.

Filming began in Toronto on March 2, 2008 and wrapped by May 9, 2008. The film will be rated PG-13 in the United States, a departure from the M-rated video game series. Mila Kunis said of the tone-down, "It's incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only difference between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood. You might not see blood squirting everywhere, but as far as the sadness and the darkness of it and the distraught [nature] of these human beings is very much captured in the film."

Cast

• Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, a cop haunted by the murder of his family and who disregards rules to investigate their deaths. Wahlberg described his role, "It's probably one of the edgier roles I've played but also the most layered. Here's a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It's all driven by emotion."
• Beau Bridges as B.B. Hensley, a former cop and Max Payne's mentor.
• Mila Kunis as Mona Sax, an assassin who seeks revenge for the murder of her sister.
• Ludacris as Jim Bravura, an internal affairs agent.
• Chris O'Donnell as Jason Colvin, an executive and Nicole Horne's "right-hand man".
• Nelly Furtado as Christa Balder, wife of Alex Balder.
• Kate Burton as Nicole Horne, CEO of Aesir corporation.
• Donal Logue as Alex Balder, Max Payne's partner and best friend.
• Amaury Nolasco as Jack Lupino, a mafia boss who becomes insane due to the drug Valkyr.

Growing and growing more useful

We held a great event on community development at the IDeA offices on 1 August. You can find all the slides and information from the day here – including links to how we might develop the community further. Add your views, too.

A CoP code of practice? I’ve borrowed (stole) from the civil service and the BBC on creating a code of practice for participating online. It’s pretty light touch and it’s strictly voluntary for us, but if you comply with these simple guidelines I don’t think you could wrong when posting online about professional matters.

The Policy and Performance Community of Practice won the “Top of the Cops” award in July for having the highest percentage of local authority representation. We received some very nice biscuits, that we have enjoyed on your behalf. Read more….

Share your experience Can you help? Supporting local government improvement – this month’s hot topics and requests for information:

· Monitoring the performance of contractors – involving citizens and being creative?

· Communicating change: How can you tell if your communications are effective during a major change programme? What have you done?

· Supporting vulnerable people – a whole families approach? Examples please.

· How are you reporting the National Indicator Set?

Getting ready for CAA The Comprehensive Area Assessment community of practice recently joined Policy and Performance as a sub-community. We’ll be bringing CAA readiness discussions into this main community working with Nick Easton from the LGA and Mandy James who leads the IDeA’s work on CAA. As a start, we’d like to hear your views on the Audit Commission’s CAA consultation. You can find all our community CAA resources here.

In the sub-communities

Performance Management

Performance measures for performance teams. I’m sure all of us who work in corporate teams have faced this conundrum. We tell people to measure their performance, but find it notoriously difficult to measure our own. What do you do?

Community mergers – I’m proposing that we merge the Policy and Performance and Performance Management communities of practice. This would be after a few improvements are made to the way that topics can be grouped and themed. What do you think?

Customer Insight

The LGA and IDeA have commissioned new guidance on customer insight and understanding communities, partly to help councils in their CAA readiness but more broadly to illustrate how councils can use this key improvement tool to deliver better outcomes. You can shape this guidance by acting as an online reference group. Answer a few key questions or share your own insights.

Events

· Local wellbeing conference 9 September. Hear from a range of eminent speakers (James Purnell, MP, Dr Martin Seligman, Professor Richard Layard among others) and about the groundbreaking activities led by South Tyneside, Hertfordshire and Manchester. A few places are still available.

· Influencing and preparing for CAA – 10 September

· The information challenge: do you know your community? 22 September – find out more about customer insight and get ready for CAA at this LGA conference.

· CoP member Dominic Campbell will speaking about cyber citizens and collaborative councils at Web 2.0: Practical applications for business benefits, 1-2 October.

Documents

A step by step how to on posting to the discussion forum and turning on alerts.

Blog posts of note

The Big Town Plan on television – A beautiful bridge, but where does it lead? – Ingrid Koehler

Disconnected citizens – is community empowerment the solution? – Vicki Goddard

Differentiated use of social media – how will “youth trends” affect how we communicate and do business? – Adrian Barker.