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Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – “American Dream Part II” Video – Stereogum

Admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:58:08 +0000

A while ago, the world was introduced to Oxford electro up-and-comer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, a stylemashing performer that just happens to dress like a Stegosaurus at gigs. He’s got a new record coming out this summer — we’ve previously processed cuts like “Dream On” and John Talabot’s remix of “Tapes & Money” — and today we’ve got another slice of that, the glitter-heavy visual for the pulsating “American Dream part II.” Watch it below.

Trouble is out 6/11 on Polydor.

Choices clear in O.C.’s 68th Assembly District

Finance tips for grads

Admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:01:14 +0000

Many students will be graduating college in the coming weeks. A majority of them will be leaving with large student loan debt. but that doesn’t you mean you can’t begin planning for the future. Kelli Grant, Sr. Consumer Reporter for SmartMoney.com, offers some tips for new grads on how to get started on the right financial path.

First, get your spending in check. It’s not easy to get a job these days, and the grace period before student loans kick in is all too short. Any credit card debt you rack up is going to be much harder to pay off. Don’t spend more than you make, and certainly not more than you can pay off the same month. Stick to cash when you can.

To help control your spending, set up a budget. Ask yourself, how much can I spend? Learning to keep a budget is a skill that will help you for the rest of your life. you can do it on your own by putting cash in envelopes, or there are plenty of free budget apps and sites like Mint.com that will help you track spending and set reasonable limits.

Don’t forget to pay yourself. It’s not easy to save a lot when your finances are already stretched tight, but it’s vital to build an emergency fund and save for future goals. Make sure you’re taking a little (ideally at least 10%) out of each paycheck. put it in a separate online-only, high-yield so it’s harder to dip into for non-emergencies.

Take the time to reassess your bills. Chances are, you’re using the same bank account Mom and Dad helped you pick out. Probably the same credit card and cellphone plan, too. Now that the decisions are yours, use a site like BillShrink.com or Bankrate.com to make sure you have the best rates and terms. it could save you hundreds of dollars a year, and help you get ahead financially.

And finally, it’s never too early to think about your credit score. Buying a home or new car may be years away, but once you’re ready you’ll need a credit score of at least a 700 on the 300 to 850 point scale to get the best rates. Pay bills on time and keep those balances low. Don’t open too many new credit cards, either.

For more money tips for college grads and other financial advice, visit SmartMoney.com

Arsenal strip, a fully fledged six-year-old football obsessive.

Yes, yes; that small boys like football is a universal truth, one that has fuelled Persil ads and birthday cards for decades. But, stupidly, I’d forgotten that it was probably based on fact. With two small sons, the odds of someone in the household succumbing to football fever were pretty high.

If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have confidently stated that a fully blown football fan was as plausible in our house as a pristine kitchen floor. my idea of the perfect Saturday afternoon involves a big mug of coffee and a bigger book; if fresh air is required, a meander in the woodland solves it nicely. my husband grew up in the hooligan-ridden 80s within earshot of the cacophony from the terraces. His relationship with football progressed at an early age from indifference to antipathy. The grand tradition of the beautiful game is often learned at home, but not in this home. in terms of football fanaticism, we languish in the Conference Premier league.

It’s irrelevant, of course. How naive can I be? like a particularly virulent stomach bug, football is something that Jonah picked up at school. Each breaktime, a gaggle of likeminded footie nuts turns into pint-sized Vieiras and Van Persies, engaging in fierce competition to score a hat trick before being called back in for phonics practice. when it came down to the important business of choosing a team, Jonah did what children have done from time immemorial; he picked the same one as his friends. Male bonding starts with grazed knees.

At home, it’s like we’ve all been initiated overnight into a cult, albeit a very cute one largely consisting of small earnest True Believers in oversized replica kit. Football, according to Jonah, is in everything; all conversational paths lead to the Emirates stadium. He practises his handwriting by copying out league tables, numeracy by fervent study of goal differences and is saving up his pocket money for an Arsenal ticket. His love of reading, the reigning cult here, isn’t diminished, fortunately. I kid myself that this is because my own passion for books has rubbed off, but deep down I know it’s because reading is a gateway to yet more football. as with all good bugs, it’s catching. If Arsenal kick off after Jonah’s bedtime, I’ve got into the habit of putting a note with the score on in his room, to prevent dawn whispers of “Mummy! can I get up and see if Arsenal winned?”

Like the memory of applause echoing through an abandoned stadium, this flurry of football mania is kicking up anecdotes buried in my brain. For a while in my 20s, surrounded by rabid football fans, I knew plenty about the game and could debate formations and strategy with the best. I went so far as to develop a random, inexplicable crush on Jim Leighton, whose performance during Euro 96 seemed impossibly romantic. But even back then I used to take a book to the terraces “for the boring bits”, and in the years that have passed, my football knowledge has drifted into nothingness, like a missed corner kick.

Now football is part of my eco system again, like it or not. I find myself inadvertantly able to silence a pack of small boys – no mean feat – by telling them that I’ve seen Barcelona’s manager play. Barcelona, as any six-year-old will tell me, and frequently does, is The best Team in the World, so this is big news. “In the olden days?” one of them asks, awed, ruining it. “Yes, in the olden days,” I confirm, feeling ruin-like myself. they are impressed, gazing up at me awestruck; then one spies a stone that looks vaguely spherical, and they’re off, a roiling mass of self-commentating, self-congratulating players, all about to win a cup final. every game is critical in their minds, whether played by them or by, as they see it, bigger versions of themselves. The route between playground games and televised matches is short and crystal clear. At six, there’s no reason to believe that you can’t play for Arsenal one day. in Jonah’s mind, once he and his friends have agreed who will play in which position, all that remains is for them to wait to be old enough. It’s brilliant to be around such certainty, something Enid Blyton-esque about realising that small boys really do want to grow up to be footballers.

Jonah already possesses the instinct I’ve always associated with grown men, of identifying people by the team they support. I tell him we’re going to visit old friends at the weekend, friends he knows and likes. “But C’s an Ipswich fan!” Jonah says with concern, his tone clearly conveying the dangers of consorting with somebody of such dubious taste. as a first-generation football fan, Jonah has no mechanism for understanding the decades-long agony of supporting a team through wins and losses, losses, losses. There’s a reason everyone in his class supports a Premier League team, and it has to do with the visibility of success.

We persuade Jonah regardless, that we should visit our friends, if only for him to try to get to the bottom of such apparently dodgy taste in teams. All is redeemed when our friend produces a trophy he’d been presented with for winning his fantasy football league. Anyone who can win a trophy has to be OK, after all.

Sometimes I wish for Jonah’s sake that he’d been born into a team, that there had been a family tradition that required him to grow up following, say, Arsenal or even – horrors – Ipswich Town. But for the most part, I’m glad that we’re all learning this together. Being a little kid is all about exploring, about finding your way, and there’s nobody in the family who knows more than Jonah about the Premier League. my own father can give him a pretty good run for his money, but on a day-to-day basis, he’s far and away top of the division.

Football has provided, however unwittingly, a level playing field, an area where Mummy or Daddy don’t necessarily know more, or better. This is an epiphany for both our boys, and a salutary reminder for us that life only becomes more about the kids outstripping us in terms of knowledge, passion and ability. my husband is reversing his opinion in the age-old fashion – football fans can’t all be awful if Jonah is one. Football’s become part of our family’s DNA, along with Sunday night fish tacos and endless lullaby refrains of you Are my Sunshine, that marks out our family as peculiarly ours.

It could, of course, all be a phase. perhaps by the age of nine, football will have been usurped by some other, currently undetected passion. Whatever happens, and despite myself, I’m really enjoying the football thing, for all sorts of reasons I hadn’t considered. I’m proud of Jonah for showing us so clearly who he is, for demonstrating that the dynamic of a family will continue to shift and flow to accommodate the urges of each of us within it. well after the last scuff marks from spontaneous indoor football matches have been scrubbed from the walls, the imprint of Jonah’s first true love will remain upon us. I’ll be checking the Arsenal scores before bed for decades.

Gazette news briefs

Third grade concludes year-long money management lesson

Admin — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:58:10 +0000

Pioneer Community FCU sponsored a program where students could earn money and then decide to save, share, spend or give it to the school. Pictured with their certificates of completion are from back left: Helen “Frankie” Miller, Credit Union board member and Bronco Banker; Tonya Placzek, Credit Union Manager; Patty Anderjaska, Member Service Representative. From middle left: David Swartz, Maycee Wheeler, Devin Carl, Anthony Sramek, Destany Simpson, Halee Sandman, Isaiah Roe. front row from left: Romeo Dirk, Kendra Bley, Halee Davis, Alicia Holmberg, Zoey Boos and RanDee Barger, third grade teacher.

By Sheri Hink

The Wauneta Breeze

Lessons in money management were a year-long affair for Wauneta-Palisade third graders. This year marked the first ever Pioneer Community Federal Credit Union Junior Booster Club. The booster club, sponsored by the credit union, offered third grade students the opportunity to earn real money and then make real decisions about what to do with that money.

“We thought we’d start at a certain age group to teach them to save. Third grade is a good age to start,” said Tonya Placzek, Pioneer Community Federal Credit Union manager.

Throughout the school year third grade teacher RanDee Barger would give each student a mark to indicate how they behaved during the week. Those who received a green mark earned $0.25 from the credit union. Each student had the potential of earning $9 throughout the year.

Each month Helen “Frankie” Miller, a member of the board of directors for the credit union and known to the class as their “Bronco Banker,” would go into the classroom and offer the students four ways to use the money they had earned that month.

First, students could save their money. if they chose this option, the credit union held onto their earnings until the end of the school year. Those who saved some or all of their money were given an envelope with the cash on Monday.

Four students had an account with the credit union and two quickly deposited their money into their account.

One student took a savings account application home to his parents in hopes he could open an account soon. The Credit Union told students if they did not earn quite enough to make the $5 minimum to open an account they would help them with the difference.

Many of the students had savings accounts elsewhere and plan to deposit their money in those accounts.

Second, students could chose to share all or part of their earnings for the month, sharing money will be used to purchase food for the food pantry. Monday, the credit union presented Barger with an envelope containing the cash class members had put toward sharing. The class made a quick trip to Allen’s Grocery Store Monday so they could begin to think about what types of food they want to buy to donate to the food pantry.

Third, students could spend the money they earned each month. When Miller would go to the classroom each month she took a bag of trinkets with her, ranging in price from $0.25 to $1. Students who chose to spend their money could do.

Lastly, Junior Booster Club members were given the option of giving the money they earned to the school. The credit union gave Barger an envelope containing the money the class had saved for school needs. This amount is equal to the total designations to the school by club members. The money will be used to purchase something for the classroom.

Student’s decisions on how to spend their money evolved throughout the year.

“Some of them divided it equally between the four different categories, while others spent it all on items from our Bronco Banker’s (Frankie Miller) basket of goodies and others put their’s into savings, school and sharing. as the year went on, we (strongly) guided the spenders to save some of their money,” explained Barger.

She went on to say, “We would like to thank the Pioneer Community FCU for being so generous to our third grade students. This lesson has been very beneficial to the students to help them learn about the four S’s: saving, sharing, school, and spending. we hope that what they learned through this lesson, will carry on through their years in school, college and adulthood.”

About the Pioneer Community FCU

Pioneer Community Federal Credit Union was started 10 years ago. It serves those who live, work, worship, go to school, or own land in Hayes or Hitchcock counties or who have a relative that does. their motto is “Not for profit, not for charity, but for service.”

Series on local service organizations and clubs

This story is part of an ongoing series highlighting service organizations and community clubs in the Wauneta area. The purpose of the series is to inform the public of what local organizations are doing for the community and how they can help.

At the end of the series, Breeze readers will be asked to vote for their favorite organization or club. The organization or club receiving the most votes will be given a $50 donation to use towards the project of its choice.

Organizations and community clubs interested in being featured in the series should contact the Breeze at 308-394-5389 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Homeless-camping ban signed by Denver mayor

Clark Howard: Money doesn’t grow in the freezer

Admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:58:08 +0000

Consumer expert Clark Howard’s column appears here each Thursday in conjunction with Deal Spotter, a weekly print section in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Remember when people used to hide money under the mattress? That trend is back with a twist.

More than a quarter of Americans put their cash in the freezer, according to a recent poll from the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. Other popular options for stashing cash at home include the cookie jar and in a sock in the drawer. (Only 11 percent of respondents say they still put their money in the mattress.)

People have been afraid of banks ever since the financial crisis, or they’re felt that the interest rate is so low, why even bother? I spoke to a gentleman recently who told me he had $15,000 in cash sitting in his house. That’s an unnecessary risk in my book.

So here’s my take. First, your money is safe up to $250,000 on deposit through FDIC protection (bank) and NCUA protection (credit union). Second, it is true that the big banks will rip you off. by the time the fees start, you could end up with less money than you started out with. but the danger of keeping big amounts of cash in your house is that somebody could swipe it or it could burn up in a fire.

In reality, you don’t have to do business with a big bank. there are savings accounts from online banks such as TIAADirect.com and others right now that pay 1 percent or 1.25 percent. Why not earn that instead of a big fat goose egg on the money in your house?

The other issue is, if you’re sitting with cash and you’re afraid to invest it, you may need to get over that fear. if you won’t need the money for 10 years or longer, you need to step out on the risk equation to give your money the opportunity to grow beyond the rate of inflation.

-by Clark Howard, Save More, Spend Less, Avoid Rip-offs

Find more answers to your consumer questions at ClarkHoward.com. Listen to his radio show live 1-3 p.m. Monday through Friday on WSB 750 AM and 95.5 FM.

LinkedIn and SlideShare: Presenting Business the Right Way

Bell to teach peers about game’s risks in early retirement; mail

Admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:58:11 +0000

Jacob Bell started all 54 games he appeared in for the Rams from 2008 through last year.Marc J. Peters/CSM/Landov

Jacob Bell doesn’t hate football. He doesn’t want to discourage players who love the game from playing it. but Bell, who walked away from the game last week healthy and able to play at 31, eschewing a job on the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line after starting 100 NFL games in Tennessee and St. Louis, wants players to know the risks.

"My big goal is to help educate players,” Bell told me this weekend. "Information about head trauma and concussions from all of the studies that have been done isn’t readily available, and I hope I can provide some kind of service to help players who have questions about the health risks of the game.”

Bell hopes to push for rookies entering the league to be given information on concussion awareness at the annual NFL Rookie Symposium, and he’d like to see a baseline brain scan taken of every player before entering the league. He wants the findings of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is studying the brains of former athletes in contact sports, to be more readily available to players.

Some truth in advertising the Bell retirement: He’s hoping to raise the dialogue about the risks of head trauma and overall player safety for current and former players. but Bell was helped along by his contractual situation. Bell was due to make $6 million last season and $6 million this season under his contract with the Rams. Before the 2011 season, the Rams cut his 2011 pay to $3 million, and wiped out the last year on his contract. So Bell made $3 million in 2011 for St. Louis, was an unrestricted free agent, and signed a one-year, $890,000 deal with the Bengals.

I asked Bell: "if you were on your previous contract with the Rams, due to make $6 million this year, would you have retired?"

"That’s a very good question,” he said. "And therein lies the problem. how can you say when you’re being offered so much money, the kind of money that can secure your future, to play football? So of course it played a role."

Money, Bell thinks, helps keep many players in the game longer than they might truly want to. "I guarantee you if you asked every player in the NFL if they’d do it for $500,000 a year, a lot of them would do something else,” he said.

Bell said since he made his retirement public, he’s gotten "overwhelming support” from former teammates and friends, many of whom he hadn’t heard from in a while. He said the Junior Seau suicide was a factor in his decision, but not an overwhelming one. "it played a part, because Junior did so many great things for his community,” said Bell. "but I have been thinking about this for some time. I have been weighing the risks and rewards of playing the game since day one. And when you play in the NFL, you think about it, but it always seems to get outweighed by the glory and the fame and the money you get for playing.”

Now that Bell isn’t playing anymore, he can devote his energy to working toward a goal of educating every player about the realities of the health risks. I know it’s a slippery slope, but the NFL and NFL Players Association should use Bell’s retirement as part of the clarion call toward player safety. the NFL, for one, should invite him to the Rookie Symposium this summer, to tell his story.

Now for your email:

THANKS. "I’ve loved your column ever since I stumbled onto it years ago while looking for fantasy football advice (which by the way, isn’t very good–haha). What’s great about MMQB is how you humanize football players and bring us into their personal lives. for every time you write about a superstar like Brett Favre, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, there is always something about someone not as well known, like Tony Corrente, Sgt McGwire and Steve Gleason. Today, I just finished reading about Wayne Dorsey – I still haven’t finished the rest of the column – and felt compelled to write in.

I’ve never met Wayne Dorsey. Heck I’ve never even heard of him until today and yet I found myself glued to the screen, reading line by line and hoping that he would receive an invite to the Raiders camp. Not sure why his story touched me – maybe it’s because I gave on my dreams years ago after tearing my ACL in high school, maybe its because I’ve been unemployed for the past year or maybe because its Mothers Day and I feel like I haven’t made my mother as proud of me as mr. Dorsey’s mother is of him right now. I’ve never met Wayne Dorsey, but can you tell him that he has a fan in Canada who is cheering for him, and that he has inspired me to never give up on my dreams – which by the way, is to become a sportswriter like you. please keep us updated on Wayne’s progress and thank you again for your excellent work.” – From Fuz, of Toronto

Really nice of you to write, Fuz. good luck to you. the Dorsey story hit me the same way. I think he’s a longshot, of course, but he’ll have a lot of people pulling for him.

DANGER FOR T-JACK. "On Russell Wilson, I agree that Flynn should not be worried, but do you think Tavaris Jackson should be? I think Carroll and Schneider are trying to be noncommittal here, but it seems likely Flynn will ‘win’ the starting job given what he did in his few NFL starts and the amount we paid to get him. but, T-Jack should be a little nervous given what he has done in his starts.” – From Michael Lapin, of Seattle

Jackson had last season to convince the Seahawks he should be their quarterback of the future. He didn’t do that. So they’ve gone shopping, and you’re right: if Russell Wilson is good, and he’s good early, Jackson will either be no. 3 or he’ll be cut during camp.

THE LOS ANGELES CANDIDATES. "I found the Vikings stadium story interesting, and I also find your LA most Wanted list interesting as well. I have two questions – one – if you don’t think any of those teams are likely to move, is the next best option an expansion team or two? Throws off the divisional symmetry, but could be the only way. two – just to spark a controversy, what would you list of the five teams least likely to move to LA look like? Mine would be Packers, 49ers, Patriots, Cowboys and Bears.” – From John Vojtech, of St. Charles, Ill.

There are probably 20 teams least likely, all tied for first. That’s a long list. regarding expansion, I don’t see it for now — it would dilute the TV money each team receives by something like $5 million per year, and it would create the kind of divisional imbalance that teams in that division would protest strongly. That’s not to say in four or five years if there’s not a team or two that moves that the league won’t look to Los Angeles. I think you should watch the machinations between St. Louis and the local government about fixes to the Edward Jones Dome and to the lease closely, and you should watch the Raiders’ poor stadium situation in Oakland as well. Though I think the Rams will eventually work things out in St. Louis, it’s not a sure thing, and they’re nearing the end of their lease.

THE STALLED BREES TALKS. "Peter, I’m hearing that Drew Brees and the Saints are not only not close to a new deal, but not even talking for some 30 or so days now. What’s going on here? part of me thinks since Brees never had a mega-deal in San Diego and was vastly underpaid for his first contract with N.O. (given the performance he gave them over those seasons) that the Saints should pay him everything he wants and then some and be glad about it. So I don’t consider Brees ‘greedy’ as I’ve seen some other fans label him. And yet, knowing that no QB will ever win a Super Bowl by themselves, I also think Brees might be cutting his own throat by demanding every penny he can get and not leaving more money to spread around to other skill players and the defense.” – From Zack Hartman, of Austin, Texas

Saints GM Mickey Loomis is a very strong-willed man, as is the agent for Brees, Tom Condon. And as is Brees. So this was always going to be a contentious issue. You’re right — one of the reasons Brees feels so strongly about getting paid more than Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is because he so far out-performed his contract of six years and $60 million. That’s a middle-of-the-road (at best) quarterback salary for a man who has put up the best numbers in football, collectively, over that period. the way I view the deal is that, eventually, owner Tom Benson is going to get emotional if, say, in the middle of August Brees is holding out, and he’ll eventually jump in and push to get the deal done. That’s a gut feeling; no inside information there. So I think Brees will be there. There’s just going to be some pain along the way.

MAYBE THAT’S A GOOD THING, JASON. "I’m a life-long Cowboys fan so forgive me if I sound a little selfish but I haven’t heard ANYTHING from the Cowboys so far this off-season. usually Jerry has us in the spotlight for something during thise time of year but I haven’t heard anything. Is it due to all the negative stuff going on right now concerning the NFL and Jerry is just laying low or is there really nothing happening in Dallas?” – From Jason, of North Carolina

Remember how quiet the Giants were in the 2011 offseason? that worked out pretty well. Don’t fret. the offseason is more hype than reality around the NFL. the Cowboys have done the best thing for their team that they could do in the offseason — rebuild their corner depth with Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne.

A KATZENBACH FAN WRITES. "great call on the Katzenbach passing. one of the all time underrated greats (and a Jersey boy to boot). Your non-football thoughts add so much to the column; do not let anyone ever talk you out of giving us more than just football news and analysis. if mark Davis does not move my beloved Raiders to L.A., what do you envision happening? will he swallow his father’s pride and buddy up with the Niners in Santa Clara?” – From Graham Galloway, of Reno, Nev.

Thanks. mark Davis wants to keep the team, and if he actually does keep it, I believe he’s going to have to find a stadium solution outside of Oakland. It’d be very odd for the two Bay Area teams to be playing 50 minutes from downtown San Francisco and downtown Oakland, but that may be the only option that allows him to keep the team there.

THERE ARE ALWAYS MEETINGS, BUT I KNOW OF NOTHING IMMINENT. "Are you aware of anything happening between the NFL and Time Warner Cable in regards to making NFL Network available on TWC? I hate it that I and millions of other fans are unable to watch Thursday night football, especially with the network picking up more games earlier in the season. I’m unable to get DirecTV (no line of sight to my house) and feel like I’m being punished because there are no other options available. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that there isn’t more chatter about this because it affects so many people.” – From Andrew Giordano, of Clifton, N.J.

I keep thinking the NFL’s got to find a way to bridge the gap with Time Warner, but I’ve not heard of anything signifying the two sides are close. It’s sad, obviously. I can only hope your letter, and the sentiment of so many people like you, continues to chip away at the problem.

SHOULD THE FALCONS CHASE DALLAS CLARK? "with the Falcons’ signing of Chris Polian, and Tony Gonzalez getting older, and the fact that there is not really a serviceable replacement for him, do you believe the Falcons could sign Dallas Clark? He’s a better third-down receiver option than Harry Douglas in four-receiver sets, and would give Matt Ryan one more weapon. What are your thoughts?" – From Jay Johnson, of Cartersville, Ga.

I don’t see it. you can’t sign Dallas Clark, because of his recent injury history, and expect he’s going to be a reliable 16-game player for your team and give you 20 snaps a game. the Chiefs’ consideration of Clark is smart because he’d be a third tight end. some weeks, they’d use him six or eight snaps, and some weeks they might use him 15 to 20.