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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/58bcb1c1099d48baaf44616d18dfedc7
South Carolina utility giving fish hatchery to state agency
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — The state-owned utility Santee Cooper is giving its fish hatchery on Lakes Marion and Moultrie to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reported the shift will allow the fish hatchery to continue operations as state officials decide what to do about Santee Cooper after a failed nuclear project. Gov. Henry McMaster and some lawmakers want to sell the utility to help deal with an estimated $9 billion debt, much of it from the failed project.
Santee Cooper is giving the title to an 81-acre compound of ponds at the Dennis Wildlife Center in Bonneau to the Natural Resources Department. The department already managed the hatchery.
The fish raised at the hatchery make the lakes a big draw for those involved in sport fishing.
Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/5fd86a76dbbed761a693312359c96be5
Russian Refuseniks Still Denied Exit Visas
WENDY SLOANEMay 28, 1993
MOSCOW (AP) _ Outdated Soviet secrecy laws are keeping more than 150 Russian scientists from leaving the country, human rights activists say.
Most of them are Jews and many have families living abroad, said Leonid Stonov, a spokesman for the American Jewish Organization for Human Rights.
He told a news conference Thursday that the grounds given for refusing exit visas to most of the scientists was that they possess state secrets, but others were prevented from leaving Russia ″for no reason.″
Stonov said the security, defense and industrial ministries had blocked emigration for at least 150 Russians. He reported similar refusals in other former Soviet republics but gave no specifics.
Soviet restrictions on Jewish emigration hampered relations with the West during the Cold War and ″refuseniks″ became symbols of the Communist regime’s harsh policies. Emigration rules were relaxed after the Soviet collapse and most Russians now can travel more easily.
President Clinton told President Boris Yeltsin at their April summit in Canada that he had discussed with members of Congress repealing an amendment that denies free trade privileges to countries that restrict emigration.
Clinton said he asked Yeltsin if emigration-seekers had been turned down and Yeltsin replied ″he doesn’t think so.″
Foreign Ministry spokesman Viktor Gribanov said most people denied exit visas were under criminal investigation or had financial liabilities. He said people with state secrets may be refused visas ″for a certain period of time.″
Gribanov said the courts are open to those who feel they were unfairly denied visas, adding, ″I, personally, have not heard of any court cases.″
Computer programmer Anatoly Solovyov, whose wife and two sons now live in Israel, told reporters he has been refused permission to leave since March 1990, although his work involved no classified information.
″I consider it inhuman to separate families, ″ he said in a prepared statement.
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/ad18ccae59f041c5895505ae59c4e7b8
Supreme courts
Anthony Kennedy
Chuck Grassley
The Latest: Kennedy’s former clerks praise Kavanaugh
From left, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, hold a news conference to refute Senate Democrats who are intensifying their fight over documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's stint as staff secretary at the White House, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. The GOP members of the Judiciary Committee used a wall of empty boxes to dramatize the amount of documents. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
Former law clerks to retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy are praising high court candidate Brett Kavanaugh as a “fair-minded and conscientious successor.”
The former clerks sent a letter Thursday to Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, and Sen. Diane Feinstein, the ranking Democratic member.
They describe Kavanaugh as “supremely qualified.”
They say, “Much like Justice Kennedy, Judge Kavanaugh has made clear that he holds both the law and the principle of judicial independence in the highest regard.”
Senators are currently reviewing Kavanaugh’s record. President Donald Trump nominated him to fill Kennedy’s seat last month.
The National Archives and Records Administration says it won’t be able to finish reviewing nearly 1 million documents regarding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House until the end of October, a potential roadblock in GOP hopes for confirmation before the November election.
Republican leaders in the Senate appeared unfazed by the updated timetable, determined to push forward with confirmation hearings on President Donald Trump’s nominee next month, even if the documents are not fully available.
The paper chase over Kavanaugh’s lengthy public record is emerging as a key battleground as senators scrutinize the 53-year-old appellate judge, a conservative whose views on gay marriage, abortion and executive power could tip the court rightward for a generation.
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/fb73a86a9db18a3c3a0bbd29b8a6a211
Ten People Shot by Gunman at Chicago Pool Hall
CHICAGO (AP) _ A gunman entered a pool hall and started firing Friday night, police said. Ten people were injured, hospital officials said.
Police detective Steve Barnas confirmed the shootings on Chicago’s South Side but said he had no details, including whether anyone had been arrested.
Five people were taken to Humana-Michael Reese Hospital, said a nursing supervisor who refused to give her name. Four were in fair condition with bullet wounds to the arms and shoulders. The fifth was in serious condition with a chest wound.
Two victims were taken to University of Chicago Hospitals, one in good condition with an arm wound and one in fair condition with multiple injuries, spokesman Bill Burton said.
Two teen-agers were in stable condition at Chicago Osteopathic Hospital and Medical Center, one with multiple wounds to the arm, leg and back and the other shot in the foot, said nursing supervisor F. Yadao.
A 68-year-old man was in serious condition at Cook County Hospital with a gunshot wound in his arm, said hospital administrator Marlo Hodges.
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G10/COSMOS: 38 band (far-UV to far-IR) panchromatic photometry using LAMBDAR
Andrews, S. K. and Driver, S. P. and Davies, L. J. M. and Kafle, Prajwal R. and Robotham, Aaron S. G. and Wright, Angus H. (2017) G10/COSMOS: 38 band (far-UV to far-IR) panchromatic photometry using LAMBDAR. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 464 (2). pp. 1569-1590. ISSN 0035-8711. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170628-135713279
Full text is not posted in this repository. Consult Related URLs below.
We present a consistent total flux catalogue for a ∼1 deg2 subset of the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) region (RA ∈ [149 ∘. .∘ 55, 150 ∘. .∘ 65], Dec. ∈ [1 ∘. .∘ 80, 2 ∘. .∘ 73]) with near-complete coverage in 38 bands from the far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. We produce aperture matched photometry for 128 304 objects with i < 24.5 in a manner that is equivalent to the Wright et al. catalogue from the low-redshift (z < 0.4) Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. This catalogue is based on publicly available imaging from GALEX, Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope, Subaru, Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, Spitzer and Herschel, contains a robust total flux measurement or upper limit for every object in every waveband and complements our re-reduction of publicly available spectra in the same region. We perform a number of consistency checks, demonstrating that our catalogue is comparable to existing data sets, including the recent COSMOS2015 catalogue. We also release an updated Davies et al. spectroscopic catalogue that folds in new spectroscopic and photometric redshift data sets. The catalogues are available for download at http://cutout.icrar.org/G10/dataRelease.php. Our analysis is optimised for both panchromatic analysis over the full wavelength range and for direct comparison to GAMA, thus permitting measurements of galaxy evolution for 0 < z < 1 while minimizing the systematic error resulting from disparate data reduction methods.
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2395 DOI Article
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Accepted 2016 September 21. Received 2016 September 16; in original form 2016 April 21.
SPLASH, COSMOS
Joy Painter
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The Plover, by Brian Doyle
Robert A. Parker Literary reviews April 18, 2016 February 15, 2017 4 Minutes
This 2014 work is quite a novel, quite an unusual novel. Indeed, a tour de force. It breaks so many rules, in fact, as it creates worlds of its own. It offers both a real world and an imaginary world, each created with poetry, sensitivity, and humor. But most significant are the many rules of fiction it breaks—with its endless, rhythmic sentences, its magic realism of talking birds, and its direct and indirect addressing of the reader.
This is the story of a man, Declan O’Donnell, who journeys around the vast Pacific in his small fishing boat, the Plover. He revels in his solitude, but slowly takes on passengers along the way, passengers who expand his and our awareness of the expanse and depths of both the Pacific and the human experience. But this book requires patience. It is not a book for everyone. For a long while, I wondered where it was going, much less where the boat and Declan, its captain, were going. Finally, I realized that there were no rules. That I was to experience here the journey within as much as the novel without. That this was not just about reality, this was also an inner voyage, a journey into the meaning of human nature and the implications of our natural environment.
This Pacific voyage is so real, however, that one wonders how Doyle has made it come alive with such detail. Yes, the credits listed in his acknowledgements suggest tremendous research, which is often the key to richly conceived novels such as this. But one also speculates that it is time he has spent at sea himself that has enabled Doyle to capture this experience so brilliantly.
And yet the strength of this novel is not in that reality, but in the magic, meaning the author’s imagination. In the miracle of an impaired, dumb child, for example, who can communicate with birds, one of whom suddenly enables her to speak. And in other birds that give comfort and anticipate danger. There is even literary magic in the long, complex, yet clear sentences that stretch the core of a thought or of a situation to its verbal limits.
Underlying the magic and the beauty, however, is a story, for Doyle understands that he needs a story in order to draw the reader through what are at times ephemeral pages. And so the hero Declan picks up various passengers, each with a story to tell and each contributing to the journey. There is an old friend Piko, and his daughter Pipa who has been crippled by an accident and cannot talk; Tauromauri, a woman so huge she is first taken to be a man; Tungaru, a minister for fisheries, etc., who dreams of a Utopian nation of Pacific islands; and Danilo, a refugee with a marvelous singing voice. And finally, for suspense, there is the mysterious Tanets, a ship in pursuit of the Plover. Why is its captain, Enrique, so intent on sinking the Plover and its passengers? It will become clear when he becomes the final passenger.
There is additional suspense in a typhoon, a kidnapping and rescue, a hijacking, and a sea battle, but it is balanced by Declan’s introspection as he seeks to escape society, and society keeps confronting him with new passengers, new adventures, and new implications. And hovering in Declan’s mind are the writings of Edmund Burke, the Irish philosopher whose thinking enriches the context of Declan’s search for meaning across a vast and empty Pacific Ocean.
One senses that Doyle declines to be limited by the rules of fiction. Perhaps this follows his interest in the spiritual aspects of life. Thus, just as that level of perception breaks the bounds of reality, so does a similar perspective seek to break theough the limits of the literary world. I do wonder how much this limits his exposure inside the literary world, but one suspects his primary concern is exploring the limits of both literature and the human experience—as, indeed, Declan is exploring his own limits across a Pacific also limitless.
This novel offers the continuation of Declan’s life after he fades into the Pacific on the final pages of Mink River. One wonders if Doyle will continue Declan’s story, and extend these books into a trilogy. He does open the door to a third volume, when Declan discovers a potential love on the final pages here. Such a continuation may depend, however on Doyle’s interest in exploring further a Declan who has changed from a troubled hero in the first volume to a solitary, searching hero in the second. Do still new adventures await him, in which he will further pursue the fulfillment he seems denied? It would appear that love might well offer a new, and perhaps spiritual, horizon. (April, 2016)
Note: Because of a previous contact, I sent the author my review; and he wrote this in his response: “I am interested in writing novels that are experiences in and of themselves. I want the language to be a world; I want the reader to be lured in and mesmerized; I want them to hear and see and smell what the beings in the book do; I want you to be startled when you find a blank page at the end; I want you to come with me into imagination and possibility and the probability of the nominally impossible; I want you to question what you think you know; I want to soar and sail and dive and delve; I want to push the form as far as I can, and I have only one rule: be clear. As long as the reader doesn’t get clogged and slowed, everything is possible.”
casual passengers
hovering gull
ocean journey
ocean pursuit
Pacific legends
Pacific quest
sea story
small boat voyage
solitary life
talking birds
The Plover
Published April 18, 2016 February 15, 2017
Previous Post Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand
Next Post Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Modeling the Potential Spread of the Recently Identified Non-Native Panther Grouper (Chromileptes altivelis) in the Atlantic Using a Cellular Automaton Approach
Matthew W. Johnston & Sam J. Purkis
http://www.mendeley.com/research/modeling-potential-spread-recently-identified-nonnative-panther-grouper-chromileptes-altivelis-atlan
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ORCID01 May 14:01 UTC
http://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12249
http://doi.org/10.1002/dneu.22686
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.09.013
Europe PMC Citations 116 May 03:43 UTC
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Figshare 8016 Apr 05:36 UTC
{"files"=>["https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1185076"], "description"=>"<p>Process flow of the enhanced ISM.</p>", "links"=>[], "tags"=>["Computational biology", "Ecosystem modeling", "Population modeling", "Marine biology", "Marine ecology", "Marine technology", "algorithms", "Computer modeling", "Computerized simulations", "Computing methods", "Computer animation", "geoinformatics", "Environmental systems modeling", "Geocomputation", "Remote sensing imagery", "software engineering", "Software design", "enhanced"], "article_id"=>784320, "categories"=>["Information And Computing Sciences", "Biological Sciences"], "users"=>["Matthew W. Johnston", "Sam J. Purkis"], "doi"=>"https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073023.g002", "stats"=>{"downloads"=>4, "page_views"=>3, "likes"=>0}, "figshare_url"=>"https://figshare.com/articles/_Process_flow_of_the_enhanced_ISM_/784320", "title"=>"Process flow of the enhanced ISM.", "pos_in_sequence"=>0, "defined_type"=>1, "published_date"=>"2013-08-29 06:45:50"}
{"files"=>["https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1185074"], "description"=>"<p>Records from the USGS NAS indicating locations of panther grouper captures or sightings.</p>", "links"=>[], "tags"=>["Computational biology", "Ecosystem modeling", "Population modeling", "Marine biology", "Marine ecology", "Marine technology", "algorithms", "Computer modeling", "Computerized simulations", "Computing methods", "Computer animation", "geoinformatics", "Environmental systems modeling", "Geocomputation", "Remote sensing imagery", "software engineering", "Software design", "grouper"], "article_id"=>784318, "categories"=>["Information And Computing Sciences", "Biological Sciences"], "users"=>["Matthew W. Johnston", "Sam J. Purkis"], "doi"=>"https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073023.g001", "stats"=>{"downloads"=>1, "page_views"=>10, "likes"=>0}, "figshare_url"=>"https://figshare.com/articles/_Panther_grouper_records_/784318", "title"=>"Panther grouper records.", "pos_in_sequence"=>0, "defined_type"=>1, "published_date"=>"2013-08-29 06:45:50"}
{"files"=>["https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1185083"], "description"=>"<p>Comparison of life history and reproductive traits of panther grouper and lionfish.</p>", "links"=>[], "tags"=>["Computational biology", "Ecosystem modeling", "Population modeling", "Marine biology", "Marine ecology", "Marine technology", "algorithms", "Computer modeling", "Computerized simulations", "Computing methods", "Computer animation", "geoinformatics", "Environmental systems modeling", "Geocomputation", "Remote sensing imagery", "software engineering", "Software design", "grouper", "verses"], "article_id"=>784327, "categories"=>["Information And Computing Sciences", "Biological Sciences"], "users"=>["Matthew W. Johnston", "Sam J. Purkis"], "doi"=>"https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073023.t001", "stats"=>{"downloads"=>1, "page_views"=>13, "likes"=>0}, "figshare_url"=>"https://figshare.com/articles/_Panther_Grouper_verses_Lionfish_/784327", "title"=>"Panther Grouper verses Lionfish.", "pos_in_sequence"=>0, "defined_type"=>3, "published_date"=>"2013-08-29 06:45:50"}
{"files"=>["https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1185084"], "description"=>"<p>Input values for all parameters considered in the ISM, including their source.</p>", "links"=>[], "tags"=>["Computational biology", "Ecosystem modeling", "Population modeling", "Marine biology", "Marine ecology", "Marine technology", "algorithms", "Computer modeling", "Computerized simulations", "Computing methods", "Computer animation", "geoinformatics", "Environmental systems modeling", "Geocomputation", "Remote sensing imagery", "software engineering", "Software design", "parameter"], "article_id"=>784328, "categories"=>["Information And Computing Sciences", "Biological Sciences"], "users"=>["Matthew W. Johnston", "Sam J. Purkis"], "doi"=>"https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073023.t002", "stats"=>{"downloads"=>1, "page_views"=>6, "likes"=>0}, "figshare_url"=>"https://figshare.com/articles/_ISM_parameter_inputs_/784328", "title"=>"ISM parameter inputs.", "pos_in_sequence"=>0, "defined_type"=>3, "published_date"=>"2013-08-29 06:45:50"}
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The Cake Artists brief says our right to freedom of expression is a strong as the right of artists who work in media other than cake.
I'm noticing the BRIEF FOR CAKE ARTISTS AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY (PDF) in the pending Supreme Court case — Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Phillips — about whether there's a religious freedom exemption to the requirement not to discriminate against gay people.
I love this brief. It says what I believe I've been saying in numerous posts. It's not a question of whether people with a religious objection to same-sex marriage can refuse to sell all manner of goods and services to gay customers. Nor is about about whether the cakeshop is forced to "bake a cake" for the wedding. It's about whether it must decorate the cake — apply icing and other materials to the surface of the cake to shape images and write words that say something substantive about the wedding.
From the brief:
Amici take no position as to which party should prevail in this specific case. Their interest lies in making a single point—that their work, like that of petitioner Jack Phillips, requires artistic exertion within an expressive endeavor to generate works of art. Many of the amici listed below would gladly have prepared the cake that respondents requested—but they would have done so by accepting a commission to create a work of edible art. Amici wish to illustrate—literally, through the images of their own work in this brief—that cake design and preparation is an art....
Cakes for every conceivable occasion, ranging from the grandeur of weddings to abject apologies, can convey articulable messages. Sometimes words are used to assist in conveying those messages. But the art of custom cake design and creation is not so limited. Other times, the art behind a cake is simply sheer beauty or the technical mastery that it required. Cake artists must be adept at a multitude of artistic endeavors beyond simply “baking.” They must have visual-arts skills to design a cake that is pleasing to the eye—painting, drawing, and sculpting. They need the skills of an interior designer to create a unified whole from a series of individually artistic elements. They require the grace and technical powers of an architect, so that the final product moves from the theoretical to the real....
[C]ustom wedding cakes—even of the traditional variety—typically involve subtle elements that reflect the personality of the new couple (and perhaps the artist).... Cakes can still be instantly identifiable as part of the wedding genre yet involve stunning and unique elements that appear only as part of a special design.
The argument continues in this vein, with many more photographs of cakes, so please go to the link and see.
At one point, the argument turns to "America’s multi-cultural traditions" and shows an example of a very distinctive cake celebrating a wedding and the couple's Indian cultural heritage:
Even as a wedding cake carries a message about the wedding, the photograph of the cake conveys a legal argument: Art can come in cake form and the expression contained in cake can be complex and even — bonk you over the head, liberal Justices — multi-cultural.
This has me thinking that gayness is also a culture within "America’s multi-cultural traditions." A cake for a same-sex wedding might be a generic cake, but the Cake Artists wouldn't give this couple just another cake. They'd get specific. Yes, I'm seeing the brief goes in this direction at page 16. Some of the Cake Artists on the brief make cakes for same-sex weddings, and they make them a specific expression of gay pride. I'd been thinking of the expression in terms of the icing and other stuff on the outside of the cake, but the brief describes a cake with coloring in the batter, so that the cake-cutting at the reception would be a performance: revealing a rainbow.
That idea of performance is used, later in the brief, to counter the argument that cakes are transitory food:
But the fact that any given cake is a vanishing work does not distinguish it from artistic performances on the stage (or, indeed, protests on the street). Nature’s beauty is no less revealed through the flower that blooms for a single day than through the tree that lives for a thousand years; likewise, an ice sculpture is not inherently less artistic than one carved from stone....
That's getting poetic. Are legal briefs art?
The conclusion is not about who ought to win the case, but only "that cake artists are indeed practitioners of an expressive art and that they are entitled to the same respect under the First Amendment as artists using any other medium."
Tags: cake, diversity politics, law, performance art, religion and government, same-sex marriage, sculpture, Supreme Court
The civil rights law fucked it up in the first place, though. Religion or art shouldn't come into it at all.
Just whether it's a monopoly market.
The whole exercise in other reasons is to get common sense back into the law where it's been removed, under cover of this or that artifice.
Maybe Harvey Weinstein was a performing artist who worked in semen and female nudes.
Larry J said...
It seems certain freedoms are reserved for special people and not for everyone. Some claim a freedom from being offended but don't care how much they may offend others. Likewise, many claim freedom of speech for themselves while denying it to others.
Are legal briefs art?
Some are. Others are pornography. Those in support of Roe were snuff films.
AlbertAnonymous said...
You will be made to care...
Most interesting point I read in the various briefs is the point that apparently the Colorado commission takes the position that you CAN refuse to make a cake that is anti gay marriage (ie you could refuse to make a cake saying “one man one woman only” or some such thing) but you MUST NOT refuse to make a cake that’s pro gay marriage.
Because equality I suppose.
How long until we're told hate cakes are not protected by the first amendment?
An ad for an upcoming documentary on the c-word it turns out is about cancer.
Freedom of expression is a lovely idea.
It would also obliterate much of current law.
I don't think the justices will have a problem deciding what is and is not art.
They will know it when they see it.
The conclusion is not about who ought to win the case...
But after reading the brief we know who should win the case.
>It would also obliterate much of current law.
Now for me, that's a feature.
Somewhere in there beneath all of the frosting and food coloring is a cake.
Somewhere in there beneath all of the praises of ART is a point.
(I'm no lawyer but this case just seems so simple and oblivious...like a plain sugar cookie. "I'm sorry I can't bake THAT cake.")
Well this is a bit like video replays in football. There is an original call on the field, which deserves deference and which can only be overturned upon clear and convincing video evidence.
So we have state laws, which are presumptively valid, and which can only be overturned upon clear and convincing Constitutional law.
This cake case is a bit unlike Lawrence v Texas (Texas anti-homosexual sodomy laws) and Obergefell v Hodges (anti-same sex marriage amendments to the state constitutions of Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky). In Lawrence and Obergefell, perfectly valid and duly enacted state laws should have been given due deference from the federal courts since the Constitution doesn't speak to homosexual sodomy or homosexual marriage, and because any sensible understanding of the language, meaning, intent, purpose, etc., of the drafters of the Constitution and every amendment thereto would have agreed that they never presumed to federally proscribe state laws on homosexual sodomy and marriage.
In this cake case, there is a duly-enacted (unwise, perhaps, but duly enacted) Colorado civil rights law. Federalism demands some level of deference. Only a real, true religious devotion -- not some general multiculturalism -- could overcome that deference.
The original legal sin in all of this was Lawrence, and then Windsor, and then Obergefell. Justice Scalia famously said that as a member of the federal judiciary, he would no sooner prohibit states from enacting laws against homosexual sodomy than he would require states to enact laws against homosexual sodomy. He was right, of course.
Thanks to the overweening efforts of law school faculties and the law profession culture, any social non-acceptance of legally normalized homosexuality has been banished to the narrow backwater of "religious freedom." And now we will see how narrow that backwater is.
I am not nearly so exercised about the Colorado cake case, as I was over the Lawrence-to-Obergefell abominations. Because I regard it as cold comfort that any public expression of opposition to legally normalized homosexuality can only be based on strict religious bases. What about the simple personal moral objection?
We were all sitting here this morning, enjoying our coffee and talking about cake.
And then Chuck turns it into a discussion of sodomy...
Points, however, for not mentioning Trump.
"We'd like to order a cake for a celebration..."
"Sure, that's what we do! What would you like it to say?"
"Happy Abortion Day!"
"Uh...excuse me...?"
"We want a cake that says "Happy Abortion Day!" Our daughter is having her first abortion, and we want to celebrate her Choice..."
"I'm not even sure I know what that cake would look like..."
"Yeah. We probably don't want anything that looks too much like a baby: I think that would make our daughter sad..."
"So: a 'Happy Abortion Day' cake..."
"Although my wife and I were thinking: if it HAS to have a baby as decoration maybe you could put wings on it."
"Like an angel..."
"Exactly! An abortion angel..."
"Okay..."
"And no pink or blue. Because: you know..."
"No pink or blue: got it. And when do you need this cake...?"
"Pretty soon -- she's already in her seventh month..."
@Chuck - Beyond the simple personal moral objection, how about the public health considerations? Hepatitis C! A threat to ALL baby boomers says my doctor! Is this one of those "scare everyone to protect the sensibilities of a privileged few" things, says I? No, no, no he said. But the truth is out there. Same with the recent resurgence of syphilis. It isn't a raging epidemic among suburban soccer moms.
In an art gallery.
Not in an art gallery.
No need to worry. Professor Larry Lessig has a 3-step plan to replace the offending cake with a warm apple pie.
Professor Larry Lessig has a 3-step plan
3-tier plan.
Exactly what I've been saying all along about the cake issue and gays.
The gays can and had been going into the bakery to buy the baked goods. Cakes, Brownies, Cookies, Danish etc. GENERIC goods that are on sale for anyone and everyone. The gay couple were never denied service for the day to day business products of the company.
HOWEVER....the demand that the cake artists create a special, one off, individually designed and crafted item for them (the gay couple) is completely different than buying a generic chocolate cake or even a generic birthday cake with a simple Happy Birthday Chuck message written on it.
It takes years of practice and artistry to be able to create specialty cakes. Then to demand that the artist create something that is offensive to the artist, that is contrary to their basic religious views is a demand too far and is a violation of the artist's rights.
If the court decides that you CAN force someone to do work for you, then we might as well just bring back slavery and indentured servitude.
...in which the Supreme Court will be playing the role of the replay official reviewing the touchdown in the Patriots-Jets game.
David Docetad said...
"It's not a question of whether people with a religious objection to same-sex marriage can refuse to sell all manner of goods and services to gay customers."
But it should be that and more. It should be a matter of people being able to do what they want, serve who they want.
Who wants service from somebody who does not want his business? No me.
Who wants service from somebody who refuses to serve blacks or gays a muffin at a coffee shop? Not me.
Who wants service from a Jewish deli that will not put cheese on my steak sandwich? I mean the cheese is right there!. I'm OK with that.
Who wants service from a dress maker who does not want to make men's clothes? I'm OK with that.
Who wants service from a baker who doesn't want to produce a gay wedding cake? I'm OK with that too.
The fine point analysis of the law is silly here. It's not about the law, its about forcing people to accept the insanity of "same-sex marriage" and all that it implies.
Kevin it is because that was the term discussed in Scalia's landmark dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). It is the most precise, most efficient language for what was at issue.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZD.html
I know that bringing up "homosexual sodomy" in polite legal circles is jarring. It is supposed to be. We are all getting used to softened terms like "gay" and "marriage equality," because language has meaning and language has power, and the proponents of expanded homosexual rights and the legal normalization of homosexuality want to turn that power to their advantage. (Why wouldn't they?)
The baker's defense on the specific issue ought to be that he makes wedding cakes, and gay marriage isn't a marriage no matter what the state wants to say.
He does real marriage, not gay marriage. Real marriage is the business he's in.
If the state broadens the definition, it doesn't broaden the business he's in.
The above would be MY response to being forced to bake a cake :-)
As a legal question: Creating a wedding cake is a contract (usually) where the design and cost are decided ahead of time. If the provider of the cake defaults or does a decidedly bad job the buyer can sue.
Can you be FORCED into a contract in which you do not want to be a participant? Use the example of a building contractor. Can he/she be FORCED to build your house for you?
"I'd like a specialty cake..."
"Sure! That's what we do! What kind of cake would you like?"
"I want a cake with a vagina on it."
"A vagina? What is that celebrating?"
"It's not celebrating anything. I just like to fuck cakes."
"You like to fuck cakes?"
"I like to fuck cakes. I'm a Cake Fucker."
"Well, this is certainly new to me. You want a cake with a vagina on it."
"So I can fuck it: yes."
"Is there anything else you would like on this cake?"
"Yeah. I want an asshole on the back."
"You want an asshole on the back of the cake?"
"Yeah. So I can fuck that, too."
"Because you are a Cake Fucker."
"Exactly."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yeah. Do you make pies...?"
A union can force you to negotiate with them. Maybe gays are a union.
Is this the other Chuck?
I remember Althouse had a post years ago that argued artists are necessarily conservative. I think she meant in their wanting to protect individual liberty for their own devices (and other vices).
Distinction made and appreciated: baking a cake versus decorating it to send a specific message.
This point may have been made before but I missed it until now.
-sw
Cakegate.
Chuck the point isn't about sodomy but rather does an artist have to accept any commission offered? Taking the Colorado position to the extreme yes the artist has to take the commission and can only have artistic expression within the officially approved boundaries.
Althouse: I love this brief. It says what I believe I've been saying in numerous posts. It's not a question of whether people with a religious objection to same-sex marriage can refuse to sell all manner of goods and services to gay customers. Nor is about about whether the cakeshop is forced to "bake a cake" for the wedding. It's about whether it must decorate the cake — apply icing and other materials to the surface of the cake to shape images and write words that say something substantive about the wedding.
Missed it by a mile.
No! the defense is that he makes Wedding Cakes as a special one time special individual order by contract The shop isn't full of Wedding Cakes every day to be bought at any time by walk in customers.
The defense is that end product (wedding cake) is so "offensive" to the artist that it cannot be forced to be created. Going into whether gay marriage is a thing is not even needed as a defense
This is just ONE reason that the artist can decline to be forced to work for you.
1. Perhaps the cake/house you want is too difficult, structurally unsound and you don't want the liability.
2. Ingredients or components that you demand are unavailable or impossible to get>
3. The result will be so freaking ugly you don't want your name associated with it!!
4. Perhaps the artist/contractor is just "too busy to take on additional contracts or orders at this time".
Lots of reasons.
The point in Lawrence and Bowers v. Hardwick before that was very definitely "homosexual sodomy." Then, there is the federalism -- under admittedly different facts as I pointed out -- issue that is common to all of the cases.
See, I don't disagree with you, cubanbob. Indeed, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission is that no cake baker (t-shirt maker? printer? candlestick maker? indian chief?) can refuse to participate in a pro-homosexuality message creation.
And the only escape is if you have some deeply-held religious belief. I think that that formulation perverts the law, and civil rights, and religion itself.
I also recognize -- I thought it was clear from my writing above -- that we need to recognize that the state of Colorado has a civil rights law, and a commission, that says that the law of the state is that there can be no discrimination against homosexuals.
For my part, I bring that home to my state and argue that all of the various proposals for expanded civil rights laws to cover homosexuals are problematic, and point to Colorado as Exhibit One.
Colorado voters can, if they wish, pass a new law and elect new representatives to reverse this law. It should not be left to the federal courts to police these things. It should also not be up to the federal courts to overturn the same-sex marriage bans that states enact. See how this is supposed to work?
"that cake artists are indeed practitioners of an expressive art and that they are entitled to the same respect under the First Amendment as artists using any other medium."
Is that even in dispute? Seriously, I don't understand why anyone would think otherwise.
Farmer said...
That sounds exactly like a conclusion about who ought to win the case.
I heard about a woman who married herself. No really. It's called sologamy or longslogamy or something.
Can an American citizen refuse to make a longslogamy cake?
I don't know if was a same sex marriage or not.
There is considerable opinion to the effect that First Amendment protections do not extend to "Hate Speech".
"It's about whether it must decorate the cake" In other words, what everyone else means by "baking a cake."
@Oso: "how about the public health considerations? Hepatitis C! A threat to ALL baby boomers says my doctor! Is this one of those "scare everyone to protect the sensibilities of a privileged few" things, says I? No, no, no he said. But the truth is out there. Same with the recent resurgence of syphilis. It isn't a raging epidemic among suburban soccer moms." Now, now. You aren't denigrating gay "culture," are you? The fact that gay "culture" cannot be discussed for what it is shows that progs haven't quite won the culture war yet.
But that is what this is about. They may lose this round, with Gorsuch in place and depending on what Tony feelz. They want Christian bakers or decorators beaten down because they want Christians beaten down because they want to cleanse the culture of atavistic religion that obstructs prog rule. It is strictly about outcomes. Here, it is just a matter of waiting out the judicial conservatives until progs have the numbers and can lock in their preferences, as they did with abortion and SSM.
Who cares about the art thing?
Can a baker be required to decorate a Happy Hitler's Birthday cake? Can a sign painter be compelled to make an ISIS banner? Can a construction company decline to build a meeting hall for the Westboro Baptist Church?
If not, why not?
Yeah, with "Hate Speech" defined as stuff I disagree with.
Good. The attempt to exclude cake decorating from artistic expression was calculated snobbery.
CStanley said...
I think the evidence of this being in dispute is that the transactions are being treated as general merchant sales of commodity products rather than contracted services to produce artistic works.
As soon as you recognize this distinction it becomes obvious that the cake designers have the right to refuse contracts.
Hunter said...
Colorado voters can, if they wish, pass a new law and elect new representatives to reverse this law. It should not be left to the federal courts to police these things.
Would the same be true about a state law that prosecutes speech? Banning guns? Implementing random warrantless searches?
If the law in question has the effect of forcing someone to act against their freely held religious beliefs, then it is up to the federal court to police, thanks to incorporation.
@ Chuck, Colorado voters can do what they wish except for violating someone's US constitutional rights. If the baker has a wedding cake in the display case and a gay couple wishes to buy that cake and the bakers refuses to sell them because they are gay that very same cake the baker would sell to anyone else then the law would be valid. If the cake in the display case was already sold and the couple asked the baker to make another cake for them that the same as the one in the display case and the baker refused to do so because they were gay then the law would also be valid. The question is can the State force someone on the grounds of discrimination law to create an artistic expression they don't wish to create?
Also, remember the major civil rights cases like Heart of Atlanta Motel contained findings that the discrimination in accommodations substantially interfered with the fundamental right of interstate travel.
Is anyone even saying that a baker's refusal to decorate a cake a certain way has interfered with same sex marriage in a similar way?
Therefore, I don't see a statutory limitation on baker's First Amendment right as advancing an important much less a compelling state interest.
Rick Turley said...
When do we get the Supreme Court case about forcing doctors to perform abortions?
@Crazy Jane
The reason why you can refuse some things and not others is because the person being refused isn't on the Special List of Protected Classes.
Not only is this the law; it is actually a core argument of the "bake the damn cake" crowd.
Why can't I have a Nazi cake? "Because Nazis aren't on the list!"
I wish I were exaggerating.
CStanley breaks the code.
These are private contractual transactions negotiated between two parties. These cases don't even involve public accommodations.
Claiming 'First amendment' or 'religious freedom' exemptions isn't even broad enough. The same issue would come up for a caterer providing napkin rings.
If I'm a janitorial services company, a locksmith company, an HVAC repair company, an electrician or a plumber, and 'artistic expression has nothing to do with my services, I still assert the freedom to turn down a contract with Planned Parenthood. Why? because I want no association whatsoever with them.
I don't want to see them.
I don't want to be obligated to take their calls.
I don't want to be asking them for money every month.
I don't want to put my employees in the position of having to walk in their abortion rooms to do their work.
I don't want my work van with my name and logo on it sitting in their parking lot.
I don't want anything to do with them.
I assert that right.
If someone wants to know why, I also assert the right to say nothing. Or tell that person the reasons are not their concern.
Let's go further: I can own a business that is normally a place of public accommodation. A restaurant, with a big room in the back I can use for banquets. I will happily serve anyone who walks in in normal street clothing of whatever ethnicity who just wants a meal, without making me and my business a part of their cause.
I reserve the right to refuse to rent my banquet hall for an event to which I object. For any reason.
And no, it's not just Planned Parenthood.
And that list and those reasons can be different for everybody.
The libtards, as usual, are beyond stupid on this issue. The sad thing is, they've dragged people into that intellectual sewer with them on this issue who should know better.
Some French writer said that humans are exquisitely calibrated machines for turning fine wines and food into piss and shit. I suppose this encompasses wedding cakes. Wedding cakes are an art form, but they seem an especially ephemeral form of art. I suppose the wedding photos preserve memories of them, but then they're an artistic creation that can only endure in memory or one step removed from reality......I wonder if Laslo's vagina wedding cake should be done in chocolate for the butt hole appurtenance. That seems kind of disgusting, but it would add to the verisimilitude. Perhaps butt holes are better represented by a more abstract form of art. A true artist selects and edits many details in his path to perfection.
I get the sense that, whether or not it would be openly admitted, the plaintiffs in these cases do see it that way. The idea hews closely to the reasoning for forcing the issue of "marriage equality" rather than civil unions. It is not enough for the couple to be allowed to gain the same legal recognitions and privileges for their union, because they also claim the right to be on equal moral footing with married heterosexual couples. Therefore, (according to this thinking) no one should have the right to express opprobrium- even in such a passive way as declining a contract to participate in celebratio of gay marriage.
@cubanbob
Of course, the entire premise here is a violation of freedom of association, which both Congress and the courts chose to throw out long ago.
Apparently it was so wrong for Southern states to violate freedom of association with Jim Crow laws that the federal government needed to take over the job of telling people how they must associate.
Thanks Jason....I completely agree.
It's not wrong to assert that both artistic expression and religious freedom are at stake here...but both arguments miss the mark because they are much too narrow!
I liked the brief presented here, but no one should have to file such a brief in order to prove that one's ideas of expression are artistic enough! Would the cake designers fail the test if they were creating tacky wedding cakes?
Picasso represented assholes with asterisks.
Sort of a footnote.
Fred Rawlings said...
Hands on Originals Tee shirt business won their case because Tee Shirts are speech, all the way back to the Vietnam war.
In 2012, the (Lexington KY) Human Rights Commission said that service refusal violated the city’s fairness ordinance, part of which prohibits businesses which are open to the public from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation.
However, the Court of Appeals disagreed on Friday, ruling that speech is not necessarily protected under the fairness ordinance.
While the ordinance does protect gays and lesbians from discrimination because of their sexual orientation, what Hands On Originals objected to was spreading the gay rights group’s message, Chief Judge Joy A. Kramer wrote in the majority opinion. That is different than refusing to serve the group because of the sexual behavior of its individual members, she wrote. A Christian who owns a printing company should not be compelled to spread a group’s message if he disagrees with it, Kramer wrote.
“The right of free speech does not guarantee to any person the right to use someone else’s property,” Kramer wrote.
“In other words, the ‘service’ Hands On Originals offers is the promotion of messages,” she wrote. “The ‘conduct’ Hands On Originals chose not to promote was pure speech. There is no contention that Hands On Originals is a public forum in addition to a public accommodation. Nothing in the fairness ordinance prohibits Hands On Originals, a private business, from engaging in viewpoint or message censorship.”
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article150169482.html#storylink=cpy
"I remember Althouse had a post years ago that argued artists are necessarily conservative. I think she meant in their wanting to protect individual liberty for their own devices (and other vices)."
Yes. Thanks for remembering. I said it back in 2005:
"To be a great artist is inherently right wing. A great artist like Dylan or Picasso may have some superficial, naive, lefty things to say, but underneath, where it counts, there is a strong individual, taking responsibility for his place in the world and focusing on that....
"I'm not saying that the great artist adopts a right wing political ideology. If fact, I agree with you that the great artist needs to separate himself from politics and certainly to get it out of his art. I'm saying there's something right wing about doing that. My comment arose in a discussion of the Scorsese documentary on Bob Dylan, which shows how he did not fit in with the left wing folksingers who tried very hard to keep him in their fold and felt betrayed when he alienated himself from them. My observation is that he was, at heart, a great artist, and it was not possible to do what was needed to be a good lefty, which would require a strong focus on group goals and communal values. He certainly wasn't switching to right wing politics. He was getting out of politics.
"I'm calling that right wing. It's certainly antithetical to left wing politics, which requires you to remain engaged and would require the artist to include politics in his art. The great artist sees that those requirements will drag him down. That's what I'm theorizing. Feel free to debate that and reject it if you want. All I'd like to ask is that you get your mind around what I'm trying to say before reflexively rejecting it. I'm not surprised that lefty bloggers and commenters can't do this. They've got to enforce the kind of values that freaked Bob Dylan out and made him want to disengage from their clutches. And don't even get me started on my experience with lefty bloggers. They treat me miserably, and if I tried to get along with them, it would guarantee mediocrity. And thus, I am a right wing blogger – even though I don’t share many beliefs with right wing politicos."
""It's about whether it must decorate the cake" In other words, what everyone else means by "baking a cake.""
You sound as though you've never made a cake. The baking part is when you put the pans with raw batter into a hot oven and take them out when they've risen properly and before they get overdone. Baking is a type of cooking.
When the cake has cooled, you get it out of the pan and you can ice it. Most people just spread the icing on. But you can also decorate the cake, usually with more icing, in some different color. You do a sort of bas-relief on the icing with more icing. No one who actually makes cakes would call the decorating part "baking."
Blogger William said..
I suppose the wedding photos preserve memories of them,
Some save the top tier of the cake. Probably not after fucking it.
I am very certain that the brief is here to prevent the Supreme Court from making an ignorant declaration that custom cake baking is some sort of generic service, which would make it an obvious public accommodations case. This will probably annoy certain Justices to no end given that this will require them to be more creative in their bull****, or, golly, actually do their jobs. The fact that this case even got this far is disheartening as Colorado's actions are a blatant violation of Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, and the Right to Contract, plus it is completely unnecessary use of government power in a non-monopoly scenario done clearly out of spite. Wars have been fought for less.
The cakes are indeed very impressive. There are whole cooking shows about making these. The thought that anyone could think this is not art is baffling.
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm uncomfortable with the free speech / religious argument because it is insufficiently broad.
I think it is a hardship if someone fires you or refuses to let you rent a hotel room. But refusing to make a wedding cake? That deserves sympathy, and I'd join a boycott, but getting a court order? No.
Finally! I'm glad someone is making the argument that I've been hoping to see. Given the wide protections the Court has built up around the 1st Amendment's guarantee of the freedom of expression, I've never understood how the lower courts were able to hold that a photographer, a florist, or baker could be compelled to use their artistic talents to express approval of an event the individual artist did not approve of. Under the 1st Amendment, we cannot force anyone to pledge allegiance to the flag. We cannot require anyone to speak approvingly of anyone holding political office. Nor can we compel anyone to use their artistic talents to convey patriotic messages. We cannot even prevent people from desecrating the flag or from destroying other objects that are symbolic of our nation and culture.
But, we can require someone to decorate a cake in celebration of a gay wedding? That just doesn't fit with all the prior case law. The kids on Sesame Street could have told you which thing didn't belong with the rest.
Let them eat cake! But only in its unadorned state. What if a bakery, when asked to make a wedding cake specific to a same-sex marriage, said they would provide the cake layers and the decorating supplies [with instructions] and let them do it themselves? Surely that would meet the legal requirements even if the cake would likely end up looking like an explosion in a Play-doh factory.
You don't know how to laugh at yourself when we're all having a good time, do you? I would have made the same comment about myself, had I instead, ahem, Lawrence into the discussion.
As for the case, it can't be that this is the one and only case which makes your point. There must be others. If not, it's certainly not much of a general principle you're arguing, but a one-off. And I don't believe it is.
Let's drop the fascination with Lawrence and Scalia's quotable statements surrounding it and get on with using other examples.
If we do, perhaps people who like the outcome in Lawrence might also start to see the issue with the Supreme Court's increasing reach.
Can a baker be required to decorate a Happy Hitler's Birthday cake? Can a sign painter be compelled to make an ISIS banner?
Oh Hell, just get to the most basic example. Can a baker be required to create a cake with Obama's face and the word NIGGER in all caps underneath?
Put it that way and see how many people side for the plaintiffs.
@ Hunter freedom of speech,freedom of religion and freedom of association often parallel but they are not the same.
Chuck, you are missing the fact that the most persuasive argument in favor of the Cake Maker involve freedom of expression, not religious liberty.
Althousesplaining.
Ann Althouse said...You sound as though you've never made a cake. The baking part is when you put the pans with raw batter into a hot oven and take them out when they've risen properly and before they get overdone. Baking is a type of cooking.
You sound as though you didn't read your own post. Maybe this was added later?
I'd been thinking of the expression in terms of the icing and other stuff on the outside of the cake, but the brief describes a cake with coloring in the batter, so that the cake-cutting at the reception would be a performance: revealing a rainbow.
Sure sounds like "the baking part" can itself involve artistic expression.
Jason at 9:08:
I am not going to paste your entire post here for reference to save Althouse some space, but I don't think that any civil rights ordinances are going to force you to provide public accommodation to Planned Parenthood.
The problem is with narrower civil rights statutes and ordinances, that include LGBTQ/Whatever protections. Those laws don't usually extend to ideological protections.
So I think you can discriminate against PP and PP can't sue you or run to the civil rights commission.
Again; for people who are concerned about the social direction here... Don't let your state or city enact one of these civil rights ordinances in the first place. This Colorado case wouldn't be happening, but for Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), and its application by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
This case came straight out of Colorado. Litigated on state law grounds in state courts, then cert granted to the Supreme Court of the United States. I have no affection for the four liberals on the Court and Kennedy. But let's be clear that unless you view the court as a needed corrective to supervise all state laws, the blame first and foremost rests with Coloradans who enacted the law and the commission. That law can be erased a lot easier than Lawrence and Obergefell can be reversed.
I sure hope that Coloradans who side with Materpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. will take the action that they can take within their own state before they blame SCOTUS judges.
And yeah, if some people want to say, "What good is it, when we pass our own duly-enacted laws to ban same-sex marriage, when the federal courts re-write them?" I say "Amen; let's get a better Court to overturn Lawrence and Obergefell."
Damn it, Kevin! That'll teach me to refresh the comments page before posting.
"You sound as though you've never made a cake." OMFG.
I'll be sure to remind my partner, next time she announces that she is going to bake a birthday cake, that she is also supposed to decorate it. Then again, for the sake of common sense and domestic harmony, maybe not.
Jason said...If I'm a janitorial services company, a locksmith company, an HVAC repair company, an electrician or a plumber, and 'artistic expression has nothing to do with my services, I still assert the freedom to turn down a contract with Planned Parenthood. Why? because I want no association whatsoever with them.
But Jason your enjoyment of that freedom of association might hurt someone's feelings and we simply can't have that.
More substantively: the way the Constitution is currently interpreted seems to be that you freedom of association is viewed as a very minor right when it comes to one's economic life, and further that any freedom of association you might otherwise have is applicable only to non-protected people/groups. Since LGBTQIAPK* people are members of a protected group that status (as protected) trumps any silly "Constitutional freedom" you have.
In other words: sure you can discriminate all you like against CERTAIN people and groups--that's your right as an American! But under no circumstances will you be allowed to discriminate against OTHER people and groups--try that and your goin' to jail my friend.
The whole of the law, then--the fundamental question itself!--simply becomes whether you are or are not a member of a protected group/class. If so, well, different rules apply.
Just like it says in the Constitution, right? Just like any understanding of "the rule of law" deems necessary.
I am not missing that, but you are right that I did not write much about the First Amendment part.
I do want Mr. Phillips to win this case, of course. I favor his First Amendment rights to decline to participate in a celebration of a same-sex marriage. His right to decline to engage in forced speech.
I think that even Althouse is making that case here. She can probably do it better than I can.
My point was to resist the basis of the Colorado law in the first place. (An issue where I suspect that Althouse and I disagree.) Everything that I was saying about religious liberty applies to First Amendment speech liberty. And I don't want to force persons with moral objection(s) to homosexuality be forced to defend and document that objection via a religious carve-out or a First Amendment carve-out. I'd like to see a lot more democracy, and a lot less courtroom litigation, on the subject.
I might be open to a charge of hypocrisy and inconsistency if I said that the federal courts had no business poking around in state laws barring same-sex marriage, and then claim that the federal courts need to step in to protect Masterpiece Cakes. I don't want to be inconsistent in my federalism.
What I want to do more than anything is to say to the state of Colorado, "See what a mess you have made with your stupid p.c. law aimed at protecting your so-called LGBTQ community? You should get rid of your law. Don't make the courts do it."
Where is the Martha Stewart amicus brief where she describes exactly what is, and is not, "a good thing"?
I'll be sure to remind my partner, next time she announces that she is going to bake a birthday cake, that she is also supposed to decorate it.
No, no. That's her artistic choice once it comes out of the oven.
We have now come full circle in this discussion. The entire conversation boils down to whether Sebastian can force his girlfriend to decorate his birthday cake.
"It takes years of practice and artistry to be able to create specialty cakes."
When my kids were little we told them they could have their birthday cake decorated the way they wanted. There was a baker who was terrific at making these funny cakes. The kids would come up with ideas, like having a ski lift or a sailboat on the cake and he could do it.
It was truly art,
I think Jonathan Richman wrote a song called "Vagina Cake"..or he should.
Jason is precisely right.
The issue of art is completely beside the point.
All of the lawyers' endless prose about it is meaningless.
I used to make cornbread but who has the time.
"You sound as though you didn't read your own post. Maybe this was added later?"
I can't understand what you're trying to say. I need you to be explicitly.
Maybe what was added later? What's the "this" and what in the post are you talking about? I'm quite aware of the part where I say the artistry could be at the batter (and baking level), but I'm explicit about that in the post.
Further to the point about contracts vs services, I find it interesting that the challenges thus far have been about artistic aspects of wedding services (cakes and photography.) In the broadest sense (not that I expect this to happen) wouldn't most wedding services be contracts, allowing those who offer them to legally discriminate if unwilling to participate in gay weddings? Say, for example, a party/reception venue or a caterer?
Daniel Jackson said...
"Who wants service from a Jewish deli that will not put cheese on my steak sandwich?"
This comment, combined with Madame Dust Bunny's comment of the return of slavery, is pretty much the essence of this case.
Extending the logic of the those challenging the cake baker to decorate a cake (that the baker objects to on religious grounds), a person could walk into a Kosher Deli and DEMAND that the owner/preparer violate their religious observance to mix milk and meat.
The preparer could say this violates my observance (and certification) of Kosher Laws and I refuse to do it.
No, you MUST do it.
The difference escapes me.
Just to be clear, the term of art in Con Law is "suspect classification." And Professor Althouse could, I expect, blow us all away with several brilliant lectures on how "suspect classification" and some related tests of Constitutional scrutiny work in Con Law.
But Justice Kennedy never had the intellectual honesty or the legal integrity to say that homosexuals are a "suspect classification" under his formulation of Constitutional interpretation.
Justice Scalia observed that Kennedy's argle-bargle majority opinions about liberty interests and "dignity" and some purported animus toward homosexuals had simply "laid waste to our foundations of rational-basis jurisprudence..."
And much of it stems from Kennedy's fudging on whether homosexuals ever constituted a "suspect classification" (because there is no Constitutinoal basis upon which to make such a classification).
Ann Althouse said...I can't understand what you're trying to say. I need you to be explicitly.
Sorry; I will endeavor be as explicitly as I can be.
You seemingly disagreed with a commenter over the scope of the phrase "bake the cake" as used in and around this dispute. You explained to what baking a cake entails. You differentiated the baking process as you described it from the decorating process. Your post itself, though, did include a description of the baking process that would be covered by the "artistic" part of the decorating process. Based on that portion of the post it wouldn't seem like you had any disagreement with the commenter's assertion that "bake the cake" necessarily includes an artistic component (since just the batter prep part does--it's as much of a choice NOT to make it rainbow as it would be to make it rainbow, etc), but your post describing what baking means seemed to indicate that you did disagree.
My post attempted to juxtapose those two seemingly-contrary positions.
Chuck @ 9:49
I'm sorry... did you have a point?
Bad idea to put the offended in charge of your food.
They might Harvey it.
Chuck said...Just to be clear, the term of art in Con Law is "suspect classification." And Professor Althouse could, I expect, blow us all away with several brilliant lectures on how "suspect classification" and some related tests of Constitutional scrutiny work in Con Law.
Speaking only for myself: away am I prepared to be blown. It seems like an imposition to repeatedly request the "law professor" angle on such things so I try to keep it to a minimum (fearing always I'll be told to pay for law school myself if I want law professors' lectures, etc).
I need you to be explicitly.
Althouse practicing at becoming an accomplished writer of fortune cookie sayings.
buwaya said...
From the outside of the con-law inside baseball issues, it seems like these are all matters of ritual. The substance of the thing is decided by a balance of power, all the arguments are merely packaging meant to give the decision, and moreso the deciders, an image of legitimacy.
If an expedient decision must be made, an argument will be found.
This and many other things were decided, or will be, by last years turn in US politics.
Can a Doctor be forced to perform an abortion?
I love this brief.
Althouse the artist loves art and wants to protect this important freedom.
But don't forget cruel neutrality!
IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY
That shoots a tingle up her leg.
And, indeed, legal briefs could well be art.
They are creative works meant to persuade, no more and no less than a saints image in a church. Often they are made only to demonstrate skill.
They do not derive from mathematical logic. They rest on all manner of "fuzzy" things, even alleged facts.
That they can be appreciated only by the cognoscenti does not reduce their status as art.
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
"I'm not saying that the great artist adopts a right wing political ideology. If fact, I agree with you that the great artist needs to separate himself from politics and certainly to get it out of his art. I'm saying there's something right wing about doing that.
I think most artists types are left wing with specific exceptions. If you really want to see the exceptions, start replicating their copy-righted works without permission!
darrenoia said...
It is the height of irony that the gay rights lobby, on having the Supreme Court recognize that the government shouldn't be able to prevent two people from entering into a (marriage) contract, immediately made it its next step to try to use the government to force people to enter into contracts they don't want.
Or maybe it's not irony so much as a complete lack of principle.
No, no, and no.
Reasons; there is no Colorado law, which requires a Colorado commission to enforce the rights of a protected group. [Substitute your own chosen state or locality, or in some cases federal statute, for "Colorado."]
The common law and the law of statutory interpretation isn't just out there swimming in a world of social controversies and internet memes, trying to do the right thing and make sense of the world.
As I have stated repeatedly in this thread, there is a Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. It prohibits discrimination against homosexuals. A Colorado civil rights commission enforced it, and Colorado courts upheld it.
Colorado doesn't have a law protecting the public accommodation of Nazis, or ISIS, or Westboro Church members (although the latter might get interesting on free exercise of religion grounds).
So your series of questions is pretty easy to answer, and misses the point. You need to look at the Colorado law. And the many similar laws.
As I have now said repeatedly, the thing to do is to not enact those laws in the first place. The federal civil rights statutes mostly stick to race and nationality, and with some additional statutes directed to gender (sex, not "trans-gender") issues.
The reason these cases are coming up is because liberal jurisdictions are passing all of these LGBTQ "civil rights" laws.
If fact, I agree with you that the great artist needs to separate himself from politics and certainly to get it out of his art.
I strongly disagree with this. Entertainers should keep politics out, but not artists. The problem is, many entertainers think that they are artists, and some artists think that they are entertainers.
I'm saying there's something right wing about doing that.
Not necessarily, but it is true that the Left believes that everything is political, including and perhaps especially, art.
Reasons; there is no Colorado law, which requires a Colorado commission to enforce the rights of a protected group like any of the ones you posit.
The issue, and thus the Supreme Court case, is does Colorado's
Anti-Discrimination Act violate the Federal Constitution?
Not yet.....
In other words: sure you can discriminate all you like against CERTAIN people and groups--that's your right as an American!
In some cases you must discriminate against certain groups... White men and Asians.
That's exactly what he would be.
If he had consent.
Performance art cases are tricky First Amendment issues (imho), because often the authorities aren't abridging speech nor press, but rather action (e.g. taking your clothes off). And it's unclear why there would be a private/public distinction in any First Amendment case. Also why do we care if the audience consents to the message? That's alien to free speech principles too. It makes little sense, from a free speech perspective, to say you can do art in private but not in public. So if nude dancing is art and protected by the First Amendment, we should allow nude dancing in public as well, regardless of how pissed off we might be because somebody is waving their junk in our face.
Also, you could certainly claim--and I would claim--that Harvey Weinstein has a First Amendment right to say offensive things to women or anybody else. "You want to suck my cock?" is protected by the First Amendment. It's not like the government is in the business of defining special groups ("artists") and giving them rights other people don't have. Whatever right I have, Harvey Weinstein has, and vice versa. The illegal nature of what he did was not in any offensive speech, but rather conduct. That might be battery, assault, or denying people work opportunities because of their gender.
Can you be FORCED into a contract in which you do not want to be a participant?
Before Obamacare, the answer was no....now sadly it is not.
"As I have stated repeatedly in this thread, there is a Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. It prohibits discrimination against homosexuals. A Colorado civil rights commission enforced it, and Colorado courts upheld it."
Yeah, yeah, I get that. Of course I get that. And I hope Mr. Philips prevails. I said that. Everybody gets it; the First Amendment versus CADA.
But what I alone have been saying, it seems to me, is the primary cure is a democratic one; just don't write laws like CADA in the first place. I'd be so pissed if I was in Colorado; I'd be taking names of all of the people who helped enact the latest amendments to C.R.S. § 24-34-601 et. seq. And the names of the Civil Rights Commissioners. Take names and kick asses in the next election(s).
Instead of leaving it to federal judges to do our social engineering.
Oh don't be silly. Obamacare doesn't force you to do anything. You don't have to get health insurance if you don't want it, and nobody will "force" you. You might be looking at a tax penalty, of course.
But nobody was screaming about "Obamacare!" when they got their state-mandated auto insurance, or their legally-mandated worker compensation insurance.
You're not being serious.
Obamacare forces nuns to sign off on abortion, dumbass.
> doesn't force you to do anything.
Yeah, Gharie. Next you'll be saying that the government keeps you from committing murder. They don't, of course. They just punish you if you do.
Chuckles is now defending the Obamacare mandate?
What exactly is it that supposedly makes you a Republican?
"Is that even in dispute? Seriously, I don't understand why anyone would think otherwise."
This is one of those issues that my partner is emphatic about. Her first husband was an executive chef at a big name facility in Vegas. The executive pastry chef was French trained, and wouldn't let any of his junior chefs decorate the really big wedding cakes. She remembers seeing him, up on a ladder, putting the finishing touches on his creations on multiple occasions. He also helped get her through her two pregnancies with his other creations. She assures me that if you ever suggested to his face that his work didn't quality fly as art, he would, in truly Gallic fashion, come after you with a knife.
Putting on my IP hat - I don't think that there is any question that a lot of custom wedding cakes qualify for copyright protection, under US law. There are two basic requirements - original expression, fixed in a tangible medium. The amount of original expression required is minimal. There just has to be some (more than alphabetizing a telephone book). And if loading a program into RAM is fixation in a tangible medium, a cake is far less transient.
Which gets me to the problem, as I see it. We are talking compelled speech or expression. If this were based in federal law (e.g. the Civil Rights Act), the result should be fairly straight forward - the law was enacted based on a Constitutional power grant (e.g. Commerce Clause for the Civil Rights Act of 1964). BUT the 1st Amdt is power limiting - it's entire purpose was to limit what the govt could do. It's a two step process - first you look to see if the govt had the power to enact the legislation. Then, you look to see (typically in the Bill of Rights) if they were forbidden from doing so (or, to enforce the law as applied). Forced speech (or expression) violates the 1st Amdt, so regardless of the justification for any law mandating it, that law should be unconstitutional, at least as applied.
Now, originally, and for a bit over four score years, the states could essentially infringe on free speech (if not forbidden by their own constitutions). But then the South lost the Civil War, and the 14th Amdt was enacted. And ultimately, it was interpreted to incorporate much of the Bill of Rights to the states. That should mean that CO can pass whatever laws they want (or the Blue state imports who are moving there can) , but they can't violate the 1st Amdt. Can't ban, or worse maybe, force speech. A law banning "hate speech" is unconstitutional as written, and state civil rights laws interpreted to ban such unconstitutional as applied. Ditto, if not more so, for forced speech or expression.
>But nobody was screaming about "Obamacare!" when they got their state-mandated auto insurance, or their legally-mandated worker compensation insurance.
And that is so right. I can choose not to have a car to avoid paying auto insurance. I can choose not to hire employees and not pay workman's comp. And I can choose to have no corporeal body so I don't have to buy insurance.
Chuck must be one of those Lifelong Republicans who voted for Obamacare.
I am more of an artist myself and not at all a political ideologue. I dislike politics and care a lot about art and freedom. I blog as an art project and an exercise in personal freedom.
- Right Wing Ann
(verification word always takes me at least two tries)
at least you tries
lmeade: Well observed.
l already!
How is cake a fixed medium? It's meant to be eaten. Is it copyright infringement to cut it? Eat it?
PackerBronco said...
Tying the issue into artistic expression is too narrow. It really comes down to products and services. Is a business obligated to provide any product or perform any service that a customer might wish? A Christian bookstore might be obligated to sell to atheists, but it is under no obligation to to provide books that atheists might like.
So too, a cake baker is obligated to sell to cakes to homosexuals, but should be under no obligation to provide a cake that celebrates homosexual weddings.
>How is cake a fixed medium?
Computer memory isn't fixed either, but you can copyright a work that only exists there.
Not a lawyer, but I suspect that the legal definition of fixed medium means that it can be fixed, if you choose to do so. You can eat your cake, but you can also preserve it.
Blogger mccullough said...
How is cake a fixed medium?
How is impromptu theater a fixed medium?
It's a mess, and there's a big fight brewing over this mess.
Start with the text. "No state shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Conservatives argue that this provision protects all American citizens, and in the same way. We all have the same rights.
Liberals argue that this provision protects certain groups of American citizens, who have special privileges the rest of us do not have.
Thus, many on the left think that black people, women, Muslims, and gays have special rights. Usually these groups are referred to as "minorities," even though women are actually in the majority. Anyway, minorities have rights, majorities do not, under this interpretation. So you will see different analysis and hear different arguments depending upon whether the person is part of a minority group or not. And leftists begin to disfavor minority groups that are doing well. Are Jews doing well in American society? Then you start seeing leftist antipathy to Jews. Are recent African immigrants doing well in American society? Leftists start attacking and criticizing them, too. Or Asians. The leftist project is to criticize any of the groups that are on top. There are even some leftists who feel sympathy for poor white men who are homeless. And yet other leftists see them as white males and feel no sympathy. The whole project is a mess and, from a legal perspective, a really bad joke. I believe it was Justice O'Connor who opined that the Supreme Court would get around to abandoning this idiotic idea in 2028. She's invented a constitutional law with an expiration date. Why it's good now and bad in the future, I have no idea. This whole sorry mess is usually referred to as "identity politics" and nice people abhor it.
Anyway, on the right is the idea is that we all have the same rights and the same laws under our Constitution and the American way of life. Under this reading, the equal protection clause protects all of us in the same way. Racial discrimination is always suspicious, regardless of skin color. Sex discrimination is also suspicious, depending on context. There are many instances where sex discrimination is entirely appropriate. For instance, in dating, relationships, marriage, and baby-making, almost all of us engage in sex discrimination. Hence, not suspicious at all. So sex discrimination is referred to as "intermediary" review.
(It's intermediary because it's a review between "suspicious" and what is called "rational basis review" which is another can of worms. Basically the proponents of rational basis review argue that every law in existence has to be rational, and if it's irrational it offends the equal protection clause. Since it would cause civil war to go around striking down laws on the grounds of stupidity, the judiciary rarely uses this one. So 99.9% of laws pass rational basis review).
I don't know if that's brilliant, but it's the Cliff notes version.
I'll be sure to remind my partner, next time she announces that she is going to bake a birthday cake, that she is also supposed to decorate it. Then again, for the sake of common sense and domestic harmony, maybe not
My God, some of you people are obtuse.
I can make pancakes and call them Birthday Cakes. That doesn't make them the same thing as what most (normal) people consider a "Birthday Cake".
A Birthday Cake generally has a basic cake base that is then decorated with some basic icing. Generic Cake. What makes it a Birthday Cake, instead of a generic cake is the decoration of artistic flairs such as icing roses, flowers, foliage, sculpted characters, items that have meaning for the birthday recipient, fluted borders, dropped icing ropes, coloring, shading, fondant sculptures etc etc.
The Birthday cake will then, usually, have a message personalized to the birthday recipient. Like "Happy Birthday Sebastian you Dork!!!!"
All these decorations which are customized and geared to the individual.
Of course, you don't always have to have those customized elements. Your girlfriend can bake you a chocolate cake, shove it in front of you and call it a birthday cake. Her choice. She is doing this out of the goodness of her heart and you should be grateful :-D The cake artist is being asked to decorate and customize the cake for money as a part of a contractual economic transaction.
BTW, The baker is not always the decorator either. Often the process of a Wedding Cake can take several people. Someone(s) to bake the base of the cake and then the Decorators or artists who may be more than one person.
Do you need MORE detail? I can provide it :-D
Somehow we ended up with the top layer of a former neighbor's daughter's wedding cake in our freezer for about a decade.
The tradition once was that the couple ate the top on their first anniversary, but the couple moved to China for a few years, and we didn't see any of them until the son's wedding years later. Just as well, since I didn't particularly like the family.
I certainly did not. Only Democrat members of Congress "voted for Obamacare." And unlike some blogresses, I never once voted for Obama.
But I'll tell you what sort of Republican I am; I am a practical-minded one, who realizes that a system cannot possibly afford "pre-existing condition coverage" guarantees without penalizing persons who elect to remain uninsured until they get sick (a pre-existing condition). It would be like allowing everyone to wait to buy fire insurance until the moment the fire department was called. Or allowing everyone to avoid Gulf-region flood insurance until they saw the storm track on The Weather Channel.
>But I'll tell you what sort of Republican I am;
I knew this already. Either an incompetent one, or an incompetent imposter.
True. But a Conservative would say that a person who doesn't buy health insurance should suffer the consequences of not doing so, not that everyone should be forced to buy insurance because some people make bad choices.
It is possible to be a Republican AND a Cake Fucker.
Sure. There is nothing in the Republican handbook (at least not my 2016 revision h copy) forbidding fornication with pastries, pies, or cakes.
I may not agree with your right to f*ck a cake but I will die protecting that right!
...But a Conservative would say that a person who doesn't buy health insurance should suffer the consequences of not doing so, not that everyone should be forced to buy insurance because some people make bad choices.
A doctrinaire conservative would then say just as quickly, "So of course this fantasy about forcing insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions also has to be jettisoned."
And that's fine, for a libertarian freak like Rand Paul. But it's pretty terrible electoral politics at the retail level.
And remember, slashing away health insurance provisions like that is NOT what Trump campaigned on! TRUMP CAMPAIGNED ON COVERING EVERYBODY; PROVIDING EVERYBODY WITH "GREAT" COVERAGE.
Trump took the entitlements of Obamacare and larded them up with extra fat and made them part of his campaign.
Because, as David Frum says, the core competency of Trump is not doing high level deals with powerful counterparties. Rather, the core competency of Trump is duping gullible people.
Arty Legal Brief
It's telling that homosexuals choose to identify with exclusive labels: "gay", "lesbian", that isolate them from others on the transgender (i.e. physical and/or mental) spectrum: bisexual, transvestite, crossover, fluid. The constructed "gender" classification schedule was designed to normalize political congruence ("="). It's not over, and Pro-Choice will not shield progressives and social liberals from the consequences of their selective, unprincipled, and opportunistic religious/moral, scientific, and legal philosophy.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think the simple act of baking a cake would be used as a partisan weapon in order to bludgeon your political opponents. But that is the world the left has created for the rest of us.
Thanks. Thanks a lot, assholes.
Laslo takes the cake.
I have nothing to add except to emphasize the malice that brought this case about in the first place. The "angry gay" is a real subset of the community, and those I've encountered take vindictiveness to the extreme.
But not all is anger. Given the cummulative length of Chuck's several comments on this thread, this little gem made me laugh.
"I am not going to paste your entire post here for reference to save Althouse some space,..."
"Sure. There is nothing in the Republican handbook (at least not my 2016 revision h copy) forbidding fornication with pastries, pies, or cakes."
I would think doughnuts would be the most fuckable of pastries for obvious reasons. Just think of that saucy little French cruller tucked away in the corner of the Dunkin Doughnuts box, coyly awaiting your advances.
"Do you need MORE detail?" You mean, you thought the detail wasn't entirely and utterly obvious to anyone over the age of, oh, 3? So obvious, in fact, that when a fair portion of the population discusses "baking a cake" or the problems faced by a "baker" of cakes they do not assume that the decorating is part of the issue at hand?
I love you DBQ, really I do, but is this what we have to look forward to when women are in charge of everything?
"A doctrinaire conservative would then say just as quickly, "So of course this fantasy about forcing insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions also has to be jettisoned."" Indeed. Since such coverage makes a mockery of the very notion of insurance.
Actual "pre-existing conditions"--birth defects and such--we will cover out of a collective fund, paid for by direct taxes, monitored and controlled by the people's representatives.
We can argue about when conditions that somehow have come into existence become "pre-existing" for the purpose of collective burden-sharing. But that's no reason to destroy the actual insurance system.
exiled,
A new twist genderwise on the "French tickler."
Made this same point weeks ago, and the Professor zapped it. Vindication... Now, if someone would go to a baker and demand a cake that says "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" (during school hours but off school property) lulz (Morse v. Frederick)
"Because, as David Frum says, the core competency of Trump is not doing high level deals with powerful counterparties. Rather, the core competency of Trump is duping gullible people"
Frum and LLR Chuck.
You could not squeeze more "wrong" into 2 "analyst/prognosticators".
People imagine that in the bad old days whites were simply refusing service to blacks all over the place. In fact, so many whites WERE hiring blacks and serving them and living next door to them that the democrats got the Jim Crow laws passed making it illegal to do so. Without government interference, integration was on the way to becoming a done deal.
Thus the claims that not making cakes for gays is just like Jim Crow is backwards. Gays can find plenty of places that will bake them a fancy cake.
Let's consider another example: a couple want a photographer to come do their nudist wedding. Should they have the right to refuse?
David in Cal said...
Dumb honesty is punished. If a gay couple asked about a cake from a baker who said he would bake one, but that he opposed homosexuality, the couple would immediately go elsewhere for their cake.
Ann Althouse writes:
Nor is about about whether the cakeshop is forced to "bake a cake" for the wedding. It's about whether it must decorate the cake
I'm sorry, but you are wrong here.
The contents of what goes in to the cake is at least as much of an artistic endeavor as decorating it. That is, after all, why couples do cake tastings before picking out their wedding cake.
You want to buy an "off the rack" product? Fine, the "Civil Rights Commission" can complain if they won't sell to you.
You want to buy something custom? It's their absolute right to refuse to have anything to do with you. Because "custom" == "art" == "First Amendment right not to be involved"
I have now lost all count of how many red herrings there are in these comments.
No, there is no problem with refusing to work for a nudist wedding. Why? For the simple reason that no civil rights law that I know of prohibits discrimination against "nudists."
These comments continue to veer off into weird little hypothetical backwaters that have no connection to reality. But as I have also repeatedly proclaimed, I do not favor the homosexual plaintiffs in this case. The real problem is the civil rights law in Colorado and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission's application of the law.
I keep harping on that because I suspect that Althouse likes such laws, as long as there can be carve-outs for First Amendment liberty exceptions. (As in this case.) Whereas I am saying that states and localities are making a big mistake by passing such laws in the first place. Because such laws are what lead to cases like this.
I think that is "wishful thinking" in that maybe 9 out of 10 would but that 10th couple would feel compelled to "make a point" and demand that the cake be made anyway and if it was not 100% perfect (possibly in spite of) they would sue for something/anything. Once the baker's opinion were known, no amount of vilification would be enough. He must be destroyed, his business must be destroyed, his family must suffer.
This is not 100% of gay couples in that as you suggest, most would not like it but would go elsewhere where their business is appreciated but it just takes one. Wrong think must be eradicated regardless of the cost...
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At the Automat Café...
... let's do lunch.
Tags: Edward Hopper
Chop Suey for lunch
Let's have a kosher ham and cheese sandwich.
I prefer to look at the "white woman" in the painting over the "white woman" in the Instagram photo.
What does that say about me?
I am sure someone will find a name to call me.
Inga...Allie Oop said...
A man shouting a pro-Nazi and pro-Trump salute during a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Baltimore has reignited discussions of anti-Semitism amid increases in hate crimes in Maryland and nationwide.
Audience member Rich Scherr said the outburst, during intermission at the Hippodrome Theatre on Wednesday, prompted fears that it was the beginning of a shooting. The man, who had been seated in the balcony, began shouting “Heil Hitler, Heil Trump.” Immediately after that, “People started running,” Scherr said. “I’ll be honest, I was waiting to hear a gunshot. I thought, ‘Here we go.’”
Sort of like Shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater.
This painting is extremely offensive.
"Hopper's wife, Jo, served as the model for the woman. However, Hopper altered her face to make her younger (Jo was 44 in 1927). He also altered her figure; Jo was a curvy, full-figured woman, while one critic has described the woman in the painting as "'boyish' (that is, flat-chested).""
Jay Vogt said...
Just saw that Roy Clark had died. Really talented guy he. I'd rather watch a random rerun of He Haw than anything on CNN, Fox or MSNBC.
For me it's a sign that I've reached peak snarky hectoring preening.
I looked up the painting in Wikipedia. It was painted in 1927, and it is claimed that Hopper used his wife as the model. However his wife was 44 in 1927 and described as "curvy," by which they probably mean "voluptuous." The woman in the painting has the flat-chested look that was fashionable in 1927.
I tend to get sad when I look at photos or paintings of lovely women from long ago, and I think how they are surely all dead by now. I don't know why I think that, and only about women. The sole exception is Sargent's "Lady Agnew of Lochnaw." I know Lady Gertrude Agnew died in 1932, but the intelligence of the woman who looks out from that portrait will live forever.
Big Mike said...I tend to get sad when I look at photos or paintings of lovely women from long ago, and I think how they are surely all dead by now. I don't know why I think that, and only about women. The sole exception is Sargent's "Lady Agnew of Lochnaw." I know Lady Gertrude Agnew died in 1932, but the intelligence of the woman who looks out from that portrait will live forever.
Funny you would note that, I think the same thing, but I think it especially of Lady Agnew.
I miss the hats. Both men and women wore them.
JohnAnnArbor said...
Old-fashioned, in a good way?
I tend to get sad when I look at photos or paintings of lovely women from long ago, and I think how they are surely all dead by now.
I do this with dogs. Any film, tv, photo, art of a dog 20 years old. Dog? Dead.
@Andrew, you and I read the same Wiki article at approximately the same time, but reached different conclusions. I know, from reading the history of the 1920s back in the day, that the "boyish" look was fashionable back then -- look at pictures of flappers or the cartoons of John Held, Jr.
I suspect Wikipedia is simply wrong about who Hopper's model was.
Inga: "Sort of like Shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater."
Or waving an economics text or Aristotle's LOGIC in a gathering a "liberals."
So some Lefty shouts Heil Hitler, Heil Trump during Fiddler on the Roof and we are supposed to be shocked and hate Trump. Right.
Try again, fucking Lefty assholes. Or just carve an "L" into your forehead.
it is claimed that Hopper used his wife as the model
Maybe she was. Maybe she wasn't. It's a myth, the accuracy of which cannot be assessed in the near-frame (i.e. scientific logical domain).
We all know who the vast majority of anti-semites are on the left.
From Two States to One: Michigan's Rashida Tlaib Shifts Position on Israel
Asked whether she supported a one-state or two-state solution, her response was clear: “One state. It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work. I’m only 42-years old but my teachers were of that generation that marched with Martin Luther King. This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn’t work.”
On U.S. aid to Israel, she said, “Americans should not be aiding any country that doesn’t support human rights. I’ve been very clear. I will not support racist countries that pick and choose who gets access to justice.”
Rashida Tlaib DEMOCRAT congresswoman.
"On U.S. aid to Israel, she said, “Americans should not be aiding any country that doesn’t support human rights. I’ve been very clear. I will not support racist countries that pick and choose who gets access to justice.”"
-- Someone should ask her for a list of countries she WOULD approve aid to and then, you know, see how that lines up with this statement.
Inga's party demostrates clear anti-semitism:
Linda Sarsour, prominant democrat leader, warns we must not humanize Israelis
"Sarsour warned against normalization or friendly relations with Israelis. "If you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you’re defending the oppressor, or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor, then that’s a problem sisters and brothers, and we got to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community."
Sarsour, who was propelled into the national spotlight as a leader of the Women's March following the election of US President Donald Trump, has been criticized for expressing support for anti-Semites and terrorists who murdered Israelis."
Seattle City council candidate leaves race after threats and racist attacks on his family.
Democrats are violent nasty people.
Rightist dummies don’t know that most American Jews are liberals and Democrats.
"Seattle City council candidate leaves race after threats and racist attacks on his family."
-- The Seattle City Council should be embarrassed. They should all resign in disgrace if they can't ensure the safety of the candidates for those positions through the election. Threats of violence should not be how we thin the field in American elections.
How does the fact that some of the left's best friends are Jews change the fact that there are some blatant anti-Semites on the left?
The Jewish refugee agency that the Synagogue shooter, a far right nutcase, was ranting against was HIAS, which has helped Muslim refugees from war torn countries.
Phidippus said...
I like Hopper. I don't know if he ever did photography, but he seems to have had a photographer's feel for the light, and the colors and qualities of various light sources (i.e., artificial and natural).
Practical color processes weren't developed until after the 20's, of course.
Interiors by the much earlier Dutch masters also show remarkable sensitivity to the light.
@Big Mike,
I was just being snarky, speaking in the language of an SJW. Can you imagine the fainting spells if you were to use the term 'flat-chested' nowadays?
I enjoyed your comment. I can't recall seeing that Sargent before. What a masterpiece.
Tommy Duncan said...
I see Inga is hoping to provoke some name calling today. The irony is lost on her.
You don't know the city council of Seattle.
They are thugish socialists. They are the violent left wing of the democrat party.
Sawant probably told her thug supporters to attack him personally.
We do know and we are mystified. How can Jews support and vote for cocksuckers that want them dead? Ever see those anti-Israel/pro-Palestine protests on major college campuses? Ever hear what they are saying about Jews, all Jews?
Inga's pals are the worst anti-Semites around. Jews should smite Democrats rather than look at them.
So that makes democrat anti-semitism OK.
You are such an awful person.
Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader, leads 'Death to America' chant in Iran
Other awesome Farrakan quotes:
"I am not an anti-semite, I am an anti-termite."
"Jews are my enemy."
"White people are going down."
I see Inga is taking Avenetti's arrest hard.
She never minds when Democrat leaders beat and/or rape women though.
She doesn't actually care about actual victims of rape/assault.
They are a tool she uses to gain power over other people and only the tools that are of use against people she disagrees with matter.
She voted for a known rapist after all.
The Synagogue shooter was a Trump hater. Inga is a Trump hater.
See a pattern?
Yesterday, Inga said he commented on alt-right blogs.
Inga/Ritmp/AuntieDeShiiterFace/Howard comment here on a blog that is considered a right-wing blog based on its commenters. Their Lefty friends would label them "right" based on where they commented, too, if they went full retard and started killing, like they want to do.
@Andrew, these days there are so many people so wildly offended by anything and everything that my snark detector broke years ago.
A local library sponsors presentations by art historians, and there's an exhibit of Dürers at the Museum of the Shenandoah in nearby Winchester. One of those presentations was about John Singer Sargent, whom I had only slightly heard about. There's a museum in Boston with a fine collection of Sargents, including his famous "Daughters of Edward Darley Boit." The young ladies are pictured with two tall blue and white vases, and the original vases are placed on either side of the displayed painting, so that we can can judge the height of the girls. (N.B., the vases are slightly over six feet tall.)
And Inga no doubt joins senile grandma Nancy Pelosi in thanking Al Sharpton for saving America!
Keith Ellison accuser discusses how the DNC dealt with her accusations.
“No, they don't,” Monahan tweeted in response to a question whether the party believes women’s stories. “I've been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party. I provided medical records from 2017, stating on two different Dr. Visits, I told them about the abuse and who did it. My therapist released records stating I have been dealing and healing from the abuse.”
She added: “Four people, including my supervisor at the time, stated that I came to them after and shared the exact story I shared publicly, I shared multiple text between me and Keith, where I discuss the abuse with him and much more. As I said before, I knew I wouldn't be believed.”
Inga's party of woman beaters smears and attacks women who accuse democrat men of accuse.
He hated Trump.
You have more in common with him than any right of center commenter on this board.
You also associate with obvious and known anti-semites.
Pretty fair to consider him part of the left and the resistance at this point. It has far more support than your stupid claim he is far-right.
@Inga, most of us are very aware that most American Jews identify as liberal Democrats. They generally suffer a great deal of cognitive dissonance when it is pointed out that they support people who support people who want to kill them. Are they inflicted with "last cattle car" syndrome? (N.B., there really were Jews who cooperated with the Nazis, only to end up in Aushwitz -- read the stories of Moshe Merin and Chaim Rumkowski.) Or just people able to reason from A to B and from B to C but not from A to C?
FIDO said...
Hey, Inga. How is that investigation of Ellison going since all the Democrat law enforcement recused themselves?
And Americans confidence in elections being fair and honest goes to 0.
"Thursday, the race was called for Democrat Jared Golden after the algorithms decided in his favor."
Anything for power.
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...
"At the Automat Cafe...
...an algorithm will decide your lunch"
I hated the hats of that era. Hats which hated long hair (so they can join Althouse in that disdain).
It made women's heads look like a bullet or a penis head, and that is not a good look on a woman.
Democrats now have 35 House seats. All of them anti Semites, no doubt.
Automats. Will they be more prevalent in the future?
Kamala Harris is now out there comparing Immigration and Customs with the KKK.
And this insanity wants to be president.
If minimum wages keep going up...yes. I believe they're already big in Japan.
Ryan Saavedra
@RealSaavedra
"Democrat Senator Kamala Harris compares ICE to the KKK and appears to suggest that they are a terrorist group during a Senate hearing to consider the nomination of Ronald Vitello to be the director of ICE.
51% of ICE agents were Hispanic or Latino at the end of fiscal year 2016."
"At the Automat Café..."
You can throw your comments in the Hopper.
D 2 said...
Hats are a touchy subject. Once you suggest people should wear hats, sooner or later someone else might try to tell you what type of hat. Or when to wear it. Then they'll start looking at your shoes.
But as an avowed non hat expert yeah I'm not sold at that hat style either.
Democrats now have 35 House seats.
Actually they have a lot more than that.
All of them anti Semites, no doubt.
Not all.
The ICE nominee should have answered: "There was a time there was a strong correlation between Democrats and the KKK too."
Humperdink said...
Same guy who sat with Bill Clinton, The Most Rev. Al Sharpton and Monsignor Jesse Jackson (Democrat leaders all) at Aretha Franklin's funeral.
Most are.
Clearly they are all comfortable with anti-semites at a minimum.
"Democrats now have 35 House seats. All of them anti Semites, no doubt."
While in Georgia, the Democratic efforts to steak the election on behalf of fat, stupid-looking gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams continues apace. Among people campaigning in support of Ms. Abrams: Black Panthers carrying the kind of automatic weapons Ms. Abrams wants to ban, and Linda Sarsour. A pro-Jewish love-fest, no doubt.
It's anti semitic to oppose any project that Jews are involved in in any capacity as long as Democrats support that project. All other cases, for example Israel, it's not anti Semitism to oppose it. Therefore no Democrats can ever be guilty of anti Semitism. If you guys would get this straight, you would not look so foolish.
Think of it like #METOO, it is not operative against Democrats.
Says Amy Welborn today -- "One of my regular blog reads is Ann Althouse, retired Wisconsin law professor."
I guess that answers a question someone had the other day.
Democrat Senator Kamala Harris compares ICE to the KKK... 51% of ICE agents were Hispanic or Latino at the end of fiscal year 2016
The KKK adopted an ethical (i.e. situational, politically congruent (PC), Pro-Choice) code of rabid diversity (i.e. color judgments). The Democrats normalize an ethical code of diversity that judges people by their colorful clumps of cells. Nazis, national socialists, with global ambitions, a taste for redistributive change (e.g. reparations), were not the originators, but enthusiastic adopters of diversity, and painted people, notable Jews, with broad, sweeping strokes. As well as operated Planned Jew, or select-Jew, to deny life they deemed unworthy or unviable. The SPLC needs to update their #Label catalog, which is misaligned with principles, and liberally indulgent of diversity.
Democrats like progressive (i.e. secular) Jews, who believe the Torah is a living document, and their religious/moral philosophy a suggestion that is deprecated by the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, politically congruent, code of ethics.
Fernandistein said...
Any film, tv, photo, art of a dog 20 years old. Dog? Dead.
#MeToo. Weird.
"When you're a Democrat, they let you do it"
"The Weapon Shops of Isher" (1949)
by A.E. van Vogt
"A major golden-age novella by A. E. van Vogt never before republished!"
CHAPTER III - Low-Stake Game
Cayle lay down on the bed and relaxed by means of the rhythm system. He felt amazingly well. The theft of his money still stung but it was no longer a disaster. The fifteen credits the weapon shop girl had given him would tide him over for a few weeks.
He was safe. He was in Imperial City. And the very fact that the girl had loaned him the money, and given him her name and address, must prove something. Cayle sighed with pleasure-and went out of get some supper.
He had noticed an automat at the corner. It was empty but the instantaneous cooking machines served him a deliciously broiled steak with all the trimmings. He would have liked somebody to talk to but then he remembered that city people did not necessarily speak to strangers. And decided to make the best of the situation.
The meal cost more than he had expected. But even that he decided not to regret. After his experiences on the plane he needed sustenance. He went out onto the street contentedly. The neighborhood swarmed with children, and though it was already dark the play went on relentlessly.
Cayle paused for a moment to watch them. Their ages seemed to vary from about six to twelve. Their play was of the group-rhythm type taught in all the schools, only this was heavily overlaid with a sex-motif that he had never seen before. He was startled, then rueful.
"Good heavens!" he thought. "I had the reputation for being a devil of a fellow because a few girls let me make love to them. To these kids I'd be just plain naive."
He went up to his room, conscious that the young man over whom the elders of Glay had many times shaken their heads was really a simple honest soul. He might come to a bad end but it would be because he was too innocent, not the other way around.
It disturbed him. In Glay there had been a certain pleasure in defying the conventions. In Glay he had thought of himself as being "city." Lying on the bed he knew that was true up to a point only. He lacked experience and knowledge, automatic response and awareness of dangers. His immediate plans must include remedies for these weaknesses.
The vagueness of the purpose disturbed him. He had an uneasy feeling that he was making stop-gap decisions, that somehow he was not comprehending the main decision he must make one of these days.
He drifted into sleep, worrying about it. Twice, when he stirred on the edge of waking, the thought was still there, unpleasant, urgent, a jarring background to his first night in the city of dreams. He awoke tired and unhappy. Only gradually did the uneasiness wear off.
He avoided the expensive automat, eating breakfast for a credit-eighth in a restaurant that offered personal service and featured home cooking. He regretted his miserliness. The weight of the indigestible meal on his stomach did not lighten until he was in the Penny Palace, an ornate gambling establishment on the world-famous Avenue of Luck.
So here we have: decisions, an unexplained referent (the rhythm system), a modification on that (group rhythm with a sex-motif), a reversal of our expectations (automat: excellent, home cooked: awful). Would the children's play shock us? We don't know.
There's also a good bit of discussion on the place of governments and the place of peoples. Some of it is couched in second amendment terms familiar to Americans today (though van Vogt stacks the deck by making his weapons defensive only through some type of strong AI that (typically) appears to have no other affect on society), but some of it is straight up on the virtues of civil society, especially the speech given by the Isher army deserter to the Empress.
Jersey Fled said...
The big automat chain here in the Philadelphia area was Horn and Hardart. I remember my Uncle Tony taking me and my cousin Freddie there when we were maybe 10. I especially remember the Boston Cream Pie.
Blogger FullMoon said...
On a lighter note, couple of moms took their twelve year old girls to San Francisco a week ago.
The people who own and run San Francisco must be fine with that state of affairs. They have all the money and political power to change it if they wanted to.
Amadeus 48 said...
Inga—I just scanned this thread reading only your posts. Are you OK? These are but wild and whirling words...
Meanwhile, across the pond, there are a lot of Tories with Tight Jaws about Mrs. May and her half-arsed Brexit deal. She might be spending more time with her family soon.
weren't Horn & Hardart nazis or something?
Don't you think she looks tired?
The only reason Scotland is still in the UK is because it reliably sends a huge number of labor MPs to parliament.
Britain should stop funding Scottish welfare and let them be their own country.
Theresa May and Paul Ryan have a lot in common. Both serve the globalists and both lie to their constituents about what they are really about.
Carrying over from the other thread:
https://mobile.twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1063151963037188096?p=v
MadTownGuy said...
Concerto for Horn and Hardart - PDQ Bach.
@Unknown, the Doctor certainly thinks so.
Universities will someday study what highly conflicted (and NOT Senate approved) Bob Mueller and his gang of Democrat thugs have done to destroy people. Why is he protecting Crooked Hillary, Comey, McCabe, Lisa Page & her lover, Peter S, and all of his friends on the other side?
Trump Tweet
Theresa is a very wet tory, gove stabbed Johnson in the back, leadsom was shamed for having children she resembles one of the characters in the body guard, no not the attractive home secretary.
The people who own and run San Francisco must be fine with that state of affairs. They have all the money and political power to change it if they wanted to
Just voted in new tax to 'help the homeless'. Things gonna improve, fer shur now.
Also, this:
Fran, wages and benefits—you need a pooper scooper, not a degree.
“We detailed last week how city authorities have finally decided to do something after thousands of feces complaints (during only one week in July, over 16,000 were recorded), the cancellation of a major medical convention and an outraged new Mayor, London Breed, who was absolutely shocked after walking through her city: they established a professional “poop patrol”.
As described when the city initially unveiled the plan, the patrol will consist of a team of five staffers and a supervisor donning protective gear and patrolling the alleys around Polk Street and other “brown zones” in search of everything from hepatitis-laden Hershey squirts to worm-infested-logs. At the Poop Patrol’s disposal will be a special vehicle equipped with a steam cleaner and disinfectant.
“While at first glance it doesn’t sound like the type of job people will be knocking down human resources doors to apply for, the SF Chronicle has revealed just how much each member of this apparently elite “poop patrol” team will cost the city: $184,678 in salary and benefits.”
The home secretary there is the total opposite of may, she is perhaps too aggressive in pursuing threats to the realm
@MadTown
Phillip Glass built the Hardart! Whodathunkit?!? I mean..of course!!
Florida Democrats urged voters to submit absentee ballots after Election Day, using an official form that had been altered to make it look like they were doing so within the legal deadline, hoping a judge would later allow the votes.
From a Breitbart article.
The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation
" Oh, Eddy! Not again!!"
Please? Just one more time-- I swear it will be different-- a different hat, a different green top-- hell! Even a different diner!"
"oh...alright. But this time you have to actually buy me lunch, you cheapskate"
"Hmmmm. Ok. Anything for you, Pooky!"
"I think I'll call this one "Automat", he mumbled to himself
peoples exhibit g:
https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/14/roger-stone-wikileaks-randy-credico-mueller/
The Cracker Emcee Rampant said...
"So some Lefty shouts Heil Hitler, Heil Trump during Fiddler on the Roof and we are supposed to be shocked and hate Trump. Right"
How stupid would you have to be to fall for this. Inga, yes, but who else? It's as transparent as the bit of political dumbshow AO-C and Pelosi have been staging the last couple of days.
Marcus said...
So Ellison's accuser thinks that the Dems did not believe her? Sorry == of course they did. But they voted for the abuser IN SPITE OF THAT.
THEOLDMAN
Hey democrats - perhaps you can let Hillary steal the primary again
Within 30 days’: Federal judge wants to hear more from Hillary about her email server and the emails on it
the earlier link, concerns a Moroccan diplomat, who coincidentally is the un envoy regarding yemen, who headed a hacking ring against a number of persons, who has Qatari connections,
tim maguire said...
Anybody (everybody?) wonder what Inga is like in real life? I’m picturing a bored middle class housewife feeling empty because her kids are almost grown up and don’t need her anymore, but she might be a 16-year-old boy stirring the pot for shits and giggles. Anyway, I bet she’s a basically normal boring person around the neighborhood.
anti-de Sitter space said...
"The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation
Trump Tweet"
Why is DJT all fussy about this now?
Is it a coincidence that his lawyers are said to be trying to answer written questions from Mueller? Why would they have trouble w/ that? Just truthfully answer and send it back. EZPZ
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/416503-trumps-written-responses-to-mueller-questions-could-come-this-week
Haha. The Fiddler on the Roof guy is a lefty who was confused by angry people because he thought that meant they liked Trump.
Inga hardest hit.
"Anybody (everybody?) wonder what Inga is like in real life?"
The drunken slattern cackling beside the tumbril.
The blowsy hausfrau with her arm in the air as the brownshirts torch the synagogue.
The backwoods slattern who made the accusation, delighting in the attention at the lynching.
Damn. I used slattern twice. And me with a vocabulary like the OED.
Substitute worm-riddled cracker for slattern in the third line.
Actually let's go with pox-addled cracker. That's gotta be almost spot on.
Ah, the automat. You put in a nickel, a piece of pie comes out. You put in a quarter, a turkey platter comes out. You put in a slug, you know what comes out? The manager.
Vintage humor, c. 1935.
Take it easy on Inga. She's giddy about the Blue Wave, even though it's insufficient to override a Trump veto, or to overcome the Republican majority in the Senate.
Am I the only person who thinks the women in the painting looks like a tart?
Lot of makeup for the 20's.
Bill, Republic of Texas said...
Did y'all see the Germans withdrew an award for the Women's March USA since they are a bunch of bigots and haters. Ouch!
https://www.fes.de/presse/aktuelle-pressehinweise/menschenrechtspreis-2018-der-friedrich-ebert-stiftung/
> You put in a slug, you know what comes out? The manager.
Reminds me of hitchhiking in NY in the 60's. Got a ride with a guy who had a box of slugs for the toll machines, he got them from a friend of his who was a machinist with a sideline. I could also tell you about trucks with phony mufflers (for better mileage), and cigarette smuggling. Taxes, fees, and laws makes NY a prime incubator of the underground cash economy. Illegal immigrants fit right in.
Blogger Matthew Sablan said...
"Threats of violence should not be how we thin the field in American elections."
It seems fairly clear that the Democrats do not agree with you. So, yes, this is exactly what the Democrats have brought us to. Anyone who dares to oppose them will see his family attacked in their home. His employer will be called upon to fire him. He will be harassed in public restaurants. This is what the Left Fascists mean when they say, "If you are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem".
anti de Spit asked (Re: The Mueller hoax): "Why is DJT all fussy about this now?"
I cracked up at this. Really Spit? Only now is DJT fussy about this?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/world/11/15/brazils-bolsonaro-names-trump-fan-top-diplomat-as-cuba-relations-sour/amp/
Stephen Cooper said...
Ralph L - what you call an excessive amount of makeup merely means that she is waiting for someone.
She recently put on lipstick because she wants to look good when he shows up.
I know this because I am fascinated by the 1920s, lots of my friends, most (but not all) of them gone, were alive in the 1920s, and it really was a different world.
"Anybody (everybody?) wonder what..."
She's a screamer. I'll tell you that.
Lipstick's OK, it's the mascara. Her face shouldn't be that bright under a hat brim at night. If the very strange lights are reflections, where's the rest of the cafe?
What's the gold thing on the far right?
Going backwards - the gold thing is not gold, it is brass. It is a tray stand, they used to put food that should stay warm - particularly appetizers, which is why it is empty, it is way past appetizer hour - on such a stand. The brass tubes held hot water and kept it hot for awhile.
The raccoon look in her eyes is not a depiction of too much mascara, it is a trick Hopper learned from the impressionists, where the color on a human face falsely echoes the colors surrounding the human. In poetry, it is called the pathetic fallacy (the night was dark and so was my heart: that sort of thing.)
She is not a tart because most of her clothes are wool. Even the hat is wool. Remember back when Nixon talked about his wife's cloth winter coat? A tart would have had something un-cottony and un-lacy to show.
Your question about where is the rest of the cafe is a good one. Hopper was certainly a good enough painter to know that he could play around with reflections to make a place seem less real, more philosophical. So I can't say where the rest of the cafe is, because it is a cafe in a dreamscape, which is why the guy's paintings sell for a million dollars per square inch.
Oh and the brightness of her face ----- that is to show she is both young and has a complexion she is not ashamed of, which makes the sad patient look of waiting on her face more poignant.
I meant, even the hat is simple cotton. Of course the hat is not wool. Pressed cotton, some version of felt - that stuff always carried a nice smell to it , it always held the smell of the soap and the powder for weeks and weeks after being cleaned.
Or I could be wrong about all of that.
ok what's with the Dr. Strangelove/Michael Jackson/Sophie B.Hawkins "one glove" look?
Ot, you thought star discovery was bad hold your romulan ale, it's even worse than you thought.
My mattress since 1992 is solid cotton felt. The labels my grandmother left on say it was made 10 miles from here and cost $35 in 1944, which explains why there's no metal in it.
Guildofcannonballs said...
Get the cunt out of your ass and donate to Vanderleun.
What the Christ have you been waiting for?
http://americandigest.org
I don't know how to describe it, but it as if the material produces its own fresh talcum powder -without the dust - on a refreshing continual basis, always being cooler than it looks
Star trek discovery, but what can one expect when mirror universe infiltrator les Moonves is involved.
You've donated $75.00 USD to
Gerard Vanderleun
She had to take the right glove off to pull out the right change and hold the teacup securely.
OTOH, her decolletage, high hemline, and apparent lack of hose indicate she doesn't care about the cold because she's used to standing on the street corner.
I am so in debt that 75 might cost me 1800.
Don't care.
If it's only because I went to the bottom I was able to donate, well by God I'm glad I was there.
i think she's sad because she's all alone, her legs are unshapely, and her cowboy hat melted.
It used to look like a full-on 'Hoss Cartwright'. but now just looks like the cheddar on the grilled cheese sandwich she wants but cant afford.
Please, someone Photoshop a rich boyfriend into that scene-- like a rep from Stetson maybe.
chickenlittle said...
Inga breathlessly concluded: "Sort of like Shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater."
The story emphasized that the man was anti-Trump, motivated by TDS.
I'm astounded that it took 3 three reporters to put together that non-story. No wonder people have disdain for the media.
I just saw a report that Broward county uploaded their recount two minutes late... so it isn't be counted.
This is the sort of lesson people learned in high school or college when the teacher failed you on an assignment even though you were "just a little late." Kind of harsh that the people running Broward County's election have to learn it while playing with the ballots and votes of lots of other people. But, hey, maybe this time it'll stick and they'll learn their lesson. If not them, maybe the people who keep giving them the authority and power might learn theirs.
Deep Runner said...
Bring back #TheAutomat. And #HotShoppes.
#FightFor15
James K said...
I saw a report suggesting that they were intentionally late because it added to DeSantis's lead.
I lived in that blue hell for many years, that's why this kerfluffle is both familiar and infuriating
Blogger Birches said...
"Haha. The Fiddler on the Roof guy is a lefty who was confused by angry people because he thought that meant they liked Trump."
False flag.
Wait -- the guy making Trump look bad with a Nazi salute... was anti-Trump?
Who could have guessed.
@Matthew Sablan, no doubt he "wanted to start a dialog." Isn't that the usual excuse when a lefty gets caught in a fake hate crime?
javabeast said...
Civility Bullshit TED Talk
...Teresa Bejan explains how civility has been used as both the foundation of tolerant societies and as a way for political partisans to silence and dismiss opposing views.
Blogger Inga...Allie Oop said...
Yes..since it signals an unhinged attendee given Trump's pro-Israel, pro-daughter/son in law/offspring stance.
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichte9r/2018/11/15/5-dumb-gop-mistakes-we-better-fix-before-2020-n2535915?fbclid=IwAR2lGlzll6Y1M0Mx9rTp0ccrWhDwvLt3XJjaKVngYPqL-VqgLrmGF--EiOE
gadfly said...
The last Horn and Hardart Automat closed its doors at 42nd and 3rd in Manhattan during the month of April, 1991.
"Democrats like progressive (i.e. secular) Jews, who believe the Torah is a living document, and their religious/moral philosophy a suggestion that is deprecated by the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, politically congruent, code of ethics."
Be interested to see what the Jews here have to say, but I had an interesting discussion with a Jewish friend of mine a couple weeks ago. Religiously, he is middle of the road Jewish. Politically, he is libertarian progressive (which is humorous because his undergraduate degree was in economics). What was interesting was out discussion on abortion. I take the moderate Protestant view of a sliding scale between conception and birth, where the fetus gains rights as it becomes viable, and after the point of healthy viability, consider abortion to be murder. He stated that the Jewish view is that the health of the mother always triumphs over that of her fetus, and even baby, since she could always have more kids. And that personhood does not really occur until maybe 9 months of age. I asked about the naming, and the Briss (circumcision) and he indicated that it would typically be delayed if a baby was thought maybe might not survive. I found it interesting because of how absolutist it was - maybe as absolutist as that of devout Catholics and Evangelicals, but in the opposite direction. The one religious view that life starts at conception, and the other one that it really doesn't start until days, if not months after full term birth. Both views apparently religiously driven. No wonder my compromise position is not acceptable to either group.
The one religious view that life starts at conception, and the other one that it really doesn't start until days, if not months after full term birth. Both views apparently religiously driven. No wonder my compromise position is not acceptable to either group.
I go by the evolutionary process of a human life, which unambiguously begins at conception.
evolutionary process... unambiguously begins at conception
Now, human consciousness is less certain. In part, because it is incompletely, and likely unsufficiently, characterized. For one, we cannot discern the difference between origin and expression in the near-frame (i.e. scientific logical domain). What we do know is that a coherent nervous system forms around four weeks. Then we infer the emergence of consciousness based on the observation and record of key features.
I just watched a video of the caravan migrants in Tijuana protesting, holding up cell phones taking videos. Must have had portable phone chargers.
NYC (streaming) radio is going on about the horrible 6-hour snowstorm commute yesterday. Nothing about it in the (online) NYT. Perhaps they don't do snow or news in NY.
stevew said...
That's because the first snow, and its inconveniences, could not be used to attack Trump.
DanZenner said...
Congratulations to Christian Yelich on being named MVP for the NL! What a fine player!
This video from September is making the rounds - he is meeting the kid who caught the homer of his 2nd cycle.
https://twitter.com/Brewers/status/1041881053114314752
Is HIllary behind Mueller?
The latest with Assange makes me think yes. The Clinton revenge machine are pulling Muller's strings.
NEW: The man has been identified by Baltimore police as Anthony M. Derlunas, 59. AND GET THIS: He told police he was yelling "Heil Hitler, Heil Trump" because of his *hatred* for Trump. Said the last scene of the first act reminded him. (Also said he'd been drinking heavily.)
woops - that does not fit the narrative.
AllenS said...
It certainly does not fit Inga's narrative.
I no longer recall which post elicited Amy Welborn's comment, but yesterday she posted about being a regular reader here. Oh, it was about places to go when one travels, with an interminable string of comments.
Mark, Finally I begin to read the comments, and see you had already seen AW's yesterday's post. Now we know.
"I had all my cash in a safe because I didn’t trust the banks" says Australian Director Neil Johnson.
He believe more in the U.S. Forest Service.
The contents of the safe were found to contain nothing but ashes. The heat was so intense the money burned to a crisp in the "fire-proof" safe.
Anybody (everybody?) wonder what Inga is like in real life?
No. I don't need to wonder.
I've been exposed to snarling, leftist bitches like her my entire life. Both personally and professionally. I avoid them like the plague.
Huh? Remembering stuff from my childhood means I wanna fight for 15? smh.
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V.S. Naipaul – The Enigma of Arrival,1987
PART TWO. THE JOURNEY
TO WRITE ABOUT JACK and his cottage and his garden it was necessary for me to have lived a second life in the valley and to have had a second awakening to the natural world there. But a version of that story — a version — came to me just days after I came to the valley, to the cottage in the manor grounds.
The cottage at that time still had the books and some of the furniture of the people who had been there before. Among the books was one that was very small, a paperback booklet, smaller in format than the average small paperback and with only a few pages. The booklet, from a series called ‘The Little Library of Art’, was about the early paintings of Giorgio de Chirico. There were about a dozen reproductions of his early surrealist paintings. Technically, in these very small reproductions, the paintings did not seem interesting; they seemed flat, facile. And their content was not profound either: arbitrary assemblages, in semi-classical, semi-modern settings, of unrelated motifs — aqueducts, trains, arcades, gloves, fruit, statues — with an occasional applied touch of easy mystery: in one painting, for instance, an over-large shadow of a hidden figure approaching from round a corner.
But among these paintings there was one which, perhaps because of its title, caught my attention: ‘The Enigma of Arrival’. I felt that in an indirect, poetical way the title referred to something in my own experience; and later I was to learn that the titles of these surrealist paintings of Chirico’s hadn’t been given by the painter, but by the poet Apollinaire, who died young in 1918, from influenza following a war wound, to the great grief of Picasso and others.
What was interesting about the painting itself, ‘The Enigma of Arrival’, was that — again perhaps because of the title — it changed in my memory. The original (or the reproduction in the ‘Little Library of Art’ booklet) was always a surprise. A classical scene, Mediterranean, ancient-Roman — or so I saw it. A wharf; in the background, beyond walls and gateways (like cut-outs), there is the top of the mast of an antique vessel; on an otherwise deserted street in the foreground there are two figures, both muffled, one perhaps the person who has arrived, the other perhaps a native of the port. The scene is of desolation and mystery: it speaks of the mystery of arrival. It spoke to me of that, as it had spoken to Apollinaire.
And in the winter gray of the manor grounds in Wiltshire, in those first four days of mist and rain, when so little was clear to me, an idea — floating lightly above the book I was working on — came to me of a story I might one day write about that scene in the Chirico picture.
My story was to be set in classical times, in the Mediterranean. My narrator would write plainly, without any attempt at period style or historical explanation of his period. He would arrive — for a reason I had yet to work out — at that classical port with the walls and gateways like cut-outs. He would walk past that muffled figure on the quayside. He would move from that silence and desolation, that blankness, to a gateway or door. He would enter there and be swallowed by the life and noise of a crowded city (I imagined something like an Indian bazaar scene). The mission he had come on — family business, study, religious initiation — would give him encounters and adventures. He would enter interiors, of houses and temples. Gradually there would come to him a feeling that he was getting nowhere; he would lose his sense of mission; he would begin to know only that he was lost. His feeling of adventure would give way to panic. He would want to escape, to get back to the quayside and his ship. But he wouldn’t know how. I imagined some religious ritual in which, led on by kindly people, he would unwittingly take part and find himself the intended victim. At the moment of crisis he would come upon a door, open it, and find himself back on the quayside of arrival. He has been saved; the world is as he remembered it. Only one thing is missing now. Above the cut-out walls and buildings there is no mast, no sail. The antique ship has gone. The traveller has lived out his life.
V.S. Naipaul, born 1932. The Enigma of Arrival,1987. Publisher: Penguin Books,1987
Image: Giorgio de Chirico, 1888-1978. el enigma de la llegada y la tarde, 1912 The Enigma of the Arrival and the Afternoon. Oil on canvas 70 x 86cm, private collection.
Author: jeh
Jeremy Hunt is Director of the AAJ Press (Art & Architecture Journal / Press) – a writer and consultant on art and public space View all posts by jeh
Author jehPosted on July 22, 2017 Categories 20th Century, Caribbean, Novel - 1900-1999, UK - EnglandTags the enigma of arrival, v s naipaul
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Posts Tagged ‘Yamaguchi Soichi’
Murakami’s Geisai Miami cancelled, Geisai Taiwan debuts this December
Posted by artradar on October 29, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ART FAIRS
The contemporary Japanese art guru Takashi Murakami is continuing to shape the infrastructure of the art world through his biannual Geisai art fair, which Murakami intends to expand to multiple international cities. The Art Newspaper reports that Geisai Taiwan, to be held in Taipei, will replace Geisai Miami this December. The new Geisai Taiwan event is planned to have more than 200 exhibition booths for new artists. In contrast, the cancelled Miami event was structured differently, presenting only 21 new artists in 2008 which a panel selected from a pool of applicants. The event was originally intended to coincide with Art Basel Miami.
Regarding the cancellation, the spokesperson for Murakami’s company commented:
” We would not say that Geisai Miami has been cancelled, but rather that we are simply building on our desire to expand the Geisai event/concept worldwide.”
Geisai has been highly successful in Japan, growing each year since its 2002 Tokyo inception and repeatedly attracting 1,000 participants and 9,000 visitors for the one-day event.
Geisai is produced by Murakami’s company Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., and is intended as a platform to discover new artistic talent.
Soichi Yamaguchi, whose art now commands high prices, entered Geisai as an unknown artist and cites his win at Geisai #9 in 2007 as the turning point in his career that helped him find gallery representation. The Japanese event has taken on a festival-like feel, and has been highly accessible for new artists, with booth fees starting at ¥25,000 (approximately $270 USD).
Takashi Murakami’s one-of-a kind Japanese art fair grows in size -Sept 08
A different kind of real- Geisai winner Yamaguchi Soichi’s solo debut in Hong Kong- interview -Oct 09
Takashi Murakami on why the War helped create Japanese pop culture -Dec 08
EW/KE
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Posted in Branding in art develops, Business of art, Connecting Asia to itself, Democratisation of art, Fairs, Japanese, Market watch, Miami, Taiwan | Tagged: art fair, art in Taiwan, Gesai Miami, Gesai Taiwan, Takashi Murakami, Yamaguchi Soichi | Leave a Comment »
A different kind of real – Gesai winner Yamaguchi Soichi’s international solo debut in Hong Kong – interview
JAPANESE CONTEMPORARY ART
'Pose' by Yamaguchi Soichi, 2009. Acrylic on Canvas. 145x145 cm. $20,250. USD. Inquire with the Madhouse Gallery, Hong Kong.
Yamaguchi Soichi is a bright creative star who has surpassed his own expectations and found recognition and success early in his career as a contemporary Japanese artist. Indeed, he only graduated from the Tokyo National University of Art and Music in 2007, but he has already caught the attention of the guru of Japanese contemporary art himself, Mr. Takashi Murakami, and was chosen from hundreds of hopeful young artists to receive the coveted Gesai #9 Gold Award in 2006. His cheerful yet introspective works beg the viewer to escape from a mass universal perspective, and offer a glimpse at a world that he hopes will ‘cause a question, and make you think about what is unknown.’
A journey began with the Batman logo
Yamaguchi is a quiet and soft spoken 26 year old, and is not a natural urbanite, preferring the Japanese countryside and activities like fishing to hustle and noise. He admits that he believes he sees the world differently than others, and discovered this in unlikely circumstances about 10 years ago. Believe it or not, Soichi says his artistic journey started while pondering the ‘Batman’ logo, those outstretched black webbed wings, which he mistook for a gaping open mouth. His ‘mistake’ of seeing something else prompted him to further expore why he sees differently, and the fruits of his discoveries are currently on display at the Madhouse Gallery in Hong Kong, in a solo exhibition titled ‘The Way You Look.’
First international solo exhibition
Soichi’s Madhouse show is his first international solo exhibition, and also marks his first visit to Hong Kong. However, the emerging artist is well traveled, having visited Beijing, New York, and Brazil in the past 2 years. When asked about the cultural and spiritual background of Soichi’s art, he explained that his work is overtly Japanese, not consciously borrowing from other traditions, and has little deliberate religious or spiritual intention. Although many viewers believe his works are spiritually motivated, he is actually philosophically motivated. He explains:
‘People see things differently, according to their heart. People can see many things on a street, and each person will see things differently. What one sees, or pays attention to depends on the outlook of the individual. Although many people think the art is religiously motivated, this is not my intention.”
The use of the eyeball motif in Soichi’s work reinforces this idea of perspective. He comments:
We see things differently, all from our eyes. The idea is that we see things differently and the eyes are a reminder that everything is from a different perspective.
Eyes, by Yamaguchi Soichi, 2009. Acrylic on canvas. 100x150 cm. $17,700. USD. Inquiries to the Madhouse Gallery.
Existence and an interconnected universe
However, the artistic concept from this promising young artist goes even deeper. He explains that another inspiration for his art is the idea of existence, interconnectedness, and universal expansion. He is inspired by the ‘other’ and is searching for an alternate form of reality to convey to viewers, because, he says:
Nowadays we have information from many networks, news and the TV, and everyone is getting the same information. This is a very dangerous thing. Art provides another vision of how to see things. It is very dangerous when everyone is looking at the same thing or the same road, because when a way is no longer good, it will collapse. This art is like an exit, and offers an escape from the mass perspective. It offers a different kind of real.
The ‘next step’ in Japanese art
The psychadelic, celebratory, and invigorating works of Soichi do indeed channel an otherworldly feel. For those collectors looking for an appealing investment, this young Japanese artist offers a visual look that is completely unique to Japan, which appears to be the ‘next step’ in the evolution of Japan’s surreal cartoon-like motifs. With Soichi being a newcomer on the international contemporary art scene, his works are still priced reasonably. There are some who are saying that for the investment-minded, Soichi’s work might be a promising buy.
Everyone, by Yamaguchi Soichi, 2009. Acrylic on canvas. 27x27 cm. $2,300. USD. Inquire with the Madhouse Gallery, Hong Kong.
Q & A with Yamaguchi Soichi
Which artists do you admire?
Japanese artists Tahami Kenishi and Nakamura Hiroshi.
How did you first begin marketing your work? Who did you work with?
I began working with the Hiromi Yoshi Gallery in Tokyo. I networked at art conventions, and at Gesai I met my gallery.
How long does it take to produce an artwork?
Depends on the size. The painting may only take a certain amount of time, but before painting, I have to create the concept and make preliminary drawings, which can take a very long time. The actual process of physically painting a work may only take a month, but then ideas may pop into my head after awhile and I add onto it. It is all a work in progress for awhile.
Tell me about how you work? A typical piece?
I use a piece of paper to create the basic composition, making the shapes without color. Then I consider which parts should be dark and light, and finally decide the colors.
What kind of space do you work in?
I work in a mostly empty personal studio with white walls. The walls are covered with bits of paper with ideas written on them. Every time I get an idea I scribble it down and stick it to the wall.
When did you sell your first piece? Is it hard parting with your work?
I was 23 when I sold my first piece. I was so excited when someone offered to buy my work! I don’t mind parting with it, actually. I feel like the buyers of art will honor it and take good care of it. I think it goes to a good home.
What has surprised you the most about working in the arts?
I didn’t expect such a fast reception of my work—I am suddenly having international solo shows and conducting interviews only a year out of school. When I started my career I just wanted to create interesting art, and didn’t have any expectations of becoming famous. I was lucky to meet people who understood my concepts, but I don’t already consider myself successful. I want to do more.
What has been your biggest challenge in art?
The main challenge is how it will be perceived, and the initial impact of a work, in the first moment a viewer looks at it. Also, I send so many messages in one piece, a major challenge is how it should all come together.
What problems do you see for young artists today?
The current standard of the art market sometimes dictates what artists create, and artists should not change themselves to fit neatly into the market standard. Individuality is a strength.
In what ways are young artists today fortunate?
There are more ways to enter the industry now. Most of my friends have moved on to international destinations, like New York and San Fransisco, to start their careers. It may actually be too easy to enter the art world, since there appears to be too many artists who find success before they have found their voice. It is not ultimately good for artists to be shown in galleries when they have not yet discovered their main concept.
Renowned Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju chooses Hong Kong for his solo debut- interview- Oct 09
Top 5 sites for Japanese contemporary art news- June 09
Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto- 4 fascinating video interviews– May 09
Japanese contemporary art- changes and trends- by gallerist Koyanagi- March 09
Subscribe to Art Radar Asia for more original artist interviews
Posted in Emerging artists, Gallery shows, Hong Kong, Interviews, Japanese, Painting, Prizes | Tagged: Gesai, Japanese contemporary art, Madhouse Gallery, Takashi Murakami, Yamaguchi Soichi | 2 Comments »
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Panther Evolves Dolly Design
February 04, 2019 David Alexander Willis
The new S-Type Dolly combines the advantages of scissor-arm and center-column dolly concepts.
The S-Type Dolly from Panther has scissor arm, which makes a 100-percent linear movement with compact double-arm design to ensure low energy expenditure and maximum stability. New full-range technology allows the scissor arm to move the same way up and down, and despite its compact dimensions, the arm can extend up to 57.5".
To simplify transportation, the scissor-arm element is detachable, and extra carrying bars help facilitate easy removal. Transportation is also streamlined with the dolly body’s integrated, extendable carrying handles.
The S-Type Dolly is powered by a electro-mechanical drive system, which allows for programming and limit functions and can work for long durations without charging. In order to realize the dolly’s compact and lightweight design, Panther developed slide-in batteries that can be easily and quickly pushed into the side of the dolly. A carrying handle on the batteries facilitates handling and transportation.
Panther has significantly improved its Combi-Wheels for the S-Type Dolly. Specifically, the brake lever now simultaneously brakes the studio or air wheels with the track wheels.The wheels are arranged in a square configuration, allowing the dolly to be placed lengthwise or crosswise on track without requiring separate wheels or accessories. Giving operators more flexibility, the dolly is equipped with four different steering modes: crab, round, conventional front and conventional rear.
The standard S-Type package includes a wireless handset that can also be used with a cable and parked on the dolly’s detachable steering rod. Information available through the handset’s interface includes arm level, height control, battery check, charging, fine adjustment of speed control, and limit and program operations. Additionally, the handset is 100-percent waterproof down to 20".
Complementing the dolly’s flexible design, Panther also offers a new Flip-Flop Platform that can be easily swiveled from high mode to low mode. The platform’s three sections — front, left and right — can be separated for individual use, and each section features a rubberized surface for a solid grip and silent operation.The company also offers an adjustable high platform.
To further facilitate the work of the dolly grip, the S-Type Dolly features an additional push bar that is extendable and fold- able and can be used in various positions around the dolly.
For more information, visit www.panther.tv.
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Tagged: Panther S-Type, S-Type Dolly
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General (GoT)
Game of Thrones: The HBO TV Series
Why did the project fail?
By Panos Targaryen, May 15 in General (GoT)
Panos Targaryen
Sure, Game of Thrones became a cultural phenomenon, one of the most watched series of all time, it set a new bar for high budget Hollywood-like TV shows, made millions of dollars etc.
But as far as being a faithful adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, successfully transferring the "soul/essence" of the series to the small screen, including as much of the books' plot as possible, respecting GRRM's themes, etc., I think the consensus in this forum, and across the hardcore fanbase, especially the book readers, is that this failed utterly towards the end. This was, ultimately, not the proper and true adaptation of ASOIAF that the fans have wanted since 1996. Too many compromises were made.
What do you guys think is the source of this? D&D being incompetent writers or bad project managers, the nature of ASOIAF's story itself making it almost possible to make a satisfying TV adaptation of it, not a high enough budget, or something else?
Btw, before anyone says it's because GRRM didn't finish the books in time: While definitely a factor, it could have been possible for GRRM to have more closely overseen the development of the show. It must have been something else imo.
Edited May 15 by Panos Targaryen
btfu806
Location:America
To me what made the show good was the dialogue and the slow buildup to the inevitable. The writing was top notch because the writing in the books were top notch. D&D simply can't compare to GRRM on a character dialog level, a lot of people can't.
But when you look back at seasons 1-4 you see how many awful things happened to good people and you realize that all the choices they made to get to that point felt genuine. They felt like choices they would make and unfortunately it just didn't work out. A lot of books do this, it's not that rare, the rare thing was just not having plot armor or a Deus Ex Machina save them just in time.
While I like season 4 of the show, to me that's where the pacing started to pick up. D&D I think were gearing up to tell a story a bit faster, they built up to the red wedding, won the internet, and wanted to coast from there on out. I think they lost interest in the project as well around season 6, especially when they really started to have to write their own stuff and kinda rushed it. HBO wanted 10+ seasons, which would probably be too much, but I think D&D were ready to move on and wanted to tell the story as fast as humanely possible.
So a part of it is, you needed GRRM to at least be there to help with the dialog. Better dialog would have been nice. And a more consistent story instead of just trying to finish it up, would have changed a lot. I think Dany going mad should have been the entire plot for her last season, ending with her burning down KL. The slow build could have worked and it would have been better than the possible boat sex baby they kept hinting at all season for no reason. Then you spend this season dealing with her. Last season just felt like such a giant waste of time for the most part that, I think it led to this season where they realized they had a lot to finish and not a lot of time to do it.
The hairy bear
Honey in the summer air!
Location:Barcelona
I'd say that it's not fair to say that the project failed. In terms of prestige, notoriety, viewers and subscription, it has been the most successful show in HBO ever, by far. The "soul/essence" of the story or the "themes" have never been something that really mattered in the minds of HBO or the showrunners. It has never been among their priorities. You can't call something a failure for not doing what it was never intended to do.
50 minutes ago, Panos Targaryen said:
Btw, before anyone says it's because GRRM didn't finish the books in time: While definitely a factor, it could have been possible for GRRM to have more closely overseen the development of the show.
30 minutes ago, btfu806 said:
So a part of it is, you needed GRRM to at least be there to help with the dialog.
I, and I'm sure many fans are going to be with me here, wouldn't like GRRM to devote any single minute of his time on the show. He already wasted some months writing four episodes for the series, and as far as I'm concerned, those months would have been put to much better use writing Winds.
Only George can write Winds. But there are plenty of writers around who could write good dialogue. D&D could have hired dozens, if they wished. But what we need to realize is that they are proud of their result. They believe that the final product is a masterpiece. They think their dialog is ace, and that anyway their average viewer wants less talking and more action, and shocks, and badassery. And since their show is HBO's most viewed ever, they won't care at all about the ramblings of some hardcore fans in the depth of the internet.
Edited May 15 by The hairy bear
2 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:
I, and I'm sure many fans are going to be with me here, wouldn't like GRRM to devote any single minute of his time on the show. He already wasted some months writing four episodes for the series, and as far as I'm concerned, those months would have been put to much better use writing Winds.
I would have rather him be able to do both. Not write Blood and Fire or The Wildcards and focus on TWOW and helping out with the show. Sure there are other writers out there that can write good dialog, but they write good dialog for their characters. GRRM knows his characters, you are going to get the best dialog possible with him writing it. Just like the books, I have spent year's of my life taking in the content of the show, I would rather it be done right, in both cases.
I can only disagree. I loved getting Fire and Blood. And again, it's something that only George could write. The Wildcards are only edited by him, so his time involvement is very reduced. And he does it mainly for fun.
Of course the show would be better if George had been more involved. But I will always prefer him to produce original material instead diluted adaptations.
As The hairy bear said, HBO and the showrunners never cared about the soul of the book series. They didn't even name the show A Song of Ice and Fire. They named it Game of Thrones, which shows that they were telling a different story from episode one.
Location:Nor-Way
Failure? Amongst book purists? Sure, but the overall general audience, I doubt it.
Xander Baratheon reacted to this
2 hours ago, The hairy bear said:
1 hour ago, Loge said:
I see where both of you are coming from, but then how do you explain the show's (mostly) good writing and faithfulness to the books in the early seasons? Sure, signs of laziness were there, like the lack of purple eyes for the Targs, arbitrary, unnecessary changes to dialogue etc., but nothing like the badly-written Hollywood shitshow it became in the end.
MinscS2
Location:Frozen North (Sweden)
It ultimately failed because of D&D; A combination of them not being good enough to write a good enough story after the source material ended, and of them being too proud to either hire more writers to help them out in the first place, or too proud to simply step down altogether and leave the writing to someone else, more interested in the project - something they should've done the moment they became so bored with the project that they actively wanted less episodes despite HBO wanting more.
S7 and S8 together being a mere 13 episodes was never going to cut it, and that decision was all on them.
Edited May 15 by MinscS2
White26, Beardy the Wildling, The One Who Kneels and 1 other reacted to this
46 minutes ago, Mordor said:
I did say that, I'm describing the show's success from the perspective of the fans who have been here since the beginning. The book fans who have wanted to see ASOIAF adapted into a show for 20 years, the people who come up with the theories and analyze every aspect of the story on forums.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion and taste, but let's be honest, it was not supposed to end this way, with a large amount (majority?) of the core fanbase (which doesn't include the average show viewer who thinks Daenerys is named Khaleesi or those people screaming and crying while watching GoT at bars) complaining of bad writing, the show's lead writers being called "dumb and dumber", youtube filled with videos analyzing and explaining why the writing in recent seasons has been very poor etc. Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj are very successful artists, doesn't make their music good.
Cas Stark
They should have hired at least 2 or 3 writers from season 5 onward, once they ran out of most of the book material, so there would be people whose sole job was to write dialogue and make the plot cohesive. This alone would have probably prevented most of the decline of the series, it may never have been as well written as the parts that were taken straight from the books, but would have been immensely better written and paced and plotted.
I also agree, it was wrong to shorten the seasons. The show was already taking major short cuts but doing 7 and 6 episodes made the final denouement completely ridiculous which is why the audience is so angry now.
7 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:
When I think about it more and more, it would have almost been better to do one giant season instead of two small ones. Season 7 and 8 feel so disjointed from each other. The majority of things that happen in the season 7 just didn't matter. Some things of course did, but the majority didn't. Felt like we were just waiting time. Then when you try to do something as complex as turn a major character into a villan, it seems beyond forced doing it in 2 episodes.
MinscS2 reacted to this
4 minutes ago, btfu806 said:
Season 7 and 8 feel so disjointed from each other.
They really do don't they?
90% of the buildup, foreshadowing and character arc's during Season 7 was quickly discarded or dealt with without any sort of payoff as soon as Season 8 aired. It's almost like they had a completely different end-game in mind while writing S8 than they did when they wrote S7.
I feel like a 10 episode season where maybe the last episode of season 7 would have been a glimmer of Dany being depressed, out of sorts...and then have the whole season be her becoming angry and bitter and #5 would have been the normal #9 would have worked okay. I can't honestly remember much of anything from season 7, dumb wight hunt, Tryion bizarrely convincing Dany not to roll up to KL with all her fresh forces and demand Cersei surrender. But, 10 eps would at least have given more time for the 'romance' and people whose sole job was to write could maybe have come to the same plot endpoints w/out shaving off massive IQ of everyone involved...but stuff like that takes time and brainstorming which clearly, the showrunners didn't do any of this.
8 minutes ago, MinscS2 said:
90% of the buildup, foreshadowing and character arc's during Season 7 was quickly discarded or dealt with without any sort of payoff as soon as Season 8 aired. It's almost like they had a completely different end-game in mind while writing S8 than they did when they wrote S7.
It is incredibly weird. It wouldn't surprise me if after season 7 they decided to change direction on things and just leave plot lines up in the air. I would have preferred if they took that gap year before season 7 so they could write both seasons together to make one solid story line.
I feel like a 10 episode season where maybe the last episode of season 7 would have been a glimmer of Dany being depressed, out of sorts...and then have the whole season be her becoming angry and bitter and #5 would have been the normal #9 would have worked okay. I can't honestly remember much of anything from season 7, dumb wight hunt, Tryion bizarrely convincing Dany not to roll up to KL with all her fresh forces and demand Cersei surrender. But, 10 eps would at least have given more time for the 'romance' and people whose sole job was to write could maybe have come to the same plot endpoints w/out shaving off massive IQ of everyone involved...but stuff like that takes time and brainstorming which clearly, the showrunners didn't do any of this.
Agreed 100 percent. I am looking forward to this show ending and re-watching everything, especially season 7 and seeing if there was any real point to it besides giving the NK a dragon.
I also think it was a huge mistake to have Missy and Rhaegal killed the ep before.
Imagine if instead of what we had....a tiny pipsqueak number of people who Cersei should legitimately have killed them all...we had Dany and her whole army...okay, let's parlay bitch, send out Missy or else..she could even call for the people of KL to rise up against Cersei, but they won't. Cersei, totally in character, says fuck it, I choose violence, and beheads Missy.....the battle starts, during the battle Rhaegal is killed....now we have some legit emotional reasons why Dany would decide to burn them all. I acknowledge that is a lot to happen on top of a battle, but since I'm not an Emmy winning screen writer, I am sure there were better ways to get to the same place that would have been less jarring for the audience and less dumb for the various characters.
This would also have fixed the stupidity of having in one episode the dragon is hammered with shots and dies, the next one, not a single hit on Drogon.
Edited May 15 by Cas Stark
The hairy bear reacted to this
13 hours ago, Panos Targaryen said:
Was the writing really good? I'd have to rewatch to check (which I don't intend to do), but I don't remember being impressed by it. The early seasons certainly benefitted from the source material, even if they didn't stay true to it. Good source material always shines through, even in a lousy adaptation.
Thorbearius
18 hours ago, btfu806 said:
I think this is the biggest problem. They stopped telling the story dynamically and tried to cut too many corners. It feels like they just want to move on to other things and now I'm kind of dreading what they will do to Star Wars...
Edited May 16 by Thorbearius
21st Century Moose
Unrealistically high viewer expectations, the two-year gap between s7 and s8, the two shortened last seasons, the sprawling nature of AFFC and ADWD which necessitated changes, and the lack of source material all contributed to what we ended up with. I hesitate to use the word "fail" here because in the end it did actually succeed in bringing the thing to a conclusion; just not the conclusion that some might have wanted. In fact a good chunk of what's actually happened bears all the classic and oh-so-predictable marks of nothing much more than the internet hate machine going into action, and I believe that history will be kinder to what was achieved by this show.
CrypticWeirwood reacted to this
I think that they became bolder and bolder each season, and started to believe they were great writers instead of okayish adaptators.
In the first season, they followed the original material extremely faithfully. In the second season, they dared to do a single major change: Dany's adventures at Qarth. The result was easily the worst part of the season, but that didn't rise any red flag. The more commercial success the show had, the more they were convinced that they were superb writers. And once they ran out of source material, the free fall started.
The sad thing is that, since the ratings have continued rising (due to the excellent characters, acting and production values), they still seem to believe that their writing is genius and are convinced that they've done a superb work.
Just now, 21st Century Moose said:
I hesitate to use the word "fail" here because in the end it did actually succeed in bringing the thing to a conclusion; just not the conclusion that some might have wanted.
I don't think that's the problem here. Most of the criticism, both from the fans and the professional critics, do not come from "what they did", but "how they did it". It's not that the resolution was unpopular, but that it was unearned. It came out of the blue. They preferred to surprise than to make sense.
kissdbyfire and teej6 reacted to this
Go To Topic Listing General (GoT)
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1700s Colonial American portraits with Garden Fountains
1763 John Singleton Copley (Colonial American artist, 1738-1815). Mary Turner (Mrs. Daniel Sargent). Unfortunately, Copley often used English prints as the format for his portraits, so it is impossible to know if this fountain, or even the lady's dress were actually in Colonial America.
Labels: 18C, Garden History, Gardens - Fountains
Plants in Early American Gardens - Balsam Apple
Balsam Apple (Momordica balsamina)
Thomas Jefferson planted this annual vine along the winding walk flower border at Monticello in the spring of 1810. This curious vine was introduced to Europe in 1568 from the tropical regions of Asia and Africa, where it was used medicinally to treat wounds. An unusual addition to the summer garden, Balsam Apple bears glossy, delicate foliage, small yellow flowers, and bright orange-red fruits that burst open to reveal seeds covered with a brilliant scarlet, sticky coating.
For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello
Seeds for the 17C Kitchen Garden
The Fuller Garden in the English Village at Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass.
By Michael Tortorello New York Times July 6, 2011
Who was Good King Henry?
I first encountered the label in the Fedco Seeds catalog, as a common name for a plant in the genus Chenopodium. It’s an edible perennial with shoots like asparagus and leaves like spinach. But before Good King Henry was a salad green, he was, ostensibly, something nobler: European royalty...
A 1545 French herbal, or primitive botanical guide, mentions a “bon-Henri” (perhaps Henry IV of France), said Kathleen Wall, who cooks and gardens at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Mass. But then Ms. Wall, 53, has also found a “bad Henry,” of German origin: der böse Heinrich...
The mystery of Good King Henry made me wonder about other Colonial-era vegetables that have all but disappeared from our gardens and dinner plates. Gardeners today will routinely raise a dozen varieties of tomato, a plant utterly foreign to early Americans. So why do we neglect common Colonial food plants like burnet, smallage, skirrets, scorzonera, gooseberry and purslane? And how would they taste to us now?
When it comes to Good King Henry, Ms. Wall said, the flavor is easy to describe: bland. “That’s probably why it fell out of favor,” she said. “It wasn’t special. It doesn’t get into the recipe books, so it’s just forgotten.”
In contrast, she said, spinach, a green that “springs up in the English garden scene in the 1580s,” grew stalwartly through the country’s mild summers. And by the 17th century, “suddenly all the recipes called for spinach: salads of spinach, spinach boiled, with added butter and cinnamon and sugar and raisins.”
The story of early American kitchen gardening hides in recipes like these. Another source is herbals — what one modern historian calls “botanical bibles.” Yet botany, as we know it, is just a shadow on these pages. The herbal presents a pre-scientific universe, a realm of astrology and magic.
A “vegetable” could be any plant. An “herb” was a useful one, for the table or the medicine chest.
The colonists relied on popular guides like “The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes” (1597), 1,400 pages of reminiscences, folk medicine and superstition written by John Gerard. Domestic handbooks like Thomas Hill’s “Profitable Arte of Gardening” (1568) were more artful than horticultural.
“A lot of the time when they write about gardening,” Ms. Wall said, referring to authors like Hill, “they’re writing about the ancient Greeks” or Romans — that is, beliefs and ideals that dated back to Pliny the Younger.
Actually growing “herbs” to feed a New England household was anything but a scholarly pursuit. The average kitchen garden was about an acre, the historian James E. McWilliams wrote in a monograph titled “ ‘To Forward Well-Flavored Productions’: The Kitchen Garden in Early New England,” from the March 2004 issue of The New England Quarterly. Hired help was practically nonexistent. Given the abundance of land, settlers had their own acres to harvest. And men were preoccupied with tending livestock and sowing grains.
That meant “this arduous task fell almost entirely to women,” Mr. McWilliams wrote. Then, as now, raised beds were standard. The soil needed to be improved, Mr. McWilliams noted: “stirred,” loosened and loaded with dung. A garden often would include an orchard of fruit trees, like apples, pears, quince and plums. And these required their own pruning and picking.
Ms. Wall has tried this kind of labor for herself in the recreated gardens outside each of the 12 historical dwellings at Plimoth Plantation. “I’m a housewife of perpetual visitation,” she said. “I travel between houses and help people.”
After 30 years at the museum, Ms. Wall is past complaining about the period costumes. But going without glasses, as most 17th-century women did, is an abiding nuisance. “It’s really hard for me to put seed in without having my nose in the ground,” she said. And weeds “have to grow large enough that I can tell them from my plants.”
It doesn’t help matters that many Colonial-era “herbs,” like dandelions or patience dock (Rumex patientia), would now be tarred as weeds. Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), one of Ms. Wall’s favorites, can be found growing by the side of the road.
The plant has a tireless quality. The flowers, typically maroon, will bloom all summer if you keep picking them, she said. And the little leaves of salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) can be harvested almost all year.
“Why is this something that doesn’t show up in all these salad mixes?” she said.
Burnet turns up on a list of 59 seeds that John Winthrop Jr., a future governor of the Colony of Connecticut, ordered in 1631 from a London grocer, Robert Hill. And herbals widely recommended burnet, with its cucumber-like flavor, for doctoring wine after long sea voyages. “I dare say a lot of that wine needed help,” Ms. Wall said.
Yet burnet fell out of favor. For all her research, Ms. Wall has yet to answer the question of what makes something fashionable.
A case study, she said, could be smallage (Apium graveolens). The biennial plant grows a stalk like celery, but thicker and taller. And for 300 years — in between “medieval English cookery” and the “18th century,” Ms. Wall said — it displaced celery in cookbooks.
She discovered why after she and the head Plimoth horticulturist conducted a long quest for smallage, and she finally grew out the seeds herself.
“I was making potato salad,” she said, “and I didn’t have any celery. Then I realized, I have smallage. And in potato salad, it was heaven.”
And then there are the historical plants whose disappearance is no cause for mourning. A good riddance goes out to the root crop skirrets (Sium sisarum), said Clarissa Dillon, 77, who practices historical cooking and gardening at the 1696 Thomas Massey House in Marple Township, Pa.
John Winthrop Jr. ordered three ounces of skirret seed for his father’s Massachusetts farmstead. The medicine of the era attributed some colorful qualities to the plant, notes Ann Leighton’s 1970 classic, “Early American Gardens: ‘For Meate or Medicine.’ ”
“ ‘They are something windie, by reason whereof they also provoke lust,’ ” Ms. Leighton wrote, quoting John Gerard’s herbal. “ ‘The women in Susula ... prepare the roots for their husbands, and know full well wherefore and why.’ ” (If ardor persists for more than four hours, call your physician.)
It’s no great challenge coaxing a bunch of skirrets to fill the yard. The horticulturist who started Dr. Dillon on skirrets “did not tell me how enthusiastic the seeds are,” she said. “And I have them everywhere.”
A cook needs an awful lot of plants to yield more than a teaspoon of roasted pulp. The edible root “is supposed to be the size of a man’s thumb,” Dr. Dillon said. But “my skirrets tend to be, as a friend said, the size of her dog’s toenails.”
And these toenails need to be peeled, too. “What’s really awful,” Dr. Dillon added, is the “wire” that runs through another forsaken and fast-spreading root crop, scorzonera (which botanists know as Scorzonera hispanica and civilians call viper’s grass). This core runs through the center of the root and must be removed. Far easier, she said, is to substitute parsnips, which are bigger, sweeter, better.
Gerard had his notions of why a woman would favor skirrets in the kitchen (and the bedroom). But Dr. Dillon wrote her dissertation on women and 18th-century kitchen gardens in eastern Pennsylvania, while she was teaching elementary school and raising a child. The experience helped her formulate a rule about why a taxing plant like skirrets might fall into the compost heap of history.
“Women don’t make work for themselves,” Dr. Dillon said. “They have enough to do.”
Clarissa Dillon at the 1696 Thomas Massey House in Marple Township, Pa.
Like a lot of the “sallet” greens that the colonists brought with them to the New World, purslane (Portulaca oleracea) can colonize a yard all on its own. A single specimen can produce a million seeds. Let a purslane patch go, said Clarissa Dillon, a food and garden historian, and “it’s the plant that eats your driveway. “It will come up through asphalt,” she said.
You can spray the thick red stem and the sprawling oval leaves with weed killer, Dr. Dillon added, which is what most gardeners do. Or you can pickle the whole plant with “equal parts vinegar and stale beer,” which is what she prefers. Dr. Dillon recommends blanching the purslane first for a quick three-count. “I don’t want it to be limp,” she said. She learned this preparation from a “receipt” (that is, a recipe) in her 1750 edition of “The Compleat Housewife: Or Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion.”
Tricks like these were once common knowledge among kitchen gardeners, said Joel Fry, the curator at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia, which dates from 1728. “One of the reasons they’ve disappeared,” he said of some colonial-era food plants, “is we don’t know what to do with them...”
Labels: 18C, Garden Flowers & Plants, Gardens, Kitchen Garden
Plants in Early American Gardens - Sensitive Plant
Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica)
Thomas Jefferson planted seeds of Sensitive Plant in an oval flower bed at Monticello on March 22, 1811. Sensitive Plant has been grown as a curiosity for centuries, and was included in many early 19th-century seed lists. A favorite feature of a child's garden, the unusual leaves fold together when touched. The plants produce pink, mimosa-like, pompom flowers in mid-summer and can also be grown in a container.
History Blooms at Tho Jefferson's Monticello
Puckoon (a Native American name for Bloodroot), or Sanguinaria canadensis
Peggy Cornett tells us that the March of spring is constant but varied. So far the ephemeral wildflowers are a few days slower but advancing quickly. Jefferson made his first observation of Bloodroot April 6, 1766, writing in the first page of his Garden Book “Narcissus and Puckoon open.” Adding on April 12 “Puckoon flowers fallen.” Puckoon (a Native American name for Bloodroot), or Sanguinaria canadensis, is flowering now in the oval beds and winding walk flower borders at Monticello. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Puccoon is listed as deriving from the Powhatan language, but used in differing forms across most or all of the Algonquian languages.
Landscape Design - Public Courtyards at Government Buildings
Public Yard - Courtyard at Governor's House
In 1706, the act of the Virginia legislature authorizing the building of the Governor's Palace allocated 635 pounds for the construction of the garden with these instructions, "that a Court-Yard, of dimensions proportionable to the said house, be laid out, leveled and encompassed with a brick wall 4 feet high with the balustrades of wood thereupon, on the said land, and that a Garden of the length of 254 foot and the breadth of 144 foot from out to out, adjoining to the said house, to be laid out and leveled and enclosed with a brick wall, 4 feet high, with ballsutrades of wood upon the said wall, and that handsome gates be made to the said court-yard and garden."
By 1723, Rev. Hugh Jones reported that the courtyard was "finished and with beautiful gates." But by 1776, the wooden components of the fences had begun to deteriorate, when note was made in the Virginia Council Journal that they were "Repairing Fodder Houses & paling round the Garden."
Twenty five men were appointed "to repair fences of park" in 1777. And it was recorded that "60 foot of plank, 250 nails" were purchased for the task.
Public Yard - Courthouse Yard
In 1743 Spotsylvania County, Virginia, A workman was hired to "rail in the Courthouse yard."
Reflection of the Old Courthouse Tower in Washington County, Tennessee.
In 1778 Alexandria, Virginia, a valuable one half acre lot "fronting the whole Courthouse yard and market place" was offered for sale.
A yard is an enclosed division of uncultivated land usually attached to, or enclosed by a dwelling or public building or outbuildings usually defined by a fence or a wall.
Brick walls often surrounded public yards at court houses, state houses, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, prisons, and inns. Wooden fences usually surround yards at private dwellings, but some gentry homes also had brick or stone walls. By the last quarter of the 1700s, folks referred to the enclosed area, where those incarcerated take exercise, as a prison yard.
The term court yard usually referred to a public or private entrance greeting and meeting area. Because most courtyards were built to receive carriages and horses, they usually were located on the road side of coastline houses, not on the water-facing facade.
Often colonials & early Americans would simply refer to their yardsOccasionally writers, especially visitors from England or the Continent, would leave the term yard off of a description of a court yard, simply referring to a court.
Labels: 18C, Design - Yards
Plants in Early American Gardens - Painted Lady Sweet Pea
Painted Lady Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus cv.)
Francis Cupani, a Franciscan monk, first sent seed of the purple-flowered species of Sweet Pea to England from Sicily in 1699. Painted Lady Sweet Pea is a highly scented, pink and white bicolor variety, which was in cultivation by the 1730s and popular in American gardens through the 19th century. In 1811 Jefferson planted "Lathyrus odoratus. Sweet scented pea" in an oval flower bed at Monticello. This spring-blooming vine prefers cool weather.
Labels: 18C, 19C, Botany, Garden Flowers & Plants, Gardens
Peggy Cornett writes, "We planted these clumps of Jeffersonia dubia in the Center for Historic Plants’ Nursery at Tufton Farm at lest fifteen years ago. The shade of the lath house provides the perfect conditions for this Asian species."
Landscape Design - College Courtyards
Public Yard - College Yard
At the college which would become Harvard, as early as 1637-39, Nathaniel Eaton referred to"the frame in the College Yard& digging the cellar."At Harvard, the original college buildings formed a quadrangle. Visitor James Birket wrote that 1750 Harvard College at Cambridge, Massachusetts"Consists of three Separate Brick buildings...one of which is called Stoughton hall, And although the 2 wings do not Join to the Middle building yet they are So placed As to form a very handsom Area or Courtyardin the Middle."
Harvard Court Yard in 1726.
Ebenezer Hazard visited the college of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1777, noting that"At this Front of the College is a large Court Yardornamented with Walks, Trees cut into different Forms, & Grass."
Court Yard at the College of William & Mary. Detail of Bodleian Plate England. 1740.
Moreau de St. Mery visited the College of New Jersey at Princeton, New Jersey in the 1790s wrote, "Before it is a huge front yardset off from the street by a brick wall, and at intervals along the wall are pilasters supporting wooden urns painted gray. This front yard is untidy, covered with the droppings of animals who come there to graze...Behind the college there is an extremely large courtyard. It is dirty and uncultivated, and everything in it is evidence of neglect."
College of New Jersey, Princeton. Court Yard in 1764.
Peggy Cornett of Monticello tells us that,
Today English Peas are sprouting in plantings throughout the Monticello Vegetable Garden. Among the 330 different kinds of vegetables in Thomas Jefferson's garden the English pea was considered his favorite. By staggering the planting of peas, Jefferson was able to eat them fresh from the garden from the middle of May to the middle of July.
Aside from personal preference, Jefferson might have taken special note of the English pea because of an annual neighborhood contest to see which local farmer could bring to table the 1st peas of spring. The winner would host the other contestants in a dinner that included the peas.
Though Jefferson's mountaintop garden, with its southern exposure to warmth and light, should have provided an advantage for the contest, it seems that the contest was almost always won by a neighbor named George Divers. As Jefferson's grandson recalled: "A wealthy neighbor [Divers], without children, and fond of horticulture, generally triumphed."
George Divers (c 1748-1830) was an Albemarle County landowner, a merchant, & a friend of Thomas Jefferson. The two of them were known to exchange seeds & letters on farming & gardening. Divers married Martha Walker, daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, & their only son died at a young age. In 1785, Divers bought the Farmington estate, & in 1802, he asked Jefferson to design his house.
Posted by Barbara Wells Sarudy at 4:00 PM
Labels: 18C, Garden Plants, Thomas Jefferson
Plants in Early American Gardens - Cyprus Vines
Cypress Vines (Ipomoea quamoclit)
Thomas Jefferson forwarded seeds of this vigorous vine to his two daughters, Mary and Martha, in 1791 from Philadelphia. The seeds of this morning glory relative were planted "in boxes in the window” at Monticello. Cypress Vine is a self-seeding annual with star-shaped scarlet flowers and ferny foliage that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
Note from Monticello's Peggy Cornett
Peggy tells us today that Thomas Jefferson's Monticello’s South Orchard is waking up. This week the Moor Park Apricots are flowering and peach buds are swelling. Jefferson ordered the Moor Park from the William Prince Nursery in 1791 and later received scions from Timothy Matlack in 1807. The Moor Park was introduced into England in 1760 and was named for the estate where it first fruited. The tree produces large, roundish bright orange fruit with a very firm orange flesh.
Discover more about the over 170 varieties of fruits cultivated in Jefferson’s gardens in The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello by Peter Hatch.
Labels: 18C, Thomas Jefferson
Plants in Early American Gardens - Balsam; Touch-Me-Not
Balsam; Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens balsamina)
This is the traditional impatiens popular in old-fashioned gardens. Thomas Jefferson planted double-flowering Balsam seeds at Shadwell in 1767, and also received seeds from Philadelphia nurseryman, Bernard McMahon, in 1812. Bushy plants bloom in shades of pink, white, red, and salmon throughout the summer and fall until the first frost.
Labels: 18C, 19C, Botany, Garden Flowers & Plants
News on Gardens & Slaves from Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg investigates gardens of Martha Washington's first father-in-law
Jack Jacobs for The Daily Press 3/20/2019
Colonial Williamsburg has cleared out the cows so its archaeologists can take a crack at Custis Square. The foundation hopes that underneath the grass its livestock has grazed on, it will find artifacts related to the volatile planter and one-time father-in-law to Martha Washington, John Custis IV.
A painting of John Custis IV standing by a cut tulip blossom ca. 1740 attributed to Charles Bridges. (Courtesy of Washington and Lee University, University Collections of Art and History, Lexington, Va.)
The foundation has launched a multi-year archaeological investigation at Custis’ home and gardens, known as Custis Square. Colonial Williamsburg hopes to learn more about Custis, the enslaved people who lived at the site and horticulture of the early 18th century at what is a major and mostly unexplored site.
“We’re thrilled to be able to do this. It’s one of the more important sites that has not been excavated at Colonial Williamsburg,” said Jack Gary, the foundation’s director of archaeology.
Gary spoke just a couple hours after the first shovelfuls of dirt were removed from the pasture Monday, which sits on top of the 4-acre Custis Square site. Around him were a handful of archaeologists digging, scraping and peering into a few 50-centimeter squares of exposed dirt arrayed in a grid and marked with tiny pink flags. Prior to the start of the excavation, livestock had grazed on the property; they will be moved to other pastures to make way for the dig.
The archeologists’ mission is two-fold: to learn about the broader landscape of Custis Square, particularly its garden, and to learn about the people who lived there, particularly the enslaved Africans who actually created and tended the garden.
By 1717, after buying the property a couple years earlier, Custis had built a house at the site, which is on Francis Street between the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art museums and the Colonial Parkway.
In his personal letters of the time, Custis wrote of his budding interest in gardening. That interest would blossom into a passion.
“As we read more of his letters, we learn he didn’t just get into gardening, he really got into gardening,” Gary said...
Custis developed an elaborate garden for this property, one that was known even in England. Records show Custis ordered a range of plants from England and kept up a correspondence with notable naturalists. Historians believe the garden featured topiary, gravel paths and three statues, Gary said.
“This is a high-end garden being developed by an incredibly wealthy individual,” Gary said. The space is more than a collection of curated plants. It’s also a window into the development of an aspect of American culture, albeit gardening, and how English and African culture informed it.
“He took garden conventions from England, even plants from England. How did he translate that into a completely different physical setting, a completely different environment and a completely different cultural setting?” Gary said.
There’s also a darker side of Custis Square. The wealthy garden enthusiast was a slave owner. Learning more about the lives of those enslaved people is also a priority of the project.
“This was a landscape of enslavement. There were enslaved people who worked on this property,” Gary said. “How did they transform this landscape? They were the ones building it and maintaining it.”
Custis owned almost 200 people when he died. While some lived and worked at Custis Square, most worked on his four plantations outside Williamsburg, according to a Colonial Williamsburg news release.
One phase of the project is excavation of outbuildings, with an emphasis on enslaved inhabitants of the site. The project will also conduct materials analysis and research Custis’ enslaved laborers to identify descendants, the release states.
Those efforts will be helped by the size of the site.
“Because it’s such a large lot, there may be more discreet places where enslaved people are living in their own quarters. Once we find those, that allows us to say ‘this stuff belonged to enslaved people as opposed to John Custis,’ ” Gary said.
Custis, who lived from 1678 to 1749, led a prominent family that initially settled on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in the mid-1600s. He moved to Williamsburg after his rocky marriage to Frances Parke Custis ended with her death by smallpox in 1715.
Insight into that tempestuous relationship can be found on Custis’ Eastern Shore grave, which reads in part, “Yet lived but Seven [sic] years which was the Space [sic] of time he kept a Batchelors [sic] House at Arlington on the Eastern Shoar [sic] of Virginia.”
In Williamsburg, Custis served on the royal Governor’s Council and had a falling out with Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood after Spotswood had trees felled near Custis Square to create a better view from the Governor’s Palace, the release states.
There’s also a connection to America’s first First Lady. Custis’ son by Frances Parke, Daniel Parke Custis, married one Martha Dandridge in 1750. He died in 1757. Martha Dandridge inherited Custis Square from her late husband and likely lived there before she married George Washington in 1759, Gary said.
In addition to politics and gardening, Custis was a savvy, perhaps even cutthroat, tobacco planter. Letters to merchants show a man willing to put pressure on business associates, Gary said.
Custis, at 61 years old, fathered a son named John by one of his enslaved women, Alice. Custis secured John’s freedom by petitioning the colonial government. Custis deeded John land in York County, as well as enslaved people including John’s mother and her other children, according to the release.
Custis was also interested in medicine and fancied himself an amateur physician. He developed his own medicinal remedies and created hundreds of recipes to cure everything from heartburn to deafness. He treated his slaves with his medicines and even provided his remedies to Williamsburg’s poor for free, Gary said.
“If they couldn’t go to a real doctor, they could come to John Custis and get free medicine,” Gary said. “He’s like all of us. He has multiple sides to him.”
Senior staff archeologist Mark Kostro examined a smattering of brick debris within one of the dig site’s small exploratory squares of excavated dirt on the chilly Monday afternoon.
There’s a method to the small squares that represent an initial foray into the site. In January, the team used ground-penetrating radar to identity anomalies in the dirt to follow up on with excavation.
“One of the things we do when you have a big landscape like this is try to narrow down where are the points of interests for us to do larger excavations,” Kostro said. “It gives us a window every 10 meters of the whole project area.”
The idea is to create this grid across the site to inform archaeologists where to concentrate the digging effort. Kostro gestured to another square, sans brick, closer to Francis Street.
“Right away, we’re seeing some differences even here,” he said, adding that the brick debris could be a pathway, building debris or a dumping ground.
This effort isn’t the first time Colonial Williamsburg has explored the site. Colonial Williamsburg bought the site in 1966 and during that decade unearthed the residence’s foundations. The home is believed to have been a six-chimney building built in the Jacobean style, similar to Bacon’s Castle, according to Colonial Williamsburg.
In the years immediately after Custis’ death, the property housed trade and residential tenants. The building currently on the site was built by James McClurg in the early 1800s and is known as the Custis Kitchen. In 1851, the property was purchased by Eastern State Hospital, according to the release.
In the 1960s, Colonial Williamsburg excavated the foundation of John Custis IV's residence at Custis Square. In the 1960s, the focus was on finding buildings, and only a small portion of the site was explored. This time, Colonial Williamsburg will examine the entire property. The foundation waited about 50 years because the technology and techniques didn’t exist yet to thoroughly study the garden areas. Now, they do.
“Well, we’ve finally reached that point. The future is now,” Gary said. “We’re at a point where we feel confident we can tackle this site and do it the justice it deserves.” Now there’s the means to extract centuries-old pollen from soil and mortar to identify what kind of plants grew in the area, as well the ability to conduct chemical studies of the soil, Gary said.
That means the team is in a better position than its predecessors to figure out which herbs the medicine man may have grown in the garden. Finding evidence of those plants can be compared with Custis’ documents to confirm and expand on what historians know.
“We can check what we find archeologically against what we see in the documentary record and fill in the gaps with the two sources of data,” Gary said.
You’ll see folks digging around at the site for the next few years. The project kicks off with site mapping, surveying and excavation of the kitchen this year. Garden excavation, materials analysis and research of Custis’ enslaved laborers to identify descendants is slated for 2020-2021. After that comes open excavation of the outbuildings, with a focus on enslaved inhabitants at the site (2022-2023) and then cataloging and reporting in 2024-2025, according to the release.
In time, the project site will be open to the public, so visitors can follow along with discoveries made at the site. The plan is that by the fall, there will be formal tours open to guests, Gary said.
“More than 90 years after its establishment, Colonial Williamsburg continues to pursue a fuller understanding of 18th-century America, its people and their culture in order to tell our shared American story more fully,” Colonial Williamsburg President and CEO Mitchell Reiss said in the release.
Labels: 18C, Colonial Williamsburg, Garden Archaeology
Landscape Design - Yards at Private Homes
Yards & Courtyards at Private Dwellings
The term court yard usually referred to a public or private entrance greeting and meeting area. Because most courtyards were built to receive carriages and horses, they usually were located on the road side of coastline houses, not on the water-facing facade.The word yard appeared in the British American colonies in 1647, when a tenant agreed to"maintain the old dwelling house and quartering houses and Tobacco houses in repair, as well as the pales about the yard and gardens."
In Virginia in 1686, a visitor noted of Green Spring, the former home of Governor William Berkeley, that the orchard was"well fenced in with Locust fence, which is as durable as most brick walls, a Garden, a hundred feet square, well pailed in, a Yeard where in is most of the foresaid necessary houses, pallizado'd in with locust Punchens."
In 1687, hungry French visitor Durand of Dauphine inA Huguenot Exile in Virginia, wrote that"There are also many doves, turtle-doves, thrushes, partridges in such numbers that they come into the court-yards; they are smaller than those of Europe, but taste the same."
The 1746 South Caroliana Gazette carried a notice about a missing horse,"SRTAY'D or stolen out of my Court -Yardformerly belonging to Mrs. Sarab Frott, a Roan Horse, with a black Bow Main, branded on the mounting shoulder B, shod his Fore Feet, and is brown by ten Name of Firefly."
Peter Kalm noticed on his travels throughout the colonies in 1748,"Mulberry trees are planted on some hillocks near the house, and sometime even in the court yardsof the house."
Green Spring by Benjamin Latrobe, Showing Walls Surrounding the Court Yard at the Entrance Facade. (The garden was at the rear of the house.)
In the Pennsylvania Gazette of 1753, a house-for-rent ad noted,"To be lett, A large commodious house, 4 rooms on a floor, 3 stories high, with neat court yard,garden and good orchard, conveniently situated on Germantown road, about a mile distant from Philadelphia."Several months later, this description appeared,"a large commodious brick house, 40 feet square, 3 stories high, four rooms on a floor, a genteel court yard,neatly pailin, a brick wash house, necessary house, and pump in the yard, a good garden and orchard."
In an issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette of 1761 was a notice for a"A commodious Country Seat... a new Stone House three Stories high, being 41 Feet front, and 24 Feet deep, with Cellars under the whole; a Court Yardin the Front of the House, a Piazza joining the House, and a new Stone Kitchen, with a Pump before the Door."
Entrance to Court Yard at Mount Clare in Baltimore, Maryland. Here, as in most instances, the court yard was at the public entrance facade of the dwelling. The more private garden facade was usually on the opposite side of the house.
Virginia visitor Mary Ambler in 1770, observed at Mount Clare in Baltimore,"There is a Handsome Court Yardon the other side of the House."
In 1777, in his Virginia letter book, George Braxton recorded,"I agreed with Alexander Oliver Gardener to make a Court yardbefore my Door according to Art."
Courtyard at Mount Vernon in Virginia.
Just outside of Phildelphia in 1785, a country seat went on the market."An elegant seat for a Summer residence of a genteel family, situated on the main street in Germantown, just beyond the six mile stone. This healthful retreat consists of a spacious house, two stories high, with four rooms on a floor, a piazza in the rear, 36 feet in length and 12 feet wide; a court yardabout 80 feet square, neatly gravelled, sodded and surrounded with trees."
In his diary for August 30, 1785, at Mount Vernon, Virginia, George Washington reported that the workers had"Finished gravelling the right hand Walk leading to the front gate from the Court Yard."
1791 Edward Savage. Mount Vernon from the Court Yard Carriage Entrance.
Elbridge Gerry, Jr. visited Mount Vernon, about 14 years after Washington's death noting that,"On one side is an elegant garden, which has a small white house for the gardener, and a row of brick buildings back of it. All these are enclosed by a wall in an oval form, and leaving a large area before the house for the yard."
When artist Robert Edge Pine died, in Philadelphia his property went for sale in 1789. including"an elegant new Brick House 42 feet front by 50 feet deep, completely finished, and well accommodated either for a large family or for a public house; a good pump in the yard; a neat garden in the rear of the house, and a court -yard in front."
The Plantation 1825 Virginia.
Private Yards
In 1753, the South Carolina Gazette reported a dwelling for sale in Prince William Parish which included"a garden at the south front, and yardlately paved in."In the South, especially at urban sites, the yard was often paved with brick, tile, or crushed shells.
18C Thomas Banister House with front yard.
The Moravians who settled in at Salem, North Carolina, wrote in 1772,"The family houses are to fence in their yards,in order better to keep the children at home and not let them run around the streets. Also, if the open building-sites could be fenced in, the cattle could be kept out of town."
Early Houses and Fenced Yards at Old Salem, North Carolina.
New England tutor Philip Fithian Vickers was working at Nomini Hall, Virginia in 1774. He reported,"From the front yardof the Great House."
1796 Ralph Earl. Detail Houses Fronting on New Milford Green with fenced yards.
Elizabeth Drinker wrote in her diary in 1796 of her home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,"Ourand Garden looks most beautiful, the Trees in full Bloom, the red, and white blossoms intermixt'd with the green leaves, which are just putting out flowers."
Fenced Utility Yard "Well Paled In" at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
Private Yards - Court (Yard)
Jonathan Schoepf reported on the toilet facilities in 1783, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,"a little courtor garden, where usually are the necessaries, and so this often evil-smelling convenience of our European houses is missed here, but space and better arrangement are gained."
Necessary House in Colonial Williamsburg.
Henry Wansey toured New England in 1794. He wrote of Worcester, Massachusetts,"most of the houses have a large courtbefore them, full of lilacs and other shrubs, with a seat under them, and a paved walk up the middle."And in Connecticut, he wrote,"I arrived at Newhaven...Many handsome well looking houses, though chiefly built of wood and separated by a courtor garden from its neighbour."
Teenage Geo Washington - Professional Landscape Surveyor
Founders Online explains George Washington's (1732-1799) Surveying Appointment: 22 July 1749–25 October 1752
Between the ages of 17 & 20 GW was a practicing professional land surveyor. During that time he made more than 190 surveys, nearly all of them for grants of new lands on the frontiers of Lord Fairfax’s Northern Neck Proprietary. Frontier surveying was a lucrative business in Virginia at the middle of the eighteenth century, as swarms of settlers & speculators laid claim to the colony’s western lands, both inside & outside the Northern Neck. A diligent frontier surveyor working only a few months out of the year could clear annually £100 or more in Virginia current money, a cash income greater than that of most planters & tradesmen in the colony. Frontier surveyors, in addition, had ample opportunities to patent choice tracts of land in their own names, & many acquired holdings of several thousand acres. Surveying was a respectable occupation for a young Virginian in 1749, roughly on a par with law, medicine, the church, or military service, & most of the surveyors were drawn from the Virginia gentry.
GW’s career as a surveyor owed much to the Fairfax family. Close acquaintance with the proprietor, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, & with Fairfax’s relatives at Belvoir assured GW of receiving profitable surveying assignments in the Northern Neck, & it was probably at the behest of Lord Fairfax & through the agency of William Fairfax, who sat on the governor’s council, that GW obtained the surveyorship of Culpeper County at the start of his professional career. Young men of 17 usually did not serve as county surveyors. Most novice surveyors began as apprentices or deputies to county surveyors & did not become county surveyors themselves, if ever, until they had had some years of experience. Before 20 July 1749, nevertheless, GW received a commission from the president & masters of the College of William & Mary appointing him surveyor of newly formed Culpeper County. The college in its charter of 1693 had been granted the power to appoint all Virginia county surveyors & the right to collect one-sixth of their surveying fees, but in practice the college authorities were more concerned with their income than with who was appointed to the surveyorships. They regularly deferred to the wishes of powerful men in commissioning surveyors, & in the case of Culpeper, which lay in the Northern Neck, they were undoubtedly open to any suggestion that Lord Fairfax might make for the county’s surveyor. GW did not study at the college to qualify for the commission or stand any examination by the president & masters of the school. There is no evidence, in fact, that GW went to Williamsburg in the spring or summer of 1749. Most probably, William Fairfax, who attended council in Williamsburg from March to May 1749, secured the commission for him. On 20 July 1749 GW appeared before the justices of the Culpeper court &, after presenting his commission, took the oaths of public office for the first time & became the county’s first surveyor.
Two days later GW ran a survey of 400 acres on Flat Run in east central Culpeper County for Richard Barnes of Richmond County. GW decorated his plat of the survey with a handsome compass rose & a sketch of Mount Pony, an area landmark, & signed his name in full with his new title “Survy of Culpeper Cty.” It is the only survey that he is known to have made in the county in which he was commissioned. Thereafter, his surveying was done almost entirely in the Shenandoah & Cacapon valleys of Frederick County, which until 1753 embraced all of the Northern Neck Proprietary west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Surveyors in the Northern Neck, unlike surveyors in the rest of Virginia, were allowed, at Lord Fairfax’s pleasure, to make public surveys outside the counties to which they were appointed. Under those circumstances it is not surprising that GW chose to survey on the frontier. Culpeper, although a new county, was fairly well settled. Most of its desirable lands had been surveyed & granted while it was part of Orange County, whereas on the other side of the Blue Ridge, in Frederick County, people were claiming many vacant tracts in 1749, providing a great deal of lucrative business for a surveyor...
Because in Virginia one could not legally make public surveys without a commission as a county surveyor, an assistant county surveyor, or special surveyor, the inclusion of GW’s title on these surveys was an indication that they were legitimate...The absence of any title at all on GW’s surveys after he stopped using “S.C.C.” suggests that he may have become one of the several assistants to Frederick County surveyor James Wood, since Frederick County assistants signed their surveys without title...Lord Fairfax continued to allow GW to survey for grants after he ceased to be surveyor of Culpeper County & that no one challenged the legitimacy of his work.
GW usually received his surveying assignments in packets of land warrants issued from the Proprietary land office at Belvoir. Addressed to GW & signed by William Fairfax, as the proprietor’s agent, or by William’s son George William Fairfax on behalf of his father, these documents instructed GW to survey an approximate acreage for a specific person at a general location by a certain date, normally 5 to 6 months from the date of the warrant...His surveys were often simple & near each other & sometimes had the additional advantage of being contiguous, making it possible to use one or more boundaries for two tracts. On at least occasions GW was able to do four surveys in a day & on at least 13 other occasions three surveys in a day. At other times, of course, he worked more slowly, because the surveys were large or complex or there was some distance to travel between them.
GW, like most frontier surveyors, usually surveyed in the spring & fall, when the weather was most pleasant, snakes & insects were least troublesome, & the thin foliage of trees made it easier to sight long boundary lines through wooded areas...
GW gave no reasons for quitting the profession of surveying after the fall of 1752, but there are two evident ones. As lucrative as surveying on the Northern Neck frontier was between 1749 & 1752, it offered only diminishing prospects for the future. The supply of desirable new lands was already beginning to run low in the Northern Neck by 1752, & the dominance of Lord Fairfax in the whole land-granting process prevented Northern Neck surveyors, whether they held county appointments or not, from establishing power bases of their own in the way many frontier surveyors in other parts of Virginia did...In addition, GW had a strong appetite for soldiering, whetted no doubt by the example of his half brother Lawrence. By the spring of 1752 GW had learned that the office of adjutant for the colony, an office that Lawrence held, was to be divided into districts. On 10 June 1752 he asked Lt. Gov. Robert Dinwiddie to consider him for the Northern Neck adjutancy. Instead, the council on 6 Nov. 1752 appointed him adjutant for southern Virginia with a salary of £100 a year. GW did not survey professionally thereafter, but throughout the remainder of his life he frequently employed his surveying skills for his own private purposes: to acquire new land by purchase or grant both east & west of the mountains, to find & defend the boundaries of his many holdings, & to divide them into profitable fields & tenements. As late as Nov. 1799 he spent 3 days on Difficult Run in northern Fairfax County running the lines of his land there & of a nearby tract that he hoped to buy. Only his death 5 weeks later put an end to his surveying...
Labels: 18C, George Washington, Surveying
Teenage Geo Washington's Journal of his 1st Landscape Survey Adventure
A Journal of my Journey over the Mountains began Fryday the 11th. of March 1747/8 by George Washington (1732-1799)
[March 1748]
Began my Journey in Company with George Fairfax Esqr.; we travell’d this day 40 Miles to Mr. George Neavels in Prince William County.
In 1746 & 1748, young George Fairfax (1724-1787) son of Wm Fairfax, took part in expeditions to survey Lord Fairfax's western land. George Washington, age 16, accompanied him on the 2nd trip, & they became lifelong friends. George Neville (Neavil) (d. 1774), a planter & land speculator, had settled on Cedar Run, then in Prince William County (now in Fauquier County), as early as 1730.
Saturday March 12th. This Morning Mr. James Genn the surveyor came to us. We travel’d over the Blue Ridge to Capt. Ashbys on Shannondoa River. Nothing remarkable happen’d.
John Ashby (1707–1789) was son of Thomas Ashby, had settled in Stafford County in 1710. John was widely known as an Indian fighter
Sunday March 13. Rode to his Lordships Quarter about 4 Miles higher up the River we went through most beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees & spent the best part of the Day in admiring the Trees & richness of the Land.
GW probably was referring to land owned by Lord Fairfax on the east side of the Shannondoah River.
Monday 14th. We sent our Baggage to Capt. Hites (near Frederick Town) went ourselves down the River about 16 Miles to Capt. Isaac Penningtons (the Land exceeding Rich & Fertile all the way produces abundance of Grain Hemp Tobacco &c.) in order to Lay of some Lands on Cates Marsh & Long Marsh.
Jost Hite (d. 1760) was one of the leading land speculators and developers in Frederick, eventually settling families on a tract amounting to 94,000 acres. His land purchases involved him in a dispute with Lord Fairfax over ownership of his grants. The court case was settled in Hite’s favor in 1786, 26 years after his death. Frederick Town is now Winchester, Va. Isaac Pennington came to the Shenandoah Valley, about 1734 and settled a tract of some 600 acres on the south bank of Buck Marsh Run. In 1750 GW surveyed a tract of land for him in Frederick County before he moved to South Carolina in the fall of 1754.
Tuesday 15th. We set out early with Intent to Run round the sd. Land but being taken in a Rain & it Increasing very fast obliged us to return. It clearing about one oClock & our time being too Precious to Loose we a second time ventured out & Worked hard till Night & then returnd to Penningtons we got our Suppers & was Lighted in to a Room & I not being so good a Woodsman as the rest of my Company striped my self very orderly & went in to the Bed as they call’d it when to my Surprize I found it to be nothing but a Little Straw—Matted together without Sheets or any thing else but only one Thread Bear blanket with double its Weight of Vermin such as Lice Fleas &c. I was glad to get up (as soon as the Light was carried from us) & put on my Cloths & Lay as my Companions. Had we not have been very tired, I am sure we should not have slep’d much that night. I made a Promise not to Sleep so from that time forward chusing rather to sleep in the open Air before a fire as will Appear hereafter.
On this day the party had surveyed a tract of land for George William Fairfax on Cates Marsh and Long Marsh, the “names of small streams which flow from the foothill of North mountain to the Shenandoah river and have along their course considerable meadow or marshy land”
Wednesday 16th. We set out early & finish’d about one oClock & then Travell’d up to Frederick Town where our Baggage came to us. We cleaned ourselves (to get Rid of the Game we had catched the Night before) & took a Review of the Town & then return’d to our Lodgings where we had a good Dinner prepar’d for us Wine & Rum Punch in Plenty & a good Feather Bed with clean Sheets which was a very agreeable regale.
Thursday 17th. Rain’d till Ten oClock & then clearing we reached as far as Major Campbells one of there Burgesses about 25 Miles from Town. Nothing Remarkable this day nor Night but that we had a Tolerable good Bed [to] lay on.
Andrew Campbell, who lived northwest of Winchester, and several other residents to keep ordinaries “at their respective houses” and to “furnish lodgings and food and Liquors at prices fixed by the court.”
Fryday 18th. We Travell’d up about 35 Miles to Thomas Barwicks on Potomack where we found the River so excessively high by Reason of the Great Rains that had fallen up about the Allegany Mountains as they told us which was then bringing down the melted Snow & that it would not be fordable for severall Days it was then above Six foot Higher than usual & was Rising. We agreed to stay till Monday. We this day call’d to see the Fam’d Warm Springs. We camped out in the field this Night. Nothing Remarkable happen’d till sunday the 20th.
Thomas Barwick (Berwick) was settled in Frederick County as early as 1744.
Sunday 20th. Finding the River not much abated we in the Evening Swam our horses over & carried them to Charles Polks in Maryland for Pasturage till the next Morning.
Monday 21st. We went over in a Canoe & Travell’d up Maryland side all the Day in a Continued Rain to Collo. Cresaps right against the Mouth of the South Branch about 40 Miles from Polks I believe the Worst Road that ever was trod by Man or Beast.
Thomas Cresap (1694–1790) immigrated to America about 1719, in 1736, and he moved to the vicinity of Shawnee Old Town (now Oldtown, Md.), where he built a fortified trading post at the crossroads of a series of trails much traveled by Indians and whites. Cresap acted as a surveyor and agent for the Ohio Company and helped lay out the company’s road from Wills Creek to the Monongahela.
Tuesday 22d. Continued Rain and the Freshes kept us at Cresaps.
Wednesday 23d. Rain’d till about two oClock & Clear’d when we were agreeably surpris’d at the sight of thirty odd Indians coming from War with only one Scalp. We had some Liquor with us of which we gave them Part it elevating there Spirits put them in the Humour of Dauncing of whom we had a War Daunce. There Manner of Dauncing is as follows Viz. They clear a Large Circle & make a great Fire in the Middle then seats themselves around it the Speaker makes a grand Speech telling them in what Manner they are to Daunce after he has finish’d the best Dauncer Jumps up as one awaked out of a Sleep & Runs & Jumps about the Ring in a most comicle Manner he is followd by the Rest then begins there Musicians to Play the Musick is a Pot half of Water with a Deerskin Streched over it as tight as it can & a goard with some Shott in it to Rattle & a Piece of an horses Tail tied to it to make it look fine the one keeps Rattling and the other Drumming all the While the others is Dauncing.
Fryday 25th. 1748. Nothing Remarkable on thursday but only being with the Indians all day so shall slip it. This day left Cresaps & went up to the Mouth of Patersons Creek & there swum our Horses over got over ourselves in a Canoe & travel’d up the following Part of the Day to Abram Johnstones 15 miles from the Mouth where we camped.
Patterson’s Creek flows into the Potomac about 12 miles below Cumberland, Md.
Saterday 26. Travelld up the Creek to Solomon Hedges Esqr. one of his Majestys Justices of the Peace for the County of Frederick where we camped. When we came to Supper there was neither a Cloth upon the Table nor a Knife to eat with but as good luck would have it we had Knives of [our] own.
Sunday 27th. Travell’d over to the South Branch (attended with the Esqr.) to Henry Vanmetriss in order to go about Intended Work of Lots.
John Van Meter, a New York state Indian trader who carried on an extensive trade among the Delaware Indians, visited Virginia about 1725. With his encouragement, his sons Isaac & John obtained extensive grants of land on the South Branch of the Potomac and in the lower Shenandoah Valley in 1730 and brought in a number of settlers.
Monday 28th. Travell’d up the Branch about 30 Miles to Mr. James Rutlidge’s Horse Jockey & about 70 Miles from the Mouth.
On 29 Mar. the party surveyed a tract of land for James Rutledge (surveying notes, DLC:GW).
Tuesday 29th. This Morning went out & Survey’d five Hundred Acres of Land & went down to one Michael Stumps on the So. Fork of the Branch. On our way Shot two Wild Turkies.
Michael Stump, Sr. (1709–1768), received a grant on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac, on 8 Sept. 1749
Wednesday 30th. This Morning began our Intended Business of Laying of Lots. We began at the Boundary Line of the Northern 10 Miles above Stumps & run of two Lots & returnd to Stumps.
Thursday 31st. Early this Morning one of our Men went out with the Gun & soon Returnd with two Wild Turkies. We then went to our Business. Run of three Lots & returnd to our Camping place at Stumps.
Surveying the Land - New Post from Geo Washington's Ferry Farm
George’s First Job - About The Land
From Ferry Farm's Lives & Legacies Blog 3/20/2019
When visitors come to George Washington’s Ferry Farm, they can stand in what were once the fields of the Washington family’s farm, where they grew tobacco and other crops. While living here, Augustine Washington, George’s father, taught his sons – George, Samuel, John Augustine, and Charles – to see opportunity in land.
Ferry Farm Aerial View
Aerial view of the present-day Washington house replica, work yard, hen yard, and archaeological digs at George Washington's Ferry Farm. Credit: Joe Brooks, EagleOne Photography
Growing up at Ferry Farm, George Washington learned that land was wealth. He learned how to run a plantation and to manage the enslaved workers who lived and toiled on his family’s farms. He learned what crops to grow and livestock to raise, how to care for them, and how to put them to use. George Washington was many things at different points in his life – diplomat, politician, general, president – but, throughout his sixty plus years, he was always a farmer.
To George and the other Europeans who settled in British North America in the 1700s, land and its natural resources were privately owned commodities or raw materials to be bought or sold. Land was used to create goods for market or was sold for profit. In other words, land was valuable and owning a lot of land made you wealthy.
Before growing anything on a farm, Washington and his fellow colonial-era farmers had to own land and the land they owned had to be defined legally. It had to have boundaries, so they and other people knew it belong to them. If land was wealth, it was vitally important to know how much land you owned.
Creating these boundaries was the job of a surveyor and being a surveyor was, after his lifelong work as a farmer, George Washington’s first job.
Young George Washington, Surveyor From National Park Service
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines surveying as “determining the area of any portion of the earth’s surface.”
Today, surveyors use the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite imagery, lasers, and other advanced digital equipment to do their work more quickly and more accurately. When George Washington was a surveyor, he used simple tools compared to today but, 200-years-ago, these simple tools were as advanced technologically speaking as today’s surveying equipment. Indeed, in the 1700s, surveying was relatively brand new. The word itself first appeared only in 1682.
Although a relatively new science, young George Washington was probably familiar with surveying from an early age. His father Augustine owned “1 Set Surveyors Instruments,” according to the probate inventory made of Augustine’s property after his death in 1743.
The state-of-the-art instruments of a surveyor in the 1700s included a surveying compass on a tripod used to figure out the bearing and direction of a proposed boundary line. A surveying compass included “sighting vanes” used to point “the compass by peering through the slit in one of the vanes and lining up the horsehair or wire in the oval of the other vane with a target or object” along boundary line. These targets were often just trees (sometimes marked in some fashion with a hatchet), boulders, steams, or any other landmarks.
Surveyor's Compass by David Rittenhouse, believed to be given to George Washington in 1782. National Museum of American History
Measuring the distance between these targets set the property’s boundaries as well as its acreage. These distances were measured using chains carried by the surveyor’s assistants known as chainmen. A full surveyor's chain was 66 feet long and 100 links and eighty of these chains equaled one mile. “Dragging a sixty-six-foot chain through the brush of colonial Virginia's forests was impractical.” These long chains snagged on trees and other vegetation so surveyors in the colonies used a chain that was only 33 feet long with 50 links.
Surveyor's Chain, c1830. Credit: National Museum of American History /
George Washington began a survey by choosing a starting landmark as well as a landmark to travel towards. He recorded the direction of the line using his surveying compass. Then, to measure the distance, the rear chainman held one end of the chain at the starting point while the lead chainman walked a straight line toward the ending target. As the surveyor, George constantly checked the compass to make sure the chainmen followed his line. Keeping the line straight sometimes meant the lead chainman hacked his way straight through brush and undergrowth. Once the he reached the end of the chain, the lead chainman pinned it to the ground and the rear chainman brought up the other end. They then repeated the process until the ending point of the line was reached. The rear chainman picked up the pins as they walked.
Fifteen-year-old George Washington made one of his first surveys on February 27, 1747 when he measured out his older half-brother Lawrence’s turnip field at Mount Vernon. According to Ledger Book Zero, Washington bought a Gunter scale, essentially a two-foot long ruler specifically designed to solve the trigonometry problems common to surveying, from his cousin Baily on September 20, 1747.
Gunter's scale. Credit: MIT Museum
Thirteen months later, on March 11, 1748, George accompanied George William Fairfax and James Genn, the Surveyor of Prince William County, on a month-long trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains and into Virginia’s frontier to survey land for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Young Washington kept a journal of his experiences.
In 1749, at age 17, George was commissioned the surveyor of the new county of Culpepper by the College of William & Mary, which appointed all county surveyors in Virginia This was unusual for someone this young to be appointed. A year later, he began a two-year period of off-and-on trips throughout Virginia’s Frederick County, which at the time encompassed a vast swath of frontier land that today makes up nine separate counties in two states. “By 1752, Washington completed nearly 200 surveys totaling more than 60,000 acres.”
In the later 1750s, George began to focus his work life more on soldiering (the French and Indian War) and farming. He never completely stopped surveying or acquiring land, however. In 1771, he surveyed Ferry Farm in preparation to sell the property and he surveyed for the last time in 1799, the year he died.
In the colonial age, land was wealth and was how many colonials, including George Washington, made their living. As such, early Americans wanted to know what land they owned as well as how much they owned. Surveyors, like George Washington, measured the land and created boundaries so ownership would be clear. “At one time, Washington owned nearly 70,000 acres between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers.” Surveying was Washington’s first job and allowed him to begin to build vast amounts of land holdings and thus wealth. This wealth, in part, propelled him to the heights of colonial American society and politics. He began this journey as a surveyor while living at Ferry Farm.
Zac Cunningham
Manager of Educational Programs
Labels: 18C, George Washington
Note from Peggy Cornett
After his death in 1826 Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughter, Cornelia Jefferson Randolph, sketched the ground plan of Monticello, which included a south corner “triangle bed” meant to grow violets and other fragrant flowers: intending it to be a “nest of sweets.” Archaeologists confirmed this design feature and today it is planted with Hyacinths, sweet white violets, Historic tulips, and Dianthus.
Labels: 19C, Garden Design
Plants in Early American Gardens - Globe Candytuft
Globe Candytuft (Iberis umbellata)
Globe Candytuft was established in early colonial American gardens, and Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon offered it in his 1804 broadsheet. Globe Candytuft is a showy annual that forms dense mounds covered with flowers in spring and summer. The range of colors is broad, including deep purple, lavender, deep rose, light pink, cream, and white.
Landscape Design - Theraputic Hospital Yards
Public Yard -Hospital Yard
1817 William Strictland (1787-1854). The South Front of the Philadelphia Hospital with Brick-Walled Yards.
Peter Kalm wrote of New York City, "In addition to the hospital...there is another farther up Broadway... There is a yard where patients are allowed to walk, and plans call for planting trees in it." The hospital in Philadelphia also had a walled yard planted with trees and criss crossed with walks for its patients and their visitors to walk in.
Plants in Early American Gardens - Strawflower
Strawflower (Helichrysum bracteatum)
Strawflower, a half-hardy annual that withstands light frosts, was introduced from Australia to England in 1791, and to the United States in the 19C. In New England it has been collected in roadside fields in Connecticut & Massachusetts. The species from which the garden plant is descended was created around 1850 in Germany from cuttings from Australia. The strawflower is one of the biological treasures gathered by Napoleon’s wife Joséphine de Beauharnais in her famous garden at Château de Malmaison. The Latin name bracteatum is derived from 'bractea' & refers to the bracts which are often mistakenly thought to be petals. The actual flowers are tiny & are in the heart. It is treasured for its everlasting quality making it ideal for dried arrangements. They grow in a variety of colors - yellow, orange, white, & purple.
Landscape Design - Farm & Barn Yards
Private Yards -Livestock Yards
Trying to Escape the Goose Yard.
Private Yards - Goose Yard
Chauser's Canterbury Tales, in 1386, or thereabouts, Chaucer wrote in the Nun's Priest Tale, "A yeerd she hadde enclosed al aboute Withe stikkes and a drye dych with-oute In which she hadde a Cok." Here was a woman tending a poultry yard, just as women would in early America!
Often in the plantation society of the southern colonies, the mistress of the house would leave the raising of common chickens to the slaves, while she would concentrate on raising the more elite ducks, turkeys and geese. A visitor to a Mount Vernon quarter in 1797, noted that “a small vegetable garden was situated close to the hut. Five or six hens, each with ten or fifteen chickens, walked around there. That is the only pleasure allowed to Negroes: they are not permitted to keep either ducks or geese or pigs.” A 1768 newspaper reported that on a plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia, "Carpenters all...went to sawing railing for a goose yard."
Private Yards -Poultry Yard
The rooster ruled the poultry yard.
An account in a 1772 Queen Anne's County, Maryland deed book noted the presence of "one new paled garden 150 by 100 in good repair with a paled yard between the dwelling house and garden in good repair." Women usually tended the poultry close to the house.
There was a Poultry Yard at George Washington's Birthplace, Ferry Farm, in the Northern Neck of Virginia about one mile below the falls of the Rappahannock River. George Washington's 1771 survey of the "Home House" farm locates the family "hen yard," adjacent to the kitchen garden to the north of the house.
When Jacques Pierre Brissot de Warville visited Virginia in 1788, he reported "I hastened to arrive at Mount Vernon...In a spacious back-yard are turkies, geese, and other poultry."
Private Yards -Farm Yard & Barn Yard
The term barn yard was used in the British American colonies by the 1760s. In 1766 Pennsylvania, a parcel of land was offered for sale with "a fine run running through the barn yard." In 1771, Pennsylvanian Mordecai Cloud reported that his brown mare was stolen "out of the barnyard of the subscriber, in East Caln township, Chester county." Just a few months later, a black horse was "STOLEN out of the barnyard of the subscriber, living on Bread and Cheese Island, in Mill creek Hundred, New Castle county" Delaware.
Near Savannah, Georgia, in 1774, property was advertised, "choice Tide Land, on which are Two fine high Knolls fit for Buildings and Barn Yard." Near 1778 Philadelphia, a soldier was said to have made his escape, "by getting over a fence in the barn yard."
The term farm yard was seldom used until well after the Revolutionary War. It came into popular use after the 1790s publication of John Spurrier's "Compendious System of Husbandry, adapted to the different soils and climates of America; containing the mechanical, chemical and philosophical elements of agriculture; wherein the different soils and manures are analized, shewing their real properties, with their proper applications to each other, and the atmospherical influences; the best method of constructing and managing the farm-yard." John Beale Bordley's publication of "Sketches on Rotations of Crops, and other Rural Matters" also popularized the term.
In the late 1790s, Isaac Weld reported on a house at Lake Charles, near Quebec, "The dwelling house, a neat boarded little mansion painted white, together with offices, were situated on a small eminence; to the right, at the bottom of the slope, stood the barn, the largest in all Canada, with a farm yard exactly in the English style."
Private Yards - Cow Yard
A 1751 advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette described a plantation in Burlington fronting the Delaware River for 3/4 of a mile with 208 acres containing "a Dairey house, coach house, chaise house, a fine stable, a large barn, barrocks, hovels, a well in the cow yard."
In 1756, the same newspaper noted in New Jersey, "Commodious plantation, well watered and timbered, about four miles from Trenton, on the great road leading to Amwell, containing 236 acres, or thereabouts, of good land, with a good house, and a good cow yard, fenced with stone."
A good cow yard, fenced with stone.
Twenty years later, Pennsylvania Gazette land-for-sale in Newgarden, Chester County, Pennsylvania was described as a plantation of "112 acres...a two story square log house, with a cellar under, a well of good water at the door, a barn, with stabling and cow yard."
An 1800 newspaper noted that behind a house for sale in Savannah, Georgia, was "a garden 34 by 45 feet, a cow yard 20 by 15 feet."
The cow yard, pig yard, or barn yard was not just a pen for livestock, it was a hotbed of fertilizer production for the gardens & grounds of most industrious landowners in the colonies & early America.
Joseph Prentis (1754-1809), a judge of the General Court of Virginia, lived in Williamsburg, and wrote in his Monthly Kalender between 1775-1779. It survives as a manuscript at the University of Virginia. He noted in his Kalender, "Dung your Grounds. Such of the Garden as may be vacant should be well manured in October and also well spaded that it may have the advantage of fallow from the sun, snow, and air of the winter season...In December use every oppy of laying Dung on such parts of the Garden as may want it."
18C English Woodcut
In Annapolis, Maryland, during the 1790s, clockmaker & silversmith William Faris planted most of his kitchen garden near his stables. Faris consistantly carted dung from his own stables to his garden, and he employed neighborhood haulers to bring extra cartloads of "tan" to his garden throughout the growing season into the fall.
Private Yards - Hog Yard
The Pennsylvania Gazette recommended creating a hog yard as a means of increasing manure to be used as fertilizer in March of 1791. "Adjoining the stye where your swine are shut up, which should be dry & warm, fence a yard for them to wallow in; 20 or 30 feet square will be large enough for 6 hogs; cover this in the fall or spring with mud...The hogs... will render this mud or earth, if not more than 2 feet deep, an exceeding rich compost in a year's time.
"They will keep it stirring & fermenting with their dung & urine, which will be incorporated with the mud, and thereby their whole strength will be saved; for the mud or earth will prevent the virtues of the dung & urine from being washed in the ground by the heavy rains, or evaporated by the sun and air --- it not only saves them, but makes them stronger, by keeping them in a state of constant fermentation; the fermentation will be increased, and the whole mass will be improved by making this yard the receptacle for the weeds of your garden --- throw into it your soap-suds, brine, and all the greasy slop of the kitchen; you may add potatoe-tops, which should be carefully saved for the purpose when you gather the potatoes; the stubborn corn stalks, which rot slowly in the cow-yard, will soon consume in the hog-yard."
Some 18C Chesapeake farmers dug fenced "dung pits" near their "cow houses" & pig yards to systematically collect future garden fertilizer.
New Yorker John Nicholson wrote about barnyards in The Farmer's Assistant in 1820, "The practice of having a barnyard on a declivity is a bad one, as in this way very much manure is washed away, without essentially benefiting the adjoining grounds. The yard should be level, and lowest in the middle, in order to prevent the escape of much fertilizing liquor, that will otherwise run off from the dung during heavy rains.
"It should be cleared in the Spring of the dung made during Winter; and if the Milch-cows and other cattle are to be kept in it at night, during Summer, much manure may be made in it by carting in rubbish of various kinds...to mix with the dung of the cattle and absorb their stale.
"The yard should also have a high close fence round it, as well for securing the cattle as for breaking off the winds; and, in order to make the most of the dung, the cattle should be kept constantly in the yard during the season of foddering, and have a well close adjoining to supply them with water."
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Cardiology > Arrhythmias
Catheter Ablations Grow in Popularity, But Complication Rates Rise
Safest at high-volume centers
by Salynn Boyles Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer August 04, 2017
A substantial increase in hospital catheter ablation procedures in the United States has been accompanied by a nationwide increase in complications related to the procedures, researchers reported.
Rising volumes of catheter ablations for arrhythmias were seen for older patients and those with significant comorbidities during a 14-year period ending in 2013.
Low volume centers had significantly higher complication rates than high-volume hospitals.
"This study demonstrates a significant rise in age and the burden of comorbidities among patients who underwent inpatient ablation procedures, Jeremy Ruskin, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues wrote in the August issue of the publication JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.
They added that the changes happened as the complexity of the ablation procedure mix was increasing, with more procedures done for atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablations.
"More studies are needed to assess the effect of different strategies (e.g., ultrasound-guided femoral access and intracardiac echocardiography) on reducing periprocedural complications and decreasing costly length of stay in patients undergoing in-hospital catheter ablation procedures," the researchers concluded, adding that a major focus should be on improving outcomes at low volume hospitals and among patients at high risk due to comorbidities.
The researchers used the National Inpatient Sample and Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) datasets to identify adult patients who underwent inpatient catheter ablations from 2000 to 2013 due to atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, supraventricular tachycardia or ventricular tachycardia.
The NIS represents the largest collection of all-payer data on hospitalizations in the U.S., including approximately 20% of all hospital discharges.
Ruskin and colleagues identified an estimated total of 519,951 (95% CI 475,702-564,200) inpatient ablations performed in the U.S. during the period. Median age of patients undergoing catheter ablation was 62 years (IQR 51-72 years), and 59.3% of the patients were male.
Among the main findings:
Rising numbers of ablations, hospitals performing ablations, patients' mean age and comorbidity burden, patients with at least one complication, and length of stay (P<0.001 for each)
27.5% of inpatient ablation procedures performed in low-volume hospitals and associated with increased risk for complications (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.12-1.42; P<0.001)
Older age, greater comorbidity volume, and greater ablation complexity for atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia as independent predictors of in-hospital complications and in-hospital mortality
Female sex and lower hospital volumes as independent predictors of complications
Catheter ablation volumes rose 2.5-fold during the study period, largely driven by procedures for atrial fibrillation (from about 2,000 annually to more than 20,000).
The overall in-hospital complication rate increased during the study period from 3.07% to 7.04%. Significant differences in complication rates were seen among indications: VT ablation had a complication rate of 9.9%, which was approximately three times higher than the rate with procedures for other arrhythmias. The VT group also had the highest comorbidity index (mean 1.28).
Study limitations cited by the researchers included the retrospective nature of the data and the fact that the NIS database included only in-patient catheter ablation procedures. Administrative databases are also subject to coding errors.
Researcher Jeremy Ruskin reported serving as a consultant for Advanced Medical Education, Cardiome, Daiichi Sankyo, InCarda Therapeutics and Portola Pharmaceuticals. He also has associations with InfoBionic, Medtronic, Pfizer and others.
Co-author E. Keven Heist and Moussa C. Mansour also reported relevant relationships with industry. All other researchers reported no relevant relationships with industry.
Source Reference: Mohammadreza S, et al "Catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias: utilization and in-hospital complications 2000 to 2013" JACC Clin Electro 2017; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacep.2017.05.005.
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Luke Combs Never Saw His Grammy Nomination Coming
Anna Webber, Getty Images
In less than two months, Luke Combs will hear his name called alongside artists such as Bebe Rexha, Margo Price and Greta Van Fleet in the Best New Artist category at the Grammy Awards.
And even when he hears it yet again, he probably won’t believe it.
“We won the CMA for Best New Artist and that just blew my mind, but the Grammy was something that seemed so far away," Combs tells Taste of Country during a recent interview in Chicago. “When you grow up in a lower-middle-class, blue-collar home, there are things that you think of that are so outside of the realm of possibility for some people to even think about ever accomplishing. The Grammy was one of those things for me. The Grammy blew me away."
5 Country Stars Who've Never Won a Grammy
The nomination is just another part of a journey that has not only kept Combs out on the road for essentially two years straight, but has also kept him hitting a slew of professional milestones every few months.
“You get the record deal and then you play some shows and you’ve got a number one song and then you’ve got your album out and then you get a number one album and it just keeps coming,” Combs says. “I’m just thankful to be in this spot right now.”
Granted, it ain’t always easy for the North Carolina native.
“There are times where its really hard, and that’s why I’ve got people that care about me to complain to sometimes, and they put up with a lot on that front,” Combs says, pointing to the guys sitting around him on his tour bus on this particular night. “But yeah, I just can’t believe where I am in my career right now. I’m very thankful to be here doing what I am doing.”
Also next year, Combs will head off on his largest North American headline tour.
"On the last headlining tour we did, one of the rooms was 500 people and the biggest one on this spring tour is going to be 16,000 so its like really different," Combs says. "We have done those big things with (Jason) Aldean and Brantley (Gilbert) but it wasn’t our thing. There wasn’t any pressure if something was to go wrong. Now they will be mad at us," he laughs.
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Source: Luke Combs Never Saw His Grammy Nomination Coming
Filed Under: luke combs
Categories: Music News
Vikings RB Roc Thomas Handed 3-Game Suspension
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2018 Visualization in the Digital Humanities: Moving Toward Stronger Collaborations Bradley, Adam James; El-Assady, Mennatallah; Coles, Katherine; Alexander, Eric; Chen, Min; Collins, Christopher; Jänicke, Stefan; Wrisley, David Joseph
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Hyderabad: Eight-year-old grandson of ‘alambardar’ murdered by uncle due to jealousy
By Sameer On September 22, 2017, 8:23 PM IST Crime in Hyderabad Top Stories
Hyderabad: In a gruesome incident, an eight-year-old boy in the old city area here was kidnapped and murdered by his uncle on Friday due to jealousy, police said.
The body of Abbas Hussain Razvi was recovered from Nagabowli graveyard under the limits of Rein Bazar police station. His head was crushed with a boulder.
Police have arrested his paternal uncle Mir Jawwad, who allegedly picked up the boy from historic ‘Bibi Ka Alawa’ around 3 a.m. by luring with him an offer of fruit juice, took him to an isolated place and killed him brutally.
As the boy did not return home, his family lodged a police complaint. Police picked up Jawwad on suspicion and he confessed to the crime.
Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana said Jawwad killed the boy out of jealousy as his grandfather Qamar Hussain Razvi is the ‘alambardar’ or bearer of ‘Bibi ka alam’, an insignia of the martyrs of Karbala.
The boy along with his grandfather was at ‘Bibi ka Alawa’ to make preparations for installation of ‘alam’ on the first day of Muharram on Friday.
Jawwad bore a grudge against his brother-in-law Qamar as his son Shabbir Hussain Razvi and later grandson will succeed him as ‘alambardar’ and custodian of the ‘alawa’. The accused’s son had died after falling in a sump at Qamar’s house in 2008 and he used to blame negligence by Qamar’s family for his death.
The DCP said police were probing the crime from all angles as Jawwad also had some property dispute with Qamar
Police were investigating if any other person was involved in the murder as the accused had allegedly made some phone calls to a criminal after the murder.
The murder on the first day of Muharram shocked Qamar’s family, which was making preparations to observe ‘Youm-e-Ashura’ or 10th day of the first month of Islamic calendar.
With inputs from IANS
Topics:Muharram murder
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Selected Bellevue Crime Reports For January 28 – February 3
Car Prowl LOCATION
Suspects were seen prowling the victim’s vehicle. The victim called Police and upon responding to the area, Officers on a suspect vehicle fleeing the area at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was not chased.
16100 blk SE 33 Cir INCIDENT/CASE#
Suspect entered the victim’s vehicle and stole a handgun from the center console.
A father became involved in an altercation with his teenage daughter. An investigation revealed that no crime was committed. A case report was completed for documentation only.
11800 blk SE 68 PL INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim reported that unknown suspect(s) entered his locked vehicle that was parked in his driveway. The suspect(s) then stole his garage door opener from inside and used it to open the main garage door. Once inside of the garage the suspect(s) prowled a second vehicle. Report taken.
Officers responded to a residence for a report of a long history of domestic abuse. Officers conducted an interview with the victim, and are forwarding charges and attempting to locate the involved suspect.
Juvenile victim reported that her father assaulted her three days prior. CPS was notified and a case was opened.
Three suspects were arrested for stealing items from a store.
13900 blk NE 20th Street INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect called to complain about a child custody dispute. Officers arrested him for a DUI warrant out of KCSO.
Security officers observed two subjects in a verbal disturbance. Officer responded and determined that no crime was committed.
1000 blk. 121st Ave SE INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim was approached by an Indian male in a red sedan on her way home from school. He asked her if she wanted a ride. She declined. The suspect drove up the street, turned around and approached her again motioning her to come to his car. The victim ran away. Officers responded but were unable to locate the suspect.
The suspect stole a jacket and was detained by the store’s loss prevention. It was discovered that the same suspect had a stolen jacket in his possession from Southcenter Macy’s. The suspect also had misdemeanor warrant out of Kirkland for theft. The suspect was arrested and booked.
Hospital Security reported that a patient with mental health issues ran out of the hospital. Officers located him a couple blocks away and took him into protective custody and returned him to the hospital without issue.
15200 blk NE 6th Pl INCIDENT/CASE#
Dad was upset when he learned that his adult son, who has a private, rented bedroom in the house, was not attending school. Dad broke down the son’s door, and assaulted the son. Dad was arrested for Assault 4 and booked into jail.
1600 blk 145th Pl. SE INCIDENT/CASE#
An officer conducted a traffic stop and determined that the driver had a stalking warrant. He was taken into custody and booked without issue.
400 blk Bellevue Way SE INCIDENT/CASE#
During a traffic stop, it was determined that the driver of a vehicle had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for DUI from Seattle. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into jail.
Assist LOCATION
A vehicle that had fled from a Redmond Police Officer crashed in Redmond near the Bellevue border. Multiple Bellevue Officers assisted with containment, and the suspect was apprehended a short time later by a Redmond K-9 Officer.
Auto THEFT/RECOVERY LOCATION
15200 blk NE 16TH PL INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim called to report that his vehicle had been stolen from in front of his apartment building overnight. The vehicle was later located by an officer in the area.
Staff from the shelter requested that a subject be trespassed. The subject was trespassed and escorted off the property.
The suspect was contacted for urinating in the parking garage. The suspect had two felony warrants and one misdemeanor warrant. The suspect was arrested and booked.
WARRANT/Drugs LOCATION
Two subjects were suspected of smoking heroin in their car. Upon contact, officers found that one suspect had a felony warrant and two misdemeanor warrants. The suspect was booked into jail and a second person was released at the scene.
Officers responded to people were entering unlocked apartments and stealing items. Officers responded and completed a report.
A parent reported his 14-year old son had been in a fight with another 14-year old at school. School resource Officer was notified and is following up.
Officer responded to a report of an intoxicated male not wanting to leave the property and causing a disturbance. The subject was told to leave the property multiple times and continued to refuse to leave. The suspect assaulted a security guard. The suspect was arrested and booked into jail.
The suspect disregarded a police roadblock was stopped. The suspect was arrested for DUI and later released.
1000 blk W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect and victim got into a physical altercation during an argument about house rules. The suspect was arrested for assault and booked.
An Officer recognized a subject and ran his name. The Officer discovered that the subject had a Bellevue misdemeanor warrant for Criminal Trespass 2nd degree and Disorderly Conduct. The suspect was arrested and booked.
A juvenile suspect shoplifted 3 bottles of alcohol and was stopped by loss prevention. The suspect was released to grandparent/guardian for summonsing.
12200 blk Bel Red Rd INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect was contacted by police due to his aggressive behavior at above address. The investigating Officer determined that the suspect had an outstanding, warrant out of Bellevue for Assault. The suspect was arrested and booked.
3371 115th Ave NE INCIDENT/CASE#
Officers responded to a report of a physical disturbance at a residence. Upon arrival, the investigating Officer determined that the suspect had assaulted his girlfriend. The suspect was arrested and booked.
Two roommates got into a verbal argument in Seattle. One drove home to Bellevue leaving the other behind. The left behind roommate later returned to the residence and kicked in the front door. The other roommate barricaded herself in a downstairs room and called 911. The suspect left in his vehicle prior to police arrival. During the investigation it was discovered that the suspect also made threats. The suspect was located by Officers at a nearby motel and arrested.
150 Ave SE/SE 37 St INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect contacted by Police during a traffic stop at the above address. The investigating Officer determined that the suspect’s driving status was suspended. The suspect was advised he would be summoned in the mail with a court date.
Factoria Blvd and SE 42 St INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect was contacted by Police during a traffic stop at the above address. The investigating Officer determined that the suspect’s driving status was suspended. The suspect was advised he would be summoned in the mail with a court date.
While on proactive patrol, an Officer contacted two subjects sitting in a vehicle at a closed construction site. One subject had a DUI warrant out of Pierce County.
Theft / ID Theft LOCATION
2700 blk Bellevue Way SE INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim’s credit cards were taken from his wallet which was stored in the break room at a construction site. The credit cards were fraudulently used at various locations. Officer investigating.
Witnesses called 911 reporting a male assaulting a woman at the Bellevue Transit Center. Officers arrived in the area, locating the victim. An officer then located the suspect approximately a block away from the transit center. The victim reported her boyfriend assaulted her. The suspect had a felony arrest warrant. The suspect was arrested for the assault and warrant and booked into jail.
Felony Warrant LOCATION
16700 blk NE 6 PL INCIDENT/CASE#
The caller heard a disturbance coming from a residence. Officers arrived and contacted a male who had a felony arrest warrant. The subject was arrested and booked.
The suspect was contacted by Police after a collision at the above address. The suspect was later arrested for DUI.
Extortion LOCATION
The male victim contacted the female suspect online, attempting to set a date for a casual sexual liaison. The victim was persuaded to send nude photos of himself to the suspect. Once obtained, the suspect communicated to the victim that if he didn’t send $400 to her, she would post his photos online and to his social media accounts. The victim ceased communication with the suspect and contacted Police.
15600 blk SE 1st St INCIDENT/CASE#
Police responded to above address for a report of a car prowl in progress. A K-9 Officer responded and a K-9 track was initiated. The suspect was located by K-9 Officer Ozzie and his partner Officer Bradley a short distance away, illegally trespassing and hiding in the back yard of a nearby residence. The suspect was arrested and booked into jail.
Attempted Burglary LOCATION
Police responded to the above address for a call of a burglary in progress. Responding Officers established a perimeter and a K-9 Track was initiated. K-9 Officer Ghost and his partner Officer Lange located a suspect hiding in the back yard of a residence nearby. Upon detaining subject and identifying him, the investigating Officer determined that the subject is mentally challenged and was reported as a missing person earlier that night. The subject was placed in a warm patrol car out of the sub-freezing temperatures while his guardian was contacted. The subject was evaluated by Bellevue Fire and returned home to his mother. Case closed, no charges.
10455 NE 5th PL INCIDENT/CASE#
Security contacted Police regarding a suspect trespassing at the address. The responding Officer determined that the suspect had an active and current trespass from the hotel. The suspect was arrested and booked into jail.
148 Ave NE / SR 520 INCIDENT/CASE#
The suspect was contacted by Police on a traffic stop. The investigating Officer determined that the suspect’s driving status was suspended. The suspect was advised he would be summoned in the mail with a court date.
500 blk 98TH AVE NE INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim called to report that his NEST surveillance system had video of 2-3 adult males exiting a car in front of his house and prowling his cars in the middle of the night. Item stolen was an electronic remote for his electric bed cover to his truck. Report taken by district officer.
THEFT (PHONE SPOOF) LOCATION
CITY OF BELLEVUE INCIDENT/CASE#
The victim came to the police station to report that while in Bellevue, she received a phone call on her cell phone from a male claiming to be with the Social Security Administration. The male stated that she needed to send them $17,000 or she would be arrested. The victim told the male that she thought that it was a scam and that she was near the Bellevue Police Department to report it. Minutes later, the victim received a phone call from the “City of Bellevue” at “425-452-6917”. When she answered the phone a “Officer Mitcher” identified himself as a Bellevue Police Officer and told her not to go to the police station or he would have to arrest her. The victim then bought 34 $500 Google cash cards and sent the money to the suspects. Report taken by district officer.
Collision LOCATION
Factoria Blvd. SE / SE 40th Ln. INCIDENT/CASE#
A driver making a left turn from SE 40th Ln. to southbound Factoria Blvd. struck a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was issued a citation.
NE 15th ST / 156 AVE NE INCIDENT/CASE#
A pedestrian was walking in the crosswalk against the do not walk sign on NE 15 ST across 156 AVE NE when a vehicle traveling south on 156th AVE NE drove through the intersection on a green light. The pedestrian walked into the side of the vehicle as it passed, causing the vehicle’s side mirror to strike the pedestrian, spinning him and catching onto the bags he was holding and throwing him to the ground face first. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
3000 blk 148 AVE SE INCIDENT/CASE#
An Officer observed a vehicle exiting I-90 with significant vehicle damage and no lights on. The vehicle continued onto SE Eastgate WAY. A traffic stop was initiated and the suspect continued to drive at slow speeds up to 148 AVE SE. The suspect eventually stopped and pulled into Michael’s Toyota where he jumped the sidewalk and crashed into a parked vehicle that was for sale, stopping. The suspect was contacted and arrested for DUI.
The suspect was contacted by an Officer on a traffic stop. The suspect was found to have a Issaquah PD Warrant for Drug Paraphernalia, $2500 bail. The suspect was arrested without incident and booked into jail.
Author bellevuepdPosted on February 6, 2019
Previous Previous post: Selected Bellevue Crime Reports For January 21-27
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She Did It
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Banning Burkinis: It Doesn’t Stop Terrorism But It Does Curtail Women’s Freedom
Ruth Nemzoff and Ellen Offner September 2, 2016 394 views
Fashion Over 50Featured ArticlesMind/BodyPolitical Commentary2 Comments394 views 0
Authors’ Note: Since this piece was written, the highest French Court overturned the burkini ban in one of the Rivera towns, Villeneuve-Loubet, of course, the controversy continues. The White House weighed in, in favor of religious freedom.
In Nice, France, four armed policemen forced a woman on the beach to remove her burkini, a designer bathing suit which allows religious Muslim women to dress modestly and to swim. The Mayor of Nice declared this was necessary to stop terrorism.
Certainly France has seen plenty of that recently with the mass murder at the Charlie Hebdo Office, to the soccer stadium and Bataclan, and siege of the peaceful Promenade des Anglais in Nice. “Nice is the most recent French resort to ban the burkini, following bans in the Corsican town of Disco, and the Riviera resorts of Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/burkini-swimwear-ban-france-nice-armed-police-hijab-muslim-a7206776.html
These vicious attacks have fueled intense Islamophobia in response. However, restricting the dress of Muslims in public places crosses a boundary in that it can be perceived as curtailing religious freedom. Relying on banning religiously prescribed clothing in France is nothing new. A law in 2004 banned the wearing of overt religious symbols in public primary and secondary schools. It included wearing the Jewish kippa, large crosses, and the hijab, but affected disproportionately those wearing the hijab because there are few parochial schools for Muslims, so they have no choice but to go to state schools.”
“These laws are only the latest to penalize Muslim women in the name of France’s national precept of secularism, or ‘laïcit — headscarves have been banned in public schools since 2004, and the niqab, or full-face veil, has been verboten in public places since 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/world/europe/fighting-for-the-soul-of-france-more-towns-ban-a-bathing-suit-the-burkini.html?_r=1
None of these restrictions have stopped terrorism, though they may have limited religious freedom and freedom of expression through attire.
We in America have tried the same tactics of limiting fashion options, particularly for women, over and over again. Many American women have been asked to leave public places because they are nursing a baby even if, like the French Muslim women, they are more covered than most of those around them. This one Ruth knows from personal experience. Both of us were forced to wear trench coats at our college over our knee-length Bermuda shorts when they first came out.
Now in France they are punishing women on the beach for being too covered. This rule has no rhyme or reason from a modesty viewpoint since there are many bare-chested, bikini-clad European women on French beaches. And, since health experts are telling us we should cover ourselves to protect ourselves from the sun, we know it’s not about getting vitamin D. Why is the woman in a T-shirt and jeans allowed on the beach when a woman in a burkini is not? What about the nun in full regalia? All are covered head to toe Xenophobia? Islamophobia? Misogyny? Would a nun on the beach in Nice be asked by armed policemen to remove her habit? We see the bias and hypocrisy.
Too much cover, too little cover, we women just can’t do it right. This obsession with our attire is all about our perceived irresistibility as sexual objects. I suppose we should be flattered!
From a capitalist viewpoint France’s ban on burkinis at beaches is a boon. The Australian designer who thought of the notion of a burkini has benefited. Sales have gone up 200 percent since the ban. She has opened her market by insisting the burkini gives women freedom. Freedom to go out in the sun if they have cancer or are on chemotherapy, and freedom to be both religious and physically fit. True and true!
But this too is not the whole story. Dictating conservative dress has long been touted as a way to protect women’s freedom. As in “she can walk safely at night if only she didn’t wear a mini-skirt or a low cut dress or . . . ” As we delve deeper we see that this kind of outfit is a boon to many of us who want to cover what we’ve been taught to think of as ugly or provocative. Varicose veins, cellulose, and scars. Breasts, and legs. We have written before that these are really badges of honor and wisdom, but that’s another discussion.
Burkini by other names can unite many religious groups: orthodox Jews might turn the pants into a long skirt and Mormons might fashion it like the undergarments they are required to wear. Oh the opportunity for Victoria’s Secret, not only lacy and colored bikini underwear, but they could really go to town designing exquisite undergarments and peignoir sets for every religious group. This is the beginning of a retail fashion gold mine!
It is not, however, a solution to the problem of terrorism which is the reason the Mayor of Nice proudly declares he is curtailing by this action. We can understand his desperation to protect his city and its beautiful beaches and to maintain tourism, such an important source of revenue for Nice and the rest of the French Riviera.
But banning burkinis on the beach, besides curtailing women’s freedom, would hardly be an effective deterrent to terrorists. No, this is just another example of using women’s bodies to avoid the complicated and expensive social issues. This also seems another example of overzealous policing. Because police can’t stop terrorism or violence they can at least do something. We know how racial profiling has led to many black deaths in America. We can’t condone a sideshow of action to stand in for real counterterrorism.
This is a distraction, a way to make some people feel the police are doing something. Perhaps it’s not so different from American politicians who focus on restricting women’s choices by opposing abortion rather than improving maternity care, childcare, and wages, which might actually reduce the need to abort unplanned children.
We all want to get rid of terrorists, but restricting women’s dress isn’t going to do it. Toning down rhetoric, education, and realistic expectations of what government and politics and revolution can actually accomplish would probably be much more effective strategies.
In the meantime, while we personally choose to have the free fresh wind on our skin we support letting others coverup–that is a personal choice to be respected and protected. Freedom for all women, of whatever religious and personal beliefs, to cover themselves, wear scanty bikinis, or only the “outfit” God gave them on the beach must be protected and defended. Whatever works to keep us healthy and happy and does not hurt others seems like a good fashion option! Thank you, creative designers! Keep on giving us clothing choices that allow for our many selves and our individual tastes and preferences.
Banning Burkinis: It Doesn’t Stop Terrorism But It Does Curtail Women’s Freedom was last modified: August 31st, 2016 by Ruth Nemzoff and Ellen Offner
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Ruth Nemzoff and Ellen Offner
Ruth Nemzoff is the author of Don’t Roll Your Eyes: Making In-Laws Into Family and Don’t Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with your Adult Children Ellen Offner is the Principal of Offner Consulting, LLC Healthcare Strategy & Program Development
September 2, 2016 Toby Reply
…great article about an important issue…
September 2, 2016 Marisa Fadavi Reply
The burkini is not a “religious” garment. But then, neither is the burqua, chador, niqab, or even the hijab. These are all cultural garments. The burkini is just another swimsuit. Wear what makes you comfortable.
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3.8 Magnitude Quake Shakes Area
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck the Inland Empire at 8:07 a.m. Saturday, with an epicenter in Cajon Pass near the San Andreas Fault at Devore.
Automated sensors originally pegged the quake at magnitude 4.1, but scientists at Caltech and the USGS downgraded its size to magnitude 3.8 at midmorning. But that was enough to be felt from Barstow to Malibu, and south into San Diego County.
Slight damage was reported by homeowners in Rancho Cucamonga, just west of the epicenter. One viewer told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles that he was jolted out of bed.
A 2.0 aftershock hit about a half mile away about two minutes after the biggest shake, at 8:09, according to preliminary reports from automated USGS sensors. A 1.8 shock followed at 8:14.
The epicenter of the largest quake was two miles northwest of Devore, in San Bernardino County. That location is approximately where the San Andreas Fault crosses the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges.
USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said the quake was near, but not on, the big San Andreas Fault.
“It’s very clearly not the San Andreas Fault,” Jones told KCAL. “It was on the juncture of very many major faults.”
“It was a solid boom and everything shook,” viewer Tarcie Thompson told KCAL. “But it was very sudden, not a rolling action. It didn’t roll or anything like any other earthquake, it was very sudden and very hard.”
A police dispatcher in Victorville said 10-20 residents called in to ask if there was an earthquake, but none reported damage.
The quake was felt as a small tremor, and muffled thunder-like sound, at the City News Service offices in West Los Angeles.
The California Highway Patrol reported no unusual incidents on Interstate 15 or Interstate 215, which merge in the Cajon Pass near the epicenter.
Los Angeles County fire dispatchers reported nearly all of its on-duty battalion chiefs did not feel the quake, and no damage.
The quake was 49 miles east-northeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center, and 23 miles north-northwest of downtown Riverside.
Copyright © 2012 City News Service
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William Kelly Major Works Commentary - Matthew
W. Kelly.
Part 1 of Lectures on the Gospel of Matthew.
The author trusts that the volume may prove a help to those who accept Scripture as the word of God and have confidence in the gracious guidance of the Holy Ghost, who is sent down from heaven to glorify our Lord Jesus. Critical questions have been sparingly discussed here: elsewhere they may be entered into more fully; for truth has nothing to fear, much to gain, from the most thorough sifting, if it be but competent and candid. On the present occasion, however, direct interpretation has been the aim, and the practical profit of souls."
Guernsey, Feb., 1868.
That the Spirit of God, when inspiring Matthew, had in view the aspirations and wants of the Jews, the evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus, and the consequences of His rejection both for them and the Gentiles, is a truth which has forced itself on most Christians who have examined the Gospels with any discriminating care. So large and varied are the internal proofs of such a design that the only wonder is how an intelligent mind could dispute the facts or the inference. Yet we are told that, had a Jewish aim been steadily kept before the Evangelist, the visit of the Gentile Magi could not have been exclusively related by Matthew, any more than the circumcision of Jesus and His frequenting the passovers at Jerusalem could have been exclusively related by Luke if he had written for Gentiles. The objection has no force when it is seen that the Spirit meant by Matthew to trace the alienation of the Jews from such a Messiah as their own Scriptures portray, not alone externally glorious, but first as a divine person though a man, intimating in His very name that He was Jehovah, coming to save His people from their sins, and not merely from their enemies (chap. 1). What a picture follows in chapter 2! Jerusalem troubled at the tidings of His birth, and distant Gentile Magi from the East coming up to do Him homage! Is this the refutation of Matthew's special design? What more beautiful illustration of it could be looked for? And if Luke gives us the most charming glimpses at the godly remnant of Israel, and the Lord Jesus presented first in their midst with the most exact heed to every requirement of the law, how does this set aside the testimony of a Gospel which teems with evidence that God gives us there Christ as traced up to "Adam, which was the son of God," not down from Abraham and David, the depositary of promise and the stock of the kingdom in Israel? Did the objectors forget that the great apostle of the Gentiles regularly carried out the principle on which he insists - "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek?" The inspired writers reflected the richness of God's ways of grace, not the technicality of a human routine.
It is evident also that the apparent discrepancies in the concurrent accounts of the synoptic Gospels must spring either from the infirmity of the human instruments or from the far-reaching wisdom of the Spirit who impressed on each a special design, and so inserted, suppressed, or variously presented, the same substantial fact or truth in pursuance of that design, never giving anything but truth, yet only thus giving the whole truth. Why does unbelief affirm that such a difference of design is an à priori theory? The habitual testimony of each Gospel must decide this question. What can be more manifestly à priori than to impute, on such a ground as this, "demonstrable historical inaccuracies" to the inspired historians of the weightiest matters ever given to man to record? If the sole method of writing a life were that of simple sequence, there might be some appearance of reason; but some of the most famous biographies among men depart in general or in part from the mere order of occurrence. What would be thought of assailing their credit for such a reason as this? The fault lies in those who object, not in Scripture.
It is to me certain that Matthew and Luke were led to follow an exact order, one dispensational, the other moral; that they are far more profoundly instructive than if one or other, or both, had adhered to the very elementary manner of an annalist; and that it is a mere blunder therefore to characterize any resulting difference of arrangement (such as Mat_8:28, etc., compared with Mar_5:1, etc., and Luk_8:26, etc.) as a real discrepancy. Let such defenders of the faith do their worst: the Christian has nothing to fear, but only to believe, and he shall see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of the truth. Undoubtedly a different arrangement consists with and supposes the same incident variously placed, and with deliberate design, so as to bring out the truth more fully; but how does it prove a "real" discrepancy?
It is allowed on all hands that the Lord may have repeated the same truth, as He often repeated similar miracles. But a difference of design alone accounts for all the phenomena of the Gospels, and this not to the dishonour of the writers, but to the praise of their true and divine Author. Eye-witness and apostolicity fail to meet the case, for two out of the four Evangelists were neither. The foundation of the new building consists of prophets as well as apostles; and though God did supply eyewitnesses, He proved His supremacy by furnishing the most graphic details of our Lord's ministry by the very two who had not seen what they describe with more lifelike touches than are found in those two who describe what they saw. So false is this criterion even in the two apostles, that John alone does not give either the scene of the agony or that of the transfiguration, yet he alone of the Evangelists was among the nearest to both. He alone gives the fall of the armed band to the ground, yet Matthew beheld it equally With himself. And Matthew gives with the greatest fulness the prophetic discourse on Olivet; John not at all, though he is the only Evangelist who was present to hear it.
The Spirit's purpose is the true and only key in every instance. Thus, as to the inscription on the cross, nothing is simpler than the perfection of each report for each Gospel; while it may be that the actual writing contained John's with the addition of Matthew's opening words, the Holy Spirit appropriating each form to His aim in the respective Gospels. Plenary inspiration in no way excludes, but accentuates, special design. The true question is, Are we to attribute their differences of form to the wisdom of God or to the weakness of man? Again, difference of reading is a question of human copies, not of the inspired original. Lastly, the apostle insists not merely that the men were inspired, but that the book - yea, every scripture - is divinely inspired.
There is the strongest evidence to prove that the Greek of Matthew is the original and not a version, though possibly the Evangelist may have also written it in Hebrew for the early Church in Judea. This might lapse, and what was permanently needed abide.
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Photographer behind tiger photo scandal ...
Tigers, humans forced to share ...
Photographer behind tiger photo scandal to stand trial for fraud
www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-19 12:25:23
BEIJING, Sept.19 (Xinhua) — A Chinese farmer who had been detained for allegedly fabricating photographs of a rare South China tiger in the wild will stand court trial next Tuesday
Zhou will be tried at the People’s Court of Xunyang County, southern Shaanxi Province. Apart from fraud, Zhou will also face another charge of illegally possessing ammunition, Friday’s The Beijing News reported.
Zhou, 54, from Zhenping county, claimed to have photographed the tiger with a borrowed digital camera on the afternoon of Oct. 3 last year.
Using the photos, first published on Oct. 12, the Provincial Forestry Department claimed at a press conference that those were proof the rare tiger still existed in the wild, and gave Zhou a reward of 20,000 yuan (2,915 U.S. dollars). That also started a controversy.
Internet users accused Zhou of making the tiger images with digital software, and also accused the local authorities of approving the photos to bolster tourism.
The “paper tiger” saga aroused widespread interest after the appearance of a Lunar New Year commemorative poster with a picture of a tiger that bore a striking resemblance to the one in Zhou’s pictures.
This led to strong public demands for official proof of authenticity.
The Public Security Department of Shaanxi was forced to admit that Zhou fabricated the rare tiger photos, based on findings from a month-long police investigation, at a press conference held in late June.
The Police have seized an old tiger poster, which he allegedly borrowed from a farmer in another village in September to produce his photos.
They also found a wooden model of tiger claw, which Zhou allegedly used to fabricate a South China tiger paw print in snow, and seized 93 pieces of ammunition for semi-automatic rifles of military use from Zhou’s home.
Zhou was then detained on suspicion of fraud. The Provincial Forestry Department revoked the reward it gave to Zhou.
A total of 13 local officials have been penalized in connection with the scandal, including Provincial Forestry Department deputy head Zhu Julong and Sun Chengqian, the official in charge of wildlife preservation Wang Wanyun, and media official Guan Ke, who were sacked for dereliction of duty.
Zhou, who had been kept at the detention center of Shiquan County, also in southern Shaanxi, was moved to the detention center of Xuyang County some two weeks ago to wait for the trial, Friday’s The Beijing News quoted Zhou’s lawyer Zhang Yong as saying.
The South China tiger, also called the “Amoy” or “Xiamen tiger,” is widely believed to be extinct in the wild. It is thought to be the progenitor of all modern tigers, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. It is considered critically endangered, mainly because of a loss of habitat.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/19/content_10078654.htm
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home » computing » Consider government open source, don’t mandate it
Consider government open source, don’t mandate it
Act Party leader David Seymour wants the New Zealand government to consider open source software.
In Act calls on government to support open source software at the NBR, he says the government needs to take a new approach when buying software procurement.
It can save the taxpayer large sums of money.
Seymour tells the NBR:
“A substantial number of civil servants could generate the same output using open source software and open document formats, instead of proprietary software like Microsoft Office.”
Act isn’t the only political party to call for government to consider using more open source software. It is also Green Party policy.
The key word is consider.
While there’s an argument for asking public servants use open source apps in place of Microsoft Office, that’s only part of the story.
Mandating open source
Mandating open source can be a straight-jacket. There are times when it is the right tool for a job, there are times when it is not. Far better to let decision makers nearer the coal face choose what people need. Pragmatism should trump dogma.
It’s not just Microsoft Office. There are government agencies using Google Documents. While licences are cheaper, the software isn’t free and, if anything, the data is more locked away than with Office.
If anything, rules should forbidding government departments buying software from companies not paying their fair share of tax.
Sure, many argue that Google isn’t breaking any laws, but nor would a government be breaking any laws if it chose to spend taxpayer funds with companies that are good citizens.
It’s one thing to insist public servants write memos using open source apps, but inflexible, expensive software isn’t restricted to desktop productivity apps.
Seymour thinks the government can save as much as $52 million “every four or five years” from dropping office. It’s likely at least that much money will also be tied up in proprietary databases.
Proprietary databases
Some proprietary databases are notoriously difficult to replace. The lock customers into long, expensive support contracts. At times some database licences resemble ransomware.
Writing at the New Zealand Open Source Society website Dave Lane has another perspective:
“While the NZOSS is gratified to see Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) being advocated by the Act Party (and the Greens have similarly advocated it for at least the past decade) we think that FOSS sells itself if the playing field is level. At present it is not.”
Good point. Formally mandating open standards for government apps would help level the playing field.
Let’s also level the software playing field in a wider sense. It’s not just open source versus proprietary, we also need to level the playing field for New Zealand tech companies allowing them to win more government contracts.
Keeping local technology firms out of such contracts would be unthinkable in most other countries.
3 thoughts on “Consider government open source, don’t mandate it”
dangerdavelane
I’d like to see us, as country, penalising software suppliers who employ proprietary standards and exploitative business models (built around creating artificial monopolies using proprietary formats) – the database suppliers you mention are actually being anti-competitive, and should be penalised by the procurement process (via being disqualified). An open standards mandate would go a long way to fixing all this.
Mandating open standards makes sense on so many levels.
The case is outlined in far more detail, with reference to nuances, and overseas precedents, here: https://openstandards.nz Also, crucially, a definition of what constitutes and open standard (and what, despite what many corporate software suppliers would love, does not).
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Home Patricia Hernandez
Patricia Hernandez
Professor of Biology
SEH 6860
Evolution of developmental mechanisms; vertebrate embryology/pattern formation; functional morphology and anatomy of vertebrates; Ichthyology.
Craniofacial development using the zebrafish model system
Research in my lab centers around uncovering the developmental mechanisms involved in vertebrate head formation. I primarily use the zebrafish model system to examine the mechanisms involved in the morphogenesis of the pharyngeal arches and neurocranium. The vertebrate skull is composed of 3 basic units: the chondrocranium/neurocranium encases and protects the brain; the dermatocranium (composed of dermal bone) covers the neurocranium and makes up a significant portion of the cranial vault; and the viscerocranium, derived from seven pharyngeal arches, gives rise to the jaws and gill bearing structures in fishes. In mammals the viscerocranium consists of the jaws and associated structures, which support the throat and laryngeal structures. The pharyngeal arches in zebrafish embryos represent a series of relatively simple reiterated structures whose development depends on all three germ layers as well as neural crest cells. The relative simplicity of these embryonic structures affords an ideal situation in which to study the molecular mechanisms involved in the interactions among germ layers in these structures.
Presently I am investigating the role of the Hedgehog pathway in the proper growth and differentiation of the cartilaginous components of the pharyngeal arches. Using mutant analysis, overexpression, and pharmacological treatment with cyclopamine my lab is investigating the role Hedgehog proteins play in the differentiation of the branchial cartilages (which support the gills). Our previous findings suggest that the Hh signaling pathway is required for growth of the jaws, hyoid and branchial cartilages, and more importantly it is required for the differentiation of branchial cartilages. Work on this project is ongoing.
Evolutionary developmental biology of fishes
For many years I have been interested in the comparative cranial anatomy of fishes. It is clear that the skulls of fishes are much more complex than mammalian skulls, showing an enormous amount of structural diversity. Jaws and associated cranial structures differ from the small picking jaws of the butterflyfishes to the large straining branchial arches of the paddlefish. Such structural complexity coupled with amazing morphological diversity makes this group especially well suited for study within an evolutionary developmental perspective. How has this enormous morphological diversity evolved? Ultimately natural selection acts to cull failed experiments, but the only way that novel morphologies are generated is through modification of developmental mechanisms.
Thus a second area of study within my lab entails investigating the developmental mechanisms (as defined through molecular interactions/mechanisms) that are involved in the generation of different morphologies. While differential growth between ancestors and descendents (i.e. heterochrony) has been invoked to explain morphological differences among species, the molecular mechanisms involved in such shape/size changes have been poorly resolved. While heterochrony assuredly plays a key role in many of these morphological changes, to fully understand how these changes have evolved we must understand precisely which molecular/genetic mechanisms brought about changes in growth trajectories. Previous work using the comparative method has done much to establish the morphological patterns we see during the course of evolution, yet in order to specifically identify the factors responsible for morphological change we need to isolate the genetic factors involved.
Thus, in addition to our work on the development of the visceral arches in zebrafish, we are also examining the development and evolution of the neurocranium in zebrafish and a number of congeners. Previous work has shown that defects in the Hedgehog signaling pathway lead to defects associated with growth within the anterior neurocranium. This would suggest that during normal development, the Hh pathway plays an important role in the proper morphogenesis and growth of the anterior neurocranium. By conducting a morphometric analysis of shape changes in the neurocranium in a number of related cyprinids we hope to generate hypotheses concerning the role of Hh in neurocranial development within this group.
During the course of my postdoctoral work I became interested in the development and evolution of muscle fiber type proportion and distribution in cranial muscles. While an enormous amount of research effort has been placed on examining extensive differences in musculoskeletal architecture in the head, it is clear that relatively minor differences in fiber type composition and distribution may have a disproportionately large impact on animal performance. Moreover the genetic factors involved in fiber type specification are being uncovered. To this end my lab is investigating the evolution and development of muscle fiber type changes within cranial muscles. My previous work on zebrafish has shown that ontogenetic changes in cranial muscle fiber type proportion are correlated with changes in feeding mode. If this is true among ontogenetic stages, it is likely also true among different species of closely related fishes. Thus, we are presently analyzing fiber type distribution in a number of related Danios.
Finally my doctoral student, Nathan Bird, and I are examining the development and evolution of the Weberian apparatus, a novel bony connection between the inner ear and swim bladder, which characterizes the Otophysi. We believe that this probable key innovation has led to a major radiation (~27% of all fish species) within this group. We are mapping a number of gene expression patterns, as well as larval and adult morphological characters unto a known phylogeny to better understand how this complex structure has developed and evolved.
PhD, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA, 1999
MS, Zoology, University of South Florida, USA, 1994
BS, Biology, Eckerd College, 1987
Keer S, Cohen K, May C, Hu Y, McMenamin S, Hernandez LP. 2019. Anatomical assessment of the adult skeleton of zebrafish reared under different thyroid hormone profiles. Accepted at The Anatomical Record.
Cohen KE, L.P. Hernandez, C. Crawford, and B.E. Flammang. (2018) Channeling vorticity: modeling the filter-feeding mechanism in silver carp using μCT and 3D PIV. J. Exp. Biol. 221, jeb.183350. doi: 10.1242/ jeb.183350 Chosen for Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist.
Cohen KE, Hernandez LP. (2018) The complex trophic anatomy of silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, highlighting a novel type of epibranchial organ. J. Morph. 279(11):1615-1628. doi: 10.1002/jmor.20891.
Cohen KE, Hernandez LP. (2018) Making a master filterer: Ontogeny of specialized filtering plates in silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). J. Morph.279 (7):925-935.
Hernandez L. P., D. Adriaens, C H. Martin, P C. Wainwright, B. Masschaele, & M Dierick (2018) Building trophic specializations that result in substantial niche partitioning within a young adaptive radiation. J. Anat. 232(2):173-185.
Dial, T. R., L. P. Hernandez, E. L. Brainerd. (2017) Morphological and functional maturity of the oral jaws covary with offspring size in Trinidadian guppies. Scientific Reports 7:1.
Wainwright P. C., McGee M. D., Longo S. J., Hernandez L. P. 2015. Origins, Innovations, and Diversification of Suction Feeding in Vertebrates. Integr. Comp. Biol. 55 (1): 134-145.
Hernandez L. P. and K.L. Staab. 2015. Bottom Feeding and Beyond: How the Premaxillary Protrusion of Cypriniforms Allowed for a Novel Kind of Suction Feeding. Integr. Comp. Biol. 55 (1): 74-84.
Van Wassenbergh S, Day SW, Hernández LP, Higham TE, Skorczewski T (2015). Suction power output and the inertial cost of rotating the neurocranium to generate suction in fish. J Theor Biol. 372:159-67. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.03.001
Staab, K.L., Holzman, R., Hernandez, L.P., Wainwright, P.C. 2012. Independently evolved upper jaw protrusion mechanisms show convergent hydrodynamic function in teleost fishes. Journal of Experimental Biology. 215:1456-1463.
Gidmark, N.J., Staab, K.L., Brainerd, E.L., Hernandez, L.P. 2012. Flexibility in starting posture drives flexibility in kinematic behavior of the kinethmoid-mediated premaxillary protrusion mechanism in a cyprinid fish, Cyprinus carpio. Journal of Experimental Biology. 215, 2262-2272.
Staab, K.L., Ferry, L.A., Hernandez, L.P. 2012. Comparative kinematics of cypriniform premaxillary protrusion. Zoology. 115: 65–77. ** Cover article**
Hernandez, L.P., and L.A. Ferry-Graham. 2010 Invited Contribution. Cranial Morphology. Musculoskeletal Anatomy and Function Section in: The Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology: from Genome to Environment. A. Farrell, ed. Elsevier.
Staab, K and Hernandez, L.P. (2010) Development of the cypriniform protrusible jaw complex in Danio rerio: Constructional insights for evolution. Journal of Morphology. 271:814-825.
Ferry-Graham, L.A., C. Pace, A.C. Gibb, and L.P. Hernandez. (2010). Unusual kinematics and jaw morphology associated with piscivory in a small poeciliid, Belonesox belizanus. Zoology. 113:140-147.
Hernandez, LP, AC Gibb, L. Ferry-Graham. 2009. Trophic Apparatus in Cyprinodontiform Fishes: Functional Specializations for Picking and Scraping Behaviors. Journal of Morphology 270: 645-661.
Bird, N. C. and Hernandez, LP 2009. Building an evolutionary innovation: differential growth in the modified vertebral elements of the zebrafish Weberian apparatus. Zoology 112: 97-112.
Ferry-Graham, L., AC Gibb, LP Hernandez. 2008. Premaxillary movements in cyprinodontiform fishes: An unusual protrusion mechanism facilitates “picking” prey capture. Zoology 111: 442-454
Hernandez, LP, L. Ferry-Graham, AC Gibb. 2008. Morphology of a picky eater: A novel mechanism underlying premaxillary protrusion and retraction within cyprinodontiforms. Zoology 111: 455-466.
Bird, N. C. and Hernandez, LP. 2008. Building an evolutionary innovation: differential growth in the modified vertebral elements of the zebrafish Weberian apparatus. Zoology 112:97-112.
Gibb, AC, Ferry-Graham, L., Hernandez, LP, Romasco, R, and J Blanton. 2008. Functional significance of intramandibular bending in Poeciliid fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 83: 507-519.
Bird, NC and Hernandez, LP. 2007. Morphological variation in the Weberian apparatus of Cypriniformes. Journal of Morphology 268: 739-757. (Cover illustration)
Hernandez, LP, NC Bird, KL Staab. 2007. Turning a model organism on its head: Investigating morphological novelty in cranial structure using the zebrafish, Danio rerio. Journal of Experimental Zoology: Molecular and Developmental Biology. 308B: 625-641.
Hernandez, L. P., M. J. F. Barresi and S. H. Devoto. 2002. Functional morphology and developmental biology of zebrafish: reciprocal illumination from an unlikely couple. Integrative and Comparative Biology, Volume 42(2): 222-231.
Barresi M.J.F., D'Angelo J.A., Hernandez L.P., and Devoto S. H. 2001. Distinct mechanisms regulate slow-muscle development. Curr. Biol. 11 (18): 1432-1438.
Hernandez, L. P. 2000. Intraspecific scaling of feeding mechanics in an ontogenetic series of zebrafish, Danio rerio. J. Exp. Biol. 203: 3033-3043.
Hernandez, L. P. and P. J. Motta. 1997. Trophic consequences of differential performance: ontogeny of oral jaw crushing performance in the sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus (Teleostei: Sparidae): J. Zool. 243: 737-756.
Classes Taught
BISC 168 - Tropical Marine Biology
BISC 2332 - Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
BISC 6249 - Topics in Developmental Biology
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Home › Entertainment News
Here’s How Much Wendy Williams Charges Artists To Perform On Her Show
Ny Magee, Eurweb.com
Wendy Williams is going to collect dem coins by any means necessary, which is why she requires that artists who perform on her daytime talk show cut her a check.
According to thejasminebrand, the Wendy Williams Show charges at least $20,000 for A-listers to hit the stage.
“It’s not negotiable. She has a huge platform and they probably could demand more,” claims a source.
Apparently, it’s standard that artists pay some type of fee when they perform, but the bigger the show, the more talent has to pay.
“Every show doesn’t charge, but it’s pretty typical.”
Meanwhile, Wendy is “burying her head in the sand” following reports that her staff ‘leaked’ details about her husband’s alleged cheating scandal.
A source close to Wendy tells HollywoodLife.com that she appears to be ignoring the situation completely.
“Wendy isn’t discussing what’s going on with Kevin at all. She’s staying completely mum on the subject, other than to say things are ‘fine’ if anyone asks,” the insider reveals.
“Wendy’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, though,” the insider also admits. “If she publicly acknowledges the cheating may be real, she’s got to be seen to do something. So for now, she’s burying her head in the sand and carrying on with business as usual, and everyone is walking on eggshells around her.”
“Initially she brushed the cheating allegations off as false, but she’s not stupid — far from it — and the mood she’s been in off-camera suggests that she thinks otherwise,” the source adds of the talk show host.
Meanwhile, Wendy isn’t planning to leave her man despite the allegations.
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Gossip Gallery: Strange Love, Money Woes, & More
(Photo by Earl Gibson/BET/Getty Images for BET)
charge artist , Perform , show , Wendy Williams
44 thoughts on “Here’s How Much Wendy Williams Charges Artists To Perform On Her Show”
melissa890Nel on March 14, 2018 at 12:03 pm said:
Wow I Cannot imagine paying $20,000 to be on that nasty show I don’t know what happened to Wendy years ago I use the water and up until about two years ago she starts acting so bazaar on the show like she’s on drugs I mean she Throws herself round and always looks sick
Carolyn Riley on November 29, 2017 at 7:30 pm said:
Wendy Who?
Marie Jackmon on November 29, 2017 at 1:34 pm said:
Wendy is a “BOSS” she aint gotta do nothin but keep making them COINS! Her platform and Brand is the Wendy Williams Show, Her clothing line, and her Stand up. Her personal life is just that Personal! She owes no one an explanation!
Zillie Perkins on November 29, 2017 at 4:09 am said:
Wendy is doing her Job following the advice she would give anyone on hot topics.Say nothing & eventually we will forget about it.Her home life is private & if she can keep it that way & keep you in suspense then more power to you.😊If she leaves,stays or is the truth.I really don’t care…keep following your advice Wendy & say nothing, I’m still gone watch 👀😘😘
hasbro on November 29, 2017 at 2:49 am said:
Thats nothing new. Her husband Kevin is behind that, and has been doing that since her “radio days”. Kevin is a hustler and thats how he makes extra money. Wendy turns a blind eye to that as usual.
Joseph Hays on November 29, 2017 at 2:47 am said:
I wouldn’t divorce him either.Just make both of they’re lives miserable. She shouldn’t give up half to him.
Jossiean Hopson on November 29, 2017 at 2:46 am said:
Not one good commit😕poor Wendy is a hypocrite, finger pointing, spineless, drug using, Shera! Get a grip Wendy… End it! He’s walking all ova you.
Flora on November 29, 2017 at 2:43 am said:
I use to enjoy Wendy but now she’s become fake ,she needs to acknowledge the fact that hubby ain’t all that before she continues to run other folks life down the drain to thine owns elf be trur. You owe it to your loyal fans to let us in on your dirt that what it’s all about anyway .
Shari on November 28, 2017 at 11:06 pm said:
I watch the real dont u
I watch
Geraldine Johnson on November 28, 2017 at 10:56 pm said:
Wendy is a sad ass monster. Someone who comments on others but won’t talk about her own crap. So sad that young thing got her husband. And all that dipping and doing ain’t keeping Kevin happy. What happened to she a straight shooter. I guess that’s for others and not herself. Poor Wendy, husband bought girl a house, a ring on it. Picking her up. Hahahaha the jokes on Wendy.
Koki on November 29, 2017 at 9:07 am said:
Couldn’t have dais it better myself! 👍
Lezli Payne-Welge on November 28, 2017 at 9:17 pm said:
I used to love Wendy and still like her, but it’s getting real hard to listen to her opinion about everyone’s dirt when her and her husband have all the bs in the world going on. She really needs to stick to the platform of letting the ppl know the real deal but should keep them opinions to herself!
Age on November 28, 2017 at 7:20 pm said:
Wendy you need to stop and recognize that it ain’t bout you girlfriend. Clean your yard up before you try to clean somebody else’s. You got a lot trash and dirt in your front yard. It ain’t pretty is it? Nooooo….
Doris on November 28, 2017 at 7:11 pm said:
Ten years her husbands affair has been going on. She has known about it and accepts it. The girlfriend probably wants to get married, but Kevin ain’t leaving that gravy train named Wendy.
Lena D mcwhorter on November 28, 2017 at 6:57 pm said:
I will be glad when they lullaby her show…it’s worthless…
Sayitasiseeit on November 28, 2017 at 6:57 pm said:
I love Wendy but I don’t like ask Wendy and I hate it when they cook and she always wants to take all the food home. Comes across as cheap and the way she chows down while they talk is unreal but I love ya…share you food have a hat with names and draw a name the day someone is going to cook. They get the meal …throw that name away till all gone add any new employees as the come. Be fair donahog!
Wendy will dump him…she will only be able to stand it so long…she is too strong to be treated that way..I’m also thinking he is getting ready to leave her. He bought this woma an engagement ring…huge home..and now isnt hiding the fact that he picks her up and drops her off every where…no hiding that.. I think within the next year max two they will be separated and divorcing. He has pocketed enough money…thanks to Wendy
Sharon Remm on November 28, 2017 at 6:17 pm said:
Wendy Williams is a stupid dumb retarded ass BITCH.. I’m glad her husband ducking het over cause she so quick to put everybody else business out there to bad so sad. The shoe is on the other foot don’t feel so good now. I notice she stop talking about Ti and Tiny.. We laughed our ass off when she fainted on Halloween customer to hot my ass. She need to stop losing weight look like she smoking crack again. And she had the nerve to talk about Whitney Houston BITCH please. Judge Mathis and his wife I hope they saying Carma is real Wendy remember when you lied on him and tried to embarrass the judge but he made you look like a CRACKHEAD fool on your own radio sbow.. I hope she reads this and yes I’m laughing my ASS off at you. We don’t watch your show either it SUCKS….
Why so harsh? Did she say something about you? Look we all enjoy gossip on her show not her fault she is just giving us what we want. What do you want her to say about what’s going on that hasn’t already been said in the ragsheet or blogs…..oh you read about me yesterday my husband was seen with that other woman again. You don’t have to be so hard on her. Hate us for wanting to listen to her hot topics…supply and demand!
S. O'Brien Jones on November 28, 2017 at 7:19 pm said:
Ok you’re going in a little “too” hard with you’re illiteracy
Reality check on November 28, 2017 at 8:56 pm said:
Wow!! You are so sad on the inside. Someone needs to hug this bitch Sharon
Colleen on November 29, 2017 at 5:21 am said:
Yes I agree lot of people R just jealous of Wendy when it’s sad when she’s not even thinking about them they’re pouring don’t have anything and hating on her she just doing her job.. sad thing about it if that was their job they would do the same
My Opinion on November 28, 2017 at 5:59 pm said:
I always thought artist got paid to perform on TV! I do tune in for the first 15-20 minutes to get the info then, I tune out if there isn’t somebody on that I want to see. I’m finding Williams harder to tolerate as the days go by.
Jean Fleming on November 29, 2017 at 2:14 am said:
I’m with you. Starting to watch the View more often. Wendy is getting hard to take. I can’t stand her silly call ins.With Xmas coming up, now her will be all the packages. It’s boring for those watching. Her games are childish. I’m even tired of her made up words she continues to use.
Melinda Adams on November 28, 2017 at 5:07 pm said:
People shouldn’t do dumb shit. Geraldo use to do it. Rona Barrett, etc.
She just tells what people do in Hollywood. She’s worth $60m plus sell the clothes, has an emoji business, an a foundation.
She’s an actress, author, has a big mouth and she’s nosey. She made a career out of it.
I agree, no A List should have to pay but AGAIN ITS STILL THEIR CHOICE TO PAY THAT $20K
Sharon on November 28, 2017 at 5:06 pm said:
NO OTHER SHOW CHARGES GUESTS. SHE TRUMPED UP THIS STUFF ABOUT HUSBAND CHEATING TO KEEP HER NAME RELEVANT. WHAT A WASTE. WE NEED PEOPLE LIKE OPRAH BACK. FAKE MEDIA WENDY. SELLOUT.
Wanda hood on November 28, 2017 at 5:03 pm said:
Don’t watch her show anymore she judges everyone marraig but she doesn’t not talk about hers he us making a fool out of her.
Ms.lee on November 28, 2017 at 7:39 pm said:
I hate when she show her cheap looking clothing line from han. I don’t like how she talks over the,cooking quest and eats there food like she is starving. The best part of the show is ask Wendy. The beginning of the show she is always staying she did Not watch a TV special the night before. I no longer have to watch twendys show daily
Don’t watch her fake butt nomore she quickly to dish dirt on other people
I stop watching the show fake fake she needs to stop sweeping everyone porcy s
Denise on November 28, 2017 at 4:12 pm said:
It’s a lot of ways to look at it, they make money together.
Erma Portillo on November 28, 2017 at 4:10 pm said:
Wendy Williams, what a hot mess!
I used to watch her show but since this cheating husband story showed its face I watch no more not being true to herself. No More.
Fatima on November 28, 2017 at 4:09 pm said:
She always want the “tea on someone’s life but she really needed to “spill the tea ” on her own messing life! “STOP WITH THE WEIGHT LOSS YOU LOOK HORRIBLE ” IMJUSTSAYING SMDH!
Minnie Douglas on November 29, 2017 at 8:42 am said:
I hadn’t watched her for a while she looks horrible. What happened to her face. OMG
Lizzy on November 28, 2017 at 3:35 pm said:
And she’s still giving advice to other women to leave there men but she won’t leave hers
Diamond on November 28, 2017 at 3:15 pm said:
Wendy is one dumb woman. Her husband cheats on her, She hires him to keep tabs on him. He’s still cheating, turns a blind eye. A scumbag man only does to you what you allow him to do. I’m so glad I stop watching her ratchet ass show last year.
specialt757 on November 28, 2017 at 2:51 pm said:
Why would anyone pay to perform on this show? Are you kidding me? Especially if you’re an A-lister, you already have a giant following. I don’t get it.
americanize on November 28, 2017 at 4:25 pm said:
Real Talk specialt.
Roxie on November 28, 2017 at 2:47 pm said:
Wendy is a hot mess! She’s always criticizing others but doesn’t look at herself, I do believe she’s burying her head in the sand because she doesn’t want to face the music. I believe her staffers always had to walk on eggshells, I feel sorry for Suzanne but I guess she needs the money! I wish the Real came on in her lace
Trisha Floyd on November 28, 2017 at 12:59 pm said:
I guess she needs the money so her hubby gets money for his other women
Gloria C on November 28, 2017 at 12:46 pm said:
$20,000…get outta here! This ratchet-a$$ show…give me a break!!
L on November 28, 2017 at 9:02 am said:
Wendy seems to have it twisted–SHE SHOULD BE PAYING FOLKS TO BE GUESTS ON HER DAMN SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who would pay her ass to be on her show and WHY???????????????????
TheDuke on November 28, 2017 at 8:36 am said:
Dumb, Dumb Chick!!
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Our upcoming events are listed below:
A classic fairy tale is reborn in this magical, brand new production.
The Grimms’ fairy tale receives an illustrious treatment in this Ballet West II world premiere. The newest installment in the Family Classics series, Snow White is presented in 90 minutes with guided narration and features the magic mirror, pointed apple, and mysterious dwarves that will keep the entire family on the edge of their seats!
Run time: approximately 45 minutes, subject to change
Ages 5 and older, NO BABES IN ARMS
Celebrate the 75th anniversary of an American masterpiece that originated with Ballet West founder, Willam Christensen.
In 1944, critics were stunned when Christensen staged the first full-length Nutcracker in America. “We can’t understand why a vehicle of such fantastic beauty and originality would not be produced in its entirety in this country until now,” reported the Sacramento Union.
Run time: approximately 2 hours, subject to change
Single tickets on-sale October 3rdth
One of the most beloved romantic ballets presented in this acclaimed production.
Since its Paris premiere in 1841, Giselle has been an instant triumph with audiences. A love story, a ghost story, and a tale of forgiveness from beyond the grave, Giselle is about a peasant girl who falls in love with a nobleman, not knowing he is betrothed to another woman. When she finds out the truth, she goes mad and dies, only to become one of the Wilis, ghostly women who have been betrayed and must spend eternity haunting men. See why Giselle remains one of the most enduring masterpieces in ballet with this ethereal production reconceived by Artistic Director Adam Sklute.
Single tickets on-sale September 3rd
Night of Shining Stars
A glittering evening featuring breathtaking performances by internationally-renowned dancers from companies around the world.
Bolero & The Dream
Dynamic power and comedic timing are on full display in this triple bill
Beachy, buoyant, and boisterous, this triple bill features The Dream, Sir Frederick Ashton’s charming and hilarious Victorian retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ballet West will present work by renowned choreographer Justin Peck for the first time, marked by the company premiere of his California-inspired Paz de la Jolla. Finally, resident choreographer Nicolo Fonte’s acclaimed Bolero returns, with Ravel’s commanding score leading the charge.
Choreographic Fest
The intimate Rose Wagner Theater will once again host renowned international companies, including the Singapore Dance Theater, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Ballet West for one week of explosive new works that will explore the future of ballet.
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Nominate: Best SciFi/Fantasy TV series that got cancelled too soon
Nico Solitander
(nsolitander)
I was watching the scifi channel yesterday and was reminded of two scifi series I followed in the 1990s that got cancelled - Alien Nation and Earth 2. Which got me thinking of what we might have missed in terms of scifi sagas (pretty depressing) that got canned early! Some earned a conclusion more graceful than others, mind you...
On this list you can nominate your favourite scifi/fantasy TV series that got canned too soon. I have added a few of my own favourites to get you rolling.
Nominations end Sunday at 21 EST. After that I will set up the first voting round. NOMINATION PERIOD OVER.
PLEASE VOTE HERE
WARNING: This list may cause nausea and depression
This list is listed in alphabetical order:
17th PRECINCT (1 pilot)
ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., THE (27 episodes)
ALIEN NATION (22 episodes)
AMERICAN GOTHIC (22 episodes)
ANGEL (110 episodes)
AUTOMAN (13 episodes)
BABYLON FIELDS (1 pilot)
BETTER OFF TED (26 episodes)
BIRDS OF PREY (13 episodes)
BLAKE'S SEVEN (52 episodes)
BRIMSTONE (13 episodes)
CAPRICA (18 episodes)
CARNIVÀLE (24 episodes)
CENTURY CITY (9 episodes)
CHARLIE JADE (20 episodes)
CLEOPATRA 2525 (28 episodes)
CRUSADE (13 episodes)
DARK ANGEL (43 episodes)
DARK SKIES (20 episodes)
DAY BREAK (13 episodes)
DEAD LIKE ME (29 episodes)
DEFYING GRAVITY (13 episodes)
DOLLHOUSE (26 episodes)
DOORWAYS (1 pilot)
DRESDEN FILES (12 episodes)
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (cartoon)
EARTH 2 (22 episodes)
EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT (110 episodes)
ELEVENTH HOUR (4 episodes)
EUREKA (63 episodes)
FANTASY ISLAND (remake) (13 episodes)
FARSCAPE (88 episodes)
FIREFLY (14 episodes)
FLASH FORWARD (22 episodes)
FLASH GORDON (remake) (21 episodes)
FOREVER KNIGHT (70 episodes)
FUTURAMA (110 episodes)
G vs. E, aka Good versus Evil (22 episodes)
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND (98 episodes)
GLOBAL FREQUENCY (1 pilot)
INVADERS, THE (43 episodes)
INVASION (22 episodes)
INVISIBLE MAN, THE (46 episodes)
JEKYLL (6 episodes)
JERICHO (29 episodes)
JOAN OF ARCADIA (45 episodes)
JOHN DOE (21 episodes)
JOURNEYMAN (13 episodes)
KINDRED: THE EBRACE (8 episodes)
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER (22 episodes)
KRÖD MÄNDOON AND THE FLAMING SWORD OF FIRE (6 episodes)
LEGEND OF THE SEEKER (44 episodes)
LEXX (61 episodes)
LIFE ON MARS (US) (17 episodes)
LOCKE AND KEY (1 pilot)
LOGAN'S RUN (14 episodes)
LOST (121 episodes)
LOST ROOM, THE (3 episodes )
MANIMAL (8 episodes)
MAX HEADROOM (14 episodes)
MIDDLEMAN, THE (12 episodes)
MILLENNIUM (67 episodes)
MISFITS OF SCIENCE (16 episodes)
MOONLIGHT (16 episodes)
MULLHOLLAND DRIVE (1 pilot)
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 (198 episodes)
NOWHERE MAN (25 episodes)
ODYSSEY 5 (20 episodes)
OTHERWORLD (8 episodes)
OUTER LIMITS, THE (49 episodes)
PAULUS THE WOODGNOME (40 episodes)
PHOENIX, THE (26 episodes)
PRETENDER, THE (86 episodes)
PRISONER, THE (17 episodes)
PROBE (7 episodes)
PUSHING DAISIES (22 episodes)
Q.E.D./aka THE MASTERMIND (6 episodes)
QUARK (8 episodes)
QUESTOR TAPES, THE (1 pilot)
REAPER (31 episodes)
SALVAGE 1 (20 episodes)
SARAH JANE ADVENTURES, THE (46 episodes)
SPACE ABOVE AND BEYOND (24 episodes)
SPACE: 1999 (48 episodes)
STAR TREK (79 episodes)
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9 (176 episodes)
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE (98 episodes)
STARGATE UNIVERSE (40 episodes)
STRANGE LUCK (17 episodes)
SUPERTRAIN (9 episodes)
SURFACE (15 episodes)
SURVIVORS (38 episodes)
TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (31 episodes)
THRESHOLD (13 episodes)
TRIPODS, THE (25 episodes)
TRU CALLING (26 episodes)
TWIN PEAKS (30 episodes)
UFO (26 episodes)
ULTRAVIOLET (6 episodes)
V (2009) (22 episodes)
VR.5 (13 episdes)
VIRTUALITY (1 pilot)
WEREWOLF, THE (28 episodes)
WIZARD, THE (19 episodes)
WONDERFALLS (13 episodes)
Edited Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:26 am
Posted Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:33 am
1. Board Game: Crime Busters: Space Precinct added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:32:47
2. Board Game: Once upon a Time in the West added by ol_bubba on 2011-08-13 07:40:42
3. Video Game: The Nations added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 01:50:02
4. RPG Item: Gothic Adventures: The Americas added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:15:23
5. Board Game: Angel: The Board Game added by deedob on 2011-08-12 11:31:14
6. Board Game: Automany added by Sargondai on 2011-08-14 12:40:50
7. Board Game: Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game added by TiwazTyrsfist on 2011-08-15 18:08:08
8. Board Game: All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed! added by slaven41 on 2011-08-13 00:57:13
9. Board Game: Moon Dragon: Birds of Prey added by Moonleaf on 2011-08-13 02:40:39
10. Board Game: Squad Seven added by AnnuverScotinExile on 2011-08-12 18:05:02
11. Board Game: Beat the Devil added by PsychoDan on 2011-08-13 00:20:47
12. Board Game: Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game added by mark_f on 2011-08-12 22:29:09
13. Board Game: Carnival added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:29:11
14. Board Game: L.A. Law added by slaven41 on 2011-08-14 21:42:48
15. RPG Item: Charlie Don't Surf added by sbszine on 2011-08-15 01:55:03
16. RPG Item: Crusade added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:08:54
17. Board Game: Dungeon Twister: Mercenaries added by gheintze on 2011-08-15 09:46:53
18. Board Game: Dark & Dangerous Skies added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:32:00
19. Board Game: Repeat Pete! added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:54:26
20. Board Game: Dead & Alive added by dimitroff on 2011-08-12 08:45:42
21. Board Game: Gravity Trap added by tathta on 2011-08-13 16:27:06
22. Board Game: Door Way added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:30:12
23. Board Game: Dresden 20 added by DustinWard on 2011-08-12 03:09:22
24. Board Game: Quest for the Dungeonmaster added by heirodule on 2011-08-14 21:08:47
25. Board Game: Earth Reborn added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 01:54:31
26. Board Game: 11 Kings added by Grimwold on 2011-08-12 12:05:18
27. Board Game: Cosmic Encounter: Cosmic Conflict added by Cate108 on 2011-08-14 00:29:07
28. Board Game: Eureka! added by PsychoDan on 2011-08-13 00:45:27
29. Board Game: Fantasy Island Rails added by mst3k4ever on 2011-08-15 20:58:24
30. Board Game: Farscape The Card Game added by barteus on 2011-08-12 09:18:43
31. Board Game: Firefly added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 01:45:41
32. Board Game: Flash Point added by berserkley on 2011-08-13 12:13:11
33. Board Game: Flash Gordon added by mvinarcik on 2011-08-15 23:47:17
34. Board Game: Vampire added by Shredi Knight on 2011-08-15 08:29:38
35. Board Game: Perudo added by aiabx on 2011-08-15 11:02:50
36. Board Game: Anima: Beyond Good and Evil added by chuckhazard on 2011-08-15 15:16:29
37. Board Game: Gilligan's Island Game added by deedob on 2011-08-12 11:35:11
38. Board Game: Global Watch added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:42:47
39. Board Game: Invaders of Mars added by flyboy16 on 2011-08-12 11:37:04
40. RPG Item: Invisible Eyes Rules added by Starlost151 on 2011-08-12 22:05:47
41. Board Game: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde added by metalchorus on 2011-08-12 09:24:08
42. Board Game: Jericho added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 01:59:50
43. Board Game: Joan of Arc added by overtheboard on 2011-08-15 21:12:36
44. RPG Publisher: John Doe added by Hav0k on 2011-08-14 04:25:15
45. Video Game: The Journeyman Project added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 03:10:25
46. Board Game: Doctor Who: The Time Wars Family Board Game added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 12:43:35
47. Board Game: Vampire: The Eternal Struggle added by Shredi Knight on 2011-08-15 08:20:42
48. Board Game: StalkerQuest added by bill_andel on 2011-08-13 21:57:18
49. Board Game: Sword of Fire added by Asmor on 2011-08-15 12:54:47
50. Board Game: Fortune Seeker added by GSReis on 2011-08-12 13:00:15
51. Board Game: Lex-O-Grams added by Dragon Hide on 2011-08-14 04:34:19
52. Board Game: BattleFleet Mars added by remus on 2011-08-15 15:53:56
53. Board Game: Logan Stones added by DavidSayers on 2011-08-12 19:54:24
54. Board Game: Lost: The Game added by ThatFedoraGuy on 2011-08-14 10:19:45
55. Board Game: 39 Clues: Search for the Keys added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:39:09
56. Board Game: Meeting Room added by Cate108 on 2011-08-14 00:42:33
57. Board Game: Transformation added by danradzy on 2011-08-15 20:41:36
58. Video Game: TV Manager added by nsolitander on 2011-08-14 00:10:37
59. Board Game: Middleman added by mst3k4ever on 2011-08-12 20:12:07
60. Video Game: Millennium: A New Hope added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 03:26:44
61. Board Game: Misfits added by badgeguy on 2011-08-15 14:54:03
63. Board Game: Hollywood Lives added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 12:23:47
64. Board Game: Mystery added by Phil Fleischmann on 2011-08-13 14:05:45
65. Board Game: Nowheresville added by manowarplayer on 2011-08-12 20:19:25
66. Board Game: Odyssey added by Gorost on 2011-08-12 22:06:32
67. Board Game: Zone X added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:25:11
68. Board Game: The Outer Limits added by Steve Carey on 2011-08-12 22:14:21
69. Board Game: Paulus 6th Army added by kevwill on 2011-08-15 14:42:53
70. Board Game: Phoenix added by heirodule on 2011-08-14 21:10:52
71. Board Game: Mimic added by hskrfn822 on 2011-08-12 11:18:10
72. RPG Item: GURPS The Prisoner added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:18:49
73. Board Game: Probe added by badgeguy on 2011-08-15 14:52:20
74. Board Game: Don't Dump The Daisy added by sisteray on 2011-08-12 16:50:20
75. Board Game: Mastermind added by joedogboy on 2011-08-14 19:05:45
76. Board Game: Android added by bobpony on 2011-08-14 23:42:26
77. Board Game: Top Quark added by GuppyGamer on 2011-08-12 09:56:48
78. Board Game: Talisman (Revised 4th Edition): The Reaper Expansion added by hskrfn822 on 2011-08-12 11:33:00
79. Board Game: Space Junkyard added by bobpony on 2011-08-15 00:13:28
80. Board Game: Mystick Companion added by joedogboy on 2011-08-13 21:09:29
81. Board Game: Space: 1999 added by Brightton on 2011-08-14 06:50:34
82. RPG Item: Space Opera added by nsolitander on 2011-08-12 02:25:10
83. Board Game: Stargate Trading Card Game added by cannoneer on 2011-08-12 06:18:12
84. Board Game: Star Trek: The Game added by wifwendell on 2011-08-12 11:53:10
85. Video Game: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Fallen added by Hida Mann on 2011-08-15 01:37:44
86. Board Game: Enterprise added by mst3k4ever on 2011-08-12 21:01:16
87. Board Game: Strange Behavior added by badgeguy on 2011-08-15 14:39:54
88. Board Game: Ticket to Ride added by IamNotKoi on 2011-08-13 00:36:29
89. Board Game: Survive: Escape from Atlantis! added by spiraldaddy on 2011-08-12 15:26:44
90. Board Game: Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 5-6 Player Mini Expansion added by joedogboy on 2011-08-13 14:09:26
91. Board Game: Terminator 2: Year of Darkness added by deedob on 2011-08-12 11:24:39
92. Board Game: Arkham Horror: The Lurker at the Threshold Expansion added by randomgerbil on 2011-08-14 17:14:07
93. Board Game: A Fistful of Tripods added by joedogboy on 2011-08-13 03:12:04
94. Board Game: True Colors added by Willuknight on 2011-08-12 15:18:49
95. Board Game: Twin Peaks Murder Mystery Game added by mst3k4ever on 2011-08-12 20:14:06
96. Board Game: UFO Red Alert added by Bullseye71 on 2011-08-12 10:01:01
97. Board Game: London Murder Mystery Game added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:14:38
98. RPG Item: Cold Visitor (OGL 3.5) added by Pinto on 2011-08-12 19:06:49
99. Board Game: VR Troopers Game added by mst3k4ever on 2011-08-13 11:10:51
100. Board Game: Virtual added by Le Bossu on 2011-08-14 20:49:18
101. Board Game: The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow added by Shredi Knight on 2011-08-15 08:15:54
102. Board Game: Wizard added by chuckhazard on 2011-08-15 15:14:29
103. Board Game: Niagara added by Starlost151 on 2011-08-12 21:52:12
104. Board Game: Triumvirate added by overtheboard on 2011-08-15 21:16:30
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Geoffrey M. Cooper
Winner of National Indie Excellence Award.
What does it take to win a Nobel Prize? Deceit? Fraud? Maybe even murder? When she finds a drug that has the potential to treat Alzheimer's disease, Pam Weller is certain she's made the discovery of a lifetime. But her success threatens the supremacy of Eric Prescott, a leading figure in Alzheimer's research, who sees his chances at a Nobel Prize slipping through his fingers. His lust for the prize and the accolades that come with it drive him to concoct a plot against Pam that threatens her career, her freedom, and even her life.
In a fast-paced medical thriller, The Prize explores the human side of science and drug discovery, exposing the pressures and ambitions that can drive the betrayal of scientific ethics and lead to fraud in medical research.
nanabee48 , 12/21/2018
Houjguhcb bdv Keri muffin bfxjn n.
More Books by Geoffrey M. Cooper
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“Suicide Squad” psychotic fun despite messy delivery
A few months ago, viewers were given the start of DC Comics’ Cinematic Universe known as Batman vs Superman. It was meant to be the big stepping stone in DC Comics’ foray into feature films but instead divided viewers and fans. Many felt it was the Citizen Kane of superhero movies while others thought the complete opposite. And despite being a financial success worldwide, movie executives wrote it off as a flop thanks to the negative public and critical reception. Fearing another flop on the horizon, “Suicide Squad” was given another look at and supposedly tinkered to avoid another brooding battle with viewers. Do the efforts pay off? No, but you can tell they were trying to make a popcorn flick.
Having not read any of the comics (outside of knowing some the characters), I was worried at first of how put off I would feel. The trailers sold this odd punked-out feature that didn’t match my expectations. But considering the hit list of duds I had to go through this summer, I was still open. Thankfully, Suicide Squad is not bad as I thought it would be. However, it’s far from being a good movie.
Following in the aftermath of Batman vs Superman, an intelligence operative (Viola Davis) offers a team of dangerous criminals for high risk missions. Among the group are elite hit man Deadshot (Will Smith redeeming his career), deranged doctor Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie chewing the scenery), smooth thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney, also trying to chew up the scenery), the cannibalistic Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in impressive make up), a litterally hot headed ex-gangster named El Diablo (sympathetically performed by Jay Hernandez) and literal late add-on Katana (coolly performed by Karen Fukuhara).The team is assembled to stop a supernatural entity trying to destroy a city and that’s basically about it.
I felt a bit ashamed seeing there were parts of the movie I was engaged in. When characters would play off each other, I was actually starting to appreciate our group of anti-heroes. My favorite scene in the whole movie is when they break into a bar and just kick back for a bit. Some of them trade tragic stories while others show their true colors. This reminded me of the Batman TAS episode “Almost Got ‘Im”because it showed there is a side of humanity to these characters. We do get glimpses along the way via flashbacks of Deadshot having parental problems and the relationship troubles of Harley too. In a way, parts of it did remind me of the Saturday morning cartoon and how it balanced between the funny and dark moments.
When it has a joke, it can be funny. When it tries to be serious, it can be hit or miss while delivering a good moment. This is evident in Will Smith’s performance who I honestly didn’t mind that much. I felt like Smith was channeling his old days of blockbusters like Men in Black or Independence Day. He brings this tragic side to the character with the problem of his daughter pushing him to be good. Once in a while, Smith has a funny line or two while still showing essence of a three dimension being.
The same could be said for Margot Robbie’s take on Harley Quinn. Sure, she doesn’t look like the character but she channels the personality really well. There is a funny line Robbie says once in a while and her character does get interesting later on when we see her relationship with the Joker (Jared Leto). Personally, I really liked these group of characters and how strange yet similar they felt. However, with a 2 hour running time, I felt like some got shorthanded. I really wanted to see more of Killer Croc who barley got a line and while Katana is personally my favorite character of the batch, I felt she needed more to do. Ironically, Katana feels like a late addition to the story when she is introduced to us midway in the movie.
One of my concerns was how Jared Leto would live up to playing the Joker. And I admit, I was skeptical of the new look and wasn’t sold on it. And while I’m not a fan of the metal mouth appearance, I do admit Leto gets the personality nailed. Unlike Jessie Esienberg in Batman vs Superman, Leto has an understanding of this character and how he acts. There is a manic presence that doesn’t step on the toes of previous incarnations while doing its own thing. It felt more like a mad caped gangster fueled with punk. Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear for very long. Those expecting for the Joker to make a big impact will be disappointed to hear how little of an appearance he makes. I’d go as far to say Leto feels like an extended cameo as opposed to a driving force for the story. If you removed him from the story as a whole, it wouldn’t change anything drastically.
And this is where my main problem with Suicide Squad comes into place. I do admit, its more fun than the brooding vigilante battle we got in March and boasts a good soundtrack. There are points where I feel it started to scale back the mean-spirited tone that was present in trailers or the plot start to meander for a bit. The first act is fine despite setting up our characters in exposition fashion, the second part starts to recover and get fun while the big climax suffers from trying to be a “big finale” that others like Ghostbusters (1984) or Batman (1989) succeeded.
The villain of the movie (without giving too much away) wants to take over humanity just because of the changing days and that everyone doesn’t worship gods anymore. So what? Judging from the trailers, I thought the gang was going to go up against the Joker considering it appears that way (at least that’s what I thought from the advertising). Instead we get an ancient witch that plans to take over humanity by spreading its wicked and evilness across the world. In fact, forget it. Its very much just like the 1984 Ghostbusters but with stuff changed around.
I’m also not a big fan of the editing on this movie. The manner of the flashbacks are abused so much that I wanted to watch the movie and learn these characters. Instead, we spend the first 20 minutes or so hearing a wealth of information that is the equivalency of Wikipeida text. The golden rule of “show, don’t tell” gets easily abused too much here. And there were points when I felt some scenes went missing in spots. One minute Leto’s Joker is taking out a security guard at the prison gates and then it immediately cuts to the Joker’s gang shooting up police guards inside the prison. The manner of pacing is sacrificed so much, that it leads to lack of focus on the plot as we rush to the next action set piece.
Honestly, I was hoping for “Suicide Squad” to finally break the mold and show DC can do more than brooding movies. While I admit there is fun to be had here, the comic company has still a lot to improve upon. Don’t let your story introduce characters. Let your characters introduce themselves. Don’t be afraid to go too bloody or too mean spirited. I was actually hoping this to be as good as “Deadpool,” which was entertaining in how unapologetic it was. “Suicide Squad” suffers from trying to be balance between being a light summer blockbuster film and a cynical anit-hero at the same time. The final result is a mix bag that is still worth seeing. Because honestly, I’d rather be entertained by one of Killer Croc’s one liners than see any more footage of Jesse Eisenberg’s painful performance as Lex Luthor.
Tags: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Batman, Batman v Superman, Batman vs Superman, Captain Boomerang, DC Comics, El Diablo, Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney, Jared Leto, Jay Hernandez, Jessie Eisenberg, Karen Fukuhara, Katana, Killer Croc, Lex Luthor, Margot Robbie, Suicide Squad, Summer Blockbuster, Superman, The Joker, Viola Davis, Will Smith
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Author: Joe Holley
Patrick’s drainage bill advances
By Joe Holley on March 30, 2011 at 4:31 PM
“It’s time for the mayor to quit being stubborn and do the right thing,” Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, was saying this afternoon, shortly after his bill that would remove Houston churches, schools and …
Cohen a City Council candidate
By Joe Holley on February 21, 2011 at 4:25 PM
Ellen Cohen, the former state representative who represented House District 134 for two terms before being blindsided last fall by rookie Republican candidate Sarah Davis, announced today that she’s …
SJL works the aisle
By Joe Holley on January 28, 2011 at 1:22 PM
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, was not particularly pleased with my description earlier this week of how she customarily commandeers a seat on the aisle for State of the Union speeches, not …
T-Paw to the White House?
The man they call “T-Paw” was in Houston a couple of days ago. You don’t know T-Paw? Neither did the two well-informed folks I asked before I attended a reception for him, even when I told them that …
Year 2 not looking any easier for Parker
By Joe Holley on December 22, 2010 at 4:59 PM
“I do not think I’m going to be a one-term mayor, but if I am a one-term mayor, it’s going to be a helluva term.” That’s the mayor, speaking to reporters after the year’s final council session today. …
Can Eversole multi-task?
“A federal indictment is nothing to trifle with! Unless Jerry Eversole is one hell of a multi-tasker, he won’t have time for Harris County business.” That’s Gerry Birnberg, chairman of the Harris …
Bush draws a bookish crowd
By Joe Holley on November 17, 2010 at 10:46 AM
George W. Bush fans numbering well into the hundreds started lining up at about 5 this morning outside the Barnes & Noble store on West Gray. Their numbers, a B&N employee noted, rivaled …
Hobby’s lessons
By Joe Holley on November 9, 2010 at 12:25 PM
The old pol hasn’t made it onto “The Daily Show” yet — unlike the guv — although the state’s longest-serving lite guv is traipsing around Texas these days touting his new book and telling tales …
‘No sugar-coating’ from Birnberg
By Joe Holley on November 5, 2010 at 3:30 PM
In the wake of the Democrats’ debacle here, there and everywhere, Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg told me yesterday that he would consider stepping down in a month and a half or …
‘Hound dog’ Smith hanging in there
By Joe Holley on October 22, 2010 at 4:00 PM
“I’m tired,” David Smith was telling me Friday afternoon. “I’m wore out.” With good reason. Smith, the Libertarian candidate running for the 2nd Congressional District seat — the one held by …
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[ July 16, 2019 ] Items owned by late Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker set for auction Music News
HomeRare & Vintage Vinyl & CDsHooray For Bollywood!! New Bollywood Vinyl Collection Just in at eil.com…..
Hooray For Bollywood!! New Bollywood Vinyl Collection Just in at eil.com…..
January 31, 2017 Tim Card Rare & Vintage Vinyl & CDs, Uncategorized 0
Over the last few weeks, we have added a variety of Indian soundtrack LPs to the site, with one particular composer’s name leading the way: R.D. Burman! R.D. who? Here’s the lowdown:
R.D. Burman was born to composer/singer Sachin Dev Burman and his lyricist wife Meera Dev Burman in Kolkata in 1939. We have a small selection of original soundtrack LPs of his father’s work stocked here:
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Tere Mere Sapne: 1971 Indian red label 8-track LP, featuring the wonderfully exotic music from the soundtrack to the Bollywood picture, with music directed by Sachin Dev Burman, R.D. Burman’s dad, more info here
R.D. Burman himself been credited with revolutionizing the music of Bollywood. He became popular with the Kishore Kumar songs in Rajesh Khanna-starring movies. Musically, Burman was influenced by Western, Latin, Oriental & even Arabic styles, incorporating elements from these in his own work. Ever the experimenter, he blew into beer bottles to produce the opening beats of Mehbooba, Mehbooba. Similarly, he used cups and saucers to create the tinkling sound for the song Churaliya Hai from the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat. Here’s some original soundtrack LPs of the late sixties, early seventies that represent the pioneering work of Burman from this period:
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Pyar Ka Mousum: Rare 1969 Indian 8-track LP on a black & silver Odeon label, featuring R.D. Burman’s music from the soundtrack to the Hindi movie. Burman influenced Bollywood more than any other music director of his day, bringing glitzy dance-oriented song to a dying artform, he also played a character role in the film. More info here
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Seeta Aur Geeta: 1972 Indian first press 8-track LP on a black & silver Odeon label, featuring the music to the hit Hindi movie, which marked Ramesh Sippy’s first association with the legendary film composer, R.D. Burman. Burman helped usher in a new style of contemporary music in the Indian film scene more than anyone else, more info here
Burman married his second wife, Bollywood legend, Asha Bhosle in 1980. Asha was a playback singer on many Bollywood records & together they recorded hit songs and staged live performances. Bhosle can be heard on many records of the period, including this rare offering of the late seventies:
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Noorie: Bollywood-tastic 1979 Indian 6-track LP on a black & white ‘Nipper’ stamp label, featuring Khaiyyaam’s rip-roaring score to the Hindi box office smash, including a great vocal track led by Asha Bhosle. More info here
During the eighties, Burman was overshadowed by Bappi Lahiri and other disco music composers.
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Sharaabi: Psychedelic Disco Shocker 1984 Indian 6-track LP on a black & white ‘Nipper’ stamp label, featuring Bappi Lahiri’s score from the soundtrack to the Bollywood drama, including the marvellous but frankly bonkers, ‘Jahan Mil Jayen Chaar Yaar’ dance track. More info here
Burman suffered from a heart attack in 1988 and underwent heart bypass surgery a year later at The Princess Grace Hospital in London. During this period, he composed many tunes which were never released. In later life, the filmmaker Subhash Ghai promised him the soundtrack to Ram Lakhan (1989), but gave it instead to Laxmikant-Pyarelal, who had earlier played in Burman’s orchestra. Laxmikant-Pyarelal recorded many great & lasting soundtracks of the Bollywood golden age, some of which are in stock here:
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Mehboob Ki Mehndi: Rare 1970 Indian 7-track LP on a black & silver Odeon label, featuring Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar & Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma’s exotic score from the soundtrack to the super smash hit Hindi flick, greatpasted picture sleeve. More info here
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Dream Girl: Rare 1977 Indian 6-track LP on a black & white ‘Nipper’ stamp label, featuring Laxmikant & Pyarelal’s dreamlike score to the Hindi film starring the beautiful Hema Malini in the lead role, wonderful gatefold picture sleeve with full colour spread inside featuring a still from the movie. More info here
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Teri Meherbaniyan: Rare 1985 Indian 6-track LP on a black & red ‘Super’ label, featuring Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar & Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma’s lively score from the soundtrack to the smash hit Hindi flick, great silk laminated picture sleeve with colour film shots. The cover shows minimal wear & the vinyl is Excellent with very few signs of play. Get some exotic Bollywood spice into your life! More info here
From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films & his songs continue to be popular in India. Last but by no means least, the Disco period of the eighties pumped new life into the Bollywood film scene. From this period, check these magnificent Burman scores here:
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Khubsoorat: 1980 Indian 5-track mini-LP on a black & white ‘Nipper’ stamp red label, featuring R.D. Burman’s hip score from the soundtrack to the Hindi movie, one of the most exciting composer’s of his time. The sound is glorious, with deep tabla & sitar, bizarre vocal interludes, ghostly echoes & stunning rhythmic interplay. Wow! More info here
You can find all the Bollywood LPs we have in stock here
#bollywoodcollector
#bollywoodost
#bollywoodsoundtracks
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#recordcollector
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Downing's Views
John Downing has been an author, reporter, editor and columnist . He has made regular appearances on radio and TV. His main field is politics but he has written about everything under (and in) the Sun.
THE FLIP SIDE OF DARWIN AWARD STUPIDITIES
THE ANECDOTES ARE GOOSED TRUTH
My cousin sends along the latest hilarious nominations for the Darwin Awards which are handed out in some mysterious way each year to celebrate the latest deaths by stupid people who cause their own destruction.
It supposedly all started around 1985. I am sure some rewrite man collected all the stupid death stories that trickle out like congealing blood during the year and then regurgitated them in some pretend contest where the winner gets nothing but a grave stone and the runner ups remain just an embarrassing story to be related in shocked whispers at family picnics.
There is now a web site, an annual book, and plenty of copycat versions where the truth is strained to the point of incredibility.
Some of the latest: the guy stealing a pop who pulled the machine over on top of him; the light plane that crashed into another because its occupants wanted to moon the other plane; the chap who drank gasoline and milk in a weird attempt to get high cheaply, and then blew himself and his sister up when he vomited the concoction into a fireplace.
I love the stories in a cynical way because I know they generally have been embellished and one or two resemble vaguely some of the dumb things that I have done...fortunately with no witnesses.
What drains some of the humour out of the pretend awards is I know all about one of the famous winners from years ago. That victim was not only very nice and very smart but he was surrounded by very nice and very smart people.
He was the lawyer who used to run across the conference room and throw himself against the window 40 storeys or so above Bay St. to illustrate to the gawking articling students at his prestigious law firm that thanks to building codes and smart builders, this was not a dense thing to do.
Except one year during the annual stunt the window broke and he fell to his death.
Wow! Really stupid, right! And thanks to the Darwin Awards ritual, there isn't a nook in the Americas where they haven't heard the story.
Well, let me tell you the other side. The guy was so bright that he was a brilliant engineer as well as being a lawyer. He was so popular and clever that his law firm quickly put him in charge of all the kid lawyers that they hired, and his death occurred during a party that he held to welcome the newcomers.
Did you know his family sued the building and collected? So they had money to go with wonderful memories of a gentleman who stood out from the crowd.
Not that they were hurting for cash. His widow was one of the major municipal official in Canada and then chaired the faculty council of the largest university while presiding later over major municipal agencies.
Nope, not exactly the victim or the family you would associate with the weren't-they-stupid prize, are they?
In the ocean of deliberately false info and careless misinformation that floods the Internet, with the stupid elevating of a congenital liar to be U.S. president, with alternative facts being invented as a notorious expression and then actually invading our language where a fact should be a fact and not a political lie, the Darwin Awards have lost much of their chuckle because they can be as contrived as a standup comedian's monologue.
Next year one of the entries in this supposed competition should be a eulogy for truth, and fewer and fewer of us will laugh.
Posted by John Downing at 10:12 AM No comments:
TRUMP BENEFITS 99% OF CANADIANS ON DAIRY
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT IS AN EVIL CON
Even a jackass can be right, as Donald Trump has just proved through his stupidity. When he goes after Canadian agricultural producers, showboating for dairy states, all Canadians who buy dairy products, eggs, chicken and other items protected by what the bureaucrats call supply management, which is just a fancy name for theft, should urge him on.
I have written about it for decades. So have many journalists not caught up by the careful reporting by the CBC on anything to do with the family farm and the callous disregard for the majority by Liberals and Conservatives.
I recall business writers like Mary Janigan winning major awards years ago when they detailed how much less the inhabitants of Buffalo had to pay for milk and eggs and chicken than we did on this side of the border.
Buffalo may be infamous as one of the major shrinking cities of the U.S. but one of the reasons their Anchor Bar chicken wings became so famous is not just because of the recipe but because they were so inexpensive.
I saw an estimate that supply management costs the typical Canadian around $275 annually because of the protection given our dairy farmers (significantly many of them in Quebec) forcing consumers like you and me to pay much more than if there was open price competition.
I think that guesstimate is far too low. As a family who loves cheese and buys several bags of milk and cartons of eggs on every grocery run, one who salivates at suggestion that milk would be halved in price if our gutless politicians finally kicked supply management in its diseased teeth, I am sure my savings would be several times that.
(And let's not even get into our bread and beer where the cost of ingredients is kept artificially high.)
The ironic crusher is that the whole foundation, the rationale for our politicians to side with farmers against consumers, is that it was said to benefit all the farmers.
Hardly!
Thanks to all the rules 'n' regs which force dairy farmers to pay more than $20,000 for the right to milk just one cow, the experts agree that maybe 10% at most of the dairy farmers benefit from supply management.
So these milk millionaires are happy as hell to lobby to keep their lucrative flow of dollars coming from the 35 million consumers and have conned so many politicians with their supposed voting power that only one major candidate in the current Tory leadership race, Maxime Bernier, is willing to say without qualification that supply management is political BS that was outdated decades ago....that is if it was ever in the consumer's interest.
I started school in Chesley, a furniture town in Bruce County so rooted in the farms around it that we took agriculture in high school and I knew how to do the Babcock test for butter fat in milk.
I have lived on a farm and had two brothers-in-law which were farmers. I have listened to my fellow directors from the farm lobbies at the Canadian National Exhibition. (The myth is that when the CNE started in 1879 that it was an agriculture fair. Nope, it was an industrial fair.)
So I have seen the inside of the propaganda from agriculture as the 100-acre mixed farm started to vanish and agribusiness took over. I have read the stories of all the expensive equipment that the farmer needs and how they need to be protected and subsidized on their now giant operation.
No one ever did that for me.
Surely at some point most Canadians will rebel and insist that all this has to stop, this favouring of farmers so their votes are more important than urban voters because rural riding are always much smaller in population than city ridings.
Surely we should demand that agriculture not continue to get all these special government deals, whether in property and income tax or even the right to gamble.
The victory of Trump is seen as the revenge of blue-collar voters who felt ignored by fatcat establishments. They don't care that he's simplistic and out-of-his-depth and that he lies and blusters and doesn't understand that trade and tariffs are two-way streets where Canada has weapons too.
Yet wouldn't it be delicious if this inept boor blundered into a fight against Canadian supply management that if he won would reduce the price of every one of our meals.
After all, supply management has been supported for decades by both Grits and Tories pandering to the rural millionaires. Now it may be quashed by a developer who specialized in bankruptcies and reality TV and is looked down on by all the politicians for life.
At least now The Donald has trumped the Benjamin Disraeli quote that seemed to sum him up. "He was distinguished for his ignorance; for he had only one idea and that was wrong!"
For Canadians, this idea is right!
Posted by John Downing at 9:55 AM No comments:
MORE DELAYS IN TTC DECISIONS THAN SUBWAYS
THE SYTEM OVERFLOWS BUT STILL LOSES MONEY
The university lecturer was explaining long ago that for centuries there had been a great argument about how many angels could dance on the head of the pin.
That actually woke me up for a few minutes. I have never forgotten that metaphysical anecdote even if I never understood it. Yet I think of it regularly in terms of interminable baffling debate when the latest political fight is on an issue that I first covered 50 years ago.
I mainly think of it at City Hall when it comes to tolls, transit routes and parking. Gee, I actually recall when the elimination of tolls in Ontario was seen as a great accomplishment even though it deprived the party faithful of a lot of patronage jobs.
The other day, the stats prof asked me what I thought of the latest debate over a new subway line. Now I use him as a resource on the latest health theories, and he uses me as a seeing eye dog on politics so he doesn't overdose on his liberalism. But I told him that I didn't know what the latest arguments were and I really didn't care because these debates have been going on for so long there is a suspicion that Sir John A. may actually have talked about the best route to the Scarboro wilds at a Market rally.
Once upon a time, I was one of the experts of all things to do with the TTC.
It had started rather simply because my colleagues were lazy, and I was the rawest reporter in the Tely City Hall bureau, so naturally I was assigned to leave the comfortable surroundings there and trek to the TTC headquarters where a fresh deck of cigarettes always sat on the press table and the atmosphere was that of a club.
The gods smiled on me with that weekly assignment because it benefitted me on the great decision about where to buy a house. The decision about the western routing of a Bloor subway had not yet been made but it made sense to me - always a dangerous thing when it comes to transit - that the line would swing close to Royal York and Bloor.
That was already a prime hunting ground for me since three important Metro commissioners in works, planning and parks (Tommy Thompson was not yet just the name on a park) lived near the intersection. If the area was seen as the smart place to live by the top three municipal officials in Ontario, who was I to argue.
So I bought there half a century ago and my wife and I, my three sons and now my grandsons, used the subway regularly for hospital, university and downtown appointments because parking has been so screwed up by a council that considers one cyclist more important than the five drivers of delivery vans and commuters who have to manoeuvre around each one.
Planning subway lines has always been a dog's breakfast even before Mel Lastman stuck us with that silly stub in North York. It got so bad that several young municipal reporters floated their own idea in two newspapers which had been suggested at breakfast by their landlady who couldn't understand the planners going on and on when the best idea would be to build a giant X.
Connect northern Etobicoke and the top of Scarboro with the bottom of the two suburbs with an X which would cross at Bloor and Yonge. It certainly would help all those riders in the corners with a difficult commute to the centre of the downtown.
For much of a year, the X extensions were high in the polls and the landlady served better breakfasts. Then it was only porridge.
I recall the verbal brawling over the routing of the Spadina subway because of the ravines north of St. Clair. The Metro transportation committee had so many alternatives that they were given numbers and letters.
After the triumphant meeting that was touted as making the final decision, I wandered up to the clerk and the chairman, the weird Irv Paisley of North York, and said I was surprised at the winning choice because of some problems that I listed. Paisley objected, saying that wasn't what the committee approved. I showed him my notes, and then the clerk produced the official record which agreed with me. So Paisley cursed and muttered, the clerk ran around rounding up the committee members, and they passed a different route half an hour later.
I spent so much time writing about the TTC because the commissioners and councillors argued about everything. Killing streetcars became a big issue and I wrote about them so much that I am credited with popularizing their nickname of red rockets.
The TTC asked me to write its official history. Than it tried to hire me as the ad and PR boss. A lot more money, and the newspaper business was certainly crazy, but I figured not quite as strange as transit in T.O.
I suppose the high point was riding down Bay in the limousine assigned to the boss then, Mike Warren, when we were T-boned by a car. Warren never stopped talking. He opened the door, hopped out and hailed a cab without saying a word to his driver. When I questioned this, he said that if the staff didn't know how to handle a routine accident, there was nothing he could do about it.
And the low points have been all the times in recent years when I have limped on to a subway car at 10.30 p.m. after the symphony or the opera or the play and find not only all the seats taken with smug people even in the disabled seating, I had to compete for handholds.
And so I grumbled profanely to any poor sap stuck riding with me about how can the TTC lose money carrying more than half a billion people yearly when there are still crowds riding when many are in bed.
Of course major problems are the union agreements which stick us with more staff than is needed in between the extended rush hours.
But let's not forget that at our political centres where they set taxes and routes and fares and impose awkward bylaws that too often our decision making is a mix of the principles of Peters and Parkinson. The theory that managers rise to their level of incompetence is combined with the rule that work expands to fill the available time. So does political debate!
The mayor and a gaggle of councillors, the premier and a giggle of ministers, and the transit CEO and a stall of managers, would rather talk grandly and commission reports and threaten tolls and demand more money from the government just above them - which means the taxpayer just pays out of another pocket - than actually do something on time.
The Better Way would be if they talked less and did more, and stop stupid decisions like shutting down part of the system on important holidays like Labour Day when traditionally there was to be increased service because of the CNE.
The most dangerous word I hear about the TTC come from my friends and neighbours who have been riders their entire life. They talk about the "decline" of service. Unfortunately, they can't recall when the peak was. We all must have missed it in the fog of words.
ALTERNATIVE FACTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FAKE
TRUMP IS JUST THE LATEST LIAR
Facebook is warning and instructing us about false news. (I prefer using fake to false because fake has a circus feel of clowns and charlatans and false is formal legal talk.) Yet no experienced journalist, or sensible adult for that matter, needs to be told about liars because they have been with us since cavemen exaggerated kills and conquests.
We all know at work or school or play who the Bullshitters are and who the people are that you can trust to give a reasonable view.
Whether you lie a lot, or just tell the occasional white lie so people aren't hurt, is determined early in life. It starts with fibs to the parents, gets rooted in kindergarten and blossoms when teenagers chase each other. By the time college or jobs arrive, the jerks who have skidded through early life by cheating whenever they discuss anything more serious than breakfast can't be trusted to be truthful about anything.
Then the stakes really grow on the card table of life, from CV entries and stats at the office for ordinary folks to political promises and records of accomplishments for those who con their way into being our stewards.
Donald Trump has been notorious for decades for lies and cheating. It's just a waste of space and time for the media to detail even a fraction of them. When a vacuous aide talked about his "alternative facts" on Meet The Press on Jan. 22, she was just trying to gold-plate the usual lies from a man infamous for not telling the truth.
For decades, when I heard of a scoop in a newspaper or the electronic media, the first things I wanted to know was who the reporter was and who was the source. All you have to do in Toronto, or for that matter in any settlement larger than a hamlet, is find out those facts and then you have a good idea of whether the story's true or possibly true or probably fake.
There are reporters who goose every story, just as there are politicians who exaggerate every minute. Any reporter, whether they're covering police or politicians or stock brokers, knows that it would be nice to have at least two sources for anything more important than a tiddlywinks championship. Politics is really slippery. But in most news stories, when reporters discard the onlookers who don't have a clue, 50% of the people won't talk to them and 49% lie.
Unfortunately, the size of the newspaper or the reach of the TV station isn't always a guarantee. Mistakes slip through, or become glaringly obvious, since newspapers publish in each edition the equivalent of a book.
Even the big guys goof, but not most of the time, so that can't be used as an excuse in today's silly argument that the world really doesn't need healthy newspapers.
I recall a headline story in the Star saying the rail line cutting through the centre of the city was going to be removed. Great news for developers and the people who lived near the tracks. Except the story was as phoney as it had been years before when the same newspaper ran the same story by the same reporter and baffled rail executives again told the other media they didn't know anything about it.
Oh yes, the tracks are still there but the reporter who didn't give a damn about the truth has been dead for years, which has reduced the number of his hoaxes.
I was successful as a City Hall reporter at the start of my career because aldermen and department heads would only talk to me. They wouldn't deal with other members of the Tely City Hall bureau because they occasionally wrote the opposite of what they were told. An example was the city treasurer telling them there was no plans to have an extra tax bill. Their headline story in the final edition that day warned that Bill Campbell (who incidentally was Rob Ford's grandfather) was contemplating a supplementary tax bill. Campbell didn't sue because he was busy threatening to kill.
Google has become a wonderful tool for journalists. But as I remember warning a journalism class, the Internet is a vast ocean of information into which the observer dips a tea spoon hoping to find a reasonable version of the truth and not be drowned by misinformation, or as Kellyanne Conway would say, alternative facts.
A fact is a fact is a fact. It's real, the truth about what happened, not a wish the fibber would like to be true. The Trumpites may want to challenge the size of crowds or jobless figures but when the photographic evidence is overwhelming or the agency charged with the estimation disagrees, then the alternative facts are really alternative fibs.
At least Google, Facebook and the other wondrous information sources on the Internet present the public with endless information. It is up to you and me and journalists and voters to sift and sort while checking the sources.
Too many bloggers and trolls like to pretend that they alone really know what's happening and that the media organizations are so bloated and beholden that they are not a reliable authority.
It's ludicrous for a blogger informed only by partisan conviction to pick the lint out of their belly button and weave a yarn of what really happened in an incident hundreds of kilometres away which was covered by trained reporters under the direction of experienced editors.
The harsh reality is that the professional liars like President Trump will never be unmasked by bloggers and that today's media with all its warts and failings are the only watchdogs that will bark and bite when the alternative facts become deadly to the public interest.
Posted by John Downing at 1:38 PM No comments:
GIVE ME A BREAK FROM TRUMP
MY DIRTY SECRET - POLITICS IS OFTEN BORING
Once upon a time when a handful of people started the flagship of what became the Sun chain, I covered everything in Canadian politics 24/7.
I spent more time with the mayor than my wife, and talked more to the premier than with my neighbours.
It wasn't that I was that brilliant an observer - although some days I was happy to pretend - but the baby Sun didn't have reporters at the City Halls of Toronto, or the Legislature, or the Commons. If I didn't cover the budget or the fare increase or the Throne speech in my daily column on Page 4, the editors had to scramble to put together a news story.
Fortunately in those days in my mists, there was no television coverage of Question Period or the council meetings. So I could rush around grabbing the first draft of Hansard or glean some coverage of debates from the faulty and egotistical memories of the participants.
My accounts of a verbal duel was often the first time readers knew what happened. That was a break for me, but some coverage today is stuck in that past. Today it would be reported ad nauseam because of the frantic need of the electronic media to fill 24 hours with something, anything, besides old movies.
As I was saying to Steve Paikin the other day at, damn it, another retirement function for a Sun stalwart eased out the door, I really don't miss those frantic days when politics consumed every waking minute.
When the pressure eased and the Toronto Sun actually boasted an array of reporters and columnists, I rebelled a trifle and played hookey. I didn't always write about politics in the thousands of columns that I had to churn out.
I wrote about my family, the cottage, movies, anything rather than the same old debate in the Legislature that happened every spring. It was a welcome break.
The brass didn't like my departures from political coverage but I explained it helped me keep sane. Yet one publisher finally got his grumpy revenge when I retired but agreed to continue to write a column for more than a decade. The letter of agreement stipulated, and he pretended it was a joke but it wasn't, that I could only write about the cottage occasionally.
So you may well ask, what the heck has this to do with that headline about wanting to dump Trump coverage and confessing that politics is often boring?
I confessed this at a luncheon to a lawyer who said he had once dealt with me and other directors when our charity was planning to fight Betty Fox in court. (We decided that while the law was clearly on our side, the public would hate us for any legal action against the Terry Fox organization.)
He loved politics and couldn't understand that I would find the overdosing on political coverage today so boring because of my background.
I said that politics was relatively cheap to cover compared to investigative journalism and that thoughtful coverage of ALL the events of the day would require far more staff than newspapers and television now want to devote to real news and not just the latest bloody accident and what city council is going to discuss again for the tenth time this year.
I said that the previous night I had switched from the talking head panels of CNN discussing another Trump flipflop to the usual suspects on the CBC discussing federal politics in careful terms. I turned off the TV in disgust and picked up the latest Time magazine. I rather like Time (and have written for it) but it seemed every para was devoted to Trump.
So I picked up the latest Maclean's, which I rather like because (I have written for it) and it has improved recently even though tragically it has been forced into those Internet editions. Canada's national magazine had nothing much beyond provincial and national politics and politically-correct coverage of Indigenous issues (what we used to call native issues even when most natives were still calling themselves Indians in interviews.)
The ironic tragedy is that at the very same time that the voters of Canada and the United States demonstrate an incredible stupidity in their political choices and their lack of knowledge of the issues, there has never been more political coverage for them
Perhaps the problem is that so much of it is just talking head stuff. Then there is this infestation, particularly on the CBC, of what I have always called "equal time for Hitler." My argument is that if Hitler was running Germany today, there would be many authorities, especially CBC lawyers, who would order that his views be given equal time and space to the views of those great politicians opposing his evil.
There aren't just two sides to every issue. Generally there are many. There also can be confusing partisan smokescreens. But democracy is not served when gutless brass insist that their anchors and commentators refrain from telling us obvious majority views of the best proposal. It would be nice if there was some digging into the issue rather than just recording the flimflammery of politicians whose level of competence is often not getting elected.
Remember that environmental and humane activists may be on the side of the angels in what they are protecting but it would be nice not to exaggerate their clout and numbers and let their science go unchallenged. As for all the sacred cows, let them flee to the protection of India!
So my thesis is that there is too much political coverage these days. Democracy and stewardship of the public purse would get a great boost if there was less but better coverage. Right now we are boring all those men and women who we really want to understand the facts, and to realize that there are no alternative facts in the real world.
The typical political session is boring repetition. We have to hire more observers who can dig the nuggets out of the BS and not just think a good day's work is repeating the usual arguments from the usual suspects.
HYDRO REALLY D0ESN'T GIVE A DAM
FOR HYDRO, LIVING BETTER ELECTRICALLY IS CHEATING
I told you so about Hydro so many years ago that glass fuses were more common than circuit breakers and the great salvation of power bars hadn't yet been invented.
I told you so before the last three provincial elections. These Liberals couldn't wire a doghouse if they had a million dollars to waste. And they certainly couldn't guarantee uninterrupted service.
I have listened to the tidal waves of indignation about meter gouging and fat salaries and incompetence and shouted out to anyone who pretended to listen that Ontario Hydro blew every fuse it had in common sense and proper business behaviour about three decades ago and there have been many commentators and columnists beside me who noticed.
Yet people tuned us out.
I let out a sick chuckle yesterday when I opened Hydro One's two bills for my cottage and the bunkie. The bunkie is used only several weekends a year. I use the cottage about a third of the time from May to October.
The bills were for the period from Dec. 23, 2016, to March 25, 2017. No electricity was used. Yet the delivery of electricity cost me $112.66 on each bill, the regulatory charge was .75 cents on each bill, the HST was $14.75 on each bill, and the grand provincial rebate on each bill was $8.26.
So in the dead of winter when my cottages and thousands like it were not used, I paid $239.84.
Ironically, I felt almost lucky. Six years ago, when starting on a cruel April Fool's Day I spent three months in four hospitals, the Hydro bills for the unused cottages were much higher.
Some city folk not used to the problems of cottage country may wonder why I just didn't put Hydro on a seasonal hold as you have been able to do for years with your phone and cable. Nope, Hydro won't allow what other "public" providers routinely permit.
Some might also wonder why I just didn't scrap the second meter and run all the power from the main cottage. A good idea except local contractors and the incestuous bureaucratese who support them make this an expensive tedious operation.
Once upon a time, cottagers used to get a break on seasonal use but Hydro grabbed it away without explanation or even a lame excuse.
One problem is you never actually know how much power you are really using because you can never trust the readings from the so-called smart meters. Mine are so stupid that I have paid for the empty bunkie three times what I paid for the main cottage which was all we were using while I recovered from my hospital hell.
The Internet is filled with examples of cheating Hydro meters. There are also many suggestions that they are a health hazard. I have never believed that but I have a thick file filled with examples of exorbitant charges. The north and cottage country have more horror stories about Hydro than they have residents.
Last year I paid $1,237.62 for the power I used in Etobicoke. I paid $2,040.83 for the Hydro at the cottage. Something smells!
Fifty years ago when I entered Toronto journalism as a nervous cub reporter, the best Christmas party in town was thrown for the press by Ontario Hydro. We all got a gift, like warming plates or a big turkey. The booze flowed and the shrimps were like baby lobsters.
We were a rowdy lot, throwing buns at the Hydro chairman who officiated. So next year there was only sliced bread. So we sailed the slices at his head. He laughed, because he had to keep the three papers happy (TV and radio didn't matter yet).
Gradually the media stirred itself into throwing tough questions and not just buns and bread. The coverage grew ever more critical. It didn't help Hydro that former employees never managed to hide the fact that expenses there didn't matter a damn.
I had a secretary who wanted a new typewriter (yes this did happen back in the mists) and when I told her the typewriter she already had was the top of the line, she said that when she had worked for Hydro she got a new typewriter every few years without question.
I have never forgotten. When my stockbroker told me that Hydro One was selling some stock and it looked like a golden opportunity, I said I would never invest in a company that I considered to be sloppy in its spending, efficiency and corporate morality.
But as I began this column saying, I have said this all before. And so have others.
On April 7, 2016, my blog in johndowning.ca was headlined Hydro One Cheating. On April 25, 2015, my blog was Stupid Toronto Utility Billing. On April 14, 2014, the blog was headlined Let's Give Liberals The Electric Chair. On April 18, 18, 2014, it was Blowing Ontario's Fuses. On Feb. 24, 2014, my blog headline was Hydro's Cheating Meters.
And before that Hydro was a regular target in four decades of thousands of my columns and editorials in the Toronto Sun.
You can't say you weren't warned.
Blog: Downing's Views
Ryerson University: A Unicorn Among Horses
Favourite Columns
John Downing
John has been an author, reporter, editor, blogger and columnist. He has appeared regularly on radio and TV. His field is politics but he writes about everything. A veteran of the Telegram and Sun newspapers, he has been active in many community organizations.
More than 50 years of writing and volunteering
John has a Ryerson degree, where he was student president, Ryersonian editor, historian and lecturer and served on many board committees. He also studied at U of T.
He was editor of the Whitehorse Star in 1957, and reporter and editor on the Toronto Telegram from 1958 to 1971. He was an original daily columnist and associate editor with the Toronto Sun, and the Editor from 1985 to 1997.
He has been president of the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto Press Club and Press Clubs of Canada, and director/ governor of the Toronto Outdoor Art Show, Runnymede Health Care Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto conservation authority, Ontario Safety League, Royal Winter Fair, and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
He has writing and service awards from the Toronto police, OSL, B'nai Brith, conservation authority, St. John's Ambulance, Governor General and Toronto council.
He has contributed to books on the CNE, outdoor art show and Ontario politics, ghost written two biographies, and written for Time, Macleans and other magazines. He has been a commentator/ panelist on most Toronto television and radio stations.
See John Downing Biography blog.
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Health Center News
Research Department: A Year In Review
December 22, 2015 February 14, 2017 | by Susan Sumrell
The NACHC Research Department has had another busy and productive year! Here is a quick recap of just some of the research- and data-driven resources we have put together, as well as some exciting projects we have been working on:
The Role of Community Health Centers in Lowering Preventable Emergency Department Use
This fact sheet notes the substantial proportion of emergency department (ED) visits in the US that are preventable and identifies some of the most common barriers that lead to increased preventable emergency department use. In addition, it highlights the vital role played by the health center model of care in eliminating such barriers, noting that the average cost of a health center visit is one-sixth the average cost of an ED visit.
Qualified Health Plans and Health Centers: A Primer
This primer provides a brief explanation of qualified health plans and points to the numerous ways health centers serve as key partners for QHPs. It also provides new data on health centers’ experiences with QHPs and the patients enrolled in them, including loss of patient QHP coverage. Key QHP contracting tips for health centers are provided as well.
Health Centers Provide Cost Effective Care
This popular fact sheet was revamped this year with a more infographic style and some new data. This resource highlights health centers’ lower average costs of care compared to all physician settings, despite serving more complex patients. It also presents research findings that health centers produce savings for the health care system while also generating jobs and stimulating economic activity in low income communities across the country.
National Health Center Week Infographics
Two new infographics were developed to celebrate National Health Center Week 2015. One, titled Health Centers: Paving the Road to Good Health, uses data and research-driven facts to illustrate the unique characteristics of health centers and their patients as well as the many ways in which health centers successfully deliver and improve care compared to other providers. A second, customizable infographic made it possible for individual health centers to tell their health center story against a backdrop of facts about the national health center movement’s 50 year history and growth.
Assessing and Addressing the Social Determinants of Health to Position Health Centers for Value Based Payment
The NACHC Research Department has worked with the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), the Oregon Primary Care Association (OPCA), and the Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) to develop a protocol that allows health centers to collect and respond to patient-level data on the social determinants of health. Click here to view the tool and more information.
Expanding Health Center Patient-Centered Research Capacity
The NACHC Research Department has worked with a host of partners to build health centers’ capacity to engage in patient-centered outcomes research by developing a free curriculum and collaborative learning community. The curriculum includes twelve webinars that walks through the steps needed to produce a research proposal, including developing a research question, calculating sample sizes, analyzing data, developing budgets, and writing a proposal. View the recorded webinars here.
All of us here in the Research Department are honored to be applying research to empower health centers and the communities they serve—thank you for the opportunity and for a wonderful 2015!
Wishing you a happy and healthy 2016,
The NACHC Research Department: Michelle Proser, Michelle Jester, & Caitlin Crowley
Previous A Yeah Of Headlines In Review
Next State Affairs: A Year In Review
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Courts and Law Brooklyn Boro
When ‘likes’ turn sour: divorce in the age of social media
February 14, 2019 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
From left: Judith E. White; Carrie Anne Cavallo, president of the Brooklyn Women's Bar Association; Hon. Rachel A. Adams, Brooklyn Supreme Court, Matrimonial Term; Hon. Michael L. Katz, Manhattan Supreme Court, Matrimonial Term; and Aimee Richter, immediate past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association. Photo courtesy of Carrie Anne Cavallo
It’s Valentine’s Day, which means couples across the borough are sharing pictures across social media platforms to showcase their love. But for couples who aren’t experiencing marital bliss, that Instagram post could be a big mistake — especially if they are cheating or trying to avoid paying child support payments.
“I had a case where someone was held in contempt because they weren’t paying child support, and meanwhile they posted pictures of themselves on Facebook while they were on vacations in France, Canada and Florida,” said Aimee Richter, a divorce attorney and the immediate past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association.
Richter took part in a continuing legal education seminar titled “Social Media and Divorce: Perspectives from the Bench and Bar” that was hosted last Thursday by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association and the New York Women’s Bar Association at the law firm of Lee, Anav, Chung, White, Kim, Ruger and Richter LLP in Manhattan.
“This happens so much it’s become the classic example,” Richter continued. “People are pleading poor in court, but then they post photos of themselves out at restaurants and on vacations. It’s incredible.”
Richter explained that case law in the courts has struggled to keep up with the social media age. Only recently are exhibits like Instagram photos and text messages being treated just like any other piece of evidence.
“As little as three or four years ago, it was special to get a photo in from Facebook — or even a text,” Richter said. “Now you can serve a summons on a Facebook page. Social media evidence is not special anymore. It comes in like everything else. It has pervaded our culture and it has pervaded our cases.”
The discussion also focused on how to advise clients in regards to social media, as many lawyers in attendance shared stories about wayward clients inadvertently getting into trouble in the digital sphere.
“As practitioners, there is some standard advice we give clients about changing passwords, what to post and not post on social media and what to look for on their spouses’ [and] partners’ social media accounts,” Cavallo said. “However, despite all of this advice, sometimes we cannot prevent our clients from acting contrary to their own best interest.”
The two-hour CLE was moderated by Judith White, the co-chairperson of the NYWBA Matrimonial Law Section. The panelists included two judges, Hon. Rachael Adams from Brooklyn Supreme Court and Hon. Michael L. Katz from Manhattan Supreme Court, and two attorneys, Carrie Anne Cavallo, president of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, and Richter.
Richter explained that, when organizing the event, they had hoped to attract about 50 attendees. They were ultimately forced to expand to fit 80 people, because demand for the topic was so intense.
“It was great having a judge from both Brooklyn and Manhattan to give perspectives from each court,” Richter said. “It really was a big discussion. Judy asked questions of me, Carrie Anne and the judges, but the audience had a lot of questions and remarks.”
Richter remarked on how rare it is to have a CLE with judges from two boroughs while also having the point of view of the attorneys involved in cases.
“Judge Adams and Judge Katz are both fantastic matrimonial judges,” Richter said. “I’ve had many cases in front of both of them. They gave such great advice. They can’t talk about specific cases, of course, but it’s good to hear what they think about this kind of stuff and how much weight they give to social media during trials. The judge were fantastic; they gave up their time to do this and we appreciate when they come.”
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July 15 | Noah Goldberg
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July 12 | Rob Abruzzese
New York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.
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Belinda Stronach's latest makeover sees her drinking from the fountain of youth with new 'ingestible beauty products'
Belinda Stronach and two partners have launched a vitamin, electrolyte and protein elixir they say has given them glowing skin, strong nails and thick hair
Alex Urosevic for National Post
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
The bass thump of a dance tune pounds through La Société, a restaurant owned by Toronto nightclub king Charles Khabouth, who in a flourish of kitsch has recreated a 19th century Paris bistro, complete with stained glass ceiling, dark wood, white tile floors and art nouveau décor, in a 1960s poured concrete building.
Two women confer in a corner booth. The younger is Holly Fennell, a naturopathic doctor with a thriving practice in the tony confines of Toronto’s old-money enclave, Rosedale. Beside her sits Beverley Hammond, a longtime marketing guru. Both sparkle in white. A third woman arrives, a blonde dressed in black whom Canadians know well: Belinda Stronach.
I have so much energy after taking this stuff
In the first decade of this century, Stronach, scion of auto parts magnate Frank Stronach, was everywhere: She served as chief executive of Magna International, then as a politician. Initially a Conservative member of parliament, Stronach famously crossed the floor to the Liberals ten years ago and became, for a year, Canada’s minister of human resources. She made the society pages, too: Along with her two marriages, she has dated Tie Domi, the hockey player, and Peter McKay, the former Conservative defence minister. (They broke up over the floor-crossing incident.)
Of late Stronach has stayed out of the news. It’s not that she’s been idle. Her family has no role or stake in Magna anymore (her ex-husband, Donald Walker, is now Magna’s CEO); she works as chairman and president of The Stronach Group, a private family business which employs over 5,000 people at its six horse race tracks in California, Florida, Maryland and Oregon.
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Separately she has partnered in a Toronto private equity firm, Acasta Capital, with Mark Entwistle, a former ambassador to Cuba, and Anthony Melman, late of Onex Corp. She shares her time between her home in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, her farm in Aurora, and offices in Florida and California.
A new venture has brought Stronach into the limelight again, an enterprise symbolized by a fountain burbling on the bar here, a sort of fountain of youth filled with a slightly greenish liquid that Stronach, and the two other women here, credit for their glowing skin, thick hair and strong finger nails. They call it Age Quencher.
Ryan Emberley
“On a very, like, superficial level, you know, I’ll be that girl for a minute,” says Stronach, flicking back her hair with a toss of her head. “My hair grows” — here she snaps her fingers — “like 10 times faster when I take it, like I’m not kidding, I get out of the hairdresser and they’re like you’re hair grows so fast. Well, I’m taking this protein powder!”
When a reporter notes that this could add up, in terms of trips to the hair salon, Stronach, who turns 50 this year, adds: “I love it! If you’re a chick, that’s a great problem to have. It’s great. I’m serious! Ha ha! Hair and nails? For sure!”
As for her marital status, she says, “I’m totally single. You can put it out there.”
For the month of January, the trio has given 30 women they call “influencers” a trial of Age Quencher, a trio of products that include a vitamin supplement, an electrolyte mixture and a whey protein. Tonight those women are talking of their results in a crowd that includes Victoria Radford, the beauty expert, and socialite Ainsley Kerr.
Health Canada has certified the products, formulated, tested and produced in Canada, as Natural Health Products. That designation doesn’t necessarily mean that they work, just that they won’t do any harm. A month’s supply retails for $200.
As for the benefits: “We haven’t done a scientific study, it’s more anecdotal to this point,” says Adam Cooper, chief executive of Age Quencher. “My wife has tried it for three weeks, and the skin on her feet is smoother.”
Fennell pioneered these products when a patient, whom cancer treatment had pushed into premature menopause, asked for something to maintain her youth.
Stronach, a patient of Fennell’s for close to a decade, is also a cancer survivor; in 2007, Stronach underwent a mastectomy to conquer breast cancer. Stronach and other patients in Fennell’s clinic soon all began to consume Fennell’s “ingestible beauty products.”
Stronach sees in Fennell an entrepreneur in the vein of the Stronach family.
“I was always an admirer of Holly’s enthusiasm for the creation of products,” says Stronach. “She has endless ideas, for products that can be made to address certain illnesses or symptoms, or even things to enhance one’s well being and vitality.”
Fennell recalls, “Belinda and I were in her kitchen one afternoon, both of us feeling really healthy and well, and we both took the product, so she said, ‘You know what, I’d love to introduce you to Bev and really see what we can do about making this product available to other women.’ ”
Handout/Age Quencher
Hammond was skeptical.
“I was never a vitamin person, and I had never been to a naturopath,” says Hammond. “Belinda is a strong advocate for wellness and good eating, and I’m kind of a McDonald’s fan, so we’re a little bit on the opposite side of the spectrum.
“So I did a lot of investigation and discovered that in fact in Asia, in Japan, it’s very prevalant. In South Korea, which is the skin care capital of the world, it’s quite prominent. Ingestible skin care products is a new category of beauty product.”
Stronach promises more naturopathic products to come. “I have so much energy after taking this stuff,” she says.
Meanwhile, the race tracks will keep her busy. “The Stronach Group will be making the largest capital investments out of any racing company within the industry because it needs to modernize,” she says.
Oddly, the family famous for car parts and horses will also launch a very different conveyence in March: a new electric bike, designed and built in Canada, called the Elby, which can run 140 kilometres between charges, and will retail for close to $4,000. “It’s the coolest thing, and it’s super fun to ride,” says Stronach, who herself shows no signs of slowing down.
“I love manufacturing, you know,” she says. “I grew up in that.”
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/pkuitenbrouwer
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Last updated: 05:46 PM ET, Mon May 01 2017
Did United Cremate Giant Rabbit Without Consent?
Airlines & Airports United Airlines Donald Wood May 01, 2017
PHOTO: United Airlines Boeing 777-224(ER). (photo via Flickr/byeangel)
Following the reported death of her giant rabbit, Simon, during a United Airlines flight last week, a woman is now accusing the embattled carrier of cremating the animal without her consent.
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According to the New York Post, 65-year-old Annette Edwards believes that United is covering up the rabbit’s cause of death because it disposed of the animal’s body so quickly despite her attempts to contact the airline.
“The whole thing stinks of a cover-up,” Edwards told The Sun. “I had been asking United over and over again for his body so that I can have him examined here in Britain but they never got back to me. All I want to know is how he died.”
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz responded to the allegations with an apology, but there has been a backlash due to his perceived comparison of the animal to luggage.
“We are deeply sorry for the loss of anything from your luggage to, of course, a loved pet,” Munoz said in a statement.
The three-feet-long Continental Giant rabbit was being transported by Edwards on a trans-Atlantic flight from London to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport when the animal died. Simon had reportedly undergone a checkup with a veterinarian before the journey.
Officials from United claimed the rabbit was alive when it was removed from the cargo section of one of the airline’s Boeing 767 planes, but no autopsy could be performed to determine a cause of death due to the animal being cremated.
In response to reports that United Airlines cremated the body of a large rabbit which died during a trans-Atlantic flight without the consent of the owner, the carrier released an official statement through its spokesperson Charles Hobart.
“We were saddened by the loss of Simon and have worked with Annette Edwards to reach a satisfactory resolution,” Hobart said.
Another report surfaced recently when The Sun heard from an anonymous source that the rabbit died after it was accidentally stored in a facility freezer for more than 16 hours. United heavily denied that claim and issued a statement in response.
“The assertion that Simon died in a freezer is completely false. Simon was cared for at the PetSafe kennel facility which is kept at room temperature (on average 70°F),” a United spokesperson said in a statement.
“He arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport in apparent good condition at 10:25 a.m. (local time). He was seen by a representative of the kennel facility moving about within his crate about 11:00 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a kennel representative noticed Simon was motionless and determined that he passed away.”
The death and quick disposal of the rabbit are part of a much larger public relations nightmare the airline has been dealing with for over a month. The issues began with two girls being banned from a flight for wearing leggings and became even worse after a passenger was dragged off an overbooked flight.
For more information on United Airlines
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Event Title: RocketmanOrganization: MAJESTIC THEATER LIVE EVENTSEvent Image URL: www.gettysburgmajestic.org/global/im...man_thumbnail.jpg?language_id=1Taron Egerton stars in this fantastical journey through superstar Elton John's breakthrough musical career.
The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. This inspirational story - set to Elton John's most beloved songs and performed by star Taron Egerton - tells the universally relatable story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Principal Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden
This film is rated R (for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content).
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute
View the official "Rocketman" website and movie trailer.
Tickets for films may ONLY be purchased at the box office.
Rocketman complete list of shows this week:
Friday - Saturday (7/12 - 7/13) - 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Sunday (7/14) - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM
Monday - Thursday (7/15 - 7/18) - 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM
All titles and showtimes subject to change without notice.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Majestic Box office located at 25 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 / By calling 717-337-8200 / Online at "Fandango" (add'l fees will apply to online ticket purchases)
Friday, July 12 at 4:00pm to 6:01pm
Majestic Theater Cinema 1
Comment Review Photo
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MPR News From our outstate correspondents
MN Made
As craft competitors spring up, Summit Brewing tries to keep it cool
Michael Olson November 22, 2013, 8:24 AM Nov 22, 2013
Brewer Mike Lundell performs tests on a batch of beer at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
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Buzzkill: A health-conscious craft beer drinker’s guide
Mark Stutrud, Summit President and one of the original founders, says he takes a longer view than getting too wrapped up in the beer of the moment.
In a discussion about hardcore beer geeks, he’s quick to point out that the craft brewing industry is only 6.5 percent of total national beer sales. He certainly keeps track of the new emerging players in the regional brewery market. But as someone who has battled with national brands for decades, he sees more opportunity in winning over macro beer consumers than getting in a struggle with small brewers.
King of the bluff
Summit Brewing Company is located in a small St Paul industrial park nestled among the trees atop the Mississippi River bluff. According to the Brewing Association, Summit has consistently produced more beer than any other craft brewer in the state. 2012 marked the first time where Summit was out produced collectively by the new wave of Minnesota craft breweries.
Summit on the left column, Schells in the center, remaining top breweries on the right. Note: Bard’s Tale made the BA’s top 10 in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009, but won’t release data publicly. Lake Superior made the BA’s top 10 in 2012 and 2011, but won’t release data publicly. Brewers Asso. data excludes August Schell Brewing Company, which isn’t considered a craft brewer by the association. Data: Brewers Association, August Schell Brewing Company (Robert Boos, Michael Olson/MPR News)
Last year Summit had over $25 million in sales and has grown consistently over the last two decades.
“Fifteen years ago we did a quarter of what we did last year. We are on target to sell 125,000 barrels of beer in 2013.” Stutrud said. That would be an increase of about 12,000 barrels from 2012. That increase is more than half of what Surly Brewing Company produced in all of 2012. Surly broke ground on a new production facility this year that will allow them to brew over 100,000 barrels a year.
Summit has enjoyed steady growth all along, “We’ve never had a down year in the company’s history,” Stutrud said. The worst year on record was 2008. The economic downturn was a disaster for the hospitality industry. It didn’t bode well for Summit either. Roughly half of the beers they sell are on draft.
While Summit has enjoyed a cozy perch at the top of the craft brew industry in the state, there has been a lot of changes among the top producers in the state recently. Brewpubs like Rock Bottom, Herkimer, Brauhaus and Great Waters have slipped off the Top 10 producers list over the past five years. They’ve been replaced by new breweries like Surly, Fulton and sorghum brewer Bard’s Tale. One notable brewpub that added beer production is Duluth’s Fitger’s Brewhouse.
Workers clean equipment in the fermentation cellar at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News) View full gallery
Bottles of Summit Extra Pale Ale move along the packaging line at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
A bartender pours a cask-conditioned beer at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. Cask beer is an unfiltered, carbon-dioxide and chemical free beer served from the vessel where it originally fermented. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
The taproom at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. is a popular happy hour stop Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
A game of cards and pints of beer are enjoyed at the Summit Brewing taproom in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. Summit Brewing opened their taproom and patio area last September. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Melinda Eggleston examines a hop plant picked by Debra Pursley, left, at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Gerri Kustelski tests the density of a beer sample at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Gerri Kustelski prepares and collects samples of beer for testing at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Curtis Ryce transports a keg of beer at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Friends Scott Larson, Zach Wessel and Chris Cassle joke together over beer flights at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Sept. 20, 2013. Summit Brewing opened their taproom and patio area last September. (Jeffrey Thompson/MPR News)
Summit shakes off staid image
There are perks to being the oldest existing craft brewery in the state. But with the wave of new brewers, Summit’s flagship lineup starts to look and taste dated to craft brew enthusiasts that are seeking new experiences with their beer.
“For a long time Summit has been recognized for its overall quality and consistency for its beers,” said Damian McConn, head brewer at Summit. “And I think creativity and innovation wasn’t so much what we’ve been recognized for.”
That is part of the reason Summit launched it’s Unchained and Union Series beers.
The Unchained series rotates among the company’s seven brewers, it gives each brewer an opportunity to make a beer of their choosing with whatever ingredients they want. The Union series focuses on using new ingredients with old recipes.
“These series help us stand out and showcase our innovation and creativity within the company and brewing team,” McConn said. “People are looking for something new and something different,. We can cater to that a bit.” He noted the margins are slim on these series due to the high cost of ingredients, but showcasing their brewers’ creativity and associating the brand with innovative beers.
McConn’s newest creation for the Union series, Rebellion Stout, is based on a 1896 recipe from Cork, Ireland, that is made using a new hop from the United Kingdom and stout malt from Ireland. Summit’s brewers are working a year out on some of these projects.
McConn is planning more research and development in 2014 as the brewery adds cans to it’s lineup. Summit is also using its new taproom, thanks “Surly Bill,” to experiment with their pilot brewing system.
Where does the industry go from here?
Summit’s Stutrud, sees a return to regionalism. “There was a time several decades ago where Minnesota breweries had the majority of the share of the statewide beer market,” he said. “I’m confident we are heading back that direction.”
Right now craft beers account for 7 percent of the beer in the state. Macro breweries like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors account for nearly 80 percent of beer sales in the state. Stutrud says he’s optimistic that regional brewers can grow their share to 25 percent, akin to what you see in some specific markets like San Diego. “We’re comparable in population to great beer cities like Denver and Portland and we’re nowhere near as saturated as those markets — who are both still growing,” writes Joe Alton from The Growler.
As the number of craft beer drinkers grow in Minnesota and more quality craft beer enters the market some of the new breweries that lack quality control, business acumen and luck will inevitably fold.
‹ Older Buzzkill: A health-conscious craft beer drinker’s guide
Newer › Ski season arrives in Minnesota
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molson@mpr.org • @publicmic
Editor, MPR News
5 beers you should try right now
Minn. brewers bring home World Beer Cup Awards
Minnesota beer boom keeps booming
joetron2030
Did you mean “Anheuser-Busch, InBev and MillerCoors” as three distinct breweries? Because Anheuser-Busch is owned by InBev.
Michael Olson – MPR News
Updated, thanks.
Ian B.
It’s ≠ its. 😉
Drew Rosielle
I was completely shocked when I had Summit’s Saga IPA: one of the best American style IPAs I’ve ever had – they are very much in the game!
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Brian Keller Brian Keller
Group Program Manager, Visual Studio Team Services
OData Service for Team Foundation Server 2010 – v1
Brian Keller October 26, 2011 8
January 7 2013 Update: v2 of this service is now in beta. It still supports Team Foundation Server 2010, and it adds support for Team Foundation Server 2012 as well as a few new APIs and bug fixes.
A few months ago we released the beta of the OData Service for Team Foundation Server 2010. Today, I am pleased to announce that v1 of this service is now available and you can download it here.
What the heck is an OData Service for Team Foundation Server 2010?
I’m glad you asked. The purpose of this project is to help developers work with data from Team Foundation Server on multiple device types (such as smartphones and tablets) and operating systems. OData provides a great solution for this goal, and has been embraced by numerous developers for building great device-specific applications. OData is accessible from any device and application stack which supports HTTP requests. This OData service interacts directly with the TFS client object model.
What is OData?
OData exposes a way to work with data over the web. If you’re new to OData, I suggest spending a few minutes at http://www.odata.org/ reading about this evolving standard. It uses interfaces similar to REST, so that you can programmatically consume and manipulate data from any device or application stack which supports HTTP requests. DPE has been working with several organizations (such as PayPal, Facebook, and Netflix) and product groups to enable OData where it makes sense to do so. Team Foundation Server was an obvious choice since it not only allows developers to extend TFS in new and interesting ways, but it also allows us to further showcase support for this evolving standard with the developer community at large.
Can I see a demo?
Of course! I filmed a video for Channel 9 which shows you how to get started using this service. When you’re ready to get started, just download the release which includes full documentation. The service can be easily hosted in Windows Azure to front-end your own Team Foundation Server instance, or if you want to use this with CodePlex we’ve already hosted this service for you at https://codeplexodata.cloudapp.net/. As long as you have contributor rights on any CodePlex project backed by Team Foundation Server 2010 you can start making OData calls immediately. We also have included a sample Windows Phone 7 application, and WebMatrix Helpers, which show you how to get started building applications which consume this service.
You can also find a few great projects from people in the community who have been using this during the beta to build some great applications, such as TFS on the Road (a TFS app for Windows Phone) and a few other examples here.
(this is a video I filmed during the beta so you'll hear me refer to this as a beta, but the concepts are the same for the v1 release)
What’s new in v1?
Since the beta, we have invested heavily in better documentation and a better installation experience. We have also made a few bug fixes and added support for a few operations, mainly around build definitions. Everything we have done since the beta has been based on direct customer feedback. Thanks to everybody who has contributed by evaluating the beta and helping to make this a great release!
So this is v1 – what is your roadmap for future releases? Is this supported?
I would like to continue to iterate on this and add value over time. I should make it clear, however, that this is not an official release from the TFS engineering team. The TFS engineering team has reviewed the service and approved of the approach we are taking, but there is no official support for this service. That said, all of the source code is provided for you, the license permits you to use it and extend it for your own purposes, and we are interested in (but not committed to) continuing to add capabilities over time. Personally, I’d love to get this working with the Team Foundation Service, but since it’s only in a “preview” mode at the moment it’s a bit too early to be building extensions for it.
If I build an application using this service, will users need client access licenses (CAL’s)?
In most cases, they will. Connecting to Team Foundation Server via OData has the same licensing implications as connecting via Team Explorer, the web, or any other client. But there are a few exceptions where users working with Team Foundation Server don’t need CAL’s. Please refer to the Visual Studio 2010 licensing whitepaper for all of the details.
I hope you enjoy this – if you build something interesting please be sure to drop us a line and let us know!
Pedro Castelo Branco Lourenco says:
That's great news! Looking forward for what comes next! 🙂
I will setup it on my Production TFS to make some new tests on TFS On The Road and who know release a new version with some editing capabilities earlier than later? 🙂
Brian Keller says:
Hi Pedro, that's great.
Currently we have no plans to support true work item editing / creation. This would require us to somehow understand and parse the WIT schema on the server. It's a compelling value proposition to be able to do this, but we haven't come up with a good engineering approach that meets with our limited resources for this project. I know it's something the engineering team has put some thought into as well but we aren't scoped to deliver that anytime soon, sorry.
Any plans to support the ASOF WIQL command?
@Betty,
Right now what you see is what you get. You are welcome to extend the source to add this capability.
DMX says:
Will the service be available on Azure hosted TFS?
@DMX, we'd like to in the future but nothing to announce.
Bart Tubalinal says:
Why not put the project on CodePlex? We'd like to help extend this project.
Hi Bart,
That's an interesting idea but at the moment I don't have legal approval to accept external contributions for this project.
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Symbiartic
Mash-Up This! Science Communication's Image Problem
By Glendon Mellow on April 24, 2013
The promised Information Economy based on creative culture is a sweatshop.
Award winning illustrators, fine artists, photographers, cartoonists and animators are routinely ripped off, mashed-up, and reshared without attribution, let alone money. "But it's always been this way!" "Good luck changing the whole internet!" It wasn't supposed to be this way, and creators don't have to put up with it.
Okay, to start talking about copyright, let's all agree to this: there's law and then there's culture. The internet is a culture-changing dynamo for communication and some laws haven't kept up. I'm an illustrator and a fan of Creative Commons myself. But that doesn't mean I should treat other artists' work the way I hope people will treat mine. I have to respect their boundaries.
As members of the online culture, we don't have to accept that image theft will always be the dominant way of sharing visual information online: culture matures. Expectations change. But right now, large portions of science communication online are part of the problem. Science bloggers, willing to cite scientific papers with utmost care, rip and run with images grabbed from Google Image Search and Wikipedia.
Compound Eye Vs. I F*cking Love Science
Yesterday, my fellow SciAm blogger, entomologist and photographer Alex Wild became fed up with the popular (over 5 millions fans) I F*cking Love Science page when its creator ripped off one of his images and shared it without attribution. His post, Facebook's "I F*cking Love Science" does not f*cking love artists kicked over a hornet's nest online. In it, Alex took a look at the most recent 100 images, and how many had attribution and found it appalling. I agree. Here are my thoughts about the controversy.
Very recently, I F*cking Love Science's creator came under a lot of nasty, horrible, all-too-common sexism and misogyny when fans found out the popular page was run by a woman. It's not right, and emotions are high in defense of Elise Andrew in the face of the outrageous attacks. But that's not what Wild is doing: his post was a rant, but it was a measured one about a common practice on IFLS, not about Andrew herself.
One of the key reasons for sharing and discussing this publicly is precisely to raise consciousness about proper image use with the fans of the IFLS page. I've done this before, and it often works. I've tried it in the Pharyngula comment thread, on DeviantArt, and on paleo-art blogs. You're not just having a conversation with the site author: you're having a conversation with anyone looking on.
Accusing Wild of being rude by not quietly contacted Andrew is placing the blame in the wrong place: IFLS was apparently not trying too hard to contact any of the artists before using their work.
Generally, I like the idea of IFLS: it's the one science feed most of my non-sciencey friends on Facebook might repost from. It's good outreach. But in this day and age of attribution, and with IFLS being treated like a business there's no excuse. This is not idle sharing among friends.
Personal Brand and Insulting People
Something both wonderful and hindering about our online culture is how personalities get tied up in brands. Most art commissions I have received are not only because I'm up to the skill level of the illustration: they're also about my blog and personality. People want art because of the artist, moreso than ever. How many people felt they had some personal connection with Picasso, with O'Keefe? With how easy it is to reach out via Twitter, Facebook or old-fashioned email, it doesn't compare.
The downside of this, all this pouring of our artistic and personal selves online, is whenever someone who has made something is criticised, we take it personally.
Time to Take a Look at Science Blogs
I did something like this back in 2010, and Alex Wild did excellent work yesterday looking at the past 100 images on IFLS for attribution. I've used scienceblogging.org and looked at the most recent posts on each of the networks. Let's see how blog posts on major networks shake out:
The legend is in the first set: red means no attribution, yellow means credit without a link, and blue is the good one, credit + link. We should be seeing lots of blue. I sampled 10 recent posts from 10 networks: they may not all add up to 10, because some blog posts didn't use images at all.
All the samples were taken between 1am and 7am this morning. I have kept a list of each url which I've forwarded to Bora Zivkovic, our editor. If anyone is dying to see it, lemme know.
Caveat: I know this isn't scientific: it's a sliver, a glimpse in time. I looked at 100 science blog posts from 10 networks. Perhaps a wider sample over 2 years would reveal something more comprehensive. At the same time, this tiny sample, slightly more than an anecdote tells some stories.
I know that at SciAm, we discuss proper image use a lot. So it's nice to see that it's working. I may guess some networks like Phenomena have a mandate not to link to image sources. Perhaps to keep people on the site? But again, 10 blog posts from that network is hardly representative of their output.
Over the past several years, I have stopped reading some science blogs and even avoided some of the people at conferences for their lack of care about image credit. Maybe I should be opening a dialogue at every turn, but it's hard balancing the importance of the issue without being self-proclaimed internet police.
All is Not Lost
Online culture has been moving to better and better attribution models while at the same time it has been easier to rip off more and more media. A particular case of frission is with Pinterest, the site that allows pinning from any website with lovely links directly back to the source but who's Terms of Service say you should only post things which you have permission to use - something that would kill their whole site if it was actually followed. (Kalliopi Monoyios and I wrote about Pinterest's strange Terms of Service here, here, and the resolution here.)
Yet: retweeting; resharing on Tumblr, G+ and Facebook; pinning linked-back images on Pinterest - all of these are ways that attribution can be traced. They're usually not sufficient on their own, granted. And attribution this way can be abused: Tumblr doesn't demand a source link, it's optional; you can pin from search engines, thwarting the link-back on Pinterest; but they represent attempts to give credit where credit is due.
Tools like Google Reverse Image Search, Tineye.com and the new Imgembed (which I look forward to exploring) help artists protect their visuals, and help anyone search for the right author. (You can usually find the correct image creator in seconds.) Art and illustration college and university programs really need to start teaching students how to manage their online presence.
The problem is bigger than I F*cking Love Science, but that's a big site and it ticked off a photographer with a strong online following. And so the messy discussions of the past couple of days. A lot of what I've said in this post I've said elsewhere. We're going to keep having this conversation until the tools get easier to use and the culture shifts back to appreciating images, and not treating them like bubble gum cards.
The internet is the most powerful visual medium in history, while making and sharing images is easier than at any other time in history. We need to respect these two powerful visual forces.
Why Don't More Science Bloggers Cite Their Images? and Glimpse at image credits on science blogs - Glendon Mellow, The Flying Trilobite
How a Martian Goddess Changed My Mind About Copyright - Glendon Mellow, Symbiartic
It's Time for Artists To Take Back the Net - Glendon Mellow, Symbiartic
Google's Reverse Image Search - Alex Wild, Compound Eye
Creative Commons is Not Public Domain - Alex Wild, Compound Eye
If Only Images Were Shared Like Videos - Katie McKissick, Symbiartic
3 Marketing Mistakes Young Artists Make - Kalliopi Monoyios, Symbiartic
Art Thief Vs the Dinosaur Bloggers and How to Deal with Uncited Images - Glendon Mellow, The Flying Trilobite
[A lot of people have informed and challenged my thinking about these issues over the years, and so with the trepidation of someone worried he's forgetting someone, I'd like to thank Eric Orchard, Bora Zivkovic, Kalliopi Monoyios, Alex Wild, Katie McKissick, Cory Doctorow and Matthew Inman.]
"Searching for Copyright" images were derived from a digital painting I made and then manipulated with the Halftone app. © Glendon Mellow, feel free to reuse.
Glendon Mellow
Glendon Mellow is a fine artist, illustrator and tattoo designer working in oil and digital media based in Toronto, Canada. He tweets @FlyingTrilobite and is on Instagram. You can see Glendon's work-in-progress at The Flying Trilobite blog and portfolio at www.glendonmellow.com.
Trilobite Eggs
The Future of Symbiartic
Painting Has Become Performance Art [Video]
Wait, Electricity Isn't Harmful To Health?
By Kalliopi Monoyios on April 23, 2013
When Should Robots Resemble Humans?
By Katie McKissick on April 25, 2013
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Blue Swan Daily > South Pacific > Analysis > Qantas’ non-stop service delivers 50% price premium on London – Perth route during first month of flights
Qantas’ non-stop service delivers 50% price premium on London – Perth route during first month of flights
Boeing 787-9
It is now less than six weeks until the landmark new Qantas service between Perth and London launches and an investigation by The Blue Swan Daily shows that Economy passengers are currently being asked to pay a premium of around 50% for the convenience of the non-stop flight. Our analysis of cheapest available air fares for the first month of operation show that Economy passengers on average will have to pay 49.8% more for the non-stop flight versus the cheapest available one-stop routing.
The premium is significantly higher when you look at the Business Class cabin, where the reduced journey time of the non-stop flight is much more attractive to corporate travellers.
While this is just a snapshot of availability and fare offerings on the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner route, which commences at the start of the new summer 2018 flights schedules in late Mar-2018, it does highlight the premium Qantas expects the new service to deliver on what is a competitive market for air travel.
CHART – Perth – London – Perth Economy Air Fare Insight Source: The Blue Swan Daily and Skyscanner (data: 09-Feb-2018, based on week long return flights, calculated in GBP)
Looking at Economy fares for a one week return from both London and Perth (using the skyscanner platform on 09-Feb-2018 and GBP currency for easier comparison) we found that return flights booked outbound from London were slightly more expensive than those outbound from Perth, and with one-stop options being around nine per cent cheaper out of London, it meant the Qantas non-stop flights were on average 57.9% more expensive than the direct one-stop options. Out of Perth this figure fell to 42.3%, although the split between high and low fares was much greater.
As expected the fares on the non-stop Qantas connection fluctuate considerably during the analysis period due to travel peaks and the fact that it includes the Easter holiday weekend. Return journeys out of London varied between GBP817 and GBP1554 and on a couple of occasions (02-Apr – 09-Apr and 03-Apr – 10-Apr) are almost double (99.1% and 98.8%) that of the cheapest one-stop option. Return journeys out of Perth fluctuate between 16.5% and 75.9% more than the one-stop options with fares ranging from GBP711 to GBP1667.
CHART – London – Perth – London Economy Air Fare Insight Source: The Blue Swan Daily and Skyscanner (data: 09-Feb-2018, based on week long return flights, calculated in GBP)
The new flight will bring down journey times to a scheduled 16 hours 45 minutes out of London and 17 hours 20 minutes out of Perth. The flight will depart Perth at 18:45 having previously flown in from Melbourne and arrive into London Heathrow at 05:05 the following morning. The return flight departs from London at 13:15 and arrives in Perth at 13:00 the following day, before flying on to Melbourne.
A comparison of the two charts shows that air fares out of London are much higher during the first two weeks of operations, perhaps influenced by the timing of the Easter holiday, while from around 10-Apr-2018 there is a change and for the rest of the month air fares are cheaper out of London. This is not just a trend with the non-stop flight though and is mirrored by the one-stop options too.
Qantas has designed its 787-9 configuration with long-range missions in mind. The aircraft will seat 236 passengers in a three-class arrangement with 42 business class seats: an upgraded version of the existing Qantas’ A330 Business Suite; 28 premium economy seats, split across four rows in a 2-3-2 layout; and 166 seats in economy, in a 3-3-3 arrangement.
From a nine stop ‘hop’, via a one-stop ‘skip’ via an Asian or Middle East Hub to a non-stop ‘jump’ launching in the spring, the popular Kangaroo Route linking Australia and the UK is one of aviation’s most competitive long-haul air corridors. Now almost a dozen airlines are actively pursuing the around two million annual passengers flying between the two countries with itineraries routing via new emerging hubs across the globe.
When scheduled Kangaroo Route air services commenced between Australia and the UK back in 1947, it took four days and six stops. Qantas inaugurated flights between Sydney and London on December 1, 1947 using a Lockheed Constellation that carried 29 passengers and 11 crew with stops in Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli.
Alongside partner services with Emirates Airline via Dubai, there are now numerous one-stop options between Perth and London, including flights with Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong), China Southern Airlines (via Guangzhou), Etihad Airways (via Abu Dhabi), Malaysia Airlines (via Kuala Lumpur), Qatar Airways (via Doha), Singapore Airlines (via Singapore) and Thai Airways International (via Bangkok).
CHART – The Qantas non-stop flight cuts around 3 hours each way off the fastest current one-stop options between London and Perth Source: The Blue Swan Daily and Skyscanner
The Perth – London flight at 14,498 kilometres may not hold the title of being the world’s longest when it is launched in March 2018, a position currently held by Air India after it switched its Delhi – San Francisco route to operate across the Pacific rather than the Atlantic to increase the flight distance to 15,127km, but it is certainly among the most significant in terms of global aviation connectivity.
Alan Joyce on Perth – The “game changing” western hub for Qantas. Paris and Frankfurt next non-stopsJune 28, 2017
Qantas makes history with Perth-London serviceMarch 26, 2018
Brisbane to Seattle? You got to be kidding!October 23, 2017
Qantas looks at longer range opportunities for future fleet expansion and more non-stop links into EuropeJune 7, 2017
A hop, skip and jump along the Kangaroo RouteAugust 21, 2017
Royal Brunei to rely heavily on London connections as it launches A320neo service to BrisbaneJanuary 22, 2019
Garuda Indonesia withdraws from Kangaroo route after many trials and tribulationsSeptember 6, 2018
WA government puts its tourism foot in its mouthJune 23, 2017
Qantas’ new Dreamliners named…Blue Swan doesn’t make the list and we aren’t happyJune 21, 2017
Competitive Australia-Bali market impacts performance for Lion Group who should reconsider expansion plansDecember 7, 2017
Airport Insight: Perth AirportApril 13, 2018
As Project Sunrise discussions continue, new Qantas research reveals what customers really want on ultra long-haul flightsFebruary 15, 2019
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Home » Library » Enjoy » Karen's Letters
The Panda Game
By Karen Pryor on 07/01/2006
Filed in - Karen's Letters
Miniature horses are a special breed. According to horse owners, miniature horses are not descended from ponies, but developed from regular horses. Most of them are about the size of a large dog, and, like some large dogs, they make great guides for blind people.
How can that be? Well, first, yes, they can be housebroken. Like a dog, a horse can learn where and when to relieve itself, and how to signal when it needs to go out. A little horse can also easily learn to carry out all the functions of a guide dog: watching traffic, stopping and alerting the owner at curbs, steps, and stairs, avoiding obstacles, staying quietly next to the owner in restaurants and other public spaces, and so on. A guide horse can ride in cars and on trains (not planes, or at least not yet). A guide horse and its owner quickly become personal friends, and learn not just to work together but to play and relax together at the end of the day.
And here's the money part. Miniature horses live a lot longer than dogs. Once trained, a guide dog has six or seven years left before it is too old to work. The owner of a guide horse can expect to enjoy the services of this faithful friend for twenty years or more.
There are, I'm told, about half a dozen miniature horses functioning as guide animals in the US right now. One of them, a black-and-white mare named Panda belongs to Ann Edie, a teacher in New York State. Panda's trainer was Alexandra Kurland, and Panda is the first guide horse to have been 100% clicker trained. See Panda in action.
KPCT was fortunate to have Ann Edie and Panda as honored guests at ClickerExpo Newport in 2006. Everyone enjoyed meeting this distinguished pair. We were awed by Panda's calmness as she guided Ann during the day, through crowds and halls and past all sorts of dogs (some of which were distinctly upset at having a horse among them). People were wonderful about not trying to pet Panda as she worked, even though she is deliciously cute and furry. At the Saturday night autograph party Panda even signed her own books, Panda: A Guide Horse for Ann, with a little, inky front hoof.
"A guide horse and its owner quickly become personal friends, and learn not just to work together but to play and relax together at the end of the day."
During plenary sessions the nearly 400 attendees had a chance to hear Ann's eloquent comments on the relationship between them, on Panda's skills and intelligence, and on the many ways Panda shows Ann that she is happy—from her greeting whicker in the morning to the ways she likes to play and relax in the evenings.
The morning after ClickerExpo, the faculty gathered for a session of brainstorming on next year's ClickerExpo, and of sharing our personal news and events. And what Alexandra and Ann shared was a participation exercise: something that Panda had invented for herself called the Panda Game.
This is how you play the Panda Game. All the people present were given a handful of Panda treats: bean-sized alfalfa pellets, much enjoyed by horses. About a dozen of us joined in a big circle, standing about arms' length apart.
To learn how to clickertrain your horse, you can order one of Alexandra's training videos.
The Click that Teaches: An Introduction to Clicker Training
"What do we do now?" we asked.
"Panda will show you," Alexandra said. Alex removed Panda's guide harness and told her to start playing.
In a businesslike way, Panda set off for the first person on her left, Emma Parsons; circled behind her, came up alongside in "heel" position, and halted. Emma's response was instant: Click, treat. We all were to learn to hold the treat under Panda's mouth, since Panda is trained to wait for her treat to be fed to her. We also had to learn to hold our hand flat, so she could nibble up the pellets without nibbling one's hand by accident.
Panda then briskly moved to the next person, circled behind her, came up to her side, and again earned a click and a treat. The third person was Kay Laurence. This time Panda came in and halted at a 45-degree angle, instead of straight. Kay instantly stepped sidewise, conveying the information, "None of that carelessness from you, my girl," and Panda adjusted her position just as quickly, and got a click and a treat.
Panda went on around the circle, methodically teaching each of us to click and treat. Then she started around the circle a second time. This time, being the primates that we are, always curious and restless, people began introducing slight variations. When Panda came along side Ken Ramirez, training director of the Shedd Aquarium and a major figure in the training world, Ken took a step forward and stopped. She matched him exactly with her own steps, and got a click and a treat. When she got to me, three people later, I tried two steps forward. Panda came with me with precision, heeling like a high-scoring obedience dog.
Then she got to Aaron Clayton, our company president and ClickerExpo host. Ever the risk-taker, Aaron took six steps forward. No! said Panda. She tossed her head, switched her tail, and trotted away from him across the circle, to join Kay Laurence instead. We all burst into laughter, of course.
Now the game became more interesting. Instead of going around the circle taking each person in order, Panda began crisscrossing the middle, choosing who she would play with each time. Those who were favored by being chosen began asking for more behavior—back up a step, say—but tactfully, since we had now witnessed Panda's ability to express her opinion.
"One of the joys of having clicker trained animals around is that they are able to express themselves: not just with innate social behavior, the way animals usually do with people, but with their whole intelligent selves."
Panda seemed to prefer the skilled, but she was not a snob; she also rejoined those people who were still a little awkward at feeding the pellets. After a few more stops she gave Aaron another chance. He took her a modest two steps forward and clicked. Panda accepted her treat and moved on. Did she look a little smug? I thought so.
By and by, the game began winding down, as some of used up our supply of treats. A few people were still playing when Ken Ramirez and I happened to start walking back to the meeting table together—until Panda barged between us, circled behind Ken, and actually herded him back toward the game.
Ken, for those who don't know, is a leader in the marine mammal and zoo training worlds, and a hugely innovative and advanced trainer. We all think he's The Best. Apparently Panda thought so too. Ken, being gently jostled by this determined little creature, looked at me with awe on his face and said "I feel so flattered!"
"Indeed, you should!" I exclaimed. Alex gave Ken a few more pellets so he could play another round or two of the Panda Game.
One of the joys of having clicker trained animals around is that they are able to express themselves: not just with innate social behavior, the way animals usually do with people—infantile demands such as whining or begging, species-specific social displays such as threats (growling, for dogs, laying the ears back with horses)—but with their whole intelligent selves. It's interaction on a new plane, one that those who dominate, punish, and suppress behavior, and call it training, will never see.
And Panda just gave us a world-class example. In a game she invented herself. A game that earned her not just our affection, but something rarer: both personally and intellectually, our respect.
Karen Pryor is the founder and CEO of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and Karen Pryor Academy. She is the author of many books, including Don't Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind. Learn more about Karen Pryor or read Karen's Letters online.
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Help Panda, the Guide Miniature Horse
Panda the Clicker Trained Miniature Guide Horse, in the New York Times
Mini-Horse, Maxi-Guide
Panda in Braille
Expo Faculty Profile: Alexandra Kurland, Horse Trainer
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2010 February Long Beach, CA Signature US Coin AuctionAuction #1137
1875 G$1 MS66 PCGS. CAC....
VIDEO View More >
Make Offer to Owner via Heritage
Significant 1875 Gold Dollar, MS66
Low-Mintage Rarity, Tied for Finest Certified
1875 G$1 MS66 PCGS. CAC. Three-quarters of the way through the 19th century, the U.S. Mint managed to create a remarkable series of rarities with the memorable date of 1875. The coinage emphasis in that year was large-denomination silver coins and double eagles. Gold and silver coins had not circulated in any significant way since the Civil War year 1862, but the government was gearing up for the "parity" between gold and silver coins and paper currency that was expected to take place in January 1879. Accordingly, the double eagle was produced to the extent of more than 1.6 million pieces at three mints, complementing more than 5 million Liberty Seated quarters and 10 million Seated halves.
Except for the double eagle, all of the 1875 gold coin issues were struck in minuscule quantities; all of them are great rarities today. In the case of the gold dollar, the mintage was a skimpy 400 business strikes, plus 20 proofs, one of the lowest mintages of any "regular-issue" U.S. coin. Akers makes these cogent comments in his still-useful 1975 reference on the gold dollar series:
"With so low a mintage, essentially all specimens are 'first strikes' and therefore invariably have full proof-like surfaces. This has given rise to the false notion that the 1875 gold dollar is more common in proof than it is in uncirculated condition. Most cataloguers have mistakenly called Uncs. 'proofs' over the years, as one can readily see from the auction records below ... . Actually, the Uncs. are readily distinguishable from the proofs because all uncirculated 1875 gold dollars have a small thorn-like projection from the throat into the field. This projection is seen only on the Uncs., not on the proofs, and no matter how much a particular 1875 may look like a proof, if it has the projection from the throat into the field, it is an Unc."
Akers goes on to say that the proof is a great rarity and deserves recognition. However, the business strikes are quite rare as well, a rarity that increases with condition: NGC has certified 31 pieces in all grades including Prooflike pieces, the highest a single MS66 non-Prooflike piece. PCGS has graded 54 examples in all grades but has certified no Prooflike examples of any gold dollar issue. Nonetheless this MS66 piece is one of the two finest certified at PCGS, and a marvelous coin it is. Rich reddish-gold surfaces offer just a hint of interspersed lilac, especially noticeable over the wreath on the reverse. The fields on each side are fully prooflike and nicely reflective. The piece is problem-free, as expected of the grade, although a couple of faint Mint-made file marks run from the C in AMERICA upward into the field. The small "thorn-like" projection that Akers notes, diagnostic of business strikes, is clear at the throat.
This coin presents a significant opportunity to obtain one of the finest certified examples of this prime rarity, an opportunity that may not soon repeat. Series specialists must act accordingly.
From The Longfellow Collection.(Registry values: N1) (NGC ID# 25DD, PCGS# 7576)
Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
View all of [The Longfellow Collection ]
4th-7th Thursday-Sunday
Calculate Standard Domestic Shipping Sales Tax information | PCGS Guarantee of Grade and Authenticity
Thank you for your support and counsel during the process and I continue to be impressed by the skill and expertise of the Heritage Auction staff, as well as the clever web site.
Bruce S.,
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Stabber Not Charged as Hate Crime
The man arrested for stabbing Leiby Brikman in Crown Heights will not be charged with a hate crime, prosecutors said. Full Story
By Rachel Holliday Smith – DNAInfo.com
A man arrested for stabbing a Jewish man on Empire Boulevard last month — originally investigated as a possible bias incident — will not be charged with a hate crime, prosecutors said.
Police arrested 26-year-old Keny Rochelin last week after he stabbed two different men walking in Prospect Park. Upon investigation, police connected Rochelin to the Feb. 10 slashing of a 25-year-old Jewish man as he walked along Empire Boulevard near Albany Avenue in Crown Heights.
At the time, the NYPD looked into that incident as a possible hate crime because the victim was wearing “Hasidic garb,” said Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
But Rochelin will not be charged with a hate crime, a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said, instead facing two counts of assault in regards to the Empire Boulevard attack and one of the stabbings in the park and one count of attempted assault.
A law enforcement source said he wouldn’t be charged with a hate crime because there was no evidence that the attacked was motivated by bias. A law enforcement source added that Rochelin is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
As of Wednesday, Rochelin had not yet been formally arraigned on the charges.
Jewish Girls Community Gala Event
Nepal Shliach Rescues Hikers
It sure
wasn’t a love crime…
Fair enough - there was no evidence of bias
But he still deserves a few years in jail. He almost killed Brikman!
He should NOT be let off easy.
This is not good
How do we know this was all accurate? It seems clear that this idea was motivated by the past attacks in Crown Heights that went unpunished and by the attacks in Israel which started it all. This does not sound good and could encourage the many with similar ideas c”v. The fact that this was all conducted with such secrecy and even at police conferences questions were prohibited implies a lack of transparency. There is something wrong here.
assault?
why not attempt of murder
if he is muslim indoctrinated, then ...
then it would be hate crimes, just that he hates all Americans and/or non-muslims, and perhaps Jews even more
To #3
Questions were not prohibited at the police conference. On the contrary, the Chief asked for questions and answered them.
אמעריקע איז נישט אנדערש
משיח now
#messedup
and that is why the violence won’t stop-the consequences are minimal.
#jewishlivesmatter
attempted assault???
The idea of punishment is to make criminals afraid to commit crimes.
This low life should be given the same punishment as he inflicted on Brikman.
good one. very true!
He should be put in jail and rot there for the rest of his life
He almost took someone’s life for no other reason other than the fact that the victim was a Jew.
I bet you a million dollars if it was another black innocent person it wouldn’t have taken the place (I mean the stabbing)
Justice in this country Stinks good & proper!!!!!! So wakd out….next thing you’ll know, the attacker will start sueing…..(I don’t know for what) it can happan…..I know some one who got stabbed out side his business, & chased after attacker, & caught him, & tackled him in to his business, & security handcuff attacker, and till cops came. & owner cicked the attacker HARD while attacker was in cuffes…..guess what? Owner is now getting sued, BY the attacker…..how do you like that??
Have Rachmones
Have Rachmones,
Thus man committed a crime and will get punished according to law. He is mentally ill and has serious health issues.
He should be punished, Jewish or non jewish, just like anyone who commits a crime.
Stab another 2 people of a Diffrent race
And a sentence goes down !
There’s no conspiracy against crown heighters.
Yes, it is possible that it was a hate crime and probable that it was attempted murder. However, prosecutors will often only charge on things they think will stick and since they probably can’t prove attempted murder and surely not hate crime they won’t prosecute for them.
This is how the judicial system works. Like it or hate it.
What?!!!
That murderer would stab a cop and he would be shot .
instantly.
Whoever came up with the excuse “mental illness” shall
say that when he or his child gets stabbed.
This community will not accept any less fair sentencing-
at least long time imprisonment!!!
Why was this not attempted murder?
This is despicable. Are they trying to actively encourage more of this? The criminal was lucky that his prey actually lived, the type of attack and area on the body indicates an attempt to murder. Instead, he gets off on ‘assault’- out of prison in a short time (what’s his minimum sentence anyway?). A few good meals and TV programs and he’s back on the streets, an encouragement to all who know him.
Cant prove attempted murder? you must be kidding, he had a knife and almost killed Brikman, assault could be a push, not a knife
and i’m sorry but its very disrespectful of you to say ‘calm down’, if it G-d forbid be your child you wouldn’t talk like that
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EXPERT REVIEWS, RECAPS, AND GALLERIES FOR THE
HOTTEST FESTIVALS IN MUSIC AND FILM ALL ACROSS THE WORLD
Finding an Identity: Boston Calling 2018 Festival Review
A complete breakdown of the winners, losers, and underdogs out at Harvard
by Ben Kaye and Nina Corcoran
Boston Calling, photo by Ben Kaye
Beyond the Gates: In an era where we’re getting used to seeing bands launch their own festivals and bigger events cancel out of the blue, Boston Calling feels like the anomalous success story. All told, it’s still a young event, only reaching full “Big Four” contention when it switched locations to the Harvard Athletic Complex last year. Coming into their sixth year/ninth incarnation, the fest’s momentum was clear. They announced one of the strongest lineups of the season, spread their reach deeper into the city with additional features like Natalie Portman’s three-day film festival at the iconic Brattle Theater, and created new, sponsored activations with bigwigs like IKEA.
But getting bigger is one thing; accomplishing it successfully is another. The move to Harvard in 2017 wasn’t a flawless one, and there were kinks that needed addressing. The demise of FYF proved that a solid music lineup does not a festival make, so how else was BC going to stand out? And would it still feel like Boston, even as fewer up-and-coming local bands graced the stages? Boston Calling has carved out an impressive reputation in a relatively short time; this year, they had to prove it wasn’t going to their heads while continuing to justify the praise. –Ben Kaye
Boston Calling, Whole Heart Provisions, photo by Ben Kaye
Best Bites: The key to successful festival feasting options is a lineup as diverse as the music bill, and Boston Calling delivered on both fronts. Name one other North American fest where you can get perogies and freshly shucked oysters. Standing out among all the delicacies are the fresh rice and grain bowls at Whole Heart Provisions. Finding truly tasty, healthy veggie options in a sea of fried foods isn’t always the easiest task, but local eatery Whole Heart brings fresh, super tasty, good-for-you greens to the BC experience. With large portions and the best damn seared avocado you’ll ever taste (totally worth the $5 add-on), these bowls were a great way to fill up and fuel up. –Ben Kaye
Leikeli47, photo by Ben Kaye
Best of the Tiny Fonts: If there’s one thing Boston Calling has always been good at, it’s picking tiny fonts that actually matter. Friday saw the day begin with the sugar-coated energy of Charly Bliss, a band who set the tone off right for the festival: spirited, easygoing, and full of optimism. Instrumental rock fusion band Tauk livened Saturday up with an unlikely sound, injecting a bit of funk and heavy ambiance to the festival.
But the best early grab was Leikeli47, a New York rapper who has been quietly slaying the rap game despite a lack of major press coverage. On the surface, it’s the masked anonymity and punctuated flow that make her allure unending. She broke out a sing-along to “Killing Me Softly”, emphasized the bass-heavy beats on original numbers “Miss Me” and “Money”, and let her backup dancers flaunt theatrical moves that gave the feeling of a play performance.
Above all else, the biggest skill Leikeli47 brings is a genuine positivity in her work, starting the day off right so that every hyper-enunciated word and between-song banter created a vibe that would last all day. –Nina Corcoran
Festival Fashionista, photo by Ben Kaye
Festival Fashionista: Forget flower crowns; Boston Calling 2018 was all about bowler hats and bow ties. Old-timey dapper duds could be seen throughout the first two days, like this fine gent who happily obliged as Belly sang, “So take your hat off boy/ When you’re talking to me.” Maybe it’s because the fest’s Boston Terrier mascot is dressed the same way, but this dude fit right in. –Ben Kaye
Phones Up: BROCKHAMPTON were going to be the most filmed set of Boston Calling anyway. It just so happened that their performance marked much more than what they, the crowd, or the festival anticipated. Founded in 2015 by artist Kevin Abstract after meeting on a Kanye West forum, the rap collective has quickly risen in fame as a self-declared “boyband” sensation, forming a massive fanbase that obsesses over their self-sufficient and relentless output. That was until two weeks ago when several women accused Ameer Vann of sexual misconduct, alleging he was “mentally abusive” and had engaged in relations with a minor. Vann immediately refuted the claims on Twitter. Over a week later, Abstract defended his bandmate but said BROCKHAMPTON’s new album would be delayed.
At Boston Calling, BROCKHAMPTON came onstage one by one, dawning their signature Kevlar vests emblazoned with words like “faggot” and “Jay,” except for Vann. The group began rapping their way through the set. During Vann’s parts, they stood still, letting the beat play out without his contributions as a quiet but powerful statement that Vann likely wouldn’t be in the band anymore. Slowly, BROCKHAMPTON began to crack. By the time they reached “Bleach”, their second-to-last song, Joba began crying and Dom McLennon gave him a hug. Abstract covered his face, seemingly torn as well.
BROCKHAMPTON, photo by Ben Kaye
The whole thing was exaggerated by the fact that fans continued to sing along in his absence. That was until the following morning when BROCKHAMPTON released a statement that Vann would no longer be in the band and the remainder of their US tour dates were cancelled. Genuine breakdown or intentionally timed press stunt? Who’s to say, but the emotional collapse of BROCKHAMPTON’s set felt like a surprise guest appearance because of the very lack of one. –Nina Corcoran
Pod Save America, photo by Ben Kaye
Pod Save the Festival: Podcasts are the next wave of comedy entertainment, and that was felt in a big way with both Lovett or Leave It and Pod Save America taking over the Arena Stage. The Pod Save crew (including Mass. natives Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor) took shots at Harvard’s legacy (Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, and more are alums), answered questions from the crowd, played some “Ok, Stop”, and generally entertained while addressing our current exasperating political environment. Boston is a pretty politically-minded city, making these particular casts a great fit as diversions from the standard festival fare as well as a nice reprieve from the heat. –Ben Kaye
Don’t Believe the Hype: Hype is a finicky thing, and Internet hype is even moreso. Maggie Rogers rose to fame quickly after a video went viral of Pharrell Williams reacting positively to her song “Alaska” in a New York University masterclass, and she scored a sizable time slot on Friday because of it. It’s easy to root for her: a 24-year-old student who blends downtempo electronic loops and soaring falsettos like a chill Sylvan Esso, all earnestness and openness. But on the live stage, Rogers has a lot to learn.
MaggIe Rogers, photo by Ben Kaye
Though she has technically wrote and released two albums already, one in 2012 and another in 2014, her success rides on the release of one EP and the Rostam-produced single “Fallingwater” — both of which sound pretty, but never really go anywhere. On the live stage, it’s impossible to avoid. Backed by multiple other singers and a live band, Rogers darted across the stage, doing her best to keep people engaged.
For a few songs, they were. But when each song came to its conclusion without much, if any, build-up, listeners — a handful of whom didn’t shy away from asking fellow audience members who she was or why she was performing so late in the day — were confused what it was they were waiting for. –Nina Corcoran
Alternative Entertainment: Booking ubiquity means festivals aren’t just about the music anymore. Boston Calling has been trying to stay ahead of the curve since moving to Harvard, and this year they went big with unique experiences. Natalie Portman finally got to hold her film festival in the days leading up to the main event, where she welcomed guest performers into the Arena to live-score female-directed short films.
The artsiness of St. Vincent slow-screeching and scratching her mic while 1933’s Verdict Not Guilty played or Portman’s spoken-word performance may not have been “cool,” but they were daring and different. For more “pure” entertainment, Leikeli47 kicked things up a notch with performances of “Attitude” and “Money” over a number of shorts.
Watching Portman read an unrelated play while 1930’s Hellbound Train screened may have confused many, but at least they got to see it, and that’s not something you’re going to get anywhere else. –Ben Kaye
Paramore, photo by Ben Kaye
That One Performance: Paramore have been redefining themselves ever since they formed in 2004. They burst onto the scene with their self-released debut as an emo-bent punk act, wiggled their way onto the radio with pop punk staple Riot!, tried their hand at melodic rock with Brand New Eyes, and embraced polished pop on Paramore. It was last year’s After Laughter, though, that showed casual listeners that Paramore are higher caliber songwriters than they’re often credited as. Nowhere was that more apparent than onstage at Boston Calling.
A year out from the release of After Laughter, Paramore have perfected the delivery of their new, studio-polished songs in a live setting and mastered the art of making those songs feel at home beside older, more guitar-driven numbers. A song like “Hard Times” fit beside the punctuated anger of “Ignorance” or cheery tone of “Still into You”. Anyone who went into Paramore’s set thinking they had outgrown the band or, perhaps even worse, never given them a chance, was flooded with consistently catchy material that lyrically addresses common, difficult, and complex situations.
The one thing that’s remained consistent throughout Paramore’s career is the emotionally transparent power of frontwoman Hayley Williams. Externally, she defined the set by flinging herself around the stage with enigmatic dance moves or sitting down on its edge to talk face-to-face with the audience. But it’s the way in which she sings that feels addicting with its integrity. Williams has noticeably worked at strengthening her voice, and hearing it tear through high falsettos (“Caught in the Middle”) or manic breakdowns (“Idle Worship”) made it feel like you were watching a tour-de-force in action.
Williams, guitarist Taylor York, drummer Zac Farro, and the rest of their live band delivered a nonstop flood of high energy during their Boston Calling set without ever taking themselves too seriously in the process. So when they took subtle risks, like refraining from playing “Misery Business” or letting Halfnoise, Farro’s synthpop side-project, play a song mid-set, it felt like Paramore had found a way to do whatever they wanted while still doing everything you could have hoped for. –Nina Corcoran
Natalie Portman, photo by Ben Kaye
Why Can’t We Be Friends?: Guest appearances were slim — Natalie Portman introduced The National, if that counts, and they did bring out Maggie Rogers for “I Need My Girl”, but there wasn’t much else. Even though it’s their shtick, The Killers had the best guest by default when they brought a local guy named Nick up to play drums during “For Reasons Unknown”. Nick did admirably, though his most baller moment was holding up his fingers in a knowing four when Brandon Flowers said, “These people paid good money to be here, we gotta give ’em what they want,” before dropping that four-on-the-floor beat. –Ben Kaye
Why Not Both? Coachella tried to prove rock is dead and rap has risen, but Boston Calling proved both are alive and well. Manchester Orchestra offered the most genuine proof of why guitar-based rock is thriving, and they weren’t even trying to. Now in their 14th year as a band, the Georgia rock act have evolved from an indie rock obscurity into a radio hit act. Onstage, they touched on all five albums by keeping everything centered around heavy riffs and the massive, scratchy yell of frontman Andy Hull. Their stage presence was bare, their banter little, but they owned the main stage space with an undeniably knotted and captivating catalog.
Noname, photo by Ben Kaye
Portugal. The Man, photo by Ben Kaye
Manchester Orchestra, photo by Ben Kaye
Tyler, the Creator, photo by Ben Kaye
Elsewhere, Portugal. the Man showed off the catchy side of rock, playing into their jam-band tendencies while giving the audience a good laugh with a handful of covers (Metallica! Pink Floyd! T. Rex!). The crowd continued to swell for Thee Oh Sees, unfamiliar onlookers coming closer to watch the sheer stamina of the band propel forward.
Yet the appeal of rap never faltered either. Tyler, the Creator gave a mesmerizing set atop a man-made hill onstage, onto which flowers, trees, and fields were projected. His embrace of the LGBTQ community and other traditionally ostracized fans of rap reformed his notoriously offensive one-liners into welcome messages of truth. Cousin Stizz preached the importance of hometown strength while flexing his rap skills. Even Noname, who has been doing the festival circuit fairly well, stepped up her game, bringing a brighter confidence to the stage with a side of humor as well. –Nina Corcoran
Chained to the Rhythm: BC doesn’t have a strong reputation for dance music; the lone DJ this year, Mike D, was only added as a replacement for Bryson Tiller. For those looking to get sweaty from body-moving and not just the heat, there was the new IKEA Food and Music Labs. Inside, you could chow down on the Swedish furniture company’s new veggie dog (ain’t that a sentence?), get some rest on rope hammocks, and most importantly, dance to your heart’s desire while a number of constantly rotating DJs hit the decks. Leave it to the folks behind the Arkelstorp to come up with a festival activation in which you can both get off your feet and get down. –Ben Kaye
Conclusion: In its ninth festival and second edition at the new Harvard Athletic Complex location, Boston Calling is closer than ever to understanding what type of festival it wants to be. But in the meantime, at least they know they want to be chill. The overall vibe of this year’s festival was low-key, an appealing lineup that was unhurried in execution. In an age of middling lineups and underwhelming festivals, Boston Calling felt like a welcome retreat in that it didn’t give you festival burnout while still offering festivalgoers a stacked experience, be it onstage with its musical artists or holed up in the comedy, film, and podcast offerings of the Arena.
Curators have found a way to cater to different music fans without segregating genres on a day-by-day schedule. The mix of rock, rap, electronica, folk, and more are what gives Boston Calling a leg up on its competitors, and the easygoing nature of the festival ground structure and its staff secures a simple time for attendees. While there are things the festival could improve on, like reviving the focus on local acts to start the day or updating a poorly laid-out website, this year lived up to its promise while reminding attendees that a festival is worth your money, especially when the option of showing up late or dipping out early on the final day isn’t even tempting. –Nina Corcoran
Charly Bliss
Cousin Stizz
David Longstreth
Leikeli47
Mike D
Tauk
Tyler the Creator
Pod Save America
Solo: A Star Wars Story underperforms at box office with $103 million opening
Corona Capital reveals 2018 lineup: Nine Inch Nails, Lorde, Robbie Williams to headline
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Steel Panther announce new album, Heavy Metal Rules, unveil video for first single: Watch
The hair-metal band’s fifth album arrives on September 27th.
by Spencer Kaufman
on July 08, 2019, 11:48am
Carnifex unleash apocalyptic video for new single “World War X”: Watch
The song is the title track to the metalcore band’s forthcoming seventh studio album out August 2nd.
by Jon Hadusek
on July 05, 2019, 12:17pm
Torche extend 2019 North American tour, release video for “Admission”: Watch
Plus, the band adds September shows to an already lengthy North American tour in support of its upcoming album.
Mike Patton and Jean-Claude Vennier share video for new single “Chansons D’Amour”: Stream
The duo’s forthcoming album Corpse Flower is out September 13th via Ipecac.
Alter Bridge unveil video for riff-heavy new song “Wouldn’t You Rather”: Stream
The first new music from Alter Bridge’s forthcoming album Walk the Sky.
by Anne Erickson
on June 28, 2019, 11:55am
The Old Firm Casuals unleash video for “Casual Rock-N-Roll”: Watch
The track is featured on the band’s latest album, Holger Danske.
Volbeat unveil video for new song “Last Day Under the Sun”: Stream
The latest song released from the band’s upcoming album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound.
on June 13, 2019, 9:41am
Carnifex announce World War X album, unleash “No Light Shall Save Us” featuring Alissa White-Gluz: Stream
The album drops August 2nd via Nuclear Blast, just in time for the band’s appearance on the “Summer Slaughter 2019 Tour”.
Supergroup Deadland Ritual release new single “Broken and Bruised”: Stream
The band features Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler along with vocalist Franky Perez, drummer Matt Sorum, and guitarist Steve Stevens.
on May 31, 2019, 12:25pm
Rammstein unveil NSFW video for “Ausländer”: Watch
The video depicts the band members as colonialists.
Alice in Chains raise a young beer bottle in bizarre “Rainier Fog” video: Watch
The latest video from the grunge goliaths is truly outlandish.
on May 15, 2019, 11:16am
Beast Coast announce debut album, revive Rap City’s basement cyphers in new video: Watch
The NYC rap supergroup invited former Rap City host Big Tigger to host the basement cypher.
by Ming Lee Newcomb
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Q&A: backup QB, Claiborne, & RB depth
Cowboys Blitz will deliver a weekly Q&A discussion after gathering relevant questions from fans.
Q: “Who looks better coming back from their respective injuries, Morris Claiborne or Dez Bryant?”
A: Morris Claiborne. And that’s not to say that Dez is necessarily struggling. There’s plenty of acrobatic catches from Dez throughout training camp, but it’s more-so a testament of how phenomenal Claiborne looks. Claiborne has been the most noticeable defensive back early in training camp; making plays on both sides of the field. It’s still early, but if Claiborne can stay healthy and play with this type of confidence throughout the regular season, he can re-establish himself as a standout corner in the NFL.
Cowboys CB Morris Claiborne continues to be impressive early in training camp. He had multiple pass breakups Tuesday vs. Dez Bryant.
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) August 10, 2016
Q: “What does the current depth chart look like for this talented running backs group? How many will the Cowboys keep on the 53-man roster?”
A: The primary back will likely be Ezekiel Elliott followed by Alfred Morris, but the depth chart behind Morris is where it gets a bit fuzzy. The Cowboys front office did not want to entertain trading any of their running backs throughout the NFL Draft, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have Darren McFadden on the roster this season. At the moment, McFadden and Lance Dunbar are slowly working to return from their respective injuries. Rookie running back Darius Jackson has looked extremely impressive throughout training camp, and will likely get a chance to shine in each preseason game receiving a bulk of the carries. If Jackson excels at any special teams opportunities on top of a few solid preseason games, he could find his way onto the 53 man roster. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Cowboys choose to keep four running backs, but they may have to play musical chairs behind Morris for weeks to come.
Jason Garrett: Darren McFadden (elbow) is “still a little bit away.” He’s not expected to play “real soon.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 10, 2016
Q: “What’s the deal on the backup quarterback situation? Will the Cowboys really begin the season with two unproven quarterbacks behind Romo?”
A: Too early to tell at this point. It doesn’t look like the backup quarterback situation has gone the way the front office had hoped it would after Kellen Moore’s broken leg, but that may not be a bad thing. The Cowboys were clearly in the running to acquire free agent quarterback Nick Foles before Foles chose to reunite with Andy Reid in Kansas City, and several sources have stated the Cowboys current interest in Browns quarterback Josh McCown. Stephen Jones has mentioned specifically looking for a veteran presence to accompany Romo, but it’s obvious the price has gone up; especially in August. If the Cowboys truly want to acquire McCown, they’ll likely have to overpay. And it doesn’t look like they want to. At this point, you just have to determine which risk you’re willing to take. Allow the young duo of Dak Prescott and Jameill Showers to continue to develop and see what you have there, or overpay for a quarterback who you are merely hoping could win you a few games if Romo suffers another injury. After the Weeden and Cassel experiments, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Cowboys take the cheaper route. Prescott and Showers have both looked promising throughout training camp, but their play in these upcoming preseason games should determine their role this season.
Dak Prescott & Jameill Showers took all reps today-thought both acquitted themselves admirably. Showers ended day on perfect TD to Escobar
— Babe Laufenberg (@BabeLaufenberg) August 5, 2016
Dak Prescott throws a dart to Swaim for a nice gain. pic.twitter.com/6Za9sxITsL
— Joe Trahan (@JoeTrahan) August 7, 2016
Cami Griffin August 2, 2016 August 12, 2016
Next Next post: Wide receiver guru David Robinson analyzes the Dallas Cowboys receivers
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CPAZ Zhuhai - Charity in Zhuhai
Contact us on Weibo or Facebook
Psychological and legal assistance
After crisis intervention
Why CPAZ ?
About Zhuhai
CPAZ foreign blog!
1) GENERAL STRUCTURE
Charity Promotion Association of Zhuhai is composed of five groups : the General
Assembly, the Council, the Standing Council, the Board of supervisors and an Advisory
group. The organization has two permanent members : the President/General Director
of Standing Council, and a secretary.
CPAZ' structure and procedures are written in a Constitution. The decision to amend the
Constitution can only be voted by the Council. Nonetheless, only the General Assembly can
decide on the amendments. The amendments enter in action 15 days after the vote.
Today, CPAZ relies on more than 250 people and 60 enterprises.
2) THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly is the highest authority of CPAZ. Its members are elected for four
years. Each draft of resolution must obtain 2/3 of the votes to pass. The issues discussed
focus on CPAZ' structure and policies, that is why the members use the Coucil's report on
CPAZ's work and finance to discuss, write drafts and vote. The General Assembly, after
vote of the Council, votes amendments on the Constitution.
The duties of the General Assembly are:
- Creating and and modifying rules of procedures such as election methods;
- Electing and dismissing the representatives of the Council, the Supervisors and directors;
- Voting resolutions on CPAZ's action (which new issues should be dealt with, which one
should we stopped working on...).
3) THE COUNCIL
The Council is the executive body of the General Assembly. Its members meet at least
once a year, but communicate regularly and can meet more often in exceptional
circumstances. To vote, at least 2/3 of the members must be present, and 2/3 of the
voters are necessary to pass a resolution. Whereas the General Assembly focuses on
structure, the Council determines CPAZ's daily work and can vote the amendment of
the Constitution.
The Council's duties are:
- Executing General Assembly's decisions;
- Electing and dismissing the President, the Vice-Presidents and the General Secretary;
- Organizing and preparing general meetings;
- Writing reports on CPAZ's work and finances;
- Determining how many members are needed, voting for new ones or dismissing some;
- Deciding the creation of offices, branches, agencies in institutions;
- Supervising the internal management;
- Leading the work.
Since the Council executes what the General Assembly, the highest entity, voted, the
selection of the members is strict: working in the Council requires personal and
professional experience to be able to comprehend the topics, the procedures and manage
the organization.
A person who wants to be part of the Council must be 18 years old at least and be
registered in a business unit or another social organization. The person must fill an
application form which will be read and discussed by the members of the Council. Members
can retire from the organization at any time, but must warn the Council which will discuss it.
Also, non participation to the Council's activities for a year or nonpayment of the
compulsory annual contribution automatically lead to the member's dismissal. Serious
violation of CPAZ's rules and procedures, or offensive behaviour are considered legitimate
reasons to expel a member from the Council and/or the organization.
Members who want to present their candidature for Presidency, VicePresidency or General
Secretary must be 25 at least, were never recognized guilty of any charge and be
recognized as experimented and competent members. The maximum age is 70 years old,
however exceptions can occur if the Council approves.
Members from the Council enjoy the following rights :
- The right to vote and present as a candidate;
- To participate to the Council's activities;
- Supervise the work of the organization.
They also have obligations:
- Executing the resolutions;
- Fulfilling the missions assigned in Council's meetings;
- Safeguarding the interests and rights of the Council;
- Paying annual contributions (President: 80,000 yuan; Vice-President: 40,000 yuan; Executive Director: 20,000);
- Providing information on the Council's situation.
Secretary General has the following duties:
- Carrying out daily work, organizing annual work plans;
- Coordinating the different branches, offices and institutions;
- Nominating Deputy Secretary and members of the offices, the reoresentatives and
leaders of agencies and the full-time staff;
- Taking care, in the name of the Council, of important issues.
4) THE STANDING COUNCIL
The Standing Council is composed of seven members : the President, three Vice-Presidents, Secretary General, Vice-Secretary General and two Directors working in the law field. The number of executive
directors must not exceed 1/3 of the total number of directors. Its members are elected by
the Council between two session periods. The Standing Council, as the Council, follows the
"2/3 presence, 2/3 of the voter rule" and is responsible in front of the Council. Its members
have six months to convene a meeting.
5) THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Board of Supervisors is composed of the President, the Vice-President and General Secretary, as well as other supervisors. The Director of the
supervisors is not one of them. The Board works along the Council and the General
Assembly. Its members meet at least twice a year. Members who want to be Supervisors
must be recognized for their contributions to CPAZ, and be at least 70. They also must not
have been recognized guilty of any delit and crime. Finally, because a Supervisor's work is
capital (keeping an eye on CPAZ's action and recommend wisely) the Supervisors must have
a long professional experience in their private work, and in CPAZ. Their rights and duties are:
- Writing an annual report on CPAZ's work for the General Assembly;
- Supervising the General Assembly and the elections/dismissal process;
- Checking finances and informations for public authorities, for example in tax matter;
- Attending Council's meetings, asking and recommending;
- Supervising and reporting the behaviour of the members.
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Number of DFR players above $250,000: 24 View more stats Stats
BBL08 Fantasy Tips: Scorchers v Sixers
13-Jan-19
By: Tristan Heffernan
The final leg of Sunday’s BBL08 triple header is the Perth Scorchers hosting the Sydney Sixers at Optus Stadium in Perth. Perth’s season is hanging by a thread but they notched their 2nd win last time against the Stars and will still be desperate to get back in the mix. The Sixers haven’t played since last Sunday, where they scored an impressive win against the Strikers on their home deck, chasing down 150 with 6 wickets in hand.
While last season’s solitary game at Optus Stadium produced a run feast for the Hobart Hurricanes, the first couple of games there this season have been anything but. In the first match the Scorchers knocked over the Strikers for just 88 runs on a wicket with a particularly green tinge and then passed their total three wickets down with two overs to spare. Last time the Scorchers struggled to 6/135 off their 20 against a Heat bowling attack not renowned for its quality, with the Heat getting the runs 5 down with 10 balls to spare. Expect a tough batting pitch by T20 standards again and lean towards the bowlers in your lineups.
Want to win a free trip to stay at Crown Melbourne and play off for a share of $150,000? Then the Draftstars “Biggest Bash” contest is for you! With a $2 qualifier running on every BBL contest, here is your chance to party at the VIP Live Final and compete for the $50,000 first prize!
Hear from some of the excited qualifiers who were happy to share their story with us:
Jason Knox aka “Knoxinator” won the first qualifier of the season with a solitary $2 lineup!
Shaun O’Neill aka “THE_BEARD” booked his ticket into the final thanks to one of three lineups he entered while at the pub with his girlfriend!
No one knows who the “Donkey” is but he will also be at the final after riding Ashton Turner to victory!
Are you new to Big Bash DFS? Picking the right games to play is a vital skill in building your bankroll. There are a number of sites offering a wide range of contests so we have an article looking at the best games to suit you.
Need more information on any of the players in this match? Check out our squad profiles of the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers to make sure you are in the know before you construct your lineups.
This season at DFR we are providing Draftstars Cheat Sheets for the 13 players named in each squad, offering projections and a salary-based value figure. Cricket is a volatile DFS sport so player scores can vary greatly from match to match, however we aim to provide a figure based on historical data as a starting point for your lineup construction. We have also added in each player’s scores in the past three matches so you can see their recent form at a glance.
Cameron Bancroft ($17,200) is working nicely into the tournament building each time at the wicket, capping off with a strong 59 run performance against the Stars. Now with a 3 game average of 48FP and Bancroft has the gloves so can still add points if a failure against the Sixers occurs. Should open or at least be in the top 3 and while he is priced up, he is one of the few Scorchers batsmen who can make a big score.
James Vince ($13,800) joins the Sixers as a replacement player for Joe Denly who is off to the West Indies for the English team. Vince spent previous seasons with the Thunder and has been recently been playing for Auckland in the Super Smash. Whilst his form for Auckland is patchy (scores of 1 and 18) and he didn’t get much of a go in the T10 in Sharjah, Vince has an overall record of T20 average of 29.07 and a strike rate of 132.45 from 157 games. He looks well priced considering his experience in this form of the game.
Ashton Turner ($17,600) is one of the players of the Tournament, so much so that Justin Langer flew him over to Sydney just to tell him how well he is going and then flew him back to Perth. He has scored above 60 fantasy points in his last three matches but now you pay a premium price for him. His strike rate generally earns him a bonus so he doesn’t have to make a big score to make big points and is capable of hitting value even at this higher salary for that reason.
Tom Curran ($21,000) went for plenty last match against the Strikers conceding 38 runs from his 4 overs. Yet the lad is averaging 74FP from his last three matches and is suited to the pacey Perth wicket. Love his feisty nature and doesn’t mind barking at anyone on the field. 3rd leading wicket taker for the tournament and this high salary and his propensity for the odd low score may mean he is underowned. Has gone above three figures in fantasy points three times this season so is worth some exposure if you play multiple lineups for that reason, even at this salary.
Depending on selection, Usman Qadir ($10,000) or Matthew Kelly ($9,000) will be required as a value piece for lineups as the pricing on players is tight. Qadir got the start last game and did get one wicket at the MCG but this pitch is generally suited to the quicker men. Kelly may get the nod here for that reason and is a genuine wicket taker. His record from BBL07 shows that Kelly picked up at least one wicket in each match and he is an obvious play at his low salary should he be picked.
Andrew Tye ($18,300) showed why he is one of the best T20 bowlers by exploding for a 4 wicket 134 fantasy point performance against the Stars, which boosted his 3 game average to 64. Tye will take that extra confidence and target the Sixers middle order here and is always a chance to take a bag of wickets as the designated death over bowler. His price makes it hard to play a lot of him but you need exposure to players capable of big scores and he is exactly that.
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Believing she was about to die in Camp Fire, a Calif. nurse called daughters to apologize and say goodbye
Tamara Ferguson, front, snapped this selfie in front of a Paradise, Calif., house with a group trapped by flames: nurse Chardonnay Telly, left, firefighters Matt Arness and Joe Greco, EMT Shannon Molarius and Dr. David Russell, back. (Tamara Ferguson / Facebook)
Two weeks ago, California nurse Tamara Ferguson was surrounded by fire and contemplating her own death when she called her two adult daughters to say “sorry” and goodbye.
The mother of five could see flames, feel the hot wind and knew the ambulance that evacuated patients from Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif., shortly ahead of hers already was burning.
Ferguson described the harrowing scene and her group’s incredible escape in a Facebook post on Nov. 9.
She posted again Thursday, wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and explaining why she felt that urge to apologize.
“My close friends, children and family know why, and I’m ready to share that (now), not for sympathy but for strength to others facing similar situations,” Ferguson wrote in her Thanksgiving post.
She described years of living in an abusive relationship and how she felt regret for all the times she wasn’t the positive, doting mom she always wanted to be.
Ferguson said all those emotions washed over her as she dialed her daughters Clarissa, 24, and Savannah, 22, for what she thought would be their last, tearful conversations.
She said her ambulance had only driven about a mile during the initial evacuation Nov. 8 when they heard over the radio the ambulance in front of theirs was swallowed by flames.
“We turned down a road into a driveway and stopped,” she wrote. “I looked around as fire surrounded us. Transformers were blowing up and the winds were sooo fierce.”
Ferguson, 42, called her kids to say “how very much” she loved them and how “sorry” she was “for anyway that I let them down, or made mistakes,” she wrote.
Posted by Tamara Ferguson on Sunday, May 27, 2018
On Thursday, she explained how she finally felt the strength to share her painful past after surviving the fire and speaking to the Los Angeles Times about her urge to apologize.
“My close friends, children and family know why, and I’m ready to share that (now), not for sympathy but for strength to others facing similar situations,” Ferguson wrote.
“To put it simple I was in an abusive relationship for years. I didn’t want to fail. I endured years of being called names no woman should ever be called. No words any children should hear spoken about or to their mother. I went from a person who believed I could do anything I set my mind to …someone who believed the actions and words brought upon me were ‘my fault,’” she wrote.
“I made excuses. I tried to do better. I told my kids it would get better ..it didn’t,” she wrote. “They never knew walking into that door if it was a good day or bad day …would I be happy and laughing …or crying and withdrawn?”
Ferguson said it took a long time to regain her sense of self-worth, but she did it.
She graduated nursing school with honors and a 2-month-old baby at age 37, she wrote.
She pursued her lifelong dream of becoming a labor and delivery nurse and started a new relationship with a partner who respected her.
“I met a man who showed me what love and healthy is, that you can disagree, even argue, or be mad at each other, but you don’t have to be belittled and reduced to tears and called names,” she wrote. “You can talk about things and forgive and move forward.”
Ferguson said she was embarrassed to share her story before but now hopes it will help others.
“No matter what you think it is T your fault,” she wrote. “Trust me. It’s never too late and you’re never stuck so far that you can’t find yourself and pursue your dreams and happiness.”
“This is how I live,” she ended her post, quoting the LA Times article.
One killed after vintage military plane crashes in Los Angeles mountains
Wanna-be hunky hipster huckster impersonated George Clooney to peddle dude duds: Thai police
Rachel Dolezal celebrates Pride Month by announcing she’s bisexual
Tree that inspired Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’ falls in California
A rare Babe Ruth jersey just became the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever
Flush while black: cash-carrying cop alleges being cuffed and frisked by white colleague
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Selections: Kiasmos
Words by: Vivian Yeung
Welcome back to Selections, a series of exclusive artist-curated Spotify playlists from those in the know.
Icelandic duo Kiasmos, made up of BAFTA-winning composer Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen, step up for a list of blissful, atmospheric choices. The two crossed paths when Arnalds worked as a sound engineer on Rasmussen’s projects and they later befriended each other over their love for minimal, orchestral and experimental sounds. The duo later decided to explore the gap between Arnald’s piano-based compositions and Rasmussen’s synth-heavy pop, as Kiasmos.
Below, the duo curate a list of tracks that provide us with some insight into what sparks their experimentations. There’s Bonobo, Leon Vynehall, Christian Löffler, Viktor Birgiss and more.
Kiasmos plays Printworks London on 4 November.
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The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Courses for Pianists
JOY LISNEY cellist conductor composer
7 STAR ARTS
piano sonatas
Charles Ives’s “Kŏn’kôrd” Sonata: The Vestibule of the Temple
By The Cross-Eyed Pianist | March 5, 2018
Guest post by Jack Kohl
If I were to help a new listener grapple with Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860”, I would share my story of first seeing the score’s opening page. I might supplement my case by directing him or her to Ives’s own Essays Before A Sonata and to its recent bookend, Kyle Gann’s extraordinary new study: Charles Ives’s Concord: Essays After A Sonata. One is in consummate hands with both of these books, and with many commercial recordings. Hence I will endeavor here to offer only what guidance I can from my own earliest experiences of the piece, and from my years of preparation at the keyboard before taking the work to the platform.
American pianist Gilbert Kalish captures Ives’ many-layered moods and themes in this reading of the “Concord”.
But I would not write an analysis of the piece; I would only write praise. This work has served as a dorsal fin in my existence since I was in my mid-teens, serving midway between the pectoral influences of Ralph Waldo Emerson on one side (through his Journals and published essays), and Franz Liszt on the other (principally through his Sonata in B Minor). Emerson and Liszt have always seemed men ripe for a study in parallel lives: Emerson of Concord, a man who metamorphosed from minister to performance artist; Liszt of Weimar, retired performance artist bound for a near-priestly twilight.
The “Concord” has always appeared to me formed by a Liszt Sonata in B Minor that escaped from passage on a mystic Mayflower, hid then between the serrations of tribal arrowheads, next amidst the lines of Puritan sermons, at last reemerging through Ives as his Second Piano Sonata when the old Calvinist headstones in the churchyard turned like a piano’s pins from the torque of Transcendentalist tuning hammers. It is no coincidence, I believe, that the “Concord” Sonata of Ives starts on a B-natural, on the same pitch class as the Liszt Sonata’s conclusion. Everything that follows in the Ives work has always seemed to me as an atomic subdivision of that final note of the Liszt Sonata.
How did I first learn of the piece? The Easter Bunny thought I had outgrown candy and left me a hidden copy of Howard Boatwright’s edition of Essays Before A Sonata and Other Writings by Charles Ives on Easter Morning of 1985 or 1986. The Easter Bunny is wise. He knew me better than I knew myself. Ives wrote the essays “primarily as a preface or reason for” his Second Piano Sonata. Opposite the first page of each essay for the Sonata’s four movements (an essay for “Emerson”, “Hawthorne”, “The Alcotts”, and “Thoreau”), Ives gives the first page of the respective movement from the score itself. The moment that I first looked in silence upon the “Emerson” movement’s opening five systems is distinct in my memory.
Ives’s engraved note heads appeared to be independent of the staff lines underneath them. Somehow the score writing seemed to imply epigrammatic meaning without the context of staff lines. He appeared to record some kind of journal-like impressions without heed to his notebook’s ruled pages.
That first impression from thirty years ago was similar to one I had of late. While rehearsing recently on the afternoon before a hastily prepared musical theater concert with Broadway actors, I was handed a printout for the song “Vanilla Ice Cream” from the musical “She Loves Me.” Perhaps because the printer’s ink cartridge was running low, or perhaps because the original scan of the music was faulty, the copy showed note heads that were distinct, though of a jaundiced color. But the staff lines were nearly invisible. It was remarkable to me how much the absence of the staff lines made the note heads useless to me as a sight reader. There was a rush to find another copy of the music. But for the first page of Ives’s “Concord” one feels that there is a deep and artful implication from the seeming separation of the note heads from the sublimated staff lines. The stars at night are like such Ivesian note heads.
Is it by some kind of faith that we feel there must be spiritual staff lines between, around, the sidereal musical notation, inspiring our will to form constellations? And yet the actual lines are there if one looks twice with sober eyes at the first page of the “Emerson” movement. Ives’s wild notational utterance is a heterodoxy brought into control by a Puritan focus.
Transcendentalism only works in the shadow of the Meeting House; one cannot coast too far. But the harmonic verticality on that first page seems a sign that Ives will only enter as far as “the vestibule of the temple” on the grand staff.
His harmony almost seems a complement or foil to ubiquity: like soap bubbles that might conjoin yet not appear yoked (and not augment the size of the new sphere); like Siamese twins with one body and one identity; or as if an entire flock of gulls could alight on one flagpole, yet not one bird crowded to the equator of the topping sphere. In other words, what is the reverse of ubiquity for multiple objects? Rather than one thing everywhere at once (ubiquity); it is everything (or many things) at one place at one time.
Mit-like width of chord spans are called for in “Emerson” – as if wider and wider parts of the body might be required to realize the vertical sonorities – as if ultimately the width of contact would be so great one would need be prostrate on the keyboard; and then one would need get up and live for oneself instead of the music. It is music that makes one stand up from the bench in health. It is as an object or article the use of which is to compel one to repudiate it in favor of one’s own actions.
But the act of repudiation is not an act of rejection. This music makes a noble sacrifice of itself for the listener’s mind. It weans one like an aggressive mother bear weans her aging cub. The hands are so often splayed in very wide non-tonal contexts that the fingers assume the arrangement of one engaged in a handstand – as if one might look away from the score and the instrument and perceive the world upside down, as with the refreshed fascination as when one bends over to look through one’s legs.
The chords in “Emerson” compel one to look at systems above and below the one being played at the moment. Ives compels non-linear comparison of his own material in this way, and one is reminded of the unanticipated comparisons a reader can make when using any text, when, with fingers between the pages or just before a page turn or in the midst of a draft, intense sunlight reveals the text that is printed on the reverse side of an oncoming page or a preceding page.
All this points to Ives’s success in translating the miraculous effect of Emerson’s latent prose mechanics. Emerson credits the best books with triggering thought, and he does not mean thought in relation to a book’s subject or style – no, something in certain texts (something deep in their mechanics) triggers one’s completely independent thinking of a reading – completely independent of a book’s content, style, and even the latent mechanics that trigger the thought. Emerson’s own books have that latent mechanism – as if while making demands for themselves they also trigger some part of the mind that is as a cerebral appendix to the conscious act of reading the book of another.
The “Emerson” movement is programmatic insofar as it suggests the mental mechanical action of the man Matthew Arnold called the greatest prose writer of the nineteenth-century – a writer who, if one counts the spaces, the periods, between his dense and intentionally incongruous phrases – has asked his reader an equal number of times to think as much as, if not more than, the author.
Most people, when saying prose writing is musical, mean to suggest an ineffable quality of poetic ringing or rhythm to the language. But Ives in his “Emerson” movement captures a deeper musical suggestiveness from Emerson’s working habits as a writer of journal entries – mechanics that invoke an equal share of the horizontal and the vertical – and those mechanics somehow survive in latent evidence in the essays. To wit: Emerson’s filling notebooks from front to back and back to front, writing of pages up and down rather than from side to side; intentionally stacking incongruous subject matter atop one another. Emerson calls upon the implied strength hidden in a palimpsest. Ives mentions in his own essays Carlyle’s remark on Emerson’s lack of coherence paragraph to paragraph. But the lack of phrase coherence is intentional, and the tacit transitions are left to the reader – and the listener. Emerson’s lack of coherence is not incoherence, but a conscious effort to remove articulations of transition. The reader, the witness, is forced to live in that gap and to realize transitional surface himself.
If in lieder, word painting endeavors to express concrete meanings of a word by the direction – up or down – of musical notes, then Ives for Emerson transition paints. He endeavors to catch the metaphoric leaps that are left to the reader by Emerson when the reader is confronted by non-sequential sentences on a related topic. Ives recalls the moment of an erudite squirrel leaping, in mystic but somehow unbending portamento, from tree to tree in Mr. Emerson’s orchard. Ives renders the leaps of a “La Campenella” into a dance betwixt one’s own neurons.
I spend a lot of time trying to disabuse students of the misuse of the word song for non-song pieces. But in the “Emerson” movement of the “Concord”, perhaps the usage is correct in an unsuspected way. For Ives undertakes a prosody for the latent mechanics of Emerson’s prose. Emerson’s latent mechanics – the mystic text buried in the infinite density of his periods and semicolons – are not detected by “reading between the lines.” That phrase merely suggests the ulterior purpose of the visible text. Emerson’s and Ives’s latent mechanics ask that the reader, the player, the listener, synthesize mediating purposes that are aggressively omitted.
Granted, the foundations of profound abstract borrowings from spoken and sung language had long been laid in piano literature. The frenetic machinegun alternation of the hands in the first page of Ives’s “Emerson” may even announce a philosophical leap of purpose over the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century piano performance practice of left-hand-before-right-hand execution.
But Ives’s intentions are much more ambitious than those of the pianist-composers who borrowed from and steeped themselves in the bel canto tradition. Ives does not seem to imagine the rhythms of Emerson the lecturer, of Emerson the performer. Again, Ives’s aim appears to be the translation of Emerson’s latent mechanics into music.
Emerson himself, in his remarkable entry (from Journal Y, 1845-1846) under the heading of Croisements, writes: “The seashore, and the taste of two metals in contact, and our enlarged powers in the presence or rather at the approach & at the departure of a friend, and the mixture of lie in truth, and the experience of poetic creativeness which is not found in staying at home, nor yet in travelling, but in transitions from one to the other, which must therefore be adroitly managed to present as much transitional surface as possible. ‘A ride near the sea, a sail near the shore;’ said the ancient.”
Ives’s “Emerson” codifies and achieves this aim. By means of what might be styled a Total Chromaticism, Ives paints as if from a palette, fires as if from a quiver, of all leading tones. The listener must learn to exult in Ives’s painting in “as much transitional surface as possible.” I remember as a child that I was disappointed that one could not land on Jupiter, could not set foot on a gas giant – for from afar it looks like a glorious and inviting solid. But it cannot be mapped. Ives’s score, in imitation of the latent prose mechanics of Emerson, is a snapshot of an evolving surface of Jovial ether.
The “Emerson” movement, though the first movement in the Sonata, is in fact a development section in disguise yet in plain sight. Its repositioning is a mild and superficial disguise, yet as effective as Clark Kent’s horn-rimmed glasses. It is a development in which the founding elements are constantly resetting, as if it is a record of all beginnings, of all first bars. It is like a language of all prepositions – nay, pre-positions.
Mass. is a common abbreviation for Massachusetts. But I suspect Mr. Ives, in his Sonata’s title, is rendering a civil religious pun. For he has given us not just a piece about Concord (kŏng’kərd), Mass., but a work to be regarded as the Mass of concord (kŏn’kôrd) – best heard from the vestibule of the temple.
Jack Kohl is a writer and pianist living in the New York City area. He is the author of That Iron String (A Novel of Pianists vs. Music), Loco-Motive (A Novel of Running), and the forthcoming You, Knighted States (An American Descendentalist Western), all from The Pauktaug Press
Posted in General and tagged as 20th-century piano music, Charles Ives Concord Sonata, piano sonatas, repertoire.
Sunday Afternoon With Wolfgang: Mozart at King’s Place
By The Cross-Eyed Pianist | April 18, 2011
Read my review for Bachtrack.com of Leon McCawley’s concluding Mozart piano sonatas recital here
Posted in Performance review and tagged as King's Place, Leon McCawley, Mozart, piano sonatas.
Playing the Beethoven Piano Sonatas
By The Cross-Eyed Pianist | February 22, 2011
There are many series, suites and cycles of pieces which can be considered “up there” in the pianist’s standard repertoire: Bach’s ’48’, Schubert’s Impromptus and Moments Musicaux, Schuman’s Carnaval and Kreisleriana, Chopin’s Etudes and Preludes, Liszt’s Annèes or the Transcendental Studies, but none can quite come close to Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, usually referred to as the ‘New Testament’ of piano music (the WTC is the ‘Old Testament’!). Perhaps the primary appeal of these pieces, aside from the sheer Herculean effort of learning and absorbing them, is that they offer both a far-reaching overview of Beethoven’s musical style and a glimpse into the inner workings of his compositional life and personality. Urban legend has it that Beethoven was a rough, irascible, grumpy and unapproachable sod, but this does not tell us much about his music. Living with his music, spending time with it to understand what makes it special, allows a more honest, rounded view of him, and, perhaps of all his music, the piano sonatas offer a really candid autobiography.
As pianists, whether amateur or professional, advanced or intermediate, or even just beginning on the great journey of exploration, we have all come across Beethoven’s piano music, and many of us have played at least one of his sonatas during our years of study. As an early student, a taster of a proper sonata in the form of one of his Sonatinas (something my father is grappling with at the moment – and refusing any helpful advice from me!). Later on, we might encounter one of the “easier” piano sonatas, such as the pair of two-movement sonatas that form the Opus 49 (nos. 19 and 20), which are roughly Grade 5-6 standard (but don’t be fooled by the comparatively “easy” notes!). As part of my Grade 8 repertoire, I learnt the No. 5 (Opus 10, No. 1, in C minor), which prefigures the far more well-known and well-loved Pathétique in the flourish of its opening measures, the “beautiful melody” of its slow movement, and its febrile final movement. A quick glance through the Diploma repertoire lists for any of the exam boards (Trinity, ABRSM, RAM etc) and there is a generous handful of sonatas to choose from, from well-known to less popular, to suit each level of Diploma right up to Fellow.
It is generally accepted pianistic wisdom that Beethoven composed the piano sonatas during three distinct periods of his life, and as such, like the Duo Sonatas for Piano and ‘Cello (read my earlier post here), offer a fascinating overview of his compositional development. Setting aside the three “Electoral” sonatas, which are not usually included in the traditional cycle of 32 (though Beethoven authority, Professor Barry Cooper, who has edited new the ABRSM edition of the sonatas, argues that there is a case for including the three sonatas that Beethoven wrote when he was 12 in a complete edition), the early sonatas are, like the early duo sonatas (for violin and for ‘cello), virtuosic works, reminding us that Beethoven was a fine pianist. While the faster movements may nod back to his teacher, Haydn (though Beethoven would strenuously deny any influence!), it is the slow movements which demonstrate Beethoven’s deep understanding of the capabilities of the piano, and its ability, through textures and colours, moods and contrasts, to transform into any instrument he wishes it to be. Some of the writing could be for string quartet (Op. 2 No. 2). In the early sonatas, Beethoven’s mastery of the form is already clear, and many look forward to the greater, more complex, and more revolutionary sonatas of his ‘middle’ period. His distinctive musical personality is already stamped very firmly on these early works.
The sonatas from the middle period are some of the most famous:
The ‘Tempest’ and ‘La Chasse’ (Op. 31, Nos. 2 and 3). The first with its stormy, passionate opening movement, the second of the opus rollicking and somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
The ‘Moonlight’ (Op. 27, No. 2): the first of his piano sonatas to open with a slow movement. Too often the subject of clichéd, lugubriously romantic renderings, this twilight first movement shimmers and shifts. An amazing gesture, created by a composer poised on the threshold of change.
The ‘Waldstein’ (Op. 53). Throbbing quavers signal the opening of one of the greatest of all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, while the final movement begins with a sweetly consoling melody which quickly transforms into daring octave scales in the left hand and a continuous trill in the right hand. This is Beethoven at his most heroic.
‘Les Adieux’ (Op. 81a). Suggested to be early ‘programme’ music in its telling of a story (Napoleon’s attack on the city of Vienna which forced Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph, to leave the city, though this remains the subject of some discussion still). It is true that Beethoven himself named the three movements “Lebewohl,” “Abwesenheit,” and “Wiedersehen”. One of the most challenging sonatas because of its mature emotions and technical difficulties, it bridges the gap between Beethoven’s middle and late periods.
Late period:
The ‘Hammerklavier’ (Op. 106), with its infamous and perilously daring grand leap of an octave and a half at the opening (which, of course, should be played with one hand!); its slow movement of infinite sadness and great suffering; its finale, a finger-twisting fugue, the cumulative effect of which is overwhelming: an expression of huge power and logic.
The Last Sonatas (Opp. 109, 110, 111). I have written about these sonatas previously. They are considered to be some of the most profoundly philosophical music, music which “puts us in touch with something we know about ourselves that we might otherwise struggle to find words to describe” (Paul Lewis), which speaks of shared values, and what it is to be a sentient, thinking human being. From the memorable, lyrical opening of the Op. 109 to the final fugue, that most life-affirming and solid of musical devices, of the Op 110, that peaen of praise, to the “ethereal halo” that is contained in some of the writing of the Arietta of the Op 111, the message and intent of this music is clear. And this is Beethoven’s great skill throughout the entire cycle of his piano sonatas.
So, what is the perennial attraction of performing a Beethoven Sonata Cycle? Glance through concert programmes around the world and it is clear that these sonatas continue to fascinate performers and audiences alike, and no sooner has one series ended than another begins, or overlaps with another. Playing the Sonatas in a cycle is the pianistic equivalent of reading Shakespeare, Plato, or Dante, and for the performer, it offers the chance to get right to the heart of the music, peeling back the layers on a continuous journey of discovery, always finding something new behind the familiar. One does not have favourites; just as when one has children, one should never have favourites, though certain sonatas will have a special resonance. The sonatas are like a family, they all belong together – and they are needed, ready to be rediscovered by each new generation. You can play the sonatas for over a quarter of a century, half a century, and yet there are still many things in these wonderful works to be explored and understood, things which still have the power to surprise and fascinate.
Every pianist worth his or her salt knows that presenting a Beethoven sonata cycle represents a pinnacle in one’s artistic career (ditto the five Piano Concertos) and an important stepping stone to other great cycles (Schubert’s sonatas, for example, which are, perhaps, less satisfying to play than Beethoven’s because of problems such as incomplete or different versions of the same work), but once a cycle is complete, one cannot truly say one has conquered the highest Himalayan peak. And that is what is so special about this music: you can never truly say you have “arrived” with it, while its endless scope continues to reward, inspire and fulfil.
I have never heard a complete Beethoven cycle performed by a single performer, but I have heard plenty of concerts which form part of the whole: in the 1980s, it was John Lill, now one of the “elder statesmen” of British pianism; before him, my parents would have heard Brendel and Barenboim. Following in their footsteps, I heard some of Barenboim’s concerts when he played a complete cycle at the Festival Hall three year’s ago. At the same time, Paul Lewis was just finishing his own cycle at the Wigmore Hall (and beyond). I heard him play Nos. 15-18, some of the early sonatas, and the Last Sonatas. Then there was Till Fellner, a young Austrian with a clean, fresh approach, whose cycle began in 2008. On LP, I had Lill’s complete cycle, released the same year as I heard him at RFH. On CD I have Arrau, whose account is hard to match. But I also have recordings of favourites, such as the Opus 10’s, played by Angela Hewitt, or the Opus 110 (my absolute favourite), played by Glenn Gould and Mitsuko Uchida (whose Mozart playing I adore).
In concert, the sonatas are presented in halls large and small, famous and lesser known. The size of the hall can affect one’s appreciation and understanding of the works. For example, sometimes the earlier sonatas, which were written for the salon, can be lost in a venue as big as the Royal Festival Hall. One’s connection to the music is also affected, of course, by the performer. Lill, I remember, brought an extraordinary closeness and intimacy, something I have never forgotten, a sense that it was an entirely shared experience; while with Barenboim it felt as if an invisible barrier had been erected between us, the audience, and him the performer (I suspect he neither intended nor engineered this; rather, the over-awed audience brought it upon themselves!).
Playing the Beethoven Piano Sonatas – Robert Taub. “Offers the insights of a passionate musician who performs all 32 of Beethoven’s well-loved piano sonatas in concert worldwide. This book presents his intimate understanding of these works with listeners and players alike.” (Amazon)
The Beethoven Sonatas and the Creative Experience – Kenneth Drake. “Drake groups the Beethoven piano sonatas according to their musical qualities, rather than their chronology. He explores the interpretive implications of rhythm, dynamics, slurs, harmonic effects, and melodic development and identifies specific measures where Beethoven skillfully employs these compositional devices.” (Amazon)
Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion – Charles Rosen. A very readable analysis of all 32 sonatas by respected pianist and writer.
New York Times article about Professor Barry Cooper’s study of all 35 sonatas
Posted in Repertoire and tagged as Beethoven Piano Sonatas, piano music, piano sonatas. 9 Comments
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Report: Barcelona Distancing Ronaldinho And Rivaldo From Club After Players Endorse Jair Bolsonaro
Gabe Fernandez
Filed to: RonaldinhoFiled to: Ronaldinho
Photo: Jeff Zelevansky (Getty Images)
Barcelona have decided to reduce the presence of former players Ronaldinho and Rivaldo at club-related activities—like legends games and sponsorship events—after the two Brazilians announced their support for Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right presidential candidate in Brazil.
Catalan newspaper Sport reported that the club found the endorsements “incompatible” with its values and that they would rather slowly disassociate from the players than publicly oppose their stances. Ronaldinho and Rivaldo each have agreements with Barcelona where they earn money for appearing at certain events as club ambassadors.
Bolsonaro’s meteoric rise to popularity in Brazil can be attributed to his harsh, bigoted rhetoric and promises of severe criminal justice reform, not unlike that which was used during Trump’s 2016 campaign. He told a female lawmaker in 2014 that she was too ugly to rape. He said of Afro-Brazilian communities that they were not “worth anything” because “they don’t even manage to procreate anymore.” When talking about solving crime he said, “a policeman who doesn’t kill isn’t a policeman.” It’s no wonder that Barcelona wants to get as far away as possible from this sort of messaging.
Ronaldinho and Rivaldo aren’t the only two Brazilian soccer stars with vocal ties to Bolsonaro. In another report, Sport pointed out that current players like Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Alisson had all indirectly shown support for the candidate. But given the popularity of some of these athletes, it’s not likely that other clubs will follow the lead of Barcelona and distance themselves from those players from a promotional standpoint. It’s much easier to get away from someone when you don’t have to trot them out in a starting lineup on a weekly basis.
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How to Install FEMINAZI: The Triggering Without Errors (Windows 7/8 or 10)
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Tags > tennis
Tags > tennis Clear All
Park Asset Inventory
A comprehensive database of assets managed by the Parks and Open Space division. The asset inventory includes everything from Parks down to fixtures in the park (such as benches and play structures). Includes asset ID, asset class, asset type, gps location, asset size, and whether it's the primary asset in that location. For example, in the case of athletic fields, asset size indicates whether the field is full or a reduced size. The Primary Field indicates whether that asset is the primary entity for that location. For polygon shapes please see https://data.winnipeg.ca/Parks/Map-of-Park-Asset-Inventory/9qbp-pngj
Tags track bench swing play structure tennis and 20 more
Map of Park Asset Inventory
A comprehensive database of assets managed by the Parks and Open Space division. The asset inventory includes everything from Parks down to fixtures in the park (such as benches and play structures). Includes asset ID, asset class, asset type, geometry, asset size, and whether it's the primary asset in that location. For example, in the case of athletic fields, asset size indicates whether the field is full or a reduced size. The Primary Field indicates whether that asset is the primary entity for that location. For tabular details please see https://data.winnipeg.ca/Parks/Park-Asset-Inventory/dk7c-zxyd
Tags swing devfriendly track fitness tennis and 20 more
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Meet ‘The FinTech 50’ – Cybertill
Dan Gray · April 13, 2015
Dan Gray 2015-04-13
Ian Tomlinson, Chief Executive at Cybertill
What is Cybertill’s mission statement?
The world of business is making a wholesale shift to cloud technology, enabling retailers – from SMEs and start-ups to international outfits – the opportunity to develop, grow and internationalise more dynamically.
Cybertill delivers tangible cloud-based solutions which allow retailers to do just this through its end-to-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By giving retailers a single view of their stock, it means they can manage their entire supply chain centrally, underpinning their capabilities for growth.
With retailers’ requirements at the heart of its offering, Cybertill looks to deliver a solution which addresses tomorrow’s retail needs, today.
Where are you headquartered?
Cybertill is headquartered in Knowsley, on the outskirts of Liverpool, which provides the benefits of a good transport network of motorways, mainline railways and international airports. Its office space is situated in a series of converted barns on Lord Derby’s Estate, so the working environment is second to none. However, as its technology is cloud based, this means that not only Cybertill but also its clients are unrestricted by location to do business.
Who do you think will be the most influential figures (or companies) in FinTech, in 2015?
This year, virtual currencies will continue to challenge the market. Fuelled partly by the rise of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency will continue to be a disruptive influence as it remains outside of the control of central banks and governments.
The main challenges for these firms will be any legislation brought in from governments to regulate their products, as well as getting greater traction in the market place.
However, with the continuing – and widely documented – currency struggles of the Euro and the Russian Rouble, consumers and economic states want safe currencies to invest in – the recent boost in value of the Swiss Franc following its abandonment of the Euro cap being a poignant example of just this.
And it’s not just at the macro-level where these firms and brands will impact – the concept of virtual currency could also have huge implications in the retail space, but only if retailers are brave enough to embrace it.
What kind of year do you foresee for your company, and the industry as a whole?
Cybertill is looking – and expects – to double turn over in the next three years. The forecast for this year is one of growth, as enterprise retailers, who may have been holding off updating their retail technology assets over the last few years, reconsider investing in technology thanks to the green shoots of recovery the retail industry is experiencing.
This mind-shift is also being fuelled by the sheer change of pace within retail technology itself. With concepts, such as mobile retailing and the Internet of Things, coming to fruition and widely adopted in the psyche of the mainstream shopper, retailers know they need to stay ahead of the curve. Offering customers a convenient and seamless shopping experience, has never been more important and retailers are realising the role which technology plays in delivering this.
FinTech specifically will also continue to evolve in the consumer space, again, driven by the ‘consumerisation’ of mobile phone payment technology. And, with the US market moving to EMV this year, further opportunities for growth in this market will be created.
What are your key targets for 2015?
2015 sees Cybertill looking to consolidate its market growth in the charity retail sector, where it has already delivered solutions for the likes of the British Red Cross and Cancer Research. It is also looking to grow our positioning in the enterprise retail space with our ERP solution. Its ambitions also span across the pond, having recently entered the North American market, Cybertill is looking to expand opportunities in the US through a strategic partnership with Mercury Pay.
What are the most important opportunities for FinTech in 2015?
International growth outside the Euro Zone will be one of the key opportunities for 2015.
What are the key hurdles for growing your business this year?
Developing a base in North America is a key focus for Cybertill in 2015 and represents a significant – and exciting – opportunity. Cybertill has already consolidated a team in the market place with the objective of developing our relationships with resellers. Cybertill will also be channelling its efforts in raising its profile within the US market through strategic partnerships and solution implementation.
What are your thoughts on the current state of FinTech?
While it’s a new industry, it is already evolving at pace. This speed of change has the potential to impact not just industries but also disrupt at a macro-level.
FinTech is challenging the status quo of payments but we have only seen the tip of the iceberg – it has the potential to enable technology to be harnessed in a revolutionary way.
Tags:LiverpoolMeet the Fintech 50Retail
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Meet Azure DocumentDB- Microsoft's NoSQL Document Database Service
Dan Gray
Dan has worked in online media and marketing across a variety of industries, from data science to interactive entertainment, building online communities around technology interests and innovative startups.
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Mini State of Writing: Bitten by the Bug
I sat down and worked on On the Strings of Oblivion last night. I’m still trying to let that settle in. It’s been over a month since I last did anything at all with it. My writing muscles feel weak and out of place. Creative gears are rusty and don’t like turning. Being bitten by the writing bug tends to leave me sore.
And it feels great.
By the time I wrapped things up last night, I’d hit two major pre-writing milestones for Strings. Most importantly, my checkpoints for the book are complete. This is my version of an outline, and I find it an invaluable layout for my writing process. It means I’m officially ready to concentrate on the manuscript.
The second is less important, but I have a preliminary chapter layout.
It’s exciting for a couple reasons. One, because it was something that historically happens much later in the process, for me. With All Flames Cast, I didn’t reach this point until I was about 85% done with the first draft. Secondly, Strings is a big step forward for me as a writer, in the sense that I’m dealing with a more complex narrative, with more major POV characters and more interaction among them.
In All Flames Cast, the three major characters were largely isolated from each other, which made plotting their arcs easy. Laying out the chapter order was mostly just lining up chronologies across characters and finding appropriate places to change POVs. With Strings, the characters interact more and to a deeper level, which made my character-based checkpoints and chapter layout more problematic. Getting this all done feels like a big weight off my shoulders.
And now it’s up to me to somehow crank out ~100,000 words before the end of the year to hit my internal deadline. Wheeee!
Tags all flames cast, checkpoints, Chronicle of the Sons, fantasy, fiction, oblivion, outline, state of writing, strings
Book of the Week – June 24th, 2016
Grand Admiral Thrawn: Why the preservation of the Star Wars Expanded Universe is still important
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Civil War II #1
Event\Storyline: Civil War II Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: David Marquez Publisher: Marvel Comics Release Date: June 1, 2016 Cover Price: $5.99 Critic Reviews: 32 User Reviews: 43
The explosive first chapter in the comic event EVERYONE will be talking about. And we come out swinging with a blistering double-sized first issue from the creative team behind last year's best-selling debut of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN and Miles Morales. A new Inhuman, with the ability to profile the future, emerges and the ramifications ripple into every corner of the Marvel Universe. Lines are drawn, bodies fall, and the Marvel Universe will be rocked to it's very core. The action starts here!
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User Reviews (43)
Kabooooom - Brandon Griffin Jun 2, 2016
There isn't much humor to Civil War II #1, other than a few quick lines, which sets the tone right for what's to come. Bendis is taking this story very seriously and with the stage is officially set, readers will be invested once they get through this hefty first chapter. All the makings of a well done crossover event are present and the gravity of how this will affect every character involved is laid out masterfully. There's little doubt that Marvel is going to use this to shape the landscape for the universe in the coming years. The only question going forward is of course… whose side are you on? Read Full Review
Newsarama - Oscar Maltby Jun 2, 2016
Tragedy rocks the Marvel Universe in Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez's Civil War II #1, a truly widescreen comic book of universe-spanning proportions. Read Full Review
Hyper Geeky - ClumsyG Jun 1, 2016
Civil War is a beloved crossover event that's considered one of the greatest moments in comic history. Civil War II looks to join its predecessor with a dramatic first chapter that explores how the bitterly the bonds of friendship tear. Read Full Review
Project Fandom - Nina Perez Jun 9, 2016
It's going to be very interesting to see which side our heroes fall on. I haven't yet finished the first Civil War event (and I will), and I don't know how the ending of the film (and its upcoming fallout in future Marvel films) differ from the conclusion of the comic book series, but it seems as though Tony is a bit more reserved than his character has been in the past. Though his relationship with one of the deceased pretty much guarantees that will change going forward. Read Full Review
Superior Spider-Talk - Doug Zawisza Jun 3, 2016
Civil War II #1 really gets things going, weaving in the pieces from the Free Comic Book Day and the #0 issue as writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Dave Marquez embed readers on the front lines of the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review
Black Nerd Problems - William Evans Jun 1, 2016
Overall, this is a good start to Civil War II. We still get a bunch of crossovers that essentially pit hero vs hero (especially in Marvel) so we weren't exactly in need of this sequel, but it's welcome nonetheless. Bendis and Marquez, as always, will make a good team on this as we find out how the sides get drawn in successive issues. Read Full Review
Good Kind Of Geek - Nikki Yuan Jun 5, 2016
The issue does a wonderful job detailing characters and allowing readers to understand what's at stake. Tony's pain is *obviously understandable. And the same time, it's also obvious where Carol is coming from as well. The final few pages are terrifying and they have us looking forward to the changes in Marvel Universe. Read Full Review
Heroes Direct - Eammon Jacobs Jun 3, 2016
Whilst we have alot of faith in Bendis, this first issue is a little rushed. But, we can't wait for the next one. Read Full Review
Comic Book Resources - Greg McElhatton Jun 1, 2016
Overall, "Civil War II" #1 is a good launching point for this miniseries, even as it integrates the information from "Civil War II" #0 and the Free Comic Book Day special. I'm curious to see if Bendis and Marquez can maintain this level of tension and what they'll add into the mix to keep the conflict burning strong. For now, though, it's more than enough to get readers coming back for more. It's a good lynchpin for Marvel's publishing line over the next few months; they've got another bestseller on their hands here. Read Full Review
PopMatters - Jack Fisher Jun 13, 2016
It may be too late for Vanilla Ice, but the timing is perfect for this latest Marvel spectacle. Read Full Review
ComicList - Eric Bradach Jun 3, 2016
It's upsetting that we're getting another Marvel event that'll deviate writers from their current stories. Especially so soon after the exhaustion that was Secret Wars(2015). Fortunately Brian Michael Bendis has delivered a strong opening issue that'll hook readers investment. The motivations are genuine and not contrived, which was the biggest mistake of the original. Hopefully this will also lead to strong character development and if it's good, ramifications that'll impact future stories. With assistance from a stellar art team who deliver the goods as well, Civil War II #1 is definitely worth a read. Read Full Review
Comic Vine - Tony 'G-Man' Guerrero Jun 1, 2016
If you think you've seen a civil war in the Marvel Universe before, think again. Brian Michael Bendis is making this a bigger decision with much more on the line. There is a big decision to be made. Because some characters acted before everyone could agree, there's a price to be paid. David Marquez's art and Justin Ponsor's colors are amazing and this is a really good start to Marvel's next big event. This is just the beginning, and you won't want to miss out on what happens here. Be sure to read the issue before you see spoilers. The Marvel Universe is about to explode. The next big event is here, and there will be casualties. Read Full Review
The Source by SuperHeroStuff - Marc Buxton Jun 2, 2016
Again, this is a crossover sure to rankle fandom (but what doesnt these days), but it is clear of purpose and thematically powerful enough to have me intrigued. Read Full Review
ComicBook.com - Matthew Mueller Jun 3, 2016
Civil War II contains all the standards of the typical event book. It has conflict, death, a new power at the center of it all, and high stakes, but the creative team is able to rework those familiar elements into a compelling package, and thankfully the story presents two clear ideas that fans can genuinely get behind. Read Full Review
Graphic Policy - Brett Jun 1, 2016
Like most of Marvel's event comics, the first issue definitely hooks you and has me interested to see what comes next. Hopefully it'll focus more on the actual political debate within and not water it down with actions based on emotions. Read Full Review
AiPT! - David Brooke Jun 1, 2016
Aside from Iron Man flying off the handle like an erratic child – and the Inhumans' place in the bigger picture of this story not being very clear when it should be – this issue does well to remind us comic book events are meant to be big and important. This has everything you're looking for in a bombastic event series including the irrational characters! Read Full Review
Nerds Unchained - Jeremy Radick Jun 1, 2016
In the end, while it works as a first issue, Civil War II #1 also makes me concerned that we're going to get heroes making choices that aren't worthy of them, and aren't well orchestrated enough, in order to fit a narrative that sells books. And that's fine, but it's that kind of storytelling that keeps an event book from rising above being simply spectacle into storytelling. Read Full Review
IGN - Jesse Schedeen Jun 1, 2016
As far as Marvel events go, Civil War II is shaping up to be neither the publisher's worst nor its most impressive effort. This first issue cleanly establishes the conflict and delivers a nonstop stream of gorgeous artwork. However, it offers few surprises for those not already familiar with the basics of this crossover, and it often fails to elicit a strong emotional response in the way the first issue of Civil War did ten years ago. The excitement factor simply isn't there right now. Read Full Review
Comic Book Revolution - Rokk Jun 2, 2016
Overall: Civil War II #1 was a much better read that I was expecting. Bendis delivers a solid start to this new big event. Bendis certainly delivered a strong later half in Civil War II #1 that is sure to get many readers excited about this big event and eager to come back for the next issue. And that is the main goal with any debut issue of a big event. So, Bendis deserves credit for pulling that off with this issue. I would certainly recommend Civil War II #1 to any readers who enjoy big event comics. The stage has been set for what may, potentially, be a rather exciting big event. Read Full Review
Newsarama - Richard Gray Jun 1, 2016
At this early stage, Civil War II suffers some of the problems that have beleaguered similar narratives in recent years, principally in seeing heroes all too quick to take sides against comrades on a possible future. Indeed, Bendis has set big goals for himself in the past with events built around time travel and alternate timelines, and this series is a variation on some of those recent themes. Yet this is also just the beginning of something much larger, and while it may seem at times like this is an extended version of the "zero" issue that preceded it, all the pieces are now in place for the "war" proper to commence. Read Full Review
Monkeys Fighting Robots - Seth Frederiksen Jun 1, 2016
The concept is excellent and for the most part the story works as it should. There were some beautifully written moments in this issue which connects you to the characters. And this is absolutely aided by the artistic talents of Marquez and Ponsor. Read Full Review
The Hub City Review - Matthew J. Theriault Jun 3, 2016
Again, I did not see this coming. Especially after the wonderful zero issue, this had all the ingredients for an excellent event. Some of those even shine through still. Bendis dialog is as snappy as ever. Marquezs art is every bit as polished as McNivens perfect pencils in the original Civil War. And yet this issue is also irrefutably a confluence of everything wrong with Marvel at the moment. It leans too strongly on its cinematic success, too lightly on consistent characterization. It pushes pointlessly Ms. Danvers and the Inhumans on a largely indifferent readership, all at the expense of more clearly defined and compelling characters such as Captain America and the X-Men. And worse of all, the political and moral message it is trying to make is completely confused in its execution. Read Full Review
Major Spoilers - Matthew Peterson Jun 3, 2016
Beautifully drawn, awkwardly plotted, seriously over-priced... Read Full Review
Chuck's Comic Of The Day - Chuck Jun 2, 2016
It's going to have to get better fast to persuade me to change my mind, but right now, I think I should have trusted my first instinct and passed on this event. Read Full Review
Comicosity - Allen Thomas Jun 1, 2016
All in all, Im interested to see what happens with Civil War II in the coming issues. Events on this scale take time to develop, so I hope that we get deeper into what drives a wedge between Carol and Tony. As it stands, the setup is slightly believable, though rather on the nose. This first issue of the event also has some of the first Civil Wars misgivings, which Im surprised and not happy to see. Yet, things may improve as the story moves forward. Read Full Review
SnapPow.com - John McCubbin Jun 3, 2016
Civil War II #1 is ultimately a disappointing start to Marvel‘s latest event. Despite there being some interesting points, the execution, lackluster development and poor dialogue prevents this from reaching it's potential. The way it skips over certain key areas that were previously shown in the FCBD issue also don't help improve things, with there being a lot to work on heading into the second issue. Read Full Review
CourtOfNerds - Kevin Carley Jun 1, 2016
Again, you might think reviewing this comic is strait forward. The dialog is stilted, with some of the worst Spider-Man quips ever written. The story is based on events we never see. The great art cant off set this, right? Read Full Review
Henchman-4-Hire - Sean Ian Mills Jun 4, 2016
The basics of the story are all fine. I like Bendis as a writer, and Marquez is a god of an artist. So the dialogue is fun and the art is fantastic. But even their best efforts can't overcome how forced and tired this all feels. There are no stakes anymore. Deaths are meaningless. Big Events are meaningless. Bendis and Marquez do their very best to present all of this material honestly and down-to-Earth, and that part works fine. I like how real these characters feel. But this feels like it's going to be such a slog. Read Full Review
Nerdophiles - Jackson Adams Jun 7, 2016
This is an event that's starting off entirely on the wrong foot and it's hard to recommend readers wait for the series to potentially get better when there's a $5.99 price point for the first issue. There's better uses for your time, thoughts, and hard earned cash than this comic. Read Full Review
Razorfine - Alan Rapp Jun 9, 2016
While nowhere near as interesting or nuanced as the first Civil War, there's at least an interesting idea at the center of the comic (although I'm not sure it's strong enough to rip the entire Marvel Universe in half). However, how that idea is implemented, including having the biggest battle of the comic (so big it takes the lives of not one but two Avengers) take place entirely off-panel feels like a slap in the face to fans (not to mention the death sentence to the characters chosen to thin the herd – each of whom deserved better). Pass. Read Full Review
We The Nerdy - Jean-Luc Botbyl Jun 1, 2016
In case you didn't read the first couple lines of text, take this with you: DO. NOT. BUY. THIS. BOOK. It's nowhere even near good. It's a mess. The pacing is horrendous, none of the characters make sense, and it's bogged down in excessive exposition. On top of that, none of what happens is even all that interesting. It's not a particularly original story – and that's not inherently bad. But when none of the writing does anything to make the issue worth it, it becomes a real problem. Read Full Review
Nerdist - Blair Marnell Jun 1, 2016
Though we're disappointed by this first issue, we're willing to give Marvel the benefit of the doubt and seeing where the rest of the story goes, especially due to the terrific artwork. At this rate, though, we can pretty much guarantee that this is a story that won't be adapted for the big screen. Read Full Review
rquile1 Jun 1, 2016
There really are some jaded people out there. This was a great start to Civil War II.
• Likes (5)
Comic Booger
Tree Fingers
supercoolyeah
StanielK
Big Brother Jun 1, 2016
Bendis needs to spend less time trying to be cutesy and spend more time learning how to write. Not that it matters, because Marvel will print anything that he lazily cranks out. This is lackluster, and putting the Thanos event in the 0 issue is just a baffling decision. Marvel mediocrity at its worst.
Mister Bungle
TheMatteo0
Canadian Satanist
VirtuousMilo
Supes' soups Jun 1, 2016
Two characters die in this first issue, and it barely provides a compelling enough reason to start another Civil War, especially since the dude who killed both of them is the big bad Thanos. (Why not just punish him??) Marvel still, now shamelessly, places the Inhumans above the X-Men. Right now, this event seems forced. There really is no reason for Carol and Tony to go to war, both lost friends. It just paints Tony as another egotistical douche. Coipel's pencils were better in issue #0 but the art is probably the only thing this issue truly has going for it.
drwasheewashee
Batfan
VirtuousMilo Jun 1, 2016
If comic books like this are considered good... then I weep for comic books as a whole. With problems such as pacing, rushed writing and badly written dialogue I had trouble being invested then all of sudden BANG! Two character deaths out of the blue as if to drop the mic on how epic this story is going to be. Problem is that the character deaths lead to this Civil War and do little to support any reasoning whatsoever for fighting. Issue 1's tend to be highlights in the comic industry, but this is only acts as a reminder for why people dislike event comic books. But hey! The art is good.
Inklings Jun 1, 2016
Civil War II clearly establishes characters, issues, ethical dilemmas, stakes, and major events with ease in a hefty issue weighted with both a larger page count and immediate emotional baggage. Bendis does a great job of pulling each plot thread to the foreground exactly when needed. No subplots get lost in the chaos, and every character reads and sounds correct and naturalistic. The plot is a new take on the ideological battleground that the original Civil War played with. Instead of the SHRA and registration/regulation being the hotbutton issue, however, this series clearly wants to tackle issue of preventative action. The precognition of an Inhuman begs the question: if we can predict the future, are we justified in correcting it? And can we correct it? Is the correction for the better? The applications of this central conceit are manifold: covert intelligence, preventative warfare, surveillance states, all of these issues revolve around whether we can change the future by probing everyone around us, and ourselves. Does Carol Danvers have the right? Does our government have the right? The issue is very interesting and appropriately extrapolates the themes and conceits we've come to expect from Civil War into a more contemporary discussion, without any outright allegorical artifice, and without losing sight of the textual story and its characters. The only major pitfall this issue stumbles into is that the big deaths feel cheap and unheralded. It's weak to have them occur off-screen, but it does serve to enhance Tony and Carol's visceral reactions to the discovery. more
TheMatteo0 Jun 1, 2016
The artwork is another great success and the concept and plot are both really good, yet there's a couple of things about the comic which really lets it down. The pacing is pretty bad and the dialogue is a mixed bag; it's so bad at point I wonder if it was even proof-read to make sense; e.g. "It's a freaky, giant, big, giant celestial giant trying to destroy us." I really wanted to like it and to some extent I did...the moralistic debate is interesting, the art and colours and great and the action is good; but honestly that writer (Bendis) could really use some lessons in basic English.
brandongernux Jun 2, 2016
I love Bendis. I loved the artwork by Marquez & Ponsor. I think Marvel events usually tend to start strong and finish weak, but I felt this was a bit of a weak start. Hopefully that means it builds to something stronger and not weaker. I think the idea behind the conflict is interesting, but I didn't feel the weight of the conflict between the two ideals conveyed in this story. I have not been reading the Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Inhumans, or Avengers books so maybe they have been building to this, but as a 1st issue without background info this story felt more forced than necessary. With that being said, it wasn't a bad issue and there was still enough there to make me want to read this event even though the price point is WAY too much especially considering how much we got out of DC Rebirth #1 for $2.99. more
Gizmo Jun 3, 2016
I'd be lying if I said the tension between Tony and Carol doesn't feel forced. It's also completely unnecessary to kill two characters off (well, we're left with a cliffhanger for the second one), I'm not even convinced we had to kill the first one off, I actually thought it would be a permanent spinal injury and that would be enough. Using Thanos as the catalyst to throw tensions over the edge was not a good choice because everyone already knows that he's a global threat, it's not foolhardy or a bad use of precog abilities to stop Thanos preemptively, that would actually be just as good of an example of precog benefits as the giant celestial that starts the issue off and it wouldn't be a surprise if someone died trying to stop Thanos. Now, it's certainly valid that Tony would take it hard, but I just hope that there will be more to what motivates Civil War II than that, because the Thanos conflict will not be enough. It would feel organic if Ulysses was an established character before this whole thing, but clearly he's contrived to give a reason for a second Civil War; that's how a lot of stories work, I suppose, so that's not a big deal. But Bendis, again, trim the dialogue, there is no reason for characters to repeat themselves for an additional page. That's a lot of criticism that I just gave, but this isn't a bad comic, the art looks great, drama between characters always makes for conflict with higher stakes, I certainly want to know what happens next. I wonder, what effect would it have on the reading experience if nobody knew this was leading to another Civil War comic? I certainly think it would hit harder. Still, I'd be lying if I said that I don't want to read what happens next. more
Bintang Purwaditya Jun 2, 2016
this seems really forced just to make more money
Kreniigh Jun 2, 2016
Wait. THIS is the ethical dilemma that splits the heroes? THIS?
Punishing people for crimes pre-emptively is a hook that you an hang a civil war type
story on (and it's already been done in Minoroty Report, but shush). And that's where
this looks like it's going, until it swerves so far off the rails I can't even track
the thinking behind it other than the plot dragging the characters along regardless of
logic.
Being alerted to Thanos's arrival has nothing to do with the ethics of pre-emptive
punishment. It's like setting up a story where the ethical conflict is over abortion,
and then having someone getting killed in a car crash on the way to get an abortion as the
anti-abortion side's argument. It makes no sense and makes Stark look like a reactive
idiot. Ugh. more
Big Guy 4U Jun 9, 2016
In all fairness, I must give some credit to Marvel. At least they were upfront about the fact that this event would be a cash grab capitalizing on arguably the biggest movie of the summer. Despite the fact that I've disliked most of Bendis' mainstream Marvel events (Secret War was good, House of M was alright, Siege was good, and Catacylism was great), I still went into Civil War II with an objective stance. And with that out of the way, I can say that Civil War II is a poor product. It's shame that there's a 2000 character max, because I have so much to say. While the first Civil War, despite it not being a good comic book, at least had some build-up to it, Civil War II comes out of nowhere. The "Road To" issues had barely anything to with this event. The fact that the FCBD issue contains a missing part of this issue is pathetic. Why not use that issue to cover the story of Ulysses. The entire build-up to the conflict is rushed. "We're the Inhumans. We're here to help. That's a good thing". Christ. The Inhumans promotion here is as about as subtle as a punch to the nuts. The issue has a terrible sense of pacing. In the FCBD issue, it shows that Ulysses has a random vision about Thanos when he's hanging out with the Inhumans. In this one, he wakes up in the middle of the night. HOW DOES A WRITER FORGET CONTINUITY BETWEEN TWO ISSUES HE BOTH WROTE? Tony's justification for his side is pathetic. The idea of an advanced system isn't a bad idea. It's not even that original. "MUH RHODEY" and "I TOLD YOUUU ABOUT THISSS REEEEEEEEE" (even though he never warned or opposed Carol at all. wtf?) are terrible reasons for his position. The biggest crime behind this story is the fact that Marvel knew that they would have to justify the existence of such a blatant cash grab. Civil War II's biggest flaw is the fact that it's complexly unnecessary. However, some of the more emotional scenes are done very well, and Marquez and Ponsor are one hell of an art team, so the book does a few more
JBL Reviews Jun 5, 2016
Synthozoid Jun 3, 2016
I really enjoyed this. If you like Bendis in general, you will like it, if not, move along.
My only complaint is the focus on Inhumans instead of mutants. Inhumans are boring as f. Please stop trying to make Inhumans replace mutants.
RustonLF Jun 6, 2016
So far the conflict that is being built for Civil War does seem to be an interesting one. At first the question of whether acting on the future to save lives seems like an easy answered one, but the problems that are presented does make it less clear after seeing casualties of acting on the knowledge. I was unsure if I bought into this sequel but after reading the issue I am intrigued. The art by Marquez is great and the dialog from Bendis reads naturally. I find myself interested in other characters roles in the conflict.
Comic Booger Aug 8, 2016
My full and more accurate review is in the link below:
"The great set-up Brian Michael Bendis is creating with clear and strong motivations will make this to be a real battle. The stunning art is already proving itself to have no obstacle when it comes to tackling any story structure. The weird use of dialogue between Captain Marvel and Tony Stark is here, but minimal enough to brush it off."
-Olaf Lesniak of Comic Booger
https://comicbooger.com/2016/08/08/civil-war-1of-7-review/
Tree Fingers Jun 2, 2016
-jaw dropping art
-great character line up
-I actually don't mind the writing. The issue was actually more direct because we had issue #0 and the FCBD issue. Maybe pacing was an issue if you didn't read either of those
-price
mrDovydas Jun 4, 2016
A LOT better than I've expected it to be. Knowing past Bendis' works, this probably won't last long.
Canadian Satanist Jun 8, 2016
This was a lot better than issue 0.
supercoolyeah Jun 1, 2016
Ok you really have to get everything in. That mean you have to get Ulysses, Iron Man, Captain Marvel and everything else. I really would have liked to see where the giant came from that would have been interesting. And I would have liked to see the Thanos fight again for those who didn't go to FCBD. But oh well. Bendis does a great job at condensing everything and making sure there are moments. You feel for Tony. I guess you feel for Carol at the end of the book. Marquez does a decent job the only problem he makes everyone look so tired. It's weird I guess. Posnor is on point with his coloring. And I really can't wait for the next issue.
kfc902 Jun 1, 2016
Its a slow burn, the reason for the rift between our heroes are plausible especially when loved ones are involved.
StanielK Jun 1, 2016
CraigR Jun 9, 2016
ActionCity Dec 12, 2016
Juanpk26 Jun 2, 2016
Snapfire Jun 3, 2016
jmprados Jun 19, 2016
Bleemak Jun 1, 2016
Azar Jun 2, 2016
drwasheewashee Jun 3, 2016
KobbeJr Jul 13, 2016
DXO Aug 12, 2016
Gunnarthehuman Jun 1, 2016
Destraction Jun 1, 2016
Ragatode Jun 9, 2016
Alex Mackay Aug 6, 2016
Captain Deadpool Aug 28, 2016
Mateusz Nov 2, 2017
Jabberwocky_Superfly Jun 13, 2016
Grifter Jun 28, 2017
Zumba Jun 1, 2016
Sergione Aug 12, 2018
Mister Bungle Jun 2, 2016
CLMF Jun 20, 2016
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Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
The Football Manager Youth Academy Challenge
By darren1983, October 19, 2018 in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
Cesar Vallejo 2019 Season Review.
The good news was that my side performed spectacularly well, the bad news was a comparatively mediocre youth intake that didn't give me players in any positions I wanted, and the ugly news is that the playoff system in Peru is horrendously bugged, so the game is on hold at least until after an update
Torneo de Verano
I thought my starting squad was more than strong enough to compete in Peruvian football, and this was confirmed with the early-season Torneo de Verano tournament. Instead of a cup, two pools of teams play each other home and away in mini-leagues, and a champion is determined by a playoff between the two pool winners. With Peru's biggest teams in the other group, I breezed through to top the table which set up a final against the giants of Alianza. I actually dominated the opening leg but was pegged back from long range and then needed a penalty to level. The second leg of the final saw both sides hit the woodwork, but Alianza created clearer chances and shut me out for the win they probably just about deserved. First chance at continental football after just 17 games, but I didn't get it!
The league proper proved to be tougher, with my side struggling for goals and getting turned over on the counter. Alianza dominated, but they didn't have to play me until the final game, and their late season wobble meant that I could win the Apertura by beating them. This time, I totally dominated the game but struggled to find a way through. The hero was Diego Pizarro, the considerably-less talented brother of former Bayern star Claudio who scored a spectacular strike from outside the area, to put me top of the table on goal difference for the first and most important time. I don't think this even counts as silverware, but it did mean I'd secured qualification for the Copa Libertadores, as well as a place in the playoff to determine the overall champion.
Hilariously, Alianza were so shell-shocked by losing the league opening stage on the final day, they failed to win the next seven games of the closing stage. Cristal, however, were a model of consistency. When I failed to beat them thanks to a referee sending two of my players off (one actually rescinded) and awarding the opposition a penalty I assumed the Clausura title was theirs, especially when Alianza held me to a draw on the final day of the season and their unbeaten side needed only a point from their game. Which they failed to secure after losing in the 95th minute to a side that only had two shots on target all game, leaving me top on goal difference on the final day again
Winning both the opening and closing stages put me straight into a playoff final. A home leg and an away leg against Alianza to determine the champion.
Or as SI preferred to interpret it, two home legs with the aggregate scores being interpreted the wrong way round, followed by an away tie that may or may not count for something. AAAAARGGH
Torneo de Verano (runners up)
League (Apertura and Clausura winners)
League champion: it's a long story...
National C licence and B licence secured and training and youth facilities on the way
The team played consistently well, but the titles were down to giant Andy Pando, who hasn't let losing his pace dent his goalscoring ability. Quinteros is another who hasn't let rapid decline affect his performances, providing plenty of goals and assists despite now being the slowest winger in the league. Unlike the other veterans, I'm keeping those two.
Medrano is the real surprise package with over 20 goals from the ML position. Goals and dribbles of real quality and bely his apparent status as a one dimensional pace merchant and show the virtues of consistency and two footedness.
Top prospect Osis 18A was surprisingly average for much of the season. He waited a long time for a goal, a long range free kick, and promptly scored a mirror image later in the same game. He's also barely improved his attributes, but at least that means I'm not fending off transfer offers.
Alvaro Diaz 18B had a good season, improved and would have started even more if my other left back wasn't excellent.
Israel Rojas 18E was the surprise package - he looked like nothing at the start of the season but appeared to have a growth spurt, improved insanely fast and will be an important rotational player next season.
Youth intake day was disappointing enough for me to forget to take a screenshot. Less so because of the low star levels - a 3* player can do a very good job in the Peruvian top tier but I didn't get the players I needed. I badly needed a striking prospect ready to be phased into the first team, and a couple of central defenders to stop the squad being unhappy at the lack of depth, and any half decent keeper. I got none of the above. In particular Galvez isn't going to be the answer in goal (thankfully Siancas has shown some signs of improvement and more potential than originally thought) but I signed him up because he can't be worse than being stuck with outfield players!
Julio Diaz 19A has potential, a great personality, intelligence and pace, just a shame he can't seem to kick a ball. If his finishing wasn't truly appalling I'd teach him to play up front
Delgado 19B is a good long term prospect at left back, the one position I definitely don't need, though I'm now retraining my first choice left back to cover the centre
Horna 19C has some room to develop and may end up providing central defensive cover next season, though I worry about his lack of height
Farro 19D was picked out as the top prospect, but the star ratings differ and his personality is horrible. Still could be useful
Robles 19E was the best striker I got, but he's a long way from the first team and I don't like his consistency issues
Mindful of the improvements in Rojas 18E, I signed up some of the borderline prospects despite reservations over their personality and potential. Since I have an abundance of talent in midfield and nothing much up front I'm also retraining Osis as an AM. First game he played there he scored twice
An outstanding season overall, but due to bugs corruption in Peruvian football, who knows whether there'll be a future
Edited February 19 by enigmatic
optimusprimal82
Thanks all, much appreciated - will await the full 19.3 I think before getting started but my clicking finger is itching (I mean from excitement, not from scratching somewhere dodgy!)
XaW
Managing: Follo FK
10 hours ago, dkouv said:
@XaW Just saw your completion - congrats! Nice one! And in England too - that's a pretty hardcore way to do the first challenge completion Now, Wales........
I've usually tried this is smaller countries, but failed because the CL proved too much. With England, the struggle was going to the top nationally. When I were in the CL I were already a good team.
Wales, huh? Now, that might be interesting...
Muttley84
Team: Steaua Buc.
Man, how I'd wish to have the time to play this again... Oh, real life getting in the way of my FM glory.
Braumiller
Part-Timer
Team: Leicester City
Managing: Vastra Frolunda
Domestic League : Allsvenskan - 7th
A second consecutive 7th place finish and overall that is a solid consolidation in the top flight. This felt more comfortable than last year and we rarely felt the pressure of a relegation fight, unlike last year. We did have a worrying wobble in the middle of the season. After a full month of June off due to Euro 2028, we played several top teams in July and picked up just a solitary draw with 3 losses. Thankfully with that tough stretch out of the way we only lost another 3 in our final twelve games.
Domestic Cup : 2027-2028 edition - Already knocked out
Domestic Cup : 2028-2029 edition - Qualified for the Group Stages next year
Our struggles in the qualifying round (technically called the 2nd Round) of the cup against lower league teams continues. This time IK Oddevold took us to extra time at our place before we won with the only goal of the game
Europe : n/a
Youth Intake
A very nice intake indeed, giving us needed depth in quality prospects and also providing an instant impact kind of player.
Viktor Lilja-Ekeros (10A) - Oh yes! This may finally signal the end of Sebastian Hansson's grip on our left full back spot after a 10 year run! He has almost everything I would want, and to be honest I have half thought about trying to convert him full time to a left sided midfielder. A very well rounded kid with a professional personality. There is one huge worry, noted in the General section below.
Jesper Sandberg (10B) - An interesting central defender, who can also play central midfield. That alone gives hope he can turn into a more classy DC than the current crop (low bar!). Hopefully he can progress.
Mathias Bohlin-Larsson (10C) - Another interesting looking player. Natural at DM, which I we have been moving away from recently, but has options at retraining at DC or MC. He feels a little small and lacking in physicals for DC, so I am thinking of trying to turn him into an MC. If successful, it would be a great addition for me as his tackling is already far superior to other CM options at my disposal. If his teamwork rises, also possible future captain / vice captain considerations.
Niklas Oscarsson (10D) - I do like prospects who can play multiple positions for me. Niklas has the well rounded physicals to give chances in the senior squad to, just not sure what to make of that personality....
Joakim Berglund (10E) - A second natural forward but with other positions available to play. Joakim needs more development that Niklas, but I like the potential look of him.
Christer Eriksson (10F) - A good looking GK prospect
Well, this was going to be another 'lots of loans' one line entry and then the day after our Swedish transfer deadline passed something unexpected happened..... Juventus came in for Joakim Groundstroem (08B) with an initial offer in the 400k range. After a lot of haggling, we managed to get them up to 800k immediately and another 1m in payments over the next 2 years. I felt my hand was forced here as the signs were not boding well if I turned them down. The downside is that while this is great money for us, it did not fix our mounting money issues. On the plus side, Joakim was not playing overly well anyway, so his departure didn't hurt us too much in the short term (long term, if he filled his potential he would of obviously been great for us)
Squad Stats - Season Awards
1st - Anders Hall (04C) 35% - A first showing in the awares for Anders. He is a typical no nonsense defender who can win the ball and then do nothing with it! But he won the ball well for us this year and then fans appreciated that! Our vice captain in waiting for when Abdoulie Jobe moves on and Selim Ari (03B) gets promoted to captain.
2nd - Ivan Vukcevic (06B) 28% - Our right winger with a good season in the books
3rd - Selim Ari (03B) 23% - Our Mr Consistent
This year felt like we belonged in the top flight as players began to settle down and perform better.
So, Viktor Lilja-Ekeros (10A). Granted he did not really shine at all during his first 5 games of his career, but he has a lot of potential. Sadly, he knows this as is evidenced by our contract negotiations. He signed a 4 year youth deal on intake day and as the season wound down I tried to get him to sign a full time deal. He is already stating that he doesn't think Vastra Frolunda can field a team on the level he wants to play for..... So, at best I might have a 4 year 'loaner' type player, but chances are he might starting causing an issue well before then
Edited February 21 by Braumiller
speeling
gibbo11
Team: Nottingham Forest
Managing: Hunan Billows
Newcomer to this challenge, will be starting later on. Just a quick question on existing players at the club you join.. Do you keep these on for as long as possible (i.e. able to offer contract) or do you have to offload these as soon as you can?
theBlackPrince
1 hour ago, gibbo11 said:
Keep them on for as long as possible (if you like them). In some places like Germany it'd be literally impossible without them in the first few seasons. Of course, most of the time your youth products will eventually end up a lot better anyway,
thomas_e
Real Jean FC
Season Update 2026-2027
A fantastic season for us, a huge step up from last years 11th place finish. We made the Champions League, finishing 4th! Media prediction was as expected that we finished dead last, what a year!
After a very unstable season last year I decided to make some changes. I decided to train our 3rd choice centre back, Lolo Vargas, as a right back, in a try to get some consistency in that position. That worked well, and was a big strengthening of our back line. I also replaced my long serving left back, Felipe Alfonso, a player who has been great for us, but really only on the offence. His defensive skillset is awful, and he was turning into a liability.
The remaining squad took some good steps forward, especially in the goalkeeping department. Khalid Naim has really proven worthy of being our first choice at only 16 years old, and he is already close to La Liga standards.
I dont know what it is about Real Jean and season openers, but we almost always do well. This time we beat Real Madrid 4-1 (!!), and that set the tone for the rest of the season. Although we were not fighting for a CL spot until the end of the season we were always in the top half, and we really never got one of our classic terrible run of forms, which has been the case in the previous seasons. Coming close to the end we were looking really good, even fighting for a medal. But a couple of weak draws against weak teams and an expected loss to Barcelona, everything was wide open. In the last round of the season we were fighting against Valencia, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, all four teams had the opportunity for a medal.. We were up against Racing Santander, a weak injury plagued team sitting in 18th place.. All we had to do was win. We were shockingly bad.... We drew the game 3-3 but deserved to lose.... But for some reason, Getafe drew 0-0 at Alaves and Rayo Vallecano lost 2-0 to Betis. Valencia beat Osasuna 3-1 and secured 3rd place, but we managed with our draw to maintain 4th place and secure Champions League!!
We are so far away from a Champions League team that I its laughable, but it doesnt matter. We will get extremely valuable experience and our club reputation will take a big jump.
Santiago Sanchez, our leading striker, finally turned chances into goals this year, and that was really key. He ended on 14 goals, third place in the "Top Goalscorer" table, and won the Spanish Top Goalscorer of the Year. Our best player, Jorge Vela, made Team of the Year. I won Manager of the Year.
We also got a pretty decent left back in the Youth Intake, Sebastian Tejero. Unfortunately the only good player in our entire intake. I got so mad i fired our HOYD, after less than a year in the job. Tejero went straight into the team. His stats shown in the screenshot underneath tells you everything you need to know when I say we are far away from CL quality...
Goals for next season:
- Mid table finish
- Finish 3rd (or better) in CL group stages
- Qtr final in Copa del Rey
Season | League | Position | Copa Del Rey | Europe | Notes
2019/20 | Segunda Division B | 9th | 2ns round | N/A | Okay start up season
2020/21 | Segunda Division B | 2nd | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off
2021/22 | La Liga 123 | 7th | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off, back-to-back
2022/23 | La Liga | 10th | 2nd round | N/A | Great first season, finishing mid table
2023/24 | La Liga | 14th | 2nd round | N/A | No progress to speak of, managed to get worse
2024/25 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | N/A | Solid season, finished 8th
2025/26 | La Liga | 11th | 4th round | N/A | Decent season, good club progress if not so much on the pitch
2026/27 | La Liga | 4th | 4th round | N/A | Amazing year, predicted 20th, finished 4th!
keeper#1
Managing: Stockport County
AC BELLINZONA 2022-23 SEASON REVIEW
Standings -- Fixtures 1 -- Fixtures 2 -- Transfers -- Statistics -- Commercial Summary
Another year where we were picked dead last by the media and another year where we finished in 8th place. We are always beat the newly promoted teams and then poach enough points off the established teams to keep our heads above water. But now, our "golden generations" are starting to move into the senior team. A few of them are moving into starting roles. As a result, we are no longer the worst team across all the attributes. We are starting to beat out team in some categories. Maybe in a season or two, the media will pick us to finish 9th! That said, we still struggle in the basic fundamentals of the game. We don't score many goals (35 or 0.97 per game) and we allow too many goals (57 or 1.58 per game). Need to get those numbers to get to even and then flip around before we can start making some noise in the league.
Players of the Season:
LW Alain Ott (48%): Ott became the first player besides Luca Quadri to lead the team in assists. Ott had eight helpers this season. He may see some reduced playing time, next season, as we move to more narrow formations. May look to sell high in the off-season.
GK Ulisse Pelloni (26%): Pelloni had a lot of work this season and did the best that he could. He got most of the starts in the league matches while still giving the young Christian De Marco 21B playing time to aid his development. Pelloni probably has one or two more years before he gets supplanted by De Marco as the starter.
CF Christian Giacchetti (16%): Giacchetti rebounded a little in 2022-23. He got back to double digit goals with 13 to lead the team. He could see himself working as a target man in either a 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-1-3-1-1 formation next year.
The most exciting time of the year is youth intake day. This year, we put out Golden Generation III: The Center Forwards Strike Back. Two of the best talents are center forwards which is something that we desperately need. We need center backs too and we didn't get that lock-down center back that we have a dire need for. We got a center back who could eventually provide some depth in Raffaele Croci (our G talent - 6th best player). Combining the two new center forwards which the three 'A' talents, who are all midfielders, from our previous three intakes, we may go narrow next year and try to outscore the bottom teams and hold on for dear life against the top teams.
CF Stefano Gentile 23A: A hard-working center forward who is already one of our fastest forwards at 11 pace. He's our best finisher and has a driven personality. Somebody is going to go right from the youth team to the 2023-24 senior team roster.
CF Roger Boumal 23B: Boumal is our fastest forward with 16 pace. Doesn't have the finishing that Gentile has or the hard-working personality. It is likely that Boumal will spend a year with the youth team before getting a call-up for the 2024-25 roster.
RW Raffaele Borghesi 23C: Borghesi fits a need on the right wing that we have. Our current right winger Luca Quadri is starting to slip already at age 29. GIl 20L has moved into a more prominent right wing role. Borghesi has the potential to be better than both Quadri and Gil 20L. Just needs some time to develop.
DMC Nemanja Petric 23D: Petric is our best central midfielder from this class. He's not in the same ability class as our current midfield intakes. That's okay, I want those three players (more on them in a minute) to develop in their starting senior team roles while Petric develops with the youth team and is ready to move into their place in the senior team if/when they get sold.
Current Youth Developments:
AMC Antonio Garguilo 22A: Called up to the Swiss U20 team for the summer Toulon Tournament. Has played in the three group stage matches thus far.
CM Daniele Vitali 20A: Vitali earned his first Swiss U21 team call up in March
DMC Paul Quentin 21A: Earned three U21 caps during the season
Finances have improved somewhat mainly because I didn't pour our sponsorship revenue into facility upgrades. I'm not going to upgrade the facilities again this season since we are still churning out Golden Generations. I am planning on upgrades to the junior coaching and youth recruitment if the board will allow. That will impact the bottom line but not to the extreme that the facility upgrades will which should allow to continue to save for a new stadium in the future.
Fadedaf
Team: FC Barcelona
Oppsal Season 2026 Report
Another update from your favourite Norwegian yo-yo club. In our last 3 seasons we have been relegated, promoted and relegated again, so i'll give you one guess as to what happened this season. Yes, the yo has yo'd yet again.
Cup- Another early exit to a lower league team. This time it was to Vidar and despite going ahead twice the game finished 2-2 and we lost on penalties. Our finances have definitely suffered as a result.
League- we started off with 4 draws in our first 5 games, but did extend that unbeaten streak to 10 games with a few more wins thrown in. From then on, we only lost 3 games which were all away at our top of the table rivals. This meant that with one game to go, we were top of the league on goal difference. However, the problem was there were still 4 teams with a genuine chance of winning it all and we were playing away at KFUM, who were another team who could win the league with a win. We went ahead early thanks to Pål Langåker 19A but they pulled one back after half time and we couldn't push on for a winner, meaning we sunk down into 2nd place with a draw. Moss, our mortal nemesis, managed to win their game so took the title ahead of us frustratingly. Fram Larvik, the 4th team in contention managed to lose their game meaning we still snuck into the playoffs. We faced UII/Kisa first and dominated the whole tie. Our ball-winning midfielder Jørgen Solvang Nilsen scored 4 goals across the two legs including 2 free kicks in the first leg, leading us to a 6-0 aggregate win. We then faced Raufoss from the division above for a spot in the First Division. The away leg was very close but they managed to scrape a 3-2 win with a 93rd minute winner, but I was still confident in us at home. We delivered in the return leg, winning 2-0 meaning a 4-3 win on aggregate. I am very familiar with this playoff, I hope I never have to play in it again!
Best Players-
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals) A pretty solid season for Pål as he also won the league's top goalscorer award and became the club's all time top goalscorer with 81 goals.
Most assists: Glenn Harviken (11 assists) the RM position has been firmly seized by the untagged Glenn, who beat out two 'B' tagged players for the starting role and he's done really well. He equalled the record assist tally for the club in a season. He is also one of the first players to have spent time at our lower league affiliate Skjetten and then break into the first team.
Highest avg rating: Arve Granhaug 19B (7.58) This guy keeps getting better every year, the CM position is a real strength for us. The class of '19 (which includes Harviken) sweeps the first 3 awards!
Most POM: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (6) Another really good season from our ball winning midfielder. He's probably nearing the age where we look at giving his starting spot to a younger talent but I think he still has a few years of top quality left.
MVP: Arve Granhaug 19B
Best U23 Player: Pål Langåker 19A is still 23 apparently so he wins this for probably like a 5th time, I'm too lazy to go back and check. Last time for him however, so we'll see who steps up next season.
Results Results 2 (no) Transfers
Academy Players that played over 1000 minutes this season:
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (2 assists 11 clean sheets)
Henrik Kaasa 19C (1 goal, 2 assists)
Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals, 8 assists, 4 POM, League top goalscorer, Club all-time top goalscorer)
Glenn Harviken (6 goals, 11 assists, 1 POM)
Stian Sollien 21A (3 assists)
Arve Granhaug 19B (8 goals, 7 assists, 2 POM)
Vidar Andersen 26A (2 goals, Club youngest ever player and youngest ever goalscorer)
Henrik Butterud (1 goal, 4 assists)
We did accomplish our goals for this season. As well as getting promoted, we moved on 3 or 4 more old, low determination players. This means that only 3 of our starting 11 are not academy graduates and only 5 players still remain at the club from when I started. Next season I just really, really want to survive. I have had enough of yo-yoing, please.
| League | Pos. | Cup | Europe | Top scorer | Top assists | Highest avg rating| Notes
2019 2nd Division 3rd 2nd Round - Bransdal(22) Bransdal(8) Bright-Taylor(7.41) PROMOTION
2020 1st Division 11th 1st Round - Langåker(11) Östman/Nilsen(7) Bright-Taylor(7.06) Survived
2021 1st Division 9th 3rd Round - Langåker(14) Rosendal/Nilsen(6) Kristiansen(7.20) Mid Table
2022 1st Division 9th 2nd Round - Langåker(18) Rosendal/Paulsberg(6) Bright-Taylor(7.07) Mid Table
2023 1st Division 14th 1st Round - Bransdal(9) Nilsen(5) Nilsen(7.08) Relegated
2024 2nd Division 2nd 3rd Round - Langåker(17) Nilsen(9) Bright-Taylor(7.51) PROMOTION
2025 1st Division 15th 2nd Round - Langåker(10) Harviken(7) Nilsen(7.14) Relegated
2026 2nd Division 2nd 1st Round - Langåker(17) Harviken(11) Granhaug(7.58) PROMOTION
13 hours ago, gibbo11 said:
I tend to keep them as long as they are useful in any way, shape, or form. If they are good enough to play, then they stay. If they are content to be a decent backup, they stay. If they are leaders in the dressing room, then they stay (this seems to matter much more now! A team without leaders will fold under pressure much more often than others. Be warned!).
I also keep them quite long if they have high determination an/or good personality. Since most of the players you get through will have poor personalities or low determination, this can help with squad mentality and keep determination from dropping and hopefully nudge the players into better hidden mentals.
Oppsal Youth Intake 2027
We've hit the jackpot! no less than 6 players with 5 star potential as well as the best player to come through my academy yet.
Here is Tryggvason, who will be going straight into the first team and potentially into the starting lineup:
Here are the other 5 top prospects: Espegren 27B Mathisen 27C Auklend 27D Haradinaj 27E Kristiansen 27F
They weren't lying when they said 'golden generation' this time, and I'm sure most of these 6 will see first team game time in the next season or two. Hopefully these new youngsters can help us survive this season!
@Fadedaf, great fun following your journey. I guess you are Norwegian, like me, since you're playing with Oppsal. Must be a mental test more than anything to do this challenge with Oppsal. Can't wait to see you try and complete it in the Champions League
So, I just can't stay away from this challenge... So I've started again, this time in a small country (but not Wales, sorry @dkouv!).
I'm heading to Iceland! For my third attempt to do this on the saga island far out in the Atlantic.
I'm taking over the same club I tried this with last year (or the year before, I can't really recall when), Fjarðabyggð! For those of you who don't quite get the "ð", it's and old character called "Eth" that were used in several languages in the Middle Ages, including Old English. It's pronunciation is very close to "th" in word like "the". So it's something like Fjarthabygddth and it means something like "Town by the fjord" if Google translate is to be believed. I believe it, since my native tongue of Norwegian have some of the same words and "Fjordbygd" would be a fairly similar name in Norwegian.
The town itself is located on the west side of Iceland.
And if Google earth is to believe then this is their home ground:
So, I'll have a go at this season, and update whenever appropriate.
Hrósa fyrir Íslandi!
@thomas_e I am actually not Norwegian, just thought it would be a fun place to attempt the challenge. I am incredibly familiar with the Norwegian lower leagues by now, but hopefully I'll get into the champions league someday. This season is finally looking pretty promising!
tomay
Managing: FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
Erfurt news:
- manager contract to 30.06.2042
- stadium 54 638, average attendance 53 331, by capacity 97%, 9 stadium sellouts
- finances: balance +579M
- tactic: 4-4-1-1
- european ranking: 6th, domestic reputation: 4th
Transfers: [Transfers]
As usual i am selling players which gained their max potential, and putting in 1st team younger players with lower abilities but higher potential.
+ 6,5M DR. Günther Drost 91/1
+ 6,0M MR. Herbert Bartz 23/2
+ 2,9M MC. Armin Reck 128/18
+ 1,4M GK. Florian Gruber 131/-
League: rules - players under 17yo not allowed to play
predicted 10th - odds 36.00
position 5th [table] - Europa League qualification
Boring season, was close to CL qualification, bad finish, lot of points lost with weaker teams, we dropped from 3rd to 5th.
Cup: 3rd round
1st r. - won A[6-0] with SSV Markranstädt (non-league)
2nd r. - won A[3-2] with FC Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
3rd r. - lost H[0-1] with Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Europa League: 2nd round
Group stage: 1st place, all games won
1st r. - won A[4-0], H[6-0] with Zorya Lugansk
2nd r. - lost [2-0], A[0-3] with Borussia Dortmund - felt FM'ed, after 2-0 win home, we lost 3 goals away in very even match, goals from long shot, corner and own goal.
Intake:
Another bad year, signed few but noone looks good. I don't know how he can by 5 start rated.
[intake] - [Stefan Schultz]
Top goalscorer: Cristian Matera (FC) - 20 goals - 29yo
Most assists: Fabian Wähling (AMC) - 14 assists - 26yo
Highest average rating: Jonas Hanske (DL) - 7,49 - 21yo
Most POM: Tino Schau (AMC) - 8 - 30yo
Int.Cup
Top scorer
Top assists
Highest avg. rat.
3.rd
A.Shala [15]
R.Gladrow [7]
M.Kaffenberger [7.33]
lost promotion in play-offs
1st r.
D.Geurts [17]
T.Hasse [10]
N.Lorenzoni [7.34]
1 pt behind play-off
2nd r.
J.Lewejohann [20]
R.Gladrow [7.43]
2.nd
R.Gladrow [15]
R.Stapelfeld [8]
L.Novy [7.20]
R.Stapelfeld [12]
R.Stapelfeld [7.25]
Well established
safe position
S.Wentzel [12]
N.Wollitz [7]
Extensive
close to play-off spot
N.Wollitz [16]
J.Fitzner [16]
D.Strobel [7.37]
promotion! after playoff
1.st
L.Aicher [20]
K.Majewski [10]
H.Meier [7.33]
3rd r.
L.Aicher [7.20]
EL qualification
EL 2nd r.
C.Matera [14]
H.Schneider [10]
D.Backhaus [7.18]
middle table
L.Aicher [9]
V.Fuß [7.22]
F.Wähling [8]
EL QF
T.Schau [12]
D.Bigger [7.33]
CL qualification
CL QF
C.Nagel [7.36]
CL SF
T.Schau [7.51]
EL won
F.Wähling [7.48]
won EL!
CL F
D.Röppnack [22]
F.Wähling [23]
won Euro SuperCup!
J.Hanske [7.55]
T.Schau [9]
Diego D10S
Team: IK Start
Managing: Romagna Centro Cesena
Season 2024 / 25
Table Transfer History
A breakthrough season !! Competed for the league win and big improvement in performance.
Knocked out in the 3rd round promotion playoff on penalties.
Manager of the year second season in a row
Finances : £ 746K Projected end of 2025/26 : £ 32K
New owners at the end of the season decided to take a £ 900K bank loan.
Nice to see green numbers but the board are not willing to improve facilities or youth recruitment.
Youth intake was very good with 3 players already in the senior squad. Alessandro Farina , Gabriele Steffanelli and Enea Vezzani
Season Div Pos Goals Assist Avg Rating Traning Facilities Youth Facilities Youth Recruitement Stadium Average Attendance
2019/20 Serie C 15th Rrasa 10 Zeqiri 8 Gasperi 6.95 Average Below average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 601 )
2020/21 Serie C 17th Rrasa 11 Trupia 5 Pasquini 6.90 Average Belowe average Established 5.500 ( 714 )
2021/22 Serie C 11th Gasperi 15 Tedesco 9 Gasperi 7.19 Average Belowe average Established 5.500 ( 714 )
2022/23 Serie C 5th Gancitano 11 Tedesco 10 Pasquini 7.06 Average Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 841 )
2023/24 Serie C 6th Ghirardi 16 Tedesco 6 Ferrari 7.15 Average Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 895 )
2024/25 Serie C 4th Ghirardi 22 Tedesco 16 Piccinni 7.22 Adequate Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 1121 )
My goal going forward is to fight for promotion.
Squad growing stronger and the youngsters from my 2 first intakes start to look like quality players for the league.
GL to you all !!
Edited February 25 by Diego D10S
Paul Quentin 21A becomes my first academy product to leave the nest for a bigger club as he moves to Dortmund for €2,500,000 up front with an additional €1,000,000 in three installments and €500,000 when he makes his first appearance for Dortmund. Plus, Bellinzona get 40% of his next transfer and Dortmund come to our place for a friendly.
57 appearances for the club mainly as our starting defensive midfielder so €3,500,000 with the potential for €4,000,000 is a nice sale for the club. He is our only quality defensive midfielder on the roster. I've called up Nemanja Petric 23D to replace Quentin but as you can see, he isn't the quality of Quentin.
So, our third attempt at the Norwegian First Division, could we survive? or would the yo-yoing continue. A fresh injection of talented youngsters from the intake as well as the continued development of more established players made me feel optimistic.
Cup- We comprehensively beat lower league Gjelleråsen IF in the first round then narrowly scraped by Tynset on penalties in the next round. We then drew Arendal who are one of the better teams in our division so lost out 3-1. Reaching the 3rd round gives us 100K+ of prize money so i'm going to set that as the benchmark for future seasons.
League- A pretty solid performance throughout, especially at home. We hovered in and out of the playoff places for the first 2/3 of the season before dropping off slightly, but we still avoided relegation with 5 matches remaining and finished in our best ever position of 8th! We never seriously challenged for the playoffs but I am very satisfied with a mid-table finish.
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (9 goals) I switched Pål to the deep lying forward role this season in order to give our other talented young strikers game time as advanced forwards, meaning he didn't rack up as many goals. He was still solid however and had a good season.
Most assists: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7 assists) Another fantastic season from our ball-winning midfielder who is defying his age to still be one of our best players despite all the talented youngsters coming through.
Highest avg rating: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7.21)
Most POM: Vegard Dyvik 25F (3) A pretty surprising winner here. I threw this guy into our starting RB spot as Henrik Kaasa 19C had basically topped out as a 2 star player and Dyvik had much higher potential. He did okay overall but had a couple of fantastic games. He definitely looks pretty promising.
MVP: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen
Best U23 Player: Glenn Hoel. This guy managed to win the starting LB role over Stian Sollien 21A as an untagged player and has actually turned into a really good player. I actually remember almost not signing this guy from the intake as he only had 3 star potential and didn't look that great but he's now rated 4 star ability with 4.5 potential. Just goes to show that initial reports on intake day can be wildly off, especially at this level.
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (9 clean sheets, 1 POM)
Stian Rustand (4 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Pål Langåker 19A (9 goals, 2 assists, 2 POM)
Glenn Hoel (1 goal, 6 assists, 1 POM)
Vidar Andersen 26A
Glenn Harviken (5 goals, 2 assists, 1 POM)
Vegard Dyvik 25F (4 assists, 3 POM)
Sigve Iversen 24A (3 goals, 1 assist)
Christian Tryggvason 27A (6 goals, 2 assists, 1 POM, Youngest ever appearance maker and goal scorer for the club)
Torjus Krogstad 25A (7 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Magnus Berg 22A (1 assist)
Henrik Butterud (1 goal)
So we accomplished our goals for another season. Survival and a comfortable mid-table position to go with it. Next season I think we are good enough to at least challenge for the playoffs if not make it in. Only 4 players still remain from when I took over and they are slowly being phased out as new more talented youngsters come through.
2027 1st Division 8th 3rd Round - Langåker(9) Nilsen(7) Nilsen(7.21) Mid Table
Oppsal 2028 Youth Intake
Well, nothing could hope to live up to last year, but I definitely can't complain about this years intake. More quantity over quality compared to last year but there definitely look to be some talented players in here and I'd be surprised if at least 3 or 4 didn't turn into first teamers eventually.
We've got another player who is very talented this year and will be thrust straight into the first team and will certainly get some starts. He's also in a position we needed at CB which is great. Here is Glenn Fritzøe Östman 28A (who shares a last name with a club legend)
And here is the other guy with 5* potential, who is definitely a bit raw and will need a few years of development before breaking into the first team:
We spent most of the 2023-24 season down in a battle for 8th place. That all changed in the month of April when we had our first unbeaten month in the Super League. The month opened with a comeback draw against Young Boys, who had a tough season finishing in the middle of the table. We followed that with a 5-1 thrashing of Grasshoppers and then a key 3-0 win over fellow relegation battlers, Thun. The game of the month was a 1-1 home draw against Super League Champions, Basel. The month closed with a 2-0 win over Neuchatel Xamax. 11 points from a possible 15 and we moved from 8th place into a battle for 6th place which we claimed. The 6th place finish is the highest ever finish for the club. I bounced around using a lot of different formations trying to see what would fit. By the end of the season, I settled on a 4-4-1-1 which played to most of our team strengths. This year, our offense improved by a lot. We scored 50 goals in league competitions. Last year, we scored only 35. The defense stayed about the same allowing 56 goals. The defense needs to improve if we want to be consistently better.
AMC Antonio Gargiulo (38%): Gargiulo is the spark behind our offensive improvement. He played at the linked between our lone striker and midfield band. As the season went on, he started to contribute with a goal every now and then as well. Gargiulo finished the season with six goals and a team-high nine assists. Gargiulo has some big Italian clubs looking at him for the summer transfer window. He should easily top the 4 million euros we got for Quentin 21A.
CF Christian Giacchetti (27%): Giacchetti returned to his form from previous seasons and led the squad with 15 goals. A lot of that came as a result of better service from the midfield led by Gargiulo. At age 21, he's almost topped out his ability since he is one of the original players and not from a youth intake. The intake players are starting to breathe down his neck for that starting place.
CM Daniele Vitali 20A (22%): Vitali played in a holding midfield role in the 4-4-1-1 formation and played it well especially after Paul Quentin 21A was sold to Dortmund during the winter window. He even chipped in the offensive attack with five goals.
February 2024 brought me The Golden Generation IV: A New Hope. Four 5* potential players and another three 4.5* potential players. Some of the seven even fit positions that we need too especially at center back with two 5* potential players. Normally, I only focus on the top four players from the intake but with this group, I'll provide screenshots of all seven.
AMC Diego Di Flippo 24A: Di Filippo is one of two attacking midfielders that came in with this intake. He is more determined than the other AMC in this group but his overall mental attributes are weaker than the other AMC. Di Filippo is a better goalscorer than Gargiulo 22A but Gargiulo 22A is a better passer of the ball. Still a good option to have on the roster when Gargiulo 22A gets bought by a bigger club.
CB Ernst Galli 24B: Galli is one of two quality center backs to come in through the intake. Galli is going to need some time to grow into his body before he moves into the senior team. He's 5'10" but only weighs 136 lbs. (9.71 stone/61.7 kg). He will get pushed around by older and more experienced players. When he grows into his body, he will be a solid defender. I just need to survive a season or two before he arrives.
CB Filipe Saraiva 24C: Saraiva is the other center back to come through the intake. He provides a different type of center back than Galli. Saraiva is more comfortable on the ball and a much better passer which is something that we need from our defense. We have a lot of wildly cleared balls that go right to the opposition. Hopefully, Saraiva can stop that from happening as much. On the flip side, he is not as strong in the air as Galli and Galli is a much better marker. These two could complement each other very well going forward.
AMC Nevenko Markus 24D: Markus is another attacking center midfielder but a much different one than Di Filippo 24A. Markus is more balanced mentality compared to Di Filippo 24A but Markus is a much more technically sound player especially in front of net. We need a player like this with Giacchetti topping out and the young strikers not quite ready to be starters.
CM Branko Jerkovic 24E: Jerkovic is a good holding midfielder and provides us with another option in the midfield especially if someone comes in for Vitali 20A. Not great at any one thing but potentially good at a lot of things. A nice midfielder to have on the roster.
CM Thomas Conte 24F: Conte has the potential to be one of the passers at the club. The problem with Conte is his unambitious personality. I've had mixed success with turning this type of player around. Some have seen their abilities improve others have seen their abilities languish. He may get an early call-up to the senior team to see if senior matches push his game to his maximum.
GK Giacomo Tonetto 24G: Tonetto adds to the number of potentially good and great goalkeepers coming into the club. The 2024-25 season looks like the season where DiMarco 21B replaces Pelloni has the starter. DiMarco moved into the starting role at the end of the season. This will cause a chain reaction as one of the U21 goalkeepers will move up into the senior team. Pelloni has already grumbled about wanting a new challenge and won't like getting moved into a back-up role.
The club made money this season mainly from the sale of Quentin 21A to Dortmund. With the current youth set-up, we are losing around 400k euros per month. I asked the board about building a new stadium and were denied because the board doesn't think we have the fanbase to support a new stadium. At this point, we need to be a club that builds up youngsters, sell them for a good chunk of money and puts that money into youth infrastructure improvements. The current owner has gone from "enjoying life at the club" to "happy to stay" which means I'm a few seasons away from a club sale. Hopefully, a new owner will be more interested in building a new stadium than the current owner but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to convince the current owner into building a new stadium.
Youth intake 2019
A reasonable youth intake, but we still have some glaring holes in the squad. At least we get some backups now, so I don't have to play matches without any players on the bench!
I'm really happy we got a talented goalkeeper. We only have one in the squad and he is, well, crap. So this kid will most likely be first choice asap!
Well this was annoying. I don't actually have a U19 team, nor any other team except the first team squad. So I have to have all the youths in the main squad. Quite annoying, even so much that I don't think I'll keep the save. I think I'll start somewhere else...
Training question. I have just now started to regulate the "Rest" section of team training. I have now set it to double intensity for the players that are above 90% condition. Not doing this before might have cost me a lot in terms of development. What are you guys doing here?
dkouv
IFK Eskilstuna – Season 6
Season 6 – 2024 – First Division Elite (2nd tier)
League: A good season, and together with the youth intake it finally feels like we may be on the way up rather than trying to stay where we are. We were typically inconsistent but still decent in the first half of the season, floating round between mid-table and relegation playoff places. But a turn of form in June saw us go on a great run that saw us finish 6thin the end, with a far higher points total than before and a solidly positive GD.
Cup: In line with the more successful season, I’m through to the group stage for the first time after beating Härnösands FF.
Star players: Kristoffer Juhlin 20b (AMLC/ST) has been our best player, developing nicely and finishing the league’s top scorer with 18 goals in 25 apps. Sam Östling (MC) and Eric Hallberg 19a (MC/AMC) continue to play solidly at center mid, but this season it’s mostly been about the youngsters finally coming through.
Youth watch: A number of players from the last few intakes have suddenly established themselves in the first team, most notably Peter Wahlström 22b (DC/DM/MC) at both center back and center mid, Rasmus Johannson 21b (DRL) and Jimmy Arvidsson 23a (DRL, MR) at fullback, and Daniel Käck (ML/AMLC/ST) in midfield and attack. The most notable improvement is that now our defense can at least try and cope with the other teams, meaning I can play more attacking tactics, which is both nicer on the eye and brings better results.
Youth intake: Looks like I hit the jackpot this year! Lots of 5* prospects - ok our team quality is pretty rubbish, but notable quite a few of them can go into the team straight away, and have already improved our results. Henrik Gustafsson 24a (AMLC/ST) immediately becomes our second-best striker, with Jan Mahlio 24b (AML/ST) on rotation, and Johan Palm (WBR/MR/AMR) as back-up to Milde. Dimitris Papadoupoulos (MC/ST) has broken the league record for youngest goalscorer.
Finances: made enough prize money to start a youth facility upgrade, but the board are still refusing coaching and recruitment improvements.
Transfers: The most notable ones are not showing up on this page – Anders Gustavsson 19b, our best defender, refused to sign a new deal and left on a free, and Cirak got too old so also was released. I have a few good young defenders coming through but still, Gustavsson is quite a big loss – I forgot to offer him a new contract last year and now it was too late.
Next season’s aim: mid-table or play-offs
Season | League | Pos. | Cup | CL | EL | Top scorer | Top assists | Top rating | Notes
2019 | Div 2 S. Svea | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (22) | Milde (15) | Alkoyun (7.7) |
2020 | Div 2 S. Svea | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (22) | Milde + 2 more (10) | Milde (7.8) | Promotion
2021 | Div 1 North | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (21) | Milde (14) | Cirak (7.7) | Promotion
2022 | Div 1 Elite | 11 | R2 | n/a | n/a | Cirak (17) | Hallberg 19a (9) | Cirak (7.4) | Survived
2023 | Div 1 Elite | 9 | R2 | n/a | n/a | Juhlin 20b (12) | Milde (11) | Milde (7.1) |
2024 | Div 1 Elite | 6 | ongoing | n/a | n/a | Juhlin 20b (20) | Milde (9) | Östling (7.4) |
Season | Finances | Coaching | Recruitment | Training Fac. | Youth Fac. | Stadium
2019 | £23k | Fairly Basic | Basic | Poor | Poor | 7800
2020 | -£9k | Average | Fairly Basic | Poor | Poor | 7800
2022 | £55k | Adequate | Average | Poor | Poor | 7800
2023 | £42k | Adequate | Average | Basic | Poor | 7800
@Fadedaf well done on promotion + staying up, hope that puts a stop to the yo-yo-ing. Otherwise this had an eery feel of your Ultimate Challenge ACON attempts a couple of years back :z @XaW that U19 team thing is annoying, I was looking forward to the Iceland adventure! Maybe there is a nation even smaller that one could try...
19 minutes ago, thomas_e said:
Assistant manager runs senior training. HoYD runs U21 team training.
Our first year playing in Europe, and handling La Liga and the CL at the same time proved a great, but fun, challenge. We started really bad, only winning 2 out of our first 9 league games. For a long time we were floating around 12th to 17th place, and never finding any real form. At one stage the captain called a team meeting, not satisfies with my management. After I told them it was all their fault things started to get better. We did a few tactical changes, mostly individual instructions, and it paid off. We finished the season really strong and for the last remaining games we were fighting for a European spot. Unfortunately we finished the season with a dreadful 2-5 loss to Valencia, after being 2-0 up after 10 minutes... We finished 8th place, one single point from a European spot. But, to be fair, it its not Champions League, it doesnt matter that much. This gives me more time to rest players, and we have plenty of money.
The Champions League was a tough experience for us, ending with 2 points and a knockout from the group stage. We got drawn against Bayern Munchen, Liverpool and Benfica, so not an easy group. In the first game we were down 0-3 to Bayern at home after 14 minutes... the game actually ended 3-4, Bayern scoring the winner in the 89th minute...
All in all a pretty decent season. We managed to get a couple of points from a very tough CL group, and I cant be to unhappy with 8th place in the league. The media predictions had us again at 20th place, so what more can I ask really. Some of our young players took big steps this year, especially Senoussi and Tejero. Our stadium is being upgraded at the end of the season, and my training/youth facilities are once again being upgraded.
Our youth intake was, as last year, quite dissapointing. No real stand out players, which is a shame!
Goals for next season: Top 10
Season | League | Position | Copa Del Rey | Europe | Notes
2019/20 | Segunda Division B | 9th | 2ns round | N/A | Okay start up season
2020/21 | Segunda Division B | 2nd | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off
2021/22 | La Liga 123 | 7th | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off, back-to-back
2022/23 | La Liga | 10th | 2nd round | N/A | Great first season, finishing mid table
2023/24 | La Liga | 14th | 2nd round | N/A | No progress to speak of, managed to get worse
2024/25 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | N/A | Solid season, finished 8th
2025/26 | La Liga | 11th | 4th round | N/A | Decent season, good club progress if not so much on the pitch
2026/27 | La Liga | 4th | 4th round | N/A | Amazing year, predicted 20th, finished 4th!
2027/28 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | Group Stage | Pretty good year, tough start to CL
@dkouv The ACON from the Ultimate Challenge still haunts me! I never seem to do these challenges the easy way
9 hours ago, dkouv said:
@XaW that U19 team thing is annoying, I was looking forward to the Iceland adventure! Maybe there is a nation even smaller that one could try...
Like Northern Ireland?
I am thinking about Wales, but since I just played in England for so many seasons, I kind of look away from the British Iles when deciding were to go. I've started a couple of saves to get a feel for the leagues, but not made a decision yet, though I'm thinking about Hungary perhaps...
Btw, @darren1983, add me to the hall of fame!
darren1983
International Squad
Team: Brentford
6 hours ago, XaW said:
I thought I had, I know I went to do it the day I saw you completed it but must have clicked out without saving, may bad. Updated now. Congrats.
15 minutes ago, darren1983 said:
Thanks! Felt a bit cheeky pushing myself into the hall of fame, though!
1 hour ago, XaW said:
Haha, nah you were right too, I was going to smugly point out I'd added you already nut thankfully double checked and turns out I must have cancelled it
I was going to suggest Hungary.
So... I went for Hungary. I just love the names and the league. I did manage to win the Champions League with Budafok several years ago, but since they now play in the 2nd tier I had to find someone else. So I picked:
Yes, I picked Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület. The name really runs of the tongue.... ahem. The name should mean something along "Erzsébet Spartacus Worker Body Exercise Circle Football Association" according to google translate. Luckily, they are more commonly called ESMTK. I can't wait to hear the chants:
Oooohhhhh Up the Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület!
Anyway, I've just taken over the club and look forward to the glory I can bring to the club.
Edit: There seems to have been a transfer already in order when I took over.
Edited February 25 by XaW
andershs
Team: AGF, Aarhus, Denmark
Managing: Scarborough Athletic FC
Scarborough Athletic FC (England)
Season 1 - 2019/20
A very decent midtable finish and a respectable showing in the FA Cup.
League (Results 1 | Results 2 | Results 3 | Cups) - 10th in our first season in the Vanarama National League North was more than we could hope for. Very good start. I started optimistically with a tactic, I have
used in Chile and Colombia with great success, but it turned out, that the tactic did not fit to the ability of my players. After six games, I switched to a simple 4-4-2, and since that we stabilized.
We were not very good or very bad and avoided long losing streaks. Also satisfied to reach the first round of the FA Cup. Ended up as Manager of the Year as well.
Team - We lack some ability and quality in general. Two of my best players are my 32 year old striker Michael Coulson who had a strong season once he recovered from an injury and Will Annan who has been
out of contract the entire season. When Coulson retires and/or we lose Annan, I am worried what might become of this squad because we have no one nearly good enough to take over for either.
Other players from the spine of my team are Ross Killock and Matty Dixon.
Facilities - No upgrades. But we will move into a new, rented stadium for next season.
Finances - Our decent attendances and our low wage bill, means that the finances are decent. I am a bit worried what effect the new stadium in Kingston-Upon-Hull might mean for our main source of income gate
receipts next year.
Youth Intake - OK youth intake. Peter Walker looks good. Unfortunately no beast of a striker.
Goal next season: Survive again. Better intake facilities.
CHAMPIONS !!!!
A tight title race with alot of twists and turns. 8 rounds left I was leading with 5 points. But 4 rounds later I was 2nd, 2 points behind my old team Cesena just before playing them at home.
A great atmosphere with at record attendance of 4291 witness a very dramatic match with my boys finishing strong with a 5-2 win
I was back in the lead and managed to win my last two matches to secure the title
Have made a couple of sales to keep me floating atleast in the short term.
Doesnt seem like the promotion will give me any financial muscles. I will just see after the season how it looks.
But improved facilities still seems far away.
Youth intake was pretty good with again a couple of players that will improve my squad. Lorenzo Vitale and Vito Tagliani being the most promising.
2025/26 Serie C 1st Ghirardi 18 Tedesco 10 Rossatti 7.19 Adequate Belowe average Farly basic 5.500 ( 1228 )
Crossing my fingers I'm strong enough to stay in the Serie B. Also looking forward to play the Italian Cup, a competition I for some reason have been left out of.
GL too you all !!
I am flying through the seasons now, as it is a lot more fun when you aren't yo-yoing between the same two divisions! This year we were aiming at mounting a challenge for the playoffs and continuing our youth development.
Cup- We convincingly beat lower league Vestbyen in the first round 4-1, then upstaged Hønefoss BK from our division with a counterattacking 1-0 win away. We then faced 3rd division Skarp and a pretty poor performance, including a 92nd minute penalty save by my new backup GK, meant it went all the way to penalties where our heroic keeper saved another one and we went through to the 4th round. We faced Stromgodset, who were one of the worst teams in the premier league and I smelled an upset brewing. This was somewhat quelled by them going up 4-0 in the first half. My team realised they were playing a football game after I gave them the old hairdryer treatment at half time and we managed to pull back 3 goals but it wasn't enough. Still, I'm definitely pleased with making it to the 4th round.
League- Very similar to last year, we were pretty good but not great. A pretty poor start is ultimately what cost us, as we hovered in and out of the final playoff spot before finishing 3 points off in 8th. It was an encouraging season however and we should be able to improve next season. We lost no less than 9 league games by 1 goal so if our defence can develop a bit more we will start looking a lot better. Even then, if we just started reasonably instead of only managing 4 points from our first 6 games we would have made the playoffs.
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals) Another solid and consistent season from our number 1 striker. He has now surpassed 100 goals for the club and is still just 25. He's going to end up setting quite a total for anyone to beat.
Most assists: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7 assists) The only player still left from when I took over, who is now 33 years old, is still playing incredibly well. I tried to rotate him out of the starting 11 for a few matches this season and he responded by scoring 4 goals in 2 games after I put him back in. He is definitely a legend of the club.
Highest avg rating: Nilsen (7.23)
Most POM: Nilsen (6)
MVP: Has to be Jørgen Solvang Nilsen
Best U23 player: Sigve Iversen 24A. This was a breakout season for 20 year old Sigve, who I really like as a player because he is so versatile. He is naturally a CM but usually plays as a LM for us. He's also a capable RM, AM and even RB where I've played him once. He also has 19 teamwork which is potentially the highest stat of anyone at the club.
Vidar Andersen 26A (Capped by Norway U19s)
Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals, 5 assists, 4 POM)
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (8 clean sheets)
Glenn Hoel (2 goals, 4 assists, 1 POM)
Torjus Krogstad 25A (10 goals, 4 assists, 1 POM)
Sigve Iversen 24A (5 goals, 6 assists, 2 POM)
Glenn Fritzøe Östman 28A (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 POM, Youngest ever appearance maker for the club)
Magnus Berg 22A (6 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this season and I think we can definitely do even better next season where my aim is for us to make the playoffs. We're starting to get serious interest for a few of our players from Premier League teams, especially for Vidar Andersen 26A who has developed into a 4.5* beast of a CB at the age of 18 so need to work hard to keep them.
2028 1st Division 8th 4th Round - Langåker(17) Nilsen(7) Nilsen(7.23) Mid Table
Edited February 27 by Fadedaf
Things are looking good in Hungary.
Lost another "A" player in the winter transfer window.
AMC Antonio Gargiulo 22A leaves us for AC Milan for €6,250,000 with no future fee clauses. I was able to negotiate a 40% of next sale clause and arranged a friendly with AC Milan next summer. It wasn't the deal I wanted but it was the deal was stuck accepting. Nobody was going over €6,250,000 with the clauses that AC Milan (and Inter Milan) were offering. Napoli was offering €6,500,000 with no clauses but I turned that one down which upset Gargiulo.
Gargiulo appeared in 70 Super League matches and 78 matches in all competitions. He scored 11 goals and added 13 assists in those matches. Nevenko Markus 24D has already been called up as Gargiulo's replacement. Markus has more of a nose for goal than Gargiulo.
Our bank balance is now over €12 million. I'm undecided on if I want to keep this money in the bank account or do I spend some of it on more facility upgrades.
Edited February 26 by keeper#1
After two excellent intakes I wasn't expecting too much this year, and compared to the last two it is a bit disappointing. We did however get one very promising player and you never know if any of the others will develop into anything decent. I seem to have forgotten to take a screenshot on intake day so here's one from a few days later with a few other randoms from earlier intakes sprinkled in:
And here is the gem of this intake, Knudtzon:
The squad is already pretty stacked in the CM department, which is likely where this guy will play, so he may have to wait a few years before getting any match experience.
A pretty good youth intake with two standout players. I will still keep more since we have a distinct lack of backups in the squad.
Ticián Gál 20b is a very nice midfielder. Good physicals and impressive mental stats for his age. Needs a bit of work, but a real talent.
Statistics (only players with 1,000+ minutes b/c I screwed up the edit) -- Fixtures 1 -- Fixtures 2 -- Table-- Transfers -- Finances -- Commercial Summery
This was a tale of two seasons. The first half: we looked like a competent team. There was offensive movement. Goals were scored. The defense wasn't under constant pressure. Then, the winter break came and Antonio Garguilo 22A was sold to AC Milan. After the winter break, we played and looked like crap. The offense went in the tank. The defense was under constant pressure. Any goals and results we obtained felt like minor miracles. The strong first half put into a solid 6th place position. The terrible second half meant we couldn't push for a European place. This season, we got close to even went it came to goals scored and goals allowed. Hopefully, we can make it through the 2025-26 season without a player sold to be a big European club and we can have some season-long consistent play.
Players of the Season
LW Giulio Dini 22B (44%): Dini had a breakout season for us this season. This was Dini's first season with the senior team and he did not disappoint. He led the team with 10 assists while adding five goals. He is a physical and athletic beast. Needs to work on the mental side of his game if he wants to fully develop his game and help push us to better league finishes.
GK Christian Di Marco 21B (23%): Di Marco took over the starting goalkeeper job from Pelloni and ran with it. He struggled toward the end of the season when he was in a shooting gallery facing 15-25 shots per game. His breakout season earned a call-up to the Switzerland U21 team for the UEFA U-21 Championship.
RW Gianluca Barrasso 21D (20%): Barrasso on the right and Dini on the left gave us a lot of strength on the wings this season. Barrasso took over from Gil on the right. All three of our players of the season were players who took over a starting job from an established player. Barrasso was our second leading scorer with six goals and added three assists.
While not as good as last year's intake, Golden Generation V: The Depth Strikes Back provides a lot of depth. This intake has nine 4* potential players but only two 5* players. The downside to the intake is the depth is at positions where we are already deep. We are getting into dire need of full backs and center backs. The front six and the goalkeeper are developing nicely. The back four is putting a lot pressure on the other seven.
CF Claudio Verdelli 25A: Verdelli is a good all-around center forward. While I don't think he's in the class of Gentile 23A, he should be a serviceable replacement/rotation player going forward for us.
LW Slobodan Vasic 25B: Vasic provides us with yet another option on the left wing. He needs a lot of developing in the U21 team before he pushes into the senior squad. He is going to spend a lot of time as a back-up.
CM/RW Lorenzo Accattoli 25C: Accattoli gives a versatile option in the midfield. He can play both the center midfield and right wing. Like Verdelli and Vasic, he is going to need a lot of seasoning in the U21 team before getting a senior team call-up.
CF Raphael Johnson 25D : Johnson is the second center forward in the top-tier of this year's intake. He enters a very crowded position and will spend a good deal of time in the U21 team before he moves up to the senior team. He could be re-trained into the attacking midfield band.
GK Alessio Zanella 25E: Zanella is the best goalkeeper in this year's intake. Already has some of the best ball-handling of our goalkeeping group but needs to develop a lot of facets in his game before he can get moved up to the senior team even as a backup.
Switzerland had a good year when it comes to the Champions League and Europa League. The nation had fallen down to 20th in the rankings but this year saw the nation leapfrog up to 12th. This gives us another team in the Europa League competition while the Super League 2nd place finisher now enters the Champions League instead of the Europa League.
The chairman still will not build a new stadium for the club. So, I'm continuing to pour money into the training facilities to help the current players develop.
Wait, what?! After more than a season out of contract, you decide to leave us out of the blue...?
OK. I have feared this since his contract ran out. It will be interesting to see how the team will cope.
He was our best offensive player, and I have no player even close to as good to take over.
Edited February 28 by andershs
Domestic League : Allsvenskan - 3rd
Well, this was a great development! We changed things around a little bit, some of the kids took huge strides while grabbing the smallest of opportunities and it felt like we kicked on nicely.
After the great cup run (see below) we started the league campaign with a thud! We lost both of our first games without scoring and doubts began to creep in. We then won 5 of our next 6 (including two thumping away wins) and we did not look back after that. We have an annoying habit of letting in late goals, which did cost us a few points, but thankfully in other games they didn't hurt us. There was one small wobble in August when we lost 3 out of 4 and conceded 12 in the process, but then there always seems to be one! We even managed to do the double of the champions AIK, including a 1-0 last day of the season win which secured 3rd. It took an 89th minute OG to do it and vault from 4th to 3rd, but we will take it!
The massive revelation this year though was Niklas Oscarsson (10D) who exploded onto the scene and outshone other more highly touted youths. He scored two off the bench in a cup game and then after the 2 poor first league games I started him and he scored two again never looked back. The exclamation mark being 4 goals in one game, 4 games from the end of the season.
Domestic Cup : 2027-2028 edition - Lost in the semi finals
Our second great cup run in our 11 year journey so far and again Malmo played the role of party poopers. We almost didn't make it out of the group stages, as after winning our first two games we needed either any positive result or a loss by a single goal to progress. We went 3-2 down in the 91st minute to Falkenbergs FF and then endured a frantic next 4 additonal minutes but JUST held on. From there we won our quarter final 1-0 against Norrkoping before heartbreak in our Semi Final. Malmo scored a 93rd minute winner in a 7 goal thriller of a game.
Domestic Cup : 2028-2029 edition - Lost in 2nd Round
I cannot fathom out our team and this qualifying round against lower level opposition. I only made 2 changes to our first choice XI (1 enforced by injury) and we played horrendously again. An embarrassing 0-1 loss to Gefle, who we used to battle against in the early years of the challenge.
A very top heavy intake this year. I actually only signed the top 5 of them to youth deals and let the other 11 leave.
Shewangizaw Tebabal David (11A) - Possibly the best named player I have ever received! I have actually had to drop a letter from his name in game in order to add his youth tag! Now known to me purely as Dave, Shewangizaw looks like a future DC for sure. Tall, relatively pacey (both for his size and in terms of the rest of my defense) and determined. I will try and give him minutes in the first team as chances arise in games late on.
Dario Hadzic (11B) - My new retraining project! I want Dario to be my longer term left midfielder. Pacey and fairly well rounded, I have started giving him spot starts already and he even grabbed the ball and took & scored a penalty late on in a league game!
Simon Carlen (11C) - Simon has something my other forwards do not, natural finishing. He needs some polishing before challenging for senior starts I think (personality! and his starting trait is not great for a forward role hanging on the defenders shoulder) but he could be handy.
Johan Peterson (11D) - A defender who can play anywhere across the line. A little short for my liking back there, but fairly well rounded.
I will be happy again when this section reverts back to reporting on just outgoing loans......
It was always a worry, but Jonatan Hansson (08C)'s rise to starting on our right wing brought attention to his release clause his agent insisted on him having if he was going to sign a deal. Granted, the 500k at the time seemed extortionate when his value was so low, but his value shot up as his performances merited. He has 11 assists for us already by the time the big boys came in for him. He had the choice of both Milan clubs and chose Inter. The sad thing is, if not for the release clause I could have squeezed a LOT more out of them for sure, fixing our short term money issues.....
1st - Joakim Stromberg (08A) 35% - A career high haul of 17 goals, Joakim won the fans vote.
2nd - Selim Ari (03B) 28% - Captain marvel again for another great season in the middle of the park
3rd - Niklas Oscarsson (10D) 23% - Highway robbery! How did this kid not win the award this year?! 20 goals (a club record) in 32 appearances and a key part in our upturn in fortunes.
A massive feel good feeling around the club right now. 3rd place means we get to enter European competition for the first time next year, entering the EURO Cup in the 3rd qualifying round. Last year 3rd place gave entry to the Group Stages immediately, but Sweden dropped down 1 spot in the coefficients and it cost us.
The money will be a big plus and hopefully will help us back towards breaking even again for the first time in 4-5 years.
Shankly84
Team: Liverpool
Managing: FC Chelyabinsk
I have got 5 seasons worth of uploads to put up today, so sorry in advance if I take over the thread today.
FC Chelyabinsk - FM Youth Challenge
SEASON 1 - Russian First Division
League Table - Player Stats - Team Stats - Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Transfers
Finances - Facilities - General - Club Profile - Manager Profile
So I decided to start this challenge in the Russian league. I wanted a team that had the potential to become the biggest club in the country. After looking at my options I decided to go with FC Chelyabinsk. This was mainly due to the fact that they seem to be the only proffesional football team in a city with a population of over a million people. Hopefully plenty potential for large attendances!!
The pre-season predictions had us down as 1000-1 to win the league, so my aim for the season was to simply stay in the division. The squad was decent and last seasons intake seemed to have given me a few younger players that I would already be able to work with. After an opening day defeat, we managed to pick 6 points up from our next 2 games and managed to keep on picking enough wins up to keep us away from the relegation zone. In April we managed to come away from Anji with an impressive 2-1 win, showing that we maybe had the potential to get somewhere this season. Following 2 poor results, an 8 game unbeaten run before the winter break had us sat in 4th place, just 5 points of the top as we went into the interval. It took 4 games for us to regain our form after the break and things were steady enough that with 3 games to go we were sat in 4th place in the play-off spot. A 2-2 draw at home to Zenit-2 on the last day of the season meant we snook into 4th place by a point and had reached the play-off. We would be playing Premier League Ufa for a place in the top league. A credible 1-1 draw away from home in the 1st leg had me feeling like we could do it. Despite going a goal behind in the 2nd leg, we found ourselves 3-1 up by the 56th minute and it looked like we were going up. However, it wasn't to be. A bit of a dissapointed collapse saw us eventually lose the game 5-3 and to lose 6-4 on aggregate. Overall though an outstanding season given that the odds were completely against us.
Andrey Biryukov - Our main striker and main source of goals, finishing the season with 19 goals in 40 appearences.
Ilja Kiselev - A young winger from last seasons intake.
Mikhail Belov - Central midfielder who chipped in with 7 goals.
Ones To Look Out For
Yakov Bakulin - 17 year old right winger from the previous seasons intake. A solid start to proffesional football with 6 goals in 19 games.
Vladimir Kuznetzov - Another one from the previous intake. The 18 year old centre back established himself as a first team player by the end of the season and finished with an average rating of 6.90 from 13 games.
Vadim Gorbunov - Goalkeeper from my first intake, who ended the season as number 1 despite being only 16 years old. A goof 6.93 average rating despite conceding 20 goals in only 9 games.
Georgey Mukhametshin - The third player on the list from last seasons intake. A solid start to life in the first team. Hopefully can kick on next season.
A good start with the intake, with goalkeeper Gorbunov finding his way into the first team by the end of the season.
Posted March 1 (edited)
League Table - Player Stats - Team Stats - Results 1 - Results 2 - Transfers
Despite still being massive outsiders at 600-1, I felt that we could puch on this year after our exploits in the previous season. The season started off in a fairly dissapointed manner, picking up just 4 points out of a possible 12. A couple of wins in the league was followed by 4 league defeats on the trot. This wasn't really going as we had planned. A change in formation before the Zenit game (in the cup) was meant to freshen things up, but it couldn't of gone any worse. An embarraing 12-1 defeat at home!! I stuck with the formation though and it brought us massive success. 11 wins out of our next 16 games before the winter break meant that we finished for the break sat in 6th place. We were now only 6 points of the top but more importantly we were 19 points clear of the relegation zone. After the break things carried on from where we had left off only losing 2 games between the break and end of season. A last dat win over Nizhniy Novogrod meant that we would finish the season in 2nd place and were automatically promoted!! After the success I was awarded with the manager of the year award.
Off the field we had the first instance of the board accepting a bid for a player that we didn't want to leave, with Mukhametshin moving on to Ural for a fee of £220,000.
Andrey Biryukov - Kicked on from last season and managed an impressive 34 goals in just 32 games. Finished top goalscorer in the league.
Ilja Kiselev - Another good season for the young winger managing 10 goals and 7 assists.
Mikhail Belov - Another good season for the central midfielder.
Vadim Gorbunov - 17 Goalkeeper made the number 1 spot his own. A big future at the club.
Artem Markov - Came through last seasons youth intake and starting to be involved with the first team.
Besik Bakradze - Georgian left back from this seasons intake. Already making an argument to start as first choice.
Evgeniy Ovchinnikov - Right back from the intake already making the spot his own.
Igor Kozaev - 15 year old striker with 2 goals already to his name. Youngest ever goalscorer in the Russian First Division.
Yakov Bakulin - The 18 year old winger carried on from last year and won the young player of the year award.
A decent intake with Igor Kozaev looking the pick of the bunch.
On Field Progress
Off Field Progress
Edited March 1 by Shankly84
Bubbles_DK
Team: Hvidovre IF
Managing: B1908 (YAC)
I'm going to try again - this time in Italy and Lupa Roma (if they get promoted at some point)
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Commission on Ethics: What are we waiting for?
By: Grant Miller, Publisher |October 2, 2018
Mayor Philip Stoddard
South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard abruptly cut the microphone of Stephen Cody back in January of this year and then would not let him speak again in February at a public meeting of the South Miami City Commission. Cody filed a complaint with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics. When it came up before the Ethics Commission in April, Stoddard’s attorney, Benedict Kuehne, was too busy, so the hearing had to be pushed off to July.
When the hearing finally happened in July, the Ethics Commission voted to find that there was probable cause that Stoddard violated Cody’s rights under the Citizens’ Bill of Rights in both the city and county charters.
In a normal case, the Ethics Commission and the accused take 30 days after the finding of probable cause to see if they can come to a settlement. Usually that means an admonishment or a reprimand from the commission with directions that the public official not repeat the offending behavior. Lacking that, the case proceeds to a hearing.
Sources tell us that Stoddard has vowed that he will not settle the matter and is demanding to go forward. That, however, was before the city commission took away the funding for Stoddard’s defense. It remains to be seen whether Phil will be obstinate when he’s paying his own legal bills.
In this case, the matter seems cut and dried. Stoddard had a dial at his desk that could turn off the microphone so that the viewers watching the meeting on the city’s government access cable TV channel couldn’t hear what was being said at the podium. Stoddard used that power to silence Cody — twice.
Both the city and county charters have a provision that gives “interested persons” the “right to be heard.” The city charter goes further, saying that if the Ethics Commission determines that an official intentionally violated a person’s rights, that official forfeits his or her office immediately.
The stakes in this controversy are more than just Phil’s political payback against someone he feared would publicly criticize him. This case comes down to Phil’s fitness to hold the office of mayor. And it could have an effect on whether Stoddard will ever hold political office again.
The hearing on Cody’s complaint shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. The Ethics Commission should review the video of the hearings. That alone could show them all they need to see. And Stoddard should offer any defense that he has.
Grant Miller
At the probable cause hearing before the Ethics Commission, Stoddard laid the blame with the bad advice he got from South Miami City Attorney Thomas Pepe. The two of them should testify at the Ethics Commission hearing and point fingers at each other.
So far, the Commission on Ethics hasn’t moved the case forward. No depositions have been noticed. No final hearing has been set. At this pace, they might not set this matter down for a hearing until sometime in 2019.
This is a textbook case of where justice delayed is justice denied. If Stoddard can overcome the finding of probable cause, let him come forward with his evidence.
If Stoddard can’t, and the Ethics Commission determines that he acted with intent, then the remedy adopted by the people of South Miami should be allowed to go forward. In that case, Philip Stoddard should lose his job as South Miami mayor.
The delay of the case for more than a year from the date of the complaint does not serve the interests of justice, which demands a resolution that is both swift and complete.
Connect To Your Customers & Grow Your Business
Grant Miller, Publisher
Grant can be reached at grant@communitynewspapers.com
13 Comments on "Commission on Ethics: What are we waiting for?"
Gabe G | October 3, 2018 at 9:06 pm | Reply
One sided argument. Sounds like a personal vendetta against mayor stoddard of which I am not in favor of nor opposed to. So do your due diligence on other side (which you haven’t). You heard his counter, disprove it… otherwise it’s he said she said.
Antoinette Fischer | October 4, 2018 at 5:41 am | Reply
Mayor Stoddard was using the electronic device for an extended period of time. I noticed it on the dais when I was serving on the Planning Board, and my last term expired August, 2017. He used the device arbitrarily when I spoke. This was just plain flat out wrong. No elected official has the right to control a speaker’s voice to satisfy their own interests and individual opinions on how a speaker should sound. If a speaker is threatening in any way the Chair has the right to have an officer remove that person from the chambers. Mayor Stoddard has overstepped the boundaries of his authority time and time again by using the device.
There is also a big problem with lack of transmission of our city’s meetings on the government channel. I spoke about this problem at the last Commission meeting, and comments from the dais were glib and ridiculous. There is an obvious intention to thwart any serious attention or real solution to this problem, which is evidential of a callous disregard for transparency and accountability in government. Those individuals have no respect whatsoever for the taxpayers who fund the contracts that are supposed to ensure that we can watch the meetings on television if we choose to do so.. We have suffered too long with horrible representation. Thank you, Grant Miller, for calling attention to many problems which plague our city.. The investigator from Ethics was in attendance at the last Commission meeting, and paying attention to every word.
Burro | October 8, 2018 at 4:52 pm | Reply
The first definition in my Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of “interest” is: right, title or legal share in something. Does Mr. Cody have a right, title or legal share in South Miami? Is he a resident? Does he have a business here? What are the facts? Was the “criticism” you say he was about to make of the Mayor time-wasting complaints or constructive? If they were constructive, why haven’t you written about them? If Mr. Cody was just venting for his own release of steam, how does stopping him hurt the proceedings?
Antoinette Fischer | October 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm | Reply
To Gabe G, I was sitting right in back of mr. Cody when the incident occurred. I saw and heard everything. Mister Cody’s complaint is legitimate regardless of any personal Vendetta. 4 out of 5 Commission on ethics members voted to proceed with an investigation into mr. Cody’s complaints after mayor Stoddard had appealed to the commission to drop the complaint. The commission on ethics has a new director and that may or may not have something to do with the prolonged amount of time that it is taking for a decision from the commission.
There is a sentence left out of the reply that was just posted. Here’s what it should read:
. . . Does he have a business here? Was he a registered lobbyist? What are the facts? . . .
Any citizen has a right to attend any government meeting in Dade County and to speak in order to voice their concerns as per the citizens Bill of Rights.. our rights as Citizens supersedes any definition that you may find in Webster’s Dictionary
M.Wheeler | October 8, 2018 at 5:27 pm | Reply
Stoddard’s questions of Grant’s well written expose’ of facts is a transparent albeit ineffective way of deflecting guilt. Sad that Stoddard would think that everyone in South Miami is stupid.
Will everyone please read mayor Stoddard email reply to mr. Grant Miller. Mayor Stoddard claims to have raise the volume on Steve Cody’s voice rather than turn it off or lower it. With that statement he has admitted 2 using the device, as I have heard him state that he has used the device many times. I do not believe that he has any right to use any electronic device to alter anyone’s voice in any way or to interfere in any way with the video or audio of any government meeting. This may be a violation of Federal Regulation that individuals may not interfere with anything on the airwaves. I would like to know the name of the person who supplied this device to Mayor Stoddard. That person may share some culpability in this matter.
Bamm-Bamm Rubble | October 8, 2018 at 7:43 pm | Reply
Lyin’ Phil Stoddard obviously knows he’s guilty, thus the need to stall. The reasons he’s stalling are numerous: 1) to complete the up zoning of the downtown and the CRA to 18 stories, 2) to complete the up zoning of the precedent-setting, Fellowship Church property to 4-story, multi-family, 3) to complete the sale of city hall for pennies on the dollar to FIU trustee, Wasim Shomar, owner of Lynx Companies, and 4) to wait until Florida Governor Rick Scott leaves office in 2019.
Because the Ethics Commission likely has wide latitude in determining whether Stoddard “willfully” violated the citizen’s bill of rights and the city charter to effect removal from office — Stoddard absolutely needs to wait until Rick Scott leaves office. Because he will likely be found guilty but deemed to not have “willfully” violated Cody’s rights, Stoddard needs to be assured that Rick Scott can’t step in via executive order to remove him from office. Rick Scott while still in office can also order Florida’s Auditor General to audit the city to ensure that city taxpayers won’t be secretly billed for Stoddard’s attorney fees and other costs.
PS. The charging party (Cody), if successful, is also entitled to recover his attorney costs from Lyin’ Phil. Ouch!
Sharon McCain | October 8, 2018 at 8:25 pm | Reply
Mayor Stoddard is a pathological liar, anyone who has watched him in action for the past 8years knows that. I understand after watching the last commission meeting that Mayor Stoddard was served, ONCE AGAIN, for an incident that occurred in his home, a Halloween party hosted by Mayor Stoddard and his professor wife, both employed at FIU, a party for “minors.” Unfortunately, one minor got deathly sick and was rushed to the hospital. Mayor Stoddard tried to cut off the speaker addressing this issue that is public record, any lie goes with Stoddard. Years ago Mayor Stoddard sponsored a resolution against the advice of one of the city’s attorneys at the time to band me again attending any commission meetings with specifics stating what time I had to be off city property. I was an activist at the time, Stoddard hated my due diligence and the presentation of facts during public comments so he decided to get rid of me. He failed. The Citizen Bill of Rights states all, not just residents, have the right to be heard, Stoddard was told at the time, but he didn’t care. I watched the meeting in question that Mr Cody attended, Mayor Stoddard is lying once again. He completely turned off the volume and did everything he could not to have Mr Cody speak, and got his city attorney back him (another employee who should lose his license to practice law). So Mr. Burro, it appears you are wrong, just one question, did Mayor Stoddard employ you to combat remarks in this paper, he has been known to due that in other media outlets including blogs. One thing I don’t understand, with the history of lawsuits filed against the Mayor, one wonders what FIU is thinking about….in my opinion, this man should never teach young adults. Is Mr. Rosenberg looking away for reasons that should be explained.
Sharon McCain | October 10, 2018 at 4:51 pm | Reply
Mr. Burro: The South Miami City Charter Bill of Rights, states everyone has a right to be heard. Stoddard knows that, Welsh knows that , and Liebman knows that, yet, documentation shows they have constantly gone to great lengths to limit people from speaking at public comments by making changes to the city’s ordinances. Another words they knowingly and willingly decided to go against the city charter,(when they got elected, they took an oath to govern by the city charter. Repeated rhetoric (public record) made by Mayor Stoddard and Comm. Liebman over the years shows them to say… “she/he doesn’t live here, she/he doesn’t have a business here, the lies that have come out of these mouths for years is enough to send them to prison. Yet, when Stoddard and company wanted solar ordinances and other ordinances passed to appease their developer friends, they would fill the chambers with people, wearing Solar Tshirts that don’t live or work in the city, yet not a word coming from the hypocrite lying mouth of Mayor Stoddard or Commissioners Welsh and Liebman. You can’t make this stuff up as to what goes on in the City of Cesspool Living (aka South Miami). Bottom line, “everyone has the right to be heard” and there is nothing Stoddard and company can do about it. Accolades to Mr. Cody for following this through. A penalty of what Stoddard did is removal from office. This needs to happen in addition to an audit of the city’s books because in my opinion, some city staff would be sprinting out the doors of city hall, never to return
Antoinette Fischer | October 19, 2018 at 2:57 pm | Reply
South Miami voters beware, beware, beware! At various times in the past commissioner Josh Liebman has attempted to reduce the number of minutes that we are allowed to speak at public remarks! I have heard him state that he intends to run for mayor. I have a witness who also heard him and most likely there are other people who are also aware of his ambitions. Judging by his desire to curtail our public remarks, we would have a very repressive mayor if Josh Liebman were to win. He has also expressed a desire to shorten meetings so that he can rush home to watch a sports game. Cutting down on our minutes at public remarks is one way to do that, and yet Commissioner Liebman took up 40 to 45 minutes of our time with a film and a presentation on the city of Medellin Colombia in order to have that City adopted by South Miami as our sister city. Presentations are not supposed to take up more than 10 or 15 minutes maximum. Liebman has been making trips to Columbia.Does he have a business, or possibly some Investments in that country that make it beneficial to him in some way for South Miami to have a permanent connection with Medellin, Colombia? There were many officials from Columbia in our Commission Chambers that night which demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that this connection with Medellin was pre-arranged and for some reason the commission voted yes to have Medellin as a sister city. There had not been any prior discussion on this issue. Those officials spend money and time traveling to South Miami for this purpose. What interest do the people of South Miami have with Medellin, Columbia? This was driven by Commissioner Liebman for some reason which goes beyond the presentation that was made at the commission meeting. Commissioner Liebman is on his second 4 year term, so is commissioner Bob Welch, and vice mayor Walter Harris. Mayor Stoddard is on his fifth term much to the great misfortune of our city. Anyone who hasn’t figured that out yet must not be paying any attention, or stands to make money on the mayor’s high-density agenda.
Antoinette Fisher: You are wrong about why Comasario Liebman rushes home. If you did your due diligence you would know he rushes home so he can catch the evening flight to Colombia, his primary address, and doesn’t return until the next commission meeting two weeks later and records of attendance also show sometimes he misses the next meetings and states he attends by conference but he is never in the microphone and the rest of the commission laughs it off behind closed doors. If anyone watched this scam Colombia sister city thing, watch Stoddard and city manager throw in their weight when it looked like people were asking too many questions. Comasario is a 40 something that can’t seem to secure a job, but how does he pay for two condos in Colombia? People in your city have a right to know how each commissioner makes a living with documentation, if not, they need to be turned into ethics, for various reasons. SO EVERYONE, SOMETHING SMELLS RANCID IN COLOMBIA AND AROUND LEIBMAN STODDARD AND ALEXANDER, TOO BAD THEY THINK THEY ARE ABOVE EVERYTHING, LOL,
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Planting the seeds for hemp production to begin in Miami-Dade County
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Invited Talk Details
YOW! Lambda Jam 2018
Combinators Revisited
language Invited Talk 45 Mins Intermediate
Edward Kmett
Chair of the Haskell Core Libraries Committee, Software Engineering Lead
Senior Software Engineer at Digital Asset
schedule May 22nd 04:55 - 05:40 PM place Red Room people 220 Interested
Back in the 80's, one approach to compiling functional programming languages was to compile down to combinators such as SKI. John Hughes' initial work on supercombinators changed the way folks thought about compiling functional languages and caused folks to turn away from this approach by customizing the combinator set to your particular program. Then Lennart Augustsson's work on implementing supercombinators more efficiently sealed the deal. GHC's compilation technique is a descendant of this school of thought.
But what did we give up to get to where we are? Let's explore a bit of alternate history.
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http://yowconference.com.au/slides/yowlambdajam2018/Kmett-Combinators.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhj_tUMwTe0&list=PLIpl4GKFQR6fyK1MmpDVHqH7txoHfCk5n&index=13
schedule Submitted 1 year ago
Yaron Minsky - Reactive Programming with Diff and Patch
3 language Invited Keynote 60 Mins Intermediate
Yaron Minsky
Occasional OCaml Programmer
Jane Street Group
schedule 1 year ago
Writing reactive programs can be challenging. Such programs need to be able to react efficiently to changes as they stream in from the outside world, which often leads people to make their program logic incremental in an ad-hoc way, directly expressing their logic in terms of how to integrate a change, rather than as an all-at-once
computation.
But such ad-hoc incrementalization is complicated, and the resulting programs can be hard to reason about. In this talk, I'll discuss an approach that leverages the fact that functional data structures can often be diffed efficiently. I'll show how the ability to diff and patch can be integrated into a more general reactive programming
framework to let you write programs which read like simple, all-at-once implementations of your program logic, but which perform like hand-optimized change-oriented programs.
Eugenia Cheng - Category Theory and Life
6 algorithm Invited Keynote 60 Mins Beginner
Category theory can be thought of as being "very abstract algebra". It is thought of as "too abstract" by some people, and as "abstract nonsense" by some others. In this talk I will show that while it is abstract, it is far from being nonsense. I will argue that the abstraction has a purpose and that broad applicability is one of the powerful consequences. To demonstrate this, I will show how I apply concepts of category theory to important questions of life such as prejudice, privilege, blame and responsibility. I will introduce the category theory concepts from scratch so no prior knowledge is needed. These concepts will include objects and morphisms, isomorphisms and universal properties.
Ryan Trinkle - Full-Stack Haskell, from Prototype to Production
4 language Invited Invited Talk 45 Mins Intermediate
Ryan Trinkle
Software Engineer & Founding Partner
Obsidian Systems
Invited Talk
Three years ago, I quit my job to bet everything on the proposition that Haskell could excel not just for specialized, high-assurance software, but for the kinds of software that millions of engineers work on every day. I had previously built backends with Haskell, with the wonderful experience of code that works reliably, a team that doesn't step on each others' toes, and an ease of refactoring that let us keep the codebase clean without risking regressions. But now, GHCJS and FRP had finally become reliable enough to trust in the real world. It was a game changer: Haskell could now build world-class graphical user interfaces, too, and deploy them as single page web apps — in theory.
In practice, there were many obstacles along the way. However, I found that even with the need to blaze new trails from time to time, our overall pace was far faster than anything I had seen in the imperative tech stacks I'd worked with before. Strong types and pure values decreased bug counts and made code much more readable. Some former backend developers who had scrupulously avoided frontend development told me that they now enjoyed working on the frontend, too.
Since then, I've worked with the community to continue building infrastructure to expand the areas where we can use Haskell to get real work done. Enabling mobile development required bug fixes to GHC, a rearchitected approach to cross-compilation in Nixpkgs, and bindings to native APIs. To scale up to larger projects, we've improved existing tools and created new tools that make developer workflows simpler, faster, and more discoverable. And to make Haskell app development more accessible to beginners and professionals without Haskell experience, we've made more and more functionality available out of the box.
In this talk, I'll show you the tools that are available today and the challenges that lie ahead. I hope you'll come away with a broadened understanding of how Haskell can be applied in your own professional projects — and how the theory of functional programming can be a potent practical tool.
David Laing / Ryan Trinkle - Front-end Development with Reflex
3 language Invited Introductory Workshop 480 Mins Intermediate workshop
David Laing
Sr. Functional Programming Developer
There has been a lot of excitement about Functional Reactive Programming (FRP).
Most of it has been about distant relatives of the original idea, which are nowhere near as powerful or as useful.
The `reflex` library -- and the companion `reflex-dom` library -- were created in order to use FRP to do front-end development using Haskell.
This workshop will give you hands-on experience with these libraries.
The workshop will show attendees a new way to manage state and time-dependent logic, with significant benefits over the standard approaches when it comes to abstraction, composition and correctness.
It will also make the case that when these ideas are applied to front-end development, they lead to something beyond what is delivered by libraries like `react` and `redux`.
Tony Morris / Edward Kmett - Let's Lens
2 language Invited Introductory Workshop 480 Mins Intermediate
Queensland FP Lab, Data61
Let's Lens presents a series of exercises, in a similar format to the Data61 functional programming course material. The subject of the exercises is around the concept of lenses, initially proposed by Foster et al., to solve the view-update problem of relational databases.
The theories around lenses have been advanced significantly in recent years, resulting in a library, implemented in Haskell, called lens.
This workshop will take you through the basic definition of the lens data structure and its related structures such as traversals and prisms. Following this we implement some of the low-level lens library, then go on to discuss and solve a practical problem that uses all of these structures.
Manuel Chakravarty - Welcome to FP Introductory Workshop
3 language Invited Introductory Workshop 480 Mins Beginner
Manuel Chakravarty
Lambda Scientist
Tweag I/O & IOHK
Functional programming has become inevitable. New programming languages draw inspiration from the functional paradigm; old programming languages retrofit support for functional programming; and development teams change their coding style to adopt the best functional programming idioms. We are clearly experiencing a paradigm shift in our industry.
Due to its academic roots, functional programming sometimes seems unapproachable, with unfamiliar jargon, obscure concepts, and bewildering theories. It doesn’t have to be like that.
In this one-day series of lectures and hands-on workshops, we will translate the jargon, demystify the concepts, and put the theories into practice. There is nothing inherently difficult about functional programming. In fact, its main aim is to simplify programming and to make it more widely accessible. Functional programming is about being able to understand one function without the million lines of code it is a part of. It is about code reuse. It is about modularity and keeping code easy to change and refactor. These are all goals of good program design that every developer appreciates. Based on this common ground, we will explore functional programming together and see how it can help us to achieve these design goals. In fact, by learning the fundamentals of functional programming in Haskell, we can improve program design in mainstream languages, such as Javascript and C++, and even more so, in hybrid languages, such as Scala and Swift.
Throughout the day, we will explain the most commonly used functional programming terminology. You will learn the fundamentals of Haskell, one of the most popular functional programming languages. In the process, we will look at a lot of concrete code to understand what functional programming is all about and how to use it in your own programs. In the workshops, you will have plenty of opportunity to write code yourself, experiment, and ask questions. It’ll be fun!
Bring your laptop and your curiosity and by the end of the day, functional programming will be another tool in your toolbox, and you will be ready to enjoy the main YOW! Lambda Jam conference.
Yaron Minsky - Introduction to OCaml
The goal of this workshop is to get you a basic familiarity with OCaml and the tools you'll need to be effective working in the language. It will be aimed at experienced programmers who don't know OCaml, and don't necessarily know any functional programming.
The workshop is organized around a set of exercises that should take you through the basics of the language, up through building a simple client/server application using Async RPC.
In addition to that, we hope to teach people how to use the latest tools for OCaml, including installing dependencies with opam , building your code with Dune, using Merlin for IDE-style functionality like type throwback and go-to-definition, and writing expect tests to visualize what your code is doing. We'll also show you how to write a simple web-game using js_of_ocaml.
Colin Fleming - Developing an IDE for Clojure code
2 practice Accepted Talk 30 Mins Intermediate clojure ide
Colin Fleming
Ideogram Limited
Cursive is an IDE for Clojure, based on the IntelliJ framework. In contrast to the majority of Clojure development environments, Cursive uses static analysis of the source code to work its magic rather than using runtime inspection of a live system via the REPL. IntelliJ provides a sophisticated indexing infrastructure, and this in combination with static analysis allows many interesting features which are difficult or impossible to achieve with a traditional REPL-based environment. Essential code navigation tools such as Find Usages and refactorings such as Rename become possible, and using IntelliJ's code inspections can provide error marking and static analysis of code, right in the editor. This ability to see problems immediately provides an even shorter feedback loop than working in the REPL.
I'll discuss some of the challenges of developing a traditional IDE for a language as flexible as Clojure, including the implementation details of how to deal with syntax extensions from macros. I'll also talk about the various ups and downs of developing much of it in Clojure, and why some of it is also developed in Kotlin. I'll also talk about why I believe our editors should be syntax aware, not just text based.
Simon Belak - Transducing for fun and profit
2 concept Accepted Talk 30 Mins Intermediate clojure stream-processing data-science composition
Simon Belak
Transducers -- composable algorithmic transformation decoupled from input or output sources -- are Clojure’s take on data transformation. In this talk we will look at what makes a transducer; push their composability to the limit chasing the panacea of building complex single-pass transformations out of reusable components (eg. calculating a bunch of descriptive statistics like sum, sum of squares, mean, variance, ... in a single pass without resorting to a spaghetti ball fold); explore how the fact they are decoupled from input and output traversal opens up some interesting possibilities as they can be made to work in both online and batch settings; all drawing from practical examples of using Clojure to analize “awkward-size” data.
Mark Hibberd - Hanging on in Quiet Desperation: Time & Programming
3 design Accepted Talk 30 Mins Intermediate
Mark Hibberd
Head of Technology
Time has a profound impact on the complexity of the systems we build.
A significant amount of this software complexity comes from either an
inability to recall previous states or the inability to understand
how a state was arrived at.
From the foundations of AI, LISP and functional programming [1], to
causality in distributed systems [2], to the more grungy practices of
immutable infrastructure, or the unreasonable effectiveness of
fact-based approaches to large scale data systems; the ability to
adequately cope with time, and the change and conflict it inevitable
creates, is a common thread to being able to build and reason about
these systems.
This talk looks at the impact of time on system design. We will walk
through examples of large-scale systems and their battles with
complexity. At the end of the talk, the audience should start to see
the common spectre of time and have an appreciation of how
understanding time is fundamental to maintaining clarity, correctness
and reliability in systems.
[1] Situations, Actions, and Causal Laws
John McCarthy
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/785031.pdf
[2] Times, Clocks and the Ordering of Events in a Distributed System
Leslie Lamport
https://amturing.acm.org/p558-lamport.pdf
Brian McKenna - Teaching functional programming at Atlassian
4 experience-report Accepted Talk 30 Mins Beginner
Brian McKenna
Functional Programmer
My team works on Atlassian Marketplace, a project which started 10 years ago and uses Scala, Haskell and Nix. The Marketplace code uses concepts such as applicative functors, monad transformers and lenses. People joining the team mostly learned concepts as they needed to, through experimentation and asking questions.
Last year we started hosting functional programming classes for more fundamental and broad understanding. We've been using the Data61 (formerly NICTA) Functional Programming Course with a lot of success. This talk will describe how we teach FP, what we've learned about teaching FP and the challenges we face.
Ended on Mar 24 '18 12:00 AM AEDT
flightTravel covered* info_outline
hotelAccommodation covered info_outline
Tim Stokes
Vaibhav Sagar
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Other Theme Park News and Destinations
How Would You Like to See the Potter-verse Incorporated into Universal, Hollywood?
Ride Warrior
Iron-Clad Allie
If Universal decides to bring Wizarding World of Harry Potter to USH, it seems to me that there are several options to pursue. It could just build the main ride (tearing down one or more existing attractions), and then change some of the resataurants and shaps to those at Orlando's wizarding World. The park could also replace City Walk and part of the formal park property with as much of Orlando's Wizard world as possibe. Perhaps the best plan would be to replace managements rediculuous vision of building 2,936 new homes and apartments with Wizarding World (see the link and the quote below).
NBC Universal Evolution
"According to USFs Evolution Plan, the new residential area would add 2936 new homes, apartments and 10 story complex buildings to areas currently housing several backlot sets: War of the Worlds, Wysteria Lane and the blue screen lake. There is concern over this last point as to how much impact all these new residents will have on the already horrible traffic in the area."
11 Voters
just build main ride (Forbidden Journey). Change theming of restaurants and shops.
Replace City Walk and part of formal park.
Replace plans to build 2,936 new homes and apartments with Wizarding World
Buy up (and annex) properties surrounding park, and build Wizarding World.
Tear down Hollywood or downtown Burbank. Build Harry Land there.
Build Harry Land on multi-level parking lot-like structure.
Just put Harry on a dinosaur, or have him battle the Terminator, the Mummy or King Kong.
Create an original themeless themepark attraction instead.
Potter can fall off his broom and crash and burn for all I care.
Last edited by Ride Warrior; 12-05-2010, 01:31 PM.
To Boldly Go Where No MiceChatter Has Gone Before!
JerrodDRagon
Adventure First, Ad Last
Re: How Would You Like to See the Potter-verse Incorporated into Universal, Hollywood
^city Walk is staying no matter what, in fact they want to add to it.
As for a potter land, really they COULD redo the whole T2 Area (and the parking garage below it) and add a castle there, they could redo all the England area to be Potter themed and remove Mel's Dinner and replace it with a new Restaurant. But that's if they want to go BIG they could always just redo the Flintstones/Mexico/super Hero store area as a place to shop, a small show and a new restaurant. They could have the second choice done by 2013 if they wanted and it would be cheaper but not bring as many people in.
Happy Halloween!!!
Originally posted by JerrodDRagon View Post
Exceptionally good idea, JDR. Replacing T2 and the parking lot below would create lot's of space. Forbidden Journey could be built there. A new parking lot could be built elsewhere - even if it means building one further underground, or cutting a deal with some of the nearby hotels to turn their parking facilities into multi-level ones.
KingEric
is in Antarctica
MiceChat Round-Up Crew
I still vote. Hollywood can have Lord of the Rings. Orlando keeps Harry Potter. Give people a reason to visit both coasts. NO CLONING!
Get the latest and greatest theme park news by
Following the Orlando Parkhopper every Tuesday with news and photos about Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando
Listen to the Unofficial SeaWorld Podcast to learn all about the SeaWorld Parks in Orlando, San Diego, and San Antonio
Listen to the Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast to learn all about what is happening at both Universal Studios Parks in Orlando Florida!
Or enjoy the beauty of all the parks at Exploring Orlando Theme Parks my Tumblr.
MactheMan
To quote myself:
Duplicate Wizarding World of Harry Potter? No... I'd much rather see USH get their OWN version, that would compliment the East Coast version rather than draw visitors from it. Of course it should include the castle along with an alternate version of Forbidden Journey (similar story, same ride vehicle, but different scenes. But aside from Forbidden Journey, I think the ride land should start, as Sir Clinksalot said, across from the Horror House, near the Blue Brothers, making that area at the end of "Main Street" almost a hub for Uni. The New York streets would then blend into London, before guests pass under a brick arch next to the "Leaky Cauldron" into Diagon Alley. Like Hogsmede, Diagon Alley would include lots of shops, including "Weasly Bros. Jokes," "Olivanders," "Flurish and Blotts," and "Honeydukes;" restaurants including the "Leaky Cauldron;" and a great deal of store fronts. At the end, of course, would be Gringotts, a walk through like Sleeping Beauty's Castle at DLP with a fire breathing dragon from book 7
Of course, to the left of Gringotts, at the end of Diagon Alley, guests would find the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4. The way scaled-down Kings Cross would just be devoted to the Hogwarts Express, which would take guests through the English country side, into a sound stage with a King Kong 360 type show scene (not sure exactly what would happen). Of course, the Express would drop guests off in front of the grand Hogwarts Castle, slightly altered from the WDW version with a small lake and bridge, at Hogsmede Station (but no Hogsmede).
Here's a plan I based of Sir Clinksalot idea:
Scribble Maps - Draw on google maps with scribblings and more!
For reference: the big white circle between the first and second escalators would be the new tram loading. After going down the reaching the first landing, another escalator would lead down in between the two track splits--the new Tram would have a duel loading to maximise capacity ala Small World or Thunder Mountain. The teal is the new route.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter West is pretty straightforward--the white is the path, and the red are the shops of Diagon Alley; the building with the teal dot at the junction is Gringotts, and the black building to its left is the Hogwarts Expresss Station, built into the side of the Forbidden Journey show building. The train would travel counter-clockwise through some foliage and over service roads before entering a disguised show building with some sort of scene on the 360 screen possibly simulating an express journey. The train would emerge in a hilly landscape before Hogwarts (purple) comes into view. The train would drop of at a rather simple Hogsmede station overlooking the lake in front of Hogwarts, which sits on top of a rock cliff face that would also block the show building (brown). To get back to Diagon Alley guests would have to take the tain back through a shorter ride.
This is a very rough plan, but as you can see, a Harry Potter West could easily compliment rather than be blatantly worse or better than the East version. If anything like this is being considered, Disney just has one more thing to worry about.
Originally posted by KingEric View Post
You may well be on to something here, KingEric. Lord of the Rings would lend itself to some awesome Middle Earth attractions.
Originally posted by MactheMan View Post
Some great ideas here, MactheMan. Your detailed descriptions mak your idea of original Potter attractions all the more exciting. Direct copying would not create the same magical profits at USH.
Freakazoid112
I say NO! Keep Potter on the East Coast and put in a kick-butt Lord of the Rings ride using Pandorra's Box or something. To use all of that space over at Gibson and WW for one ride would be a waste since we could have two brand-new rides that Orlando doesn't have but instead get a clone and a bunch of stinkin' shops. Orlando has to have some reason besides the Studio Tour and Transformers to see USH. I say no Potter whatsoever at USH. Let's have something fresh, original, and something Orlando doesn't have! I mean, there's other things that could be considered that would be awesome. A trackless interactive Ghostbusters dark ride that was originally planned for Dubai until it got canceled. That would be prefect where Water World is. Plus, like King Eric said, LotR could be an awesome addition as well.
Another thing to consider is that the last film of the Potter series comes out next year. To build Potter-verse in Hollywood would be a bad idea fiscally, IMO. They won't even finish it and open it until, what? 2014 or 13 if they started building um, tomorrow? By then the whole Harry Potter hype will have died down.
However, I would choose Potter over condos any day!
^see the thing is LOTR is not a a draw as Potter, yes the movies are done (for now) if they redid the T2 Area (and the parking structure below it) it would be worth it over a big LOTR ride, they want money not to be original and like I said before I want to go to USO but dont have the money to go, so bring the Potterland to me.
Well, I've been in the same boat as you, JerrodDragon, and haven't ever been financially able to travel to any of the Florida parks...let alone Wizarding World. So, there is something to be said for cloning the hit east coast attractions here in California. However, I feel the Universal creatives (many of them former disney Imagineers) are perfectly capable of creating a ride technologically similar to (if not upgraded) Forbidden Journey...and with a completey different cool story. They could make every other component of a California Wizarding World unique and possibly even better.
My personal belief is to never let my economic status place a limit on the quality of my dreams.
Originally posted by Freakazoid112 View Post
it makes no difference to me whether we get Potter or Frodo. I'm just happy that we have a humongous ride to look forward to.
Because you're such a terrific person, Freakazoid, I'll keep my fingers crosed that we get a Lord of the Rings E-Ticket at some point in the future. Next time I'm at the park, I'll mention to USH management that they've needed to get a Lord of the Rings headliner for some time. It's way overdue...just like my video rentals and library books.
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New Yorkers Compete for Best Warrior Title
DMNA Home page More News Stories
Story by: Eric Durr - NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs
Dated: Wed, May 16, 2012
CAMP SMITH-- Westchester News Channel 12 reporter Robert Wolf interviews New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major about the Northeastern Army Naitonal Guard Best Warrior Competition at Camp Smith Training Site on May 16. National Guard Soldiers from across the northeast engage targets during the rifle marksmanship competition of the Northeastern States Best Warrior Competition held on Wednesday, May 16 at Camp Smith Training Site. Soldiers and Non-Commissioned National Guard Soldiers from across New England, New York, and New Jersey are competiting to represent the region in a national competition later this year.
CAMP SMITH, NY-Wednesday, May 16, was a very long day for the fourteen men and women striving to be the best Army National Guard Soldier and Non-Commissioned Officers in New England, New York and New Jersey.
The day began with an Army Physical Fitness Test, was followed by a demanding land navigation course, a lunch time visit to the United States Military Academy, M-4 weapons qualification, a “stress shoot” testing marksmanship and physical endurance, a 6 mile forced march, and then night land navigation.
“It’s a busy day,” said Spec. Brian Lekhmus, the New York Army National Guard’s Soldier of the Year.
Lekhmus, a college student and a member of the 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion from Salt Point, NY, was competing against six peers for the top Soldier title in the Northeast Region Best Warrior Competition.
New York’s top Non-Commissioned Officer for 2012, Sgt. David Martinson, of Troy, NY, was going up against six other sergeants to see who represents the region in a national competition of top National Guard Soldiers and sergeants later this year.
“I’ve done other Soldier competitions but this incorporates everything,” Martinson said. “The road march, and day and night land navigation, the PT test, all this stuff in the same day is kind of overwhelming and tiring at the same time.”
“We really just have to muscle-up and work through the pain,”Martinson, an Active Guard and Reserve Soldier, added.
The three-day event, which began at Camp Smith on May 15 and ended on May 17, included plenty of hands on Soldier tasks, and quizzes on military knowledge in an oral board before command sergeants major from across the region.
The New Yorkers didn’t win the competition-Massachusetts Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Vanessa Urban was the top NCO and Maine Army National Guard Spec. Clay Landry was the top enlisted Soldier-but the event was still a good experience, said Lekhmus, who was the enlisted Soldiers runner-up.
The contest has forced him to reach back to his basic training days and remember his military tasks and learn more about the Army than he ever expect to, Lekhmus said.
“There are a lot of hands on tasks I don’t normally do on a drill weekend, he said.
The annual competition, which is now regularly held at Camp Smith, helps build Soldier skills across the force, said New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major Frank Wicks.
Each unit holds its own Best Warrior selection process before sending those Soldiers and NCOs to a statewide competition. The Soldiers who do best in each northeastern state end up pitted against each other at Camp Smith.
“It really helps build the skill sets of all the Soldiers because everyone wants to be the best,” Wicks said.
“It just makes for a more professional force,” Wicks added.
The regional competition allows Soldiers from different state Army National Guards to learn how other Guardsmen do things, Lekhmus said.
Most of the state competitions mirror the regional one, Martinson said, so all the contests are well prepared. “Everyone deserves to be here,” he said.
Lekhmus, who will be mobilizing with his unit in the fall for a deployment to Afghanistan, said the skills he’s honed during the competition will help him train other Soldiers in his signal battalion.
Martinson, a member of Joint Force Headquarters-New York, said the experience has made him a better non-commissioned officer.
Command Sergeants Major from all the Northeastern states took part in the event, providing advice to their state’s Soldiers and also acting as panel members during the military knowledge boards.
Members of New York’s Joint Force Headquarters and Camp Smith Training Site Staff provided support for the event and ran the ranges, while the 130th Public Affairs Detachment of the Connecticut Army National Guard provided photographic support.
© NYS DMNA: News Story: New Yorkers Compete for Best Warrior Title
URL: https://dmna.ny.gov/news/?id=1337271313
Page Last Modified: Fri, May 18, 2012
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Tag Archives: South Bend
Pornstar U.
October 30, 2014 The Shamrock Report Leave a comment
Jesse J. @TheShamRap
Huh? Did you really think I was going that route?
While Justin Brent’s Fall Break social media
shenanigans were an interesting filler to an otherwise
exhausting bye-week following “crabby flag-gate”,
there’s only one message to be taken from that;
Ok, now that that has been addressed, on to stuff that matters…
Playoffs? Playoffs?! We are ranked 10th and you wanna talk about playoffs?!
So we’re ranked 10th in the inaugural Playoff Committee Poll.
Big deal.
Did you REALLY think a close loss to Crabby Patty U
was gonna be enough to keep us in the mix for the
playoff action?! Hell no. These assholes don’t respect
And why should they? Our biggest win is a loss, and our 2nd biggest win is to Stanford, who until hopefully
this week vs. Oregon, hasn’t done us any favors with their play.
In fact, non of the teams that were supposed to give us
a chance to show our might have done us any favors
as far a S.O.S.
Michigan? HA!
USC? Uhhh no.
UNC? We made them look the best they’ve looked all year.
So what the hell do we do?! We play. We win.
We can hope Louisville at least has a strong showing
against FSU.
We can pray that ASU crushes Utah before our showdown in Tempe.
We can half-heartedly put our hatred aside for USC,
and hope they close the season out impressively.
WE CAN WATCH AS THE REST OF THESE CONFERENCES
CANNIBALIZE EACHOTHER!
STAY THE COURSE YO!
Ok, on to Navy.
You may have heard how Keenan Reynolds is a
dynamic play-maker for Navy, and we should be wary.
Stop it. Right now.
I’m not gonna kill you with a page full of seamen stats,
so I’m gonna make it simple…
Navy is TERRIBLE this year.
This is not even in the same class as any Midshipmen squad we’ve faced over the last decade. Not even as good as the Navy team we beat 50-10 in Ireland to open the 2012 campaign.
This is the PERFECT game to start playing ANGRY.
I’m not even going to waste anymore time talking about Navy.
We win 56-13. Game over.
It’s not time to hit panic mode yet folks!!!
A lot of football yet to be played!
That’s my 2 cents. PEACE, I’M OUTTA HERE!
Go Irish.
2014 Notre Dame FootballCharles BarkleyCollege Football PlayoffCollege GamedayFootballHerm EdwardsNCAA FootballNotre DameNotre Dame Fighting Irish footballSouth BendTyrone Willingham
Ishaq Williams Will Not Play This Season. Hopes to Return in 2015
October 14, 2014 Kevin Leave a comment
– Kevin
Brian Kelly announced today during his press conference that Notre Dame defensive end Ishaq Williams will not play for the Irish this season due to the findings of the academic fraud investigation that has been going on since before the start of the season. This news comes on the same day that Davaris Daniels announced that he too will not play for Notre Dame this season.
Ishaq Williams was a big time recruit when he arrived at Notre Dame but his performance never quite matched the expectations that went with his talent. There was a large amount of excitement for Williams to move back to defensive end in Coach Brian VanGorder’s new defensive scheme for the Irish but fans will have to wait until next season to see if the new scheme would allow Williams to finally live up to the big expectations that he brought to South Bend. It should be no surprise that Williams is planning on returning to Notre Dame next season. Williams wants to play in the NFL however his production has not warranted a realistic goal of being drafted. While he may not play this season having Williams return to Notre Dame next season along with KeiVarae Russell, who also stated he plans to return for next season, has got to have Irish fans excited about a defense that could possibly return 11 starts from this years team that has started 6-0 and played much better than people had anticipated.
2014 Notre Dame FootballBrian KellyBrian VanGorderDavaris DanielsIshaq WilliamsKeiVarae RussellNFLSouth Bend
ITS OFFICIAL! Notre Dame/UGA Home and Home Series is a Go.
June 25, 2014 Kevin Leave a comment
-Sgt Shamrock
Its been months since the initial reports surfaced but today it has become official. Notre Dame and the University of Georgia have announced that the two schools have agreed to play a home and home series. UGA will travel to South Bend to play Notre Dame on September 9th, 2017 and the Irish will head down south to the Peach State to play the Bulldogs on September 21st, 2019.
Needless to say this is outstanding news for not only Notre Dame football but also for college football in general. With the College Football playoff looming, strength of schedule will be a key factor determining the 4 teams who make the cut, and this is a prime time SEC opponent. Playing a game in the deep south will also help bolster the already superb recruiting efforts from Brian Kelly and the rest of the staff. The fact that myself as well as Moons, Dixie, and many other of the #NDTwitterati crew are from Georgia makes this even more exciting. While it is a few years away I know I am already excited for the matchup. I see a Down the Tunnel tailgate road trip in our future…..
BulldogsCollege Football PlayoffGeorgiaIrishNotre DameSECSouth BendUGA
A Partnership forged in Whiskey
March 28, 2014 Kevin Leave a comment
– Sgt Shamrock
On behalf of the entire Down the Tunnel team, I am pleased to announce that we have reached a partnership/sponsorship agreement with the Indiana Whiskey Company based in South Bend, Indiana. The Indiana Whiskey Company is veteran owned and operated and produces truly excellent small batch whiskey. We could not be more excited in our new partner/sponsor joining the Down the Tunnel team.
So what does this mean for you the reader? Well I am glad you asked. Very shortly (hopefully within the next day or so) you will see a tab at the top of the website that will take you directly to Indiana Whiskey’s website. Make sure you click on it and check them out. You will not be disappointed. Vise versa our new friends at Indiana Whiskey will have our site logo that you have come to know and love and a link to Down the Tunnel on their website. We both know that we share the same demographic; Irish fans and whiskey drinkers. In addition to this, the folks at Indiana Whiskey will be providing some of their delicious product for the Down the Tunnel Blue and Gold game tailgate that is taking place on April 12th and will also have a representative on site to talk about their company, answer any questions about their product, and to enjoy some whiskey with loyal Notre Dame fans. So if you are already planning on attending the spring game you have this awesome event to look forward to and if you are not planning on attending then it looks like you may have to rethink your decision. I mean come on guys its Notre Dame Football AND Whiskey. TOGETHER! What more could you ask for. On top of the spring game, our friends at Indiana Whiskey will also be providing their product for select Down the Tunnel tailgates during the football season (TBD which ones). As if enjoying game day at Notre Dame was not awesome enough, now you get to throw in drinking delicious whiskey with good people. Its a win-win for everybody. And once you taste this delicious whiskey, you will have no problem driving to the Indiana Whiskey Distillery to buy some to bring home with you. Its only 10 minutes from campus. Its a no brainer.
You excited? I thought so. All of us are excited too. Now lets drink some whiskey!!
Blue and Golddown the tunnelIndiana Whiskey CompanyNotre DameSouth Bendspring gameveteran
Brian Van Gorder Hired as the new Notre Dame DC
December 28, 2013 Kevin Leave a comment
Notre Dame didn’t waste anytime after defeating Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl to hire a new defensive coordinator. Multiple media outlets are reporting that Brian Van Gorder will be the new defensive coordinator for the Irish, taking over for Bob Diaco who left to become the head coach at UConn. Van Gorder is coming to Notre Dame after serving as the linebackers coach for the New York Jets under Rex Ryan this past season. Van Gorder has a history with Brian Kelly, working with him at Central Michigan as defensive coordinator.
Before coaching for the New York Jets this season in the NFL, Van Gorder has had multiple coaching stops in his career. In 2003 he won the Broyles award as the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia. Van Gorder’s defense finished the season in 2003 ranked 3rd nationally in scoring defense, 4th in total defense, and 6th nationally in passing defense. Following his stint at UGA, Van Gorder took a head coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He only lasted one season in Jacksonville before leaving to take the head coaching position at Georgia Southern. Following one season with Georgia Southern, Van Gorder took the defensive coordinator position with the Atlanta Falcons from 2008 until 2012 when he took the defensive coordinator position with Auburn University.
This is definitely an interesting hire by the Irish. While most thought the Irish would hire from within, I always thought Brian Kelly would at least take a look outside the program. The hiring of Van Gorder points to a possible move from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense. It does make sense as Louis Nix in enroute to the NFL and the Irish are left without a clear cut nose tackle, which is needed to successfully run a 3-4 defense. Of all the candidates that were out there in the rumor mill, Van Gorder’s name was not mentioned by many. It will be interesting to see the future of the Irish defense with the new hire and if it will bring a change of philosophy to South Bend.
Atlanta FalconsAuburnBob DiacoBrian KellyBrian Van GorderBroyles AwardCentral MichiganGeoriga SouthernJacksonville JaguarsLouis NixNew York JetsNFLNotre DameNotre Dame FootballPinstripe BowlRex RyanSouth BendUConn
Irish go Panther hunting. A Pittsburgh Preview
November 7, 2013 Kevin Leave a comment
By Sgt. Shamrock
Another college football weekend is upon us. This week Notre Dame travels to play the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field Saturday night. But don’t tell Pitt that, since they are oddly treating this game like it’s being played at Notre Dame. Confused? Don’t worry, if you missed Pittsburgh and their ultimate derpness I’ll catch you up. To start things off, Pitt TE JP Holtz said this gem to the media,
“I don’t like Notre Dame at all…I just think they’re really cocky and their coaches are really cocky. It’s awesome up there, but just not somewhere I would want to go to school.”
So somebody says they don’t like Notre Dame. IM SO SHOCKED!!! What I find really hilarious is that Pitt is going to need a lot of help from the Irish to win so they really had to hope that Notre Dame would come out flat in this game. Safe to say these comments won’t help their case there. Thanks buddy. Now I know what this kid said was probably pretty stupid, but what Pitt did next really takes the cake. During practice this week, the Panthers, were actually blaring the Notre Dame Fight Song over loud speakers during their practice AND had a student manager dress up as the leprechaun. You can’t make this stuff up. Not only is this game at Pitt, but the Irish band isn’t even traveling for the game! To quote ESPN 8 the ocho dodgeball announcer Pepper Brooks, “It’s a bold strategy Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for ’em.”
The Irish are coming off of a very sloppy win over Navy last week where the defense played their worst game of the season against the triple option. With the triple option behind them and a hopefully healthy defensive line, I expect the Irish defense to have a much better game against Pitt which ranks 103rd in the nation in total offense. I guess you could say that the Panther passing attack, lead by quarterback Tom Savage, is the strength of the Pitt offense, but that only ranks 70th in the nation while the running game is an abysmal 104th nationally. This bodes well for the Irish as they matchup well with the Panthers passing game with the 23rd ranked passing defense. The Irish defense has struggled against the run last week against the triple option but that’s a completely different animal than most teams rushing attacks. With Louis Nix, Stephon Tuitt, and Sheldon Day all expected to play together on the D-line, the Irish defense should start looking like it did against USC again.
The Irish offense however could be in for a tougher road. While Pitt may being having an bad year on the offensive side of the ball, their defense has played pretty well at times. Their defense is ranked 34th in total defense and is anchored by stud defensive lineman Aaron Donald, who Brian Kelly called a “one man wrecking crew”. The Panther defense specializes in defending the pass, ranking 18th nationally, while having trouble defending the rush ranking in the bottom half of the country at 63rd. The Irish running attack, led by Cam McDaniel and Tarean Folston, had a breakout game last week with the help of tremendous offensive line play, so look for the coaching staff to again work to running game on the road early and often.
Overall Notre Dame SHOULD win this game by a pretty good margin. There is just too big a talent gap and to be quite frank Pittsburgh is just not a very good team. They are coming into this game at 4-4 and riding a two game losing streak including a loss to Navy. The Panthers best win this season would be over Duke (yes Duke), 58-55 earlier in the season. The two best teams they have played to date have been Florida State and Virginia Tech, which were both losses. But as I do recall, I said a lot of the same things last week about Navy, and we all know how that turned out. Pittsburgh has always played Brian Kelly coached teams very well. Since losing to Pitt while coaching at Cincinnati in 2007, Brian Kelly has beaten Pitt five straight times but all by 7 points or less including last years 3OT thriller in South Bend. Pittsburgh always plays Notre Dame very well, and this year will be no different. However, no matter how many times Mark May picks Pitt this week, Notre Dame will be too much for the Panthers.
Players to Watch
Offense- After facing two straight defensive lines that were undersized, the Irish offensive line gets back to going against a more normal sized front seven. The offensive line played very well last week and contributed to the breakout game for the Irish rushing attack and I am eager to see some consistency this week against a much tougher defensive line.
Defense- With the recent injuries to the defensive line, Jarron Jones found himself on the two deep for the Irish this week. A former 5 star recruit, Jones was recruited as defensive lineman but many believed he would play offensive line at Notre Dame. He will get a sufficient amount of snaps this week and I am very eager how he plays.
Notre Dame 31 Pittsburgh 21
Other games around the country
2 Oregon at 5 Stanford- This is a battle of two completely different styles of football. Stanford plays a hard nosed old school brand of football based on a strong running game and tough physical defense while Oregon spreads the field and uses their speed. Stanford won the matchup last year but this years Oregon team is better on both sides of the ball. Oregon 35 Stanford 20
10 Oklahoma at 6 Baylor- This is Baylor’s first big test of the year and it comes at home on Thursday night. Bryce Petty has placed himself in the Heisman race and could be looking at a possible invite to New York at the end of the season. Baylor has not had much luck against the Sooners in the past but this time they pull it off. Baylor 41 Oklahoma 28
13 LSU at 1 Alabama- Pretty much the first big test for Bama this season unless you count their win over an overrated Texas A&M team that lacks defense. LSU will be a much stiffer challenge and while most don’t give them a chance, I do. LSU 20 Alabama 17
Upset Special
Virginia Tech at 11 Miami- Miami came crashing down to earth after being embarrassed by Florida State. Even worse for the Canes, star running back Duke Johnson was lost for the season. Virginia Tech is coming into this game following an awful loss to Boston College and will be eager to get back on track and their defense will help them do it. Virginia Tech 21 Miami 20
AlabamaBaylorBrian KellyCam McDanielDuke JohnsonIrishJarron JonesLSUMiamiNotre DameOklahomaOregonPanthersPittPittsburghSoonersSouth BendStanfordTarean FolstonTom SavageVirginia Tech
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Bike lanes on main streets? Debate over 109 Street questions basic Edmonton approach to cycling
Elise Stolte
Victoria Jones lives in Garneau and would like to use her bicycle to get to more destinations in her neighbourhood. But for that, she needs the bike lanes to go to the destinations she wants to reach. She wrote a letter to Edmonton city council asking for a bike lane on 109 Street. Larry Wong / POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Jasper Avenue, Whyte Avenue, 124 Street — Edmonton planners are working hard to keep bike lanes off Edmonton’s main streets.
But on the south side grid, they’ll face a challenge.
Some cyclists and local residents are mounting a letter-writing campaign to convince city council bike lanes belong on the busy 109 Street and would actually make the street more welcoming for everyone.
Council’s urban planning committee debates the issue Tuesday.
Over the last decade, Edmonton’s transportation planners have consistently pitched new bike lanes for streets running parallel but at least one block off the main streets. They often run through residential areas, which is a more pleasant ride but further from the local shops and destinations.
City officials are pitching 110 Street for the south-side grid, arguing the main commuter road should stay focused on transit and vehicle traffic.
That’s frustrating residents who just want to bike to the closest coffee shop.
“There’s room. It’s a seven-lane highway,” said Victoria Jones, who wants Edmonton to test a bike lane on 109 Street with the adaptable infrastructure used in the downtown grid, then see how much traffic is actually affected.
She wants to bike to destinations on 109 Street but isn’t comfortable riding with cars, she said. It’s really difficult to take the sidewalk there because it’s so narrow, it’s even hard for two pedestrians with groceries to pass.
Proposed new bike grid for Old Strathcona and the Glenora neighbourhoods. City of Edmonton, supplied
Vancouver-based planning expert Brent Toderian said many cities wrestle with this issue. Vancouver also started with greenways for bikes running parallel to main streets, but is now facing calls for bike lanes right on streets like Broadway and Commercial Drive.
He sees two issues. The first is safety. “The most important places to put (separated bike lanes) is where the conditions are least safe,” he said, since people will choose to bike or not based on the worst section of their route.
The second is economic. Experience elsewhere suggests people biking are more likely than people driving to stop and frequent the type of street-oriented shops Edmonton is trying to encourage on 109 Street.
“Biking has the potential to be a significant boost for retail,” he said. “One block off is a missed opportunity.”
But Edmonton general supervisor Daniel Vriend said the city looked at a 109 Street bike lane.
Officials found a bike lane on 109 Street would cause congestion at intersections with Whyte Avenue and 87 Avenue, he said. Plus, 109 Street is supposed to become a high-frequency transit route in Edmonton’s new bus plan, which means the bus lane could be important.
Edmonton’s council is split.
Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson said many other cities successfully put bike lanes on main streets and it gives a welcome buffer from the traffic for people walking. That services Edmonton’s goal of redeveloping 109 Street with higher density housing and shops.
Plus, “there’s tons of extra capacity on 109th,” he said, suggesting the third lanes are nearly always empty.
But Mayor Don Iveson said he’d rather bike on 110 Street with his kids. As for biking on the sidewalk to get the final half-block to a destination, there are reasonable accommodations. “In Chicago, if you’re basically rolling at walking speed, that’s legal.”
Ward 9 Coun. Tim Cartmell, whose constituents are more likely to drive that route, said a bike lane shouldn’t compromise transit and vehicle traffic if there are alternatives. In addition, businesses on 109 Street likely wouldn’t want to lose their off-peak street parking.
estolte@postmedia.com
twitter.com/estolte
Eleven prison staff fired, suspended or quit as Edmonton Institution conducts... Two dead in Sturgeon County collision
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Edmonton Headlines: Friday, February 2, 2018
Building up gets easier
Some Edmonton neighbourhoods could be getting taller. New rules proposed for high-rises could mean towers up to 18 storeys would be easier to build if developers stuck to the new regulations. It will also mean reduced consultation needed to build such towers in our dense core neighborhoods, near major transit hubs and a few malls. (Going much taller will still require lots of extra approvals and consultation.)
The changes also offer incentives of extra height if developers build more family units (specifically three-bedroom apartments). This kind of change is much-needed as Edmonton attempts to create more density in mature neighbourhoods. There’s no way we do that successfully with towers full of one-bedroom apartments.
It turns out, if developers of projects would meet with community members before they do their first designs they could get a lot more buy-in. If not ideas they hadn’t even been considering. That’s what’s happening with a redevelopment in Lendrum and, while we’ll have to see as it winds its way through official City channels and consultation, it looks like people are happier with this project than others that they see for the first time at a mandated open house.
Over in Bonnie Doon, the mall’s redevelopment is also looking for community input before applications are made to the City. I bet they get more neighbourhood buy-in on their designs because of this too.
You know how Edmonton has long been touted as one of the best municipalities in the world at diverting trash from landfills? How we’re soon going to be keeping 90% of household waste from just rotting in garbage dumps?
Homer Collar GIF from Homer GIFs
It turns out we’re barely diverting half of our household waste from the landfill, if it’s even that much. A new report from the City’s auditor says we’re trending down right now too, so there’s no way we get to 90% of trash kept out of landfills any time soon.
We were supposed to be so good at this!
One of the things that has to change is making sure more separation of garbage, recycling and compostable materials is done by us at home. It will probably mean more types of bins for disposal and pick-up. And obviously we need to get moving on that because our reputation as garbage gurus is tanking fast.
The quarterly update on opioids brought another reported increase in the number of people dying from overdoses. Every couple of days, someone dies. Harm reduction has to become a larger part of the fight against overdoses, with talk now starting of how personal trauma, poverty and our lacking housing supports put people at risk of addiction and also less safe conditions to use drugs in. So far, not much we’re doing is turning the tide of overdoses.
“We’re two years into it and nobody knows what Vision Zero is.”
The debate over the fountain design at city hall continues. Never before has a foot of water sparked so much debate.
If you want even more LRT discussion (and who doesn’t?), you can check out the latest Facebook live video from Postmedia city hall reporter Elise Stolte, as she chats with councillor Andrew Knack about the Valley Line west extension.
&lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
The world’s largest marijuana facility is beginning its work at Edmonton’s airport. We are going to be one of the major hubs as Canada creates an entirely new (legal) industry.
This is among the reasons the Edmonton International Airport is reporting another big year.
Dave Mowat is retiring from his position as president and CEO of ATB Financial after eleven years at the top of the crown corporation (and seeing its assets and revenue double).
One of the people who brought the blues to Whyte has passed away.
A new degree in fashion business management offered by the University of Alberta could help bolster our local fashion industry.
The Gibbard Block in the Highlands neighbourhood is going to undergo some major work, but continue to be a community hub. La Boheme will be closing, but new restaurants will be opening in the building next year, along with revamped bed and breakfast rooms.
The old YMCA will become Williams Hall. image source
Downtown, the old YMCA building is getting a second life too.
Scottish Imports is closing after nearly 60 years in business.
GRadio is trying to get more local businesses playing local music in their shops and stores.
Over at the Edmonton Sun, Graham Hicks is writing a few columns on local business, with an eye to how our city can keep diversifying itself from oil and gas industries. He’s got items up about Radient Technologies and Yardstick Testing and Training.
We touched upon one opportunity Edmonton has, with an under-utilized Indigenous population being a potential key to our tech industries.
The whisper network in Alberta politics needs to be amplified so people harassing those around them, and below them on the org-chart can’t keep getting away with it.
We all have to be part of this because, right now, when women do come forward too many people try to push and terrorize them back into silence. And more of us obviously need to find ways to open up our eyes to what’s happening because all of these “me too” stories of sexual harassment and assault are full of other politicians (and entertainers and business owners and… ) who never saw anything untoward. Which is unlikely.
Somewhat related… politicians elected to the Alberta Legislature will soon have more ways to report bad behaviour of other MLAs.
A Sherwood Park lawyer is part of the new lawsuit related to Canada’s “Indian Hospitals”. Much like we only recently came to understand what we did to Indigenous peoples in residential schools, this lawsuit is going to unearth a lot of ugliness for Canadians who weren’t taught the truth about our segregated medical system.
There are going to be more therapy and counselling options at the Zebra Centre, for children who have been abused. The money is mostly going toward ensuring more of the needed experts and resources are at the office when children need them, in the same visit, instead of forcing families to travel to multiple appointments all over the city.
Well, this isn’t going to do anything to heal the rift between Edmonton’s public and Catholic school boards. A trustee at the Edmonton Public School Board is joining the calls to hold a referendum on whether we still need a separate school system for one particular religion.
As Edmonton’s schools find ways to work with more students with autism, the school boards are also working on ways to help families identify if their child may have autism.
Jan Reimer gets a school in her name. image source: EPSB
Edmonton municipal politicians are getting their names etched on new schools this year. We had the official opening of one named for the city’s first openly gay councillor last week, and this week we’ve got the same ceremony for a school named for our city’s only woman to be mayor, Jan Reimer. She was recently on The Broadcast if you want to hear a little more about her time running Edmonton.
Canadian students have had some relief with frozen tuition rates the last few years at our city’s post-secondary schools, and there are new calls to also freeze tuition for international students. The higher fees those students pay to learn here may be helping balance the books right now though.
Edmonton Arts
The city’s top music and film prizes were handed out this week, with rocker-turned-country artist Dan Davidson picking up the music award and documentary filmmaker Adam Scorgie taking home recognition for his work.
Project Compass is a new book about Edmonton that offers a unique take on the novel, as a story written by four different authors from four different corners of the city.
You can also check out a profile of actor and stuntman Eugene Brave Rock (you recently saw him in Wonder Woman) in the new issue of Avenue Edmonton.
Long-standing rivalry
Friday is regular season game 500 between the University of Alberta’s Golden Bears hockey team and their rivals of more than a century, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
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of the executive officer of Company B) ran into a North Vietnamese
force near the hamlet of Bac Dong Ban. One Marine platoon immediately
went to ground in the face of overwhelming enemy fire. As the Marines
called for air and artillery, another ad hoc company (also composed
of elements of Companies B and D) moved to the rescue under the command
of Company B's commanding officer, First Lieutenant Richard M. Wozar.
The North Vietnamese were thoroughly dug in, occupying a line of trenches and bunkers with their backs to the Song Ky Lam. For nine hours, the battle raged with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Finally, at 1800, the battalion command group, with Company A and a platoon from Company C, arrived and attacked from the west. Swinging northward, the reinforcements assaulted the enemy positions while Companies B and D provided a base of fire. By 1900, the Marines overwhelmed the enemy, suffering 6 dead, 19 wounded, and 12 heat casualties. By noon the next day, the Marines found 17 North Vietnamese dead.33
The fight at Bac Dong Ban was the 1st Battalion's last major battle in Operation Allen Brook. After completing a sweep of the eastern portion of Go Noi Island, they departed the area on 23 June and in their place, the 2d Battalion, 27th Marines assumed responsibility for Operation Allen Brook. That night the North Vietnamese welcomed the fresh battalion to Go Noi Island with 60 rounds of mortar fire on Compmies E, F, and H.
The 2d Battalion, tasked to continue the land clearing operations on Go Noi Island, arrived intent on carrying out a program of "coral destruction." Their policy included elimination of natural assembly areas, concealing foliage, treelines, bamboo groves, hedgerows, trenchlines, fighting holes, caves, bunkers, tunnels, building structures, and any natural or man-made feature providing cover. Material which could be used to build bunkers, such as concrete blocks, beams, posts, pillars, and tree trunks, would be destroyed by crushing or burning. In the words of the battalion commander. Lieutenant Colonel Albert W. Keller, "we were to level that island."34
The 2d Battalion experienced only light enemy contact throughout its stay at Go Noi Island. The enemy appeared only in small groups, usually fleeing when sighted by the Marines. Because of the sporadic nature of enemy contact, much of the battalion's efforts centered on land clearing. In one 18-day period, the engineers completely leveled the largest forested area on Go Noi Island.35 Lieutenant Colonel Keller later remarked that "by the time we destroyed and leveled that whole area ... it looked almost like a parking lot for a major ball park in the United Stares."36 As part of its land clearing effort, the battalion arranged two air-delivered herbicide missions which "were found to be quite effective."37
of Defense (USMC) Photo A650927
Two Marines from BLT 2/7 step gingerly through muck and water in a narrow
ravine during Operation Swift Play in the Da The Mountain area south
of the Go Noi. The unauthorized floppy hat worn by the Marine in the
rear probably provides more protection from the elements than the helmet.
On 16 July, the 2d Battalion, 27th Marines departed Go Noi Island, having reported killing 144 enemy at a cost of 4 Marines dead and 147 wounded. Simultaneously, the 3d Battalion, 27th Marines moved into the area and assumed responsibility for Operation Allen Brook. The character of the operation remained unchanged as the companies of the 3d Battalion alternated between patrolling and providing security for the engineers who were methodically scraping the island clean. The Communists continued to avoid significant engagements, but they did muster the temerity to fire on the aircraft which sprayed the island with herbicides on 18 July and 21 July Meanwhile, the Marines continued to fire on small groups of enemy or on Vietnamese voices heard in the night, then searched the areas later to find an occasional body or blood trail.*
* Colonel Tullis J. Woodham, Jr., at the time the 3d Battalion, 27th
Marines commander, commented thar he positioned a sniper and a 106mm
recoilless rifle team on the north/south railroad trestle: "The sniper
would spot and kill or wound an enemy soldier. As other enemy forces
would attempt to aid the dead or wounded NVA the 106 would rake them
under fire." Col Tullis J. Woodham, Jr., Comments on draft, dtd 7Dec94
(Vietnam Comment File).
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When he impresses corporate lawyer Harvey Specter with his razor-sharp mind, college dropout Mike Ross scores a coveted gig as Specter's summer associate ... despite the fact that he has no legal credentials whatsoever.
Gabriel Macht, Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, Patrick J. Adams, Meghan Markle, Gina Torres, Amanda Schull, Dulé Hill, Katherine Heigl
TV Shows, TV Dramas, TV Courtroom Dramas, USA
Manhattan attorney Harvey Specter finds the perfect new associate in streetwise legal prodigy Mike Ross. The trouble is, Mike's a college dropout, not a lawyer. There's no reason the partnership can't work -- as long as no one figures out the truth.
Founding partner Jessica Pearson has learned Mike's secret and wants Harvey to fire him. As Harvey focuses on protecting Mike, Jessica deals with the fallout after the unexpected reappearance of Daniel Hardman, her co-founding partner.
Skilled corporate lawyer Harvey Specter and his associate Mike Ross -- who possesses a photographic memory but lacks a law degree -- continue their unusual partnership in this season of the smart courtroom drama.
Mike approaches Harvey with a corporate buyout plan, but his plans touch off a severe falling out between the men. As their duel intensifies, Rachel and a host of others are pooled into the emotional whirlpool.
This season, Harvey tries to regroup in the wake of Donna's departure to work for Louis; Mike and Rachel edge closer to marriage; and Jessica continues to come to grips with her new life and circumstances.
After signing a plea deal to spare his colleagues at Pearson Specter Litt, Mike faces the harsh realities of prison life as he starts his two-year sentence. Meanwhile, the once bustling PSL offices are now a ghost town. The partners have defected, leaving Harvey, Jessica, Louis, Donna, and Rachel to pick up the pieces. With the firm facing numerous lawsuits as fallout of the plea deal, and Harvey on a mission to get Mike released from prison, PSL's troubles are far from over
The team is back together again at Pearson Specter Litt as "Suits" enters its seventh season. Now that he is out of prison and officially recognized as a lawyer, Mike (Patrick J. Adams) has rejoined Harvey, Louis, Donna and Rachel at the firm. Harvey is finally taking control in the aftermath of Jessica's departure. Meanwhile, Mike is juggling corporate cases with pro bono work, Louis is struggling to cope with his recent heartbreak, Donna is eyeing a more substantial role, and Rachel is adapting to changes at the firm while preparing to become a wife.
After surviving leadership turmoil and the loss of key partners, the trio of Harvey, Louis, and Donna, continues to tackle top corporate cases with the support of the formidable Alex Williams and the undeniably talented Katrina Bennett. After muscling her way into the firm, powerhouse attorney Samantha Wheeler joins the ranks of Specter Litt and challenges the status quo. Together, these top minds must rely on their knowledge, wit and intuition to keep their clients at bay and their firm afloat.
English SDH, Spanish (Neutral), French
English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish (Neutral): Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French
English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Parents need to know that this adult-oriented courtroom drama delivers a generally positive message about using strategy and smarts to help deserving clients. But it does so under a cloud of unbleeped swearing (including terms like "s--t" and "d--khead," although the main characters don't tend to talk that way). There's also some sexual innuendo, social drinking, and a secondary plot involving a drug dealer.
Kissing and sexual tension with implied sex. A woman wears lingerie, etc.
Unbleeped swearing includes the words "s--t," "d--khead," "balls," and "douche."
The show hints at the consequences of poor choices, and most of Mike and Harvey's lies and bluffs are a means to a positive end -- ie., helping an innocent client. Mike repeatedly reminds Harvey that lawyering can involve both winning and caring.
Some social drinking. A secondary character smokes and sells pot and uses terms like "weed" and "bud."
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East Dales Ringing Group
Bird Ringing with the BTO in the Ripon and Harrogate area
Avocet Ringing
Black Headed Gull Project
Blackcap Recoveries
Colour-ringed Curlew
Coot Ringing
EDRG Abroad
High Batts Nature Reserve
Lesser Redpoll recoveries
Nest Recording
Pied Flycatcher recovery
RAS Scheme
Reed Warbler recoveries
RHS Harlow Carr Ringing Demonstrations
Ringing Recoveries and Recovery Data
Ringing Sites
Ringing Totals 2014-16
Swallow Roost Data
Some data of EDRG birds recovered. Updated 8 August 2013. Please click on the link.
EDRG Recapture History
Willow Warbler 2D4451
Ringed as a juvenile at Bellflask Quarry, near Ripon on 26 July 1998, 2D4451 was found dead, killed by a sling shot (!) on 12 February 2000 in Kolon Kune, near Madine, Sierra Leone a distance of 5064km (3100 miles). Presumably, this bird will have migrated north again in 1999 before returning south at the end of that year.
Reed Warbler P33064
P33064 was ringed at Staveley Nature Reserve near Ripon on 9 July 2000 as a juvenile bird and was later controlled only 33 days later in Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium on the 11 August 2000 having travelled 507km (312 miles).
Blackbird 7861349
Blackbird 7861349, an adult male, was ringed at Heligoland, Germany on the 7 March 2009 and later controlled by EDRG at Sharow Grange, Sharow, near Ripon on the 22 December 2009, a distance of 614km (378 miles).
Siskin D418837
Ringed as a juvenile at Eshton Tarn, North Yorkshire on the 25 August 2015, D418837 was found at Glentrool Village, Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway on the 22 May 2016, a distance of 196km (122 miles).
Coot GR36939
Ringed at Nosterfield Nature Reserve on the 9 March 2014, GR36939 was found in nearby Bedale on the 29 May 2016.
Great Black-Backed Gull HW57264
Ringed as a pulli on the 7 July 2013 at Bullers of Buchan, near Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, HW57264 was seen at Nosterfield Nature Reserve on the 13 April 2016 having travelled 356km (221 miles).
Curlew FA57945
Ringed as a pulli on the 31 May 1994 at Embsay Moor, North Yorkshire FA57945 was seen again at Low Bishopside, North Yorkshire, only 20km (12 miles) away from its original ringing site but some 22 years later on on 25 March 2016!
Avocet EW28719
Originally ringed at Nosterfield NR on 25 May 2014 as a pulli, EW28719 was spotted firstly in Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast (198 miles) in March of this year and then further inland at Little Downham, Ely (143 miles from NNR) on the 5 April 2016. This bird was also colour-marked left above knee L,B, right above knee R,O.
[…] Ringing Recoveries and Recovery Data […]
By: Siskin and Coot recoveries in May | East Dales Ringing Group on August 3, 2016
By: Past Ringing Recoveries | East Dales Ringing Group on August 23, 2016
RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate, Ringing Demonstration November 2018 November 13, 2018
Lesser Redpoll enjoys TT Races!! November 13, 2018
500th Redwing of the autumn November 13, 2018
Recently controlled birds, Autumn 2018. Avocet found in France! October 31, 2018
Colour variation in Redwing October 31, 2018
Archives Select Month November 2018 (3) October 2018 (3) August 2018 (2) June 2018 (1) April 2018 (1) July 2017 (6) June 2017 (2) May 2017 (3) February 2017 (8) December 2016 (2) November 2016 (2) October 2016 (10) September 2016 (13) August 2016 (11) July 2016 (9) June 2016 (3) May 2016 (2) April 2016 (4) February 2016 (2)
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6 – Longing for Cupcakes
“Keep the library,” Nicholas said, surprising himself. Renovations at the Villa were underway.
“Nick, you wanted to divide the library and turn it into two bedrooms,” the contractor in charge argued,
“I’ve changed my mind,” Nicholas said sitting back in his office chair.
He couldn’t forget the sight of Nalia standing by the windows, sunlight dancing on her pretty face. She had looked like a goddess with a golden smile, designed to turn him into an idiot. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?
“Nick?” his contractor said, cutting through his thoughts. “What about the books? They’re not exactly the best—
“Box them,” Nicholas said. “I’ll collect them this weekend.”
He knew a man who could restore those books.
“Whatever you want,” his disgruntled contractor said. “You’re the boss.”
Nicholas sighed.
“Keep to the schedule, Tony. We’re not working on this house for six months.”
“I promised one month, Nick,” Tony said.
“Make sure you keep the promise,” Nick urged ending the call.
The trouble with renovation and construction, no matter how many deadlines the contractor had, they always went beyond those deadlines.
Nicholas stared at his phone, ignoring the pile of files on his desk. Legal papers to notarize, cases to work, requests from his bosses to fill, today, he’d be stuck in his office until midnight. His finger slid over his phone’s screen and he tapped on a two-month-old message from Nalia.
She’d paid the five hundred shillings through Mpesa. Her accompanying message read, “Thank you, Lifesaver.”
Nicholas smiled. He should have cleared the message by now, instead…he stared at the little smiley face she’d included and wondered how she was doing.
Nicholas wanted to reply to the message, had even composed replies, close to a dozen, but he never sent any. Exiting his messages, he placed his cell phone on the desk and shook his head.
This was no time to daydream about a woman. Nicholas reached for the folder on top of his pile and got to work. He had no time, he decided, no time to worry about a woman he’d met in the dark.
Two days later, Nicholas stood in line at a bakery opposite City Hall buying chocolate cupcakes. The aroma was delicious, but not the same one he remembered. He dreamt about that sweet scent of chocolate cupcakes every night it seemed.
His phone buzzed and Nicholas smiled when he saw Eli’s face on the screen.
“Come to my office,” Eli said in greeting.
“That’s in Westlands, you mad man. Traffic is killing right now,” Nicholas protested.
“I have a present for you,” Eli said. “If you don’t want it, fine, I’ll just eat Nalia’s cupcakes alone.”
Nicholas gaped. “What?”
“Cupcakes, chocolate,” Eli said with a laugh. “We have them at my office—
“Whose cupcakes?” Nicholas asked.
“Oh,” Eli chuckled. “Nalia. Remember her? Two months ago—
“I’m on the way.”
Nicholas dashed out of the bakery forgetting the order he’d made. The drive to Eli’s practice took one hour and that’s with reckless driving and angry horns from innocent drivers and pedestrians.
Traffic at two o’clock was no joke.
Nicholas drove into the Medical Plaza on Waiyaki way and parked at the front parking. He dumped his sunglasses on the dashboard, and got out of the car, his gaze roaming the three-story building that housed Eli’s medical practice.
Seemed as if business was good, what with the packed parking lot, Nicholas thought as he locked his car.
Nick went into the building and hurried through the lobby to catch the elevator as the doors closed.
“Hold,” he called out and cursed when the doors closed anyway.
He sighed and started to press the button to call another one. The doors opened and he stared at the woman carrying a cake box in the elevator.
“Nalia,” he whispered.
An older woman pushed her way past him into the open elevator, and Nalia gave him a frown.
“Are you coming?” she asked, her expression blank.
Nothing there to indicate she knew him, or she’d even been thinking about him. He scowled and entered the elevator, turning to punch the number to Eli’s office. The number three was lit, already pressed. His scowl deepened and he leaned on the wall, his gaze on Nalia.
The elevator stopped on the second floor, and the old woman exited. The doors closed and Nicholas crossed his arms against his chest.
“Hi Nalia,” he said. “Are you ill?”
She graced him with her smile.
“Hi, Nicholas,” she said. “Are you ill?”
“You can’t answer a question with a question.”
“And why not?”
“Because it’s going round in circles,” Nicholas said.
“Do I look sick to you?” Nalia asked.
Nalia looked great. Fitting silk green blouse, dark slacks that hugged her hips, her feet in green flats, no excess make-up, though her lips were a pretty red. She was pretty.
“What?” she asked, when he didn’t comment.
Nicholas cleared his throat. “You look well.”
The elevator doors opened.
Nalia led the way out, Nicholas followed amazed when she got a round of hellos from the nurses at the reception desk. She got a very warm welcome, which was surprising. He’d never gotten that reaction from Eli’s nurses.
“How long have you been coming here?” Nicholas asked as they walked to Eli’s office.
“A while,” she said with a shrug.
He frowned. “Are you really not sick?”
Why else would she visit Eli so much?
Nalia shrugged and opened the door to Eli’s office. Nicholas followed, his frown only deepening when he saw Eli grin from ear to ear at the sight of Nalia. They greeted each other like old friends. He was jealous.
“Nick,” Eli said, glancing at him. “Come on in and close the door.”
“What’s going on here?” Nicholas asked, afraid of the answer.
Eli was single after all.
Eli took out a chocolate cupcake from the white box Nalia had set on his desk. He smiled and held it up.
“I promised you cupcakes, didn’t I?”
Eli took a bite and groaned with pleasure.
“You’re magic, Nalia. These are delicious. Your customers must be going crazy.”
Nicholas stopped in the middle of the office, his gaze on Nalia who sat in an armchair, that maddening smile on her lovely face.
“You own a bakery?” Nicholas asked.
“I do now,” Nalia said. “I’m also a teacher.”
“Sit down, Nick,” Eli said holding out a cupcake to him. “Nalia and me, we have a favor to ask you.”
Nicholas took the cupcake and sat next to Nalia. To think he’d been dreaming of these cupcakes for weeks. He smiled because in truth, he’d wanted to see Nalia, wanted to know more about her.
“Nicholas, Nalia needs a lawyer,” Eli said, shocking him. “Can you help?”
Nicholas turned to look at Nalia.
“I’m divorcing my husband.”
Thank you for reading. ^_^
Previous Chapters
Girl with a Golden Smile – 5
Other EA Friday Feature Stories:
The Restaurant – Waiting on Tables
Some Kind of Love
Porn with Plot
The 9th Circle
Author elly in nairobiPosted on October 9, 2015 October 14, 2015 Categories EA Friday FeatureTags EA Friday Feature, Fiction, Fiction in Nairobi, Girl with the Golden Smile, Living in Nairobi, Nairobi Romance Stories, Nairobi Stories, Short Stories, Writing Fiction in Nairobi
3 thoughts on “The Girl with the Golden Smile – 6”
Pingback: The Restaurant: Waiting on Tables | nilichoandika
What an end. I was clenching some muscles hoping it’s not what I’m imagining —- Eli and Nalia.
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Reading Achievement 9
Mathematics Achievement 8
Student Characteristics 6
Racial Differences 5
Science Achievement 5
Achievement Gap 4
Arizona Department of… 2
Oregon Department of Education 2
Australian Journal of… 1
Behavioral Research and… 1
Center on Education Policy 1
Council of the Great City… 1
Educational Researcher 1
Grantee Submission 1
Mathematics Educator 1
National Center for Analysis… 1
Partnership for Assessment of… 1
Public Policy Forum 1
Scientific Studies of Reading 1
Social Education 1
Society for Research on… 1
Aljughaiman, Abdullah 1
Alonzo, Julie 1
Broughton, Sally 1
Chard, David J. 1
Clemens, Elysia V. 1
Cowen, Joshua M. 1
Cutcher, Cortney L., Ed. 1
Feng, Li 1
Figlio, David 1
Grigorenko, Elena L. 1
Hart, Rebecca 1
Hein, Sascha 1
Henken, Rob 1
Holden, Kristian L. 1
Ketterlin-Geller, Leanne R. 1
Klopfenstein, Kristin 1
Lalonde, Trent L. 1
McAllister, Deborah A., Ed. 1
Moore-Russo, Deborah 1
Nagle, Courtney 1
Ozek, Umut 1
Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor 1
Sass, Tim R. 1
Schiff, Rachel 1
Collected Works - General 1
High Schools 19
Secondary Education 15
Middle Schools 14
Media Staff 2
Stewart B McKinney Homeless… 2
Advanced Placement… 3
Florida Comprehensive… 1
Wisconsin Knowledge and… 1
Do Students Benefit from Longer School Days? Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Florida's Additional Hour of Literacy Instruction. Working Paper No. 201-0818-1
Figlio, David; Holden, Kristian L.; Ozek, Umut – National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), 2018
Instructional time is a fundamental educational input, yet we have little causal evidence about the effect of longer school days on student achievement. This paper uses a sharp regression discontinuity design to estimate the effects of lengthening the school day for low-performing schools in Florida by exploiting an administrative cutoff for…
Descriptors: School Schedules, Low Achievement, Eligibility, Literacy Education
The Effects of Placement and School Stability on Academic Growth Trajectories of Students in Foster Care
Clemens, Elysia V.; Klopfenstein, Kristin; Lalonde, Trent L.; Tis, Matt – Grantee Submission, 2018
As a result of the Every Student Succeeds Act and its requirement that students in foster care be included in education report cards, states have a renewed sense of urgency surrounding accountability for the academic achievement of this vulnerable group of students. This study examined the effects of placement and school stability on students'…
Descriptors: Foster Care, Academic Achievement, At Risk Students, Grade 4
Who Are the Homeless? Student Mobility and Achievement in Michigan 2010-2013
Cowen, Joshua M. – Educational Researcher, 2017
This article provides provide a new, systematic profile of more than 18,000 homeless students in Michigan, utilizing rich administrative data from all test-taking students in Grades 3-9 during three academic years. These data are part of a larger study of school choice and student mobility in that state. Homelessness is a condition found…
Descriptors: Homeless People, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
The Impact of Diglossia on Voweled and Unvoweled Word Reading in Arabic: A Developmental Study from Childhood to Adolescence
Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor; Schiff, Rachel – Scientific Studies of Reading, 2016
All native speakers of Arabic read in a language variety that is remarkably distant from the one they use in everyday speech. The study tested the impact of this distance on reading accuracy and fluency by comparing reading of Standard Arabic (StA) words, used in StA only, versus Spoken Arabic (SpA) words, used in SpA too, among Arabic native…
Descriptors: Bilingualism, Semitic Languages, Native Speakers, Vowels
School Improvement Grants: Progress Report from America's Great City Schools
Council of the Great City Schools, 2015
This report measures trends in performance among urban schools receiving federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) awards as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Council of the Great City Schools aims to document how member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools implemented SIG and specifically what…
Descriptors: Grants, Federal Legislation, Federal Aid, Educational Improvement
Gender Differences and School Influences with Respect to Three Indicators of General Intelligence: Evidence from Saudi Arabia
Hein, Sascha; Tan, Mei; Aljughaiman, Abdullah; Grigorenko, Elena L. – Journal of Educational Psychology, 2015
This study utilized multilevel modeling to examine the student characteristics (gender and age) and school factors (private vs. public school, urban vs. rural school, socioeconomic status, curricular organization, resources, activities, and equipment) associated with individual and between-school differences in the verbal, numerical, and figural…
Descriptors: Student Characteristics, Institutional Characteristics, Gender Differences, Age Differences
Financial Incentives to Promote Teacher Recruitment and Retention: An Analysis of the Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program
Feng, Li; Sass, Tim R. – Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2015
Staffing problems are pervasive in certain subject areas, such as secondary math and science and special education, where the combination of training requirements and relatively high alternative wages makes it difficult to attract and retain high-quality teachers. This project evaluated the impacts of the Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program…
Descriptors: Teacher Recruitment, Teacher Persistence, Teacher Shortage, Intervention
Slope across the Curriculum: Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and Common Core State Standards
Nagle, Courtney; Moore-Russo, Deborah – Mathematics Educator, 2014
This article provides an initial comparison of the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics by examining the fundamental notion of slope. Each set of standards is analyzed using eleven previously identified conceptualizations of slope. Both sets of standards emphasize Functional Property,…
Descriptors: Academic Standards, State Standards, Mathematical Concepts, Comparative Analysis
Public Schooling in Southeast Wisconsin: 2013-2014
Yeado, Joe; Schmidt, Jeff; Hart, Rebecca; Henken, Rob – Public Policy Forum, 2014
Over nearly three decades, the Public Policy Forum has collected and analyzed education data to report on the demographics, academic performance, and finances of public schools and districts in southeast Wisconsin. This 29th annual public schools report continues that tradition with updated analyses of new data and trends to shed light on the…
Descriptors: Public Schools, School Districts, Expenditure per Student, Taxes
Statewide Report Card: An Annual Report to the Legislature on Oregon Public Schools, 2013-2014
Oregon Department of Education, 2014
The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…
Descriptors: Annual Reports, Public Schools, Progress Monitoring, State Legislation
PARCC Model Content Frameworks: Mathematics--Grades 3-11
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (NJ1), 2011
As part of its proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) committed to developing model content frameworks for mathematics to serve as a bridge between the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC assessments. The PARCC Model Content Frameworks were developed through a…
Descriptors: Elementary School Mathematics, Secondary School Mathematics, Academic Standards, Grade 3
Algebra Readiness for Students with Learning Difficulties in Grades 4-8: Support through the Study of Number
Ketterlin-Geller, Leanne R.; Chard, David J. – Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 2011
Developing proficiency in algebra is the focus of instruction in high school mathematics courses and is a minimum expectation for high school completion for all students including those with learning difficulties. However, the foundation for success is laid in grades 4-8 (aged 9-14). In this paper, we assert that students' development of algebraic…
Descriptors: Problem Solving, Number Systems, Numeracy, Grade 4
Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 17, Fall 2010
McAllister, Deborah A., Ed.; Cutcher, Cortney L., Ed. – Online Submission, 2011
As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 5900 Culminating…
Descriptors: Action Research, Research Projects, Student Attitudes, Economics Education
State Report Card, 2009-2010
Arizona Department of Education, 2010
As part of compliance with with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, this document presents the State Report Card of Arizona for 2009-2010. The report card provides tables relating to percentage of students who passed AIMS in Arizona by subject and grade. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…
Descriptors: Graduation Rate, Definitions, Educational Improvement, Federal Programs
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Publication Date: 2017-Oct
Abstractor: As Provided
The Fight for America's Schools: Grassroots Organizing in Education
Ferman, Barbara, Ed.
Harvard Education Press
In "The Fight for America's Schools", Barbara Ferman brings together a diverse group of contributors to investigate how parents, communities, teachers, unions, and students are mobilizing to oppose market-based reforms in education. Drawing on a series of rich case studies, the book illustrates how disparate groups can forge new alliances to work together toward common goals. "The Fight for America's Schools" tackles recent changes in the landscape of education policy that have prompted significant alterations in the politics of education. Collectively, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, the Common Core State Standards, and now the Every Student Succeeds Act have chipped away at the traditional center of community control--a trend reinforced by the charter movement, school closures, and sS of some urban schools. At the same time, market-based reforms have sparked resistance from teachers, parents, students, and community groups. The book explores grassroots organizing campaigns in mid-Atlantic cities and suburbs, describing the reconfiguration of historical alliances, the mobilization of new organizations, and the potential for new coalitions that provide a countervailing force to establish political configurations and strive to preserve education as a public good. Following the Introduction by Barbara Ferman, contents in the book include: (1) Challenges to Coalition Building: Confronting Power with Creativity (Barbara Ferman and Nicholas Palazzolo); (2) A Tale of Two Cities: Community Resistance in Newark and Camden (Stephen Danley and Julia Sass Rubin); (3) With Our Powers Combined: Grassroots Activism in Philadelphia (Elaine Simon, Rand Quinn, Marissa Martino Golden, and Jody C. Cohen); (4) When the Personal Becomes Political: Parent Organizing and the Opt-Out Movement (Barbara Ferman); (5) Organizing Goes Statewide: The Case of Save Our Schools NJ (Julia Sass Rubin); (6) Lessons from the Grass Roots (Barbara Ferman); and (7) Preserving Education as a Collective Good (Susan DeJarnatt and Barbara Ferman). Sections about the editor and the contributors are included.
Descriptors: Educational Change, Resistance to Change, Commercialization, Neoliberalism, Case Studies, Educational Policy, Politics of Education, Federal Legislation, Educational Legislation, Federal Aid, Federal Programs, Common Core State Standards, Educational Trends, Charter Schools, School Closing, State Action, Urban Schools, Activism, Teacher Participation, Parent Participation, Student Participation, Community Involvement, Role of Education
Harvard Education Press. 8 Story Street First Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. Tel: 888-437-1437; Tel: 617-495-3432; Fax: 978-348-1233; e-mail: hepg@harvard.edu; Web site: http://hepg.org/hep-home/home
Publication Type: Books; Collected Works - General
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: No Child Left Behind Act 2001; Race to the Top
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Featured postNFRTrending
Thurston Wins Round 9 at Wrangler NFR
Zeke Thurston rides Andrews Rodeo’s Brutus for 90 points to win Round 9 at the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. PRCA photo by James Phifer.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — In 2016, Zeke Thurston wasn’t the leader of the pack heading into the 10th and final round of the Wrangler NFR, but he emerged as the World Champion when the dust settled on Saturday night.
This year, Thurston ranks No. 3 in the world standings heading into the biggest day of the year in the world of rodeo and ranks No. 3 in the WNFR aggregate race.
In Round 9, the Big Valley, Alberta athlete won for the second time of the week. The score was 90 points on a horse called Brutus from Andrews Rodeo for the $26,231 check.
“A lot of the points came from the horse,” Thurston said. “He leaves there like a house on fire, and it was a knife fight after that, but I kept my feet moving and that’s all you can do with a horse like that. He bucks off more guys than what rides him, but that’s the kind you want to draw.”
Heading into Saturday, Thurston is Canada’s best shot at a gold buckle this year, $24,307.02 behind No. 1 Ryder Wright. Wright however is No. 10, out of the aggregate race.
“It’s shaking up to be similar, and there is one more bronc to go that will determine everything,” Thurston said. “Everyone will go at them, and there will be some big scores tomorrow. The average will determine the world champion.”
Rusty Wright is No. 2 in the world and No. 4 in the aggregate, 6.5 points behind Thurston but $20,701.38 ahead of him in the standings. Thurston is also 2.5 points behind Wade Sundell, who’s No. 2 in the aggregate and No. 5 in the world. All bronc riders trail Coburn Bradshaw who’s a full horse ahead of the rest at 756.5 points on nine broncs a buckoff from him in Round 10 could change everything as he’s ninth in the world.
“It’s a lot of fun to win an eliminator round,” Thurston said. “There’s a lot of no-scores in rounds like that, so to get a win is a good feeling.”
So far, the 23-year-old has earned $106,250 so far including the $10,000 qualifier bonus and two round buckles.
“It’s been a blast,” Thurston said. “I had family down here and got a new baby with us. It’s fun having her around (Lucy, 4 months old). The whole thing has been great. Last year, I was so sick I didn’t enjoy any of ti and didn’t ride good, so there wasn’t anything that could make this year worse than last year’s NFR. Now, we’re going to the South Point to have some fun.”
🇨🇦 @zeke_thurston has had a special season. His second go-round win in the saddle bronc tonight was just the 🍒 on top. #WranglerNFR pic.twitter.com/BBuIbrOyHB
— Wrangler Network (@WranglerNetwork) December 15, 2018
Also catching paydays in Round 9 were Orin Larsen and Scott Guenthner. Larsen rode Ted from Bridwell Pro Rodeos for 86.5 points and $8,885 moving his week to $85,731 past the $216,000 mark on the year. It would take a few low scores or a buckoff from world leader Tim O’Connell for Larsen to win the gold buckle but it’s not out of the question yet.
Similar crazy scenarios could play out in the bulldogging however it comes down to the fact that if Tyler Waguespack gets a decent time on Saturday he’s the world champ. Scott Guenthner picked up a split of fourth for $8,885 and ranks eighth in the aggregate and fourth in the world. Curtis Cassidy is second in the world but out of the aggregate, his hopes of a world title this year have been all but dashed.
Carman Pozzobon made a safe trip around the barrels in a time of 14.17. Going into the final round of her first Wrangler NFR she’s 3.09 seconds ahead of No. 2 Jessica Routier. If she’s that much faster than routier on Saturday, she wins the saddle and $67,269.
Our first World Champion was crowned on Friday as Hailey Kinsel earned her first gold buckle. There’s only one situation also that Sage Kimzey doesn’t claim his fifth world title. That’s is Chase Dougherty is the only man to ride a bull on Saturday and he wins the aggregate.
Money won on Canadian bucking stock at the 2018 Wrangler NFR: $394,450
Money won by Canadians at the 2018 Wrangler NFR: $365,532 plus $60,000 in qualification earnings.
Round 10 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo takes place on Saturday December 15th, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Centre starting at 6:45pm Pacific. To follow along, watch live at ProRodeoTV.com, listen live at ProRodeoLive.com. Live scoring is also available courtesy of WranglerNetwork.com
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Jared Parsonage Reclaims No. 1 Ranking in Canada with Halifax Monster Energy Tour Win
Michael Lane Wins Career-First PBR Canada Event in Moncton
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STITCHING UP EXCELLENCE
Tackle Twill Lettering and Appliques
Chenille Embroidery
Blaze Embroidery Package
Two Color Embroidery
One Color Lettering
Meet Wendy Hamby, owner of Extreme Stitch Embroidery
By Extreme Stitch Staff
Meet Wendy Hamby, owner of Extreme Stitch Embroidery in Citrus Heights
By Thomas J. Sullivan–Citrus Heights Sentinel
Extreme Stitch, a family-owned and operated embroidery company in Citrus Heights, began years ago in Wendy Hamby’s home and has since expanded to its location at 7250 Auburn Blvd., across from the old Sylvan Middle School property.
“We’ve been in business for 15 years and the years have just flown by,” Hamby told The Sentinel in an interview earlier this month. After years of being employed at another embroidery business, she took her years of experience and decided to open her own business in 2003.
The Loomis native, and mother of two sons, grads of Mesa Verde and Del Oro high schools, said she never dreamed Extreme Stitch would blossom into the business it is today. A second location for sales and production is under consideration, she said.
“I knew that to make it in this business, great embroidery alone wasn’t going to cut it,” she said, noting that she still shows up to work Monday through Friday to oversee day-to-day activities. “My customers can rest assured that the buck stops with me,” Hamby said.
Her student-athlete customer base is 60 percent male to 40 percent female. Each jacket is unisex and made in the United States.
She remembers the first 50 letterman-style jackets her company first designed for high school students in the Citrus Heights area. Her company creates at least 300 or more custom jackets each year.
Hamby says she’s proud to see a new generation of repeat customers, as the children of her prior customers come back for their own custom-designed letterman-style jackets. Extreme Stitch serves private and public high schools throughout Sacramento and Placer County, including six high schools in the San Juan Unified School District.
Customers walking into her shop will see the walls of Extreme Stitch adorned with every kind and combination of school colors, mascot logo and team sports patches possible to choose from. While walk-in customers are typical, she’s also received telephone orders from orders from Stockton, Vallejo, and as far away as Massachusetts and even Texas.
Student-athletes work directly with Hamby or one of her two staff members to determine the personal design of each jacket’s school colors and patch arrangement. She reminds them that each jacket “makes a statement on campus and will highlight your achievements, school spirit and your personality.”
Not every student-athlete is “stock” so that’s why Extreme Stitch custom orders each jacket to precisely fit each customer. The cost of a custom-fit varsity jacket in a customer’s choice of school colors is about $400. Jackets are available in all sizes, youth through adult, Hamby said.
The turnaround time delivery for a typical letterman jacket is 6-8 weeks. A deposit of $200 is required to pay for the cost of the jacket, and customers can then make payments on the jacket until the balance is paid off. Hamby said one of her young customers took seven months to pay his jacket off.
Hamby’s business does a considerable amount of non-school related business as well, offering a variety of embroidery and printing services to the general public. Customers can order garments from a variety of vendors or bring in their own items. Extreme Stitch specializes in tackle twill, chenille embroidery, and direct-to-garment printing.
Chenille, typically used for varsity and letterman jackets, offers bright colors with a 3-D effect to an award patch. It is usually stitched upon a piece of felt that is then contour-cut and sewn onto a garment.
“I think we’re one of the only custom embroidery shops in Northern California that has a chenille machine,” Hamby said.
Tackle twill is the application of custom-cut twill lettering onto a garment. Any shape, letter, or design can be custom cut from a polyester twill material and sewn onto almost any garment for a finished look. The twill is then stitched around the edges using a zig-zag or dotted-stitch path so they are permanently fixed to the garment. Tackle twill is often a popular feature on school sweatshirts, sports jerseys, and varsity jackets.
Caps for a golf tournament or aprons for a barbecue can also be done in an economical and timely fashion, Hamby says. Her goal is to provide her customers with “the best possible price, the fastest service and the highest quality.”
Extreme Stitch Embroidery is located at 7250 Auburn Blvd., Suite F, in Citrus Heights. Additional information can be found on the company’s website, extremejackets.com. Regular business hours are Monday-Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Map To Our Store
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Went in today to drop off two shirts for City logos to be embroidered. A nice lady named Lisa helped me and made things really easy. She was smiling and very friendly. Great little shop. Will…
Olivehurst, California
This is a great place to get your school swag , we bought both my daughters letterman jackets and they are awesome . The girls selected what they wanted in their jackets and felt great about it.…
Mauricio C.
Extreme Stitch Embroidery is a family owned and better yet family operated. Each and every day the owners are present to serve its customers. Call us 916-726-2622 to get an immediate response to your question. Extreme Stitch has been servicing Northern California for over 15 years and our staff shares a combined 50 years for embroidery experience.
Custom Hoodies
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Two Color Lettering
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Copyright © 2018 Extreme Stitch Embroidery. All rights reserved.
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Antrag auf Datenzugriff
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Aspire Global’s Year-End Report 2018 – Concluding an Amazing Year
Image Source: aspireglobal.com
FOURTH QUARTER (OCT-DEC 2018)
• Revenues increased by 71.6% to €32.9 million (19.2)
• B2B Revenues increased by 87.3% to €19.3 million (10.3)
• EBITDA increased by 71.4% to €6.6 million (3.8)
• EBITDA margin amounted to 20.0% (20.0%)
• EBIT increased to €6.0 million (3.5)
• Earnings after tax from continued operations increased to €4.6 million (1.3)
• Earnings per share after tax from continued operations increased to €0.10 (0.03)
• Cash flow from operating activities increased by 103.9% to €5.3 million (2.6)
• First time depositors (FTDs) increased by 82.1% to 123.7 thousand (67.9)
FULL YEAR (JAN-DEC 2018)
• Revenues increased by 45.5% to €104.6 million (71.9)
• EBITDA increased by 48.6% to €21.2 million (14.3)
• EBIT increased to €19.3 million (13.0)
• Earnings after tax from continued operations increased to €16.2 million (9.8)
• Cash flow from operating activities increased by 42.8% to €22.9 million (16.0)
• First time depositors (FTDs) increased by 50.5% to 370.4 thousand (246.1)
• The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of approximately 1.27 SEK per share, to be paid for the 2018 fiscal year
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING AND AFTER THE FOURTH QUARTER
• On October 25th 2018, the sports operator BetRegal migrated to Aspire Global from another platform
• On October 22nd 2018, Aspire Global launched a bingo offering in addition to casino and sports.
• On November 28th 2018, Aspire Global was granted a sports gaming license in Ireland.
• On December 5th 2018, Aspire Global presented new financial targets for 2019-2021; revenues of €200 million and an
EBITDA of €32 million, excl. material acquisitions, and an EBITDA-margin of 16%.
• On December 21st 2018, Aspire Global was granted a Swedish gaming license. On January 1st, 2019, the re-regulation
entered into force and Aspire Global started operating under the new license.
• On January 9th 2019, Ziv Shtaeinberg was appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and member of the management team at Aspire Global, leading the technology site in Kiev, Ukraine.
A WORD FROM THE CEO
“As I conclude the fourth quarter and 2018 as a whole, I feel excited and extremely proud of our progress. December rounded off yet another record quarter in line with our seasonal pattern. We maintained strong focus on regulated markets with new licenses granted in Sweden and Ireland and finalized compliance for the Swedish re-regulation. Furthermore, we launched five new brands on the platform, two of which were migrations of established operators, all while pursuing high activity in B2B and B2C through effective CRM-campaigns. As a result, revenues in the fourth quarter increased by 71.6% from 2017, reaching €32.9 million.
CONCLUDING 2018
As for the full-year, it was an exciting journey. Aspire Global entered into 8 new partnerships and launched 13 new B2B-sites. We also launched over 240 new games, 6 of which are our own, and managed to expand our offering to bingo and sports, the latter of which is growing steadily and contributing to both segments. We received two new licenses for regulated markets, Sweden and Ireland, enabling us to create a stronger presence in northern Europe. The iGaming license for sports in Ireland expands Sportsbook to yet another regulated market, enabling partners to target new audiences through a wider offering. Moreover, we issued and listed a bond under a €80 million framework that, together with our strong cash flow, would enhance our growth potential and allow us to explore attractive investment and acquisition opportunities, in line with operational focus. Last but not least, we arranged our first capital markets day in Stockholm. The fact that we will be exceeding previous financial targets ahead of schedule is the result of an amazing progress in 2018, following our growth strategy.
ENTERING 2019
We are excited to be up and running in the re-regulated Swedish market, creating a stronger footprint in the Nordics. Aspire Global sees considerable growth potential from the modest starting point and is looking forward to initiating new partnerships under the new conditions.
Aspire Global recently announced updated financial targets for 2019-2021, aiming at revenues of €200 million and an EBITDA of €32 million, excluding material acquisitions, and an EBITDA-margin of 16%. The strategy going forward remains focused on B2B and B2C, but also on game development. Aspire Global will continue to pursue strong growth, both organically and through acquisitions, with a consistent focus on improving the offering, strengthening partnerships and seizing attractive opportunities in regulated markets. To ensure the appropriate infrastructure and flexibility for various market conditions and coming integrations, we will be initiating considerable investments in the company platform from our tech site in Ukraine, starting with the recent appointment of a group CTO and further recruitments to strengthen the tech-team going forward.
Welcome to a new and exciting year with Aspire global.” – Tsachi Maimon, CEO Aspire Global
Tsachi Maimon, CEO, Tel: +356-79777898 or email: tsachi@aspireglobal.com
Motti Gil, CFO, Tel: +972-73 372 3154 or email: mottigi@aspireglobal.com
ABOUT THIS INFORMATION
Aspire global discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation
(MAR). The information was submitted for publication by the contact persons above at 08:15 am (CET) on February 14th 2019.
This document is the English original. In the event of any discrepancy between the original English document and the Swedish translation, the English original shall prevail.
Today, on February 14th 2019, at 10:00 (CET), the company CEO, Tsachi Maimon, and CFO, Motti Gil, will be presenting the report and answering questions at a teleconference (in English).
The teleconference will be webcasted live through the following link: https://financialhearings.com/event/10985 . The meeting, including the Q&A-session, is also available by dialing-in on the numbers below.
Sweden: +46 8 5664 27 03
UK: +44 3333 009 273
US: +1 6467 224 956
ABOUT ASPIRE GLOBAL:
Founded in 2005, Aspire Global offers a comprehensive iGaming solution for operators and white labels, including a complete suite of services for casino and sportsbook, multilingual CRM, payments and risk control, support call center, VIP management, acquisition optimization and a robust, market-leading platform. Aspire Global also holds licenses in regulated markets including the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Malta. Aspire Global is listed on NASDAQ First North Premier under ASPIRE. Certified Advisor: FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46-8-528 00 399. Please visit www.aspireglobal.com.
Related Topics:Aspire GlobalB2B RevenuesBetRegalCEO Aspire GlobalSwedish gaming licenseTsachi Maimon
CoinPoint aims to keep the interest high by granting the sought-after blockchain education
AGS to Report Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Results on Tuesday, March 5
George Miller started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.
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Deal enhances provider’s European footprint
Premium slots and table games provider Habanero has further enhanced its footprint within Europe after agreeing a deal with Italian operator Betflag.it.
Habanero’s full Italian certified portfolio will be made available to Betflag, meaning its players will have access to titles such as Ways Of Fortune, 5 Lucky Lions and Jump!
The deal follows a number of integrations within the territory for Habanero having specifically targeted European expansion over the last 18 months.
Arcangelo Lonoce, European Head of Business Development at Habanero, said: “Betflag is one of Italy’s fastest-growing operators and we can’t wait to see our games go live on site.
“They host titles from some of the industry’s biggest providers and it’s really exciting to see our titles sit alongside them. We look forward to a great partnership together.”
Dario Rusconi, Head of Casino at Betflag.it, said: “It’s important to ensure we offer our players fresh and quality content and we have certainly ticked both boxes with this deal.
“Habanero know exactly what it takes to tailor their content for specific markets and their wide range of offerings means there is something for everybody to enjoy.”
Platform integration extends slot supplier’s global reach
Leading independent casino games provider High 5 Games (H5G) has announced a deal to integrate its slots portfolio with platform provider White Hat Gaming.
The agreement boosts the reach of the New York-based developer’s games, with White Hat Gaming’s growing roster of clients now having access to H5G’s top-performing releases, including Way Out Wilds, Midnight Eclipse, The Green Machine Deluxe and Silver Enchantress.
Partnering with White Hat Gaming marks another important platform integration for the slot supplier, which is aiming to enhance its international presence in new and emerging territories.
Anthony Singer, CEO and Founder of High 5 Games, said: “We are delighted to be launching our games on White Hat Gaming’s proprietary platform, which opens the door for a host of new players to access and enjoy our popular titles.
“Partnering with a well-respected brand such as White Hat Gaming is a great opportunity for us and we look forward to growing the relationship together.”
Phil Gelvan, CEO of White Hat Gaming, said: “High 5 Games has built an excellent reputation for providing popular and engaging games.
“The content will allow us to bring yet more innovative gaming experiences to our operator partners and their players, and we very much look forward to rolling out their slots.”
Pragmatic Play, one of the leading software providers for video slots, live casino and bingo, has taken its pioneering live casino portfolio live with Parimatch.
Parimatch customers will now have access to an innovative selection of live casino products on the market, with games including Live Blackjack and Live Roulette delivered from Pragmatic Play’s state-of-the-art studio using 4k camera technology.
Hosted by highly trained dealers, Pragmatic Play’s live casino offering provides the most immersive, mobile-first gaming experience, featuring low game latency, fast and easy placing bets, detailed game statistics, complete bet history, guiding sounds effects and animations.
Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “We are proud to be accelerating the growth of our live casino product with Parimatch.
“They are an operator who mirror our passion for delivering top quality gaming experiences, and it is fantastic to be working with them.”
Eugene Saveliev, Head of Gambling Products at Parimatch, said: “Live casino is a hugely important vertical in the modern iGaming marketplace, and Pragmatic Play’s slick, advanced offering has the potential to significantly enhance our rates of acquisition and retention.
“We are delighted to have rolled out their content and will continue to build on this promising partnership.”
The provider’s entire portfolio of video slots, bingo, scratchcards and live casino games is available to its operator partners via a single API.
Press Releases48 mins ago
Chelsea Partners Up With 1xBet
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ReviewsDVD Review
All-Star Family Feud
Noel Murray
Filed to: DVDFiled to: DVD
What's more glorious? That we live in a culture that once pitted the cast of The Love Boat against the cast of WKRP In Cincinnati on a TV game show, or that the moment has been preserved on DVD? From 1979 to 1984, ABC occasionally aired special primetime editions of Family Feud, featuring television personalities winning money to benefit their favorite charities—and promoting their shows to boot. For the celebrities, it was a no-win situation. Were they supposed to behave in an entertaining manner, as they'd been programmed to since young adulthood, or were they supposed to win the game and make money for cancer research? And how could they do either while high on cocaine and bantering with Richard Dawson?
A lot of the fun of watching the four-disc All-Star Family Feud DVD set is in seeing how the celeb-testants respond to Dawson, the host who smiles and schmoozes with each of them as though he's relieved to be among his own kind for a change, instead of SoCal suburbanites and vacationing Okies. Old-guard TV stars like Betty White, Gavin MacLeod, and Dick Van Patten played well with Dawson, while the younger, hipper types, like WKRP's Howard Hesseman, Welcome Back Kotter's Charles Fleischer, and Barney Miller's Steve Landesberg squirmed uncomfortably, trying to retain at least a smidgen of their counterculture credibility. Meanwhile, black stars like Ted Lange, Ron Glass, and Tim Reid endured Dawson's attempts to be "down," and Loni Anderson and pretty much the entire cast of Eight Is Enough received a few more kisses and hugs than usual.
By this point in his career, buoyed by the success of two game shows, Dawson had begun to fancy himself the Johnny Carson of daytime, opening each show with a short, topical monologue, and spending as much time ad-libbing with his guests as playing Feud. And he could be funny, too—especially when he responded snappishly to technical mistakes and bad answers, with an icy tone that undid all his attempts to make himself seem like an ingratiating guy. All-Star Family Feud is packed with famous folk, but throughout, Dawson never let any of them forget that he was both the MC and the BMOC. Which makes for fine show-biz psychodrama.
Key features: Bzzzzzt!
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Prudenville, Michigan
H & R Block in Prudenville, Michigan locations and hours
In Prudenville, Michigan, there are 1 H & R Block branches, click on the desired office for detailed information, hours, location and phones.
1 locations in Prudenville, Michigan
H & R Block branches in Prudenville, Michigan locations and hours
H & R Block, Prudenville, Michigan
2702 W Houghton Lake Dr Prudenville,Mi 48651
H & R Block services in Prudenville, Michigan
H & R Block branches in Prudenville, Michigan, online map
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The most popular banks in Prudenville, Michigan:
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What The Hell Is Happening With These Alabama Polls?
Dec. 11, 2017 , at 3:11 PM
By Nate Silver
Filed under Special Elections
Follow our live coverage of Alabama’s special election for U.S. Senate.
Somebody’s going to be wrong in Alabama.
We’ve already urged caution when interpreting polls of Alabama’s special election to the U.S. Senate, which will be held on Tuesday. Some of that is because of the media’s usual tendency to demand certainty from the polls when the polls can’t provide it. And some of it is because of the circumstances of this particular race: a special election in mid-December in a state where Republicans almost never lose but where the Republican candidate, Roy Moore, has been accused of sexual misconduct toward multiple underaged women.
What we’re seeing in Alabama goes beyond the usual warnings about minding the margin of error, however. There’s a massive spread in results from poll to poll — with surveys on Monday morning showing everything from a 9-point lead for Moore to a 10-point advantage for Democrat Doug Jones — and they reflect two highly different approaches to polling.
Most polls of the state have been made using automated scripts (these are sometimes also called IVR or “robopolls”). These polls have generally shown Moore ahead and closing strongly toward the end of the campaign, such as the Emerson College poll on Monday that showed Moore leading by 9 points. Recent automated polls from Trafalgar Group, JMC Analytics and Polling, Gravis Marketing and Strategy Research have also shown Moore with the lead.
But when traditional, live-caller polls have weighed in — although these polls have been few and far between — they’ve shown a much different result. A Monmouth University survey released on Monday showed a tied race. Fox News’s final poll of the race, also released on Monday, showed Jones ahead by 10 percentage points. An earlier Fox News survey also had Jones comfortably ahead, while a Washington Post poll from late November had Jones up 3 points at a time when most other polls showed the race swinging back to Moore. And a poll conducted for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in mid-November — possibly released to the public in an effort to get Moore to withdraw from the race — also showed Jones well ahead.1
What accounts for the differences between live-caller and automated polls? There are several factors, all of which are potentially relevant to the race in Alabama:
Automated polls are prohibited by law from calling voters on cellphones.
Automated polls get lower response rates and therefore may have less representative samples.
Automated polls may have fewer problems with “shy” voters who are reluctant to disclose their true voting intentions.
Automated pollsters (in part to compensate for issues No. 1 and 2 above) generally make more assumptions when modeling turnout, whereas traditional pollsters prefer to let the voters “speak for themselves” and take the results they obtain more at face value.
Issue No. 1, not calling cellphones, is potentially a major problem: The Fox News poll found Jones leading by 30 points among people who were interviewed by cellphone. Slightly more than half of American adults don’t have access to a landline, according to recent estimates by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also found a higher share of mobile-only households in the South than in other parts of the country. Moreover, voters with landline service are older than the voting population as a whole and are more likely to be white — characteristics that correlate strongly with voting Republican, especially in states such as Alabama.
Pollsters are aware of these problems, so they use demographic weighting to try to compensate. Even if you can’t get enough black voters on a (landline) phone, for instance, you may have some reasonable way to estimate how many black voters there “should” be in the electorate, based on Census Bureau data or turnout in previous elections — so you can weight the black voters you do get on the phone more heavily until you get the “right” demographic mix.
This sounds dubious — and there are better and worse ways to conduct demographic weighting — but it’s a well-accepted practice. (Almost all pollsters use demographic weighting in some form.) And sometimes everything turns out just fine — automated polls don’t have a great track record, but firms such as Trafalgar Group that do automated polling generally performed pretty well in 2016, for example. Some automated firms have also begun to supplement their landline samples with online panels in an effort to get a more representative sample. Still, cell-only and landline voters may be differentiated from one another in ways that are relevant for voting behavior but which don’t fall into traditional demographic categories — cell-only voters may have different media consumption habits, for instance. If nothing else, failing to call cellphones adds an additional layer of unpredictability to the results.
Apart from their failure to call mobile phones, automated polls have lower response rates (issue No. 2) — often in the low single digits. This is because voters are more likely to hang up when there isn’t a human on the other end of the line nudging them to complete a survey. Also, many automated polls call each household only once, whereas pollsters conducting traditional surveys often make several attempts to reach the same household. Calling a household only once could bias the sample in various ways — for instance, toward whichever party’s voters are more enthusiastic (probably Democrats in the Alabama race) or toward whoever tends to pick up the phone in a particular household (often older voters, rather than younger ones).
As for issue No. 3, proponents of automated polls — and online polls — sometimes claim that they yield more honest responses from voters than traditional polls do. Respondents may be less concerned about social desirability bias when pushing numbers on their phone or clicking on an online menu as opposed to talking to another human being. That could be particularly relevant in the case of Alabama if some voters are ashamed to admit that they plan to vote for Moore, a man accused of molesting teenagers.
With that said, while there’s a rich theoretical literature on social desirability bias, the empirical evidence for it affecting election polls is somewhat flimsy. The Bradley Effect (the supposed tendency for polls to overestimate support for minority candidates) has pretty much gone away, for instance. There’s been no tendency for nationalist parties to outperform their polls in Europe. And so-called “shy Trump” voters do not appear to have been the reason that Trump outperformed his polls last year.2
Finally (No. 4), automated and traditional pollsters often take different philosophies toward working with their data. Although they probably wouldn’t put it this way themselves, automated pollsters know that their raw data is somewhat crappy — so they rely more heavily on complicated types of turnout and demographic weighting to make up for it. Automated pollsters are more likely to weight their results by party identification, for instance — by how many Republicans, Democrats and independents are in their sample — whereas traditional pollsters usually don’t do this because partisan identification is a fluid, rather than a fixed, characteristic.
Although I don’t conduct polls myself, I generally side with the traditional pollsters on this philosophical question. I don’t like polls that impose too many assumptions on their data; instead, I prefer an Ann Selzer-ish approach of trusting one’s data, even when it shows an “unusual” turnout pattern or produces a result that initially appears to be an outlier. Sometimes what initially appears to be an outlier turns out to have been right all along.
Related: Politics Podcast
Politics Podcast: The Alabama Election Is Here
With that said, automated pollsters can make a few good counterarguments. Traditional polls also have fairly low response rates — generally around 10 percent — and potentially introduce their own demographic biases, such as winding up with electorates that are more educated than the actual electorate. Partisan non-response bias may also be a problem — if the supporters of one candidate see him or her get a string of bad news (such as Moore in the Alabama race), they may be less likely to respond to surveys … but they may still turn up to vote.
Essentially, the automated pollsters would argue that nobody’s raw data approximates a truly random sample anymore — and that even though it can be dangerous to impose too many assumptions on one’s data, the classical assumptions made by traditional pollsters aren’t working very well, either. (Traditional pollsters have had a better track record over the long run, but they also overestimated Democrats’ performance in 2014 and 2016.)
So, who’s right? There’s a potential tiebreaker of sorts, which is online polls. Online polls potentially have better raw data than automated polls — they get higher response rates, and there are more households without landline access than without internet access. However, because there’s no way to randomly “ping” people online in the same way that you’d randomly call their phone, online surveys have no way to ensure a truly random probability sample.
To generalize a bit, online polls therefore tend to do a lot of turnout weighting and modeling instead of letting their data stand “as is.” But their raw data is usually more comprehensive and representative than automated polls, so they have better material to work with.
The online polls also come out somewhat in Moore’s favor. Recent polls from YouGov and Change Research show him ahead by 6 points and 7 points, respectively; in the case of the Change Research poll, this reflects a reversal from a mid-November poll that had Jones ahead.
But perhaps the most interesting poll of all is from the online firm SurveyMonkey. It released 10 different versions (!) of its recent survey, showing everything from a 9-point Jones lead to a 10-point Moore lead, depending on various assumptions — all with the same underlying data.
Although releasing 10 different versions of the same poll may be overkill, it illustrates the extent to which polling can be an assumption-driven exercise, especially in an unusual race such as Alabama’s Senate contest. Perhaps the most interesting thing SurveyMonkey found is that there may be substantial partisan non-response bias in the polling — that Democrats were more likely to take the survey than Republicans. “The Alabama registered voters who reported voting in 2016 favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by a 50 to 39 percentage point margin,” SurveyMonkey’s Mark Blumenthal wrote. “Trump’s actual margin was significantly larger (62 to 34 percent).”
In other words, SurveyMonkey’s raw data was showing a much more purple electorate than the solid-red one that you usually get in Alabama. If that manifests in actual turnout patterns — if Democrats are more likely to respond to surveys and are more likely to vote because of their greater enthusiasm — Jones will probably win. If there are some “shy Moore” voters, however, then Moore will probably win. To make another generalization, traditional pollsters usually assume that their polls don’t have partisan non-response bias, while automated polls (and some online polls such as YouGov) generally assume that they do have it, which is part of why they’re showing such different results.
Because you’ve read so much detail about the polls, I don’t want to leave you without some characterization of the race. I still think Moore is favored, although not by much; Jones’s chances are probably somewhere in the same ballpark as Trump’s were of winning the Electoral College last November (about 30 percent).
The reason I say that is because in a state as red as Alabama, Jones needs two things to go right for him: He needs a lopsided turnout in his favor, and he needs pretty much all of the swing voters in Alabama (and there aren’t all that many of them) to vote for him. Neither of these are all that implausible. But if either one goes wrong for Jones, Moore will probably win narrowly (and if both go wrong, Moore could still win in a landslide). The stakes couldn’t be much higher for the candidates — or for the pollsters who surveyed the race.
There weren’t many details released to the public about the methodology of the NRSC poll, but the party committees generally have a lot of money and prefer to conduct traditional, live-caller polling when possible.
Bigger problems were pollsters failing to weight by education levels and undecided voters breaking toward Trump in swing states.
Nate Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight. @natesilver538
Congress (375 posts) Polling (373) Special Elections (119) Alabama (73) Roy Moore (34) Alabama Senate (26) Doug Jones (26)
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Home / Movie Database / James Russo
James Russo
The heat is on in this fast paced action-comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street smart Detroit cop tracking down his best friend's killer in Beverly Hills. Axel quickly learns that his wild style doesn't fit in with the Beverly H...
Black Mass (2015)
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the true story of this u...
Code of Honor (2016)
When his family is killed in a drive-by shooting, Robert Sikes (Steven Seagal, Above The Law), a former special-ops operative, vows to rid his city of every last criminal. Sikes' former protégé, FBI agent Porter (Craig Sheffer, The...
The Ninth Gate (2000)
Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is highly skilled at his work - locating rare books for wealthy collectors - a position that requires dexterity, cultural expertise, nerves of steel ... and few scruples. Corso is hired by eminent book-lover and scholar of de...
Scream WAS: $9.99 NOW: $4.99
Run Lola Run WAS: $12.99 NOW: $4.99
Crocodile Dundee II WAS: $12.99 NOW: $4.99
A Fish Called Wanda WAS: $14.99 NOW: $4.99
Easy A WAS: $12.99 NOW: $4.99
The Flash WAS: $29.99 NOW: $4.99
Old School WAS: $14.99 NOW: $4.99
Scrooged WAS: $14.99 NOW: $4.99
iZombie WAS: $29.99 NOW: $4.99
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Home»Management
How the MGT Act Will Spur Agencies' IT Investments in 2018 and Beyond
The law’s promise of working capital funds could help accelerate the migration to the cloud and legacy IT system updates.
Phil Goldstein
Phil Goldstein is a web editor for FedTech and StateTech. Besides keeping up with the latest in technology trends, he is also an avid lover of the New York Yankees, poetry, photography, traveling and escaping humidity.
The moment that the federal IT community has been waiting on for over a year came on the afternoon of Dec. 12, as President Donald Trump signed the Modernizing Government Technology Act into law.
The IT modernization legislation, passed as an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, could spur agency migration to the cloud, shutter legacy systems and allow for investments in new technologies.
Now, agencies will likely assess how they might use the working capital funds the legislation authorizes to reprogram their IT budgets and fund modernization projects. Each agency has its own technology priorities and it will likely take some time for the law to bear fruit. The law also creates a centralized Technology Modernization Fund that the administrator of the General Services Administration will manage (on Dec. 12, the Senate confirmed Emily Murphy to that role).
“To go implement this, it will take all hands on deck,” Tony Scott, who served as federal CIO in the Obama administration, told The Hill.
Rep. Will Hurd, one of the law’s chief proponents in Congress, noted in a statement that every year the government “wastes billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars maintaining outdated, unreliable and unsecured IT systems — some of which were first designed in the 1960s,” but that the law will spark change.
“The MGT Act will bring the government’s IT systems into the 21st century and allow agencies to use the money that is saved to modernize other systems, helping create more quality and timely services to the American people,” Hurd said.
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Working Capital Funds to Spur IT Modernization
Under the law, the head of each agency can establish working capital funds for IT modernization (some agencies already do so). Agencies can transfer and reprogram funds, including for the operation and maintenance of legacy IT systems, and then use the money for a variety of projects.
The funds can be used to improve, retire or replace existing IT systems to enhance cybersecurity and to improve efficiency and effectiveness; transition legacy IT systems to cloud or shared services; adopt risk-based cybersecurity solutions; or to reimburse a central modernization fund the law sets up.
The head of each agency must prioritize funds within the IT working capital fund of the covered agency to be used initially for cost savings activities approved by the agency’s CIO, and may reprogram and transfer any amounts saved as a direct result of the cost savings activities back into the working capital fund. The funds will be available for a three-year period beginning on the last day of the fiscal year in which the funds were deposited.
No later than Dec 12, 2018, and every six months thereafter, the head of each agency must submit to the director of the Office of Management and Budget a list of each IT investment that has been funded, including the estimated cost and completion date for each investment. They also must submit a summary by fiscal year of obligations, expenditures and unused balances. Those reports will be publicly available.
The law also creates a centralized IT modernization the GSA will manage. The law authorizes $250 million for the fund for fiscal year 2018 and the same amount for fiscal year 2019. Agencies can apply to get money from the fund to modernize their IT and make it more efficient and secure.
A board of government officials will advise the OMB director on agencies’ proposals. Agencies must reimburse the fund. The OMB director must also, at least quarterly, make public a list that includes a description of the projects funded, the project status (including any schedule delay and cost overruns), financial expenditure data related to the project and the extent to which the project is using commercial products and services (including if applicable, a justification of why commercial products and services were not used and the associated development and integration costs of custom development).
Cloud Services Likely to Boom Under MGT Act
What kinds of projects will the MGT Act allow agencies to take on? Federal IT experts say the cloud will be a clear winner.
Davis Johnson, vice president of the U.S. public sector at Riverbed Technology, says that the MGT Act represents a “high-level way for the government to accelerate migration to the cloud, save money and allow agencies to get access to the money they save to do really cool things that they otherwise couldn’t do.”
Johnson thinks some of those “really cool things” will include network modernization projects that will give agency CIOs more visibility into what is happening on their networks.
Network modernization “has been an afterthought for the last 10 years,” Johnson says, adding, “there has been a ton of activity around data center modernizations, and server and storage virtualization. Network got left behind.”
There will likely be a lot of “proof of concept” MGT Act projects next year, Johnson says, but IT modernization will then take off in 2019.
Dave Wennergren, managing director at Deloitte and a former deputy CIO of the Defense Department and vice chair of the federal CIO Council, says the MGT Act “is a long time coming” and comes as the Trump administration’s American Technology Council released a report on IT modernization (a final version should be published soon following public comments). The executive and legislative branches of government are now pushing for IT modernization and for agencies to use more commercial IT solutions, Wennergren says.
The MGT Act gives agency CIOs “top cover” to pursue modernization, “but even better than that it gives a mandate and requirement to report back on your progress.”
Agencies that do not have the internal resources to do IT modernization via their own working capital funds will likely apply to the GSA fund, Wennergren says.
The vast majority of federal IT money goes toward maintaining legacy computers, networks and the applications that run on them, Wennergren notes. With the administration and Congress pushing, agencies will hopefully take a deliberate but not overly long look at their IT and see where they can get the most value out of modernization, he says.
Moving to the cloud will likely be a key area, since it is more cost-effective and allows them to get access to innovative solutions that are continually added to cloud platforms, according to Wennergren. That will allow agencies to shutter data centers filled with legacy hardware. Agencies will also likely look to rationalize legacy systems and for ways to use digital technology to improve citizen services.
flownaksala/Getty Images
Data Center Optimization
How Agencies Can Use the MGT Act to Transform Their IT Architecture
The Congressman at the Forefront of Federal IT Modernization
Federal IT Modernization Efforts Gain Steam but Need Push from Senate
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The LedgerThe Ledger
Bitcoin Payment Firm BitPesa Gets Big Boost From Famous Investor
Jeff John Roberts
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 11: Founder and Managing Parter of Greycroft Ventures Alan Patricof speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2016 at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 11, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch)Noam Galai Getty Images for TechCrunch
The grandfather of venture capital just made his first bet on bitcoin. Alan Patricof, the founder and managing director of Greycroft, announced on Wednesday a $2 million investment into BitPesa, a startup that uses blockchain to speed up business payments across Africa and Asia.
While the size of the investment is modest, the involvement of Patricof, one of the country’s first venture capitalists, is significant. While his firm has invested in various fintech companies—most notably Venmo, Acorns, and Braintree—Patricof and Greycroft have so far shied away from the crypto-currency space.
In an interview with Fortune, Patricof said his decision to back BitPesa is based on his confidence in the company’s young founder and CEO, Elizabeth Rossiello.
Rossiello stands out in the digital currency world not only because she’s a woman, but because of her educational background. She studied at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs, which is known as a hothouse of UN-types and lefty activists—but also snuck away to take corporate finance classes at the business school.
After a stint at Goldman Sachs, Rossiello worked in Africa where she discovered how people relied on SIM cards and national phone carriers to do their banking. This experience helped her see the potential for different payment platforms—including bitcoin wallets, which let people conduct transactions without intermediary actors that siphoned off high fees.
This led Rossiello to launch BitPesa as a cheap and efficient way to make business payments in places like Kenya, Nairobi, and Uganda. Increasingly, BitPesa is helping companies with more global transactions; she cited the example of an East African firm using BitPesa to purchase a fleet of cars from a Japanese exporter.
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BitPesa, which also provides remittance services, deploys APIs to work a network of banks and mobile payments. This means that some customers may not even be aware that BitPesa is relying on the bitcoin network to conduct and record the transaction.
In its latest funding round, BitPesa raised a total of $3 million from Greycroft and Plug and Play. This brings total investment in the company to over $10 million, following a $2.5 million Series A in January (which included a few very small contribution from Greycroft), and earlier investments from angels and seed investors.
As for bitcoin’s volatility and relatively slow transaction speed (it takes ten minutes or more for a payment to register on the blockchain), Rossiello countered that bitcoin is infinitely superior to wire transfers, which can take days and provide unreliable records. She also noted that many African currencies are actually more volatile than bitcoin.
BitPesa, however, doesn’t hold onto bitcoin to store or trade, but instead relies on third parties like bitcoin-giant Circle to provide the liquidity it needs. Patricof said he likes this attribute about the company, saying it means BitPesa is not a speculative enterprise and isn’t exposed to the price swings that regularly jolt crypto-currency markets.
Patricof added that, unlike many New York venture capitalists, he does not hold any bitcoin for himself. That’s not the case, though, with Rossiello.
“Of course I do,” she said. “I use it because I want to do what the experience is like for my partners. It’s as if I built a highway—I would drive a truck on it to make sure it went smoothly.”
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New York City’s WorldPride Parade loved out loud with W Hotels
July 1, 2019 July 1, 2019 gaytourism
Since day one, W Hotels has been dedicated to inclusivity and support of the LGBTQ+ community and it continues to be a pillar of the brand’s DNA. In fact, W was the first hotel brand to have a float in New York City’s annual Pride parade, and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall and WorldPride NYC, the brand hosted a larger than life float to be featured on an upcoming episode of Bravo’s hit show Backyard Envy.
W Pride Ambassador and boundary-breaking pop star Hayley Kiyoko was joined by influencers JoAnne the Scammer, The LA Basics, Manscapers NY, and Chris Kelmens as well as 250 guests who danced and marched alongside W’s LOVE OUT LOUD float yesterday, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York City.
Anthony Ingham, Global Brand Leader for W Hotels Worldwide said: “W is proud to have taken part in this year’s NYC Pride parade and with such incredible partners including Hayley Kiyoko, our Pride Ambassador, and the Manscapers who helped design our float, this year was better than ever! W boldly supports the LGBTQ+ community through integrated programming all year with thoughtful events including our Queer Me Out speaker series which brings influential members of the community together for thought provoking discussions.
“As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it’s inspiring to be part of W’s commitment to inclusivity. Our LOVE OUT LOUD float this year was a true standout attraction with close to 300 of my Marriott colleagues, press and other friends of the brand marching, dancing and loving out loud – and proud!”
W is committed to a world of acceptance and support through inspiring programming and activations. The popular QUEER ME OUT speaker series brings together influential members of the LGBTQ+ community, including names like Phillip Picardi, Danielle Levitt, Marc Malkin, Johnny Sibilly and Mickey Boardman, to participate in passionate panel discussions. The brand’s TURN IT UP FOR CHANGE campaign in partnership with Jennifer Hudson benefited the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and supported the fight for marriage equality in the United States. W also forged a collaboration with Conde Nast’s next-generation community platform, them. to create a series of curated travel guides and video diaries featuring prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community including Carmen Carrera and Munroe Bergdorf. These guides shined a spotlight and highlighted the LBGTQ+ experience through a queer lens on W destinations, including Mexico City, Istanbul and Brisbane.
The brand’s 2019 global PRIDE programming is supported by Marriott International’s #LoveTravels initiative. Since 2014, #LoveTravels represents Marriott’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion and celebrates travelers around the world who also are dedicated to inclusion, equality, peace and human rights.
More articles on eTurboNews click here
List of LGBTQ Pride events: Much of the world celebrates, some are not allowed
Thailand among top countries offering global travellers the ‘host’ factor, says Booking.com
The ‘Gay Beach’ trend explained by a travel expert
The keyword 'Gay Beaches' was searched more than 635,000 times on Google last year, confirming this is the absolute gay travel trend!
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Here's What Antarctica’s Hugest Iceberg Has Been Doing Since It Broke Free
George Dvorsky
Filed to: IcebergsFiled to: Icebergs
iceberg a-68
larsen c
larsen c ice shelf
It was a year ago at this time that Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf gave birth to Iceberg A-68, one of the largest chunks of ice ever recorded. A new timelapse video made from satellite imagery shows the rift, calving, and subsequent journey of the iceberg over the past 12 months.
Iceberg A-68 is the sixth largest iceberg ever recorded. At the time of calving, the 2,240 square mile (5,800 square km) iceberg weighed about 1,000 billion tons, and encompassed an area roughly the size of the state of Delaware. Freed from the Larsen C Ice Shelf, A-68 began to slowly drift north—slowly being the key word. As the new timelapse shows, this massive chunk of ice is in no rush.
Adrian Luckman and Martin O’Leary from Project MIDAS, a UK-based Antarctic research project that’s investigating the effects of climate change on the Larsen C ice shelf, say the iceberg hasn’t drifted far on account of dense sea-ice cover in the Weddell Sea.
“The iceberg has been pushed around by ocean currents, tides, and winds, and its northern end has repeatedly been grounded in shallower water near Bawden Ice Rise,” write Luckman and O’Leary in a statement. “These groundings led eventually to further pieces of the iceberg being shattered off in May 2018.”
The new pieces aren’t large enough to be given their own identification labels, but the total area lost from A-68 in May alone was about the size of a small city, the researchers write. Over time, the iceberg will continue to inch northward toward the open sea, a process that could take decades. Scientists estimate that A-68 lost about 12 percent of its total mass over the past year. Even so, it’s still huge.
The calving of Larsen C last July kindled a debate among scientists as to the cause. Some scientists claim it’s a natural, cyclical process, whereby ice shelves grow, decay, and break free, while others, such as Eric Rignot, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, believe it’s “the response of the system to a warmer climate.” Regardless, this is an area ripe for further investigation, as Antarctica serves as a canary in the coal mine, alerting us to the effects of human-induced climate change.
[Project MIDAS]
Antarctica’s Massive Iceberg Is Starting to Disintegrate
Antarctica's Massive Iceberg Has Become a Major Scientific Experiment
NASA Captures Stunning Close-Up Photos of Antarctica's Massive Iceberg
Waters Exposed By Massive Antarctic Iceberg Now a Protected Area
Scientists Set to Explore Mysterious Seafloor Exposed by Antarctica’s Giant Iceberg
Yet Another Giant Iceberg Has Broken Free From Antarctica
George is a senior staff reporter at Gizmodo.
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An introduction to global film for teachers and students
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Category Archives: Early film
100 Years of Cinema in Keighley
Bob Thorp of Keighley Film Club introduces the programme
As an addendum to my earlier post about the centenary of Keighley’s Picture House Cinema, the cinema operator Charles Morris decided to hold a centenary celebration (some two months late) on July 10 in conjunction with the town’s Film Club which began to screen films at other venues earlier this year.
Wednesday’s film programme put together by the Film Club comprised a free afternoon programme, part of which was then repeated in the evening alongside a screening of The Artist (France/US 2011) for which tickets were sold. The afternoon programme was introduced by Charles Morris, fresh from lunch with invited guests. He quickly handed over to the Film Club’s Secretary Bob Thorp who explained that the Film Club would in future be showing films once per month in the cinema. We then watched a short film by one of the film club members on the history of early cinema and also a documentary on the Picture House itself made last year (see it here). The main part of the programme which I want to comment on here was the selection of Maya Deren’s At Land (US 1944) and Episode 1 of the Fantômas serial directed by Louis Feuillade and starring Renée Navarre as Fantômas and which was released in five episodes each of 54 minutes in 1913.
Maya Deren in ‘At Land’
At Land was shown first with a musical accompaniment – a piano in front of the small stage, played very well (but the pianist’s name wasn’t given). However, I’m not sure whether Maya Deren ever intended that her silent films should have accompaniment. Some of Deren’s films had music soundtracks created by her collaborators, but not this one to my knowledge. Music does change the experience of watching a silent film. Commercial film screenings of films without soundtracks up to the early 1930s usually had some form of accompaniment but later avant-garde films (often shown in non-theatrical spaces) might be shown silent. Anyone who has watched a film in a cinema without any sound at all knows what a strange experience it is, so perhaps accompaniment here was a wise decision. As an aside, the three major texts on Deren and the 1940s American avant-garde that I consulted all failed to discuss soundtracks (or at least to include a reference in an index).
Maya Deren had arrived in the US from Ukraine as a small child in 1922 and by the mid 1940s she was becoming a leading figure in the ‘New American Cinema’ as the group of avant-garde filmmakers working out of New York became labelled. Her collaborators included the composer John Cage and her husband Alexander Hammid and others who appear in At Land. Hammid co-directed and photographed Meshes in the Afternoon (1943), Deren’s first film (but not Hammid’s first). At Land was photographed mainly by Hella Heyman. This creative collaboration is just one of the reasons why Maya Deren has been so celebrated within feminist film studies. She effectively controls her own liberated image on screen – ironically, she photographs so well that her image equals if not surpasses those of the artificial Hollywood goddesses of the period. Her background was in anthropology and poetry. She wasn’t a trained dancer but she was interested in dance cultures which featured directly in her later films and her work generally acquired the tag of ‘trance films’. The films are indeed ‘dreamlike’, not just in the strange juxtaposition of sequences but also in their rhythms which through careful camerawork and editing create almost seamless transitions and a sense of swooning. At Land begins with Deren washed up on a beach, but as she pulls herself up on a tree stump she climbs directly onto a long dining table where she is seemingly oblivious to the diners. Later she enters a building with an array of doors to open. There is clearly a relationship with surrealism, but most critics of avant-garde film see Deren as an original rather than simply a follower of Buñuel and Dali.
Maya Deren’s work is now easily accessible on DVD and much of it is also on YouTube. If you haven’t seen it before, it is well worth seeking out. I always assumed that Kate Bush must have been a fan.
The selection of Fantômas was announced as simply an example of a film released in 1913. Bob Thorp said he didn’t yet know whether Fantômas ever played in the Picture House at the time. Nevertheless it was an interesting choice and given its great influence on subsequent filmmakers such as Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock it reminded us of some of the thrills and spills that cinemagoers of the next forty or fifty years would have enjoyed. I haven’t seen the serial before but from the little I’ve read the first episode was perhaps not the best to show since it is mostly setting-up the battle between Inspector Juve and the mysterious criminal Fantômas. The vision behind the adaptation of a successful novel is such that at first it is easy to forget that the film is 100 years old. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that most scenes are still conventional tableaux with a more or less static camera. The main movement comes in the sequence detailing a remarkable prison escape. At the end of the episode is a piece of Méliès camera trickery, matching some of the promotional footage for the series which emphasises Fantômas as a master of disguise, constantly changing his appearance – and demonstrating what we would now term ‘morphing’ on screen.
The Film Club programme was enjoyable and it showed imagination and enthusiasm from what is essentially a volunteer group. There were a few problems in the projection of the films but the projectionist assured us afterwards that these had been sorted in time for the evening screening. The next step is to attract audiences to the monthly screenings being organised by the Film Club in this grand old venue and we wish them well.
Posted in Avant-garde cinema, Early film, Film culture, Film history, Film industry, Silent Era
Tagged cinemas, film clubs, Keighley
Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben Spain-France-Italy 2018)
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Explorers/
Two and two halves to the Malaspina
Written by Erin McKittrick
Published in Explorers
Erin McKittrick
Despite storms flooding their tent, high winds pelting them with sea spray and a continuous stream of dirty nappies, Erin McKittrick has nothing but good memories of crossing Alaska’s Malaspina Glacier with her husband and two small children
Expeditions can be cold and wet and dirty and hard. But a good expedition is more than just a display of athleticism or the grunt work of walking. A good expedition is also a series of puzzles waiting to be solved with muscles and maps and bits of string.
Our bits of string lashed together bent green willows, stripped of their bark with a pocket knife. String was also used to lash together a frameless backpack, an inflatable boat and a bicycle wheel. These improbable items were thrown together to solve an even more improbable puzzle: how to cross a glacier with two small children.
One of the grant applications I filled out for this expedition required me to list the skills of each member of the team. For my husband, Hig, and me, I listed the thousands of kilometres of human-powered wilderness travel, photography, navigation, writing and science that we had previously undertaken. For our toddler son, I listed ‘pebble throwing’; for our infant daughter, ‘eating sand’. The application was rejected.
YOUNG GEOGRAPHERS
When we began this expedition, Lituya was eight months old. She’s named after a beautiful bay that lies 800 kilometres to the east of our home in Alaska. Katmai
was two-and-a-half years old. His name comes from an imposing volcano 250 kilometres to the southwest.
The children were adorable naturalists. Katmai poked a wiggling trout in the palm of his father’s hand, crouched intently over a pile of ptarmigan droppings and named each iceberg for its shape: bird, fish, turtle and monster. Lituya held ice in her two chubby fists, gumming shining pieces of glacier as the meltwater trickled down the back of my neck.
Our children were also clingy and whining brats. They spilled water on the sleeping bags, dropped electronics in the mud, filled nappies, snatched toys from each other and attempted to crawl into the hot stove. In short, they were ordinary children.
They were also heavy. Lituya slept on my chest as I walked, tucked into a length of red fabric that was wrapped and tied around my body. As she pulled me forwards, my rucksack pulled me back. The pack was stuffed to a little beyond bursting with everything from cheddar cheese to a portable electric fence. I paused to wait for Hig, shifting from foot to foot as the glacier’s chill crept up through my thin-soled shoes.
Hig grabbed the sticks of willow like the handles of a wheelbarrow, painstakingly manoeuvring the little bicycle wheel over the sharp boulders that covered a buckled ridge of ice. Katmai napped inside the raft that we had suspended on those sticks, seemingly impervious to the jostling that set Hig grunting and grumbling with every step.
Then it began to snow. White fluff piled on white ice and smoothed the sharp edges of the boulders. It speckled the black of our rain gear and the red of our inflatable raft. Swirling flakes filled the air, where our ribbon of ice disappeared into the formless sky.
A LOST WORLD
It was the end of September and we were in the middle of the Malaspina Glacier, located in the centre of Alaska’s Lost Coast, which is my favorite terrible place in the world. This coast is ‘lost’ between Prince William Sound and the gentler waters of the Inside Passage. It’s lost because – even by Alaskan standards – this stretch of shoreline is harsh, remote and devoid of humans. The giant peaks of the Saint Elias Range rise straight from the ocean, creating some of the highest relief in the world. Flowing down from their snowy ice fields, North America’s largest glaciers spill onto the beach plain in vast, rapidly melting lobes. Storms whipped up in the Aleutians whirl down this coastline, funnelled onto the narrow strip of beaches between the roiling ocean and the towering peaks.
If the 2,200 square kilometres of Malaspina Glacier were a typical piece of the USA, it would be home to more than 74,000 people, with highways connecting shopping malls to neighbourhoods of neatly painted houses. In Britain, more than half a million citizens could fit within its footprint. Here, there were just the four of us, boosting the population above its usual number of zero.
Nobody comes here. While we were planning this expedition, I was forced to reach back to the 1890s, when Israel C Russell’s team of intrepid explorers set out to cross the glacier and climb the tallest peak beyond it. They hand-drew maps and wrote descriptions filled with awe and warning: ‘So vast is the glacier that, on looking down on it from elevations of two or three thousand feet above its surface, its limits are beyond the reach of vision.’
We pored over Russell’s descriptions and studied the satellite images on Google Earth, trying to gauge the smoothness of the ice and the availability of firewood. We tried to figure out whether our idea was even possible. Russell was sponsored by the National Geographic Society. We were sponsored by a nappy company.
OUTDOOR NINJA
Waking up, Lituya squeaked and wriggled in the wrap on my chest. I tossed my coat on the snow, laid her on top of it and proceeded to undo the mess of zips and snaps that held her into a bundle of fleece.
Her chubby legs waved in the air. Her pale pink toes turned pinker in the cold, speckled with the wet drops of melting snowflakes. She squeaked her displeasure, while my hands moved in a blur of efficiency.
Luckily, she was my second child. After two-and-a-half years, I had become an outdoor-nappy ninja, switching out the compostable pad within a minute and tossing the wet one into a handy crevasse.
All wrapped up again, we proceeded, very slowly, until the next stop for a child emergency. During the course of two months, we moved our camps a total of just 160 kilometres in a series of eight-kilometre days between base camps. It was the slowest expedition I had ever heard of, let alone been involved with. But we weren’t here as athletes – we were here as explorers. We were here to watch a glacier crumble and to see the world remade.
We often use the word ‘glacial’ to mean ‘slow’, evoking the years-long compression of snow into ice and a metre-by-metre journey across the land. We should recast it. Today, the word should mean ‘fast’. Glacial is the torrent of silty water that shoots out of a melting face of ice; it’s the cracking boom of an iceberg calving into a new lake; it’s ice running backwards, retreating kilometre by kilometre, leaving moss and flowers to smother the bare rock left in its wake.
OPTIMISM THE KEY
Why bring the kids? The simplest reason is because we have them. Before children, I had always believed that parents must straddle a wall with kid stuff on one side, adult stuff on the other and babysitters the only way to cross the divide.
But there is no wall. There is only a series of puzzles to solve. And where Russell solved his with canvas and wool and the ingenuity of a team crossing unmapped terrain, we solved ours with high-tech fabric and satellite imagery, and the misplaced optimism required to motivate a two-year-old.
Our kayak paddle stood in the centre of the cone-shaped and floorless tent, supporting the structure. Rocks staked out the edges. Beside it, a roll of titanium sheets and wires had been assembled into a wood-burning stove the size of a loaf of bread. Its chimney stuck out of the nylon roof at a jaunty angle.
The stove was cold. On a nearby ridge of boulders and brush, Hig was sawing branches with a bow saw he had made using a stick that he had found and a saw blade that he carried. Eventually, we would have the hot noodles I had been dreaming of.
The electric bear fence was a tangle of wire lying on a sleeping bag. I hadn’t yet seen bear tracks. Was it worth assembling this extra layer of protection around our tent tonight? It had already taken several hours to pitch camp. I didn’t feel like a backpacker; I felt like a nomad, creating a new home at every camp.
I pushed aside the hanging solar panel that had become our door when glacial silt killed the tent zip and carried in the muddy ball of my daughter. The zipper teeth on her rainsuit were so clogged with silt that I wondered if I would be able to get it all off.
The next day, we put our red packraft into Fountain Stream. The children were shoehorned onto my lap, just a few centimetres from the reach of Hig’s paddle. Our packs rested on the bow and stern.
As we allowed the swirling brown waters to carry the shattering load I usually shouldered, all I could feel was how unbelievably light everything and everyone was. It was the start of the third week of our 61-day expedition.
Ahead of us lay storms that would flood our camp, wind that would pelt our tent with sea foam, the worst bushwhacking I had ever seen and so many moments of wonder that I want to go back even now. Because our Malaspina expedition was a crazy idea. Having kids was a crazy idea. Life is a crazy idea. And all of it is amazing.
Erin McKittrick is an author, scientist and adventurer. She has written two books: A Long Trek Home: 4,000 Miles by Boot, Raft, and Ski and Small Feet, Big Land: Adventure, Home and Family on the Edge of Alaska. www.groundtruthtrekking.org
HONEY, I BROUGHT THE KIDS
The world of wilderness adventure is full of naive and eager young people. Usually, however, they’re old enough to wipe their own bottoms.
To successfully pull off an adventure with kids, gear isn’t the most important thing as they will outgrow it all in a year. As for techniques you develop to coax them along, well, they’ll outgrow them in a year, too.
Children change as quickly as glaciers. Adventuring with kids boils down to working incredibly hard to plan for situations that can’t be anticipated, and then adapting everything you know on the fly.
What remains is patience, creativity, optimism and humour: patience to watch your children play for an hour with sticks and bugs, and the patience to spend another hour cajoling them a kilometre down the trail; creativity to invent new games and new tricks for every physical obstacle and developmental stage; optimism to believe that everything is going to work out beautifully and that everyone will always have fun (because children feed off your attitude, the latter approach works surprisingly often); and finally, the humour to laugh at yourself every time it all goes wrong.
An expedition to Alaska’s Lost Coast is difficult enough with a group of adults. But taking two small children along for the ride changes the emphasis completely. Here, Erin McKittrick lists the most important pieces of kit that she took to Alaska, including a number of essential items that kept the young ones warm, comfortable and entertained
1. Packraft
Alpacka Denali Llama
from US$870/2.4 kilograms
For little more weight than a brim-full two-litre water bottle, this raft can take you down a wild river or across an ocean bay to open up previously inaccessible terrain. The Denali Llama is tougher than it looks and handles most types of wilderness abuse
2. Wood stove
Titanium Goat Vortex cylinder stove
from US$215/737 grams
With its roll-up design for the body and pipe, the packed size of this titanium stove is equivalent to a water bottle and a couple of dinner plates. With no need to carry fuel, the Vortex is ideal for expeditions in areas where wood is available
3. Running shoes
Inov-8 Bare-Grip 200
£62/200 grams
The lightweight Bare-Grips may look like neon-green football boots, but they’re not out of place on a glacier. What these barefoot-style shoes give up in durability, they gain in flexibility. The large, dramatic lugs provide amazing traction on slippery surfaces – especially mud
4. Compostable nappies
gNappies 100% biodegradable disposable inserts
£9 (for 40 inserts)/30 grams per insert
These biodegradable inserts fit inside a reusable cloth cover, which allowed us to cut down on both laundry and load
5. Fleece romper suit
Patagonia Infant Synchilla suit
Fleece bodysuits with integral hand and feet covers are one of the best ways we’ve found to keep our children at a comfortable temperature
6. Knife
Victorinox 3¼-inch Straight-edge Spear Paring Knife
£5/28 grams
The single stainless-steel blade on this knife is tougher, easier to clean and more useful than a folding knife (especially when splitting and shaving firewood). It fits into a nylon or plastic sheath for storage. And at the end of the expedition, you can use it in your kitchen
7. Frameless pack
Mountain Laurel Designs Ark
US$205/510 grams
Lacking a frame, the ultra-light Ark may seem like a glorified bag, but it’s cleverly designed, durable and surprisingly comfortable. We regularly used it for carrying carefully packed loads that were much heavier than the weight limit recommended by the manufacturer. Available in two back lengths
8. Head torch
Princeton Tec Byte
£20/64 grams
The red LED mode is my favourite feature of this headlamp. A red light preserves night vision and battery life (providing up to 146 hours of illumination from two AAA batteries). You can switch the Byte to project a bright white light (for up to 96 hours) when required
Canon EF-S 10–22mm f/3.5–4.5 USM
from £490/385 grams
We took most of our expedition photos with this lightweight, wide-angle lens (equivalent to 16–35mm in 35mm format), which enabled us to bring our online audience into the story alongside us
10. Electric bear fence
Electro Bear Guard UltraLite Portable
When camping in areas with a high bear density, it’s nice to have protection. This electric fence encloses up to two tents and is fairly quick to set up. The carbon-fibre poles collapse from 100cm to 40cm for packing. With just two AA batteries it can deliver a charge that will scare off a bear, but will cause no lasting damage
This story was published in the August 2014 edition of Geographical Magazine
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Cloud GIS
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XCAM 360 Surveys
Monitoring marine life and plastics in the Mediterranean with XCAM
We’ve started the year with a project that’s quite different to the norm for XCAM. Instead of surveying towns and cities, we’ve been surveying the sea.
It’s all part of a wider project that is trying to find the best methods for identifying sea life and floating objects in the Mediterranean Sea.
This project was commissioned by the University of Valencia and the University of Barcelona who are part of a consortium of organisations (Medsealitter). Their aim is to find solutions that will ultimately reduce the amount of plastics that enter the sea and adversely affect the flora and fauna.
This is an important piece of work. The Mediterranean Sea is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots but it is also one of the most polluted seas worldwide. Plastics, rubber and macro debris can be ingested by marine life and cause them serious harm. This particularly affects fish, dolphins, whales and marine turtles which has a knock-on effect on the rest of the food chain.
The aim of this project was to test the use of XCAM in its ability to record the position of marine life and litter and for the images to be clear enough to allow identification of the objects. The Universities knew that aerial survey was going to be the most effective method for this and had previously experimented with the use of drones/UAV with limited success due to their low range, payload and flexibility in operating over the sea.
To test whether XCAM could see certain objects we needed to carry out a controlled test. To do this, the University team deployed a small boat into a sheltered part of the waters around the delta and trailed behind them a series of plastic objects and mimics of marine life, fixed to a line of course so it was easy to collect after the survey.
We then conducted an aerial survey using a Grup Air-Med Partenavia P68 with an XCAM RGB/NIR/Thermal fitted within the survey hatch. The XCAM settings were optimised for the flight over the sea and was set to run in a ‘simulation mode’ which took a set of images every 2 seconds.
The project site was the Delta Del Ebro on the East coast of Spain, about 200km to the south of Barcelona. The aircraft flew to the site, which was about 20 minutes away and then flew over the boat 8 times from different angles at two altitudes, 750ft and 1000ft. This gave us enough imagery to see what could be seen from the air.
Misty morning over the project site
The Survey Plan
For this survey the XCAM was set into its ‘Simulation Mode’ so it would continuously capture and GPS tag images as soon as it was started. As we needed to be flexible with where we would capture the data, a pre-defined flight plan would not have been useful.
Grup Air-Med P68 being prepared for survey
Flying at 1000ft at a speed of 110 knots we were achieving just 10% overlap between images and a GSD of 3.3cm. The overlap was very low compared to a normal survey where we would have over 60% along-track overlap, but for this project it was enough.
The initial results showed that the boat and floating objects could be seen clearly. The images could be reviewed frame-by-frame and can also be added into a GIS to display the photo points for each survey.
Here are some sample images from the survey:
The inset image above shows a few of the planted floating objects including a mock-up of a dolphin and two turtle shells. All of the samples showed up in the imagery.
The interactive slider above shows the difference between the RGB image and the Near Infrared (NIR) image. The NIR shows a positive response but not particularly strong compared to the RGB.
The thermal response, at approximately 8x lower resolution than the RGB and NIR, unsurprisingly doesn’t show very much, even after an image enhancement. It does seem to pick out the two people onboard the boat (top left) and the two dolphin mock-ups.
As well as the original targets, we also picked up a number of floating or moving objects. Could it be a Ray or a plastic box? We’ll leave it to the experts at Medsealitter to identify this one.
The next example is maybe a bit easier to identify. At over 20 degrees Celcius and calm waters, it was a great day to be out kayaking!
With a bit of simple processing we can also enhance the images to display only features in the image that give a high NIR response. This is easier for visual analysis, but will still need interpretation to find out if it's genuine objects or sea reflectance.
This method of using a manned aircraft with XCAM worked very well for this monitoring project. The survey crew could cover large areas in a relatively short time, giving a greater sample area for analysis compared with a drone/UAV.
The University group will now conduct further surveys using the XCAM along the Spanish coast with the hope that this can be rolled out to other groups around the Mediterranean to collect a larger record of plastics and marine life.
This work will aid future efforts to reduce plastic waste and littering through policy changes and engaging businesses and individuals to change their habits and reduce their plastic usage.
GeoXphere would like to thank the University of Valencia, University of Barcelona and Grup Air-Med for involving us in the project. We hope that the work goes to improve the science and make a positive change.
XCAM can be used for a variety of mapping and monitoring projects. Contact the GeoXphere team to discuss your project.
Ramani Geosystems pioneer capture of 360 street-level imagery in Kenya using XCAM G Mobile Mapping system
Photomesh 7.3 makes big improvements to true-ortho quality
Bath & North East Somerset become first UK Council to adopt XCAM 3D Model
XCAM arrives in South Africa equipped with Thermal and NIR capabilities
Skeye adopt XCAM in the UK for projects impractical using UAV
XCAM 31 XMAP 9 Circular 8 3D City Model 7 Kit 7 Event 6 WaldoAir 4 Intergeo 4 Photomesh 4 Circle 4
© 2016 - 2019, GeoXphere Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Soda bottles & trash bags could one day come from natural gas, if a startup has its way
Katie Fehrenbacher Jan 15, 2014 - 4:00 AM CDT
Science & Energy
Credit: Image courtesy of Siluria.
The dirty secret of almost anything made out of plastic — from your soda bottle to a trash bag — is that there’s a good chance it was made with ingredients that come from crude oil. A startup named Siluria is looking to swap out that crude oil with natural gas, which could make plastics and chemicals just a little less terrible for the planet.
If you’ve heard of startup Siluria before it’s probably because of the people involved with the company. Former Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy is on the board, the core tech came out of the labs of well-known MIT scientist Angela Belcher, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s fund also backed the firm. But the six-year-old company could be on the cusp of finally breaking out, thanks to a new partnership with the U.S. arm of massive Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem.
Siluria is building its first demonstration plant at one of Braskem’s factories in Texas, which could be ready as soon as the end of 2014. The demo plant will convert the methane in Braskem’s natural gas pipeline into the core ingredient in plastic. Braskem is also exploring ways that it could buy the ingredient from Siluria tech-enabled plants, or it could license the technology for its own deployment.
So, what exactly is Siluria doing? The startup has developed a process that turns the methane in natural gas into chemicals like ethylene, which is the key ingredient in plastics. The startup’s tech can also turn natural gas into propylene, another key ingredient in a variety of products like antifreeze and deodorant.
Siluria uses a genetically-engineered virus to create a tangle of nanowires, which can be use to kick off a chemical process that converts methane into these various chemical compounds. In contrast, the most common way to make ethylene today is to use super-hot steam to break down crude oil into the simple ethylene molecule. But that traditional way is much more energy and carbon emissions intensive, and of course, uses the volatile and controversial ingredient oil.
For awhile now, large chemical and plastics manufacturers have been looking for ways to make greener plastics and chemicals from natural materials, instead of oil. Yes, natural gas is a fossil fuel, but it’s cleaner than oil, and also now very abundant and low cost from within the U.S.
Teaming up with Braskem is important for Siluria because it could enable the startup’s tech to finally be developed at a commercial scale. Working with large corporations is a key way for materials-based, and commodity-driven, cleantech startups to reach commercialization. Many of them have realized this throughout the years, and in recent years more and more corporations have been interested in working with young, but risky, cleantech innovators. Still, selling a low margin commodity at a large scale is an enormous task for a venture-backed startup.
Siluria has raised at least $63 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Alloy Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Altitude Life Sciences Ventures, The Wellcome Trust, Lux Capital and Presidio Ventures (part of Sumitomo Corp.). [Disclosure: Alloy Ventures is also an investor in Gigaom].
Siluria
3 Responses to “Soda bottles & trash bags could one day come from natural gas, if a startup has its way”
mightyzep January 15, 2014
I’m not sure natural gas extraction is cleaner than crude oil. We really want plastics made from some plant, don’t we? Or do we not really want plastics at all?
Felix Hoenikker January 15, 2014
And why is this good? We make plastic bags from oil now gas? So we can frack more? This is a terrible idea.
realjjj January 15, 2014
Newlight seems far more interesting.
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Cormac Foster and Dave Ohara Apr 23, 2013 - 10:00 AM CDT
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Home — Essay Samples — Government — Politics — Democratic Party
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In the late nineteenth century national politics became dangerously paralyzed, as the evenly divided Democrats and Republicans fought to win power. Improved organization, rigid party loyalty, and broad ideological similarities left neither side in command. Distinctions did exist, however, between the two major parties. Democrats,...
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Home / News / CWF thanks Canadians for helping endangered species like pollinators and turtles
CWF thanks Canadians for helping endangered species like pollinators and turtles
Haligonia Editors May 18, 2018 News
CWF thanks Canadians for helping endangered species like pollinators and turtles.
The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) is thanking Canadians for helping endangered species including turtles and pollinators as we approach International Day of Biodiversity May 23 and World Turtle Day May 24.
“More than 85 per cent of Canada’s fresh water turtles are at risk,” said Rick Bates, CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. “The situation for pollinators like butterflies and bees is also dire. The good news is that the number of opportunities for citizens to get involved in conservation is growing.”
For those gardening over the long weekend, CWF encourages an early start in celebrating International Day of Biodiversity by creating spaces that are beneficial to insects, butterflies, birds, bees and other wildlife. Helpful tips and suggestions are available at CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca/gardening. In addition, CWF certifies gardens as wildlife-friendly and created five specially-designed bedding plant kits for pollinators. These Medallion Plants are now available for purchase at retailers across Canada. Each customized kit features a unique variety of neonic-free pollinator plants. Neonicotinoids (also known as neonics) are chemicals derived from nicotine. There are several different kinds of these products in Canada, all with harmful side effects for butterflies, earthworms, aquatic invertebrates, birds and bees. Neonics are also systemic, which means they are absorbed by plants when applied to seeds, soil or leaves. The chemicals circulate through the plant’s tissues, killing the insects that feed on them.
“It’s estimated that pollinator services contribute over a billion dollars annually to the Canadian economy,” Bates said. “In fact, without pollinators, our food supply would decline drastically. Many of our pollinators are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation, pesticide use, various agricultural practices, disease, climate change and introduced species. It’s time to spring into action to protect these endangered species.”
Canadians can celebrate World Turtle Day by visiting HelptheTurtles.ca to get tips for living and travelling around nesting sites. The site features a new video that shows how to properly help turtles cross roads. Freshwater turtles are one of the most endangered groups of animals in Canada with road mortality one of the main issues. CWF has been working with regional partners, community groups, lake associations and individuals to reduce risks to turtles. In the Ottawa area, CWF surveys private lands to document at risk turtle locations and their habitat. CWF also analyses hotspots where turtles are more susceptible to being hit on the road. CWF works with partners to outfit turtles with radio transmitters to track movement, habitat use, nesting sites and overwintering sites. To raise awareness and funds, Oat & Mill non-dairy ice cream is donating a portion of sales from its Turtle Crossing frozen oats to CWF conservation efforts. Canada’s Sea turtles are also at risk, with entanglement and pollution among additional problems which the public can address by reducing their use of straws and other frivolous plastics. CWF has been advocating for stronger sustainable packaging legislation and has received tremendous public support for its petition to #stopsingleuse.
To learn more, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca.
About the Canadian Wildlife Federation:
The Canadian Wildlife Federation is dedicated to fostering awareness and appreciation of our natural world. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on the environment, conducting research, taking action to conserve habitat and wildlife, recommending legislative and policy changes, and co-operating with like-minded partners, CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. Visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca for more information.
Source: Media Release
6 Books to Look for This February
HRP is investigating a robbery that occurred this morning in Dartmouth
Riverside/Glendale intersection – Continuing Road Construction
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We also support volunteering and offer a range of advice services for organisations who involve, or are hoping to involve volunteers and businesses seeking to develop employee volunteering.
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Founded in 1979, Hambleton Community Action was previously known as the Northallerton & District Voluntary Service Association (NDVSA). NDVSA registered as a charity and was first housed in Northallerton Library.
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Games > Fallout: New Vegas: Old Thread
by FactsAreUseless
Can't get enough talking about this awesome game? We made a Steam group for Fallout fans that are goons called Fallout Goons (FOGoons) . We made this as an alternative to the now-defunct #fnvgoons IRC-channel.
Rinkles posted:
STEP RIGHT UP, GET YOUR FREE FALLOUT (1997) RIGHT HERE! (gog.com)
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment, Bethesda Game Studios (Patches)
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks (US, UK, JP); Namco Bandai (EU, AU, NZ); 1C/Cenega (PL, RU, CZ)
Designers: Josh Sawyer (Project Director), John Gonzalez (Creative Lead), Chris Avellone, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout (Writers)
Composers: Inon Zur & Mark Morgan
Engine: Gamebryo
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release dates: NA October 19, 2010; AUS October 21, 2010; EU October 22, 2010
Purchase Fallout: New Vegas retail versions.
Note: Since the PC version is a Steamworks title, you will need to authenticate the game with Steam and tie it to a Steam account. You can purchase it digitally by clicking to go to the official Steam store page of Fallout: New Vegas.
Fallout: New Vegas takes place during the year 2281, four years after the events of Fallout 3, and 204 years after the Great War of 2077, making this installment chronologically the latest in the series thus far. The game is set in post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Mojave Desert, which is known as the "Mojave Wasteland." The Mojave Wasteland is roughly the same size as the "Capital Wasteland" in Fallout 3, and is spread across parts of real-world Nevada and Arizona. Part of Fallout and Fallout 2's Core Region also appears in the form of California. Unlike other cities in the Fallout series, Las Vegas was not struck directly by a nuclear attack. Its buildings remain intact, and mutation of its inhabitants is minimal.
The city and its surroundings are divided between various factions, but there are three major powers competing for control of the region: The New California Republic (NCR), Caesar's Legion, and Mr. House. The NCR's military, returning from Fallout 2, is now bloated and mismanaged, but controls the majority of territories in the Mojave. The slave-driving, Roman Army-styled Caesar's Legion, formed by its leader, Caesar, conquered and united 86 tribes and now plans to conquer New Vegas. Mr. House, the mysterious businessman rumoured to be 200 years old, controls New Vegas with an army of "Securitron" security robots. There are many other factions and groups as well, including the Boomers, a tribe of heavily armed vault dwellers, Powder Gangers, violent groups of escaped convicts, Great Khans, a tribe of drug dealers and raiders from Fallout, and the Brotherhood of Steel, the technology-craving remnants of the U.S. military. Landmarks featured in Fallout: New Vegas include the Hoover Dam, which supplies power to the city, Nellis Air Force Base and the HELIOS One solar energy plant.
The game places the player in the role of a courier working for the Mojave Express, known simply as "the Courier." While delivering a package with a platinum poker chip to New Vegas, the courier is ambushed by Benny, leader of one of the casinos (voiced by Matthew Perry) in New Vegas, who steals the package, shoots the player in the head, and leaves the body in a shallow grave. A robot named Victor witnesses the shooting and brings the courier to Doctor Mitchell in Goodsprings. At this point, the player enters into character creation and defines the Courier's skills, attributes, name, gender, age and appearance. Although traumatized, the player begins his journey, following Benny to avenge the attack and recover the stolen package, all while exploring the Mojave Wasteland.
The reputation system from Fallout 2 returns, with some improvements. While you still have karma, people can't magically detect whether you are good or evil, and instead you'll have a reputation with each faction and community that depends on how much you help them or piss them off.
More Interesting Companions
Companions have far more dialogue and will actually have stuff to say as you progress through the game, rather than just being pack mules with guns. They are easier to order around thanks to a new "Companion Wheel" interface which lets you quickly change their weapons or equipment or behaviour. Companions have special skills and grant you special perks while they are with you. Each companion now has a unique quest, a bit like Mass Effect 2's loyalty missions, and helping them accomplish their missions will grant special perks.
As well as unique weapons, you can also craft chems and food, and use spent casings and powder to craft bullets. You can also use science skill to recycle energy weapon ammunition.
Weapon Overhaul
Big Guns skill no longer exists, but strength requirements from Fallout 1 and 2 are back; to use a minigun you need to be built like Schwarzenegger but you don't need special training in them.
Most guns now have true iron sights aiming (rather than the camera simply zooming in a bit). New Vegas has twice the number of weapons as in Fallout 3, and there are now different types of ammunition, like armour-piercing bullets or overcharged energy cells. Unique weapons have unique appearences rather than just different stats. Non-unique weapons can be modified with scopes, extended magazines, silencers, etc.
Armour Overhaul
A Mr. Gutsy or Sentry Bot is as tough as a Dalek. Robots and guys in power armour are practically bullet proof, as armour has damage threshold, similar to the system in the old Fallout games. If a weapon's damage per bullet is lower than this threshold it will not penetrate and do only a tiny fraction of the normal damage. Energy weapons tend to have high damage rather than damage per second and are thus well suited; you can also use special armour piercing bullets.
Animations and Third Person View
Animations have been overhauled so that they no longer look like poo poo. Especially noticable are the excellent animations when you shoot someone and they are reeling in pain. Also the camera angle of the third person view has been altered for a slightly better experience. (It's still seems a bit awkward, though.)
You can wear the clothing or armour of an enemy faction and blend in if you don't draw attention to yourself. Watch out for dogs or elite officers, though, they won't be fooled.
Perks and Traits
You now get perks at every other level, so you have to choose a bit more carefully. At the start of the game you also have the option to choose Traits. These were in the old 90s games. Traits are kind of like perks, but each positive aspect is balanced by some negative aspect. There's also a special trait, Wild Wasteland, which enables wacky pop culture references and easter eggs. One or two references to stuff on these forums have been confirmed!
Hardcore Mode
Hardcore mode, when enabled, does the following:
You have to sleep.
You have to eat and drink.
Lack of hydration/sleep will sometimes make fast travel impossible
Stimpaks heal slowly over time.
You need a doctor, or doctor’s bag to heal crippled limbs.
Ammunition has weight.
Companions experience perma-death.
An option mode that is seperate from the normal difficulty setting, you can switch this on or off at any time. There is an achievement for playing through the entire game in hardcore mode.
The game has a lot of factions that are related to the outcome of the main quest, but there are three major factions that are prevalent in the game. These three are the New Californian Republic, Caesar's Legion, and Mr. House.
New Californian Republic (NCR)
The NCR stands for democracy, freedom and fairness, along with other old-world values from the United States. They currently have the advantage in the Mojave, as they control the Hoover Dam. However, they are stretched too thin, and their notorious bureaucracy has led to them becoming ever more ineffectual.
Caesar's Legion
Ceasar's Legion is a growing force that has been conquering and enslaving its way across the east. Their leader has based their clothing, tactics, laws and way of life on the Roman Empire. Caesar believes that the Old World failed because of the same philosophies, tactics, and ideologies that America had before the war.
Mr. House
Mr. House runs the New Vegas strip of casinos and hotels. He is a recluse, like Howard Hughes, never seeing anyone in person. This is apparent when the Courier finds out that House communicates via computer terimals. So far, he's kept the Strip under his own control, thanks to his army of Securiton robots. He wants to stop NCR or the Legion taking over, but does he perhaps have another agenda?
Stay Safe fucked around with this message at Apr 7, 2012 around 00:34
# ? Sep 26, 2011 04:52
Dead Money involves working alongside three non-player characters to find the treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino and adds new achievements, perks, terrain, enemies and decisions for the player, as well as adding 5 levels to the level cap. It was released on December 21, 2010, for the Xbox 360, and on PlayStation 3 and PC platforms on February 22, 2011.
There are no weight/gear restrictions; the game takes all of your stuff before beginning the DLC proper, and gives it back after you are finished. Recommended level 20+. Cannot leave before completion, cannot return after completion.
Honest Hearts takes you on an expedition to the unspoiled wilderness of Utah’s Zion National Park. Things go horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave, you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion. It was released on May 17, 2011 on the Xbox 360 and PC platforms. It was later released on June 2 (NA), and June 5 (EU) for PlayStation 3, due to the PSN store being down from a group hacking the server.
The Courier can only take 75 pounds of gear (can be made 100 with certain perks / skill checks). No recommended level (everything scales). Cannot leave before completion, can return after completion via fast-travel to Northern Passage.
In Old World Blues you discover how some of the Mojave’s mutated monsters came to be when you unwittingly become a lab rat in a science experiment gone awry. You need to scour the pre-War research centers of the Big Empty in search of technology to turn the tables on your kidnappers or join forces with them against an even greater threat. It was released simultaneously on all platforms on July 19, 2011.
No weight/gear restrictions. Recommended level 15, but at high levels the scaling seems to get out of control and the enemies turn into bullet sponges. Cannot leave before completion, can return after completion with teleport device.
Lonesome Road brings the Courier's story full circle when you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of New Vegas. In his transmission, Ulysses promises the answer as to why, but only if you take one last job—a job that leads you into the depths of the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few to ever walk the road, none have ever returned. It was released on September 20, 2011 simultaneously on all platforms.
No weight/gear restrictions. Recommended level 25+. Can leave/return at any time before and after completion by fast travel to Canyon Wreckage.
Players pre-ordering Fallout: New Vegas from selected retailers were granted access to special pre-order bonus packs, containing exclusive equipment to make the earlier stages of the game easier. The list of bonus packs is as follows:
Caravan Pack
Classic Pack
Mercenary Pack
Tribal Pack
These packs has been combined into one pack titled Courier's Stash and has been released on September 27, 2011.
The famous weapons manufacturer, Gun Runners, has opened up their exclusive cache of armaments, including new weapons, weapon mods, ammo types and recipes. Their inventory doesn’t come without a price, though. Trek far and wide throughout the Mojave Wasteland in search of this elite class of weapons that range from the outrageously potent to the bizarrely impractical.
Gun Runners’ Arsenal, released on September 27, 2011, increases the range of unique weapons, weapon mods, ammunition types and recipes waiting to be uncovered in the vast Mojave Wasteland.
What SPECIAL, traits, skills and perks should I invest in?
There really aren't any useless SPECIAL, traits, or skills. There are some useless perks, but you should be able to spot them. If you are unsure, post in this thread, or view a list of useless perks made by goons.
For SPECIAL, it might be a good idea to invest in intelligence, so that you get more precious skill points as you level up. With a high intelligence, your character should be able to max all skills to 100 by level 50 (provided you purchased all DLC, as the default max level without DLC is 30).
For traits, well, that is up to you. They're not useful, but nor are they useless. All traits add something at the cost of something else. You don't have to choose any of them, but the most popular trait is Wild Wasteland.
As for skills, the most popular among goons are speech, science or lockpick, and some offensive trait such as guns. Repair is extremely useful as well, as it repairs your weapons and saves you money.
However, the game is really built to play on how you want, rather than throwing in a bunch of useless skills and a few good ones. For example, if you want to have a smooth tongue and get past some difficult situations without pulling a trigger, then investing your points heavily into energy weapons would not be suiting for that style of play. (Put it in Speech )
Is there post-ending gameplay?
When will I know when the final quest will begin?
The game will notify you via a pop up when the final quest (also known as "end sequence") begins, asking you if you want to start it or if you are not ready yet. Fallout: New Vegas also saves your game as you confirm to start the end sequence. This allows you to load up a pre-final quest game save, and thus play as if you are right before the end sequence.
Which are the best DLCs?
All DLCs have received generally favorable reviews, and each DLC has its strengths and weaknesses.
If you are looking for something mysterious/spooky with fantastic voice acting and plot development, then Dead Money would be for you.
If you are seeking a new additional open-world environment, the best of the DLC for this is Honest Hearts.
If you want to play something that makes you laugh for hours with great voice acting and a crazy-but-still-believable plot, then Old World Blues.
Then if you need something that ties up loose ends for the main quest and enjoy a challenge, then play Lonesome Road.
What order should I play the DLCs in?
General consensus is to play the DLC in the order they were released. Several goons report that playing them one-after-another is fantastic and like playing a whole new game. Most people recommend waiting on DLC until you are far enough in the main game (perhaps around level 15), despite all DLC content available to you immediately.
Where can I find a list of console commands?
Console commands can be found at the Fallout Wiki, also known as "The Vault".
Note though, that when you use console commands, Steam achievements become temporarily disabled. From the time you open up the console, Steam stops triggering achievements. To re-enable the triggering of Steam achievements, simply save your game after you entered in your commands, exit out of Fallout: New Vegas, and then start it up again.
How do I get my character's picture in the OP?
I have enough Fallout Goon characters for now, but I will rotate them out every now and then (really whenver I have time and feel like it). If you really want to make sure your picture will be included the OP rotation, do the following:
PM me, or comment in the Fallout Goons Steam group, a link to your post in this thread that contains an image of your character.
Make sure the picture doesn't show too much spoiler (i.e. what Mr. House looks like).
Make a little story, whether with text and/or images, to go along your screenshot. The images in the OP are clickable to jump to your post about your character's story or what he/she is doing.
No HUD. You can disable it with the console command tm or make it fully transparent in the display settings.
I would really prefer if you resize/crop your screenshot to 800x450 so I don't have to.
Best quality/texture detail possible.
Official Fallout Website
Official Fallout: New Vegas Website
Fallout Goons (FOGoons) - Made as an alternative to the now-defunct #fnvgoons IRC-channel.
New Vegas Nexus - Best collection of mods related to Fallout: New Vegas.
The Vault, the Fallout Wiki - Excellent resource to everything in the game.
SomethingAwful.com FNV Console Thread - Primarily targeted for the console audience.
SomethingAwful.com FNV Modding Thread - Primarily targeted for perverted animu-furries.
Cicadalek for the list of useless perks.
Obsidian Entertainment. All content, including images shamelessly stolen from the Internet, belong to them.
rope kid, the resident Obsidian goon.
Simon Draskovic for the DLC information.
The Vault, the Fallout wiki.
Wikipedia contributors for the "What is Fallout: New Vegas?" section and various other pieces here and there.
your evil twin, the creator of the old thread, for some of the content I blatantly copy/pasted to this thread.
Video Game Dad
Any word on whether there'll be a GOTY edition with all the expansions like the last one? I'm kinda waiting for something like that before coming back to the game.
Seashell Salesman
Holy wow! That "Literally A Person" sure is a cool and good poster. He's smart and witty and he smells like a pure mountain stream. I posted in his thread and I got a FANCY NEW AVATAR!!!!
What's wrong with the old thread plus why no witty title?
Zorak
Seashell Salesman posted:
The OP hasn't updated in over a year and there's still NV content coming out?
RBA Starblade
Going Home.
From the last thread:
Seriously? What does he say?
I had the NCR version of the duster and he notes that you wear the insignia of the Bear but it's somehow different from how everyone else does. I don't recall him saying that if you wear NCR faction armor when you face him.
Zorak posted:
Fair enough then.
Nothing wrong with the old thread. And the mods can add witty titles. I hide my wit when I know it isn't witty willy.
Chinaman7000
RBA Starblade posted:
I think I've heard Legate say that before the DLC, but I could be wrong. Just a comment that he actually respects you unlike the rest of the NCR.
Strudel Man
ROME DID NOT HAVE ROBOTS, FUCKWIT
Chinaman7000 posted:
Yeah, that's definitely a default line.
I also just checked the dialogues that are in LonesomeRoad.esm - they're all associated with EDE or Ulysses.
Oh, I must have not remembered it then so I thought it was related. Never mind.
J Bjelke-Postersen
I have a 6 point plan to stop the boats.....or turn them around or something....No wait what were those points again....Are there really 6?
If there were never more video games made and I could only play one game forever it would be New Vegas. I can't wait to get home and play Old World Blues tonight, Honest Hearts and Dead Money were awesome even though they've leveled me from 20 to like 28 really rapidly.
I just wanted to have a gush on the first page.
Omnicarus
J Bjelke-Postersen posted:
Between FO:NV and Civ V I haven't bought a non-DLC game in almost a year
Doug Lombardi
I like that this thread doesn't have a stupid title so I know instantly what it's about and that there aren't any gang tags.
Omnicarus posted:
I buy other games only to quit them halfway through and head back to New Vegas.
Helldump Immunity
pretty much rollin with the dad farm these days
I've noticed that too. I have all the DLC and I haven't even scratched the surface of them.
Would you be my new best friends?
I put about 40 hours into Fallout 3 and really enjoyed it, but I didn't really feel any need to go back in afterwards. With New Vegas, I'm closer to 70 hours, have barely touched the main questline, have played through two of the four DLC I own (I almost NEVER buy DLC for games) and I'm worried that at some point I'll have done everything in the game and not be able to play it anymore (with that character!).
It really is just a tremendous game. While it does have flaws, it does so much stuff so right, and I hope that Obsidian gets its kudos when it comes to getting to develop more games.
Defiance Industries
I've hacked into the most secret government and corporate secrets.
I finished Hoover Dam carrying the flag of the Bear on my back for the first time. It feels... Really awesome.
One of the weaknesses of the DLC stuff is they can't usually bring in the vanilla voice actors to add new dialogue. That's why OWB has that silly thing where the Think Tank says they altered your brain so you can't mention stuff about Big MT anywhere but within Big MT. After all, you could potentially become the messiah of science with 5 dysfunctional geniuses working for you, and that could probably change things up plotwise in the Mojave.
Veronica and Dead Money was a special case, probably cause Felicia Day is a cool lady, but I always wished I could say to Caesar and Vulpes that I was buddies with Graham.
Also I have an almost embarrassing amount of time invested in New Vegas according to Steam.
Chinaman7000 fucked around with this message at Sep 26, 2011 around 05:46
Agreein' wit dis. I've yet to make it more than a mission and a half into DXHR because hey, this time I'll do an evil energy weapons run! I'm hoping my addiction tapers off in time for the new Saints Row, though, but this game is impossible to stop playing.
Doug Lombardi posted:
This too, and also no fanart. Thanks for not being the Mass Effect thread and ruining it for non-creeps, New Vegas fans!
Wolfsheim posted:
Fallout seems to attract a different class of game player. A better class of game player
Cowcaster
NO FILE
Counterpoint the entire FO3/FO:NV nexus community
Luisfe
Hee-lo-ho!
Did that with Deus Ex. Should finish it soon.
Mikael Kreoss
by Fistgrrl
Someone from the last thread wanted me to explain how to land the riot gear/shotgun/red glare at level 4.
Well, basically you take skilled twice, using the rebuild character DM perk glitch, have 9 int and 5 per (like most of my builds since I am an unimaginative gently caress.) tag Lockpick and pick up the locksmith's reader from Goodsprings. you'll have base 16 plus ten for skilleds, plus fifteen for the tag. Add in a total of 44 skillpoints to hit 85. "But even with the plus ten for the Reader, that's not enough!!!" you say. Well guess what, you get +2 points per PER, so get yourself a loving cowboy hat and`some Mentats to land a cool 91 base +10 for the Magazine.
But the fun part is getting there. That's where you seperate the men from the men-children with too much time on their hands
Cowcaster posted:
As soon as I hit post I remembered that NMA exists.
Wanted to post Fallout: New Vegas v Planet of the Apes here but I can't find the image
jvempire
Jerusalem posted:
Judging from my steam time, the last playthrough I did (which I didn't even finish) was 40 hours. With my new recent playthrough I'm also noticing some stuff I missed out on, so this game is really jam packed with stuff.
Also, I noticed that the traitor in Camp McCarran mission was fixed, very interesting.
A Fancy 400 lbs
Blame Bethesda's mod community on that.
Luisfe posted:
New Vegas ruined DXR for me because I rushed DXR so I could get back to playing Fallout.
jvempire posted:
I have played this game for 100+ hours and am still stumbling onto stuff I missed. I didn't even know there was an Aerotech Park or a North Vegas my first three times through.
NMA was 100% correct about Fallout 3 and they liked Fallout: New Vegas so I don't get the criticism.
Yeah, this bugs me too. (Honest Hearts/main game spoiler sorta)On my most recent game I finished Honest Hearts before touching the main quest and meeting Caesar. I got kind of excited when I saw one of his dialog options mention the Burned Man because I completely forgot you could already do that in the game before Honest Hearts, but was pretty bummed that it still didn't go anywhere beyond Caesar just telling me to shut the gently caress up about it.
Rinkles
What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?
I completely missed The Thorn the first two playthroughs until somebody told me about it. The entire area north of New Vegas is inconspicuous in general since there's very little plot pushing you that way.
The vitriol was ridiculous.
I was just about to post that. I too had no idea about this until my friend talked about how before he went into the actual New Vegas, Victor followed him to there.
Fewd
#vmp #opsec #kolmiloikka #happoo
I'm guessing most players still haven't noticed there are sewers under New Vegas.
Zilkin
You guys make this game sound so good, was thinking of waiting for GotY edition but now I don't know. Whats holding me back is that the game + all the DLCs cost like 70 euros on Steam. Is this game really worth that?
^^^^Edit: I'd wait a little while. I imagine that in the coming months you'll see a GOTY set come out, or at least a big sale. And by then most of the mods will up updated for all of the DLCs, too.
I think the criticism was directed at the sheer anger that they displayed. FO3 got the Civ V treatment, imo. It is a good game that somehow earned the ire of some dedicated fans and has since been panned as a shitheap despite being a pretty awesome reinvention of a series.
Pharmaskittle
arf arf put the money in the fuckin bag
Zilkin posted:
The vanilla game is EASILY worth the $20 it costs on Steam right now. Buy it for that price, and then wait until Christmas for a deal on the DLC's. The base game will keep you busy for that long, probably.
Both of those games are total garbage though. Fallout 3 was embarrassing Fallout fanfiction and Civ V is permanently crippled by the unworkable One Unit Per Tile battle system that ruined the basic economics of earlier games and to top it off the AI still can't play the game.
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Alone on the Firing Line - OOC
All Forums >> [Gaming Community] >> [Role Playing] >> Role Playing >> RP OOC >> Alone on the Firing Line - OOC
Ryu Viranesh
It was in the year 3127 that the Liluri first made their way into the stars. Scarcely 20 cycles later, those initial fumbling attempts manifested into a true presence in space; the dawning of a new age for humanity. The foray into the final frontier united the peoples of Liluria - forged bonds where there had once been strife - and drove the development of technologies as diverse as the wonders they encountered each and every day.
They created colonies, established outposts, and sought to probe ever deeper into the night. Though history might call them naive, the Liluri acted no different than any of the other races whom had come before them, their curiosity impelling them to press further and further from their home - past the boundaries that had once kept them grounded. However, space was not so empty a place as it had been in days past; they had only so far to venture before they found something.
Humanity’s first meeting with an alien species could not have gone better, just as the second could not have been any more disastrous. The Sentayi were a peaceful race, known throughout the interstellar community as traders and artisans; purveyors of goods which, given enough time, could put Liluria on par with its new galactic neighbors. The potential gain was perhaps too great, for had the team of human explorers not been so eager to bring news of their discovery, they might not have blundered into the Elyoni.
While not inherently warlike, the Elyoni possess pride in abundance. They number among the first races to explore the cosmos, and were perhaps the very first to claim territory outside their own sphere of influence. That in mind, it is not terribly surprising that their first encounter with humans went remarkably poorly. A misinterpreted greeting, an unexpected exchange of shots, and a swarm of Liluri cruisers later, there was nothing left of either ship but slag.
In the immediate aftermath, neither race seemed sure what to make of the encounter, and yet each came to blame the other for the death of their people. Attempts at further communication were halting, the language barrier between the races not yet broken by the available technology. Finally, accepting that there was little hope of settling accounts with the Elyoni, the Liluri forces launched an assault on a procession of their vessels, one of which just so happened to be carrying an Elyoni princess. War was declared within hours.
It is doubtful that the Liluri had a clear idea of what their actions had wrought, though they soon became well-acquainted with the consequences. During the first year of the Elyon-Liluri conflict the humans took heavy losses, their dead numbering in the millions. It was only the timely interdiction of the Aramii that prevented the slaughter from worsening further. Aramii arms-dealers provided the Liluri with the technology they needed to fight the Elyoni on their own turf. In space.
The year is now 3168. The Elyon-Liluri war has dragged on for fifteen long cycles. With assistance from other races, the Liluri have developed mobile weapons - more colloquially known as mecha - with which to wage war on the Elyoni’s own constructs. In order to provide the soldiers necessary to pilot these mechanical marvels, Liluria has chosen to reinstitute an age-old policy from the days before space-faring exploration: the draft. Any citizen aged 18 to 55 can, and will, be called upon to ‘protect their race’ and ‘beat back the invaders.’ Some have called the government’s actions tyrannical, overreaching, and mere inches away from inhumane. Other still have claimed that creating soldiers that lack the will to fight will do no good for the planetary defense. Yet these lengths remain the world’s only hope for survival.
Welcome to “Alone on the Firing Line”, one part of a larger effort to bring some life back to these boards. What we have here is a war story, though what it will ultimately become is largely dependent on you. Where we begin, however, is with a losing proposition: though the Liluri have managed to halt the brunt of the Elyoni advance, they are still losing ground. As things stand, if matters don’t start to improve then it is doubtful that the Liluri will last another two years. Yet, all is not lost. Though humanity has been beaten down, they have not yet been broken, and many would rather die than let the Elyoni have their world.
As such, the Liluri Defense Force is about to adopt a new strategy. One which they hope will be the key to reclaiming the momentum and maybe - just maybe - bringing this engagement to a close. Their plan? To form small strike teams headed up by experienced personnel, who will then make use of guerilla tactics in order to whittle away at the Elyoni line. These cells will have minimal contact with military command, receiving orders at predetermined drop points rather than through transmission. In other words, subterfuge is the order of the day.
So, where do all of you come in? Put simply, these squads are going to need bodies to fill them. I’m looking for somewhere between 3 and 7 players to travel with me on this little expedition, though I can’t promise everyone a safe return. Committing a character to this RP will carry risk, so be absolutely certain that you’ve made peace with whomever you choose to send. In the same vein, it bears reminding that this galaxy - or at least this solar system - is currently marred by war. During the course of this game that fact, and its implications, will be grappled with. You have been warned.
What I’m looking for from each of you is a character, Liluri-born, that is currently serving in the planet’s military. Though they can be either volunteers or draftees, whatever your preference, I would ideally like most of the party to be new recruits fresh out of basic training. I will entertain bios for more experienced service members, but do expect extra effort from anyone that makes the attempt. Characters with rank will have a more direct impact on the actions taken by the squad, and as such, I would like to vet them to ensure that they are the right fit. If no one applies for one of these roles, a commanding officer will be provided.
As far as details, I am especially interested in knowing who your characters were before they became soldiers. It’s likely that they have a story of their own that they’re carrying into the role, which will impact how they perform their duties. This does not mean that you need an explicit History or Backstory component to your bio; feel free to present the information in whatever form you would like. However, I would like to have some inkling into each character’s skill set, and so will request that you provide two named ‘specialities’ (talents, aptitudes, etc.). One should be combat-related, while the other should pertain to a character more generally.
Finally, upon their graduation from basic training, each soldier in the Liluri military is provided with the following: a standard-issue uniform; a combat suit, designed for use in space; a side-arm, generally a pistol; and a distress beacon. Those lucky enough to have passed the requisite tests will also be issued a license to pilot a mecha. The planet’s primary defense against the Elyoni forces, mecha have become the most important focus of the army’s recently restructured training program. A difficult task, given just how quickly the technology has been moving forward. Nonetheless, each character will be assigned (i.e. You will choose) one of military’s latest mainline chassis, which will then be outfitted for their speciality. Soldiers of higher rank will be given greater latitude in customizing their units, a privilege which will be extended to NCOs dependent upon their record of success. Any other issues will have to be taken up with the quartermaster.
That’s really all there is to it. What follows below is additional background information regarding Liluria, its military, the other alien species, and mecha in general. I’d strongly recommend giving it a read before you start to seriously consider a character. That said, the info. is only meant to serve as a guide, and you are perfectly free to pursue something which diverges from what I have outlined.
Accessing database… Directory located.
Welcome to the Intergalactic Intelligence Archive. Please enter a query, or select one of the headings below.
1. Liluria
2. The Global Union
3. Aliens
4. Mecha, Starships & Stations
5. The Enemy
Terminate Connection? | Yes | | No |
>Liluria
The fourth planet from the star Heidal, for which the system is named, Liliuria first came to be nearly six billion years in the past. Believed to have been formed from the accretion of interstellar debris, the celestial body is considered to be the only planet within five light years capable of supporting life. Liluria is orbited by two satellites - its moons, Diin and Nayr - which cycle through their phases once every 26 and 33 days respectively. The planet’s own orbit, by contrast, requires 521 of its 25-hour days (which likewise comprise a Liluri year’s 15 months) to complete a single rotation.
Based on available records, Liluria’s surface appears to consist of roughly 62% water and 38% land, with both polar regions dominated by swathes of ice. There are four major continents - Odorea, East Indari, Aptia, and Von - which are likewise joined by two large island landmasses - West Indari and Selsei. In the center of these territories lies the Keskin Sea, which bleeds into the Moju Ocean in the East and the Naren Ocean in the West.
Liluria has long been home to a diverse sundry of life, ranging from colossal megafauna to age-old Yg trees. Humanity, however, has only existed for roughly the last thirty thousand of those years. Yet in that time humans have thrived, growing from a race which once struggled to create fires to one able to extend their dominance beyond the planet’s borders.
>Liluria: Months
1st Month: Rishara (36 Days) 2nd Month: Shinnath (36 Days) 3rd Month: Lennet (33 Days)
4th Month: Ravlin (33 Days) 5th Month: Chanith (36 Days) 6th Month: Hastane (36 Days)
7th Month: Vennat (31 Days) 8th Month: Minisith (36 Days) 9th Month: Tashii (36 Days)
10th Month: Asat (29 Days) 11th Month: Essath (36 Days) 12th Month: Mishar (33 Days)
13th Month: Talmet (36 Days) 14th Month: Kinneth (36 Days) 15th Month: Tethe (38 Days)
>Liluria: Countries
Though much of their authority has now been vested in the hands of the Global Union - the international organization which controls the planet’s military - the countries which cover Liluria’s surface have not simply vanished. Below are brief profiles of the six most significant of these nations, as they were regarded before the war with the Elyoni.
Silbatia
Location: Odorea
Capital City: Prastas
Biome: Consists primarily of desert and grassland
Primary exports: Iron/Tin/Copper Ore, Silicon, Glass
Primary imports: Foodstuffs, Pharmaceuticals, Cloth
Government: Constitutional Monarchy - Parliamentary
Eranan
Location: Selsei
Capital City: Tant
Biome: Largely tropical savanna and wet coastland, though with a small patch of deciduous forest at its northern fringes
Primary exports: Fruit, Fish, Dyes, Pharmaceuticals
Primary imports: Steel, Cloth, Electronics
Government: Bureaucratic Oligarchy
Alherne
Location: Von
Capital City: Elvesitt
Biome: A mixture of taiga, deciduous and coniferous forest, and dry coastland
Primary exports: Lumber, Steel, Shellfish, Clothing, Lenses/Screens
Primary imports: Iron, Dyes, Glass, Oil, Electricity
Government: Republic - Bicameral Legislature
New Walan
Location: West Indari
Capital City: Relantik
Biome: Largely a mix of wet coastland and boreal forest, with a swathe of woodland to the southwest
Primary exports: Fish, Meat, Thrusters, Starship Frames
Primary imports: Fruit, Steel, Oil, Pharmaceuticals
Government: Republic - Legislature & Executive
Melces
Location: Aptia
Capital City: Ganderast
Biome: An uneven combination of shrubland, savanna, and deciduous forest
Primary exports: Machinery, Electronics, Pharmaceuticals, Spices, Dyes
Primary imports: Silicon, Iron, Meat, Bread, Starship Frames
Government: Constitutional Monarchy - Oligarchy
Hernis
Location: East Indari
Capital CIty: Virvande
Biome: Largely plateau-land, with desert to the southwest and tropical forest to the north
Primary exports: Firearms, Pottery, Thrusters, Steel, Fruit
Primary imports: Water, Steel, Pharmaceuticals, Glass
Government: Monarchy - Queen
>The Global Union
As Liluria began to probe further into its final frontier, there was a heated debate taking place back on the planet’s surface. While the space race had initially served as a means of driving technological innovation in the involved countries, their success had prompted certain people to start asking the obvious question: what next? Should their explorations happen upon another space-faring race, would the Liluri be prepared to interact with them?
These discussions had taken place before, in a mostly theoretical sense, the scientists now joined by diplomats as Liluria’s most prosperous nations sought a solution to a problem that suddenly seemed very real. It took fully two years to iron out the details, yet when the formation of the economic union was finally announced, many of these countries were already on-board. Though originally intended to serve as a proxy for the world at large in its dealings with other species, the union’s role changed drastically after the humans’ first encounter with the Elyoni.
It was the union that handled the ill-fated negotiations with the aliens, and ultimately authorized the strike which started the war. In the immediate aftermath, it seemed only natural that Liluria’s defensive forces should be coordinated under a single banner; if the countries remained divided, let themselves be ruled by the political squabbles of the past, then the whole world would fall. As the years dragged on, and the war worsened, greater and greater authority was vested within the organization’s hands, until the shift was finally formalized.
In the year 3155, the economic union became the Global Union, an international governing body that would hold complete dominion over Liluria for the duration of the conflict. Within a year, they had coordinated the planet’s manufacturing sectors, forged a trade agreement with Aramii arms dealers, and reinstituted the draft. It was under the Global Union’s leadership that the Elyoni advance was finally slowed, and some measure of hope was restored to the Liluri public. Yet, a not insignificant portion of the planet’s population view its actions as overreaching, and in some cases downright despotic. Among those, an even smaller number are convinced that, should this war be won, another conflict might already be on the horizon. A fight for freedom.
>The Global Union: Military
Though there were originally any number of different organizational structures which distinguished Liluria’s militaries from each other, the Global Union has long since established its own chain of command, their system subsuming all of the others. Below you will find the officially recognized command structure within the Union’s Liluri Defense Force (LDF), both for officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs).
Official Ranking Chart
>The Global Union: Governance
Since its rise to prominence, the Global Union has completely revamped its administrative structure. Where once there was little more than an advisory council and its staff, there is now a full-blown bureaucracy. At its head is the Liluri Senate, a body which consists of 100 members whom were appointed to handle the current crisis. Though many stood on opposing sides during the planet’s pre-space conflicts, they appear to have put aside their differences for the sake of mutual self-preservation.
While the Senate is the Union’s most visible organ, there are also numerous councils and sub-councils which contribute to its operation. It is these departments, made up of diplomats, strategists, economists, and other advisors, that allow the organization to function in as many spheres as it does. Of particular note are the Bureau of Industrial Organization and the Bureau of Peace, both of which have played vital roles in the war effort.
>Aliens
The term ‘alien’ has proven to be rather pervasive; at the time of writing, roughly 16 of the races known to inhabit this sector have developed a word with either identical or equivalent meaning. To the Liluri - humanity - the label carries a special connotation: not simply ‘other’, but another that means them harm. Now used almost exclusively to refer to the Elyoni, humans have instead taken to calling other space-faring races terms like ‘traveler’ or ‘visitor’. Yet, in many ways, even those races with whom the Liluri have become friendly are alien to them. The profiles below, while general in scope, are an attempt to bridge this gap. To grant humanity some greater level of understanding of that which confounds them so greatly.
>Aliens: Sentayi
Were the Liluri able to choose their first interaction with another species, they could scarcely have picked better than the Sentayi. In the days before space travel, the Sentayi were largely an agrarian people, mainly subsisting upon a combination of harvested crops and some limited amount of hunting. Though that remains a focus for many of them even now, as they struggle to manage their burgeoning population, it is the artisans that have become the primary drivers of Sentayan society.
Sentayi craftsman are renowned the galaxy over for the goods they produce, which range from furniture and computer chips to carefully cultivated plants and artificial gills. It is theorized that outsiders see only a fraction, both in quality and quantity, of what these artisans actually create, the lion’s share of the goods remaining within their own ecosystem. This is, in part, due to the strenuous rituals which must be undertaken to trade with the Sentayi; one’s aptitude in these matters appears to be directly correlated with which products the race is willing to exchange. As a result, it is sometimes easier to simply purchase their goods through a middleman, rather than attempting to do so directly.
Even so, a majority of the Sentayi continue to identify as farmers, at least one child working every traditional homestead. However, urban settlements have sprung up around communities of artisans. These self-contained collectives, known as ‘Dhalim’, can be found virtually anywhere on Sentiya’s surface - some in close proximity, some separated by miles and miles. Though many other races have visited the Sentayi homeworld, few have ever ventured far beyond these compounds.
Physically, the Sentayi possess a great diversity of size, ranging from 4 feet to practically 10 feet tall. On the surface, however, they all appear to look much alike: thick, gnarled skin with a cast somewhere between navy and indigo, their head partially sunken into their torso. Their eyes can be any number of colors, those rheumy depths seeming to have little trouble seeing what lies before them. A pair of long, rail thin arms extend out from the shoulders, these limbs a noticeable contrast with their counterparts below. The Sentayi are quadrupeds, with two sets of legs which support their stocky bodies, though they are also perfectly comfortable balancing on the rear pair. This posture allows their forelimbs to double as an additional pair of hands, the blocky digits enabling the Sentayi to perform a great variety of tasks that would otherwise be impossible.
>Aliens: Elyoni
There is a great irony in the fact that the race humans have come to call ‘enemy’ - alien - is perhaps the most physically similar of their space-faring counterparts. The Elyoni are bipedal creatures, possessed of both an epidermal skin layer and a keratin-based substance which at times can overlay it. They stand between five and six-and-a-half feet tall and appear to have a variety of different body types dependent upon both weight and genetics. They even have the threadlike strands which humans would call hair. Yet, rather than the similarities, it is the differences which most stand out.
Their skin, though texturally similar to that of humanity, ranges in shade from a light violet to a faint periwinkle. Though the Elyoni do indeed possess hair, it grows only from their skulls, forming a veritable curtain around the head which prevents anything from passing to or from what lies beneath. Their keratin-based nails, while centered around their digits, extend upward to sheath the forelimbs, covering them in a sort of natural spines.
Without most of the typically visible sensory organs common to other races - and the Elyoni’s own reluctance to discuss the matter - it is unclear how exactly they perceive the world around them. Some theorize that the Elyoni have a greatly enhanced sense of touch, which allows them to feel things so finely that it is as if they could see. Others have suggested that the ‘hair’ which surrounds their craniums is in fact a sensory organ itself, serving as a filter which passes various kinds of information between their brains and the outside world. The Elyoni are capable of speech, so the presence of vocal cords somewhere within their physiology is likely, but difficult to prove.
There is little known about Elyoni society, and the scant amount that has been published on the matter has been sanitized by the Elyoni themselves. Their pride is self-evident, and requires little explanation, though has taken many different forms over the centuries. Turning away plague victims as unclean, yet providing untold support for the refugees of any number of intergalactic conflicts. Going to war with the humans. Even after years of studying them, I am not sure that I understand Elyoni motivations any better today than when I began.
>Aliens: Aramii
Virtually every space-faring race has at least heard of, if not made contact with the Aramii at some point. After all, they’re only in the midst of the most notorious civil war this side of the universe. The two sides of the conflict have been at each other’s throats for nearly fifteen hundred years now, born out of a protracted succession war that just never seemed to end. In order to fund these hostilities, the Aramii have taken to selling weapons and other such goods that they’ve either made themselves or acquired through other means.
While there is a notable diversity of appearance among the Aramii, there are also several commonalities which all of the creatures share. Ranging from 6 to nearly 9-and-a-half feet tall on average, the Aramii are vaguely insectoid at a glance, their outer layer made up of a combination of chitinous plates and scales which one would not find amiss on a dragon. Their coloring varies greatly from specimen to specimen, but most are bright, garish, and sometimes even vaguely luminescent. Many Aramii have varying numbers of legs, dependent upon some complex area within their genetic code, though it is never less than two and never more than seven. The head - or what appears to be the head - hunches slightly forward, gaps in the front-facing plate revealing the six flickering embers believed to be their eyes.
The most notable feature of the Aramii as a race, however, is their heart. Similar to the molten cores which lie at the center of many worlds, when an Aramii is first born their heart is white hot, filling them with energy and life. In order to allow this core to continue burning, they require large amounts of oxygen, their frames practically heaving with each and every breath that they take. As time passes, however, the fire within each Aramii will inevitably begin to wane, and their once bright scales will dim and inevitably turn to stone. When one has been completely petrified, they will collapse into ash, and another Aramii will be born from the Source - carrying with it some of the memories once held by their predecessor. True death among the Aramii is rare, and something justifiably feared. For each such loss will diminish the greater whole.
>Mecha
Before the humans’ war with the Elyoni, the concept of mecha had been little more than a pipe dream. A power suit of truly prodigious size, capable of exchanging fire with enemy space fighters and - in the best case scenario - even crippling starships. To anyone with a wit of intelligence, the idea smacks of fiction; a story to tell younglings as they drift off to sleep. The Liluri, it seems, are dreamers at heart.
Records suggest that this was not the first time humanity had attempted to create mechs, but that the country in question had been forced to abandon the project due to a lack of results. Desperation appears to have encouraged them to reconsider the matter. Yet, things still would have proceeded no further if not for the Aramii, whose willingness to sell the Liluri arms - and the Elyoni’s reluctance to drag them into the conflict - allowed them to overcome their own lack of artifice. What was once a failure soon became the humans’ last, best hope for victory.
Early prototypes resembled a cross between Liluri tanks and a popular construction droid, the LSX-4100. These models were less humanoid - less intuitive - than their successors would later become, but provided a proof of concept. Showed that it was possible to create something close to what they had envisioned. They just needed to get it right. Funding for the project increased after this point, and Liluria’s scientists produced a number of different iterations of their original idea, allowing the units to serve as testbeds for the various technologies they sought to master.
Several of these units, the ‘Harpy’, ‘Legionnaire’, and ‘Vertebrate’ in particular, were major milestones, providing valuable data which would be incorporated into future models. Others, such as the ‘Gunslinger’, were an unmitigated disaster. Yet it is thanks to all of them, in part, that the project was able to advance to its current state. To create a series of mecha which could do battle with the Elyoni hordes.
>Mecha: Core Stability
All three of Liluria’s main-line machines - the ‘Cavalier’, ‘Musketeer’, and ‘Cardinal’ - are powered by the ArcSys 300X, an industrial strength battery which is capable of being replenished through the use of radiant energy. As such, the unarmored portions of these mechs have been overlaid with solar panels designed to convert the ambient rays found in space into usable electricity.
Though this discovery was a notable breakthrough, greatly increasing the amount of time during which a mecha can operate independently, it is not without its downsides. Firstly, it is not as efficient in-atmosphere as it is in space; the amount of solar energy on a planet’s surface is inherently lower, as much of it has already been either filtered out or reflected back into space. Secondly, the panels alone are not enough to enable an indefinite run-time; it can improve it, certainly, but the units will inevitably need a proper recharge at either a space station or one of the mobile buoys which Liluria has shot out into deep space. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it has placed a hard limit upon the configurations which are available for these units.
In order to ensure that the core remains stable*, the amount of power used by each mecha must remain below a certain threshold. Due to the risk presented by sudden power loss, the LDF has instituted a regulation which mandates that all active personnel ensure their machines remain within safe levels of energy consumption. Current bylaws state that any mech which contains an ArcSys 300X must limit themselves to six overall units** of power. Disobeying this directive carries with it the risk of receiving a severe reprimand.
*Of which there is not a guarantee of anyway.
**To expand upon this area:
Ultra-Low Energy Equipment = .5 Units
Low-Energy Equipment = 1 Unit
Medium-Energy Equipment = 2 Units
High-Energy Equipment = 3 Units
>Mecha: Cavalier
Codename: Cavalier
Speciality: Close-Range Combat
Unit Height: 30.1 feet
Power Source: ArcSys 300X Radiant Battery
Armaments: 2x Heated Vibroblades, 2x Vibroknives, 1x Plasma Pistol
Description: The first of the LDF’s ‘Triad’ chassis series, the Cavalier is designed to excel in melee combat. It is, as might be expected, the bulkiest of the three designs, trading maneuverability for greater overall defenses. This does not mean, however, that it is incapable of bursts of speed, the thruster pack attached to the back of the unit allows for respectable momentum gains on a straight line charge. Visually, the mech is easily identifiable by the heavy cylindrical plating on its arms and legs; its barrel-chested torso design; the plate-like head unit; and its color scheme - varying patterns of maroon and grey.
Alternative Loadouts
Heavy Arms: 1x Chainsaw-Edged Broadsword, 1x Heated Hammer, 1x Tower Shield
Skirmisher: 2x Vibroknuckles, 4x Vibroknives, 1x Plasma Pistol, 1x Grapple/Winch
Vibroknife (Ultra-Low) - A knife which uses ultrasonic vibrations to increase its cutting abilities. Often mounted in compartments hidden in the arms and legs.
Buckler (Ultra-Low) - A small, low-tech which can be mounted on the to the arm.
Vibroknuckle (Low) - Based on brass knuckles, these implants on a unit’s hands combine that old standard with ultrasonic vibrations.
Plasma Pistol (Low) - A small firearm which fires a low-energy burst of plasma energy; most effective when in relatively close quarters with opponents.
Grapple/Winch (Low) - A shoulder-mounted grappling hook with can be used to compensate for the Cavalier’s lack of mobility - if handled creatively.
Tower Shield (Low) - A large, low-tech shield designed to cover the bulk of a mecha’s frame.
Heated Vibroblade (Medium) - Combines vibro-tech with a heated blade, further improving the edge’s cutting power.
Heated Hammer (Medium) - A large warhammer which can be heated to a high temperature, in hopes that it will enable each strike to do greater damage.
Plasma Rifle (Medium) - The standard in mid-ranged weaponry; able to fire a line of plasma energy at its target.
Plasma-Pointed Spear (Medium) - Largely a conventional spear, save for the small plasma-emitter found in place of its tip.
Chainsaw-Edged Broadsword (High) - A heavy broadsword augmented with chainsaw edge, enabling it to not only cut, but rip and tear.
Plasma Bazooka (High) - A large, hand-held cannon capable of emitting a powerful, short-range blast of plasma energy. Caution is advised.
>Mecha: Musketeer
Codename: Musketeer
Speciality: Mid-Range/Long-Range Combat
Armaments: 1x Plasma Rifle, 1x Plasma-Edged Rapier, 2x Electrified Batons
Description: The second of the LDF’s ‘Triad’ chassis series, the Musketeer is designed to be fielded as both a mid-range and long-range fighter. Taller and thinner than the Cavalier, it exchanges some of that unit’s armor for additional solar plates and thrusters, these alterations offsetting its more energy-intensive armament. The Musketeer is most easily recognized for its distinctive head design, which features a long, curved fin reminiscent of its namesake’s helmet. However, it can also be identified by both its claw-like feet - a remnant from the earlier ‘Harpy’ prototype - and its navy and brown color scheme.
Sniper: 1x Condensed-Particle Sniper Rifle, 1x Plasma Carbine, 2x Vibroknives
Bombardier: 1x Mortar Launcher (w/ 20x Kinetic Bombs), 2x Plasma Pistols, 1x Electrified Baton
Electrified Baton (Low) - A steel rod equipped with an energy-efficient generator; can deliver an electric shock when contact is made with target.
Machine Gun (Low) - Conventional automatic weapon primarily designed for in-atmosphere use; limited applications in space.
Magnetic Hardpoints (Low) - A network of hardpoints which can be installed in a unit’s hands, making use of magnetism to ensure that weapons cannot be jarred loose.
Plasma Carbine (Medium) - A short rifle designed to fire small, quick bursts of plasma energy.
Railgun (Medium) - Arm-mounted apparatus which enables the launching of high-velocity projectiles through the use of electromagnetic force.
Plasma-Edged Rapier (Medium) - A scaled-up sword surround by a white-hot plasma edging.
Condensed-Particle Sniper Rifle (High) - High-capacity rifle designed to fire focused beams of atomic particles at targets from long ranges.
Mortar Launcher+20 Kinetic Bombs (High) - A mech-sized cannon which is designed to fire specially-designed projectiles a certain distance away. The default Plasma Bombs produce a spherical field of repulsive energy when detonated.
>Mecha: Cardinal
Codename: Cardinal
Speciality: Reconnaissance/Electronic Warfare
Armaments: 1x Radio-Jamming Device, 2x Plasma Pistol, 2x Electrified Coils
Description: The third of the LDF’s ‘Triad’ chassis series, the Cardinal is the LDF’s designated reconnaissance unit - in other words, a scout. This purpose is well-reflected in its design, eschewing bulk for a smaller overall size and a full-array of thrusters, the latter enabling the mech to perform a wide array of complex aerial maneuvers. Lightly armored, though not so much as the Musketeer, the Cardinal is recognizable for its unusually well-defined fingers, its sunken, crown-like head, and the abundance of armor plating at its joints. This design is further complemented by the mecha’s muted black and purple color scheme.
Agent: 2x Pneumatic Hand-Cannons, 1x Plasma Rifle (w/ 1x Shoulder Mount), 1x Electrified Coil
Hacker: 2x Electrified Batons, 2x Electrified Coils, 1x Electro-Net Gun, 1x Tracking Dart Array
Electro-Net Gun (Low) - Firearm which has been specially designed to launch a web of electromagnetic energy at a target. More debilitating than damaging.
Electrified Coil (Low) - Wrist-mounted coils which can serve as electrified whips.
Tracking Dart Array (Low) - A handheld dart-launcher paired with a robust tracking program; able to keep tabs on any number of darts so long as they continue to transmit their signal.
Pneumatic Hand-Cannon (Low) - Palm-mounted device which through the use of either the surrounding air (in-atmosphere) or pressurized gas (in space) punches a hole through the underlying surface.
Weapon Mount-Point (Low) - Magnetic hardpoint which enables weapons to be mounted on specific parts of the unit’s frame.
Radio-Jamming Device (Medium) - A rudimentary bit of technology which, while old, has nonetheless proven to be somewhat effective at hiding squads from Elyoni scanners.
Shroud Tank (Medium) - Can disperse a smokescreen which shields allies from enemies during battle, without removing the ability to find those same enemies via the mechas’ own scanners. Must be refilled after use.
Electro-Knuckles (High) - Hand-mounted brass knuckles which feature an enhancement courtesy of an electrical current.
>Starships & Stations
Though a far earlier invention than mecha, humanity’s starships have likewise undergone a kind of renaissance since the start of the Elyon-Liluri war. While older vessels were equipped with limited Faster-Than-Light (FTL) technology, newer ships have been designed to take full advantage of Liluria’s growing number of jump gates. These carefully placed anchors have been at the center of several major battles during the later part of the conflict, as the Elyoni seek to limit the humans’ ability to move about the cosmos. The classification of the gates as high risk areas has led the Global Union to restrict their use to military endeavors, with the intent to expand the freedom after tensions have eased.
A similar resolution planned to limit travel to Liluria’s space stations, but the Union was forced to relent on the matter in the face of a public outcry. Oft repeated points included the fact that the stations had come to play too vital a role in the planet’s economy; that they remained the only locations where loved ones could visit soldiers that had been recalled from the front. Yet perhaps most importantly, the protestors maintained that the space stations were public property - meaning that all Liluri citizens held a right to visit them. Despite the government’s continued insistence that the restrictions would be for their own safety, support for the measure quickly collapsed in the Senate.
>Starships: Models
Class: Argonaut
Speciality: Combat Operations
Ship Length: 990.8 feet
Power Source: ArcSys 700X Fusion Drive
Armaments: 2x N-Laser Cannons, 2x Dual-Shot Plasma Launchers, 6x Plasma Turrets (Mounted on Curved Tracks), 14x Multi-Barrel CIWS, 22x Missile Tubes (Loadable with Kinetic Missiles, Interceptor Missiles, and Torpedoes)
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Standard Sensor Array
Description: The latest in the Liluri line of battleships, the Argonaut class has been the standard for nearly four years now, and is widely considered to be one of the most significant additions to the human’s arsenal. Just over 300 feet long, the ship is composed of a straight, vaguely tubular structure which is clearly broken into three separate segments. The first, the front-facing shaft, is where the bridge, weapons command, and the forward medical bay - which handles cases of immediate importance - are located. The middle section, which is colloquially referred to as the ‘Turbine’, is bounded on either side by a pair of additional tubes. The Turbine is constantly spinning, the generated centrifugal force creating artificial gravity in the wings, which house living quarters, the mess hall, exercise rooms, and long-term medical care. The central Turbine, which is generally used for storage, is separated from all other areas of the ship by a series of airlocks. The final segment, the stern, contains the craft’s engine and power core, the latter of which has been carefully sealed off behind numerous layers of steel and shielding to prevent any contamination. The coloring of each vessel varies a bit, though most include some combination of blue and silver.
Class: Pythia
Speciality: Stealth/Reconnaissance
Armaments: 1x Low Output N-Laser Cannon, 3x Plasma Cannons, 4x High Output Railguns, 6x Multi-Barrel CIWS, 8x Missile Tubes (Loadable with Kinetic Missiles, Intercept Missiles, and Torpedoes)
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Advanced Sensor Array
Description: Only two years old, the Pythia class is the successor to a long line of Liluri vessels built for the purpose of carrying out smaller scale operations than its counterparts. Like the Argonaut, the main body of the Pythia was cut as three separate pieces, each with a similar intended purpose. Rather than a series of cylinders, however, the central segment is instead encircled by a torus, which benefits from same gravitational theory as those wings. This smaller section contains only enough space to house the living quarters for those on-board. The official color scheme for the Pythia is black and silver.
Class: Phaeton
Speciality: Command
Ship Length: 1511.9 feet
Armaments: 6x High Output N-Laser Cannons, 3x Condensed-Particle Launchers, 5x Dual-Shot Plasma Cannons, 12x Plasma Turrets (Mounted on Curved Tracks), 20x Multi-Barrel CIWS, 35x Missile Tubes (Loadable with Kinetic Missiles, Interceptor Missiles, and Torpedoes)
Description: Though they are limited in number, the Phaeton class capital ship is considered a force to be reckoned with wherever it appears. They offset their lower speed and agility with the sheer amount of firepower which they are able to bring to bare and are sometimes enough to turn the tide of a battle on their own. As said, however, they take immense amounts of time and money to produce, and the loss of even one of these vessels will be felt keenly by the Liluri forces. Appearance-wise, the Phaeton resembles a scaled-up version of the Argonaut, capable of housing close to 1,000 personnel at full capacity. The craft’s color scheme is black and blue.
>Stations
There are a series of four space stations which exist within Liluri territory, the most recent of which was completed less than a year ago. Cylindrical in shape, these cities in the sky are engaged in a constant rotation, ensuring that all of their innards receive some level of artificial gravity. They are, of course, heavily guarded, not only by mecha, but also by a reverse engineered Liluri fighter known as the ‘Atalanta’, several squads of which are quartered at each station. Each Atalanta is armed with a pair of Plasma Launchers and a mounted Condensed-Particle Rifle.
The stations, listed in the order of their construction, are as follows:
Daedalos
Jupris
>The Enemy
It is difficult to be at war for fifteen years and learn nothing of your opposition. Much as the Liluri might despise the Elyoni, there are some details which have been impossible to ignore. Their battlefield tactics, squad composition, and, in particular, the nature of the units they field. All of these have been vital to humanity’s continued resistance, providing them with tangible factors which can be studied and adapted to. While not enough to lead them to victory on their own, it is a start.
For scholars, this conflict can be treated as a great boon. It has been centuries since the Elyoni last went to war, and that engagement was so brief as to be useless to those with an interest in the matters military. For the first time in many of our lifetimes, we have been afforded a fantastic look at the Elyoni war machine; an excellent view of the level of destruction it can cause to a race unprepared for its sheer ferocity. In that, at least, the Liluri have succeeded brilliantly.
>The Enemy: Combat Units
Designation: Elyoni Fighter
Speciality: General Space/Atmospheric Combat
Unit Length: 45.6 feet
Power Source: Unknown
Armaments: 3x Particle Launchers, 1x Disruptor Ray
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Hardpoints
Description: The first hostile unit encountered by the LDF, and the enemy which the mecha were originally designed to fight. This fighter appears to the Elyoni’s standard military unit, and by the numbers is far and away their most fielded. A far simpler design than the mechs in theory, but one which has proven to be at least as effective. Why design specialized chassis when a single machine could serve the same purpose? These fighters have been known to equip a number of additional armaments, dependent upon the situation, though their default loadout is rather limited. The easiest way to recognize one, its distinct trident design apart, is by its color scheme - a haunting swirl of violets and greys that almost seem to move as one stares at them.
Designation: Elyoni Warbird
Speciality: Heavy Space Combat
Armaments: 1x Gravitation Cannon, 2x Particle Launchers, 2x Plasma Gatling, 6x Missile Tubs (Loaded with ‘Furnace’ Missiles)
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Energy Shield
Description: Named for the beak-like protrusion which protects its Gravitation Cannon, the Warbird is the Elyoni equivalent to a Liluri tank, were the latter designed for use in space. Both longer and wider than an Elyoni fighter - adopting a shape akin to that of a manta ray - it is capable of taking a significant amount of punishment, even at the cost of some level of speed. Yet the Warbird is feared not for its survivability, but for the carnage which it is able to unleash. Though the Gravitation Cannon alone is enough to ravage some units, the unit’s Plasma Gatling Guns and ‘Furnace’ Missiles, which superheat at the point-of-impact, are no less deadly if applied correctly. The Warbird is generally colored a deep blue with purple accents.
Designation: Elyoni Stinger
Speciality: Atmospheric Assault
Unit Length: 42.4 feet (26.7 feet when standing)
Armaments: 1x Condensed Particle Cannon (Mounted in Tail), 4x Omnidirectional Particle Launchers, 2x Pneumatic Jackhammers (Mounted in Claws), 8x Missile Tubes (Loadable with ‘Furnace’ Missiles and Torpedoes)
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Amphibious Propulsion System
Description: While the Stinger, named due to its resemblance to the Liluri scorpion, has seen fewer engagements than many of its fellows, it can be a terror if allowed to roam free. The machine’s purpose is twofold: to remain undetected until it crosses enemy lines, and to wreak havoc once it does so. To aid the former, the Stinger has been equipped which an Amphibious Propulsion System that enables underwater - and presumably other such substances - travel. For the latter, the unit is able to enter a kind of ‘Turret Mode’, which allows it to more easily bombard a target from a fixed position. Stingers should be dealt with quickly upon detection, lest they slip away to fight another day. These units are generally painted brown and rust orange, in order to better blend in with their surroundings.
>The Enemy: Starships
Designation: Elatha Class
Armaments: 1x Particle ‘Shrapnel’ Cannon, 2x High Output Particle Cannons, 4x Beam Launchers, 10x Omnidirectional CIWS, 20x Missile Tubes (Loadable with ‘Furnace’ Missiles, Condensed-Particle Missiles, and Torpedoes)
Additional Equipment: Reinforced(?) Plating, Energy Shield
Description: The Elatha, further nicknamed the “Starbird” by some Liluri, serves as the Elyoni’s primary frontline vessel. A smaller, quicker vessel than its counterpart - the Argonaut - the Elatha relies on its maneuverability and firepower to take on the larger Liluri craft. Armed with a multitude of devastating weapons, and energy shielding which spans the full length of the ship, it is considered a force to be reckoned with in open combat. At a glance, the Elyoni vessel appears to be made from a single curved mold, a noticeable fin rising up along the ship’s stern - almost as though it were a sail of some sort. It is unclear whether or not it has any means to generate artificial gravity. The Elatha is ‘painted’ a soothing mix of greens and blues, though some claim to see a stripe of gold somewhere amidst the mix, the colors blending and separating in a manner not unlike an aurora.
Designation: Balor Class
Armaments: 1x High Output Beam Emitter, 6x Particle ‘Shrapnel’ Cannons
Additional Equipment: Reinforced Plating, Advanced Energy Shield
Description: There have only been three sightings of one of the Elyoni capital ships during the course of war, all of which ended in disaster for the Liluri. Knowledge about its armaments is limited and incomplete, due to the overall lack of data, and it is unclear just how much firepower the Balor actually possesses. What is known, however, is that its energy shielding is top notch, and capable of repelling most of the conventional weaponry thrown at it. Furthermore, the ship seems to be capable of creating its own jump point, independent of any gate, allowing it to come and go at its leisure. The Balor is easily recognized as a larger variant of the Elatha, with a trio of ‘fins’ to its rear and a similar paint job in violet and ice blue.
Bios:
Your bio submissions should include the following information, in some way, shape, or form: a general description, which includes references to their life before the war; two named ‘skills’, one combat-related and other more generally applicable; and the character’s chosen mech and loadout. For ranks, I would prefer that most characters start out at Trooper or Private, but as said, I will entertain bios for ranks as high as Lance Corporal (NCO) or Lieutenant (Officer). For those with rank, we’ll talk about exactly what level of customization you will get for your mecha.
As a reminder, the military provides your character with the following:
A Uniform - Blue and White
A Combat/Piloting Suit
A Sidearm
A Distress Beacon
Any mission-specific gear which might be necessary
What follows below is the bio for my own character; feel free to make use of the format if it suits you.
Name: Riley Laur
Prior Profession: Unemployed
Skills: Marksmanship (Sniping) / Editing (Writing)
Appearance: There was an extra period; it was a small error, infinitesimal in the scheme of things, yet it still prompted the girl to strike it through with her red pen. To some it was strange that she still preferred to do her editing by hand, when it would be so much easier to just use a tablet, or the terminal in her room. Riley craved the feedback. The pressure born of bunched up fingers, the paper resisting her attempts to scar its perfection. In a world where things could be so sanitized - so utterly devoid of simple connection - Riley wanted to feel the ink smudge against the side of her hand as she worked.
The girl reached up and rubbed at her eyes, smearing some of that same ink over her lashes as she considered what remained of the essay. If she kept at it, this shouldn’t take more than another couple of hours to-- Riley suddenly sent a glance off to her left, frowning slightly. That girl was still watching her; trying to hide it, her frosty blue eyes just barely visible over the crook of her arm. Still, it was obvious at whom her gaze was directed. They were the only ones here after all.
She was slim, probably always had been, with long legs that put her height somewhere between 5’7” and 5’8”. The fitness was new, as it had been for many of them, but she seemed to be adapting well, her arms just the slightest bit tight in her sleeves. The girl shifted, as though self-conscious, but refused to look away. Self-esteem issues. Riley thought, a pang of sympathy twisting to life in her stomach, only to shrivel up and die scarcely a second later. Then she shouldn’t stare.
Turnabout was, in fact, fair play.
Gaze trailing upward, Riley paused at the young woman’s hairline, barely managing to hide the wince which came unbidden to her lips. Her brown locks had been shorn close to her head, uncomfortably so, though it was clear that had occurred some time ago now. Probably before Basic. The hair had started to grow back, though it was still patchy in places, skin peeking out amidst the untidy clumps. It wasn’t what anyone would call pretty, but there hadn’t been much of a choice. The military demanded discipline - no exceptions.
The girl’s face was otherwise unremarkable; a small nose, rounded ears, and pale lips that skated in and out of vision as she sought a better view. Probably hadn’t been very popular back home, though none of that really mattered here. Everyone was treated the same, even wore the same clothes. Navy undershirt, white pants, and a uniform vest that combined both when they were on duty. There was a similar jacket for special occasions, when they all had to stand out on the pitch, doing their best to ignore the boiling sun as one commander or another gave speech after speech about what would be expected of them.
At least she has pretty eyes. Riley forced herself to smile, the gesture wan and hollow even by her reckoning. No one can take that away from her. Sure they might look a little cold at first, but she was sure that once you got to know her she was-- Their eyes met, blue staring into blue, and in that moment Riley could practically feel the weight of her own attention. One second passed, then another, before the young woman finally turned away, a slow breath rattling from between her lips.
No. This wasn’t the time for this. There wasn’t any time for this. I have a paper to finish. Riley thought dully, her attention returning at last to the essay, the tremor in her hand stilling as she once again grasped her pen. Yet, as the young soldier resumed her work, there was one thought that she just couldn’t get out of her head.
That girl should wipe the ink off her face.
Mecha: Musketeer
Loadout: Sniper
“So, this is it?”
“Well, close enough anyway.”
Riley leaned back against the railing, shooting her companion a glance. “Close enough? Is this or isn’t this the machine I’m going to have to pilot?”
“Right model, wrong schema.” The man reached around to rub at his neck, sighing as he met her gaze. “Yours will be equipped with long-range gear. Sniper rifle, that sort of thing.”
Riley nodded quietly, her eyes drifting back to the mech. It towered over them both, a veritable giant, one of its carefully articulated hands wrapped around the grip of an equally massive rifle. “I’m going to guess,” Riley began, as she eyed the fin which wrapped around the unit’s head, “that the color scheme is non-negotiable?”
“Completely.” The man shook his head, free hand twitching slightly. “Remind me again, kid, how you got placed in the Mecha Combat Division?”
“Private.” She admonished. “I passed the right tests. The Accuracy batch, I think.” The girl frowned, though the gesture was gone before her companion could blink. “Before that I was on track to be an officer; apparently my scores were too good, so they ordered my transfer, effective immediately.”
The man barked out a laugh. “You want me to make you call me ‘Lieutenant,’ kid?” The amusement drained out of his expression. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this? Going to space, fighting the Elyoni… killing them.”
Riley didn’t respond immediately, and the man gave her a look. One of her hands balled into a fist. “I’ll be fine.” She inhaled, shook her head, and released the breath. “Really, David… Lieutenant. I will be fine, sir.”
David looked away, murmuring something beneath his breath. “... If you say so, kid. Just remember, what you see up there? Isn’t going to be anything like what you’re used to back home. Alherne’s too peaceful.”
“I know.” Riley stood straight and gave him a salute. “I’ll deal, sir.” Not like I have a choice to do anything else.
Her superior stared at her for a long moment, then clapped the girl gently on the shoulder. “Okay. Now, you wanted to see your gear, right?” David waited for her nod, then grinned. “We don’t have it mounted on a mech right now, but the equipment’s already unloaded in the back. If you’ll just follow me.”
The girl fell into step behind the man, almost bumping into him as he made a sudden about-face. “Oh, and we’re obviously not going to tell anybody that I’m doing this, are we? Since new recruits aren’t allowed in the armory until after they’ve graduated from Basic Training.” The Lieutenant winked, and Riley gave him a wicked little smirk.
“Oh, of course not, sir. I’ll just wipe this whole little adventure from my memory banks. Beep. Boop.” She intoned, her expression blank. “Memory wipe, complete-- Hey!” Riley growled and broke formation to dash after the Lieutenant. “What was that for?”
“That terrible joke. You know robots don’t sound like that.” David reached a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “They obviously make noises like ‘Bzzt!’, or ‘Gnnr!’ Come on.”
Riley gave him a solid punch to the shoulder, though they both grinned. “Alright, come on you little misfit.” David said, eyes still laughing. “I’ve got other things to do today.”
“Yes, sir. I understand, sir.” The girl whistled innocently as they once again resumed their trek down to the armory, both now in considerably better spirits.
Lance Corporal Aurena “Aury” Melise played by Kellehendros
Trooper Isaac Nox played by Caststarter
Lance Corporal Bram Gallagher played by Cray
Private Ren Sheea played by Chewy905
Private James 'Jack' Koldarr played by nield
Private Tess Tahoe played by TormentedDragon
Private Hawk-Eye Davis played by Riprose123
Private Blaisé Delacroix played by Starflame13
Private Kit Williams played by roseleaf320
As a final note, I won’t be starting this adventure until after the final round of this year’s Elemental Championships concludes. So take your time, ponder possibilities, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Until then, I await you in the stars.
< Message edited by Ryu Viranesh -- 8/18/2018 16:43:37 >
AQ DF MQ Post #: 1
Kellehendros
Name: Aurena “Aury” Melise
Prior Profession: Counselor
Origin: East Indari, Hernis, Virvande
Rank: Lance Corporal
Skills: Reconnaissance / Finding Trouble
By the file, Aurena Melise stands at just over five feet and five inches in height, with a slender and athletic build of the sort churned out by the trainers and fitness coordinators of Basic with all the regularity of a Hernis steel maker’s blast furnace. What the official documentation cannot capture, however, is the vivacity of the woman. Red-brown eyes that spark with lively intelligence - and more than a little mischief - peer out above a nose with a notable kink from having been broken and reset not quite right. Lines from smiling and laughter have begun to carve their way into her face, appearing at the corners of her eyes when she grins and transforming her otherwise thin-lipped appearance. Aurena’s golden locks have been ruthlessly shaved any number of times as a reminder of regulations on the subject, and yet she continues to grow it back and maintain it precisely an inch longer than regulation between disciplinary actions on the subject.
Mecha: Cardinal
Loadout: Running Silent
1x Radio-Jamming Device, 2x Plasma Pistol, 1x Shroud Tank
GUC Disciplinary Form, 6A
Date: 14 Kinneth 3168
Submission of Report by: Captain Turner Magro
Subject of Disciplinary Action: Corporal Aurena Melise
Serial Number of Subject of Disciplinary Action: A938-M392-V432
Number of Prior 6A Complaints on File: 13
Date of Last Disciplinary Action: 10 Kinneth 3168
Reason for Complaint: Insubordination, improper use of military-grade ordnance
Complaint: Cpl Melise was disciplined, once again, 10 Kinneth 3168 for not following scheduled grooming protocols pursuant to regulation 994-A3 concerning permissible hair length for active-duty personnel. As this was the fifth such warning issued to Cpl Melise since the last censure was issued, a formal written complaint was submitted. Please reference document 939273951 for further details. At that time the corporal refused to acquiesce to orders that she immediately report to medical to have her scalp shaved, citing the fact that she worked a desk job and was not in a field-combat position. It was explained, again, that Cpl Melise’s position with Logistics and Deliveries, while technically an office position, was still considered active-duty field due to possible deployment off-world as needed, and as such she was required to comply with all regulations related to personal grooming.
The corporal again refused and had to be bodily restrained and escorted to the treatment center. As she was being removed from the barracks, Cpl Melise was heard by several parties to remark that Cpt Magro was, “a plebian slime” and that he should “ooze back to Relantik and resume his bottom-feeding ways while voting for the local dogcatcher.” As the procedure to bring the corporal into regulatory compliance was being completed, the doctor on duty heard her to remark several times that Cpt Magro had “best watch his back” and that he “would rue crossing the monarchy”. Please reference attached audio file Z2287 for batched recordings from barracks and medical security listening posts.
Four days later, 14 Kinneth 3168, Cpt Magro’s squadron were sent to ordnance facility 75 for cross-training with local peacekeeping forces related to GUC Edict 42289. Cpl Melise was assisting the captain in demonstrating how to properly shape and arm charges for breaching buildings with entrenched enemy forces. The corporal mounted a shaped charge to the wall as Cpt Magro explained the proper techniques to produce the desired results, and then turned and winked at the audience as she primed the detonator rigged to the charge. At this time the captain was explaining the do’s and don’ts of notifying other team members regarding armed explosives, and was not closely monitoring Cpl Melise’s actions. Several members of the audience later interviewed reported that they thought the corporal’s actions were part of the demonstration, and thus they did not warn the captain of her action. Please reference attached witness documents 99B and 47-sub 8.
Cpt Magro inadvertently triggered the device as part of the demonstration intended to show the safety features of the model 448 detonator. His proximity to the blast resulted in minor first-degree burns along the back-right of the neck. Concussive force from the detonation also caused severe trauma to the captain’s right ear, resulting in rupture of the eardrum and subsequent hearing loss.
Requested Disciplinary Action: Discharge and prosecution for assault upon GUC personnel with intent to cause bodily injury.
Request Status: Denied per GUC Edict 13
Alternate Disciplinary Action Authorized: Confined to quarters effective immediately. Demotion to Lance Corporal effective immediately. Transfer to field-combat operations, effective 1 Tethe 3168.
Authorization: Lieutenant General Ribio Innes
Riprose123
Are there specific jobs within the military that soldiers are trained to fit, like medic, vehicle mechanic, radio operator etc. Or are we all just basic grunts?
DF MQ Post #: 3
Name: Ren Sheea
Prior Profession: Criminal
Skills: Evasive Maneuvering/Negotiation
The boy was tossed forward, landing hard on the metal floor before a man in a fancy suit. The two guards that had thrown him forward stepped back to the doorway, pistols drawn and pointed at the helpless boy as he steadily got to his knees and looked up at the Corporal.
The boy was tall, almost 6 foot, with disheveled short black hair. His face was sharp and handsome, even beneath the bruises and scrapes that marred it. His hands were cuffed behind his back, fingers snapping to the beat of a silent song. He was in shape and well built, and had an air about him that suggested he’d be more suited behind a bar rather than behind bars.
“You finally got him?” The Corporal asked.
“He led us on quite a chase.” Said one of the guards. “Took us a while, but he made a wrong turn and slammed into our barricade.”
The boy mumbled something. The Corporal stopped down to his level. “I didn’t hear that. Speak up.”
The boy repeated himself, his voice smooth and clear. “I would have been fine if there weren’t so damn many of you.”
The Corporal laughed sharply. “Maybe you would have been. I’ve seen the recordings, you’re one hell of a driver aren’t you? Where’d you learn that skill?”
The boy tried to pull his hands apart, causing the metal cuffs to clack together. He gave up. “I didn’t.”
The Corporal stood back up. “Hardly matters. No more driving once you’re in a prison cell. You’re known for quite a large amount of robberies and petty theft. You’ve been running from us for a while now, Ren Sheea.”
Ren moved to stand up, but one of the guards stepped forward and shoved him again. He fell forwards with a grunt, legs falling out from under him and causing him to land ungracefully on his stomach. He wriggled a bit, pitifully, trying to get back to his knees, but was unable to. The others in the room watched with amusement.
“I didn’t rob anyone. Everything I got was given to me.”
“We’ve investigated. Coerced or not, you hardly own a single thing that belongs to only you.”
Ren glared up at the Corporal, his pale gray eyes trying to drill a hole through the man’s forehead.
“Hm now that’s the look of a fighter! Tell me Ren, can you fight?”
“Get me out of these cuffs and I’ll show you.” He spat on the ground for emphasis, but since he was already on the ground it just made him look ridiculous.
The Corporal looked down at him, an amused smile on his face. “Is that so? And would you follow orders?”
“Depends what’s in it for me.”
“Alright then. Stand up. I’m considering making a deal.”
Ren’s squirming became more fervent. He figured out he could roll onto his side and use his legs to prop himself up. Soon he was standing face to face with the Corporal.
“That was too easy. Would you be willing to try again with your ankles tied?”
“Do i get the deal if I don’t?”
“No, but you might not even get the deal if you do. Better to cooperate when faced with a superior, right?”
Ren considered for a moment, then nodded. The Corporal motioned to one of the guards, who stepped forwards and tied Ren’s ankles together, then gently lowered him until he was lying on the ground again.
“Stand up.”
Ren quickly rolled onto his side and tried to prop himself up, but found with his newly tied ankles he was unable to rock himself up properly. He spent some more time trying and failing while the guards and the Corporal looked on. Eventually, Ren wriggled his way over to the wall and managed to lean himself up against it. From there he was able to push himself up until he was on his knees again. He then rocked back onto his toes and up to his feet.
“Okay sir, what kind of deal were you thinking of? I’ve got a lot of people waiting on deliveries out there, and they’ll be after me if I can’t bring em what they need, so it would be nice to avoid prison.”
The Corporal beamed at him. “Prison? Kid, you’re way too good to waste away in there. There’ll be a ton of paperwork to fill out, and we’ll have to look about dealing with your criminal record, but how would you like to be a soldier?”
Loadout: Basic
“Come on, do you really need it?”
“I’m not giving you my watch Ren. You’ wouldn’t even be able to afford something this nice.”
“You don’t have to give it to me Jacob! I just want a day or two to examine it, maybe take it apart and figure out what literally makes it tick.”
“No means no, Ren! This was a gift from my family, I don’t want to part with it just so you can satiate your curiosity!”
“Here, let's make a deal! I’ll pay for your next, no! Your next two meals, and in return you let me have your watch, just for a day! I promise I’ll give it back!”
“Next three meals. Drinks and sides included.”
Jacob unstrapped his shiny gold wristwatch and handed it carefully to Ren, who quickly slipped it onto his wrist, struggling a bit with adjusting the strap.
“Yes!” Ren pumped his fist in triumph. “Oh this will be so fun to deconstruct. Thanks Jacob, signal me down next time we’re out, and I'll give this back! Maybe I can even get it working better."
Ren waved goodbye to Jacob, who looked a little exasperated, and headed off towards his dorm, whistling an upbeat tune as he walked. When he turned a corner, he barely managed to stop himself from ramming into his superior.
“Ah good, Private Sheea. I was just about to come get you actually.”
“Good evening, Lieutenant.” Ren snapped into a salute, right hand coming up to his head. “What do you need?”
“Walk with me, I want to show you something.”
They fell into step together, the Lieutenant just a pace ahead of the Private, and maneuvered through the halls of the building. Ren couldn’t quite figure out where he was being taken.
“You’re aware you’ve been transferred to the Mecha Combat Division, correct?”
Ren nodded. “Yes sir. Apparently my test scores were good enough that they decided I’d fit in well.”
“Are you sure you didn’t just convince them to let you pass the test?”
Ren smiled sheepishly. “I know better than to try persuading my superiors, sir. It’s a blessing I’ve gotten as high as Private in the first place.”
The Lieutenant nodded. “Yeah, really shows what this place is capable of, being able to rehabilitate a criminal like you. Here we are.”
They stopped in front of a basic computer room. The Lieutenant swiped a keycard and the door slid open. As they stepped through the lights turned on, revealing a large screen on the wall. He took out a tablet from his pocket and tapped on it a few times, causing the large screen to flare to life.
“I wanted to show you the mecha you’ve been issued. I could just show you in person in the hanger, but frankly I was worried you’d see the higher class models and start badgering the higher ups for one of them.
Ren muttered something to himself.
“What was that Private? You’ll need to speak up.”
“I said I’d probably get one, too. Sir.”
“You’d be wrong, Private. No one would be able to convince a Quartermaster to just give you a Mecha you aren’t assigned to. These things don’t grow on trees. Anyways.” The Lieutenant swiped up on his tablet, and an image appeared on the large screen, a large humanoid machine with clawed feet and a long fin on its head, colored in shades of brown and navy blue.
Ren took out his own tablet and swiped at it, rotating the image on the screen so he could appraise it from all angles. “This isn’t the model they had me using during the simulations.”
“Based on your combat prowess we assumed the Cavalier class mecha would be most appropriate for you. But after seeing you in the simulations we decided the maneuverability of the Musketeer class would be a better fit.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You… don’t… like it?”
Ren shook his head. “Nope. The color schemes ugly, and the fin looks dumb. Furthermore the winch on the Cavalier class was a godsend.” He turned to face the Lieutenant. “Is it possible to change the color to black and purple, and replace theeee-“ he swiped at his pad, zooming around the image of the mecha, finally settling on the sheathed batons. “Electric batons with two winches?”
The Lieutenant was taken aback by Ren’s bluntness. “Private the colors denote mecha class, and cannot be changed. Furthermore purple and black are for scout class mecha, which you haven’t even been considered for with how flashy your tactics are. And the winches are exclusive to Cavalier’s, the Musketeer doesn’t even need them because of it’s additional thrusters.”
Ren sighed in defeat. “I suppose it will do for now. Do I get any say in additional gear selections?”
“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.”
“I’ll send the data to your account so you can peruse it better. Get familiar, this thing is going to be your life soon so you better understand what it can do. Now go get some rest, Private. You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you.”
“Yes sir!” Ren turned to leave the room.
The Lieutenant called out to him as he got to the door. “Oh, and Private.”
“Give Jacob his watch back. If I understand correctly it’s pretty special to him, and I don’t want to have to deal with any reports when you inevitably break it. ”
Ren sighed again. “Understood, sir.”
< Message edited by Chewy905 -- 8/13/2018 22:41:24 >
Caststarter
Ether-knight of DragonFable & EpicDuel
Name: Isaac Nox
Origin: Alherne, Von, Elvesitt
Prior Profession: Landscaping Supervisor
Rank: Trooper
Skills: Sabotage / Technical Illustrator (Schematics)
Lanky in build with a “modest” 5’10” in height, many would say Isaac is far from graceful. His thick strands of chestnut hair, when it lays well outside of dictated grooming protocols, make him come off as more of a rough’n tumble individual- especially in this day and age. Couple that with a coarse skin that allegedly can only be subdued by potent skin medication, a squashed nose, extremely haphazard eyebrows that deny maintenance, and one crooked smile just to top it all off. At least he has magnificent dark eyes. Somehow.
And yet, there is still an air of sophistication behind it all. Changing the land itself may be rough work, but the end result for the wealthy is one of precise execution. Look further, and one might just see that the roughness is intentional. Many a joke has been made of him being a perfect double for a Sentayi, using both mundane and advanced tools alike with no qualms.
Loadout: Hacker
22 Shinnath, 3168
Many a day has gone by with more reminders about proper sanitation procedures, mainly from some of my peers. Understandable, since they don’t want to let a plague spread through the force, but I do ponder if some are not familiar with the basics at points. Some act as if they never dealt what it is like to do things by hand. If I were to present the idea of rust, grime, and dirt, would they scream?
Then again, if I get discharged for disorderly conduct, that would ruin the point of me joining voluntarily. Yeah, I get out. Then no one will hire me because of work ethic or something. Really, not much else I can do even if I’m not one for this war. Can’t blame the draft either, really despite it not being the most ethical of solutions.
For now, I’ll just do what I’m told, unless they order me something akin to crafting a persistent ice garden on some large balcony. Instead, I’ll do whatever is actually productive and interesting.
In more fun news, I am being placed in the MCD after all, according to one of the higher-ups. She mentioned it was due to my aptitude with handling both simple and complex machines, to the point I can find some sort of way to at least deal with them so the squad doesn’t have to. Not to mention having a steady hand demonstrated I can pilot competently. Actually approve of this, since I get to work with something moderately cool.
In any case, Charles, how’re things going over at GeoTrail? I assume things are under control with the new employee? Also, please make sure the LSX droids have compatible batteries. That was your job, not mine. I remember the last time a battery overloaded and I had to get my spare hand tools to finish up the job. You were lucky I could get it done in a timely manner so the higher-ups wouldn’t rip your salary to pieces.
As for our friend Gabriel, heard from him recently? I’m highly curious about how his mixed martial arts gig went. The last time I heard of him, he bragged how punching me in the jaw improved his ability to knock opponents out. As if I am the arbiter in staying up in a fight. Idiot.
That is all I have to say for now.
Isaac, signing off.
DF Post #: 5
Lorekeeper
Name: Bram Gallagher
Prior Profession: PMC Mechanic / Former Pilot
Passenger Profile #52,081: Gallagher, Bram
Updated 1 Vennat, 3165
CONFIDENTIAL - GRANTED UNDER LDF SECURITY CLEARANCE
Date of Birth: 13 Tethe, 3142.
Place of Birth: Relantik, New Walan.
— Global Institute for Engineering Excellence, West Indar Branch: Basic course completed. Mechanical Engineering, accelerated course, graduated with honors, third of the class of 3160.
— LDU Academy, Engineering Officer track, Mecha Logistics Department: Entered 3160, ceased attendance on the same year. Reasons cited: Declined to answer.
Recent Employment History:
— Point Zero Security, Private Security Firm License #302-3122 (Expired on year 3163 with the company’s disbanding).
Position: Dedicated mechanic, LCE, 3160-3162. Pilot, 3163. Formally discharged as part of alleged downsizing (See Hound Incident Report for LDF intelligence).
Unit: Custom frame, analogous to early iterations of the Musketeer model. Alternate thrust vectoring scheme specialized on surface maneuvering, replacing the standard RCS and reducing space aptitude. Frontal ablative armor and rear heat shielding not built to LDF safety standards, unsuitable for mass-production. Codename: Berserker.
— AEGIS, Unlicensed Security Outfit. Identified by LDF as informal organization, focused exclusively on the defense of Sentayi colony Rawesa, established on planet Lhasa. Unit is believed disbanded after the evacuation of Rawesa following the agitation of migrating megafauna by local outlaws.
Position: Mechanic, reinforcement pilot. 3163-3165.
Unit: Berserker, further modified. Reaction control system entirely refitted for surface maneuvering. ArcSys power buffer modified to extend its performance beyond standard operational parameters. While the heightened capacity is suitable for its purpose, the modifications decreased operational periods and extended its charging periods beyond what is practical for more organized operations, as well as forcing it to rely purely on external power sources.
“This has got to be the only time I’ve seen the spaceport this quiet.” Victoria briefly lifted her hat, calloused fingers straightening her dark blonde hair out underneath the spotless fabric before placing it back down.
“Welcome to the graveyard shift, Winters. I guess your brother wasn’t much for telling stories.” While his partner looked over the ebbing lines of passengers from the day’s final arrivals, Garrett Anderson settled his short but broadly built frame on a lone waiting row chair and reviewed the report displayed on his PDA.
“Counterintelligence Officer, Anderson. He couldn’t if he wanted to. And believe me, he didn’t.”
“Fair enough. Never did knew what to make of Leo— Man, can you believe they’re making us pull this guy for the Mecha Combat Division? Look at this profile. This screams R&D.”
“I did look at it. And there is no way they’d want him there. Look at the actual gear lists. That’s not requisition material; that’s a freakin’ portfolio. Good, sure. Real good. But way too expensive to mass produce; we’ve already got too many big egos working with the elites.
“Eesh, you’re right. Look at this plating. Only a PMC sinks that much money into individual units. How about LCE, though?”
“Good eye. He’d be perfect for that if he was just starting out. But I was with the Moonriders until my inner ear got me grounded. Out there, you want teamwork. People who can take the standard issue and make it work like designer babies. The force isn’t going to waste time re-educating someone they think is a bad fit. Grunts, though, they can keep an eye on. And personally, I can tell you the mechanics will be happy to work with someone who actually understands them.
“Heh. Yeah, I’ve gone through enough requisition and maintenance forms to agree.” Anderson’s pale, sleep-deprived expression stirred awake with a fleeting grin before suddenly sharpening. Clear brown eyes turned to the end of the hallway, locking on one of the arrivals. “Showtime.”
“That’s our man. You doin’ the honors this time?”
“I might as well act the rank every now and then.” Garret stood up with greatly overplayed sloth, pocketing the personal screen. The moment he straightened out his uniform, both officers stood at attention and awaited their mark with cordial expressions and firm stances more fitting of their stations.
The man came to a halt upon noticing the uniforms of his interlopers. Wandering eyes snapped to a more attentive focus, his tense body language belying a recollection of the years spent operating heavy machinery. This fleeting anger, however, was surprisingly quick to give way to a calmer gaze and the slight slump of relaxation - Or was it resignation?
“Mister Gallagher?” At Garret’s beckoning, Bram straightened up and approached. A thorough exposure tan and the odd faded scrape had darkened his skin beyond its years, robbing some youth from the somewhat cynical grin that the young man greeted his better-groomed counterparts with. This effect was exacerbated by a small collection of premature strands of dark grey marring the otherwise intense reddish brown of his short hair.
“Sir. Miss.”
“Lieutenant Anderson and Specialist Winters, Liluri Defense Force, Red Vale Station. May we ask for a few minutes of your time?”
Breaching the small remaining distance, both uniformed figures reached out their hands to Bram in a peculiarly informal gesture for the occasion. After a surprised second, handshakes were exchanged. The Lieutenant made little of the exchange beyond passing relief, doubtless glad that pleasantries seemed to be prevailing over the expected hostility. His Warrant Officer partner, however, reacted with visible approval. In spite of her misgivings about Bram’s body of work, Winters instinctively smiled when their hands met. As their calloused palms rubbed against each other, she began to think that this person might just be the genuine article after all — Not just a glorified designer who expected others to do the hard work.
“Didn’t think I rated this kind of welcoming committee. But if you’ll excuse me, let’s cut the formalities. I’m tired, annoyed… And if you’ve been waiting for me for as long as it looks, I’ll bet you are too. Besides, we both know I’d be lucky if you were only asking for a few years of my time.
So if you’d care to join me for an offensively early breakfast, we can discuss the details and get me shipped off.”
Bram had expected to strike a nerve with his nonchalance, but the pair seemed to be perfectly fine with this direct approach. This time, it was Victoria who replied:
“We took the liberty of retrieving your luggage. Come on, it’ll be our treat. Might as well fatten you up before we send you to the grill.”
Skills: Mechanical Savant / CQC Specialist
The Den, as a particular mechanic team had come to nickname their assigned mech hangar, had two acoustic states by default. During downtime, it was eerily quiet but for the characteristic hum of ArcSys power cells being charged. Active hours… Those were an entirely different story. An extremely loud story, at that. The poliphony of incessantly moving heavy equipment, the restless rounds of maintenance crews, the oft-exasperated recording of audio reports, high-speed typing… Music?
“Okay, Sigrun, I don’t believe this. That’s the fourth time in one week that you’re done this early. There’s no freaking way you’re working faster than Rachel.” The sheer disbelief almost turned the rambling into indignant squawking as a hyperactive man in overalls gesticulated in annoyance under the open cockpit of a Cavalier-class mech.
A hand poked out from within and waved dismissively while a woman bearing the same overalls turned down the unit’s internal speakers. Defiantly relaxed, she let the slowly uttered retort languish in the air: “Jealous, Lance?”
“Jealous my friggen’ spanner. I’m the fastest reader in the entire corps and can’t keep up with how fast you’re processing feedback lately. What, has your pilot not been deploying or something?”
“Nope~! Sae’s getting her Spitfire refitted from head to toe. New electronics. I’ve got the new promotion’s unit in the meantime.”
“...So?”
“So I’m having the time of my life here, this is the easiest my job has ever been.”
“With the heaviest unit in the hangar? You’re pulling my leg.”
“I’m dead serious, have a look at my feedback reports.” Lazily sliding down to the catwalk, the strongly built but diminutive redhead took a moment to yawn for effect before offering her teammate - Of a similar but lighter haired complexion - a handheld tablet screen.
Lance sorted through an obscene amount of different playlist windows to find the files in question, slowly calming down and nodding in approval every few seconds. “Huh, this is good stuff. … Oh! Oh, you’ve got the engineer, don’t you?”
“Yep! Well, pilot now. I’ve got the entire profile there. Check out the—”
“Blazes, that’s some creativity. Way too fancy to get past prototype, though. Those shells, maybe. The sword needs downsizing if you want to make more than one, but that housing idea is great. I can see why they didn’t put the guy to work with us, there’s no reining his type in.”
“And Development would be knocking him over the head all day long to keep it simple.”
“Still, how come he’s a pilot? They could just put him back in the acad— Oh. Okay, that’s why.”
“...Yeah.”
“That is just plain nasty.”
“Effective, though.”
“What in the great freaking cog are you guys reading while I bust my arse getting all the actual work done around here?” Distracted by their enthusiastic sharing of the feedback reports, the pair had failed to notice the quiet approach of their comparatively much taller teammate, whose bare arm reached over both of their heads to pluck the tablet from Lance’s hands. Benefitting from lenience thanks to seniority, albeit woe be whoever brings it up, Rachel kept the top half of her overall tied at the waist while using her own custom toolbelt and a camo-patterned top.
“Pilot reports, huh. Oh hey, Sigrun, your technical writing’s improved a little bit.” Her tied hair suddenly shook when she promptly did a double take. “Wait, this is the input. Signed… This is the PMC mechanic?”
“But this is so… neat. Where’s the complaints? The waste? The telling us how to do our job? He duplicated every issue before reporting it. This is precise plasgun calibration data. ...He tested with a blank pilot profile too?”
“Uh, Rachel?”
“This isn’t fair. I’m going to make this guy my pilot.” Free hand clenching into a raised fist, the team leader turned around and stormed off toward the exit at the opposite side of the catwalk. “I’m going to make this guy my husband”
“Wait, give me my tablet back!”
“Rachel, no!”
“Rachel, YES.”
Appearance: Standing at an even 1.9 meters, Bram towers over most of his homeland’s people. His imposing frame is bolstered by an even musculature developed through years of heavy gear operation. This hardly helps him blend in, even as his constantly insouciant behavior seems to attempt otherwise. His hair is kept short enough to almost stand straight up, defying attempts to sweep it back, although the few curiously gray strands are decidedly more malleable than the otherwise auburn mass.
Exposure tans and stray chemical burns have significantly darkened a once pale complexion, of which only a trace remains - in the calloused palms that no glove could keep from getting scarred up. This makes the normally plain grey-blue of his eyes striking through contrast, particularly when the oft-furrowed eyebrows relent and let the irises show properly.
Mecha: Cavalier
Loadout: 2x Heated Vibroblades, 1x Vibroknife, 1x Buckler (Left), 1x Plasma Pistol
“There you go. That’s going to be your new partner. I know you’ve only worked with custom frames, but this is nothing to sneeze at.”
“Triad Series Type-01, codenamed Cavalier. Standard gear. Could’ve sworn they’d drop me into a Musketeer. ...Codenamed Paladin? Someone likes irony.”
“That’d be Mizuki, one of the pilots that left yesterday. She suggested we use that by way of saying it’s your second chance made steel. Some of the pilots weren’t so friendly, though. Made you out to be some too-good-for-generics snob.”
“I guess that’s my fault for not hanging out much, but it’s for the best. I’ve been something of a bad luck charm. But no, Ensign, I respect the standard issue. Solid base to work with, good representation of a combat role. Though I guess I’m not going to have a say on loadout?”
“Not really. You can pick a template or send a requisition form, but you’ve got to play it safe with requests.”
“Figures. I’ll see what I can do. Thank you for the sneak peek, kiddo.”
“Careful, I outrank you now. I kid. Give ‘em hell out there, I’ll do my best here.”
Note: The character's mechanical prowess and specialization in mecha engineering have been worked out with Ryu, and were intended from the start to work through consulting GM before attempting anything. Further, while the knowledge is specialized in a constantly relevant field, practice is meant to be infrequent.
< Message edited by Cray -- 8/8/2018 19:33:51 >
Kell, you're Approved - and got a few chuckles out of me in the process.
Chewy905, we've spoken, and once you make the necessary corrections I'll be happy to review your bio again.
Caststarter, you've added a bit since last we spoke, but I don't see anything amiss within the additions. As such, you're Approved.
Cray, with the caveat included at the end of your submission, everything seems to be in order. You're Approved.
I'll try to do these sweeps more frequently going forward, though if you have any questions or concerns, you can message me either here or via Discord.
Creative!
Name: James ‘Jack’ Koldarr
Prior occupation: none
Origin: Aptia, Melces, Deleera
Skills: Close Quarters Combat/ Automobile mechanic.
Appearance: Relatively short, standing at a meagre 4’10” and being on the lean side, Jack does not initially come across as an imposing figure and an ever-present goofy smile does little to dissuade this assessment. Closer examination reveals there may be more to the young man, however. A once shaggy mess of bright red hair is now kept short-cropped, revealing a handful of small scars dotting his forehead, with one cutting through his left eyebrow.
Close examination of his stature reveals he is well-muscled, not quite to a bulky standard, but not far off either. His soft blue eyes, glittering in innocent wonder at the world around him, oppose the state of his hands, gnarled, weathered and despite the best attempts of anybody to clean them, ever-blackened, clear delineators of years of manual labour.
Loadout: Skirmisher
“Oh, heya there Jacob, sorry but we’re-“
“Not open yet, yeah I know. I ain’t parched none, nor’m I lookin’ t’drown my sorrows. Just needa rant at someone for a bit.”
“About your, ah, nephew, right?”
“That’s the one.”
“Thought the draft came for ‘im? Not as anyone don’t know his Mumma were fightin’ it somethin’ fierce.”
“Yeah, well, with her gone now, ain’t much in the way no more. Sure’s heck I’m not getting in it.”
“Guess that’ll be the end of the museum then?”
“Now what makes you say that?”
“Ain’t like it’s ever been much of a secret, the dang thing existed purely to give the kid somethin’ what to do, doin’ somethin’ he loved, when’s she found he did love doin’ it. That woman doted on him somethin’ fierce. Not’s as I know why she never had him on its payroll.”
“Way she figured it, if they knew the kid could work, they’d figure he could fight. Guess that one didn’t work out for her. Hey, least this way he ain’t gonna hurt any of the other local kids.”
“S’true. Though’s I been wonderin’ ‘bout that. My Fred said one time, you could get all threatening like and the kid’d just wilt up. But threaten him long enough or actually take a swing and he’d change in a heartbeat. Broke that Denarr kid's arm in three places one time, my Fred said so he did”
“Oh. That. Well, truth as told, He’s not actually just one kid.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, somethin’ the doctors said when he was born, somethin’ happened in the womb, like. They’s was s’posed be twins, but somehow, they got shunted into the same body. So, there’s actually two of them in there. The dumb kid what’ll never grow up, an’ his brother, who’s actually got some brains and'll kick yer butt if you've been hatin' on his brother.”
“Huh. Still, you think he’s even gonna make it through his training?”
“Were it just the dumb kid? Not a chance. But his brother’ll prob’ly thrive in that kinda environment. He don’t just come out when the kid’s threatened, neither. Give him more’n he can handle, or somethin’ he just plain don’t like a lot and the brother’ll pop up. S’why I don’ gotta worry about closin’ down that money sink.”
“Hmm. I’m surprised the kid even CAN function with his Mumma gone.”
“Har, now that were the easy bit. He don’t know.”
“What, you didn’t tell him?”
“Naw. Now he knew she were sick, so’s I just told him that the bad aliens were what was doin’ it to her, and he had to go with the nice gentlemen and fight the bad aliens to keep her safe and make her better. Heh, ya couldn’t hold him back at that point.”
“Dang, an’ he believed ya?”
“Of course. What reason’s he got to doubt his dear ‘Uncle Jacob’?”
“S’almost a shame though.”
“Oh? What is?”
“’Th’ Deleera Automobile Antiques Museum’. Now I know that woman as had plenty money spare to throw at it and it never generated a dime, but it were still interestin’ enough history. Not to mention, didn’t the kid basically keep everything running all by himself?”
“Hmph. Like anyone as really cares about that stuff. S’all over a thousand years old, everything just replicas, made in the woman’s factories. Sure, put together and kept running by the kid- those louts as were actually on payroll never lifted a finger- but it’s all he’s ever been good for. Maintaining tech that’s a millennia outta date. He takes one right between the eyes fightin’ them aliens, nothin’ of value willa been lost.”
“Dang, you really are ice cold towards the kid, Jacob. We’ll be open in a few, iff’n you do want a-“
“Pffft, nah like I said, just needed someone t’talk at a bit. That woman cared for that kid a hunnerd times more’n she ever cared for me, I ain’t gonna waste any time or tears on her.”
“Ice cold, Jacob. Ice cold.”
AQ DF MQ AQW Epic Post #: 8
TormentedDragon
Name: Tess Tahoe
Origin: Priyava, Eranan
Prior Profession: Construction Droid Operator
Skills: Mecha Maneuvering / Structural Engineering & Design
Physical profile:
The APEU wasn’t quite so impressive the second time through. Sure, it could build a picometer accurate profile of physical measurements of the subject inside within the span of a few minutes, enabling the automated precision manufacture of size-sensitive equipment. Sure, it was a marvel of optical measurement technology and analytical programming. Sure, it could tell instantly if you had a bad instep, or spinal problems, or had been favoring one arm since birth.
It was still just a big smelly pod that forced you to strip down and blinked lights at you so it could tell you how tall you were.
Right on cue. Of course, the internal readout was down to the bare basics, the kind of info you get in less time with a measuring tape. All the juicy details were stored for the medical and insurance people.
And she’d gained weight. Of course. Her eyes flicked to the reconstructed image on the readout, examining her digital doppelganger with a critical eye. She did not look fat, she did not think. Perhaps a little thick, but a lot of that was muscle. Or it should be.
She tensed her right arm, pressing fingers into the dark skin - the muscle remained firm. She’d put it down to muscle weight. Last time she’d measured had been before starting the latest regimen.
She dressed, retrieving her clothing from the shelves provided for the purpose, and stepped out to meet the stone-faced lady who was, presumably, filling out her file. She could feel the woman’s eyes flick over her hair, and braced for the coming argument.
“Sarkalen descent?” the woman asked.
She blinked, mouth half open for her prepared retort, and then nodded. The woman sniffed, and Tess very carefully did not scowl. “Pink’s natural, then?” She nodded again, still waiting for the shoe to drop and the fight to start.
“Understood, I’ll note the code exception in your file. This way please.” And the woman was walking.
A few minutes later, Tess recovered enough to follow, managing to leave her surprise behind her.
Loadout: Agent
Multiple screens played multiple recordings simultaneously, specific loops of footage picked as particularly pertinent to the ongoing review. Each one bearing the label of “Live Trial” or “Simulation,” they all displayed exterior view of mecha, engaged in skirmishes or maneuvering through terrain and space. In each case, the focus unit was involved in some manner of impressive maneuver: the ducking of a plasma rifle shot; swooping inside of a Cavalier’s guard; scaling a canyon wall with the barest use of thrusters.
As interesting as the displays were, the two people in the room were paying far more attention to the datapads in their hands, eyes scanning the lines of text and occasionally sliding to the next page with a button press. The woman, bars on her shoulders marking her as a Captain, cleared her throat, prompting the man to look up.
“Yes, Captain?”
“I feel like I’m missing something, Staff Sergeant.”
He frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“She’s a raw recruit, low priority on the draft, but she’s posting maneuvering metrics that would peg her as a veteran.”
“Ah, that,” he says, dropping his eyes back to his own datapad. “Check her employment history. Eleven years in construction, nine of those as a senior Construction Droid Operator. She moves like a veteran because she is one.”
It was the Captain’s turn to frown. “That makes a certain amount of sense, but that hardly seems transferrable to combat environments.”
“As I understand it, there’s more than a few CDO’s that participate in simulated Droid wrestling,” the Staff Sergeant responded. “She’s apparently well known in those circles. The, ah, Triple F Bomb, I believe.”
The Captain raised an eyebrow. “Triple F?”
He shrugs. “The acronym changes depending on who you ask. There are some you shouldn’t ask.”
“Ah.” She tapped the end of her stylus to her teeth, eyes scanning the data once more. “Engineering background, veteran in a cockpit, shows good potential for squad tactics; her marksmanship needs work, but, Staff Sergeant, why am I seeing recommendations for a Trooper designation?”
“Disciplinary history, Captain. I recommend page 2, section 4, as a shining example.”
The Captain raised another eyebrow, and navigated to the appropriate section. A moment of reading, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, then read the report again.
“Miming a tea party on a superior officer’s mech following a victory in a simulated mecha wrestling match,” she read, in a tone as dry as the Odorean desert.
The Staff Sergeant cleared his throat. “I can’t say as the lieutenant didn’t have it coming, sir.”
“Lt. Trey?” she asked, the words escaping in a half-sigh.
She nodded, and went back to staring at the data pad. Silence reigned for the next half hour, before the Captain finally put the data pad down.
“The behavioral reports would seem indicate an overall problem with authority, but on the other hand I’m not seeing any instances of direct insubordination or refusal to follow orders. The names of the complainants in each case are … telling, as well.”
He nodded, the corners of his lips turning the slightest bit upward.
“Make her a Private,” the Captain said, standing and smoothing the wrinkles in her uniform. “We won’t reward her behavior, but she’s too much of a potential asset to be left in grunt assignments forever.”
He stood too, and saluted. “I’ll note the recommendation, sir.”
Unclassified-FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Enlisted Record Brief-Full Record, Physiology Profile included
Prepared by COL Anthony Williams, LDF Central Command
Name: Hawk-eye Davis
Prior Profession: Combat Engineer/Security Consultant
Skills: Chemistry/Tactical Analysis
Physiology: Davis stands at 5’ 8”, weighs in at 190 lbs. He’s put on some weight since his medical discharge, but the weight is mainly due to muscle addition, thanks to the rigorous physical therapy plan that the LDF has put him on. He is well tanned, and age is starting to show on his face, wrinkles setting in around his eyes and forehead. His hair is salt and pepper, and his eyes are dark green. His hair has been sheared short thanks to his second round of boot camp. He is completely clean shaven, as he was when I served with him. There are three major body descriptors for Hawk-eye. The first is a tattoo on his left bicep. It reads in black ink “E Company, 35th ID, Red Bulls”, with the division coat of arms drawn underneath. The next is a mess of burn scars that adorn the right side of his face, starting just underneath his hairline, to the base of his neck, and spreading to the corner of his eye and mouth. The last is the absence of his right leg from the knee down. This does not bar him from reentry, see ADDENDUM 1.
Mecha Model: Cavalier
Enlistment History: Davis entered the LDF in 3150, three cycles before the start of the Elyon-Liluri war. He attended boot camp and received outstanding marks from his drill sergeants. He denied officer candidacy for personal reasons, and went on to serve in a combat engineer company. When the war broke out, he was sent to [REDACTED] with the rest of his company. He fought for 6 years, rising to the position of platoon sergeant, earning medals for valor in combat and dedication to his soldiers. He was medically discharged after he was severely wounded in a Elyoni ambush during the Battle of [REDACTED] in [DATE UNAVAILABLE]. Many of his platoon were injured. He worked a few jobs after being discharged, namely working for a big name security firm as a consultant, as well as the Liluri anti terrorism agency, studying and anticipating different explosive compounds and devices. Davis was contacted by a civilian prosthetics developer with a hefty LDF contract in 3165 to spearhead development of advanced prosthetics designed to handle the stress of military service. He was outfitted with his current prosthetic and underwent heavy testing.
Psychiatric Profile: Davis is extremely loyal to his squadmates. He is an extremely gifted strategist and has shown to apply tactical thinking to almost every decision in his life. That said, he often will forsake mission objectives for the safety of the soldiers he serves with. His experiences in the war have transformed him into a quiet, introverted and gruff veteran, and his disability and facial scarring has caused him to be treated as a pariah by the civilian population. He seems slightly conflicted, as proving his new prosthetic a success may open another demographic for the draft. Finally, Davis has shown deep sadness ever since of the loss of the majority of his platoon. He shows signs of extreme survivor’s guilt, often blaming himself for their loss. This seems to be his main motivation to reenlist, hoping to prevent anymore loss and atone for the deaths of his soldiers. This makes him extremely uneasy with the test flight of his advanced prosthetic. He is very wary of taking anyone else down with him if his leg cannot perform, causing conflict in his own psyche. His command structure is recommended to keep close eye on him for signs of mission endangerment.
ADDENDUM 1: Hawk-eye’s prosthetic is perhaps the most advanced model of it’s kind. It connects straight to his muscular and nervous systems, picking up the electrical signals that would normally be going to the lower portion of his leg. Hawk-eye has reported signs of stiffness in his knee, but nothing that fully limits movement. He also reports phantom pains and a senses of touch from the missing leg, but the doctors are unsure if there is a specific cause or if it is just routine experiences such as those shown by other amputees. The delicate electrical systems are protected by standard shielding, much like those that protect communication cabling, which serves to allow the prosthetic to resist all but the highest electromagnetic interference. The whole system is encased in a titanium carbon alloy. The joints allow full mobility of his knee and ankle. The prosthetic has been tested among a wide range variables, ranging from sandstorms to mild nuclear radiation. It has yet to be tested in real life combat, and both the LDF and the developers are eager to see how it performs. Hawk-eye has reported infrequent lock ups, ranging from mildly annoying to complete, often during high stress situations. The exact cause is unknown, and troubleshooting is on going.
< Message edited by Riprose123 -- 8/16/2018 21:12:16 >
DF MQ Post #: 10
Starflame13
Gryffin Warrior of DF & RP
Name: Blaisé of the House Delacroix
Prior Profession: Nobility
Skills: Sidearms Weapon Specialist/Diplomacy (International Politics).
Home Nation: Hernis, East Indari.
Appearance: Though her once luscious locks of chestnut brown have been shorn away, the delicately soft hands covered in callouses by a mix of combat training and manual labor, and the willowy limbs that served her well on the dance floor hardened into slim muscle, it still took only a glance at Blaisé to determine she was used to finer things in life. Her warm, brown skin remained unmarred by the scars that decorated the veteran soldiers. Her piercing hazel eyes still filled with scorn when her slop was served to her in the mess hall. And her tight posture and tighter tone implied that obeying orders came much more unnaturally to her than giving them.
Blaisé stands at 5'3". "The perfect height to be carried away by a knight in a shining armor" her father had once teased her. Even with her shaved head, her delicate features and rare-yet-winsome smile give her quite the lovely appearance. On this day, her uniform is spotless, pressed crisp and clean by hands that were not her own. Her sidearm, a customized pistol with the Delacroix logo emblazoned beneath the barrel, fits snugly at her waist.
Loudout: Skirmisher
General Backstory:The eldest child and heir of the House Delacroix, Blaisé was convinced that this war would bring her nothing but prosperity. Her family ruled the largest sidearms design and manufacturing corporation with an iron fist, and had negotiated several cushy contracts with the Liluri Military. She spent her days flirting with the heirs of other noble families, manicuring her nails, yelling orders at her servants, and touring the many facilities that would one day be her inheritance. The draft, however, presented a slight wrinkle in both her plans and her evening gowns...
"But DAD - "
"No buts. The commoners are unhappy with the draft, and the Queen has insisted that the nobility set the example. You have been drafted. You will serve in the name of House Delacroix."
"But Mooooooom...!"
"You heard your father. End of discussion."
AQ DF MQ AQW Post #: 11
Chewy, you seem to have cleared up all of the issues we discussed. Everything looks good. Approved.
nield, you've already talked through most of the sensitive aspects of this character with me, and as such, I don't really think anything looks amiss. You're Approved.
TD, everything looks to be in order here. I'll be curious to see how Tess fits into a team dynamic (and how much she'll be like the one I remember). Approved.
Riprose, keeping things going, everything looks good. Would recommend that you take a bit more time (or suborn someone) when editing your work, though. That aside, Approved.
Starflame, short, sweet, and Approved. Don't see anything out of place, and I'm happy to have you aboard.
AQ DF MQ Post #: 12
roseleaf320
Name: Kit Williams
Nationality: Alhernian
Prior Profession: Bartender
Mech/Loadout: Musketeer- Sniper
Skills: Sharpshooting / Music
Appearance: “My wife says I’m hot, not sure if that counts for anything.” Reaching 6 feet even, Kit had been the shelf-reacher both for his birth family and the family he has now. He was also the baby tosser, which his wife was not a fan of. He used to be a bit overweight, but now he boasts a respectable 160 pounds, the result of the rigorous training of the military (though he’ll tell you he lost it all with a baby-formula diet back at home). Of that weight, more is still fat than muscle, but his build is now relatively average. He’s hoping to take home a six pack. “Now that would be a surprise for her!”
Kit’s dusty-brown hair has been shaved back per regulation, leaving a short layer that’s still relatively soft to the touch. It frames a relatively soft face, which often has a kind smile on it. An understanding smile. His dark brown eyes often seem like they can see right through people, not in an evil or piercing way- rather, as if he knows you, your struggles, your failings, and yet believes in you all the same. This expression is why he claims he’s made to be a barkeep, and a musician. “Music and bartending are two halves of the same whole. You bring people up when they’re at their worst. You listen to them, you show them that there’s someone out there that really cares about them. And you provide them with a distraction, plain and simple. Whether through music or drink, you allow people an escape from something that feels so oppressive, so unending, that they’re genuinely worried they won’t make it out. That’s all they need, most times. People are so much stronger than they think, they just need to be shown that sometimes.”
This, and his family, is why he enlisted for the military.
“You’re determined to go.”
“Yes. I love you, Veronica. This war is getting desperate, and if we lose it could mean the end of this entire planet. I need to keep you and Joseph safe.”
“You could do that by staying here, with us.”
“Not if we lose I can’t. And I might just get drafted anyways. You might get drafted. If I go now, it will mean you’re unable to leave because of
Joey, you’ll be able to petition for denial if you’re ever called on.”
“...you research your arguments well. I can never hope to win against you. What will you do once you’re up there?”
“I’m hoping to pilot a mecha. A long-distance one, not a close combat one, I see that look. I’ve got a pretty good aim, I think I’ll be useful up there. And I’ll play and sing, they’re allowing me to bring my ukulele. No one needs a morale boost more than the people fighting to keep our entire race alive.”
“What about the people hopelessly praying that the love of their life won’t be blown to smithereens in the middle of space?”
“Oh love.” He reached a hand up to her cheek, caressing it. “I’ll always be with you. Even if I’m far away, even if I’m in the next life. I’ll always be right here.”
“And you’ll wait there if you get there before me?”
“There will never be any question about it.”
roseleaf, I like what you've got here. I'll be interested to see exactly how Kit deals with the intended tone of this RP, since it might well make or break him in the end. Regardless, you're Approved. Welcome aboard.
Kooroo
Name: Wren Siobhan Callahan
Height: 1.80 meters
Weight: 62 kilograms
Origin: Silbatia, Prastas
Prior Occupation: None specified
Rank: Ensign
Skills: CQC technique/Sheer Capital/Insufferability
"Hah, don't get ahead of yourself, Callahan. I've seen your runs in the sims. You're not that ho-"
The sole heir to the Callahan and Devaughn families takes most of her looks from her mother’s side of the family. A tall and slender girl, the only thing that she appears to inherit from her father is his dark, raven-coloured hair. Once kept long and straight, Wren’s locks have been trimmed to a short, cropped style that toes the line with grooming regulations; particularly around the fringe and the back. She wears a pair of thin, white glasses over her eyes; which are a bright, aureolin yellow.
With her elegant features and fair complexion, the young heiress would be considered pretty by most, were it not for the somewhat stern expression she wears almost constantly being the first and foremost. A common criticism from her parents—and probably anyone who’d risk her disdain—was that she'd look so much better if she only smiled [I]once in a while.
Since her entering the academy, Wren’s frame has bulked up only slightly; mostly through her legs and the shoulders. She appears to have also inherited her mother’s gift (or curse) of being unable to put on any further weight without extremely hard work, or a special diet.
Loadout: Modified Sniper: 1x Condensed-Particle Sniper Rifle, 1x Railgun, 2x Vibroknives.
"If those blades ever see the light of day, then it had better be for little more than a polish."
The daughter of Aureus Callahan and Evangeline Devaughn, and the sole heir to the family’s mining enterprise, Wren Callahan was born into a life of wealth, prestige and privilege. From a young age, the single child was given anything and everything that she could ever want. As her parents’ ambitions grew, however, more became expected of her. As her family expanded their wealth and power, Wren’s personal time diminished and was instead devoted to following her parents’ wishes.
A mere month and a half after her 18th birthday, Wren was entered into the LDF’s officer training path; an unexpected move, to say the least.
The reasoning behind Wren’s enlistment is still unknown. Her mother has said little on the topic, and her father has been quoted claiming that it would be a good experience for her. Wren herself has stated that the experience would be ‘invaluable’, although her demeanour and attitude through the academy did little to support that belief.
Aureus Callahan: The youngest of three brothers, but by far the most successful. Aureus Callahan is the CEO and Chairman of the largest mining corporations on Liluria. Now looking to further expand the company’s operational range and scope, the recently renamed Cardia International has begun purchasing shares in other industries.
Though his work kept him busy, the patriarch of the family tried his best to raise his daughter to succeed him and inherit the family’s wealth. To this end, Aureus hired a small team of the best teachers, trainers and bodyguards that money could buy to watch over Wren. As a result, the future heir has been taught everything that her parents deem necessary for a ‘proper’ education, along with a few extra skills.
"There will be times where you won't have your guards, servants or money with you, Wren. Better learn how to deal with that before, rather than after you've experienced it."
Evangeline Devaughn: A relative of the Silbatian monarchy and once a partner of a global professional services firm, the former lawyer eventually set her sights on the political workings of her country. Dissatisfied with the ‘failures’ of the Silbatian parliament, Evangeline announced her intentions to the country, and was appointed into a conveniently vacated seat. She currently heads the largest right-wing party of the Silbatian legislature, seeking to enact a revolutionary change of government.
The relationship Evangeline shares with her daughter has always been a distant one; both in a metaphorical and literal sense. Aside from being a driving force behind her daughter’s education, Evangeline has had little influence compared over Wren’s upbringing after her early childhood. Wren often sees her mother on the news, but the two rarely speak; going for months without direct communication is an ironically common occurrence. As of Wren’s induction into the academy, the last time that the mother and daughter met face to face was over a year and a half prior.
"Has your father bought the neighboring estate yet, dearest?"
"He bought that a year ago, mother."
< Message edited by Kooroo -- 9/17/2018 1:21:09 >
AQW Epic Post #: 15
While I know there are plans to get this show on the road fairly soon, I'm unfortunately going to need to withdraw Blasie for the time being to focus on some other things - best of luck to the other participants!
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International Law In Action: Investigating and Prosecuting International Crimes
Université de Leyde
‘Investigating and Prosecuting International Crimes’ is the second course in Leiden University’s new series on International Law in Action. The first course covered international courts and tribunals in The Hague in general. This second course provides an insider perspective into the work of international criminal courts and tribunals. You will learn about the investigation and prosecution of international crimes in The Hague. Atrocities produce unspeakable forms of violence. We will explore whether and how international criminal justice contribute to what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called the ‘age of accountability’. The theory is, those who commit the worst of human crimes, are held accountable, whether they are rank-and-file foot soldiers or military commanders, whether they are lowly civil servants following orders or top political leaders. We will test how this can be done and if this is realistic. During this course, you will be offered a look into the ‘kitchen’ of the Hague international criminal courts and tribunals. You will learn how international criminal justice functions, who the actors are, what outcomes it produces, and how it can be improved. If you want to gain a better understanding of international criminal cases, like the Lubanga case, the ICC’s first ever trial, and the legal legacy of UN international criminal tribunals, then this course is definitely for you! This course is free to join and to participate in. There is the possibility to get a verified certificate for the course, which is a paid option. If you want a certificate, but are unable to pay for it, you can request financial aid via Coursera.
Justice, Criminal Justice, International Law, Law
Very informative course with comprehensive tools and valuable interviews and dialogue with relevant experts in the field of international law!
Comprehensive yet respectful amount of gained knowledge within anyone's grasp. Just few clicks away from very valuable knowledge source.
Trying Perpetrators
In this third week, we will focus on the criminal process, including the challenges faced by different actors. We will study how a trial unfolds. We will explore the role and perspective of the Defence and victims. We will then examine the role of the judge in international criminal proceedings. We will finally discuss the role of child soldiers as victims and perpetrators, including the experiences of the ICC in its first cases (Lubanga,Ongwen).
The Trial11:58
The Role of the Judge11:22
Defending Suspects and Accused (Part I)7:57
Defending Suspects and Accused (Part II)8:29
The Role of Victims11:46
The Child Soldier Dilemma10:03
Interview with Defense Counsel: Karim Khan QC42:24
Carsten Stahn
Prof. dr International Criminal Law and Global Justice
All rise!
The Prosecutor vs Defendant,
please be seated!
International criminal proceedings involve drama.
The characters are set up as adversaries.
The trial is the climax <br>of the proceeding,
it's like the main act in a play.
The prosecution tells the story of the protagonist,
the defense challenges the narrative.
Judges are directors and actors:
they watch over fair play, and control that the trial does not derail.
The audience wants to know who has done it, and who wins.
There's a hope that villains are punished and that victims are vindicated, and
that the judgement restores some sense of order into chaos.
But reality is often more complex:
proceedings take years,
judgements are lengthy.
There's often no full catharsis at the end, but multiple truths.
In this video, we'll find out why:
we will study the purposes of the trial, its different steps, the role of actors,
and the basis of the judgment.
What happens at trial?
At trial, the prosecutor presents the case against the accused, and factual and
legal issues relevant to the determination of guilt and sentence.
Its main purpose is to ensure that the defendant receives a fair and
expeditious legal process;
at the end, they have two choices, conviction or acquittal,
but there's more to it than meets the eye.
Trials typically serve additional didactic functions:
they educate, they explain, and they illuminate.
They seek to explain what happened, why it happened, and who is responsible.
This is complex,
since the defendant is often only one piece in a large puzzle of crime.
Judges must assess competing narratives and the credibility of the evidence.
Trials also have a certain symbolic function that goes beyond shame,
sanction, and stigma:
they offer a space to rehumanize perpetrators, and
might bestow a certain sense of equality between the victim and the perpetrator.
Trials involve a high degree of communication and performance.
In principle, the trial is public:
exceptions are only allowed for specific purposes, such as public order, safety and
security of witnesses and victims, or the protection of confidential information.
The principle of orality is the rule:
it implies that live testimony, even by video or audio link, should be
used wherever possible since it can be better tested than out of court testimony.
The judgement must be based on evidence discussed at trial, or
submissions that are a part of the trial record.
Proceedings are generally set up as a contest between the parties:
like a sporting game, the prosecution and the defense present separate cases.
There should be procedural equality between the parties:
both parties must have a fair and equal opportunity to present their case.
The presumption of innocence imposes the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt.
The prosecutor must tell the story, put together a coherent narrative, and
prove every necessary element of the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
It is not sufficient to show that the defendant is probably guilty, or
likely guilty.
The defense typically raises doubts, identifies weaknesses in
the prosecution case, or offers counter-narratives.
One of the weaknesses of this binary structure of trials
is that they may prolong hearings, or induce hostility between the parties.
This is why international criminal proceedings involve
inquisitorial features.
They seek to establish the truth, and test the cases of the parties through
contradiction, including confrontation and dialogue, rather than hostile contest.
Trial management and preparation are under strict judicial control.
Judges have autonomous powers:
for instance, at the ICC, judges may require that evidence
becomes part of the record, and they might even summon their own witnesses,
and admission of guilt obtained from the accused
does not automatically bind the trial chamber.
Judges must assess whether a guilty plea is voluntary, informed, and
supported by the facts of the case;
they may insist on an ordinary trial procedure where more complete and
public presentation of the facts is in the interest of the victims.
How does a trial unfold?
A trial involves the opening stage, the presentation of the evidence,
the closing stage, and judgment and sentence.
The opening statements combined case theory with advocacy:
for instance, in Lubanga, the ICC prosecution mentioned
sexual crimes against girls in order to illustrate the importance of the case,
even though these crimes were not formally charged.
Most time at trial is spent with the presentation and testing of evidence.
This can take several years.
In each case, an examination-in-chief, cross-examination, and
re-examination of witnesses are allowed to both parties.
The examination-in-chief is the initial questioning
by the party calling the witness.
It is subject to instructions by the Chamber.
Parties are generally not allowed to ask leading questions:
this means questions which would suggest an answer, or
assume facts not yet established.
Cross-examination involves questioning of a witness of the other party, or
a witness declared hostile.
It is designed to cast doubts on matters raised during the examination-in-chief,
the reliability of the witness, or
to solicit information favorable to the cross-examining party.
Re-examination allows the calling party to have the last word with the witness
in relation to matters or new facts arising out of the cross-examination.
After the presentation of the prosecution case, there is room for
the defense to request a mid-trial acquittal:
this is called a no case to answer motion.
Its purpose is to prevent that accused persons have to defend themselves against
charges for which there's insufficient prosecution evidence.
The ICC Trial Chamber used this<br>option in a controversial way
in the case against Ruto and Sang:
the case collapsed following external interference with prosecution witnesses.
Instead of acquitting the accused, the majority declared a mistrial and
left the prosecution the opportunity to reprosecute the accused
based on new evidence.
This goes against the prohibition of double jeopardy,
which prohibits that the defendant is prosecuted twice for the same conduct.
At the end of the trial, the prosecution may present closing arguments
followed by the defense and the legal representative of victims.
The closing argument does not serve to present further evidence:
it is meant to sum up elements of proof, and to suggest a verdict.
How is the evidence assessed?
Many adversarial legal systems tend to have strict rules
on the admission of evidence in order to protect the jury, or
laypersons, from unreliable or improper evidence.
In international criminal proceedings,
this is not necessary since professional judges try both the facts and the law:
judges can admit any relevant evidence that has probative value.
There's no general rule excluding hearsay or
indirect evidence, such as UN reports or reports by NGOs.
But the ad hoc tribunals and
the ICC have treated it with caution in terms of it's probative value.
They have accepted written witness statements, or
recorded audio or video testimony, instead of in court testimony.
But such statements are typically only used
to prove matters other than the acts and the conduct of the accused.
Most witnesses are still heard live in court.
In court testimony has specific advantages:
it allows the Chamber to hear the evidence directly from the witness,
to observe their behavior and expressions, or to seek clarification.
But is also has down sides:
witness testimony takes long, and witnesses are often unfamiliar
with the adversarial method of examination and cross-examination.
It is difficult to restrict the testimony to what is relevant to the charges:
there may be language problems, and inconsistencies in statements.
Often, years pass between the facts and the testimony:
the prosecution tries to reduce<br>such risks through practices of
witness proofing before testimony.
But in the Lubanga case, the ICC Trial <br>Chamber argued that it is impermissible to
discuss or rehearse the witness statement prior to testimony since it could lead
to a distortion of the truth and diminish the spontaneous nature of testimony.
Following the presentation of the evidence,
the judges must assess the facts and the legal issues:
they are constrained by the facts and circumstances that are part of the trial,
but they have autonomy in the legal assessment.
This is expressly specified in the ICC context:
according to Regulation 55 of the Regulations of the Court,
judges are allowed to enter a conviction for a different label of crime or
mode of liability, if the underlying elements are covered by the charges.
This provision has been used in any of the existing ICC trial judgements,
but fairness requires that judges can only do so
if they have given prior notice to the parties during the proceedings.
So what can we take from this?
In this video, we've seen that trials involve aspects of advocacy and drama:
these elements are part of the expressive function of trials, but
they are also likely to cause disappointment.
Trials are easily perceived as show trials:
there's a strong risk that every judgment is seen as an unsatisfactory answer
to atrocity crimes, and that an acquittal is seen as a failure.
But this vision is misguided:
the very structure of the trial requires different narratives, complexities,
and nuances.
One of the strengths of the trial lies in the fact
that it offers a forum where contradiction and contestations are tested.
This is required by procedural fairness.
Second, there's a healthy tension between adversarial features and
inquisitorial elements:
trials live through the experience of testimony, namely, contact and
exposure to witnesses or victims,
but they require management by judges.
We will study their role in the next video.
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Chapter 4 Episode 1
Noon, Day 6th, 10th Month, the Year 2813, Western continent calendar.
A galleon ship named Atalanta was running at full speed towards the northeast.
The ship was receiving a favorable wind direction.
In fact, its sail was greatly swelled out due to the strength of the wind.
“Report! Sirius harbor already appeared on the northeast.”
Land began appearing on the horizon.
“Understood. I will call captain Braz now.”
The moment the lookout crew shouts out loudly, the crew underneath him goes inside the ship.
“Uhuh, indeed that is the city of Sirius. Oi! We’re already close, prepare the anchor!”
After checking the port using the telescope he had, the captain with black skins gives his order to his crew.
(On top of not waiting for the wind to blow, we actually ended up with a constant favorable wind huh?…)
Braz thought of such feeling while he folded his telescope.
He had left Mispoz city by the end of the 9th Month, they had calculated that they would arrive at Sirius city in 4 days.
But unlike his last route, He had chosen the route that did not navigate close to the coastal line, it was a route that goes straight across the ocean, but despite that, he managed to arrive earlier.
(I was wondering about what would happen but, listening to the young one suggestion seems to be the correct answer… I thought they were an amateur, but, I guess I lost this time huh?…)
A bitter smile appeared on Braz’s face.
While the young one showed a certain respect toward Braz who was a senior and a veteran sailor, the youngster actually had the guts to order the shipping route in order to shorten the voyage time.
Normally they would need seven days for the trip, that includes the waiting for a good wind to appear, for them to arrive within five days were already doubtful.
Braz turned his gaze toward the group.
At the time when they headed toward Mispoz from Serius city, all of these youngsters had become seasick and ended up useless during the trip, but this time was different.
All of the youngsters were actually very young. Their ages were around 15 years old or even less.
Furthermore, they were not sailors.
They dressed in black leather armor, they were soldiers belonged to Baron Mikoshiba.
Although they were amateur sailors just a few days back, now their skill was not less than skilled sailors.
“Captain Braz, how is the wind? Should we strengthen the sail a bit more?”
Noticed Braz gaze.
A girl from the youngsters’ group talked.
“No, if we strengthen it more than this, there’s the possibility that the sail would break. Besides, our destination is already this close. No need to be in hurry. Thank you Melissa-dono.”
Braz answered Melissa with polite words despite her being the same age as his daughter.
“Understood. If that the case then we will maintain the current speed.”
Braz showed a gentle smile toward Melissa who responded to him with such a bright smile.
Just like how he usually responded to his own daughter…
In this world, the ship that usually being used was a sailing ship or a Galley ship.
Both had different advantages, but Galleon ship was usually used for trade and transport because it had a large load capacity.
The biggest drawback of a Galleon ship was the needed wind strength to pull the ship.
Most ships including Galleon ship were using several sails to go forward.
Although fortunately in addition to the square sail, there was also development in regard to a vertical sail, but once the wind stops, ordinary sail ships have no choice but to wait for the wind to blow once again while being swayed by the wave. –
It is impossible for a human to control the weather, so the only thing the humans can do was to pray to God.
Yes, that was until now…
Melissa and the others did not do anything spectacular.
They only used an elementary level magic art belonged to the wind magic that caused a gust of wind.
Normally it was used as an attack magic, it was a fundamental basis for wind attribute users, which used the compressed wind to perform an attack.
But rather than compressing the wind and release it all at once, they diffused the wind little by little.
Of course, such wind won’t cause any damage, but it was enough for the ship to move.
Since it would be unusable if the wind were too strong and ended up damaging the sails.
They might have been new magic users, but at the same time, it was making what they did quite meaningful.
And for Melissa and the others, after having seen the usefulness of their immature skills it caused them danced in joy.
Furthermore this method also a perfect way for practice.
Knowing they were being needed, they begin to show a self-confidence. –
Other than that, the happy feeling of returning to Serius city after a few months being away must be quite high within her.
Despite the city located at the place where many people hated it, the city itself was without a doubt a second hometown for her. –
“Listen! I know you guys already being told by Lady Simone, but don’t forget, don’t ever tell anyone about what we going to see here anywhere else. Understand?”
Contrary to his usual gentle attitude, Braz ordered his crewmen with a tough voice.
The seamen nodded in silent toward their captain’s order while preparing to anchor the ship.
This was the second time they had performed this voyage.
Although the sailors were feeling fed up being told those words repeatedly, they also understand why they were being told that over and over again.
And they also understood what they should never spoke about.
It was to that extent how surprised they were when they first saw Sirius city.
It was a well-organized cityscape.
The city had a well kept wide paved roads.
The wall surrounded the entire city was also quite extensive.
And of course, that alone was not the things that caused them feeling surprised.
Looking at the scale, one would easily saw something like that in this continent if they go to a territory belonged to an affluent aristocrat family.
However, the thing they felt surprised about was the place where the city was being build, it was being build on the Wortenia peninsula.
All the more surprising when they found out that the city was being built just a few months ago.
“Captain… is by any chance, my eyes broke?”
A sailor talked to Braz while rubbing his eyes when they saw Sirius city that gradually appeared in front of them.
Braz did not need to ask the matters in detail.
He himself was also unable to believe the sight which spreads in front of him. –
“Don’t worry. Your eyes are good…”
“I see… Then I was right…”
Braz nodded his head in affirmation.
“Indeed… The city has become bigger…”
Clearly, the scale of the city had become bigger compared to the first time Braz saw it.
Even the size of the harbor was 1.5 times bigger.
(I can’t tell anyone about this. If I do, they might doubt my sanity instead…)
Such thought crossed Braz mind.
It might be possible to build such city if one were to use tens of thousands people to work, but having to build such city in a place called Wortenia peninsula might cause every people to say such task as impossible.
Around two months ago, together with another ship owned by Simone named Melanion, Braz had delivered 1,000 slaves, but, even with that, it was impossible to build such city with just that.
Not to mention, the slaves that Braz had delivered were just some young boys and girls.
Those children who had received the harsh treatment of their slave merchants had a weak body.
Of course, they had been giving the slaves a proper meal on the ship during the trip, but it was impossible to recover one’s health in one go.
(No wonder my lady warned us about it. I can’t tell anyone about this…)
Braz then directed his line of sight toward Melissa and the others.
Vaguely he understood the mechanism behind this impossible scene.
“Oi you guys, what are you doing. Work faster! Prepare the anchor!”
Braz scolded his crewmen who looked stunned due to the spectacle.
Although he understood their feeling, he also knew that curiosity killed the cats…
The city’s name was Sirius.
In Greek, it had the meaning of the “shinning/glowing/brilliant” one.
“Ryouma-sama. Atalanta has arrived.”
“Understood. Is there any damage to the goods?”
Responding to Ryouma’s question Sara directed her eyes toward the parchment.
“Captain Braz have reported that the guys under Melissa command were useless during the voyage toward Mispoz due to seasickness, but on the returning trip, they seemed to have contributed enough…”
“Seasickness? Is that why they ended up late than planned? I did not see that coming…”
Certainly, it was impossible to ask someone worked on the ship while it was their first time ride on one.
There were people who had a constitution that made them hard to get seasick, but it seemed like the guys that were being put on Braz ship this time had a body constitution that made them easy to get seasickness.
In fact, it was quite surprising that they all managed to overcome their seasickness during the return trip.
(Well, I guess it can’t be helped since it was their first time. I guess I can’t get angry over this… They said that those who easily get motion sick are those who have a strong mental spirit…)
Ryouma lightly smiled while listening to the report.
“There seems no damaged goods. Fortunately, due to the good weather, there were no goods destroyed by sea water or other cause.”
If one were to encounter a storm during goods transport voyage., some load might collapse or ended up getting covered by sea water, but it seemed like this time they have been lucky.
“I understand. I want to prioritize on procuring the weapon and preserved food for now. As for the payment, is it alright if we use the fangs and leathers obtained from the monsters only?”
“It seems to be enough for now. However, Simone-san also has written some letters, because there are not many suppliers, she wants to increase the number of fangs and leathers being delivered.”
“Increasing the quantity huh?”
Ryouma entered a deep thought after he heard Sara’s report.
Many monsters inhabiting the Wortenia peninsula had high priced materials in them, and if one were to go to the market with those materials, it would without a doubt being sold at a good price.
Ryouma had originally wanted to leave all the fangs and leathers he had acquired to Simone, but he cannot reduce the amount he had currently sold to the merchants from Epiroz either.
If he reduced the amount he sold to Epiroz merchants, they might realize another trade route existed.
“What about the new people that are currently under training?”
“They only begin the training less than two months ago, thus it would be quite hard to push them into a real battle immediately…”
Ryouma had thought of increasing the procurement of the fangs and leathers by increasing the amount of hunting, but if the soldiers were lacking in training they might have ended up as fodder for the monsters instead.
“If that the case then we have no choice but to let Simone wait a bit longer…”
Because the supply cannot keep up with the demand, it cannot be helped.
(Also, it would be bad if the price collapsed because we sold too much of it too…)
Ryouma had those thoughts while nodding lightly.
“Also… There’s something worrisome…”
Ryouma frowned at Sara’s words.
When Sara said it like that, it meant something really bad.
Of course, it was not her fault, it was just the way she wording it always caused some unnecessary anxiety.
“Is this regarding the demi-humans?”
“Yes, there’s also regarding that matter written in Simone’s letter…”
Right now, Ryouma’s biggest concern was the demi-humans existence.
The other day, Ryouma had delivered the three girls rescued from the hands of the pirates to their leaders, but at the time he arrived at their place, he received a hard time…
In a novel, usually the other party would’ve ended up felt indebted to him, and immediately get along with each other, but the reality was not that sweet.
It was not like they didn’t show any gratitude.
It was just they seemed to be unable to trust the human named Mikoshiba Ryouma immediately.
After all, they were races that have been discriminated by the humans.
The heavy history of that persecution tied their heart.
In fact they did not want to get involved with the humans.
That was their true feeling.
That was why Ryouma spent a considerable time to persuade them.
For Ryouma, he could not leave this matter alone.
He wanted to absorb them under his rule, he wanted to obtain their power.
Otherwise, there was no point for him opening a base in Wortenia peninsula.
Once he managed to maintain his maritime authority, the only way to invade Wortenia peninsula was via Epiroz.
Which meant he can finally concentrate his forces to the south.
This was one of the greatest advantages of the peninsula being situated in the corner of the continent.
And it would have been impossible to do that if there were another hostile power within the peninsula.
He needed to do this all because it was necessary for him to secure a certain amount of strength.
That was why, Ryouma made a suggestion to Nelsios, one of their clan leaders.
He suggested that Nelsios and the other clan’s leaders visit Sirius city once every half a month, and have a dinner with him.
Having regularly met and ate with each other, even if it was just a little, he wanted to amend some of the distrust they had harbored toward the humans.
Although it was a roundabout way, but due to the distrust and fear toward the human was very strong, the negotiations itself usually broke down just because some slight demand was made.
That was also why Ryouma had paid more attention regarding the demi-humans, well, other than that he had no other problems.
Until he read the content of Simone’s letter….
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Posted on April 3, 2018 May 25, 2018 by hasutsuki
Editor : Starbuck11
Surrounded by rugged rocky mountains, a vast pocket of land spread in the middle.
The Ushias basin was a relatively rich plain when compared to the majority of Zalda’s territory that was mostly made of rocky mountains.
While most of the agricultural crops rely on imports from neighboring countries, these kinds of greenery areas scattered in several places around the country are mainly responsible for growing staple food such as wheat.
Although the Zalda Kingdom territory was not suitable for agriculture, it can’t rely solely on imports either.
Assuming the country has to give up on other grocery goods, it should never import staple foods from outside, because if it ever relies on this then it will have a very big weakness.
Since, if a country imported even the staple foods it needs, the neighboring countries could easily intervene by threatening to stop the exports of such essential foods.
It was no exaggeration to call Ushias basin the heart of the Zalda Kingdom.
Thus, from the perspective of national defense this place could not be ignored.
The Ushias basin was located a hundred kilometers southwest of Periveria, the capital of the Zalda Kingdom. The basin was also a traffic hub that people need to pass if they wanted to go to the south and west of the Zalda Kingdom.
In this basin, due to the vast area, it was hard to perform a surprise attack.
Thus unexpected situation was unlikely to happen.
In such a place, a robust fort had been built on the east side of the basin, stuck in the middle of a valley.
Being located in that situation, it was standing tall as if it was the Zalda Kingdom’s guardian deity.
The fort that had been developed by the Royal family for many years, and the support it gets by making use of other forts located in the mountains, coupling with the advantage of topography, made it an impregnable fortress indeed.
Therefore, even after two months had passed, the 65,000 troops from Ortomea Empire could still not conquer the fort.
Today as well, the Ortomea Empire soldiers rushed toward Ushias fort with much zeal.
Everything was for victory…
“Everyone! This is a critical moment. By combining the forces from our three countries, even with Ortomea Empire as our enemy, we will not let them capture this fort! The current enemy supplies should be low and such condition should’ve caused their morale to drop! Let us show them our strength and bestow those invaders with iron justice!”
“””Glory to the eastern three countries! Death to the Invaders!”””
When the beautiful general from the Mist Kingdom, Eclatia Marienel, ended her speech, the soldiers cheered with much vigor.
They also raised their fist high towards the heaven.
These soldiers placed their absolute trust in their commander who stands in front of them with a gentle smile on her face.
Even though Eclatia was from another country, for the soldiers such a thing was irrelevant right now.
Although there were reinforcements from the surrounding forts and also the Royal capital, it was because of Eclatia’s outstanding command that the Ushias fort still managed to hold on against the 65,000 enemy troops.
“Prepare the bows ! The first line, draw your bow ! Second line and third line in standby ! They are going to bring the siege weapons out ! Let the arrows loose as soon as they enter the range. Those on the rear, don’t forget to prepare fire arrows ! Are the oils ready ?! Listen ! Do not let any soldiers survive ! Kill every single one of them !”
The commanding officers give their orders across the fort walls.
The arrows wrapped in cloth are then soaked with oil.
There were also iron pots filled with boiling oil raising some steam.
If such oil was poured on the Ortomean soldiers that tried to climb the walls, their skins would melt. After that, they will be baptized with fire arrows.
No one can escape intact from such continuous attack.
For the Ortomea Empire soldiers, fort Ushias was akin to the gate of hell.
“Don’t you ever take a step back ! Rozeria Kingdom soldiers ! Let us show our value here !”
Elena yelled at the surrounding knights while letting loose the bow that was aimed at the Ortomea Empire soldiers trying to close in.
Of course, even if they have the advantage of geography, this battle was not an easy one.
Their enemy was Ortomea Empire that boasts exceptional national strength.
Having abundant human resources.
The enemy performed a human wave attack.
The pressure of such tactic was not light.
Regardless of how high the walls protect them, in the end, it was the soldier’s heart that decides everything.
Elena encourages the troops desperately while shooting her arrow at an Ortomea Empire soldier that tried to use magic arts.
In a siege warfare, the most important thing was to keep the morale of the soldiers up.
The battle will end when the morale of the soldiers falls.
The only way to make the enemy morale breaks down was to keep pilling enemy corpses.
“Watch out for the battering ram!”
Warning shouts come from the watchtower.
It was a simple battering ram, a tree with a handle on its sides and the tip covered with iron. but it was something that should never be underestimated, even an iron gate could fall because of such a thing.
“Fire arrows ! Purge that thing !”
Under the quick command of the commanding officer, oil was poured from above and the fire arrows squad rained their projectiles toward the battering ram.
Apparently, the Ortomea Soldiers learned from their previous mistakes and covered themselves with wet clothes, but such small tricks won’t prove much useful.
And as everyone had expected, such measure was proven fruitless.
(No matter how big the army is, if the situation only provided for a small number of tactics that can be chosen, then this will happen huh? Afterwards, everything depends on that child’s progress, and until that time comes I need to keep the morale up…)
Elena’s face was dyed red due to the evening sun, together with a dark smile appearing on her face.
“It is about time for today’s attack to end…”
A woman’s voice called to Elena who was commanding the front line.
“Indeed… The sun has already fallen, shortly after this, the enemy soldiers should begin pulling back… Is something happening that caused the General of the army to come out to the front line like this?”
Elena asked back while keeping a casual attitude.
In response to Elena’s question, Eclatia answered by shaking her head.
“Nothing in particular. It seems Grahart-san is doing well against the enemies who are advancing via the mountain route.”
“Well, it was natural, since he is a capable person.”
Elena nodded her head confirming such news as a matter of fact.
Grahart Henschel is the head of Zalda Kingdom’s royal guard, he was one of the best soldiers of the Zalda Kingdom.
His capability as a commander-in-chief who oversaw the entire war was not that good, but as a commander of a single battlefield, his capability and experience should be sufficient enough. For him who was born in this country, the Ortomea Empire should never be able to defeat him when it comes to mountainous warfare.
It was the right choice to leave the defense of the Ushias fort to the army of the three kingdoms, while Grahart himself was in command of the surrounding forts located in the mountainous area.
Nonetheless, it was hard for Elena and Eclatia to ask Grahart to do such defensive job.
And after a rough strategy meeting, it took the Zalda King giving him a direct order to make Grahart take the job.
The reason why Elena and Eclatia pushed such task to Grahart was that he was the one most familiar with the land.
No matter how strong Ushias fort was, it would be meaningless if the enemy could just go around it.
The morale of the soldiers would fall all at once if that was to happen.
“For now, it seems today’s battle is about to end… With this, we managed to win the 20 days schedule as planned…”
While looking at the Ortomea army that was slowly retreating, Eclatia said those words with a smile on her face.
Although there was the possibility of a night assault, she had already prepared something for that.
If the enemy decides to keep the assault, they will be met with a hard blow.
“Indeed, that child should be able to do it…”
In response to Eclatia’s words, Elena turned her gaze toward the north.
Waiting for the hand that will turn this war around to arrive…
“Saitou, even with your command, we still could not break through?”
Sardina’s frustrated voice reverberated inside the tent.
It was unusual for her to be this frustrated.
Her expression was also terrible.
Anxiety from the prolonged war caused the light on Sardina’s eyes to grow dimmer.
Her hair also lost its gloss.
The dark circle around her eyes also showed the situation she was currently in.
“I’m very sorry… That fort was built in a valley, it takes time to break through it…” <TLN: This kind of fort position is very similar to the one from the Lord of the rings, called Helm’s Deep>
Saitou lowered his head with a serious face.
It was not Saitou’s individual responsibility for the war to get prolonged like this.
After all, it was Sardina who held the entire authority.
Conversely, it was the responsibility of Sardina who have the highest command.
Besides, Saitou was only a commander of some units.
If one were to speak about responsibility, the one who was most responsible was none other than Seria who just arrived for her new job, as Sardina’s close aide, and the staff officers, not only her.
But Saitou was not some child that would rebuke Sardina and say that everything was her responsibility.
The most important thing right now was to win the war.
For Saitou understands that he should avoid remarks that might cause Sardina’s mind to become cloudy.
However, despite Saitou’s concerns, an annoying man opened his mouth.
“Well well, that’s not all of it. Those guys, they dispersed their army along the mountains while focusing the defense on this fort. When we tried to meet with their challenge in the mountains, they immediately pulled us in. While at the same time with tens of thousands of troops, we still could not push back their defenses here…”
“Sudou-san!”
Although Sudou has the qualification to speak as an advisor, Saitou still yelled at Sudou for his conduct.
In the first place, Saitou never liked Sudou.
Although Saitou held some sympathy as someone who had the same fate being summoned to this world, their personalities were like water and oil.
Sudou who likes to make strategies and schemes was completely different compared to Saitou who was more like a warrior.
(It’s not like he is a bad person… But somewhere, this person’s mind is broken… But then I guess it can’t be helped…)
Sudou likes to see bloodshed with his plans.
Saitou saw him as someone with a broken part as a human being.
However, if he argues here, coupled with Sudou’s manner of speaking, it might disturb Sardina’s mind further.
“It’s fine, Sudou. You can say what you want to say…”
Sardina interrupted Saitou with a tone as if she gives up.
To be honest, she didn’t want to hear Sudou’s words.
However, she understood that Sudou’s ability at making strategy was better than her.
Although his personality was difficult to handle, she could not ignore Sudou’s words either.
Hearing Sardina’s words, Sudou glanced at Saitou in triumph, then he lifts his lips.
“Ushias Fort is a fortification within another fortification. Not only that, we don’t have proper siege weapons with us this time as well… It was because we used troops that are more suited for mobile warfare that we suffered this kind of unfortunate result…”
Because the fort walls were fortified by magic arts, the only way to bring down such fort was only by using standard siege warfare.
However, most of the siege weapons were heavy and inconvenient for transportation, thus Sardina could not fully prepare for this kind of battle.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that she didn’t prepare anything either : along the way, she ordered her soldiers to gather logs by cutting trees to create small siege weapons, but even with that, the attack performance from such weapons was too inferior compared to the one made by a proper craftsman.
Particularly, there were too many holes on the durability side.
Such weapons didn’t have enough defense against fire arrows and oil poured from overhead.
“In addition to that, the movement of the Zalda Kingdom’s nobility that we supposedly brought to our side was also dull. Probably, because we were met with hard fights, they decided to sit on the fence…”
In a siege battle, the easiest way to attack was from the side.
In other words, the easiest way to win a siege battle was to use traitors.
However, the nobles they had bought to perform the task were somehow moving slowly.
“They decide to play both sides, huh?”
“That’s correct. If I was in their position, that is what I would do. They have no loyalty to anyone. Well, the reason why we could bring down General Belharres was also thanks to those kind of people…”
In response to Sardina’s question, Sudou gave his answer while laughing.
The cooperation from last year was only because of their opportunistic personality.
Listening to Sudou’s words, Sardina once again bite her thumbnail.
(Those guys must have doubted the Empire’s power because of these prolonged battles… Damn it, I should’ve decided on a short and decisive battle after all…)
“Fine then… What is your plan, Sudou?”
“The best plan is to pull soldiers back and be satisfied with the land we’ve currently occupied. Trends in the north are questionable, while we’re also low on supplies. With Belharres’ son raiding our supply convoys all the times, it is hard to get new ones. Local procurement is also severe, as the Zalda soldiers burned the villages and fields when they retreated.”
Such tactic was called scorched-earth warfare.
It was used many times throughout history.
When such tactic was used, an army could not procure supplies from the locals, thus making the maintenance of the troops become harder.
It had been proven highly effective against large invading armies, especially when transportation was also difficult because of mountainous or cold areas.
However, despite its effectiveness, it also had great drawbacks.
The biggest disadvantages of such tactics were to make post-war reconstruction become harder.
In other words, for the Zalda Kingdom to prevent the enemy from winning, they decided to cut their own flesh.
The only way to break such tactic was to win the war in a short period of time, thus an army didn’t have to worry about resupplying from its own nation.
When both methods fail, it was natural to withdraw the army.
However, Sardina shook her head.
“We can’t… Sudou. Do you think I can withdraw now?”
She understood that Sudou’s words were correct.
However, she could not easily withdraw the soldiers now.
Sudou was also aware of that too.
“True, to be honest, it would be a very difficult situation. At least your highness position would become unfavorable. Of course, that also means our position…”
In this one year, Sardina’s war expenditures had exceeded 500 million baht.
Such amount was very enormous, it was even comparable to the budget of a small country.
It was not an amount that could easily be levied, even for Ortomea Empire.
However, the amount of war expenditures was not the problem this time.
Since when everything is considered, Ortomea Empire could gather that amount of funds in two to three years time.
The problem was whether the expenditure was worth it or not.
There were many reasons for a war to happen, but the most common one was due to economic considerations.
The reason a nation occupied a land was also mostly because of the taxes and resources obtained from that land.
Thus, pouring money to achieve that was not a problem.
The problem lies whether the money spent and the amount one’s get was balanced out.
“As soon as we withdraw the soldiers, we will have to negotiate with the Zalda Kingdom…”
Saitou stopped his words.
Negotiation was not a bad choice, as long as the situation was a little more inclined towards the Ortomea Empire.
Although the ideal goal was to destroy the Zalda Kingdom, the Ortomean Emperor had said that it was okay to make them a vassal country.
However, with this kind of situation, Sardina could not accept such end.
“It is true that if we failed in capturing Ushias basin, we can’t justify the war costs… Especially with the current situation, it is impossible…”
“I know that… That is why I made it a priority to capture this fort…”
Silence dominated.
Sudou and Saitou remained silent, while Sardina stared at them.
The profits the Empire would get by starting negotiations before they can capture the Ushias fort was minimal.
The Zalda side won’t give up so easily the important land that produces food for their country.
However, Ortomea Empire was not a naive nation either.
In other words, the Empire also needed to return the cost of waging war.
“It seems like we have to continue attacking like this…”
“But, Sudou-san!”
“If we can’t retreat then we can only move forward, no?”
Saitou responded to Sudou’s question with silence.
Sardina had received a lot of trust from the Emperor, thus many people were jealous of her.
Especially her two older brothers.
Envy usually accompanied honors, but if this expedition ended up in failure, she would become an easy target for the monsters in the imperial court. –
Such a thing also applied to the imperial family.
Execution might be not considered, but she would without a doubt end up isolated.
“We should make tomorrow’s battle a decisive one… Sudou, we will use the plan you talked about earlier…”
Sardina’s eyes turned sharp once again.
She re-confirmed her objectives once again.
“Very well, a whole-army wave attack it is… If this fail, everything is over…”
Sudou confirmed the plan with a smile on his face.
(Is Sudou-san referring to a mobile form of attack? Certainly, there’s some possibility… However…)
Saitou’s instinct that had been polished since he was summoned to this world, gave him a warning alarm.
However, it was also true that they were out of options.
“Saitou, you will be on the front line as well tomorrow…”
“Yes… Your Highness…”
Sardina turned a sharp look at Saitou who remained silent.
Pushed by the momentum, Saitou could only nod his head while feeling a little uneasy.
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When You Should Worry About Dizziness
Dizziness is not a problem you should ignore. It can affect people differently, making you feel like you are spinning, light-headed, imbalanced, woozy, or it can cause a floating or rocking sensation. You may also experience nausea and visual problems, such as a decrease in focus, says vestibular therapist Janet Kucinic. Advertising Policy Cleveland Clinic … Read More
July 22, 2013 / Brain & Spine
Causes and treatments are wide-ranging
Dizziness is not a problem you should ignore. It can affect people differently, making you feel like you are spinning, light-headed, imbalanced, woozy, or it can cause a floating or rocking sensation. You may also experience nausea and visual problems, such as a decrease in focus, says vestibular therapist Janet Kucinic.
She says it’s important to tell your doctor if you feel these symptoms because it can be caused by a variety of issues, including:
A problem in your inner ear, brain or neck
Neurological issues
Heart-related issues
Changes in your medication or dosage
“The most important thing is to seek medical attention in order for a doctor to make appropriate assessments and diagnoses,” Ms. Kucinic says.
She says your doctor may recommend further diagnostic tests, including an MRI and/or CT of the brain and/or neck; cardiac tests; or vestibular test battery, a gold standard in assessing inner ear function.
The primary doctor may also refer you to an ENT or neurologist, Ms. Kucinic says.
When it’s an emergency
If dizziness is ever accompanied by any of the following, go to the ER:
Pain or numbness/tingling in the arm(s)
Pressure or heaviness
Common causes for dizziness
While dizziness can be caused by various factors, it often occurs when the vestibular system – which controls balance and spatial orientation — becomes injured or damaged.
This may occur when:
Small crystals of calcium carbonate within one of the organs of the inner ear becomes detached and moves into another part of the inner ear. Called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), this dizziness is usually short-lived. It can happen when you bend, look up, roll over in bed or move from a lying to sit or sit to lying position.
You experience an acute onset of symptoms including dizziness, nausea/vomiting, imbalance and visual challenges. This can be caused by vestibular neuritis and may follow an upper respiratory infection or a gastrointestinal tract infection.
You experience symptoms that are similar to neuritis, but it also can involve hearing loss and tinnitus due to a condition called vestibular labyrinthitis.
Less common types of dizziness can be caused by:
An opening in the temporal bone overlying the superior semicircular canal of the inner ear, which is called superior canal dehiscence.
A hole in the oval or round window, which separates the middle ear from the inner ear, which is called a perilymphatic fistula.
A benign tumor growing on the vestibulo-cochlear nerve called an acoustic neuroma.
Other problems that can trigger dizziness are Menieres disease and migraines, Ms. Kucinic says.
Neck problems related to dizziness
Ms. Kucinic says it is also possible to experience dizziness related to the cervical spine, even if you don’t have neck pain.
“When there are joint restrictions in the neck, especially in the upper cervical spine, this can cause a misfiring of how the neck and brain communicate. This, in turn, can cause dizziness,” she says.
“There are also particular muscles in the neck that can cause dizziness if there is an increase in tone in these particular muscle groups,” she adds.
Dizziness therapies
“Sometimes, initially, patients with an acute onset of dizziness need various medications to assist with lessening the symptoms,” Ms. Kucinic says.
“These medications are called vestibular suppressants. In addition, there are anti-nausea medications to assist with nausea and vomiting that patients tend to experience initially,” she says.
Depending upon the causes of your dizziness, treatments may include:
Retraining of the visual, vestibular and somatosensory systems (involving muscles and joint receptors),
Guidance through some physical maneuvers to help resolve the positional vertigo
Strengthening and balance training
Manual intervention, postural training and performance of appropriate exercises
“The good news is that many people who suffer from dizziness can get some form of relief,” Ms. Kucinic says, noting that there are various support groups, such as The Vestibular Disorders Association.
dizziness Double vision Headaches vision loss
November 28, 2016 / Brain & Spine
Feeling Dizzy? How to Manage Your Vertigo, Improve Your Balance
September 2, 2015 / Ear, Nose & Throat
You’re Feeling Dizzy — Should You Be Worried?
September 20, 2018 / Brain & Spine
Vestibular Migraines: Why This Dizzying Type of Migraine Is a Little Strange
October 12, 2017 / Family Medicine
Tinnitus: 5 Strange Reasons for Ringing Ears
March 18, 2019 / Ear, Nose & Throat
Feeling Unsteady? What You Should Know About Balance Problems
August 6, 2018 / Ear, Nose & Throat
The Sticky Truth About Itchy Ears: You May Be Causing the Problem
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