Liberty ‘Idols’ will carry a tune for charity

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BRENTWOOD -- They will sing their hearts out for the title, but the real winner will be Shepherd's Gate.

Come Jan. 24, Liberty High School will host its 11th annual Liberty Idol competition at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center, 850 Second St.

For the past decade, the singing contest has doubled as a fundraiser for the community. Benefactors have included Decker Children's Trust, Joel Hanson Memorial Fund, JumpStart San Francisco, Village Resource Center, Alejandro Fernandez Trust Fund, Action Against Hunger, Ethiopia Reads!, Kayla Shepard Memorial Fund, Hilde Back Education Fund (A Small Act), and Bay Cruisers Wheelchair Basketball Team.

"The show has always been a fundraiser for an outside organization," said Summer Rodriguez, director of student activities. "All of the events that Liberty Leadership puts on (help) charities or scholarships, never the leadership program."

Last year's event netted more than $2,600 for Neto's Fund, which provided soccer scholarships to youths interested in joining the East Diablo Youth Soccer League who could not afford it. This fund was created in honor of Liberty student Jose 'Neto' Corona, who lost his battle with cancer last year.

This year's benefactor is Shepherd's Gate in Brentwood. Founded in 1984, it has offered services and helped find housing for more than 10,000 battered and homeless women and children.

Tickets are $6 before Jan. 23. After that, $8 with a Liberty student ID and $10 at the door. For more information, call 925-634-3521. For more on Shepherd's Gate, visit http://www.shepherdsgate.org.

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Liberty 'Idols' will carry a tune for charity

The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass – Cannon Islands Cannon, Ghost Ship Chase – Part 7 – Video

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The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Cannon Islands Cannon, Ghost Ship Chase - Part 7
Having landed on Cannon Island we set off round to the back door of the workshop to put up the dough required to arm our ship, expecting a ridiculous price w...

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The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Cannon Islands Cannon, Ghost Ship Chase - Part 7 - Video

Islands of Adventure 2014 Tour and Overview – Universal Orlando Resort HD Florida – Video

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Islands of Adventure 2014 Tour and Overview - Universal Orlando Resort HD Florida
Take a tour around all the themed #39;Islands #39; at Islands of Adventure. We begin at the Port of Entry, then turn left and go through Marvel Super Hero Island, T...

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Islands of Adventure 2014 Tour and Overview - Universal Orlando Resort HD Florida - Video

Galapagos Islands’ Volcanic Plume Not Where It Should Be

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January 21, 2014

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

A new analysis from a team of American researchers has found the volcanic plume that created the Galapagos Islands isnt where models have projected it. The study team said their findings could also explain volcanic activity around the islands.

According to the study, which was published on Sunday the journal Nature Geoscience, the Galapagos plume is at a depth of 155 miles, approximately 100 miles southeast of the westernmost island of the archipelago, where geologists and computer-generated mantle convection models had placed the plume. The study team reached their conclusions using seismic waves penetrating to a depth of nearly 200 miles.

Ocean islands have always been enigmatic, said study author Dennis J. Geist, a geologist at the University of Idaho. Why out in the middle of the ocean basins do you get these big volcanoes? The Galapagos, Hawaii, Tahiti, Iceland all the worlds great ocean islands theyre mysterious.

The plumes location according to the new study is closer to Isabella and Floreana islands, where the three most volatile volcanoes in the island chain are located. This new location adds support to the study teams other finding Earths interior convection doesnt always follow modeling efforts. The study also raises new queries about how ocean plates at the Earths surface referred to as the lithosphere relate to the hotter, more fluid asthenosphere that rests atop the mantle.

The teams paper describes the Galapagos plume rising up into shallower depths than previously described and streams both northward and perpendicular to plate motion. Mantle plumes, also found at Yellowstone and Hawaii, are generally believed to curve along with plate migration meaning the Galapagos plume may have decoupled from the plates involved.

Heres an archipelago of volcanic islands that are broadly active over a large region, and the plume is almost decoupled from the plate motion itself, said study author Douglas R. Toomey, a geology professor at the University of Oregon. It is going opposite than expected, and we dont know why.

The explanation for this finding may lie in the fluid dynamics of the viscous asthenosphere on which the Earths plates sit, Toomey said. In the papers conclusion, the study authors theorized that the plume material is dragged to the mid-ocean ridge by a deep return flow found in the middle of the asthenosphere, instead of along the base of the lithosphere as some modeling projections have shown.

The Galapagos archipelago covers over 3,000 square miles of ocean and sits around 580 miles west of Ecuador, which has dominion over the islands. Volcanic activity on the island chain has been particularly difficult to understand because theories and models have projected newer eruptions moving ahead of the plate, similar to activity seen at the hotspot around Yellowstone.

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Galapagos Islands' Volcanic Plume Not Where It Should Be

Future Islands Tip Hat to Cowboys With ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ Video

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Future Islands' lovelorn synth-pop has its origins in Baltimore, but the East Coast trio set their sights on America's heartland in the new video for "Seasons (Waiting On You)," the opening track from upcoming album Singles. The just-unveiled video once again pairs Future Islands with director Jay Buim, who previously helmed the band's "Tin Man," "Balance," and "Grease" clips. This time, Buim examines the idea of the modern cowboy, an archetype that takes part in rodeos, group prayer, and bar room games of pool, while still holding onto a certain kind of quiet, dignified romance that city slickers have let slip away.

"For us, sometimes, it's quite spellbinding how Jay can translate our sound into an image," Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Harring says in an official statement. "'Season (Waiting On You)' is a song about love, letting go, learning from your mistakes and always feeling that pull yearning for a certain love, as time goes by and seasons change. It is simply a song about the human experience."

Take part in the experience by pressing the play button above, and scroll down for Future Islands' tour dates. Singles, one of 50 Albums You Gotta Hear in 2014, is out on March 25, via the group's new label home, 4AD. Pre-orders are currently available through the 4AD store and iTunes.

Future Islands tour dates:

February 3 - Los Angeles, CA @ Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock February 6 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom February 8 - Baltimore, MD @ Floristree February 11 - London, U.K. @ Hoxton Bar & Kitchen February 13 - Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie February 14 - Brussels, Belgium @ Beurschouwburg February 16 - Hamburg, Germany @ Ubel & Gefhrlich February 17 - Berlin, Germany @ C-Club March 3 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern * March 4 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel * March 5 - Saxapahaw, NC @ The Haw River Ballroom * March 7 - Chattanooga, TN @ JJ's Bohemia * March 8 - Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry's * March 9 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon * March 16 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe * March 24 - Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop March 25 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme March 26 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall March 27 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon March 28 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club March 29 - Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium March 31 - Billings, MT - The Railyard April 1 - Bozeman, MT @ The Filling Station April 2 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett April 3 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile April 4 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre April 5 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge April 6 - Eugene, OR @ Cozmic Pizza April 7 - Arcata, CA @ Humboldt Brews April 8 - Reno, NV @ The Holland Project April 9 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst April 10 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel April 21 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace April 22 - Marfa, TX @ Padre's April 23 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk April 24 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links April 25 - Little Rock, AR @ Stickyz Rock'n'Roll Chicken Shack April 26 - Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree April 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church April 30 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall May 1 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club

* = with Wye Oak

50 Albums You Gotta Hear in 2014

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Future Islands Tip Hat to Cowboys With 'Seasons (Waiting On You)' Video

Hope Diminishes for N.C. Diver Missing Off Cayman Islands

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The search to rescue a North Carolina tourist who disappeared while scuba diving in the Cayman Islands was changed today to "recovery" phase because officials no longer believe he could be alive.

David Byles, 57, of Pinehurst, N.C., was scuba diving with his wife as part of an organized group dive off Seven Mile Beach on Sunday when he disappeared between the time he surfaced around 10:20 a.m. and the 100 yard swim to the party's awaiting boat, according to Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

"We're now in our third day of searching and it's extremely unlikely that Mr. Byles will be found alive," Inspector Ian Yearwood, commander for the Police Marine unit, told ABC News while on board one of the search and recovery boats. "We've informed his wife, but obviously as each day goes by the chances grow slimmer."

"We do not see any suspicious circumstances in this case," Yearwood added.

Byles' diving equipment including tank and buoyancy control device along with an article of clothing have been recovered by police near Barracuda Reef.

None of the 14 other people in the diving party including two instructors had noticed Byles was missing until they had re-boarded the boat. Byles' wife, Rita, thought he had boarded ahead of her but raised the alarm after discovering he was no longer with the group, officials said.

After the boat crew failed to find any trace of Byles in the immediate area, police launched a search and rescue operation which turned into a search and recovery operation this afternoon.

Twenty-eight people are currently involved in the search, including 13 divers and 15 police personnel.

Sunset House, a resort that operates dives where David and Rita Byles were staying, told ABC News that there was no indication that Byles was in distress when he surfaced, and that all reports from family and friends indicated he was in "great health."

"This is just completely unexpected," Sunset House General Manager Keith Sahm said. "The thing that's really aggravating is that it's not like anything happened to him under the water... He surfaced and then he was gone,"

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Hope Diminishes for N.C. Diver Missing Off Cayman Islands