The Amazing Race 20 Blog Party - April 29

Oh, wow. The show is going to start on time again here on the East Coast. Amazing! From the promos, it looks like this week will be full of Brenchel drama and Mark's health is failing him. I really don't want to see the latter. 

I'm one who always claims that folks who need the money "that bad" shouldn't bother with being on television competition shows. But I really enjoy watching Mark and Bopper! Their relationship is fantastic, they don't argue, and they really work at staying in. I only hope they can.

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll update this entry with the major events. However, the real fun is in comments ... come join us!

There is a Fast Forward -- Brenchel is the first to try to go for it as Dave and Rachel can't. Ralph and Vanessa are also trying for it. It's the shaven head FF we saw a few years back. Cue Rachel drama.

The Roadblock has other teams making 40 feet of rope from husks. Rachel of Brenchel infamy, did NOT shave her head. She "needs hair to be pretty." @@

Detour - Pachy-derm or Pack-a-box. Decorate a live elephant or pack ginger for shipping.

Bopper and Mark JUST left the Pit Stop as others are approaching the Detour. Hopefully they will go for the not-yet-taken Fast Forward. They're at a Speed Bump, painting a tiger on the belly of a dancer.

YES! Kentucky is going to check out the Fast Forward!

1. Rachel and Dave - won ten grand each!
2. Brenchel
3. Vanessa and Ralph

Vanessa thinks that Brenchel cheated on the wheel barrow counts of elephant dung, now we have MEOW.

4. Sigh. Art and JJ.
5. Bopper and Mark ... Philiminated. Wah! 

Off Topic: That Was The Week It Was - April 29, 2012

Good morning everyone! It's Sunday morning once again. And, once again, it's time for my weekly off topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. 

I've had a bit of a stressful, hectic and just plain annoying at times week here. The weather has been at times cold and windy, other times rainy and it really wasn't conducive for photography. Yet I got in a few good shots and noticed some out of the norm kind of things. 

At home, the people upstairs managed to flood my bathroom once again. Thankfully the floor plans are in line here -- their bathroom over mine, bedroom over my bedroom, etc. So nothing of my own got damaged. Well, the brand new roll of toilet tissue I had put out was a goner. But it's not like they flooded my computer equipment or anything. I hope they finally get whatever up there fixed this time. Since I moved in here 11 years ago, it's been one thing after another leaking and subsequently fixed. 

There was some excitement here very early yesterday morning. Although I don't have to get up as early on Saturdays as I work later, I tend to wake up by 5:15 or 5:30. Well, I heard a ruckus in the hallway with police radios involved. Hmm ... I turned on my scanner. It turns out that a man fell from the fire escape shared by Crazy Joe across the hall and new tenants in the apartment next to him.

Now, they may call him Crazy, but Joe's not stupid. Nor is he athletically inclined. He's a retired guy who's lived here for nearly ten years without climbing the fire escape. So I would guess it was either the new tenants or a burglar. Since the cops didn't say anything about an arrest, I assume tenant. It's possible they only have one key, lost the key, didn't know who to call, aren't on the intercom system yet (as they connect the intercom to a phone number) or something. A compound fracture of the arm and a head injury. I bet he won't climb that again.

On the other hand, I wish I hadn't chucked my old small Hibachi years back. Although totally illegal, it would be so tasty to cook up steaks on a grill using the fire escape outside my bedroom window! I'm sure if I still had it, I wouldn't have the nerve to use it. But, still ...!

This week's quirky observation  -- when an automatic IN door doesn't function, a crowd will gather and stare at it instead of just pushing the door open. They'll back up and look. Then they'll get closer and give it a hard stare. But will they push it open? Nope. 

Since I had the hectic week, even to the point of working really late last night, I have a treat coming to myself with a Peapod grocery delivery in a few hours. I get the deliveries about once a month now. It's heaven not to worry about heavy items without a car. Plus, I do like the cuts of meat better than at the local supermarket a few blocks away. Yet I do stop in there on occasion because their produce department is fantastic!

Onto the photos ... remember, as of last week, they're hooked to my PhotoBucket account. Clicking on an image will bring you to the shot there, click again and it's large, close that window and you're back here!   

The NYC taxi again by the Plainfield Police Station

Nope, this is not the photo I took a week or two back. But it is the same passenger in the cab. Very odd. I'm not sure if it's the same taxi driver, but it could be. I don't feel bad spending $6.95 for grocery delivery when I see something like this! I edited the shot to leave only the taxi cab in color.

Up Close and Personal

Despite temperatures below freezing a few nights this past week, the flowers continue to bloom by the Bridgewater Train Station.

***HIT THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!***

Survivor: One World Blog Party April 25

Survivor fans ready? The show is about to start here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll update this entry with major happenings. However, like always, the real party is in the comments area!

Will Troyzan survive another week as the main target of the women? Can he keep winning (or finding) Immunity? Will he be able to convince anyone to jump the Women Ship? I guess we'll find out! Come join us ...

Tree mail promises them that "your powers of perception will take you away." There are little effigies of each castaway. The premise is that they answer the majority rule on questions about each other. The reward is a helicopter ride and feast.

The group thinks Christina doesn't deserve to be there. They feel they can trust Kim with their life. They've knocked Troyzan out of the comp by cutting his figure down. Who most needs a wake-up call in life? Kat. Tarzan is out. Chelsea is out.


Who is the biggest poser? Troyzan. Who does the least for the tribe? Sabrina. Kat is out. Sabrina is out. Who would you most like to be stranded with on an island? Kim. Christina is out. Who do you hope to never see again? Troyzan. Kim wins Reward! She chose Alicia, then Chelsea as the second.

Troyzan, of course, works on the remainders.

Kat cries.

With all back at camp, the girls expect Troyzan to kill a pig who wanders into camp. Pig apparently survived and it's time for the Immunity Challenge. We're talking a slip and slide course, grabbing rings, into a ring toss and rounds of play. Whoa! Troyzan is knocked out in the first round by Tarzan.

Kim wins Immunity!

Plenty of worries that Troy has an idol. Plenty of talk about splitting the vote between Christina and Troy -- with five votes for him, he'd go. We're about to see.

The tally: Chelsea, Troy, Troy, Troy, Christina, Christina, Christina, Troy.

Welp, the end of Troyzan.

The Amazing Race 20 Blog Party - April 22

It's truly AMAZING! What is? Well, The Amazing Race is actually going to start on time here on the East Coast! I don't know if my heart can take it. While my blog pool random pick team is Ralph and Vanessa, I don't like them all that much. I don't care for Rachel, yet if I were on the race with her I wouldn't get all personally insulting to her. I'd just avoid her a lot or have little to say to her. Vanessa definitely has a mean streak in her and I don't like people who bully others even if the others are Brenchel.

The team I'd like best to win and enjoy watching the most is Kentucky -- Mark and Bopper. While they're surely backwoods, they're fun to watch. They get along well together and are doing much better stats-wise than I thought they would. I guess they don't really have much of a chance of winning with such alpha teams all around them. But it would be cool.

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with major events. But the real fun is in the comments area. Come party with us as you watch the show!

The teams are heading to India. They encounter a Roadblock which has them learning a Bollywood dance routine.

Rachel and Dave are first to the Detour -- Cricket (the game) or Clutch It (rickshaw driving).

Pit Stop --
1. Rachel and Dave -- won a trip to St. Lucia.
2. Brendon and Rachel 

Sigh. Mark and Bopper seem to be goners. Mark tried and tried the Bollywood routine and finally gave up when Mark was almost at the point of collapsing.

3. Art and JJ
4. Vanessa and Ralph

All the teams have made it to the Pit Stop and Mark is giving the dance one more time so he won't be a quitter (for his children). He makes it through. They finally make it to the Pit Stop -- NON-PHILIMINATION!!! Woohoo! They're still in the race!

Off Topic: That Was The Week It Was 4/22/12

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic foray reflecting on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. And, this week, I even got to experiment with technology while composing this post. Such fun!

First off, Blogger went to a new composing page. Since I've been dealing with various programs for too many years to mention, I know sometimes stuff just has to change because ... well, change is GOOD. (Cough) Okay, it's just a matter of figuring where they moved everything and what they've added. I can deal with that.

But then my photos started all sticking together like a long run-on sentence. I thought it had something to do with the new composition page until I somehow opened the real old Blogger photo upload page. I've hit my limit! I can't add any more photos to the Google Picassa album.

No real worry as I have a paid Photobucket account with pretty much unlimited space. However, the last time I tried to use that to post photos here, they were huge and knocked my blog sidebar askew. So I figured I'd have to resize all to a small size to fit on the blog and direct folks to the Photobucket pages to see the larger view.

Not so! Since all the world is owned or hooked up to Google and I have been using the newer Blogger format, I can post them normally with captions even. Coolio.

So that was my nightmare. 

In other news, there isn't much other news. We had a light rain (very light) one night during the week. We're expecting heavy rain through most of today. It started last night with sudden wicked winds and rain so that I had to run about closing windows. Then it stopped. We really do need the rain. Brush fires around the area have been the worst I've seen in years. Of course, we're under a flood warning, so it's one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenarios. 

Let's see ... what else? Oh, I know! I found this rather disturbing. A young person attending a local college was standing in front of clock. She asked me what time it was, her back to the clock. Instead of pointing at the clock, I was polite and said "Quarter to three." She replied, "No, the other way." "What?" "Numbers." "Um ... like 2:45?" "Yes! Thank you!" 

Oh my gosh. Now, I know the kids are raised on digital clocks, but plenty of old school clocks are all around the world. I can only think if I were coming of age in these times, I'd teach myself to tell the time on standard clocks. It would drive me crazy not to know such a basic thing or understand what "quarter to" or "half past" means. 

I won't even mention folks who stand in front of clearly marked automatic EXIT doors and don't have a clue why the doors aren't opening for them.

But I do feel the need to mention the folks on the block in back of me whom I've dubbed "The Deliverance Family." They've moved into the most rundown house in the area, wear their wife-beater undershirts (dirty, of course) with or without dirty down jackets or dirty plaid flannel shirts, sit on their front steps selling exotic birds (cockatoos, parrots, lovebirds, etc.) which are probably stolen ... and THEY HAVE A ROOSTER. That darn rooster crows constantly from before sunrise until around sunset. I live in the city limits. GAH!!

What the Deliverance Family doesn't know is that they've moved in next to the live Mexican Polka Band All Summer Long People. That might be interesting. 

Onto the photos. Hopefully, (remember I'm posting them from Photobucket), clicking on an image will open it larger in a gallery feature. Well, scratch that. It opens the image in a separate window, clicking on it at that point brings about a larger image, closing the window returns you to the blog.

Disorganization

The birds better get their act together if they plan to overthrow humanity. Oh. Wait. Humanity is always in a state of chaos, too!

Purty planter

They put out pretty flowers in planters and throughout the lawn at the corner Scottway Townhouse off of East Front Street in Plainfield.

Yes, yes they are

This ad is on the back of a New Jersey Transit 819 bus. I love it! So does Vincent. However, Vincent really has to learn to sleep vertically in the bed and not hog it up horizontally!

***HIT THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!***

Survivor: One World - April 18 Episode Blog Party

Survivor fans ready? The show will be starting in a few minutes here on the East Coast. It sounds like it's going to be One World against One Man this week. Troyzan is definitely on the outs with the world! Will he survive? I guess we'll find out!

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with major events. However, the real fun is in the comments area! Come join us! The water is fine, the beverages flowing ... and we all get comfy floats in the pool.

It's auction time! While others spent on food and letters from home, Troyzan went for the clue to help him in the next immunity challenge. His advantage is that he's automatically forwarded to the second round of the challenge. Now he's searching for another hidden idol.

Untangling ropes in the first round. Second round with four including Troyzan is knocking out targets. Oh my, Tarzan was first, Kim and Christina. Troyzan is moving on to the next one. It's Troyzan and Tarzan. Yipes! The final round has the two slingshotting coconuts at a paneled wall doing a tic-tac-toe dealy.

Troyzan wins Immunity!

If the girls stick together, it will be Leif or Tarzan out. Troyzan is pushing the underlings -- Alicia, Christina, Tarzan and Leif to join in with him in voting out Kim.

Tally: Leif, Leif, Leif, Kim, Kim, Tarzan, Tarzan, Tarzan, Leif.

Leif is history.

The Amazing Race 20 Blog Party - 04/15/12

Hopefully (I wasn't watching CBS), the show is about to start here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll update this post with major events -- tonight has a double U-Turn and more! But the real fun is in the comments area! Everyone is free to jump in with your comments on the happenings!

Detour -- Water supply or air supply. The first has them going to a well, then delivering water. Air supply has them patching leaks on bike tires.

Bopper and Mark are in the lead and didn't U-Turn anyone, nor did Dave and Rachel.

The Border Patrol U-Turned Rachel and Brendon. They thought they were first to the U-Turn as Dave and Rachel had promised to U-Turn Brenchel. But they weren't.

Brenchel U-Turned Vanessa and Ralph. No surprise there!

The Roadblock has them collecting honey in protective bee suits. Fun, fun, fun!

Border Patrol has cut their ties with Rachel and Dave over the U-Turn promise. Bopper and Mark are having trouble with Mark's knee heading to the Pit Stop. But they make it FIRST ... yes! Rachel and Dave are second. Bopper and Mark won a trip to Hawaii.

3. Art and JJ
4. Brendon and Rachel
5. Vanessa and Ralph
6. Nary and Jamie just couldn't catch up. They were Philiminated. 

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - April 15, 2012

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic post reflecting on the past week in both words and photographs I've taken. Remember, tonight there will be a blog party during the east coast airing of The Amazing Race -- if you watch the show, please stop by and share your thoughts! Of course, since CBS doesn't know how to juggle shows and sports well, I can't guarantee the show will start on time. I will be putting the post up on time, though.

Let's see ... what happened this week? Hmm, a heck of a lot of nothing for me. Well, not really nothing, I guess. I worked. I ate. I slept. I spent an inordinate amount of my time at home under a purring cat. Work has been hectic with lots of folks either picking up a stomach bug or perhaps it's spring fever. I don't know, but I was certainly there all week unlike many. I don't want to waste my paid time off being sick!

The weather here has been pretty -- many a day with few clouds in the sky. However, the overnights and early mornings have been chilly down near the freezing point. The wind has been much too much, too. As we've had hardly any rain for nearly a month, wildfires are popping up aided by the winds. Oh, they're nothing like the fires I witnessed in California when I was a young child. But they're scary nonetheless. Heck, even one of those swampy areas near the NJ Turnpike caught fire. (A side note -- I always thought those swamps were the perfect place to bury mob hit bodies!)

Starting yesterday the temperatures have been going up. It sounds like today will be a glorious day with highs in the mid to high seventies. Tomorrow, too hot. I don't want 85 to 90 degrees! Say nothing about too early, I don't want those temps ever! I'm not a fan of hot heat and humidity. I like spring and fall so much because the temperatures usually average out in the 70s with cooler overnights. 

Time to go onto the photos -- clicking on an image will open it larger in a gallery-like feature.

By lamplight

This is one of the lamps at the YWCA on East Front Street in Plainfield. It's now almost daylight as I make my early morning trek to the train station. I edited this show to leave only the lamp in color.

Some call it a weed

I call it nature's magic.

Don't fence me in

Despite the lack of rain, the spring colors are flourishing in "the wild." This is the field of geese, also known as the toxic superfund site in Bridgewater NJ by the train station.

***CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!***

Survivor: One World - April 11 Episode Blog Party

The show is about to start here on the East Coast. Will the women be able to decimate the men one by one this season? Or, in more typical reality show fashion, will they fall apart and cat-fight? I still don't have a clear-cut favorite this season. Do you?

As the show airs, I'll update this post with major happenings. However, the real fun is in the comments area! Stop on in and share your thoughts on the show and the castaways!

Reward has them dividing into two teams, building a totem kind of thing, then throwing a version of Click-Clacks at the totem for points. The reward is a BBQ.

Immunity is one of those in which they stand barefoot on a piece of wood, hand tethered to an overhead bucket. Last one standing wins. They're also being tempted with food. Tarzan out immediately. Christina out. Sabrina took cookies and milk. Kim and Kat took cupcakes. Alicia got a bowl of candy, chosen sight unseen. Troyzan out, Jay out for chicken wings and beer. It's down to Chelsea and Leif.

Leif, buying Chelsea's claim that he's not in danger (or won't be), went for beer and burgers. Chelsea wins immunity!

Tribal council -- the girls want Troy out, now some know he has an idol. Troy wants Kim out. Hmm ...

Troy plays his idol!

The tally: Troy, Troy, Kim, Jay, Alicia, Jay, Alicia, Jay, Jay.

Bye-bye, Jay. You're way too gullible for this game!

The Amazing Race 20 Blog Party - 04/08/12

Happy Easter all! Amazingly enough, the show is going to start late. Yes, that's sarcasm.  Tonight, it will be nearly an hour late. Sigh. 60 Minutes started at about 7:52pm EDT.

Since it's a holiday, I'm not expecting a huge crowd in comments tonight. However, the show looks like it's going to be pretty interesting -- Rachel gets accused of looking much older than she actually is. (Well, she does look older!) Perhaps tonight will be the end of Brenchel. I can only hope.

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be updating this entry with the major events. Everyone is free to hang out in comments and share your thoughts!

8:51 PM and it's FINALLY starting. I'm so sick of these delays. CBS/TAR needs to get its act together and schedule the show for a different night or time.

The teams are heading to Africa.

Detour - Masai way of life -- Marksmenship or Courtship. Break a target with a native weapon or a jumping ritual.

No Roadblock. The teams have to set up their camp to specifications, then head to the Pit Stop.

Pit Stop --
1. Rachel and Dave - won trip to Costa Rica
2. Bopper and Mark, with accompanying bluegrass music
3. Art and JJ
4. Brendon and Rachel
5. Vanessa and Ralph
6. Nary and Jamie -- non-Philimination leg! They're still in it and even stopped to watch elephants because they knew they were last.

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - April 8, 2012

I hope everyone is having a fine Passover, Easter or even just a fantastic spring Sunday! Since it is indeed Sunday, it's time for my weekly reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken. 

While the weather was technically very nice and even spring-like, it wasn't all that conducive for my photo taking jaunts. It's still darkish in the mornings when I leave for the train station, yet the winds every afternoon blow my targets around. I've had to put layers on for the early morning walk, then shed them in the afternoon. Yet it's been WINDY every day! Excuse me ... I'd like 55 degree mornings and 72 degree afternoons. Er, all summer even!

I plan on spending a quiet Easter at home with Vincent (my cat, for those not in the know). I don't have any local enough family to make a trip when I work into Saturday evening and I'm out heading to the train station by 6:15am Monday morning. I might make some boiled eggs, but won't color or hide them. The hiding isn't fun when you know where they are! The real joy in that is finding a hidden Easter egg in August.

I'm not even set on what I'll be eating today. Since I had a Peapod grocery delivery Friday evening, I'm WAY stocked up. I have a plethora of foodstuffs to choose from, but didn't really order anything special for the holiday. I do know that I'm going to make blueberry muffins this morning. Hmm ... they could be for dinner, too! 

Both the work front and the home front have been on the mundane side this week. Busy at work, but that's not unexpected. Not so busy at home, but that's been my choice. I have yet to hang some things back on my walls.  I'm thinking of storing away some of the stuff I've had up for years and framing some of my own photos. Then again, I might just nap.

At home, I've heard the tow truck prowling the lot nightly looking for prey. They had backed off, but now they're towing full force once again. I still think it's ridiculous to charge tenants $40 a month to park their cars here. Back when I had my car, it was free, then $10 a month. There's been some new tenants moving in and I don't think they realize they really do tow unauthorized vehicles. They will learn.

Onto the photos ... clicking on an image will open it larger in a fancy-schmancy gallery doohickey.

Azaleas about to bloom

These should be in full blossom next week. It's odd that there are red, white and pink azalea bushes and only the pink are at this stage. The white is next with itsy bitsy buds. Bridgewater, NJ

Probably more costly than the fine

I just don't understand people who pay a New York City taxi to take them to Plainfield. Once the taxi leaves the five boroughs, the rate goes even more sky-high than it already was. With the exception of fairly set trips like Newark Airport, the price is roughly doubled (due to driving back empty) plus tolls. Just the tolls alone cost nearly what the train or bus costs for the trip. Oh, well. As I said on my Facebook page, some people must have more money than brains.

In the early morning sunlight

The blossoms on this little tree will be passing soon. I'm happy I caught this shot not long after sunrise. Bridgewater, NJ

***HIT THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!***

Survivor: One World - April 4 Episode Blog Party

Welcome Survivor fans! The show will be starting in a few minutes here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll be updating this entry with the major events. However, the real fun is in the comments section. Please feel free to join in on the conversation during the show, partake in a few cyber (or not) beverages and enjoy the show with good folks!

Reward has them sliding down water slides and getting puzzle pieces. Reward is a BBQ with plenty of 7-UP product placement. Heh. The only one not chosen in the schoolyard pick was Tarzan. Sabrina, Michael, Leif, Christina and Kim won it. The girls on Reward want to get Mike out and keep the women united. The non-rewarders are also talking about taking out Mike.

Mike is my random blog pool pick guy. Uh-oh.

Immunity Challenge time.  Racing across a ladder bridge, bags of puzzle pieces and ... guess what? A puzzle! Four moving onto the final round -- Jay, Troyzan, Alicia and Kim.

Jay (who hates puzzles and was last for most of the challenge) won Immunity! Jay wants Christina to go -- keep Salani strong and even up the men/women ratio. Kim is still working on the Mike angle.

"The game is afoot and that's why we're being ambiguous. We're playing you, Jeff," Tarzan said at Tribal Council.

The tally: Christina, Christina, Tarzan, Tarzan, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. Mike is voted out. There goes my pool boy!

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - April 1, 2012

It's Sunday? Really? Already? That means it's my day off! Yay! Happy dance time! Er, well. It also means it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. 

But let me first mention television ... remember, The Amazing Race won't be on this evening due to the Country Music Awards show. TAR must be delayed a full week instead of portions of hours and beyond! Out of curiosity I looked up when Falling Skies makes its second season return. That's not until June. I guess I'll just have to wait, huh?

Winterish returned here this past week. The temperatures have been below normal with freeze warnings north of where I live. That four-letter S word has also been mentioned, but we've seen none of it here. Although I loved our glorious week of foggy mornings and daytime clear 70s, I'm okay with the cooler wave. After escaping winter without horrible cold spells or tons o' snow, I can't complain about a chilly week. 

On the work front, they fixed my software program I need to do my work. Unfortunately, when they installed a new hard drive, they zapped all of our saved documents and forms plus blew out the computerized time clock for hourly employees. So, instead of adding machine tapes, each punch had to be entered manually into the computer -- or they wouldn't get paid. I didn't think they'd be happy with the latter.

I visited local blogger Dan Damon at his physical rehab home across the street a few times. He's looking better each time I see him. He will soon be fitted for his prosthesis and I have faith that he'll do well with it. I admire how he's taking all of this in stride. I also chatted with local blogger Bernice on the bus this week. It must have been a blogger meet-up kind of week!

Other than that, I've got nothing for you ... other than photos I've taken during the past week. Clicking on an image will open it larger in a fancy-schmancy gallery doohickey.   

The magic of spring

I'm in awe of nature's magical ways. Of course, the buds and blossoms of spring often seem to pass in the blink of an eye. East Front Street, Plainfield.

Keeping an eye out for worms

Even though this robin is chubby guy, he's quick. He'd keep one eye to the ground looking for worms and dart at them. He was quick, but not really effective. I saw three worms escape the mighty bird hunter. Also East Front Street, Plainfield.

Stairway to spring

Coming up from the tunnel under the Plainfield Train Station. I edited the photo to leave only the "spring" in color. If our winter hadn't been so mild, I'd say it's symbolic of the dark depths of winter bursting into spring.

***CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS***