## Johns Hopkins Feels the Power with Its Cogeneration Plant

21 Nov

Tucked away at the bottom of a small hill in a distant corner of Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus is a large brick building.  Metal pipes protrude horizontally from its side before diving perpendicularly into the ground.  Its tall, curved top windows, rooftop smokestack and mysterious purpose are vaguely reminiscent of the factory from the classic 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  And much like the Wonka factory, no student ever goes in and no student ever comes out.

This building is the Homewood Power Plant, the facility responsible for providing electricity, heating, and cooling to the Homewood campus in central Baltimore City.  As part of Earth Week @ Johns Hopkins, the university’s Department of Facilities Management granted me a walkthrough to learn exactly what happens within.

The JHU Power Plant plays the same role as an electric utility’s generation station.  Fuel goes in and electricity comes out.  BGE, Maryland’s electricity provider, achieves 35% efficiency in this process.  What this means is that for every 100 units of fuel energy that goes in, 35 units of electricity comes out.  The remaining 65 units are expelled as waste heat through the Chesapeake Bay Cooling Tower.

Principles of thermodynamics and engineering limitations make it difficult to achieve higher efficiencies.  This is unless, of course, you manage to reclaim that waste heat for something useful.  This is where Homewood’s Cogeneration Facility comes into play.  Cogeneration (which stands for Combined Heat and Power System) is a process in which both electricity and useful heat (steam) are simultaneously produced.  The 65 units of waste heat, which would otherwise be discarded, are diverted to a waste heat recovery system.

Here are the basics.  Waste heat in the form of steam exits the primary generator at temperatures around 1000 °F.  The recovery system takes that steam and pumps it around the campus, eventually taking the form of building heat, hot water, and energy to feed Homewood campus’s four chilling plants.  All in all, the waste heat recovery system is able to wring about 45 extra units of steam energy from the 65 units of waste leading to an overall plant efficiency of 75-85%, approximately double what BGE could provide.  (For you wonks out there, the total electric capacity of the system is $3.8\times10^{7}$ kWh/year and total steam capacity is $210\times10^{6}$ pounds per year.)

“Cogen uses less energy to make electricity and heat and our process produces less greenhouse gases,” said Ed Kirk, a university energy engineer.  “Cogen reduces our energy use in one big chunk.”

The 4.2MW Power Plant, which opened in June 2010, is part of JHU’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in the next 12 years.  “Our approach has us looking at energy efficiency, energy conservation, more sustainable energy choices and renewable energy,” added Mr. Kirk.

If this system seems like a no-brainer, then why doesn’t BGE do it itself?  The problem is that piping steam over long distances is an incredibly inefficient operation.  Much of the steam’s heat will be lost in the process.  That’s not to say utilities don’t do it.  It’s just that circumstances have to be right.  For example, Con Edison, New York City’s utility provider, uses a collection of cogeneration plants to heat around 100,000 densely packed buildings in Manhattan.  This explains the familiar image of steam rising through city sewer grates.  It also explains why cogeneration plants must be closely located to end-users.

Closer proximity also lessens transmission and distribution losses over power lines and provides greater security in unstable energy markets.   The high energy requirements and dense arrangements of college campuses, hospitals, military bases, etc. make them attractive candidates for this type of technology.

The Homewood cogeneration unit joins a small handful of others in the region.  Two have been installed at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a couple others are at the University of Maryland at College Park and Mercy Medical in central Baltimore.

The limiting factor prohibiting everyone from installing cogen plants is cost.  The Homewood campus was fortunate in that it had a large, unused space directly above one of its on-site combustion turbines.  The facility cost \$7.5 million to install and will pay for itself in energy savings in about seven years.

Despite the plant’s net energy savings, this project was not always economically viable.  It was Maryland’s deregulation of electric utilities in 1999 that turned the tide.

“When electricity was deregulated, electricity prices rose,” said Craig Macomber, Chief Engineer at the Power Plant.  “At the same time, natural gas prices were falling.  These two conditions made our project feasible.”

The Homewood campus remains reliant on electricity purchased from BGE.  According to Mr. Macomber, when all things are considered the total amount of Homewood’s energy generated by the power plant is 20% in the summer and 30% in the winter.

Increased energy efficiency will lower the university’s carbon footprint by 8,650 metric tons per year, important for mitigating global climate change.  This falls in line with the goals of the JHU Office of Sustainability, whose stated mission is “to make Johns Hopkins University a showpiece of environmental leadership by demonstrating smart, sensible, and creative actions that promote the vision of sustainability.”

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## Milky Way over Santa Barbara

27 Aug

My latest photograph was shot from atop California's Santa Ynez Mountains on August 13, 2013.  The band of the Milky Way galaxy is visible over a field of antennas while the full moon reflects off the Pacific Ocean.  The halo of light in the center near the horizon is the city of Santa Barbara.  To the left of the city, a red light from the top of a nearby mountain glows.  The dots of light near the moon's reflection are from oil rigs.  If you look carefully, you'll see a handful of streaks (i.e. planes, meteors, satellites) as well.

This view was stitched together from 16 separate 30-second exposures.  About 180 degrees is subtended between the left and right while the top center was the sky's zenith.  As such, this image captures about one quarter of the entire sky.  I was using a Nikon D7000 with a 11.0- 16.0 mm f/2.8 Tokina lens at a focal length of 11.0 mm.  f/3.5;  ISO 400;  Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ball head.

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## Climate and Energy Primary Sources

16 Aug

There are tons of organizations that have done research related to energy, climate and policy.  Over the years I've aggregated a (non-comprehensive) list of those agencies.  If you would like to suggest additions, either post them in the comments or tweet them to me @mspecian and I'll update the list.

Alliance for Climate Protection

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy

American Energy Innovation Council

American Security Project

American Wind Energy Association

Better Buildings Neighborhood Program from DOE

Bloomberg

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Carbon Tracker Initiative

Center for American Progress

Center for Climate Strategies

Center for Investigative Reporting

Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association

Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)

Climate Nexus

Clinton Foundation

CLIVAR

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research – Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

E3G – Change Elements for Sustainable Development

EcoGeek.org

Economics and Equity for the Environment (E3)

Economic Outlook Group

Energy Self Reliant States

Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental Research Letters

Environment American

EUMETSAT

European Wind Energy Association

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Friends of the Earth UK

German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW)

Global CCS Institute

Global Warming Policy Foundation

Green Scissors Project

Greenwire

GTM Research (and energy consultancy)

The Guardian

Hart Research

Institute for Local Self Reliance

Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (in Beijing)

Insurance Information Institute

International Council on Clean Transportation

International Research Institute for Climate and Society

InVEST – Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services & Tradeoffs

ITIF

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

League of Conservation Voters

Major Economies Forum

MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research

MyCity+20

National Center for Atmospheric Research

National Drought Mitigation Center

National Latino Coalition on Climate Change

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) – National Climatic Data Center

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

National Wildlife Federation

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Nature Conservancy
North American Reliability Corporation

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership

Pecan Street – R&D on advanced technologies, advanced energy systems, and human interactions with them

Reuters

Rocky Mountain Institute

Safe Climate Campaign

Scott Polar research Institute at Cambridge University

Sierra Club

Solar Energy Industries Association

Southwest Climate Change Network

Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS)

Union of Concerned Scientists

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

US Climate Change Science Program

US Defense Department

US Global Change Research Program

US Historical Climate Network (USHCN)

US Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)

US Transportation Department – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

Visual Carbon

World Climate Research Programme

World Resources and Environmental Law

World Resources Institute

Zero Emissions Platform

# Journals

Environmental Research Letters

Journal of Climate

Journal of Geophysics Research

Geophysical Research Letters

Nature Geoscience

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## St. Peter's Square Panorama from Vatican City

2 Aug

I've completed work on an interactive Flash panorama that puts you right in the middle of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.  Click the image below or this link to check it out.  To see the full Rome photography gallery, click here.

This is where the panorama was taken:

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## ROH Bests SCUM in Steel Cage Warfare - The ROH Report

25 Jul

These are live spoilers and impressions from the fourth and final ROH TV taping filmed from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23.  This episode will air this weekend.

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WHAT TO WATCH:  The Steel Cage Warfare match was awesome.  Watch the whole thing.  The visual of the streamers draped over the top of the cage was very cool.

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Match 1: The American Wolves def. Mike Sydal & guy I don’t recognize (he’s white with blonde hair, wore similar ring gear as Sydal and had a similar physique) in 5:40.  This was a decent, competitive match.  The blonde guy looked good during his two flurries with Davey.

The story of the match was Sydal’s team’s use high-flying maneuvers like Sydal’s top turnbuckle moonsault to the floor, his tilt-a-whirl spinning whirlwind DDT on Edwards and both men’s matrix-style dodges and tandem offense (like double hip tosses and dropkicks) while the Wolves used power and speed - dropkicks, chops, etc.  After Sydal and Edwards traded elbows to the face, Davey came off the top with the double stomp for the pin.

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Usually ROH schedules the intermission between the 2nd and 3rd of the 4 TV tapings.  But since they needed lots of time to set up the cage for the main event, they didn’t give us our 20 minute break until midway through the fourth taping.  The audience was coming off hot show the night before at Best in the World, the weather was rather warm in Baltimore and we were on plastic chairs or unpadded bleachers the whole time.  Overall, it was tough to get through.  Thankfully, the main event was worth the inconvenience.

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Match 2: ROH (Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer & Kevin Steen) def. S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton & Rhino) in Steel Cage Warfare in 25 minutes - Per the stipulation, S.C.U.M. must disband.  This match had a War Games elimination format.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: S.C.U.M. played dirty by throwing salt in eyes, tying Elgin to the cage, having Matt Hardy and Steve Corino interfere and even using a fireball.  When Steve Corino introduced lighter fluid, Jacobs tried to stop him.  Kevin Steen took advantage and finished off Jacobs with the package piledriver to become the sole survivor.

[ Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer started the match. ]

Jacobs and Whitmer spent five minutes throwing each other into the cage.  Whitmer’s suplex roll into a fisherman suplex got a two count.

[ Rhett Titus entered. ]

Whitmer threw Titus around the cage for a while.

[ Michael Elgin entered. ]

Titus and Jacobs attempted to take out Elgin, but he was too strong.  Elgin delivered a double back suplex followed by his ridiculous Samoan drop/fallaway slam combination on both men.  (crowd chanted for Elgin)

[ Cliff Compton entered. ]

Compton tossed salt in Elgin’s eyes and tied Elgin to the cage Tommy Dreamer-style.  With Elgin incapacitated, Jacobs, Titus and Compton triple teamed Whitmer and hit a Young Bucks-style spike piledriver on him.

[ Whitmer was eliminated at 10:30 ]

[ Jay Lethal entered. ]

Lethal had a chair.  Titus got hit, Compton got a dropkick version of the Van Daminator and Jacobs got the Lethal Combination onto it.  Lethal took out a pair of clippers and freed Elgin.

[ Rhino entered. ]

Rhino immediately gored Elgin.  He tried to gore Lethal, but Lethal sidestepped and Rhino hit Titus instead.  Jay hit the Lethal Injection on Rhino.

[ Rhino was eliminated. ]

[ Kevin Steen entered.  The match was now 3-on-3. ]

Before Steen could enter the ring, Matt Hardy attacked him from behind and threw him into the barricade.  With the cage door open, the men starting slipping out and the match just broke down.  Jacobs slammed the cage door into Lethal’s head.  Steen attacked Hardy with a chair.  Elgin sideslammed Compton onto the exposed floor.  Jacobs and Titus slid a table into the ring and leaned it up in the corner.

Back in the ring, Titus attempted a powerbomb on Lethal, but Jay slipped out the other side.  He hit Titus with a superkick followed by a Lethal Injection.

[ Titus was eliminated at 19:00.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin, Lethal & Steen. ]

As Steen destroyed Hardy with a cane on the outside, Lethal got hit in the back with a chair and was speared through the table.  Compton pinned Lethal.

[ Lethal was eliminated at 20:30.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Everyone got back in the ring.  Compton tried to escape over the top of the cage, but Elgin followed.  Elgin stood on the top turnbuckle, grabbed Compton off the cage and delivered a powerbomb into the middle of the ring.  SICK!  (crowd: this is awesome!)

[ Compton was eliminated at 22:15.  The match was now Jacobs vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Steve Corino entered the ring and THREW A FIREBALL IN ELGIN’S FACE!

[ Michael Elgin was eliminated.  The match was down to Jacobs vs Steen. ]

Steen tried to powerbomb Corino, but Matt Hardy hit him with the Twist of Fate.  With Jacobs out in the corner and Hardy stalking around, Corino reentered the ring with a briefcase.  He opened it to reveal LIGHTER FLUID which he started spraying on Steen.  (crowd: you sick fuck!)  Jacobs implored Corino to stop, but Corino back elbowed him.  As Corino tried to light the matches, Nigel McGuinness stormed the ring.  Nigel and Corino faced off and threw off their clothing to prepare for a fight.  Corino piefaced Nigel, but then Nigel clotheslined the hell out of him.  The crowd went nuts.

Hardy kicked Nigel in the gut, but Steen was there to hit Hardy with the package piledriver.  Nigel got up and threw Jacobs into Steen’s arms.  Steen nailed another package piledriver and pinned Jacobs for three.

[ Jimmy Jacobs was eliminated.  The match ended at the 25 minute mark. ]

Streamers filled the ring.  Nigel and Steen embraced.  Kevin Kelly celebrated like a madman at ringside.  Adam Cole came to the entrance ramp to observe.  He surveyed the scene, rubbed his hands together for a few moments and returned backstage.  Nigel continued to celebrate with fans at ringside.  Steen mockingly shook Hardy’s limp hand and exited the ring.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

NIGEL: It’s been a long time coming.  The era of S.C.U.M. is over!  Get these pieces of trash out of the ring.  Out!  Out!  Out!  (crowd: out out out)

Three officials drove Corino and Hardy out of the ring, through the crowd and straight out of the building.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

Bobby Cruise announced that this was the most important event ROH history and reminded the live audience how they could watch ROH on local TV and encouraged us to visit rohwrestling.com.  What a Wonderful World played as the crowd filed out.

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## Matt Hardy Challenges Jay Briscoe for the ROH Championship - The ROH Report

20 Jul

These are live spoilers and impressions from the third ROH TV taping from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23.  This taping will air this weekend.

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WHAT TO WATCH:  There are only two matches on this show.  You’ll want to check out the main event for the ROH title, but I didn’t find it exciting live.  We in the crowd suspected correctly that ROH wouldn’t change the title to Hardy at a TV taping, there were so many Twist of Fates they stopped mattering, and Jay was on defense most of the time.  Not terrible, but not nearly as good as the main event of Best in the World.  The Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole match was average for both of them.  If you like their stuff normally, check it out.

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Match 1: Roderick Strong def. Adam Cole by DQ in 12 minutes - Adam Cole (who completely ignored an expectant Steve Corino on the way in) was scheduled to face Wes Ferrara, but before the match Roderick came to the ring.

RODERICK: Excuse me for a second.  Adam, I really just wanted to come out here and get this off my chest.  At Best in the World, I think you made a decision that wasn’t as honorable as you say you are.  Adam, you’re the type of guy who comes in the locker room, shakes everybody’s hand and tells everybody that you’re their friend.  But at Best in the World you had an opportunity to do the right thing, and that you didn’t do.  You would think I would be mad at you, Adam, but the more and more I watched, the more I got disappointed.

(Adam Cole, slightly exasperated, beckoned for the microphone)

COLE: Roderick, since I started here I have prided myself on fighting with honor.  When me and you faced each other at Best in the World, I saw the opportunity.  I’d been so obsessed with wins and losses that when the chance for me to beat one of the very best in Ring of Honor, whether it be by countout, came, I took it.  Roderick, if I disrespected you in any way or disrespected this company by not being honorable, I apologize.

COLE:  (to Wes Ferrara) As a matter of fact, listen, you deserved your opportunity here tonight.  You’re a very hard worker and I’d be happy to have this match with you at some point, but it cannot happen right now.  Because I think the people of Baltimore would like to see a Best in the World rematch!  (crowd: yes!)  You guys want to see Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong right now?  Roderick, I’m going to prove to you tonight that Adam Cole does have honor.

After two quick flurries led to standoffs, Adam Cole controlled Roderick at a slow pace with suplexes and submissions.  But after a couple minutes, Roderick hit a big standing dropkick and took over with speed, power and precision.  He nailed some nasty chops, a muay thai knee, running bulldog, backbreaker and Olympic slam.

Cole slipped over the top and forced Roderick’s back into the ringside apron.  Worse for wear, but recovering quickly, Cole locked on the Figure 4.  They fought to the top turnbuckle where Roderick executed the superplex.  He followed with a spinning elbow and gutbuster, but Cole kicked out his legs and applied the Figure 4 again.  Roderick reversed into a small package and then a Stronghold when that didn’t work.  Cole kicked Roderick off, sending him into the referee.

With the ref down, both men rained elbows on the other.  Roderick quit that game with a jumping knee to the face followed by a flurry of shots to the head.  But Adam had just enough to connect with his own superkick.  Now everyone was down.

Steve Corino ran to the apron, encouraging Cole to get up.  He threw a chain in his direction, but Roderick picked it up instead.  Cole, thinking that Roderick intended to hit him with it, grabbed the chain and crushed Roddy in head.  The referee saw the shot and DQ’ed Cole.  Adam shouted once loudly at Corino and stormed out.

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Match 2: Jay Briscoe successfully defends the ROH World Championship against Matt Hardy (with Steve Corino) in 14 minutes - Papa Briscoe watched from the corner.

CORINO: Ladies and gentlemen.  The following contest is your television main event.  It is set for one fall. (he grabbed the ROH cover of the microphone and threw it to the ground)  Introducing first, the icon, the living legend, beauty that has stepped foot in the ring, a man that has had eras named after him, a man that has invented more pro wrestling style matches than you can even count, a man that can walk on water(!), a man that is stronger than death, ladies and gentlemen, you all remember when JFK was popped in the head, you remember when that 9/11 thing happened...tonight you’re going to remember where you were when this man becomes the next, and final, Ring of Honor Champion.  From Cameron, North Carolina, he weighs in tonight at 235.976 pounds.  I give to you, your savior, Maaaaaaatttttt, Maaaaattttttt, MAAAAAAAAATTTTT HARDY!!!!!

(crowd: man up!)

HARDY (to Jay): You can’t stop it.

The story of the match was Matt Hardy’s working over of Jay Briscoe’s wrapped, injured left shoulder and bicep.  Hardy ran Jay into the ringpost and barricade multiple times, hit a single arm DDT, elbowed him repeatedly in the back of the neck, torqued his arm over the top rope and then hit a Side Effect followed shortly thereafter by a Twist of Fate.  Jay kicked out at two.  He got some hope spots by hitting a superkick and neckbreaker, but Corino’s interference led to a second Twist of Fate.  But still a two count!  The champ won’t go down that easy!

(crowd: man up!)

Jay Driver out of nowhere!  But only a two count.  Jay decided he didn’t like Hardy’s ankle, so he stomped it so bad Hardy took his boot off...and promptly clunked Jay over the head with it.  He then hit not one, but TWO more Twists of Fate to get the 1-2-NO!  Jay kicked out!  After a second turnbuckle suplex, the men traded shots on their knees.  Matt quick gut-kicked Jay and went for a FIFTH Twist of Fate, but Jay quickly reversed into a small package to get the three count.

Rhino immediately hit the ring and gored Jay into early retirement.  This drew Mark Briscoe out, but Corino just handful-of-quarters’ed him to the back of the skull.  Elgin, Lethal and Whitmer raced out, but S.C.U.M. wrist-tied them to the bottom rope.  S.C.U.M. placed the ROH Title around Matt Hardy’s waist while Rhino bludgeoned Mark with a chair.  Then they placed Jay’s injured arm and shoulder in the chair.

CORINO:  Finish Jay Briscoe once and for all.  Whitmer, Elgin, Lethal, everybody - I want you to watch.

Matt Hardy jumped from the turnbuckle onto chair which obliterated Jay’s elbow.  Nigel was screaming to get him out of there.

CORINO: Steel Cage Warfare.  ROH not only dies, but ROH will burn.

KELLY: (to Matt Hardy) You broke his shoulder!

The ROH officials cut Elgin, Whitmer and Lethal loose.

NIGEL: Get them!

Elgin and Whitmer tended to the fallen Briscoes as everyone else raced to the back.

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## Specian Font

30 Jun

Let's say you want to send a handwritten letter to someone but you have neither the time nor the wrist endurance to make it happen.  Or perhaps you're left-handed (like me) and always smudging over what you've just written.  I would totally understand why these difficulties would stop you from picking up pens all together.

But yesterday afternoon I rejected this sorry fate and turned my personal handwriting into a font - Specian font!  Click the image below to see a sample.

I'm biased, but I really enjoy my handwriting and perhaps you will too.  You can install Specian font on your computer by right-clicking the link to save Specian.ttf to disk.  Then click, select install and you're all set.  If another user wants to read a document in Specian font, she must install it on her computer as well.  As a more practical alternative, turn your documents into images or PDF's before using it in work presentations or sending it to those you love.  And really, what better way to show someone you love them than to send them a note in my handwriting.

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## TNA Impact Viewership Trends

29 Jun

I have included a chart below which shows the negative viewership trend for TNA Impact over the past year.  The ratings take a noticeable downward trend after the angle featuring Brook Hogan's marriage to Bully Ray.

As a viewer with my own waning interest, I attribute this to the fact that (Bully Ray's excellent work aside) the entire Aces & Eights angle makes no sense.  Coupled with Hulk Hogan's overexposure, it's difficult to get emotionally invested.  The rest of the card is fine, but nothing stands up and demands your attention.  Thanks to Dave Scherer for gathering this information and posting it on www.pwinsider.com.

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## HOTties Leave Their Mark on Eddie Edwards - The ROH Report

29 Jun

Here are live spoilers and impressions from the first Ring of Honor TV taping from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23.

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WHAT TO WATCH: The ROH Television Title match between Matt Taven and Eddie Edwards is a fun, solid Eddie Edwards match.  You probably won’t regret checking it out.  Silas Young and Adam Page was short and intense enough to warrant a look as well.

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Dark Match: Wildman Kona? and Preach (he had Preach written on his tights) def. a young tag team (one guy had a GS with a star on his tights) I’ve never seen before in 4:30.  This was your standard back and forth match until the Wildman came in.  Wildman looks like Brodus Clay with half of his face covered in black and white war paint.  He got the pin after a running splash in the corner followed by a big splash off the ropes.

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Match 1: C&C Wrestle Factory def. John Silver & Alex Reynolds in 5:30 - C&C demonstrated their experience and superiority early on by hitting whatever they wanted.  Silver & Reynolds earned a small advantage over Coleman for about 90 seconds, but Cedric made the hot tag and cleaned house.

Seemingly out of nowhere Silver & Reynolds started chaining maneuvers - kicks into suplexes and the like and got the crowd behind them.  But when Coleman threw Reynolds to the floor, this allowed him to hit the jumping hurricanrana followed by Cedric’s top rope splash on Silver for the pin.  After the match, Adrenaline Rush stood on ramp applauding C&C, intimating that they were ready to challenge them when the time is right.

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Nigel McGuinness came to the ring.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Kevin Steen wants to replace the injured Mark Briscoe in a Steel Cage Warfare match against S.C.U.M.  Nigel McGuinness is unsure weather ROH can trust him.

(crowd chants “die S.C.U.M. die”.)

NIGEL: At Best in the World I was reminded why I love this company.

(crowd chants “Best in the World.”)

NIGEL: Every one of the wrestlers came out here and gave their all to make sure Ring of Honor is synonymous with the name of the PPV, Best in the World.  And to me, nothing epitomizes that more than the two guys that came out here, that have built this company from the ground up.  They overlooked family ties and took no shortcuts to decide on that night who was the best man.  They did me proud.  They did this company proud.  They did their family proud.  And most of all, they did themselves proud.

(crowd chants “Man up.”)

NIGEL:  As I know only too well, the question isn’t how much you are willing to give.  It’s how much you have left.  Because after the show, in the back, Jay Briscoe reinjured his shoulder and messed up his back during the Froggy-bow through the table.  Mark Briscoe took three Jay Drillers and suffered a very serious concussion.  I just talked with the doctor and Mark Briscoe will not be cleared to represent ROH in Steel Cage Warfare.

(At the commentary position, Steve Corino is ecstatic.)

NIGEL: Which leaves the question, who do I put in that spot?

(crowd chants “Mr. Wrestling.”  Kevin Steen’s music hits.)

STEEN: I’m not here to complain about Best in the World.  I’m here because I need you, and they need you, to put me in Steel Cage Warfare.  Just do it.

(crowd chants “Yes!”)

NIGEL: I hear what you’re saying and I hear what these people are saying, but you started S.C.U.M.  You were the face of S.C.U.M. from day 1.  (crowd: “People make mistakes.”)  Now you want to come back and restore honor to this company?  Why should I believe you?

STEEN: You’re looking for honor!?  I’m looking for payback and to kick their asses!  I started it, you’re right!  And I’m going to finish it.  I need to do this and you know you need me in there, so grow a pair and put me in the goddam match!

S.C.U.M. members Cliff Compton, Jimmy Jacobs, Rhino and Rhett Titus hit the ring.  Nigel frantically summoned BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal from the back.  They brawled briefly before ROH officials broke it up.  As the crowd chanted, “Let Steen fight,” Nigel asked his men whether they could trust Steen.  All three were noncommittal.

STEEN: Whatever.  (he leaves)

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Match 2: MsChif def. Veda Scott in a Woman of Honor Grudge Match in 5 minutes - Veda Scott, who the crowd was firmly behind, fought her heart out but was simply outmatched.  MsChif threw Veda into the barricade numerous times, hit her with a German suplex on the floor, an inverted Bubba Bomb and finally a dangerous DDT when Veda was crotched over the middle ropes.  Veda was pinned thereafter.

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Match 3: Adam Page def. Silas Young - A ringside fan held a sign noting the physical similarities between Silas Young and former coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bill Cowher.  The (presumably) Raven’s fan’s sign read, “From the NFL to ROH - Either way, Cowher still sucks.”

SILAS:  Embarrassed.  I’m embarrassed that I have to come out here after some woman’s match.  Women don’t belong in the ring.  They belong at home, cooking and cleaning.  This is a man’s business.  I look around this locker room and I don’t see any real man.

SILAS:  I’m Silas Young.  I’m the last real man in professional wrestling.  And I intend on proving that to everyone, starting with you Adam Page.  Look at you.  You have that nice pretty curly hair.  You look like you take longer to get ready in the morning than my wife does.  You’re gonna find out what it’s like to be in the ring with a real man.

This match had a fast, hard-hitting tempo.  The men threw each other into the barricade and ring post on the floor.  When Silas mounted the corner of the barricade, Page met him and delivered a sick superplex onto the floor.

(crowd chants, “This is awesome.”)

Page followed with a top rope crossbody block, then Silas hit a backbreaker into a wicked kneeling lariat.  After two reversals of go-behinds, Silas lifted Page off the ground by his shoulders.  Before he could execute a faceplant, Page rolled through his legs and stole a pin.  After the match, Silas shook Page’s hand but then kicked him in the gut and beat on his skull for a while.  He was being a very bad man.

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Match 4: Matt Taven (with the HOT) retained the ROH Television Championship against Eddie Edwards in 11:20 - This was hot, back-and-forth action the whole way through.  No feeling out process in this one.

After dropkicking Taven while he was hung over the top rope, Eddie decided to let some ringside fans hold Taven’s hands behind the barricade while he chopped him.  In a less legally ambiguous move, he caught Taven in a bow and arrow, but Truth grabbed his foot for just a moment and Taven recovered.

Over the next several minutes no man could get a sustained advantage.  Taven tried aerial and impact moves, while Eddie just chopped the hell out of him and clotheslined him to the floor.  While the HOTties implored Taven to get up, Eddie ran corner to corner, somersaulted over the ring post and landed right on top of him.

Then Eddie took over.  He hit a backpack chinbreaker, two enzuigiris, a faceplant, a top rope double-knee facebreaker and a double stomp onto Taven’s back.  (crowd chanted “This is wrestling.”)  Truth Martini flipped out and distracted the referee while the redheaded HOTtie slid the title belt to Taven.  Eddie ducked Taven’s attempted cheap shot and countered into a single leg crab.  Taven kicked him off towards the ropes, but Eddie had to stop short to avoid hitting the dark-haired HOTtie on the apron.  Taven quickly acted on the distraction and hit the underhook DDT for a 3 count.  Afterwards, Eddie Edwards got a standing ovation.

BOBBY CRUISE:  We have a tradition of throwing streamers at the beginning of matches.  But we ask that you please refrain from throwing things at any other times because it looks awful on TV.

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## Photos from Rome and Vatican City

24 Jun

I would like to announce that my Rome photography gallery is finally finished and available for viewing!  Click the image below or this link to check it out.  For a smaller, elite gallery of only the very best photographs, click here.

While working in Germany during the summer of 2008, I took two short excursions outside the country.  The second was a weekend trip to Rome with my friend Will Newman.  We holed up in small room near the city center and set out to explore the sites.  These included the Colosseum and nearby home of the ancient aristocracy, Palatine Hill.

We passed by the Trevi Fountain on our way to Vatican City.  The Vatican offered some excellent photographic opportunities including the magnificent interior of St. Peter’s Basilica and the view of surrounding Rome and Vatican City offered from its dome.  Finally, we passed through the Vatican’s enormous museum en route to one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Sistine Chapel.

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