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Write down your goals, listen more, and dream big.
These are good pieces of advice for anyone, really, but they held special importance for more than 15,000 students who gathered inside an energetic Key Arena on Friday in Seattle for WE Day, an annual event that celebrates youth empowerment.
WE Day events, hosted by non-profit WE, are attended annually by more than 200,000 students from more than 10,000 schools in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Students earn tickets by participating in local WE Schools programs.
Aldrin, who was in Seattle two months ago visiting the Blue Origin headquarters, voiced his support for funding space programs, saying that “by venturing into space we improve life for everyone here on Earth.” He also told a few jokes, noting how he took the “first selfie” during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, a WE Day Seattle co-chair, also took the stage and received huge cheers from his hometown fans.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson speaks at WE Day Seattle 2017.
Wilson told the backstory of his “Why not you?” mantra. Growing up, Wilson wasn’t projected to be one of the NFL’s top stars.
Wilson, whose wife Ciara co-chairs the event, said he would write down his goals and advised the students to do the same.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin.
Wilson wasn’t the only Seahawk on stage, as his top wide receiver Doug Baldwin also shared words of encouragement. Baldwin talked about the beginning of Seattle’s most recent season and how the team had to learn to listen to each other.
Baldwin stressed that his teammates not only had to listen to each other, but also do so as a team.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, another WE Day Seattle co-chair, also spoke briefly, as did Seattle Sounders players Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan. The event and is co-sponsored by Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation. Microsoft Executive VP of Worldwide Commercial Business Judson Althoff is another event co-chair.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll speaks at WE Day 2017 in Seattle.
Seattle Sounders players Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan.
During the 2015-2016 school year, WE Schools groups in Seattle volunteered more than 500,000 hours for local and global causes and raised more than $900,000 for more than 600 local organizations. Since 2007, WE Schools have raised nearly $80 million and volunteered more than 27 million hours for various causes.
Australia was under the pump but managed a miraculous victory over South Africa in the RWC.
Rugby Union AUSTRALIA'S World Cup prospects are close to suffering a huge blow with flying fullback Kurtley Beale in huge doubt for the semifinal against the All Blacks.
Rugby Union ROBBIE Deans is waiting on results of scans to a duo of key backs before he plans how to attack the All Blacks in the semifinal.
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” offers a good, heaping helping of what anyone who goes to the movie is going for: the late superstar’s fantastic dancing and spine-tingling vocals, both incredibly strong for a 50-year-old whom many of us were convinced had weirded himself out of his youthful vigor.
It’s also a finely crafted concert film, made up though it is from hi-def rehearsal video for the blowout show Jackson died before ever actually staging. “It” even boasts some very nice movies-within-the-movie, productions Jackson commissioned to accompany the live performances. They’re quality stuff – MJ inserted into classic black & white film noir footage for a “Smooth Criminal” fantasy, a whole new “Thriller” monster mash, sappy rainforest-and-butterflies “Earth Song” business that grows nicely apocalyptic – and they add welcome variety and pizzazz to what could have become a string of song-and-dance practices that, despite their uniform quality, could have become monotonous.
“It” didn’t need to have any of these good things, of course. Pre-sold to a grieving mass market, it could have been two hours of Michael standing still while roadies moved amps behind him and still have made a fortune.
So let’s give props to Kenny Ortega, who was directing the mega-concert, for putting a lot of concentration and effort into turning what was left behind into something approximating what that show would have been. “It” effectively builds in intensity and accomplishment from early songs to Jackson’s best performance on the penultimate “Billie Jean” – his every step an emotional IED, all muscles working and flowing in electric harmony. Ortega also does a masterful job of intercutting several different rehearsals of the same songs without losing a beat; you wouldn’t know they were separate takes if Michael’s pants weren’t constantly hopping from vivid orange to sparkly gold and back.
All the cinematic craft in the world wouldn’t carry the show, however, if the main subject wasn’t up to the job. As mentioned earlier, Jackson certainly is impressive at all he used to do best, even if the younger backup dancers sometimes, inevitably, appear more energetic and athletic. What turned out to be just as crucial a factor for this movie he never intended to make, though, was how watchable Jackson is when he’s not singing and dancing.
And he mostly succeeds in that department, too. MJ does look pretty thin, but not unhealthy, thank God. There was only one sequence, shot in blue light, where that overworked face of his creeped me out. And while we hardly get a rounded or deep view of either the very complicated man or the painstaking artist (don’t believe the hype that this is a thorough examination of the creative process), he does come across as likable, accessible and dedicated both to his craft and the simplistic but heartfelt messages he wanted to impart.
So, good show, Michael, may you rest in peace.
But Ortega and company could have made a better, more complete movie by acknowledging the profound troubles that dogged Jackson’s life (and couldn’t have helped but fuel his art). But, um, have we acknowledged that “It” is the state-of-the-industry definition of a commercial project, and therefore could not have been expected to make a single honest move that would potentially bum a paying customer out?
Perhaps we should all just be grateful that “It’s” a good movie with, often, great music and choreography. It’d be safe to bet that that’s what Michael would have wanted.
But I liked what I felt from the main film’s last musical sequence (like a good hagiography should, “It” has maybe four extra endings after the closing credits roll, in case pretty much every dancer, musician and key grip in the movie telling us how wonderful Michael was didn’t make the point). It’s an incomplete “Man in the Mirror,” a song that never seemed as profound to me as it did to the singer. But the fact that we don’t hear the whole thing and Jackson sounds a bit unsure made me wonder how much he ever took his own call for self-examination to heart.
It’s not the most sentimental or melancholy way to remember Michael Jackson. But it seems kind of necessary to keep in mind.
French director Claire Denis (“Beau Travail,” “Friday Night”) keeps distilling her insights into intimate relationships to finer and finer purity.
This one, about a Paris commuter train engineer and his college student daughter, is a collection of behavioral moments that seem deceptively banal initially, but lay the groundwork for rich character relationships and deep but never overemphasized emotional epiphanies. A marvelous exrtended family – of Lionel’s (Alex Descas) co-workers, lovestruck neighbors (Nicole Dogue, Grgoire Colin), the mixed-race daughter Josephine’s (Mati Diop) German aunt (Fassbinder stalwart – and ex-missus – Ingrid Caven), even a very tubby cat – brings out all kinds of conflicts to the supportive nuclear pair, and both forces them to reaffirm some bonds and locate those that they need to sever.
Working in a more straigthtforward visual style than usual with her poetic cinematographer Agnes Godard, Denis here does no less than update and Westernize (not to mention Africanize) Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 masterpiece “Late Spring.” While “Rum” certainly has its own story and sensibility, it’s almost breathtaking to watch the correlatives to “Spring” pile up, from the father-daughter road trip to the replacement of Ozu’s lapping waves motif with oncoming train tracks to the father’s final, solitary return home. Denis makes these moments and many others all her own, and with a filmmaker this formidable that’s high homage indeed.
But that just shows how smart Denis is. Her artistic brilliance, which is something else again, comes across in a heart-stoppingly loaded sequence in a small bistro on a rainy night, in which all the main characters dance to The Commodores’ “Nightshift” and reveal their preferences and hesitations through psychologically choreographed moves. It may be the best movie scene of the year – and though in its revalingly complete simplicity probably owes something to Ozu, great as the Japanese master, he never pulled off anything like this.
Dear little Bruno would like to give thanks for a new home this Thanksgiving. Will it be yours?
He is a long-haired, 2-year-old, 20-pound terrier mix. He is a fun little guy, who likes to romp around in the fall leaves. He is of moderate energy, and cuddly with those he knows. He is also housebroken!
We are recommending him for dog experienced homes with older children. As far as we know, he has not had much experience with other pets, but may be able to live with a cat or a dog. Visit Bruno to day to take him home.
To learn more about Bruno visit the Westport Adoption Center at 455 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880. Or call 203-227-4137.
Paige Olivia Stewart and James Ray Brooks, both of Fort Smith, announce their engagement.
An Oct. 20 ceremony is planned at Faith Baptist Church in Jenny Lind.
Ms. Stewart is the daughter of Warren and Debbie Stewart of Fort Smith. She is a graduate of Southside High School and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith with a bachelor's degree in media communications. She is a copywriter at ArcBest.
Mr. Brooks is the son of Ron and Lisa Brooks of Fort Smith. He is a graduate of Southside High School and works as a warehouse supervisor at Goodyear.
In the European Parliament committee meetings, we find ourselves discussing at length subtleties of the ETS market, detailed fishing agreements with third parties or various requirements for the labelling of various products, but we don't discuss at all the most important subject for our world - including our Union: the future. Yet we involuntarily shape this future by the sum of effects we generate through our small-impact, short-term decisions; and in the end it might not be the shape we desire. I belong to the progressive generation which wishes to take control of the future - by thoroughly planning for it today.
After years of attempts to restore economic growth, the EU still finds itself tangled up in borderline stagnation and struggling to come up with investment plans which promise to put us back on track.
Numerous versions regarding the cause of the financial and economic crisis have been discussed and they all share a common ground: acting without taking into account the long-term consequences, the lack of thorough planning.
While disregarding social, economic or political imperatives is obviously a misleading and adventurous path, I believe that a large number of problems we are facing, as individuals, as institutions, as societies lie in the fact that we have stopped giving serious consideration to the future. I’m not talking about factoring in the possibility of unexpected events – but the debate of the models we are trying to build, the economic system we are trying to uphold, the rights we believe that need to be protected, the relationship with the environment we need to foster.
Many of the challenges we are currently facing are not unpredictable – they are the direct result of the short-sightedness with which we have started to look at society and politics. Works such as the 1972 The Limits of Growth or that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have become a rarity and are seldom ignored when discussing public policies.
This is why I came up, as coordinator of the S&D40 Group, with the proposal of setting up a Committee for the Future within the European Parliament and at national level across the EU. The Committee’s main goal would be to debate, plan and create strategies essential for our development, while taking into consideration all the long-term effects of proposed policies. These would refer to issues such as combating climate change, the impact of new technologies on Education and Healthcare systems, the rights of employees in an increasingly globalized labor market, durable development of our cities, transportation solutions and so on.
A Committee for the Future is not necessarily a new idea. Current EU Commissioner Jyrki Katainen led the works of the Finnish Parliament’s own Committee for the Future, which helped boost the country into a European leading position in terms of technology.
On May the 23rd, at our first major meeting as S&D40 organized in Athens thanks to our colleague Eva Kaili, I publicly launched this proposal and I immediately obtained the support of young S&D MEPs. I strongly believe that setting up a Committee for the Future within the European Parliament can be a central project of our network which gathers the under 40 years old MEPs part of the S&D group. It is natural for the political group with the largest number of young MEPs – the S&D – to take the lead on progressive thinking and planning for the future.
By promoting projects such as the Committee for the Future, we can prove that we represent a new wave of European politicians, more engaged, more active, more future-oriented and with more relevance on the political scene of the European Union.
Beautiful house inside and out. Great living space with ceramic title in the living areas and the bedrooms are made cozy with carpet. The house has a great backyard which is hard to find in a rental home, making it enjoyable for gatherings and then enjoying cool Refrigerated air once you move it inside. The location of the home is near George Dieter and Vista Del Sol putting you near restaurants, shops and schools. Make your appointment to view wonderful house today.
While no elected official reflects my views 100 percent of the time, my personal experience with Jeff Klein sustains my belief that hard work and seniority count.
Jeff Klein’s ability to partner with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz to quickly craft and pass a state law that prevented Montefiore from building its behemoth medical center. His ability to renegotiate SelfHelp’s financial plan resulted in housing for all well-elderly on Broadway without the severely mentally ill component.
His ability to bring Metro-North to the table resulted in MTA’s first Hudson River Greenway feasibility study (soon to be released). Sen. Klein was the only local official to oppose DOT’s contentious Broadway corridor plan (voted down by Community Board 8), and to request that DOT respect the board’s resolution.
His allocation of millions of dollars for our parks, local institutions and schools significantly benefit our quality of life.
I can remember a time when Democrats and Republicans were once willing to work together in Congress to pass legislation and get things done. As a centrist Democrat, not an ideologue, I recognize Jeff Klein’s unique leadership and ability to effectively use his seniority to work with both sides of the aisle in Albany, which has enabled passage of a proliferation of progressive legislation.
TEHRAN–After dark yesterday, cries of "Death to the dictator!" and "Allahu Akbar!" – God is great – echoed out from rooftops across the Iranian capital.
The protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his disputed landslide election victory bore deep historic resonance – it was how the leader of the Islamic Revolution asked the country to unite against the Western-backed monarchy 30 years earlier.
At a news conference, Ahmadinejad dismissed two days of sometimes violent demonstrations as little more than "passions after a soccer match" and drew his own rally of support yesterday even as protesters battled police in the streets.
The scenes summed up the showdown over the disputed elections: an outwardly confident Ahmadinejad exerted control, while his rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, showed no sign of backing down and could be staking out a new role as a powerful opposition voice.
"The number of Iran analysts who would have predicted such a result (a the ballot box) — you could have counted them on one hand," said Meir Javedanfar, Iranian-born author of The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran, a book about Ahmadinejad. "No one expected this."
On NBC television's "Meet the Press," U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden said: "Is this the result of the Iranian people's wishes? ... we just don't know enough."
Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador to explain events following the election, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his country is "very worried" about the situation in Iran and criticized the "somewhat brutal reaction" to the election protests.
Demonstrations were held around the world to protest the results, including in Toronto.
But both U.S.-backed governments flanking Iran – Afghanistan and Iraq – issued congratulations.
And Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group hailed Ahmadinejad for winning a second term in office, saying his victory "represents a great hope to all the oppressed people, holy worriers and resistance fighters who reject the powers of arrogance and occupation."
The real struggle, though, was on the streets of Tehran, in the worst unrest since student-led protests 10 years ago.
Demonstrators were back with the same tactics: torching bank facades and trash bins, smashing store windows and hurling rocks at riot squads in Tehran. Police responded with baton-wielding sweeps – sometimes targeting bystanders – and the regime shut down text messaging systems and pro-reform Internet sites.
There was no official word on casualties.
Authorities detained top Mousavi aides, including the head of his web campaign, but many were released after being held overnight.
Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that about 170 people had been arrested. It was not known how many remained in custody.
Mousavi has urged his supporters to channel their anger into peaceful acts of dissent. But the official clampdown on Internet links blunted the reach of the message. At the same time, Mousavi went to the pinnacle of power to try to reverse the election decision.
In a letter to the Guardian Council – a powerful 12-member clerical body closely allied to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – he claimed "fraud is evident."
The letter, posted on Mousavi's website, which is accessible outside Iran, didn't specify his allegations but claimed his envoys were unfairly blocked from monitoring polling stations. Iran does not allow outside or independent election observers. The Guardian Council must certify all election counts.
Mousavi later met Khamenei – who has almost limitless power – to press his appeal, said Shahab Tabatabaei, a prominent activist in Mousavi's pro-reform camp.
It was likely a long-shot mission by Mousavi, 67, who served as prime minister in the 1980s. Khamenei has already given his blessing to the election outcome and it would be extraordinary for him to publicly change his position.
Mousavi's newspaper, Kalemeh Sabz, or the "Green Word," did not appear on newsstands yesterday. An editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the paper never left the printing house because authorities were upset with Mousavi's statements.
"Don't worry about freedom in Iran," Ahmadinejad said at the news conference after a question about the disputed election. "Newspapers come and go and reappear. Don't worry about it."
Many observers see a country now divided into two hostile and irreconcilable camps, a division that could have far-reaching effects both domestically and internationally in the future.
"This is an ideological, political, and personal fight between different groups," said David Menashri, chair of Modern Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. "There is so much bad blood. Life is not going back as it used to be."
The Broomfield train depot was built in 1909 and quickly became a gathering place for citizens. The depot was moved to its present location in 1976 and now serves as the Broomfield Depot Museum.
A variety of train-related items are displayed downstairs at the Broomfield Depot Museum. The museum will close for renovation this summer, and will reopen with a tighter focus on the authentic history of the depot, including detailed stories of the five station agents who lived there with their families.
BROOMFIELD — Just a few historic structures remain from 19th-century Broomfield, so more than $294,000 is being invested to preserve one of its oldest treasures: the train depot, built in 1909, which now serves as the Broomfield Depot Museum.
“It’s visibly the story of the American West,” said Cynthia Nieb, deputy director of the Colorado State Historical Fund.
Railroads opened Western lands to everyone from land-rush speculators to adventurous homesteaders, and places like the Broomfield Depot Museum — with its original benches and ticket counter — preserve those pioneer days.
Colorado State Historical Fund recently awarded a grant of nearly $95,000 for renovations, bolstered with about $200,000 from the capital improvement fund of the city and county of Broomfield. The funds will restore the foundation, and repair windows, doors, trim and siding.
“We’re losing our past, and this is part of our past,” said Mabel Massey, 81, who has volunteered at the museum for 25 years.
Founded in 1877, Broomfield started out as a small farming community called Zang’s Spur — named after the railroad spur that allowed A.J. Zang, founder of the Zang Brewing Co., to quickly transport grain from his fields in Broomfield to his Denver brewery.
At the turn of the century, the town’s name changed to Broomfield, which evoked the bountiful fields of broomcorn grown by local farmers, who sold the tall sorghum for use as brooms and whisk brooms.
When the Colorado and Southern Railway opened a depot in Broomfield, it quickly became a gathering place for citizens who stopped by for the latest news carried by telegraphs.
The architecture of the depot is particularly unique because most train depots were simple rectangles and didn’t have living space, said Roberta Depp, director of library services and cultural affairs.
Half of the building was the waiting room and ticket office; the other half is where the station agent’s family lived, with a narrow kitchen, two tiny bedrooms and a small parlor.
The museum will close for renovation this summer, and will reopen with a tighter focus on the authentic history of the depot, including detailed stories of the five station agents who lived there with their families.
To celebrate its restoration, the Broomfield Depot Museum is holding special programs every Saturday in March. Gil Brunner, born in Broomfield in 1927, and Beverly Hansen, who has lived there for 77 years, will share stories on Saturday as part of the museum’s Living History Talks program. For more information, visit broomfielddepotmuseum.org or call 303-460-6824.
In the trade it’s known as Patch Tuesday, the monthly adventure with Microsoft when they release the ‘Updates and Upgrades’ to their flagship Windows operating system.
Once again we were not disapointed, Microsoft managed to release 11 fixes, 6 of which were flagged as ‘critical’. A critical flag generaly means that someone has unleashed a computer virus over the internet, and it’s ‘gonna get ya’ unless you upgrade your copy of Windows.
It is good that our friends in Redmond issue these regular upgrades and fixes. It should make us all much happier and confident in our ‘day to day’ use of computers.
Of course you could ask the question… why?
The simple answer is that programmers make errors, and no matter how well you test a program, some errors will make it to ‘Prime Time’.

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