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(503) 254-1451 Local Trusted Portland Bankruptcy Attorney
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Chapter 7 Liquidation Under the Bankruptcy Code
Home » Bankruptcy Tips » Chapter 7
The chapter of the Bankruptcy Code providing for “liquidation,” ( i.e., the sale of a debtor’s nonexempt property and the distribution of the proceeds to creditors.)
Alternatives to Chapter 7
Debtors should be aware that there are several alternatives to chapter 7 relief. For example, debtors who are engaged in business, including corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships, may prefer to remain in business and avoid liquidation. Such debtors should consider filing a petition under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Under chapter 11, the debtor may seek an adjustment of debts, either by reducing the debt or by extending the time for repayment, or may seek a more comprehensive reorganization. Sole proprietorships may also be eligible for relief under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.
In addition, individual debtors who have regular income may seek an adjustment of debts under chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. A particular advantage of chapter 13 is that it provides individual debtors with an opportunity to save their homes from foreclosure by allowing them to “catch up” past due payments through a payment plan. Moreover, the court may dismiss a chapter 7 case filed by an individual whose debts are primarily consumer rather than business debts if the court finds that the granting of relief would be an abuse of chapter 7. 11 U.S.C. § 707(b).
If the debtor’s “current monthly income” (1) is more than the state median, the Bankruptcy Code requires application of a “means test” to determine whether the chapter 7 filing is presumptively abusive. Abuse is presumed if the debtor’s aggregate current monthly income over 5 years, net of certain statutorily allowed expenses, is more than (i) $11,725, or (ii) 25% of the debtor’s nonpriority unsecured debt, as long as that amount is at least $7,025. (2) The debtor may rebut a presumption of abuse only by a showing of special circumstances that justify additional expenses or adjustments of current monthly income. Unless the debtor overcomes the presumption of abuse, the case will generally be converted to chapter 13 (with the debtor’s consent) or will be dismissed. 11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(1).
Debtors should also be aware that out-of-court agreements with creditors or debt counseling services may provide an alternative to a bankruptcy filing.
A chapter 7 bankruptcy case does not involve the filing of a plan of repayment as in chapter 13. Instead, the bankruptcy trustee gathers and sells the debtor’s nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds of such assets to pay holders of claims (creditors) in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. Part of the debtor’s property may be subject to liens and mortgages that pledge the property to other creditors. In addition, the Bankruptcy Code will allow the debtor to keep certain “exempt” property; but a trustee will liquidate the debtor’s remaining assets. Accordingly, potential debtors should realize that the filing of a petition under chapter 7 may result in the loss of property.
Chapter 7 Eligibility
To qualify for relief under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, the debtor may be an individual, a partnership, or a corporation or other business entity. 11 U.S.C. §§ 101(41), 109(b). Subject to the means test described above for individual debtors, relief is available under chapter 7 irrespective of the amount of the debtor’s debts or whether the debtor is solvent or insolvent. An individual cannot file under chapter 7 or any other chapter, however, if during the preceding 180 days a prior bankruptcy petition was dismissed due to the debtor’s willful failure to appear before the court or comply with orders of the court, or the debtor voluntarily dismissed the previous case after creditors sought relief from the bankruptcy court to recover property upon which they hold liens. 11 U.S.C. §§ 109(g), 362(d) and (e). In addition, no individual may be a debtor under chapter 7 or any chapter of the Bankruptcy Code unless he or she has, within 180 days before filing, received credit counseling from an approved credit counseling agency either in an individual or group briefing. 11 U.S.C. §§ 109, 111. There are exceptions in emergency situations or where the U.S. trustee (or bankruptcy administrator) has determined that there are insufficient approved agencies to provide the required counseling. If a debt management plan is developed during required credit counseling, it must be filed with the court.
One of the primary purposes of bankruptcy is to discharge certain debts to give an honest individual debtor a “fresh start.” The debtor has no liability for discharged debts. In a chapter 7 case, however, a discharge is only available to individual debtors, not to partnerships or corporations. 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(1). Although an individual chapter 7 case usually results in a discharge of debts, the right to a discharge is not absolute, and some types of debts are not discharged. Moreover, a bankruptcy discharge does not extinguish a lien on property.
How Chapter 7 Works
A chapter 7 case begins with the debtor filing a petition with the bankruptcy court serving the area where the individual lives or where the business debtor is organized or has its principal place of business or principal assets. (3) In addition to the petition, the debtor must also file with the court: (1) schedules of assets and liabilities; (2) a schedule of current income and expenditures; (3) a statement of financial affairs; and (4) a schedule of executory contracts and unexpired leases. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(b). Debtors must also provide the assigned case trustee with a copy of the tax return or transcripts for the most recent tax year as well as tax returns filed during the case (including tax returns for prior years that had not been filed when the case began). 11 U.S.C. § 521. Individual debtors with primarily consumer debts have additional document filing requirements. They must file: a certificate of credit counseling and a copy of any debt repayment plan developed through credit counseling; evidence of payment from employers, if any, received 60 days before filing; a statement of monthly net income and any anticipated increase in income or expenses after filing; and a record of any interest the debtor has in federal or state qualified education or tuition accounts. Id. A husband and wife may file a joint petition or individual petitions. 11 U.S.C. § 302(a). Even if filing jointly, a husband and wife are subject to all the document filing requirements of individual debtors. (The Official Forms may be purchased at legal stationery stores or downloaded from the internet at www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/index.html. They are not available from the court.)
The courts must charge a $245 case filing fee, a $39 miscellaneous administrative fee, and a $15 trustee surcharge. Normally, the fees must be paid to the clerk of the court upon filing. With the court’s permission, however, individual debtors may pay in installments. 28 U.S.C. § 1930(a); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(b); Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, Item 8. The number of installments is limited to four, and the debtor must make the final installment no later than 120 days after filing the petition. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006. For cause shown, the court may extend the time of any installment, provided that the last installment is paid not later than 180 days after filing the petition. Id. The debtor may also pay the $39 administrative fee and the $15 trustee surcharge in installments. If a joint petition is filed, only one filing fee, one administrative fee, and one trustee surcharge are charged. Debtors should be aware that failure to pay these fees may result in dismissal of the case. 11 U.S.C. § 707(a).
If the debtor’s income is less than 150% of the poverty level (as defined in the Bankruptcy Code), and the debtor is unable to pay the chapter 7 fees even in installments, the court may waive the requirement that the fees be paid. 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f).
In order to complete the Official Bankruptcy Forms that make up the petition, statement of financial affairs, and schedules, the debtor must provide the following information:
A list of all creditors and the amount and nature of their claims;
The source, amount, and frequency of the debtor’s income;
A list of all of the debtor’s property; and
A detailed list of the debtor’s monthly living expenses, i.e., food, clothing, shelter, utilities, taxes, transportation, medicine, etc.
Married individuals must gather this information for their spouse regardless of whether they are filing a joint petition, separate individual petitions, or even if only one spouse is filing. In a situation where only one spouse files, the income and expenses of the non-filing spouse are required so that the court, the trustee and creditors can evaluate the household’s financial position.
Among the schedules that an individual debtor will file is a schedule of “exempt” property. The Bankruptcy Code allows an individual debtor (4) to protect some property from the claims of creditors because it is exempt under federal bankruptcy law or under the laws of the debtor’s home state. 11 U.S.C. § 522(b). Many states have taken advantage of a provision in the Bankruptcy Code that permits each state to adopt its own exemption law in place of the federal exemptions. In other jurisdictions, the individual debtor has the option of choosing between a federal package of exemptions or the exemptions available under state law. Thus, whether certain property is exempt and may be kept by the debtor is often a question of state law. The debtor should consult an attorney to determine the exemptions available in the state where the debtor lives.
Filing a petition under chapter 7 “automatically stays” (stops) most collection actions against the debtor or the debtor’s property. 11 U.S.C. § 362. But filing the petition does not stay certain types of actions listed under 11 U.S.C. § 362(b), and the stay may be effective only for a short time in some situations. The stay arises by operation of law and requires no judicial action. As long as the stay is in effect, creditors generally may not initiate or continue lawsuits, wage garnishments, or even telephone calls demanding payments. The bankruptcy clerk gives notice of the bankruptcy case to all creditors whose names and addresses are provided by the debtor.
Between 20 and 40 days after the petition is filed, the case trustee (described below) will hold a meeting of creditors. If the U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator (5) schedules the meeting at a place that does not have regular U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator staffing, the meeting may be held no more than 60 days after the order for relief. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2003(a). During this meeting, the trustee puts the debtor under oath, and both the trustee and creditors may ask questions. The debtor must attend the meeting and answer questions regarding the debtor’s financial affairs and property. 11 U.S.C. § 343. If a husband and wife have filed a joint petition, they both must attend the creditors’ meeting and answer questions. Within 10 days of the creditors’ meeting, the U.S. trustee will report to the court whether the case should be presumed to be an abuse under the means test described in 11 U.S.C. § 704(b).
It is important for the debtor to cooperate with the trustee and to provide any financial records or documents that the trustee requests. The Bankruptcy Code requires the trustee to ask the debtor questions at the meeting of creditors to ensure that the debtor is aware of the potential consequences of seeking a discharge in bankruptcy such as the effect on credit history, the ability to file a petition under a different chapter, the effect of receiving a discharge, and the effect of reaffirming a debt. Some trustees provide written information on these topics at or before the meeting to ensure that the debtor is aware of this information. In order to preserve their independent judgment, bankruptcy judges are prohibited from attending the meeting of creditors. 11 U.S.C. § 341(c).
In order to accord the debtor complete relief, the Bankruptcy Code allows the debtor to convert a chapter 7 case to a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 (6) as long as the debtor is eligible to be a debtor under the new chapter. However, a condition of the debtor’s voluntary conversion is that the case has not previously been converted to chapter 7 from another chapter. 11 U.S.C. § 706(a). Thus, the debtor will not be permitted to convert the case repeatedly from one chapter to another.
Role of the Case Trustee
When a chapter 7 petition is filed, the U.S. trustee (or the bankruptcy court in Alabama and North Carolina) appoints an impartial case trustee to administer the case and liquidate the debtor’s nonexempt assets. 11 U.S.C. §§ 701, 704. If all the debtor’s assets are exempt or subject to valid liens, the trustee will normally file a “no asset” report with the court, and there will be no distribution to unsecured creditors. Most chapter 7 cases involving individual debtors are no asset cases. But if the case appears to be an “asset” case at the outset, unsecured creditors (7) must file their claims with the court within 90 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3002(c). A governmental unit, however, has 180 days from the date the case is filed to file a claim. 11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(9). In the typical no asset chapter 7 case, there is no need for creditors to file proofs of claim because there will be no distribution. If the trustee later recovers assets for distribution to unsecured creditors, the Bankruptcy Court will provide notice to creditors and will allow additional time to file proofs of claim. Although a secured creditor does not need to file a proof of claim in a chapter 7 case to preserve its security interest or lien, there may be other reasons to file a claim. A creditor in a chapter 7 case who has a lien on the debtor’s property should consult an attorney for advice.
Commencement of a bankruptcy case creates an “estate.” The estate technically becomes the temporary legal owner of all the debtor’s property. It consists of all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case, including property owned or held by another person if the debtor has an interest in the property. Generally speaking, the debtor’s creditors are paid from nonexempt property of the estate.
The primary role of a chapter 7 trustee in an asset case is to liquidate the debtor’s nonexempt assets in a manner that maximizes the return to the debtor’s unsecured creditors. The trustee accomplishes this by selling the debtor’s property if it is free and clear of liens (as long as the property is not exempt) or if it is worth more than any security interest or lien attached to the property and any exemption that the debtor holds in the property. The trustee may also attempt to recover money or property under the trustee’s “avoiding powers.” The trustee’s avoiding powers include the power to: set aside preferential transfers made to creditors within 90 days before the petition; undo security interests and other prepetition transfers of property that were not properly perfected under nonbankruptcy law at the time of the petition; and pursue nonbankruptcy claims such as fraudulent conveyance and bulk transfer remedies available under state law. In addition, if the debtor is a business, the bankruptcy court may authorize the trustee to operate the business for a limited period of time, if such operation will benefit creditors and enhance the liquidation of the estate. 11 U.S.C. § 721.
Section 726 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the distribution of the property of the estate. Under § 726, there are six classes of claims; and each class must be paid in full before the next lower class is paid anything. The debtor is only paid if all other classes of claims have been paid in full. Accordingly, the debtor is not particularly interested in the trustee’s disposition of the estate assets, except with respect to the payment of those debts which for some reason are not dischargeable in the bankruptcy case. The individual debtor’s primary concerns in a chapter 7 case are to retain exempt property and to receive a discharge that covers as many debts as possible.
The Chapter 7 Discharge
A discharge releases individual debtors from personal liability for most debts and prevents the creditors owed those debts from taking any collection actions against the debtor. Because a chapter 7 discharge is subject to many exceptions, debtors should consult competent legal counsel before filing to discuss the scope of the discharge. Generally, excluding cases that are dismissed or converted, individual debtors receive a discharge in more than 99 percent of chapter 7 cases. In most cases, unless a party in interest files a complaint objecting to the discharge or a motion to extend the time to object, the bankruptcy court will issue a discharge order relatively early in the case – generally, 60 to 90 days after the date first set for the meeting of creditors. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4004(c).
The grounds for denying an individual debtor a discharge in a chapter 7 case are narrow and are construed against the moving party. Among other reasons, the court may deny the debtor a discharge if it finds that the debtor: failed to keep or produce adequate books or financial records; failed to explain satisfactorily any loss of assets; committed a bankruptcy crime such as perjury; failed to obey a lawful order of the bankruptcy court; fraudulently transferred, concealed, or destroyed property that would have become property of the estate; or failed to complete an approved instructional course concerning financial management. 11 U.S.C. § 727; Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4005.
Secured creditors may retain some rights to seize property securing an underlying debt even after a discharge is granted. Depending on individual circumstances, if a debtor wishes to keep certain secured property (such as an automobile), he or she may decide to “reaffirm” the debt. A reaffirmation is an agreement between the debtor and the creditor that the debtor will remain liable and will pay all or a portion of the money owed, even though the debt would otherwise be discharged in the bankruptcy. In return, the creditor promises that it will not repossess or take back the automobile or other property so long as the debtor continues to pay the debt.
If the debtor decides to reaffirm a debt, he or she must do so before the discharge is entered. The debtor must sign a written reaffirmation agreement and file it with the court. 11 U.S.C. § 524(c). The Bankruptcy Code requires that reaffirmation agreements contain an extensive set of disclosures described in 11 U.S.C. § 524(k). Among other things, the disclosures must advise the debtor of the amount of the debt being reaffirmed and how it is calculated and that reaffirmation means that the debtor’s personal liability for that debt will not be discharged in the bankruptcy. The disclosures also require the debtor to sign and file a statement of his or her current income and expenses which shows that the balance of income paying expenses is sufficient to pay the reaffirmed debt. If the balance is not enough to pay the debt to be reaffirmed, there is a presumption of undue hardship, and the court may decide not to approve the reaffirmation agreement. Unless the debtor is represented by an attorney, the bankruptcy judge must approve the reaffirmation agreement.
If the debtor was represented by an attorney in connection with the reaffirmation agreement, the attorney must certify in writing that he or she advised the debtor of the legal effect and consequences of the agreement, including a default under the agreement. The attorney must also certify that the debtor was fully informed and voluntarily made the agreement and that reaffirmation of the debt will not create an undue hardship for the debtor or the debtor’s dependants. 11 U.S.C. § 524(k). The Bankruptcy Code requires a reaffirmation hearing if the debtor has not been represented by an attorney during the negotiating of the agreement, or if the court disapproves the reaffirmation agreement. 11 U.S.C. § 524(d) and (m). The debtor may repay any debt voluntarily, however, whether or not a reaffirmation agreement exists. 11 U.S.C. § 524(f).
An individual receives a discharge for most of his or her debts in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. A creditor may no longer initiate or continue any legal or other action against the debtor to collect a discharged debt. But not all of an individual’s debts are discharged in chapter 7. Debts not discharged include debts for alimony and child support, certain taxes, debts for certain educational benefit overpayments or loans made or guaranteed by a governmental unit, debts for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity, debts for death or personal injury caused by the debtor’s operation of a motor vehicle while the debtor was intoxicated from alcohol or other substances, and debts for certain criminal restitution orders. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a). The debtor will continue to be liable for these types of debts to the extent that they are not paid in the chapter 7 case. Debts for money or property obtained by false pretenses, debts for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, and debts for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity will be discharged unless a creditor timely files and prevails in an action to have such debts declared nondischargeable. 11 U.S.C. § 523(c); Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4007(c).
The court may revoke a chapter 7 discharge on the request of the trustee, a creditor, or the U.S. trustee if the discharge was obtained through fraud by the debtor, if the debtor acquired property that is property of the estate and knowingly and fraudulently failed to report the acquisition of such property or to surrender the property to the trustee, or if the debtor (without a satisfactory explanation) makes a material misstatement or fails to provide documents or other information in connection with an audit of the debtor’s case. 11 U.S.C. § 727(d).
The “current monthly income” received by the debtor is a defined term in the Bankruptcy Code and means the average monthly income received over the six calendar months before commencement of the bankruptcy case, including regular contributions to household expenses from nondebtors and including income from the debtor’s spouse if the petition is a joint petition, but not including social security income or certain payments made because the debtor is the victim of certain crimes. 11 U.S.C. § 101(10A).
To determine whether a presumption of abuse arises, all individual debtors with primarily consumer debts who file a chapter 7 case must complete Official Bankruptcy Form B22A, entitled “Statement of Current Monthly Income and Means Test Calculation – For Use in Chapter 7.” (The Official Forms may be purchased at legal stationery stores or downloaded from the internet at www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/index.html. They are not available from the court.)
An involuntary chapter 7 case may be commenced under certain circumstances by a petition filed by creditors holding claims against the debtor. 11 U.S.C. § 303. return to text
Each debtor in a joint case (both husband and wife) can claim exemptions under the federal bankruptcy laws. 11 U.S.C. § 522(m).
In North Carolina and Alabama, bankruptcy administrators perform similar functions that U.S. trustees perform in the remaining 48 states. These duties include establishing a panel of private trustees to serve as trustees in chapter 7 cases and supervising the administration of cases and trustees in cases under chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. The bankruptcy administrator program is administered by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, while the U.S. trustee program is administered by the Department of Justice. For purposes of this publication, references to U.S. trustees are also applicable to bankruptcy administrators.
A fee is charged for converting, on request of the debtor, a case under chapter 7 to a case under chapter 11. The fee charged is the difference between the filing fee for a chapter 7 and the filing fee for a chapter 11. 28 U.S.C. § 1930(a). Currently, the difference is $755. Id. There is no fee for converting from chapter 7 to chapter 13.
Unsecured debts generally may be defined as those for which the extension of credit was based purely upon an evaluation by the creditor of the debtor’s ability to pay, as opposed to secured debts, for which the extension of credit was based upon the creditor’s right to seize collateral on default, in addition to the debtor’s ability to pay.
Notes/Comments
PDX Bankruptcy
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Our Bankruptcy Law Firm
Jim Choi - Portland Bankruptcy Attorneys
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Copyright All Rights Reserved © 2016 | Jim Choi | Portland Bankruptcy Attorney
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MON 6/2/2014 6:00:00 PM Box Story (4672) Crawford/Padilla
-4 @ -9
Williams single propels the Las Vegas Train Robbers past the Santa Fe Fuego 9-4
6/3/2014-
The Las Vegas Train Robbers (6-14) jumped on the Santa Fe Fuego (14-5) early on their way to a 9-4 win on Monday at Rodriguez Park, scoring four runs in the first inning.
The Las Vegas Train Robbers scored in the first on an RBI single by Kyal Williams, an RBI single by Miguel Castano, and a two-run double by Johnson.
The Las Vegas Train Robbers Shane Casey was perfect at the dish, going 2-2. He singled in the second and sixth innings.
Josh Tols struck out six, paving the way for a the Las Vegas Train Robbers win. Tols allowed no earned runs, three hits and five walks over six innings.
Omar Artsen got on base four times in the game for the Santa Fe Fuego. He singled in the third and ninth innings.
Austin Carden ended up on the wrong side of the pitching decision, charged with his first loss of the year. He allowed seven runs in four innings, walked three and struck out two.
For more information visit Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs LLC. http://www.PecosLeague.com 575-680-2212
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Transtar Temposari 2019 / 3.etapp / Rahinge
Etapi juhend Etapid Rajakaart Sarja üldjuhend
Eraldistart 24.0 km
Eraldistart 24.0 km vabaklass
All categories MJ M S2 S3+ N
All clubs hanso mk oü Hauka veloklubi 226ERS HAWAII EXPRESS Kaitseressursside Amet Otepää Rattaklubi Rattariided OÜ Respo Haagised AS RTR Ruutu Kuus SK TriSmile TÜASK
O/Pos
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Start 01:20:34.3 01:20:34.3 01:20:34.3 19:19:34.3 43 14 35 43 14 35
4.9km 01:27:00.9 00:06:26.6 00:06:26.6 19:26:00.9 43 14 35 2 2 2
14.6km 01:39:49.0 00:19:14.6 00:12:48.0 19:38:49.0 42 14 34 1 1 1
24.0km 01:52:28.3 00:31:53.9 00:12:39.3 19:51:28.3 41 13 33 41 13 33
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4.9km 00:29:28.1 00:06:23.8 00:06:23.8 18:28:28.1 8 3 7 1 1 1
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14.6km 01:40:51.0 00:19:47.1 00:13:06.2 19:39:51.0 44 4 36 3 1 3
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4.9km 01:03:22.7 00:06:48.8 00:06:48.8 19:02:22.7 21 6 18 10 9 10
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4.9km 01:06:29.9 00:06:54.8 00:06:54.8 19:05:29.9 25 10 21 12 2 12
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4.9km 01:24:03.2 00:06:59.1 00:06:59.1 19:23:03.2 41 13 33 14 11 14
13 124 Priit Kasenõmm 00:34:46.9 S2 2 Male 13 EST 238 41.4 km/h 18:32:04.0 00:06:51.1 11 00:13:58.1 14 00:13:57.7 10
Start 00:33:04.0 00:33:04.0 00:33:04.0 18:32:04.0 11 4 9 11 4 9
4.9km 00:39:55.1 00:06:51.1 00:06:51.1 18:38:55.1 11 4 9 11 1 11
14.6km 00:53:53.2 00:20:49.2 00:13:58.1 18:52:53.2 10 4 9 14 2 14
24.0km 01:07:51.0 00:34:46.9 00:13:57.7 19:06:51.0 10 4 9 10 4 9
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14.6km 01:22:16.5 00:21:43.1 00:14:31.5 19:21:16.5 26 7 22 17 12 17
19 62 Karl Mihkel Vent 00:36:15.7 M 13 Male 19 EST 232 39.7 km/h 18:20:03.4 00:06:57.1 13 00:14:33.6 18 00:14:44.9 7
4.9km 00:28:00.6 00:06:57.1 00:06:57.1 18:27:00.6 7 2 6 13 10 13
14.6km 00:42:34.2 00:21:30.7 00:14:33.6 18:41:34.2 8 3 7 18 13 18
20 3 Antti Haljak 00:36:18.5 S2 5 Male 20 EST 231 39.7 km/h 18:04:04.2 00:07:10.3 17 00:14:41.1 22 00:14:26.9 1
4.9km 00:12:14.5 00:07:10.3 00:07:10.3 18:11:14.5 1 1 1 17 4 17
14.6km 00:26:55.7 00:21:51.5 00:14:41.1 18:25:55.7 1 1 1 22 5 22
21 11 Meelis Leidt 00:36:26.6 S3+ 1 Male 21 EST 230 39.5 km/h 19:24:34.3 00:07:15.9 20 00:14:36.7 19 00:14:33.9 48
22 10 Arti Ilves 00:36:27.4 MJ 3 Male 22 EST 229 39.5 km/h 19:06:33.5 00:07:18.3 22 00:14:40.0 21 00:14:29.0 34
23 1 Valdek Rohtma 00:36:40.1 S2 6 Male 23 EST 228 39.3 km/h 19:04:33.8 00:07:18.3 21 00:14:41.2 23 00:14:40.4 32
24 94 Erkki Lepp 00:36:47.2 M 14 Male 24 EST 227 39.1 km/h 19:20:34.6 00:07:22.6 26 00:14:51.7 25 00:14:32.8 45
25 108 Markus Adams 00:36:51.9 MJ 4 Male 25 EST 226 39.1 km/h 18:38:03.5 00:07:30.6 32 00:14:51.1 24 00:14:30.2 14
26 125 Priit Oidram 00:37:01.4 M 15 Male 26 EST 225 38.9 km/h 19:14:34.5 00:07:21.6 24 00:15:10.2 30 00:14:29.5 42
27 15 Aivar Veri 00:37:11.5 S3+ 2 Male 27 EST 224 38.7 km/h 18:34:04.2 00:07:22.6 25 00:14:52.6 27 00:14:56.2 12
28 159 Mae Lang 00:37:16.2 N 1 Female 1 TÜASK EST 223 38.6 km/h 19:10:04.3 00:07:31.1 34 00:15:07.5 29 00:14:37.5 38
4.9km 01:18:35.4 00:07:31.1 00:07:31.1 19:17:35.4 39 8 8 34 1 1
29 123 Kaupo Jansen 00:37:29.2 S2 7 Male 28 hanso mk oü EST 222 38.4 km/h 18:43:04.5 00:07:30.1 31 00:14:52.5 26 00:15:06.5 16
30 61 Liisa Ehrberg 00:37:30.7 N 2 Female 2 EST 221 38.4 km/h 19:08:33.8 00:07:31.6 35 00:15:00.2 28 00:14:58.8 37
31 17 Tauno Koort 00:37:32.7 S3+ 3 Male 29 EST 220 38.4 km/h 19:21:05.3 00:07:23.8 27 00:15:12.7 32 00:14:56.0 47
32 139 Margus Kelk 00:37:37.2 S3+ 4 Male 30 EST 219 38.3 km/h 19:16:36.5 00:07:30.1 30 00:15:16.2 33 00:14:50.8 44
33 12 Johanna Maria Kuusemets 00:37:58.9 N 3 Female 3 EST 218 37.9 km/h 18:58:05.0 00:07:42.6 40 00:15:11.0 31 00:15:05.2 24
34 79 Toomas Türn 00:38:01.5 S2 8 Male 31 EST 217 37.9 km/h 18:10:04.2 00:07:24.1 28 00:15:27.4 36 00:15:09.9 5
35 97 Alger Vedler 00:38:18.2 S3+ 5 Male 32 EST 216 37.6 km/h 19:03:34.3 00:07:37.1 37 00:15:20.5 35 00:15:20.5 33
36 47 Vjatseslav Kulak 00:38:28.2 M 16 Male 33 EST 215 37.4 km/h 19:02:34.0 00:07:52.3 42 00:15:18.7 34 00:15:17.0 31
37 85 Toomas Viigipuu 00:38:51.2 S3+ 6 Male 34 EST 214 37.1 km/h 18:45:04.5 00:07:39.8 39 00:15:41.3 38 00:15:30.0 19
38 127 Tõnis Türn 00:38:57.5 S2 9 Male 35 SK EST 213 37.0 km/h 18:33:04.0 00:07:30.6 33 00:15:38.3 37 00:15:48.5 13
39 162 Tõnu Vahtra 00:39:08.2 M 17 Male 36 TriSmile EST 212 36.8 km/h 19:04:05.3 00:07:57.8 44 00:15:41.7 39 00:15:28.5 35
40 8 Peeter Illak 00:39:10.5 S3+ 7 Male 37 EST 211 36.8 km/h 18:08:05.7 00:07:28.1 29 00:15:49.6 41 00:15:52.7 3
41 167 Krista Karing 00:39:11.7 N 4 Female 4 EST 210 36.7 km/h 19:09:04.0 00:07:48.6 41 00:15:44.7 40 00:15:38.3 39
42 145 Henno Haava 00:39:35.7 S2 10 Male 38 EST 209 36.4 km/h 18:56:34.3 00:07:36.1 36 00:15:59.0 43 00:16:00.5 25
43 142 Mait Laidvee 00:39:45.7 M 18 Male 39 EST 208 36.2 km/h 18:41:05.2 00:08:06.6 48 00:15:58.0 42 00:15:40.9 17
44 146 Andres Hellerma 00:40:04.2 M 19 Male 40 EST 207 35.9 km/h 18:57:34.5 00:08:00.1 45 00:16:07.5 45 00:15:56.5 26
45 151 Siim Lauri 00:40:05.2 M 20 Male 41 EST 206 35.9 km/h 18:35:05.7 00:07:38.1 38 00:16:08.6 46 00:16:18.5 15
46 99 Anneli Lind 00:40:22.7 N 5 Female 5 Respo Haagised AS EST 205 35.7 km/h 18:30:05.2 00:08:02.6 47 00:16:24.3 48 00:15:55.7 11
47 95 Toomas Hunt 00:40:29.2 S2 11 Male 42 EST 204 35.6 km/h 19:00:04.5 00:08:13.1 50 00:16:14.0 47 00:16:02.0 30
48 148 Margus Tammemä 00:40:35.7 S2 12 Male 43 Ruutu Kuus EST 203 35.5 km/h 18:57:05.5 00:08:01.1 46 00:16:07.0 44 00:16:27.5 27
49 6 Anette Zukker 00:40:36.0 N 6 Female 6 EST 202 35.5 km/h 18:05:04.2 00:07:56.1 43 00:16:35.9 50 00:16:03.9 2
4.9km 00:14:00.3 00:07:56.1 00:07:56.1 18:13:00.3 2 1 1 43 5 5
14.6km 00:30:36.2 00:24:32.0 00:16:35.9 18:29:36.2 2 1 1 50 6 6
50 9 Ülo Treufeldt 00:40:45.9 S3+ 8 Male 44 EST 201 35.3 km/h 19:35:05.3 00:08:12.1 49 00:16:29.2 49 00:16:04.5 51
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The Super Show After the Super Bowl
Did you see it? Sunday night? That great show?
No, not the Super Bowl. The show that was on after the Super Bowl.
"Undercover Boss," I think was the name.
Sunday night I was tired from all that partying we did at the Women's Retreat last weekend. It was a fun-fest, I'm telling you. Especially Saturday night's rendition of "To Tell the Truth" with some pretty, shall I say, well-respected members of our church telling outright LIES in front of 250 women. And laughing at their untruths, even! Imagine.
Anyway, the events of the weekend, which may or may not be recounted here at a later date, left me feeling pretty much out-of-it by the time I got home on Sunday afternoon. I rested a bit and then I got a junk-food feast prepared for my family so that we could watch the "Big Game" together. (Just curious--why don't other channels and T.V. shows just call it what it is--the Super Bowl? Why do they have to call it the "Big Game" or the "Big Event" or the "Big Whatever"? That kind of bugs me.)
So by the time the game had ended Sunday night I was really tired. Dragging, even. I had watched the entire game in its entirety and was entirely impressed that it was such a good game. But then it was time to hit the bed. Entirely.
Except for one thing. I started watching this new show called "Undercover Boss" and got hooked within about two minutes.
Did you see it? Everyone was talking, blogging, and Tweeting about it yesterday. Even B, who actually made it upstairs to bed before he got sucked into the vortex of that show, knew everything that happened on it because he said everyone at work was talking about it. Crazy how that happens, isn't it?
Anyway, just in case you missed it, here were what I thought were some of the highlights.
- COO of Waste Management, Larry O'Donnell, literally managing waste in some of their porta potties. I don't know how he did that without throwing up. Honestly. Whoever does that does not get paid enough.
- The dear waste hauler, Kathy (I think that was her name), getting out of her truck to hug some of the people on her route. What a sweetheart she was. I am sure I've never met our garbage man. Of course, we're on the beginning of the route, so he comes much too early for me to be outside just waiting to give him a hug.
- Watching Larry try to sort the papers and trash on the moving belt in the recycling plant. Kind of reminded me of the "I Love Lucy" episode with the chocolates.
- In the end, the woman who was doing the jobs of three people finally got a promotion, a bonus, and a raise which then allowed her to keep her dream home. Now, isn't that what you want to see? Someone who works hard finally getting recognized for it? I absolutely loved how Larry helped her out, not by handing her some money, but by giving her more responsibility. She earned every penny of her raise.
I think I may have a new favorite show. And I definitely know what company I'd like to work for if this stay-at-home-mom gig ever dries up. Waste Management rocks! (Don't tell my kids I just said that.)
Of course, next week they're featuring the CEO or President or Founder or Whatever of Hooters, so the highlights could be . . . um . . . completely different. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be entertaining. (I'm also pretty sure I won't want to go work for him.) I think I'll watch and see what happens.
*Photo credit: CBS.com
Linda February 9, 2010 at 6:34 AM
We had friends over for "the Big Game" (maybe there is a copyright infringement deal with that?) and saw the promo for that show. It looked good but then I got carried away by putting a kid to bed and such.
Thanks for the review. It looked like something fun to watch (maybe minus the Hooters episode) but I seldom watch the major networks so I might have missed it!
Shelly @ Life on the Wild Side February 9, 2010 at 7:24 AM
Boy, you're up early, Linda! Wow!
My girls get on the bus a little after 7 a.m.!
Felt the same way about that show. I hope they are all as good as the Waste Management one.
Linnea February 9, 2010 at 12:59 PM
I don't have a TV, but stumbled across it last night and watched the episode online. Loved it! I was especially impressed by the humility of Larry O'Donnell. Not only that he would go out to do the lowly (and disgusting) jobs, but that he was willing to admit he had done things wrong and needed to make changes in his company.
mandiegirl February 9, 2010 at 2:19 PM
It actually is because of CBS' copyright...I heard that on the radio. :)
Bridget February 12, 2010 at 8:18 AM
We are Saints fans in the Turner house, so we were too wound up to sleep. The show was definitely great and it helped us wind down! Loved the humility and compassion that Larry O'Donnell showed. Will definitley watch it some more.
My Daughter's Heart
Darn that Groundhog!
Intentional Parenting - Part 4; Intentional Stewar...
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Woe to the person who tries to buy these tickets
Book Review - Thin Places, A Memoir
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Putting It Out There
Travel Tuesday - The Top 5 Best Things About Getti...
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Translator’s Preface by Reginald H. Fuller
Kerygma and Myth
by Rudolf Bultmann and Five Critics
As Ian Henderson has pointed out in his Myth in the New Testament (S.C.M. Press, 1952), the translation of some of the words in Bultmann’s essay presents certain difficulties, difficulties which also occur in the subsequent discussion. As Henderson says, "In some important points, Bultmann and the existentialists mint their verbal coinage and use words in a sense which is not necessarily contained in other German writing." While Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit has not yet been translated, there is a valuable exposition of its thought and a discussion of its terminology in the prefatory essay to a collection of essays by Martin Heidegger published under the title of Existence and Being. This prefatory essay is by Dr. Werner Brock, and the reader is referred to it for an elucidation of some of the terms mentioned below, as well as to Henderson’s work mentioned above.
As yet, no one has ventured to translate Dasein or Vorhanden, but in order not to disfigure the English translation by the frequent use of German words, I have rendered Dasein as "human life", "human Being", or even "Being" where its human character is made clear by the context. Vorhanden, which Heidegger uses of the peculiar mode of being characteristic of inanimate objects, as contrasted with responsible human Dasein, I have translated by "tangible", as in Bultmann the antithesis is not so much between Vorhandensein and Dasein as between the tangible realities of the visible world and eternal realities, very much like the Pauline contrast of kata sarka and kata pneuma. I have followed Brock in rendering Geworfenheit by "thrownness". The distinction between existentiell and existential, the first meaning that which belongs to existence as such, the second that which belongs to the particular philosophical system called existentialism, is expressed by the use of "existential" for the former, and "existentialist" for the latter. The distinction Bultmann makes between geschichtlich and historisch I have endeavored to observe by the use of "historic" for the former and "historical" or, sometimes, "past-historical" for the latter. By hysterics Bultmann means that which can be established by the historian’s criticism of the past; by geschichtlich he means that which, although occurring in past history, has a vital existential reference to our life today.
REGINALD H. FULLER.
Previous PostPrevious Chapter 4: The Call to Secret Service (Matthew 6:1-18)
Next PostNext The Restatement of New Testament Mythology by Helmut Thielicke
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Fender Japan JB75B-100US Jazz Bass Review
I have always been a big fan of Fender of Japan, and today we are looking at one of their 1975 re-issue Fender Jazz Basses, model JB75B-100US. This model was never intended to be exported into the United States, and my friend Bruce in Tokyo found it for me. This is a fairly recent example, though later ones have been hard to date, as the serial number prefixes do not seem to mean much anymore. I figure it is around 5 years old, for what it is worth.
A casual look might lead you to believer that this is a Geddy Lee artist model, as it is a black Jazz with a black blocked and bound neck, but it is not. It has a conventional bridge, no signature on the back of the headstock, and a normal profile neck. It also has US pickups that are a definite upgrade from the Geddy models I have owned and played.
I have been unable to find specifications on this model, but chances are good that the body is alder, though ash is a possibility as this thing is the heaviest bass I have ever owned. Really – it comes in at over 13 pounds!
The original black poly finish is almost perfect, and there are no signs of playwear. The bound neck and frets are also in great shape, and the frets are level and well finished on the edges. The neck pocket fit is tight, and this is one of the cases where the fit and finish of Fender Japan instruments is indeed better than the US-made ones. With its full-sized chrome tuners, this one has just the right look and it is a doppelganger for Geddy’s 72 Jazz that he picked up from a pawnshop in Kalamazoo, Michigan for $200.
It plays absolutely killer, and sounds incredible. It far outshines any of the Geddy Lee Artist Model basses I have seen and played. These are hard to come by, and I have never seen on in the states. If you are looking for a good Jazz Bass, it would be worth importing one of these. Just be sure that you ask how much it weighs first.
Posted by rex at 10:15 AM 1 comment:
Labels: Fender, Geddy Lee, Japan, Jazz Bass, Review
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Joe Caro and the Met Band – Live in New York City
This CD review was originally published in the August 21, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com
Joe Caro and the Met Band – Live in New York City | Album Review
www.joecaroandthemetband.com
Innsbruck Records
www.innsbruckrecords.com
Even if you have never heard of Joe Caro, if you are a fan of most any genre of music there is a good chance that you have listened to his work before. He is one of New York City’s most in-demand session and touring guitarists, and he took up the instrument when he was eight after seeing the Beatles on TV. He is well versed in blues and jazz, but he has worked with huge pop and rock artists, with credits that include Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Eagles, Stanley Clarke, Bobby McFerrin, Bon Jovi and Clint Black.
But Caro is also an inspirational bandleader, having formed BFD with Late Night’s Will Lee and drummer Steve Ferrone and subsequently tearing up the New York club scene. This group made a name for itself by featuring storied guest artists such as Pat Metheny, Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and the Brecker brothers. And more recently he fronted the Met Band who gigged every Tuesday at the Metropolitan Café over a period of eight years.
Joe Caro and the Met Band’s new release, Live in New York City, was recorded at Drom, which is the epicenter of music in the East Village. His line-up for this show was truly an all-star list of players that included Randy Brecker and Lew Soloff on trumpet, Anton Fig on drums, Blue Lou Marini on the sax, Clifford Carter behind the keyboards and Conrad Korsch on bass. Of course Caro played the guitar and handled the vocals, but he was also the co-producer of this project, along with Roman Klun who took on the recording, mixing and mastering chores.
This album has a wonderful blend of modern blues that makes for a pleasurable listening experience, and it is a joy to hear professional musicians who are at the top of their game. The often-covered “Labor of Love” by Tim Kaihatsu kicks off the set and these guys nail it. Joe’s voice is clear and strong, but this cut is not about the lyrics as each member gets the opportunity to show their chops. After hearing all of the solos it is apparent that this is a very well recorded show as the level is even for the voice and each instrument, and the overall sound is as clear as a bell. Klun did a fabulous job here!
Next up is a killer Denise LaSalle song from 1975, “Someone Else is Stepping In.” It is awesome that 40 years later her lyrics are so convincing that it is easy to picture her new way of wearing his hair now that she is a brand-new woman. Korsch holds down a fat bass foundation on this 10+ minute track with some help from Carter on the organ and Letterman’s Anton Fig on the drums. This one is considerably more complicated than the usual 12-bar blues, and as things move on the listener is treated to an extended guitar solo from Caro as well a trumpet battle between Brecker and Soloff.
Caro penned five of the songs that the band played on this evening, and the first of these is “In the Name of God,” which holds up examples of the excuses that people make for the terrible things they do. This blues song has pop undertones, but also a heavy dose of jazz and the horn section is up to the complicated arrangements. This is followed up by another original: “Upper East Side Blues,” a song of modern worries that hits too close to home in these troubled times. It has a cool layout, as it is a fairly traditional five-minute slow blues song with a six-minute rumba/fusion instrumental interlude in the middle.
An unexpected entry on the set list is a beautiful instrumental version of Lennon and McCartney’s “Strawberry Fields” from the Beatle’s 1967 Magical Mystery Tour album. Caro takes the melody with his guitar, and uses effects to create different textures and feels. Though this is rock, Carter’s piano work lends it a jazz feel, and it all comes together well here. This ends up being the best cover tune of the bunch, which is a tough call because there are also fine versions of Ray Charles’ “Mary Ann” (complete with a sexy Latin beat and a lurid back story) and Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son.”
One of the standout tracks on Live in New York City is another original, “Love Don’t Bother Me,” a funky rocker which is pretty much a drum solo with a song happening on top of it. The band stays tight throughout despite huge swings in tempo and dynamics, making this an exciting listening experience. But it is not fair to call out a favorite, because there is not a bad song on this disc.
After the final song ends (appropriately titled “Going Home”) it seems like a shame that 78 minutes have already passed and there is nothing else coming. It is undeniable that Live in New York City is an excellent album, and it captures the energy and refined talent that Joe Caro and the Met Band brings to the stage. It would be a fine addition to most anyone’s CD collection, but after a listen it will also make you want to track down one of their live shows. At this point it looks like you will have to go to New York City to see them, but their website says there are plans for a tour. Stay tuned!
Labels: Album Review, Anton Fig, Blue Lou Marini, Blues, Blues Blast Magazine, Clifford Carter, Conrad Korsch, Joe Caro, Lew Soloff, New York City, Randy Brecker, Roman Klun
Epiphone E212T Sheraton Union Jack Electric Guitar Review
Today we are looking at another great guitar value, and a pretty fun to play instrument – my Epiphone Sheraton that is painted up like the Union Jack.
In the first half of the 20th century, Epiphone was one of Gibson’s biggest competitors, so Gibson did the smart thing – they bought Epiphone in 1957. Gibson kept the brand name and started re-working the product line-up. In 1958 they introduced the thinline semi-hollowbody Sheraton electric guitar.
The original Sheraton was a set-neck twin-pickup model that used the same body as the new Gibson ES models. The big differences were the “Frequensator” tailpiece, multi-ply body binding and lots of inlay work on the headstock and fretboard. The pickups on the originals were New York single-coils.
As time went on there were specification changes, of course. In 1961 mini-humbucker pickups were swapped in and Grover tuners were added, and in 1962 the Epiphone “Trem-o-tone” tailpiece became available.
In 1970 manufacturing was moved to Japan, and full-sized humbuckers became the new standard for the Sheraton. In 1986 the Sheraton II was launched, with a stop-bar tailpiece being the only real change. As time moved on, production moved to Korea, with minor spec changes here and there.
So, the guitar I have was made in China last year, and it was finished by the factory in a gaudy Union Jack paint scheme over Alpine White. It has a laminated maple body and top with a mahogany center block (making it semi-hollowbody), and it is churched-up with single-ply white body binding.
The neck is mahogany,and it has a normal 24.75-inch scale. The 12-inch radius fretboard is bound, and it has 22 medium-jumbo frets hammered into it, as well as v-block pearloid fret markers. The neck profile is a 1960s profile SlimTaper C with a 1.68-inch wide nut.
The headstock is pretty darned big, 3-ply bound, and it has the traditional Epiphone vine of life inlay. Grover tuners are mounted to that headstock, and they are gold-plated, as is the LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge. There is no pickguard...
The electronics package includes a pair of Gibson USA mini humbuckers that are wired through two volume knobs, two tone knobs, and a 3-way selector switch. Did you expect anything different? I didn’t think so…
It is a lot heavier than expected, coming in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces, but it balances well on a strap so maybe that extra bulk prevents neck dive. It is a very easy playing guitar with a good action, and the frets are better than anything that is coming out of Gibson’s Memphis factory. It has good sustain and can achieve a sweetly mellow jazz tone, or can get some bite going for rockabilly or early rock and roll.
I like this Epiphone Sheraton a lot – it looks good, plays well and sounds good, enough so that I feel that it is just as good as a Gibson ES-whatever for a whole lot less money. How much less? These things have a list price a list price of $1349.00 and a street price of around 900 bucks, which includes Epiphone’s lifetime limited warranty, Gibson’s 24/7/360 customer service, and a really nice hard case. Or if you are really cheap, secondhand instruments can be had for around $600. Such a deal!
Labels: Electric, Epiphone, Guitar, Review, Union Jack
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: John Mayall – A Special Life
John Mayall – A Special Life
Forty Below Records
www.johnmayall.com
www.fortybelowrecords.com
It seems like John Mayall needs no introduction, but there may be a few folks out there that have never heard of the Godfather of British Blues. Maybe they do not know that over the past 50 years he has led the ever-changing members of The Bluesbreakers, which has included other legends such as Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Taylor. Or that in the late 1960s he moved to Los Angeles and never missed a beat as he continued to spread his blue and rock, but this time with a progressive path that took his blues and rock to another level.
John’s work has resulted in over 50 albums to date, and he has played with every blues artist of note while touring nearly endlessly. It appeared that Mayall was hanging up his hat in 2008 when he announced that The Bluebreakers were calling it quits, but that was not the case. Luckily for us he could not sit still and in 2009 he put together a righteous band that in just a few short days cut Tough, a terrific album that spawned a new series of tours.
Mayall’s latest effort, A Special Life, picks up where his last album left off and it is hard to believe that there has been a 5-year dry spell since he last cut a new record. It is a blessing that many of the same personnel have returned, as they are as tight of a crew that a frontman could hope for. This leaner band is made up of Texan Rocky Athas on guitar and Chicagoans Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport behind the drum kit. John was the producer for this project, as well as taking on the vocals, piano, organ, harmonica, and clavinet. Once again, the album only took a few days to record, and it impossible to tell as it is a nicely-produced disc that benefitted from the toils of co-producer, engineer and mixer, Eric Corne.
The first track features special guest C.J. Chenier on accordion and vocals, and this is particularly apt as “Why Did You Go Last Night” was originally written and recorded by C.J.’s father, Clifton Chenier, the Zydeco legend. Mayall used to do this song back when Jack Bruce was in The Bluesbreakers, and it is definitely more blues than Cajun as Chenier belts out his vocals over John’s honkytonk piano stylings.
This is followed up by the straightforward blues rocker, “Speak of the Devil,” which was penned by former Mayall guitarist Sonny Landreth. This version is a bit faster than the original, and we get to hear that John still has a powerful voice as he holds his own again the blazing guitar of Rocky Athas. Davenport and Rzab nail a tight beat under their leader’s Hammond organ chords, and this song turns out as slick as can be. These guys having been touring together for the past few years, so it should be no surprise that they are still in sync. After this, John lets his harmonica fly as he honks out Jimmy Rogers’ classic, “That’s All Right.”
It is true that Mayall has nurtured generations of guitarists, but we have to remember that he is no slouch behind the fretboard either. John takes the lead guitar parts on Albert Kings’ “Floodin’ in California” and on the title track and he plays with poignancy and an artist’s touch. Any blues band out there would be happy to have him sit in on guitar!
John Mayall wrote four of the songs on A Special Life including a re-do of “Heartache” which originally appeared on his 1965 debut album. But his newer songs are stronger yet as he looks into things that are more current to him. The subjects include our terrible political climate in “World Gone Crazy” and the blessings and curses of his career in “A Special Life”. Of course he would not be the Godfather if he did not crank out a broken-hearted blues song, and “Just a Memory” fits this role perfectly, albeit with jazz-influenced piano. This slow-rolling song is powerful, and turns out to be a fitting way to end the album.
A Special Life shows that John Mayall is still able to bring out the best in a talented band, and that he has not been resting on his laurels. It is a well-crafted and personal effort and we can only hope that it will not be another five years before he hits the studio again. In the meantime, check John’s website for details of his North American and European 80th birthday celebration tour, which will certainly be worth your time!
Labels: Album Review, Blues, Blues Blast Magazine, C.J. Chenier, Erice Corner, Greg Rzab, Jay Davenport, John Mayall, Rocky Athas, Sonny Landreth
Glenn Frey: November 6, 1948 to January 18, 2016
Rest in peace, Glenn. You will be missed.
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Janiva Magness - Original
This CD review was originally published in the August 7, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com
Janiva Magness – Original | Album Review
Self Release through Fathead Records
www.janivamagness.com
When folks talk about the blues they always bring up Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans, but there is also a killer blues scene in Los Angeles. One of the most talented artists in L.A. is singer/songwriter Janiva Magness, who has eleven records in her catalog and more blues awards than you can shake a stick at, including the Blues Foundation B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year (multiple times), and Song of the Year for “I Won’t Cry”!
But it took a long time to get to this point, and Janiva’s life story would make for an incredible book. She was born in Detroit, became orphaned as a young teen, was placed in a dozen foster homes before she came of age, and had to give up her own daughter for adoption when she was 17. This is a grim biography, but fortunately she found support from her last foster mother and inspiration from an Otis Rush concert that helped her set her sights on a career in music. After working as a sound engineer, getting gigs as a backing singer (including Kid Ramos and R.L. Burnside), and forming her own band (The Mojomatics), she made her way to Los Angeles, where she self-published her first album in 1997.
Magness’ latest CD is the self-released Original, her finest work to date. This is her first album on her own after six years with Alligator Records, and Janiva is treading new ground by stepping up and co-writing seven of the eleven tracks on the disc. This project was produced, recorded, and mixed by Dave Darling, who worked on her three previous albums as well as with an impressive list of artists that includes The Stray Cats, Brian Setzer and Glen Campbell.
From the first track the listener will know why she did not have a blues label make this record. There is blues foundation to everything she does, but this music expands into soul, roots and Americana, so it is impossible to assign it to any one genre. “Let Me Breathe” gives heartbreaking insight into the feelings of emptiness and guilt following a hard break-up, accompanied by sultry and soulful lyrics with hard blues guitar riffs. This contrasts well with the message of hope found in “Twice as Strong” an upbeat pop/soul song with neat background harmonies and the tight backline of Gary Davenport on bass and Matt Tecu on drums.
“When You Were My King” is one of Janiva’s collaborations with the Australian songwriting team of Lauren Bliss and Andrew Lowden, and they definitely clicked on this one. This bittersweet R&B tune slows things down and serves a vehicle for Magness to display her softer side. Jim Alfredson sets the background with his keyboards, and Darling contributes a sweet guitar countermelody. After mourning the loss of her love, for the next track she opines that that void needs to be filled. “I Need a Man” is an upbeat rocker with a Bo Diddley-esque beat that gives the lady a chance to tear loose and her emotion proves to be contagious.
One would think that with her tough upbringing and plenty of bad turns in recent years (divorce, deaths of friends and family, and a major surgery that could have taken her singing voice), that this could be an album of pain and bitterness. Janiva somehow puts all of this into perspective and provides a healthy dose of introspection and hope, as seen in the standout track “With Love,” which features Dan Navarro of the hit songwriting team, Lowen and Navarro, on backing vocals.
The album’s closer, “Standing,” is another group effort from Magness and Bliss/Lowden with a pretty melody (Alfredson’s piano and Zach Zunis’ guitars are lovely counterpoints) and poignant lyrics of loss and strength. Though this is a very slow rhythm and blues track it is far from dull as it builds drama throughout, even as it slowly rolls to a close. This song is the final reminder that Original maintains good pacing throughout and it is helped along with slick production, good musicians and classy arrangements. There is nothing to find fault with here, and Dave Darling fulfilled his role as producer handily.
Original is a stunning album in its honesty and craftsmanship; Janiva Magness has a hit on her hands and surely there will be a few more awards coming her way. But her live show is exceptional too, and these songs will make the transition to the stage very well. So buy the CD, but also make plans to see her on the tour as she has a staggering number of stops before the end of the year and there will surely be one near you!
Labels: Album Review, Blues, Blues Blast Magazine, Dan Navarro, Dave Darling, Gary Davenport, Jim Alfredson, Los Angeles, Matt Tecu
2008 Spector NS-2JA-R Bass Review
Today we are looking at a pretty cool Spector NS-2JA-R, a 25th anniversary re-issue of the 1983 Spector NS-2JA. This is one of only 83 of these basses that were finished in glossy black. Only 83, because this is a re-issue of the 1983 model (clever). They made 83 each in glossy white and natural, so there were only a total of 249 built in the Czech Republic. To be honest I have only seen black ones up for sale, so the other colors must have been more popular.
Pretty much, this instrument ends up being a bolt-on neck version of the Spector Euro series basses. This is a 34-inch scale bass with 24 frets, and seven years later the frets are still level. There are simple dot inlays on the rosewood fretboard, and check out that kicking brass nut! The tuners are first-rate chromed Schaller machines.
The maple body is carved into the traditional Spector contoured shape with a oddly erotic upper horn. There is a chrome-plated Leo Quan Badass bridge, which has always been a favorite of mine. The body is loaded with a pair of active EMG pickups, which are wired with EMG BT active tone controls (2 volume and 2 tone). The lower cutaway goes pretty far into the neck joint, so there is good access to the upper frets.
This bass is a real winner. The neck is very thin and fast, and the tone is super punchy with tons of mids. There is plenty of sustain too, if that is what you are looking for. Another bit of good news is that this bass is relatively light, despite its maple body, coming in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.
These basses had a list price of $2099 when they came out (no bag or case included!), and a street price of $1575. They did not sell very well, and today gently used ones sell for around $800. You could certainly do a lot worse for your money!
Labels: 1983, Bass, Czech Republic, EMG, Re-issue, Review, Spector
Stewart MacDonald Thread Detective for Guitars Review
When you work on guitars that come from the North America, Asia, and Europe, chances are good that you are going to want to replace a fastener and you will have no idea what size to buy, or even if it is metric or standard thread. Thread Detective has been in the business of making thread checking tools for years, and they are popular in craft and repair industries. The folks at Stewart MacDonald saw this tool and liked it, and asked Thread Detective to put together a set of these tools that is specifically tailored to the fastener sizes that are encountered in luthier work.
When you by this set you get two sets of tools, blue for metric and red for standard threads. These chrome-plated steel nuggets are designed so that they can measure both male and female thread dimensions, and the individual bits are held together by cables so they do not get scattered in your toolbox. They will let you measure 11 metric thread sizes and 13 standard sizes.
There is not too much else going on here, and the tools work exactly as they are designed. These are not tools that you will use very often, so they will probably never wear out, but they are a definite time and frustration saver.
If you want to pick up a set of Thread Detective for guitar tools, there is only one place in town to get them ,and that is Stewart MacDonald, The powerhouse luthier supply company. They are not cheap, at $49.98, but they are truly awesome.
Labels: Fasteners, Luthier, Review, Stewart MacDonald, Thread Detective, Tool
David Bowie: January 8, 1947 to January 10, 2016
Rest in peace, brother.
Inventory Update: 1st Quarter of 2016
Another three months have gone by, and here is the quarterly list of what is stacked up in the studio. The pile has grown since last time, but things are always coming and going. If you see anything here that you cannot live without, drop me a line. It is all good stuff…
First off, the basses:
∙ EBMM Stingray 5 (right…)
∙ EBMM Stingray 4
∙ 1974 Aria Telecaster Bass
∙ MIJ Fender 1970 re-issue Precision Bass
∙ MIJ Fender 1975 re-issue Jazz Bass
∙ ESP Phoenix-B (2 of them)
∙ ESP Original Series Amaze AS
∙ 2008 Spector NS2JAR
Electric Guitars:
∙ MIJ Fender ‘62 re-issue Stratocaster
∙ MIJ ’52 re-issue Telecaster
∙ 1990 Gibson Les Paul Standard
∙ 2001 Gibson SG Special
∙ 2010 Gibson Explorer with custom pimp paint job
∙ Epiphone 212T Union Jack
∙ Memphis Cigar Box Guitar by Matt Isbell
Acoustic Guitars:
∙ Martin D-18 Golden Era (the King)
∙ Martin Backpacker steel string
∙ Martin S1 soprano ukulele
∙ Kala solid mahogany soprano ukulele (on loan to a friend)
∙ Epiphone PR 150 NA
∙ 1990s Sigma SDM-18
Amplifiers:
∙ 1967 Acoustic 260 Guitar Head
∙ Genz Benz Shuttle 9.2 with Aguilar GS112 and GS112NT Cabinets
∙ Fender Acoustasonic 30 DSP
∙ Fender Champion 300
Check in again on April Fool’s Day to see what is still around. As always, you know it will be different!
Labels: Hubris, Inventory
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Craig Brenner – Live at the Old Mint
This CD review was originally published in the July 24, 2014 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com
Craig Brenner – Live at the Old Mint |Album Review
www.craigbrenner.com 14 tracks / 53:15
There is just not enough good boogie-woogie music being recorded anymore, and fortunately the drought has ended with Craig Brenner’s first new album since 2009, Live at the Old Mint. He has assembled a collection of blues and boogie-woogie tracks from his live shows that will surely lift your mood!
Craig is one of the best-educated pianists around; after attending college in Florida he moved to the Hoosier State in the mid-1970s to study at the Indiana University School of Music and he never left. Since then, Brenner has studied classical, jazz and boogie-woogie piano with the masters of each genre, and has received multiple grants from the Indiana Arts Commission. He is serious about his craft, and it shows in his performance.
This certainly is a live album, but this is not just a recording of one show at the Old US Mint in New Orleans (and it really is an old mint, in case you were wondering). This CD is actually a collection of 14 songs culled from 5 different performances spanning seven years. Included are 10 songs from two shows at Old US Mint, three more from two shows from Artsgarden in Indianapolis, and a track from a radio show that he and his wife did in 2013. This set avoids being a hodgepodge thanks to the wonderful job of mixing and mastering done by Jacob Belser of Primary Sound Studios in Bloomington, Indiana – for the most part there is a very consistent sound, feel and flow to the music.
Brenner produced this album himself, and it includes six compositions that he wrote as well as a nice collection of songs that could easily be the final exam for a musician that is seeking a doctorate in blues and boogie-woogie piano. One of these is the first song in the set, “I Stepped in Quicksand” written by the legendary jazz and blues pianist, Charles Brown. Craig takes this one on his own, and there is a fun jazz influence on this one that goes well with his thin, yet pleasant, tenor vocals. The piano sounds clear on this one and there is only a hint of hiss and sibilance, which is to be expected on a live recording of this type.
From there he heads into one of his own compositions, “To Boogie or Not to Boogie,” one of the eight songs on this disc that he recorded with Alfred “Uganda” Roberts on congas. I would never think of combining congas and hard-hitting piano music, but it works on this straight-up boogie-woogie tune, probably because of the talent behind those drums. Roberts is a Crescent City native who turned his percussion work into a career that included performing and recording with heavyweight artists that include Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, The Meters, Snooks Eaglin, Gatemouth Brown, Willie Tee and Dr. John.
The covers are all super-cool! They include gems like “Train Blues”, a faithful rework of Lux Lewis’ “Honky Tonk Train Blues” which has a glorious saloon piano sound. Or Brenner’s version of Pinetop Smith’s 1928 seminal hit “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” his joyous hammering of Professor Longhair’s “Hey Now Baby,” and the familiar sounds of Jimmy Forrest’s “Night Train.” But the standout of these has to be “Mess Around,” a song written by Atlantic Records president and founder Ahmet Ertegün which was one of Ray Charles’ first hits in 1953. The audience really gets into this song and claps along as Craig hoots the vocals and Roberts keep the beat with his congas. This must be something to see live, and of course everyone can commiserate that they don’t want their little girl to mess around.
One of the more fun tunes is Brenner’s original “Crawdad Shuffle” that he performed with his significant other, Lori, at the Indiana University Radio-Television Center in Bloomington in 2013. This instrumental features Mrs. Brenner on a rubboard which is placed far forward in the mix, and Craig almost takes a supporting role to its hypnotic scrapings. The rubboard and congas are not ordinarily leading instruments, and it is fascinating that Brenner can pair up with these percussion instruments and allow them to shine.
The tunes on this CD go by quickly, and before you know it the final track, “Carolina Shout,” will be coming through your speakers (or headphones). Recorded at Artsgarden in 2011, this James P. Johnson song from 1921 has no vocals or accompaniment, just Craig showing incredible timing on what has to be one of the most difficult songs to play correctly. This ragtime song has some jazz influence with a tremendous dynamic range and rhythms that are as tricky as they come. Craig totally nails it, and it is the perfect way to close out the set.
Live at the Old Mint is a good effort from Craig Brenner and a fine showcase of his piano and songwriting skills. If you are not a fan of boogie-woogie, do not let this one scare you off. There is still plenty of blues, ragtime and even jazz to be found on this disc, and you will certainly find something that you like!
Labels: Album Review, Alfred “Uganda” Roberts, Blues Blast Magazine, Boogie-woogie, Craig Brenner, New Orleans, Piano
Rex and the Bass 2015 Year in Review
This wraps up my 6th year of blogging, and Rex and the Bass is still a labor of love (and ego). I appreciate the support of my readers, and I read all of the comments that you post on this site. If nobody looked at these pages, I would lose motivation and move on to something else.
2015 had a few milestones: the blog now has over 800 posts, and Rex and the Bass is approaching 800,000 hits. Wow!
This side project of a blog has led to a few other side projects – writing gigs for Blues Blast Magazine and Chicago Blues Guide. Many thanks to their editors for having faith in me! Also, I have been getting so many CD submissions from artists that I started a blog just for music reviews, so if you want your music reviewed, feel free to mail me a copy of your work. And lastly, I have kept up a blog detailing my travails with going back to graduate school (one more semester to go!).
As in years past, here is a list of the top ten most read posts of all time for Rex and the Bass:
1. Apple A1121 iPod Hi-fi
2. Fender Jazz Bass Special Re-issue
3. Crystal Castles (2010) Album Review
4. Philip Kubicki Factor Basses
5. Memory Lane: Pulp Fiction Soundtrack
6. Little Dot Mark III Headphone Amplifier Review
7. Art and Lutherie Ami Cedar Parlour Acoustic Guitar
8. Honda EU2000i Portable Generator Review
9. Gallien-Krueger 400RB Bass Amplifier Review
10. 1970s Ibanez Les Paul Custom Guitar Review
I have always said that I would stop writing this blog when it is no longer fun. Well, I am not there yet, so I look forward to another year of sharing with you!
Labels: 2015, Blog, Hubris
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Joe Caro and th...
Epiphone E212T Sheraton Union Jack Electric Guitar...
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Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Janiva Magness ...
Stewart MacDonald Thread Detective for Guitars Rev...
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Craig Brenner –...
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Rocket Punch Cast
Southern Geek
Rocket Punch Live
Creator Spotlight
Rocket Plays
Cameron Kirnes
REVIEW: God of War (PS4)
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)
SIE Santa Monica Studios
God of War. Since 2005, the action franchise from Sony Santa Monica has been synonymous with some of the most intense combat and over-the-top boss fights that had even been seen on PlayStation consoles. Through all of its’ three mainline games, and subsequent spinoffs, fans have enjoyed running amok with Kratos, helping him to avenge the betrayals and deceit perpetrated on him by Zeus and the Greek God of Olympus. But since the release of God of War: Ascension in 2013, the series has seemed to fall off most people's’ radars, as newer evolutions and genres in the gaming industry slowly overshadowed God of War and other titles that, at the time, started to show their age a bit by comparison. Now, however, we fast forward to 2018, as PlayStation fans, and gamers alike, have anticipation at a fever pitch for the next installment in the revered series.
Things are a bit different, however. Kratos is shown as older and more weathered (with a nifty beard to boot). He is now a father. The setting has shifted from ancient Greek mythos to the dramatically different Norse mythology themes. And the game has no ‘4’ in the title, as people expected, just simply named ‘God of War’, a sign that the series is receiving a reboot, or sorts. By some accounts, people surely questioned if this could work: taking a character from a well-known franchise and flipping all assumptions of them and the game on its’ head. Bringing him back to the front of the gaming industry, after many gamers began to forget some of his harrowing adventures and hoping that he can bring success back to the brand. Changing large amounts of the action-style gameplay to fit a modern, 2018 audience that hasn’t seemed too interested in the genre, leaning more towards open-world settings and scopes. In the end, regardless of potential pundits, we now sit in 2018 with a brand new God of War game, something even I have to admit seemed highly unlikely, with other more established brands taking root in the industry. With Sony Santa Monica, a talented game studio in their own right, putting their best feet forward once again on this franchise, we now have to ask ourselves: does this new ‘God of War’ keep up and stand toe-to-toe with other emerging properties in the industry, or should it remain the ‘Ghost of Sparta’ and recede back to the shadows of the past from where it was derived from?
What is God of War?
In this latest entry of God of War, we are treated to a different Kratos in a VERY different world from the extravagant structures and war-torn country sides of ancient Greece. Years after the events of the last God of War, we now see Kratos settled within Midgard, living out his life in peace with his newfound family. But, at the start of the adventure, we already are introduced to large changes for these two, as Kratos’s wife, Faye, has passed away, and he is left to take care of his young son, Atreus. Their objective together, and the main driving plot for the game, is to carry his wife’s ashes atop the highest mountain. But, as with anything involving Kratos, things do not go as planned, as his dark past in Greece comes back to haunt him and subsequently, places himself and Atreus in danger along their long and arduous journey.
DAD of WAR
The story is one of the biggest standouts of the game, mainly because the game actually HAS a well-paced, fleshed out story. While, yes, previous entries in the series did have a story to help guide and motivate players, it always felt as though it was a backseat to the main feature: playing as Kratos and fighting as many enemies as you can. With this version, it seems Sony Santa Monica has truly made the story one of the game’s strengths, instead of a backdrop, weaving an evocative tale of parenthood, growth, and redemption. I am not a father, but I am a son, and watching the interactions between Kratos and Atreus during their adventure really brought back a lot of memories from my own childhood and interacting with my father (but not in the monster slaying, mountain climbing kind experienced in the game). Multiple moments throughout the story, watching the relationship between them grow and change really (REALLY!) had me in tears, and that was something I did not expect from this game. The trials between just them two kept me intrigued each step of the way, showcasing a tale of parenthood not really seen in other games, but feels so relatable that I would imagine a lot of gamers could draw some correlation with themselves in some way by the end of the story. The developers did a wonderful job showcasing the dynamics between the two, and as a result, really gave Kratos new layers to his character that we have never been treated to. No longer is Kratos just the loud, eccentric, mass of godly muscle yelling “Bring Me Another!” and looking for his next challenger to slaughter, but is presented as a calmer, and wiser figure: still the Kratos everyone knows that can beat the crap out of any threat, but also one who does not go looking for a fight, and battles only when necessary. With the addition of Atreus, it gives a different presentation of Kratos that, in my opinion, really hasn’t been seen: that he has a “weakness” that can be exploited. Before, Kratos had nothing to lose, as his wife and daughter were already dead and all he fought for was vengeance against those that wronged him. But now, Kratos has something to lose, and his intensity is shown to change at the snap of a finger, especially when Atreus is threatened. Again, it really helps to open Kratos up as a character, and something that I have to say was very refreshing to see. One of the concerns I had going into the game was wondering if Sony Santa Monica realized that gamers are not looking for just great action games with a small plot line on the side to guide them along, and that in 2018, they need a strong narrative to present complex, yet real, stakes and moments that gamers can relate to, and it feels great seeing that the developers were able to realize that and show off a familiar Kratos, but one who is different as well.
But now, Kratos has something to lose...
But not only did Sony Santa Monica not stop with “rebuilding” Kratos, they did an excellent job with creating a wonderful and diverse cast of characters that Kratos and Atreus interact with throughout Midgard. Usually with open world games, some characters tend to feel throw-away, just additions made to help get you from Point A to B. But here, every character you meet feels meaningful to not just Kratos and Atreus, but also the overall story. Sure, the dwarven brothers Brok and Sindri are used to help upgrade your gear throughout the game, but for many times during my playthrough, I saw myself waiting for the next side quest from them, just to hear more about the stories they have and learn more about their dynamic with each other. Even on the boat headed between points on the map, I found myself sitting and waiting not only for the next dialogue to come out and listen to more of the story and history of the land, but also for the comments (often times hilarious) made between Atreus, Kratos, and others along their path. With characters met on side quests, even their stories have some sort of tie or lesson back to the development of Kratos and Atreus as characters, and it made them worth checking out to see how they affect them, instead of just speeding through the main storyline looking for the next big plot hook. It is rare for me to feel that in an open world game, even supporting characters are more than just fixtures within the world to help the player, but I feel that the developers did a fantastic job making every character matter within the world, and present more than enough reasons to walk off the beaten path and explore more of what the world can offer.
Bring me another!
With all the above being said about the settings, story, and characters, the one thing that brings fans of the series back every time has been the combat, and once again, the developers have outdone themselves. God of War has always been an action game, chaining hits against a horde of enemies and adding some over-the-top Quick Time Event (or QTE) moments throughout, and it feels as though the developers have taken the combat and evolved it to fit in 2018: still with some flairs of the original combat, but with new additions and improvements that make it enjoyable to play and hard to put down. One of the main changes lies in the fact that Kratos no longer wields the iconic Chaos Blades in battle. The player now uses the Leviathan Axe as Kratos’s main source of bloodletting, and it is a welcome addition to the game. Any fans of Thor and Mjolnir out there should get this game just on the notion of the Leviathan Axe, as it is the best vision of how that relationship would feel in a video game. Nothing quite feels better in battle than to throw the axe to freeze an enemy in place, use Kratos’s fists to beat up on some unsuspecting foes, and then recall the axe back to your hand to deliver the finishing blow. This mechanic also helps to make creating combos fun and inventive, as enemies can take damage when the axe is thrown and when it comes back (if they are caught in the return path). Couple this with some of the runic skills you get throughout the game (like Ivaldi’s Anvil), and once you get the hang of it, you can become a force to be reckoned with, regardless of how many enemies are thrown your way.
Any fans of Thor and Mjolnir out there should get this game just on the notion of the Leviathan Axe.
Another great addition to combat comes from possibly an unsuspecting source: Atreus himself. In battle, you can press the Square button to have Atreus shoot his arrows as targeted enemies. At first, this may not prove helpful, but as you power up Atreus with stronger arrows and new move sets along the adventure, he can prove to be an invaluable asset, helping to stun enemies, weaken them to take extra damage, and even staggering them to allow you to finish them off with some of Kratos’s Execution moves, which can (more times than not) help to turn the tide of some tough fights. It was great to see that not only does Atreus help in the story, but in combat, he adds a great value to upgrading him and utilizing him properly, instead of him being controlled by the computer throughout the game. This also helps prevent Atreus from feeling as though you have to “babysit” him during fights, as a large amount of other games have done in the past (looking at you The Last of Us).
These two additions alone helped make me feel rewarded in fights but add along the upgrading of armor and addition of runes and gems to augment abilities, and it really made me spend that extra time to tweak my gear to make sure I get the most out of it before big fights. Also add in the different enemy variations you come across, and the different methods you have to use to take each type out, and some fights can prove challenging to get through. Some enemies are immune to the Leviathan Axe, forcing you to use bare hands to take them down, while others take more damage from Atreus, allowing you to plan the right moment to land an arrow hit to stagger them and land a finishing blow. The only complaint I might have for the new system is with the controls. As a longtime gamer, I have gotten used to using the face buttons to perform attacks. But here, you are by default set to use the shoulder buttons to attack and execute combos. It takes a little getting used to, but as the story progressed and new skills opened up, it made sense why the buttons were mapped to where they are, and by then, I had gotten used to it so much that I didn’t want to change the setup. You can change the control setup if you are used to using face buttons, which is always a nice option for gamers that can’t get past this, so this is a small thing for me, but something worth noting. If you were concerned that, as a God of War fan, you would have some issues with the new combat system, then it should put you at ease to know the system still stands as a hallmark for the series, and then some.
Riding on your boat across the water with the tall, snow-capped mountains of Midgard behind really help to bring the world alive and help to invite exploration.
midgard bekons
So much more of this game has impressed me in more ways than I initially thought they would. I haven’t really talked about it yet, but the open world has been well executed here. The game does a great job of pacing you within smaller areas first and presents the entirety of the world when it feels right, once you have gotten used to combat and exploration. Riding on your boat across the water while tall, snow-capped mountains of Midgard play backdrop to the environment, among other things, really help to bring the world alive and help to invite exploration. Too many times I might see something in the distance and go check it out, just to find a hidden cave and a new side quest. The implementation of the world itself does not feel new compared to other titles, as the way the world is broken up did remind me in particular of the latest Tomb Raider games, but it does feel different being in a God of War game, as I was used to following a linear path as in earlier titles, so it is great to see that Son y Santa Monica did a great job creating the world and making it fit within the God of War mythos, as well as making everything feel alive and landmarks feel meaningful once you interact with them. Another impressive aspect revolves around the single shot camera used throughout the game. From the first time you press Start, to the rolling credits and after, the camera pans around Kratos and rest behind him through the adventure and never cuts away once. There are no loading screens (except when you die) and the camera doesn’t change aspect to other characters during playthrough, and that really adds an extra layer of cinematic value to cutscenes in the game. It really kept me focused and involved when large story beats rolled on and adds to the story in ways that were very appreciated. Again, for a series that traditionally doesn’t care about the story, it feels nice to see that a lot of care was built to help showcase how well the story and events are executed, and the camera implementation reinforces that.
WElcome to valhalla
At the start of this review, I asked if this new God of War can stand in line with other games on the market in 2018, or will it remain stuck in the past too much to make a difference. Honestly, my answer to that is neither. This entry surpasses them by a large margin. I fully expected the combat to excel, but when you add in the new and improved changes to the action, along with an impactful and meaning story, wonderfully crafted open world, relatable supporting cast, and more, my expectations were sent all the way to Valhalla. I never expected to have as much fun as I did with the game, and that was a wonderful surprise to have. I have beaten the main storyline, but I still find myself craving to go back and explore more of the world, finish more side quests, improve my gear, and throw that damn as many times as I can into as many enemies as possible, and that is a rare feat for a game to invoke after completion. After where this property was at before, Sony Santa Monica should be applauded for the feat they have achieved in bring Kratos back in 2018, more relevant than ever. I can safely say that this game resides in line with other PlayStation essentials like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted, and others of similar caliber, and allows Sony once again to add another feather in their cap of stellar exclusives. If you own a PlayStation, you should own this game, period. If you don’t think so, then just go and throw that Leviathan Axe one time and recall it back to Kratos’s hand. That alone should change your mind.
Cameron Kirnes - @ckirnes
Editor for Rocket Punch. He REALLY wants to play more God of War, but he is too busy in the movie theaters watching Avengers; Infinity War. He'll get back to Midgard eventually...
Editor's Choice: Cameron's Favorite Games from 2018
Welcome to the new Rocket Punch
rocketpunchnetwork@gmail.com
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Justice in la France Orange Mécanique
I'm reading La France Orange Mécanique ('Clockwork Orange France') at the moment and I can tell you it makes scary reading. The scariest chapters so far have been the ones on the justice system. Society depends on the rule of law to prevent anarchy, protect its citizens, and dish out appropriate punishment to those who commit crimes.
In France, there are 67000 prisoners overflowing out of prisons designed for 63000. Every year, 75000 rapes are committed. From this statistic alone, it's obvious to all but the blindest liberal bobo that there is a woefully inadequate number of prisons.
Why doesn't France build more prisons? It was on the cards during Sarkozy's presidency but was opposed by socialist senators and deputies. They believe that an increase in prisons would mean admitting that the number of criminals has increased, which it has. But in a socialist 'Bisousnoursland' (Kissyteddyland) paradise, criminals are in fact nothing but victims themselves. According to Sophie Endelys a romance writer and judge, the increase in barbarity of even the most banal crimes such as credit card theft is certainly due to "un déficit de vocabulaire" (a lack of vocabulary)... By not having the words to express their emotions, they have no other answer than aggression and violence. How about buying criminals a dictionary?
Criminals are therefore victims, but what about the real victims of crime? They are of secondary importance. What is important is helping criminals by giving them a second chance, third chance, tenth chance, all the while imposing on the population in general the failed results of this experiment who continue to rape, kill, attack.
The socialist answer to punishing crimes is to opt for 'aménagement de peines' which means reducing the sentence for each crime. They believe that everyone can be saved from him or herself. They believe that criminals just have to understand their crime, make amends honourably and come back into the fold newly awakened as a born again Good Person. Many criminals understand what they have to do to escape punishment. Before the judge, they bow their heads, express sincere regret at what they've done, say they understand that it was wrong. The judge, under obligation to sentence as little as possible either believes or goes along with the lies, supported by the criminal's tales of childhood woe, and administers as little punishment as possible.
What happens now is that certain criminals are just not imprisoned however many crimes they commit. Here's just one example. A man of 18 is condemned to two years in prison for sexual aggression. He has already notched up a total 63 previous convictions. In France, a conviction of under two years is rarely carried out so Selim is free to strike again.
The social contract in France is disintegrating. A sentence of life for the absolute worst criminals - the murderers, serial killers, etc. - means a maximum of 22 years. If they are imprisoned young, they will still be vigorous enough to kill again when they get out. The justice system thus condemns to death a number of innocents because it refuses to lock up the most dangerous killers forever.
The new Garde des Sceaux (Minister of Justice) Christiane Taubira began her tenure by abolishing tribunals for 16-18 year-olds which is a shame because it's an age of high delinquency and crime. What will happen to the 1600 minors accused of rape now?
One way of reducing the prison community, the socialists have decided, is to set free a massive number of prisoners including all those inside for less than six months, plus all those pronounced more than two years ago. But it's not a 'mauvais signal', oh no, some of these criminals will have electronic ankle bracelets.
Mind you, not all prison sentences are even carried out. There were 100,000 criminals waiting to go to prison in 2009, and 82000 simply did not go at all which represents 20% of all firm convictions.
Who are some of the victims of aggression? In 2011, 389 Jews were attacked, representing 0.06% of the Jewish population. In the same year, 180 Muslims were attacked, representing 0.003% of the Muslim population. In 2010, there were 142 attacks witnessed against homosexuals representing 0.0071% of the gay population.
Every year, the official figures in France underestimate the number of those not represented by a vocal lobby being attacked violently as 450,000, or 0.7% of French people who are thus 200 times more likely to be attacked than Muslims, 100 times more than homosexuals and twenty times more than Jews.
Considering how vocal and insistent the associations representing these groups are, it's a shame that there is no association to demand justice for everyone else.
Published at 11:54 am
Tags : France, Justice, La France Orange Mecanique, Laurent Obertone, Law
the fly in the web 24/03/2013, 12:49
And the press just about united to condemn the book as giving an unfortunate view of France.....
Sarah 24/03/2013, 13:41
Yes, the lefty bobo media who represent a few Parisian bobo lefties and not a lot else. They are also slagged off heavily in the book, quite rightly, as being leaders of competitivité moral, the holders of Right over Wrong. I'm not surprised they hate it, it's far too accurate in its description of their complicity with the manipulation of political communication.
Anonymous 25/03/2013, 07:38
I couldn't believe my eyes last year when a 19 year-old was pulled up in front of the court in Montpellier for the 96th time for burglary. He was told to be a good boy and set free again. The day he's met by someone who grabs their shotgun because he invited himself in, he will probably go down as a victim and his vctim will be done for assault or murder. Welcome to France.....
It's incredible isn't it? You're right about the householder too. You cannot protect either yourself or your possessions in your own home or you risk being hauled off before the judge. Disgusting.
Little PS: Thank you :-)
About Last Weekend 25/03/2013, 17:04
75,000 rapes a year??? what?? For some reason I always think of France - and actually most European countries - as much safer than the US, I have no idea why I think this. Here is the US whole town are dedicated to the prison industry. My husband's parents in the pennsylvania are surrounded by whole towns who work in prison. I know when I was studying law, a raft of studies have shown they do no good, but no one wants to pour more money into things that do work - the education system.
Shocking isn't it? and that's just the tip of the criminal iceberg.
The thing with prison is that it gets criminals off the streets which is what the rest of the population is really concerned about whilst waiting for the rest to happen.
Perpetua 25/03/2013, 19:50
This post has explained a longstanding mystery to me, Sarah, which comes from reading the tribunal pages of our local Sud-Manche weekly paper. I've always been amazed at how long cases can take to come to court and how derisory are the punishments then meted out, most of them suspended in any case. Thanks for enlightening me.
You're welcome! Yes, the system is totally overloaded.
David Macaulay 26/03/2013, 03:12
well I suppose they could always reopen the French Guiana place Sarah
I think that's where la Taubira comes from and she's got a chip on her shoulder the size of a redwood about it, so I doubt she'd want to do that. Good idea though, it would provide masses of much-needed employment over there!
Curry Queen 26/03/2013, 18:59
Very interesting post, Sarah. To be honest (although I don't have the stats to back this up) I think there is a similar problem in the UK and many people over here feel that pathetic "Community Service" sentences are worse than useless. At least now it is no longer an offence to protect your home and loved ones over here....
Yes, I think you're right, 'the criminal is a victim' attitude is not confined to France. But at least in the UK you can now defend your own home, property and loved ones. In France the thief has to kill you before anyone cares about the real victim of crime.
Diplo_Daddy 28/03/2013, 07:57
O Sarah, you are a brave woman. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to follow the movie. It was just too damn weird for me.
I haven't seen Clockwork Orange the movie either. This French book has borrowed the name to indicate that it is full of social chaos. :(
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Home > screeNZ News > TV > Will Discovery buy SPP?
Will Discovery buy SPP?
Earlier in the year, Fremantle Media was rumoured to be interested in buying up All3Media, which owns South Pacific Pictures. Now UK reports claim that Discovery has also thrown its hat in the ring.
In the overall scheme of things All3Media, SPP is a fairly small player, although one of few companies in the stable that produces drama almost exclusively. A3M owns almost 20 companies, including its own sales and distribution company. The majority of those companies are in the UK and US. UK analysts value A3M in the region of NZ$1 billion.
Among A3M’s various companies are the creators and producers of long-running shows Hollyoaks, Horrible Histories, Midsomer Murders, Shameless, Skins, The Only Way is Essex, Undercover Boss and programmes involving Gordon Ramsay.
Will Fremantle or Discovery break up All3Media?
Despite the fact that a good number of those titles are dramas, factual and reality programming makes up a bigger share of production and income generation across the A3M group. That makes the company a good fit for both Fremantle (The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent) and Discovery, which doesn’t really do drama.
Just as A3M owns or has a substantial interest in many other companies, it is owned by a private equity company, Permira, which bought a controlling interest in A3M in 2006. Permira has interests in many companies, but A3M is its only TV and entertainment business.
Although “no comment” is the only comment coming from the parties allegedly in discussions, the rumour mill claims the story goes something like this.
In late January Fremantle approached Permira with a view to acquiring A3M. Permira entered into discussions with Fremantle and granted a period of exclusivity, during which it undertook not to engage with any other prospective buyers.
Ahead of MipTV, there were suggestions an announcement might be forthcoming, but it wasn’t. Fremantle’s period of exclusive access has now, allegedly, expired.
Discovery has now entered into discussions with Permira.
Permira tried to sell A3M in 2011, when it was smaller than it is now, for NZ$1.5 billion. Even at $1.5 billion, its value is less than 10% of Discovery’s.
Nobody’s talking on the record, so either an announcement will be made or it won’t. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. For SPP, that currently means production on Shortland Street amd Brokenwood Mysteries.
South Pacific Pictures
Broadcasting appointments announced
Mediaworks TV Wins Media Brand of the Year
SPP push for female directors
Tropfest heads back to the Bowl
Shorty Street Gear Treat
Writer returns to run Shortland Street
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About the Skeptical Juror
The Skeptical Juror Archive
The Impending Execution of William Mitchell
The Impending Execution of Larry Puckett
William Gerald Mitchell sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of Mississippi on 22 March. I present a summary of his case by excerpting from the adverse appellate decision in Mitchell v. State (2001). The paragraph numbering is in the original.
4. The last time that Patty Milliken was seen alive was at the conclusion of her shift at 8:00 p.m., November 21, 1995, at the Majik Mart on Popps Ferry Road in Biloxi, Mississippi. She told her co-worker, James Leland Hartley, that she was going outside to smoke and talk to William Gerald Mitchell and that she would return shortly. Before following Mitchell outside, she telephoned her son, telling him she would be home in approximately fifteen minutes. She also left her keys in the safe to initiate a 10-minute time-released unlock and her purse and other personal items on the counter. Patty Milliken's body was found the following morning under a bridge. She had been beaten, strangled, sexually assaulted, crushed by being driven over, and mutilated.
5. The record shows that on November 21, 1995, Hartley saw Mitchell enter the store three separate times to visit Milliken while she was working her shift. Hartley overheard Milliken refer to Mitchell by the name of "Jerry." At the end of Milliken's shift that evening, around 8:00 p.m., Milliken and Hartley realized that they had forgotten to document the amount of cash they had placed in the safe that night. Milliken opened the safe and telephoned her son that she would be home in fifteen minutes. At approximately 8:05 p.m. Milliken decided to walk out of the store with Mitchell and told Hartley that "she'd be outside smoking a cigarette if [Hartley] needed her and that she'd be right back."
6. Milliken left her keys in the lock on the safe, cigarettes and lighter on one counter, and her purse on another counter. Hartley testified that it was odd for Milliken to go outside to smoke because employees were authorized to smoke inside the store. Ten minutes after Milliken had gone outside, Hartley walked outside to ask her a question, but she was not there. Her belongings were still inside the store, and her car remained in the parking lot. Hartley telephoned Milliken's home and learned that she had not been in contact with her family. When Milliken had still not returned by 10:00 p.m., Hartley telephoned the police.
7. When the police arrived, Hartley gave them Milliken's purse and showed them where she had written Jerry's phone number. The police cross-referenced the telephone number to a physical address, and proceeded to 323 Croesus Street. The police arrived at the residence at approximately midnight.
8. Officers Matory and Doucet went to the front door, and Officer McKaig "was on the right side of the house approaching the rear." McKaig saw Mitchell, and Mitchell asked, "Who's that?" McKaig identified himself as a police officer and explained that he wanted to speak to him. Mitchell ran, and a pursuit on foot followed.
9. Captain Anderson responded to assist with the foot pursuit. Captain Patterson, arriving to assist with the foot pursuit, spoke with Booker Gatlin, Mitchell's grandfather and owner of the residence on Croesus Street. Gatlin indicated that "Jerry" was William Gerald Mitchell, and that he drove a blue Grand Am.
10. When the foot pursuit proved unsuccessful, the Biloxi Police Department issued a be-on-the-lookout ("BOLO") for Mitchell and his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, an officer spotted Mitchell getting gas at a Shell station located on U.S. Highway 90. When Mitchell noticed the police car, he threw down the gas nozzle he was using and sped away in his vehicle. Patrolman Sonnier took part in the pursuit of Mitchell. That evening he had a television camera crew riding with him, and they were able to film most of the pursuit. Sonnier testified that Mitchell was the driver of the vehicle and that Curtis Pearson was his passenger. The high-speed chase ended in Mitchell being arrested for various traffic violations. Mitchell's passenger, Pearson, testified that, during the chase, Mitchell stated 2-3 times that he "got that bitch."
11. Officer Heard of the Biloxi Police Department discovered the mutilated, almost naked body of Patty Milliken under the Popps Ferry Bridge at 7:14 a.m. the following morning. Officer Robert Burriss arrived at the scene at approximately 7:30 a.m., and worked the scene until 2:00 p.m. Burriss testified that he found Milliken's body on its back. She had part of a shirt sleeve around her right arm and part of her bra around her left arm, with only a pair of white socks clothing her body. Her body was bruised and scraped, and her head was "burst open" with the brains "spilling out of the skull, scattered about on the yard, and there (sic) was also some of the brain matter stuck on her back."
12. There were "numerous" tire tracks "back and forth all over that area;" tracks that were similar to the ones found on Milliken's body. Testing would ultimately show that the tire casts from the area matched three of the four tires on Mitchell's car with regard to tread design, size and "overall width."
13. Later that day, pursuant to a search warrant, Burriss also collected evidence from Mitchell's car. Burriss made a diagram of the car indicating where he found "various pieces of blood and hair on the automobile." Burriss found hair and blood on the passenger door; blood underneath the fender and body of the car, as well as on the catalytic converter; and blood spatters in three of the wheel wells. Milliken's broken lower dentures were also found in Mitchell's car.
14. After Mitchell's arrest for traffic violations, he was taken to the Biloxi Police Department. Mitchell was initially interviewed by Sergeant Torbert and Investigator Thompson. Later, Officers Newman and Peterson interviewed Mitchell at 1:07 p.m. on November 22, 1995, the same day Milliken's body was found. At the time of this second interview, Mitchell had not 198*198 been arrested or charged with murder, but was in custody for the traffic violations. Mitchell said that he was the only one to use his vehicle that night. Mitchell claimed that Milliken was alive when he left her, though he did admit that he had hit her hard enough in the nose that "blood just flew everywhere." A redacted version of Mitchell's second interview was admitted during the trial. The tape was edited and redacted at the point before Mitchell made any statement that he killed or was responsible for the death of Milliken.
15. After Mitchell's second interview, Mitchell was booked on the charge of murder and transported to the Harrison County Jail. Prior to his transfer, a suspect rape kit was performed on Mitchell at the Biloxi Regional Medical Center. Later, search warrants were secured and executed on Mitchell, Mitchell's car, and Mitchell's residence at 323 Croesus Street in Biloxi.
16. Dr. Paul McGarry performed the autopsy on Milliken's body. According to McGarry, Milliken was strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted, and repeatedly run over by a vehicle. McGarry stated that the damage to Milliken's larynx cartilages and hemorrhagic airway proved that she had been strangled. There were also semicircular marks from her attacker's fingernails on her neck. She was beaten to the point that her lower denture was broken and expelled. Her face was swollen and purple which "would evidence that hard blows had been delivered to the head." Analysis of the genital area displayed "the kind of injuries that are produced by stretching and tearing of the delicate lining of the vagina" which McGarry "interpreted as forceful penetration enough to damage the tissue and tear and rub off surfaces of the tissue, to stretch the opening. The anus was even more so damaged." McGarry confirmed that Milliken's sexual injuries occurred while she was still alive.
17. McGarry also testified to finding five tire tracks across the victim's body. According to McGarry, Milliken apparently lived long enough to experience the crushing injuries that ruptured her kidney, liver, and spleen; broke almost every rib; broke her spine; broke her collarbone; and, tore open her lungs and heart vessels. Milliken was killed when her "brain [was] blown out by crushing and squashed out." The brain was expelled up to four feet from an opening at the top of her head measuring eight inches in diameter.
18. At the time of Milliken's savage murder, Mitchell had been paroled for approximately eleven months from a sentence of life in prison for murder.
I oppose executions in which there is a possibility the person to be executed is factually innocent. Otherwise, I stand mute with respect to the propriety of the execution.
In the case of William Gerald Mitchell, I stand mute.
Labels: William Mitchell
Larry Puckett sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of Missouri on 20 March. Though he claims he is innocent and the victim's husband is guilty, his protestations are muffled by the overwhelming evidence against him. I present that evidence by excerpting extensively from the adverse appellate decision of Larry Matthew Puckett v. State of Mississippi. The paragraph numbers are in the original.
1. Larry Matthew Puckett was indicted during the January 1996 term of the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, for the capital murder of Rhonda Hatten Griffis on October 14, 1995, while engaged in the commission of the crime of sexual battery ...
3. On October 14, 1995, shortly before 5:00 p.m., Mrs. Rhonda Hatten Griffis, age 28, was found lying in a large pool of blood next to the couch in the living room of her home on 198 Sunrise Road, Petal, Mississippi. Mrs. Griffis was found wearing a t-shirt, and the only clothing on the lower part of her body was around her left foot. She had several gashes on the back of her head. There were other injuries to Mrs. Griffis' head, back, and chest, including a deep laceration and three to four hesitation marks to the neck. She was also bleeding from her vagina. She had several defensive wounds on her hands, arms, and elbows. Mrs. Griffis died as a result of the injuries; the cause of death was cranial cerebral trauma, secondary to blunt force trauma. A wooden stick or club covered with blood was recovered outside the residence.
4. Rhonda's mother, Nancy Hatten, lived next door, roughly 150-175 feet from the Griffis' trailer. On the day of the murder, Mrs. Hatten helped Rhonda's boys, Justin, age 7, and Jeffrey, age 5, put up Halloween decorations in the yard. Rhonda was not feeling well that day, suffering from a headache and bad sinus problems. Later that afternoon, Mrs. Hatten was in her front yard when she heard a "scream and a thud" come from the Griffis' trailer. Mrs. Hatten then ran home and telephoned the trailer. The phone rang four or five times, but there was no answer. Mrs. Hatten hung up and dialed again, but there was still no answer. She then immediately went to the trailer.
5. As Mrs. Hatten neared the trailer, she saw David Griffis, Rhonda's husband, and their two boys driving up to the trailer. David had been hauling pine straw all day and was returning with his last load. A blue truck was parked in the vacant lot beside the residence. Nancy entered the trailer door at the kitchen/dining room area and called for Rhonda but there was no answer. Puckett came from the hallway into the kitchen/dining area and raised a club back and started towards Nancy. As Nancy backed away from Puckett, Jeffrey entered the house followed closely by David. Justin was still outside. Nancy then took the children, ran to her house, locked the boys in the bathroom, and called 911. This 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:01:15 p.m. and answered by the 911 operator at 5:01:20 p.m. At 5:01:41 p.m., Nancy was placed on hold, as 911 received a call from the Griffis' trailer. Mrs. Hatten identified State's Exhibit Number 3 as the club that Puckett had in his hand in the trailer.
6. The Griffis family knew Puckett because he was once employed by David Griffis. While Puckett was employed by David, the employees would gather at the Griffis' house before leaving for work.
7. Jeffrey Griffis testified that when he entered the home, he saw Puckett with a club in his hand and holding on to Mrs. Hatten's shirt. David Griffis testified that when he entered the home, he saw Mrs. Hatten with Puckett standing in front of her with the club in his hand raised over his head. David indicated that Puckett was wearing army-type coveralls. The club had blood and a white substance on it. David asked Puckett what he was doing in his house and Puckett said he had hit a deer on the road and came to get David's help and to use the telephone. David called out for Rhonda but no one answered. However, Puckett told David that Rhonda was down at her mother's house. David asked Puckett about the blood on the club and Puckett indicated that it was blood from the deer. David then dialed 911 from a portable phone that was laying on the counter beside him. This 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:01:27 p.m. and answered by the 911 operator at 5:01:41 p.m. This (David's) call was terminated at 5:04:42 p.m. At some point, David and Puckett struggled and David got the club from Puckett. David tried to keep Puckett in the trailer until the police arrived. However, Puckett took off running towards the door. As Puckett was running for the door, David swung the club and hit Puckett on the shoulder. Then, as Puckett ran out the door, David threw the club at him. Dr. Michael West testified at trial that the club, State's Exhibit 3, was consistent with the wound pattern found on Puckett's back.
8. Once Puckett exited the trailer, David entered the living room and reached for his pistol that was usually on a gun cabinet just to the left of the living room door. However, the pistol was not there. David did not see Rhonda's body lying in the living room at this time. David then ran into the bedroom to retrieve a rifle from the bedroom closet. The bedroom door is straight ahead as you turn towards the cabinet. As David exited the bedroom and re-entered the living room, he then saw Rhonda laying on the floor. He saw that Rhonda was injured and dialed 911 again to inform the police. David's second 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:05:01 p.m. and was answered by the 911 operator at 5:05:07 p.m. This call was terminated at 5:11:45 p.m. The time between the end of David's first 911 call and the beginning of his second 911 call was 18 seconds. Sheriff's deputies and paramedics arrived within minutes.
9. Before David fired Puckett, David considered him to be a decent employee and even wrote a letter of recommendation for Puckett to become an Eagle Scout. Another former employer of Puckett's, Ray Watkins, testified that shortly before Rhonda's murder, a maul handle was broken at his work site. Watkins had the maul handle for several years, between seven (7) and ten (10) years, and believed the maul handle to be State's Exhibit No. 3. Watkins also testified that he had seen the handle in Puckett's truck on several occasions.
10. Puckett was seen around 3:30 p.m. the afternoon of the murder at the same house from which David Griffis was collecting pine straw. Puckett's blue 4-wheel drive truck was also seen passing the Griffis' residence at approximately 4:41 p.m.
11. Puckett's truck was recovered the next night in a wooded area in Perry County. On October 16, 1995, Puckett was apprehended near his mother's home in Perry County. At the time of his arrest, Puckett nervously commented to his mother that "[t]his is a lot of law enforcement for somebody who just committed a burglary." A duffle bag containing various items including a pair of coveralls was recovered from Puckett at the time of his arrest.
12. Puckett did not deny being in the trailer at the time of the murder, but testified that he witnessed David Griffis murder his wife. He indicated that he had originally planned only to burglarize the house in order to find money to pay his truck note. He stated that the idea to burglarize the house just popped into his head at the time he went by the Griffis' house. Puckett testified that he parked his truck in a vacant lot beside the Griffis' trailer and put his coveralls on. Puckett saw Rhonda's car at the trailer, but proceeded to the door anyway and knocked. Puckett said that Rhonda let him in and they began to talk. Puckett said that he saw the stick lying on the living room floor. He stated that he and Rhonda began kissing and he then began acting out his sexual fantasy of undressing a woman while he remained fully clothed. He said that Rhonda then saw her mother approaching the trailer, grabbed her clothes and ran into the bedroom, and told Puckett to get rid of her mother. Puckett said he ran into the dining room area and had picked up the stick and decided to scare Mrs. Hatten away with the club. Puckett further stated that after Mrs. Hatten fled with the children, David accused Rhonda of sleeping with Puckett and began hitting her with the stick that David took from Puckett. After beating his wife, David struggled to keep Puckett in the trailer, but Puckett was able to escape while David was calling 911. At trial, Puckett indicated the whole incident took four or five minutes. Puckett said he hid in the woods for two days because he was afraid of David.
13. Puckett indicated that State's Exhibit No. 3 was not the same maul handle which he had obtained from a former employer, Ray Watkins. He testified instead that he had destroyed that maul handle while he was working for Mark Hicks, by making a torch out of it to burn off some trash. ...
106. Puckett maintains there was insufficient evidence presented for a reasonable hypothetical jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and points to the following deficiencies in support of his argument: (1) no seminal fluid was identified from the sexual assault kit; (2) hair samples recovered at the victim's residence failed to match the defendant's; (3) no seminal fluid was recovered from a sample of carpet taken from the victim's residence; (4) testing of the coveralls worn while in the victim's residence revealed only the presence of several stains from deer blood and one stain which could be identified only as human protein, but not as a specific body fluid; and (5) the State failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the stick admitted into evidence ... was in fact the murder weapon. ...
107. We first address Puckett's contention that the State's case was fatally flawed because no seminal fluid was found either from the sexual assault kit or from testing of the carpet in the victim's residence. The State's case in regards to sexual assault was based upon the fact that sexual penetration with a wooden club had occurred without the victim's consent. The fact that no seminal fluid was detected is not a fatal defect since one would not logically expect seminal fluid to naturally result from sexual assault perpetrated by a wooden club.
108. Puckett's next contention that hair samples taken from the victim's residence is also not fatally defective to the State's case. The State's case did not rely on the presence of hair samples in the victim's residence in order to establish the fact that Puckett was in the residence at the time of the murder. Puckett's presence in the victim's residence on the day of the murder was established by several eye-witnesses, Nancy Hatten, David Griffis and Jeffrey Griffis. Additionally, Puckett himself testified not only that he was in the victim's residence on the day of the murder, but that he was in fact present during the commission of the murder. Consequently, hair samples were not necessary to establish Puckett's presence in the victim's trailer.
109. Puckett's contention that testing of his coveralls failed to establish the presence of human blood. The testimony was that some human protein was found but that it was not a sufficient amount to establish the type of human protein. So it was not conclusively established that there was or was not human blood on the coveralls. Additionally, David Griffis testified that Puckett was wearing zip-up coveralls on the day of the murder, but the coveralls tested were button-up coveralls. Accordingly, the jury could have inferred that the coveralls tested were not the coveralls that Puckett wore to the victim's house on the day of the murder.
110. Puckett's final contention that the State failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the stick admitted into evidence as State's Exhibit No. 3 was in fact the murder weapon is the most incredible argument of all. Puckett himself testified that he witnessed David Griffis beat Rhonda Griffis with the stick that was admitted into evidence as State's Exhibit No. 3. Therefore, in order for the jury to believe that State's Exhibit No. 3 was not the murder weapon, Puckett is urging the jury and this Court to totally disregard his own testimony.
111. On the other hand, the State points to the following facts which they contend provide more than sufficient evidence of Puckett's guilty verdict: (1) Puckett was fired from his job by David Griffis; (2) Puckett was seen at the scene by Nancy Hatten, David Griffis, and Jeffrey Griffis; (3) Puckett admitted holding the stick and attempting to scare away Nancy Hatten; (4) there was blood on the club he held; (5) Nancy heard a scream from the trailer before David even returned home; (6) Puckett claimed he witnessed the murder and that David Griffis was the individual who brutally beat to death Rhonda Griffis with State's Exhibit No. 3. The State maintains that Puckett's story was incredible and "[t]he jury clearly believed the circumstantial evidence and the testimony of David Griffis and Nancy Hatten." ...
112. A review of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, along with all inferences tending to support the verdict, reveals that there is more than enough evidence to support a guilty verdict. Although not specifically addressed by the State, this Court should find the inconsistency in Puckett's allegation that David killed Rhonda within a four or five minute time period while the physical evidence establishing that David's second 911 call was placed 18 seconds after his first 911 call was terminated, especially convincing of Puckett's guilt. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.
I object to the execution of people who are factually innocent or have some reasonable chance of being factually innocent. With respect the propriety of executing Larry Puckett, I stand mute.
Labels: Larry Puckett
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University of East London architecture department impresses in Guardian 2017 rankings
The University of East London architecture department has been ranked the second best in London and 11th best in the UK following the latest Guardian University Guide 2017 league tables.
This shows a rise third place to second London and a significant climb of 15 places in the national standings. Alongside these impressive national rankings, architecture students are also very happy at the University with the department hitting 98 per cent ‘overall satisfaction’ following the 2015 National Student Survey.
Carl Callaghan, Head of Architecture at UEL, commented, “We are delighted to be recognised by the Guardian as second best in London for architecture. This improvement is due to the success of our students and excellent teaching by staff in architecture and design.”
Are you interested in studying architecture in London? Then do not miss out as the University of East London visit SI-UK London on July 14th to meet international students at a very special Open Day.
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Sudden Pitch
To join you will need the written recommendation of 3 current members along with a completed application. Please note that this return of the application is not a guarantee of acceptance, but an entrance into the process.
Sudden Pitch - Membership Application
Sudden Pitch - Stock Purchase Plan (Community Fee)
Sudden Pitch - Special Membership Guidelines
Members are entitled to unlimited use of the pools, tennis courts and other Sudden Pitch amenities.
SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP:
The requirements for application for Special Membership are that the member shall have been a stockholder for a minimum of ten (10) years and, either:
The member’s youngest child living at home is over the age of 16 by January 1st of the current membership year, or
The member has moved their primary place of residence outside of a twenty-five (25) mile radius of Manchester.
Application must be made in writing to the Board of Directors and received by them by March 1st of the current membership year.
Acceptance will be by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors in accordance with the By-Laws.
Members who have been accepted for Special Membership must resign from regular membership; relinquish voting rights and sign the Special Membership Agreement (for the first year only) returning same to the Board.
Special Membership eligibility, once having been established, will be a continual status unless application is made for a change or revoked by the Board for misuse.
Special Members will be invited to all social functions and have full rights with regard to bringing guests, signing up and paying as usual.
Special Members have full use of all the facilities of the Club, subject to limitations set by the Board of Directors.
Use of the pool and/or tennis courts shall be limited to no more than twenty (20) days per season.
Special Members are not entitled to swimming or tennis lessons.
Although non-voting members, Special Members are encouraged to actively participate and convey their ideas, concerns and suggestions to the Board.
Participation on Club Tennis Leagues is made on a space available basis.
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DPP questions Wu’s role in scandal
CONNECTIONS:：A report alleges that the vice president and his wife knew Chen Chi-hsiang and might have been involved in Lin Yi-shih’s alleged bribery case
By Chris Wang, Mo Yan-chih, Lin Chun-hung and Stacy Hsu / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Thu, Jul 12, 2012 - Page 1
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to explain the role he may have played in the Lin Yi-shih (林益世) scandal and again called on investigators for a quick and thorough probe into the bribery allegations.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday reported on the close relationship between Wu and Lin, who stepped down as Executive Yuan secretary-general amid as widening bribery scandal, as well as the alleged connection between Wu and his wife, Tsai Ling-yi (蔡令怡), and several key individuals in the bribery case.
“Wu has to tell the truth and clarify whether he and his wife knew Chen Chi-hsiang (陳啟祥) [head of Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司)] and whether Chen’s father-in-law made arrangements for the two” to help Chen secure a metal recycling contract from state-controlled China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said.
Chen accused Lin of taking a bribe of NT$63 million (US$US$2.1 million) in 2010 to help him land a slag-treatment deal from CSC and of asking for NT$83 million this year to renew the contract.
Wu must explain why he approved the controversial appointment of CSC chairman Tsou Jou-chi (鄒若齊), who retired in 2002 and broke the company’s unwritten rule that no retired employee would be re-hired, in 2010 when he served as premier, Pan said.
Pan urged the Special Investigation Division (SID) to speed up its investigation into related individuals and parties in the scandal, such as several high-ranking government officials and employees of CSC and its subsidiaries.
“We’re making this appeal because Lin and his family could not have arranged the deal on their own without assistance from others,” Pan said, adding that it appeared that the SID’s investigation was limited to Lin and his family.
In an audio recording, Lin was heard saying he could not arrange the contract when he was a legislator without help from others, but now he can make the decision on his own as Cabinet secretary-general, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said.
“The audio clip told us that you need to have someone in the Executive Yuan to get the deal done,” Chen said, adding that when Lin was a lawmaker, that “someone” in the Cabinet could have been Wu.
The integrity of the president and the vice president has to be challenged and questioned at all times, DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said.
“Wu said he did not know Chen and Chen’s father-in-law, but media reports said Wu did. One of them is lying,” Huang said.
While the SID has pledged to investigate “any lawmaker” involved in the corruption case, it did not say that it would go after “any government official” in the case, Huang said.
Huang said he hoped that politics would not interfere with the case and the SID’s probe.
Wu yesterday denied any role in the scandal and insisted that the personnel changes at CSC were made in accordance with regulations.
He accused Lin of exaggerating the nature of their relationship.
Striking back at the accusations made by political commentators and the Next Magazine report, Wu said he and his wife did not know Chen Chi-hsiang and did not interfere with personnel appointments at CSC.
“I don’t know Chen or his father-in-law ... It is clear from the audio clips released that Lin bragged about his power, and who can stop him from exaggerating things to Chen?” Wu said in Keelung.
The vice president’s remarks were interrupted by two DPP Keelung councilors, who raised placards that read: “Show up, Mr X” and chanted slogans.
Appearing displeased, Wu asked the two councilors to “find your so-called Mr X because he is not here,” denying he was the “Mr X” who a political commentator had said was behind the bribery case.
Political commentator Hu Chung-hsin (胡忠信) said on a political talk show on Monday night that a high-ranking government official was also involved in the corruption scandal, claiming that “Mr X” introduced Chen Chi-hsiang to Lin.
The latest Next Magazine report alleged that Wu and his wife had lived in the same community as Chen Chi-hsiang’s father-in-law in Nantou, and that Chen Chi-hsiang went to Wu for help two years ago when he was serving as premier.
The story said Lin bragged about his close relations with Wu and told Chen Chi-hsiang that he “handled all of Wu’s works” when asking for bribes.
The approval of the appointment of Tsou in 2010 by Wu, who was premier at the time, created more opportunities for legislators to lobby, as Tsou set up a legislature coordination department to strengthen the company’s communication with the legislature, the story said.
Wu said that since 2007, Executive Yuan regulations had stipulated that all personnel appointments at state-run corporations should be reviewed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and approved by the Executive Yuan, and his approval of the CSC chairman’s appointment was made in accordance with standard procedures.
“Every personnel appointment at state-run enterprises was made in accordance with the law, and I did not interfere with any of the personnel arrangements,” he said.
The allegations against Wu have caused a stir in the Presidential Office, and Wu and his office started to gather evidence to refute the accusations when they learned about the news on Monday.
Wu said he had clarified the situation with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday, and the president understood that the allegations were baseless.
He also urged the magazine to stop making “groundless accusations” and threatened to file a lawsuit against the magazine if it failed to clarify the matter.
The SID said that even though the allegations that Wu had good relations with Lin were true, that was not evidence that Wu had at any time violated the law.
As such, there was no need for the SID to investigate Wu for the time being, it said.
The SID summoned Lin and his wife, Peng Ai-chia (彭愛佳), for questioning again yesterday to cross-examine the couple because of contradictions in their earlier statements relating to the source of money prosecutors removed from their safe deposit boxes.
Accompanied by her attorney, Peng walked into the SID’s office at about 9am and declined to give any information related to the case.
Lin, who is being held at the Taipei Detention Center, arrived about an hour later.
Inconsistent statements by Lin, Peng and Lin’s mother, Shen Juo-lan (沈若蘭), have led prosecutors to believe that Lin is seeking to cover up the identities of other people who may have been involved in the scandal and other sources of his ill-gotten money.
Sources said Lin had alleged that the NT$63 million was paid in both New Taiwan dollars and US dollars, part of which he had given to his mother, while saying that Peng did not handle the money.
For her part, Shen claimed Lin had handed over the entire NT$63 million, which she said she had deposited in various safe deposit boxes, part of which had been entrusted to Peng.
However, Peng claims all the money seized by prosecutors from safe deposit boxes rented under the names of her acquaintances were given by Lin and that she was unaware of the source.
In related news, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office denied claims by the magazine that Kaohsiung head prosecutor Wang Chi-ming (王啟明) had asked the Greater Kaohsiung Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau to punish Ti Yung and may have conspired with Lin.
The office said it had received several complaints that Ti Yung was violating environmental protection laws and that Wang’s suggestion at an environmental protection meeting had nothing to do with politics or the Lin scandal.
The Ministry of Justice announced it had launched an administrative investigation into Wang’s possible involvement.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
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Russian lab shielded doping Russian athletes: WADA
Reuters, TORONTO
Tue, Jul 19, 2016 - Page 1
Widespread doping and manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the Sochi Winter Olympics, overseen by the Russian Ministry of Sport, was confirmed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) yesterday, further fueling calls for a complete ban on the nation at next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
WADA’s independent commission report, which was led by Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Richard McLaren and unveiled at a Toronto news conference, said a Moscow laboratory protected Russian athletes during last year’s Sochi Winter Games.
McLaren, who was a member of WADA’s independent commission which last year exposed widespread doping and corruption in Russian athletics, leading to the ban on Russian track and field athletes from Rio, said the Russian Ministry of Sport oversaw the manipulation of athletes’ analytical results and sample swapping.
The report addressed accusations made by former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory head Grigory Rodchenkov, who two months ago told the New York Times that dozens of Russian athletes used performance-enhancing drugs in Sochi with approval from national sports authorities.
Rodchenkov claimed that up to 15 Russian medal winners at the Sochi Winter Games were part of a program in which tainted urine samples were switched for clean ones.
McLaren said Rodchenkov and all other witnesses interviewed were deemed credible and the personnel at the Moscow laboratory did not have a choice over whether to be involved in the state-directed system.
Many organizations, including the US Anti-Doping agency, have said that the Sochi revelations should lead to a blanket ban on Russia, but International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach indicated last week that he was reluctant to see athletes from one sport punished for the crimes of those, or officials, from another.
Russian President Vladimir Putin staked his reputation on the Sochi Games, which at about US$50 billion were the most expensive in Olympic history. Russia topped the medal table with 13 gold medals and 33 overall.
WADA appointed McLaren in May to lead the probe after some observers voiced concerns about a conflict of interest given that the allegations related to the Sochi Olympics and WADA is funded by the International Olympic Committee.
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‧World News
Home / World News
Sat, Mar 11, 2017 - Page 6 News List
Malaysia’s Najib calls for unity amid N Korea spat
Reuters, KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday called for unity as he tried to return home nine Malaysians stuck in North Korea amid a growing row over the murder of Kim Jong-nam, while warning Pyongyang not to abuse Malaysia’s “hospitality.”
North Korea on Tuesday barred Malaysians from leaving the country, sparking a tit-for-tat response by Malaysia as relations soured over its probe into the Feb. 13 murder of Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Malaysian police said he was assaulted by two women who smeared his face with VX, a chemical agent classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.
In a blog posting, Najib said Malaysia would fall back on its experience dealing with crises, such as the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in which multiple countries were involved in the search.
Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Australia, Malaysia and China jointly called off a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January.
“I want to call on all Malaysians, including the leaders of the government and the opposition, to unite in giving us full support towards all efforts that are ongoing to resolve this problem,” Najib said.
“Malaysia always ensures good relations with all countries. However, this does not mean any one of them can abuse our good treatment that Malaysia has given all this while and break the laws of our country, or do anything they like without respecting Malaysia as a sovereign nation,” he added.
Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans in connection with the case.
They said three are still in Kuala Lumpur, hiding at the North Korean embassy.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that has for decades maintained ties with isolated North Korea. However, as relations plunged in the wake of the murder, Malaysia recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and expelled the North Korean ambassador.
On Thursday, Najib said North Korea had guaranteed the safety of Malaysians banned from leaving the country, as two Malaysian UN employees left the state in a possible sign that diplomatic tensions had begun to settle.
Najib, who said any negotiations with Pyongyang would be conducted behind closed doors, called for nationwide prayers for the safety of the Malaysians barred from leaving North Korea.
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TAP Talks Programme
TAP Annual Conference
TAP Council Members
Join TAP
TAP Talk June 2019 by Rachel Freeth
Talk by Rachel Freeth on Psychiatric Diagnosis
A warm summer’s evening on 21 June welcomed Rachel Freeth back to TAP, to present her Talk
entitled "Psychiatric Diagnosis - What might this mean for your client and you?" Rachel is a
psychiatrist, counsellor and author and works in General Adult Psychiatry in Herefordshire.
Having trained as a Person Centred counsellor in the late 1990’s, she now straddles the world
of Psychiatry and counselling.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation, Rachel firstly
spoke of some assumptions relating to Psychiatric Diagnosis that
are commonly held and how she has questioned some aspects of
these beliefs over a long period of time. The assumptions are that a psychiatric diagnosis is similar to a diagnosis for a physical
health problem, a named medical condition and like a physical
health diagnosis, a psychiatric diagnosis is essential to decide
what treatment should given.
Rachel with Caroline Barrett - TAP Council Member who organised the event.
Another assumption is that a diagnosis is the duty of a doctorand that it is made through
assessment and examination of the person using a formal medical process that focuses on the
symptoms and signs of the patient.
Posing the question; What is a diagnosis? Rachel explained that the name of a physical illness
gives information about the condition, whereas in a psychiatric diagnosis that information
is not provided. Therefore the psychiatric diagnosis is not based on knowing what and where the underlying mental disturbance is. It was surprising for many of the audience to learn that after
decades of research we still only have a range of theories on the causes of mental distress and
disturbance, we do not have any conclusive scientific evidence on it’s origins.
Rachel moved on to Psychiatric classification and the audience heard how the American
Psychiatric Association publishes The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM), which is used by clinicians and psychiatrists to diagnose psychiatric illnesses.
Another clarification is the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which is published by
the World Health Organization and is currently in it’s 10th edition. The ICD 11 has now been
published although it is not due to come into full effect until 2022. Importantly, in a world of
7.4 billion people speaking nearly 7000 different languages, the ICD provides a common
vocabulary for recording and monitoring health issues.
How the diagnosis affects our attitude towards the person given the diagnosis was discussed
and how the diagnosis affects how that person sees themselves. It was suggested that there is a possibility that the patient will be influenced by the `label` assigned to them and consequently
adopt that role.
Following the vote of thanks, the discussion continued over tea and coffee and the now
legendary biscuits, where it became apparent that many of the audience would take away
something useful to integrate into their own work.
The next TAP Talk takes place on September 20 after the summer break, when Lizzy Oakley
presents: "Fibromyalgia – Journey to acceptance". All are most welcome.
Article by David Trott - TAP Council member.
If you would like any information about the benefits of being a TAP membe, follow this link: www.taplimited.org.uk/join-tap.html
TAP Conference 2019 'De-Mystifying Trauma' with John Henden and Dr Robert Sharpe
Taunton Association for Psychotherapy (TAP) held its annual conference on Saturday 30th March at the race course, which has splendid facilities.
TAP has been holding these conferences for more than 30 years, attracting audiences from around the south west. As usual, more than seventy-five attendees, mainly but not only counsellors and psychotherapists, enjoyed an interesting and informative day.
The subject this year was “De-mystifying Trauma’, and the speakers, John Hendon and Dr. Robert Sharpe, have both lectured and run workshops in the UK and around the world.
The conference was opened by Helena Trump, the TAP Chair.
John Hendon told TAP that many avoid working with survivors of severe trauma for the fear of making it worse; or of re-traumatising. His approach is one known as ‘Solution Focused’, which is described as ‘practical techniques, balanced with well documented scientific research’. He exemplified this by examples from his experience which includes extensive work with military veterans and survivors of motor accidents. John has written a very accessible ( and successful ) book aimed at ex-military personnel.
His aim is help people through three stages, that of ‘victim’ where the story can be told and the isolation broken down, ‘survivor’, involving the identification of personal strengths and resources, as well as external support and finally the ‘thriver’. This is about learning to live in a fulfilling way, exploring dreams and hopes for the future and strengthening relationships.
Some of his techniques were illustrated in practical ways in his second session. One example was the use of elastic band on the wrist, pulling and releasing it to recognise that ‘that was then and this is now.’ Some people might have intrusive thoughts up to eighty times a day and with this and other methods that number could be reduced significantly.
Dr Robert Sharpe has a humorous style which he has used to engage audiences such as top lawyers and bankers. He wrote some of the original books on stress management back in the 1970s when the field was still developing.
Both speakers believe ‘There is no one right way’, but their talks were entirely complementary.
Dr Sharpe started by getting the audience to think of their needs and wants and then to think of recent successes. The audience was encouraged to identify their core ‘bedrock skills’ and not be embarrassed, in an English way, to acknowledge them.
It is important to give attention to people’s successes rather than raking over failures, and Dr Sharpe used as his example Arsene Wenger and his period as manager of Arsenal Football Club.
Trauma can damage self-esteem and it is important to ensure that is dealt with. Dr Sharpe talked about turning ‘whys into hows’, stating that it is about finding the necessary resources within one’s self.
He then turned, briefly, to the neuro-science, explaining how therapeutic interventions can affect the functioning of the brain.
One entertaining example was a woman who had been involved in an armed bank robbery and had to lie on the floor, when she noticed one of the robbers had odd socks on. Robert was able to use this to interrupt the flow.
Trauma can lock people into a loop of re-occurring thoughts, but therapists can find ways of breaking into that circle and leading them out of the ‘misery go round’.
Both speakers left attendees with informative handout sheets.
Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive and TAP is already planning for Conference 2020.
The conference was closed by the vice chair Andrew Wilcox.
TAP Talk 15th February - Jane Renton on 'Unlocking the secret of dreams'
TAP ended its current programme of evening talks with “Unlocking the secrets of dreams”.
The talk was due to be delivered by Matthew Harwood, who had to withdraw and his place was taken by Jane Renton, who gave a talk which thoroughly engaged the audience and promoted a lot of questions and discussion.
Jane introduced the topic with examples of dreams; one by the poet Coleridge and one from Anglo-Anglo-Saxon England 1400 years ago.
Freud said that dreams are ‘the royal road to the unconscious mind’. Jane used a more recent definition -‘the royal road to integration.’
Her work is informed by Internal Family Systems theory whose approach is that within all of us are sub-personalities which can consist of wounded and painful parts that might try to protect the person from them. These can be in conflict with each other and the core of the person which is confident and compassionate.
Jane explained , ‘what you put into a dream is within you.’ The job of the therapist is not to interpret but to bring the dream alive and work with the client for the deeper meaning to emerge and, one hopes, to be healing.
There are a number of steps to be followed for safe practice.
We start by narrating the dream in present tense to bring it more alive then check for any feelings it arouses and what parts might be important. Other things we might do is to look out for SQUIDS , what is strange, quirky, uninteresting, interesting and different. We may ask the client to speak as if they were a character or even a thing in the dream. Does any of this resonate with anything happening in your life at the moment or the time of the dream?
Jane offered several ways to illustrate the process and the one chosen was for a volunteer, one of the committee, to act as client. He was given a dream. It was the one from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
‘Last night I dreamed of Manderley.’
His interesting response was what arose for him and did show the power of the technique.
The audience was invited to do an exercise in groups and select one of four printed dreams form the table. In one group when the dream was read out, a member of it remarked ‘this is spooky. it is a dream I have.’
It was agreed that what it showed is that it can be a way of getting to the core of the person.
This was followed by a lively question and answer session. The vote of thanks given by Caroline Barrett (who new to this role and did it very well ) The evening ended with biscuits and tea or coffee.
The next TAP event is the annual conference on 30th March entitled ‘De-mystifying Trauma’ with two international speakers, John Hendon and Dr Robert Sharp. See our TAP Conference page for more details.
The evening talks resume on Friday 17th May 2019 with ‘Responding to our client’s metaphors’ by Matthew Cott at the Friend’s Meeting House.
'Gone' - A young person's mental health journey
At our November 2018 TAP Talk, one of the young people who came along to describe their personal experience shared a piece that the audience found so moving we asked their permission to share it with you on the website. The name has been changed but otherwise this is their vivid account of their mental health journey. We would like to thank Jane for allowing this to be shared.
Hello, my name is Jane and I am 19 years old. When being asked to talk about my mental health and the journey it took me on, I stumbled on where exactly I should start. Do I start with the little 8 year old girl and what she felt or more on what being ill has taken away from me. I decided on the latter.
When people talk about mental health, the information that is shared is often correlated with the symptoms presented and how mental health works. The understanding of this is of course very important, but this evening I would like to focus on the internal and external impacts of anorexia and the array of other labels that were thrown at me.
Starting at 8, my world was very small and complex. In my head you see, it all made sense. I won’t be able to explain the cognitive battle that was going on up there, because I am not really sure I understand it now. Never the less I could see me friends were not interested in my anxious temperament and shy ways. I didn’t like seeing them dwindle, because then they were gone.
After I moved up to the senior school, I was met with angry voices and hierarchical ways. My mental health took a dive in the deep end. This was when the world stopped spinning and came to a halt, my world at least. Gone.
Hospital became my home whilst the world stopped spinning. Hospitals that weren’t close to home. Hospitals that were dotted around the country like joining a dot-to-dot. Nottingham was were the furthest dot was placed and the Cotswolds was the closest. I had lost the comfort of my home. In physicality I wasn’t met with familiar faces and two very happy puppies in the morning. Another thing gone.
Everyone else’s world seemed to carry on spinning, I knew that because I would be told on the telephone about birthdays and Christmases. I would be told about new candles on the cakes and countries that had been travelled. I was happy they were living their lives, but I couldn’t bare what my life had come to. Sitting between the same four walls, knowing every door and window was locked. Gone.
My teenage years were spent being weighed and sedated by various concoction’s. My serotonin levels were fake. I saw my friends being happy; real happiness that is. But of course I didn’t get to see the few that were left, because 200 miles (pause) separated us. The simplicity of what I missed was almost forgotten.
A hug. A simple thing you see, but safeguarding rules and cameras understandably restricted staff to patient contact, but there were days when I couldn’t understand why. A hand to hold seemed so far away. Reassurance and comfort swiftly left.
Talks of periods and girly chats were non-existent as anorexia smiled. Gone.
A walk in the garden; gone. Going outside involved being well.
Having a bath by myself; gone. I now had two people awkwardly hoovering over me watching my every splash.
I didn’t have any choice over my care, my voice was not being heard. Gone.
Everything was going. Gone.
Although somehow everything that was going didn’t matter to me. I was okay with what my illnesses were giving me- it felt somewhat safe. I began to feel comfortable in the pain I was causing myself. It was what I knew, and it was who I was. I did not see myself as poorly. I was just myself.
So, for that exact reason I couldn’t see what I was missing. My world had paused. It became a rusty cassette that didn’t know how to play. Coming back into the real world felt near impossible. Rekindling friendships and greeting my two puppies in the morning felt strange. I didn’t have to wait for someone else to unlock three doors before I was met with a blast of fresh air. It was all so strange… I could now have clothes in my room and my blanket to sleep under. At the beginning I felt like a stranger in my own home- naturally waiting to be strip-searched before entering my room.
It did get easier. Sadly it took longer than I would have liked, but I began to like the new world I was living in. It became something I wanted to explore and cherish, the world became a warmer place. The little things in life became my very best friend.
The Jane that was poorly was shrinking. Gone.
TAP Talk November 2018. Johnny Scott `Mental Health – A Young Person’s Perspective.
Members and guests of TAP gathered once again at the Friend’s Meeting House in Bath Place on 16th November for the widely anticipated Talk by Johnny Scott entitled `Mental Health – A Young Person’s Perspective.
Co-Chair Andrew Wilcox introduced Johnny who is from the Somerset NHS Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). The organisation was created in 1995 and has seen a huge increase in demand for it’s services ever since, although the 2018 CAMHS is a very different service than the 1995 version. Johnny has worked for CAMHS for around three years and strives to develop the service using the experiences and feedback of it’s clients. His role is unique in as much as he doesn’t work clinically with the young people but helps them find their voice. Listening to his young client’s experiences he then feeds back to managers about ways in which the service can involve and change to best serve it’s clients. The organisation offers numerous types of therapy which includes Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Psychotherapy, Family Therapy and Art Therapy.
Johnny was accompanied by a group of young people who had been helped by CAMHS, within it’s `Participation` group scheme, some of which were now volunteering themselves as helpers. Participation groups build self esteem and confidence and give the young people something to get involved in and to look forward to as well as being a social outlet. The groups can be used until the age of eighteen.
As the presentation continued all the young people bravely took to the floor in turn and recounted their own personal stories which included anxiety, anorexia, borderline personality disorder, depression and self harm, to spellbound listeners. As well as their journey the young people spoke of where they are now with their issues and how they manage their lives. Interacting with the audience one young speaker was able to convey brilliantly how unpleasant and intrusive it feels to be asked the most personal of questions when entering therapy. Guided and occasionally prompted by Johnny the youngsters received an exceptionally warm and enthusiastic round of applause after their own individual account from a clearly moved and appreciative audience.
Following a vote of thanks by TAP council member Caroline Barrett, speakers, members and guests availed themselves of a hot beverage and the now legendary biscuits. The next TAP Talk takes place on Friday January 18th 2019 when Olivia Rowlatt presents ` Having conversations about sex`. All are welcome.
David Trott TAP Council Member
TAP Talk 19th October 2018 - Andrew Pritchard of MIND 'A local mental health charity, what it does, when, where and how'.
On 19 October members and guests of TAP welcomed Andrew Pritchard who is Chief Operations Officer of the Taunton and West Somerset branch of MIND, who presented his Talk entitled ` A local mental health charity, what it does, when, where and how.`
As a mental health charity MIND is there for anyone with a mental health problem and nationally delivers high quality services to hundreds of thousands of people each year. Taunton & West Somerset MIND is one of around 130 local MINDs around the country which are their own individual charities with their own trustees and are responsible for their own fund raising, although as a network, they share support, knowledge and ideas. Nationally MIND campaigns to improve services and strives to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Andrew reflected on the familiar statistic that 1 in 4 of us will suffer with mental illness at some point in our lives. It was surprising for many to hear that according to the World Health Organization, by 2020 depression will be the second most common cause of ill health after heart disease. Andrew added that this statement may have been revised and that mental illness will become the most common cause of ill health.
Taunton and West Somerset MIND supports 30+ projects mainly across Somerset but works in Devon, Dorset and other parts of the UK. Over 5000 contacts annually are made locally and these are handled by over 70 volunteers and just over 30 full and part time staff. As Andrew’s presentation continued more astonishing present day data and statistics emerged including the fact that in the UK this week 250,000 people will visit their doctor about a mental health problem and 750,000 prescriptions for antidepressants will be issued. During the same period 104 will have taken their own life.
It is estimated that 1 in 10 people at any one time will be experiencing mental distress. Relating these figures to Somerset with it’s population of just over ½ million this means at any one time 50,000 people could be experiencing mental distress in this county alone.
The next TAP Talk takes place on Friday 16th November when Jonny Scott presents Mental health: a young person’s perspective. All are welcome.
David Trott
TAP Talk September 14th 2018 - 'Working with clients on the autistic spectrum' Nick & Corinna Wood
After a break for summer, TAP opened it’s doors on 14 September for another eagerly awaited Talk. A large and enthusiastic audience of members and guests welcomed Corrina and Nick Wood for their presentation entitled `Working with clients on the autistic spectrum`.
Corrina has spent many years working with families where there is a child with Autism, is a licensed facilitator of the Cygnet Programme, a course for the parents and works within `Platypus Training and Consultancy` at Bristol. She and her husband Nick have four children who although are very different, are all on the Autistic Spectrum. Nick is an Accredited BACP counsellor and heads up the counselling team at Gloucestershire County Council and has a special interest in the field of Autism.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation (download available HERE), the audience was asked what Autism is? According to The National Autistic Society, `Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them` while Platypus sees it as a `neurodevelopmental condition that enables an individual to process, connect and experience the world differently.` It is believed that where Autism is present there is also an increased risk of developing mental health issues, suicide and co-occurring conditions. Currently there are more males being diagnosed with the condition than females. The audience also heard that girls present differently to boys and it is thought that the parents of children with Autism are more stressed than parents of children with other disabilities.
Corrina and Nick explained that it’s estimated that at least 90% of people with Autism also have some degree of sensory difference and that evidence has suggested a genetic link. It’s said that Autism can occur with or without intellectual impairment and that’s it’s different for everyone.
Moving on to patterns of social interaction, Corrina and Nick spoke of ‘Aloof’ – this is where the individual is ‘in their own world’, not wanting to interact with others. Another style is ‘Passive’ where some individuals are happy to be on their own but are open to interaction with others if approached. ‘Active-but-odd’, was mentioned next but this label has been in decline of late but refers to the individual who wants to interact with others, but doesn’t have the skills or understanding to do so appropriately. Lastly came ‘Formal & Stilted’, here as the name suggests, individuals are very polite and use very formal language.
Therapists in the room having listened intently to Corrina and Nick’s presentation no doubt at this stage pondered to question `How do I best work with clients with Autism?`. The answer lay in the next PowerPoint slide which suggested that we prepare well for the session and that we don’t scare the client. This may necessitate the therapist changing traditional styles of therapy such as maintaining eye contact, which don’t appear productive. Seeking out peer support or a Supervisor with experience of client group was said to be useful and interestingly the consideration of sensory issues within the therapy room, an example of the latter being given afterwards as being a client getting distressed by the combination of colours on a therapy room bookshelf. An awareness of societal biases is essential as is the question of what it really means to be treated as different.
Handouts are available to download HERE and HERE
Following the vote of thanks, TAP members and guests enjoyed a hot beverage and were tempted by a fine selection of biscuits, while discussing the superb presentation by Corrina and Nick Wood. The next TAP talk takes place on 19 Oct 2018, when Andrew Pritchard, CEO, Mind in Taunton and West Somerset, presents `A local mental health charity, what it does, when, where and how`. All are most welcome.
David Trott TAP Council Member
TAP Talk June 2018 - Max Dalda Muller: Black Mirror: the influence of technology and social media on the therapeutic relationship.
A near capacity audience gathered on the 15 June to enjoy a presentation by Max Dalda Muller intriguingly entitled Black Mirror: the influence of technology and social media on the therapeutic relationship.
His rationale for putting together this talk was the huge use of technology in this country and the impact it is having on our health. The audience heard that it’s just over ten years since the first i phone was launched, and also around the same time Facebook became available. Since then one billion i phones have been sold and Facebook has acquired 2.2 billion active users, that’s roughly a quarter of the world’s population. In the UK 85% of the population own a smartphone and there are 30 million users of Facebook, that’s around half of the UK populace.
A buzz of surprise resonated around the room when the audience heard that the average UK user spends 2 hours 45 Minutes each day on a mobile device, which equates to 42 days a year and that we also check our phones on average 28 times a day which equals to 10,000 times a year.
Concern about the escalating use of mobile technology is backed up by research that shows that more people are being diagnosed with mental health problems than at any other time in human history, this is especially true in children and young people. Although we cannot say for certain, it appears highly likely that there is a link between mental health and time spent on mobile devices and social media.
Max offered the view that, like it or not the internet is changing the way we live, the way we shop and the way we find out information but most importantly it is changing the way in which we communicate with and relate to one another. In other words it is changing our relationships.
Continuing his fascinating presentation, Max explained a little about why smart phones and social media are so alluring and why users go back time and time again to check for messages and why they feel they cannot do without them.
The audience heard how the release of the naturally occurring drug Dopamine in the brain is partly responsible for this addiction. Part of the role of Dopamine is helping us learn about rewards and reinforcement. Dopamine neurons become activated when something good happens unexpectedly, such as the sudden availability of food. However dopamine has a sinister side as well. The use of drugs like Cocaine, Nicotine and Heroin, causes huge boosts of Dopamine in the brain, so the high that people feel when using drugs is partly down to Dopamine. In the same way, when we pick up our phone to check our messages we get a Dopamine hit, so our brain responds in the same way as a crack addict or gambler.
However it was not all bad news for the users of mobile technology. The audience heard that as well as being fun, it can help with finding friends and relatives and the sharing of experiences and events.
An enthusiastic round of applause followed a vote of thanks by TAP council member Ian Stevenson and discussion continued over tea and coffee afterwards.
The next TAP Talk will take place on Friday September 14th when NICK & CORINNA WOOD will present Working with clients on the autistic spectrum. All are welcome.
TAP Talk 18th May 2018 - Ian Stevenson 'Cutting Edge Spirituality Take Two'
On Friday 18 May, a brand new season of talks commenced with TAP’s own council member Ian Stevenson who enthralled his audience with his presentation Cutting Edge Spirituality Take Two in which he built on the theme of TAP’s 2017 conference of `Connections between Spirituality and Psychotherapy`. Ian is a senior counsellor at the Somerset Counselling Centre and has been a driving force at TAP for many years, filling many roles.
Ian grabbed the audience’s attention by positing the question ` Do we think we are part of a universe where we are connected across space and time or are we are like a man standing on a melting ice floe in a universe that is unaware of us?
Addressing the idea that spirituality might be a nice concept Ian asked what do we mean by spirituality? How do we encounter it? What it is we encounter? And is there is any evidence for a dimension outside of our physical world; the metaphysical. Offering the thought that as religious faith has declined, people have investigated what has often been viewed to be the supernatural. Near death experiences, past life memories and telepathy were examined in Ian’s presentation together with the reason for resistance to these ideas and the concept of a paradigm shift.
The audience heard how another Ian Stevenson existed between 1918-2007 and that he was a Canadian-born U.S. psychiatrist who worked for the University of Virginia School of Medicine and was a founder and director of the university's Division of Perceptual Studies, which investigates the paranormal. Stevenson became known worldwide for his research into reincarnation, the idea that emotions, memories, and even physical bodily features can be transferred from one life to another. He travelled extensively over a period of forty years, investigating three thousand cases of children around the world who claimed to remember past lives.
Our own Ian Stevenson recounted an experience from his younger days when he was part of a group that sat around a table. In time honoured fashion they placed their hands upon it and in due course found it to be moving. The mystery as to how it moved continues to this day with no one admitting to causing it to happen.
As with all unexplained phenomena, humans instinctively search for meaning and answers and Ian offered the thought that Quantum physics might give us clues.
Unsurprisingly, a lively question and answer session followed Ian’s thought provoking presentation and after a vote of thanks by TAP vice chair Andrew Wilcox, the discussion continued over tea and coffee.
For Ian's list of resources useful to pursue your interest in this subject see HERE for a downloadable Word document.
The next TAP Talk takes place on June 15th 2018 when Max Dalda Muller presents: Black Mirror: the influence of technology and social media on the therapeutic relationship.
All are welcome.
TAP Conference 2018 - Nick Totton and 'We are all body psychotherapists' is a great success!
Taunton Racecourse on a glorious spring day was the venue for TAP’s 2018 Spring Conference on 14th April. This eagerly awaited and anticipated event featured therapist, trainer and author Nick Totton who had left his beloved Cornwall to present ` We are all Body Psychotherapists` to TAP Conference delegates.
Welcomed by vice chair Andrew Wilcox, Nick started his presentation by inviting the audience to get comfortable by stretching and relaxing their bodies and said that he would endeavour to speak with the audience rather than at them.
Referring to the title of his presentation, Nick shared his view that Body Psychotherapy is an unfortunate name but one that is around at the moment. He felt it sounded like he only worked with people’s bodies whereas Body Psychotherapy is about working with the whole of the person, therefore he believes `Embodiment Therapy` would be a better title.
Outlining what `embodiment` actually is, Nick spoke of how the mind and body are interlinked and how we need to get to know and make friends with the huge number of things going on in our bodies like twitches, gurgles and sighs and also with all the emotions and impulses. When we connect with ourselves and recognise our own rhythms of embodiment we can begin to observe how they are influenced by being in association with another embodied person.
Nick went on to explain how Embodiment and Relationship are inseparable both in human existence and in psychotherapy. When investigating embodiment we meet relationship; if we investigate relationship we find embodiment. For the practitioner who recognises the interaction of these two aspects of being human, the gift will be therapy that is far more powerful.
Challenging the assumption held by some that Mind and Body are somehow separate, Nick declared himself a `Bodymind`. Offering examples of how some might view the supposed divide between Mind and Body, Nick asked as a sick person might ask his body - `Why are you doing this to me?`. Then again as an Insomniac `I want to go to sleep, why won’t my mind stop? `
In therapy Nick’s goal is to follow the client wherever the process takes them but the nature of the embodied relationship between client and therapist is central.
As the conference progressed Nick invited delegates to participate in some experiential work. The first exercise was with someone that was unknown to them. Standing close in silence, delegates examined their feelings; what was it like to be near the stranger? Was their body opening up to them? Was their body moving towards them or pulling away? Most delegates engaged with the exercise, some standing some sitting. Some in perfect stillness, while others wiggled, rocked or moved their arms as to a silent cadence.
A second exercise followed a similar pattern but with someone new, followed by another change of partner for a third exercise but this time with eyes closed as well as in silence. On being invited to speak, participants visibly relaxed and laughter was heard. Examining this fascinating experience the audience was asked to consider once again their feelings; was it mine or was it theirs and how hard was it staying in the here and now?
After such an interesting and absorbing morning the conference broke for lunch and what a sumptuous affair it was. Feasting on the tasty fare provided, delegates took the opportunity to network; making new acquaintances and renewing old ones.
Nick launched into the afternoon session by speaking of trauma, a subject that many therapists will encounter in their work almost daily. If the person is traumatised, they can’t relax. They are waiting for something bad to happen. We see trauma in everyday life, ordinary forms of trauma showing itself before we learn how to relax. The more traumatised we are, the more we are stuck with one foot in the past and one foot in the present. It’s believed that feelings are held in the body and that the body has memory.
Nick mentioned Peter Lavine who has spent most of his working life working with trauma and traumatised clients. Peter has developed an approach to trauma called Somatic Experience which focuses on the physiological aspects of the condition.
With much interaction from delegates, the widely debated question of `touch` between therapist and client arose. This topic appears to have surfaced at many of Nick’s Workshops and Talks as he quickly embraced the subject calling the taboo of touch within the counselling relationship a `19th Century Fossil. Different kinds of touch were discussed, from a simple handshake or hug at the end of a session to a more intimate holding of someone when they are sobbing. Reflecting that it’s all about what we are comfortable with, Nick added that the more embodied we are, the more that we can find a way.
With the therapeutic relationship between therapist and client often extremely close, it was unsurprising to hear that in the instance of a client suppressing an emotion the likelihood of this being picked up by the therapist is very high. Nick added that the messages might be subliminal and to him the idea of telepathy made perfect sense, however in everyday situations the signals are likely to be swamped by hundreds and hundreds of other people.
Moving into the last 45 minutes of the conference, delegates discussed what had resonated for them in the morning and also what hadn’t. All too soon the conference drew to a close but Nick had one more gem to leave with us; ``The body always knows the right thing to do``.
A warm round of applause followed a vote of thanks by TAP Chair Helena Trump.
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Take in an Amazing Outdoor Stage Show at the Polynesian Cultural Center
Excerpt from I Need to Get L'eid from the Teresa the Traveler series of books. When I told my friends I was going to Oahu, they all told me to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center, so on day five I did just that. I purchased a ticket from the tour agent and caught one of the big black Polynesian Cultural Center buses near my hotel for a one hour ride to the other side of the island. Our jovial Hawaiian guide kept us entertained during the long ride with stories about the fascinating history of Hawaii’s number one paid tourist attraction.
The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a 42-acre open air museum representing the Islands of Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti and Tongo with additional exhibits featuring Marquesas and Easter Island. In 1921, Mormon missionary and visionary Matthew Cowley delivered a speech in Honolulu saying he hoped “to see the day when my Maori people down there in New Zealand will have a little village there at La'ie with a beautiful carved house...the Tongans will have a village too, and the Tahitians and Samoans and all those islanders of the sea."
The PCC grew from a fundraising event called a Hukilau that Church members held in the late 1940’s. The fishing festival and luau featuring Polynesian entertainment was immensely popular. In 1962, President David McKay authorized the construction of the center as a means to provide meaningful employment for the students of the recently constructed Mormon Church College of Hawaii. Over 100 missionaries volunteered to construct the center alongside skilled artisans brought in from the South Pacific to ensure the authenticity of the villages. Since 1977, the center has served over 33 million visitors and provided jobs, financial assistance and scholarships to over 17,000 students from over 70 different countries while they attended Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
The Polynesian Cultural Center also hosts several annual events such as the Moanikeala Hula Festival, the World Fireknife Championships and Samoa Festival, a Tahitian dance festival, a Māori cultural competition, the Haunted Lagoon (a haunted canoe ride through the
lagoon) and a Polynesian Christmas Celebration.
When we arrived at the center, we had the choice of taking a guided tour or a self-guided tour. I grabbed a map of the center and headed out on a solo-adventure.
This guy was demonstrating how to climb a coconut tree
The Fiji float in the canoe parade
Ra - The Breathe of Life show
Every evening ends with an amazing stage show
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Philip Hyde books
After Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, the third pillar of conservation photography in the 20th century was Philip Hyde (1921-2006). In fact, it can be argued that Philip Hyde was more instrumental in this role than his two more famous counterparts, and that it was precisely for that reason that he is less known. A quiet and humble giant, living a simple life out of the spotlight, he always felt that his own art was secondary to nature’s beauty and fragility, to the environmental campaigns he participated in – more numerous and successful than any other photographer. As an artist, this belief was reflected in his direct style, which appears deceptively descriptive, favoring truthfulness and understatement rather than dramatization, but upon closer examination represents a uniquely personal approach to landscape photography. Today it may be easy to take his compositions for granted, but that’s mostly because they have been emulated countless times. The work was pioneering. William Neil writes in a penetrating tribute: “I have little doubt that every published nature photographer of my generation has been inspired by Philip’s efforts”. I must confess that I discovered the work of Philip Hyde past my formative years. However, I actually find more common ground with him than with the other large format masters. Studying his work has confirmed my choices to photograph also in ordinary light, without radical angles or over-manipulation, and generally to try to show what is there, rather than what I want the viewer to see.
The essay linked above is part of a blog created by David Leland Hyde, Philip’s only son, who is doing a great job to keep alive his legacy. Together with philiphyde.com where portfolios are presented, it is the best resource to learn more about Philip Hyde’s art, life and times. I am grateful to David for suggestions in preparing this article. Here is a short video about Philip, narrated by David:
Although Philip Hyde was an excellent printer who had learned from the very best and was often approached and shown by the finest institutions, because of his focus on conservation, he rarely sought to exhibit his work, instead contributing images for publications that were likely to reach influencers as well as masses. The photography book was therefore his natural medium. By David’s count, Philip Hyde was a primary photographer for at least thirty books. Since none of them are retrospectives, a publication which is certainly long overdue, there is virtually no overlap: each book brings only new images, instead of a rehash of “hits”. Many of them have been reprinted several times, however none of Philip Hyde’s books are currently in print. This is not an impediment since almost all of them can easily be purchased in used bookstores, often for an incredibly low price. I am discussing below all the Philip Hyde books that I own, presented in chronological order of publication.
This is Dinosaur: Echo Park Country and Its Magic Rivers
This book broke new grounds on several accounts. Prepared to advocate against the proposed Echo Park and Split Mountain dams in Dinosaur National Monument, it is possibly the first conservation photography book ever published. Philip Hyde, who just recently graduated from the California School of Fine Arts, studying under Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and other luminaries, was a young and motivated photographer ready to go to work on short notice, for little money. He was sent on the first conservation-oriented freelance assignment (expenses paid plus $1 per photo published – equivalent to $9 in 2013 !) by the Sierra Club. Although Dinosaur National Monument had expended to over 200,000 acres, few Americans knew anything about it, so the challenge was to inform about what would be lost. Read more about this pioneering campaign – which began the transformation of the Sierra Club into a national organization – and Philip Hyde’s role in it in David Leland Hyde’s 9-part account: The Battle Over Dinosaur: Birth of Modern Environmentalism. The book, published in 1955 (reprinted in 1985) is more notable for its historic importance than as a photography book. It opens with a 36-page picture section consisting of images and extended captions, of which 17 (in B&W) are from Philip Hyde. This is followed by the main section (96 pages) consisting of seven essays by different writers. Because images and text were contributed by many, only the editor, Wallace Stegner, who also wrote the first essay, is listed on the title page.
Island In Time: The Point Reyes Peninsula
The first title on which Philip Hyde is listed as a co-author, this was published in 1962, the same year the Sierra Club published “In Wildness Is The Preservation Of The World”. The difference of approaches is telling. While the later was a well-planned art project, on which Porter had been working since the 40s, Island In Time was a much less expensive book expressly published to save Point Reyes from development. It was quickly put together to assist fundraising efforts to buy the ranches of Point Reyes before developers bought the land to build homes, an urgency typical of the books in which Philip Hyde contributed. Although the text, which aims to introduce and describe the Peninsula to the general public, is the most extensive part of the book, it incorporates a number of plate sections, mostly black and white, but also some color. This mix is unusual for most photographers, but Philip Hyde was early on proficient in both media, able to print silver gelatin, dye transfer, and Cibachrome. He would gravitate to color in his later years describing how it fits better his goals “Black-and-white lends itself to manipulation that can dramatize a subject. Color tends to record what is seen, so it is no coincidence that I use color for that purpose. I don’t feel nature needs to be dramatized: it is dramatic enough!”.
The Last Redwoods
The first book of Philip Hyde in the Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series (1963) was co-authored with nature writer Francois Leydet, whose text emphasizes not only the beauty of the ancient trees, but also the threats to them. It was part of a campaign that helped establish Redwood National Park. Except for 8 color pages, the photographs are in black and white (a few are from Ansel Adams and others). Besides nature images of pristine redwood forests, we also see depictions of forestry operations and devastating clear cuts which anticipate photographs by Robert Adams of the same subjects in the Northwest. The Sierra Club Exhibit Format publishing program created the first coffee-table nature photography books: volumes of unprecedented quality, in a large (10 x 13) size that David Brower thought necessary to immerse the viewer into the photographs, therefore maximizing their impact to argue the cause of conservation. The series brought Sierra Club national recognition, while helping to establish landscape photography as a popular art form. Ansel Adams role was prominent in the first volumes, but he disengaged himself after the books turned to color photography. Eliot Porter authored more Exhibit Format titles, but Philip Hyde was the workhorse, providing images for nearly every environmental battle of the Sierra Club in the 1960s and 1970s. Read more about the series and Philip Hyde’s role in it in David Leland Hyde’s account: Sierra Club Books: Exhibit Format Series.
Time and The River Flowing: Grand Canyon
Francois Leydet investigates and reports on the significance of a living river, in support of a multi-faceted campaign to prevent dams to be built within the Grand Canyon. The book (1964), famous for being an important tool in saving the Grand Canyon, is illustrated by color photographs from many photographers – some of them reproduced small and combined on a page, as the priority is given to the story. Philip Hyde had more images than any other photographer in the book (Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, Martin Litton, Clyde Childress, Richard Norgaard, P. T. Reilly, Joseph Wood Krutch, Katie Lee and others), and would go on to contribute to five books about the Colorado River: The Grand Colorado (1969), Glen Canyon Before Lake Powell (1970), The Wilderness World of the Grand Canyon (1971), Glen Canyon Portfolio (1979), Ghosts of Glen Canyon (2009). Part of the Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series.
The Wild Cascades: Forgotten Parkland
Harvey Manning (editor of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills) makes the case for the establishment of North Cascades National Park, in a format similar to the previous book, except for the fact that he combined poetry by Theodore Roethke with photographs. Both black and white and color (16 pages), they are from a number of photographers (including Ansel Adams, Martin Litton, Bob and Ira Spring, David Simmons, John Warth). Part of the Sierra Club Exhibit Format (1965). Like the three previous books, it is historically significant. Unlike Adams and Porter who put much emphasis on establishing themselves as artists, Philip Hyde’s focus was in conservation, and at this point in his career, he viewed himself mostly as Sierra Club team player, therefore contributing to books without seeking cover credits. From my exchanges with David Leland Hyde, I got the impression that Philip Hyde was exactly the opposite of a credit-seeker, which certainly contributed to his relative lack of renown compared to some contemporaries.
Not Man Apart
The Big Sur coast is celebrated by paragraphs of poetry from Robinson Jeffers, interspersed with photographs generously reproduced in a clean design, both in color and black and white. Unlike the three previous books, photography is given the primary role, resulting in a more beautiful book. The list of the other contributing photographers reads like a who’s who of West Coast photography: Ansel Adams, Morley Baer, Wynn Bullock, William Garnett, Eliot Porter, Cole & Edward Weston, Don Worth, Cedric Wright… Part of the Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series (1965).
Navajo Wildlands: As Long as the Rivers Shall Run
The second book of Philip Hyde in the Sierra Club Exhibit Format Series (1967) was co-authored with notable archaeologist Stephen Jett who appraises the great scenic resource of the Navajo country and the understanding of the native inhabitants towards the land. Unlike the previous ones, this book uses exclusively images from Philip Hyde. While he continued until at least the 70s to do black and white photography on the West Coast and Sierra Nevada, Philip Hyde felt early that color was better at depicting the Southwest, his other stomping grounds. All photographs for this book are in color, and reproduced large with a clean design which gives them prominence on the page. Because of the design, excellent selection of quietly luminous images, and evocative nature of the book (as opposed to the “activist” volumes – although it should be noted that Navajo Wildlands was part of the inspiration for the establishment of many Navajo Tribal Parks), reinforced by the spiritual focus of the text, I feel that this is the most beautiful of Philip Hyde’s numerous books about the Southwest that I’ve seen.
Slickrock
Maybe deservedly the most well-known book of Philip Hyde, because of the complementarity of his color photography with text by the celebrated desert writer Edward Abbey. In a beautifully written, and informative text, they both evoke the canyon country of Southeast Utah, gently advocating for protection of the Escalante Canyons, extension of Capitol Reef National Monument (to include southern parts of the Waterpocket Fold) and Canyonlands National Park (to include the Maze District) – all goals that were subsequently met at one point in time. Travel to some of those areas remain difficult in 2013, so think about the sense of exploration and discovery that those hardy wilderness travelers must have been felt in 1971. The first part of the book, sparsely illustrated, is written by Abbey. The second part consists of three portfolios with full-page reproductions (some maybe a bit too contrasty) each excellently introduced by Philip Hyde himself, whose voice begins to be heard in his books. Although it was not officially part of the Exhibit Format Series which at this point had been stopped, it was published by the Sierra Club with the same presentation as those books, making it a beautiful volume.
State Parks Of California: from 1864 to the present
Philip Hyde contributed to nearly 80 books, so some are bound to be photographically less interesting. I’m mentionning this one as an example, since it is on my bookshelf. Philip Hyde’s contribution to this book (1980) is similar to mine to The National Parks: America’s Best Idea: he provided all the contemporary landscape photographs, but the bulk of the book’s illustrations consists of black and white historical photographs originating from various archives. Those books are also similar in the preponderance of the text, which reminds us of how hard early conservationists had to work to establish the parks.
Drylands: The deserts of North America
Put together by the packager of several Galen Rowell books, this is the most sumptuously produced book (1987) by Philip Hyde, with a large 13×15 horizontal trim, the largest number of pages of any of his books, and modern color reproductions – don’t judge them by my copy’s cover, it was discolored by sun exposure. The scope is also his most ambitious, since not only his photographs cover all the five North American Deserts in the US and Mexico, but Philip Hyde also wrote most of the text, which includes descriptions of the areas and reminiscences of his own travels. The introduction and naturalist’s notes are by best-selling and prize-winning nature writer David Rains Wallace. This is a remarkable production, the culmination of his years working in the Southwest, possibly his most important book. Maybe it’s just me, but although I like the educational aspect, I have mixed feelings about the focus on geography and its resulting design with maps and drawings of plants and animals, and also the colored borders around images and full bleeds. For some reason that I cannot exactly pinpoint, although technically much better reproduced, many images in this book feel to me more descriptive than those in the two previously mentioned Southwest books, esp. Navajo Wildlands. That’s not the case of all of them, of course, an example being the superb “Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho”.
The Range of Light
The last book (1992) by Philip Hyde, about the Sierra Nevada close to his home, is also his most personal. It consists of three parts. The first one shows black and white photographs paired on the same page with a quotation from John Muir selected by Philip Hyde – a concept similar to the one used by Porter in his first book. The second one continues the same format, but using color photographs. The co-existence of both portfolios is an impressive achievement. The last part is an autobiographical essay in which he reflects on his life as a photographer, evoking Sierra Nevada trips, and friendships with his noted West Coast photographers peers, and his personal philosophy. Philip Hyde was generally a quiet giant, a self-effacing man, so I am glad that at least he has chosen to give us a glimpse of his life and thoughts. Because of the printing quality of the book, the control he had over its contents, and the window its offers into several aspects of Philip Hyde’s art, this would be my first recommendation for an introduction to his work. Complement it with at least one of the three latter Southwest books I listed (Navajo Wildlands, Slickrock, Drylands).
Were you aware of all this work ? Did you have any of those books ? Did they influence you ?
Part 4 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Posted on March 27, 2013, 11:00 am, by QT Luong, under Books.
Tags: large format photography, masters, reviews
Richard Wong says:
Excellent QT. Love this post for giving Philip Hyde his due. I personally own Drylands and the Pt. Reyes book myself. Both are full of excellent work, but most importantly, historically significant.
David Leland Hyde (@PhilipHydePhoto) says:
Thank you, QT, for the great write-up, the links and the small corrections. It is overall amazing how accurate you are on your facts. I admire the way you make a serious study of each of a number of significant landscape photographers. Have greatly enjoyed your book write-ups on the big three pioneers of conservation photography, Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter and Philip Hyde. Maybe you ought to run with this…? Would love to see a piece on Edward Weston books, Minor White, Paul Strand, others. Do you have many of these photographer’s books?
Wesley Picotte says:
QT, such a fantastic write-up. Thanks for making this effort…I learned a bunch and subsequent to reading the post, found a copy if “Wild Cascades” — very excited to see the North Cascades (my backyard) through Philip Hyde’s eyes.
David, thanks for kind comments and help. Thanks also Richard and Wesley. I plan only one more post in this series, I’ll let you guess the photographer ! It’s unlikely I’d write about the 3 you mentioned, I do have a few books of each, however not enough to account for their work.
Pauly De Bartolo says:
An absolutely inspiring write up on an absolutely inspirational photographer. I did not have the opportunity to meet Philip Hyde, but as a friend of David Hyde I feel completely connected to his work & the stories & passion behind his photography. Really beautiful stuff.
I’ll take a guess and say Galen Rowell is the next photographer you will profile. 🙂
Tom Till says:
Phil Hyde’s ego was small, but his images are absolutely seminal and stunningly beautiful and big in the grandest way. He is the gold standard for landscape photographers of the baby boom generation in so many ways. First, looking at Phil’s work was the only way to learn how to become a nature and landscape photographer. Each of his books was a post-graduate course in lighting, color, composition and technique. This information could be found no where else. I remember when I bought my first 4×5 in 1976 and had no idea how to use it. Amazingly Desert Magazine (remember that!?) was holding a workshop with Phil in ZIon National Park. I immediately signed up, paid my money and took time off from my English teaching job. As it grew closer, my excitement grew to a fever pitch. Phil Hyde was going to help me figure out a 4×5! Imagine my sadness (I almost cry now) when it was cancelled due to lack of sign-ups. It set me back years. I have a copy of Slickrock signed by Ed and Phil. It’s my most prized possession. I will raise a toast to Phil tonight after the march here in Moab to create a Greater Canyonlands National Monument. HIs legacy lives on–photographers providing their images to preserve and protect the wild landscapes they love.
Tom, thanks for sharing your perspective and memories. Nowadays there is so much information and images available that it’s easy to forget it wasn’t always the case.
Guy Tal says:
A fitting and very much deserved tribute, QT. While there is no disputing the contribution made by Adams and Porter to the art of photography and to its use in conservation campaigns, I think Hyde truly deserves the distinction of being the first true Conservation Photographer. There are many reasons and ways to practice photography but every one of these books speaks to Hyde’s work and, indeed, life, being about the great love of, and reverence for, the American landscape. Thanks to the work of people like Hyde (and David Brower) we are all better off today than we would have been if they had not pursued their mission with such passion and dedication. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.
This is a wonderful write-up, QT, and it made me pull my own copy of Slickrock off the shelf to re-read it. I second the other commenters in saying that Philip Hyde was instrumental in making landscape photography what it is today, and in giving us places to do landscape photography.
I hope you continue with the series. I gained a lot from it, though probably the most from the first about Ansel. Your review/discussion of his critical reception made me realize for the first time the common thread between all of these photographers: they were photographing subjects that they cared deeply about, without cynicism or ironic distance. The cool or detached viewpoint simply isn’t them. Personally, I think it’s much easier and safer to maintain a diffident or aloof and cool distance. Loving something, and showing that explicitly and publicly, takes an unusual courage, and these photographers all had that.
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A rich and lively student-teacher interaction is at the heart of SPJIMR's success. Our faculty members are known to be great teachers, who can bring alive the subject, encourage critical thinking and offer a wider, holistic perspective that is critical in today's complex business environment.
Our faculty members are drawn from academia, industry, government sector and non-profits. Collectively, they bring in a wide range of experience in building and delivering knowledge and skills to prepare participants for leadership roles.
The teaching-learning process at SPJIMR is vastly enriched by a series of non-classroom initiatives through which our faculty help build among participants the right attitudes to enable them lead with purpose, meaning and with an idea of service to society.
We have more than 53 full time faculty members, of which 36 are PhDs. The average experience of the core faculty is over 18 years, with several who have come to academics after years of experience as practitioners. In addition, we have around 20 adjunct faculty and several more visiting faculty who engage with participants of various courses.
Chandrika Parmar
Cmde P. Prabhakaran (Retd.)
Dr. Chandrika Parmar
chandrika.parmar@spjimr.org
Dr. Chandrika Parmar is an Associate Professor at SPJIMR.
She has a DPhil in Management Studies from Said Business School, University of Oxford. She started as a political scientist but pluralised her disciplinary moorings a while ago.
In a professional sense, Chandrika is a sum of various intellectual vectors: an interlocking collection of individuals she has worked with, an assortment of research projects and an experiment in institution building. She was Associate Director, Programmes, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) Delhi where she was part of several national and international research projects funded by HIVOS; Ford Foundation; Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs; Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) to mention a few. She was subsequently a faculty member at Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad, where she was head for Media Management area and Managing editor of Sage journal Journal of Creative Communications. She joined the Institute of Science Innovation and Society at the Said Business School, University of Oxford as a mature student for a DPhil where she worked on Disaster Studies. She was also Senior Researcher at the European Research Council (ERC) funded project at Centre for Social Studies, at University of Coimbra, Portugal which was anchored on the understanding that “Alternatives are not lacking in the world. What is missing is an alternative thinking of alternatives.
Her Doctoral degree: Pluriverse of Disasters: Knowledge, Mediation and Citizenship examines of how the knowledge framework within which organizations are embedded frames and impacts their response to disasters.
Chandrika's work has ranged across several domains including partition memories, environmental values, election studies, and technological controversies. She has been engaged with how democratic values are reworked around these sites. She is currently interested in cities as a space where citizenship and problem-solving are worked out as everyday experiments in civic epistemology.
Chandrika has been the recipient of several fellowships like James Martin Studentship, University of Oxford; Travel grants from Green Templeton College, University of Oxford; Fellowships in South Asian Alternatives (FISAA), Colombo; She has also held the Junior Research Fellowship-UGC-JRF (1992-94) and the Senior Research Fellowship (1994-96) at the Department of Political Science Panjab University, Chandigarh
She was the member of International Advisory Board of Centre for Governance and Constitutionalism, Lagos, Nigeria; and Member, International Advisory Committee, Global Conference on Genocide Dhaka, Bangladesh
Her interests centre around Futures; Alternatives; Public Policy; Democratic theory; Consumption; Sociology of Knowledge; Science Technology and Society (Science Studies);Disasters Studies; Sociology of Violence.
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St John’s Choir
As we know from the popularity of choirs on television, singing in a choir, in harmony, is a very satisfying experience and pleasurable for other people. At St John’s we have an excellent choir to lead the worship singing the best of traditional and contemporary Church music. Some members are experienced musicians (some of whom are also organists and instrumentalists), while others are relative beginners. New members are always welcome
The Choir sings at the 10am Sung Mass every Sunday and on the great festivals of the Church, plus sings Evensong three times a year and Fauré’s Requiem in November. The Choir also sings occasionally at Rochester Cathedral and sometimes provides the choir for the Sung Eucharist and Choral Evensong for the Diocesan Servers Festival in Southwark Cathedral every January. It sings all the daily services in Derby Cathedral for a week in August on alternate years, and occasionally sings with other choirs
The Choir’s repertoire includes six Mass settings, which are almost always congregational, but sometimes the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei are sung to classic Anglican settings, some plainsong is used for propers and responsorial psalms. Anthems range from 1600 to several living composers, including John Rutter, Grayston Ives, Peter Nardone, Simon Lindley and Fintan O’Carroll. The Sung Mass begins with a, ‘introit’ which may be an organ voluntary, a choral or solo sung item or an instrumental piece.
The Choir rehearses on Thursdays from 8.15 to 9.30pm and at 9.20am every Sunday. Thursday rehearsals include a few singing exercises, preparing music for the following Sunday (including hymns) and practising special music (mainly anthems) for the following few weeks. Sunday rehearsals last for 25 minutes and run through the hymns, anthem, psalm and anything else for the service. The programme of music is planned well in advance.
St John’s is a sociable Choir: there is monthly Wine Club, a concert by the Junior Choir in July and an annual picnic, as well as occasional outings, including recently to the Bluebell Railway and to St Albans. We also join forces with the Beckenham Junior Choir .
Anyone interested in joining the Choir or learning more about it, should contact John Webber, the Director of Music. People are welcome to attend a Thursday rehearsal, as a taster experience. It is a help if you can read music, but training can be given.
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We've Got Your Wave
Strawberry Spotlight
Friday Night Faves
Post Punk Brunch
Main (Left)
Main (Right)
Abecedarians
I won’t lie. I am a person who will buy a book (or an album in this case) by its cover. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I used to wander around the local record stores, digging in bins for hours. A girl has got to have some hobbies, right? Call it dumb luck, but, this was one of those judging a book by its cover moments that paid off, in spades. My absolutely fantastic find was a band called Abecedarians.
Forming in 1983 in Los Angeles, the post-punk trio recorded on on Factory Records and consisted of Chris Manecke (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Kevin Dolan (drums) and John Blake (bass). Their sound relied on synth-driven songs that were heavily reverbed. Chris Manecke’s vocals are unassuming, the guitars angular and the percussion had an enormity that made them sound much larger than a trio. Their song, “Smiling Monarchs” was mixed by Bernard Summer of New Order and released as a 12″ in 1985. The obvious Summer thumbprint was the heavy use of synthesizer.
The group released two LP’s, Eureka and Resin, in 1986 and 1987 respectively and in 1988, they released AB-CD, which was CD version of Eureka & Resin, minus a handful of tracks but, included Smiling Monarchs. Their final release was a 2×10″ LP release in 1990, which included early recordings from 1983 – 1985. In 2012, Eureka finally saw release on a double LP with a bonus CD. Find out more about this release over at the Rave and Roll blog.
Strawberry Tongue Radio is pleased to be featuring the tracks Ghosts, Soil from The Other Side of the Fence and Smiling Monarchs from the 1985 12″ release.
Find out more about Abecedarians at Wikipedia.
Pick up Abecedarians at iTunes.
Friday Night Five - December 16, 2016
A Thousand Hours | Endless Grey
Friday Night Five - November 4, 2016
Friday Night Five - August 5, 2016
A Factory Outing: Live at the Hacienda
Friday Night Five - November 11, 2016
Curator | Writer | Eccentric | Strawberry Tongue Music
...is an obsessive-compulsive music aficionado. Her interests in music tend towards Post-Punk, New Wave, Electronic, Experimental, Jazz, and Darkwave. She feels as comfortable listening to 40's standard pop tunes as she does bat cave goth or heavy metal. She makes no excuses for her choices.
This entry was posted in new on str and tagged in abecedarians.
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World South Korea expresses relief over Abe's comments on Japan war apologies
South Korea expresses relief over Abe's comments on Japan war apologies
By The Vinh, Reuters
Saturday, March 15, 2014 16:36 Email Print
South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during a joint commissioning ceremony for 5,860 new officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines at the military headquarters in Gyeryong, south of Seoul March 6, 2014
South Korean President Park Geun-hye expressed relief on Saturday over remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his government would adhere to apologies for wartime behavior made by past cabinets, in 1993 and 1995.
Ties with South Korea and China, already strained after Abe's visit last December to the Yasukuni shrine, have deteriorated further, with Japanese nationalist politicians urging Abe's cabinet to rescind the apologies.
The apologies were issued by then chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono in 1993 and then premier Tomiichi Murayama in 1995.
"It is a relief that Prime Minister Abe announced his government will uphold the Murayama statement and the Kono statement," President Park was quoted as saying by Blue House spokesman Min Kyung-wook.
"President Park also expressed hopes that this becomes an opportunity in which we can alleviate the pain of the 'comfort women' victims and solidify the bilateral relationship of South Korea and Japan as well as that of Northeast Asia," Min added at a briefing on Saturday.
The first apology recognized the involvement of Japanese authorities in coercing women to work in military brothels and the next concerned suffering caused by the war and the colonial rule imposed on neighbors, including South Korea and China.
Amid mounting tension with neighbors and growing pressure by the United States, Abe told a parliamentary panel on Friday that his cabinet had no intention of reviewing the statements made by his predecessors.
Under pressure to improve ties with Seoul ahead of an April visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, Tokyo has been trying to arrange a meeting of Abe, Park and Obama on the sidelines of a global nuclear-security summit in the Netherlands at the end of March.
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The Greens & Views are becoming greener
Sustainability promotes the long term value of a community, which has ecological, economical, and cultural implications. It requires the reconciliation of environmental, social equity and economic demands – also referred to as the ‘three pillars’ of sustainability (the 3 Es). In short, sustainability is about taking what we need now, without jeopardising the potential for people in the future to meet their needs.
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and usage process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle. This includes measures to reduce energy consumption – both the embodied energy required to extract, process, transport and install building materials and operating energy to provide services such as cooling and power. We have realised the significance of creating and operating sustainable communities, which not only provide a healthy and safer place for our residents, but that are also more cost effective and greener, with minimal impact on the environment. On this basis we’ve taken the following measures:-
There has been a shift from using normal decostar halogen lamps to LEDs which consume much less power and provide the same illumination level as their former counterparts
Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power has also been introduced in a few individual communities and the sikka area between T1 (Al Nakheel and Al Jaz) and T2 (Al Samar and Al Dhafrah) communities
In 2013, we introduced a complimentary bus service to and from the Dubai Internet City Metro station at The Greens. There were over 21,000 passengers reported in the first six months of operation, thus taking 21,000 cars from the roads
We’ve adjusted the running time of cooling assets to reduce electricity usage. The Greens has saved over AED 2.7 million in utility costs until November 2013
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Just published: Sonya Rapoport, Yes or No?
March 23, 2016 / Alla Efimova
I am delighted to announce my new publication Sonya Rapoport: Yes or No? (Mills College Art Museum, 2016), co-authored with Terri Cohn. The book is available at Amazon.com.
Detail of Sonya Rapoport, Yes or No?. Paper collage on pages of New York Times. 2014-15.
Sonya Rapoport (1923-2015) was a Berkeley-based conceptual artist whose career consistently defied stereotypes and expectations. Yes or No? is an autobiographical work created in the last year of Rapoport's life. It is a series of twelve seductively complex collages, based on pages of the New York Times, that convey the parting observations of an artist who kept ahead of her time for more than six decades. Art historians Alla Efimova and Terri Cohn decipher and interpret this tour de force of visual philosophy to make it accessible to Rapoport's viewers and readers. Writer and curator Marcia Tanner described the Yes or No? series as “offer(ing) an elegiac coda to Rapoport’s lifetime of art making.”
Rapoport was among the first women to receive an MA in Painting (UC Berkeley, 1949) and compete in the male-dominated field of Abstract Expressionism. In the 1960s she began challenging the domain of science by parodying its rigid conventions in performances and installations from a woman’s perspective. She was a pioneer among artists using emerging computer technologies in the 1980s and took a leadership role in the MIT Press journal Leonardo. Rapoport leaves an artistic legacy that includes works in many media, including paintings, works on paper, performance artifacts and documentation, sculptural objects, and digital works. She was the subject of two late-career retrospective exhibitions (2011, 2012) and the book Pairing of Polarities: The Life and Art of Sonya Rapoport, edited by Terri Cohn (Heyday, 2012).
Rapoport’s name is recognized nationally and internationally through her participation in over 50 major exhibitions, including the 2006 Whitney Biennial, “Violence without Bodies” in 2005 at the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, the 2002 Bienal de Arte in Buenos Aires, and Documenta 8 in 1987 in Kassel, Germany.
Yes or No? was first exhibited at Krowswork, a center for video and visionary art in Oakland, California, in 2015, in partnership with the Sonya Rapoport Legacy Trust, whose director, Farley Gwazda, contributed a personal and insightful reflection on working with Rapoport in the last years of her life. Support for the catalogue was generously provided by the Jay DeFeo Trust, through fiscal sponsorship of Kala Art Institute, and published by Mills College Art Museum on the occasion of the acquisition of Yes or No? for their collection.
Order your copy at Amazon.com.
March 23, 2016 / Alla Efimova/ Comment
KunstWorks to present seminar on ...
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admin@theologos.co.za
Theologos School of Ministry
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For the best Discipleship training, look no further than
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More about the Theologos creators:
For the past thirty years Sarel and Thiesa have been involved with counselling and ministering to broken and sick people, as well as marriage counselling and deliverance of people under demonic inluence. In 1991 they started their first counselling school, it had a major impact on the lives of the people who attended and beyond. More than 10000 students have completed the certificate course in Christian Ministry (previously known as Certificate in Christian Counselling). Among these are pastors from different congregations and their wives, medical practitioners and psychologists to mention but a few. All wanting to be of service in the kingdom of God.
Sarel obtained a D.Min Degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in the USA.
Thiesa has a BSc, B.Min & M.Christian Counselling.
They are the shepherds of Oasis Fellowship: House of the Father in Kempton Park. Sarel and Thiesa have been married for 38 years and have three adult sons who are married.
Theologos School of Ministry, is a ministry of Oasis – House of the Father in Kempton Park. Dr Sarel van der Merwe is the senior pastor of the church and his wife Thiesa is the principal of Theologos School of Ministry.
Why Choose Theologos?
We make training available to all people who want to be healed and transformed in the Image of Christ Jesus and want to be part of the solution to heal and restore the broken world with Jesus Christ and also to reveal the Father to a fatherless generation! We want to see Kingdom Heaven & Earth Colliding!
Excellent Faculty
We have excellent faculty who will guide you through your own unique journey to the heart of Christ. We love to see people reach new height and delve even deeper into the Father’s heart!
Variety of Programs
We have a wide variety of programs designed to help give you a better understanding of the subject matter.
Meet our Theologos team…
Dr Sarel & Thiesa van der Merwe
They founded Theologos in 1991 and have been pioneering the Counselling & Ministry fields since then, with their three sons and their families. Seeing whole & healed families & marriages is their passion. They are also bringing new & fresh revelation into Intercessory Prayer.
Stefan van der Merwe
Director & General Manager
Stefan is the 2nd eldest son of Dr Sarel & Thiesa, he is also the Praise & Worship leader at Oasis – House of the Father. He and his wife are growing the prophetic into a dynamic movement through Praise & Worship as well as teaching.
Marlise van der Merwe
Head of Personnel & Theologos
Marlise is Stefan’s wife & supporting leader in the Praise & worship team, together they are bringing in a new sound for the new season. She is pioneering the Prophetic in the church & also leading the School and it’s combined Ministries.
Ankia Mans
Head Administrator
Ankia works with the day to day workings of Theologos and the students, helping & supporting them through the courses. She is part of the Prophetic Art and Praise & Worship (Technical) Teams.
Share this with your Family & Friends…
Theologos is a School of Supernatural Restoration & Transformation through the power of Holy Spirit! One of the most intensive Discipling programs in the world today! Training available to all people who want to be healed and transformed in the Image of Christ Jesus and want to be part of the solution to heal and restore the broken world with Jesus Christ and also to reveal the Father to a fatherless generation!
Oasis Books
Feel free to contact us, we’d love to help you!
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Growing in Holiness
Posted by Susan Nakigane 10sc on September 11, 2018
People may casually address Fr. Patrick Beidelman as “Fr. Pat”, but his official title is “The Very Reverend Patrick Beidelman”. The “Very” is used for priests who are seminary rectors or rectors of cathedrals. Fr. Pat has worked in both settings, and currently he is the rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis and the Executive Director of the Secretariat for Worship and Evangelization for the archdiocese.
After his ordination in 1998, his early assignments included being an associate pastor, part-time high school chaplain, and later a pastor. Fr. Pat completed a Liturgical Theology degree from Santa Croce in 2009 in Liturgical Theology. He and his bishop chose Santa Croce because of their pastoral approach. Other excellent liturgical studies programs in Rome were heavily academic, requiring 4 or 5 years to complete, and the study of original sources in their original languages. The Santa Croce degree required two years of study and was ideal for pastoral work.
When he returned to Indianapolis, Fr. Pat was appointed vice-rector of the archdiocesan college seminary in charge of their formation program, focusing on the pastoral, human, and spiritual dimensions of priestly formation. He helped seminarians to set goals and evaluate necessary steps toward priesthood. He regularly counseled aspiring priests on the importance of establishing a commitment to spiritual growth.
Of his own experience in Rome, Fr. Pat said, “Among the things I learned at Santa Croce was the church’s liturgical tradition and how to utilize the richness of that tradition in everyday parish life. I also took away the commitment to growing in holiness that I witnessed among the faculty and community at large which is with me now and for the rest of my life.”
“[At Santa Croce] I also took away the commitment to growing in holiness that I witnessed among the faculty and community at large which is with me now and for the rest of my life.”
A commitment to spiritual growth is integral to Fr. Pat’s approach to promoting solid worship and evangelization practices. It is also central to his association with two apostolates. First as Deputy Chaplain of the Order of Malta for Central and South Indiana, an order that has served the poor and sick since the 11th century. Second as the archdiocesan liaison for Cursillo, a renewal movement best known for teaching laypeople how to become effective Christian leaders over the course of a three-day weekend.
Fr. Pat comes from a family of six. He gives tribute to his large extended family for passing down the faith which brought seven priests and two religious sisters to serve the Church. He also cites the importance of Indianapolis’ Cathedral High School where he graduated as did his father, uncles, and three brothers.
Congratulations to Fr. Pat on his 20th anniversary as a priest. He has determined to use all the blessings derived from his family, his schools, and his Church to bring the richness of Catholic liturgy, worship, and faith to others. He has dedicated himself to the pursuit of growing in holiness.
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Natalie Portman Says Star Wars Backlash Was Tough
by Matt on May 7, 2019 at 4:43 pm
Via postbulletin.com:
Natalie Portman admitted the ‘Star Wars’ prequel backlash was “a bummer”. The 37-year-old actress became a household name after her starring role as Padme Amidala in ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’, which has been heavily criticized by fans along with its sequels ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘The Revenge of the Sith’, and for Portman it was tough to take.
Speaking to Empire, the actress – who was a teen when the first of the prequel trilogy movies came out in 1999 – said: “It was hard. It was a bummer because it felt like people were so excited about new ones and then to have people feel disappointed.
“Also to be at an age that I didn’t really understand that’s kind of the nature of the beast. When something has that much anticipation it can almost only disappoint.”
However, Portman noted that some fans have “re-evaluated’ their initial reaction to the films, which were scorned for a perceived overuse of CGI and dislike for comedic alien Jar Jar Binks.
She added: “With the perspective of time, it’s been re-evaluated by a lot of people who actually really love them now.
“There’s a very avid group of people who think they’re the best ones now! I don’t have enough perspective to weigh in.”
Click here for the full story at postbulletin.com
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Line Mt School District closed today, Friday incident investigation ongoing
WKOK Staff | February 11, 2019 |
MANDATA – The Line Mountain School District is closed today (Monday, 2/11) as an investigation from Friday’s out-of-state hoax shooting threat incident continues. School district officials say after discussions with the state police, the investigation from last Friday’s incident is not complete. It was then the district decided to close today.
The threat was first reported around 2 p.m. Friday at Line Mountain High School. A few hours later, the threat was determined to be an out-of-state hoax. School district Superintendent Dave Campbell told us the “swatting” incident described by troopers was computer generated that made it look like it came from the state of Indiana.
Campbell says the first set of students were dismissed around 4:30 p.m. Friday. The last of the students and faculty were dismissed and accounted for around 5:15 p.m.
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You Sing, I Write
A place to read interviews, concert and album reviews and learn a little about music.
Song of the Week: "Did You Miss Me"
I recently received the MP3 for Tortured Soul's first single, "Did You Miss Me" off their upcoming release in an email. With a blend of R&B, house and soul, the single is bound to have your feet stomping along to the beats throughout the track. While it brings about a danceable 70s vibe, the song is undeniably catchy and after just one listen you'll be forced to hit that repeat button.
To listen to a stream of "Did You Miss Me" click here. Love to know what you think! If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up the album, Did You Miss Me, due in stores March 24.
Posted by ANNIE REUTER at 7:25 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Introducing Tinted Windows
Take Taylor Hanson from 90s pop brother trio Hanson, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, and Fountains Of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger and you have new power pop group Tinted Windows.
Rolling Stone debuted their first track, "Kind of Girl" earlier this week and you can listen to it on their MySpace. Definitely a strong blend of pop-rock with Hanson on lead vocals and catchy "oh-oh-whoa-whoa's," the song is bound to be in heavy rotations on radio stations soon. What do you think?
Their self-titled debut release drops in April. In the meantime, they'll be performing at Austin, Texas' South By Southwest music festival as well as New Jersey's Bamboozle festival in May. Will you be attending?
Posted by ANNIE REUTER at 10:40 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Joshua Radin Interview Featured on MarieClaire.com!
I'm so happy to report that my past interview with Joshua Radin was posted on MarieClaire.com yesterday! Feel free to read it here and leave comments!
The audio of the interview is also available here. You can listen to a stream of his first single off recent release, Simple Times "I'd Rather Be With You" here and if you like it, be sure to visit Radin on MySpace and catch a show when he's in town!
Q&A with Bernard Baur
An active member in the music industry for over 20 years as a journalist, A&R reporter, creative consultant and instructor, Bernard Baur has watched the growth and demise of many bands. Whether it was working with Guns N' Roses or appearing in documentaries, he has seen enough to know what works for bands and what doesn't.
Baur was nice enough to talk at great lengths to me about his love of music and how he has made a career out of it. "Music has always affected me in a very strong way. I just found a way to make money with what I’m passionate about." Read below for my interview with Baur as he discusses the constantly changing industry, innovative ideas that have created success for some musicians as well as his advice for up-and-coming bands and those looking for a career in the music business.
You’re a man of many hats; you’re involved in A&R, a writer, photographer, and consultant for bands as well as teach music business. How did you get involved in each position and how do you manage to balance everything?
The best way to really learn how to do something and be effective in it is to try to do and get involved with as many aspects as you can. So, I tried to get myself involved with as many areas in the music industry as possible and I’ve been fortunate enough to do that. Once you start in one area, if you manage to get a good and solid reputation in that you do get other opportunities. That’s one thing about the entertainment business in general and music in specific, is that once you are somewhat known other people want to work with you on different things and so you start going into different areas. And one thing I’ve always done in my career is I rarely say no when someone asks me to do something and that just led me to one thing after another.
You’ve been in the industry over 20 years. How do you feel it’s changed since when you started?
Years ago, it used to be that the only way an artist was going to be successful was to be signed to a deal on a label. They needed a label to market them, develop them and get them out there. Nowadays that’s not so anymore. In fact, the independent area of both independent artists, artist run labels and indie labels, have come on very strong and in the last few years that trend has really taken hold in the market place. So, being signed to a label is not necessarily required or even an advisable goal for some acts.
Secondly, the other thing involved and this one may not be as positive, is that it used to be simply about the music and musical skills. If you had great songs and really strong musicianship you could probably do very well. But that’s not enough anymore. If just having great songs and being a great player were enough, all we would hear would be great music and that’s not so. There are other factors that come into play. Nowadays artists and managers both have to be pretty business savvy in order to accomplish anything.
Is it necessary for bands to hire publicists? What can they do for themselves?
You should only hire a publicist when you have something to publicize. In fact, I advise artists to work backwards, to first figure out what it is they want to accomplish with that publicity. There is a first phase and that is just simply establishing name recognition. That’s getting your name out there as much as possible so when people hear the name they go, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that or I saw that somewhere.” But that doesn’t really result in much other than name recognition. Most of the time artists can do that themselves by asking for reviews. Reviews of albums, reviews of live shows. There are a lot of people you can approach in that regard.
If they’re looking to hire a publicist where they are actually going to spend money they need to know what they hope to achieve. Also, a lot of times starting out you may not know who you are as an artist or as a band, what your identity is, what your image is. By image I mean things that are much more than visual. Image encompasses everything you do, from your visual appearance to your music, to your message, to your package — it’s everything. It’s helpful if you have identified that and the publicist doesn’t have to do that for you. So before a band hires a publicist I think they should have developed themselves to a point where the publicist has something to work with and a goal to shoot for.
What do you look for in an up-and-coming band as an A&R person?
Everybody in this industry has a wish list, some are longer than others. In fact, most people that I know who are in A&R or in management, have a list that’s anywhere from three to six points long.
If you’re talking about major labels they want pretty much all of it. They want a complete package, they don’t want any weaknesses in any areas, they want an accomplished, already developed act because they don’t do much development. If you’re looking at indies, they will take an act a little bit earlier. But even at indies, not so much. They want acts that are somewhat developed, have accomplished at least a couple of things. At an indie, the biggest difference is that they’ll give the act more time to be successful. At a major you have very little time to be successful.
As far as me and acts I work with, it depends on a couple things. I will take on what a lot of people call baby bands just starting out if I think there is potential that they could achieve something. I’m not talking about giant success and making millions of dollars and being all over MTV, although that would be wonderful. As long as I think they can achieve something and I can help them do that, I will take them on. The acts I really like and get excited about are ones that I hear great songs, I know that I can tweak their live performance if it needs any help and they have the right attitude. Attitude with an artist is very important because artists can no longer rely on one person or couple people to do everything for them. In fact, artists should not expect anyone to make them, break them or shape them. They are going to have to contribute themselves to that result. It’s important that the artist have the right attitude, the right work ethic and also have the talent and the material to back them up.
I was reading your blog and on one of your posts you said:
“The most successful acts work on their careers EVERY SINGLE DAY. They’ll come home, after hours of menial labor, and spend 2 to 4 hours on their computer, contacting people, updating their websites, and generally taking care of business. No matter what… Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? If so, you’ll get a jump on 90% of the wannabes.”
For some artists that’s very difficult to do and some artists don’t like to get involved with that. But they certainly have to have somebody involved with it. Also, it is important that artists have communication and contact with their fans or potential fans. Fans don’t want to talk to me, they don’t want to talk to management, they want to talk to the artist. Artists have to take some time to do that and if they’re not willing to do that, they shouldn’t complain about what lack of results they’re getting. It is important that everyone work together and they be a team. In fact, I just did an article speaking with people at labels, both indie and major, and across board they expect everyone to work like a team. They don’t want acts or management that expect them, at a label, to do it all for them anymore, it’s just too much.
The plus is that artists and independent acts have been empowered. They have a lot more tools available to them, a lot more options they can take in order to achieve success. The downside is that the empowerment requires responsibility. They’re actually going to have to do something. They’re going to have to exert time, effort and money into their career. One person can’t do it all anymore. If you were to try to upload your music to every music site on the Internet, you would be uploading music until the day you die. One person can’t do that and you have to decide what’s important for you. Who’s going to take care of MySpace and all the friends on there, who is going to deal with the email, who is going to promote the shows properly? There is so much to do now that it's impossible for any one person or even a couple people to do it alone. I have coined a new term. Because there used to be a movement, called DIY, Do It Yourself. I now call it DIT – Do It Together because I don’t think one person can do it themselves anymore.
Do you feel it’s easier for bands to breakout today?
Today there are very few rules. In fact, we all know a lot of the old rules don’t apply anymore; they don’t get the results they used to. You can practically make up your own rules. I encourage my students at the Musicians Institute to be as creative and innovative as possible. It’s the people who are going to think of a new way to do things that are going to get attention.
I would really recommend any artist [to] be as creative in their promotions and marketing as they are with their music. Don’t just follow the same old template. If you can think of something unique and new and exciting, you might get the attention and actually break out. Some of the bands I’ve seen break out have had opportunities presented to them because they created those opportunities. They’ve done something unique and different that stands out enough and sets them apart from everything else.
Is there an act that has stood out to you over the years with their creativity?
Radiohead comes to mind immediately. Not because of their music, but their approach to what they did less than a year ago — offering an album to their fans and their fans could pay anything they wanted, including nothing. That’s one of those innovative creative things.
Trent Reznor and Lil Wayne especially, who offered tracks to their fans to remix on their own. Lil Wayne was particularly interesting in that he offered, over a process of one year, almost 77 songs online for free before he ever put out an album. When he finally put out an album, his fans rewarded him for that. They were so devoted and loyal by that time that he had the biggest and fastest selling album of last year. But before he had that biggest and fastest selling album, he had given fans 77 songs for free. That’s the sort of thing that impresses me. These are acts that are thinking outside of the box. When you treat your fans right they will respond and reward you for it.
What advice would you give to writers, label executives and people wanting to work in the music industry when everyone says the music industry is dead?
For anyone wanting to get into it, there are various ways you could do it. Before I get into that, I want to tell you about an interesting observation we discovered at the Musicians Institute.
The Musicians Institute is two different schools. One is a creative school that deals with musicianship and vocals and engineering and all of that stuff. The other one is the school that I am part of, and that is the music business program. We discovered that almost 30-40% of students that graduate from the creative part of the school then take the music business program. They have the skills, now they want to learn how to make a living with those skills. So you have to know business to a certain extent.
Anyone who wants to break in has to decide if they’re breaking in on the creative side or if they’re breaking in on the business side or if they want to know about both sides. The way you do that is you acquire some knowledge initially. However you’re going to do that — reading a book, going to school, whatever you need to do. Going to conferences, workshops. Then you start networking and meeting people and seeing if you can work under someone who may be more experienced. Get yourself a mentor if possible. Or, you could just jump in and try to be a manager and learn by trial and error. A lot of people start out that way, managing up-and-coming acts that are local and are brand new. What you have is to actually do it and get out there. Networking is so very important. This whole business is about relationships. You have to deal with other people, no one does it alone. It’s a very collaborative business, there are always other people involved in success so it’s important that you nurture and establish as many relationships as you can.
Is there any more advice you have?
I just wrote a large article about the music business today and where it’s going and if it’s turning the corner. I think there are a lot of opportunities right now. I think artists should certainly look at them seriously. I do believe that artists should set up their own labels. Once you have music and you are playing a show and you’re trying to promote yourself and sell something, you’re already doing what a label does. So, don’t be afraid to call yourself a label and give yourself a label name.
Additionally, it has a benefit because in this business perception means a lot. If somebody thinks you’re on a label, even if it’s just you on a label, they will treat you in a more professional manner. What artists have to get over is the fact that they may be the only act on the label; it’s still the real deal if they want to have a career. There is nothing wrong; I have no problems with artists who are just doing it for fun. I think for the love of the music is the purest reason to do it in the world. But we’re in LA, and in LA almost every artist wants some sort of a career, some sort of success.
I see a lot of acts and talk to a lot of artists and 99% of them have a very simple wish, which is to make a living with their music so they don’t have to have another sucky job. That, today is very possible. Artists need to look at that. The ones that want to be superstars and on MTV and an international success, yeah they’ll probably have to hook up with a bigger company because that’s very difficult to do on your own. But if what they’re simply looking for is to play their music, do something they love, and make a living doing it, today is the best time for doing that. They couldn’t have done that in the past, but today you can do that.
For more on Bernard Baur, be sure to check out The Composers Corner and Music Connection and read his articles. You can also follow his blog here.
Artist of the Week: Matt Wertz
Lately, I've gained an extreme fondness for acoustic singer-songwriters. So fond, in fact, that I'm trying (rather unsuccessfully) to teach myself guitar.
With that said, this brings me to this week's artist of the week installment — Matt Wertz. His laid-back music and moving lyrics have left an impact on me so I wanted to share his music with you. I'm hoping to set up an interview with him soon, so be sure to stay tuned for more details!
You can listen to an acoustic version of "5:19" below.
Watch Matt perform one of my favorite songs, "Everything's Right" for a local radio station below.
If you like what you've heard, be sure to visit Matt's MySpace page and catch a show soon, as he's currently on tour!
Jamie Leonhart Keeps Standing Room Only Crowd Singing
Rockwood Music Hall was packed Thursday night for Jamie Leonhart's set while the crowd only seemed to get larger as the night progressed. Performing songs off her latest release, The Truth About Suffering as well as some covers, Leonhart had all in attendance laughing along with her onstage banter and occasionally forgotten lyrics.
With husband Michael Leonhart playing piano throughout the night, Jamie blamed her lyric mishaps to being pregnant, later telling the room, "This is the first outing for the Leonhart trio at Rockwood."
I first witnessed Leonhart live back in December when I covered the "A Holiday Benefit" concert. Of her performance, I wrote: "Leonhart's vocals are heavenly as she blends jazz, pop and soul together, making for a truly impressive set. Comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin can be heard throughout Leonhart's classically elegant tunes."
After seeing her nearly hour set Thursday night, my previous thoughts haven't changed. If you get a chance to see her perform, definitely jump on it!
Beginning the night with "Hush," Michael Leonhart's light piano accompaniment blended perfectly with Jamie's beautifully soft vocals. Mid-song an impeccably fitting piano interlude only strengthened the performance.
Next song of the evening was "Who Says Words," another moving track from The Truth About Suffering with lyrics from a poem by Persian poet Rumi. About the song, Leonhart has said, "'Who Says Words,' is kind of a meditation about noticing your own 'bad' behavior but not doing anything to change it. There's a passive struggle in it that I am very attracted to. I set the poem to a melody, and then sat down with Michael and constructed all the chord changes around it."
The rest of the night involved strong covers of some of Leonhart's favorite songs including, "Lucky To Be Me" originally written by Leonard Bernstein and performed by Blossom Dearie. Truly a stand-up number, I could picture myself at a jazz club while listening to Leonhart's performance. With soft crescendos and her own take on older songs, Leonhart made each song her own, always with refreshingly unique style.
Deidre Rodman accompanied a few songs on vocals as well as melodica (a musical keyboard played by blowing air through a mouthpiece in the side of the instrument) — truly a sight to see. With many solid melodica interludes, Rodman wowed the crowd with her expertise on the instrument.
Song favorite of the night was definitely "Control Freak," where many — if not all — in attendance sang along word for word during the chorus. With catchy lyrics, "I am a control freak/I want everything to be neat/And put it all in little boxes/I never will enjoy surprises/I just want control," Leonhart had the song stuck in my head long after it the show was over.
You can download "Control Freak" here.
For more on each artist, be sure to visit their Web sites for upcoming concerts and music.
Jamie Leonhart
Michael Leonhart
Deidre Rodman
Chris Brown + Rihanna, What's Your Take?
I try to stay away from celebrity gossip on my blog and focus solely on the music — the inspiration behind the artist, their passion, accomplishments, etc. but all everyone has been talking about lately are the allegations behind the pre-Grammy incident with Chris Brown and Rihanna.
No one really knows exactly what took place, but everyone sure has an opinion on it. With the recent leak of Rihanna's photo to the media, I'm curious to what your take on it is? Do you feel it's good to be discussing the situation as a means of bringing light to the subject of domestic abuse? Or, should we simply be giving both parties their privacy and stop interviewing family members and making our own allegations? What does this mean for both of their careers?
I'd love to hear what you think on the situation and what this means to the music industry.
Song of the Week: "Be My Baby"
Being that Estelle Bennett, one-third of 1960s girl group the Ronettes, passed away last week it is only fitting to feature one of their hits, "Be My Baby" as this week's song of the week. Watch below as Estelle and the rest of the Ronettes perform "Be My Baby" and "Shout." To learn more about her life and the band, read The New York Times' recent article here.
Stay Tuned: Interview with Bernard Baur
A few weeks ago I spoke with Bernard Baur, a journalist, A&R reporter, creative consultant and instructor for the Music Business Program at the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA. Having worked in the music industry for over 25 years, Baur's client list includes Guns N’ Roses, System of a Down, Butterfly Boucher, Matchbox Twenty, Rob Zombie, P Diddy, Lil Kim and many, many more.
Additionally, Baur was named one of the “Top Music Business Journalists” in the country by the National Association of Record Industry Professionals. Pretty impressive.
Bernard was nice enough to talk to me at great lengths about the constantly changing music industry as well as advice for up-and-coming bands and those looking for a career in the music business. Here's just one of his answers:
If there was a blueprint or a simple map everyone could follow then everyone would be successful. Obviously there isn’t one because everyone isn’t successful. The beauty of it is that today there are very few rules. In fact, we all know a lot of the old rules don’t apply anymore; they don’t get results they used to. You can practically make up your own rules. I encourage my students at the Musicians Institute to be as creative and innovative as possible. It’s the people who are going to think of a new way to do things that are going to get attention.
I would really recommend any artist that they be as creative in their promotions and marketing as they are with their music. Don’t just follow same old template. If you can think of something unique and new and exciting you might get the attention and actually do break out. Some of the bands I’ve seen break out have had opportunities presented to them because they created those opportunities. They’ve done something unique and different that stands out enough and sets them apart from everything else. That’s another problem nowadays, there are so many other artists and you have to make yourself stand out somehow and the only way you can do that is to find what’s unique about you and think of some creative and imaginative way to let the public know you exist and hopefully once they know that and take a look at you, that you have goods to back it up.
For more of my in-depth interview with Bernard, be sure to check back next Tuesday!
So Long, Virgin Megastore
It's official. Virgin Megastore in Times Square will be closing it's doors in April. Tomorrow marks the beginning of their "biggest sale in music retail history."
According to an article on hiphoppress.com, Simon Wright, CEO, Virgin Entertainment Group said, "This sale will give our loyal shoppers one last chance to browse the world's largest music store. We'll be offering discount prices on items that might be difficult to find in the days to come, and we hope our customers have a lot of fun shopping this final sale."
Located in the hub of Times Square since 1996, Virgin Megastore is an American icon and tourist hot spot. I can't even count the number of times I've been there. Whether it was catching a glimpse of a musician on my lunch break or trips to New York in high school for album signings and instore performances, Virgin Megastore is a place I'll definitely miss.
The official Virgin Megastore Web site describes the Times Square location as:
"not only one of the Big Apple's biggest attractions, it's also the largest entertainment store in the world! Here you'll find the largest music, games, video and DVD inventory in the world ... plus 600 listening posts, 100 video viewing stations, live music, a one-and-a-half story music video screen and more. Often host to impromptu appearances from artists appearing on MTV's Total Request Live (filmed directly across the street), the Megastore has enjoyed hosting the first-ever instore appearances of Michael Jackson and Nine Inch Nails in the last year, plus many other cool events with acts like Eminem, 'NSync and more."
If you're in the Times Square area, stop by before another major music location becomes a part of history. I'll be going myself tomorrow.
Album Review: Dan Freedman's "Art Attack"
There is a quote I recently came across that read, “Music is what feelings sound like.” This couldn’t be a more perfect explanation of Dan Freedman’s debut album, Art Attack. Entirely instrumental, the listener feels the emotion produced throughout each track — words not needed.
Freedman, an accomplished jazz pianist and composer, shows listeners the true power of music on his release. Full of emotion, Freedman fills the 10-song disc with graceful and moving piano interludes, having the listener easily hear the pure joy he has playing with each stroke of the keys. While only two songs are Freedman originals, you wouldn’t have guessed it as he brings new life into eight of the remaining jazz standards. The album is a nice mix of piano, piano duo, piano/bass duo and piano/bass/drum trio settings.
Perhaps the liveliest track on the album is first track “On Green Dolphin Street.” A jazz infused song, Freedman demonstrates his prowess at the piano in this jazz trio format. A great way to start the album, “On Green Dolphin Street” is one of those songs you can listen to repeatedly and never get tired of. It’s easy to imagine it being played at a fancy restaurant or concert hall. His improvisational skills only heighten the listener’s regard for him throughout, never letting the listener down. Light percussion and bass accompaniment soon enters, only helping the beauty of the song. Second song, “Very Early” transitions well from the first track. In fact, most of the album runs incredibly smoothly into each other. While “Very Early” is mellower, “Solar” follows with a slightly faster and jazzier vibe.
“Wheatland” and “Chopsticks” bring much variation, but never stray from Freedman’s skilled piano playing. In fact, I don’t foresee a non-likable song on this album. “Sweet Georgia Brown” is edgier and livelier than previous tracks while “Lives At Stake” brings much desired percussion accompaniment closing the album. Any way you look at it, Art Attack is a solid debut album that shows much promise and a long musical career for Freedman.
You can also read the review here, originally posted on ReviewYou.com.
Artist of the Week: Jem
Starting off sophomore release, Down to Earth with Brazilian percussion and soft, yet beautifully seductive vocals, Welsh singer-songwriter Jem catches the listener's attention right off the bat. Track after track, Jem continues to leave her distinct mark, whether it is assisted by Detroit Gospel choirs, hip-shaking beats or introspective lyrics.
Truly an artist to watch, you probably have heard some of Jem's music before. While her songs have been featured on hit television shows like, "The O.C.," "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "CSI Miami," and "Six Feet Under" perhaps it is her song, "It's Amazing" that's most familiar — having been included on the Sex and the City movie soundtrack.
"I Want You To..." begins with Spanish dialogue and quickly segues into a catchy song with Latin beats, urging the listener to break out some salsa moves. Next up is "It's Amazing," an inspiring song with uplifting lyrics, "Patience, now, frustration's in the air/And people who don't care/Well it's gonna get you down/And you'll fall, yes, you will hit a wall/But get back on your feet an' you'll be stronger and smarter."
The versatility throughout Down to Earth is incredulous at times. While diversity on an album is a strong attribute to any musician, Jem manages to change things up while staying true to herself. A mix of ballads, danceable Latin tracks and a foreseeable club hit in "Aciiid!" where she sings in Japanese, Jem is truly an artist to pay attention to.
Watch Jem's video for "It's Amazing" below and if you like what you hear, be sure to check her out on MySpace for more music!
Introducing Audrye Sessions + MP3 Download
I don't know about you, but Sunday always seems to be my lazy day of relaxing around the house and checking out new music. One band that seems perfect to listen to on days like this is Oakland quartet Audrye Sessions. With laid-back vocals and fitting musical accompaniment, playing their music is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Take a listen to "New Years Day" here and watch the video for their first single, "Turn Me Off" below. For more on the band, be sure to check them out on MySpace or pick a copy of their self-titled debut in stores Tuesday, Feb. 17th.
Audrye Sessions - "Turn Me Off" from Black Seal on Vimeo.
Blast From the Past: What's Your Get-Ready Song?
I completely forgot about this quiz I put together last year for mypromstyle.com. It's more geared to girls prepping for prom, but could be relevant to getting ready for Valentine's Day today perhaps? If you're in the mood to take a quiz and find out what your "get-ready" song is click here. Happy Valentine's Day!
Song of the Week: "Love Is a Battlefield"
In the spirit of Valentine's Day I decided to feature Pat Benatar's 1983 hit, "Love Is a Battlefield." I heard it on the radio just the other day and couldn't think of a more perfect tune for this week. Turns out, Benatar won a Grammy from it in 1984 for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Watch the music video for it below and enjoy the dance segment mid-song. Gotta love the 80s! What's your favorite 80s track?
Album Review: Maia Hirasawa
Maia Hirasawa's music video for "And I Found This Boy" first caught my attention a few months ago. Not your everyday music video, it definitely jumps out at the viewer. (Watch it below). Since then, Hirasawa has been keeping busy putting the finishing touches on her debut album, due out this spring. She'll be performing for the first time in the U.S. tonight at the infamous Hotel Café in Los Angeles. So, be sure to listen to her MySpace and if you're in the California area stop by for her show!
The Swedish-Japanese singer's debut, Though, I'm Just Me, is an eclectic mix of lively songs and ballads. In fact, she's already been compared to Regina Spektor and Lykke Li, even Bust suggested her similarity to Feist and a "less-angsty Bjork." While some tracks sound incredibly theatrical, others tell moving stories of seemingly real-life relationships. Having written and played almost every instrument on the 14-song disc, Hirasawa takes the listener on a journey on her debut release.
Beginning with beautifully light vocals accented by soft guitar picking on "Still June," Hirasawa's voice sounds familiar at first listen. The familiarity soon changes at the start of next track, "Crackers," which has that Big Band feel with horn introduction and further musical accompaniment.
"Parking Lot" is a slower ballad showcasing Hirasawa's soft, yet at times, wavering voice while "Star Again" features male backing vocals from fellow singer Anders Goransson, who sounds slightly reminiscent to Bono.
Stand-out track is “And I Found This Boy.” With fast-paced horn and piano interludes, this song will undeniably become stuck in one's head all day long. Hirasawa's fluctuating vocals throughout the track keep the listener intrigued and the upbeat musical accompaniment only adds to it's catchiness.
"You and Me and Everyone We Know" differentiates itself from the album with a children's choir accompanying Hirasawa during the introduction of the song which then quickly segues into a string feature. Another emotional track is "Roselin," a sad story of a girl who can't bear to be alone. Hirasawa sings, "She's been abandoned by her family/Didn't know that life could be that hard/But she never complains."
For anyone looking for a new musician to add to his collection, Maia Hirasawa is one artist that deserves a listen. Not your typical album material, Hirasawa switches gears tastefully and has much to offer on her debut disc, Though, I'm Just Me.
Watch Maia Hirasawa's video for "And I Found This Boy" below. If you like what you hear, don't forget to check her out in concert tonight at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles.
Q&A with The Canon Logic
With the craziness of CMJ week back in October, I just realized I never posted my full Q&A with the guys of the Canon Logic. Originally, I intertwined my show review and interview for my CMJ festival write-up, (which you can read here) but thought fans might want to read the interview in its entirety. Be sure to check TCL out on MySpace and if you like what you hear, catch their show this Friday at Southpaw in Brooklyn!
The Canon Logic are:
Mark Alu
Sean Enright
Josh Greenfield
Tim Kiely
Michael Mignano
To hear more about their upcoming album, live show and how they define their music (at one point, jokingly as "a mint-scented breath of fresh air") read below.
Is this your first time at CMJ?
Tim: It’s our first time playing at CMJ, yeah.
I loved your set, how was it for your first CMJ performance?
Tim: It was unbelievable. The fans were great. We had a blast; we always have a blast onstage. We felt pretty tight.
Josh: I could only really see the first two rows of people. It wasn’t until the very end that I went up front and realized there was a pretty packed house, so that was cool. Our fans are great.
Mike: It’s pretty cool to know that we can get a good group of people out at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday night and they’re acting like its 11 p.m. on a Saturday; dancing, screaming, singing along. So, it was cool, it was a good feeling.
Is this what you expected CMJ to be?
Tim: I think it was everything we expected and more.
Josh: It was really a great show; a lot of people were there. It was really nice to have our fans come out and support us. It felt like an awesome Saturday night show at a bar.
Tim: It’s fun to be a part of the madness, it’s exciting
You just released another EP and you’re working on an album also, right?
Mark: We just released our EP. It’s a collection of unreleased material just to give people a little something until we’re finished.
Josh: It’s sort of showcasing some of our other stuff. We have a live sound going, but we have some other music that we write that probably won’t make the album, but we still want people to hear it.
What should fans expect from your full-length album out in 2009?
Tim: We’ve dwindled the list from a couple hundred songs down to hopefully 10 to 12 songs.
Mark: It’s the best of the best that we’ve got.
Josh: We’ve finished instrumentals on four tracks and the production is ridiculous.
Tim: It’s the best sound we’ve had.
Mike: Expect a refreshing kick in the face.
How do you feel you stand out at CMJ vs. all the other bands around?
Tim: I think something that we do, which is the toughest aspect of our music, is having five people singing while also being able to handle the rock attitude. I don’t see many bands do it. I don’t know if I’ve seen a band do it and pull it off well. We’re really confident in what we’ve got going and I think that’s what separates us. And we’ve got great songs.
Josh: You can also expect a little bit of everything; some dancing, some singing along. We have a lot of songs that our fans come to shows to see and they’ve been learning the lyrics; they’re really easy to sing along to so they really enjoy getting into the songs and dancing and also head banging and rocking out too.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?
Mike: Our corny catch phrase is a mint-scented breath of fresh air. Realistically, I’d say it’s a gritty blend of harmony driven pop.
Josh: I think that it hits on anyone from your grandparents to your parents, to my sister who’s in high school, she really likes it. I think we have a wide range of fans. We like to try and bring everybody together. We’re trying to pull from so many different influences. We really like the classic rock stuff and we also like what’s going on now. I think we have a good balance of the two, which allows everyone to really get into the music. We enjoy that aspect of it.
What else do you want fans to know about you?
Tim: Our blog, thecanonlogic.com. If you want to be up-to-date about what’s going on with the album. We post pretty much everyday. We’re writing songs every day. There is so much music to show people, we want them to hear it. That’s why we released this EP.
Mike: Can we tell a funny story? We definitely want everyone to visit our blog, we post very regularly to our blog multiple times a day. A quick funny story about that blog is, this morning I was picking up my badge for CMJ. I took a picture of the CMJ thing and I immediately uploaded it to our blog and I titled the post, “CMJ Badge Pick-up.” Well, somehow throughout the day anybody that ended up Googling CMJ Badge Pick-up was directed immediately to our site over CMJ.com. So, our site trumped theirs.
How did you pick your set-list?
Tim: We wanted to start off quick and really give everybody a kick to the face while also trying to show our versatility. But really, we were just trying to rock people out for 45 minutes to an hour. We like everyone dancing.
Mike: We like to keep people moving.
How do you react on nights when the crowd isn’t moving or interested in your performance?
Tim: We’ve been together long enough where there’s no one standing there. We try not to let whatever the audience is doing affect us. We’re always trying to be the best we can be. The audience definitely motivates us, but if they’re not kicking it, we still will.
Mike: The bottom line is, whether or not there is one person in the room or 100, we’re still going to give everybody that came the best performance we can give. We don’t get bummed by low numbers if we ever have them. We just rock out.
Did you prepare for your CMJ showcase differently than other shows?
Tim: Not too much differently than our normal shows, other than the fact that we’re giving out a lot of free stuff. We’re giving out our EP and hopefully you’ll see people around Manhattan wearing The Canon Logic sunglasses. Otherwise, no. Same kind of thing, coming out and playing our best.
Josh: We have enough loyal fans that every show, even though not everyone can make it to every show, the amount of people we’re pulling from ends up giving us a pretty packed house. A lot of our shows are similar in the sense that people are there, really getting into the music and enjoying themselves. We try not to change it too much.
What is the writing process like between all of you?
Josh: We all like to write. Generally Tim will bring a song in or someone will bring a piece to him and we’ll just throw out ideas. It’s rare that we ever have a finished song that one person brings and does. Maybe we’ll have a bridge and a chorus or a verse and a bridge and then we’ll expand and we’ll try different things. Our songs are rarely ever complete. We’ve been playing this one song, “The Run” for three or four years. It’s probably one of our first songs and we’re still changing it and trying to make it better. Nothing is ever really finished. We’re always trying to change and stay ahead of the curve and keep things fresh.
You were on Warped Tour and MTV2 recently. So your music is definitely getting out there.
Sean: Both of those were great because we rarely get to touch upon the teenage demographic. Usually we’re playing at bars so we’re lucky if we can sneak some 18+ in on a good night. That’s a huge crowd playing 13 through 18. We really take advantage of those; we either have give-a-ways or practice extra hard. I think the MTV2 thing was the perfect example. We made a point to be on point and grab as many fans as we could when we had a chance because those opportunities are, at the current time, few and far between.
Do you feel like a band can survive being independent or are you looking for that record deal?
Sean: We don’t feel any immediate pressure for our careers to get a record deal. We know plenty of bands who have gotten low-level indie with major distribution who have just gotten screwed over and they’re on the shelf for three years. We know better than to make a stupid move, but we can sustain ourselves if we put out a really good CD just on MySpace and grassroots. We’re smart guys; we have plans all the time, different marketing schemes.
Josh: The Internet has really been a great tool. We all work and during the day, probably about a few hundred emails in a given day might go back and forth so we’re always in contact. Sure, we have our jobs, but this is what we want to do. We try to do as much as we can on the Internet. I think we’ve gotten a lot of younger fans from the Internet because they’re the ones that go on the Web sites, comment and check things out. That’s why we like to try and get a few all-age shows, 18+. Sullivan Hall is a great venue because it’s 18+, so a lot of the kids from NYU come, a lot of college kids. In the end, that’s the loyal, dedicated people that come out. Once you’re out of college it definitely gets harder to come to shows. The Internet’s been wonderful to us.
Be sure to give the Canon Logic's MySpace a listen and check out their Web site as well. Watch a live performance of fan favorite, "Avenue of Criminals" from their performance during MTV2's "Battle of the Bands" below.
Band of the Week: The Jim Ivins Band
I received an email a while back from frontman Jim Ivins of the Jim Ivins Band, telling me about their recently released EP, Back To Reality. Produced by Ace Enders (formerly of The Early November), the band has opened for a few musicians I've covered, including The Ataris and Sparky's Flaw. So, I decided to give them a listen and liked what I heard.
The songs on Back To Reality are well-produced tracks both musically and lyrically. Begging references to The Ataris, Yellowcard and even New Found Glory, the Jim Ivins Band's mix of pop-rock and emo-punk pulls the listener in. In fact, while listening I felt as if I was taking a trip down memory lane vividly picturing myself waiting in line to get front row at a Good Charlotte or New Found Glory concert.
When checking out their MySpace, one hears the progress from older and guitar heavy songs to the band's latest release. First song off the EP, "The Chance" is a stand-up track that tells the story of unrequited love. With catchy choruses and light, soft vocals that recall fellow pop-punk band Yellowcard (whatever happened to them anyway?) and early New Found Glory, the Jim Ivins Band are well on their way.
The band's sound is reminiscent to many emo band beginnings with those wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve type lyrics (see "Stages of Your Life"). However, the versatility is what branches them out and distinguishes the Jim Ivins Band from inhabiting just one genre of music. An example is "Two Hours Two Days Two Weeks," which demonstrates more of a punk attitude than heard on previous tracks.
"Two O'clock Wake Up Call" is another must listen with solid guitar accompaniment and sing-along choruses while "Stages of Your Life" is a ballad that begins with soft vocals and guitar strumming.
Originally a solo project, Ivins recorded his debut full-length album in 2007. Soon after the band came together with the goal to make "catchy, accessible music with honest lyrics that are easily relatable." And they're doing just that.
Hard to place into one genre, the Jim Ivins Band is a promising Virginia-based band who have a bright future on the music scene. Just listening to the growth on their two EP's is impressive. I'm excited to see what's in store for them.
What do you think? Give them a listen on MySpace and let me know!
Grammy's Tonight!
Tonight is the most important night of the year for many musicians — the 51st Grammy Awards! Who do you think will walk away with the most awards? Here's a list of all the nominations.
One of the most anticipated award each year is Best New Artist, this year's nominees include:
* Adele
* Duffy
* Jonas Brothers
* Lady Antebellum
* Jazmine Sullivan
Tough choice! Be sure to tune in tonight on CBS at 8 p.m. for the results as well as performances by U2, Radiohead, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Katy Perry, John Mayer, B.B. King and many, many more! I'll be updating the results throughout the show on Twitter, so be sure to follow me if you're not yet!
Blast From the Past: Q&A with Baby Jay
Last year Tammy, my friend and editor of Misquincemag.com, was launching a Web site that focused on teens and preparing for their quinceañera. She asked if I'd be willing to help out and interview a 16-year-old rapper who has been making a major impact in the rap world. Truly an inspiration to others, I couldn't say no! Read below for my interview with Baby Jay.
Have you been to many quinces?
I’ve been to and performed at a few. Once I was the chambelán of honor for my cousin’s quinceañera. At first, I was nervous — all eyes are on you and the quinceañera. But once we started dancing, the nerves went away. It’s kind of the same feeling I get when I perform in front of large crowds.
Has anything funny every happened at a quinceañera you went to?
I think it’s funny and cute to look at pictures of the quinceañera that are shown on the projector, 'cause some of the photos are from when she was a baby and the guests laugh.
Is it true that you answer all your MySpace messages?
Yes, I do it every day. I gotta keep the fans. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I love my fans.
I would describe it as positive. It’s good music but it’s not cheesy. We have different songs about non-violence, saying no to drugs, and anti-bullying. I just want to change rap by proving we can still be good rappers by keeping it real, and keeping it clean. People will see rap a whole different way.
In five years, where do you see yourself?
I do want to give back to the community a lot. I still want to rap positive. Five years down the road I still want to be the same way I am now. I know it’ll be different, I’ll be traveling. But I still want to be good with the fans.
You turned 15 only a year ago and your debut album will be released in stores later this year. It seems like all your dreams from 15 are coming true. What message do you want to send your fans about dreaming big?
I thought everything would go wrong with me. I just want to make a difference in this world, send a positive message. Show the kids, “look at me, my parents are divorced, I thought I’d be another teenager out there on the streets. I keep my mind straight, I’m not gonna quit.” Don’t give up on your dreams. You have time. When you’re down, you can’t let that keep you from your dreams.
For more on Baby Jay, be sure to check him out on MySpace. Feel free to read the original article here.
Song of the Week: "Peggy Sue"
This past Tuesday marked the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death. Songs like "Peggy Sue," "Not Fade Away," and "Maybe Baby" were staples of the 1950s rock 'n' roll scene. Holly has been said to have inspired Keith Richards, Bob Dylan as well as the Beatles' band name
I grew up knowing his name and specifically "Peggy Sue" being that one of my sister's best friends was named Peggy, alas my Mom would always sing "Peggy Sue" when she was around. It's funny how some things just stick with you. Watch Holly's live performance of the song below on "American Bandstand."
Introducing Asa
Paris born and Lagos raised singer-songwriter Asa's debut self-titled release is a record that begs the listener's attention. With poignant lyrics intertwined throughout each song, Asa is the most brutally, yet beautifully honest record I've heard released in 2009 thus far. Every song on her album is a new gem with moving lyrics mixed in with Afro-beats and soulful reggae influences. In fact, she has already been compared to Bob Marley and Erika Badu and it is no wonder that she has most recently opened up for Femi Kuti on several of his tour dates.
That's not all either. Asa has had great success in Africa and Europe, most recently being awarded the Prix Constantine for the Best New French Artist of 2008. Things have been picking up for Asa in America as well. While her album was released last week in the US, first single "Jailer" has caught much attention throughout the airwaves as well as recently appeared on NPR's "All Songs Considered."
Asa begins the album with "Jailer" and lyrics, "Am in chains you're in chains too/I wear uniforms, you wear uniforms too/Am a prisoner/You're a prisoner too Mr. Jailer." With light guitar strumming and keyboard features, the story within the song jumps out to the listener. She continues her tale, "Life is not about your policies/All the time/So you better rearrange your philosophies/And be good to your Fellow man."
Her one-sheet described her as a "culturally conscious singer-songwriter" and I couldn’t agree more. Tracks like "Fire On the Mountain" and "No One Know" are fitting examples of Asa's cultural consciousness. Lyrics such as "I wake up in the morning/Tell you what I see on my TV screen/I see the blood of an innocent child/And everybody’s watching" and later, "Tell me who’s responsible/For what we teach our children/Is it the Internet/Or the stars on the television?" within track "Fire On the Mountain" demonstrate this.
During "No One Know" Asa sings, "Tell me what’s the need to go to war/All the killings just to settle some one else’s score/When the victory isn’t even sure/No one knows tomorrow." Seemingly fitting for today's world issues, Asa continues to leave an impact on the listener track by track of her debut album.
From the look of it, Asa is not just another emerging musician, but one who is here to stay. She brings a much needed awakening to what the music industry as well as the media have been lacking — truthful lyrics with real emotion and sincerity.
Watch Asa's music video for "Jailer" below. For more on Asa, be sure to check out her MySpace.
Artist to Watch: Findlay Brown + MP3
I recently received a MP3 of Findlay Brown's song "Holding Back the Night" in an email. The song has that classic oldies feel — a mix of doo wop of the 50s and 60s. In fact, I can't help but hear his resemblance to one of my Dad's personal favorites, British-American pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck (don't worry just his stage name, unique I know). And, after reading Findlay's bio I realized my comparisons of his music weren't so far-fetched.
Findlay's upcoming release, Love Will Find You, came together when he was stuck on his sister's couch with a broken leg after being run over by a cab driver. Of the album, he's explained:
"I'd already started going back and listening to a lot of records I'd grown up on, like Elvis Presley, soul music, doo wop, Phil Spector, The Righteous Brothers and the like," Findlay said. "I had an idea about making a modern record influenced by the songwriting of the late 50s and early 60s. I just started writing, trying to work out what made a universally great song, like 'Stand By Me.' These new songs are the first part of that process."
Listen to "Holding Back the Night," a track off his upcoming spring release here.
For more on Findlay be sure to check out his MySpace and if you like what you hear and are in NYC tomorrow, catch his show at Pianos! Be on the look-out for a full album review in the upcoming weeks.
PT Walkley Impresses at Album Release Show
On the night of his album release, PT Walkley entertained a packed Blender Theater audience by playing his debut album Mr. Macy Wakes Alone track by track in its entirety. With a full band – at times reminiscent of an orchestral arrangement — Walkley conducted the band with the simple nodding of his head. From backup singers to string arrangement, Walkley’s showcase was one not to be missed.
Perhaps the most versatile musician I’ve seen in concert, Walkley’s voice changed drastically from song to song. One example is the mere difference from second song “Why,” where he exercised a softer, more angelic voice complete with fitting string and horn accompaniment, and then made the shift to the deeper and edgier track “No One Needs To Know” — and that was just in the first 10 minutes of his set.
What makes Walkley stand out from other up-and-coming musicians is the content of his album. He has said in interviews that he hopes to bring back cover-to-cover listening and seemingly does so, as the characters and themes on each track intermingle throughout Mr. Macy Wakes Alone. His publicity is doing pretty well, especially after being hand picked by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin to open their Madison Square Garden show.
Not your average singer-songwriter, Walkley has also composed music for several Ed Burns films as well as had his music placed in numerous commercials including MasterCard and GE. With so much varied musical exposure, his diversity in concert no longer seems all that surprising, but continues to impress concertgoers as heard from the screams and applause after each song's end.
With string, horn, percussion and continuous guitar and backup vocals, Walkley’s set did not disappoint. Slower ballad “Coming Over” showcased his deep and trance-like vocals. With the complement of a harp, the concertgoer had the relaxed vibe of being on a tropical island, easily picturing palm trees swaying in the background. Always quick to change the mood from song to song, next track was energetic “The Lucky Ones.” The song featured Walkley’s wife Michelle on infectious backing vocals. Their voices blended beautifully together, and the light musical accompaniment fit well, never overpowering the song's main vocals and narration.
While “Evolution” sounded almost planetary at times, “Calvin the Coroner” had a carnival-esque feel to it. With a faster piano introduction and crescendo of Walkley’s vocals at the end of each line, the song is quirky with lyrics, “When Calvin was a boy there was a lot to comprehend/A high imagination but he never had a friend/His father bought the funeral parlor just around the bend from the Macy’s/He helped around the basement and he swore he’d never tell/He couldn’t stand the bodies but he grew to like the smell/Formaldehyde and suicide were words that came too well to a young boy.”
Before playing upbeat track, “Audrey Macy” Walkley introduced the song by saying, “This song is about a murder and a girl named Audrey Macy.” A captivating tale of a trust fund girl who is never satisfied, she eventually kills her father to inherit money he already has spent, thus forcing her to work the rest of her life. Yet another example of Walkley’s versatility, with fitting electric guitar and percussion, the music only assisted him to tell the story effectively.
With rave album reviews and having recently opened for Coldplay, PT Walkley has definitely been making a name for himself. Setting the bar well beyond most musicians these days, Walkley begs the listener to pay attention to every detail of his performance and album as the recurring themes and characters only make sense when listening cover to cover. Definitely an ambitious musician, Walkley is breaking the mold of the music industry as we know it today, and it would behoove every music lover to give him a listen.
You can read this review, originally posted on Filter here. For more on PT Walkley, be sure to visit his MySpace.
Band of the Week: The Weepies
In the past few weeks many friends and co-workers have been mentioning The Weepies to me, asking if I'm familiar with their music, which I wasn't until today. A relaxed vibe, the band has an undeniably laid-back acoustic feel. My favorite song is the title track off their second and most recent album, Hideaway. A bit soporific at times, their music is the type that makes listeners sit back and forget their problems. An escape from everyday life is something every musician can only hope for.
And, their music must be highly regarded since publicity has been phenomenal for the band as of late. From their music being featured in President Barack Obama's election ads to having a guest spot on hit television show, "Dirty Sexy Money" husband and wife indie-folk pop duo Deb Talan and Steve Tannen are doing well for themselves.
Perhaps what stands out most for the listener is their unique and unexpected harmonies.
"We want to make music that comes from that place where tears come from. Tears for joy, tears for sorrow. It's where we write from and where we hope to connect with other people who listen to our music," said Deb Talan in an ABC interview.
Be sure to check The Weepies out on MySpace, and if their music sounds familiar, below are a few reasons why:
-Deb Talan and Steve Tannen’s music appeared in more than a dozen TV shows, as well as several major motion pictures
-Their iTunes sales topped the folk charts in eight countries
-Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol nominated them for a Short List Music Prize
-Mandy Moore asked them to write with her and sing on her album
-They were invited to open for the Indigo Girls and invited onto the Hotel Café Tour
-They played the Oxegen Festival in Ireland, the Hurricane Festival in Germany, and T in the Park in Scotland
-JCPenney and Old Navy used their tunes as the theme songs for their major holiday TV campaigns
Watch the clip from "Dirty Sexy Money" below to hear The Weepies' featured song "Somebody Loved."
Listen to "Hideaway" below.
Third Eye Blind Interview Featured on Marie Claire!
Head over to MarieClaire.com to read part of my interview with Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind! I'd love to know what you think. If you haven't yet, be sure to read (or listen) to the full transcription with Stephan here. You can also hear "Non-Dairy Creamer," one of the songs off their upcoming release Ursa Major here.
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Follow my adventures touring with bands, traveling to music festivals and uncovering the inside scoop of what it’s like being an up-and-coming band in this crazy, constantly changing music business. A must read for every music fan who has ever wondered what really goes on backstage and on the road with a touring musician. What do YOU want to know? Contact me!
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Reflect on the history of the Culverhouse College of Business as you scroll through the timeline
Look for more moments to be added over the coming weeks.
Undergraduate Program Launched
Lee Bidgood, the first dean of the College, launched the undergraduate program in 1919. The first programs launched were specializations in accounting, banking and finance,…
Bidgood Becomes First Dean
In 1919, Lee Bidgood became the first dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration.. Dean Bidgood served the boards of directors for many…
Commerce Club Established
The Commerce Club was established in the fall of 1922 by students and professor H.H. Chapman. The Commerce Club “sought to advance the purposes of…
Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter Established
To encourage interest in higher scholarship and college activities among commerce students, the Sigma Eta chapter of the Beta Gamma Sigma fraternity was established. The…
Graduate Program Launched
In 1924, the College of Commerce & Business Administration organized the first graduate programs
Master of Science in Commerce Awarded
The first Master degree was awarded in 1924 as the Master of Science in Commerce.
Alpha Kappa Psi Chapter Established
The Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi was introduced to the University in 1924. The fraternity was originally created in 1904 at New York…
Delta Sigma Pi Chapter Established
Delta Sigma Pi originated at the New York School of Commerce in 1907. A local chapter had been active on the University campus for some…
Commerce Building Opens
In the fall of 1928, construction was completed for the Commerce Building, the Commerce School’s first building, and opened for the fall semester. The Commerce…
First Accreditation
In 1929 the School of Commerce and Business Administration become the 38th school to earn admission into the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Phi Chi Theta (Chi Theta) Chapter Established
Chi Theta was a professional fraternity for women organized in the Commerce School in 1929. In 1936 the local chapter affiliated with Phi Chi Theta,…
Bureau of Business Research Established
In November of 1930, Lee Bidgood and professor H.H. Chapman created the Bureau of Business Research as what Chapman described as “a vision of a…
1st Real Estate Graduate
Secretarial Work Added as a Major
Statistics Added as a Major
Commerce Building Addition
As enrollment increased, the need for more space became immediate and Dean Bidgood decided an expansion of the Commerce building was necessary. In September of…
Military Training Program Administered
To aid in Wartime efforts, Dean Bidgood, a member of the University’s National Defense Council Program, the Commerce School played an important role in training…
MBA Program Launched
Following World War II, there was an influx of GIs into the school. Dean Bidgood sought to expand the school’s graduate programs. Launched in 1944,…
Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Founded
The National Accounting fraternity established a chapter at the Commerce School in 1948 with the goal “to encourage and foster the ideal of service as…
First Annual Spring Frolics
On May 14, 1949, Mr. A. E. Hohenberg of Memphis gave the principal address at the first annual Commerce Spring Frolics, and awards from various…
Propeller Club
In the spring of 1950, a chapter of the Propeller Club was formed for students who were interested in the maritime transportation industry. It was…
Ph.D. Program Launched
President Gallalee took advantage of the contingent gathered at the dedication of Bidgood Hall to announce the Commerce School would be launching a Ph.D. program for…
Chi Alpha Phi Created
In the spring of 1951, a group of business statistics students created Chi Alpha Phi, an organization for students interested in the application of statistical…
Bidgood Hall Expansion
Along with the dedication of Bidgood Hall, President John Gallalee announced an expansion to the building. This would add 36,032 square feet of new space…
Commerce Building Renamed
On Commerce Day and the 32nd Anniversary of the School of Commerce, February 15th, 1952, the Commerce Building was renamed Bidgood Hall after esteemed Dean…
Alabama Business Research Council Founded
Founded by Lee Bidgood in the early 1950s, the Alabama Business Research Council developed effective ways in which a work and research team can bring…
Catherine Miles Receives First PH.D.
Catherine Miles was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in accounting at the University of Alabama. She first enrolled at the University in 1936…
Garner Named Second Dean
After being hand-picked by Dean Bidgood to teach accounting, Paul Garner turned down the numerous offers from other universities to teach at the School of…
Marketing Added as a Major
Vivian Malone’s Enrollment
Vivian Malone, alongside James Hood, enrolled at The University of Alabama in 1963 becoming one of the first black students. Two years later she graduated…
C&BA Becomes a College
Lena Prewitt Joins Faculty
Dr. Lena Prewitt joined the college in 1970 as one of the first black faculty members. Dr. Prewitt taught management had a lasting impact on…
Fielden Named Third Dean
Jack Fielden was named the third dean of the Commerce and Business Administration
Manpower Institute Introduced
The Manpower Institute was instituted in 1972 in the early days of Jack Fielden’s deanship. It was ran by Chuck Odewahn and Allan Spritzer who…
Master of Tax Accounting Degree Introduced
Dean John Fielden introduced the Master of Tax Accounting (MTA) degree to the College of Commerce and Business Administration in 1977, adding to an impressive…
School of Accountancy Established
In July of 1978, the School of Accountancy was established as an academic unit of the College of Commerce and Business Administration. Later, the school…
Edward Smith Named (Fourth) Interim Dean
Serving as an interim dean while the search committee looked for a replacement for Jack Fielden, Edward Smith led the college into the 1980s.
Mitchell Becomes Fifth Dean
H.H. “Bill” Mitchell accepted a five-year appointment as dean after the untiimely death of Dr. Kenneth Uhl, the search committee’s choice for dean in 1980. Mitchell…
Five-year Master of Accountancy Introduced
Executive MBA offered at UA
Peterson Named Sixth Dean
Russ Petersen helped the college maintain its high standard through his understanding of what the national standards were. His policies were favored by many, especially…
Manderson Graduate School of Business Named
In 1987, the Culverhouse College of Commerce renamed their graduate division to The Manderson Graduate School of Business in recognition of Lewis Manderson’s generous $1…
Mason Named Seventh Dean
Dean Barry Mason became the College of Commerce and Business Administration’s seventh dean in 1988 and served as dean for 23 years. His term is…
The S. Paul Garner Center for Current Accounting Issues
The Culverhouse School of Accountancy established the S. Paul Garner Center for Current Accounting Issues in 1988. It was used in fostering and enhancing accounting…
School of Accountancy Named After Culverhouse
In February of 1989, Commerce School alumnus Hugh F. Culverhouse donated $3 million to the School of Accountancy and later recieved naming rights of the…
Bashinsky Computer Lab and Bruno Library Donation
Dreams of a new business library and computer center for the business college finally became a reality in 1994 with the generous donation of $4…
Alabama Center for Real Estate Founded
Hardin Named Eighth Dean
STEM Path to the MBA Introduced
The STEM Path to the MBA was introduced to the University to allow high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in STEM disciplines to complete coursework to earn…
Marillyn A. Hewson Data Analytics Lab
The Marillyn A. Hewson Data Analytics opened in 2015 with Lockheed Martin, Healthcare Business Solutions and SAS as partners. The Lab provides collaboration among students,…
Palan Named Ninth Dean
2016 marked the year the college hired its first female dean, Kay Palan.
CREATE Path to the MBA Introduced
Launched in Fall 2016, the CREATE Path to the MBA was created for high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in traditionally creative disciplines, giving them the opportunity…
Vulcan Value Research Library
The college is the first to offer a Value Investing specialization at both the graduate and undergraduate level and opened a Value Investing Research Library…
Hewson Hall Announced
On September 28th, 2018, Dean Kay Palan announced the newest addition to the Culverhouse campus, Hewson Hall. The building was named after distinguished alum Marillyn…
New Name for the Business School
In early 2018, the business college at The University of Alabama announced that it was implementing its new name: Culverhouse College of Business. This name…
Culverhouse
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You are here: Home / All Posts / By Location / Asia / Top 20 things to do in Tokyo
Top 20 things to do in Tokyo
January 27, 2017March 28, 2017By siposIn Asia, Places to visitTags japan, japanese cherry blossom tree, places to visit, things to do, things to do in tokyo, tokyo
Here are the top 20 things to do in Tokyo, the capital of Japan
Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun is a popular place for tourists thanks to its nature of consisting both of older and modern buildings and traditions. When people think of Japan, half of them will think about samurais, shrines and other feudal aspects, while the other half will think about busy cities and futuristic innovations. The most amazing thing about Japan that both of the aspects are true. Japan is full of technological innovations, but they still honor their very old traditions, including their own religion, the Shinto, and of Buddhism as well. Their two capitals also reflect these two sides. Kyoto is more on the traditional side, as it was the capital of the nation for a very long time, while Tokyo, t he current capital, is on the moderns side, but of course it still retains a lot of the older, more traditional buildings and aspects. Even if you don’t like crowds, as Tokyo is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, the city is still a must-see for anyone traveling to Japan, and for that, we have collected the top 20 things to do in Tokyo.
As a tower that was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Tokyo Tower stands out among the other tall structures of Tokyo thanks to its distinct colors and style. The tower was built as an observational and communications tower, and quickly became a symbol for the rebirth of Japan as an economic power in the second half of the 20th century. Approximately 3 million people visit the tower each year, and visitors can climb the tower for a spectacular view of the city.
2. Sensou-ji
As the oldest and largest Buddhist temple of Tokyo, the Sensou-ji is frequently visited by both foreigners and Japanese citizen. The building is almost one and a half thousand years old and was formerly part of the Tendai Buddhist sect, but it became independent after World War II. It is highly suggested to see it at least once, as the wonderful buddhist architecture can be a breathtaking experience.
3. Tsukiji Fish Market
Many people say that the Japanese people only eat fish. While this is far from being the truth, it is true that they eat a lot of it, mostly due them being an island nation. One of the best examples of their dealings of fish is the Tsukiji Fish Market, the biggest wholesale seafood and fish market in the world. They deal in hundreds to different species of fish and othet seafood, from the smallest to the largest that one can imagine. They even have auctions every day for some of the rarer fish they catch. If you like fish, or to be more precise, you like to eat fish, then this place is for you.
4. Miraikan
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, or more commonly known as Miraikan (meaning “Future Museum”), is a tribute to the innovative and technological nature of modern Japan. The museum is dedicated to robotics, engineering and space exploration, and most of the exhibitions are interactive, which both parents and children can enjoy.
5. Meiji Shrine
The Meiji Shrine was built as a memorial to Emperor Meiji, who, according to Japanese history, modernized Japan in the 19th century. This is a shinto shrine, and can also be used for traditional Japanese weddings. While you are at shrines, be mindful of the rules there, as some things can be considered disrespectful, like taking photos inside the shrine.
6. Yoyogi Park
Located next to the Meiji Shrine is Yoyogi park, a large park in Tokyo. The park is a common gathering spot, especially during spring when the sakura (cherry blossom) trees bloom. The site was used as an army parade ground between the World Wars. Yoyogi National Gymnasium is also located here, which is one of the stadiums used in the 1964 Summer Olympics of Tokyo, and which will be used again in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
7. Ginza
Ginza is one of the districts of Tokyo, and is arguably the most expensive part of it. The district is full of fashions shops and luxurious restaurants. Real estates here are one of the highest in the world. Coming here is advised even if you don’t want to do expensive shopping, as the neighborhood itself is interesting to see as well. During the weekends, the district becomes pedestrians-only, as vehicle traffic is closed off.
8. Tokyo Sea Life Park
For those enthusiastic about sea life or just want to see some very beautiful attractions, the Tokyo Sea Life Park is a must-see. This exhibition has several aquariums built for different species, according to their original habitats, like the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean or the Indian Ocean. The aquarium itself is also built on the water itself. For more information about the park and what you can find there see this site.
9. Tokyo National Museum
The Tokyo Nation Museum is place that must be visited for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Japan and see countless Japanese works of art and artifacts, as this museum holds the largest collection of them. The collections includes artifacts such as paintings, calligraphy, kimonos, samurai armors and equipments, ornate swords and much more. The museum has as many as six buildings for all these, so one can only imagine how large the collection is.
10. Tokyo Big Sight
Located on the shore of Tokyo Bay, the Tokyo Big Sight is the largest convention and exhibition center in Japan. Just like its name suggests, the building is very big and has a very distinct architectural style, which can be spotted from far away. The location is almost always busy with events, of which one of the most popular is the Comiket. Comiket is short for Comic Market, and is considered one of the biggest convention for anime and manga, especially self-published manga (doujinshi). Every year there at least thirty-five thousand sellers and half a million visitors during the days its held with very long queues infront of the building.
11. Nakamise
Nakamise is a long line of shops, or more like a shopping street. It has almost a hundred shops where tourists can try traditional japanese food and snacks, and buy all kinds of souvenirs that they can take back home.
12. Kabukichou
As a red-light district, this place is mostly for adults, and not a place where one would take their children. This district is filled with host and hostess clubs, love hotels and nightclubs, among other places. Because of its nature, it is often called the Sleepless Town. While not high on the list of things to do in Tokyo, the district is an interesting place to see even if one doesn’t plan to go to the shops and bars here.
13. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
The Disneyland in Tokyo was the first one that opened outside of the United States, and the DisneySea is the 4th most visited park in the world. Both of these are amusement parks dedicated to the movies and franchises of Disney, with themed rides and a large number of souvenirs and other merchandise. These parks are highly advised for those coming with their children, or even for adults themselves who would like to have some fun.
14. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
As another large park of Tokyo, the Shinjuku Gyoen Nation Garden is an excellent place to take a rest or just walk around between the beautiful trees that fill the place. The park can be spectacular in during all seasons, especially during Spring when the sakura trees bloom, as the falling cherry blossom leaves are something that one should see at least once in their lifetime.
15. Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Shrine is another shinto shrine in Tokyo, dedicated to those that dies serving Emperor Meiji in the 19th century. The shrine lists the name of almost two and a half million people, and even animals. The shrine today commemorates those who died in the wars as well. The national symbol of the Japanese Imperial Chrysanthemum can be found on the curtains leading into the shrine.
16. Hachikou’s statue
As a well known and very touching story, Hachikou’s statue is a famous memorial to visit among tourists. Hachikou was an akita dog who was taken in by a university professor, and the dog always greeted him at Shibuya Station every day. Unfortunately, one the day the professor didn’t come, because he unexpectedly died in cerebral hemorrhage. Nevertheless, for the next nine years Hachikou went to Shibuya Station and waited there, each and every day, always appearing at the exact time of the arrival of the train. His loyalty was admired by many, and even today his story is remembered and referenced in both real life and fiction. A statue was built in his likeness at the station, and Hachikou was present at the unveiling. To learn more about the story of Hachikou, see this link.
17. Roppongi
Roppongi is a district mostly known for its nightlife. The district is full of foreigner-friendly bars, night clubs and restaurants. Foreigners themselves, who now live in Japan, have opened up different kinds of shops and cafés here as well.
18. Ghibli Museum
As a museum dedicated to the animation studio, Studio Ghibli, this location is famous both among Japanese citizen and foreigners. The museum has replicas of the different characters from the works of Hayao Miyazaki, like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky, to mention just a few. The place is highly recommended for both adults and children, especially those who like anime.
19. Akihabara
Arguably one of the most famous districts of Tokyo, Akihabara is known for being the center and heart of the anime culture, with thousands of shops dedicated to anime, manga and other otaku culture. Maid Cafés can be found on every street, and the streets are frequently occupied by people cosplaying (people wearing the costumes of their favorite characters). Akihabara was once a district known for a large number of electronic shops, and although there are more anime and manga shops nowadays, there are still lots of electronic shops still operating. The district is a paradise for those who love anime, and has a high priority on their list of things to do in Tokyo.
20. Tokyo Imperial Palace
Just like its name suggests, the Imperial Palace is located in Tokyo, and this is the residence of the Emperor of Japan. The palace is built in the middle of a park-like area, has several buildings including the private residence of the emperor, archives and of course the main castle. The palace is not open to the public, only on select days can they enter the grounds, where the imperial family greets them from a balcony. Nevertheless, the palace is beautiful from the outside as well, so it is advisable to visit it at least once.
For other beautiful pictures of the Land of the Rising Sun, see our collection here. If you want to see amazing photos of the cherry blossom trees, check out this collection.
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Ten Brands That Will Disappear In 2013
June 21, 2012 7:03 am EDT
7. Salon.com
Launched in 1995, Salon.com is one of the pioneering news and commentary sites on the web. In recent years, it has been eclipsed by larger and better financed sites such as The Atlantic and Washington Post (NYSE: WPO)-owned Slate. Of course, today there are thousands of websites that comment on the news each day. Some of these, like The Blaze, which is owned by Glenn Beck, are well funded. In a sign that Salon is very close to being shuttered, the company “lost” its CEO and CFO recently. Chief technology officer, Cynthia Jeffers, was put in charge. But Salon will need a great deal more than new management. At the end of the final quarter of 2011, Salon had $149,000 in the bank against short-term liabilities that included $12.7 million in loans. During the same quarter, Salon lost $997,000 on revenue of $1.03 million. Rumors are that John Warnock, the cofounder of Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), and investment banker Bill Hambrecht fund the company. But as it falls apart at the seams, more money is unlikely to be forthcoming.
6. Suzuki
American Suzuki Motor sold 10,695 cars and light trucks in the first five months of this year. That was down 3.9% compared with the same period in 2011. The sales gave the manufacturer a U.S. market share of just 0.2%. One reason the company has trouble moving its vehicles is the poor reputation of its cars. In the 2012 JD Power survey of U.S. vehicle dependability, Suzuki’s scores in power-trains, body and materials, and features and accessories were below those of almost every other brand. One sign Suzuki is having trouble selling its vehicles is that it currently offers a very aggressive zero-percent financing package for 72 months on all of its 2012 cars, trucks and SUVs. Even with aggressive sales tactics, Suzuki cannot improve its position in the American market. Most of its cars sell for less than $20,000 and its trucks and SUVs for under $25,000. Almost every other manufacturer with a broad range of vehicles has flooded this end of the market with cheap, fuel-efficient models. Arguably the most successful car company in the U.S. based on growth — Hyundai — does particularly well in this segment.
Also Read: The Pink Collar Jobs America’s Men Want Most
5. Pacific Sunwear
Pacific Sunwear built its reputation offering “California-style” accessories, primarily sunglasses, shoes and swimwear. The company was started in a surf shop in Newport Beach in 1980. Recently, highly regarded corporate balance sheet and earnings research firm GMI Ratings put Pacific Sunwear of California on its list of companies at risk of going bankrupt. That should come as no surprise. Five years ago, the company’s stock traded for $23. Recently, it dropped to $1.50. In its most recent reported quarter, Pacific Sunwear lost $15 million on revenue of $174 million. The retailer’s cash and cash equivalents dropped to $22 million from $50 million at the end of the previous quarter. Pacific Sunwear management said the company would have a non-GAAP net loss in the current quarter as well. Pacific Sunwear also disclosed it had a new line of credit with Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Its comments about the loan in its latest 10-Q were telling: “if we were to experience same-store sales declines similar to those which occurred in fiscal 2010 and 2009, we may be required to access most, if not all, of the New Credit Facility and potentially require other sources of financing to fund our operations, which might not be available.” Why is the company in so much trouble? It is too small and is in a commoditized business. Nearly every major department store chain sells products similar to those Pacific Sunwear offers, and so do many niche retailers. Pacific Sunwear, meanwhile, has only 729 small stores. What will happen to the retailer? It could be bought by a larger company — its market cap is only $108 million — or it may go out of business with its inventory sold to other retailers.
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Katie deGuzman is an associate attorney with Abir Cohen Treyzon Salo, LLP, representing Plaintiffs in civil litigation matters involving civil rights and catastrophic injury. Prior to joining the firm, she was a defense attorney with significant experience in representing insurance carriers and their insureds in catastrophic injury and wrongful death, products liability, premises liability, and multi-party commercial and residential construction defect litigation. Ms. deGuzman is experienced in all facets of civil litigation, including discovery strategy, taking and defending depositions, pre-trial motion work, mediations, arbitrations, and trial. She has taken two cases to verdict as the first chair attorney in state court.
Ms. deGuzman graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2006 with a BA in Art History and a minor in English. She received her JD from University of San Diego School of Law and was presented with the Wiley M. Manuel Honors Society Award for her commitment to providing pro bono legal services. She was admitted to practice law in the State of California in June 2012 and is also admitted to practice in the Central and Eastern District Courts. She is a member of Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA).
In her spare time, Ms. deGuzman loves camping, attending concerts, and traveling.
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Who should the Twins be selling and for how much? (Part 2: Hitters)
With the league's second-worst record at 36-49 and an 11-game deficit in the AL Central at the All-Star break the Twins have made it clear that they should be sellers leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Determining which players they should be willing to sell and how much they should expect to get in return is a more complicated question, so yesterday I broke down the pros and cons of pitchers potentially being shopped and today I'll do the same for hitters.
Denard Span, 28-year-old center fielder
Why trade him? He's a 28-year-old center fielder with solid defense, good on-base skills, and a reasonable contract that has him under team control through 2015. Ideally that would make him a building block, but it also potentially makes him the Twins' most valuable trade piece and if the reports about the Nationals' interest in Span last year at this time are any indication he's one of the organization's few veteran assets who would bring back a hefty return.
If it takes the Twins another two seasons to build a legitimate contender Span would be 31 years old at that point, with just one season and $9.5 million remaining on his contract, so the idea of building around him is somewhat flawed. Toss in Ben Revere's presence as an obvious center field replacement and there's certainly a strong argument to be made for Span having more value as a means to further the rebuilding effort than as part of the rebuilding effort.
Why not trade him? Just because Span might be over 30, expensive, and close to free agency by the time the Twins put a consistent winner on the field doesn't mean they're forced to trade him now. It's possible his market will be even stronger this offseason or leading up to next year's trade deadline. And while Revere has played well there are still questions about him as an everyday center fielder and leadoff man. If they trade Span they need to get great value.
Josh Willingham, 33-year-old left fielder
Why trade him? It seems odd that teams would be willing to give up significant value to trade for Willingham now when they could have simply out-bid the Twins to sign him as reasonably priced free agent this offseason, but that appears to be the case. Willingham is 33 years old, has yet to spend any time on the disabled list after a career filled with minor injuries, and is hitting better than ever, so his perceived value may very well be at an all-time high.
His value to the Twins shouldn't be overlooked since his deal runs through 2014, but as much as I loved the signing at the time it would be a nifty trick to bring in a 33-year-old free agent without forfeiting a draft pick, pay him a modest salary for a great half-season, and then flip him for a quality prospect or two. It's not crazy to imagine the prospects and $14 million saved having more value to a rebuilding team than Willingham's age-34 and age-35 seasons.
Why not trade him? From a "players are also people" standpoint trading him six months into a three-year deal would probably ruffle some feathers and potentially cause future free agents to think twice about coming to Minnesota. And while Willingham is old, injury prone, and unlikely to maintain his current level of production he's been a damn good hitter for entire career, fits Target Field perfectly, and should maintain substantial trade value past July 31.
Justin Morneau, 31-year-old first baseman
Why trade him? Aside from a short disabled list stint due to soreness in his surgically repaired wrist Morneau has been mostly healthy and his lack of concussion-related issues is especially encouraging, but he's been a shell of his former. Dating back to the concussion on July 7, 2010 he's hit .236/.298/.386 with 15 homers in 134 games, although he's at least shown signs of life this season with some hot streaks and vintage production versus righties.
Morneau has hit .313/.389/.571 off righties, but his overall numbers are below average for a first baseman thanks to a putrid .124/.160/.202 mark and 27-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio off lefties. Contenders in need of left-handed thump may still be interested in gambling on a former MVP and with 2013 being the final season of his six-year, $80 million contract the Twins will likely have moved on from Morneau in 2014 whether he's traded or leaves as a free agent.
Why not trade him? Even if teams are willing to take on the $14 million Morneau is owed next season it's unlikely they'd be desperate enough to do that and give up a decent prospect for a 31-year-old first baseman hitting .246/.312/.440 after missing most of the past two seasons with serious injuries. Simply unloading his salary would have value, but if the Twins believe he's still capable of big-time pop then moving him at next year's deadline is more appealing.
Jamey Carroll, 38-year-old second baseman
Why trade him? Carroll's defensive versatility, solid glove, and excellent on-base skills have been as advertised at age 38, but unfortunately so has his lack of power and he's hitting just .234 after four straight seasons above .275. Some of that can be blamed on a .272 batting average on balls in play that's 50 points below his career norm and with a little better luck he's still a very passable stop-gap starter at second base, third base, or even shortstop.
There isn't really a strong need for that on a rebuilding team even if his continued presence won't be a bad thing, but contenders looking to plug an infield hole cheaply could give Carroll a look and he'd fit on plenty of teams as a utility man. Whether teams view him as a starter or a utility man obviously the Twins aren't going to get much for a 38-year-old hitting .234/.318/.278, but clearing his $3.75 million salary from next season's books would have some value.
Why not trade him? It'd be one thing to dump Carroll if his departure cleared room for a top middle prospect ready for an extended opportunity, but as usual the Twins are short on those. Brian Dozier's arrival in the majors already pushed Carroll from shortstop to second base two months ago, 2011 first-round pick Levi Michael is struggling at high Single-A, and the rest of the middle infield cupboard is bare. Dumping him just to dump him wouldn't accomplish much.
Danny Valencia, 27-year-old third baseman
Why trade him? Valencia earned his mid-May demotion to Triple-A by playing horribly on both sides of the ball and has since been equally terrible in Rochester, hitting .244/.281/.404 with a 34-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 55 games. That alone is more than enough to push him out of the Twins' plans and whatever slim chance he had of reclaiming the starting job at third base has vanished with each Trevor Plouffe homer.
He's not as awful as he looked this season, but as a 27-year-old career .263/.303/.391 hitter in the majors and .275/.310/.418 hitter at Triple-A there's little to suggest Valencia has any kind of offensive upside worth waiting for and he's never been much of a defender. It would be delusional to think the Twins could get more than a marginal prospect in return for Valencia, but if a team thinks he'd benefit from a change of scenery they should pull the trigger.
Why not trade him? If you set aside the back story and failure to meet inflated expectations to simply focus on Valencia's skill set he'd have some value as a part-time player. Valencia has flailed away against right-handers, but he's a career .325/.374/.485 hitter versus left-handers and won't top a minimum salary until at least 2015. That makes him useful enough as a cheap platoon player and backup third baseman/first baseman to keep around if there's zero market.
Alexi Casilla, 27-year-old second baseman
Why trade him? Much like Luis Rivas before him Casilla has gone from young and supposedly promising to 27 years old and simply not very good, all while the Twins waited and waited for an upside based more on faith than evidence. They've invested six seasons and more than 1,600 plate appearances into the notion that Casilla is capable of being a quality everyday second baseman, but he's a career .250/.306/.333 hitter who's shown zero signs of improving.
This year he went from Opening Day second baseman to little-used utility man despite being paid $1.4 million and it's tough to imagine the Twins retaining Casilla for a third and final year of arbitration at a similar price. It's possible, however, that another team still believes in his speed and athleticism, so if he's not playing now and he's not in the Twins' plans for 2013 and beyond trading Casilla for even a marginal prospect would beat non-tendering him this winter.
Why not trade him? It's also possible every other team has given up on Casilla being more than a decent backup too, in which case he won't fetch anything via trade and the question is whether he's worth keeping around for 2013. I'd say no, in part since iffy defensive shortstops make poor utility men and in part because enough is enough, but if the Twins still aren't ready for a clean breakup at least $1.5 million or so wouldn't put much of a dent in the payroll.
Comments (10) ∞ Permalink ∞ @AaronGleeman on Twitter ∞ "Gleeman and The Geek" Podcast
Danny Valencia
Valencia and Casilla likely have little independent trade value right now. They might be a piece to throw into a larger deal, but I can’t see any team targeting them specifically as guys to acquire.
I agree that Carroll would be a useful stopgap or utility for a contender. His cost is minimal. Twins could probably get a C+ prospect if they try hard enough. Not sure that’s worth deaing the stability he gives you as you break in younger guys.
They can’t trade Morneau right now, imo. Too many red flags combined with mediocre performance. They won;t find a team willing to take on that kind of salary for his current level of performance, so they’d have to eat nearly all of his remaining deal just to get a middling prospect in return. That’s the epitome of selling low, so why do it? They’re stuck right now and have to hope that he rebounds to 90% of his former self before they can reasonably expect to deal him. And at that point, they probably would not want to.
Agree re: Willingham. Legit, proven power well-suited to TF, at a reasonable cost. With no one set to replace him, they should not deal him unless they’re blown away with some stupidly good offer.
Much as I like him and his skill set, Span’s the guy to deal. Revere makes him redundant. He has a highly desirable mix of lead-off skills and defensive value. He’s young and cost controlled. This is the guy they can move to get a legit B+ pitching prospect or emerging MLB starter.
Comment by BR — July 12, 2012 @ 9:36 am
So what is a realistic haul from the Nationals for Span? I never liked the idea of Storen, so hopefully not him. What about Rendon? I’m sure Span alone wouldn’t get him but any way the Twins can spice it up by adding pieces (Capps? haha)? Or am I dreaming?
Comment by Drew — July 12, 2012 @ 10:10 am
if washington wants span so badly, ryan should demand strasburg, harper and lombardozzi in return. tell rizzo it’s payback for taking advantage of bill smith two years ago.
Comment by jfs — July 12, 2012 @ 11:52 am
I think the Twins should at least explore a Span trade. And not only do they have Revere, they also have Joe Benson (assuming he figures things out) and Aaron Hicks coming up in the minors. They’d more easily recover from his departure than they would by trading, say, Willingham or even Jamey Carroll. I love Span, but he’d bring in a prospect or two, and the Twins need them.
Willingham is perhaps as close to untouchable as I’d come, mostly for the fact that he’s just six months into his deal, but also because I believe the Twins aren’t THAT far from contending in the extremely weak AL Central and he’d be a key piece (people may argue with my view, but if the Twins can lure some starters and maintain their bullpen they’d be OK, and OK is good enough in the Central; just see the White Sox).
None of the others have all that much trade value. Get rid of Valencia if you can get something for him. The Twins are probably stuck with Morneau, and should wait, anyway, in the hopes that he can put things together in the second half or next year.
Comment by mazeville — July 12, 2012 @ 12:51 pm
Mazeville: If the Twins were 11 games out and in second place, I’d say they still have a shot, however mathematically improbable.
But 11 games back with all four teams ahead of them and the math starts looking truly horrible because they have to rely on everyone else’s results way too much. Still, stranger things have happened.
Comment by Davis — July 12, 2012 @ 1:10 pm
Davis: I don’t think mazeville meant to suggest that the Twins can contend this year. I read his comment as saying that they’re not that far from being OK in 2013 or 2014.
Comment by Crazy Tom in Rochester — July 12, 2012 @ 1:46 pm
Reading this post, it’s disappointing that even though the Twins are very bad, and should be sellers, they really don’t have anything to sell. I’d be surprised if they could get much more than a bag of ball for either Valencia (production, or lack of), Morneau (salary + recent injury history vs. production), or Casilla (see Valencia).
Seeing as they are stuck with them, hypothetically they could platoon Morneau and Valencia at first (when Mauer can catch). But that isn’t something Gardy would consider, based on his track record, and I’m sure that Morneau’s ego wouldn’t allow that. I’m guessing his presence in the clubhouse is still far to impactful to allow something like that. But man, he’s been awful against lefties. Even during his MVP season, any time he came up against a lefty, not matter the track record of the lefty, I had very little faith he’d come through.
Comment by Ben — July 12, 2012 @ 2:03 pm
Davis: tom is right. I did not mean to suggest that the Twins have a shot this year. God no. I just meant that i think they’re closer to contending than it seems. I may be wrong, but I think they have the offense to contend in the central in a year or two. Not this year.
Where’s the “how much” part?
Comment by twinstalker — July 13, 2012 @ 12:50 am
I’m not sure I like the idea of trading Span. It seems like we’d need him in order to be competitive in the next few years. Maybe they can overpay and get a FA SP or two next year. Then like magic we can be the about .500 winner of the Central and get pummeled in first round of the playoffs again. If we trade Span does that mean Doumit is the everyday RF?
Comment by Bo Darville — July 16, 2012 @ 9:36 am
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8 earthquake pandas arrive in Beijing
Panda reserve was damaged in May 12 quake
BEIJING The pandas will spend the next six months at the Beijing Zoo on a special Olympics visit that was planned long before the quake.
They have been closely watched because they seemed nervous after the earthquake, sometimes eating and sleeping less. But the pandas appeared lively after they were moved into their exhibit space at the Beijing Zoo on Saturday evening, even putting their paws on the glass separating them from the media and the public.
"I'm not sure about the mental state of the pandas right now," Ye Mingxia of the Beijing Zoo told The Associated Press earlier this week. "We will have to carefully observe them after they arrive."
But Wang Pengyan, deputy head of the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve, assured the state-run Xinhua News Agency that the pandas were fine. "The pandas have recovered from any nervousness about the quake and are all in good condition," he said Saturday.
The eight, 2-year-old pandas were flown Saturday afternoon by special plane to Beijing from Chengdu, the capital of hard-hit central Sichuan province.
Their home at the world-famous Wolong reserve was badly damaged in the May 12 quake, which was centered just 20 miles away in a damp region of narrow, winding mountain roads.
By Saturday, the quake had killed more than 60,000 people - including five staff members at the panda reserve.
Conditions remained so bad at the reserve this week that the Chinese government arranged an emergency shipment of about 5 tons of bamboo for the nearly 60 hungry pandas at Wolong. Two pandas have been missing since the quake.
The panda is a powerful symbol of China, and the country engages in what's called "panda politics" by lending out the rare animal as a gesture of goodwill. Among the pandas found safe at Wolong after the quake were Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, two pandas that have been offered to Taiwan.
About 1,590 pandas are living in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and the western province of Shaanxi. An additional 180 have been bred in captivity.
The Wolong reserve is part of efforts to breed giant pandas in hopes of increasing the species' chances of survival.
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BREAKING NEWS14.9 tons of pot, 37 firearms seized in Perris by Riverside County deputies
ABC7 On Your Side: Property taxes
Debbie Logan and her family bought a home with more than 3,000 square feet in the Inland Empire three years ago for a little more than $600,000. It was on an acre of land and zoned for horses, so they felt they paid a pretty good price.
Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story.
"That was a very good price at that time. We walked into a 'Phase-1 fallout,' so the other houses were going [for] over $700,000 in the neighborhood," said Debbie Logan.
But as we all know, the housing market took a nasty turn. Foreclosures popped up while home prices dropped. Now the Logan home is worth considerably less.
"I would say right now, it would be worth maybe $350,000-$400,000," said Logan.
That's a price drop of more than $200,000. When a home falls in value, then according to Proposition 8, homeowners are entitled to have their property taxes lowered. The county assessor may do that for you but it could take months.
So Debbie Logan went ahead and filed for a re-assessment of her property with the county on her own. And what a difference that made.
"I expect my taxes to go down about $350 a month," said Logan. For the Logan family, that's a savings of more than $4,000 a year.
Assistant Riverside County Assessor Frit Swain says the Logans aren't the only ones saving money by taking advantage of a California law that allows property taxes to be reduced when market values dip.
"Our office has looked at 270,000 properties over the past two months for reduction, just proactively on our own. Out of that, we've reduced over 200,000 of those," said Swain.
There are several companies who solicit homeowners to file the re-assessment for them. But Frit Swain warns they will charge hundreds of dollars for something you can do for free.
And one more thing: When you lower your taxes, the county assessor can raise them back up later when your property value goes back up. And they can raise them all the way back to what you were paying originally, all at once.
"It says in Proposition 13, you can only raise taxes by 2 percent. But then if you look at Proposition 8, which is the 'decline' legislation, it specifies that as of January 1st, any property that has been declined can come back all the way up to wherever the market is," said Swain.
"Lower property taxes for a few years to save money now when things are tight, that's OK with us," said Debbie Logan.
It's getting tougher to make ends meet these days, and ABC7 On Your Side is a campaign to help you save money. Watch Eyewitness News for money-saving tips and freebies to help stretch your dollar.
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Freight train derails in Union Township; NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line impacted
UNION TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- A freight train derailed in Union, New Jersey, forcing NJ Transit to suspend Raritan Valley Line service between Newark Penn Station and Cranford ahead of the evening rush hour on Friday.
Some members of the Federal Railroad Association and Conrail remained on the scene Friday night, assisting with the cleanup and repair efforts.
It's not clear at this point just how fast this train was going or what exactly caused this massive derailment, but the damage left behind stretches for more than a mile.
It was a jolting and unnerving collision that sparked a chain reaction of 911 calls just before 2 p.m. Friday.
"It's scary, it's so close to home, we have a lot of babies and little kids in this complex," said Lindsey Villani, a Union resident.
When first responders and engineers arrived just short of the Union Train Station, they discovered the 8,600-foot-long CSX freight train upended and dangling off the tracks with multiple tankers and cars toppled on top of each other.
Lindsey Villani and her young daughter were among those living nearby initially forced to evacuate.
"I was working from home, I didn't know what to do, what to bring, how long I would be out for, but it was only four hours," Lindsey said.
"It took us a while to get home because there was a road block over there, the police were stopping us, we managed to convince a police officer to let us come home grab a couple things and go," said Joe Villani, a Union resident.
Union County officials say, fortunately, the 141 cars aboard the train were empty and only 21 derailed. Nothing hazardous was on board.
A conductor and engineer were the only two aboard when the incident occurred and both walked away unharmed.
"There's severe damage to the tracks, there is multiple piles of cars in different locations up and down the span of the tracks," said Mike Scanio, Union County Fire Chief.
As cleanup and repair efforts persisted along the tracks Friday evening, the patience of passengers aboard New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line was put to the test.
Substitute bus service between Newark Penn Station and the Cranford Station was provided to offset the suspensions, but the sudden inconvenience wasn't warmly received.
"We're just lucky that it was empty, not a passenger a car, they share tracks so we got passenger cars, we got freight cars coming back and forth," a passenger said.
The freight train had been heading to Selkirk, New York.
* More New Jersey news
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Blair L. Sadler
Past President of the Rady’s Children’s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego after serving as President and CEO from 1980-2006. Received his B.A. from Amherst College where he played both squash and tennis, and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a faculty member at the UCSD Schools of Medicine and Management and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. He is currently on the board of directors of the Hastings Center for Bioethics and Public Policy and has previously served as a medical-legal specialist for the National Institute of Health, as Assistant Vice President at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as Vice President and Director of the hospitals and clinics at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, and on the US-Mexico Border Health Commission.
Jack McGrory
Mr. McGrory Is CEO of La Jolla MJ Management, LLC, a real estate investment company. He began his second career as President and Chief Executive Officer of Price Entities in 1997. He served as City Manager of the City of San Diego from 1991-1997 and worked for the City of San Diego for twenty-three years. Jack was also Chief Operating Officer of the San Diego Padres and remains a Director of the ball club. Jack also holds leadership positions on numerous foundations and boards of directors throughout San Diego. Jack is currently a Lecturer for the School of Public Affairs, College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at San Diego State University and also served as a Lecturer in the Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of California, San Diego. He received his BA from Colgate University, his Master’s in Public Administration from San Diego State University and his Law Degree from the University of San Diego. Mr. McGrory was a Marine Corps Lieutenant from 1970 – 1974, and served as a Rifle Platoon Commander. He has five children.
Mary Walshok Ph.d.
Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Programs and Dean of Extension at the University of California San Diego, the author of more than 100 articles and reports on the innovation economy and aligning workforce development with regional economic growth. She has authored and co-authored Blue Collar Women (1981), Knowledge Without Boundaries (1995), Closing America’s Job Gap (2011), Creating Competitiveness: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policies for Growth (2013) and Invention and Reinvention: The Evolution of San Diego’s Innovation Economy (2013), Public Universities and Regional Growth: Insights from the University of California (2014) and the Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness (2015). Her particular focus is how globalization and rapid changes in technology are affecting the social dynamics and economic challenges of regions across America.
A co-founder in 1984 of the internationally recognized CONNECT program, Walshok has been an integral player in the evolution of San Diego’s innovation economy for more than 30 years.
Greg Scherman
Greg Scherman co-founded Access Youth Academy with Chris Walker in 2006 with the goal of giving back to the San Diego community at large by helping under served youth. He is the President of The Scherman Energy Group, consultants to the oil and gas industry and has been active in real estate and other business ventures since graduating from UCSD with a BA in Management Science. He is a competitive athlete - formerly a bike racer and now a top amateur squash player, having competed in the Maccabiah Games in 2009. He is a level 1 certified squash coach and his daughter is currently competing on the Cornell women's squash team. Greg is excited to be actively engaged in Access Youth Academy.
Kim Kamdar
Partner at Domain Associates, a Healthcare focused Venture Capital Firm. With a background in small molecule drug discovery, Dr. Kamdar has been involved in cutting edge therapeutic start-ups and has been a major part of identifying companies with promising molecular and companion diagnostics to support personalized medicine.
Present board memberships include Ariosa Diagnostics, Epic Sciences, Lithera, Obalon Therapeutics, ROX Medical, Sera Prognostics, Syndax Pharmaceuticals, and Tragara Pharmaceuticals, as well as observer status at Achaogen and aTyr Pharma. Dr. Kamdar was involved with Corthera until the Company was sold to Novartis in February 2010 and BiPar Sciences until the company was sold to sanofi-aventis in April 2009.
Prior to Domain, Kim was a Kauffman Fellow with MPM Capital. Prior to joining MPM, she was a research director at Novartis, where she built and led a research team that focused on the biology, genetics and genomics of model organisms to uncover small molecules that modulated signaling pathway networks. Kim is a founder of Aryzun Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company utilizing protein-protein interaction mapping for small molecule discovery with an initial focus on anti-infectives and oncology. Kim is the author of ten papers as well as the inventor on seven patents. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics from Emory University.
Kim serves as an advisory board member of Eric Topol’s NIH supported Clinical and Translational Science Award for Scripps Medicine and of Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund, a private equity fund providing growth capital to Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She is also a board member of San Diego's CONNECT Foundation and the Hastings Center.
Robert Merritt
Robert has had an extraordinarily varied career as a pilot in the Navy, extensive government service including a military liaison to Congress, as well as in the private sector. He is an experienced strategic and operational manager of people and projects. Robert has also been Chief Operations officer at a "Federal Express" type airline in Europe, a multi-data center operations director for a major Software company and even direct retail sales experience for a large Mercedes-Benz dealership. Robert has also benefitted from multi-cultural experiences in more than 30 countries having resided for periods of 2 years or more in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
Robert has been volunteering as a teacher to Access students for a number of years on the topic of financial literacy, which has been a key success factor for our kids as they transition to their new lives at college. Robert lives in San Diego with his wife Cairyann, and while now retired, can still can be seen gracing local squash courts and racing cars at tracks across America.
Kevin Munkholm
Kevin is a Principal in Barney & Barney’s Employee Benefits Division where he serves as the Technology and Life Sciences Practice Group Leader. Kevin joined Barney & Barney in 2002, and became a Principal in 2009.
In addition to being a partner in Barney & Barney’s Benefits practice, Kevin has always been an active member of the tennis community. He was a member of his university’s varsity tennis team and participates in USTA league play throughout the year. Kevin is a member of BIOCOM’s Human Resources Committee and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from the University Colorado, at Boulder. He is married and has two children.
Henry Manice
Product developer in San Diego at Alphatec Spine, an international medical device company that designs, manufactures, and markets products for spine surgery. Henry grew up in Boston and graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2009 where he majored in Human and Organizational Development with a focus on International Leadership and Development. While in college, he co-founded a clothing company in Uganda, Enjuba.com, and developed Enjuba’s social entrepreneurship class in a Ugandan secondary school. He started playing squash in high school at Phillips Academy Andover and helped grow Vanderbilt’s squash program as co-captain and president from an informal group of players into a nationally ranked team that travels the country to play more than fifteen matches a year. He currently volunteers as a business plan reviewer, judge, and fundraiser for The William James Foundation, a Washington D.C. based organization that supports entrepreneurs starting for-profit companies that have social and environmental goals.
Zachary Smith
Zack Smith is the Senior Director of Development at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego. He has more than a decade of nonprofit and fundraising experience in higher education and healthcare. Zack is a former Division 1 wrestler and currently trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Zack earned his BS in Criminology and Criminal Justice along with his Minor in Civic Leadership at Portland State University. He is currently earning his MBA from the Rady School of Management. Zack and his wife Kaylee live in Escondido, California with their two dogs.
Dr. Hugh M. Davies
Hugh M. Davies is recognized internationally as a scholar in the field of contemporary and modern art. Davies served from 1983 to 2016 as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and was named Director Emeritus by the museum’s trustees in 2016. While directing artistic and administrative activities of MCASD, Davies curated or co-curated numerous exhibitions including: Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface (2011-2012), Robert Irwin: Primaries and Secondaries (2007), Francis Bacon: The Papal Portraits of 1953 (1999), and William Kentridge: Weighing…and Wanting (1998). Davies was one of six co-curators who organized the Biennial 2000 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and in 1976 he served as Director of the U.S. Exhibition at the 37th Venice Biennale. From 1975 to 1983 he was the founding director of the University Museum of Contemporary Art (formerly the University Gallery) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and from 1984 through 2016, he was a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, a Trustee from 1994-2001, and President from 1997-1998.
Davies is currently a member of the Francis Bacon Authentication Committee, which published the artist’s Catalogue Raisonne in 2016. His doctoral dissertation on Francis Bacon was later expanded and published by Garland Press, and he has subsequently published extensively on Bacon’s work. Davies received his A.B., summa cum laude, (1970), M.F.A. (1972), and Ph.D. (1976) from the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University.
Mr. Douglas Wilson brings nearly 35 years of experience in problem resolution, development, and real estate management to his Companies’ clients. During his career, Mr. Wilson has overseen the development and management of nearly $15 billion in assets and has served as a Court-Appointed Fiduciary for over 1,200 State and Federal Court matters, located in 35 states. Prior to founding Douglas Wilson Companies in 1989, he was the managing general partner of the company that developed Symphony Towers, a $160 million, 1.2 million square foot office and hotel complex; one of downtown San Diego’s largest mixed-use projects of its kind. Mr. Wilson’s professional organization memberships include the California Receivers Forum and the San Diego Bankruptcy Forum of which he served as president, the California Bankruptcy Forum (CBF), National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (NAFER), Urban Development/Mixed-Use Council (Blue Council) of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) , Special Assets Management Association (SAMA), the Lambda Alpha land economics society and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Active in community and civic organizations, Mr. Wilson is a member of the Rotary Club of San Diego, co-chairman of the University Club Atop Symphony Towers, past vice chair of the Downtown San Diego Partnership and past member of the boards of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Museum of Photographic Arts and San Diego County Metropolitan YMCA. Mr. Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver. Mr. Wilson has authored articles for general news and business publications and is often a featured speaker at various business and civic meetings and seminars.
Djulia
Hi, my name is Djulia I’m currently attending The Preuss School UCSD. I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I came to the United States with my family in May of 2007. I have been in Access Youth Academy for 5 years now. At school I’m involved in many activities such being a president in a club called FANCY, Chelsea’s Light Peer Counseling, Associated Student Body, and senior class president. During my free time I enjoy dancing, reading and running. I aspire to attend Howard University to major in Political Science and minor in French and Humanitarianism. After undergrad, I want to go to Law school, also at Howard University.
Joshua Swigart
Joshua Swigart was born in Orange County, California. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Riverside where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business with a double emphasis in Accounting and Finance. Joshua attended California Western School of Law on an academic scholarship and graduated Cum Laude.
Joshua is a licensed attorney admitted to the State Bars of California, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Currently Joshua is a named partner in the firm of Hyde & Swigart, APC. The firm He focuses on raising awareness of consumer rights and advocating for people taken advantage of by banks, debt collectors, and other corporations. Joshua is a founding partner of Hyde & Swigart, a law firm that has been helping people throughout the country for over 15 years and has recovered over $250 million for consumers.
Joshua is committed to giving back to the community. He has been instrumental in supporting numerous non-profit organizations including the New Media Rights Center at California Western School of Law, Public Justice many other social projects. In 2017 Joshua was named Alumnus of the year by California Western School of Law for his contributions furthering its academic goals. Each year Joshua, personally, provides hundreds of hours of pro bono legal work to individuals who cannot afford and/or find legal counsel.
On a more important note, Joshua enjoys spending time with his family which includes his wife, young daughter and son. In his free time Joshua enjoys flying airplanes, sailing and practicing martial arts.
Susan Taylor
Susan Taylor represents Scripps Health to the community, patient groups and leaders throughout the region. Susan joined Scripps in 2011 after more than 15 years as an award-winning San Diego news anchor for NBC. As executive director of external affairs, Susan plays a critical role in raising awareness and understanding of Scripps’ programs, facilities and services. She also helps educate a broad range of audiences about the significant changes under way in health care locally and nationally.
A 2011 recipient of the San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award, Susan is a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Foundation’s internet campaign against cyberbullying. She is also active in LEAD San Diego, serving on the board of directors.
Emily has worked in Business Development in San Diego’s Biotechnology community for 8 years, primarily as a Clinical Field Specialist and Sales Trainer focused on prenatal genetics for Natera (San Carlos, CA). She recently accepted a new position in Sales and Business Development with Cord Blood Registry (San Bruno, CA). Emily’s love for racquet sports began when she was an avid tennis player growing up on the east coast. At the age of 15 Emily went on to earn a spot on Deerfield Girls’ Varsity Squash Team. This experience, combined with her passion and discipline for the sport, propelled her onto success with the Varsity Squash Team at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Emily is a resident of La Jolla and the proud mother of Jack and Emma, both of whom have inherited her love for racquet sports. She passionately believes in the transformative power of giving children academic and athletic tools for lifelong success.
Michael Parziale
Michael Parziale is a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley. He is a co-founder and partner with The Pangaea Group at Morgan Stanley in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. For almost 30 years Mike has led his experienced team in providing a highly tailored brand of professional advice and counsel to the high net worth individuals, families and businesses they serve. Through bull and bear markets, they have remained focused on one goal – to help their clients live their best life. Michael works closely with Morgan Stanley’s Philanthropy Management team to help support clients, families, corporate and private foundations and non-profit organizations by offering a suite of services to help define and realize clients’ charitable goals.
Mike earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Finance from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and a CFM from the College of Financial Planning. He resides in Rancho Santa Fe with his wife and spends his free time golfing and traveling. He holds a Series 7, 8, 31, 63 and 65 securities registrations as well as the State of California Insurance license #0E20913.
Renato Paiva
Renato came to San Diego to join Access Youth Academy in May of 2007 after previously serving as Assistant Coach at Harvard University and USC. Originally from Brazil, Paiva competed as Brazilian Junior Champion and a top junior in South America. He represented his home country on the national team as its captain, and graduated from Ruy Barbosa University with a business degree.
In 2010, Paiva was named Development Coach of the Year by U.S. Squash, and was honored as 2011 Coach of the Year by the U.S. Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports in Washington, DC. He has overseen the development of squash on the West Coast, serving as California Junior Squash Team Coach, winning five consecutive urban squash team titles and leading the only urban squash squad to compete in the prestigious U.S. High School Squash Nationals at Yale University, obtaining the #11th ranking in the nation (Access Youth Academy in 2011 and 2012).
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Edward G. Stafford
U.S. withdrawal from Iran deal to heighten tension with Turkey
U.S. President Donald Trump’s May 8 announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) aka, the Iran nuclear agreement will almost certainly increase tension between the United States and Turkey. Both sides should take steps to ensure smooth management of the re-imposition of sanctions so it does not lead to a complete disruption of relations between the two NATO allies.
Trump said tough economic sanctions on Iran would be forthcoming, presumably in an effort to compel the Iranian government to forge a new agreement that would address issues of Tehran’s sponsorship of terrorism and ballistic missile development. Trump has declared many times that the exclusion of these issues from the JCPOA made it a bad deal contrary to U.S. national security interests.
“In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States,” Trump said.
This last line is the key phrase for a discussion of the impact of Trump’s decision on U.S.-Turkish relations, which will likely exacerbate rather than ameliorate the current tense relations tension between the two NATO allies.
Relevant Background: In January this year, Mehmet Hakan Attila was found guilty of conspiracy and fraud related to a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The former deputy general manager of Halkbank was convicted largely on the testimony of Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab.
This case, which originated before the JCPOA came into force, illustrates the long arm of U.S. prosecutors in their efforts to enforce U.S. sanctions law. (It is noteworthy that Attila and Zarrab were arrested during visits to the United States, not extradited from another nation.) While Attila’s case must not be seen as predictive of what will transpire once U.S. institutes “the highest level of economic sanctions”, it makes clear that those who violate U.S. sanctions against Iran put themselves in legal peril. It will also require those wishing to use the U.S. financial system or to do business in U.S. goods and services to ensure scrupulous compliance with U.S. sanction regimes. Given the need for most businesses with international activity to access the U.S. financial system, scrupulous compliance may have a chilling effect on trade with and investment in Iran even if the direct impact on Iran is not as severe as many assume.
The executive order Trump signed directs the secretaries of state and the Treasury to re-impose the lifted sanctions expeditiously and in all cases within 180 days. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has said the sanctions are coming into place immediately but with “wind-down” periods of 90 to 180 days. The sanctions in place lifted by the July 2015 signing of the JCPOA were quite extensive and only included waivers and exceptions as part of the strategy to keep allies and friendly nations that engaged in vital trade with Iran, especially for oil and natural gas, supportive of U.S. efforts to bring Iran into a nuclear agreement. Turkey and Japan were prominent among those countries.
The Trump administration may not be as willing as the Obama administration to grant exceptions and waivers. Instead, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor Bolton may advise Trump that allies and friendly nations must be forced to choose between trade with the United States or with Iran in the hope of thoroughly stifling the Iranian economy to bring about popular pressure on the Iranian government to re-negotiate a nuclear agreement.
Given the stated continued support for the JCPOA by the E3 (France, Germany and Britain) and Russia and China, little enthusiasm for adhering to forthcoming U.S. sanctions against Iran can be expected from nations that have extensive trading relations with Iran or rely on Iran for essential commodities such as oil and natural gas.
Unfortunately for Turkey, predicting what Trump will do is very difficult. That unpredictability, coupled with Trump’s tendency to lash out at those he sees as unsupportive or disagreeable, calls for Turkish leaders to respond to the re-imposition of sanctions in carefully measured tones and behind the scenes discussions.
It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Trump’s decision will not heighten tension between the United States and Turkey.
Turkey imports natural gas and petroleum from Iran and cannot quickly shift to other sources, though one supposes Russia would be willing to sell Turkey gas and petroleum if Turkey decided it was in its best interests to comply with U.S. sanctions. But, there are other trade links between Iran and Turkey, and a broad interpretation of “helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons” could lead to classifying any commercial transaction between Turkey and Iran as a violation of the extensive U.S. economic sanctions being re-imposed.
Turkey might hope for waivers and exceptions, but Trump has shown that he expects loyalty and support from allies, though at times, he has acknowledged that national leaders must look out for their respective national interests as he does for U.S. interests, as he did when Macron visited.
This raises the possibility that if Turkey can convince Trump that it will support his efforts as best it can, but needs a little wiggle room so its economy is not harmed, waivers or concessions might be arranged. That said, hoping that the unpredictable Trump will moderate sanctions out of goodwill for a particular leader cannot serve as the sole strategy for Turkey. It must explore concerted action with the E3 and others to avoid the damage of sanctions without engendering ill will from Trump – no easy task – while avoiding the appearance of favouring Russia or China in the argument over sanctions.
Many advisors to Trump and members of Congress remain deeply suspicious of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s cosy relations with Putin; any hint that the two were making common cause against Trump’s strategy for dealing with Iran would not be welcome either at the White House or on Capitol Hill.
The trickiest element of handling the impact of the sanctions is that Erdoğan, joined by many Turks, will consider the enforcement of U.S. sanctions as an affront to Turkish sovereign dignity, an attempt by the U.S. to impose its laws and regulations on Turkey’s conduct of trade policy and foreign relations, and will note the Attila case as evidence of this – an assessment shared by many other nations and their national leaders.
Can the almost inevitable increased tension be smoothed over? Only if both countries decide not to use the soon-to-arise disagreements over sanctions for public posturing or campaign rhetoric.
The United States and Turkey should hold discussions about the implementation of sanctions away from the cameras. Given the election season in Turkey, this might be difficult – whipping up opposition to foreign rules and regulations plays well with the Turkish electorate.
On the U.S. side, provocative statements about friends and allies having to choose between the United States and Iran must be put aside so that reasonable accommodation of Turkish trade and political relations with Iran can be made in the common interest of both nations in preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
If the United States chooses to portray Turkey as working against U.S. interests instead of being as supportive as possible, or if Turkey’s leaders portray U.S. actions as unfriendly neo-colonialism to garner electoral support, the already strained relation might buckle with dire consequences for both NATO allies.
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Home Reviews Album Reviews Drive-By Truckers: American Band
Drive-By Truckers: American Band
Written By Sam Sodomsky // September 26, 2016
Conventional wisdom says don’t judge a book by its cover, but the stark image that accompanies the furious protest songs of American Band, Drive-By Truckers’ 11th studio album, makes it difficult not to. Unlike their previous records, which all showcased the artwork of illustrator Wes Freed, American Band features a simple photograph of the American flag, unfurled against the crucifix of a sailboat’s mast, beneath an overcast gray sky. Combine that with the plain-as-day album title and the straight-from-the-headlines proper nouns sprinkled throughout the lyric sheet, and you’re faced with a band with a newfound panache for realism. Near the end of the album, the Truckers even address recent instances of police brutality, with Patterson Hood seething into the mic, “If you say it wasn’t racial when they shot him in his tracks/ Well I guess that means that you ain’t black/ It means that you ain’t black.” The title of the song? “What It Means.”
This is all to say that, yes, this is a different kind of Drive-By Truckers: a band that’s more pissed-off than ever and desperate not to be misunderstood. But that doesn’t exactly mean it’s a reinvention. The album’s first single, “Surrender Under Protest,” is a classic Truckers anthem, with plinking piano and a cathartic shout-along chorus, even if it finds Mike Cooley’s voice more weathered than usual. The ruggedness suits him on “Ramon Casiano,” a song that kicks the album off with a Tonight’s The Night-style raucousness and bereaved specificity.
Taken as a whole, American Band is the group’s most thematically coherent work since their pinnacle of Jason Isbell-assisted records in the early 2000s. As on similarly nonfictional recent works like Sun Kil Moon’s Benji and Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell, the mood is almost oppressively dark. “I’m only happy when the sun don’t shine,” Hood sings at one point, ironically in the closest thing the album has to a moment of levity. But even if American Band is not an easy listen, it’s a crucial one: the sound of a band reawakened, seeing things clearly, and horrified by the sight.
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Category Archives: eBooks
Are Career Authors a Threatened Species?
Let’s be realistic. Things aren’t as easy as they once were for full-time novelists. Revenues are declining, but at the same time, there’s never been more people reading than ever before. How do we resolve this? Or maybe we don’t? The market is changing. It’s usually foolish to fight it: that’s seldom a long-term solution.
And really, that’s what I’m trying to work through. There’s no point as a new author, moaning about the “state of the industry”. This is pointless. It is what it is.
Does that mean making a living is solely out of book sales is dead in the water? No, there will always be success stories. There will always be people like Andy Weir (author of the excellent book The Martian) making a big dent out of nowhere, and the people with already long-established careers will continue to perform well. So they and others will do well, but I think that maybe when it comes to making a career solely out of novels, proportionally fewer will than we have seen in the past.
For most authors – or those who want to make a living out of writing books – I think it’s sensible to take an honest and open look at your skillset. It’s rewarding too.
Being a good writer is a really valuable talent as the knowledge economy grows to dominate everything in the coming years. Many writers will continue to adopt new skills and become journalists, copywriters, etc. and grow their business that way. In short, it’s much more likely that you can make a career out of writing, than making a living just as a writer of novels. Your novels will be a piece of the puzzle: maybe a little piece, maybe a lot. That will be down to luck, perspiration and determination.
Posted in Copywriting, eBooks, writing | Leave a reply
Are eBooks A Rip Off?
Posted on January 26, 2018 by AJ
There’s been a number of reports over the last two-and-a-half years talking about the slight reduction in ebook sales, and the increase in traditional dead-tree copies. In fact, the paperback market is booming right now, in part due to the increase in the mainstream publishing industry’s dramatically improved production and distribution channels. As I’ve noted before, in the last few years, the likes of Penguin Random House and HarperCollins have invested in these processes by an order of magnitude and are understandably reaping the rewards.
I wrote quite a while ago about how more and more of my own ebook sales were outstripping paper-based sales. This is certainly a movement that’s changed in the last year, with the books I’ve written published by these mainstream titans allowing for more sales and better margins. I wrote that the establishment will do things to slow the move towards ebooks, and maintain their hold on this market. I’ve also written about some of the other reasons why the ebook revolution hasn’t moved as quickly as many had hoped. I think those things are true, but what I didn’t anticipate, was the size and scope of the entrenchment, which has encouraged a return of the traditional paperback for readers in such volume.
Sure, many readers just decided on average, that they prefer paperbacks rather than ebooks. But many – maybe most – really don’t feel this way. However, when there’s comparative price differences between paper or electronic versions of books they want, they might be inclined to by paper. Especially if ebooks prices are over-inflated.
I think this over-inflation continues in part. But also in opposition to that, the way things work at the moment does mean that many authors are not being paid the right amount for their work much of the time.
Let me try to explain with an example, based on 2017 – now I guess 2018 – prices: Imagine there’s a new book out, both in paper form and ebook. We’ll dispense with the hardcover market now so as not to over-confuse things (though this would also work with that market).
Here’s the very basic breakdowns on the paperback version, on sale in the UK for, say £8.99 (which I’ve rounded-up to £9.00 for ease):
£9 Paperback Breakdown
As you can see, We’ve got about 40% of the total RRP (Recommended Retail Price) reserved as markup for the retailer. That’s £4.00. Very typical. Many retailers will charge the full amount (after all, they’re taken the risk in buying a lot of stock, etc., and often the deal means they can’t sell all of it back if it doesn’t sell). But many larger chains and online retailers (hello Amazon) can cut into that markup and sell it for less. So a £9.00 book with a high street retailer making £4.00 is sold on Amazon for, say, £6.00 with Amazon making just £1.00, but happy to do so because they sell so many.
The cost of manufacture and distribution for the Penguin Random House/Simon & Schuster’s of this world has never been proportionally lower. They’ve made big investments and it’s paying off. That’s why the cost of physically making each book (allowing for scale) and distribution is just £1.00.
That leaves £4.00 for the publisher. The author will get a bit of that, as will the typesetter, cover designer, etc. That’s essentially the “intellectual cost” of the book. Remember that £4.00, it’ll be important later in this article.
Now let’s look at that same book going on – for example – Amazon on the Kindle platform. It’s the same book, but in eBook form. And you can get it for £4.99 (again I’m saying £5.00 for simplicity’s sake):
Typical £5 eBook Breakdown
As you can see, the breakdowns are different. But that’s fine, they should be for the most part. The retailer is handling most of the actual “distribution”. But that’s a tiny cost (don’t let the technical illiterates in the publishing business tell you otherwise), so I’ve been very generous with the 20p cost there. Though I haven’t written it this way, there’s an argument that the 20p cost is mostly for the retailer rather than the publisher, which is fine.
Speaking of the retailer, they don’t have a big risk any more. If the book sells one copy or a million, they just need an electronic copy on a server (or probably several to be safe) and can distribute that as needed. There’s no advantage to economy of scale, but no disadvantage to low sales either. The book-selling business in the ebook world is a low-risk game. So their markup is significantly lower to reflect that. I think that’s fair.
Where there’s a slight problem, is the revenue for the publisher in this model. Just £3.30. Now, there’s lower costs here which is fair. The retailer doesn’t have to make as big a risk on producing thousands of physical copies of a book that might not sell. And they don’t have to pay lots of money for a typesetter either. But they still spend time and money investing in the author. They’re still the big promoters and backers of talent. In the future, I hope that they stay as a significant force in this area. They’re brilliant at it, and I speak from experience. And they still have to pay for someone to design and produce the actual ebook file. Where a typesetter will work full-time for two weeks to finish a typical book (burning the candle at both ends), a finished and edited manuscript can be made into a perfect and standards-compliant ebook format in a couple of days easily. Hell, even I could do it to a decent standard in one afternoon with some of the software out there.
And of course, the author needs to get paid. Sadly, in the current system, the author is the tiny bit of that £4.00 that gets squeezed the most when it goes down to £3.30.
A publisher doesn’t need to make £4.00 from an ebook. But under the current way of doing things, an author often gets financially penalised when someone buys an ebook over a print edition because of the overall lower revenue per-sale that goes back to the publisher.
The quickest, and – based on where the industry is now – the most practical current solution would be to charge a little bit more for ebooks. The sales are what they are, and may not be affected too much (but I understand how the economic theory of ‘dynamic scoring’ could lay waste to this idea, which I readily admit), but this example breakdown could work better in the short-term. Imagine if instead the ebook sold for just a tiny bit more; £5.70:
Example of a Typical £5.70 eBook Breakdown
Now things are a tiny bit different. The manufacture/distribution cost is unchanged. Because the overall price is higher, the percentage markup for the retailer is a bit higher. But the publisher (and therefore the author and everyone else) is left with almost the same as they would have with the £9.00 paperback book.
£3.80 is less than £4.00, yes. But not by much. And that 20p drop is just to account for now having to pay a typesetter as much, and an ebook designer for two days over that two-week typesetting job, and of course not having the risky investment of mass-producing a physical book, which is the big cost. This price would, arguably, disproportionally reward the publisher themselves, but at least it means the author would get what’s owed to her in full.
The best example that I can come up with to highlight the problem right now: Imagine you hire an accountant to do an audit of your finances. They spend a couple of days going over your accounts. Your income, expenditure, savings and investments, Then they publish an almost scholarly-assessment, where they write up with graphs and detailed references, what extra savings they think you should be making, what investments you should consider, and what expenditure you could do without.
Imagine then that they printed that 10-page report out, and put it in an envelope, bunged a stamp on it and mailed it to you with an invoice for the work they’ve done: let’s say it was £300.
Question: If they emailed the report and invoice to you instead, would you expect them to have only charged £230?
Sure, maybe taking the cost of the stamp, the envelope, the ten pages and the ink together, they could have only charged £299 for the emailed copy. But anything less than that, and they’re basically being paid less for the same. Is that fair?
Anyway, that’s my view, and I’m sure even I probably disagree with the oversimplification in this article. Besides, I love, dear reader, you regardless of which format you buy my books – and they’re available in both ebook and paperback form right here!
Posted in book, eBooks, Economics, Kindle, writing | Leave a reply
Coming Soon: Succession of Power
Posted on September 12, 2016 by AJ
Just wanted to give you the heads-up about a brand new book that I’ve written that’ll make its way to a book store (online and brick-based) near you soon.
Succession of Power.
You will be able to buy it for Amazon Kindle, on the iBooks Store and for the Nook, as well as the good ol’ dead tree version. All at pretty competitive prices. I’ll post up more information on that as soon as it’s available.
If you like your thrillers to pack a real punch, then I definitely think you’re going to enjoy Succession of Power.
It’s a political action thriller set in Washington D.C. on the day of the president’s State of the Union speech.
A bomb detonates inside Capitol Hill during the president‘s State of the Union speech, bringing America to its knees.
Left behind to lead the country under the presidential ‘Succession of Power’ laws is an inexperienced junior cabinet member, aided by the only Secret Service agent who foresaw the horrific act.
Together, they must calm a shaken nation and bring the terrorists to justice before they strike again, while fighting even more sinister forces at the very heart of government.
It’s been a heck of a ride putting this book together, and I really can’t wait for you to read it.
I started writing it during the last week of February this year, and finished it in the last week of August, so it’s been a six-month project, though being swamped at work has stopped me being able to finish it quite a bit sooner.
I had the idea in September last year. I’ve always wondered what it must feel like to be the one member of the president’s cabinet who has to stay behind when the president goes to Capitol Hill to deliver the SOTU. They need someone stay behind in case something terrible happens on the Hill, so that someone in the presidential succession line can take over right away (hence the title).
I really wanted to write a page-turner. It’ll be for you to judge if I’ve succeeded. But one thing that did happen, is the last 45% of the story was written in about the last month. It just came out of me, at 100 miles-an-hour. I was writing it fast, and I hope you read it just as fast. It’s a fun, exciting, pacy high-concept story that hopefully fits in well with the expectations of the genre.
I’ve got a lot of cool stuff in the pipeline, but you’ll excuse me for taking a week or so off before I get back on it again!
I hope this ends up being as fun to read as it was to write. Stay tuned, I’ll have more once it goes live. And of course, it’ll be available on the store here too.
Posted in book, eBooks, Kindle, Succession of Power, writing | Leave a reply
Paying for Journalism Online
Posted on June 2, 2016 by AJ
It’s been some time now since the fall of Andrew Sullivan’s blog. Sully himself has moved back to a mainstream publication (this time the New York Magazine), and the world has moved on.
Andrew had an interesting idea. Continuing his blog as he had done on places like the Atlantic before, but on his own, allowing people to see a certain number of full-posts through a (leaky) paywall, but giving people full access for a single low yearly fee.
Alas, even Andrew Sullivan, with his huge blog following, couldn’t quite keep it going. For his own health, as much as anything else, he finally called it a day.
Does that mean his experiment failed? Does it mean that paying for online journalism just won’t work? I hope that’s not what people take out of his venture.
First of all, I’m just not sure people will pay to read a blog, that was mostly an aggregate of content from other sites. There might – and only might – be a viable platform for paying to read content, where there’s that direct link between the author and the reader.
The only truly viable platform that exclusively works like that right now is the humble book. Be it a “dead tree” version or an ebook. People, it seems, are still more than willing to pay to consume that written content.
You can say that people are still paying for newspapers and magazines too. Yes they are (though circulations are falling), but think about it, the cost of selling those publications almost never pays for the content. They all have adverts running in them. Today here in the UK, free papers like The Metro are actually (in an income/expenditure sense) among the most successful models right now. They make a lot of money, and don’t charge their consumers for that content.
However, that simple model isn’t working in the online world. Rewind a number of years back. Newspapers started getting websites. Journalists, keen to have their work be seen by as many people as possible, convinced their bemused editors to let them post all their articles online. That content was available for free. But the value of the advertising (especially considering how clever those media-rich ads could be) was never really understood by the sales teams and editorial teams. Very quickly Google dominated that game, allowing advertisers pay pennies for ads whose equivalent in print would cost many pounds. Google was happy with this because they are working to scale. They can get tens of millions of customers and be quite happy. A modestly popular site that gets, say, 50,000 visitors a week will make a fraction of the revenue from advertising that a weekly magazine with a circulation of 50,000 would make from its ads.
So those appear to be the two main models that people concentrate on. However, I think there’s another model we dismiss at our peril.
Journalists (particularly older ones, like, say, Andrew Sullivan), really dislike “native ads”, sometimes called “sponsored content” or “advertorials”. These are articles usually made by the in-house editorial team, but used to promote a message by an advertiser. Some associate it with Buzzfeed (which does very well, btw), and the like. I don’t see why the concept, with a different tone, couldn’t work in other forms. I’m personally totally okay with that content, as are many of my fellow millennials.
I spoke to a load of people my age (and younger) about this. The response was fascinating. We often seem to be okay with advertorials, as long as they’re called “sponsor content” and is clearly labelled as such. We’re just as likely to read it (if it sounds interesting) as we are the rest of the content. We don’t like being deceived into thinking that an article is purely editorial rather than “sponsored content”, but apart from that, I think we’re okay with it. It’s just more content in the mix.
Unlike the Googlefication of banner ads, etc., sponsored content needs to be high-quality. It needs to be readable. For the consumer, it shouldn’t be in-your-face and offensive (like awful intrusive ads that block the content unless you find the ‘X’ to close it for example). And for the advertiser, it appears to actually have much higher conversion rates than an ad.
It’s scalable, but can’t be automated. A computer can’t automatically write a beautiful, artistic, engaging, clever article for a client. That takes good journalists and copywriters. Therefore, it can’t be made for a few cents. You need to spend real money, and get it out there.
I think that this kind of content can help pay for the other stuff, the content that’s unshackled from the burden of commercial pressures, while making it free to the consumer. It might be online journalism’s best hope for growth.
So I remain optimistic for the future of written journalism and content creation, and I see sponsor content – be it on blogs, news sites, Medium, etc. – as being one of the most interesting and practical ways of getting us there.
Imagine your favourite sites, clean, ad-free, fully-acessable and gratis, with sponsored content among the rest of the work. But paid for and sustainable.
So what do you think? Can sponsored content (done in the right way), be the digital shot-in-the-arm this business needs?
Posted in blogging, Business, Copywriting, eBooks, Economics, Google, Internet, Journalism, Media, Technology, writing | Leave a reply
The Rise, Fall and Eventual Rise Again of eBooks
Posted on October 7, 2015 by AJ
It was only about five years ago that the world – and me – decided that print books were going the way of vinyl records. In the mid 2000s, the technology that make e-ink screens possible was finally viable for mass production.
Soon after, Amazon released the Kindle, and ebooks went mainstream. Between 2008 and 2011, ebook sales rose 1,260 percent in the US alone. Game over. Independent bookshops, chains and printers stood in fear, waiting for the final death call.
But it never came. It was a close-run thing. Sales were skyrocketing, and in the US, the collapse of bookstore Borders (which filed for bankruptcy in 2011) seemed to signal the very end.
Then the numbers went the other way. Since then, paper-based books have slowly moved back into the mainstream. By this year – 2015 – people like me said ebooks would overtake sales of print. But it didn’t happen. There was something of a plot twist to this story, that I never saw coming. Book stores – including those independent chains – are stronger and more vibrant today than any time before 2010. The American Booksellers Association says they’ve got 1,712 members stores today, compared to 1,660 in 2010. Today, ebooks occupy about 20 percent of the market. That’s about the same market share in 2012. What happened?
I’ve heard a lot of publishers (and authors who have bought this line too) say it’s simply because readers prefer “real” books. And so digital is at 20 percent, and will stay at 20 percent. The market has spoken. I don’t quite buy this. I think there were two reasons why ebooks sales have slumped: one short(er)-term reason to do with a temporary technology disruption from another market, and a longer-term reason to do with corporatism on behalf of the big traditional book-publishing industry.
Let’s look at the first of those. The first mainstream ebook reader in the US, the Amazon Kindle, cost hundreds of dollars when it was first released in the American market. But it sold well. As is pretty much always the case with technology, the prices quickly went down and the features improved. But it’s just an e-ink screen right? So the improvements were incremental. The real push is to lower the cost. Today in the UK, the basic Kindle, (which is much better than the first generation model ever was), will set you back just £59. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a heck of a drop compared to the first model released in 2008. Most ebooks were usually cheaper than their hardback versions, and paperback editions too. Makes sense really. I mean, there’s not a lot of cost involved in the mass-distrubtion of a file that’s typically only a couple of megabytes big, compared to the printing and distribution of a paper-based product. Amazon made big gains with its cheap $9.99 price guarantee for bestsellers (which, because publishers didn’t have the big costs associated with mass printing and distribution, meant that they also actually made more money from the sales of the cheaper ebook versions).
Then a bit of marketplace disruption occurred. In 2010, Steve Jobs revealed Apple’s iPad. “The Kindle’s been great,” he told the enthralled audience at the keynote speech, revealing the tablet to the world for the first time, “but now we’re gonna take it further.” Stephen Fry upon recording his first impressions of the iPad, couldn’t help but write “…poor Kindle.” Tablets had been around for decades, but the iPad was the first tablet computer that captured the imagination of the mainstream. It was a big success, and dozens of rival manufactures brought out their own tablets (including Amazon, with their Kindle Fire range).
Suddenly, in 2010, millions of customers faced a choice. Buy a Kindle (or other e-reader) for, say, $250, or an iPad for $399. Yeah, the iPad is more expensive, but it can do a lot more an a e-reader, which is after all, a uni-tasking device. And the iPad can read books too. Jobs gave a demo of iBooks, and even Amazon produced a Kindle app, so you could read your purchases on the device. Most people, at the time, weren’t going to buy both devices given the prices, so they bought one. And that was the iPad they bought. Or, other, often cheaper Android/Microsoft-based rivals.
But there’s a problem. Reading a book on a bright computer screen – like an iPad – is not the same as reading it on an e-ink screen. The e-ink screen looks like, well, a page. Just printed text on paper. A regular screen is like staring at your laptop. After a while, holding a bigger, heavier, glaring screen to read a text-based book (like a novel or biography) just put people off. So they stopped buying ebooks, and, rather than buying an ebook reader, moved back to paper-based medium. Once bitten, twice shy.
I think this is a short-term issue. But, judging by how slowly the book industry moves, short-term might be 15-25 years. Based on current pricing, I think that the business model of the Kindle could end up being that Amazon will release it for free (“get a free e-ink Kindle for every 5 ebooks you buy!”). So people can have loads of them, all over the house. If you drop one or leave it on the bus, no matter. You can get another for next-to-nothing, and remote-wipe the one you’ve lost/damaged. This ‘free’ ubiquitous attitude will slowly bring people back to ebooks. The rise of people – some of which are very talented – self-publishing on the Kindle Digital Platform, through Barnes & Noble’s platform, Google, or iBooks through iTunes Producer, can also play a part as we see more and more cheap and readily available work. Think about it, the beauty of this, is even if you’re a first-time self-published author, the fact that you’re able to sell as many books (with no upfront risk or cost) as John Grisham is a really exciting and revolutionary thing. Getting it noticed by the public, especially with lots of people releasing utter garbage remains a challenge.
The second problem I see is a trickier one, that could stop things moving forward for a century or more. This is corporatism on the part of the major book publishers. Once the ebook reader arrived, they could see that with nimble, smart, savvy new writers (think E.L. James et al), soon, publishing a book just by yourself could become the “done” thing, even for well-established writers. If Stephen King publishes a book as a hardcover for $19.99, he could see $3 of it. If he were to publish it himself (paying for an editor, cover designer, etc. himself), he could sell it for, say $5, and still make the same $3 off every sale, regardless of how many copies sell, with no risk of doing an overly-ambitious print-run. And at that price, he’d shift many more books.
The big book publishers saw this as a scary future, one to be avoided if possible. Amazon’s $9.99 Kindle bestsellers deal in the US is over, and the publishers are in charge again now. And they’re charging much more for their ebooks than they were a few years ago, (making them less competitive and attractive to readers) while also doing all they can to lower the price of print-book production through innovations and economies of scale. Hachette boosted their Indiana warehouse by 218,000 square feet last year. Penguin Random House have coughed up $100 million to expand and update its wearhorse operations, with 365,000 square feet added in 2014 to its (already huge) warehouse in Crawfordsville Indiana, doubling its size. The boys and girls at Simon & Schuster are set to do the same to their distribution facility in New Jersey: it’s going to be 200,000 square feet larger.
Why the big investment? Because they can put a stranglehold on this business. At the moment, if people mostly buy print books, then big publishers will remain in charge as the gatekeepers, getting their percentage for every copy sold. Because of these expansions and distribution improvements, it’s now often cheaper to buy a paperback version of a book than the ebook version.
I hope this doesn’t last, but I’m not optimistic. I really like publishers, especially the one’s I’ve mentioned above. But I don’t like what they’re doing here. I envisaged a future for big publishers as representing new talent (and established talent), using their incredible editorial, marketing and promotional skills to be champions of quality. Just because “anyone” can self-publish wouldn’t mean they should. There would be a big market – a demand – for publishers who burrow and forage, looking for the best talent out there, and bringing it to our attention. Yes, the margins could be lower for publishers on a per-book basis, but not having to guess what sort of a print-run etc. they have to do would mean the risk is lower too. And they could invest more time not in building ever-bigger factories, but in nurturing more and more talent.
They’d be so important in this brave future. But I fear (and hope I’m wrong) that they could keep things the way they are for the next century and more, before the number of talented self-published writers tilt the playing-field.
But don’t forget, you can buy all of my books – both in print and digitally – here! (Sorry, couldn’t resist the chance to cheapen this article with a plug!)
Posted in book, Business, Capitalism, competition, Creative Destruction, eBooks, Economics, iPad, Kindle, Media, writing | Leave a reply
Emma Donogue’s Room – A Gimmick That Works
Posted on May 1, 2014 by AJ
Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador, £8.99)
The problem for books with a gimmick is that the novelty can wear off after a few pages.
But Emma Donoghue’s “Room” – shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010 – manages to overcome this impediment, leaving you engrossed until the end.
The ‘gimmick’ is that it’s written from the perspective of Jack, as he turns five. Two paragraphs in, and it’s clear that not all is right with Jack’s world. He lives in a single room with his mother, and appears never to have been outside or seen anything beyond those four walls. But why? What happened?
The poor syntax of Jack’s speech takes a page or so to get used to, but adds to the believability of the story. There’s a conspicuous absence of definite articles in our narrators vocabulary at first (for example: the room is just “room” to him, and the lamp is just “lamp”), which slowly and subtly improves as we sense him growing up and learning more about the world outside of ‘room’.
Donoghue has a knack for getting inside the mind of a child: not in a trite or clichéd way, but with a style that’s believable and gripping. And the author is smart enough to give us the exposition we need to follow the story, without dispensing that important data in an unrealistic or clunky way: “When I was a little kid, I thought like a little kid,” Jack says. “But now that I’m five I know everything.”
Yes, it’s a gimmick, writing from that perspective. And it should grow tiresome, but somehow never does. Without “breaking character” or taking any serious liberties with the form, Donoghue manages to keep her reader – like the two main characters – confined into a story that remains eerily believable.
Posted in book, eBooks, Human Rights, writing | Leave a reply
Writing Apps
Are you a writer?
What software do you use to write? It’s a question I’m asked a lot.
The truth – cliched and as obvious as it is – is that there’s not one single application that is the writer’s tool. Everyone writes differently, so everyone will find different tools work better for them.
Here’s some I use:
When I’m sitting by a computer, just trying to get some ideas down, I’m a big fan of OmmWriter. It’s a distraction-free writing tool that provides a sound-scape, inspiring backgrounds and encouraging clicking sounds as you type. There’s a few options, but it’s basically a text-editor and all the tools get out of the way when you start writing.
When I have a general idea of, say a novel I want to write, I use one of a number of iPad apps to “block out” the story. One I’m currently using quite a bit is Index Card, because of it’s integration with Scrivener (which I’ll talk more about in a moment). But Scrivener is supposedly releasing an iPad app in its own right that I’m looking forward to, so that might be my go-to app for planning a story in the future.
And that’s because when it comes to putting a novel or long-form written piece together, for my money, Scrivener is currently the best app I can find. I use the Mac version, so I can’t say anything about the Windows version (which I hear has fewer features) but it’s fast and nimble. Whether you are working on an empty new document, or one with thousands of documents, images, notes, and chapters making up a 250,000-word masterpiece, Scrivener remains incredibly responsive.
It’s cheap for what it is, and is feature-rich. But the real beauty of Scrivener is that you only need to learn the features you need, and you can discard the rest, or use them when you find a use for them. Not learning everything (and there is a lot to learn) doesn’t hamper your ability to get a lot out of this remarkable and well-thought-out app.
But that’s just me, your mileage my vary.
I say try everything out you can, and you’ll find a workflow that works. This “software experimentation” requires time and patience, but it’s worth investing that time as it could save you hours (or possibly months) of time later when you find yourself knee-deep in an epic project and only then realise you’d rather work in a different way. Get it right for you from the start, and you’ll avoid lots of headaches later. And I speak as someone who has made that mistake far too many times.
If you’re really inspired, a simple notepad and a text editor will do the trick. But using some of these tools allow the difficulty and mechanics of writing to get out of the way, leaving you with your ideas and the tale you want to tell.
Happy writing and good luck!
Posted in book, Copywriting, eBooks, iPad, Journalism, Media, Technology, Uncategorized, writing | Leave a reply
Don’t get it right, get it written!
Writing better dialogue
Writing with more stick, less carrot
My Novel Editing Process
How “eLibraries” Work Today – And How They SHOULD Work
Andy’s Twitter
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Report: Joint Chiefs Nominee Accused of Sexual Misconduct
A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing his nomination. Members of Congress have raised questions about the allegations and the military investigation that found insufficient evidence to charge him.
"My life was ruined by this,"
Report: Officer Accuses General of Sexual Misconduct
A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing...
Voa News 2019-07-11
AP Exclusive: Officer accuses general of sexual misconduct
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct,...
WPXI 2019-07-11
Officer alleges sexual misconduct against Air Force general
Gen. John Hyten was recently tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is accused of making several unwanted sexual advances. WASHINGTON — A...
Chicago Sun-Times 2019-07-11
Officer alleges sexual misconduct by general
This is Money 2019-07-11
Officer alleges misconduct by general
WASHINGTON — A senior military officer has accused the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing his nomination. Members of Congress have raised questions about the allegations and the military investigation that found insufficient evidence to charge him. The officer told The Associated...
Times Argus
AP Exclusive: Officer alleges sexual misconduct by general
FILE - In this April 11, 2019, file photo, U.S. Strategic Command Commander Gen. John Hyten testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A senior military officer has accused, Hyten, the Air Force general tapped to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, of sexual misconduct, potentially jeopardizing the nomination as...
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“Warsaw Dispatch,” a series—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (August 2013 – September 2014)
Where Benches Play Chopin (August 7, 2013)
What’s in a Joke? (August 16, 2013)
Cultivating an Aesthetic Present (October 7, 2013)
Success, an Experiment (October 16, 2013)
On Dinner with Jimmy Page (October 23, 2013)
Antidote to the Season of Hell (November 7, 2013)
Nie Rozumiem. Rozumiem. (November 21, 2013)
Success, a Report (December 29, 2013)
I Call This Friendship (February 3, 2014)
Where Are You From? (March 31, 2014)
On Daffodils (April 29, 2014)
Holster Your Weapon (June 11, 2014)
Your Place? (September 1, 2014)
“Integrating Black and White, Chipping Away at Unproductive Scapegoatery”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (April 20, 2013)
“A Ritual History”—in “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Genealogy, Ancestry, and the (Re)making of Selves,” curated by Virginia Konchan, Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (August 29, 2012)
“Transitioning the Great Sadness”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (June 20, 2011)
“Things You Can Do”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (April 22, 2011)
“Top 40 Sweet Cheeks: Cee-Lo, Gwyneth, Dap-dippin’ & the Motown Legacy”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (January 17, 2011)
“An Elegy: Fine Things, Flip-side(s) & Transformation”—in The Offending Adam (2010, 029.2)
“On Retreat in Vermont”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (December 6, 2010)
“On the Read Again”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (November 15, 2010)
“Narrative Possibility & the Broadly Real”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (November 8, 2010)
“Generation Gulf”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (October 4, 2010)
“You Are What You Eat”—in Michigan Quarterly Review Blog (August 28, 2010)
The Unrequited by Carrie St. George Comer, A Review—in Verse Online (April 29, 2005)
“The Challenge of Toni Cade Bambara’s The Salt Eaters: (Re)Claiming Wholeness”—in The Future Is Now: A New Look at African Diaspora Studies, Vanessa Valdes, ed. (2012, Cambridge Scholars Press)
“A Prescription for Wholeness: Resisting the Discourse of Difficulty to Embrace Toni Cade Bambara’s The Salt Eaters”—in Let Spirit Speak!: Cultural Journeys through the African Diaspora (2012, SUNY Press)
“Re-visioning the Scope of Analysis for Toni Cade Bambara’s The Salt Eaters: Transforming the Reader to Transform the Reading” in Turning Points and Transformations: Essays on Language, Literature and Culture, Christine Devine and Marie Hendry, eds. (2011, Cambridge Scholars Press)
“Budget Cuts & the Illusion of Access”—in Flagpole (April 15, 2009)
“Two Georgias & the Cost of Coal”—in Flagpole (April 2008)
“How to Hunt & Gather”—2006 Editors’ Choice in the Mid-American Review (Spring 2007, vol. XXVII, no. 2)
“Monsters, Monsters Everywhere: The State of Nonfiction and Memoir,” commissioned by The Michigan Quarterly Review (winter 2007)
“Poetic Sequence the Gen Y Way: Ben Lerner’s The Lichtenberg Figures,” commissioned for a special issue of Verse on the poetic sequence (Volume 22, Numbers 2 & 3, spring 2006)
MQR Blog
In August 2010, I joined the Michigan Quarterly Review as their founding Blog Editor, and I enlisted a globally dispersed roster of award-winning creatives to contribute. For the next four and a half years, we brought you the MQR Blog, an eclectic of mix criticism and creative nonfiction.
Let Spirit Speak!: Cultural Journeys through the African Diaspora
Michigan Quarterly Review
Mid-American Review
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The Future Is Now: A New Look at African Diaspora Studies
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Denver Broncos vs. San Francisco 49ers Prediction and Preview
NFL /
By Matt Josephs, 12/7/18, 1:40 PM EST
Broncos' playoff push continues in the Bay Area against the lowly 49ers
The Broncos play their third road game in the last four weeks as they travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers. The last time these two teams played each other was back in 2014 when the Broncos smashed the Niners 42-17 at home. That game saw Peyton Manning throw four touchdowns to match his four incompletions. The 49ers have won three of their last four at home in this series, which is played for the most part every four years.
Denver (6-6) has won three straight games including two on the road at the Chargers and Bengals. This team is rolling defensively, holding Los Angeles and Pittsburgh to just 39 combined points over a two-week span in late November. It's been the run game that has done a lot of the work for an offense that isn't turning the ball over a ton. Defensively, the Broncos have found their legs against opponents' run games. Cincinnati put up 111 yards on the ground, and that was the most since the giving up 270 rushing yards to the Rams back in Week 6.
The 49ers (2-10) are experiencing another lost season and have dropped three in a row. The offense isn't getting much traction with quarterback Nick Mullens, and the defense just isn't stopping anyone either. Over the last three games, San Francisco has allowed 27 points or more to the lowly Giants, Buccaneers as well as 43 to the Seahawks. Injuries to most of the skill position players on both sides of the ball have taken a toll on a team that may be already looking forward to the offseason.
Denver at San Francisco
Kickoff: Sunday, Dec. 9 at 4:05 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Spread: Broncos -5.5
1. Intangibles
As mentioned above, Denver is playing its third road game over the last four weeks. If we go back a little further, it's the fifth road game since Oct. 18. That's something to consider. The team comes home to play the Browns next Saturday, so other than playing one day earlier, there's nothing there either in terms of a look-ahead factor. For the 49ers, this game is the first of three in a row at home, where the team has earned both of its wins. When you are this bad, there are really no look-ahead factors. Seattle is up next opponent, a team that just thumped San Francisco 43-16 last Sunday.
2. Hi, my name is...
Over the past few weeks, the 49ers have lost Matt Breida, Marquise Goodwin and Pierre Garcon as offensive weapons for various periods of time. Goodwin is expected to be back while Garcon is questionable. Because of that, we are starting to see why Nick Mullens was a third-string quarterback. Mullens looked great against the Raiders at the start of November, but since then he's thrown four touchdowns compared to five interceptions. He did throw for 414 yards against the Seahawks, but a lot of those yards came in garbage time. Jeff Wilson Jr., an undrafted rookie from North Texas, takes over in the backfield. Wilson ran for 61 yards on 15 carries last week while adding eight receptions for 73 more yards.
Denver's front line should be salivating over this matchup with the likes of Bradley Chubb and Von Miller wreaking havoc. Chubb has 44 tackles and 10 sacks as well as a fumble recovery as a rookie. Miller has made 40 tackles to go with 12.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. Mullens has been sacked seven times in 141 dropbacks so far this season. The big question will be if Denver can overcome the loss of Chris Harris Jr. at cornerback. Bradley Roby has been torched a bunch this season and is not playing up to his potential.
3. Phillip Lindsay
The Broncos have committed to Lindsay, and it's paid off big time. The undrafted running back out of Colorado has had 267 rushing yards the last two weeks including 110 against the stout Steelers. Lindsay needs to get a little bit more involved in the passing game as he's posted just 10 catches over the last five games. The tandem of Lindsay and Royce Freeman takes a little pressure off Case Keenum, who can be a bit erratic. San Francisco's run defense sits in the middle of the league rankings at 108.2 rushing yards per game allowed. The problem is that it has sprung some leaks as of late. Seattle had 168 rushing yards last week. This seems like a massive edge to the road team, especially with the 49ers banged up on defense.
Denver is on a roll, and a game against the lowly 49ers shouldn't stop the Broncos. Phillip Lindsay will pile up another 100 yards on the ground while the San Francisco offense will continue to sputter. Bradley Chubb and Von Miller will have several meetings in the backfield in an easy win for Denver.
Prediction: Broncos 24, 49ers 6
— Written by Matt Josephs, who is a part of the Athlon Sports Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @MidMajorMatt.
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Tag Archives: crystal palace
by At The Rails | May 14, 2019 · 1:26 pm
Manchester City are the first club to repeat as PL Champions in a decade
English football fans certainly got their money’s worth this season, with a title race that kept both supporters and neutrals on the edge of their seat. Fans of lower league clubs also got some thrills as latent giants are finally challenging to climb back into the top flight. All of this under the shadow of Financial Fair Play regulations with teeth… and of course, Brexit.
Here is my take on the 2018-2019 Premier League season.
Would they, or wouldn’t they? The writing was on the wall when Manchester City beat Liverpool at the Etihad in the new year. The first team to successfully defend its crown since the last Manchester dynasty, Pep Guardiola’s side ended their season as worthy champions in a title race for the ages. They did it by accumulating 198 points over two campaigns, scoring 201 league goals in the process… while only letting in 50 (Arsenal let in more in the last ten months, and they finished fifth).
Despite losing a crazy Champions League tie to scrappy Tottenham, Citeh may still win a domestic treble by beating Watford next week in the FA Cup. If so, they will have done it with basically two full sides, almost all of whom would fit in at any other European elite team. That includes the ever-present Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling and, eventually, Leroy Sané.
The off-season will be busy. Talismanic but injury-prone captain Vincent Kompany may or may not sign a one-year deal at 33 years old. Former record signing Elaquim Mangala has a one-year contract extension after a big knee injury. Six other players also have one year left on their contract. Fernandinho, David Silva, Delph, and Gündogan have played key parts in City’s success this year as the heart of Pep’s midfield, but none of them could be considered youngsters. It will be interesting to see how much Emirati oil money gets splashed around this summer, to help City finally lift Big Ears in Istanbul in 2020.
It has been exhausting being a Liverpool fan this season, exhilarating yet bittersweet as Jürgen Klopp built on past campaigns to refine his Heavy Metal Football. A 22-point improvement meant the Reds finished with 97 points… and still came up short. In a season of inches, it was a bumpy two months at the start of 2019 that undid Liverpool: a close loss away to City, followed by an FA Cup loss against a productive Wolves side, and then four draws in eight matches. Come March, a potential 10-point margin at the top had evaporated into nothing.
And yet… there is a feeling of crackling energy under the skin at this club. Liverpool were perfect against the bottom half, and despite their image of a calmer, more disciplined team, they actually scored four more league goals this season while practically shutting the door at the back. Pundits pooh-pooh Mohamed Salah for “only” scoring 22 goals which, alongside teammate Sadio Mané, and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, was good enough to win the league’s Golden Boot.
A monumental comeback against a European giant means that Liverpool may finish what they could not 12 months ago. And there is almost no indication this side — so complete with the addition of Golden Glove winner Alisson, and Premier League and PFA Player’s Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk — will be any less formidable come August.
The last five winners of the Championship have managed to hold onto their Premier League status, but none have done so with Wolves’ panache. Maybe panache is not the word; perhaps “authority”. This club was 13th in offence, but had the fifth-best defence in the league. A Midlands side with a Portuguese heart, Nuno Espirito Santo kept his side organized enough to beat Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal AND Manchester United, and held Manchester City to a draw at the Molineux. Only Liverpool did the double on Wolves, and even then, Wolves gave them an early shove out of the FA Cup.
Benfica loanee Raul Jimenez is set to sign a permanent contract after a 17-goal season, and the Portuguese contingent (there are eight of them on this team, four of whom have been capped in the past year) have had no problem with life in England. Wolves achieved the highest finish in the league table for a newly-promoted side since Ipswich Town got to fifth in 2001. While this may surprise some, many pundits seem to forget that Wolves are a big club (one of the original 12) with big pockets. They seem to be in the vanguard of the return of some classic clubs, with Sheffield United already up, and Leeds, West Brom, Villa and Derby fighting it out in the playoffs. Good fun.
The Hammers’ image of a club in perpetual turmoil appears to be fading. While West Ham continues to be stuck in-or-near the middle of the table year after year, the arrival of drama-free manager Manuel Pellegrini seems to have brought a stabilizing influence. The signing of Felipe Anderson from Lazio has given fans a goalscorer to cheer about, and Issa Diop helped the club keep out 13 more goals. However, the move from North to East London has not made Jack Wilshere any less brittle, and an early injury to Dortmund import Andrii Yarmolenko was a blow. Those two should be back for the new season and, barring a summer contract extension, perpetual IR list member Andy Carroll will be off the books.
An improvement of 10 points and three table places means a successful rebuilding year for the Iron.
We’ll temper this one after looking at their last four matches: a draw, and three losses, albeit to Top Ten sides. It was rough end to the season for a club that constantly hovered in and around the top half of the table. Javi Gracia’s first full season in charge earned the Hornets three more wins, nine more points and three higher spots than last year. Troy Deeney was Mr. Watford, pure entertainment for the “purist”, and Doucouré was an ever-present large menace in the goal box. But Gracia’s, um, coup de grâce, was signing Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona on a permanent. The journeyman Spaniard was good for 10 goals and 5 assists, helping Mssrs. Deeney and Doucouré along the way. The reward is an appearance at Wembley, a possible trophy, and the European campaign that goes along with it.
United need a lot of work in the off-season.
The club removed a tyrant for the prince that was foretold… except that hasn’t worked out; it’s all gone Game of Thrones, hasn’t it? (As opposed to the constant Lord of the Rings references for Ole Gunnar Solskjær… would that make this season a Three-Ring Serkis?) We were constantly told that José Mourinho had lost the plot, had turned on his players and was content to go scorched earth as United lost three and drew one in their first seven matches. Training ground arguments, dressing room mutinies, as well as increasingly bizarre press conferences meant that a mid-December loss to Liverpool was the final straw.
Enter Old Trafford’s Hamlet from stage left. The provisional manager appeared to kick at the daylight and a new era began as United went undefeated for 12 straight matches. Then Solskjær was signed as the permanent manager and the players were content to watch their season burn: eight points from their last nine matches, as well as falling out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals. It turns out it was the players after all…
So here they sit. No Champions League next season. If Arsenal beat Chelsea in the Europa league final, United will be the only Top Six team not in Europe’s top competition. To make matters worse, if Watford win the FA Cup, United would have to start Europa League qualifying matches in mid-July.
The squad is a shambles and it will likely take a small fortune for proper replacements. It turns out Paul Pogba is dressing-room poison, despite his obvious talent. It turns out Romelu Lukaku is not a big-club player, and may actually be an anachronism in this era of twitchy wingers and counter-pressing. It turns out that Alexis Sanchez is a multi-million pound albatross that will be difficult to move. It turns out (to the surprise of almost no one) that United’s back line is a shambles, and that wholesale change is critical.
As the years pass, the evidence grows stronger that United’s biggest superstar for years was Sir Alex Ferguson. Good luck finding his successor. It isn’t OGS.
This one might be a bit unfair, except that the Premier League is a cruel place, what with all the money at stake. Burnley have known the see-saw battle of the “small” club (even though they are one of said Original 12) for years, but after last season’s seventh place finish on a shoe-string budget, expectations were maybe not high, but there was optimism.
Then came an early Europa League campaign, and the apparent abandonment of the defence-first strategy that worked so well last season. Burnley were then left gasping for air for most of the season, and the club dropped 14 points and eight places. If not for the bottom three’s efforts to speed towards the trap door, Burnley might have been looking at a Championship stint in the fall; it may just be delaying the inevitable. The Clarets had a dismal -23 goal difference, and finished the season on a draw and three losses. Expect more of the same in August, and another relegation battle for the Lancashire club.
Unfortunately, this one was on the cards from the get-go. The Terriers had wait until November for their first win… one of only three on the season. A precipitous drop of 21 points from last season sent them to Number 20 with a bullet. Maybe they will return to the Prem with the help of parachute payments, but not likely.
Never really a contender or hopeful to stay up, this club was here sightseeing. No money, no players, no hope. Plus the added bonus of not having to listen to “proper footballing man” Neil Warnock spout off venom and crap.
See above, except some pundits were genuinely excited about the Cottagers’ scrappy line-up. Aleksandar Mitrović started strong with five goals in six games, and then scored six in the next 32. Fulham had seven wins all season; three of those came after they were relegated. ‘Nuff said.
Saved only by Cardiff’s self-immolation, the Seagulls basically repeated their previous PL season. Yes, Glenn Murray continued to defy Father Time and scored goals in the double digits. But the Cumbrian aside, Albion was positively anemic, both on the score sheet and in the league table. Only earning two wins after Christmas has cost Chris Hughton his job. The club are tourists in the top flight, and will likely return home in 2020.
Will Sarri win the battle of wills at Stamford Bridge?
Sure they qualified for the Champions League, but the last two spots were a hot potato that no one seemed to want at the end of the season. At times, Mauricio Sarri carried on with the frantic exasperation of a taxi dispatcher, smoking and pacing on the sidelines. He was obviously brought in to make Chelsea better, and to lead a fractious dressing room that had full-on revolted against fellow Italian, Antonio Conte.
But did he? The same player issues seem to still be there, despite bringing midfield quarterback Jorginho with him from Napoli, as well as spending £72M on Kepa from Bilbao… with whom he had an apoplectic, and very public, battle in the League Cup final. Chelsea is a club with notorious “player power” whose owner seems to listen to his on-field staff more than his managers.
Chelsea finished the season with only two more points than last year, and practically the same goals for and against. The only difference is that Chelsea’s rivals appeared in the same rush to lose. With main goalscorer Eden Hazard almost certainly on his way to Real Madrid, Sarri had better hope he can continue to mould his team in his unwavering image, while continuing to challenge for the Top Four. Of course, there is the little matter of UEFA’s transfer ban for Financial Fair Play violations… maybe winning the silver of a Europa League trophy will add some shine to this season.
What to say about Spurs? Frankly, with all the factors lined up against them, they should have no business being in the Champions League final, and have had to fight hard to stay in the Premier League Top Four. After a net spend of £18M last season, owner Daniel Levy spent a grand total of £0 on new players in the summer of 2018. Nicht. Nil. Zip.
Tottenham had to contend with another season at Wembley, as construction delays at the new White Hart Lane ate away at the club’s bottom line on the daily. They have a gifted and charismatic manager who made rumblings all season, hinting that the owner needed to spend or else he was off to a “bigger” club. They had a threadbare squad that fans had to hope would push through injury and fatigue.
Obviously, they were not disappointed. Spurs have managed to scrape into the Champions League… even though their talismanic striker was obviously exhausted after going deep into the World Cup with England. Harry Kane was out for a quarter of Spurs’ league games. It didn’t stop Spurs from mounting the Mother of All Comebacks.
That’s because there are two new folk heroes of Haringay: Heung-min Son, a man who is obviously experiencing pure joy playing for the Spurs faithful, and Lucas Moura, who will eternally be remembered for THAT game in Amsterdam. After everything stacked up against Spurs, a first-ever Champions League trophy would simply be mythical.
But one can not stand still in the Premier League. You only have to think back to rivals Arsenal in the early 2000’s to see the financial effects of a brand-new stadium. Yes the gate will dramatically increase, but it will likely take at least a decade to pay off the new-build’s capital costs. Levy is frugal at the best of times, and Mauricio Pochettino wants assurances that he will have cash to splash, come July. Christian Eriksen is valued at around £77M right now, and Levy will likely sell to spend. Otherwise, the Miracle of North London will end just as it did in the mid-70s, and early 90s…
After 22 years under a single manager, Arsenal’s post-Wenger era was always going to be trepidatious. Certainly the Frenchman’s replacement had the pedigree. Unai Emery has three European titles to his name, along with a two-season stint at French giant Paris Saint-Germain. But Emery walked into a hodgepodge of a dressing room. He inherited a wonderful offence… and a truly terrible back line. Koscielny is brittle and past it, Xhaka and Mustafi are volatile liabilities, and bringing in Stephan Lichsteiner — whose attempts to use sh!thousery to cover a serious decline — was never going to be the answer. Emery’s thinly-veiled battles with Mezut Özil and fan-favourite Aaron Ramsey have angered many Arsenal supporters.
However, Emery does have the front pairing of Golden Boot winner Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. His purchase of Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria was inspired; same with Sokratis who, despite losing his head now and then, was coveted by several Premier League teams.
Losing out on Champions League qualification on the second-last week of the season had to sting. That pain will subside completely if they beat rivals Chelsea on the 29th. But they will need to find more cohesion, more sense of self, more Arsenal of old.
Sigh. The “fans hate Mike Ashley/the manager might be leaving/please sell the club” narrative is now a decade old. Newcastle actually finished with one more point this season, but dropped three places. Content to play like a much smaller club, the Magpies have firmly ensconced themselves in the third quadrant of the Premier League table. Of course, that could change if the ownership does as well…
Whither Eddie Howe? The Premier League’s longest-serving manager (approaching seven years) has kept his club in the top flight for five seasons. When the Cherries finished ninth three years ago, the typical hyperbole about “the young English manager” whipped around, including as a potential replacement for Arsene Wenger or, heaven’s mercy, England. Certainly Howe is quite good at nurturing young talent, but he spent £80M in the off-season with minimal results. Twenty-five million of that money was spent on defensive midfielder Jefferson Lerma… yet Bournemouth let in nine more goals in 2018/19. Chances are good that Bournemouth will be in the relegation battle come next spring.
The good news for the Saints is Mark Hughes is not their manager anymore, replaced in December by the equally sparky (but by all accounts, much nicer) Ralph Hassenhüttl. Under Hughes, Southampton had four league matches in an entire calendar year… including a solitary victory from the start of the season to his firing. Under Hassenhüttl, the team earned an 8-6-10 record… not lighting up the league, but certainly enough to dig themselves out of a dark hole. What is worrying for the club is that, despite the threat of relegation, Southampton finished with three draws and two losses; all of those opponents finished 11th or lower. Luckily, Cardiff fell on the sword instead, and Ralph & Co. get to play in the Premier League for another year.
All the drama surrounding the hiring of Marco Silva appeared to be blowing up in the Toffees’ face. Everton mostly languished outside the Top 10 until the middle of March, when they finished a strong 5-3-2, and landed exactly where they were 12 months ago: eighth. No Everton Cup for you, Everton. Now let’s see if Silva will be allowed to replenish his aging squad, as well as loanees Kurt Zouma and André Gomes, while keeping Gylfi Sigurdsson down on the farm.
Well… you couldn’t find two more different managers then the gaffers that took charge at the King Power this season. By all accounts, Claude Puel was not the most inspiring of generals, and his record with the Foxes was positively insipid. Enter Brendan “Enough About Me, Let’s Talk About Me” Rodgers, whose 6-3-2 record helped Leicester claw its way back and finish in the same spot as last year: ninth. Puel’s great crime was spending all that Riyad Mahrez money, and then wasting it. Rodgers let loose £22M signing Ricardo Pereira up the wings and he was rewarded with crosses galore.
Leicester is a very talented squad. Example: despite all the hype around Manchester City and Liverpool, Jamie Vardy was mostly overlooked as he finished the season with 18 league goals… good enough for fifth overall, and more than Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Eden Hazard. The problem (sorry, “challenge”) is that the club recently won the Premier League title. It was an anomaly… but now the team and the fans feel they should be challenging for the Top Six. They’ve got their work cut out for themselves.
A slight improvement in both offence and defence, if not in table position, Crystal Palace are as bland and anonymous as their manager… and that’s not a dig either. An almost perpetual dweller in the lower leagues, Palace have now managed to stay in the top flight for six seasons. Roy Hodgson has taken his patchwork quilt of cast-off players and held onto that mushy, nebulous part of the table that will rarely rise into the Top 10 but, with a bit of luck, won’t get relegated either. After relying on Wilfried Zaha as the sole goalscorer, Hodgson now has options: hard man captain Luka Milivojević led the team in scoring with 12 goals. Not bad for a supposed “defensive midfielder”. Expect more of the same from Palace next season.
All right: now bring on the finals for the FA Cup, Europa League, Champions League and Nations League!
Filed under Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League
Tagged as arsenal, bournemouth, brighton, burnley, cardiff city, chelsea, clarets, cottagers, crystal palace, everton, foxes, fulham, hammers, hornets, huddersfield, leicester city, liverpool, man u, manchester city, manchester united, newcastle united magpies, premier league, saints, southampton, spurs, terriers, toffees, tottenham hotspur, wanderers, watford, west ham, west ham united, wolverhampton, wolves
Premier League Starting XI – 2013-2014
Many pints have been bought/drunk/spilled while friends/strangers/adversaries debate the Premier League’s best players. In my list, I’ve tried to avoid hype and reputation… but that’s not to say it’s all about the stats. I’ve also been liberal with the positions, using a 4-1-3-2 but frankly putting players in to fit. For example, Steven Gerrard was praised for his reinvention as a defensive midfielder, but let’s face it, he mostly played the same as he always has… he just had farther to run.
Here then are my Starting XI:
Mannone of the season for Sunderland
Vito Mannone (SUN) – There was a reason for Vito Mannone’s switch from the bright lights of the Emirates to the ironically-named Stadium of Light. Like almost every other professional athlete, he probably expected to start. So it must have been disappointing when Paolo di Canio went with Keiran Westwood, a man who had spent most of his career in the lower leagues. The Black Cats’ start to the season was dismal — going 2-1-6 — with Westwood letting in almost one out of every two shots on goal. Mannone got his chance when Westwood got injured, and the Mackems improved, finishing a stronger 10-7-11 with 11 of those games finishing in a clean sheet for Sunderland. In fact, Mannone faced more shots on goal than any other keeper in the league, despite missing a quarter of the season. Quite rightly, he was named Sunderland’s Player of the Season.
Bench: Petr Cech (CHE), Tim Howard (EVE)
Coleman, Baines were lethal from the back this season.
(LB) Leighton Baines, (RB) Seamus Coleman (EVE) – The Toffees seem to have an embarrassment of riches at the fullback position. Under Roberto Martinez, Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman act as virtual wingers in an already offence-friendly side. The pair fly in with crosses, complementing the Mirallas/Barkley/Osman contingent on the wings. That leaves the two centre backs, along with a resurgent Gareth Barry and GK Tim Howard, to worry about any defensive issues. It seemed to work: Everton had the third-best defensive record in the Prem, while the Scouser and the Irishman both scored as many goals as their colleagues in midfield.
Bench – Patrice Evra (LB), Bacary Sagna (RB)
Skrtel, Koscielny saw both highs and lows this season
Centrebacks
Martin Skrtel (LIV), Laurent Koscielny (ARS) – I can hear the howls of protests already. Why not players from Chelsea or City or even Everton? How can you pick one player who set a record for own goals in a season, and another with a propensity to self-destruct? Because the game-in, game-out stats tell a different story. In a league where goals are up across the board, both players were on sides built to throw everything forward in attractive — but dangerous — football. Martin Skrtel led the league in clearances and was tied for fourth in block shots. Think back to the images of him racing back to clear the ball, because Brendan Rodgers had his team playing such a high line. (Don’t forget Skrtel scored seven goals… he’s a centre back!). Meanwhile, Laurent Koscielny was in the league’s top ten for both interceptions and offsides won, and he was in the top 20 for blocked shots.
Bench – John Terry (CHE), Per Mertesacker (ARS)
Jedinak might be the hardest man in the Prem.
Mile Jedinak (CRY) – Crikey! Mile Jedinak has maintained the fearsome reputation of Aussie footballers in the Premier League — Messrs. Emerton, Neill and Cahill come to mind (like a prog-rock band! Ha!). The Palace player led the league in interceptions per game, and was 2nd in tackles per game. That’s all the more impressive when you realize he started every single game. A big reason why the Eagles had the league’s sixth-best Goals-Against.
On the bench – Gareth Barry (EVE)
Ramsey was one of the league’s best midfielders, despite injuries
Aaron Ramsey (ARS) – Mr. Arsenal this season, Aaron Ramsey set the league on fire in the season’s first half, before he was twice sidelined by injury. He was Arsenal’s second-biggest goal-scorer in the league, and tied for third in assists, despite playing in only 60% of the Gunners’ matches.
On the bench – David Silva (MNC)
Yaya holds his birthday cake that’s coincidentally shaped like a trophy
Central Midfield
Yaya Touré (MNC) – What hasn’t already been said about Yaya Touré’s season? The first midfielder since Frank Lampard to score 20 goals in a season, tied for fifth in assists, the Ivorian was Citeh’s talisman (an overused cliché, but in this case, true) and led the Citizens to their second title in three years.
On the bench – Steven Gerrard (LIV)
“Oh my God, I can’t believe I made ATR’s Starting XI!”
Eden Hazard (CHE) – José Mourinho had a rough relationship with his forwards this season, and sometimes played without a striker. Enter the Belgian, Eden Hazard. The attacking midfielder led his team in goals and assists, and was one of the league’s best passers. An incredible player to watch (unless you’re a ball boy), Hazard will be a key part of Marc Wilmot’s plans in Brazil.
On the bench – Adam Lallana (SOU)
Suarez and Sturridge: 52 goals between the pair.
Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge (LIV) – The picking of these two players was almost a no-brainer… almost. Luis Suarez tied the Premier League record for goals in a 38-game season, despite missing the first five matches. He was also second in the league for assists — just behind team mate Steven Gerrard — so it’s not like he was being selfish. Love him or hate him, he had a brilliant season and propelled Liverpool into the most exciting title run in almost two decades.
Sergio Agüero was almost equally brilliant, scoring 17 in 23 appearances. But injuries hampered an otherwise brilliant season, and young(ish) Daniel Sturridge found his own touch, scoring 21 of his own. That’s why he would start in my XI.
On the bench – Sergio Aguero (MNC), Wayne Rooney (MNU)
Player of the Season: Luis Suarez
Tagged as aaron ramsey, adam lallana, arsenal, bacary sagna, belgium, chelsea, crystal palace, daniel strurridge, David Silva, eden hazard, everton, gareth barry, john terry, jose mourinho, keiran westwood, laurent koscielny, leighton baines, liverpool, luis suarez, manchester city, marc wilmot, martin skrtel, mile jedinak, patrice evra, per mertesacker, petr cech, roberto martinez, seamus coleman, Sergio Aguero, steven gerrard, sunderland, tim howard, vito mannone, wayne rooney, yaya toure
by At The Rails | May 12, 2014 · 9:00 am
Best of the Prem 2014: Arsenal to Crystal Palace
Arsene Wenger could have done with less injuries, more silverware this season.
Best. Season. Ever. You’ve heard it since Christmas from pundits and fans alike. I have to disagree because of my allegiances (heartbreak for my two clubs, although for different reasons)…. but for the neutral, this was the year that old hegemonies were broken and glimpses of the Premier League’s new reality started to come to light. Here then is the first installment of my picks for each club’s best player in this remarkable season.
All Hail King Ramsey
Aaron Ramsey (WAL) – Oh what could have been for the mighty Gunners this season. After a summer of selling Arsenal’s flotsam and jetsam without a single major signing, Arsène Wenger waited until the very end of the transfer window to bring in German and Real Madrid superstar Mesut Özil. The move turned heads amongst the media, the supporters and England’s other clubs. But it turns out Wenger’s best signing was one he made eight years ago, when he bought 16-year-old Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff City. Wenger never wanted to make a splashy buy, preferring his policy of youth development. If Aaron Ramsey didn’t have to deal with the ever-present spectre of injury that has marked his young career, he would vindicated his mentor this season. The Welshman scored 13 goals and provided seven assists before Christmas. After he went out, Arsenal slipped from the pile of title challengers, struggling to win the last Champions League spot. Let’s see if he can help Arsenal gain some consolation next weekend at Wembley.
Benteke may need divine help to recover
Christian Benteke (BEL) – How bad are Aston Villa? Bad enough that three seasons of relegation escapes (16th, 15th and 15th) astound anyone who has a look at their threadbare squad. They can’t defend: Villa gave up 12 goals in their last four games, and only the relegated teams had a worse goals-against. Their offence was even worse… save for their young Belgian striker. Christian Benteke was the club’s highest scorer, despite missing the last six weeks of the season. He will likely be out until October with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Depending on how he recovers, this next season with Aston Villa will likely be his last.
St. Peter: Upon this rock…
Peter Whittingham (ENG) – Over six years, you’ve seen your side climb from the bottom half of the Championship to promotion into the Premier League. You found yourself at Wembley for two league finals. You’ve watched a rich foreign owner buy the club and then turn it on its head. You’ve watched as the man who kept his faith in you by signing you to a new contract, get turfed on the whim of said owner. You watch as the supporters turn against vilified Bond Villain Owner, as your team sinks back in the relegation mire. Yet even as you look around and think to yourself, “Bloody Hell”, you do your job as best you can… marshalling a midfield that is, well, middling.
Your name must be Peter Whittingham.
Care to Hazard a guess where he’ll be next season?
Eden Hazard (BEL) – When did José Mourinho go from megalomaniac to paranoid curmudgeon? The Special One turned on Eden Hazard after the winger publicly criticized his manager’s negative-to-the-umpteenth-degree tactics against Liverpool and Atlético Madrid. This season, Mourinho returned to his self-proclaimed home with the same propensity to pick internal squabbles as he did at Real Madrid. Mourinho fought with Juan Mata, he chastized his Inter Milan favourite Samuel Eto’o… and even benched long-time loyalist Ashley Cole. But to criticize a player like Eden Hazard — a winger who runs and swerves like he’s riding a motorcycle on its back wheel through the narrow streets of Brugge — is almost blasphemy. The Belgian outscored all Chelsea strikers and picked up the slack when Oscar started to slump. He rightly deserved the PFA Young Player of the Year, and he should be an absolute joy to watch in Brazil next month.
Puncheon-drunk love for Palace
Jason Puncheon (ENG) – No one had more fun than Crystal Palace fans this season, and Jason Puncheon was part of the reason why. The Croyden native permanently returned to his boyhood club, after helping them get promoted last year. He then benefited from Palace’s hiring of Tony Pulis, whose second-half revival of the club from 18th to 11th was simply remarkable. Even Puncheon admits, after nine different clubs, he played the best football of his career this season. The Eagles may end up selling him, but would he even want to leave?
Up next: Everton to Manchester City
Tagged as aaron ramsey, arsenal, arsene wenger, ashley cole, aston villa, cardiff city, chelsea, christian benteke, crystal palace, eden hazard, jason puncheon, jose mourinho, Juan Mata, mesut ozil, peter whittingham, samuel eto'o, special one, tony pulis
by At The Rails | January 18, 2011 · 12:30 am
The Weekend 10: Things Get Dioufy
Bridge to nowhere. Get it? Wayne Bridge? It's funny 'cause he's awful...
1) West Ham Bad Decision #1: There’s a prevalent theory that Wayne Bridge is terrible when playing on good teams… but great when he plays on mediocre team. That theory was rubbished on Saturday. Best 90-thousand pounds/week they ever spent…
2) West Ham Bad Decision #2: The Hammers were going to hire Martin O’Neill behind Avram Grant’s back, before they fired the Israeli manager. But they mucked it up, O’Neill gave them the V, and now Grant will likely stay put knowing his bosses tried to turf him. Awwwwkward.
3) Blackburn are thinking of dumping El-Hadji Diouf, because they realized what Liverpool, Sunderland and Bolton also found out the hard way… he’s a liability.
Dude, where's my team?
4) Speaking of model citizens, Derby County captain Robbie Savage could be on his way to the MLS. Savage has twittered that he has been requested by the Vancouver Whitecaps. Huh. A long-haired loud-mouth with an accent. In British Columbia. How novel…
5) Manchester United: The Unconvincing Invincibles. Best nickname I’ve heard in a while…
6) Liverpool is reportedly chasing Uruguay’s Luiz Suarez from Ajax. I can only assume they want him as a backup to Pepe Reina…
7) Win, Lose or Draw. Or Draw. Or Draw. Or Draw. No honours in the Birmingham, Merseyside or Tyne-and-Wear derbies… and the “classic” match between Spurs and United wasn’t…
8 ) Crystal Palace are looking to move stadiums. They might want to hang on until after the Olympics when White Hart Lane becomes available. Or not. North is South, East is West, cats and dogs living together…
The Qataris celebrated by ordering shots
9) Qatar has refused to schedule the 2022 World Cup during winter. FIFA officials are aghast, wondering how players and fans will cope in 53 degree Celsius heat, and may be secretly rueing their decision to let the sheikhs host the event. I suspect it’s an Arab plot to sell more $20 pints of near-beer at matches…
10) For the first pick in the MLS Super Draft, Toronto FC picked a kid with multiple sclerosis. What the… ?!? If this was a move to guilt me into going back into the gym: mission accomplished. Thanks for nothin’…
Filed under English Football, MLS, World Cup
Tagged as ajax, avram grant, blackburn rovers, bolton wanderers, crystal palace, derby county, el-hadji diouf, fifa, luis suarez, manchester united, martin o'neill, pepe reina, qatar 2022, robbie savage, sunderland, toronto fc, vancouver whitecaps, wayne bridge, west ham united, white hart lane
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Eto'o wins anti-racism award
AFP• 9 March 2015
London (AFP) - Football star Samuel Eto'o's inspiring stand against racism won him an award Monday, as the European Council warned that prejudice still stalked the game in Europe.
The former Cameroon and Barcelona striker was to receive the Medal of Tolerance from the European Council at a Tolerance and Reconciliation gala dinner in London's Kensington Palace, the home of Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate.
Eto'o, 33, who now plays with Sampdoria in Italy, famously tried to walk off the pitch during a Spanish match due to the racist abuse he was suffering.
"The last year has been a particularly challenging one for football in terms of hate and racism," the four-time African Player of the Year said in a statement.
"As players, we need to take a moral stand because we are the people the spectators watch and we have to be a strong example of tolerance in a multi-racial society which I believe football can represent best.
The ECTR is a non-governmental organisation founded in 2008 which promotes understanding between communities and monitors xenophobia in Europe and counts former presidents and prime ministers among its council members.
Eto'o started out with Real Madrid but made his name with Barcelona, before moving on to Inter Milan, Chelsea and Everton.
In 2005 while playing for Barcelona, Eto'o was heavily racially abused by Real Zaragoza fans, who made monkey chants whenever he touched the ball.
The following year, when again being abused by Zaragoza supporters, Eto'o tried to walk off the pitch, telling the referee he could not continue, before his team-mates persuaded him to complete the match.
"It is important at this worrying time to send a clear message that racism has no home in football," said ECTR head Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress.
"As we have witnessed recently with the actions of Chelsea and West Ham fans... racism and anti-semitism are still very much alive and well in football.
Eto'o has won the Champions League three times, four domestic championships and the Club World Cup.
Now retired from international football, he is Cameroon's top goalscorer with 56 from 118 caps, and has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice as well as an Olympic gold medal.
The ECTR's first Medal of Tolerance was conferred in 2010 on king Juan Carlos I of Spain, with the second given jointly to Croatian president Ivo Josipovic and former Serbian president Boris Tadic.
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U.S. joins rest of world in grounding controversial Boeing planes
By Jay Jackson, Arkansas State News
WASHINGTON DC - The United States has finally succumbed to grounding Boeing 737 Max planes.
The U.S. had become increasingly isolated as governments and airlines en-masse began grounding the controversial planes soon after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines flight from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday. The plane crashed six minutes after take-off killing all 157 passengers and crew on board.
China was the first government to react, its regulator ordered all Boeing 737 Max planes in the country be grounded on Monday. The Cayman Islands followed, and then the dominos began to fall. Ireland, Australia, Singapore, the UK, India, France etc etc
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that his administration too was grounding the Boeing planes, overruling an earlier decision by Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to keep the Boeing 737 Max planes in the air.
Trump said all flights currently in operation could continue to their destination, but on arrival they were to be grounded.
"The safety of the American people, of all people, is our paramount concern," Trump said.
The regulator then put out a statement confirming the order.
"The FAA is ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory. The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today. This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision," the statement said.
"The grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft's flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders."
"An FAA team is in Ethiopia assisting the NTSB as parties to the investigation of the Flight 302 accident. The agency will continue to investigate," the regulator's statement said.
President Trump meantime said he hopes Boeing will come up with an answer as to the problem with the 737 Max's.
"Boeing is an incredible company. They are working very, very hard right now and hopefully they'll very quickly come up with the answer, but until they do, the planes are grounded," he said.
Boeing's CEO Dennis A. Muilenburg reportedly met the U.S. President on Tuesday night and assured him the Boeing jets were safe.
On Wednesday however Canada joined the 40-or-so other countries that had grounded the planes. This seemingly was too much for the U.S., although the FAA cited 'new evidence' collected at the site and analyzed that day.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau confirmed this, saying the newly available satellite-tracking data showed similarities between the crash in Ethiopia and the Lion Air in October.
"The satellite tracing data showing the vertical path of the Ethiopian jet at take off and similar data from the Lion Air crash, had showed similar vertical fluctuations and oscillations," Garneau said Wednesday.
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Question: Mid-Life Crisis? Answer: Forty-Five-Year Old High-School Freshman
“I felt like a toddler facing a long driveway of puddles. I imagined Academy Place as a club at one of the top Ivy League schools, one that teaches the secrets of creativity, with the full array of handshakes, slogans, and robes. I figured alums must have been sworn to secrecy, and now the leader of the organization was furious for knowledge of it was out in public.
This was the idea.
This was my chance.”
James Cicero is an overweight, neurotic, meek, middle-aged journalist that lives with his wife Catherine and eleven-year-old daughter Alice and travels around in his rusted jalopy in the Bronx, New York. He is so self-conscious that he rehearses the delivery of jokes that he anticipates saying the following day in elevators, or the greetings he will give the workplace receptionist. James is on the brink of being fired, he can feel the tension from his editor and boss Alan Helmsley and the pressure to produce a noteworthy story. For twenty years James has worked as a senior writer for National Life magazine and with subscribers progressively-dwindling since the dawn of the internet age, job cuts may be in store and he seems like an easy, non-confrontational target.
If being at the crossroads of his own career wasn’t enough, his wife Catherine was recently fired from her job three weeks prior, all the while their daughter Alice has become a nuisance for her prestigious school. At this point James has pretty much had it with life, it is safe to say that James’ life has become a perfect representation to that of his career and in both cases he is feeling the crunch and needs a catalyst for rejuvenation. While in one of his Sunday night bouts of insomnia,that he has coined “insundia” James has found the big break that he was in desperate need of. While watching a film awards show on the television that may or may not be called the Oscar’s, he heard a man during his victory speech mention an institution called The Academy Place as a big contributor to his success. Intrigued by the lack of familiarity with this state of higher learning, James spends a considerable amount of time researching this place but finds nothing but a mystery to solve. He comes to the conclusion that it is a secret school of enlightenment that must be explored and seeing that his job and in a sense his family is on the line James decides to take the plunge and unearth a story of a lifetime.
While trying to orchestrate an interview with someone that has a connection to the inside, James is turned down, lead astray, or driven to dead ends. After providing his boss with a progress report (or non-progress report) Alan uses his winning charm and imaginative pitch to get what he wants. In turn James is given a four week stay at the Academy so he can eat, breathe, and sleep at the facility to write a feature puff-piece for the magazine. Located in Central New York, tucked away in a forest of silence, the Academy enrolls eighty-four of the world’s brightest and most creative young minds in a mandatory four-year program. The school pulls out all of the stops to stimulate their students; each student is provided their own classroom, it is obligatory to learn one musical instrument, they are taught to become attentive listeners rather than note takers, and they’re provided a diet of essential vitamins and minerals for optimum performance. In their spare time the students are encouraged to develop their own languages, board games, and sports.What you find with the “real” world is that most people worry about the details while the Academy focuses more on how to solve problems, and how off-the-wall ideas create great ideas. While James is settling in and forming friendships with a group of students to fully-understand the dynamics of the Academy, his boss Alan is constantly pushing and pulling James in different directions, distracting him from writing his heavily-invested puff piece and turning it into an exposé.
” ‘I thought more about the challenges with the inner city schools. It made me think. I wonder if during the middle ages people paid as much attention when learning how to wield a sword in battle as students pay attention in school today?’
‘I doubt it, if they didn’t pay attention they would literally die.’
‘I think you’re right. I bet they hung on every word. EVERY SINGLE THING they learned meant the difference between life and death.”
What we often find is that while we blame others for our own lack of success, more often than not we are the impediment standing in our own way to achievement. Mental Dessert is a compelling read with plenty of arguments and conversation surrounding philosophical differences. My main take away from this novel was the exploration of the shortcomings of the education system and how if utilized with the right focus, learning can be more fun than initially realized. Beyond the typical health and well-being, the goal of any parent should be to maximize the potential of their child. But between your own occupational responsibilities and up keeping of the household, the presence of time, or more importantly yourself can really be spread thin. This is where educational institutions come in to play. Sure you can select a school based on proximity, accessibility or feasibility. But why not go the extra mile so when your children are grown and become music composers, scientists, five-star athletes, or CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies you can be reimbursed properly. Or if they fail to live up to those lofty expectations you can be content with the understanding that you gave it your best effort and knowing there’s plenty of money to be earned as a tradesperson.
I really enjoyed this story. There is not a lot of action, it is essentially a straightforward telling of a man’s stint in a institute of higher learning. My main gripe is the lack of character development. As ever present as some of these characters seem to be, you really are not sure of who they are and what becomes of them. There are also some things that are hinted at throughout that novel that are not addressed throughout the rest of the novel. These holes did not hold me back from thoroughly enjoying this story and I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a novel with plenty of interesting topics that bring about further contemplation and discussion.
“I had a flashback of Alice as a child. Like most children, she had a fascination with puddles. She was compelled to stomp in them. Her desire seemingly increasing by how much damage the water would do to her clothes. I realized as I stood there in the rain that I was a lot like her. I was also compelled – as I think a lot of curious people are – to learn new things. The lectures and discussions here were my puddles. Continuing to stand there, I realized I needed a new hook for my article. I needed to show people the people’s.”
Academics, Career, Crisis, Family, Fiction, Higher Learning, Integrity, Journalism, Mid-Life, Mystery, New York, School
Coming of Age in the Dawn of a New Age
Can You See Me Now?
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A New Meaning To The Expression Down Under In Australia
“I thought of the divisions, within and through my city, small ones, cracks in pavements and in people’s minds, that were familiar, nondescript, repeated as often as the scene in front of me was repeated, glowing and then gone. I thought of bigger divisions, moral and political, how Eden Carmichael had moved across them, and how that movement might be felt in the air. Just then, Canberra seemed to be a city struggling to give itself some kind of independent life.”
A publicly approved politician seems like somewhat of an anomaly to me, but a private sexually adventurous cross dressing politician somehow doesn’t; things that make you go hmmmmm. Eden is a story of dual-identities and direct misrepresentation. In the first case a conservative politician named Edward Carmichael is focused on establishing electronic censorship through ventures designed to produce filters for the internet after headlining a long-standing platform promoting anti-censorship. Working with the legislative assembly, an executive order is placed to protect the youth from easily accessible filth while surfing the web. But Edward also has an ulterior motive, and he needs the help of the senate to make it happen. On the other end of the identity conundrum there is a conflicted person that is bound by her progressive nature in her sexual freedom and desires, she is known by a select few as Eden Carmichael. When Eden abruptly dies of an apparent heart attack at her most frequented brothel, business owner and pseudo private investigator Sandra Mahoney is hired to find out the truth behind the censorship legislation and ends up being drawn in to the mystery surrounding one fateful January day. Typically she works in partnership with her “live in boyfriend” Ivan Semyonov, but while he is in Russia taking care of extended family matters, Sandra must take sole responsibility of Canberra’s fastest growing problem with help from her network of colleagues. Sandra doesn’t have the “look” of a professional investigator, to most she wouldn’t be regarded as a woman merely dressed for success. Lucky for her she dresses according to a psychological mindset that will best enable her to manipulate her persons of interest and get what she wants. Public perception aside, appearances can be deceiving and in the end it will raise the question of how far you’re willing to go to protect your true identity?
A politician, a floral shop owner, a movie producer and a madam walk into a bar…
“My first impression had been that Denise copied Margot in her style of dress, but now I wasn’t sure. I sensed that both had learnt to treat free talk as suspect, synonymous with waste. Say only as much as a client may be entitled to insist on, and no more. Dignity coexisted with a studied reticence. Words failed, or were inadequate, for so much. In a brothel, I suspected, they became a measure of the margins.
You can see the effort the author put forth in gathering information and showcase the knowledge needed to represent credibility with her story. I was hoping the author would delve a little more into the security concerns surrounding the internet and not solely fixate on the untimely deaths of the character. Making it more technology based would have made it more complex than a straight up murder mystery. There were also quite a few loose ends and I would have appreciated more digging and closure. Another problem I had with this novel was that I really felt lost at points and definitely felt the effects of not reading the two prior books in the series; something I take issue with serial novels. The biggest problem I had with this novel was that I couldn’t figure out in full, who exactly is Sandra Mahoney? What made her tick? Sandra felt blurry to me and I would have liked to have a better understanding.
The blurb on the back of the book mentioned “V.I. Warshawski, Canberra style”, and I saw many similarities between the troubled love life and even the apologies enlisted to the neglected dog for the lack of outdoor entertainment. I read Critical Mass by Sara Paretsky and that book blew me away with the depths that the author traveled to form the story. Eden was certainly enthralling, but it didn’t achieve the same response from me. I truly believe over time Dorothy Johnston will be well on her way to amazing work with Sandra Mahoney, and after reading reviews of her prior novels, it seems she has made great progress. Keep up the good work.
“The end of life in Jenny Bishop’s room smelt soft, rotting, sweet. There were a million ways for life to leave a body, a million small ways every second, so common as not to be remarked on, as unworthy of comment as masturbating in a handkerchief.”
Australia, Crime, Fiction, Heroine, Internet, Mystery, Politics, Private Eye, Taboo, Technology, Thriller
Big Talents, Big Dreams, All I Need is The Big Wide Calm
Once Upon a Time There was Humanity
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Tag Archives: World War I
Baseball on the Front Lines, 1917
In 1917, a soldier with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Third Battalion, First Brigade, just returned from Europe, wrote a letter to Grantland Rice of The New York Tribune, just as many Canadian troops were about to be supplanted by newly arrived Americans at the front lines. The soldier said he was writing Rice to tell him “something about bomb throwing” and how the best pitchers of the day would fare in Europe:
“It is not speed that is counted upon, unless it is getting the bomb away, once you pull the pin, and in the second place, it is not a baseball throw that hurls the bomb into the trenches. It is more of a throw on the style of a cricket player with an overhand delivery that loops the bomb into the enemy trench. A straight throw, such as an outfielder’s peg or a slap across the diamond, would invariably hit the top of the parapet and do no mortal damage.”
The soldier also wrote about baseball games near the front:
“Let me tell you, Mr. Rice, about baseball in France. We Canucks surely did have to have a game to try to try to get our minds off the hell that was going on, and it would have done Ban Johnson’s heart good to see two rival teams playing within a mile and a half of the firing line.”
With bombs dropping near their “stone-based diamond,” the game went on as though it were taking place in “some back lot in Toronto,” and the soldier claimed an outfielder briefly chased what he thought was a fly ball that turned out to be “a four-pounder from the Huns that lit and puffed up in the next field.”
The soldier said he wanted Rice to understand that although they were “intermingled in all the most vivid essences of hell, sport is the only relaxation for the nerve-wrecked body.”
American soldiers play baseball at the front in gas masks, 1918
He wanted Americans to know that just “because you are in this scrap” that baseball should continue to be played in the states.
The soldier closed by saying he would like to return to the front:
“I would like to get back to it, but that is impossible now, and we who have returned look to see many of your boys take our places, for God knows we have done our bit.
“No. 7,128—A Co., 3d Bat., 1st Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force.”
Tags: Ban Johnson, Grantland Rice, World War I
“Some Players seem Terribly Stupid”
Henry Beach Needham was a journalist and fiction writer, best known for being a long-time friend, and occasional biographer of President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1906, he approached Connie Mack with a request to travel with the Philadelphia Athletics and publish a profile of the manager and his players.
Initially apprehensive, Mack allowed Needham to accompany the club and two became close friends.
Over the next nine years (until he was killed in a plane crash in France while covering the war) Needham would write many profiles of his friend Mack in pages of “McClure’s Magazine,” and syndicated in many newspapers.
In 1911, just before the start of the World Series, he asked Mack:
“What is the first thing you demand in a youngster?’
“’Speed!’ replied Mack. ‘Double plays are what lose you your games. A slow man gets doubled up at first. The only excuse for having a slow man—unless he’s a first-class pitcher or a splendid catcher—is that he can play the hit-and-run. If he can’t signal to the base runner and then connect with the ball, he will hit into a double play—and there goes your game.”
Next, Needham asked if “baseball brains” were next in importance:
“’Y-e-s,’ replied Mack, with some hesitation, and then he qualified:
“’Hold on! There’s something to be said about gray matter. Some players seem terribly stupid. Why—you can tell ‘em a thing over and over, and they will go into the game and do exactly opposite to what you have told them. Then—all of a sudden it will come to them—and then they have it. Why—I know a great player in our league. For two or three years he was as stupid a player as you ever saw. Then—suddenly it all came to him. Now he won’t make the wrong play twice in a season.’”
Needham asked about players staying in condition:
“’I take that for granted,’ said Mack. “Major league players have got to be in condition—or their clubs can’t win. I haven’t any rules. Why—I never have had any. But my men always take care of themselves. This may interest you:
“’Before the World Series last year I got my team in a room together. Why—I told them that, no matter what the results, we didn’t want to have any regrets. I reminded them how in other years it was said that the losing team hadn’t taken care of themselves. Then I said that I wanted every man who could honestly promise to say that he wouldn’t take a drink until the series was over.’
“’Now, if there is one of you who can’t do without his drink,’ I said to them, ‘I want him to say so.’ Then I went down the line, and they all promised, every one of the 23.’
“’Why—I’m morally certain that not one of those 23 men touched a drop in those two weeks. And a few of them are accustomed to have their bottle of beer every day of their lives.’”
The sober Athletics
Needham said there was discipline on Mack’s club, but it was “discipline through force of example:”
“Connie Mack does not smoke or drink—merely because he cares for neither—and he is clean as a hound’s tooth.”
Needham, who said “No one can get (Mack) to prophecy” made a prediction about the manager, then 48-years-old:
“Twenty years may elapse before Connie Mack wins his last pennant.”
Mack did win his final pennant twenty years later in 1931.
Tags: Connie Mack, Henry Beach Needham, Philadelphia Athletics, Theodore Roosevelt, World War I, Worlds Series
Letters from the Front–Joe Jenkins
When Joe Jenkins, backup catcher for the Chicago White Sox, enlisted in the army shortly after the 1917 World Series, it didn’t cause much concern for the team’s prospects. The Chicago Daily News said:
“With Ray Schalk behind the plate, the Sox could give away a dozen Jenkinses and not miss them.”
Malcolm MacLean of The Chicago Evening Post said regardless of Jenkins’ value to the White Sox, the catcher was committed to the war effort. He recounted a conversation with the usually “happy-go-lucky” Jenkins during Chicago’s spring trip to Marlin Springs, Texas before the 1917 season:
“(I) spied Jenkins sitting alone in the smoking compartment of the special car. There was no smile on his face. He invited us to have a seat.
“’”I’m thinking about this war,’ he said. ‘It’s up to us young, unmarried fellows to get busy, and I’m going to be one of them within a few months.’”
Jenkins went to officer’s training school at Camp Gordon, Georgia, and then to France as a second lieutenant with the 132nd Infantry Regiment, composed primarily of soldiers from Chicago’s South Side.
Jenkins at Camp Gordon
Shortly after the armistice was signed in November of 1918, MacLean was a given a letter Jenkins had written to a friend in Chicago several weeks earlier. MacLean said Jenkins had been “promoted, while under fire from second to first lieutenant.”
According to MacLean, “At one stage of the game, all the other officers of his company being disabled, Jenkins commanded his company in an advance,” and as a result received the promotion. MacLean said Johnny Evers mentioned in a letter that he had met Jenkins in France shortly after the latter was promoted.
Jenkins also wrote two letters to White Sox President Charles Comiskey—as with the letter MacLean was given, both letters to Comiskey were written before the armistice, but received weeks after—and were printed in Chicago newspapers.
In the first, Jenkins wrote:
“My Dear Mr. Comiskey…I have been in the front line for four days, having gone up to look over the situation with the major.
“Believe me, I am a brave man, but I did not bargain to eat any of these high explosives. One of the shells just missed me about ten feet. It hit on top of the trench and had it hit in the trench I would not be writing to you today.
“To be honest with you, this is some league that I am in and it is a lot faster than the old American, for you know that when you boot one in this league you are through and can’t come back.”
Jenkins wrote to Comiskey again, approximately three weeks later:
“Well I thought you had forgotten me, but today I got your letter, and you may be sure that I was delighted to hear from you. We have been scrapping for the past ten days on the Meuse, North of Verdun, and believe me, the fighting has been hot and sharp. We have just been moved to a more quiet sector, the purpose for which is rest, and believe me we can use it nicely. It is becoming apparent that Germany is through, and in the last offensive I was in their spirit and morale was at a very low ebb.”
Jenkins also assured Comiskey that the Chicago Southsiders in the 132nd “can go some.”
The catcher told Comiskey he planned on joining the Sox at Mineral Wells in the spring of 1919 and promised:
“I will bring something back in the line of a trophy for your office with me as shipping it would be risky. This trophy that I refer to was taken where the fighting was thickest.”
There is no record of what the “trophy” was or whether Jenkins brought it to Comiskey.
Jenkins said in closing:
“Give my regards to all the boys and tell them that in this league over here the pitchers all have plenty on everything that they throw.”
Jenkins made it back to the US on April 15, 1919—on the same ship as Sergeant Grover Cleveland Alexander—The Chicago Tribune said:
“Jenkins fought in Flanders, the Argonne, and St. Mihiel. He escaped unwounded and looks ready to play baseball at a moment’s notice.”
Sergeant Grover Cleveland Alexander
He didn’t make it to Mineral Wells but joined the Sox for their opener in St. Louis. The Daily News said he told manager Kid Gleason he was available to pinch hit:
“’You know I’m a valuable man in a pinch, Kid. When I came up to hit in a pinch over there the Kaiser lit out for Holland and he’s been there ever since.”
1919 White Sox, Jenkins is bottom left
Ready to play or not, Jenkins appeared in just 11 games for the pennant-winning White Sox—four behind the plate—and had three hits in 19 at bats.
He remained with the Sox through the 1919 World Series—a member of two World Series teams, he did not appear in a game in either series—and was released that winter.
His big league career over, Jenkins played 11 more seasons in the minors, retiring in 1930.
Tags: Charles Comiskey, Chicago White Sox, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Joe Jenkins, Johnny Evers, Kid Gleason, Malcolm MacLean, World Series, World War I
In June of 1918 it was announced that King George V would be attending, and throwing out the first pitch, at the July 4 baseball game between the United States army and navy teams.
The Associated Press (AP) said the King was looking for help to prepare for the Independence Day game:
“At the request of the king, Arlie Latham, a former big league player, who will umpire the Fourth of July game, sent the King a regulation baseball a few days ago. The next day Latham called at the Palace and gave the King a brief lesson as to how the baseball should be handled.
“The proper form in pitching was rather hard for the King to get, as he is used to a different type of throw, as in cricket, but the royal student finally began to get something approaching the right swing. Since then the King has been practicing in his spare moments on a blank wall in the garden.
“The King has expressed hope that he will be able to throw out the ball in a manner to win the approval of the American Rooters.”
Whether he actually practiced is unknown, but the plan to have the King throw out the first ball was scrapped, and he instead walked the ball out to Umpire Latham and handed it to him.
Regardless of how the ball was delivered, the press in London understood the gravity of the gesture.
The London Daily Telegraph said:
“Nothing will give greater pleasure across the Atlantic than the appearance of the King and Queen at the baseball match at Chelsea. That mark of understanding and attention will appeal to the heart of America far more than any military pageant or review, and the handing out of the ball by the king to the players—an act which will seem trivial and incomprehensible to the German mind—is likely to do more toward the removal of century-old prejudice in America against the name ‘King George’ than the ablest diplomacy or the most persuasive rhetoric.”
The London Daily Sketch memorialized the event in verse:
“King George III with cannon balls
Did try our brothers to dispatch.
King George V the country calls
To watch with him their baseball match.”
King George shakes hand with Lt. Mims, captain of the army team. Admiral William Sims looks on.
On July 4 The AP reported:
“King George saw the American Army defeated in a hard-fought baseball game today. The opponent of the army team was one picked from the American navy, which won by a score of 2 to 1. Every one of the nine innings had its thrills for the more than 18,000 spectators.
“King George followed the game closely and enjoyed it thoroughly. At the close he turned to Admiral (William) Sims and General (John) Biddle and expressed the hope that he might be able to see many more games before the summer was over.
“Few sporting events since the war began have aroused so much interest and discussion in London as yesterday’s game. Independence Day was on everybody’s lips…For several days the newspapers have been explaining baseball and the people of London have been pouring over the mysteries of the American national game, instinctively trying to find in it some parallel to their own cricket. Many persons went to the game armed with clippings and drawings of a diamond showing the position of the players.
“American soldiers and sailors on their way to the game were heartily cheered. Outside the entrance to the Chelsea football grounds, where the game was played, the people lined the streets for several blocks and crowded the windows in their homes to watch the crowds.”
Hall of Famer Herb Pennock pitched for the navy team which was captained by his Red Sox teammate Mike McNally.
Most sources reported the the attendance as 18,000. McNally, in a letter to Red Sox Secretary Larry Graver said in a letter reprinted by The AP:
“There were some 50,000 people present. King George, Admiral Sims, and a lot of other ‘big guys.'”
The wire service summed up the importance of the day:
“No Country ever celebrated the national anniversary of another country as the people of Great Britain today celebrated the Fourth of July.”
Tags: Arlie Latham, Boston Red Sox, Herb Pennock, Larry Garver, Mike McNally, World War I
Dispatch from the Front—March 1918
“Supply exhausted of first base mitts, masks, catchers’ mitts, protectors, fielders’ gloves and rules supply low. Spring supplies should be rushed as rapidly as possible on different ships. Increase of athletic goods essential. Unexpected needs in front require a large increase.”
The New York Sun said the above cablegram was sent from France to the Y.M.C.A. in New York.
“It calls attention to what our men overseas regard as one great deficiency in the equipment of the United States troops. Baseball is still our national game, even over there in Flanders, and the basemen object to taking hard throws from across the diamond with their bare hands.”
US troops play baseball in France, 1918
The Sun said the Y.M.C.A. had already provided to “the men of the expeditionary forces in France: 79,680 baseballs and 19,000 bats, 8,000 fielders’ gloves, 2,000 catchers’ mitts,” and more was on the way.
“When the umpire calls ‘play ball!’ American soldiers forget all about the grim business of war. A baseball game…for the time being is the principal object in life. The game must be played with all the national enthusiasm. It must be played right. That’s why they want more rule books. The few that went over have been thumbed so much that the replenishing supply is made part of a cable message at so much a word.”
“Play makes the boys who are fighting for democracy forget that they are fighters and recall that they are democratic. Old-fashioned army officers who were bitterly opposed to the introduction of such fol de rol into the training of the greatest army the United States ever has been called to raise have retracted their strictures against the innovation. “These men know how to play now; at least 70 per cent of them had no idea of where to begin when they were sent to training camps. So war has done what the most prominent advocates of physical training and scientific play have failed to do. It has made the young men of America nearly 100 percent interested in athletics as active participants.”
Dr. George J. Fisher of the Y.M.C.A. said:
“’These boys who are sending for mitts and gloves aren’t going to give up playing ball when they come home and the victory has been won. They are coming home to make America what many of us have been trying to make her—a play nation.”
Tags: World War I
The 1918 New York Giants and Army Band and Color Guard from Governor’s Island on Opening Day.
Tags: A Thousand Words, New York Giants, Opening Day, World War I
Baseball’s First Chinese Player
Vernon L. Ayau’s professional career lasted less than half of one season, but in the process, he became the first Chinese player in professional baseball and his signing nearly broke up a league.
Ayau, born January 31, 1894, in Maui, Hawaii, played on the Chinese University of Hawaii team that toured the US in 1913, 14 and 15. He was said to have caught the eye many in professional baseball including New York Giants manager John McGraw.
Chinese University Team
Ayau was described as a slick fielding shortstop with an excellent arm, but a weak hitter. In December of 1916, he was offered a contract by Bill Leard, manager of the Seattle Giants in the Northwestern League. Leard played against Ayau when he went to Hawaii after the 1916 season with an all-star team put together by former Northwestern and Pacific Coast League player Charles “Cy” Swain.
Within weeks, Northwest League players passed a petition expressing their displeasure with the signing, and newspapers in league cities came out strongly against Ayau.
Anti-Chinese sentiment was especially strong in areas where Chinese workers were being hired as miners, and mining unions in Butte and Great Falls (two league cities) threatened to “take action to have (Ayau) removed from the league.” Shortly before the signing, a Chinese mine worker had been dropped from a bridge into the Missouri River by members of the miners union.
Leard received death threats but along with Seattle’s ownership held his ground and Ayau was on Seattle’s opening day roster.
His time with Seattle only lasted until May 20 when Leard announced his release. Despite the early threats of boycotts and other action, he was actually signed and released by Tacoma and later Vancouver in the Northwest League over the next six weeks.
By July 1917, Ayau’s career in professional baseball was over. He hit only .203 in 133 at bats with the three teams. Contemporary news reports noted his weak hitting but universally praised his glove and arm. That month he joined a semi-pro team in Wildwood, NJ that also included his former Chinese University teammate Lee Tin.
After serving in the US Army as a member of the infantry in France, Ayau returned to New Jersey where he continued to play semi-pro ball for several years.
He died in Penns Grove, New Jersey on March 28, 1976.
Tags: Bill Laird, College Baseball, Cy Swain, John McGraw, Northwestern League, Seattle Giants, Vernon Ayau, World War I
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Metropolitan Bank - Get News & Ratings Daily
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Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, “Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. is the holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank(R), The Entrepreneurial Bank. The company is a chartered commercial bank which provides deposits, small business lending, trade finance, cash management solutions, speciality markets, personal checking, savings, electronic banking and prepaid cards. It operates primarily in Manhattan, Boro Park, Brooklyn and Great Neck, Long Island. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. is headquartered in New York City. “
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Separately, TheStreet downgraded Tesla from a c- rating to a d+ rating in a report on Monday, April 29th.
Shares of MCB opened at $43.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $367.11 million, a P/E ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.29. Metropolitan Bank has a fifty-two week low of $29.05 and a fifty-two week high of $53.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.79.
Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.26. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 27.33%. The company had revenue of $23.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.76 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, COO Gerard A. Perri sold 2,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.15, for a total value of $108,018.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 16.40% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 528.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY boosted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 356.4% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY now owns 2,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Marshall Wace North America L.P. bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 331.6% in the first quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 4,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.02% of the company’s stock.
About Metropolitan Bank
Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.
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Humanitarian Efforts
First Nation Growers
Patient Assessment Form
Shayne Corson, Director of Beast & Buddies Life Enhancement Services:
Shayne Corson is the Director of Life Enhancement Services for Beast & Buddies. Shayne is best known for his two-decade professional hockey career and is considered to be one of the best two-way players in the history of the game. His incredible work ethic and dynamic skill set led him to 2,357 penalty minutes over 1157 NHL games spanning 19 seasons. Shayne was a stellar post-season performer, netting 38 goals, 86 points and 277 penalty minutes in 133 career playoff games. Shayne was a fan favourite throughout his National Hockey League career, which included stints with the Montreal Canadiens (twice), Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs. Shayne was a three-time NHL All-Star (1990, 1994, and 1998). A proud Canadian, Shayne represented the Maple Leaf internationally on numerous occasions, including Silver and Gold medal performances for the Canadian World Junior Team in 1984 and 1985. Shayne played in the 1991 Canada Cup sharing the ice with line mate Wayne Gretzky. Shayne was also on the 1998 Canadian Olympic Team in Nagano, Japan as a line mate to Eric Lindros.
Shayne’s journey to hockey success was not a simple one. When he was 15, Shayne began suffering from severe health problems that would eventually be diagnosed as ulcerative colitis. Shayne persevered through the often severe-pain caused by the condition and managed the often debilitating disease throughout his NHL career.
“I wasn’t going to let it hold back from what I wanted to do.” – Shayne Corson on his battles with ulcerative colitis.
With this mindset, Shayne proved to the world that nothing could stop him from accomplishing his dreams and goals.
Since retiring from the NHL in 2004, Shayne has been successfully involved in the Restaurant business, as well as supporting numerous charity events. Shayne makes regular appearances on behalf of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Rogers Communications and many other organizations. Without a surprise, Shayne continues to be a vocal advocate for ulcerative colitis research and awareness. Shayne’s most important legacy, though, maybe his incredible bravery in bringing a greater discussion of mental health issues.
Sadly, there remains a pervasive stigma around mental health. Talking about it is often very difficult, especially in the arena of professional sports. Shayne himself kept his mental health issues hidden for many years before beginning to speak publicly about his battles in 2003. He understood how important it could be for someone of his celebrity to come forward and talk openly about this very human situation.
“I started to talk publicly about it a number of years ago because I wanted to share my story and let other people know help is available.” – Shayne Corson discussing mental health awareness.
Shayne’s courage has inspired many people, including other professional athletes, to seek care for their mental health challenges.
Shayne was one of the driving forces behind the creation of “Hockey Night in Barrie” (Now “Hockey Night in Simcoe County) the star-studded annual event allows fans to see Shayne and other NHL legends play with local celebrities and politicians. “Hockey Night” has now raised more than $1.2 million for the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH). Shayne was especially delighted to learn the proceeds from this year’s event will be divided between the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre, and the future child and youth mental health inpatient unit at the health centre. There are currently no inpatient mental health services available to youth in North Simcoe / Muskoka, and as a result, children must be referred to facilities outside the region.
Email Shayne
Bryan Trottier, Director of Athlete & Pet Recovery Solutions:
Bryan Trottier is one of the greatest two-way centers ever to play professional hockey! His influential career won him 2 Stanley Cups in Pittsburg. During his 18 seasons on the ice, he played on 6 Stanley Cups winning teams including four consecutive wins with the New York Islanders.
Bryan played in the obscurity until chosen for the Lenthbridge Broncos. He was selected by telephone to play in the NHL when he was underage. This is when Bryan’s hard work and consistency paid off and came to life. One thing about Bryan is that he never took his role in the NHL for granted and always felt privileged to lead such a fantastic career.
It is no surprise that we found him inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. His hard work combined with great players along his side lead him to a good rookie season, where he mostly played with Billie Harris and Clark Gillies for the first year. Their scoring abilities combined with strong power play had Bryan set a scoring record of 32 goals, 63 assists, for 95 points; leading him to win the Calder Trophy. Bryan felt privileged to play with Mike Bossy for almost 10 years, stating Mike as being “the most significant individual player who contributed to my success.” The intense chemistry they had on the ice with the rest of the team lead them to win 4 Stanley Cups in Long Island.
Bryan is now semi-retired supporting fund raisers and visiting First Nations Communities across Canada… inspiring and motivating young student athletes to pursue their dreams and continue their education.
Email Bryan
Chief Isadore Day:
Isadore Day, Wiindawtegowinini, is an Anishinabe from Serpent River First Nation. A former Regional Chief of Ontario, Lake Huron Region Grand Chief and Vice Chair the North Shore Tribal Council, he has served 15 years as an elected leader for First Nations and has handled various high-level policy files.
Chief Day has been involved in various boards and committees; at both regional and national levels over the past two decades while remaining a strong grassroots visionary. With a background in Social Sciences, Business, Public Administration and Governance – he is a firm believer that education is culturally rooted and bridged into mainstream disciplines is essential to success. His most personably noted accomplishment was repatriating First Nation Children back to his First Nation from mainstream foster care systems. He has been an energy policy leader, community developer and a tireless advocate for First Nation treaty rights.
Chief Day is the founder and CEO of Bimaadzwin, an organization dedicated to advancing First Nations through sovereignty and economic development.
Email Chief Day
Mel Woolsey, Director of Brand Development:
Mel Woolsey is an Entrepreneurial, high-energy executive with 15+ years of leadership successes piloting sport apparel brands such as No Fear, Rival and Kewl to new heights of recognition and profitability, through incisive marketing strategies that speak the culture of hockey, and relationships with widely regarded professional athletes.
Mel had an extensive list of NHL players that were considered friends and gave that credit to his lifetime friend Shayne Corson who Mel says invited him to everything he could from the Montreal training Camp in Russia to the 1991 Canada Cup. In 1993, Mel moved to Edmonton along with his best friend Shayne who was traded to the Edmonton Oilers from the Montreal Canadiens, leading Mel to practice with the Oilers as a goaltender on a regular basis.
With Mel’s extensive relationships he was retained by the premier athletic apparel brand “No Fear” in 1995 to lead the company’s penetration of the hockey market along with CFL and Canadian extreme sports athletes, capture media coverage of key players wearing “No Fear” product, and craft high-impact graphics, slogans, and advertising campaigns. This new position meant that Mel would have to move to Vancouver to work out of the Canadian office although the head office in Carlsbad California hired Mel. Once moved to Vancouver Mel’s good friend Mike Burnstein from Hamilton, Ontario was the head Medical Trainer for the Canucks and wasted no time making a stall in the dressing room where Mel started practicing with the Vancouver Canucks.
Mel went on to recruit players such as Shayne Corson, Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Steve Yzerman, Brian Marchment and many others in hockey, CFL and extreme sports. These athletes would wear the “No Fear” brand on TV and through News Print building the brand become world known. In 1996 the NHL wanted to start a new apparel brand made around the game of hockey and contacted Mel to be a part of this brand that would eventually be called RIVAL. Invited to assume leadership for the Sports Marketing division of this newly launched company, spearheading the development of a vigorously authentic hockey apparel brand from the grassroots level. With the NHL and the NHL Players not seeing eye to eye Mel was strategically put in place to harness the relationships between both parties.
Mel was also the President and CEO of the Hockey Apparel Brand named “KEWL,” a creation between Mel, Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and Tim Clayden that took place in 1998. We now have him on board with Beast & Buddies where his knowledge and active past in the sports industry will be an asset!
Email Mel
Anthony D. King: National Sales Director:
Anthony King has been very fortunate to work with a diversified group of people in a variety of professions throughout his career. He is a people-person who is organized, detail-oriented, conscientious, and able to operate autonomously while utilizing good problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Anthony is an accomplished sales professional in the Brewery Industry with vast experience and a history of exceeding targets and objectives, all of which prepare him well for partnering with New World Pharmers. Anthony brings a high level of credibility through his involvement in sitting on several Boards, including Co-Chairing the Ontario Craft Brewers Association which has given him insight into Federal Government branding and distribution objectives.
Anthony has been privileged to work in both major and micro-breweries, and his skill set from his experience has given him a competitive advantage and contributed to his solid track record of accomplishments. Proficient in Sales and LCBO Rules of Trade, Anthony is certified as a Prudhomme Level III Beer Sommelier which will provide him with an opportunity to offer added value to marketing and sampling programs to licensees and home consumer events featuring the New World Pharmers Brand.
Email Anthony
Tim W. Clayden: Founder, Director of Marketing, Communications & Corporate Culture:
Tim Clayden brings more than 27 years of Junior Hockey administration and management experience. Tim’s administrative and hands-on approach has established grassroots fundamental management practices that are now in use throughout the game of Junior Hockey today. As a people ‘centric’ person understanding the value of customer relations, Tim has utilized those skills to become a successful owner, Team Governor, Head Coach, General Manager, and Treasurer-Secretary at every level from Junior “C” to Junior “A” hockey within the Hockey Canada umbrella. This includes the Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. He briefly coached the Merritt Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League where he diversified his career and soon joined the public relations and marketing division of the Victoria Cougars Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club of the renowned Western Hockey League.
During his tenure in the OJHL, Tim Clayden held the position of OJHL 1st Vice-Chairman of the league’s Hockey Operations Committee and Chair of its Contraction Committee. As an OJHL Board Member, league owners and his peers voted Tim in for 9 consecutive years. It was Tim Clayden’s vision, tenacity and willingness to bring all owners together to work as one under one league umbrella along with current OJHL Commissioner Marty Savoy and fellow OJHL Executive Board Members at the time, which has helped define how the OJHL operates today, within the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
All Copyrights Reserved © Website By New World Pharmers
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Woman Leaves $5000 Tip on Boyfriends Credit Car after Argument…. Gets Arrested.
Clearwater police say a woman was angry when her boyfriend wouldn’t fly her home to New York, so she charged more than $5,000 on his credit card, according to an affidavit.
Police said Serina Wolfe, 24, of Buffalo, New York, and her boyfriend got into an argument because she wanted to buy a plane ticket using a credit card in his name.
Wolfe’s boyfriend refused to do this and placed a hold on the card, but once it was removed on June 27, she made a $55.37 purchase at Clear Sky Cafe, 490 Mandalay Avenue, with a $5,000 tip, police said.
When asked, Wolfe denied making the purchase and her boyfriend reported the charge as fraudulent.
His credit card company notified Clear Sky of the purchase, but the restaurant had already paid the waitress for $5,000 tip.
Detectives say Wolfe later admitted to using the credit card to pay for the expensive meal and handed them the card that she used.
Wolfe’s boyfriend told police he believed she was intoxicated at the time.
Wolfe was arrested and charged with grand theft. She is being held at the Pinellas County Jail on a $2,000 bond.
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Located on the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the joint capital of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. The city is usually just called Santa Cruz and is located in the north east of Tenerife, around 210 km off the north western coast of Africa. Located in the city is the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Canarian Ministry of the Presidency, which is shared on a 4 year term with Las Palmas, half of the Ministries and Boards of the Canarian Government (the other half is in Gran Canaria), the Tenerife Provincial Courts and two courts of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
The city's port plays an important role in trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The city is the focus for domestic and inter-island communications in the Canary Islands. Ferry services from the port depart to mainland Spain, the rest of the Canary Islands and beyond.
Las Palmas Guide
The Spanish city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the capital of the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. The city lies in the north eastern part of the island and sits across two bays and a number of lovely beaches. The city was founded in 1478 and has an important cultural and historical heritage which seems to be centred in the district of Vegueta which is the oldest part of the city and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. The city is also home to one of the most important ports, Puerto de la Luz, in Europe which helps to give the city a lovely cosmopolitan feel. There are many things to see and do in the city but a short distance away from the city's centre visitors will find lovely beaches and crystal clear waters.
From the city's port ferry services provide connections to several islands (Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, Tenerife) and also the south of Spain (Huelva and Cadiz).
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Location: Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Las Palmas Ferry
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north south relations
BrexitLawNI project reports
14/09/2018Committee on the Administration of JusticePublications, Reports
Brexit will have detrimental consequences for the peace process in Northern Ireland and will weaken human rights and equality protections, according to six interlinked reports unveiled by BrexitLawNI. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), BrexitLawNI is a research partnership between human rights experts from CAJ and researchers from the Schools of Law...
Submission to the Review of European Parliament Constituencies in Ireland
Due to Brexit, plans have been made to redistribute the UK’s 73 MEP seats at the European Parliament. As a result, Ireland will gain an additional two seats. In preparation for this major change, an independent committee has been established by the Irish government to review the current MEP constituencies in Ireland. A period of...
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Calgary doctor honoured by Japanese emperor
Chris Nelson, For The Calgary Herald
Dr. Tetsuo Yoshida receiving citation as part of award ceremony from consul Kunihiko Tanabe, The Emperor of Japan has honored a long-time Calgary chiropractor, diamond hunter, black-belt holder and friend to busted-up cowboys everywhere. Photo credit: Marina Nelson 82-year-old Dr. Tetsuo Yoshida was this week awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays citation and medal, one of only 149 individuals chosen worldwide for such an honor in the annual Fall list presented by the Japanese government on behalf of the Emperor.
The emperor of Japan has honoured a long-time Calgary chiropractor, diamond hunter, black-belt holder and friend to busted-up cowboys everywhere.
Eighty-two-year-old Dr. Tetsuo Yoshida was this week awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays citation and medal, one of only 149 individuals chosen worldwide for such an honour in the annual fall list presented by the Japanese government on behalf of the emperor.
Yoshida was chosen because of his many years of work with Calgary’s Japanese Language School, which he first joined as a student in 1975. After graduating, he became deeply involved in building the curriculum and helping to manage and grow the organization, for which he now serves as president.
“He has played a major role in the spread of the Japanese language and the introduction of Japanese customs and culture to people of all backgrounds in Calgary.
“At the Calgary Japanese Language School, the emphasis is not simply on language education, but also is focused on the teaching of respective seasonal events which are rooted in Japanese culture, including New Year’s Celebration, the Doll Festival, and the Star Festival, among others, while allowing the students to experience the customs of each event, thereby introducing and spreading the culture of Japan,” read the citation announcing the honour.
Kunihiko Tanabe, Japan’s consul general for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, presented the award at a ceremony in Calgary on Thursday evening.
“I am very honored and very humbled by this,” said Yoshida, who still works full-time as a chiropractor out of his Forest Lawn office in southeast Calgary.
In addition to promoting the Japanese language at the school, which holds classes at Calgary’s Queen Elizabeth High School, Yoshida is a black belt in judo and a determined prospector for diamonds.
“It started when I was a small kid, looking for gold in the Kamloops area, and then I decided to look for diamonds instead,” he said.
He is convinced the motherlode of those rare gems is waiting to be found in the Calling Lake area near Athabasca in northern Alberta, an area where he and partners staked a mineral claim years ago after first carrying out aerial magnetic profiling and investigative seismic work.
During his long career, the doctor has also worked closely with the Calgary Stampede and various U.S. rodeos by offering his chiropractic help to cowboys who are injured.
“I learned a lot through that. Actually, I’m still learning, every day,” he said.
The Order of The Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to the promotion of Japanese culture and international relations.
Alberta Health stats show spike in carfentanil deaths in Calgary Parents angry young students forced to watch Netflix cartoons in CBE...
City of Calgary development notices
Public Notice Provided byCity of Calgary
Public Notice – Development Permits for the week of [July 18, 2019]
Public Notice – Development Permits for the week of [July 11th, 2019]
Public Notice – Development Permits for the week of [July 4th, 2019]
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CLSA featured in BioPharmaDive: Cali to Massachusetts: We’re the better biotech hub
By Jacob Bell | View Original Article at BioPharma Dive
Dive Brief:
California and Massachusetts are largely considered the top two biotech hubs in the U.S., but recent data finds the Golden State holds key advantages over its cross-country rival.
Venture capital flooded into the West Coast state during the first half of 2017, totaling $6.6 billion — or more than double the investment seen in Massachusetts — according to a report from California Life Sciences Association and PwC. California has also received more digital health venture capital funding and grant money from the National Institutes of Health than any other state this year.
Effectually, the report counters claims that Massachusetts is home to the best congregation of biotechs in the world. In October, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council published an industry snapshotthat touted how the state saw $2.9 billion worth of venture funding go into its biopharmas in 2016, and how it ranked best among all states in biotech R&D employment.
Dive Insight:
While holding the number-one-biotech-hub title may seem arbitrary, it can offer real economic benefits. Most drug manufacturers need large and diverse workforces to operate, and have the financial backing to provide competitive salaries. Knowing the boon those companies can provide to job creation and local economies, states and cities have tried to make themselves attractive places for the life sciences.
California and Massachusetts — and to a more specific degree, San Francisco and Boston — have arguably been the best at doing this. In the last decade or so they have unseated New Jersey, which was long biopharma’s main stomping ground, as the top biotech hubs in the U.S. due in good part to tax laws and government investments that favor life science companies.
In many ways, the two states are already seeing their return on investment. California saw its life science industry employ nearly 300,000 people in the state and fetch $169 billion worth of revenues in 2016, according to California Life Sciences Association. And as of last year, the state was home to more than 3,200 life science businesses, including 1,453 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Cali touts more than double the funds granted to Mass
Cali touts more than double the funds granted to Mass Credit: California Life Sciences Association, 2018 Industry Report
California’s size and population surely help when it comes to biotechs settling in and hiring employees. Even so, the state was the clear leader in life sciences venture capital investment during the first two quarters.
“In addition, the state attracted more than $6.6 billion in life sciences venture capital investment in 2017. The next closest state, Massachusetts, drew less than half that amount,” touted the report.
It also topped the list for digital health venture capital investment, with $2.3 billion over the same period. Most of that money routed into digital diagnostics, consumer health and care management.
Credit: California Life Sciences Association, 2018 Industry Report
There were areas where California faltered, however. Though life sciences M&A activity remained robust, with 23 biopharma and 21 medical device transactions, dealmaking across all sectors in the state has taken a slight dip this year. What’s more, initial public offerings also declined year over year as of Sept. 7.
“Today, we can proudly say the life sciences ecosystem is healthy,” the report said. “Can it be improved? Absolutely. California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) works closely with industry, advocacy organizations, regulatory agencies, legislators and many others to make the system better. This spirit of collaboration is a major contributor to California’s success.”
View Original Article at BioPharma Dive
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The Things We Keep
Sally Hepworth
Anna Forster is only thirty-eight years old, but her mind is slowly slipping away from her. Armed only with her keen wit and sharp-eyed determination, she knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. But Anna has a secret: she does not plan on staying. She also knows there's just one another resident who is her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.
Eve Bennett, suddenly thrust into the role of single mother to her bright and vivacious seven-year-old daugher, finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them. Eve has her own secrets, and her own desperate circumstances that raise the stakes even higher.
With huge heart, humor, and a compassionate understanding of human nature, Sally Hepworth delivers a page-turning novel about the power of love to grow and endure even when faced with the most devastating of obstacles. You won’t forget The Things We Keep.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY NOV 2, 2015
Hepworth's second novel (after The Secrets of Midwives) explores issues of self-determination and identity through an unconventional tearjerker of a love story. Diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at 39, Anna has made the difficult decision to move into a residential care facility. Though she's mostly surrounded by senior citizens, there's one other self-described "young person, old mind": Luke, who suffers from frontotemporal dementia. The two immediately bond over their unlikely shared circumstance, and eventually their friendship moves into romance. But as Anna's condition worsens, the question of whether she is capable of relationships, or of falling in love, comes into question, and her family insists that she and Luke be kept apart. The home's new cook, Eve, is charmed by Luke and Anna's tale of star-crossed love, and she vows to help them at any cost but her understanding of the potential dangers is incomplete, and facilitating their romance could put more than just her job in jeopardy. The story's nonlinear structure, designed to mimic Anna's disorientation, cleverly obscures a few reveals that color the reader's perception of the dilemma at hand, and while none of these reveals are particularly surprising, they're no less heartbreaking. A supporting cast of quirky old folks and Eve's precocious daughter add levity to a poignant and nuanced story.
Kris Anderson, The Avid Reader , 03/05/2016
Not my cup of tea!
The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth is one of the most boring books I have read this year (and I have read some sleepers recently). The Things We Keep tells the story of Anna Forster whose mind has early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 38. After an incident at her brother’s home (fire and her nephew), she has decided that it is best for everyone if she goes into a home. Rosalind House is an assisted-living facility for seniors and they specialize in Alzheimer’s patients. Anna, though, does not plan on being at Rosalind House for long.
Eve Bennett is now a single mother (daughter, Clementine is 7) and has to go back to work (her husband, Richard did a Ponzi scheme and then killed himself). Eve graduated from the institute of Culinary Education in New York. She finds a job as chef at Rosalind House and it comes with perks (she gets to clean and help with residents in spare time with no extra pay). Eve is touched by Anna and her closeness to the other young resident, Luke (he has a different form of dementia that involves words). Anna and Luke have formed an attachment, but their families do not approve. Eve does not agree with the family’s decision to keep these two apart and tries to rectify it (Eve likes to stick her nose in everyone’s business). Is Eve willing to risk her job to help Anna and Luke? Will Anna succeed in her goal to end her life?
The Things We Keep is told from three different point of views (Anna’s, Eve, and Clementine’s). I found the writing to be very disjointed. The book also jumps around too much (different times, different people). There is too much going on in this book. The writer seemed determined to introduce the reader to every resident of Rosalind House (there are too many of them). I was also shocked at the treatment of the residents at Rosalind House. I would not let this place look after my pets, much less a relative (horrible care). I hope real assisted living facilities are not like Rosalind House. The story, I believe, is about how love endures no matter what (but it did not really come across in the book). I did not enjoy reading The Things We Keep (it reminded me of a very bad soap opera). The novel moved at a snail’s pace (maybe even slower) and it was not enjoyable to read. I give The Things We Keep 1 out of 5 stars (which means I really, really did not like the book).
I received a complimentary copy of The Things We Keep from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
More Books by Sally Hepworth
The Mother-in-Law
The Family Next Door
The Secrets of Midwives
The Mother's Promise
Weil ich dich nicht vergessen will
Anna Forster erinnert sich an die Liebe
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Tag: patricia mccormick
Jennifer Brown – Hate List
Whenever the subject of school shooting rears its head, someone has to point out that it’s a topic for overly-privileged kids. The mere act of talking about privilege in this context is a display of a lack of empathy, not a clever critique of society. It also misses the point, and why school shooting became so iconic. To understand that you have to understand what a terror attack is.
A terror attack isn’t one where people simply get hurt. Killing isn’t even the main objective. Terror is communicative violence, its purpose is to attack an icon and make everyone connect that icon to the event. Notice that the most famous terror attacks are always connected to a major place. The twin towers aren’t just big, but in an iconic place in an iconic city. The purpose was to make us always fear whenever we’re near that ground, and many will be near that ground since it’s so iconic. Terror attacks are meant to devastate us, to cause emotional damage far beyond the initial event.
Jennifer Brown generally takes the well-worn narrative of the school shooting, that of a bullied kid having his revenge on the world. Consciously or unconsciously though, she’s aware of the meaning of a school shooting, its similarity to a terror attack. Her book isn’t so much about bullying but about the devastating effect of a tragedy.
Although written in the typical form of a Young Adult novel – minimalist, first-person, a whole lot of reflection and emotional confession – the book tries to break outside its main character’s head. In the end of the novel Brown wrote this was Valerie’s story, and the structure may fit this but the content doesn’t. She’s a character as much as she is a window for us to witness the effect of tragedy on people.
Thankfully, Brown tries to grasp the complexity and psychology in the fallout of tragedy. Everyone reacts differently. Some stick to their old ways. Others radically change it. Some are angry, others become forgiving because what’s the point? Tragedy doesn’t make us into angelic beings. You actually can’t predict what tragedy will make of us.
Brown doesn’t manage to capture it with enough complexity to have impact. Only in the end there is a truly profound moment, one where the fragility of being human is captured. A short inscription on the grave of the shooter gets it. His grave is pushed aside with a small epitaph because he is the killer after all, but the killer had a mom who loved him after all. It echoes Susan Klebold’s article, or any interview with a parent of a killer. Victims had families who will never be the same again, but the killer also had a family who loved him.
A good chunk of the book is about this, about carrying on knowing the person you loved is a killer. I wish Brown would’ve delved into this dilemma more deeply, but then again this is extremely difficult. The highlights are the moments where Valerie is allowed to reminisce about the good times, and where she’s trying to connect what she knew of Nick to the violence. In these moments, despite the lack of character development, she finds some emotional punch.
Like many a Young Adult novelists, Brown’s characters are driven by emotion, not a psyche that’s unique to them. She has enough empathy that her characters react in various ways. Even the assholes who don’t change, who become more asshole-ish still come off as human being. Their point of view is there in front of us. Sure, it sucks for Valerie, but it also sucks for the father. His character is the most interesting since he’s supposed to be the least sympathetic – the father who abandons his family for a younger woman. His behavior never goes against this archetype, but in subtle moments we’re allowed to understand him and why he’d go after someone younger.
The portrayal is complex because of the variety of reactions. The problem is these are just reactions floating around, not tied to anything. Those few who get developed don’t end up as anything interesting. Nick is a typical sexy outcast – thin, listens to Rock music and can quote Shakespear. Bullying in this novel isn’t quite convincing, since Nick too often plays like a sexy mysterious guy. It’s not overdone, but nothing about him is especially weird. Bullies seek the weirdo, the one who isn’t flamboyent, doesn’t rebel and doesn’t have anything to offer but weirdness.
Likewise, it’s hard to think of what we learned about these characters. They’re human enough, but the complexity is too vague. It’s all outlines which are good enough, but I’m left here constructing their psyche. For once, minimalism betrayed the story. This story needed some inspiration from Dreisser, long slow moments that show who they are beyond the tragedy. Brown focuses so much on the effect of tragedy she creates people who have no lives outside of the tragedy. It’s only half the work.
It’s a shame, because otherwise Brown proves to be more capable than her peers. YA has a lot of talented writers, but they capture the spirit, the energy of youth without enough depth. These are enjoyable books, but mostly as research material before you write your own. Brown does a little better by widening her perspective, and so the novel is not just the story of Valerie but of everyone and how they deal with grief, how they cope with the tragedy. If only we could get a little deeper underneath these reactions, if only we could hear more than just their voices but let us walk in their shoes. I can’t tell if Brown doesn’t try or is just in incapable, but widening her reach is enough to give this novel extra emotional punch.
Hate List is not a total classic in the genre, but it deserves some respect in it. Many authors could learn from Brown’s wide reach, and the topic of school shooting gets a respectful treatment for once. Perhaps Brown is not just good enough to reach those heights, but she knows which mountains to climbs, what to do and so the novel has far more good in it than bad.
Author The Brain in the JarPosted on August 11, 2017 August 11, 2017 Categories Literature, reviewTags 13 reasons why, before i fall, book, book review, books, columbine, crank, cut, death, dreamland, dylan klebold, ellen hopkins, emotion, eric harris, go ask alice, grief, guns, hate list, hatelist, high school, high school dxd, if i stay, it's kind of a funny story, jay asher, jennifer brown, john boyne, john green, julia hoban, just listen, kill, killing, lauren oliver, laurie halse anderson, literary, literature, literature review, looking for alaska, love, massacre, moving on, murder, musc, ned vizzini, paper towns, patricia mccormick, romance, romeo and juliet, s.e. hinton, sadness, sarah dessen, school, school shooting, schooling, sex, shakespear, shoot, shooting, speak, stephen chobsky, suburban, terror, terror attack, terrorist, the boy in the striped pajamas, the catcher in the rye, the fault in our stars, the outsiders, the perks of being a wallflower, the truth about forever, tragedy, violence, willow, wintergirls, young, young adult, young adult literature, your lie in april, youthLeave a comment on Jennifer Brown – Hate List
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SOURCE: Office of Senator Mitch McConnell
McConnell Urges Secretary of Education Nominee to Commit to Implementing K-12 Education Law as Intended by Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell met today with Dr. John King, the nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education, in his office in the United States Capitol.
During the meeting, Senator McConnell called on Dr. King to commit to implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as intended by Congress. ESSA, the most significant K-12 education reform in well over a decade, replaced a broken law with conservative reforms that will help students succeed instead of helping Washington, D.C. grow. It passed Congress with strong bipartisan support last year and was signed into law by the President.
“I appreciate Dr. King meeting with me today to discuss his plans as to how he would implement the Every Student Succeeds Act if his nomination is approved by the Senate,” Senator McConnell said. “The bipartisan legislation we passed last year restores state flexibility in education and limits the ability of the administration to legislate through regulation. It would grow the kind of flexibility we’ve seen work so well in states like Kentucky, and it would stop federal bureaucrats from imposing the kind of top-down, one-size-fits-all requirements that we all know threaten that progress. ESSA also puts education decisions back in the hands of those that know what is needed most–parents, students, teachers, and local and state officials–and I look forward to seeing what Kentucky and other states will achieve under a law that fully empowers them to do what’s right for their students.”
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) reported Dr. King’s nomination today. The Senate has not yet scheduled a vote on his nomination.
Senator McConnell and Secretary of Education Nominee King meet in Washington, D.C. Photo Courtesy: Ofc. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell
SOURCE: BLACKNEWS.COM
HOWARD UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING STUDENT, DAVID HILL, JOINS SILICON VALLEY FIRM CISCO SYSTEMS FOR SPRING BREAK AND EARNS THREE NATIONAL AWARDS
Nationwide — At 13 years old, David Hill II, was recognized as one of the youngest and first African-Americans in the State of New York to earn an A grade in college mathematics during his summer break. He graduated from high school at 16 years old in the top of his graduating class while completing 53 college credits. Early on, he developed a passion for computational science and engineering, while leading the software programming team with FIRST Robotics Tech Challenge in New York.
A senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prize, Claes Nobel stated, I am proud to announce that David Hill has been selected to become a member of our esteemed
Howard student David Hill. Photo Courtesy: Blacknews.com
organization as a National Scholar. I am also honored to recognize the hard work, sacrifice and commitment that David has demonstrated to achieve this exceptional level of excellence.”
In addition, to this recognition, David was also inducted into the National Honor Society and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
During most school breaks, he effectively leverages his time to grow and learn. He spent previous summers at Northwestern University learning about leadership, at Cornell University learning about engineering and Dartmouth College learning about mathematics.
The summer immediately after high school he accepted a software engineering internship at the technology giant Corning Incorporated where he successfully contributed to the software and modeling simulation group.
Although he earned acceptance to the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Virginia and New York University last fall; he decided to attend the historic Howard University engineering program because of the multidisciplinary practical learning opportunities and merit scholarship.
“I am currently a rising college junior at 17 years old conducting cyber-security research on global satellite systems with Dr. Gerard Bloom and find it very interesting,” Hill said. “Shadowing with Cisco Systems during my spring break will allow me to develop market driven skills and obtain a practical perspective of market dynamics in the technology industry.”
Motivational speaker Orrin Hudson, pictured with TV/ radio personality Steve Harvey. Photo Courtesy: Blacknews.com
TOP BLACK MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, ORRIN HUDSON, TO HONOR “ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS”
Atlanta, GA — Humanitarians from all over the world will gather at the fifth annual Global Humanitarian Summit March 18-20, to network, share, and inspire others to do good in the world. The Summit, which this year is dedicated to former President Jimmy Carter, will take place at Unity North Atlanta Church, 4255 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, and will honor ordinary people doing extraordinary things and encourage attendees to do more to make the world a better place for all.
Orrin Checkmate Hudson, founder of Be Someone, Inc., will speak at the Summit. Hudson will bring Be Someones message to the podium when he talks about building character, embracing hope, and inspiring young people to believe in themselves and to know that they can set and achieve lifetime goals, realize their full potential, make the right moves, and… Be Someone.
As in previous years, hundreds of individuals and organizations working on basic human needs like clean air, water, food, shelter, and healthcare will gather to share what they are doing to make the world a better place. Summit organizers goal is to both share good news stories from around the world and encourage even more good works in the name of humanity.
Keynote speakers include Mrs. Naomi Ruth Barber King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister-in-law; Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, Desmond Tutus daughter; Karin Ryan, Director of the Human Rights Program at the Carter Center; Dr. Neil Shulman, Associate Professor at Emory University School of Medicine and author of the book the movie Doc Hollywood was based on; and more.
The Summit is free, open to the public, and offers a full three-day agenda of informative programs including exhibits, panels, workshops and entertainment.
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TRENDS, TRAVEL, FILM, HISTORY AND BOOKS →
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Tata DOCOMO keeps its campaign simple with Ranbir Kapoor
6 refreshing TVCs in a form of a stand-up comedy show to go on-air during IPL tournament; watch the TVCs here.
Neha S | Delhi | April 8, 2011
Cutting through the clutter that the Indian telecom landscape finds itself in—with customers forced to jostle with confusing and complicated products, services and tariff plans—Tata DOCOMO is 'Doing the New' again, with the launch of its new brand campaign, aptly titled ‘Keep It Simple’.
The icing on the cake is the telling depiction of the simplicity in Tata DOCOMO's refreshing new campaign by none other than the Company’s new brand ambassador—Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor. And what better time to launch this exciting and innovative campaign than during the Indian Premier League, which will feature all of India’s 15 cricketing heroes who recently brought home the ICC World Cup?! With impactful rendition of many an act(s) that mark our daily experiences in life and with our mobile phones, Ranbir will drive home the Keep It Simple message through the April and May months of the IPL series.
Speaking on the occasion, Gurinder Singh Sandhu, Head Corporate Marketing, Tata Teleservices, said, “Tata DOCOMO is an inspirational brand and so is the charm and personality of Ranbir Kapoor, India’s young and fastest-rising Bollywood icon. He is youthful, dedicated, Refreshingly Different and a standout in a crowd—all of which qualities mesh so well with Tata DOCOMO’s own brand persona. As a youth icon, Ranbir is a trend-setter and appeals to young audience—he is professional, dynamic and youthful. This is a perfect match with Tata DOCOMO, and we welcome him to the family and look forward to a long and meaningful association.”
“I have always believed in being different and doing things in a unique and new way—which is what made me jump at the chance to associate with Tata DOCOMO, which is such a close replica of my own persona,” said Ranbir Kapoor, expressing his excitement at this new connection in his life. “What really connects me to Tata DOCOMO is the youth appeal that they have. They keep it really simple, and that’s what the whole format of this campaign is all about—Keep It Simple, Silly. We have too many things in our lives to worry about. Telecom is not something that we should have to worry about—all those bills, smart bills, products, services, tariff options… I love the simplicity of Tata DOCOMO and this new campaign—it will start with making people laugh, and make their lives oh so simple… We had a blast making this campaign and I hope people have a blast watching it too,” Ranbir added.
Tata DOCOMO will undertake various marketing initiatives with Ranbir Kapoor, including television commercials, print campaigns, outdoors and retail front displays.
Tata DOCOMO’s unique Keep It Simple Campaign is in a form of a stand-up comedy show with many episodes, which will be aired during the course of this IPL season. It focuses largely on how Tata DOCOMO simplifies the telecom experience, and hence the consumer’s life, by providing differentiated products and services.
Each individual advertisement starts by illustrating a complexity in the category, and presents the Tata DOCOMO product and/or service as a means of simplifying things. Scheduled to go on air on 8 April 2011, this campaign is simple, captures the various moods of Ranbir—depicting those of Tata DOCOMO.
Watch the TVCs here:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIoigW1pVJ4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywYlHaKhIpo[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLxNRqQwkp0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKQOJyEEwfY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBPenM0vWNI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrUj595V3aw[/youtube]
Neha@BestMediaInfo.com
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About Us . Careers
Valuable Future Prospects Of A Social Science Degree
VMock Thinks Career Exploration, Industry Trends, Job Search May 2, 2018
“The social sciences have a critical contribution to make, in helping us understand, imagine, and craft a more sustainable future for all.”- UNESCO
Much has been discussed about the increasing need of Social Science and philanthropic projects in recent times, but the question is how, and more importantly, where does one start? The Social Sciences are not limited to behavioural science, society and culture, it encompasses a bigger, more comprehensive and multidisciplinary view of social impact on the world.
The recent Ebola crisis in Africa is illustrative of the role of Social Science in solving existing global problems. While most of the treatment administered at the time, was given by medical experts, a number of social scientists were also roped in to understand people’s attitudes towards sanitation and hygiene to really delve into the root cause of the crisis and recommend measures to eradicate it. The depth and detail about society and its problems that Social Science can unearth, is infinite. It enables us to really empathize with the audience and identify their needs and problems, thus creating an almost irreplaceable need for social scientists for any project- corporate or otherwise. One of the foremost reasons for the increasing popularity of Social Science degrees amongst undergraduate students is the wide variety of employment opportunities and career options now available.
A health sciences degree is the perfect opportunity for students to explore healthcare in a comprehensive way because it provides a hands on experience in health education, research, administration and patient care. An undergrad healthcare degree opens up channels to advanced training via higher education or various pre-professional programs like non-clinical specializations, pre-physical therapy, pre- occupational therapy etc. Within the health science concentration a popular choice for such a trajectory has been, Counselling, specially for Psychology majors. Counsellors are in demand and are being offered median salaries as high as $43,300 per year($20.82 per hour). School and career counsellors, dieticians, and behavioral disorder counsellors are other popular choices with salaries reaching, as much as $55,410 per year. As a Health Educator or Counsellor, duties involve behavioral or basic medical assessments and implementation of guidance programs. Health educators need to be very efficient in behavior analysis and possess communication skills to motivate their clients to follow the prescribed program. A bachelor’s certification in health science usually doesn’t equip you enough to be directly involved in patient care. Pursuing an advanced course, accredited by a professional association like American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), after graduation can however open up careers in fields like Echocardiography, Radiography, Sonography or Radiation Therapy. There are other options that allow students to get an experience in patient care without pursuing a specialisation. Healthcare administration has been another up and coming career option with growth prospects of 17% between 2014-2024. As an administrator, you are directly involved in the management of healthcare departments or facilities which gives you an insight into patient care. You could opt for general admin roles involving supervision, coordination, direction and planning of programs for the whole facility or you could opt for specialized admin roles in Finance or claims processing. This is one of the most financially rewarding career options with median salaries as high as $92,810.
Public Administration And Political Science
Since the field is centred around implementation of policy, a bachelor’s degree in public administration is focused on leadership, management and strategic planning. The aim is to prepare you for administrative careers in both government and non-government organizations. Beyond the analysis of policies, public administrators must also deeply analyze problems, evaluate inputs that lead to a policy and inputs necessary to produce alternative policies. Most public administrative jobs require a specialised policy management and analysis education like MA in Public Administration or MPA. A background in Economics, though not mandatory, is advised because it provides a broader understanding of how the policies play out in real scenarios. Students today are also joining fields like Media Relations and disaster response along with core public policy areas for a more holistic approach. Due to the extensive education and experience required, most careers in public administration are mainly reserved for post-graduates. Some employers allow graduates to pursue less critical, entry level positions like fund-raising or campaign management. With significant experience, you can then progress to positions like policy making. One of the popular career choices in public administration currently is Management Analysts, showing very promising employment growth rates of upto 14% (2014-2024). You could also opt for legislative positions at the state or local levels but such positions are not as financially rewarding as managerial analyst positions at the federal executive level, where mean annual salaries are as high as $87,750 . Beyond the monetary rewards, careers in public administration are gaining popularity due to the flexibility they provide.
Environment is a versatile field with a multidisciplinary educational approach. Students can specialise in environmental research, climate change, sustainability, law or administration. A heightened awareness about environmental concerns, ‘green jobs’ like Sustainability Officers or Environmental Lawyer or Scientist, have driven the popularity of career choices for Environmental Science students. Conservation Scientist is one of the most promising careers in this field not only because of high median annual earnings as much as $61,810 but also because it challenges individuals to find creative solutions for simultaneously utilising and protecting resources. Another challenging field for environmental science is Environmental Engineering- a field focused on minimising environmental impact. Most companies, specially international and natural resource exploration companies, are now mandated to have an Environmental Engineer on their core team. If you’re more interested in the research aspect, at the undergraduate level you could get hands on experience as environmental lab technician working under environmental scientists. A new role in the environmental sector is Chief Sustainability Officer, an individual who helps companies tackle environmental concerns. “Companies are monitoring the impact they’re having environmentally and on society, and the appointment of the CSO reflects an underlying need for companies to not only monitor but also improve their performance,” Harvard Business School associate professor George Serafeim tells Forbes. Environmental lawyers also perform similar functions but they are more focused on the legality aspects like regulations regarding pollution and waste management. Unlike CSO, practicing environmental law requires a specialised degree like Bachelor of Laws (LLB). Irrespective of the specialisation, the growth prospects for this career are very high due to the globally increasing concerns about climate change and environmental sustainability.
Although jobs in the social field may not seem as directly practical as traditional career choices like Finance or Engineering, there is a lot of growth opportunity. With a Social Science degree, students now have strong number of career prospects to consider. The popularity of Social Science as a field of study is relatively new and Social Science jobs at times are not very well defined, which can be quite daunting as to what career path to pursue after graduation, but that is what makes it such a versatile and flexible career option for students. To make the most of a career in Social Science, individuals must understand the basic values of human and social behaviour and leverage that towards their chosen branch of social study.
And as Jane Goodall remarked, “Every single individual matters, every single individual makes some impact on the planet every single day and we have a choice as to what kind of difference we are going to make.
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10 Things To Do Before You Graduate
As you near your graduation day, an intimidating question looms - “So, what next?” your new life after graduation largely...
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Learning how to encourage yourself!
June 27, 2014 November 5, 2014
Dr. Angulus Wilson
Philippians 3: 13-14 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians Church encourages the saints to stand fast and trust in the living Savior Jesus Christ. At the time of this epistle he is in Jail in Rome awaiting execution by Nero. Yet he writes to encourage his dear brothers and sisters. Paul was in love with the Philippi ministry. It was dear to his heart, for it was the very first Church plant of his many labors. Paul on his second missionary journey came to Philippi after he saw a vision of a man from Macedonia calling for him to come and help them. It was there that he preached by a riverside and a few women were converted and so the church was born.
Philippi was a pagan city, filled with idol worship. It was a place hostile to the good news of Jesus Christ. It was there that he was thrown into prison and beat for the healing of a girl who suffered from demonic possession. God rescued Paul in Philippi by sending an earthquake to shake the prison walls. So as he writes this letter, it is important for us to remember that Philippi was special, Philippi was sweet it was the church that was so grateful for the work of the Apostle that they supported him in the ministry where ever he went.
Today we have the privilege of reading the jewels that are brother Paul wrote to them, encouraging and exhorting them to trust in the Lord. What makes the Philippians letter so encouraging to me is that here is Paul, one of the great saints of old, on trial in Rome, waiting in a tough situation, yet thinking about others rather than himself. Here he is remembering the saints in Philippi and encouraging them in the Christian race. In fact, one of the metaphors used in this chapter is that of a runner running in a race trying to obtain the prize. Paul in this particular book symbolizes the picture of a good leader. One who is in difficulty yet willing to serve and encourage another. Paul and his sufferings give us a glimpse of Christian leadership in crucial times.
His example of Christian leadership paints a portrait of how it ought to look when we are under fire from a pagan world. His lifestyle brings us a glimpse of the Pastor and his love for the congregation and his desire to see them prosper even while he himself has to suffer.
Today’s text has two points of interest the first is:
Paul’s Purpose in life
Paul’s Passion for Christ
Note: Paul was a man who was content with whatever things he had. (4;11) But he could never be content with his spiritual things. While he did not count himself as having arrived, he did see himself as one who was moving somewhere.
He learned not to dwell on the past
He learned to forget the good and the bad
He learned to keep reaching for what was to come
Dwelling on past sins for the Christian leader can result in a fatalistic mindset for ministry. The enemy pursues the child of God in the mind. Satan continues to remind them of their past failures. (Through people, personalities, events and other methods) In addition to this pursuit Satan wants us to dwell on the success of yesterday, locking us into a visionless mode for tomorrow.
The child of God cannot remain in the success of yester-year we must forget all that we accomplished in the past and reach for what God has for us in the present moment and future.The picture he uses is that of a runner in a race straining forward, leaning with every ounce of his strength to that which is ahead while he is running. Before Paul was the blessed privilege and responsibilities of the Christian life and the higher stages of holiness.Paul in this verse sees himself as a runner pressing toward the goal. He is fixed on finishing and receiving the reward for running well. Here is the picture for the child of God of what the Christian life is all about. It is a race that must be endured through storm, trial, and suffering with purpose and passion. Hidden in this verse we find the secret of his passion in life.
Paul’s Passion in Life
He was living in pursuit of Christ
His aim was reaching the mark
I press toward the mark… this is a reference to the white line that marked the ground in the stadium from the starting place to the goal, on which the runners were obliged to keep their eye fixed; for those who transgressed or went beyond this line did not run lawfully, and were not crowned, even though they got first to the goal. They knew he was running lawfully and was watching carefully how he ran the race.
Paul was focused on receiving the prize (The reward which God from above calls us by Christ Jesus, to receive.) “The prize” is the “crown of righteousness.” This is the prize offered to those in the high calling of the saints in Christ. A crown was bestowed in an earthly race when the goal was reached. This prize is “the resurrection from the dead” (Php 3:11) and an eternal crown. The prize of the racer was a crown or garland of olive, laurel, pine, or apple. The prize of the Christian is the crown that is incorruptible in heaven.
When it comes to the high calling of God, there is no greater call, for it is the end or result of that calling. God has called us to great and noble efforts (ministry work). This calling is to a career of true honor and glory; to the obtainment of a bright and imperishable crown. Therefore, it is a calling which is “high,” or upward towards the heavens! The calling of the Christian is from heaven, and to heaven. (Pr 15:24) The servant of God has been summoned by God, through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to secure his own personal crown.
It is placed before and above him in heaven.
It may be his, if he will not faint or tire, or look backward.
It demands his highest efforts, and it is worth all the trials and tribulations that come his way.
Encourage yourself today, and keep pressing toward the high calling of Christ Jesus! “Run Baby Run.”
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Avidan Freedman
233/929. Real Power- Jewish Women’s Power. Shmuel I 1.
The true test of a people’s power is not in the wars they win or the territory they conquer, but in the way they treat the powerless and voiceless in society. It’s a test the Jewish people failed as the book of Shoftim ended. The exploitation of the weak, especially of women, defined a society which at once desperately needed, and was infinitely far from, the stability and power brought by a sovereign king. So it is fitting that the book of Shmuel, which will tell the story of the first Jewish kings, begins with the story of hearing the voice of an oppressed woman.
When the text says about Chana ‘and her voice was not heard’, it’s not only making a statement about the way she prayed. She was a woman whose voice was not heard- not by her husband, whose obtuseness to her pain was responsible for perhaps the most classic insensitive husband line of all time, nor by Eli the High Priest, who reads her passionate pain and anger as drunkenness.
But when God hears her voice, salvation is born. In fact, while she names the child ‘Shmuel’, ‘The Lord has heard’, the explanation she gives mysteriously, but quite deliberately and obviously, hints at Shaul, the king Shmuel will ultimately anoint, mentioning the Hebrew root of the name seven times in the chapter, with the final time being a mention of his exact name.
The Rabbis of the Talmud took their cue from God, and listened carefully to Chana’s voice, accepting it as authoritative in ritual matters (apparently, they didn’t realize this was not a Jewish thing to do). “How many great laws do we learn from these verses,” exclaims Rav Hamnuna (Berachot 31a), using an unusual word for great (‘gavrevata’) which plays on the word for ‘male’. Chana operated in a world of male power, a world which the book of Shoftim demonstrated was not doing too well. In that world, according to rabbinic midrashim, she stood up, corrected, and taught a thing or two to the high priest, and even faced off against God. Her message is clearly expressed in the prayer which the rabbis paid homage to in the second blessing of the Amidah prayer. “God kills and gives life..He raises the poor from the dirt, from filth he raises the impoverished.” This is true power, the only sense of power appropriate for “God’s king, and to raise the horn of his messiah.” (2:10)
This is a blog of short reflections on Tanach, following the 929 project’s daily study.
Avidan Freedman is the rabbi of the Shalom Hartman Institute's Hevruta program, an educator Hartman Boys High School in Jerusalem, and an activist against Israeli weapons sales to human rights violators.
The crown all can wear (Pinchas 5779)
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Larry Jacob
Have you ever been curious as to the origin and meaning of your surname? I have, which led me to write this blog. The short answer is – surname origins and meanings are complicated, very complicated. Different cultures around the world have very different traditions with respect to surnames. In this blog, I have attempted to present the information in an organized and logical way.
Generally, a surname is a family name that is added to one’s given, or first name. It is given to one’s children and passed to succeeding generations. In most Western Hemisphere countries, such as the US, the surname, or family name, is the last name. For example, Lawrence is my given name and Jacob is my surname. In some countries, such as China and Korea, however, the surname comes before the given name. To complicate matters further, in most Spanish-speaking countries it is typical for people to retain the surnames of both the mother’s and father’s family, i.e. Jose Rodriquez [Y] Hernandez. Finally, in some parts of Asia and East Africa surnames are not used at all. To simplify matters, somewhat I will be discussing customs prevalent in the US and Western Europe unless otherwise specified.
The concept of a surname can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It had often become confusing when too many people had the same first name in a particular locale. Thus, John, who was a blacksmith, became John Smith, while John, who made clothes, became John Tailor or Taylor.
My research disclosed the following salient points of information:
The University of West England conducted a comprehensive study of the history of surnames in Great Britain from the 11th through 19th Centuries. The survey’s findings were published in the Oxford English Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland in 2016. Among the major findings:
a. Irish surnames are the oldest in Europe. The first recorded surname was O Cleirigh. The death of one Tigherneach Ua O Cleirigh, Lord of Aidhne was recorded in 916.
b. As we know, the Irish commonly use surname prefixes. These may or may not be attached to the main name. Thus, we have the surnames “O’Brien” or “MacMillan.”
c. In England, surnames originated circa 1086 following the Norman Conquest. Many Normans used a “territorial surname” by simply attaching the prefix “de” to their town of origin in France, for example, Pierre de Lyon. As one might expect, the trend began among the nobility and gradually spread to other classes.
d. Many English would employ occupational or territorial surnames, such as John Chandler, John Butcher, John Hill, or John Meadows.
2. Traditionally, it has been customary for the wife to assume her husband’s surname, but in recent years this custom has been relaxed due to PC. Occasionally, a wife will not change her name, or, will use both surnames with a hyphen. According to Wikipedia the first woman in the US to retain her maiden name was one Lucy Stone in 1855. The best current estimate of wives who take the husband’s surname is 80%.
3. In the US:
a. Approximately 50% of the population has one of only 1,700 surnames. As you could probably guess, Smith is the most common, with about 1%. Rounding out the top five, in order, are Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones.
b. Many names are corruptions of European names due to misspelling, mispronunciation, or other causes during the immigration process. A common misconception is that these changes typically occurred upon entry at Ellis Island. Many family legends insist that the clerk gave their ancestor a name based on his home town, (John London), trade (John Baker), or a physical characteristic (John Short). Possibly, but, in point of fact, these changes could also have and often did occur at the country of origin or at any waypoint. Consider that the clerk at Ellis Island was working from a passenger list that had been developed at the port of origin. Also, during the peak of foreign immigration (1894-1924) about one-third of the immigration inspectors spoke three or more languages. Furthermore, interpreters were often available as well. So, although they could have made a copying error, it would have been more likely that the name changes would have occurred elsewhere.
c. In some cases family members arriving at different times ended up with different spellings of the same surname. These differences may or may not have been rectified by descendants. I have personal knowledge of a family situation such as this.
d. It was common for immigrants to Americanize their names. Reasons for this included patriotism, a desire to assimilate or a wish to avoid discrimination. Many immigrants were so happy to be here they wanted a clean break, a fresh start. One way to accomplish this was to take a new American name or Americanize their original one. Thus, “Goldschmidt” could become “Goldsmith” or just “Gold.” Many names, especially Eastern European names, which tended to be long on consonants and short on vowels, were too difficult to pronounce and spell. This would instantly identify the person as an immigrant and could cause difficulties or embarrassment at work or at the children’s school. So, a name like Zymancwiecz or Smirnoff could become Zell or Smiley. Finally, and perhaps most common, was to avoid discrimination. Virtually all ethnic groups faced discrimination to some degree. In those pre-PC days, landlords and employers made no secret about discriminating against certain ethnic or religious groups. Thus John O’Day would become John Day, and Greenbaum might become Green.
e. Other reasons for incorrect names: disguising oneself by using a fictitious name or another person’s name; using the name of a step-father instead of biological father, or using a nickname or a maiden name.
4. Other countries’ customs:
a. In China, legend has it that the origin of surnames was a decree by Emperor Fu Xi in 2852 BCE. His purpose was to facilitate census-taking.
b. In Japan, surnames were uncommon before the 19th century, except among the aristocracy.
c. Ancient Greeks used identifiers, such as “son of” or clan or descendant identities. For instance, Alexander the Great was also known as Alexander Heracleides (as a descendant of Heracles).
As I said, one’s surname often provides clues as to one’s background or place of origin. For example, names such as Farmer, Thatcher, or Smith would be strong indications of a forebear’s occupation. Names such as Glen, Forrest, or Mountain would be obvious indicators of locale. President Dwight Eisenhower was likely descended from a person whose occupation was an iron cutter in Germany (“Eisen” means iron in German, and “hower” was likely a derivative of “hewer,” which means one who cuts wood, metal or other materials).
Many people’s surnames are actual cities in Europe or derivatives of such indicating from whence they emigrated. Some names indicate patronage (Hickman, Johnson). Many Jewish names have biblical or holy references, for example, Cohen, Kagan, Levy, and my own surname, Jacob. Many Irish or Scotch surnames are derived from their ancestor’s clan (Macdonald, Forbes, etc.). Many African Americans carry the names of Southern plantation owners. The immortal Muhammed Ali, a Louisville native, derided his birth surname, Clay, as a “slave name.” He was probably correct, as the name “Clay” is a prominent name in Kentucky aristocracy.
If nothing else, I hope this blog gets you thinking about the origins and meaning of your own name. Let me know if you find anything interesting.
Larry was born and raised in New York. He is 73 years old. He has a Bachelors Degree in Accounting and a Masters Degree in Marketing Management, and worked in the financial industry for 42 years in accounting and Compliance. Larry is also a veteran, whose hobbies are reading and golf. He has been writing a blog for three years, which is being read by people in 90 countries.
American Jewry
Concentrate on Today’s Evil
Joseph C. Kaplan
BBC Panorama Investigates anti-Semitism in the Labour Party: Biased By Omission
Masimba Musodza
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Company: Adidas AG
Headquarter city: Herzogenaurach
adidas is a German-founded global sportswear brand and the largest sporting clothes and footwear name in the world after market leader Nike. It has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, partly due to rising global demand for sports leisure wear, particularly among millennials, and partly as the growth strategies of CEO, Kasper Rorsted, appointed in 2016, begin to bear fruit. The lifestyle category for adidas grew 45 percent in 2016 and its adidas Originals sub-brands has especially benefited from this trend, with its focus on retro designs from adidas heritage such as the classic Superstars, Stan Smiths and Gazelles. The adidas brand is instantly recognizable by the triple stripes on its footwear and the “trefoil” adidas logo, which the company calls “The Badge of Sport”. Men’s footwear is the beating heart of the business, but clothing and the women’s range are increasingly areas of focus.
Unlike rival Nike, adidas collaborates with prominent people outside the sporting industry, and has worked with Porsche Design and designers such as Stella McCartney and Raf Simons. As the brand works to build its profile in the US, which has traditionally been a weak spot, adidas has opened a US factory and signed rapper Kanye West as an ambassador and collaborator on its “Yeezy” collection. It also worked with singer Pharrell Williams on a sneaker line to celebrate the diversity of humanity, called “Hu” or “Human Race”. In sport, as well as sponsoring some of the world’s most successful soccer clubs – including Real Madrid, FC Bayern and Manchester United, and the UEFA Champions League tournament, it is backing grassroots sporting activity and athletes across a range of sports. Digital is central to the adidas growth strategy, and it is investing heavily in technology that allows people to buy online and across channels. There is also a drive to build creative sporting communities focused on six key, trend-setting world cities. adidas employs more than 60,000 people in over 160 countries, and produces more than 850 million product units every year. adidas is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
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2019 is halfway over! Let’s take a look back at some of the best music we’ve already heard this year!
10. Little Simz – GREY Area
With the endorsement of genre icons like Lauryn Hill and Kendrick Lamar, Little Simz has long been one of the most exciting up and comers in all of rap music. On GREY Area, she finally finds her potential in a very real way. Tracks like “Boss,” and “Selfish,” defy the gender stereotypes inherent in much rap music by bringing explosive attitude and bombastic flow to every bar. Her complex schemes and enthralling storytelling give this album a ton of replay value beyond the initial punch each cut delivers.
Beyond Simz herself, the instrumentals carry on much the jazzy influences of her earlier work, but filtered through elements of trap and East Coast boom-bap. GREY Area fixes nearly every short coming of earlier albums while diving into new, more daring sounds. Perhaps most importantly, this LP will leave listeners with a growing since of excitement for the upcoming career of one of the most the impressive artists in all of rap music.
9. Billie Eilish – WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
Yet another promising young star who hadn’t quite found her stride yet, Billie Eilish was finally able to merge her dark, unnerving reputation with a genuinely strong sound on WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Cuts like “Bad Guy,” and “Bury a Friend,” have been smash hits and catapulted Eilish into the cultural zeitgeist. This newfound attention is entirely deserved too, as this is one of the more unique and groundbreaking releases in modern pop music.
Her vocal performances are quite strong, as are her lyrics, but the true breakthrough here comes in the instrumentation and production. The bass-heavy mixes broke with current trends of bright, upbeat styles. Instead, several tracks are nocturnal and daring to the point of being scary with bizarre vocal layering and effects building on this quite effectively. I do have my complaints, particularly on the technical side of the production, but this album is nearly as groundbreaking as the artist behind it, and for that, it must be mentioned among the best of the year.
8. American Football – LP 3
American Football has one of the strangest histories in all of music. The math rock/shoegaze four piece debuted in 1999 with a self-titled LP that is, to this day, one of the most respected works in all of the midwestern emo scene. They then disappeared for 17 years before returning in 2016. This year saw the release of their third LP, a much more matured version of the swirling, technical style which made their debut such a classic. Tracks like “Uncomfortably Numb,” and “Doom In Full Bloom,” have been regular listens since I first heard them and nearly every cut has something to offer.
With LP 3, American Football revisited much of the sound that brought them to prominence in the first place. Spacey guitars are layered five and six times over and they use the simple bones of their songs to build a truly engrossing experience on nearly every song. The album has been criticized as bland by many, and while I understand where that comes from, I would say that it rather gives a listener the opportunity to find the bright points themselves. LP 3 is a gentle storm of complex guitars and vocals and a must hear for fans of the once great midwestern emo scene.
7. Defeater – Defeater
Defeater is a hardcore band from New Jersey who’s every release since 2008 has followed the same storyline of a struggling family in 1940’s America. This self-titled entry is the fifth in the saga and it is just as brutal and heartfelt as ever. The band’s ability to find compelling melody among constant, crushing instrumentation sets them apart from many of their hardcore contemporaries and makes what would normally be a difficult listen quite palatable even to casual fans.
Defeater doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking on this album and, in fact, retreads the sound that was much more popular about a decade ago, but the charm comes in the tight, thrashing performances from every single member. The drums on a track like “Atheists in Foxholes,” or the vocals on “List & Heel,” are absolutely fantastic but they still stand on overall well written parts from every member. All in all, Defeater is a brutal but perfectly paced entry into a fascinating storyline which continues to deliver excellent moments.
6. Tyler, the Creator – Igor
A long time rap star and founding member of the rap group, Loiter Squad, Tyler has been known as a fowl mouthed, punk rapper since his debut 2011. That all changed with 2017’s Flower Boy in which Tyler came out as bisexual in addition to crafting a genuinely impressive exploration of sexuality, masculinity, and the culture around him. IGOR continues many of these themes, telling the story of Tyler learning to get over a bad relationship and grow as a person.
Sonically, IGOR is bizarre to say the least. In my review, I referred to this style as “industrial Motown,” and to some extent, I think that’s still the best way to describe it. Songs like “EARFQUAKE,” and “RUNNING OUT OF TIME,” are groovy and danceable, but also feature a bass-heavy, abrasive production style that is just fascinating. This, paired with excellent lyricism and a manic pacing that never lets a listener stop to breath, makes for one of the most interesting projects of the year thus far.
5. Hozier – Wasteland, Baby!
After his 2014, self-titled debut, Hozier was one of the most beloved artists in the music industry. Unfortunately, his DIY style and insistence on keeping a small circle of influence meant that this LP was followed by relative silence for half a decade. Finally, Wasteland, Baby! Arrived and it was largely perfect. His lyrical work on “Almost,” and the softness of a track like “Shrike,” were everything fans had hoped for and more, but there were also some interesting changes.
Percussion, which had been mostly ignored on the debut, took a front seat on this album with constantly creative decisions and a tendency toward more natural percussion sounds. This also saw a much harder turn toward political writing on cuts like the opener, “Nina Cried Power.” All told, Wasteland, Baby! Doesn’t quite top the excellence of its predecessor but it is still, without a doubt, fantastic. Hozier has a power in his voice that is almost breathtaking and combined with his instrumental talents and creative arrangements, I’m left very excited for future releases.
4. Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars
An undeniable legend of rock music, Springsteen has always been somewhat hit or miss for me. His sound generally rotates between the indulgent style of records like Born in the USA and more somber storytelling of albums like Ghost of Tom Joad. I’ve always much preferred the latter, but Western Stars finds a way to synthesize these two like few previous Springsteen efforts have. “The Wayfarer,” and “There Goes My Miracle,” are some of my favorites, but every track on this album is impressive in its own right.
The ethos of this LP is Bruce’s attempt to recreate the sweeping, stringy sound of 70’s country music, specifically that of Western soundtracks and, in this, he absolutely succeeds. The massive instrumental pallet means that there’s a surprise waiting around every corner, making the relatively slow pacing much more bearable. Beyond this, Springsteen’s voice is aged perfectly and his lyricism is both moving and clever. Western Stars is yet another masterpiece from The Boss himself.
3. Ariana Grande – thank u, next
Ariana Grande has long been considered one of the queens of modern pop music and thank u, next is her best work to date. This is her second release in a six month period and though sweetener was impressive, this record takes her sound to brand new heights. Following a string of personal tragedies, Ariana writes heartfelt lyrics and performs them with show-stopping power. Tracks like “imagine,” and “ghostin,” are simply breathtaking while other tracks like “needy,” and “break up with your girlfriend, im bored,” are just a blast.
The production on the album is certainly a highlight, sporting wonderfully placed harmonies, simple but effective beats, and a nocturnal fog drenched over everything. Easily the highlight, however, is Grande’s fantastic vocal performance across every second of this album. She has an awe-inspiring power which is mixed perfectly with soft, emotional moments and she even reaches up into a few whistle tones from time to time. All in all, thank u, next is just a masterclass in great pop music lead by one of the most impressive vocalists in the world today.
2. Todd Snider – Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3
Todd Snider was an early progenitor of the lyrically focused, folk inspired style of country which has overtaken much of the genre today. While he had a handful of strong live albums, he’d always struggled to find his stride in studio releases. That changed this year when he partnered with John Carter Cash, the single most exciting producer in country music today, and dropped this brilliant LP. Tracks like “Workin’ On a Song,” and “Like a Force of Nature,” are certainly highlights, but its just an overall enjoyable listen from front to back.
As I said, John Carter Cash is the best producer in country music today and he lives up to that title on this project as he brings a warm simplicity to every cut. Snider’s vocals certainly won’t knock a listener off their feet, and neither will his instrumentals, but the record is really more than the sum of its parts. Ultimately, Cash Cabin Sessions feels like a relaxed night with friends, which also happens to sneak some genuinely brilliant commentary on life from a true troubadour in Todd Snider.
****HONORABLE MENTIONS****
Cuz I Love You – Lizzo
ZUU – Denzel Curry
Front Porch – Joy Williams
Social Cues – Cage the Elephant
Dedicated – Carly Rae Jepsen
1. Xiu Xiu – Girl with Basket of Fruit
At first, I wasn’t sold on placing this album at number one. Admittedly, I haven’t found myself revisiting this record nearly as much as others on this list, but, on the other hand, there isn’t one single album on this list and very few albums in my life that have left the kind of lasting impact on me that was left by Xiu Xiu’s Girl With Basket of Fruit. In terms of highlights, if you listen to nothing else on this album, I must suggest that you hear “Mary Turner, Mary Turner,” provided you have the strong stomach to handle its violent subject matter.
Simply put, this project is horrifying. Xiu Xiu is an experimental group and this album pushes music to its outer most limits in the most brutal way possible. The sound pallet is gut wrenching, frontman Jamie Stewart’s vocals are often nightmarish, and the album itself seems to be influenced by everything from grindcore and death metal to traditional reggae and samba. To listen to Girl with Basket of Fruit in one sitting is to be bombarded with an unflinching look at existential horror. It may not have the most replay value of any album this year and it certainly wasn’t the most enjoyable experience I’ve had with an album this year, but Xiu Xiu’s hellish masterpiece is the most daring, the most challenging, and above all the most memorable record I’ve heard thus far this year.
Author brendonsbeatsPosted on July 2, 2019 July 2, 2019 Categories ListsTags album, American Football, Ariana Grande, best albums of the year, Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Defeater, hozier, List, Little Simz, music, Review, Todd Snider, Tyler the Creator, Xiu-XiuLeave a comment on Top Ten Albums of 2019, So Far…
American Football’s Third Album is a Blizzard of Complex Emo Rock
LP3 is a luscious piece of math rock that deserves to be heard in one long sitting, and a worthy third entry to the American Football catalog.
American Football is an emo/math rock four piece from Urbana, Illinois. They debuted with a self-titled EP in 1998 which gained them quite a bit of underground buzz for their unique sound, impressive instrumental abilities, and garage-based aesthetic. Just a year later, they dropped their self-titled LP which is something of a landmark for the emo genre. The album is universally praised, and saw the band sore to new heights of popularity, even years after their abrupt split. Without any new material to follow up, the self-titled release achieved near mythic status. Finally, in 2016, 17 years after their debut, they released the much celebrated LP2. Thankfully, there was no near 20 year wait for the third entry, and LP3 has just arrived.
The record is immediately notable for a unique and broad instrumental pallet. The bells on the opener, “Silhouettes,” are fascinating, dancing across the stereo image and carrying a well written melody. On a cut like “I Can’t Feel You,” on the other hand, there are choruses of humming and marimbas being used perfectly in tandem the more traditional instruments for an almost other worldly feel. Most importantly, each of these strange and surprising instruments is perfectly integrated into the mix so as to avoid feeling like a gimmick.
Beyond this, though, the core instruments are fantastic! The rhythms and bass line on a cut like “Heir Apparent,” inject just the right amount of energy and variety into the song. Of course, they take a back seat to the lead guitar work which is the strongest driving force behind every track, never overpowering but always leading. This is achieved to perhaps the best effect on the closer, “Life Support.” American Football has always been respected, primarily, for their instrumental abilities, and LP3 leans into this heavily.
This all leads to a chilling and at times haunting tone. On “Every Wave to Every Rise,” for example, the band utilizes repetition and minimalism in a way that feels almost clinical, leaving a listener searching for any sense of warmth or melody. The thick layers of complex guitar lines add to this general disorientation, with the quiet but present harmonies and rare moments of conjunction bringing a sense of relief.
I also found myself quite blown away by the band’s ability to flesh out every idea they present. Take a song like “Doom In Full Bloom,” which runs just shy of eight minutes, which can often feel like a life time, particularly with soft rock acts like American Football. Instead, this cut is able to be at once luscious and completely frigid. The many interesting instruments hidden in the mix make repeat listens a treat, and the perfectly toned drums and virtuosic guitar refrains make it infinitely entertaining. Overall, it’s the best track on the album, and a testament to American Football’s abilities as songwriters.
This brings us to the album’s strongest point without a doubt, that being the production. It’s already an obvious achievement to helm such a wide variety of instruments, as is unmistakable on a song like “Mine to Miss.” The way bells and horns gently dance in and out of nearly every track is wonderful, and takes an experienced hand. However, even on relatively simple tracks like the lead single, “Uncomfortably Numb,” the stereo image swirls around a listener gently, almost hypnotizing. Haley Williams’ voice sounds excellent on her feature and the guitars seem to ring forever, only to be split in half by the sharpness of the snares. From the big and obvious to the small and subtle, virtually every aspect of LP3’s production is nothing short of perfect.
All said, this is a great album. While it doesn’t jump out to blow you away from the first moments, the subtle touches, wide pallet, and despondent tone make for a moving and cohesive listening experience. It’s not perfect as the vocals are only passible, save a few great features, and the pacing can seem unbearable to non-fans. It’s not for everyone, but if you love this brand of soft but complex emo rock, it’s a must listen.
Author brendonsbeatsPosted on March 25, 2019 March 24, 2019 Categories Rock ReviewsTags album, American Football, emo, Emo rock, Haley Williams, jazz rock, LP3, math rock, music, Review, rockLeave a comment on American Football’s Third Album is a Blizzard of Complex Emo Rock
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Tyler Hubbard and Wife Hayley Want More Kids ‘If It’s God’s Plan,’ May Adopt
Tricia Despres
Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and wife Hayley are loving life as new parents — so much that they want more kids!
"I think we're going to end up — if it's God's plan — hopefully with three kids," Hubbard says in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, which was filmed at the couple's Nashville home.
"We've talked about possibly adopting one day, as well," the couple share. "I don't know if that will be the second or third kid, but we're going to let a year or two go by, enjoy figuring out how to be parents and then see where it goes."
The Hubbards seem to be quite content enjoying their time at the moment with their baby daughter Olivia, who was born in December and has already changed life in their household.
"We go to bed as soon as she's out," Hubbard says, admitting that the two are lucky enough to have a night nurse to handle some of those middle-of-the-night feedings. "When 7AM rolls around ... it's the best alarm clock ever. She's so happy in the mornings, so that's some of our favorite times."
The Florida Georgia Line singer loves watching his wife Hayley settle into motherhood so beautifully, too. "It's just so cool to see the love of a mother and how the child comes first," he says. "At first it was an adjustment for me, you know what I mean? It's like, 'Wait, you're fixing a bottle, you're not making me breakfast? What's going on here?' But man, there's something so special and powerful about that and the connection that you get to experience. It kind of draws me even closer to Hayley just watching her be a mom. There's a cool, new layer of intimacy all around."
6 More Truly Unforgettable Florida Georgia Line Moments
Source: Tyler Hubbard and Wife Hayley Want More Kids ‘If It’s God’s Plan,’ May Adopt
Filed Under: Florida Georgia Line, Tyler Hubbard
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An Appreciation A general in BATTLE, Waun Ki Hong was a pioneer of precision medicine
By Roy S. Herbst
I was heartbroken to learn of the passing of my mentor, colleague, and friend, Waun Ki Hong. Dr. Hong was the quintessential physician scientist who specialized in all aspects of medicine, but most notably patient care, research, and education. This is a devastating loss for the entire oncology community, and especially for all of the patients he cared for and helped.
Waun Ki Hong at Yale Cancer center for the 2012 Paul Calabresi Memorial Lecture. Pictured from left to right: Vincent DeVita, Roy Herbst, Peter Calabresi. Thomas Lynch and Ki (photo on wall of Paul Calabresi)
– Photo courtesy of Yale Cancer Center
Though he has departed, his findings will continue to help those patients for years to come, including his groundbreaking innovations in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer, precision medicine, chemoprevention, and targeted therapy. Just think about how lung cancer treatment has changed in 20 years with the advent of targeted therapy, precision guided biopsies, and immunotherapy, thanks … Continue reading A general in BATTLE, Waun Ki Hong was a pioneer of precision medicine
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ISIS at Home
It just doesn’t stop.
While the media has gone crazy nuts, covering the terrorist attack in Brussels, which was, for sure, horrific, America’s own terrorism against people of color, specifically and especially against black men, continues with hardly a whisper.
I was shocked, then saddened, and then …angry…when I read about New York police officers who handcuffed an African-American mail carrier in Brooklyn because…well, because they could.
According to the article about the incident which appeared in the New York Times, Glen Grays, 27, yelled at a car which came careening around a corner, coming dangerously close to him and his mail truck. He was afraid he was going to be sideswiped.
When Grays yelled, the car was put into reverse and the driver said to Grays, “I have the right of way because I am law enforcement.” Inside the car were three other officers, all plainclothes. They all approached Grays and ended up handcuffing him, telling him to “stop resisting,” although a video taken at the scene doesn’t show him resisting at all, except to say, “I didn’t do anything!” He was handcuffed nonetheless, taken down to the police station, his mail truck left unattended. He was charged with disorderly conduct, and was released. He is going to have to appear in court to answer the charges. (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/nyregion/glen-grays-the-mailman-cuffed-in-brooklyn.html?_r=0&login=google)
When will this craziness end? And when will the media take seriously the cry that black lives do matter, a cry which has come from generations of black lives being denigrated and destroyed by law enforcement? When will law enforcement stop whining about finally being called out on its behavior, a behavior with which it has gotten away with for generations, perhaps more so since the issuance of the Fugitive Slave Laws? When will this nation admit that, based on how its agencies charged with protecting American citizens, it has shown that black lives really do not matter?
The criminalization of black people has destroyed families and communities. It has caused little black children to be at risk..of being kids …kids who do things that all of us as kids have done. This week, a six-year old child was handcuffed in Chicago for taking candy off a teacher’s desk. (https://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/crying-6-year-old-put-in-handcuffs-under-schools-stairs-for-taking-candy-off-teachers-desk/) She was six years old. Perhaps being put in a corner would have been a suitable response, or being put in “time out,” but being handcuffed?”
It’s really hard to listen to the outrage expressed over terrorist attacks on cities like Brussels and Paris while equally or worse attacks are carried out in Nigeria and Turkey and Somalia and Palestine with little to no mention. I despise terrorism, but I despise more the selective reporting of terrorism.
But I am also incensed by America’s refusal to own her own brand of “ISIS.” Law enforcement officers in this nation, as well as the courts and entire justice system, have terrorized and demonized and in effect, killed the spirits of literally hundreds of thousands of African-Americans just because they could. The justice system has played with the lives of black people accused and of offenses which they often did not do, by putting them in mock courts with white prosecutors, white judges and all-white juries, basically condemning them and forcing them to second and third rate citizenship in this country which prides itself on having the best justice system in the world.
While the media is bleeding over what happened in San Bernadino, Brussels and in Paris, it has showed little stomach or empathy for the injustice and damage done on this side of the pond to African-Americans, surely, but also to brown people, and Native Americans. All day long the media has been talking abut Brussels and the ineptitude of law enforcement there. Isn’t there a lot of ineptitude here that the media ought to be lifting up? How in the world can America show horror at what ISIS did in Brussels without coming to terms what our justice system, America’s ISIS, did to Kalief Browder? If you remember, Kalief was a high school student when he was accused of stealing someone’s book bag – which he had not done. He was arrested and was in prison for three years without a trial. When he was finally released, after trying to reconnect with society and get his life back, he gave up and committed suicide. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/nyregion/kalief-browder-held-at-rikers-island-for-3-years-without-trial-commits-suicide.html)
Where is the outrage of the media, of the people running for president? While some white people try to steer the conversation away from the complaint about how black people are treated in this nation, urging the slogan to be “ALL lives matter,” the fact of the matter is that white power treats black lives as though they are nothing, like they are disposable income, so to speak.
Thinking about this young mail carrier, arrested and charged because he yelled at an unmarked police car that scared him, just makes my anger grow deeper and deeper. I need for America to stop talking so much about international terrorism and deal with the terrorism which is right in front of us all, on America’s Main Streets.
March 25, 2016 March 27, 2016 candidobservationAmerican terrorism, Black lives matter, Foreign Terrorism, ISIS, Police Brutality, Racial terrorism, Racism America's illness, Racism in America, UncategorizedGlen Grays, ISIS, Kalief Browder, Mail carrier arrested, Police Brutality, Terrorism in the United States
2 thoughts on “ISIS at Home”
Matthew Chapman
Susan, don’t you mean “And when will the media take seriously the cry that black lives DO matter…”?
Oops! Yes, I did, Matthew. Thank you for catching that! And thanks for reading the piece!
I hope you had a good, good Easter!
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Through The Eyes Of A Commoner
Personal blog of Debadatta Bose, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.). All views expressed are personal, and not affiliated to any institute/organisation.
The new Juvenile Justice Act, 2014 - A legislative analysis - Boon or Bane?
Friday, May 15, 2015 by Debadatta Bose
The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014 had been brought in as an aftermath of the Nirbhaya rape case[1] that happened in 2013. This case was one of moral turpitude, which set out a clear dilemma – to protect or not to protect the children? I had briefly elaborated my issue and stand in an earlier post on this blog, titled 'The Issue of Juvenile Justice'. The children, on whom society looked at with sympathetic eyes were condemned for the acts of the heinous crimes that shook India. Emotional beings, as we are, we sought to change the law and blamed the existing law for the inadequate punishment that was given to the juvenile offenders who had perpetrated the crime. At the spur of the moment, that seemed a logical thing to do – put the children who commit heinous offences behind bars. Now, that the book has been reopened, let us ask ourselves with a calm mind, ‘Is that the right thing to do?’ Is this what the world has come to? Killing children with the sanction and legal authority of the State is certainly not something that comes to the mind when we ponder over the term, ‘civilization’, or ‘civilized society’. Such barbaric thoughts, have been condemned in the past and should continue to be condemned through the future.
Important provisions of the Bill
There are basically some main features of the Bill that are essential to be highlighted in the analysis:
1. For heinous offences, i.e. offences with punishment more than 7 years, children in the age group of 16-18 will be tried as adults
2. For serious offences, i.e. offences with punishment between 3 years to 7 years, children in the age group of 16-18 years will be tried as an adult only when they are apprehended after the age of 21 years
3. For all other cases, there is a maximum punishment of three years of institutional care
4. A preliminary inquiry will be held for serious offences when the juvenile in conflict with law is apprehended before the age of 21 years
5. A special Sessions Court, the Child Court will determine the questions as to the quantum of punishment and whether he will be sent to institutional care, counselling recommendations and the question of whether to try him as an adult
The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014 – Key Issues
The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014, though voices the opinions of the people in a way that they had demanded, the Bill contains some key issues that need to be addressed before this comes into force as an Act. To begin with, this Act is based on an emotional background and was born and ignited out of an uproar involving a question of moral turpitude. Let us reiterate that, sometimes, majority opinion is not the correct opinion and the affairs of the State is best left with the highly competent professionals who make the law. This Bill of 2014 seeks to undo all the good law that was in force and replace an established international system with a faulty indigenous system that is based on principles of retribution and vengeance which been long condemned by law.
Non-conformity to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
It is ironical that the Bill, in its statement of Objects and Reasons, states the following:
“AND WHEREAS, the Government of India has acceded on the 11th December, 1992 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of United Nations, which has prescribed a set of standards to be adhered to by all State parties in securing the best interest of the child;
AND WHEREAS, it is expedient to re-enact the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to make comprehensive provisions for children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, taking into consideration the standards prescribed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child …”
It is pertinent to note that the UNCRC[2] defines a ‘child’ as any human being below the age of eighteen years and states in Article 37(a):
“… Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age”
The Standing Committee Report[3] has arrived at the same finding that the Statements of Objects and Reasons of the Bill is in conflict with the substance of the Bill, which again violates an important convention which India had ratified. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act of 2000, had been promulgated specifically for the purpose of implementing the UNCRC in the Indian context – to guard and protect the children, for it is the duty of the State to do so. This Bill seems to ignore that duty and not only violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but is a complete blow to humanity in itself lawfully permitting children to be tried in the same courts as professional criminals, lawfully permitting children to be behind bars with those offenders who are hardened criminals. The Bill, however, only allows life imprisonment with a possibility of release, bypassing a possible violation of Article 37(a), but still, however, violating the definition and UNCRC General Comment 10.
Constitutional Validity
This Bill seems not to only violate an important international convention, but in all probability violates the provisions of the Constitution of India itself. The provisions of the Bill in question are the classification of heinous offences and serious offences in clauses 7 and 16(1) of the Bill, as discussed earlier in the legislative brief.
Under Article 15(3) of the Constitution of India[4], the State is obligated and forever duty bound to protect the children and women of the nation, and to do so, it may enact special laws to achieve the objective. This law seems to contradict the very spirit and essence of Article 15(3) when the State seeks to enact laws to do away with the concept of children altogether in pari material with the concept of majority and prescribe stringent punishments for children as equivalent to adults.
Now, when we come to Article 14 of the constitution[5], which prescribes equality of all before law, we find a serious violation here. As discussed earlier in the legislative brief, the discrimination is not only on the basis of age, but on the basis of apprehension. It is very difficult to comprehend a social purpose behind this arbitrary and fanciful piece of legislation. To understand its implications, let us take some examples:
A, and his friend B, both 16 years of age commit an offence punishable with an imprisonment of 5 years. A is apprehended after a month, and B is apprehended when he is 22 years of age. In this case, A can be sentenced to a maximum punishment of three years institutional care and B, on the other hand, will receive a punishment of a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment.
This not only violates the provision of equality, but ropes in Article 20(1) of the Constitution[6] which says that no person can be punished more than the punishment prescribed for the offence when it was committed. For the same offence, a different punishment based on the date of apprehension means a violation of the right to equality and a violation of the right under Article 20.
The other provision whose spirit is violated is Article 21 which ensures right to life and liberty[7]. These life and liberty of a person cannot be curbed except according to procedure established by law. The phrase of ‘procedure established by law’ meant a procedure that had legal sanction, without regard to the principles of natural justice. Any law duly enacted could fit within the framework of ‘procedure established by law’, which was changed in the Maneka Gandhi case[8] whereupon it became synonymous with ‘due process of law’ used in the United States, which means a process which is fair, just and reasonable and not fanciful, arbitrary, oppressive and capricious. This Bill seems, in all probability, to have violated the spirit and interpretation of Article 21 by enacting laws that are highly discriminatory, and even more on arbitrary grounds without a social cause or social wrong being addressed.
Arbitrary punishments
The punishments have not been decided on a concrete foundation and have the sense of arbitrariness as earlier discussed creeping over into them. For example, the punishment for selling a child is five years, and giving them narcotic substances is seven years. This really does not make sense to anyone of the legal fraternity, or even laymen for I suppose, no one would agree that giving a child marijuana is a more heinous offence than selling them for purposes which cannot be imagined by the sane.
In the case of Abdul Mannan And Ors. v. State Of West Bengal[9], the Supreme Court of India has reiterated the objective of the Act of 2000, stating, “The object of the Juvenile Justice Act is to reform and rehabilitate the juvenile offenders as useful citizens in the society.” The Rajasthan High Court has again stated in Chetan and Anr. v. State of Rajasthan[10] that “One of the aims of the Juvenile Justice Act is to reform the juvenile delinquent so that he is prevented from graduating to being a hardened criminal.”
With the Hon'ble Courts taking the view as above, and the same being the duty of the legislature, this Bill is unwarranted, putting the working age population behind bars and making them hardened criminals, left to the mercy of being moulded by all seasoned criminals in their company. While India is proudly advertising its demographic dividend, the act of putting the working group into the hands of criminals is an act which should be condemned.
Instead of putting them behind bars, it is better to put them in institutional care till the age of 21 years, not 18, as suggested by the Standing Committee. Instead of ostracizing them and making them a burden on the State, it is better to make them an asset to the nation by giving them vocational training, and putting them in care till the age of 21. By this process, the ones who would, in future, be a threat to the society, become a valuable possession of the nation.
[1] See State Through Reference and ors. v. Ram Singh and ors., 2014 Indlaw DEL 819
[2] Full text of the UNCRC can be accessed from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx
[3] The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, February 25, 2015 available at http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Juvenile%20Justice/SC%20report-%20Juvenile%20justice.pdf last accessed 06:09 UTC on 11-05-15
[4] Article 15(3) states: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.”
[5] Article 14 states: “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”
[6] Article 20(1) states: “No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the Act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.”
[7] Article 21 states: “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
[8] Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India AIR 1978 SC 597
[9] Abdul Mannan And Ors. v. State Of West Bengal AIR 1996 SC 905
[10] Chetan and Anr. v. State of Rajasthan 2011 Indlaw RAJ 220
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Retrospective: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Welcome back to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre retrospective! In today entry we're going to be covering the Platinum Dunes remake, 2003's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! This is the film which kicked off the horror remake craze in the 2000s, for better or worse. It was also my first exposure to the franchise - I remember as a kid hearing about this movie from other kids on the bus talking about people getting their limbs chainsawed off and getting hung on a hook. Suffice to say, as a little evangelical kid it sounded like evil debauchery to me, but the imagery in my mind stuck with me and made me curious throughout the years until I finally saw the film. How does the remake hold up? Read on to find out...
I love this poster, it works because it gives us just enough creepy imagery but forces us to fill in the blanks with our imagination. Very similar to the poster for Hannibal.
After Columbia Tristar tried to bury Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, the rightsholders spent years in court before the whole fiasco was settled. During this time, William Hooper (son of Tobe Hooper) was planning on making a new Chainsaw short starring Bill Moseley. This film was going to be called "All American Massacre" and would have featured Chop Top recounting stories of his family's misdeeds. This short ended up getting expanded into a 60 minute feature with a score by Buckethead. However, it was eventually shelved when Hooper ran out of money to complete it, leaving the project in limbo where it currently resides, with only a short trailer proving it ever existed.
Late in 2001 Michael Bay's new production company, Platinum Dunes, decided that they wanted their first project to be a remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and went ahead securing the rights. Platinum Dunes aimed t0 produce low-budget films with high profit margins and a Chainsaw remake seemed like the best way to test that. Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel were brought on a co-producers on the film. Marcus Nispel, a director of many high-profile music videos, was hired to direct the film. Interestingly, Nispel's regular cinematographer and long-time friend, Daniel Pearl, was actually the cinematographer for the original Chainsaw. Pearl was also hired as director of photography for the remake. Scott Kosar, writer of such films as The Machinist, The Crazies and the remake of The Amityville Horror, made his scriptwriting debut on this film. He decided early on that the film shouldn't be a direct remake of the original, but rather take the same scenario and use it as inspiration. He also went back to the story of Ed Gein for further influence.
Jessica Biel was cast to play the film's heroine, Erin. Biel was just coming off of her role in 7th Heaven and (whether true or not) there was a perception that she was looking to shed her goody-goody image that the show had fostered. In earlier drafts of the script, Erin was actually supposed to be nine months pregnant which would have added an interesting dimension to the plot, but Michael Bay shot the idea down. Nispel claims that Erin is pregnant during the events of the film, but there is nothing in the film itself which suggests that this is the case. The principal cast were filled out with a number of young, up-and-coming actors: Eric Balfour was cast as Erin's boyfriend, Kemper, Erica Leerhsen as Pepper, Mike Vogel as Andy, and Jonathan Tucker as Morgan. On the villainous side of the cast, freaking R. Lee Ermey was cast as Sheriff Hoyt. As for Leatherface, Andrew Bryniarski (most notable for playing Zangief in the Street Fighter movie) was a friend of Michael Bay's and asked him at a Christmas party if he could play the role. However, Bay had to turn him down because Leatherface had already been cast. However, according to Wikipedia (so take this info as you will, I only found an interview that verifies this story) the actor who was cast as Leatherface was injured on the very first day of shooting after lying about his physical qualifications and was subsequently fired. In dire need of a replacement actor to play the villain, Byrniarski was called up and cast.
The film's budget was set at less than $10 million and filming took place in Texas once again. Like all of the other Chainsaw films in Texas, this created the usual problems for the cast and crew, with hot and humid weather making life difficult. This was hardest on Bryniarski, as he had to perform in a fat suit and wore a mask during the entire shoot, making it difficult to breathe and forcing him to stay hydrated to avoid passing out. The film was released on October 17, 2003 and made its budget back within the first day. Suffice to say, it was a box office hit although the reviews at the time were mixed. Roger Ebert famously hated it, giving the film a rare 0/4 stars.
The film opens with police footage of the "real life" crime scene of the Hewitt family (the name of the family has been changed from "Sawyer" in this timeline). It then flashes back to the events of that day and we are introduced to a group of young people travelling through Texas. The group has just returned from a vacation in Mexico, where they picked up a woman named Pepper who Andy has had a tryst with, and are headed to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. Erin discovers that the group is secretly smuggling drugs that they acquired during the trip south of the border and, after distracting her boyfriend, Kemper, about it, he nearly hits a woman walking beside the road. The group picks the woman up and tries to take her to the hospital, but she begins going crazy and shoots herself in the head. The group is, understandably, shocked and tries to find the local sheriff to report the incident. The locals direct them to an old mill to wait for the sheriff, but when he does not arrive, a local boy directs Kemper and Erin to a nearby house where he is supposed to live. When they arrive, the owner of the house says that the sheriff does not live here, but offers Erin use of his phone. Kemper then wanders into the house and is ambushed by Leatherface and killed. Erin leaves after phoning the sheriff, not realizing that Kemper had gone into the house and assuming that he went back to the others.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Hoyt arrives at the mill and begins taunting and questioning Andy, Morgan and Pepper about what happened. He forces Andy to help him wrap up the body and then gets Morgan to join in and help put the body in the back of his vehicle before leaving. Erin gets back after he has left and is surprised that the sheriff has already come and gone. She also is surprised that Kemper is not with the others and so she and Andy decide to return to the house to figure out what happened to Kemper. Erin distracts the homeowner while Andy sneaks into the house, but when they are discovered, Leatherface chases after the pair with a chainsaw. During the escape, Andy's leg is sawed off by Leatherface and he is dragged into the basement to be hung on a meathook. Erin makes it back to the others and then tries to get the van started so that they can find help, but they are stopped by Sheriff Hoyt. Hoyt doesn't listen to Erin's stories about a chainsaw-wielding maniac killing her friends and instead arrests them after finding marijuana in the vehicle. He taunts Morgan, forcing him to re-enact the hitchhiker's suicide until Morgan turns the gun on Hoyt. However, the gun is not loaded and Hoyt beats Morgan before taking him away in his squad car.
Now on their own, Erin and Pepper try to escape in the van, but are attacked by Leatherface. Pepper is killed while trying to escape, while Erin flees to a nearby home. The owners of the house try to placate her, until Erin realizes that they are complicit with the Hewitts - the child in this home was from a family killed by the Hewitts. The locals drug Erin and when she awakes she has been brought to the Hewitt house by Hoyt. She gets dumped into the basement by Leatherface where she finds Andy hanging from the meathook. After trying to free him, Andy begs Erin to kill him, which she does so using a large knife. She then finds Morgan, badly beaten, and tries to escape with him. Leatherface realizes that they are trying to escape and pursues them into another abandoned house. After a lengthy game of cat-and-mouse, Leatherface finds the pair and kills Morgan. Erin flees into the local slaughterhouse where she finally gets the upper-hand on Leatherface, severing his arm with a meat cleaver. She then flags a passing truck driver to escape, but when the driver tries to find locals to help her, she realizes that he's going to inadvertently deliver her back to Hoyt. She escapes the truck and finds that they're at the house with the kidnapped child. Erin takes the child back and then, when Hoyt comes to investigate the truck, she runs him over with his own police cruiser and escapes, but not before Leatherface shows up for one last swipe at the fleeing vehicle. In the epilogue, it is revealed that the police seen in the opening footage were killed by Leatherface and that he is still out there somewhere.
I don't want to spend the bulk of this review comparing the remake with the original film, but suffice to say that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre strikes a good balance between original ideas and reverence to the original. One aspect of the remake which stands out is that it's far more glitzy than any of the other Chainsaw films. This is likely due to the influence of Platinum Dunes, as Michael Bay is known for his flashy, flawless, Hollywood film-making aesthetic. Daniel Pearl was quite up-front about not wanting to recreate the grainy, documentary-style aesthetic of the original Chainsaw, but the differences go further than that. Whereas the original film and (to a lesser extent) its sequels had aimed for fairly normal-looking actors, the remake casts very pretty, Hollywood talent. The film also just feels different, no longer lingering on disturbing imagery and forcing the audience to piece a picture together from what they've seen. Instead, scares are far more conventional, edited in a disorienting fashion and set to "scary music". Thankfully, the film doesn't really rely on irritating jump scares, but regardless the horror is nowhere near as effective as it was in the original.
I was also surprised by how little gore there was in this film - I've seen this movie at least two or three times now and I remember it being far bloodier and nastier than it actually was. However, while the film is definitely far more explicit than the original film, it follows a similar philosophy of keeping the worst of the violence to your imagination. For example, Andy gets his leg chopped off very quickly and with only a little blood, Pepper gets hacked up with a chainsaw off-screen, Morgan gets cut nearly in half from the crotch upward off-screen, and Kemper's face gets cut off and made into a mask entirely off-screen. In fact, the only truly R-rated scenes of violence are the hitchhiker shooting herself in the head (complete with a camera pan backwards through the freaking bullet hole) and Leatherface losing his arm, but the film is nowhere near as brutal as I remembered. This works in the film's favour though, it makes you use your imagination to fill in the blanks, hence why I remembered the film being nastier than it actually was. Apparently the film was originally intended to be far more graphic though, with much more brutal on-screen kills for Morgan, Pepper and Kemper planned, and Leatherface was also supposed to murder his own nephew Jedidiah for helping Erin and Morgan escape (which presumably was cut due to it being too brutal for a kid to be killed).
As for the film's script, it follows the outline of the original film in very broad strokes without straight-up ripping off any of the scenes (unlike all of the other sequels in this franchise, each of which have effectively remade the dinner scene). Like, instead of travelling to Texas to check in on their family's grave, the group is heading to a concert. Instead of picking up a hitchhiker who attacks the group, the hitchhiker commits suicide in their car. Instead of stumbling across the Sawyer house while looking for gas, they find the Hewitt residence while searching for the sheriff. As you can see, the remake follows the same outline as the original, while also providing its own twists on the formula, which is a good direction to take a remake in my opinion. In fact, I'd argue that some of the additions are actually improvements (blasphemy, I know). In particular, the characters' deaths feel like there is much more purpose to them in this film. In the original, the characters just kept wandering onto the Sawyers' property and getting murdered because of that. In the remake, characters usually die for more interesting reasons. The characters come across the Hewitt house because they were told that that was where they could find the sheriff, which leads to Kemper getting ambushed by Leatherface. Andy gets his leg cut off because he broke into the Hewitt house trying to find Kemper and then gets mercy-killed by Erin. Pepper dies trying to escape Leatherface. Morgan dies saving Erin. I get that the purposelessness of the original film's deaths is part of the point of that film, but I have to say that the remake's deaths feel more satisfying from a narrative standpoint. There are also some interesting little additions to the film which I enjoyed, such as the peepholes that the Hewitts have installed around their house which allow them to spy on uninvited guests, having Erin's rescue mirror the hitchhiker's suicide from the start of the film and that the whole community seems to be complicit with the Hewitts' crimes now.
However, the script has some definite issues and is also noticeably messy and disappointing in its third act. The film is really solid up until Erin is kidnapped and brought to the Hewitt house, at which point it starts to nosedive. For one thing, there are just too many dumb conveniences here. Like, when Leatherface tossed Erin into the basement unrestrained, what was he expecting to happen? Of course she was going to free Morgan and try to escape. In addition, Jedidiah's character is just super convenient. For no explicable reason he suddenly decides to grow a conscience and help Erin and Morgan escape. It also doesn't help that the third act doesn't bother to give us any motivation for the villains. There's nothing to suggest that the Hewitts are cannibals, they just kill people... because, I guess? Funnily enough, as much as I rag on Chainsaw films ripping off the dinner scene every time, this film actually needed a dinner scene, or an emotional equivalent, in its third act. Instead, we just get an extended chase sequence for the entire last half hour of the film. Imagine if the original Chainsaw had ended with Sally running away from the gas station for another 10 minutes after finding out Drayton is a villain and then the film just ends - obviously it wouldn't have anywhere near the same impact, but that's basically what this film does. While I'm glad that they didn't just rip off the dinner scene again, this film definitely needed some sort of scene with Hoyt taunting Erin and a giving us better understanding of what the Hewitts are up to. I'm also not a huge fan of the ending - between Erin rescuing the kidnapped kid that no one really cared about in the first place and her confrontation with Hoyt, it isn't that great. Her reaction to killing Hoyt felt weird to me because the two characters barely interacted throughout the film - all of his emotional abuses were directed towards the other characters, whereas Erin was usually absent, so it doesn't really resonate as well as it should. Also, the rescued kid felt totally tacked on, possibly all the way back to the draft where Erin was nine-months pregnant. Having her somehow sneak in and rescue this kid was just pointless, like the producers wanted to force some sort of ray of sunshine into the ending.
Something else odd that I noticed about the remake is that it follows traditional slasher morality codes more than any other entry in the franchise up to this point. For example, Erin is our final girl because she's the only member of the group who follows traditional morality - she objects to the group's post smoking and excessive drinking and she always insists on doing the "moral" action (rescuing the hitchhiker, waiting for the sheriff to arrive to take the body, etc). During the opening scene, she is contrasted against the pot-smoking Morgan, the furiously horny Andy and Pepper and the moral conflict of Kemper. However, this is also a cruel irony because she is also the reason why everyone else dies - as Hoyt himself says, if she hadn't picked up the hitchhiker, then they wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place. It's kind of interesting to consider that in the remake compassion is what gets everyone killed, not simply that the villains are evil.
The film has far less going on in it than the original, but it does notably carry on the theme of society vs barbarism from the first film. Notably, the Texas locals in this film all have some sort of deformity to them, from missing limbs, to gout, to just being sheer lunatics. These deformities are contrasted even more obviously than in the original due to the remake's much more glamorous and pretty cast. Funnily enough, when I saw the kidnapped kid I was actually going to make a note that this was the first local we had seen which was actually "normal" looking, until it was revealed that this child was actually kidnapped from "civilized" society, a fact which pretty much signifies that this distinction was totally intentional. With this in mind, rescuing the kid at the end is thematically significant to the message of the film, as tacked-on as that part of the ending may seem. I wonder whether the post-9/11 climate helped to inform the tone of the film, where not only is compassion being taken advantage of by evil people, but society and its deviant fringes are colliding violently.
As for the characters, it seems to me that they are all quite flat in the script and only really gain any weight from the people playing them. Luckily for the film, I actually quite liked most of the performances, but when I think back on the characters themselves I realize that there isn't really much to any of them. Jessica Biel's Erin makes for a pretty great and capable final girl, probably the second best in the franchise after Stretch. However, she isn't exactly a compelling character and the revelation that this very moral character spent time in juvie for hot-wiring vehicles comes across as pretty convenient. After her, Kemper is probably the next most compelling, in part due to Eric Balfour's performance. He really sells the character's conflict without having to rely on the material to get that across - he's trying to get money to pay for a wedding ring he purchased for Erin, but in order to do so he is planning on selling pot at the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert they're attending, a fact which Erin does not approve of. After the hitchhiker kills herself in their vehicle, his plans start to come apart at the seams and it's interesting seeing him have to make his decisions and juggle the various factors weighing on him. It's just really sad to see him die, and then later for Erin to see Leatherface wearing her boyfriend's face is just traumatic. Andy also gets enjoyable in the second half of the film. The first half wastes him as a generic pretty boy, but by the time he joins Erin to try to rescue Kemper, he gets much more interesting. He even gets a short fight with Leatherface before getting his leg chopped off, at which point I just feel really sorry for him. I really like Mike Vogel and I think that his performance is what makes me like Andy so much, it's just too bad he doesn't get much to work with. As for Pepper and Morgan? Meh. Morgan is just a total douche, whereas Pepper really doesn't get much of a character at all.
The villains are where things really shine though. While Sheriff Hoyt is also a rather flat character, R. Lee Ermey turns him into an absolute joy to watch, nearly on par with Chop Top. He isn't just a rip-off of Full Metal Jacket's Sargeant Hartman either. Instead of being just abrasive, Hoyt gets a hoot out of being sadistic dick. He loves to taunt his victims and lord himself over them, such as when he makes inappropriately sexual jokes about the hitchhiker's corpse just to make Andy uncomfortable. He's also a total bastard when taunting people, most notably when Hoyt tricks Morgan into trying to shoot him, only to reveal that he had unloaded the gun first. He can also be darkly hilarious - during one scene he's chatting up Morgan and when Morgan tells him that they were heading to a Skynyrd concert, Hoyt tells him that they have something in common. Then he bashes Morgan with a bottle, knocking out a tooth, which causes him to show that he's missing his front teeth and say that now they have something else in common. It's nasty, but the way that Ermey sells it is fantastic. Unsurprisingly, he straight-up steals every scene he's in and the fact that he died in the last year leaves us all poorer as a result.
As for Leatherface, Andrew Bryniarski's performance is the best since Gunnar Hansen and his mask is also by far the best-looking since the original film, in my opinion . He has a great physical presence and is genuinely frightening to see pursuing the heroes. The character has also been changed a fair bit in this incarnation. He does seem to be mute, but he does not seem to be mentally handicapped anymore; he's far more cunning and purposeful in his actions than he ever has been. Leatherface also has some sort of skin disease which has eaten away his nose. It actually looks quite nasty and marks the first time we see the character's face in this series. Also, instead of killing to eat or to defend his home, Leatherface just seems to be evil and going on a rampage in this film. According to director Marcus Nispel, Leatherface is so sadistic and evil because... he was bullied? No seriously, here's the quote:
"If my son would go mad and wear other people’s faces, I wouldn’t be supportive of him *unless* something happened to him – a deformity or whatever – that is being ridiculed. I think about that a great deal when I think about Columbine. I wonder, 'Where are the real monsters?' Who made these kids be that way? [...] Now, here’s someone who has no identity, so he has to wear other people’s faces for a mask. People that heckled him. People that are much more beautiful than he is, and a family that knows what drove him to this; namely, that heckling. And that’s why they support him. [...] But what really makes it scary is that he’s a real guy – the neighbor’s son on a wild rampage."
Umm, okay... I get that this was very much inspired by all of the conversations in the aftermath of Columbine, but I really don't see this as a reasonable motivation for the character to be killing people, let alone why Hoyt would be joining in on it or why the locals would be complicit in his actions. Seriously, this film needed some sort of actual justification for the Hewitt family's crimes, it just feels like they're only killing people because they're evil now. Cannibalism was a commentary on the climate of its time, so perhaps the lack of motivation reflects on the post-9/11 confusion about the causes of evil in the world?
All-in-all, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a decent horror remake. It definitely has its issues and the material could have been much stronger, but it's a pretty enjoyable watch and is quite well-made, especially compared to the horror remakes which tried to ape its success. If more remakes that followed in its wake had actually followed its strengths, then perhaps the trend would not have been as reviled as it came to be.
Be sure to tune in again soon as we take a look at the sixth entry in the franchise, the prequel to the remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning!
Labels: film, horror, retrospectives, reviews, slasher, texas chainsaw massacre
Not sure when you wrote this, but the family motives are summed up in the Beginning. I know that wasn't in the picture at the time, but I'm okay with the murky motives, the fam just being some crazy bastards, or leaving all that open to interpretation. Good review though!
Barloq133 2 June 2019 at 08:44
Yup, I mentioned that in my review of The Beginning! I feel like this film would have been a bit better if they had fleshed that out just a little bit more here though, but it's not a huge complaint. :)
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Robbing the bank: land use change.
nzcpe Uncategorized 4th Apr 2019 4th Apr 2019
In an epic weather event affecting most of the West Coast on 26 March 2019, attention was focussed on the dramatic washout of the Waiho Bridge near Franz Josef, cutting the West Coast highway. In response, the West Coast Regional Council has suggested that a long-term strategy to safeguard the area is to remove stopbanks constructed in the 1980s.
The Waiho cuts through the bridge
Knocking down stop-banks seems a perverse response to flooding, especially when it could result in the loss of farmland, but here’s the rub: before it was farmland it was floodplain. Recent heavy rain resulted in the collapse of the bridge crossing the Waiho river, not for the first time. The rain event was extreme even for the area – about 300mm in 24 hours, close to the monthly average for the area. The Waiho flows from the snout of the Franz Josef glacier, a major draw for tourists visiting the West Coast which is renowned for spectacular scenery and rain. The abundant precipitation in the west of South Island New Zealand is an integral part of its ecology and intimately linked to its landscape. Briefly, air laden with water vapour from the ocean is pushed from the west in response to Earth’s rotation.
Rainfall and erosion on the Southern Alps
This weather circulates the southern seas largely unimpeded by land for at least 30 million years, since Australia and Antarctica were separated by tectonic forces. However, in South Island New Zealand, the Alpine Fault represents the collision of two tectonic plates that resulted in up-thrust of rock strata and eventual formation of the Southern Alps about 5 million years ago. The Southern Alps get in the way of some of the humid westerly wind forcing it up to cooler altitude where water condenses and falls as snow or rain. This orographic rain explains the huge difference in conditions between the wet west and dry east of the island. It also explains why glaciers flow down some west coast valleys, why the Southern Alps were so heavily glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 years ago, and why erosion rates are so high. The immense amount of water and sediment coming down from the mountains makes a powerful porridge that is a feature of braided rivers and alluvial plains in the region.
Downstream from the ill-fated Waiho bridge, the river weaves its way across flat land formed from sediment previously brought down to the area by water. The land here is therefore a product of the alpine erosion (just as the Canterbury plains are), and as such has supported for millenia an indigenous wet forest and wetland vegetation spanning sphagnum mosses to giant rimu, kahikatea and southern rātā. Here lives a highly diverse fauna and flora with many species particular to the region (e.g. Okarito kiwi, several lizards, carnivorous snails, the world’s only green cave wētā) and many newly discovered species awaiting formal recognition. This low-lying flatland environment includes some of the most extensive areas of New Zealand wetland habitat, of which less than 10% remains. But this environment is also highly valued for conversion to agriculture and in particular dairy pasture. Pasture conversion means replacement of the indigenous habitat and its fauna and flora with a handful of European plants and cattle with their associated ejecta.
Forest floor © Steve Reekie
Green cave wētā © Danilo Hegg
Cobble skink © Tony Jewell
Southern rātā at Franz Josef
Alluvial fan and stopbanks on the Waiho River
To achieve this transformation the natural floodplain of the Waiho River has been engineered (as have many New Zealand rivers) to restrict water flow using stopbanks bulldozed from the river bed. This approach seeks to reduce the meandering habitat of rivers with low slope so that land can be cleared and managed. At Franz Josef it became apparent more than 10 years ago that once created the stopbanks increased the accumulation of sediments upstream by confining the fanhead near where the road (SH6) crosses the river. This aggradation (raising of land) that is linked to failure of the bridge results when the rate of sediment supply is greater than the rate of removal, and did not happened prior to human intervention when the river occupied the wider flood plain.
The ghosts of natural drainage channels are impressed on the converted land. See GoogleEarth
So, despite the phenomenal disruption to the families involved, perhaps knocking down stopbanks is the right thing to do? Naturally, the experiences and circumstances of the people involved can never be ignored, but a planned national strategy for withdrawal from parts of our landscape is needed. As climate change, driven primarily by the use of fossil fuels bites deeper, coastal and waterway environments are certainly going to change, and so are weather patterns, the availability of water and the intensity of sunshine. These things affect people’s lives not just directly but indirectly through the changes in our biosphere. An inclusive approach to future-proof our economy, lifestyles and biosphere will have to come as the alternative of fighting against the inevitable changes cannot succeed. We cannot stop it raining on the West Coast. The building of more and higher stopbanks is a useful metaphor for all manner of human activities that are simply not sustainable. Building “stopbanks” sometimes provides short term solutions but tends to relocate, accumulate and exacerbate underlying problems. The already highly stressed natural landscape of Aotearoa, of which more than half is in agricultural use, needs us to take proper, unselfish and collective responsibility.
Most of the river flats on the West Coast are now pastures
Steve Trewick
Published 4th Apr 2019 4th Apr 2019
Previous Post We need a legally binding treaty to make plastic pollution history
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Secondary Ingress/Egress Road ROW
Mono County
The proposed project is the issuance of a thirty year renewable road right-of-way (CACA 052688) to Mono County by BLM for the construction, operation, maintenance, and termination of a gravel secondary ingress/egress road for Mono City, CA. The existing material pit dirt road would be improved to 12 feet wide, would be about 2,220 feet long, and considered to be a one-way road. A new one-way road segment being 12 feet wide and 370 feet long would be constructed from the pit road intersection with the parallel road to the well located at the fire station. The existing 12 foot wide 260 feet long dirt road from the fire station parking area to the well would be widened to 18 feet and would be considered to be a two-way road. The overall length of this proposed secondary access route would be 2,850 feet (.53 miles).
Scott Burns
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
38°2'40.68"N 119°8'56.03"W
Hwy 167 & 395
Mono City
Other (2,220 feet)
Other Action Other Action: ROW and rd const.
Aesthetic/Visual Air Quality Biological Resources Forest Land/Fire Hazard Soil Erosion/Compaction/Grading Traffic/Circulation Vegetation
Air Resources Board Cal Fire California Department of Parks and Recreation California Highway Patrol Department of Conservation Department of Fish and Wildlife, Region 6 (Inyo & Mono Region) Department of Water Resources Native American Heritage Commission Office of Historic Preservation Regional Water Quality Control Bd., Region 6 (Victorville) Resources Agency State Lands Commission Caltrans, District 9
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Charbonneau
Home > Charbonneau > Research
The Charbonneau Group pursues frontier research in soft matter using simulation and theory. We tackle questions ranging from the molecular to the colloidal scale, such as the glass problem, protein crystallization, and nano- and microscale particle assembly.
Cracking the Glass Problem
Explaining how a liquid turns into solid glass is one of the most challenging problems in the theory of matter. By changing the dimension of space in simulations, my group first showed that the liquid structure is important in preventing crystallization, but that simple geometrical frustration does not cause the dynamical slowdown. In order to further elucidate how rugged free-energy landscapes relate to glassiness, we helped set up the Simons Collaboration on Cracking the Glass Problem: https://scglass.uchicago.edu. As part of this effort, we specifically use numerical simulations, mean-field theory, and renormalization group approaches to understand glassiness. Through numerical simulations, we have shown that the amorphous order is intimately related to the rarefaction of metastable states in the landscape, and is universally responsible for rapid dynamical slowdown observed in glass-forming liquids. Through mean-field theory, we have discovered a critical transition upon cooling/compressing glasses. Through simulations and renormalization group studies, we have further revealed that this phenomenon persists even in the presence of violent fluctuations. We are currently trying to understand the remarkable universality and dimensional robustness of the jamming transition in deeply quenched glasses.
[1] P. Charbonneau, E. I. Corwin, G. Parisi, A. Poncet, and F. Zamponi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 045503 (2016).
[2] P. Charbonneau, J. Kurchan, G. Parisi, P. Urbani, and F. Zamponi, Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 8, 265 (2017).
[3] P. Charbonneau and S. Yaida, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 215701 (2017).
[4] L. Berthier, P. Charbonneau, D. Coslovich, A. Ninarello, M. Ozawa, and S. Yaida, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 114, 11356 (2017).
[5] L. Berthier, P. Charbonneau, E. Flenner, and F. Zamponi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 188002 (2017).
Protein Crystallization
Describing biological processes and drug design rely heavily on crystallographically-determined protein structures. Obtaining protein crystals, however, remains largely a trial-and-error endeavor. To understand the complex self-assembly of proteins, we have developed a hybrid approach that marries soft matter and structural biology. The resulting rationalization of the crystallization behavior of certain proteins allows us to make verifiable predictions about optimal crystallization conditions, and to constructively revisit physical and biological descriptions of the process. In collaboration with various protein crystallization facilities, we are also developing tools to analyze and interpret the results of crystallization experiments, and thus guide the formulation of appropriate experimental conditions.
In addition to phase behavior of proteins, we studied the structure of water around proteins, not only because biomolecular solvation affects protein phase behavior but also because water contributes to diffraction signals. The implication of the latter is that one needs to characterize the structure of water within protein crystals. We attempted to do this using molecular dynamics simulations and empirical water models and found that although these water models fall short of reproducing the water structure, information complementary to that obtained from diffraction data can be extracted via simulations.
[1] D. Fusco, P. Charbonneau, Phys. Rev. E 88, 012721 (2013).
[2] D. Fusco, J. Headd, J. J. Headd, A. de Simone, J. Wang, P. Charbonneau, Soft Matter 10, 290 (2014).
[3] J. McManus, P. Charbonneau, E. Zaccarelli, N. Asherie, Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 22, 73-79 (2016).
[4] I. Altan, P. Charbonneau, E. H. Snell, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 602, 12-20 (2016).
[5] I. Altan, D. Fusco, P. V. Afonine, P. Charbonneau, J. Phys. Chem B. 122(9), 2475-2486 (2018).
Microphase Formation
The self-assembly of nanoscale components is one of the most promising routes for designing ever smaller and more complex devices, such as organic photovoltaics and memory circuits. Microphase formers exhibit an exotic array of structures on the nanoscale, and these systems' relative simplicity makes them plausible experimental targets. Yet standard thermodynamic and kinetic descriptions provide insufficient guidance. Our novel simulation methodology for correctly treating lattices with fluctuating site occupancy allows us to obtain the equilibrium phase behavior of arbitrary microphase formers. Even the most basic of these models exhibit a surprisingly rich and novel behavior, such as softening due to clustering, reentrant transitions, and the formation of structure as varied as cluster crystals and double gyroid assemblies.
[1] K. Zhang and P. Charbonneau, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 195703 (2010).
[2] K. Zhang, P. Charbonneau, and B. M. Mladek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 245701 (2010).
[3] Y. Zhuang, K. Zhang, and P. Charbonneau, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 098301 (2016).
[4] Y. Zhuang, P. Charbonneau, J. Phys. Chem. B 120, 6178 (2016).
[5] Y. Zhuang, P. Charbonneau, J. Chems. Phys. 147, 091102 (2017).
Colloidal Assembly in External Fields
Reliably tailored mesoscale structures have potential applications that range from photonic crystals to biological templates. Interestingly, tuning colloidal interactions through external fields can give rise in a wealth of different structures in that size scale. Understanding and controlling their assembly, however, remains challenging. In collaboration with various experimental groups we study the assembly of nano- and microscale colloidal suspensions in magnetic, gravitational and acoustic fields.
[1] Y. Yang, L. Fu, C. Marcoux, P. Charbonneau, J. E. S. Socolar and B. B. Yellen, Soft Matter 11, 2404 (2015).
[2] C. E. Owens, C. W. Shields IV, D. F. Cruz, P. Charbonneau and G. P. Lopez, Soft Matter 12, 717 (2016).
[3] L. Fu, W. Steinhardt, H. Zhao, J. E. S. Socolar and P. Charbonneau, Soft Matter 12, 2505 (2016).
[4] L. Fu, C. Bian, C. W. Shields IV, D. F. Cruz, G. P. Lopez, and Patrick Charbonneau, Soft Matter 13, 3296 (2017).
[5] A. T. Pham, Y. Zhuang, P. Detwiler, J. E. S. Socolar, P. Charbonneau and B. B. Yellen, Phys. Rev. E 95, 052607 (2017).
Links to Publications
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Tag Archives: Bill Clinton Doma
March 27, 2013 by craftymcclever
Equality in America: Ding, Dong, DOMA’s Dead? Maybe…
While the debate inside the High Court continues, things heated up outside the court and across the nation. Of course no event would be complete without the Westboro Baptist Church. The Supreme Court is considering the constitutional challenge to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday and the debate has drawn protestors for the second day in a row even members of the fringe anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church who flanked two couples with their offensive, homophobic signs but kudos to couples for not letting their hate filled rants effect their public display of affection. Bravo! The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether Congress can withhold federal benefits from legally wed gay couples by defining marriage as a man and woman. Even former President Bill Clinton has called for the Supreme Court to overturn the law he signed as he believes that the Defense of Marriage Act is incompatible with the Constitution according to the Associated Press. He signed the law in 1996 to avoid legislation that would have been worse. In a Washington Post op-ed, Clinton writes society has changed and realizes that the law discriminates against gays and provides an excuse for other to do so too. The Obama administration stopped defending it as well as the Supreme Court will be the final say on what happens to the bill as well as California’s ban on gay marriage.
As the tensions rise outside the High Court, the U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday morning questioned the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and woman. and whether the decision is really up to them or not. This is the second day the High Court heard arguments with the main issue on Wednesday dealing with the United States v. Windsor and whether it was constitutional for the government not to recognize same sex marriages that have been recognized by the states. Justice Antohony Kennedy said Tuesday that children of same sex coupes “want their parents to have full recognition and legal status” had a hard time accepting that DOMA refuses to recognize those same sex unions recognized by the state according to Huff Post. Kennedy believes that DOMA does cause injury to these couples whose marriages are not recognized by the federal government but the state. Seciton 3 of DOMA, at issue on Wednesday reports Huff Post states “the word marriage means only a legal union between a man and woman as husband and wife” for the purpose of “any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States.”
The Plaintiff, Edie Windsor, 83, brought suit against the federal government after the IRS cited DOMA to deny her a refund for the $363,000 in federal estate taxes paid following the death of Thea Spyer in 2009 who was her partner for 40 years reports Huff Post. Windsor and Spyer married in 2007 in Canada and lived in New York. Windsor argues that she would have been eligible for the estate tax exemption had Spyer been a man therefore DOMA’s Section 3 violates her equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment. Two of the justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kennedy, seem to side with Windsor with Ginsburg stating that DOMA creates two types of marriages likening same sex marriage to the skim milk version of straight marriage while Kennedy struggled to determine whether or not the federal government can regulate marriage. Solicitor Genral Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama administration ont he merits of the case chose to emphasize COngress’ discriminatory purposes in 1996 stating the law “is not called Federal Uniform Definition of Marriage Act. It’s called the Defense of Marriage Act.” Justice Elena Kegan shared simliar sentiments as she told Clement, defending DOMA on behalf of the House of Representatives’ Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, “that maybe Congress had something different in mind than uniformity” in the definition of marriage reading from the House Report which said DOMA was a reflection of Congress’ “collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality.”
Therefore, the key to this case may lie in whether the law singles out gays and lesbians through “heightened scrutiny” where a measure singles out politically disfavored and less powerful groups. Chief Justice Roberts along this line focused on the change in public opinion regarding gay marriage and how it happened unless gay and lesbian Americans had significant political power as it seems politicians are falling over themselves to support it. The main question on his mind was why did President Barack Obama enforce it for so long if he thought it was unconstitutional. Clement commented that 10 years from now the nine states don’t have gay marriage will be force by federal government to recognize these unions. According to Huff Post, after Wednesday’s oral arguments the case may be about whether or not the justices have the power to hear the case at all. In United States v. Windsor, the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit declared DOMA unconstitutional while the Obama administration agree Roberts asked Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan, arguing for the Obama administration, whether there was any cases where all parties agreed with the decision below, but the court upheld its ability to hear it. Clement on Wednesday faced some serious questioned from the Supreme Court’s liberal wing on why the House had any legal interest in represent the position that has been abandoned by everyone involved with DOMA especially the executive branch. As Justice Stephen Breyer commented, ” How is this case any different from enforcing general powers of the United States.” The fight will continue as so many things remain uncertain.
Posted in 2013, activism, controversial, couples, gay culture, goverment, history, human rights, law, lawmakers, lawsuit, LBGT, marriage, marriage equality, news, people, picture, politics, United States, video, white house, world
Tagged Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton Defense Of Marriage Act, Bill Clinton Doma, Bill Clinton Gay Marriage, Defense Of Marraige Act, Defense of Marriage Act, Defense Of Marriage Act Supreme Court, Doma, DOMA Supreme Court, Edie Windsor, Edie Windsor Doma, Gay Marriage, LGBT, Politics News, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Defense Of Marriage Act, Supreme Court DOMA, Supreme Court Gay Marriage, Thea Clara Spyer, United States v. Windsor, Upworthy, video, Westboro, Westboro Baptist Church, Westboro Baptist Church Picketing, Westboro Baptist Church Protests
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Monsanto And HR 875, Take Two
The other day, I wrote a post on the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009: HR 875 being introduced to Congress by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D –CT), in w
By nonny mouse
The other day, I wrote a post on the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009: HR 875 being introduced to Congress by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D –CT), in which I made the erroneous statement that her husband, Stanley Greenberg, worked for Monsanto. I also included in this post extracts from emails sent to me by Jill Richardson, an intelligent and passionate campaigner for organic farming. To her credit, when she read my post, she immediately sent me an urgent email, warning me that there was a great deal of misinformation buzzing around the Internet, which I had unwittingly included in my post. She herself pointed out that (1) the bill has nothing to do with Monsanto, (2) Rep. DeLauro’s husband is a pollster for a company that once had Monsanto as a customer a decade ago, but he in no way ‘works’ for Monsanto, (3) HR 875 as it currently stands is very unlikely to even pass, and (4) the group behind disseminating this trumped-up propaganda is NICFA, whose mission statement maintains their goal is to ‘promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade’ and ‘oppose any government funded or managed National Animal Identification System. This organization has been aided by the support of a woman named Linn Cohen-Cole, whose unsubstantiated and exaggerated claims in an obsessive crusade against Monsanto, Hillary Clinton, Obama and anyone else in an imagined government ‘plot’ to nationalize farming does seem to indicate a serious lack of credibility.
I have since been in contact with Rep. DeLauro’s office, and they have confirmed that Rep. DeLauro has been meeting with organic farmers to draw up a proposed list of amendments to HR 875 based on those discussions. While these amendments are not yet public knowledge, and would be an informal document to clarify the bill, she and her staff would be happy to get the word out that the Congresswoman is indeed working very hard on improving both the bill and her office’s relationship with organic and small farmers. And to Rep. DeLauro, I add my personal apologies for any inadvertent misinformation regarding herself or her husband presented in my post.
To set the record straight:
There is no language in HR 875 that would regulate, penalize, or shut down backyard gardens or ‘criminalize’ gardeners; the bill focuses on ensuring the safety of food in interstate commerce.
Farmer’s markets would not be regulated, fined, or shut down, and would, in fact, benefit from strict safety standards applied to imported food to ensure that unsafe imported food doesn’t compete with locally grown produce.
The bill would not prohibit or interfere with organic farming, or mandate the use of any chemicals or types of seeds. The National Organic Program (NOP) is under the jurisdiction of the USDA. HR 875 addresses food safety issues and falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA.
Monsanto and any other large agribusiness company had no part whatsoever in drafting this bill, and Rep. DeLauro’s husband and his company do no lobbying on this issue.
HR 875 has nothing to do with any national animal ID system, which would fall under the jurisdiction of the USDA, and not the FDA.
This isn’t a done deal – the bill hasn’t yet even been considered by any Congressional committee, nevermind seen any debate or proposed amendments. There is no ‘plot’ to ram this through Congress and into law.
Monsanto, as bizarre as this may sound, is an innocent party in this fiasco. On a positive note, this entire misapprehension may actually result in a more clearly defined proposed bill on food safety, highlight concerns of organic and small farmers in a more constructive environment, make genuine improvements in food safety for consumers and engender a more honest and open debate on GM food, safety, and global agriculture. It also shows that the internet, while an arena for a great deal of misinformation and outright fabrication, has an amazing self-correcting machinery for when things do go wrong. So while I’m truly regretful for any promulgation of misinformation I’ve aided in fostering, I’m more than happy with the unplanned consequences.
Further to this, I’ve also been having a lively email discussion with a representative of Monsanto, Mr. Bradley Mitchell, who read my original post, as well as the responses of our C&L readership with a great deal of interest. Mr. Mitchell describes himself as a ‘social liberal, fiscal conservative’, who gardens, cans food, and buys locally grown produce, firmly believing ‘in supporting the local economy, preserving open spaces, and most of the other things buying local produce supports.’
‘I can’t argue against poor regulation of corporations’, he wrote to me, however, ‘I would contend that regulator oversight varies with the industry. I’m pretty comfortable with safety testing for GM crops (or I wouldn’t work for Monsanto) but our agricultural policy is a mess worldwide. It’s unconscionable that a third of the world is starving and so many at the opposite end of the economic spectrum are overweight to the point of illness. GM is not a silver bullet for this, but I think it is a powerful tool in addressing these problems (which is why I work here).’
Not exactly how I imagined Satan’s minion, frankly. I asked Mr. Mitchell if he would be interested in presenting Monsanto’s position in this exclusive post for C&L, and he has kindly, and enthusiastically, accepted. While I understand that much of our readership has strong emotions regarding Monsanto, I would urge our readers to respond in any comments to Mr Mitchell in a courteous and respectful manner. So, without further ado, here it is:
Just when I was losing faith in the internet as a tool for dialogue and change, along comes Nonny Mouse and C&L with an invite to Monsanto to respond to all this silliness on HR 875. It’s a strange new world, but a welcome one.
As Nonny Mouse has pointed out, Monsanto has nothing to do with HR 875. We aren’t behind it and don’t even have a position on it. You can read about this in detail in our blog. In fact, contrary to rampant, poorly-informed opinion; Monsanto doesn’t consider local agriculture, or even organic agriculture, as a threat to our business. Readers will likely be surprised to learn that many of our customers work small farms. Some are even growing organically (not all our seeds are GM).
HR 875, for those who are understandably lost in the debate, is intended to improve US food safety laws. Given relatively recent incidents involving peanut butter, ground beef and spinach, there are a lot of Americans who think it’s high time. The true tragedy of all this rumor-mongering about HR 875 and its supposed attack on local and organic agriculture is that it has distracted people from the discussion that should be occurring – how can we improve food safety without putting undue burden on small farms and businesses that want to sell and process food locally?
In many ways, this whole HR 875 incident is a pretty good microcosm for the larger debate about the role of biotechnology in agriculture. True dialogue and discussion suffers because of rumor, misinformation and petty bickering. Constructive discourse around agricultural biotechnology pales when compared to the amount of argument. Something like a third of the population is without sufficient food at any given point in time. You would think this would be impetus enough to put aside differences of opinion and chart a course forward, but apparently it’s not.
Take for example my recent attempts to engage the readers at OpEdNews, the site where the rumors about Monsanto and HR 875 began. With complete transparency about my role as Director of Public Affairs at Monsanto, I began posting articles on the site, and commenting on the largely negative postings on Monsanto and biotechnology. I was hoping for some constructive discourse. The responses I got were, well… less than constructive. Let’s just say that I learned that if you get into a debate with Monsanto – just mention Agent Orange. Apparently it trumps any logic, data or reason brought to the table.
In fact, folks at OEN were made so insecure by my posting there that they are running a poll to determine whether I should be allowed to continue to post. As I am writing this, the vote is 56% against my being allowed to post, 36% for, and 8% undecided out of 291 voters.
During the last three weeks of dealing with OEN and their readers, I’ve been frequently reminded of the e.e. cummings poem:
The Cambridge ladies live in furnished souls
Are unbeautiful and have comfortable minds
Well ladies, the stakes are too high. It’s time to refurnish those souls, as well as hearts and minds. Are you up to it? I hope so, because the UN says that by 2050, we are going to need to double food production in order to feed the world, and we going to have to do it in the face of climate change and increasingly scarce resources such as water. Whether you are for biotech or against it, a lot depends on our ability to work together. Rumors and mudslinging won’t help. A lot depends on this – like our kids’ futures.
Monsanto is committed to this dialogue. For my part, and that of a lot of my colleagues, for a start we’re committing to participating in where we haven’t been active in the past, and where the opinions have run counter to our own. That is, if you’ll have us.
If you want to learn more about Monsanto and our perspective on some of the more common issues surrounding our company, visit www. Monsanto.com/fortherecord (Consider it one of many furniture shops).
For the Twitterati, if you want updates on my efforts to foster dialogue you can follow me on Twitter at MonMitch.
Genetically Modified Foods, Health/Science, Monsanto, Sustainable Foods
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Des Moines bishop retires; priest of Dubuque named successor
Crookston Diocese reaches $5 million settlement with abuse survivors
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Philippine police file sedition case against vice president, four bishops
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Sunday’s other new saints show holiness isn’t just for celebrities
In Synod of Bishops on Youth, Vatican
SENIOR_CORRESPONDENT
Pope Francis celebrates the canonization Mass of new saints in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 15. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)
If there’s one thing the new crop of saints who will be canonized this weekend have to say about holiness, it’s that being virtuous is not just for heroic, celebrity-like personalities such as Blesseds Oscar Romero or Pope Paul VI, but it is something that everyone, religious and lay alike, can attain.
ROME – If there’s one thing the new crop of saints who will be canonized this weekend would appear to have to say about holiness, it’s that being virtuous is not just for heroic, celebrity-like personalities such as Oscar Romero or Pope Paul VI, but something that everyone, religious and lay alike, can attain.
Widely known for their contributions to the global Catholic Church, Romero and Paul VI are easily the most popular and prominent figures who will be declared saints Oct. 14, when Pope Francis will canonize them alongside five less well-known, though no less significant, individuals.
Taking place in the in the middle of the Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, the new saints are being touted as key examples for youth in terms of discerning God’s will, accepting it, and then acting on it.
Experts say these five new saints are prime examples of what the synod is all about: living what the Church says is a universal call to holiness, at every state and stage in life.
Looking to the laity
Since the beginning of his pontificate, Francis has made it a point to bring forward sainthood causes for more young people and laity, and individuals in both categories are increasingly seen on the list of causes the pope is advancing.
In this round of canonizations, Nunzio Sulprizio, who died from bone cancer at the age of 19, is the token layman and is also the only young person to be recognized for his saintly life.
Born in Pescara, Italy, in 1817, Sulprizio suffered several tragic losses as a child, the first of which was the death of his father when he was just three years old. A few months after his father’s death, Sulprizio’s younger sister also passed away.
Struggling financially to keep the household together, Sulprizio’s mother remarried in 1822, only to die just a year after her second marriage. Sulprizio, who had been treated harshly by his stepfather, was then sent to live with his grandmother, who was illiterate but devout, and instilled in him a deep sensitivity to the spiritual life.
While in her care, Sulprizio attended a school for poor children run by a priest. His education was short-lived, as his grandmother died in 1826, leaving him an orphan at the age of nine.
He was then taken out of school and sent to work as an apprentice at his uncle’s blacksmith shop, but his uncle also mistreated him, withholding food if he thought Sulprizio misbehaved, or beating him if he did not perform strenuous tasks to his uncle’s liking.
The strain of the work eventually took its toll when Sulprizio contracted gangrene in one of his legs. He was admitted to a hospital for incurable diseases in Naples, where he spent months in bed, offering his suffering to God.
When he was well enough to walk around, Sulprizio immediately dedicated himself to caring for other patients, and had contemplated joining a religious order, prompting him to deepen his spiritual life and to receive the sacraments more frequently.
However, his condition continued to get worse, and in 1835 doctors amputated his leg. He asked that a crucifix be brought to his room so he could contemplate Christ’s suffering, and died from bone cancer in 1836 at the age of 19.
Sulprizio was beatified by Paul VI, who will be canonized with him this Sunday, in 1963. In his homily, Paul VI said Sulprizio was an example for young people of how “the period of youth should not be considered the age of free passions, of inevitable falls, of invincible crises, of decadent pessimism, of harmful selfishness. Rather, he will tell you how being young is a grace.”
Responding as a religious
The four other new saints are: Francesco Spinelli, a diocesan priest and founder of the Institute of the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament; Vincenzo Romano, a diocesan priest from Torre de Greco in Italy; Maria Caterina Kasper, a German nun and founder of the Institute of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ; and Nazaria Ignacia of Saint Theresa of Jesus, a Spanish founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Crusaders of the Church.
Ignacia, who was born in Madrid in 1889, first felt a call to religious life when she was nine, but her parents resisted, at times forbidding her from receiving the sacraments. Later, after seeing that their daughter’s interest did not die down, but only increased, they relaxed their position.
When Ignacia’s family began to struggle financially, they were forced to move to Mexico, and it was there that she fulfilled her life-long goal of pursuing a consecrated vocation, joining the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in 1908.
Within a few months Ignacia was sent to care for the sick and elderly in Bolivia, where she was assigned for some 12 years. Eventually she felt the call to establish a new religious order, and in 1908 founded the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Papal Crusade.
Considered a pioneer in defending workers’ rights and the rights of women in Latin America, she died in 1943, and was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1992.
Kasper, who hails from Germany, also helped to establish a new religious order. Born in Dernbach in 1820, she had a pious childhood and would often visit a popular Marian shrine near her village with friends, singing church hymns on the way.
At the age of 21, her father died, and they were forced to leave their home. Kasper and her mother then rented space in the home of another family, where she worked the farmland and gained a reputation for helping others.
It was not until after her mother had died that Kasper joined ranks with four other women in founding the Institute of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. She died in 1898, and, like many of the others who will be canonized this week, in 1978 was beatified by Paul VI.
Spinelli, who suffered from serious spinal problems in his youth, was born in Milan in 1853. His mother, who was devout, would often bring him with her to visit the poor and sick, instilling in him a spirit of service from a young age.
He eventually entered the seminary and was ordained in 1875. Shortly after, he went to Rome for the Jubilee year inaugurated by Pope Pius IX. It was there that Spinelli, during a visit to Rome’s basilica of Saint Mary Major, felt a call to establish a new religious order while praying in front of relics of what is believed to be the crib Christ slept in as an infant.
Dedication to Eucharistic Adoration, when a consecrated host is exposed for veneration, was a key aspect of the community he felt called to form, and in 1882, he co-founded the Sacramentine Sisters in Bergamo.
The first convent he established failed in part due to financial troubles, leaving Spinelli penniless, so he left the city and relocated to the Italian town of Rivolta d’Adda, where in 1892 he founded a new community, the Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament order in 1892. He died in 1913 and was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1992.
For his part, Romano was born into a life of poverty in Torre del Greco in 1751, and from a young age developed a strong devotion to the Eucharist.
Romano first felt called to the priesthood at the age of 14, and even though they had their own plans for his future, his parents consented to his desire to enter the seminary. He was ordained a priest for Naples in 1775, and quickly gained a reputation for his simplicity and austerity.
He was also known for his charitable work with orphans and seminarians, and for the strong emphasis he placed on allowing children the opportunity for a good education. His health began to decline in 1825 after a fall that left him with a broken femur.
Romano finally passed away after a long illness in 1831, and was beatified in 1963 by Paul VI.
Pope adds teen to list of saints to be declared during synod on youth
Pope Francis: To honor one’s parents, follow the saints
Miracles attributed to Pope Paul VI, Romero clear way for sainthood
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Tag Archives: Tobey Maguire
“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2” Review (✫✫✫✫)
Don’t worry: it’s not “Spider-man 3.”
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the standard of a superhero movie that everyone should aspire to. It’s exciting, action-packed, gut-bustlingly hilarious and emotionally involving to a point where I was surprised at how personal and genuine it really was. “Amazing,” in fact, is not a good enough word to describe this movie — “Superior” is more like it.
Taking place after Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, attacked New York City, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 shows Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) as he continues to adapt to his new life as the spectacular Spider-Man. He’s just about to graduate, he’s getting a job as a freelance photographer at the Daily Bugle and his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is going strong. Being Spider-Man has its perks and its downfalls, and this is a rare high point in Peter’s life.
Elsewhere, however, dark forces develop under Oscorp. Engineer Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) gets electrocuted by bio-electric eels, transforming him into the chaotic villain known as Electro. Russian mobster Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti) gets equipped with a fully armed mechanical suit, becoming the Rhino. And Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), an old friend of Peter’s, returns with a dark secret that he’s hiding from everyone.
That makes three villains in total for this sequel. Concerned? You should be. The last time we had three villains in a Spider-Man movie, that film was Spider-Man 3. I’m never going to get that image of Tobey Maguire doing the Elvis Presley-stride out of my head, ever. Does anyone have any hydrochloric acid I can pour into my eyes?
Well, you can rest easy, fellow web heads. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not Spider-Man 3. Quite the contrary, actually. This is a significantly better Spider-Man than its predecessor, a film that bounces in between multiple tones and genres all at once and does all of them brilliantly.
An early fight scene in the film, for instance, is as wacky and funny as a Looney Tunes cartoon, with Spidey struggling to grab all these plutonium canisters off of a moving truck like he’s in the middle of a pinball table. In another scene, he’s in the middle of an action sequence so exhilarating and mind-blowing that it could have come straight from a video game cut scene. In another moment, him and Gwen are dealing with a real emotional struggle neither quite know how to handle, something that has haunted Peter since the first movie.
That’s what makes this Spider-Man better from the other one: It has many tones, story lines, characters and emotions that it’s juggling all at once. That’s a weighty order, and not one to handle easily. Yet director Marc Webb handles the challenge excellently, delivering just as relevant a character drama as he does an exciting action movie.
The cast members have expert chemistry with each other, but that should be expected because of their exceptional performances in the first film. We already expect Garfield and Stone to be perfect with each other because they were nearly inseparable in the first round of the series. It’s more efficient, then, to focus on the newer cast members: Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan.
Foxx is electric as the high-voltage villain, pun intended. At first he’s just a socially silly and awkward scientist, similar to Jim Carrey’s version of the Riddler in Batman Forever. When he goes through his transformation into Electro, however, everything changes. He becomes an angry and malicious supervillain, a man who is mad and frustrated at everything and just wants to kill everyone, then jump start their heart just so he can kill them again. DeHaan, especially, was desperate and conniving as Harry Osborn, a menacing and starkly different Harry than the James Franco version we are used to in the original trilogy.
Both of these villains serve a pivotal role to Peter’s development. Electro is the physical conflict Peter has to face in the movie; Harry is the emotional one.
There’s another concern comic book fans will have about this movie, and that is the same concern they have with Captain America: The Winter Soldier: We’ve already read the comics. We already know the twists that are coming up, and as a result, our reaction is dulled when that moment comes in the movie.
Let me make a reassuring statement for my fellow comic book lovers: I could see the twist in this movie come from a mile away. Yet when I saw it, I reacted as if I was witnessing Peter’s tragic story for the first time.
There are apparent concerns to have with this movie. The multiple story strands are worrisome, the overload of villains can be an issue and Max Dillion’s character is far too silly to fully accept as being realistic.
Does that change The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s influence, or for that matter, its effect on the audience? The answer is no, it does not. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is still a great sequel, an excellent expansion to the Spider-Man universe and a more-than-welcome development to Peter’s never-ending growth as Spider-Man. I’m tempted to compare it to the legendary Spider-Man 2, although I’m not sure if it’s quite there yet. One thing is for sure, however: it’s head-over-heels over Spider-Man 3. If Webb keeps this up, he just might surpass Sam Raimi’s original trilogy.
Tagged 500 Days Of Summer, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Andrew Garfield, Blockbuster, Dane DeHaan, Drama, Electro, Emma Stone, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, James Franco, Jamie Foxx, Legacy, Marc Webb, Movie, Paul Giamatti, Peter Parker, Rhino, Romance, Sam Raimi, Science-fiction, Sequel, Sinister Six, Sony Pictures, Spider-man, Spider-man 2, Spider-man 3, Superhero, The Amazing Spider-man, The Amazing Spider-man 2, The Amazing Spider-man 3, Tobey Maguire, Venom
“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” Review (✫✫✫1/2)
♪Does whatever a spider can♪
If I were to have a reboot of one of my favorite superhero films made just ten years ago, The Amazing Spider-man would be that reboot. What can I say about the film that will accurately do it justice? That it is exciting, suspenseful and displays visual effects that leaves the old one in the dust? That the writing is just as acute and skilled as the direction is? That Andrew Garfield has perfect chemistry with Emma Stone? No. Instead, I will describe the film by simply using just one word: amazing.
When Peter Parker was a young, bright-minded child, he lived in the content and warmth of his parents home. When his house was broken into, his father’s office searched through in every crook and cranny, his father Richard (Campbell Scott) quickly packs a suitcase, drives Peter to his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May’s (Sally Field) house, and tells Peter him and his mother will be gone for a while. A few days later, the plane that Peter’s parents were on was reported to have crashed. They didn’t make it out.
Twelve years later, Peter (Now played by Andrew Garfield), now in his teen years, is in high school, gets picked on by the local bullies every now and then, and has a crush on this pretty blonde-haired genius named Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). While in the basement one day helping his Uncle unclog the water pipe, Peter makes an interesting discovery: his father’s briefcase, filled with notes, theories, and algorithms Peter has never seen before. While looking and studying the notes his father left behind, Peter realizes everything points to one scientific company in particular: Oscorp.
From there, Peter snoops around, goes into a lab he wasn’t supposed to go into, a radioactive spider bites him, and well… you probably already know where it goes from there.
If we look at the story, it is on repeat from the first Spider-man. But the repeat isn’t what we care about. The Amazing Spider-man is done with a new style, energy, and enthusiasm to it than the original one was. Funny, I didn’t expect this movie to be as energetic as it is. This film is directed by Mark Webb, who to date, his only directing experience being music videos and the 2009 romantic-comedy 500 Days of Summer. Quite a difference in genres, I know, but Webb handles the transition well. He makes Spider-man as he sees it, as a young man coming out of puberty using his powers for playful, mischievous reasons rather than the heroic acts of courage and responsibility that most heroes are known for. This Spider-man is more jokey and sarcastic than the original one, spitting witty one-liners while arresting a criminal or web swinging past bystanders.
He fuels the action scenes, inspires laughs, and is the source for original entertainment. If Tobey Maguire is the more emotional Spider-man, this Spider-man is the more sporadic and amusing one.
Andrew Garfield does a great job in portraying this Spider-man in a totally different dynamic. His character is definitely different, retorting to puns, jokes, and one-liners that would only result with awkward silences if Tobey Maguire tried to pull off the same thing. Garfield, however, is more talented than a one-dimensional joker. Like any great actor, his character portrays a flurry of emotions, and he portrays all of these emotions well. We can tell exactly when he is troubled or concerned, when he is angered and enraged, when he is happy and content, or when he is saddened and alone. Peter experiences many tragedies in this movie, and Garfield does a good job expressing the emotions for all of them. Emma Stone, equally, is incredible in this movie, providing the film’s beautiful, smart heroine. Together, their chemistry is irreplaceable, and forms a romance that rivals that of the chemistry Maguire and Dunst made in the original Spider-man movies.
Here is, regardless of pre-conceived opinions, a great movie. It is a blockbuster that does a great job balancing in between spectacular action, heartfelt emotion, and genuine humor, all combining into a reboot that makes it not only fun, but unique in its own right.
From a technical perspective, this film has no flaws. It, however, is not about what it did wrong; its a matter of who did it better.
The biggest weakness with The Amazing Spider-man is its release date. This is ten years after the first movie came out, and five years after its most recent one. Why did it need a reboot? It cannot help but bring up the comparison game when you watch this movie. And what happens when you compare things? You recognize which one did things better, and which one did things weaker. In comparison to the old one, The Amazing Spider-man cannot help but look inferior.
But how, exactly? The flaw exists in the writing, dear reader. There are just simply not enough moments in the film that are as emotionally real or relevant as there was in the first two Spider-man movies. Take, for example, the scene in the original Spider-man where Peter’s Uncle Ben dies because Peter did nothing to stop a criminal that ran past him. In the original film, this was a tragic, painful, and heartbroken realization for Peter that it was not the burglar who killed Uncle Ben, but Peter’s inaction and lack of doing the right thing. Here, it’s just on repeat as something that Peter needs to go through in order to become Spider-man. Peter, however, never acknowledges his responsibility in the matter, and neither does he ever even confront the criminal. How, then, does the issue ever become resolved? Answer: it does not. At the end of the film, everything is resolved except for that one specific conflict.
That’s the film’s only real weakness. I don’t want to go on about this weakness, though, because I’d be beating the bush. The main point: The Amazing Spider-man is still utterly fantastic. It is action-packed, suspenseful, energetic, relentless, exciting, humorous, and highly, highly entertaining. The production is all-around strong, the cast is even stronger, and the story is as driven and purposeful as it has ever been, despite a few moments of misplaced emotion. This is a reboot to one of my favorite superhero films of all time, and the surprise is I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel to it in the slightest.
Tagged Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Andrew Garfield, Blockbuster, Campbell Scott, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Emma Stone, Fantasy, Kirsten Dunst, Legacy, Marc Webb, Martin Sheen, Marvel Comics, Movie, Mystery, Peter Parker, Reboot, Sally Fields, Sam Raimi, Science-fiction, Spider-man, Stan Lee, Superhero, Suspense, The Amazing Spider-man, The Lizard, Thriller, Tobey Maguire
OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2013
Ah yes, its that time of the year again, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Oscar time, where forgettable movies to get gold statues, while great movies get ignored.
Calm down, calm down, I’m just kidding. Except not really. People know that I’m openly critical about the Oscars for a number of reasons, mostly because the movies that were nominated were given those nominations by bloviating pundits and not genuine movie lovers. Don’t agree with me? Look at the following movies that weren’t even nominated for best picture: Rush. Harry Potter. The Dark Knight. Pan’s Labyrinth. Black Hawk Down. Fight Club. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Rear Window. Psycho. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy the majority of the motion pictures that are nominated at the Oscars, and I usually agree with their picks of who wins best picture. I absolutely love The Lord of The Rings trilogy, I love Rocky, The Godfather, Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, and I uphold that Schindler’s List is the best academy-award winner for best picture of all time. Just because those movies deserved it, however, doesn’t mean those other movies don’t deserve mention, and I find it absolutely despicable that the academy snubs pictures that have made a large impact on society. I mean, everyone’s heard of Oliver! before, right? RIGHT?!
Okay, rant over. This year is a very interesting awards race, with Gravity, American Hustle, and 12 Years A Slave the frontrunners for the best picture race, not to mention all of the other awards in the ceremony. I’ve already written my top ten list of the year, so I won’t bother you with the details of which I think is better. Let’s begin the predictions.
BEST PICTURE: Since Sundance of last year, 12 Years A Slave has been recieving the most steadfast buzz that lasted all throughout the year into this ceremony. While I agree that Gravity is a great frontrunner, I don’t think that consensus is going to change. Plus, look at the academy’s track record. Based off of previous data, the academy loves to give the best picture Oscar to movies based on real events and that statistically grossed less than 100 million. Not only is 12 Years based on the true story of Solomon Northrup, but it also grossed 96 million dollars. I’m sticking to my gut here. 12 Years A Slave is winning best picture.
BEST DIRECTOR: Everyone seems convinced that Alfonso Cuaron will win the academy award for best direction with Gravity, and that especially seems the case since he won the DGA award as well. I’m not convinced, however, that he’s the most fit for this award. Gravity, of course, was science-fiction perfection, accurately capturing the physics and dangers of space so perfectly that it could have been filmed in space for all we know. Equally as difficult, however, is capturing the cruelty of the slave era in a relentless, gritty, unhinging fashion, and director Steve McQueen did that masterfully all while maintaing his decorum. I won’t be mad if Cuaron wins and McQueen loses, and to be honest, both are very deserving in this award. All I’m saying is that if Cuaron wins, it will be the equivalent of Steven Spielberg losing for Schindler’s List to Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive.
BEST ACTOR: The battle has been in between actors Matthew McConaughey and Chiwetel Ejiofor, both nominated for their roles in Dallas Buyers Club and 12 Years A Slave.I’m going with McConaughey for three reasons. 1) Since his win at the Golden Globes, he’s had a steady winning streak in many award ceremonies, including the SAG Awards. 2) His performance was stunning, sinking into this role of an aggressive party-hard cowboy turned health advocate, and 3) He’s Matthew freakin’ McConaughey. Do I really need to give a further argument?
BEST ACTRESS: Again, this battle is between Sandra Bullock for Gravity and Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine. There are two reasons why Bullock won’t win this year: 1) She won the academy award for best actress a few years ago for her performance in The Blind Side, and 2) I’ve never seen a best actress win for a science-fiction film in any year. So Cate Blanchett is the assumed winner.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: I want every single molecule and fiber of my being to give the award to Michael Fassbender as a hateful slave driver in 12 Years A Slave. His performance was cruel, relentless and teeth-grinding all at once, and was so despicable as a villain that he surpassed Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in Django Unchained. He won’t win it. The dominant opinion has been swayed towards Jared Leto in his transformative performance as a transgender AIDS victim in Dallas Buyers Club. While I commend his bravery and his ability to slip so effectively into this role, it doesn’t change the fact that his performance didn’t shake me as much as Fassbender’s did. Fassbender played the more striking character: he’s the one that’s more deserving in the award.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: This is the only acting category where a consensus is generally already made. Besides Ejiofor, Lupita Nyongo stood out both as a character, as an actress, and as a spiritually broken slave who lost all hope at life and at happiness in 12 Years A Slave. Her performance truly broke my heart, and she deserves no less than the academy award for best supporting actress.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: This battle is between writer-director David O’Russell and Spike Jonze, both responsible for their respective films American Hustle and Her. Because it takes a lot more ambition to write about a middle-aged man falling in love with a computer than it does to write a historically based crime-comedy-drama, my best is on Spike Jonze’s Her. Just because its a smarter story, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a better one.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: If 12 Years A Slave is going to have any chance in the best picture race, it needs more of a push than best supporting actress. It’s going to get that extra push in this category. Not only is it among the year’s best, but it is one of the most spellbinding stories of the year, only barely straying from the original text that Solomon Northup wrote all those years ago. Not only will John Ridley win for 12 Years A Slave: he deserves it.
BEST ANIMATED FILM: I’m one of the relative few that did not enjoy Disney’s newest feature Frozen, a story based on the “Snow Queen” fairy tale about two sisters trying to save each other in a crumbling kingdom. While the characters were fun and energetic, they were equally annoying and ditzy, especially whenever the stupid trolls were on the screen. While I’m less enthusiastic about it, however, it obviously hasn’t disappointed its mainstream audience, garnering a 90% on rotten tomatoes and a rare A+ on cinema score. There’s no question on who’s winning this: Frozen will win the best animated feature award.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: I’ll give Frozen this: it had wonderful music. It deserves no less, then, to win the academy award for best song for their brilliant track titled “Let it go.”
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: A few years ago, The Social Network won best original score for its energetic beats and its fluid synthesized sounds. For these reasons will Steven Price not only win the Oscar for Gravity, but deserve it because his music added tension, edginess and paranoia to Gravity’s already heart-pounding premise.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubewski lost years ago with The Tree Of Life against Robert Richardson for Hugo. The Academy will make that up to him this year for giving him the academy award for best cinematography for Gravity, although I’m still sad that Roger Deakins is getting left behind for Prisoners.
BEST FILM EDITING: Let me say something here: great visual effects doesn’t make for great editing. Likewise, a masterful editor knows not only when to cut away from a shot, but also on how long to stay on one as well. Although Joe Walker is more that deserving to win for capturing the tragic essence of 12 Years A Slave, I believe it will go to Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger for Gravity due to its technical achievements.
BEST SOUND EDITING: “In space, no one can hear you scream?” Yeah right. I heard a mother in mourning screaming in space for 120 minutes and I was absolutely petrified.There’s no question on which movie this award deserves to go to: Gravity.
BEST SOUND MIXING: Gravity for the same reasons as above.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Gravity. End of discussion.
BEST MAKEUP: Dallas Buyers Club is going to win. If the academy dares to give the award to either Jackass: Bad Grandpa or The Lone Ranger, I’m going to invite them inside my personal port-a-potty and wait for them to realize that its the poo cocktail from Jackass 3.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: I’ve flipped sides on this one a few times now. First I thought The Great Gatsby’s flashy and colorful costumes were going to take home the award. Then I considered American Hustle for its stylish, contemporary costumes. Now, after giving it a second look, my mind is made up: 12 Years A Slave is going to win for best costume design.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: I was hesitant to name this at first, because honestly anyone can take this one home. The set pieces and designs for all of the film were spectacular in the least, ranging from the financially corrupt society that American Hustle portrayed, to the bleak, barren landscapes of 12 Years A Slave, all the way to the surreal, futuristic Stanley Kubrick-style buildings in Her. I’m ultimately going to guess that The Great Gatsby wins best production design only because it is excellent at displaying the roaring twenties as well as being the most diverse out of any other nominee.
BEST DOCUMENTARY: This category started off controversial, leaving off one of the most critically-acclaimed documentaries Blackfish off of its list of nominees. Disregarding that, however, look at the other nominees. Out of any of the other selections, which one was talked about the most? Which one is the most controversial? Which one gave a clear, unbiased perspective of a serious issue and let the film show reality as it is?
Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer was praised all around for his film The Act Of Killing, a story about a former soldier revisiting his dark past and facing the truth about the lives he took long ago. It ended up taking many number one spots on many top ten lists, including Sight and Sound’s poll for best of the year. It’s no contest for me. The Act Of Killing is taking this Oscar home.
BEST FOREIGN LANGAUGE FILM: The more I look into this category, the more I notice that The Hunt has been getting more and more buzz with moviegoers about the Oscars, and is the only nominee to be on IMDB’s top 250 films of all time (although, oddly enough, its listed for 2012 instead of 2013). Despite how praising the word of mouth has is, however, I’m convinced that it won’t win. The Great Beauty has been getting the most buzz out of any other nominee, and that buzz usually isn’t wrong. Plus, my ex-film professor loves it. That’s when you know two things: that it’s a bad movie, and that it’s going to be an Oscar-winner.
And here it is, at last, my three (least) favorite awards categories: the short films. Why do I say that? With the exception of one, I haven’t seen any of them. Nobody has seen them. Point me to one normal moviegoer who has seen any of these shorts, and I will pay him $100 to smuggle in DVD-ripped copies of them to my home theater.
Blehhhhhhh. Let’s finish this.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: The only one I’ve seen out of any of the films in any of these categories is Disney’s Get A Horse, a buoyant and clever combination of classic 1930’s Disney animation with that of today’s three-dimensional standard. I got this category right last year, but that doesn’t mean I will do it again this year.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM: Cavedigger, because it has the coolest title.
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM: Helium, because I can’t breathe.
What are your predictions? Do you think Gravity is going to take the big picture home, or am I shortchanging 12 Years too much? Comment below, let me know.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go write the president of AMPAS an angry letter about why Rush wasn’t nominated for anything.
-David Dunn
Correction 2/25: On the “best production design” category, ‘American Hustle’ was inaccurately identified as being “the roaring twenties that American Hustle portrayed”. The description was intended to go towards ‘The Great Gatsby’ and has since been corrected.
Tagged 12 Years A Slave, 86th Academy Awards, Academy Awards, Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron, American Hustle, Amy Adams, Bkhad Abdi, Blue Jasmine, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Bruce Dern, Captain Phillips, Carey Mulligan, Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale, Dallas Buyers Club, David O'Russell, Ellen Degenres, Frozen, George Clooney, Gravity, Her, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Judi Dench, Leonardi DiCaprio, Lupita Nyongo, Martin Scorcese, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Fassbender, Nebraska, Oscars, Paul Greengrass, Philomena, Sandra Bullock, Scarlett Johannson, Spike Jonze, Steve Coogan, Steve McQueen, The Act Of Killing, The Great Beauty, The Great Gatsby, The Hunt, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Tobey Maguire, Tom Hanks, Woody Allen
“THE GREAT GATSBY” Review (✫✫✫)
Nice to see you again, old sport.
When you sit and think about the character of Jay Gatsby, there is never a simple answer to define him and his purpose in The Great Gatsby. Some people have cited him as a post-modern interpretation of Romeo And Juliet, in the aspect that the character is going through a romantic struggle that always ends in nothing but tragedy. Others have viewed him as a representation of the roaring twenties, as a pioneer who emboldens and defines the industrial image of the 1920’s and their status as they faded away into the 1930’s. Others see him more like an enigma, an image of the upper class and the bleak loneliness that comes with it. Whatever you believe to see, Jay Gatsby is no simple character. For all we know, he could be one or none of these things. Or all of them.
The fact that this film knows, respects, and acknowledges that makes me appreciate this movie, and hope that others can appreciate it too through DiCaprio’s performance and the mythology being revisited here. Those who read the book should already know the story: a 1920’s bond salesman and struggling writer named Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves into New York city, where he learns of his rich next door “neighbor” named Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio).
I put “neighbor” in quotations because Nick never actually sees Jay Gatsby in the beginning of the film. All he ever sees of his estranged, self-secluded neighbor is a man looking behind some curtains and holding lavish parties in his mansion in the cool of midnight. All he ever hears of him is scandalous rumors and war stories about a man many people haven’t met either. The more Nick lives in his lonely little house, the more he questions if Mr. Gatsby even exists.
Eventually, Mr. Gatsby of course does introduce himself, but not as the host of the party, but rather, as a humble servant who offers Nick a drink on a plate of beverages. As Nick becomes more familiar with Mr. Gatsby and his lifestyle, he soon learns the truth of Mr. Gatsby’s past and the reasons he really came to New York.
When I first heard of another Great Gatsby picture being made, my first reaction was excitement and anticipation. How could it not be? From the creative mind of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the many politics and emotions he makes you feel in his novel, it sounded like this movie was going to be a home run for both fans and non-fans of the book.
Then I learned that Baz Lurhmann was writing and directing. And then bowed my head and uttered a long, dubious groaaannnn. Lurhmann, who is most known for directing 1996’s Romeo + Juliet and 2008’s Australia, is commonly remembered as a director who abuses style over substance. With the previous films I just mentioned, not only are they silly, soupy, and sappy menial dramas: they fail to even attain interest, and are extremely forgettable in a line of much better romantic dramas, including Titanic and the 1968 Romeo And Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli.
Note: Okay, I’ll admit I haven’t seen his 2001 film Moulin Rouge!. Does it matter though, when out of his entire filmography, that’s the only film he can really brag about?
The beginning of The Great Gatsby, much like Luhrmann’s other pictures, also suffers from this case of style over substance, with its overly boisterous parties and distracting art sequences making no coherent sense or adding anything to the picture overall. What I found interesting, however, is that the first act barely matters. When Jay Gatsby is finally introduced, the film takes a sharp turn of interest and invigorates the audience with new energy, almost like the character changes the entire tone of the film simply by him just being there.
I imagine this is the kind of Jay Gatsby that Fitzgerald would have wanted cast: the type that dresses in nice suits, stands straight with his chin up, and one who enters a room with such stillness that you could hear a penny drop. The casting directors knew that their casting decision would be crucial to the film, and I think Fitzgerald would be pleased with the end result. DiCaprio hits every single note dead-on this fascinating character, and just by sheer appearance, demeanor and dialect does he inhabit the character of Jay Gatsby and allow audiences to slip into his conscience and feel what he is feeling.
Oh, I won’t deny everyone else is good in this movie. Joel Edgerton is effective as the antagonist, and even though he’s an industrial pioneer much like Gatsby is, he has such a hateful energy about him that makes you just want to run him over with a yellow beetle. Carey Mulligan is good as Gatsby’s love interest, and perfectly shows all the innocence and indecisiveness of her character in the midst of all the ruckus. Maguire, as well, is perfect as Nick Carraway, not as a character in himself, but as a silent observer, a passive voice who quietly watches over the scene, acting as the audience’s eyes and ears in this third-person narrative. But its DiCaprio who sucks us in, DiCaprio who winds us up and plays us like a record as he asks us to sit through this tender, emotionally captivating journey that serves as a metaphor for the wealthy and for the industrial era.
And don’t worry, I’ll give Luhrmann credit too. This film would not have survived without his writing or directing, as he has such reverence for the book and a great fear from deviating from it that the movie functions more as a love letter to Fitzgerald than it does as a strict book-to-movie adaptation.
Regardless, there’s only one person who shines the most here. DiCaprio made this movie, and through his performance we were able to identify with a character that struggles with his past, his wealth, his love, and the deepening sadness that he hides behinds his warm, welcoming smile.
Tagged 1920's, Adaptation, Australia, Baz Luhrmann, Book, Business, Carey Mulligan, Crime, Drama, Economy, Enterprise, F. Scott Fitzgerald, History, Industry, Isla Fisher, Jay Gatsby, Joel Edgerton, Legacy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Moulin Rouge, Movie, Mystery, Nick Carraway, Novel, Poverty, Roaring Twenties, Romance, Romeo + Juliet, Satire, The Great Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, Tragedy, Wealth
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Home Social Media Facebook Facebook Inc. (FB) Accounts For 26% Of Social Sharing, Followed By Address...
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Facebook Inc. (FB) Accounts For 26% Of Social Sharing, Followed By Address Bar Sharing With 19%, Across All Networks! [REPORT]
Varun Nayak
2013 can clearly be classified as a Year Of Social Sharing, even though the year lacked Olympics, elections, Football or Cricket WC, still social sharing saw an emphatic rise by over 32%. Over 1.5 billion unique users across 14 million websites shared or engaged with the content across various networks like e-mail, print, websites, social media sites like Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), Pinterest, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and StumbleUpon.
Social Media Sites Account For 57% Of Overall Sharing!
The social media titan Facebook accounted for 26% of overall social sharing across various networks. People often check their miniature devices whenever they are free and post updates, check-ins, share stories and a lot more. Facebook’s well-known engagement feature – Like accounted for about 16% of social sharing and was third best amongst services which help in social sharing. People are increasingly engaging with news articles, brand pages, status updates and other stories via Like. Number of likes on Facebook, has gone up from 2.7 billion likes per day in May 2012 to 4.5 billion in May 2013, an increase of 67%.
Address bar sharing was the second highest with 19% of overall social sharing, after Facebook. Address bar sharing refers to – when a user copies the URL from the address bar in the browser and pastes it somewhere within a chat client, an e-mail, SMS, website or a social media site. It is basically adopted as providing all the information or the entire depiction of message is not possible within a mail or SMS so, web users often prefer sharing a URL, which upon clicking, takes the user to the destination site, providing a better picture of the message to be conveyed.
Address bar sharing is bound to rise in future as web users have less time to go through long messages, instead, they prefer short message details with hyperlinks or URLs which provide more information if user wishes to know. Moreover, all networks like Facebook, Twitter, e-mail contribute to address bar sharing. Hence, its overall share is bound to see a growth in the future.
The micro-blogging site Twitter was 4th in line, accounting for 13% of overall social sharing. The micro-blogging site with its viral nature has attracted worldwide users especially teens and eminent personalities to use the platform for sharing messages, information and latest news. Print media accounted for 7% of social sharing, followed by e-mail with 3% and lastly pin board style sharing website Pinterest with 2%.
E-mail sharing is bound to rise, as it is more like a private mode of communication, one on one interaction between the sender and destination user. In 2013, more than 507 billion emails per day are expected to be sent by over 2.9 billion email user accounts. Although Pinterest has a mere 70 million users, nearly 80% of the content is re-pins, which makes it one of the most successful networking sites, as it suffices the main essence of a social media site – sharing.
Windows Tops, Accounting For 70% Of Social Sharing, Chrome Accounts For 48% Of Sharing On Mobile And Desktop Platforms!
Windows powered desktops accounted for 70% of social sharing, as a majority of laptops and desktops across the globe use Windows. Chrome accounted for 48% of overall social sharing on the mobile as well as desktop, as it is the most widely used browser. Chrome is faster compared to other browsers, it has better features which provide better browsing experience, it accounts for 34.68% of browser market share. It is available in more than 50 languages and users who find bugs in the browser are paid, hence, there is periodic monitoring of bugs and other issues.
Android, since its emergence, has stormed the tablet and Smartphone market due to its attractive features and affordable price points. Its open source feature was to be adopted by a top hardware manufacturer like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (KRX:005935), HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) and others. It accounts for 81.9% of total Smartphone sales, outpacing the iOS and the rest. Even in case of tablets, Android won over iOS which lost more than 35% of its global tablet market share.
Source: Addthis
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HomeNewsDC Comic Book NewsDOOM PATROL: The Rachel Pollack Interview
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DOOM PATROL: The Rachel Pollack Interview
In 1993, Rachel Pollack took over DC/Vertigo’s Doom Patrol following Grant Morrison who made his mark in the comic book world after his star-making run on the series.
Pollack’s 25 issue run has never been collected, until now.
DC Comics has announced that in 2018 it plans to collect the first half of her run as Doom Patrol Book Four, following Morrison’s frequently reprinted books and will include such memorable stories as the initial “Sliding in the Wreckage” arc, as well as the introduction of Kate Godwin (Coagula) – the first trans superhero for either DC or Marvel.
In a recent interview with Newsarama, Pollack discussed the pending release of her Doom Patrol run, her prose work such as the new novella collection, The Fisher Kind, and her poised return to comic books.
Newsarama: Rachel, what are you working on today?
Rachel Pollack: I’m typing up a second draft of a story called “Visible Cities.” I always write everything longhand with fountain pen and then type it up, and that’s my second draft. I’m doing that at the moment. And then I’m preparing for a trip to Scotland.
Nrama: I saw that you also have a story coming up in the Mine! anthology with Fyodor Pavlov.
Pollack: Yes! Very excited about that. My story is a mythological story, the current social climate is very political – it’s about the Greek seer Teireias, who’s famous for being a blind seer, but also for changing sex. My story basically is about Teireias being rescued from the Underworld by Odysseus, and then in the current world – so 2000 years later – Teireias has changed to a woman again and is living in Manhattan. And even though she’s blind, she’s witnessing the oppression of the gods and human beings. Zeus is kind of a stand-in for Donald Trump.
Nrama: I’m excited to read that, though I wish the anthology was happening under different circumstances.
Pollack: Well, we’ll at least do some good in the world, get some attention. Trying to reach a different audience of people than the usual people who are supporting Planned Parenthood.
Nrama: I was excited to see the announcement about that, there were a lot of impressive names involved. How did you get involved with the anthology with Fyodor?
Pollack: Well, one of the editors, Joe Corralo, is kind of my champion. He was a big admirer of my Doom Patrol years ago and has been really helping me reconnect with people and get involved with comics again. We might be doing a project together. But he’s made this great effort on my behalf, which is really sweet of him. He invited me to do a story, and that’s where it came from.
Nrama: Speaking of your Doom Patrol run – as a trans person myself I was really excited when I started getting into comics to have the chance to read your run, to see a trans superhero for the first time in Kate Godwin (Coagula). I think my favourite quote is, “I suspect they liked my powers, but couldn’t handle me.”
Pollack: The funny thing is that with Kate, the name ‘Coagula’ was kind of a joke. It was a name she used when she wanted to join the Justice League, you know? And it was never used again. There are a couple places they might have used it. But basically, she just used her own name like most of the other Doom Patrol members. Niles Caulder was called Chief sometimes, but that was not a superhero name. Cliff was sometimes called Robotman, but in my run, he was mostly just called Cliff. My whole thing was that these were people, rather than costumed characters.
Nrama: Right – and I liked that all of these folks were coming together as Kate, as someone who was interested in being a superhero but was rejected from the Justice League, and the whole team kind of coming together as this sort of found family, as a group of people that were both trying to get comfortable with themselves and trying to figure out sort of where they fit in a world that wanted superheroes that looked like different kinds of superheroes.
Pollack: Even more so, not even superheroes, it was just people who had a lot of trouble accepting their own bodies and their own existence. And so they were struggling a lot. In a lot of ways, I was very influenced by what Grant Morrison had done, and I felt like that was kind of the direction somewhat that he was going with, with some of those characters, questioning who they were in the world and stuff like that. And I just took it further. I made issue of people’s bodies, and shame, and discomfort, the main issues.
When I introduced Kate, she became the kind of emotional centre of the story. And really, to me she was kind of a logical extension of the fact that Grant Morrison had some kind of gender-crossing character in almost everything he wrote. There was always someone in drag, or a shaman who crossed gender, or whatever. And so, I just took it further and had it be outright a transgender woman. I don’t think people quite realized that – to me it was a logical extension of what Grant had done, and I think some people thought that was imposing stuff.
Nrama: I think the way that you talk about it makes sense to me as well. It seems a lot of times – most recently, the “DC You” run of Batgirl had a villain in the first arc who was basically a drag performer, a man who was performing in this drag version of Batgirl to get her in trouble. I think when there was a bit of pushback to some of the language used in that a lot of people were like well, I didn’t make that connection between these gender non-conforming or drag-adjacent characters, or storylines that could be about trans characters. Just because you didn’t make the connection it doesn’t mean the connection doesn’t exist, it just means you hadn’t seen it yet.
Pollack: At the same time, I mean one of my feelings is often that people believe they’re supporting the trans community by saying how great drag queens are, and I find that really offensive. I imagine myself saying, well, there’s a really big difference between transgender women and drag queens. Transgender women are women and drag queens are men. But of course that difference isn’t always real, a lot of drag queens morph into trans women, because drag was the place where they could express who they were first. But in a certain sense you might say that ‘real’ drag queens have no interest in being women, they’re interested in performance. And that’s a big difference.
I was reading an article by a lesbian LGBT activist, and she was talking about how people opposed to LGBT people should get to know them, and for the ‘T’ part she said they should go to this great drag bar she knows about. And I thought, if she’s going to be a spokesperson, you should learn about the people you’re pretending to speak for. Trans people are not drag performers.
Nrama: I just clutched my chest – it’s not the same! We’re not the same. You can be a drag performer and be a trans person! You can be a drag performer and realize you’re a trans person, but it’s not the same. The idea that the overlap between those two groups of people is a perfect circle is really frustrating.
Pollack: It’s just so interesting that people want to be champions of something but don’t bother to find out what they’re being champions of.
Nrama: Going back to some of your other work, one of the things I really like about your prose work is that they are oftentimes science fiction but heavily influenced by mysticism, by a knowledge of the tarot especially. You manage to blend those things in what is usually considered a ‘rational’ genre without making mysticism come across as weird or ‘othered’ which I think is something especially white science fiction writers have a lot of issues with. Do you find it difficult to blend those things? Is it kind of, those are your interests so that’s what you’re writing about, is it balance difficult to navigate as you started writing prose?
Pollack: I’ve always written prose since I was a kid, and as you said those are my interests, these are things I care about. To me it’s always important that the story is foremost. First thing, when I do a tarot reading for someone, in a sense what the tarot says is in that person’s life is what matters, not all of the baggage. So, to me, I’m always interested in just telling a good story. I guess people characterize my work as fantasy, although sometimes people have said my novel Unquenchable Fire for example is more science fiction, because it created a coherent alternate reality that was worked out kind of systematically. So, in that sense it was science fiction, even though the science would be kind of magical shamansistic storytelling, rather than physics.
One reviewer who’s a friend of mine, who was very warm to the book, at the same time he felt he had to say the revolution described in the book seemed to be a revolution to the laws of physics, which I thought was kind of cute.
So, to me, I’m always interested in things that make good stories, that are not clichés. And I’m not interested in simply just borrowing something that’s either logical or mystical or magical, any of the different kinds of structures that might be used. I’d rather use them as storyboards, springboards for stories. To me, that’s what matters, rather than – but then, in my Jack Shade stories I’ve currently been doing, I just find it so much fun to take certain things that are traditional and magic, more magic than mysticism, and figure out what modern equivalents would be, you know?
So, for example magic tradition in the West is elementals. Magic is animals that belong to the four elements. Salamanders for fire, undines for air. In my stories, everything is still an elemental. There’s a computer elemental, a garbage elemental, a junk mail elemental, they’re just all over the place. So, the world is filled with elementals of one kind or another, and that’s just fun to imagine, you know? How would the principal of elementals be enacted in our daily life? So, there’s now a selfie elemental that’s invoked every time you take a picture of yourself with your phone.
Nrama:You mentioned your Jack Shade novellas that you’re working on. You’ve got a collection of Jack Shade novellas out this month, The Fissure King.
Pollack: Yes, October 10th is the official publication date. I had done the four stories and was looking to do the fifth one, an original one, that would tie all the threads together to round them out and make it a novel. And I couldn’t quite think of what it was, and then a friend of mine who’s a writer, Nancy Norbeck, she’s also a great Doctor Who fan like me – more than me, really. We were discussing one of the episodes, and there was an alien referred to as the Fisher King, which is a term from King Arthur with the Holy Grail. She said the first time she heard it, in her mind she heard ‘fissure,’ and immediately in my mind it clicked with the whole concept.
One of the themes that runs through the Jack Shade stories is his daughter is trapped in this alien otherworld called the Forest of Souls, and he’s trying to get her out and he can’t do it. And I knew that the last story had to be about him rescuing her, and I didn’t know how he was going to do that. And the term ‘The Fissure King’ instantly opened up the entire story to me, and completely cleared up how the story would work. I asked Nancy for permission to use the title in my way, and she was very gracious in that to say that was okay.
That comes out October 10, I’m very excited about it – it’s my 40th book. It kind of snuck up on me. I was looking at my past stuff and noticed the Raziel Tarot was my 39th book. I said “Wait a minute! The Fissure King is my fortieth book, wow.” That’s a big number in the Kabbalah – in the Tree of Life, there’s ten positions, and four worlds. Just like in tarot, there are four suits, and each suit has cards ace through ten, so forty’s a big number in tarot as well.
Nrama: Your book, the Illustrated Guide to Tarot from ’99, ’00 –
Pollack: Right, The Complete Illustrated Guide.
Nrama: I first started getting interested in tarot in college, and that was the book that I picked up. When I was getting ready for this interview I said, “It’s the same Rachel, it’s the same Rachel Pollack!”
Pollack: That’s right!
Nrama: Have you incorporated any tarot elements into the Shade stories in a particular new way?
Pollack: Not really, I’m very careful about how much I used tarot in my fiction. I don’t want people to think it’s a tarot book, because then it gets put in a category where it won’t be seen by people who might enjoy it. There’s some tarot in Jack Shade, particularly in the final story, which includes his origin story, a kind of prologue. He has his tarot cards read at the circus, at a carnival, and it’s very magical because two cards appear that don’t actually exist in the deck. The tarot reader freaks out and kind of yells at him.
The whole thing about the Jack Shade stories is he’s what’s called a Traveller, and the Travellers are the oldest form of magical people. They exist in every culture. In the scene, he doesn’t know this yet, but you see how he’s being lead into this mysterious world. And fortune teller suddenly jumps up and she says, “Oh, no, you’re one of them?” He says, “One of what?” She says, “A Traveller!”
He says, “What’s that?” We know, because it’s his story, and in the previous four we’ve been shown. But I’m very careful about how much I use tarot. I do use tarot to inspire stories, but often they’re not in the story. I take a bunch of cards and see what kind of story they suggest to me.
Nrama: I’m curious about that, do you read your own cards or just pull one or two and see where it takes you?
Pollack: I read my own cards. Sometimes I’ll do just three cards, which is actually a spread, I’ll do that. In a daily reading I’ll just turn over some cards. If I have a more serious question I’ll do a more formalized reading. If I’m really kind of freaked out I might not do my cards, I might have someone else do them, because I’ll be scared of what cards come up. I do read my own cards; most tarot readers do. There’s a superstition that tarot readers never read their own cards, but in reality, almost every tarot reader does.
Nrama: That was why I asked, I think that was one of the first things I read when I started looking into tarot was “Don’t read your own cards!” But what if I just want to practice? So that’s interesting. To go back to your work on Doom Patrol a little bit, speaking of things sort of sneaking up, your Doom Patrol run started over 20 years ago. How do you look back on your time on Doom Patrol, or on New Gods – just on that experience in comic books?
Pollack: I really love doing comics. I’m hoping to get back into it. It’s the kind of writing I really like a lot. My writing is very visual anyway, when I think of a scene, I’m seeing something in front of me and I’m describing it. So, it’s easy. I’ve read comics all my life, it’s kind of easy to do that for me. I love the way the kinds of things you can do in comics you can’t do in any other medium.
I was always a little mixed. With Doom Patrol, it took me a while to really learn. It was the first comic I did. My first editor Tom Peyer, who happily has become a friend of mine over the years – at the same time, he let me roll with it. I probably could have used a sterner talking to. And then he went off and became a writer, and Lou Stathis and… Lou was really just wonderful. But one of the things he did was force me to be a little bit more coherent, and not just do this kind of Grant Morrison thing of filling the pages with bizarre strange things. Instead, having a coherent structure, and find ways for the readers to enter it. And then I became really happy with it, and felt like I was really doing something.
There was a lot of controversy about how a lot of people hated it, but I love the fact that fifteen years after it ended someone on some fan site wrote how “Rachel Pollack is the worst writer in the history of the universe!” But I thought that was just great that someone was still so worked up about it. Other people said it saved their life, taught them how to live, gave them hope, because it was about something.
I love doing New Gods, because Jack Kirby was a great genius, and New Gods was his greatest work. I loved the idea of doing New Gods because I wanted to see them as “New “gods rather than what I call “superheroes on steroids.” Unfortunately, I was never wild and happy about the art, which I had no control over. DC was choosing the artist we used, and it was in sort of the ‘tits and ass’ period of comics, you know? Which I found offensive. What’s the joke? I said I would have quit in protest if they hadn’t fired me first. And they didn’t fire me necessarily because of me, they fired me because John Byrne wanted to take it over. They fired the artist, me, the editor.
But I loved the chance to tell the stories I told. New Gods, I did one-shots, a couple of things, that was great. Vertigo had this thing at that point of taking obscure characters from the early DC periods, the ’50s or so, and telling their stories in a radical new way. They asked which character I wanted to do, and oddly enough, immediately I thought of this character called Tomahawk. It was a comic I read as a kid, never one of my favourite’s – but I think there was a potential to tell this sort of Revolutionary War story from the point of view of the Indians, or rather, the point of view of a white person who became caught up in the dilemma of the Indians. The horrible ways in which the Europeans saw the Indians in the forest, and the fact that they saw everything as savage and evil that had to be conquered and destroyed, including the people. I was really very happy with that story.
I did a one-shot called The Geek, which is a character that Jack Kirby invented, but it didn’t last very long. And then Neil Gaiman did a revision of it through the Alan Moore concept of elementals, and the Geek was the elemental of dolls. And then I took that further and made that story about the idea of abuse, and people who are trying to recover from abuse. There’s a character called Dr. Abuse who was based on a story that someone in London told me once about a high-up British conservative politician who was a sadist, who never touched them, but who would have these young male prostitutes come.
My friend said this young man told the story about going to this guy’s house, and all they did was have dinner and this guy talked to him. He never touched him, he never yelled at him or anything like that. And at the end of the dinner he showed him this bowl of large diamonds, and said, “Here, take one.” It was his payment, it was worth a lot of money. And the kid – the rent boy – told my friend, “I hope I never, ever have to do that again.” He said this man just looked at you and could cut right through your soul. The things he said would destroy you.
And that story just stayed in my life so powerfully, and that was the villain in The Geek. I called him Dr. Abuse.
Nrama: I imagine that would be so unsettling. I think a lot of people look at that situation and say, “Well, he didn’t touch him.” But to be stuck –
Pollack: Didn’t touch him, didn’t hit him, didn’t scream at him. He just talked to him. But he saw right through him, you know? It’s a scary idea, that someone could do that. It’s almost like a superpower, you know? That politician was a supervillain in many ways.
Nrama: Talking to someone you can’t get away from, who can be that piercing!
The Fissure King
Pollack: The guy could have left, but he thought he should stick it out because that’s what he was doing for that evening.
Nrama: You need the money! It’s one of those choices. You can, but also … can you really. Do you stay in touch with any of your other collaborators from Vertigo?
Pollack: Not really. I see Neil Gaiman very rarely, though we never collaborated – well, we did on the Vertigo Tarot. But now I get in touch with a few of the oldtimers, particularly Tom Peyer, a couple other people. There are some people I would like to see again, I hope I get a chance to see again like Stuart Moore, who edited this time-travel series I did called Time Breakers. It was five issues, and it’s now coming out in Italian. It’s twenty years old! I thought that was nice.
Nrama: What was it like working under or — having Axel Alonso as your editor back then, considering he’s now Editor-In-Chief at Marvel?
Pollack: That was at the very end of my run at Vertigo, and actually, Axel worked with Lou Stathis as an assistant, so I got to know him. And then Lou died and Axel kind of took over. Axel was a great guy, but he wasn’t really interested in the kind of things that I and some other people were doing. He wanted to stay in a more realistic, grounded direction, so that was a little how I left Vertigo. Lou Stathis had been like my champion. My sales were not great. And Lou told me one time, he said, they were having a conference I guess the idea was put forward that they should discontinue what I was doing. And he said that he told them, “If Vertigo can’t publish Rachel Pollack, what’s it for?”
What a great thing to say. And then sadly, Lou died. In my time at Vertigo he was a really great guy. So Axel and I – like I said, I have tremendous respect for Axel, but he was interested in doing very different things than I was doing. So that’s kind of how my time at Vertigo came at an end. That and my bad sales. I shouldn’t blame Axel, it was really my sales.
Nrama: I think that sensibility from Lou, being able to find writers that you’re passionate about and championing them, is something Gerard Way has brought back now that he’s curating Young Animal. Have you been in touch with Gerard Way at all?
Pollack: Gerard Way is great! He got in touch with me because he really wanted to work with the previous people who had written Doom Patrol, and respects their work. There’s a chance I’ll do some work for Young Animal – it’s up in the air. But he’s so damn busy and I’m busy too, we haven’t really had a chance to look at that possibility. Joe Corralo’s been in touch with him. There’s a good chance! And he does want to bring back Kate, actually, which is very cool. I like that a lot and respect that. I’d do something like a one-shot for him, or a miniseries, it would really be great.
Nrama: If you were able to work on Young Animal, would you just be interested in working on Doom Patrol with Gerard, or –
Pollack: I wouldn’t mind doing something! It’s definitely his books. He knows what he’s doing and I really like what he’s doing. I don’t know! It’s based upon old DC characters, so that’s a little limiting, but I can think of some characters I’d like to do. I don’t want to say which. Joe asked if we could do another revival of The Geek, and I immediately thought, like, Dr. Abuse has returned as Donald Trump. So after the first story, his essence is banished, so it floats around and settles in President Trump. I don’t know if they’d want to get that political but I think that would be really fun.
Nrama: I’d be interested in reading that.
Pollack: I think a lot of people would! It might get them in a lot of trouble. DC Comics has to be careful of lawsuits, and they have much bigger issues, being connected to television and movies now. They moved from New York City to Burbank. So, they’d probably be very cautious about doing something that could get their movie projects in trouble. But it’s a nice idea!
Nrama: I feel like that’s the kind of good trouble that John Lewis would be a fan of.
Pollack: I agree with you. I completely understand the need to keep the company going and not screw things up. One time I wanted to do this story – I wound up using this idea in a Jack Shade book – called “The Dead Quartet.” And the Doom Patrol would fight the Dead Quartet. The Dead Quartet is these four beings who have been helping people. They’re appearing to people to help them over the centuries. And the current configuration was going to be the Virgin Mary, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and maybe James Dean. I think in the Jack Shade book it ended up being Nelson Mandela. The Virgin Mary was replaced by Joan of Arc.
But the idea would be that they got fed up with people not appreciating their help, and so they’d turn to nastiness and they’re now villains and the Doom Patrol would have to be fighting them. DC said “No, we can’t do that!” We can’t offend the Catholic Church. And we certainly can’t offend the Elvis Presley estate. Everything about Elvis Presley was trademarked, which is why sometimes you see these stories where he’s called the King instead of Elvis Presley, because his name is trademarked.
I was really glad I was able to use that in The Fissure King, and no one could say, “no, no, we can’t do that! We can’t touch Elvis Presley!” Because Elvis is a good guy in my story. He comes and helps Jack out in Jack’s greatest time of need – he just shows up in a pickup truck, Elvis from before he became famous. Jack’s in a desperate state, and hears a on the door and Jack opens it up and it’s young Elvis Presley. He says, “Hey, my truck’s overheated, can I come and wait til it cools down? Maybe you’ve got some beer and peanut butter?”
They go sit in the kitchen, Jack’s wife’s body is on the floor, and Elvis is just talking to him. I was really so happy I could use the Dead Quartet, but I can understand DC’s positioning. They’re more visible and they have deeper pockets.
Tags:DC Comicsdoom PatrolFissure KingRachel Pollackvertigo
Source:Newsarama
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17 – Preview: “PANIC IN THE MICROVERSE”
ABSOLUTE WILDC.A.T.S. Delayed – Pushed Back Two Months
Rob Towsey
Husband, father and lover of all things DC. Big fan of the big three, Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman.
Review: The Dreaming #11
‘Safe Sex’ Moves From DC To Image
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Can PR Save the Airlines’ Coming Pilot Shortage?
11/24/2012 By David Clevenger in Uncategorized Tags: Marketing, Public Relations Leave a comment
The cockpit of a modern airliner.
What would your company do if your entire industry had to replace nearly two-thirds of its key employees by 2025? How would you go about finding those workers, especially if there simply were not enough people now trained to fill those jobs, or even enough potential employees currently in training programs that take years to complete?
The US airline industry now faces this situation.
Currently the airlines (including regional, cargo, and charter carriers) employ just under 100,000 pilots, many of whom are reaching the government-mandated retirement age of 65, an age increased in 2007 from 60 to forestall the coming pilot shortage. By 2025, the airlines will need another 60,000 or so pilots.
But the number of pilots completing their private pilot training (the first milestone on the long path to becoming an airline pilot) and those finishing their commercial pilot training (the second marker) continue to decline, and over the past decade have dropped 41 percent and 30 percent, respectively, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Although the total number of pilots in the United States has rebounded after the recent recession to 618,000 (as of 2011, according to AOPA [the Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association]), it is far below its peak of 827,000 in 1980. Perhaps even more ominous for the airline industry is that last year only 124,000 of these pilots (compared to 183,000 in 1980) held a commercial license, and many of them are beyond the airline hiring age.
At the same time, the FAA has put into place a new requirement for pilots hired by the airlines. Beginning next year, young pilots will need 1,500 hours of flight time before they can be hired by the airlines. This requirement is six times higher than the 250 hours now required by newly hired pilots.
This greater number of hours in the air will certainly give pilots more experience and, one would assume, make them better pilots—even if much of their flight time will be in small two- and four-passenger Cessnas, Pipers, and similar planes before they move up to more complicated propeller-driven aircraft and then into small jets as pilots for charter services and corporations.
But how many young people can afford to pay up to $200,000 for the necessary pilot training (in addition to paying for college)? Not many I would guess. Fortunately, by becoming flight instructors, some pilots can increase their flight time while getting paid, and some pilots will find other flying jobs to earn flight hours. But those not so lucky would end up facing a huge flight-training debt.
To make the hiring situation even worse, the airlines are relying less on their traditional source of trained pilots: the military. Since World War II, more than 80 percent of those hired by the airlines have previously flown in the Army, Marines, Navy, or Air Force. Now, however, the military overall has fewer pilots than in past years. It requires longer service commitments from those wanting to fly (so fewer are leaving the service to join the airlines). And it offers a career many pilots prefer over flying for the airlines. As a result, less than half of the U.S. airline pilots now come from the military, and this number continues to decline.
The cockpit of a Douglas DC-3, an aircraft, first build in the 1930s, that made air travel popular and comfortable.
The airlines cannot easily solve their hiring problem. So what’s the answer to the coming pilot shortage?
Some believe that reducing the cost of flying would attract more pilots. But the cost is not likely to go down when fuel prices have doubled in the past few years and aircraft prices continue to rise.
Others (and I am one of them) would say the answer is greater PR and promotion of this career choice.
“The only real way to increase interest in flying is to appeal to people who have a strong sense of independent individualism,” says Richard Collins, a highly respected aviation industry observer, who has written about flying for 50 years and has more than 20,000 hours of flight time. “For lack of a better word,” he adds in his recent Air Facts blog post, “we need to appeal to the sense of adventure that some people still have. Put the ‘right stuff,’ or the romance, back into flying.”
The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and AOPA—two of the largest pilot organizations in the country—do a terrific job of reaching those who are already part of the aviation community. Both are great organizations with concentrated programs for getting young people interested in flying and keeping them in the cockpit over the years.
But the industry needs greater PR targeted toward those who are not already flying enthusiasts. These potential pilots should have additional opportunities to stumble across articles and videos as well as social and other media that promote the thrill, and joy, and exhilaration of flying.
Without such PR, the number of pilots will continue to decline, and the airlines will go into their greatest pilot-hiring era in history with no one to hire.
Knowing Your Company’s Product
11/09/2012 By David Clevenger in Uncategorized Tags: Business Fundamentals, Corporate Reputation, Culture Leave a comment
Verizon Wireless workers with a Cell on Light Truck that is used to provide additional wireless call capacity.
In announcing its third-quarter earnings results recently, Verizon—as usual—attributed much of its success to its wireless unit. Fran Shammo, Verizon’s chief financial officer, noted that the reason Verizon Wireless leads the industry in the number of wireless customers is that it has always focused on its network.
“Scale is important,” he is quoted by The New York Times as saying. “But the network is the product here. This has been a long-term strategic investment for us.”
Knowing what its real product is and focusing on making it the best in the industry are two reasons Verizon Wireless excels. They also provide lessons for other companies wanting to lead their industries.
Even at the company’s founding in April 2000 (from a merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, along with a few smaller operations) Verizon Wireless stressed the quality of its network. At that time, the company—or more correctly, perhaps, Denny Strigl, its strong CEO then and for the next several years—knew that no matter what brand or style of wireless phones customers used, they would not be happy if their calls did not go through. And, although many of us—especially those who live in or near large metropolitan areas—may have forgotten this fact, wireless coverage was for many years often very bad for much of the country’s cell phone users.
So, over the years, Verizon Wireless has focused on making sure its network—whether analog, 2G (the first generation digital wireless service, 3G (an updated digital service), or now 4G (the latest digital service known as LTE or Long Term Evolution)—has been as good as its technicians and billions of dollars could make it.
This focus is part of the reason why 79 percent of the phones purchased from the company during the third quarter were smartphones—a huge increase over its 25 percent goal only a few years ago. These phones suck data like candy, and they need a great network if they are to function flawlessly.
The lesson here, I think, is that a company must know what its real product is, and it must work to make it the best. In Verizon Wireless’ case, the product is its network. Other wireless carriers—those who trail their competitors and are looking for merger opportunities and funding injections to stay alive—may not see it that way. They might think their product is cheap service or phones, perhaps; or maybe they’re still not sure what it is, even after years of operation.
Verizon Wireless never stops improving its customer service and retail operations, or offering the best cell phones and wireless devices available. But it knows that while these aspects strengthen its business, it is its network that drives the company’s success.
Photo: Verizon Wireless
A Quote from Thomas De Quincey
11/01/2012 By David Clevenger in Uncategorized Tags: Creativity, Writing Leave a comment
Every man, as he walks through the streets, may contrive to jot down an independent thought, a shorthand memorandum of a great truth. Standing on one leg you may accomplish this. The labour of composition begins when you have to put your separate threads of thought into a loom; to weave them into a continuous whole, to introduce them; to blow them out or expand them; to carry them to a close.
Thomas De Quincey, who lived between 1785 and 1859, was a writer, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, among other works.
His quote is found in William H. Gass’s latest book of essays, Life Sentences. Gass considers De Quincey to be among the few writers who address “the question of the form of the paragraph as well as the shape of the phrase” and who take seriously “the lost art of eloquence.”
Gass could have mentioned himself in this group. As a philosophy professor, novelist, and especially an essayist, Gass has long been concerned with the theoretical matters of literature, especially the sentence.
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Sabancı University is among the top 500 universities of the world
Sabancı University was ranked between 470th and 480th in the QS World University Rankings, one of the most influential university rankings in the world. The QS World University Rankings assesses more than 800 universities around the world based on six indicators in four areas of interest each, namely research, teaching, employability and international outlook.
Four of the indicators are based on “hard” data, and the remaining two on major global surveys – one of academics and another of employers. The weight of the indicators based on hard data are 20% for student-to-faculty ratio; 20% for citations per faculty; 5% for international faculty ratio and 5% for international student ratio. The weight of the survey indicators are 40% academic reputation and 10% for employer reputation.
Other Turkish universities featured in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings are Bilkent University, Boğaziçi University, Middle East Technical University and Koç University.
Click for QS World University Rankings.
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Men’s Basketball Season Comes to a Close in Newport
Curry (1-24, 0-16 CCC) 21 31 52
Salve Regina (9-16, 5-11 CCC) 46 44 90
Pts: Rj Hadfield - 15
Reb: 2 Players (#05, #TM) - 5
Ast: Jared Thorpe-Johnson - 3
Pts: Mikey Spencer - 24
Reb: Kevin Mannix - 11
Ast: Kevin Kelly - 8
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Curry College men's basketball team fell to salve Regina in Newport R.I. on Saturday afternoon by a score of 90-52 in the final game of the regular for each team. The Colonels round out the year with a 1-24 overall record with a 0-16 mark in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). The Seahawks finish off the year with an overall record of 9-16, while going 5-11 in league play. The Seahawks finish the regular season tied for sixth in the CCC, but miss out on a tournament appearance due to a secondary tiebreaker.
Salve Regina came into this game knowing they were in a do-or-die situation. Needing a victory coupled with a win by Wentworth (over the conference leading Bison of Nichols College) to get into the CCC tournament, the Seahawks got out to a hot start. Despite missing their first shot after winning the opening tip, Salve managed to string together a 14-0 run to open the contest, a run that chewed up the first five minutes of action. Spencer Feng (Keene, N.H.) got the Colonels on the board in style with a three from RJ Hadfield (Warwick, R.I.). Just under a minute later, Hadfield hit a triple of his own from junior Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.) to cut the Salve lead to 11 at 17-6. With just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half, though, Curry was unable to find a way to slow down CCC Rookie of the Year contender Mikey Spencer (Abbington, Mass.), who climbed up to 11 points in the contest with a deep three to extend the lead to 24-8, while the Colonels struggled to find their footing, with 3-13 shooting from the floor and four turnovers. Coach Joe Busacca gave the team a breath of fresh air by inserting freshman Seth Foley (Bristol, Conn.) into the lineup, as the young guard hit a triple less than two minutes after entering the game. Following an inside layup by Chris Peasley (Plainfield, Conn.) to extend the Salve lead back to 13, Curry showed they had no intentions of backing down, tightening up on defense and forcing a shot clock violation to send the ball the other way. Following another triple from Spencer to go up 36-13, Busacca deployed some new-look lineups, getting both big men Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) and Dan Quinn (Holbrook, N.Y.) on the floor, before also trying a smaller look, pairing guards Jon Joel (Cranston, R.I.) and Julius Hemingway (Kissimmee, Fla.). Following a Hemingway bucket, the scoring hit a lull, as the teams combined to score just seven points over the next three and a half minutes of action, before a triple by senior James Gibson (Norwalk, Conn.) found its way home off glass. This score sent the teams to the half with the hosts leading 46-21, as the Colonels looked to contain the three headed monster of Spencer, Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.), and Cameron Collins (Oakdale, Conn.), who combined for 35 points and seven assists in the first frame.
Coming out of the intermission, the Seahawks reprised their early performance of the first half, as they broke off a 13-0 streak to start the second period over four minutes of play. A fast break layup by Carroll ended the run, but not before Salve extended their lead beyond 30 points. With 12:44 left in the action, Curry ran off a 16-8 run to start to chip away at the deficit, but the hosts soon returned to their earlier form and earned the lead back, using buckets by Collins and Max Sparkman (Lexington, Ky.) to stretch the score to 81-40. As the time ticked down, the Seahawk crowd got to be a part of a special moment as Kevin Mannix (Barrinton, R.I.), Salve's lone four-year senior, converted an old fashioned three point play before departing the game to a heartfelt ovation. Curry kept it tight over the final six minutes of action, outscoring the Seahawks 12-9 over that span, but the hosts came in with a clear cut mission and accomplished their part, wrapping up the victory by a score of 90-52.
Curry's offense was paced by Hadfield, who put up 15 points on the afternoon. Joel paced the visitors' rebounding efforts with five boards while Thorpe-Johnson registered three helpers. Dwayne Boothe (Jamaica, N.Y.) stayed stout on the defensive end, picking up and block and a steal. The Seahawks boasted three double digit scorers in the match up in Peasley (11), Collins (18), and Spencer (24), while Mannix made his presence felt underneath the baskets with 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Kelly topped the team in assists with eight while Andrew Bronstein (Needham, Mass.) grabbed five steals.
Despite the victory, Salve Regina's season came to a close shortly after this contest. Needing a Wentworth win to advance to the postseason, the Seahawks watched Nichols hold off the Leopards in a close one, giving the University of New England (5-11) and Wentworth (5-11) the final two spots in the CCC tourney while leaving Salve on the outside looking in. With all three teams closing out their conference season with identical records, the first tie breaker put into effect looked at head-to-head records between the three teams. UNE advanced through this metric, as their 3-1 mark edged the remaining two teams. With Wentworth and Salve still knotted, the head-to-head record left a stalemate as the teams split their season series. The next tie breaker examines the teams' records against conference opponents by rank. Each team went 0-4 in games versus the first seeded Nichols and the second seeded Gordon, but Wentworth's January 3 victory over the third seeded Roger Williams was enough to break the tie, as the Hawks of RWU swept their season series against Salve, sending the Leopards to the postseason as the seventh seed and eliminating the Seahawks.
The Colonels' season also comes to a close, but not without reason for optimism. Busacca will lose just three players this offseason in seniors Gibson and twins Alex and Louis Stein (Mount Olive, N.J.). Retaining a year of eligibility is Daymeann Stewart (Milwaukee, Wis.) who plans to return next season after missing the entire 2018-19 campaign. Despite being held to just five points in this one, Thorpe-Johnson remains a potent scorer who racked up nearly 500 points this season which included a 59 point performance in Biddeford, Maine and his 1,000th career point. The sharp shooting Hadfield will also return, whose 5 triples this afternoon is just a brief glimpse into his full game. Six players will return for their senior seasons, which will create a solid foundation of leadership as the first class of recruits from Busacca will join the team next fall. The Colonels made several strides this season and can look forward to even more progress as the 2019-20 season comes around.
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VAR set for Champions League introduction from next season
By Reuters News Service August 31, 2018 August 31, 2018 015
UEFA will fast-track the implementation of video assistant referees (VAR) for the Champions League knockout stages this season
UEFA plans to use video assistant referees (VARs) in the Champions League from next season but is unlikely to introduce the technology this term, even in the final, its president Aleksander Ceferin said on Friday.
European soccer’s governing body has so far resisted implementation of the VAR system, which allows key incidents to be reviewed with the use of video replays and was used at the World Cup in Russia this year.
Ceferin said the intention was that VAR would be brought in for the UEFA Super Cup and the final qualifying round of next season’s Champions League, even though the Slovenian said that there had been some unclear situations at the World Cup.
“The plan for now is to use it from next season… with the first match of next season which is the Super Cup,” he told reporters, referring to the annual season-opener between the previous season’s Champions League and Europa League winners.
It would then be used in all group stage and knockout stage matches, Ceferin said, adding that he was still not fully convinced by the system.
“VAR is not completely clear for now… but we also know there is no way back any more,” he said. “For me, there were some unclear situations at the World Cup where VAR worked quite well.
“It is much more problematic than it looks. We really have a huge territory. The plan is to do it for next season but let’s see what happens. I don’t want to predict anything 100 percent.”
On this season’s final, he said: “I’m not ruling it out but for now, it doesn’t look like it will happen.”
He also pointed out that UEFA could not simply adapt the system themselves, without first consulting the sport’s law-making body IFAB.
Ceferin added that UEFA had “expected” Cristiano Ronaldo to turn up for the previous night’s Player of the Season award ceremony in Monaco.
The Portuguese finished second behind Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric in the poll and was not present.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “We expected him to come and then, I think a few hours before, we got confirmation he was not coming. The rest was a question for Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Ceferin said UEFA did not tell players the results beforehand and added: “You guys know (how) this information leaks.
“For me, it’s important to know one thing: 55 journalists from 55 countries voted and all the coaches of teams in the Champions League and Europa League group stages voted.”
As EU divisions deepen, Macron stakes out electoral turf
Mixed fortunes for Cyprus teams in Europa League draw
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Jared Martin, Forever ‘Dallas’s’ Lusty Dusty
May 29, 2017 by Chris Baker 10 Comments
Reading Jared Martin’s obituaries over the weekend, I was struck by how many emphasized his connection to “Dallas.” Entertainment Weekly, Deadline Hollywood and several other entertainment news sites mentioned the show in the headlines announcing his death, while the headers from the Associated Press and the Hollywood Reporter went so far as to also include his character’s Louis L’Amour-worthy name, Dusty Farlow. This is somewhat surprising. Not only did Martin have an extensive career beyond “Dallas,” he appeared in just 34 episodes of the original series, or slightly less than 10 percent of the show’s total output.
Yet numbers don’t tell the whole story where Martin’s “Dallas” contributions are concerned, do they? Dusty might not have logged as much screen time as other characters who came and went over the years, but boy, did he make an impression! We mostly remember him as the suitor who swept Sue Ellen off her stilettos, but you also can make a case for Dusty being the most formidable adversary J.R. ever faced. Unlike Cliff Barnes, whom J.R. regarded as a nuisance, Dusty was a genuine threat. He was as rich and as handsome as J.R., and his ranch, the Southern Cross, was even mightier than Southfork. Worst of all, Dusty’s daddy Clayton showed him the kind of love and respect that J.R. craved from Jock but never got. J.R. didn’t just despise Dusty. He envied him.
Indeed, Dusty and J.R. are at the center of so many memorable “Dallas” scenes. Remember their confrontation near the 40-yard line inside the empty Cotton Bowl Stadium? There was absolutely no logical reason for the conversation to take place there, but where else would you expect “Dallas” to stage a clash between two Texas gladiators? Or how about the time J.R. had to present Dusty with the best all-around cowboy award at the end of a Southfork rodeo? Larry Hagman’s gritted teeth in that scene gave J.R.’s wicked grin a whole new level of menace.
It’s also worth noting that at the end of the original “Dallas’s” long run, after J.R. lost Ewing Oil to Cliff and Southfork to Bobby, the character who came along to grind salt into his wounds was none other than Dusty. “Give my regards to Sue Ellen,” he told J.R. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. She dumped you.” On a show that often bungled beloved characters’ final farewells, Dusty got one of the better sendoffs.
Of course, as much fun as “Dallas” had with J.R. and Dusty’s rivalry, nothing really compared to Sue Ellen and Dusty’s romance. He met her when she bumped into him outside a Braddock café, and Martin’s very first line on the show — “Let me help you, ma’am,” delivered as Dusty bent down to collect Sue Ellen’s dropped packages — proved prophetic. Dusty was always helping her pick up the pieces of the life she kept shattering. When J.R.’s goons tried to snatch little John Ross from Sue Ellen’s arms during one of the couple’s custody wars, Dusty swooped in with his own hired guns to save the day. When Sue Ellen went on a bender after Bobby’s death, Dusty whisked her away to a motel so she could dry out for the funeral. He was her knight in shining spurs, although he wasn’t perfect. Never forget that Dusty ultimately chose the rodeo circuit over Sue Ellen — a sign, perhaps, that he carried the craziness gene that drove his mother-slash-aunt, Lady Jessica, over the edge. I mean, what Texan in his right mind would choose to hang around smelly horses instead of sexy Sue Ellen?
Lady and the cowboy
Through it all, no matter what “Dallas” gave him to do, Martin was one of the show’s most reliable performers. Part of it was his physical appeal: With his smoldering eyes — once described by People as “Newmanously blue” — Martin could give millions of viewers the vapors with just one look. But this man could act, too. Dusty was lusty, and Martin often delivered his lines through a clenched jaw, as if it took everything the character had to contain his passions. His scenes with Linda Gray were especially fiery. Dusty and Sue Ellen didn’t love each other as much as they burned for each other. It’s a credit to both actors that they could take a well-worn trope like the cowboy and the lady — something everyone was doing during the “Urban Cowboy” era of the 1980s, including “Dallas” with its Ray/Donna pairing — and make it feel fresh.
Of all the great scenes Martin and Gray had over the years, one of my favorites remains the time a fur-draped Sue Ellen was reunited with a wheelchair-bound Dusty, one year after the audience believed he perished in a plane crash. (Long before Patrick Duffy’s Bobby was reanimated in the shower, Dusty became the first “Dallas” character to rise from the dead.) The reunion scene is Sirkian: tight close-ups of tear-streaked faces and soapy dialogue like “don’t make me see myself every day in your eyes,” but Gray and Martin bring so much conviction to the material, you can’t help but feel moved. The actors shared a bond in real life, too: When news of Martin’s death broke last Friday, Gray tweeted that she had “such beautiful memories” of working him; his son Christian responded to Gray, telling her that Martin “loved working with you as well.”
Besides “Dallas,” Martin appeared in dozens of other shows and movies, including a starring role on “War of the Worlds,” a promising sci-fi series that petered out after two seasons in 1990. He also was a painter and photographer, and last year, he joined forces with Robert Mrazek, a former New York politician, to co-direct “The Congressman,” a comedy starring Treat Williams. Martin also taught acting and directing, including co-founding a nonprofit group that introduces inner-city kids to filmmaking. In recent days, artists who knew Martin as a mentor have posted tributes to him on social media.
I get the sense Martin took great pride in his work after “Dallas,” but I hope he was also proud of his association with the show. It remains fashionable to dismiss “Dallas” as a 1980s frivolity; just a few months ago, “Twin Peaks” co-creator Mark Frost told an interviewer that “Dallas” was the kind of show that he and David Lynch “wouldn’t be caught dead watching.” It was a snotty comment that ignores “Dallas’s” many contributions to shaping modern television drama, including its role in popularizing prime-time cliffhangers, serialized storylines and all the antiheroes who’ve followed in J.R.’s boot steps. And while it’s always sad to lose actors like Martin, their deaths also give us occasion to remember all that was great about “Dallas” — and how much it has meant to the art of television.
What are your favorite memories of Jared Martin on “Dallas”? Share your comments below and read more opinions from Dallas Decoder.
Filed Under: Opinion, Opinion Tagged With: Christian Martin, Jared Martin, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy
« ‘Wally’s Will’: The Story Behind Linda Gray’s Short Film Debut
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Balena says:
Wonderful article, Chris!
I loved the sizzling chemistry between Jared Martin and Linda Gray.
Elizabete says:
Great text you’ve written, Chris.
Hi Chris, I was hoping you would decode Dusty! What a thoughtful perspective on the character and the actor. Sue Ellen and Dusty certainly sizzled but their connection was very soulful. I loved that about them and the actors who conveyed it.
Vance Blankenbaker says:
You write beautifully and sensitively. Thank you for this thoughtful piece.
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback.
Hi,Chris. How are you doing? Today is Linda Gray’s birthday. Some news about her?
Hi Elizabete!
I’m afraid I have no news. I hope she is having a happy birthday, and I hope you are well!
It is very good to know you are doing well. Thanks for being so nice.
paul Hernandez says:
Hi there, I like the scenes between Sue Ellen and Dusty. He was an interesting character. Are you still selling merchandise for 2017? And what about Ted Shackleford, Gary Ewing my favorite out of the Ewing brothers? Paul H in Oxford, England
Hi Paul. Thanks for your comment, but I don’t sell merchandise.
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David Hohme moves into his prime ‘Without Doubt’ [Q+A]
by: Christina Hernandez Oct 19, 2018
Choosing to travel down the creative path requires both boldness and perseverance. It translates into the artist’s entire livelihood being hinged upon others resonating with their craft, and the road to success is fraught with uncertainty. That being said, there are no coincidences in the end, and those meant to be in the arts full time will ultimately push until their dreams come to fruition.
Music has always been in David Hohme‘s life cards. The classically-trained, New York-based DJ and producer grew up in a family where the art was held in high regard, beginning his journey at the age of four when his mother pushed him into piano classes. This love affair between Hohme and music continued to grow, and reached its peak simultaneously as he dabbled deeper in electronic music. As soon as he was able, Hohme set his sights on New York, and began worming his way into its underground. His goal was never to reach superstardom, but rather, to make a positive impact in the scene around him and watch as the thing he loved most catalyzed mass unity across sweaty warehouses and beyond. Nearly a decade after realizing that making and playing music full time was his life’s mission, he finally felt as though he’s settling in.
2016 brought along the foundation of his Where The Heart Is imprint, whose inaugural Fear Less EP caught Anjunadeep legend Jody Wisternoff’s attention and a subsequent remix for the release package. His career snowballed at an exponential rate from here, with Hohme later being brought fully into the Anjunadeep fold through his Soft Landing EP. Hohme’s pointed to this release as a sonic representation of him feeling more sure about the direction of his musical vision, and life path in general. Now comes his debut on Desert Hearts, Without Doubt. What started as a live improv inspired an entire song around it, wherein Hohme skillfully meshes together full-bodied textures, warm basslines, and dreamy melodies into one of the lushest releases on the label to date. His work was so powerful, in fact, that the single in which the EP gets its name received a cosign from none other than French icon Rodriguez Jr. “Without Doubt,” Hohme is ascending toward his peak, and there is no stopping this juggernaut now.
In honor of such a milestone release, we grabbed Hohme to talk about honing his craft, finding his way musically, and the transformational culture that brought him and the Desert Hearts brand together.
How did you get introduced to Burner/transformational culture? Has the scene played an influential role in your music, and how so?
My cousins had been going and telling me about Burning Man since I can remember, so I always knew I would end up going. They always stressed that I wait until the timing felt right, and when it finally did, wow did it change things up for me. I think among the countless life lessons I’ve learned, unlearned, or relearned there, the overarching open/accepting nature of the community has simply allowed a place for me to share the music I actually want to share…not what the promoter/the club owner/the bottle buyer/the money wants to hear. The musical freedom Burning Man offered me was so refreshing and honestly such a blessing at that point in my career, when I was vastly playing open-format sets with my value as a musician being based on how may bottles were sold that particular night.
On that note, you’re classically trained. Do you also feel like your affinity for lusher, melodic sounds stems from your time as a pianist?
Absolutely. Melody is at the core of what moves me as a musician…and it’s been the same my whole life. The sounds that inspire me, the sounds that give me chills 95% of time stem from the melody… and this is why I tend to write almost all my music around a melody, and not the drums or bass line like many other producers.
How did your love affair with electronica start, and what were the factors that led to you realizing you needed to be spreading music full time?
I always knew I wanted to do something in music… but if we’re talking about electronica specifically, I was probably around 15 years old… and it was with Da Rude’s “Before The Storm” album. I know, I know… but seriously, that album is incredible and it led me to Tiesto, Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, and Above & Beyond. This was of course all as a listener, full time comes way later. It wasn’t until college when I noticed my natural propensity for creating playlists…I really enjoyed doing it…the process of filtering 1000’s of songs into only the best few got me excited. Also in college, going out in Hollywood, watching incredible open format DJs like AM, Stonerokk, and Graham Funky inspired me to buy my first set of Technic’s. From there on I taught myself and developed my technical skills through practice and Youtube tutorials. All the while, on the side, I had started a tech blog with a close friend of mine, we had signed an ad deal, and I could write from wherever I had an internet connection. This felt like the right timing to really give the DJ thing a go…and I figured if I could make it in New York City, I’d probably be pretty good elsewhere…so I moved across the country and haven’t looked back since.
Can you describe your sonic evolution?
No matter the genre, the music I play and have played all surrounds the melodies. Although I’ve made quite a shift since I started in open format, moved to big room EDM, and then landed here in melodic house & techno but I’ve always played uplifting and melodic music. The main force of my sonic evolution to the more esoteric and tactful sides of underground music, what I’m playing/making now, is in direct response to the serendipitous life timing that led me to some seminal sunrises at Robot Heart, or at the first season of All Day I Dream parties in Brooklyn.
You’ve described ‘Soft Landing’ as a moment where everything clicked with you musically. What’s the story behind “Without Doubt?” Is it a continuation of this certainty you’re feeling about your sound? How was the writing process?
This song makes me feel like I’m on the right path. That’s why I named it “Without Doubt”. I’ve been doing music full time for almost 10 years and to feel the support I’m feeling today and have a remix from an artist I’ve only dreamt about working with for the better part of my career is simply a dream come true. I hope this song conveys that feeling to others and inspires them to focus on doing what makes them happy, what gives them no doubts. As for writing, this started as an ambient improv that I was just making a fun video for…the response was so positive, that I decided to turn it into a song.
Tell us about how your relationship with the Desert Hearts crew. Did you meet at Burning Man? What made this song the right one for them to sign it?
Ha! Yes…it was my second year at Burning Man and I was playing one my first deep house sets ever at an incredible camp called Sacred Spaces, where their whole crew happened to be camping. They happened to be hanging out in their yurts during my set, heard my music, and were inspired to come dance! Since then I’ve had the pleasure of watching their growth from a small get together in the desert to the absolute power house Desert Hearts has become over the past 7 years.
How did Rodriguez Jr come on board as the remixer?
I asked him if he was available for remixes, he liked the song and said yes…that’s it! The same with the remixes from Jody Wisternoff. I find that the fear of the response holds people back from asking the question all together…and this applies to so many things in life. When your intentions are positive and you ask for what you want, amazing things can happen.
Who are your biggest musical inspirations/role models, and why?
I’ve been so lucky to have the remix support from two producers that have inspired me tremendously over the years. First is Jody Wisternoff…having him remix my first single “Fear Less” and then “Soft Landing” with James Grant is still pretty surreal for me. The second is of course “Without Doubt” with another top 5 of mine, Rodriguez Jr.. My biggest inspiration, though, has to be Joris Voorn. In my opinion and based on my personal taste, there isn’t a more consistent electronic music producer/performer in the industry. Also in my top tops for inspiration/potential future collaborations are Erlend Øye, Cubicolor/16bit, Lee Burridge, Olafur Arnalds, Andhim, and Eelke Kleijn. So many inspirational producers out there, hard to choose. I’m looking forward to working hard and hopefully that will lead to more great collaborations.
You’ve been riding a wave of success off your recent work and tour schedule. What about upcoming plans for your label, Where The Heart is?
Oh man, so much exciting stuff for WTHI…so much amazing music. I’m so humbled that these incredible producers are trusting me with their art. I’ll be honest though, since I run it 100% on my own, it’s been difficult staying on top of being consistent for the last few months. That all ends very soon as I’m in the process of bringing on a label manager. Coming up next, we have the first installment of the label’s mix series, “Where My Heart Is”, consisting of nearly all unreleased music from the label. This will be a Spotify exclusive mix. Shortly after that, consistent releases will begin as we currently have 10 EPs in various stages of development. The goal is to launch an international event series around the label/artists…when the timing is right.
What else do you have in store for the rest of the year? Any final thoughts before we let you go?
What’s in store for me is more great music…whether I’m playing it, releasing it, or making it. That’s my promise! Final thoughts…be nice, it goes a long way. Oh yea, and don’t eat animals.
Order a copy of ‘Without Doubt’ here
Photo credit: David Hohme’s team
Tags: David Hohme, desert hearts, exclusive, interview, Rodriguez Jr
Categories: Features, Music
Premiere: Rodriguez Jr. – Cluster#1
How Gary Richards’ FriendShip cruise is sailing ahead of the pack
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New service will offer ‘cable-like’ package of channels without the expensive bill
Alex Thomas Sadler
| February 26th, 2018
TV, Satellite & Cable
As more and more people look for cheaper alternatives to traditional cable TV — and the big monthly bill that often comes with it — big media providers are starting to offer more affordable solutions.
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 24% of Americans don’t subscribe to a cable or satellite service in their home.
Meanwhile, 84% of Americans do have ‘advanced Internet access’ at home — something providers are finally starting to take seriously.
Read more: 10 ways to watch awesome TV without a cable bill
A new, more flexible option for watching TV
Streaming service Hulu will soon offer a cable-like digital service that streams both broadcast and cable TV channels — combining services that currently aren’t all available in one place.
While Hulu has become an increasingly popular way for cord-cutters to watch their favorite broadcast TV shows the day after they’ve aired, this new service would be a more complete alternative to traditional pay-TV — allowing users to stream entire broadcast and cable channels for a monthly fee, according to a report by the L.A. Times.
With more and more consumers no longer willing to pay for channels they don’t want, this service from Hulu, which is a joint venture of 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBCUniversal, is an indicator that big providers are starting to shift from their traditional package models in order to keep up with online competitors.
And one way they’re doing it is with ‘skinny bundles,’ which give users the flexibility of choosing fewer channels — for less money, rather than paying a high price for a package that may include hundreds of channels the customer doesn’t want.
According the L.A. Times, ‘Hulu is in active negotiations with Disney, Fox and NBCUniversal for access to their broadcast and cable networks, which include ESPN, Disney Channel, Fox News, FX and others.’
“All the big network-owning companies realize that it’s impossible in an over-the-top world to stop the eventual creation of smaller, more flexible consumer video offerings,” Todd Juenger, an analyst with Bernstein, told the L.A. Times. “They all want to proactively be a part of these offerings.”
Acccording to the L.A. Times, Hulu plans to start offering the service early next year for around $40 a month.
Cheap cell phone service provider adds Verizon as network partner
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Fretwork at the Cleveland Museum of Art (October 12)
October 18, 2016 by Nicholas Jones
by Nicholas Jones
Music for the instrument that the English called the viol and the Italians the viola da gamba flourished during the tumultuous changes in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The contemplative, intimate sound of a consort of viols must have been a welcome relief from fires, plagues, religious wars, revolutions, and other sudden and unpredictable catastrophes. Viol consorts implied the opposite of Fortune’s wheel: the steady companionship of friends, both players and listeners, coming together in the appreciation of a quiet artistry. [Read more…]
Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Asako Morikawa, Cleveland Museum of Art, Emily Ashton, Fretwork, Gavin Bryars, Maja Ratkje, Nico Muhly, Reiko Ichise, Richard Boothby, Sam Stadien, Viol Consort
British viol consort Fretwork to play old & new music at CMA Oct. 12
October 11, 2016 by Daniel Hathaway
You could say with some accuracy that Fretwork, the British viol consort, was an idea formed in Hell. Its early members Richard Boothby, Bill Hunt, and Richard Campbell first played together in the underworld scene in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, a production semi-staged in Barcelona in 1985 by Andrew Parrott’s Taverner Players. Those three minutes led to further performances, and now Fretwork is considered among the premier viol ensembles in the world.
Most viol consorts stick to old music composed before the viola da gamba became extinct in England in the latter part of the 17th century. Fretwork is unusual in its equal embrace of contemporary music: on its website the group lists two dozen composers who have written works for them.
Fretwork’s current five members, Asako Morikawa, Reiko Ichise, Sam Stadien, Emily Ashton, and Boothby (far right in the photo) will appear on the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts series in Gartner Auditorium on Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30 pm. [Read more…]
Filed Under: Previews Tagged With: Cleveland Museum of Art, Fretwork, Richard Boothby
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Politics|Mnuchin Says China Trade Talks Are Nearing Final Round
The Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, at the I.M.F. headquarters in Washington. On Saturday, he again repeated his claim that the biggest obstacle to a trade deal — how to enforce the pact — was nearly settled.CreditCreditShawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that he believed the United States and China were nearing the final stage of trade negotiations, moving closer to what he said would be the biggest change in the economic relationship between the countries in 40 years.
Mr. Mnuchin’s note of optimism comes as the world’s two largest economies are racing to end a protracted trade dispute that has resulted in damaging tariffs and business uncertainty and provided a drag on the global economy.
“We’re hopeful that we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Mr. Mnuchin again repeated his claim that the biggest obstacle to a trade deal — how to enforce the agreement — is nearly settled. The United States has been pushing China to agree to a mechanism that would allow Washington to impose tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing reneges on certain parts of the deal.
On Saturday, Mr. Mnuchin said that the United States and China would both have the authority to enforce commitments that are agreed to, indicating the ability for Beijing to exert some control in the future as well.
“We’ve already agreed there’s a big component of this that there will be real enforcement on both sides,” he said, “including a detailed enforcement office on both sides with significant resources.”
At a congressional hearing in February, Robert E. Lighthizer, President Trump’s top trade negotiator, described a complex enforcement mechanism under discussion that aimed to ensure China would live up to its promises.
Mr. Lighthizer said at the time that China had agreed to regular meetings at the levels of office director, vice minister and minister that would allow the United States to keep tabs on China’s behavior and air complaints from companies about unfair business practices. If China did not keep its promises, the United States would respond “proportionally but unilaterally.” The implication was that the United States would respond with tariffs.
American officials have also been pressing China to agree not to retaliate against the United States if it reimposes tariffs on Chinese goods. China has been reluctant to agree to a one-sided enforcement mechanism, viewing it as infringing on its sovereignty and giving Washington too much power over its economy.
“If complaints are real, we may have to use tariffs to deal with them, and we’re asking the Chinese not to retaliate,” Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, told the Fox Business Network in March when discussing enforcement of a deal.
People who have been closely tracking the talks cautioned that enforcement continued to be an obstacle that remained unsettled because China and the United States had not agreed on the specifics of penalties.
“The problem with the so-called enforcement issue has to do with finding a mechanism that allows punishment for violations of the agreement,” said Michael Pillsbury, a China scholar at the Hudson Institute who advises the Trump administration. “That hasn’t been done yet.”
On Saturday, Mr. Mnuchin would not clarify whether the United States and China had agreed on an enforcement mechanism that would allow only Washington to respond with tariffs as punishment for violating the deal.
“I want to be careful in answering that because I don’t want to get into the details of the negotiations and specifically on tariffs,” he said.
But Mr. Mnuchin said that he expected enforcement of the trade pact to be reciprocal.
“There are certain commitments that the United States is making in this agreement and there are certain commitments that China is making, and I would expect that the enforcement agreement works in both directions,” he said. “We expect to honor our commitments and if we don’t, there should be certain repercussions, and the same way in the other direction.”
Mr. Mnuchin would not specify what commitments the United States was making. Mr. Trump has been pushing China to open its economy and end practices that he says have put American companies at a disadvantage.
The deal under discussion would require China to end its longstanding practice of requiring American companies to hand over valuable technology as a condition of doing business there and would open portions of China’s economy more liberally. The two sides have discussed China’s buying more than $1 trillion worth of goods over the next several years to help lower the trade gap between the countries.
To get China to the negotiating table, Mr. Trump slapped tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. That punishment has begun to pinch China’s economy and Beijing’s negotiators are demanding that at least some of the tariffs be removed as a condition of any final deal. It remains unclear how many — and at what point — those tariffs will be lifted.
The Treasury secretary made clear that there were still provisions that need to be completed and that a deal was not yet certain.
Officials from the United States and China are in regular contact by telephone, Mr. Mnuchin said, and they are determining if additional face-to-face meetings are needed.
Ana Swanson contributed reporting.
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Home | Blog | Eighty years of Marvel comics: reviewing the past, protecting the future
Eighty years of Marvel comics: reviewing the past, protecting the future
As the second decade of the new millennium ends, Marvel's iconic superheroes seem to have found a global stage in cinema. In 11 short years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has shattered box office franchise records, grossing over $18 billion worldwide.
With the final film of the flagship Avengers arc (Endgame) hitting theaters in late April, 2019 is something of a capstone year for the storytelling juggernaut. While fans mourn the recent passing of the legendary Stan Lee, his legacy and the company's 80th birthday will be honored with the opening of the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit in Philadelphia, PA. In Charlotte, NC, HeroesCon will be sure to delight casual and hardcore collectors alike.
With all this pomp and circumstance, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that it all started with the humble comic book. True collectors will recall the progress Marvel made since its inception as Timely Comics in pre-war 1939.
A brief history of Marvel Comics
Martin Goodman published Marvel Comics No.1 under the Timely Comics banner in 1939. Superhero comics had seen a rise in popularity during this time--known as the Golden Age of Comics--and Goodman wanted to capitalize on it.
By 1950, superheroes suffered a decline in popularity. Westerns, sci-fi, and humor-based comics had overtaken them. Timely Comics changed its name to Atlas Magazines and catered mostly to these genres.
Then along comes DC Comics with The Flash in 1956. People loved it, prompting DC to form The Justice League. Atlas responded by becoming Marvel Comics and answering with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's The Fantastic Four (1961). The Silver Age of Comics was underway.
It seemed the superheroes were here to stay. With both DC and Marvel publishing huge successes, every decade after the sixties ushered in new waves of writing and illustrative talent for both companies.
Marvel ran into some trouble in the nineties, declaring bankruptcy in 1996 due to poor sales and issues with management. But like its resilient characters, Marvel was down, not out. In only two years, Marvel was back and had its sights set on more than just comics and figurines coming into the 21st century. Marvel Studios, for one, was about five years old at this point… and we all know what it's grown up to be!
Whether or not Marvel continues a meteoric rise in the world of fantastical storytelling remains to be seen--but it is clear that people all over the globe have embraced the characters, their stories, and the universe. We can probably count on seeing Marvel's 100th.
Suggestions for celebrating Marvel's 80th birthday
Four-fifths of a century is a pretty solid achievement. There's lots you can do to help celebrate:
See a movie! Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home are Marvel's (and Sony's) releases in 2019.
Visit the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia will have this exhibit up from April 13 to September 2, with over 300 awesome pieces of art, costumes, and more from the Marvel universe.
Attend Comic-Con International: San Diego. It is the biggest of its kind, and something of a rite of passage for many serious collectors: July 18-21 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Read a Marvel comic. You can buy digital versions of comics from the forties or see the very latest releases at Marvel.com.
The Silent Guardian: Collectibles Insurance
Whether 80 years old or purchased yesterday, Marvel and other collectible memorabilia are precious things, and it's important to protect them beyond the vacuum seal. Homeowners insurance often does not. Be a superhero. Make sure your marvelous comic collections are adequately insured.
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Hiring: Teamchild 2018 Summer Fellow; NWIRP; JustLead
December 22, 2017 uwcpsl
Open Until Filled: TeamChild, 2018 Paid Summer Fellow working with LGBTQ Youth
TeamChild is seeking a full-time Summer Fellow for our Tacoma, WA office, located at 715 Tacoma Ave. South. The fellow will work in partnership with Oasis Youth Center and be co-located at Oasis and TeamChild. Under the guidance of TeamChild attorneys and in consultation with Oasis Youth Center the fellow will advise LGBTQ youth about their legal rights. The fellow will be asked to research various legal issues frequently affecting LGBTQ youth in the community and develop policy responses to those issues. The fellow will also be asked to develop sustainable policy options to create an ongoing TeamChild/Oasis legal clinic partnership. Duties also include community education, outreach to clients and potential referral sources and collaboration on community based projects that serve TeamChild’s and Oasis Youth Center’s client base.
The Law Office of William D. Hochberg: 2018 Summer Internship
The Law Office of William D. Hochberg is looking for a 1L/2L student who wants to work in a small but busy plaintiff practice law office. We specialize in helping injured people through the workers’ compensation system, as well as representing those injured as the result of someone else’s negligence. Our office is located in beautiful downtown Edmonds, and this is a paid position with the rate of pay depending on the student’s qualifications and experience. This intern will have the opportunity to work closely with our attorneys and clients, learn case intake and analysis skills, perform research, draft pleadings and assist with trial and witness preparation, as our practice is litigation-based. The intern would also have the opportunity to attend depositions and hearings as the opportunities arise over the course of the summer. Please submit a resume, 2 writing samples and a list of references via email to info@hochberglaw.net.
Webinar: Equal Justice Works, Student Debt Relief Basics
This free webinar will teach you about the various repayment plans, loan cancellation provisions, how to earn Public Service Loan Forgiveness, what to do if you are behind on your payments, and how to lower your loan payments using loan repayment assistance programs. You can join live or watch later. If you register prior to the live event, you will receive a recording in the 48 hours following the live version. Register for a free webinar today!
Rolling: Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Staff Attorney, Central and Eastern Washington
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) seeks a Spanish-speaking third-year law student, law graduate (including those pursuing a judicial clerkship) or attorney to provide direct representation, community outreach and education to individuals seeking legal assistance in a variety of immigration matters. This position would begin after the February or July 2018 bar exam.
This position is expected to be based in Eastern Washington, in either NWIRP’s Granger or Wenatchee Office. These offices serve a client base consisting largely of farmworkers and their families. The successful candidate will be informed of the placement by May 1, 2018.
Due January 10: JustLead Washington: Director of Equity & Community Partnership
The Director, reporting to JustLead’s Executive Director, will design and implement JustLead’s anti-racism work in partnership with the Executive Director and Senior Education Consultant and with guidance from the volunteer-led Washington Race Equity & Justice Initiative. In 2018, this work will largely focus on supporting Alliance for Equal Justice (civil legal aid) organizations that are developing and enhancing equity strategies and practices within their organizations and inter-organizationally; the Manager will also work with other justice system and community partners.
Services will include trainings on topics such as implicit bias, structural racism, and managing conflict and organizational change; consultation to support creating and implementing organizational equity initiatives; and the development of and connection to racial justice resources and accountability measures for organizations and advocates. The Manager will directly provide services and engage volunteers and external organizations and consultants to help identify and advance our community’s collective priorities around racial justice.
KIND; Community Justice Project; Children’s Alliance; US Attorney’s Office and more!
Rolling: Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Legal Intern
KIND’s Seattle field office is seeking volunteer legal interns who want to develop their lawyering skills while assisting KIND’s Seattle office’s direct representation and pro bono programs, which matches volunteer lawyers with unaccompanied children needing representation in immigration court.
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is an innovative partnership among the Microsoft Corporation, Angelina Jolie and other interested philanthropists, law firms and corporate supporters. As the leading national organization that works to ensure that no refugee or immigrant child faces immigration court alone, KIND is dedicated to providing pro bono representation as well as positive systemic change in both law and policy to improve the protection of unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children. KIND also assists children who are returning to their home countries through deportation or voluntary departure to do so safely and to reintegrate into their home communities. In addition, we work to ensure the voices of these children are heard and we help them become their own advocates. Launched in fall 2008, KIND is headquartered in Washington, DC and has 10 field offices across the United States.
More info and apply here.
Due December 29: Community Justice Project – Research and Advocacy Associate
Community Justice Project is seeking a Research and Advocacy Associate to join our dynamic and growing movement lawyering team. This position offers the exciting opportunity to work in close collaboration with a group of social justice organizations in South Florida seeking to shift the landscape and advance a transformative agenda for human rights and racial justice.
The Research and Advocacy Associate will provide much-needed research and writing support for ongoing projects, including campaigns in the areas of anti-gentrification, criminal justice, immigrant, and workers’ rights. The Associate will also participate in activities and meetings of Community Justice Project’s organizational partners.
Children’s Alliance: Early Learning Policy Director and Pre-K Policy Associate
The Early Learning Policy Director leads the organization’s public policy advocacy related to early learning. This work is focused on early learning as a key strategy to close the opportunity gap facing children in low-income families and children of color. The position is a member of the policy staff and reports to the Deputy Director. This is a full time position at 37.5 hours/week. Health, dental, and other benefits included. The salary is $60,000/year. Desired start is January 2018. Read more here.
The Pre-K Policy Associate contributes to the organization’s public policy advocacy related to early learning. This work is focused on growing and improving the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance program as a key strategy to close the opportunity gap facing children in low-income families and children of color. The position is a member of the policy staff and reports to the Early Learning Policy Director. This is a full time position at 37.5 hours/week. Health, dental, and other benefits included. The salary is $44,000/year. Desired start is January 2018. Read more here.
Due January 5: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Summer Law Clerk Program
The United States Attorney’s Office takes on approximately 6 law students each summer for our summer law clerk program. The program lasts for 8-10 weeks. These clerkships are performed on an unpaid – volunteer basis.
During the summer, our clerks work in all areas of the office, both civil and criminal divisions. Attempts are made to honor the students’ desires regarding areas of interest (civil versus criminal, or units within the criminal division). Law clerks research and draft civil, trial and appellate briefs and motions. The clerks work directly with Assistant U.S. Attorneys enabling them to meet and work with many different attorneys throughout the summer. Each summer clerk also has one mentoring attorney who provides assistance and support consistently throughout the summer.
More info here and here.
Deadline March 30, 2018: New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), 2018 Summer Internships
Interns will handle substantive work at NYLAG and have the opportunity to participate in comprehensive training that covers the breadth of civil legal aid in New York City. This internship is unpaid. Read more about internship unit areas and apply here.
Rolling: Legal Aid of North Carolina. Summer 2018 Internship (Rising 3Ls only)
Location: Charlotte, Raleigh, Concord, Durham, Greenville, Morgantown, Pembroke, Sylvia, Wilson, and Winston-Salem
Interns will experience client contact, learn practical skills, and legal advocacy on real cases under the supervision of seasoned legal aid attorneys. Interested students should send resume, cover letter, and writing sample to suzannec2@legalaidnc.org. Please identify preferred three locations. Interns will be paid $3,500 for 10 weeks of work.
Open until filled: Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. Fellowship: Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Veterans Legal Corps
Based in Los Angeles County, California Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. (MHAS) is hosting a one-year fellowship sponsored by
Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps focused on addressing the legal needs of veterans in Los Angeles County, with an emphasis on serving veterans in the greater San Pedro/Long Beach areas. The attorney selected for the Fellowship will be housed at MHAS’s office in Los Angeles.
Per Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps guidelines, the fellowship must last 11 to12 months.
Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. (MHAS) is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and advance the legal rights of children and adults with mental disabilities, in order to maximize autonomy, promote equality and secure the resources needed to thrive in the community. MHAS assists both children and adults, with an emphasis on obtaining government benefits and services, protecting rights, and fighting discrimination. MHAS also serves as a resource to the community by providing training and technical assistance to attorneys, mental health professionals, consumer and family member groups, and other advocates. In addition, MHAS participates in impact litigation in an effort to improve the lives of people with mental disabilities.
Events: Someday We’ll All Be Free: Patrisse Cullors and Luis Rodriguez; Webinar: Tent City, USA
Tonight: Someday We’ll All Be Free: Patrisse Cullors and Luis Rodriguez
Date: Friday, Dec. 15, 2017
Time: 6:30 – 9 p.m.
Where: Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98104
What is the role that libraries can play in imagining a future without prisons? Join an interactive community dialog featuring local leaders and national advocates on criminal justice reform to close out our year-long meditation on criminal justice. Our presenters include:
• Luis Rodriguez (Los Angeles poet laureate, author, mentor)
• Michele Storms (ACLU of Washington)
• Jerrell Davis (Rainier Beach Action Coalition; Wa-BLOC)
• Wesley Roach (Breakdances With Wolves – Indigenous Pirate Radio)
We’ll have a video call-in with Patrisse Cullors (co-founder Black Lives Matter). The evening will include a panel, a live tweet up and Q&A.
Webinar: Tent City, USA: The Growth of America’s Homeless Encampments and How Communities are Responding
This webinar introduces the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty’s new report on homeless encampments or “tent cities”. Confirming anecdotal evidence, the report documents a dramatic increase in the number of encampments reported across the country. It also addresses how communities are responding with both constructive and destructive policies, including multiple case studies of promising and innovative solutions.
Mike O’Brien, Seattle City Councilor
Maurice Young, advocate currently experiencing homelessness
Don Sawyer, advocate and documentary producer, a Bigger Vision Productions
Nicole Martinez, Executive Director, Mesilla Valley Community of Hope
Carol Sobel, Civil Rights Attorney
Major Wendy Stiver, Central Patrol Operations Division, Dayton Police Department
Eric Tars, Senior Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
2018 Paid Summer Fellowships at Yale Law School; Summer 2018 Diversity Fellowships and Scholarships
Due February 10: The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, 2018 Paid Summer Fellowships at Yale Law School
The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization of Yale Law School (LSO) invites applications for its 2018 Summer Fellowship program. Applications will be accepted from December 4, 2017 and reviewed on a rolling basis. LSO is the main organization at Yale Law School providing legal representation to individuals and organizations in need of legal assistance but unable to afford private attorneys. During the academic year, law students work closely with clinical faculty members to represent clients in a wide range of litigation and non-litigation matters, helping to fill a critical need in legal services delivery for poor and marginalized communities in Connecticut. LSO seeks to hire 20-25 Summer Fellows to work with clinical faculty in order to continue this client representation. These are paid positions, with a salary of $6,960 for 12 weeks of full-time work ($14.50/hour). The Fellowship will run from May 22 to August 17, 2018, with some flexibility as to start and end dates. For 2018, LSO seeks Summer Fellows for the following clinics:
Advanced Sentencing Clinic
Challenging Mass Incarceration Clinic
Ludwig Community and Economic Development Clinic
Criminal Justice Clinic
Immigration Legal Services Clinic
Housing Clinic
Veterans Legal Services Clinic
Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic
For more information on the work of each of these clinics, please visit www.law.yale.edu/lso
Students who are eligible for summer funding from their own sources and who need an early decision on their LSO application to qualify for outside support are encouraged to advise LSO of their situation and to request expedited review of their candidacy.
Interested students should email a cover letter specifying the clinic(s) in which you have an interest, a resume, writing sample, transcript, and contact information for two references to lso.fellowships@yale.edu. (Transcripts, if not immediately available, can be sent after the initial application, but before the submission deadline.) The final deadline to submit application materials is February 10, 2018. Early applications are encouraged.
Due January 9: Foster Pepper 1L Diversity Fellowship Summer 2018
Foster Pepper established its own 1L Diversity Fellowship, which provides one summer associate with a paid position in our Seattle office, plus a $7,500 academic scholarship to be applied toward tuition for the 2018-2019 academic year. To further our commitment, Foster Pepper:
Recruits and hires the most qualified diverse attorneys.
Promotes diverse attorneys to key leadership positions.
Maintains a work environment that fosters mutual respect firm-wide.
Due February 1: Bricker & Eckler LLP – Charles H. Walker Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship
Established to provide a first-year law student with a valuable employment experience early in his or her legal career, this scholarship will be awarded to a candidate who: demonstrates leadership skills, academic strength, service to the community, an overall commitment to excellence and who has exhibited a meaningful commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Students who will be 1L students in an ABA-approved law school by January 2018 are eligible to apply for the scholarship. One scholarship in the form of a $10,000 cash award (less any applicable taxes and withholdings) towards law school tuition and other law school related expenses will be awarded. In addition, the scholarship recipient will receive a paid summer associate position for the summer of 2018.
Eligible candidates should forward their résumé with GPA to the attention of Patricia M. Lach, Director of Professional Development, Bricker & Eckler LLP, 100 South Third Street,
Columbus, OH 43215. All résumés must be submitted /received by February 1, 2018. Scholarship finalists will be interviewed by members of the Firm’s Recruiting Committee and we hope to make the final selection by April 1, 2018.
Due January 19 (11:59 PM EST): The 2018 Blank Rome Diversity Scholars Program
At Blank Rome, we believe that a diverse and inclusive work force provides better service to our clients and a better work environment for our attorneys and staff. We have therefore made it a priority of the Firm to recruit, retain, and promote attorneys who add to our overall diversity, including attorneys of color and members from the LGBTQ community.
To help meet our commitment to diversity, we launched the Blank Rome Diversity Scholars Program (“Program”). The Program, established in 2006, serves to attract outstanding law students to our New York and Washington D.C. offices. Students selected to participate in the Program will be awarded:
A ten week salaried summer associate position in our highly regarded Summer Associate Program.
A $15,000 scholarship. The scholarship will be paid in two installments: 1) $7,500 for the student’s second-year tuition and expenses, payable in August of 2018, provided the student has received and accepted an offer to join the 2019 Summer Associate Program on a full-time basis; and 2) another $7,500 toward the student’s third-year of law school, provided the student receives and accepts an offer to return to Blank Rome as a full time Associate after graduation.
The scholar will also benefit from the active and committed training and mentorship from Blank Rome partners and associates throughout the Program.
Summer fellowships, clerkships and internships: Peggy Browning Fund, KCPA, Institute for Justice, Pacific Legal Foundation, Legal Voice, ACLU, and more!
Due January 12: Peggy Browning Fund 2018 Summer Fellowships
Funded positions for 1Ls & 2Ls in labor-related organizations throughout the United States and 1 funded part-time position in Chicago.
The Summer Fellowship Program provides stipends to 1st and 2nd year law students who dedicate this time to advancing the cause of workers’ rights. We routinely collaborate with over 150 participating law schools and selected mentor organizations nationwide.
Summer Fellowship stipends will be a minimum of $6,000 per student for the ten-week employment period. In many cases, mentor organizations will supplement the stipend. (See each fellowship description for details)
We recruit interested students and work closely with our mentor organizations to ensure that each fellow will experience unique and challenging work assignments. Our strong relationships with leading national labor leaders, labor attorneys and labor law professors make our fellowship program the preeminent one of its kind.
Due January 12: King County Prosecuting Attorney Summer 2018 externships
This is a 10-week program for students during the summer between their first and second years of law school. Externs must be able to work full time, 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. for a minimum of ten weeks.
The externship program is designed to give students a meaningful experience and exposure to our law practice. It is an excellent way to become acquainted with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, pursue an interest in criminal law, and determine whether trial practice is a future career path. The extern positions are unpaid, but many law schools offer credit for externship programs.
Due January 12: Institute for Justice Summer 2018 Clerkships
The Institute for Justice’s summer clerkship program provides an unparalleled opportunity for select law students to substantively contribute to IJ’s cutting-edge civil-rights litigation. Clerks conduct legal research; help develop litigation strategies for active and potential cases; and draft discovery requests, motions, and briefs filed in both state and federal court. Clerks have been involved in projects as diverse as:
Researching and preparing a United States Supreme Court cert. petition regarding just compensation in an eminent domain action.
Participating in moots for dispositive-motion hearings in a challenge to protectionist mobile vending regulations.
Analyzing discovery objections in a civil forfeiture class action lawsuit.
Assessing how to certify a new class and add new plaintiffs to an existing class action.
Developing litigation strategies for potential challenges to licensing requirements in several states across the country.
Helping prepare motions to exclude expert witness testimony and reports.
Drafting portions of opposition briefs to motions to dismiss and for summary judgment in both state and federal court.
Due January 30: Summer 2018 Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Clerkships
As Pacific Legal Foundation marches toward its 45th anniversary next year, we are redefining what it means to be a public interest law firm. Our attorneys identify and litigate important legal issues to set landmark precedent that will benefit Americans nationwide. Using strategic and principled litigation, communications, and research, we battle for freedom in the nation’s courts and the court of public opinion.
PLF attorneys continue to bring and win cases in the United States Supreme Court. Again this year, PLF will be arguing an important First Amendment case before the nation’s highest court. Simply put, we know how to get cases to the Supreme Court and we know how to win. Sound like the reason you went to law school? Then you ought to apply for our clerkship program.
We seek highly motivated, principled, and liberty-minded law students for paid, full-time summer clerkships, June through August 2018, in each of our offices: Sacramento, California; Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; Bellevue, Washington; and Washington, DC.
Rolling: Legal Voice’s Legal Internship Program
Legal Voice’s Legal Internship Program gives law students a unique opportunity to work in a non-profit legal setting while making a contribution to women’s rights! As an intern, you will work closely with staff attorneys on current issues in women’s rights law by researching legal issues, working on case development, investigating policy questions, and assisting in the preparation of written materials.
Summer Internships: 40 hours per week for a minimum of 10 weeks. Applications must be submitted by January 31 of the year in which you would like to intern.
School-year Internships: Legal Voice accepts interns year-round, with a minimum commitment of 15 hours per week for 10 weeks. Please submit your application 5 weeks prior to the beginning of the semester or quarter during which you would like to intern.
Please submit a detailed cover letter, résumé, transcript, and writing sample to CPhalan@LegalVoice.org or by mail.
Rolling: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Pacific District North, Labor and Employment Law Summer Intern
The Office of General Counsel, Pacific District North, of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks students for a volunteer internship this summer 2018. Interns will receive assignments in the area of LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW. There are internship opportunities in our Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Portland, Oregon offices.
The Department of Veterans Affairs operates the nation’s largest integrated health care system, with more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, community living centers, and other facilities. It also administers a variety of benefits and services that provide financial and other forms of assistance to service members, veterans, their dependents, and survivors.
More info here on PSJD.
Rolling: 2018-19 ACLU of Washington Legal Fellowship
The ACLU of Washington welcomes applications from third-year law students and recent law school graduates for its Legal Fellowship. The Fellowship will begin in the late summer/fall of 2018 and is a full-time position in ACLU of Washington’s Seattle office. It provides recent graduates with a unique opportunity to participate in our organization’s legal work supporting the civil rights of all Washington citizens.
Rolling: ACLU-WA Summer Legal Internships
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) is pleased to offer full-time summer legal internships to interested law school students for the summer of 2018.
At the ACLU-WA, law students gain exposure to a broad range of civil liberties and civil rights issues and the opportunity to improve legal writing and research skills. Students can work in either the litigation department, or in the policy advocacy group. Students will work closely with staff attorneys on active litigation, case development, advocacy with community groups and government entities, and legal research.
Open Until Filled: National Center for Youth Law – Law Clerk, Summer 2018
National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is a non-profit law firm that has transformed how public agencies support our country’s most vulnerable children, including foster youth, youth with disabilities, child sex trafficking victims, youth in the juvenile justice system, and youth of color. NCYL leads multiyear campaigns to change laws and regulations, redesign government services, and hold public agencies accountable for the well-being of children in their care through litigation and other approaches.
NCYL is currently seeking 7-10 Summer Law Clerks to volunteer for ten weeks in Summer 2018 in their Oakland, CA and Washington, DC offices. Applications for the summer program are reviewed on a rolling basis and applications from rising 3Ls are encouraged to be submitted as soon as possible.
NCYL is interested in applicants with a strong commitment to social justice. In particular, applicants should demonstrate interest in protecting the rights of low-income children and youth.
Oakland office, more info here; DC office, more info here.
Latina/o Bar Association of Washington’s 26th Annual Awards Gala
December 8, 2017 uwcpsl
Date: Friday, February 2, 2017
Time: 5:30 PM–10:00 PM
Place: Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle, WA
The Latina/o Bar Association of Washington (LBAW) is proud to announce our annual banquet on February 2, 2018, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.
LBAW seeks to make Washington more fair and equal by confronting inequities in our legal system which in turn affect our communities. For decades, LBAW has advocated for the well being of the Latino people of Washington State by bridging the divide between the legal profession and the community.
We hope you will be able to join us as we celebrate another year of LBAW’s contributions to the legal community.
Diversity Fellowships, Teamchild 2018 summer internships, Environmental Law Institute Summer Clerkship with stipend
Diversity Fellowships
Kegler Brown & Ritter
Deadline: January 29, 2018
The Columbus, Ohio-based law firm of Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter is offering a first-year law student, who is a member of a historically underrepresented population a $10,000.00 scholarship, plus a paid summer clerkship position with our 2018 first-year class. Our Diversity Scholarship is awarded annually based on demonstrated academic performance, accomplishments and activities. Those interested in being considered should submit the following materials no later than January 29, 2018: Cover page including name, address, phone number, e-mail address and underrepresented population status· Resume· Undergraduate Transcripts· First Semester Transcripts when available· Completed Application Questions (Please keep each response to one typed page): 1. Describe a major accomplishment that has shaped your life, how it influenced your decision to pursue a career in law and prepared you for your future as a lawyer.2. Explain what diversity means to you.3. List any training and/or experience you believe to be relevant to this clerkship. 4. Discuss why you have applied for this scholarship.
Cooley 1L Diversity Fellowship: For 1L students in the 2017–2018 academic year
Applications must be received by January 5, 2018.
Upon receipt of first-term law school grades, please send a copy of your law school transcript to diversityfellowship@cooley.com. Selected applicants will be contacted on a rolling basis to arrange for personal interviews. Please direct any inquiries to diversityfellowship@cooley.com As part of Cooley’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, we are proud to offer diversity fellowships to outstanding first year law school students. Award recipients will receive a paid 1L summer associate position and an award of up to $30,000 to assist with law school tuition. The award will be paid in three installments: $10,000 upon completion of the 1L summer with the firm; $10,000 upon completion of the 2L summer with the firm; and the remaining $10,000 upon joining the firm as a full-time associate. Students who demonstrate a commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion are encouraged to apply.
Twin Cities Diversity in Practice
Deadline for applying is January 16, 2018.
Students are encouraged to apply before winter break http://diversityinpractice.org/programsinitiatives/1l-summer-rotation-clerkship/. 4. Questions? Call (612) 343-7999. First-year law students now have a unique summer clerkship opportunity that combines a traditional law firm clerkship with experience working at an in-house corporate law department. Twin Cities Diversity in Practice is a collaboration of law firms and corporate law departments seeking to enhance the diversity of the legal profession. Our mission is to attract, recruit, advance and retain attorneys of color in the Minneapolis and St. Paul community.
Open until filled: Teamchild, 2018 Summer Internships
TeamChild is a nationally recognized nonprofit serving vulnerable youth across Washington State. TeamChild is best known for its legal services program reaching children in crisis in King, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima counties. Our clients are generally 12-18 years old or older and many are involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Our legal services program is designed to keep young people out of juvenile court by supporting them in how they want to reconnect to education, healthcare, housing, and other community supports. We work closely with families, public defenders, juvenile court staff, and the community to positively impact the young person’s life while helping the youth to accomplish their goals and reduce further contact with the courts. Our mission is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of involvement, in the juvenile justice system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing, and other support they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives. In our work we aim to move systems away from exclusion, arrest, and incarceration towards more effective strategies that have the best chance of promoting the well being and success of our most vulnerable children.
Due January 12: Environmental Law Institute Summer Clerkship with stipend
Application deadline extended to January 12, 2018
In accord with our mission to build the skills and capacity of tomorrow’s leaders, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) provides opportunities for law students to join us at the Institute. The University of Washington School of Law, with the generous sponsorship of Marten Law, is providing funding for one UW Law student to participate in our summer clerkship program with a stipend.
ELI summer law clerks work closely with ELI experts on domestic and international projects spanning ELI’s full range of expertise. Law clerks also may assist in the editing and production of ELI publications, such as the Environmental Law Reporter. Law clerks provide crucial support for ELI projects and publications by conducting legal and policy research, drafting memoranda, attending and reporting on briefings and current events, and assisting in the preparation of reports and other published materials.
We encourage law clerks to supplement their work experience by attending the lunchtime seminars and events that ELI hosts, as well as social and networking opportunities provided by ELI and our partners.
The position is open to current 2Ls, and to exceptional 1Ls with outstanding environmental experience or education prior to law school.
Stipend: Clerks will be paid $6,500 for the summer and must commit to working with ELI for at least 10 weeks.
To Apply: Interested candidates should submit an application to toddw2@uw.edu. Please include a cover letter, resume (including law school and undergraduate GPAs), references, and a writing sample. 2L applicants should include a law school transcript; 1L applicants should include an undergraduate transcript. Cover letters should address the candidates’ personal goals as well as their experience and interest in environmental law and policy.
More info here. Please note that the deadline is no longer December 1 but has been extended to January 12
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Dove Allouche - Mea Culpa of a Sceptic
22 March - 7 May 2016
The Fondation d’entreprise Ricard is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Dove Allouche curated by Kate Macfarlane, Drawing Room co-director.
Dove Allouche’s new body of work is informed by his interest in parietal art, an extension of his fascination with earth’s primordial elements. Using fugitive materials and processes associated with both drawing and photography, Allouche produces artworks that capture the passage of time, and that in their unfolding wrestle with the mysteries of the earliest forms of image-making.
Mea Culpa of a Sceptic, the title of the exhibition, is taken from a paper written by the eminent Palaeontologist Emile Cartailhac, in 1903, after he visited the Altamira Cave in Spain to see the cave paintings. In the paper he admits his considerable role in refuting, over a period of more than two decades, the possibility that these accomplished works could have been produced by our ‘primitive’ Ice Age ancestors. Once Cartailhac admitted his mistake, he pursued his study of the findings and altered the ensuing course of art history.
'Taking this story as a starting point, Allouche has employed characteristically innovative forms of image production to pursue the possibility of the fabrication process itself generating the imagery, bypassing the lens of the camera and avoiding authorial gesture. In line with his pursuit to bring to light visual material that is hidden or buried, much of it for thousands of years, this new series of works make visible stacked up time. Seeking not to reproduce things in the world Allouche uses a range of techniques, including those beyond fine art, to make visible this slice of calcite, or that spectral rainbow.' Kate Macfarlane, February 2016
Dove Allouche
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North America Research Spotlight
A Day at the (Academic) Circus: Reporting from the Popular Culture Association National Conference
May 13, 2019 May 22, 2019 Stav MeisharConference, sideshow
Last month in Washington DC, the Marriott Wardman Park hotel played host to the 2019 Popular Culture Association’s National Conference. The hotel was abuzz with attendees, ranging from academics and enthusiasts, to speakers and viewers, and people with interests ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to comics and horror, young adult literature, visual effects–and even circus and sideshow got its due attention. With all the circus and sideshow panels arranged into one full day, it was an intense experience brimming with historical research, social questions and cultural exchanges.
Chairing over the day was Dr. Stacey Mascia-Susice of North Country Community College, who brought together a diverse range of speakers for three panels of various aspects in the world of circus and sideshow. The first panel was titled “Social Evolution of Sideshow: Rejection and Reception of Past and Present Performances”. Ilse Carter (AKA The Lady Aye) courageously opened the day with her talk “Alive on the Inside: Life, Death, and the Sideshow”, exploring the unusual history of dead bodies in sideshow world and the myths that grew around them, injecting them with a different kind of life. “A fascinating lie is better than a boring truth” seemed to be a recurring theme, as Ilse demonstrated with one particularly powerful example: Elmer McCurdy, a mediocre and not-so-successful robber whose mummified body toured sideshows as “The Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up”, his crimes exaggerated and his feats made larger-than-life.
Next in the panel was Rodney Alan Huey, who spoke of “Ringling’s Display of ‘Otherness’ – From Sideshow to Center Ring”. Armed with a PhD and years of personal experience working for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Huey brought a great mix of academia and real life experience to his talk. He challenged me to consider something I’ve haven’t deeply thought of before: How sideshow, now appearing to be a separate world to that of circus (particularly contemporary), is still very much present in what we consider to be “pure” circus. By looking at the history of circus and the way sideshow was slowly been excommunicated from it, Huey demonstrated that in fact sideshow-type acts are still present in traditional circus today: Acts with an underlying “freaky” element, such as contortion, fire breathing, and sword swallowing, found their way center ring.
The most heartfelt talk in that panel belonged to Alexandra Doll, whose “Permission To Touch: A Perspective of Sideshow Through the Looking Glass” was not only informative, but also an open invitation to consider the voices of sideshow performers in this “woke” age. When she told the true story of “Little Liz”, a small woman who had been happily making her living in fairs until her act was banned in Boulder, CO because of audience complaints, Doll asked us to consider the delicate balance between protecting the rights of marginalized people and taking away their autonomous voices. Have we become so worried about the abuse of minorities that we now take the liberty of speaking for them? This “confirmation bias” was a very interesting perspective to consider.
Following the first panel was a screening of the short film “Circus City, USA” by Adam Michael Wright. The film examined the town of Hugo, Oklahoma – where over the past 60 years more than 20 circuses made their winter home. It was a fascinating glimpse into the world of multigenerational circus, made in a town that takes pride in its circus culture and for whom circus is not so much a novelty rather than a fixture of everyday life.
The second panel took a turn from sideshow performance into the arena of politics, titled “Political, Cultural, and Entrepreneurial Discourse in Circus and Sideshow”. Dr. Stacey Mascia-Susice opened with “Political Rhetoric in the Arena: Slinging Mud on the Circus Big Top and Sideshow Banners”, offering an examination of circus vernacular in the realms of politics and media. Using both new articles and caricatures, Mascia-Susice demonstrated how the public’s perception of concepts such as “circus” or “clown” is reshaped by comparisons with political and media shenanigans. Next, Toni-Lee Sangastiano extended on Stacey’s talk by digging farther back in history with “The Postmodern Sideshow, the Circus, and the Politics of Media: Talking Back”. Trying to trace the roots of the circus/politics comparison, Sangastiano brought French caricatures from the time of George Seurat, whose massive circus painting was a reflection of the period’s growing interest in the world of touring carnivals and circuses.
Lastly, I had the honor of closing the panel with “Forgotten Legacies for Present Day Audiences: Circus Jews Under National Socialism”. Mine was the only talk that combined a performance element: I spoke about three of the major Jewish circus families who were active in Germany between the two world wars, and connected the research to my upcoming show: “The Escape Act – A Holocaust Memoir”. I showed an excerpt from this show that explored the connection of past and present, as my research into those circus histories reflected in my own experience growing up a grandchild to Holocaust survivors.
The third and last panel – “Bending Bodies: Exploring Performance and Recreation” – started with a dual reflection on recreational circus schools in America. Lucy Nguyen’s “The Rise of Recreational Circus and the Evolution of Circus Schools” shared the names of some of America’s leading recreational, youth and social circuses, while Kristina Downs’ “Finding Your Wings: Empowerment Narratives in the Context of Recreational Aerial Arts” raised interesting questions about the connection made between strength and the empowerment of women. Questioning the concept of strength = empowerment as applying masculine standards to women’s changing ideals of self-definition and confidence, Downs challenged her audience to consider whether recreational circuses’ re-packaging of a strong body as a pathway for women in aerial arts to improve their self-esteem is necessarily a fool-proof connection.
Next, Ayal C. Prouser’s “Vestis Virum Reddit: Performers Performing Gender” brought a historic outlook into gender performance – not only male vs. female but also the complete stripping away of gender in search of neutrality. This concept was demonstrated with the particularly memorable Barbette, an androgynous early 20th century aerialist who did not present as a man playing a woman, but rather genuinely passed for a woman in the eyes of his audience – performing in full drag until revealing himself to be male at the end of his act.
Last was Stacey Carlson with “Cultural Norms in Circus and Dance”, who compared dance and contemporary circus through the lens of the audience’s changing expectations of circus today, as the connections between both worlds grow.
Each of the above three panels, as well as the movie screening, was followed by a Q&A between audience and speakers. In a room filled with curious and knowledgeable people, the questions were stimulating and the responses allowed for a genuine dialogue. While I, personally, would have loved to see a more diverse room, with more attendees from outside of the circus, it was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by those who care so deeply about circus past, present and future and who have made it their mission to illuminate various aspects of its rich culture.
All photos courtesy of Stav Meishar
Stav Meishar
Performer, Writer - Israel, United States
Stav Meishar was born and raised in Israel and leads a double life all around the world, mostly in New York City. During the day she runs Dreamcoat Experience, an award-winning nonprofit organization for arts-driven, experiential Jewish education. At night she is a writer and stage artist specializing in circus and theater. Sometimes, when she's lucky, she gets to be both at the same time – like with her most recent project, a solo performance based on the true story of a Jewish acrobat woman who survived the Holocaust by hiding and working at a German circus. Stav is committed to pursuing the gestalt of circus, history and education, but is incapable of committing to a single hair color.
← The Persistence of Youth Circus in the UK
Jonathan Lardillier’s Harmonic Throws– a New Juggling Notation →
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CRJ Likely Flying into the Sunset in Sale to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
July 1, 2019 July 3, 2019 - by Forecast International
by Douglas Royce, Senior Aerospace Analyst, Forecast International.
Bombardier CRJ Series
Bombardier announced in June 2019 that it had agreed to sell the CRJ program to Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The deal includes the CRJ services and support network, which has facilities in Montréal and Toronto and service centers in Bridgeport, West Virginia and Tucson, Arizona. It also includes the type certificates for all of the CRJ models.
However, the deal does not include the CRJ production facility in Mirabel, Quebec. This facility will continue to assemble the CRJ family on behalf of MHI until Bombardier’s current backlog is exhausted, which Bombardier expects to happen in the second half of 2020.
At the time the two manufacturers announced the deal, MHI refused to say whether it would restart production of the CRJ family at a new site once production ends at Mirabel. We do not think it will. The deal gives MHI ownership of Bombardier’s regional airliner support network, something that MHI will eventually need to support its own regional jet models in North America. In the meantime, it can operate the facilities profitably by supporting the large CRJ fleet in operation.
Creating a new facility to build new CRJs would require a substantial investment by MHI, and it would need to see a potential upside for the CRJ family over the long term to justify the expense. That’s not likely to happen.
Demand for the CRJ family slowed to a trickle in recent years, averaging only about 21 orders per year during 2015-2018. The CRJ family’s most popular model by far, the CRJ900, has not done well against the rival Embraer E175. The Embraer model has a wider fuselage and more spacious interior, and recent tweaks to its wing increased the aircraft’s fuel efficiency. The first of Embraer’s re-engined and upgraded E-2 jet family achieved certification in March 2018, increasing the competitive pressures on the CRJ program.
Bombardier said in June 2018 that it had ruled out an engine change for the CRJ family, claiming that new engines would add weight that would erase most of the gains in fuel efficiency. Without new engines, demand for the CRJ will remain weak.
New orders for 20 CRJ900s from Delta Air Lines announced in June 2018 and for 15 aircraft from American Airlines placed during the year boosted the program in the short term, but do not represent a major change in market sentiment. And United Airlines’ decision to convert 50 used CRJ700s into the new 50‑seat CRJ550 configuration does not change the outlook for the program.
At the end of March 2019, Bombardier’s backlog included orders for CRJ900s from American Airlines (15), Delta Air Lines (12), Uganda Airlines (4), and Chorus Aviation, parent company of Air Canada Express and Jazz Charters (9). The backlog also included orders for six CRJ900s for undisclosed customers, and five for CIB Leasing. Our forecast assumes that Bombardier will deliver all 51 of these aircraft in addition to three CRJ900s it delivered in the first quarter of 2019. However, CIB Leasing and/or another customer may cancel orders in the future, which would lead to lower deliveries than we expect.
Bombardier told trade press after it announced the deal that it was no longer accepting orders for the CRJ, so the backlog is now fixed. Our forecast assumes that production will end in 2020 in line with Bombardier’s guidance.
TaggedAnalysisBombardierCRJForecastMarketMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesoutlookReportresearch
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Home Business & Finance Investments: An Introduction
Life-cycle of happiness
What is happiness? It is a state of being expressed in many ways, such as psychological well-being, life satisfaction, emotional well-being, subjective well-being, and so on.
Most adults regard "life" as a long and slow decline from birth to death. What they mean is that people are happy as carefree / responsibility-free toddlers and teenagers, and then their degree of happiness declines over time, reaching what is called a mid-life crisis between 40 and 50. The degree of happiness then declines further until it disappears entirely (= misery) as old age creeps up, and this is so because old age is accompanied by physical ailments such as painful joints, failing eyesight, memory-loss, etc., as well as the happiness-killing thought of dying soon.
This is not the case; rather, research indicates that the happiness life-cycle is U-shaped (see Box 1: happiness cycle superimposed on the four phases). According to research there are four factors that impact on happiness:
- Gender. Women are slightly happier than men, but are more susceptible to depression.
- Personality. There are many personality types, with the extremes being neuroticism and extroversion. The former tend to be unhappy, because they are prone to guilt, anxiety, and anger, and they tend to be gloomy, and alone. The extroverts are the most happy, because they form relationships easily, enjoy parties, and take pleasure in working in teams.
- Circumstances. This factor includes relationships (linking with the aforementioned), education, income, health and probably the major circumstantial factors: stress and associated worry.
- Age. As we will see, age is a major factor in happiness, and that stress and worry, the major happiness-inhibitors, are age-related.
In what follows an important assumption is made: people are emotionally secure, have a home, enough to eat, a good education, a career, good health, average income, and reach their FSG in their late fifties to early sixties. This leaves the main factors in happiness to be age and related stress and worry circumstances.
Certainly, babies, toddlers, and pre-teens are happy. This is because they have no responsibilities, except to pay attention later at school. Teenagers, however, have challenges and therefore stresses and worries: at school, at home, amongst peers, dating, at social events. Happiness declines under such pressures. This continues into early adulthood: at university or work.
Making a living can be rewarding emotionally, but it is usually associated with many stress and worry factors: competition for position, impacting on interpersonal relationships in and outside the work environment; postponing consumption to later (saving to reach the FSG); long working hours and associated tiredness; attending cocktail parties and entertaining (to remain part of the network); general anger at circumstances.
Happiness declines under these circumstances. However, there are events that give relief at the age of middle-to-late twenties: marriage, young children and friends. However, the children-factor pales after a while, as a result of the associated costs (largely unanticipated and therefore not planned for). This impacts heavily on savings. Children become teenagers, are generally angry, and challenge parents when they are at their most stressed-out stage: middle forties. Research indicates that the low point, sometimes called the mid-life crisis, is at median age 46.
Thereafter, stresses and worries remain constant for a while and ease later when the children grow up and leave home. This stage is associated with a higher disposable income and higher savings, bringing the FSG closer. The senior stage is reached thereafter.
As people move to senior years they lose vitality and mental sharpness, they have or will have ailments, and they lose their looks. They look grumpy, as a result of gravity which "pulls" the sides of the mouth down, and are therefore treated with disdain or are ignored by the young. Older workers are often placed in unventilated corners with their disregarded opinions. All these disadvantages are a recipe for unhappiness, but the reality is very different.
At this stage happiness rises sharply, a result of many factors, including:
- Financial security.
- Enhanced ability to control emotions and find solutions to conflict.
- Better at accepting misfortune.
- Less prone to anger and less inclined to pass judgment.
- A live-for-the-present attitude as a result of a limited lifespan, i.e. a determination to make the best of the remaining years.
- Acceptance of strengths and weaknesses.
- The absence of ambition and competition for position.
- Grandchildren, without the responsibility of good parenting.
As a result of these factors, stress and worry give way to general cheerfulness and happiness. This more than compensates for the physical disadvantages that accompany old age referred to above. The net result is more productive older people, just at the time when they leave the work force.
Is the average person able to buck the trend? The answer is no, but it is possible to alleviate stress and worry in middle-age by being aware of the life-cycle of happiness and its contributing factors. Stress and worry management is key, and sufficient sleep, regular exercise, adequate saving and sound money management are parts of the key.
The life-cycle and investing
As we said upfront, the above exposition is of little use if one does not have investments. Only a small percentage of people (some studies say 6-10%) reach their financial security goal (FSG), and are able to replace formal work with other activities.
Achieving your FSG at an appropriate age (i.e. whenever you wish to) is in your hands. The rules to be followed in the four phases of life are straightforward, but the majority of individual do not follow them. The reason is to be found in behavioral finance: people are innately optimistic, meaning that they subconsciously believe that will "somehow" achieve their FSG. The reality is that one has to consciously plan one's financial future. There are many hurdles (such as peer pressure and ill health) to achieving one's FSG, and these must be in one's consciousness and managed.
There is much pleasure in achievement, especially the achievement of one's FSG, and there is much unhappiness resulting from having to rely on one's children or the state for food and shelter. In general there are three assumptions to happiness in one's advanced-age period:
- Financial health.
- Physical health.
- One's children must be on the success treadmill (for this reason their education is paramount).
This section is followed by the sections:
- The financial system.
- Investment instruments.
- Investment principles.
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Nicole Kidman & Reese Witherspoon To Star In ‘Big Little Lies’ Limited Series, Penned By David E. Kelley
November 25, 2014 12:30pm
In the highest-profile limited series package to hit the marketplace since Nic Pizzolatto’s True Detective, which had Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson attached, Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon are set to star in Big Little Lies, a limited series, which is being written by Emmy winner David E Kelley.
The project is based on the book
of the same name by Australian author Liane Moriarty. It is described as a subversive comedy which tells the tale of three mothers of kindergartners whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.
Witherspoon and her Pacific Standard, along with Kidman and her Blossom Films production banner optioned the film and TV rights to Big Little Lies earlier this year for Witherspoon and Kidman to star and produce with Pacific Standard partner Bruna Papandrea and Blossom partner Per Saari.
The original idea was to turn the book into a feature, which subsequently evolved into a limited series adaptation. The project is expected to be taken out to buyers soon. Witherspoon, Kidman and Kelley are repped by CAA.
Big Deals TV
'Evil': Christine Lahti Joins CBS' Supernatural Drama Series In A Recasting
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Geeks Outdoors
Hunting Life
Geeks Sports
Golf Geeks
Baseball Geeks
Author: Chris Nguyen
on-course-for-a-rebound-year-round-golf-play-tourists-fuel-orlandos-golf-industry
Posted on March 22, 2019 March 25, 2019 by Chris Nguyen
On course for a rebound? Year-round golf play, tourists fuel Orlando’s golf industry
Geeks Magazine
In case you haven’t noticed, golf courses are sprouting up around Central Florida quicker than the dandelions in your front yard.
Over one-third of the 108 18-hole golf courses in Central Florida have been built in the past 10 years, Forty-two to be exact.
And the numbers keep growing. There are another 20 or so either under construction or in the planning phase.
But where are all the golfers?
While new course owners still talk about what a wonderful market Central Florida is for golf, those who have been around awhile admit that it’s not an easy market.
“Five years ago, getting play was not a problem, but now, we really have to work at it,” says Brad Hauer, general manager of MetroWest Country Club. “There is no question the popularity of golf isn’t keeping up with the building of golf courses.”
The woes are echoed throughout the golf community.
“In the overall market, the feeling is that business is down,” says Ron Parris, general manager of Timacuan Country Club.
The boom started in 1988, when the National Golf Foundation issued a report saying the golfindustry needed to open a course a day across the country to keep up with demand.
The golf industry responded – much more than anyone could imagine. For the past five years, more than 400 golf courses have been opened per year in the united States.
But while that was happening, the number of people who play golf remained around 25 million, meaning that the new golf courses simply cannibalized each other’s business.
“There is that feeling,” says Bill Burbaum, spokesman for the National Golf Foundation. “But it is a tough thing to judge. I don’t see many courses going out of business.”
In fact, only a couple of area golf courses have been closed in the past decade, but golf courses that want to keep drawing business are having to try new marketing tricks to get golfers to play their links.
Anyone listening to sports radio or reading the sports pages of the paper have noticed. The airwaves and newsprint are filled with so many golf course commercials that they all seem to run together.
Others are trying nontraditional marketing to lure players.
For instance, Diamond Players Club, owners of Wekiva Golf Club, launched a large.media campaign when it bought the course a few months ago.
But it also started wacky weekdays, where the course holds daily longest drive and closest-to-the-pin contests in which winners get free dinners or a free round of golf.
Gregg Gagliardi, president of Diamond Players Club, sees the promotions and marketing campaigns as a result of change in the golf business.
“I think what is happening is that there are more professionals in golf,” he says. “Golf is becoming more of a business.”
In Lake Mary, Timacuan has responded to competitive pressure by going after group business and the millions of tourists that flock to the Orlando area.
“We’re part of the Greater Orlando Golf Destinations, whose sole purpose is to market Orlando as a golf destination,” Parris says. “We are trying to let people know we have some of the best golf in the country.”
Gagliardi and others say the Orlando golf industry is sheltered from the hardships other states have because of year-round play and the number of tourists who flood the area each year.
Gagliardi pins the drop in the golf business on the downward turn of the tourism industry over the past few months.
“I just think that it is a symptom of the tourists not being here,” he says.
But Tom Horan, marketing director for the East Central Florida Chapter of the North Florida Section of the PGA, says the industry has overbuilt for today’s market.
“We do have more courses than the market can bear right now,” Horan says. “I think we’re in a lull until the younger people grow up.”
While the number of golfers playing regularly has remained stagnant, the number of young golfers is booming, mostly because of Tiger Woods’ popularity.
Most golf courses are trying to feed the young golfer’s desire to play by implementing junior golfprograms. For instance, Diamond Players Club offers weekly golf camps throughout the summer.
“I truly believe that once the young golfers grow up, you will see business rebound,” Horan says. “I say that because I’ve never seen golf as popular as it is today.”
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A new Jack Nicklaus golf course at Cancun’s Moon Palace raises the bar →
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A new Jack Nicklaus golf course at Cancun’s Moon Palace raises the bar
With the opening of a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at the Moon Palace, Cancun has added a new dimension to its sports offerings. The $22 million, 18-hole championship course, which promises to attract more of the lucrative golf market from the U.S., is part of a series of new golf projects for this resort destination.
The new course was created out of the Yucatan jungle with care taken to protect the environment. And play on the course is challenging but not excessively difficult, making it ideal for U.S. golfers who want to relax over a few rounds.
“We didn’t ‘carve’ this golf course out of the jungle, we ‘drew’ it from the jungle, taking advantage of the local ecology,” says Nicklaus. “It molds itself to the environment. It has its own personality, which has been dictated by the characteristics of the terrain–very flat with lush vegetation. Many of the plants were salvaged, and the flora and fauna offer more diversity than before–so much so that it serves as a refuge for several species.”
MAJOR GOLF DESTINATION
This investment from the luxury all-inclusive Palace Resorts takes a serious step toward making this region, which is the fastest-growing in Mexico, a major golf destination, says USTOA President Robert Whitley, CTC, a golf enthusiast. He points out that golf constitutes an important ingredient that had been lacking in the Cancun-Riviera Maya area. “These facilities will now make the region a major golf destination because of its convenience and nearness to the U.S. market; you can leave on a morning flight and tee up at noon,” he says.
The Moon Palace’s new golf facility is just one of nine new golf projects that have been in the works along the Mexican Caribbean coast. Two years ago, Palace Resorts also acquired a Robert von Hagge-designed championship golf course in Playacar, a tourism development near Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya. The company has so far invested $12 million to improve and renovate this facility and its golf club.
This latter investment is located near Palace’s new properties, the Xpu-ha Palace and the Spa Palace. “The golf courses at the Moon Palace and in Playacar are a great asset to market the destination,” says Mark Meuwissen, product manager-international for MLT Vacations in Edina, Minn.
He says this holds especially true in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, where golf is a popular pastime. “The upper Midwest has a golf season of seven months out of the year because of the severe winters, so playing in Cancun and the Riviera Maya offer a great alternative,” he says. “It creates more demand from people who don’t think of this region as a golf destination.”
MLT is selling golf packages from its U.S. gateways at the Palace as well as in other resorts in Cozumel, such as the all-inclusive Melia Cozumel and the new all-inclusive Mayan Palace in the Riviera Maya. In addition, Northwest Airlines has announced year-round daily service from Memphis to Cancun, with feeder markets from the southeast.
Other points of origin in the U.S. are also enthusiastic. “This is a wonderful thing for our FIT clients,” says Ed Jackson, president of Runaway Tours in San Francisco. “Business is growing dramatically from California to Cancun, and more golf will enhance the destination tremendously.”
MARKET DIVERSIFICATION
Joe McCarthy, director general of FONATUR (the tourism development fund for Mexico) says golf is a great way to attract more visitors to Cancun and the rest of the Mexican Caribbean. “It’s a great way to diversify the market and get good rates for the hotels,” he says.
More golf courses are planned for the Riviera Maya, which boasts 50,000 hotel rooms and can easily accommodate more golfers. Among the new projects are two PGA golf courses in Punta Nizuc that are part of FONATUR’s third stage of development for Cancun. In addition, plans to build a golf course in Puerto Cancun, which were on hold, are being revived.
The Moon Palace golf course has been a success so far, with 250 to 300 people playing there each day since its opening. Jose Chapur, co-owner of Palace Resorts with brother Roberto, the company president, says Palace Resorts plans to build two more golf courses there.
And according to Jose’s brother Roberto Chapur, president and the other co-owner of Palace Resorts: “Golf attracts people who are willing to pay for a quality product.”
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Tough turf: local golf country clubs spruce up their golf courses with genetically engineered grass →
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Tough turf: local golf country clubs spruce up their golf courses with genetically engineered grass
Next time you get stuck at the eighth hole behind a slow and chatty foursome, take a moment to consider the turf your spikes are sinking into. If you’re at Turtle Bay, Coral Creek, Kapolei or any one of a dozen or so Hawaii golf courses, chances are that the grass you’re standing on is the finely tuned, genetically engineered result of an $18 million research project.
For 20 years, a handful of scientists have been working to develop this tough turf through an $18 million university grants program. Sponsored by the United States Golf Association, the program funds research on environmental issues that affect the world of golf. This has led to the development of emerald-green turf that thrives in unforgiving conditions.
Bermuda grass became the world’s dominant turf at a time when water was plentiful and fertilizers were abundant. “Times have changed,” comments Professor Ron Duncan, a pioneer of turfgrass breeding in stress physiology at the University of Georgia. “Fresh potable water is diminishing worldwide, and fertilizer has become an environmental concern.”
A saline-resistant turf called seashore paspalum has become one of the most popular alternative grasses for coastal areas around the world, Duncan says. “No. 1, it looks really good. Two, it’s environmentally friendly. We’re looking at about half the cost, and half the water, that you would use to grow Bermuda grass. You can use effluent water, brackish water … even ocean water short-term, if the course is constructed correctly.”
With a few twists of the turf’s genetic dials, scientists can breed it for a variety of physical characteristics, including several that are perfect on golf courses. Says Dennis Rose, director of golfat Turtle Bay, “Every new strain is a little finer-bladed than the last.”
Four months ago, the greens on Turtle Bay’s fabled Arnold Palmer course were completely regrassed with Sea Isle 2000, the latest strain of seashore paspalum. “This strain is grown specifically for putting greens,” enthuses Rose. “It’s a very fine blade of grass worthy of the smoothest surface. We’re the first course in Hawaii to plant it, and, I think, the second in the country.”
Courses in Florida, South Carolina and California all have paspalum, or are considering rejuvenation projects. “There’s tremendous interest in Mexico and the Caribbean, because they have water problems,” says Duncan. ChiChi Rodriguez and Arnold Palmer are evaluating Sea Isle 2000 for their Caribbean courses. Closer to home, Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, Kauai and Lanai all are home to current or future paspalum courses.
The pair of 18-hole courses at Turtle Bay, where 50,000 rounds of golf are played each year, recently received a rejuvenation of paspalum, including a restoration of the back nine of the George Fazio course. “And our eighth hole on the Arnold Palmer course is an experiment,” Duncan says. “It’s just about 100 percent paspalum. We didn’t fertilize it for years. The only nutrition it got was effluent water. The end result is that it is one of the better holes on the course.”
Paspalum occasionally manages to insinuate itself where it isn’t wanted. At Kapolei Golf Course, built in 1994, a grow-in of 328 hybrid Bermuda was planned for the greens. “When we got the sprigs from the nursery, they had paspalum contamination,” says golf superintendent Andy Meikie. “We couldn’t get rid of it.”
After a USGA agronomist explained that the paspalum was viable golf turf, course planners decided on a targeted contamination. Seashore paspalum now thrives on Kapolei’s greens, tees, and approaches, and savings have been spectacular. “Normally we spend $60,000 to $70,000 on fertilizer. We’re not putting down fertilizer anymore. We’re just doing greens and tees, and a light application on fairways. Out of 200 acres, we’re fertilizing about 40.”
What about the turf’s play ability? Well, a little retraining may be helpful, Meikle advises. “To chip out of it is difficult. You have to pick the ball out. The club will slice through Bermuda; with paspalum, if you hit down, it kind of grabs the club. Once you learn how to hit it, it’s fine.”
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Engineers take a swing at golf simulation; entrepreneurial engineers help turn golf into a high-tech toy →
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Engineers take a swing at golf simulation; entrepreneurial engineers help turn golf into a high-tech toy
Several new computerized golf simulation products are being developed by former computer company executives. Charles Blankenship, a former executive at Texas Instruments and Siliconix Inc, started a new company called Golftek Inc. The company manufactures golf swing analyzers and golf simulators using optical sensing devices and large projection screens or computer monitors. Don Curchod founded InnoGolf Corp, a company that produces a high-end golf simulator. The InGolf machine uses real clubs and real balls and costs $30,000. Curchod envisions an emerging new industry for golf simulation products. Mike McTigue, founder and CEO of SportSense Inc, is busy developing a $20,000 microcomputer-based product called the Swing Motion Trainer. John Malone founded Swing Technology after spending ten years at IBM. He continues to work at IBM while developing an affordable product aimed at the consumer market.
Golf: It’s one of America’s great outdoor pastime. Now some inventive engineers are bringing this sport–fairways and all–indoors.
The inventions-turned-products are golf simulators, which let people play and practice golf inside. One version takes up a whole room, recreating on a large screen various fairways on which golfers’ drives are projected. Another variation sells for just a few hundred dollars and can be played at home. Yet another acts as a training aid, analyzing a golfer’s swing.
Who is behind the designs of these high-tech, astroturfed toys? The people, like the products, vary. But these entrepreneurial engineers do have one thing in common: None has the time to play much golf anymore.
Take Charles “Bud” Blankenship, for example. He worries about some very tiny matters these days, like the 1/50,000th-of-an-inch precision with which his golf analyzer determines the angle of a golf-club face. Blankenship is founder and president of Golftek Inc (Lewiston, ID), which introduced one of the first electronic golf-swing analyzers in 1977.
Over the years, Blankenship has seen his share of innovation. About 30 years ago, the Korean War veteran took his engineering degree to Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX), where he joined the team that invented the semiconductor. Later he helped build the first computer based on an IC. Then he helped found Siliconix Inc (Santa Clara, CA), one of the IC companies that gave Silicon Valley its nickname.
Blankenship decided to go solo in the early 1970s, when he realized he’d topped out at Siliconix. Fed up with life in the Valley, he sold his stock options and moved his family back to his childhood home in Kansas.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do,” Blankenship recalls, but all he really knew was that he wanted to work for himself.
What Blankenship needed was an idea, which appropriately enough, came to him on the golf course while he was teaching his son the game. “My son kept asking me, ‘Why does the ball go this way or that way when I hit it?’” say Blankenship, who, like a good teacher, tried to explain. It was actually his son who suggested the idea of a computer-based product that teaches people how to hit a golf ball.
The resulting company is Golftek Inc, makers of golf-swing analyzers and golf simulators. The 12-person firm is located in the Blankenship clan’s new hometown of Lewiston, ID: 50,000 people, three 18-hole golf courses, and one nine-hole course. The company’s newest product is a golf simulator that uses optical sensing devices and large projection screens or computer monitors to recreate “life-like” games played with real clubs and balls.
I’ll do it my way
Three years ago, Don Curchod formed InGolf Corp (San Jose, CA). From the way Curchod talks, he, too, is apparently the sort of person who is happiest working for himself. “I started my career working for big companies,” he says, “but I was always frustrated by bosses making incompetent decisions about technology.”
InGolf makes one of the high-end golf simulators on the market. To play, golfers hit a real ball with a real club. Optical measuring devices watch the ball and calculate its trajectory, feeding the information to the system, which then projects a computer simulation of the shot on a 10 x 12-foot screen. The real ball hits a net.
Curchod, a transplanted Australian who has lived in the United States for 18 years, already had a successful track record with a series of automobile-service equipment he’d designed. But after 15 years, he wanted new territory. Longer lines at public golf courses and increasing greens fees prompted Curchod to think about making his new turf artificial.
Like many inventors, Curchod spent years (in his case, six) working out the details in his spare time before forming InGolf. “One of the key things was to figure out a way to measure the backspin of a ball,” says Curchod. “It took us two years to get that.”
Without knowing the spin, he explains, there’s no way to accurately judge how far a drive will carry. This introduces one of the curious things about the physics of golf. The ball, after being struck by the club, starts to spin even before it leaves the tee. The InGolf machine measures the ball’s spin, speed, and angle of flight to replicate the shot on the projection screen.
At around $30,000, the InGolf machine is not intended for home use. But that doesn’t worry Curchod. “We think this is a billion-dollar industry,” he says. “We’re trying to create a new industry here, where people use our simulators at real golf centers–not amusement parks.”
It’s time for a change
For Gaylan Larson, it was about a year and a half ago that he noticed something was wrong. “I was stressed out,” he recalls, then a manager in the computer disk-drive industry.
In the previous three years, Larson had already been with two major disk-drive operations, Connor Peripherals and Maxtor Corp. Those jobs had followed 18 years at Hewlett-Packard as a manufacturing and division manager and seven years at Bell Labs.
“I decided I need a break–an extended sabbatical,” Larson says. So he traveled, hiked the Grand Canyon, and did whatever he wanted for eight months. Then he got bored. Work was a must, but what kind?
“I was ready to go back to work, but I wanted something different than the high-speed treadmill I was on,” says Larson. A headhunter then introduced Larson to Mike McTigue, a professional golf instructor who is founder and CEO of SportSense Inc (Mountain View, CA.) McTigue’s idea was to adapt an existing medical orthopedic diagnostic machine to analyze the angles of the spine, shoulders, and hips during a golf swing. The prototype of the Swing Motion Trainer, now a $20,000 PC-based product, was already under assembly when Larson joined SportSense as chief operating officer.
In many ways, the pressures at his new job are the same, says Larson. “All of the self-imposed pressures of meeting deadlines, solving technical problems, making it work well, interfacing with users and marketing people–all of those things are the same,” he says.
Larson says this job nevertheless feels completely different from the others. Mostly, he says it’s the sense of shared responsibility at the young firm. “If one person is running into problems, all the others are asking ‘What can we do to help?’” says Larson. “The effort is always on fixing the problem, instead of fixing the blame.”
Breaking mental obstacles
Making that first move toward creating a business was the mental obstacle that always stood between John Malone and his own company. But after 10 years of working at IBM, he finally decided to give entrepreneurship a try. “This passion has been itching at me for years and years to be in the sports engineering business,” he says. “I got really tired of talking about it all the time and not doing anything.”
Malone’s first step was to see a career counselor. “I actually went to give myself a kick in the butt,” he says, “to make me get out and go on my own.”
That turned out to be a smart move. The counselor figured out a way to help Malone overcome his block: He brought in another former IBMer who had left to start his own business. “Talking to him was what really turned on the light for me,” Malone says. “I told him I had five good ideas for products for new companies. He asked which of my five ideas do I have a passion for, not which is the best idea.”
Malone admitted he felt strongest about an idea to create a golf simulator. The ex-IBMer told him: “That’s the one to do. Forget the others.”
That was two years ago. Malone is now president and founder of Swing Technology (Austin, TX.) So far, he’s been able to keep his job at IBM while developing Swing Technology.
The idea behind his product was to combine a good golf analyzer with quality computer graphics but sell the product at a consumer price of about $500. “Here’s this growing family of computer video golf games that are getting incredibly detailed,” he says, “but the problem is you’re pushing buttons, not swinging a club. Golfers like to swing.”
Malone actually linked two existing products from other companies to create his simulator. One was a golf-shot analyzer: A small mat that captures information from a golf swing as the club head passes over it. Electronics in the mat then calculate the trajectory as if it were a real shot. Nintendo games provide the graphics.
For now, Malone likes balancing his two jobs. But if things go well with Swing Technology, who knows? “I don’t think there are many engineers worth their salt who don’t have the desire to be self employed,” says Malone.
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Going for Golf →
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Going for Golf
Understanding Hawaii’s appeal to golfers can help boost your bottom line.
Even agents who can’t tell an iron from a wood, much less know that those are types of golf clubs, can take an effective swing at selling clients on the idea of Hawaii golf vacations.
Each of the major islands sports a number of resort courses; indeed, some of the master-planned destination resorts boast two or even three of these manicured gems. Every year the pros compete in tournaments conducted on a number of resort courses, so agents can appeal to the cachet of playing where the pros do.
More fundamental, of course, is the fact that the roster of course designers and architects who have fashioned Hawaii’s greens and fairways reads like a Who’s Who of the golf world. Among them are Arnold Palmer, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Robert Trent Jones Jr., Arthur Jack Snyder, Ed Seay, Frances Duane, Ben Crenshaw, Bill Coore, Ted Robinson, George Fazio, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman.
This is a firm one-two punch. First, it is a powerful tool in attracting the interest of clients to whom the identity of the course designer is somewhat important. Second, it assures golfers who may have only a nodding acquaintance with such information that a course’s claim to high standards is more truth than fiction.
Despite the pedigree of Hawaii’s resort courses, agents can feel comfortable recommending a day on the links to golfers no matter what their skill level. Resort courses tend to offer several tee locations, or tee boxes, for each hole, which means that each member of the group can choose the distance he or she finds most comfortable–beginners may want to choose the shortest, while those with low handicaps may opt for a longer course.
Jim Richerson, general manager of Ko Olina Golf Club in West Oahu, notes that one hallmark of golf in Hawaii is an array of course styles, such as seaside, mountain and links, in a relatively compact area, so that golfers can plan for a variety of experiences during a single Hawaii vacation.
Winning Weather
Geographically speaking, Hawaii has a competitive edge that makes it appealing to golf-minded travelers. Weather conditions are pleasant year-round, and because the state doesn’t switch to daylight-savings time, it’s possible to book “twilight” games later in the afternoon. This may appeal to travelers on a budget or those who prefer to book several activities each day.
Resort courses tend to attract players of varying skill levels, so players should be alerted to the resources that await them in terms of both education and scheduling. “All courses have some kind of teaching program,” says Howard Kihune Jr., director of golf at the Makena Golf Courses. “Most of [them are] a quick fix, a half-hour or one-hour session, because [guests] might not have played for a couple of months.”
It’s worth checking on the availability of individual and group lessons, early and late tee times, and nine-hole rounds. With this information you can assure clients that it is possible to book a room-and-golf package and still schedule time for guided soft adventures and exploring the countryside in a rental car.
Indeed, while habitual golfers tend to prefer earlier tee times, Kihune says that couples may appreciate the suggestion of starting play at 3 p.m. or even later. “The weather’s ideal. The sun’s starting to set, there’s no one behind you,” he says. “It’s a nice time of day. I like to play at that time of day myself.” He adds that playing later in the day frees travelers for sightseeing and time at the beach in the morning. It also meshes with golfers’ desires to play at different courses.
“The way people think has changed,” Kihune says. “They want to play a lot of different places,” he adds.
Travel agents can parlay this knowledge into money-saving advice for their clients. While avid golfers may be booking a room-and-golf package or selecting a hotel based on the preferred rates it provides at the neighboring resort course or courses, more active travelers or those who want to stretch their budget a little farther may be grateful for the suggestion of booking late-afternoon rates at courses beyond their home base.
So who’s hitting the courses around the state? Richerson says that he and his staffers see players who have a wide range of skill levels, as well as couples and families playing together.
Wide Appeal
At Wailea Golf Club, on the island of Maui, senior head golf professional Rick Castillo says he’s noticed an increase in new golfers playing rounds. And Liana Mulleitner, marketing and public relations for Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club on Oahu and Maui Prince Hotel Makena Resort and Golf Club, says Prince Resorts Hawaii has seen an increase in women golfers. “With Tiger Woods being so popular,” she adds, “we’ve also seen an increase in families and teens.”
Kihune points out that most people who are hitting the links in Hawaii are couples. Even so, he has seen an increase in women golfers in the last four to five years for business reasons, camaraderie or love of the sport itself. He’s also observed groups of women who have planned golf vacations in the islands. “They’re avid golfers and they’ve done some homework,” he says. “They know where they want to play–four or eight or 10 women taking a five- or six-day vacation, playing 18 holes most of the days.”
Castillo notes that the game’s appeal encompasses an ever-broader cross-section of the country. Until the softening of Hawaii’s group market this year, he says, this segment had been growing at a fast clip at Wailea, especially during 1999 and 2000. in addition to an increase in inserting golf into group itineraries, the frequency of group lessons was increasing. Such lessons appeal to beginning golfers and nongolfers, and also serve as a reminder to travel agents to keep current on their clients’ interests. The customer who wasn’t interested in taking a golf vacation several years ago may now have taken a few lessons and may welcome the suggestion of visiting a beginner-friendly golf destination.
Another segment to consider is the cruise fan. Kenneth Kimura, golf operations manager at the Kauai Lagoons Golf Club, says the club’s greatest growth has come from players who are in Hawaii on cruises. Kimura estimates that the number of rounds has risen by approximately 25 percent in the past two years.
A cruise itinerary that calls on several islands provides golfers with the chance to play courses on different islands without the need to relocate lodgings or make day trips.
Golf by the Numbers
Crunching golf-related numbers has shown the Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) that attracting travelers who golf is good business. Many of the traits that make these visitors attractive to the state of Hawaii endear them to agents.
For example, a 1998 profile of golf travelers by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) showed them to be more likely than the average domestic traveler to be married, college-educated, working in a professional or managerial post, or to be a member of a household with more than one wage-earner, and have a higher average annual household income.
In addition, 12 percent of domestic visitors to Hawaii play golf during their stays, according to information from the HVCB, the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and the TIA.
A useful resource in locating golf events is the HVCB Web site (www.gohawaii.com]. Searches can be performed by event type, island and date range.
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Gender specific →
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Gender specific
The number of women golfers in the US is observed to be steadily growing. As a result, a number of golf resorts have redesigned their courses to become more women-friendly. The Woodlands Executive Conference Center and Resort in Texas has, for instance, modified its North Course by cutting off 900 yards because it has noticed that women golfers cannot hit a golf ball as hard as a man. The resort is also in the process of varying its tee locations in order to provide women golfers the option of playing a hard or an easy course.
Just as women are still a minority at the uppermost levels of the corporate world, they’re also faced with a glass ceiling of sorts on the golf course (which is, in some cases, an extension of the boardroom). Traditionally, the game has embodied the old-boy club, but a growing number of women are taking advantage of opportunities to join in the networking that takes place from tee to green.
Women still make up only about 20 percent of all golfers, but statistics from the National Golf Association in Juniper, Fla., show that they are adopting the sport at a good clip. Nearly 40 percent of new players are women – many of whom will be signing up for business tournaments when they have the chance. Now, it’s up to planners to pull together great golf outings in which everyone – beginning and advanced golfers, female or male – feels welcome.
GETTING ON COURSE
When choosing a resort or club as the site of an event, not many people take into account features that might make it more or less friendly to the women in the group. Some physiological differences in how women and men play golf should be taken into consideration. Basically, the trajectory of a shot hit by a man tends to be higher than that hit by a woman, and he can hit it farther. Because of this, women have a tougher time hitting the ball over obstacles like ravines, lakes and, at a desert golf course, waste areas where there’s no fairway, just sand and brush.
“When it comes to solid contact, for the most part, the club-head speed of the man will be greater than that of the woman,” says former Ladies Professional Golf Association player Carol Mann, who is now a teaching pro at The Woodlands Executive Conference Center and Resort in The Woodlands, Texas, near Houston. “Because it does require club speed to carry the ball a decent length in the air, men tend to carry the ball a greater distance.”
With this in mind, Mann recently took on a huge task at The Woodlands: redesigning the North Course, one of two at the property that are open to conference groups, to make it more friendly to those who can’t hit for distance. “Before the redesign, the North Course had long ramps as tees, and the course was more than 7,000 yards long, which was much too long,” says Mann, who also owns Carol Mann Golf Services in Houston with architect Paula Eger. Among other projects, the company redesigns courses and consults with clubs on making their courses player-friendly for everyone – women, seniors, juniors. “Knowing how women play golf, from beginner to advanced, the course needed at least 900 yards cut off.” She also recommended varying the tee locations, giving players the option of playing a hard course or an easy one, depending on the tee they choose. The result? The North Course was recently listed among the top 100 women-friendly courses in the United States and Canada in Golf for Women magazine.
In considering women-friendly sites for a golf event, look for yardage from the forward tees (the ones closest to the hole) in the 5,600- to 5,700-yard range; choose courses where players won’t have to carry the ball over a lot of obstacles and where they can land their balls in front of the green without getting in too much trouble, and look for variety in the tee boxes – where the forward tees are not only much closer to the hole but give beginning players a better angle at the green.
Obviously, if your group is full of expert players, you needn’t worry about all this course advice. But choosing a difficult layout when you’re entertaining a number of neophytes – male or female – could kill their newfound interest in the game.
IN THE CLUBHOUSE
When you’re finalizing your site decision, put these criteria on your checklist. They were compiled by the Sunriver Resort Women’s Golf Forum, which met last year in Sunriver, Ore., to raise awareness of the needs of female golfers and to design a plan to implement changes in golf for women. The words of wisdom come from the attendees: teaching professionals; LPGA, PGA and Executive Women’s Golf Association representatives; equipment and apparel manufacturers, and mental management experts.
Are the men’s and women’s locker rooms and rest room facilities on an equal par? Are there adequate rest rooms on the course?
Does the property have a restrictive gender policy on tee times?
Are appropriate rental sets available for women? Does the facility have left-handed ladies’ clubs?
How is the overall attitude of the staff? Do you see male and female golfers receiving the same friendly treatment?
Are there women working in the pro shop? Is it well-stocked with women’s merchandise?
LET THEM LEARN
Remember, while it may be impressive to get your group prime tee times on a challenging championship course, your event could go bust if you misrepresent the skills of your attendees and their knowledge of the game. If your group consists primarily of beginners, say so up front. And arrange for players who want to better their game to take lessons.
“Ideally, you want the teaching ratio to be four to one for your attendees to get the most out of a lesson,” says Nancy Oliver, founder of the EWGA, a Palm Springs Gardens, Fla.-based recreation and networking organization with about 14,000 members. “You don’t want to go over a ratio of one to eight.” Oliver adds that women, particularly beginners, tend to be more comfortable learning from a woman, so if there is no female teaching pro on staff at the site you’ve chosen, talk to the director of golf or the head pro about bringing someone in from a nearby course.
← Going for Golf
Wilkinson explains decision to resign as Barton baseball coach – Part 1 →
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wilkinson-explains-decision-to-resign-as-barton-baseball-coach-part-1
Wilkinson explains decision to resign as Barton baseball coach – Part 1
Twenty years and 500 or more
Twenty years and 500 or more victories amount to a tidy accomplishment for a 50-year-old coach. The numbers reflect a solid career. The combination works. However, Todd Wilkinson, who observes his 50th birthday next season, elected not to stay around as Barton College head baseball coach for a 20th campaign. He would have entered next season just four wins shy of the 500 milestone. Instead, Wilkinson accepted the opportunity to field the Barton athletic program’s new position of assistant athletic director and compliance coordinator.
He has been functioning in that capacity for nearly a month. “I’m through with coaching right now,” the relaxed Wilkinson said in an office interview Friday morning. “With what was presented to me, I have to be. This is a direction I have seen myself going in for some time, and the door opened. I’ve got 24 years in coaching; I’ve been doing it a long time.”
I never really got into it
Regarding the 500 wins, Willkinson responded: “I never really got into it; I never have charted any of that. (Milestones) of 200, then 300, next 400 … I never thought about it. Actually, I would have liked to have won a lot more games. “Now until whenever, I’m like anybody else. If opportunities come my way, I’ll consider them. But at this point, I wasn’t going to let this door close on me.” The opportunity surfaced through the athletic department’s ongoing reorganization process. It was not a matter of Wilkinson approaching athletic director Gary Hall and inquiring about the possibility of shifting to another position. “The thinking was that having an administrative assistant who was a non-coach could be a big help with the addition of (four new) sports, the college’s growth and compliance duties,” Wilkinson explained.
“The facilities are a big part of the job, and that part was created by me a long time ago.” Wilkinson, indeed, was a driving force into the development of the Barton College Athletic Complex into a highly regarded facility. The baseball facility, now named Nixon Field, attracted national acclaim. Emerging in the complex’s midst was a multi-purpose fieldhouse and press box. Wilkinson will also be handling assignments as a games manager. NEARING THE END But he will not be over the shoulder of new head baseball coach Josh Simmons, who was strongly recommended by Wilkinson. He will be interacting with Simmons in the care of the facilities but, from the standpoint of coaching baseball, Wilkinson is confident Simmons has enough respect for him that he will seek his input if needed. In fact, retaining Simmons as an assistant influenced Wilkinson’s decision to step away from coaching.
“I had been feeling that for probably the last three years,” Wilkinson revealed. “My first recollection is that, when we hired Josh, I was probably nearing the end of wanting to be the coach. “I am very, very comfortable and so excited for Josh. He connects very well with the players, and that voice is what the program needs now. I’m his No. 1 fan and my only regret is that I’m not going to be a part of the turnaround.” Wilkinson then reiterated: “I was not going to let this door close.” The decision to retire comes on the heels of his second poorest season in terms of wins. The Bulldogs managed just 16 wins in 2011 and struggled to be one of the six teams qualifying for the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
See part 2
← Gender specific
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In a lengthy retirement statement earlier this month, Wilkinson spoke of a grind that snapped his spirit and affected the passion needed to coach at the NCAA Division II level. “I found myself numb to the win and questioning myself following a loss,” he stated. “If a coach cannot celebrate the win and questions his teaching following a loss, it is time.
FAMILY REACTION
“Throughout the recent seasons, Lindsey and our beautiful daughter, Katie, have been subjected to a husband and father that was a flat line far too often…” The veteran coach added his wife was “very comfortable” with his decision but admitted it bothered his daughter, who graduated from Wilson Christian Academy on Friday evening and will continue her education at Barton. “She didn’t understand,” Wilkinson said of his daughter. “But Lindsey could see how the grind was beginning to beat me down day-by-day. She could see something had to give.” Wilkinson emphasized: “The coaching job now is tough.
“Coaching the kids is fine, but the agenda for every kid and the people around the kids makes it a difficult job at all levels.” The “Wilkinson way” was to bring in freshmen, start them from scratch, watch them steadily improve and “hit it just right where you’ve got some veteran players.” “I do know, to compete in this league, you need to have veteran players,” Wilkinson added. “I don’t think you will ever see it again like it was for us in 2002 — seven freshmen in the starting lineup (and won a conference tournament). You also have injuries along the way and, sometimes, your evaluation doesn’t turn out like you wanted or expected it to be.”
Wilkinson’s retirement statement also alluded to his “tough love” for his players. “That’s the discipline we instill,” Wilkinson explained.
“I will always believe in discipline on and off the field. That met with some resistance — that maybe we were beating them down and being too negative. But I knew, when I went into this, I wasn’t going to be too soft.” But, since his retirement, the feedback Wilkinson has received from former players, his peers, well-wishers and followers has been gratifying, satisfying and sometimes emotional. His first stint as Barton’s head coach began in 1988 and the second in 2000.
Returning, Wilkinson assures, was the right thing to do. “Barton College has been excellent for me and to me,” he emphatically said. “It has always supported me. Never have I ever once felt I didn’t receive the support I needed — including the attempt to grow the program. They always listened. I have absolutely no regrets.” The burn-out, the grind are behind Wilkinson but he remarks: “As a competitor, you would love to have another year, 10 more games. But it’s not going to happen.” “I love baseball and will always love baseball. But I do feel like I’m capable of doing something else, and I’m going forward in that direction. I’m looking forward to contributing in another capacity.”
His pride in the program, its tradition, its overall perception and its facilities will stay in the forefront. “We won the conference sportsmanship award this year,” Wilkinson said with a smile. “I left the program in better shape than it was, and I’ve been able to do that twice. If the message I wanted to deliver and the way I wanted the players to leave here got across, we got somewhere. “But I’ve got a feeling we had a lot of wins in life that nobody else is going to understand.”
← Wilkinson explains decision to resign as Barton baseball coach – Part 1
Bloomington baseball coach gets 600th win →
bloomington-baseball-coach-gets-600th-win
Bloomington baseball coach gets 600th win
Bloomington baseball has seen better years.
But on Thursday night, as the mosquitoes and darkness descended on the school’s baseball field there were reasons to smile. The Bobcats 9-4 win over visiting Edna was the 600th career victory for its baseball coach Edward “Hodie” Garcia. Bloomington scored five runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Afterward, Garcia deflected the credit to his players because they played to their potential, executed and were rewarded with a comfortable win. He said the win was just as sweet as any other in his 34 year career. “To me, it’s just another game,” Garcia said. “I have been involved in a lot of ball games. I am proud of these boys because this group was the one that got that victory for this program. Not so much for me, but for the program.
“What I really like about this program is I try to maintain consistency. Win or lose that’s what I try to teach these kids, consistency on the field and consistency in life and doing things right.” Moments after senior second baseman Dennis Cano caught Guy Dodson’s pop up to end the game, Garcia shook the hands of the two umpires, made his team run a few sprints down the right field line, and participated in a postgame prayer. “I was nervous big time,” Cano said about recording the last out, to the amusement of fellow seniors Aaron Garza and Andres Castro. “I just hoped not to drop the ball and cause the team to keep on going. I was relieved.” The loss was the third straight for Edna (6-11, 3-3.) Javier Reyes pitched a complete game to lift Bloomington to 3-11 overall and 1-5 in district for the season. Dodson took the loss for the Cowboys after allowing nine runs in 5.1 innings.
“He pitched a great game,”
Garza said of Reyes. “Coach got on him after he messed up on a couple plays, but he shook it off and didn’t let it get to him. He kept pitching and he pitched a great game. That was big for us. It helped us settle down and we weren’t all worried and tense. We were just relaxed out there.” Thursday’s district 26-2A contest was won like so many others in Garcia’s career that includes stints at Calhoun, Rio Grande City and the 1985 Class 5A state championship at Stroman. His boys played solid defense, were aggressive on the basepaths and bunted when they had a runner on third with less than two outs. Bloomington scored four runs on squeeze plays. In the fifth inning of a 6-3 game, Garcia asked Castro to bunt Dodson’s 2-2 pitch with one out and runners on second and third. Nathaniel Sanchez scored from easily and Keanu Escamilla scampered around from second to re-establish a five-run lead. Castro finished 1-2 with a run and those two RBIs.
He said Garcia is the best baseball coach he’s ever had because he’s instilled consistency, confidence and the will to persevere in him and the rest of the Bobcats. “He’s meant a lot. He’s stuck with us throughout the struggles,” Castro said. “He loves baseball and he loves being with us.” All 12 boys on the team contributed in the win. Whether it was Sanchez going 2-3 at the plate, John Mendez making a handful of fine plays at short to freshman Rolando Hinojosa scoring a run in the sixth. “When it comes to the squeeze play, I guarantee you I throw the book out the window. I am trying to score some runs,” Garcia said. “He failed on the first, failed on the second on, then he fouled one off and then we came back with it on two strikes. I am not afraid to do it with two strikes and we scored two runs on that (fifth inning) play.”
Junior Josh Cantu stole three bases and scored two runs as a courtesy runner. In the third, Cantu scored on a failed squeeze play. Edna’s catcher was in position to apply the tag, but the 113-pound Cantu ran through the tag to give Bloomington a 6-0 lead. Thursday night Garcia wore a T-shirt that encapsulated that mantra “Bloomington Baseball Champions Win or Lose.” Bloomington’s win meant Edna and Tidehaaven both have three losses in District 26-2A play, which gave the Bobcats a chance — albeit a minute one — to top both teams for the third and final playoff spot. “I am happy for my boys. That’s the main thing,” Garcia said. “I know they are very capable of winning. I love my boys and as long as they keep trying and never quit, I will hang in there with them.”
Tips for using a laser rangefinder →
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tips-for-using-a-laser-rangefinder
Tips for using a laser rangefinder
Is hunting proving to be that difficult? Have you ever used a laser range finder? Well, this is a simple device that can help you to estimate the distance or range to a target using a laser beam. They usually use the time of flight principle.
They send a laser pulse in a narrow beam to an object and then calculate the time that it takes for the pulse to get reflected back from the object to the user. Many people are always mistaken to think that using a laser rangefinder is that difficult.
Well, this may not be true but a little bit of practice will still be required for one to be able to use it easily and correctly. Below are some tips which can help improve your skills when using a laser rangefinder.
What is it being used for?
Choose a rangefinder that is specifically designed for your needs. There are different range finders designed for different purposes including hunting, golfing and fishing.
So if you happen to be a deer hunter, look for the best hunting rangefinder (check this useful reference).
Or if you are a golfer, pick one that can be used in a golf course.
Watching video tutorials
Depending on the level of experience a person might have, you will always find different tips on how to use rangefinders. It would be a good idea to try checking out video tutorials too, for instance, those posted on YouTube as they give tips for both the amateurs and the professionals. This might helps a lot as you will most probably find one that goes with your level of experience. Also, look for videos made by the manufactures themselves.
Reading the manual
Before doing anything else, I think this should be the first step. Many people usually ignore the user manual and that’s where the problem begins. It is very important that you go through this piece of the document before configuring and using the device. You can also find them online and learn more on how the device should be used.
Use the inbuilt technology on the device
Different laser range finders from different companies will always have some sort of inbuilt technology that makes them extra power when it comes to estimating distances. It is important to know how to use the technology so that it will be easier for you to work with the device while on the field.
A lot of practice
This is also one of the ways in which a person graduates from being an amateur to becoming a pro in using laser rangefinders. Practice even by aiming at large objects lying between 50 to 100 yards. Also, try and get familiar with the readings you get on display once the device starts picking up an object. If you still don’t understand what is being displayed, always try over and over again as this is the main reason for practicing in the first place. Remember, perfect practice makes perfect.
Do a bit of research
Well, for hunters, they should know better than just depending on the rangefinder to do almost everything. This is not a good idea. Walking around and familiarizing yourself with the place where you would like to use the laser rangefinder is also an important point to note.
Take time
Well, as you all know, nothing comes that easy. The same applies to using the laser rangefinders. It takes a few practice sessions and dedication before finally getting hold of how to use laser rangefinders. It is important to know whether your device is giving consistent information or not. This will help you to be sure of the range being aimed. Also, keep in mind that these things can fail too thus the need to be prepared when it happens.
Make sure it is easily accessible
When using a laser range finder, keep it in a way that it can easily be reached. The time you take while accessing it, using it and putting it back might be the only thing standing between you and the deer. Sometimes it might even drop off while hooking up and this might spook the deer making it run away.
Well, laser rangefinders are not that difficult to use. Just follow the instructions given and that’s it. it is also important to note that external factors such as the weather or how the device is held might affect the readings on the display. With that being said it is now up to you to find the best rangefinder that will suit your needs, use the above tips and you will be good to go.
← Bloomington baseball coach gets 600th win
Awesome Things You Can Learn From the Best iPhone GPS Rangefinder Apps →
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Awesome Things You Can Learn From the Best iPhone GPS Rangefinder Apps
Baseball Digital
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The Shettles Method of Sex Selection
In the 1960s in the United States Landrum B. Shettles developed the Shettles method, which is a procedure for couples to use prior to and during an intercourse to increase their chances of conceiving a fetus of their desired sex. Shettles, a physician, who specialized in obstetrics and gynecology, found a difference in the size and shape of male sperm cells that he correlated with the different sex chromosomes they carry.
Subject: Technologies, Reproduction
David Starr Jordan (1851-1931)
David Starr Jordan studied fish and promoted eugenics in the US during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In his work, he embraced Charles Darwin s theory of evolution and described the importance of embryology in tracing phylogenic relationships. In 1891, he became the president of Stanford University in Stanford, California. Jordan condemned war and promoted conservationist causes for the California wilderness, and he advocated for the eugenic sterilization of thousands of Americans.
Abortion is the removal of the embryo or fetus from the womb, before birth can occur-either naturally or by induced labor. Prenatal development occurs in three stages: the zygote, or fertilized egg; the embryo, from post-conception to eight weeks; and the fetus, from eight weeks after conception until the baby is born. After abortion, the infant does not and cannot live. Spontaneous abortion is the loss of the infant naturally or accidentally, without the will of the mother. It is more commonly referred to as miscarriage.
Subject: Processes, Ethics, Reproduction
Charles Benedict Davenport (1866-1944)
Charles Benedict Davenport was an early twentieth-century experimental zoologist. Davenport founded both the Station for Experimental Evolution and the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor in New York. Though he was a talented statistician and skilled scientist, Davenport's scientific achievements are eclipsed by his lasting legacy as the scientific leader of the eugenics movement in the US.
The Baby Doe Rules (1984)
The Baby Doe Rules represent the first attempt by the US government to directly intervene in treatment options for neonates born with congenital defects. The name of the rule comes from the controversial 1982 case of a Bloomington, Indiana infant Baby Doe, a name coined by the media. The Baby Doe Rules mandate that, as a requirement for federal funding, hospitals and physicians must provide maximal care to any impaired infant, unless select exceptions are met. If a physician or parent chooses to withhold full treatment when the exceptions are not met, they are liable for medical neglect.
John Hunter (1728–1793)
John Hunter studied human reproductive anatomy, and in eighteenth century England, performed one of the earliest described cases of artificial insemination. Hunter dissected thousands of animals and human cadavers to study the structures and functions of organ systems. Much of his anatomical studies focused on the circulatory, digestive, and reproductive systems. He helped to describe the exchange of blood between pregnant women and their fetuses. Hunter also housed various natural collections, as well as thousands of preserved specimens from greater than thirty years of anatomy work.
Progestin: Synthetic Progesterone
Progestin is a synthetic form of progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, which plays an important role in the female reproductive cycle. During the 1950s two types of progestin that were later used in birth control pills were created, norethindrone and norethynodrel. In 1951 Carl Djerassi developed norethindrone at Syntex, S.A. laboratories located in Mexico City, receiving a patent on 1 May 1956. In 1953 Frank Colton developed norethynodrel at G.D. Searle and Company laboratories located in Chicago, receiving a patent on 29 November 1955.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is an assisted reproductive technique (ART) initially developed by Dr. Gianpiero D. Palermo in 1993 to treat male infertility. It is most commonly used in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF) or a less commonly used technique called zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT). In natural fertilization, the sperm must penetrate the surface of the female egg, or oocyte.
Ethics of Designer Babies
A designer baby is a baby genetically engineered in vitro for specially selected traits, which can vary from lowered disease-risk to gender selection. Before the advent of genetic engineering and in vitro fertilization (IVF), designer babies were primarily a science fiction concept. However, the rapid advancement of technology before and after the turn of the twenty-first century makes designer babies an increasingly real possibility.
Subject: Ethics, Reproduction
Social Implications of Non-Invasive Blood Tests to Determine the Sex of Fetuses
By 2011, researchers in the US had established that non-invasive blood tests can accurately determine the gender of a human fetus as early as seven weeks after fertilization. Experts predicted that this ability may encourage the use of prenatal sex screening tests by women interested to know the gender of their fetuses. As more people begin to use non-invasive blood tests that accurately determine the sex of the fetus at 7 weeks, many ethical questions pertaining to regulation, the consequences of gender-imbalanced societies, and altered meanings of the parent-child relationship.
Subject: Reproduction, Ethics, Legal
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves testing for specific genetic conditions prior to the implantation of an embryo in the uterine wall. This form of genetic screening has been made possible by the growth of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) technology, which allows for the early stages of development to occur in a laboratory dish rather than in vivo. The purpose of PGD is to identify what are considered to be abnormal embryos in order to select the most desirable embryos for implantation.
William Smellie (1697–1763)
William Smellie helped to incorporate scientific medicine into the process of childbirth in eighteenth century Britain. As a male physician practicing in childbirth and female reproductive health (man-midwife), Smellie developed and taught procedures to treat breech fetuses, which occur when a fetus fails to rotate its head towards the birth canal during delivery. Throughout his career, Smellie compiled a wealth of information about female anatomy in his writings. He modified medical technology such as the obstetrical forceps, an instrument used to maneuver the fetus during childbirth.
Endoscopy is a medical procedure that enables the viewing and biopsy of, and surgery on, internal tissues and organs. Endoscopic examinations are characterized by the introduction of a tube containing a series of lenses into the body through either an incision in the skin or a natural opening or cavity. During the mid-twentieth century, photographer Lennart Nilsson used endoscopes to capture the now-familiar images of embryos and fetuses.
Paretta v. Medical Offices for Human Reproduction [Brief] (2003)
The court decided a child of in vitro fertilization born with cystic fibrosis does not have the right to sue for wrongful life even in the presence of demonstrable acts of medical negligence because to allow such a case would grant the IVF child rights not possessed by naturally born children. The decision in Paretta has not been publicly tested in other jurisdictions.
Evangelium Vitae (1995), by Pope John Paul II
The encyclical entitled "Evangelium Vitae," meaning "The Gospel of Life," was promulgated on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy. The document was written to reiterate the view of the Roman Catholic Church on the value of life and to warn against violating the sanctity of life. The document focuses on right to life issues including abortion, birth control, and euthanasia, but also touches on other concepts relevant to embryology, such as contraception, in vitro fertilization, sterilization, embryonic stem cell research, and fetal experimentation.
Subject: Religion, Reproduction
Mizuko Kuyo
Mizuko Kuyo is a Japanese Buddhist ceremony that focuses on a deceased fetus or stillborn child. This ceremony was originally developed to honor Jizo, a god believed to be responsible for transporting dead fetuses or children to the other world. The practice has become more popular in the last half century due to the growing number of abortions taking place and the particular views that Japanese Buddhists have about fetuses and abortion.
Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer
Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) first used in 1986 to help those who are infertile conceive a child. ZIFT is a hybrid technique derived from a combination of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) procedures. Despite a relatively high success rate close to that of IVF, it is not as common as its parent procedures due to its costs and more invasive techniques.
Francis Galton (1822-1911)
Sir Francis Galton was a British science writer and amateur researcher of the late nineteenth century. He contributed greatly to the fields of statistics, experimental psychology and biometry. In the history of biology, Galton is widely regarded as the originator of the early twentieth century eugenics movement. Galton published influential writings on nature versus nurture in human personality traits, developed a family study method to identify possible inherited traits, and devised laws of genetic inheritance prior to the rediscovery of Gregor Mendel's work.
The Time Has Come: A Catholic Doctor's Proposals to End the Battle over Birth Control (1963), by John Rock
In 1963, Roman Catholic fertility doctor John Rock published The Time Has Come: A Catholic Doctor's Proposals to End the Battle over Birth Control, a first-person treatise on the use of scientifically approved forms of birth control for Catholic couples. The first contraceptive pill, called Enovid, had been on the market since June 1960, and Rock was one of the leading researchers in its development. In The Time Has Come, Rock explicitly describes the arguments for and against the use of birth control from both a religious and a scientific perspective.
Subject: Publications, Religion, Reproduction
The Effects of Bisphenol A on Embryonic Development
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an organic compound that was first synthesized by Aleksandr Dianin, a Russian chemist from St. Petersburg, in 1891. The chemical nomenclature of BPA is 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane. The significance of this synthesized compound did not receive much attention until 1936, when two biochemists interested in endocrinology, Edward Dodds and William Lawson, discovered its ability to act as an estrogen agonist in ovariectomized, estrogen-deficient rats.
Subject: Disorders, Reproduction
Gamete Intra-Fallopian Transfer (GIFT)
Various techniques constitute assisted reproduction, one of which is gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT). The first example of GIFT involved primates during the 1970s; however, the technology was unsuccessful until 1984 when an effective GIFT method was invented by Ricardo Asch at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center and the procedure resulted in the first human pregnancy. The GIFT technique was created in hopes of generating an artificial insemination process that mimicked the physiological sequences of normal conception.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990)
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 established the legal framework that governs infertility treatment, medical services ancillary to infertility treatment such as embryo storage, and all human embryological research performed in the UK. The law also defines a legal concept of the parent of a child conceived with assisted reproductive technologies.
Subject: Legal, Reproduction, Ethics
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Liquidity Premium Theory of Interest Rates
By: Giulio Rocca | Reviewed by: Ryan Cockerham, CISI Capital Markets and Corporate Finance | Updated March 31, 2019
The liquidity premium theory rewards investors for buying long-dated securities.
Jupiterimages, Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images
1. Bonds vs. CD Investing
2. High Yield Vs. Investment Grade
3. How to Determine Risk Premium on Bonds
The liquidity premium theory of interest rates is a key concept in bond investing. It follows one of the central tenets of investing: the greater the risk, the greater the reward. The theory is one of several that collectively seek to explain the shape of the yield curve – the interest rates that investors receive for buying bonds of different maturities.
The liquidity premium theory focuses on the question of how quickly an asset can be sold in the market without lowering its stated price.
Understanding the Yield Curve
One of the most closely watched graphs among investors is the yield curve, also known as the term structure of interest rates. It plots the yields, or investment returns, of a specific category of bonds on the y-axis against time on the x-axis. The most popular version of the yield curve tracks U.S. Treasury debt from three-month Treasury bills through 30-year Treasury bonds. Yield curves can be constructed for all bond types, such as municipal bonds or corporate bonds with different credit ratings, such as AAA-rated corporate bonds.
Evaluating the Liquidity Premium Theory
Liquidity refers to how quickly an asset can be sold without lowering its price. Generally speaking, markets with many participants are highly liquid relative to markets with fewer participants. The liquidity premium theory states that bond investors prefer highly liquid, short-dated securities that can be sold quickly over long-dated ones. The theory also contends that investors are compensated for higher default risk and price risk from changes in interest rates.
The following is an example of the liquidity premium theory in action from an Iowa State University online PowerPoint presentation:
"Suppose one-year interest rate over the next five years are 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, liquidity premiums for one to five-year bonds are 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1.0%
Then, interest rate on the two-year bond: (5% + 6%)/2 + 0.25% = 5.75%
Interest rate on the five-year bond: (5% + 6% + 7% + 8% + 9%)/5 + 1.0% = 8%
Interest rates on one to five-year bonds: 5%, 5.75%, 6.5%, 7.25% and 8%."
Upward-Sloping Yield Curve
An upward-sloping yield curve supports the liquidity premium theory. Suppose that the yield curve for U.S. Treasuries offers the following yields: 2.5 percent for three-month bills, 2.75 percent for one-year notes, 3.25 percent for five-year bonds, 4.5 percent for 10-year bonds and 6.25 percent for 30-year bonds. The rising yield curve is consistent with the liquidity premium theory, with the U.S. government paying investors progressively higher rates for debt with longer maturities.
Assessing Alternate Explanations
However, the yield curve isn’t always upward-sloping: sometimes it zigzags, flattens out or even becomes inverted. In these cases it’s clear that the liquidity premium theory alone is insufficient to explain the shape of the curve.
Economists have devised other theories to account for these situations, including the expectations theory, which states that the yield curve reflects future expectations about interest rates. Another approach is the market segmentation theory, which argues that financial institutions prefer to invest in bonds with maturities that match their liabilities.
Marketwatch: An Inverted Yield Curve Is a Recession Indicator, but Only in the U.S.
Investopedia: Liquidity Premium
NASDAQ: Pure expectations theory
Investopedia: Inverted Yieled Curve
Investopedia: Market Segmentation Theory
Iowa State University: Liquid Premium Theory
Bloomberg: Rates and Bonds
Giulio Rocca's background is in investment banking and management consulting, including advising Fortune 500 companies on mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy. He also founded GradSchoolHeaven.com, an online resource for graduate school applicants. He holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University.
How to Convert Bond Price to Yield
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What Factors Make Bonds Move?
What Is a Short-Term Bond's Maturity Period?
The Relation Between Time to Maturity & Bond Price Volatility
What Are the Differences Between 20 Year Bonds Vs. 1 Year Bonds?
Differences Between AAA & AA Bond Rating Interest Rates
Formula for Calculating the APY on Bonds
Bond Performance During Recessions
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