It’s never too early to start thinking about holiday gift-giving, especially if you’re like me who always waits ‘til the last minute (I swear this year I’ll get a head start!). While tons of people will post lists of cool, gadgety, box set-y things to get for you fave music fan this year, we’ve gathered eight weird and wild gifts that will make your lucky giftee freak—in both good and bad ways. 'You gotta hear my sick dubstep MeowReMix.' DJ Cat Scratching Pad – Thank you internet. Shaped just like a turntable complete with clever stickers, the cardboard “DJ Felix” record will give your cat a few minutes of claw sharpening pleasure, while giving cat owners hours of “awws”, YouTube video-taking and Instagramming. Admit it; this is really more a gift for the owner than it is for the cat. And the description is a real urbandictionary.com workout: “Kitty is mad pumped to kick it behind the wheels of steel and throw down a dope set of old skool joints, yo! Designed in London, the Cat Scratching Pad enables your furry homeslice to spin some phat, chillout beatz with hella catitude.” Felix da Housecat must be sick of getting these sent to him. $35.00, Uncommongoods.com
From the flood of superstar releases hitting stores in late November and early December, you'd almost imagine there's still a viable industry devoted to the making and selling of audio recordings geared toward young people. Yes, Virginia, there is a music business! The two weeks leading up to Black Friday have, as always, been the busiest of the year for new albums. Among the stars who joined the competitive fray with releases just in the Nov. 13-20 time frame: One Direction, Phillip Phillips, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Kid Rock, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Susan Boyle, Kelly Clarkson, Keyshia Cole, Coldplay, AC/DC, Green Day, Soundgarden, Lana Del Rey, and, just for true old time's sake, Led Zeppelin. But the makeup of the new release bins won't sit unaltered in the weeks that follow Black Friday. Although things won't be quite as busy in early December, music fans can still look forward to post-Thanksgiving product from Alicia Keys, Ke$ha, Bruno Mars, T.I., The-Dream, Wiz Khalifa, Big Boi, and hot country newcomers Florida Georgia Line. Here's our breakdown of some of the season's freshest releases, along with some initial critical and sales reactions to those albums that are already out: ONE DIRECTION, Take Me Home The group's sophomore release just debuted with 540,000 copies, the third-best opening of 2012, trailing only Taylor Swift (who, coincidentally, is said to be dating Harry Styles… again) and Mumford & Sons. They are, as Yahoo! Music charts columnist Paul Grein noted, "the first boy band in chart history to land two #1 albums in a calendar year." How is it? Rolling Stone's three-star review sees the One Direction glass as half-full: "Their second album rivals the best of Backstreet and 'N Sync when the material pumps…But when it doesn't (i.e., most of the ballads), a certain amount of douchiness creeps in." Entertainment Weekly's C-grade review thought the eight-month wait between releases could have been a bit longer: "Catchy new tracks 'Kiss You' and 'Heart Attack' would've fit right in on March's Up All Night. But the rush shows: Most of Take Me Home is filler with barely enough zip to keep the kids up past dinner." RIHANNA, Unapologetic The dirty sales secret is that Rihanna has always been able to move a lot more singles than album units. But that may change this time, with her seventh album (and fourth November album release in a row). After the first day of sales, Hits estimates that this one will debut with around 250,000 copies, far, far more than she's ever managed in an opening frame to date. So all the seemingly bad publicity generated by her seven-city 777 plane tour obviously had no dampening effect on sales, even if it does cause a few journalists to boycott the album in sympathy with their suffering compatriots on the jet from hell. How is it? Naturally, her defensive duet with Chris Brown has been as effective at drawing critical barbs as it has been as garnering massive amounts of publicity. Said the A.V. Club, "Rihanna's much-discussed duet with Brown, 'Nobody's Business,' forms the rotten core of Unapologetic, a fiery pop album that's unfortunately coated in the icky residue of unearned defiance that has marked Brown's recent output." The Los Angeles Times' two-star review said, "It's a little sickening, because for the first time since the incident, her addressing the complicated issue feels not like a defense of love but a marketing maneuver, a way of turning a negative into a positive." But the same review approvingly notes the album's move further into dubstep territory and contends that "musically, Rihanna has evolved into one of the more forward-thinking pop divas." BRUNO MARS, Unorthodox Jukebox (out Dec. 11) This late entry in the Christmas sweepstakes could be a real December surprise, blockbuster-wise. Mars' highly lauded host/musical guest stint on Saturday Night Live only sweetened the anticipation for a sophomore album that was heralded by the Police-evoking single "Locked Out of Heaven." With genre-spanning star producers like Mark Ronson and Jeff Bhasker on board, it's any fan's guess as to how Mars might be stretching his stylistic boundaries. PHILLIP PHILLIPS, The World From the Side of the Moon The doubly monikered American Idol winner may sell about 150,000 copies of his album during Black Friday week, per Hits' estimates. If so, that would put him behind the 197,000 that previous winner Scotty McCreery bowed with, but well ahead of a lot of other recent champions from the show. He co-wrote most of the songs, though the single "Home" is an exception. How is it? In a B-grade review, Hitfix cites as commercial advantages "his natural, warm growl and the mixed blessing of always sounding like somebody else. Namely, Phillips splits time on The World between Dave Matthews Band rockers and Mumford & Sons roots numbers." EW also cites both Mumford and Matthews—and also gives the album a middling B—but calls it "still the most relevant debut album the Idol machine has cranked out in years." KID ROCK, Rebel Soul If you can't beat 'em, very belatedly join 'em—and Kid Rock has finally signed up with iTunes after being a nearly lone dissenter. That won't hurt sales, which Hits estimates will be in the 160-180K range when first-week results are announced. Kid Rock self-produced this time after having Rick Rubin helm Born Free two years ago, and he also brought more of the missing rowdiness back into the proudly redneck mix, as titles like "Cocaine and Gin" may indicate. He hasn't abandoned his serioso side, though: "Let's Ride" is a war anthem ("Keep your heads up for roadside bombs"), and "3 Catt Boogie" finds the Mitt Romney supporter doing a vaguely libertarian protest song. How is it? A New York Daily News review says Rock seems "seems pale, cranky and small" and bemoans dropping the "looser country-rock direction" of the previous album for "mainline rock" this time. Rolling Stone gave a more enthusiastic three and a half stars to this "sprawling disc of storytelling, pop history and partying." ALICIA KEYS, Girl on Fire (out Nov. 27) Billboard got a preview of the album—as did thousands of fans, when she played excerpts in a Google + hangout two days before Thanksgiving—and said "the album ranges from balladry and bedroom talk to more upbeat, inspirational music, including the Nicki Minaj-featuring title track." Maxwell duets with her on "The Fire We Make," which also includes contributions from neo-bluesman Gary Clark Jr. Frank Ocean co-wrote a track, and other collaborators Emeli Sandé, Bruno Mars, and Babyface. Her last album bowed with a whopping 417,000 copies in 2009. Will as many fans be whipping out their Citi cards this time? KE$HA, Warrior (out Dec. 4) Her single may be called "Die Young," but Ke$ha has to be hoping that won't be what happens to her official sophomore album (or third release, if you count the hybrid Cannibal as an original). Mentor Dr. Luke is back as an executive producer, as are A-level co-producers like Max Martin, Shellback, and Benny Blanco. As for what departures are in stores, "Some will also be excited to know that I don't just do silly white-girl rap," she's said. Though it's not a rock record per se, Ke$ha is claiming T. Rex and Iggy Pop as influences—and though the former wasn't able to make her party, Pop does show up for a duet. She also has a new memoir out— My Crazy Beautiful Life—which, at her age, we can only guess will be the first of many. LED ZEPPELIN, Celebration Day It took five years, but these greats finally managed to put their one-time-only 2007 reunion show out on CD and DVD/Blu-Ray for home consumption. Industry site HitsDailyDouble.com estimates it will sell close to 100,000 when the first week of sales is up. Of course, many fans already saw the film when it premiered in theaters worldwide for a one-night-stand in October. How is it? EW went churlish with a C-grade review, saying "many of the band's crunchiest classics are pitched down to accommodate Robert Plant's aging pipes." Other notices have been more enthusiastic, like the San Francisco Chronicle's, which lauds "the late John Bonham's son Jason filling in on drums, firing on all cylinders, tapping into the vintage stomp and menace of the band's glory years with an unimpeachable set list. The passing of time has made the group sound leaner and more efficient, giving well-worn classics such as 'Black Dog' and 'Kashmir' new life." NICKI MINAJ, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded—The Re-Up A reissue of Minaj's seven-month old sophomore album adds eight new tracks. And she's taking shots at Mariah Carey and referencing Idol aplenty: "I'll take it, sign on the dotted line/But I'm quick to the check a b---- if she outta line/Shout out Mike Darnell and Nigel/Why these bums so mad that the queen on Idol, huh?" She also reminds everyone that she made the presidential news circuit—"I did a freestyle and got a shout out from Obama"—on the way to weighing in with not-ready-for-the-White-House fare like "I Endorse These Strippers." How is it? The Los Angeles Times offered a three-star review that likes this "re-up" better than the original, writing, "Minaj is at her best when offering acid-soaked tongue lashings." Will Idol producers and contestants feel the same way? KELLY CLARKSON, Greatest Hits—Chapter One That mullet she had on the American Music Awards didn't kill her, it made her stronger. Clarkson put three new tracks on her best-of, two of which are singles—"Catch My Breath" for pop radio and "Don't Rush" for country. You may have seen the former on the AMAs and the latter on the CMAs, where she was joined by duet partner Vince Gill. The just-released collection is foreseen by industry site Hits as selling in the area of 45-50K its first week. GREEN DAY, Dos! (already out) and Tre! (out Dec. 11) The second album in the band's rapidly sequential trilogy just bowed with 69,000 copies, considerably less than the 139,000 that Uno! debuted with in October. Will the third time be the charm when Tre! hits stores just two weeks before Christmas? And will Billie Joe Armstrong, MIA and last reported headed to rehab, make it home, if not back to the album-promoting circuit, for the holidays? How is it? No reports yet on Tre! But Dos! seemed to get about twice as many good reviews as its predecessor. Wrote the L.A. Times, "The good news is that it's a far better record than 'Uno!' In fact, it's an excellent Green Day album — one of its best — a catchy, revealing work… If 'Uno!' seemed to be a closed system, with Green Day working to flex its '90s punk muscles, on No. 2 the group has gone open-source, allowing in a much wider range of sounds and styles." CHRISTINA AGUILERA, Lotus She's not on the upswing. Her last album debuted with 111,000, but this follow-up bowed with a lesser 73,000… and this is her first one since she joined The Voice, proving that mass exposure doesn't always boost sales. It wasn't as if nobody saw it coming, since the lead single from the album, "Your Body," peaked at No. 34. Still, with her show in full swing, it's hard to say for sure that this one couldn't blossom into a bestseller with a hotter single. How is it? In a very mixed review, the New York Daily News criticized her for not doing more vulnerable material in the wake of her divorce. "Even when Aguilera means to shed real blood, the sheer force of her vocals cauterizes the wounds before any red can flow. She's a bully of a singer, pummeling the notes into the ground as she rails in triumph." Yet the paper found her more upbeat material "improved" and said, "Lotus contains some of the catchiest, danciest, and funniest songs of the singer's career." T.I., Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head (out Dec. 18) This one will barely have time to make it beneath Christmas trees, but T.I. seems to have faith that word will not trickle slowly to his audience about his first post-prison album being out. Guests on the obviously Marvin Gaye-inspired album include Cee-Lo Green (on the Pharrell Williams-produced "Hello"), Lil Wayne, Pink, Akon, Andre 3000, and ASAP Rocky. That's quite a coming-home party. THE-DREAM, 1977 (out Dec. 18) Experiencing some déjà vu? The-Dream released 1977 as a free mix-tape in 2011 under his given name but decided to put it out officially a week before Christmas 2012. Reviews were good enough for the project at the time of its unofficial unveiling that fans aren't too upset about being asked to dole out cash for it now, even if that means a further push-back for his next album, already announced under the hard-to-remember title Love IV MMXII... which is probably due for a 2013 name change.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An elite South African police unit shot dead seven men when they tried to rob a cash depot in western Johannesburg on Saturday evening, a spokesman for the unit said. Nine others were injured and under police guard in hospital, a spokesman of the unit known as Hawks told Reuters. Police also confiscated 11 vehicles and four firearms. "We believe we got the kingpin down. We are convinced that we got all the robbers - dead or arrested," Paul Ramaloko said. The depot belonged to Protea Coin, a security company which runs a cash-in-transit business. Crime is a chronic problem for South Africa. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world outside a war zone. About 40 percent of the adult population is jobless - a percentage expected to rise substantially in the coming years - and this is seen driving crime and widening economic inequality.
Risk-aversion has been the prevailing theme this week, with the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar continuing to outpace their respective counterparts while high beta currencies and risk-correlated assets, in particular the Euro and the S&P 500, have struggled to retain any footing in November. The causes for concern have been two-fold in nature: a worsening European sovereign debt crisis; and the notion that the US fiscal cliff is right around the corner. While these events have stoked demand for safety, in particular lower yielding currencies and precious metals, our focus today is on the European Central Bank, which has its monthly Rate Decision meeting today at 07:45 EST / 12:45 GMT, followed by President Mario Draghi’s press conference at 08:30 EST / 13:30 GMT. The ECB has yet to be active in Italian or Spanish bond markets following President Draghi’s promise to save the Euro via “whatever it takes,” but this isn’t a surprise given that neither country has sought an international bailout yet. With no new measures expected to be announced today and Spain continuing to sidestep the idea of a bailout – something that looks necessary to keep a lid on investors’ fears but will be nothing short of self-mutilation for the Rajoy-led government – the investment climate is looking fragile this morning. Nevertheless, if the market was in true panic mode, there would be a greater shift into the Yen and the US Dollar, with Gold and Silver selling off as well as investors hoards liquidity; this hasn’t happened. Finally, as noted in the technical section below, the S&P 500 has held fairly significant trendline support, and without a catalyst, a further breakdown may be staved off in the near-term. Taking a look at credit, weakness in periphery yields continues to weigh on the Euro. The Italian 2-year note yield has increased to 2.118% (+1.8-bps) while the Spanish 2-year note yield has increased to 3.102 % (+6.1-bps). Likewise, the Italian 10-year note yield has increased to 4.951% (+5.6-bps) while the Spanish 10-year note yield has decreased to 5.770% (+10.7-bps); higher yields imply lower prices. RELATIVE PERFORMANCE (versus USD): 10:30 GMT JPY: +0.23% AUD:+0.06% CAD:+0.02% CHF:-0.13% NZD:-0.17% GBP:-0.20% EUR: -0.22% Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index (Ticker: USDOLLAR): +0.04% (+0.54% past 5-days)
The FX majors were on pace to finish the week strong – the AUDUSD near 1.0500, the EURUSD above 1.2900, and the GBPUSD above 1.6000 – but amid some light but potentially significant developments out of Europe, risk-appetite has completely broken, with the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar surging in the early hours of European trading on Friday. Mainly, as summarized earlier, the concerns out of Europe are for two main reasons: slowing growth in the core European (not just Euro-zone) countries; and further stagnation in Greece on the policy side of things. To start: French and Swedish Industrial Production came in worse than expected in September, triggering worries that weakening growth prospects are making their way into the traditionally stronger European countries. Alongside some not-so-enthusiastic comments from German officials on growth and further delays in Greek bailout measures, the Euro has been pressured lower for the past four or five hours. Follow through today is up in the air as it is Friday, meaning that liquidity is drastically reduced by the second half of the US trading session, with Asian and European markets offline until Monday. From the technical side of the market, the breakdown in the S&P 500, which has not be entirely unexpected following the ascending channel break off of the June 4 and July 25 lows, may be nearing a stalling point. Although the broad measure of risk has now fallen out of an ascending channel off of the October 4, 2011 and June 4, 2012 lows, the most significant lows in the S&P 500 in recent memory. Coupled with the fact that the index is starting to resemble the charting pattern from mid-1987 (right before the October crash), I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to get worried about high beta currencies and risk-correlated assets. We’ll explore setups for this trade next week. Taking a look at credit, Euro weakness has not been reflected in peripheral bond yields. The Italian 2-year note yield has increased to 2.338% (+1.0-bps) while the Spanish 2-year note yield has increased to 3.126 % (+0.2-bps). Similarly, the Italian 10-year note yield has decreased to 4.998% (-0.8-bps) while the Spanish 10-year note yield has decreased to 5.809% (-1.1-bps); lower yields imply higher prices. RELATIVE PERFORMANCE (versus USD): 11:05 GMT JPY: +0.29% NZD:+0.17% CAD:+0.01% AUD:-0.01% EUR:-0.20% GBP:-0.21% CHF: -0.22% Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index (Ticker: USDOLLAR): +0.03% (-0.24% past 5-days)
LONDON — While European government chiefs were grandstanding in Brussels this week in what turned out to be a vain attempt to hammer out a common budget, their science ministers were quietly celebrating a deal to secure Europe’s prospects in space. At ministerial negotiations in Naples of the 20-member European Space Agency (E.S.A), the usually parsimonious British actually agreed to contribute extra funds to ensure Europe’s place in deep space exploration. And Germany and France, in a spirit of compromise that was sorely lacking in Brussels, ironed out their differences on upgrading Europe’s workhorse Ariane rocket. As European space chiefs hailed the outcome of the November 21-22 meeting, Jean-Jacques Dordain, the E.S.A.’s director-general, said the level of funding agreed was a significant achievement given current economic difficulties. Praising the agreement to spend €10.1 billion, or $13 billion, on space exploration over the next three to five years, Mr. Dordain said: “Member states recognize that space is not an expense, it’s an investment.” The successful deal, which was slightly less than Europe’s space officials wanted but at least matched current spending, was a recognition that the economies of European states could ultimately lose out if scientific research is slashed in an era of austerity. David Willetts, the British science minister, announcing an extra £300 million ($480 million) contribution to the E.S.A. earlier this month, said: “It will drive growth, create extra skilled jobs and help the U.K. to realize its ambition to have a £30 billion space industry by 2030.” As part of the Naples deal, Britain agreed for the first time to put money into a manned spaceflight program by agreeing to fund a European project to provide the propulsion unit for NASA’s new manned capsule, Orion. As a result of a Franco-German compromise, the E.S.A. will continue to pursue Germany’s preferred option for an upgraded version of the Ariane, the Ariane 5ME, which can carry heavier payloads and put them into higher orbit. However, the Naples meeting also agreed to fund France’s favored solution to build a new Ariane 6 that it says would be cheaper to launch and more competitive. “We are not talking about victories,” said Johann-Dietrich Wörner, chairman of the German space agency. “We are talking about European solutions.” The funding agreed this week pegs spending at current euro levels, so space development will lose out in real terms and some projects will have to go. Italy, France, Spain and Britain had already decided not to participate in a German-sponsored lunar lander project before the Naples meeting, meaning the E.S.A. will have to shelve plans for an unmanned landing on the south pole of the moon. The Naples meeting may have been good news for space fans and European aerospace, but scientists remain concerned about the overall impact of budgetary restraint. The Guardian newspaper reported this week that some of the world’s leading research organizations had written to warn José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, that cuts to the European Union science budget would threaten the Continent’s economic recovery. European heads of state were supposed to make a decision on science funding this week. But, as a result of the Brussels budget debacle, that is just one more decision that will have to wait.
A Mississippi native, Guyot (pronounced GHEE-ott) worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and served as director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, which brought thousands of young people to the state to register blacks to vote despite a history of violence and intimidation by authorities. He also chaired the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which sought to have blacks included among the state’s delegates to the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The bid was rejected, but another civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, addressed the convention during a nationally televised appearance. Guyot was severely beaten several times, including at the notorious Mississippi State Penitentiary known as Parchman Farm. He continued to speak on voting rights until his death, including encouraging people to cast ballots for President Barack Obama. “He was a civil rights field worker right up to the end,” Guyot-Diangone said. Guyot participated in the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Project to make sure a new generation could learn about the civil rights movement. “There is nothing like having risked your life with people over something immensely important to you,” he told The Clarion-Ledger in 2004. “As Churchill said, there’s nothing more exhilarating than to have been shot at — and missed.” His daughter said she recently saw him on a bus encouraging people to register to vote and asking about their political views. She said he was an early backer of gay marriage, noting that when he married a white woman, interracial marriage was illegal in some states. He met his wife Monica while they both worked for racial equality. “He followed justice,” his daughter said. “He followed what was consistent with his values, not what was fashionable. He just pushed people along with him.” Susan Glisson, executive director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi, called Guyot “a towering figure, a real warrior for freedom and justice.” “He loved to mentor young people. That’s how I met him,” she said. When she attended Ole Miss, students reached out to civil rights activists and Guyot responded. “He was very opinionated,” she said. “But always — he always backed up his opinions with detailed facts. He always pushed you to think more deeply and to be more strategic. It could be long days of debate about the way forward. But once the path was set, there was nobody more committed to the path.” Glisson said Guyot’s efforts helped lay the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “Mississippi has more black elected officials than any other state in the country, and that’s a direct tribute to his work,” she said. Guyot was born in Pass Christian, Miss., on July 17, 1939. He became active in civil rights while attending Tougaloo College in Mississippi, and graduated in 1963. Guyot received a law degree in 1971 from Rutgers University, and then moved to Washington, where he worked to elect fellow Mississippian and civil rights activist Marion Barry as mayor in 1978. “When he came to Washington, he continued his revolutionary zeal,” Barry told The Washington Post on Friday. “He was always busy working for the people.” Guyot worked for the District of Columbia government in various capacities and as a neighborhood advisory commissioner. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton told The Post in 2007 that she first met Guyot within days of his beating at a jail in Winona, Miss. “Because of Larry Guyot, I understood what it meant to live with terror and to walk straight into it,” she told the newspaper. On Friday, she called Guyot “an unsung hero” of the civil rights movement. “Very few Mississippians were willing to risk their lives at that time,” she said. “But Guyot did.” In recent months, his daughter said he was concerned about what he said were Republican efforts to limit access to the polls. As his health was failing, he voted early because he wanted to make sure his vote was counted, he told the AFRO newspaper. Funeral services are pending. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WiiWare was undeniably a shelter for a lot of old school genres that would have required a lot more investment if released at retail. Indeed, it has become quite hard to sell a game that can be beaten in a matter of two to three hours at full price like some old genres could...namely shoot 'em ups. The first of a series of three games -- the other two being Contra ReBirth and Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth -- Gradius ReBirth harks back to the roots of the franchise it belongs to, ignoring the advancements of technology that were used most efficiently by the teams of Treasure Co., Ltd. in Gradius V for PlayStation 2, but rather offering an experience closer to the original Arcade titles. Developed by M2, who also worked on the Gradius, Salamander, Twinbee and Parodius collections for PSP, the game certainly was put into good hands. How did it turn out, though? Read on to find out. One of the most distinctive aspects of this specific Gradius episode is its emphasis on a storyline. A lengthy intro, done in the style of the older MSX entries that were already notable for this aspect of things, sets the stage for the rest of the game. Planet Antichthon, Protectorate of the Gradian Empire, has suddenly fallen silent. It is feared that the Bacterians, the main villains in the Gradius series, may have infected their mother computer. It's now up to a single squadron of small spaceships, of which yours is going solo, to go out there and defeat the enemy leader to put an end to hostilities before it's too late. It's one of the most cliché pretexts for the action happening inside the game but in others of the same genre the storyline is often relegated to a mere mention on the game box art or the instruction booklet. Here, a text-based introduction is dedicated to setting the story, which is a nice thing, especially since the whole Gradius series has a quite complex story by genre standards when all episodes are taken together. Staying true to its roots, Gradius ReBirth has the player taking control of the Vic Viper spacecraft, initially armed with a sole cannon shooting forward an infinite flow of tiny bullets.
- completed a major project - finished the project faster than if I did it in short bursts; it takes me a long time to get back on track if I leave a complex task even for a short period of time - hyperfocusing helped me remember details in a complex, multi-faceted task - felt a sense of satisfaction sacrificing other things for a worthy goal - proud of my self-discipline and commitment to a goal in saying “no” to a lot of opportunities - chose long-term over short-term gratification – not easy for someone who’s impulsive - super-motivated to get back in shape now that the project is over, and excited about that - aware that I was hyperfocusing and conscious that I’d need to catch up on other things when the project was done Con - out of touch with my friends - other activities sacrificed: exercise, bass practice, other interests - physical and spiritual well-being compromised (no time for exercise, yoga, meditation, contemplation) - forgot about some important commitments at the expense of the larger project (e.g. this Wednesday’s blog post, part three of a series which, by the way, I intend to make up next Wednesday) - feeling guilty about missed commitments - lost track of a bill thrown in a pile of papers and snapped at the employee when they called to remind me to pay it - feeling out-of-balance Could I have gotten this project done without hyperfocusing? Honest answer: doubtful. I’m reminding myself that this year was exceptionally challenging. Time-robbing life events culminated in sabotaging my ability to establish a steady work routine. With the deadline looming, I had to pull out all the stops to make it to the finish line. Chemistry Whenever I’m hyperfocusing, I’m also aware of the toll it’s taking on my body. I worked late into the night, and got up early the next morning to finish the project. Three days later, I’m aching all over. I have a headache. I’m exhausted and I think I’m coming down with the flu. On the other hand, the adrenaline rush of a deadline always sharpens and keeps my focus (hyperfocus), gives me a rush of energy, and helps me meet my goals. It’s the same way before a performance. I’ve always suffered intense stage fright, but three or four minutes onstage, and hyperfocus kicks in. My nervousness evaporates. Will working in spurts of hyperfocus have a long-term negative effect on my health? I worry about that. Do I think I can change this pattern of hyperfocusing to achieve major goals? When I first started reading about ADHD, I was stunned when I discovered several writers who described people with ADHD as going full-out, giving 100% in short bursts of productivity. This is contrasted with the more usual, 20 to 30% effort over the course of the day, day in and day out. In Tom Hartmann’s book Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception, he describes people with ADHD as “hunters,” with short bursts of energy, focused on the hunt, followed by lulls. This describes the way I’ve always worked to a tee. No wonder we get exhausted. If, as some authors suggest, we have a genetic predisposition to work this way, how can I hope to change it? In spite of all the tips, guidelines, books, articles, and other time management tools written for people with ADHD, I feel like I’m swimming against the current if I try to force my natural energy flows through a contrived system of dams and channels. As long as it doesn’t kill me (I need to do more research on the physiological effects of hyperfocusing) I like the idea of literally going with the flow. My goal is not to fight it, but to make sure (if at all possible) the rest of my life doesn’t get quite as out of balance as it has recently. I need to keep reminding myself that the past year has been exceptionally overwhelming, and see what the new year holds. Now, before I snuggle in bed with a hot toddy, a good book, and the hope that sleep will fend off illness, let me ask you this: do you use hyperfocus to accomplish big goals? Do you use it consciously? Have you tried to change that? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your stories. Be well.
The flagship $4.5 billion carrier, a 100,000 ton floating city with a crew of 5,000, was despatched four months earlier than planned to bolster the United States Navy's already formidable force in the region, the Fifth Fleet. Its mission is to keep some of the world's busiest shipping lanes open in its most combustible region; at any moment America's standoff with Iran could escalate into a crisis. "Could there be a threat?" asked Rear Admiral Mike Shoemaker, the man who would command any mission to force open the sea lanes. "Yes is the answer. Is it manageable? Also yes." Admiral Shoemaker, a wiry man with a Navy buzz cut, runs through the likely threats: anti-ship cruise missiles; midget submarines; speedboats on suicide missions. Iran's conventional air force and navy are clapped out and no match for the US Navy, but they had years of practising mine-laying. "If they sunk a tanker, that could shut the Strait for a couple of days or a week," Adm Shoemaker said. "But we could deal with that quite quickly. A massive mine-laying effort, though, would take a while to clear.
THE GAZETTE The fourth-largest jackpot in the history of the multi-state Powerball drawing meant lots of Colorado Springs dreamers were buying tickets Saturday. “Between 6 and 7 p.m. we’ll get slammed,” said Rene Green, manager of the 7-Eleven store on Garden of the Gods Road in the hours leading up to the Saturday night drawing. Colorado has never had a full Powerball winner. But, when the jackpot gets massive, people who won’t normally buy tickets will buy at least some, and others buy a lot more than usual, she said. “We never buy lotto tickets, and my husband came in and bought some,” Green said of the $325 million jackpot. The last time the Powerball jackpot was really high, the store sold more than $1,000 in tickets in a single day, she said. By 6 p.m., a steady stream of Powerball ticket buyers lined up in the Diamond Shamrock at Delmonico Drive and West Rockrimmon Boulevard. Ticket-buyers were cheerful and optimistic, with the general thought being “why not give it a shot.” “I’ll be selling tickets until the machine turns off,” said clerk Jared Conrad. “I’ll have a lot of customers come in and throw $10 or $20 on tickets.” The big jackpots always boost sales, he said. The Powerball website said odds of winning were less than one out of 175 million, but that didn’t slow down buyers. Some customers plunk down $300 to $400 in tickets in one shot, Green said. The store has seen a few small winners, but nothing major. The jackpot for Saturday night’s 42-state Powerball drawing was up to $325 million, with the winning ticket worth an estimated $212.8 million in cash. If there is no jackpot winner Saturday, the next drawing on Wednesday Nov. 28 could be worth $425 million — the highest Powerball jackpot ever. The King Soopers on Centennial Boulevard also had a steady stream of people buying tickets Saturday afternoon. “I bought two tickets and usually I only buy one,” said Janie Rawlings. Rawlings said she occasionally buys a ticket, but the big jackpot is a big draw. “Somebody’s going to win it,” she said, adding that if she won, some of the money would go to charity and she would buy a house. “I would take care of my family,” she said.
