Friday, April 29, 2016

You Can’t Spell Speed without PED

Dee Gordon went 1 for 4 as Miami swept the Dodgers with a 5-3 win Thursday night, then was slapped with an 80 game suspension:

Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has been suspended 80 games without pay, effective immediately, for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy, the league said early Friday.

The speedy second baseman tested positive for the performance-enhancing substances exogenous testosterone and clostebol, MLB said.

…

It also comes in the first season of Barry Bonds‘ tenure as Marlins hitting coach. Bonds’ legacy has been tainted by questions of PED use as a player.

He also had Mark McGwire as a coach in Los Angeles, and that’s where his upturn starts.

Christina Kahrl sums up the disappointment in Gordon’s actions:

First, it’s glum news because Gordon’s breakthrough last season was initially interpreted as one of those bits of feel-good redemption the game gives us as fans and players like Gordon all the time. A change of scenery, a second chance, the opportunity to show people what you can do, that was all apparently earned last season because of what Gordon did on the field. This isn’t merely some comfortable narrative we’re chucking, but a big portion of a person’s life.

Second, I say that not to apologize for Gordon and his apparent PED use. He’ll have to deal with that for rest of his career, starting with when he comes back from his suspension July 28, in the Marlins’ 102nd game. Since Gordon is fresh off signing a five-year, $50 million extension that covers him through 2020, I expect few will weep for him. Because we don’t know — yet, if indeed we ever will — when he started using them, we can’t usefully speculate about their impact on his performance. Was it just this season? Or did it start in 2015 as part of push for big money in Miami? Or in 2014, when he had his first full productive season with the Dodgers? From the outside, it looks bad. Inside the organization, it probably feels worse.

I wonder at some point if a team will bring a fraud suit against a player for signing a contract after PED use helped them win a big contract? I doubt it would work, since testing and punishment is built into the system. Looking at Gordon’s career, the most likely explanation is that Gordon started using in 2014, and managed to get around the tests until now. After all, Alex Rodriguez was suspended despite never failing a test.



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Friday Update

The Day by Day Database is up to date.



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Project Fishermen: Part 1




I picked up a few bits for the Fisherman Guild (Guildball) at Salute last weekend, and the paint is going on very easily! Let's take a look..



As I mentioned in my last entry, I wanted to keep the bases for these guys pretty simple, to that end a rapid job was in order:


Messy basing is the best kind of basing... right?


After that I went ahead and started some painting, I wanted to stick to the stock colour scheme for the guild and try and tread the line between a rapid paint job and a decent standard, in the end i'm really happy with what I achieved. Very quickly (5 hrs?) I had the first 3 models painted, that is the ball token, mascot and my first player..

Such an Angry Otter!


I feel like I'm really in a good painting groove lately, able to get decent quality paint jobs done in very little time, perhaps all that Troll speed painting really helped!

Join me again next week to hopefully see more progress!



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Thursday, April 28, 2016

5 Tips to Restore Well-Being for the Summer

We’ve all been waiting patiently for summer to arrive. Follow these five summer tips to prepare and protect your well-being … Continue reading →

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Types of Bathroom Vanities and Their Benefits

Bathroom vanities are extremely useful and are the best addition to bathroom decor. If you’re planning to have one of these, then here are a few ideas for you.

Glass Bathroom Vanity
At any clear finish or frosted tempered glass provides a single, sleek and modern, as well as the set of bathroom vanities. This is one of the easiest surfaces to clean and has very good tolerance of heat does not dissolve or burn, if you forget the curling iron out! Tempered glass isalso a non-porous surface, bacteria and germs have no place to grow, which is hygienic and resistant to stains. Another advantage of glass is that you will not need to worry about communication with your bath or color, because it is a different material, each device color (white or bone) game. Finally, the most dramatic for the bathroom remodeling project to install lights beneath the surface of tempered glass to add. Source: ModernBathroom

Double Bathroom Vanity
Double sink vanities are often seen in home design magazines. They are extremely stylish and provide a fantastic combination of form and function. Double sinks look great when they fit the dimensions of the room nicely; they also provide personal space in the bathroom for individuals living together in the same house. A bathroom vanity with two sinks is very practical. Two people can save a considerable amount of time just by having two sinks in one bathroom. The basic components of a double sink vanity include the countertop, cabinet, basins, fixtures, and hardware such as knobs and drawer pulls. You have two options, you can look for each item individually or you can look at furniture style complete vanities. Source: Ezine

Floating Bathroom Vanity
The main advantage of a floating vanity is the illusion of space it creates in the room; the room seems bigger because of the light that passes beneath it. In a small bathroom where space is already a premium, adding strip or spot lighting beneath the floating vanity helps to enhance the illusion of additional space. It also makes the bathroom less cluttered and simpler, rendering it easier to keep clean, a plus in any home. Source: Home

While selecting vanities for your home, you need to consider several things such as the size of the bathroom, as well as your budget along with the rest of decor. If you want more suggestions, please contact us here.

Contact Us:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com

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Surprising Phillies

The Phillies beat the Nationals 3-0 scoring all three runs in the top of the ninth. That win completes a sweep of the Nationals and brings Philadelphia to a 12-10 record.

Going into the season, the Phillies were expected to compete with the Braves for last place in the NL East. While the Braves have proved to be worse than expected, the Phillies are playing well. Aaron Nola matched Tanner Roark with seven shutout innings, Nola striking out seven and walking one to bring his season totals to 37 K with 6 BB. He looks like a very good starter for the team.

Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco are doing a great job getting on base, and Franco and Cameron Rupp are bringing some power.

Note that early in the season, the Phillies Pythagorean projection is way off. They have scored 72 runs and allowed 91. They’ve had three big losses, however, 8-1, 9-1, and 11-1, which accounts for most of the difference. Of course, big losses indicate that this won’t be a great team, but if they stick around .500 it will be a nice advance for the team.



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Ragnok, Norse Orc Hero Pt 1



I picked this up November last year at the scale model show. and thought it was time to get it out of the to do pile and add it to the small but growing done list.




I did not think this was worth a review at the time not because it is bad if anything it is almost perfect but there is not much you could say about it that would justify a hole artical.

This week we are talking face. and something I did not know at the time.

So I started out woth a green base.


from the base worked the blocking of the highlights.


then the Shadows.


It was at this point I had to put on my thinking cap about how I wanted the skin to look because the Green was very green and very dark and the high lights were very Yellow and did not sit right with me. but it have been sorted out and ill share it will you when we come to it.

So wile I was trying to work out the Skin I moved on to the hair and bread I went with a redis brown with a orange brown highlight 







So with the Skin I was told that to make a green more lighter and natureal to add a khaki to the green makes it lighter and not as intence 


Also I have found these are great to add to Skin tones to make them more natural as well but that is a diffrent thing all together.

Next Week ill show you all results of adding the Khaki and also working on the leather.















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