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I've made a couple of comments on the Battle of Alberta in the last couple weeks, and this one in particular got everybody going:
The Lames have trouble scoring 4 goals over five or six games, and now we expect to see them all chunked together? As Governor Tarkin would say, "I think you overestimate their chances" (hopefully to more accuracy)
I didn't even log into Blogger to post it, finding it way easier just to hit "Anonymous". Naturally, when I make a popular comment like this I don't end up using my Blogger name, which deprives me of needed site traffic. Anyhow, here's the followup:
Anonymouse...
I believe it is Grand Moff Tarkin
nwtoilerfan
Oh, it is Grand Moff, but it still works for me.
Andy Grabia
I don't know what the fuck you sci fi nerds are talking about, but it's not like the internet is lacking in places for nerds to talk about shit that never happened and never will happen.
mudcrutch79
Grand Moff Tarkin? Fucking Star Wars? Ya, a totally unfamilar cultural reference point.
Hey sci-fi geeks. Hope you can all put-down your light sabres long enough to get out and watch the game, maybe even with real people. We in Vancouver are heading to the Black Frog. Come on down and join us. Loxy, I know you're reading this. C'mon out and find yourself a good prairie boy. And bring all those Single friends of yours.
theDrizzler
Leia called him "Governor." It's valid.
And the line is "Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you seriously overestimate their chances!"
I'm kind of pissed that they put out the DVD boxed set and then the individual movies with the theatrical cuts on the other side. Fuckers.
Doogie
Its offhand funny that because I didn't link back to Third Edge of the Sword I ended up having my geek credentials questioned. I rectified in this (anonymous again) post I just made:
Grand Moff is just the title given to governors of a sector, thereby insuring that my geek creds remain intact. Hockey creds are another matter: either the Flames have used up their scoring quota for the opening week in their first two games, or this "new Calgary offense" might actually deserve some of the promotion its been getting. Please note, that "we've doubled our goals for" merely means that Calgary has caught up to the league average, which is why "some of the promotion" is not the same as "all of the promotion"
My other recent post (signed) was regarding Calgary fan Matt Fenwick's failure to discuss Jarome Iginla after last season. Since he failed to bring it up, it was decided to use his drafting order against him in Yahoo Fantasy Hockey, even though he wasn't present for the draft. The pre-rankings still allowed him to favour Calgary players, they observed. I said:
To be fair, autodraft can take the blame for a lot of things. It's just impossible to remember to exclude every shitty player that you balk at when seeing how overranked they happen to be. (ie. its hard to remember that there are three Molinas to avoid like the plague)
You might have a lot to tear into him for, but pre-rankings just fail to take a lot of the situations into account (which is why it is permissable to skip work for an important fantasy draft).
No real followup to this post, however. Naturally.
Colby Cosh posted in the "Grand Moff" thread about Sykora being "on pace" for 164 games. I was originally going to blog something about that after Game 1 of the Oilers season.
To wit, after Game 1 it could be said Calgary was "on pace" for an 0-82 season, Edmonton "on pace" for a 82-0 season, and Petr (Peter?) Sykora "on pace" for 164 goals. I was going to state categorically (now less so) that nobody talked like this in hockey (and even now obviously as a joke). It's absurd to think in these terms. Yet that doesn't stop baseball commentators as early as the 10th game of a 162-game season from bringing up "on pace" as if it was a completely sensible metric. Even in late May, "on pace" is still a lousy thing to bring up, as the cold weather start of the season means that the warm weather July portion might as well take place between completely re-staffed teams playing a completely different game (if possible on a completely different planet). It's just bad all around, and so is this rant (which would have been better if I'd done it at the time).
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Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? - Lillian Hellman
June 26: Halle Ingoolgem
July 6 - 28: Tour de France
June 15 - 23: Tour de Suisse
June 19 - 23: ZLM Toer
June 20 - 23: La Route d'Occitanie
June 9 - 16: Critérium du Dauphiné
June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
June 5 - 9: Tour de Luxembourg
June 9: G.P. di Lugano
May 11 - June 2: Giro d'Italia
May 28 - June 2: Tour of Norway
June 2: Rund um Köln
May 24 - 26: Tour de l'Ain
UCI rider, team & country rankings after Tour of Switzerland
Here is the World Ranking of the top 40 riders:
Julian Alaphippe (shown at the Dauphiné) is Number 1.
Rank Rider Team Points
1 ALAPHILIPPE Julian DECEUNINCK-QUICK STEP 3720.95
2 ROGLIČ Primož TEAM JUMBO-VISMA 3536.28
3 FUGLSANG Jakob ASTANA PRO TEAM 3116
4 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM 2859
5 PINOT Thibaut GROUPAMA-FDJ 2751
6 VAN AVERMAET Greg CCC TEAM 2657.33
7 ACKERMANN Pascal BORA-HANSGROHE 2405
8 KRISTOFF Alexander UAE TEAM EMIRATES 2392.5
9 MATTHEWS Michael TEAM SUNWEB 2328.29
10 NAESEN Oliver AG2R LA MONDIALE 2284
11 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM SUNWEB 2242.86
12 VAN DER POEL Mathieu CORENDON-CIRCUS 2175
13 YATES Simon Philip MITCHELTON-SCOTT 2145
14 VIVIANI Elia DECEUNINCK-QUICK STEP 2124
15 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL 2089.18
16 THOMAS Geraint TEAM INEOS 2027.25
17 LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel ASTANA PRO TEAM 2010
18 SAGAN Peter BORA-HANSGROHE 1937
19 SCHACHMANN Maximilian BORA-HANSGROHE 1905.47
20 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE 1878
21 KWIATKOWSKI Michal TEAM INEOS 1859.08
22 NIBALI Vincenzo BAHRAIN-MERIDA 1734.86
23 BERNAL GOMEZ Egan Arley TEAM INEOS 1676.75
24 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA PRO TEAM 1654
25 YATES Adam MITCHELTON-SCOTT 1653.45
26 MOLLEMA Bauke TREK-SEGAFREDO 1639
27 CARAPAZ Richard MOVISTAR TEAM 1628
28 DEGENKOLB John TREK-SEGAFREDO 1587
29 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TEAM JUMBO-VISMA 1559
30 ŠTYBAR Zdeněk DECEUNINCK-QUICK STEP 1534
31 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Ion ASTANA PRO TEAM 1528
32 WOODS Michael EF EDUCATION FIRST 1509
33 BUCHMANN Emanuel BORA-HANSGROHE 1463
34 TEUNS Dylan BAHRAIN-MERIDA 1444
35 DENNIS Rohan BAHRAIN-MERIDA 1437.86
36 VAN AERT Wout TEAM JUMBO-VISMA 1423
37 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM 1412
38 ULISSI Diego UAE TEAM EMIRATES 1404
39 POGAČAR Tadej UAE TEAM EMIRATES 1392
40 GROENEWEGEN Dylan TEAM JUMBO-VISMA 1379.54
Team rankings:
1 DECEUNINCK - QUICK - STEP (DQT) 14453.07
2 BORA - HANSGROHE (BOH) 12962.9
3 TEAM JUMBO - VISMA (TJV) 11920.05
4 ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 11812
5 TEAM INEOS (INS) 11153.32
6 UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAD) 10798.79
7 MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 9744.34
8 BAHRAIN - MERIDA (TBM) 9346.58
9 GROUPAMA - FDJ (GFC) 8876
10 TEAM SUNWEB (SUN) 8782.51
11 MITCHELTON - SCOTT (MTS) 8680.32
12 EF EDUCATION FIRST (EF1) 7868.49
13 TREK - SEGAFREDO (TFS) 7506
14 AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 7280.66
15 LOTTO SOUDAL (LTS) 6917.87
16 CCC TEAM (CCC) 5463.64
17 COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS (COF) 4843
18 TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN (TKA) 4703.34
19 TOTAL DIRECT ENERGIE (TDE) 4647.45
20 WANTY - GOBERT CYCLING TEAM (WGG) 4531
21 TEAM DIMENSION DATA (TDD) 4468.01
22 ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY (ICA) 3959
23 CORENDON - CIRCUS (COC) 3835
24 ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI - SIDERMEC (ANS) 3624
25 WALLONIE BRUXELLES (WVA) 3513
26 VITAL CONCEPT - B&B HOTELS (VCB) 3136
27 TEAM ARKEA - SAMSIC (PCB) 2994
28 ROOMPOT - CHARLES (ROC) 2549
29 NERI SOTTOLI SELLE ITALIA KTM (NSK) 2287.29
30 NIPPO - VINI FANTINI - FAIZANE' (NIP) 2098
31 DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE (DMP) 1879
32 RIWAL READYNEZ CYCLING TEAM (RIW) 1857.29
33 CAJA RURAL - SEGUROS RGA (CJR) 1836.53
34 GAZPROM - RUSVELO (GAZ) 1756.15
35 SPORT VLAANDEREN - BALOISE (SVB) 1685
36 RALLY UHC CYCLING (RLY) 1436
37 TEAM SAPURA CYCLING (TSC) 1393
38 MINSK CYCLING CLUB (MCC) 1376
39 EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY - MURIAS (EUS) 1355
40 TERENGGANU INC. TSG CYCLING TEAM (TSG) 1275
Country rankings:
Rank Country Points
1 FRANCE 13309.95
2 BELGIUM 13270.45
3 NETHERLANDS 11879.85
4 ITALY 10683.27
5 SPAIN 10108
6 GERMANY 10031.02
7 COLOMBIA 9128.33
8 GREAT BRITAIN 8427.61
9 AUSTRALIA 8411.15
10 SLOVENIA 8048.41
11 DENMARK 6884.15
12 NORWAY 4722.17
13 POLAND 4607.97
14 AUSTRIA 4296
15 SWITZERLAND 3401.77
16 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 3307.72
17 CZECH REPUBLIC 3244.71
18 KAZAKHSTAN 3163.01
19 IRELAND 3065.52
20 PORTUGAL 2971.17
21 CANADA 2968.71
22 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2754.75
23 ECUADOR 2754.64
24 SOUTH AFRICA 2701.05
25 LUXEMBOURG 2405.28
26 NEW ZEALAND 2356.37
27 ESTONIA 2344.71
28 SLOVAKIA 2134.68
29 ERITREA 2073.5
30 LATVIA 1969
31 BELARUS 1332.5
32 TURKEY 1285
33 ALGERIA 1186.65
34 UKRAINE 1051
35 JAPAN 924.51
36 ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN 902.5
37 HUNGARY 800
38 COSTA RICA 736.17
39 ROMANIA 718
40 MEXICO 662
CCC Team to race in Belgium at Halle - Ingooigem
The team sent me this:
24 June 2019: CCC Team will be lining up at Halle - Ingooigem on Wednesday (26 June) with a team looking to use the Belgian one-day race as a way to test form heading into the next phase of the 2019 season.
Sports Director Steve Bauer said that all seven CCC Team riders will benefit from racing at Halle - Ingooigem this week.
"This race ideally comes in the week leading up to many of our riders' respective National Championships and the guys racing on home soil will be able to benefit from Halle - Ingooigem being part of their build-up. For those riders on this roster not competing at their National Championships, Halle - Ingooigem provides either a good opportunity to get back into the race rhythm or a nice bridge in their race calendar to keep them sharp. We will look to support all of our riders and, as the race progresses, we will see who is the most motivated to go for a nice result for themselves and the team," Bauer explained.
Will Barta will make his return to racing in Belgium after fracturing his left collarbone at the Amgen Tour of California.
"I am very excited to be back racing again after breaking my collarbone in California. Training has been progressing well, and I’ve been feeling good on the bike so, I am excited to pin on a race number again and see where my fitness and shape is at this point," Barta said.
Halle - Ingooigem (26 June)
Jakob Mareczko (shown at the 2017 Tour of Hainan) will be racing the Halle - Ingooigem for CCC Team
Rider Roster: Will Barta (USA), Paweł Bernas (POL), Jonas Koch (GER), Jakub Mareczko (ITA), Laurens ten Dam (NED), Gijs Van Hoecke (BEL), Francisco Ventoso (ESP)
Sports Director: Steve Bauer (CAN)
Defending champion Victor Campenaerts discusses Belgian time trial championship
Campenaerts' Lotto-Soudal team sent me this:
On Thursday 27 June the Belgian time trial championship will take place in Middelkerke. Defending champion Victor Campenaerts will do everything possible to prolong his title, but there are various contenders who are ready to make it difficult for him to do so. The Hour Record holder previews the race against the clock.
Vicotr Campenaerts after setting a new world hour record.
Victor Campenaerts: “I didn’t recon the course yet, but performance manager Kevin De Weert already did. The stage profile is flat and it’s not very technical. The championship will take place at the seaside in Middelkerke so the wind will play a decisive role. Last year, the profile was more hilly and the road surface was poor. This year, the conditions are better and that will make the race a lot more enjoyable to ride.”
“I’m aware of the fact that I’m the man to beat and that puts pressure on me. If I don’t win the Belgian time trial championship, I will be disappointed. If I win, I would only confirm and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise. But if you can break the world Hour Record for the eyes of 650,000 Flemish people, I think you can say that I perform well under pressure.”
“Wout van Aert might be my biggest competitor if you look at his performances in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Besides, Evenepoel is also in great shape. But our team also has some riders who are able to beat me in the time trial. Thomas De Gendt set great times in the time trials of the Giro and Tim Wellens won the time trial in the Belgium Tour.”
“I will be at the start of the championship with the ambition to win. If I will be beaten by someone of the team, I will be disappointed, but I prefer being beaten by a teammate than by another rider. I hope the jersey stays in our team, however, I will be disappointed if it wouldn’t be on my shoulders.”
“I have had an intensive schedule the last months. I already rode Tirreno-Adriatico, the Giro d’Italia and recently the Tour of Belgium so I do not have to train that much anymore. Of course I will still be having some hard training days, because I am someone who likes to be fully prepared for the day of truth.”
Participants Lotto Soudal: Victor Campenaerts, Thomas De Gendt, Stan Dewulf, Frederik Frison, Brent Van Moer and Tim Wellens.
Bicycle Retailer & Industry News posted this insightful analysis of the state of the cycle industry:
The spectacular success — and failure — of Bike 3.0, Part One
by Rick Vosper
I created the idea of three “ages” concept for the post-WWII specialty retailer bicycle channel back in January. You can read more about it here, but here’s the CliffsNotes version:
Bike 1.0, roughly 1950 — 1975, when the specialty retail market was dominated by a single brand, Schwinn, creating an era of relative stability at both the supplier and retailer levels.
Bike 2.0, extending from the bike boom and introduction of the mountain bike through the late 1990s/early 2000s. In hindsight, I would more narrowly define the start of this period with Schwinn’s Supreme Court loss in its decade-long antitrust battle and the rise of the current selective distribution model, especially as characterized by the now-ubiquitous Authorized Dealer Agreement. Most importantly, this period was governed by the phenomenon of Perfect Competition, where no particular brand or brands accrued enough share or competitive advantage to gain control of the market.
Bike 3.0, starting near the turn of the current millennium. The present era features a few dominant players in both the supplier and (per geographic location or region) retailer segments of the market. The theory also predicts a declining number of traditional retailers, contraction and consolidation of the supplier segment, and is abetted by the rise of internet commerce, which impacts all segments.
At least that was (and is) the theory. To be sure, a few companies — Trek, Specialized, a few large retail chains, and certainly Shimano — hold premiere positions in their respective markets. But truly dominant? That’s debatable. And while I think the 1.0/2.0/3.0 model is still valid, we now have new information that suggests the 3.0 era has failed to fulfill its premise and that something else may be coming along to augment or replace it altogether.
The 3.0 Premise:
The basic idea behind Bike 3.0 (or at least the first time it occurred to me) goes back to a letter John Burke sent to Trek dealers in late 1997. A friend sent me a copy. In it, as I recall, Burke said he had sent a memo to Trek employees and salespeople saying it was no longer possible to grow the company by simply adding more retailers. To succeed, along with improving operational efficiencies, Trek would have to do more business with its existing retailers, both by offering new and successful products and by working more closely with its dealer base for their mutual success.
A few years later, Specialized took a very similar — and probably more radical — position with what came to be known as the Specialized Dealer Alliance (full disclosure: I was a part of this effort, first as a staff writer, later as the company’s head of marketing). In the years that followed, and with contributions from many other factors, Specialized moved from an estimated fourth-place position among bike brands to its current #2 spot on the podium, increasing its gross sales more than fivefold and eclipsing competitors Giant and Cannondale (which had its own struggles in this period) in the process.
In a very general sense, the Trek and Specialized programs today incorporate all the 3.0 elements. The overall goal was to gain enough market share to command a price premium for the brands’ products and improved revenue for their select group of retailers. This would be accomplished when top brands allied themselves more and more tightly with the top retailers in each market, driving everyone else off a cliff like lemmings hurled from buckets by Disney technicians in some cheesy fake 1950s nature documentary. Everything else in the model — marginalization of competitors at both supplier and retailer levels, waves of consolidation, ongoing polarization of market share turbocharging brand growth — proceeded directly and inexorably from this fundamental realignment of sales channel elements.
The overall goal was to gain enough market share to command a price premium for the brands’ products and improved revenue for their select group of retailers.
Except that, in hindsight, most of it never really happened.
When "dominant" … isn’t.
Remember, the 3.0 model was a direct response to a period of Perfect Competition (more about that here), where, for various reasons, no single player can gain traction to dominate the market. And of course “dominant” can mean a lot of things.
One definition of dominance is that a brand can command a premium for its products versus comparable offerings from competitors, something that by definition can’t happen in a perfectly competitive market. Both Trek and Specialized currently do exactly that (in terms of MSRP and MAP; less so at the cash register). And, according to a dozen or so of their retailers I spoke with, they generally offer higher dealer margins as well … although the same retailers are quick to point out that those margins have shrunk over time, just not as much as competitors’.
In our current reality of cutthroat pricing and razor-thin profits, this is a huge accomplishment, and Trek and Specialized deserve full credit for managing it.
You can read the rest of Mr. Vosper's wisdom here.
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This Week’s Must See Events: Is Gagosian Having an Identity Crisis?
by Paddy Johnson and Corinna Kirsch on March 10, 2014 · 1 comment Events
My Barbarian, still from “Universal Declaration of Infantile Anxiety Situations Reflected in Creative Impulse,” 2013. Courtesy the artists. My Barbarian will be performing at the Whitney until March 23rd.
After the tide of art fairs and biennials last week, we get a lighter events listing this week. For those of you interested in luxury, there’s Gagosian’s exhibition of Chinese antiques—a strange choice for a contemporary art gallery. We’re going to William Powhida’s solo exhibition at Postmasters for a dose of art-as-criticism and checking out Smack Mellon’s open studios for a glimpse into what artists are working on outside of the galleries. Finally, if you hurry you can catch “Sandwiched” at Fulton Mall where, until Wednesday, you’ll see artists standing on the corner wearing full-body sandwich boards.
Fulton Mall
Between Boerum Pl and Lawrence St
Friday March 7th through Wednesday March 12th, from 11 AM to 2 PM
Sandwiched
Artists will be standing in the street wearing sandwich boards thanks the curatorial genius of Jack Fabricius. Formerly of Sweden’s Malmo and now the head of Charlottenborg, Fabricius is responsible for some of the zanier curatorial projects we’ve laid eyes on. New Yorkers will remember him as the curator of the Nordic wing of the Armory’s Focus section two years ago. Today, if you hurry, you can see Kerry James Marshall perform. Sergej Jensen and Alfredo Jaar’s performances will take place tomorrow and Wednesday.
Wednesday March 12, 2014, From 10:30 AM to 5:00 PMWebsite
The Reaction GIF: Moving Image as Gesture
Does the reaction GIF deserve more contemplation than a site like Know Your Meme can offer? If you ask the Museum of the Moving Image this question their answer would be a resounding “yes”; Wednesday they launch a show called The Reaction GIF: Moving Image as Gesture. The rationale for the show does a good job of explaining the importance of such GIFs:
Over the last few years, the reaction GIF has emerged as a form for communicating with short moving images in response to, and often in lieu of, text in online forums and comment threads. These brief loops of bodies in motion are primarily excerpted from recognizable pop culture moments to express emotions like wonder, distrust, bemused curiosity, and smug satisfaction. Understood as gestures, they communicate more nuance and concision than their verbal translations.
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Through March 23, 2014, every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 4:30 PM; Friday at 7:30 PMWebsite
My Barbarian’s “The Mother”
For the next three weeks, performance troupe My Barbarian will be showing their hour-plus-long play “The Mother.” It has the appearance of a quirky high school musical—if there were such a thing as a Marxist high school—and unlike anything else you’ll see in the Biennial.
Basically, their performance is a musical adaptation of the Bertolt Brecht play of the same name, based on the Maxim Gorky novel, also of the same name. My Barbarian’s version keeps close to the original setting of the play, as Russian workers rise up to become Bolsheviks. Art references tend to take place in the breaks between the scenes; the Barbarians (Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade) ask the audience about their experience as workers—and mothers—and get them up on stage to participate, too.
1109 5th Ave at 92nd Street
Other Primary Structures
In 1966, the Jewish Museum hosted Primary Structures, one of the first exhibitions devoted to Minimalism. That exhibition brought names like Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Walter De Maria into the public spotlight. Looking back at that exhibition, though, it doesn’t give the fullest picture of how the movement was taking shape around the world. (And it is full of mostly white, English-speaking men.) Jewish Museum Deputy Director Jens Hoffmann has a remedy for that cultural “oops” with Other Primary Structures; for this go-around, the only Minimalists showing will be those from Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Should be an eye-opener.
Featuring artists: Rasheed Araeen, Sérgio Camargo, Willys de Castro, Saloua Raouda Choucair, Lygia Clark, Noemí Escandell, Gego, Stanislav Kolíbal, Edward Krasiński, David Lamelas, David Medalla, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, Alejandro Puente, Norberto Puzzolo, and Branko Vlahović.
Matter and Memory: Early Chinese Art Treasures
5:00 PM to 9:00 PMWebsite
Gagosian Madison Avenue
Is Gagosian having an identity crisis? Clearly, the contemporary art gallery’s upcoming exhibition of ancient chinese wares, including a Shang Dynasty dagger and earthenware sculptures dating from the Han and Tang periods, points to schizophrenic programming. (Other upcoming exhibitions at Gagosian Madison Avenue include a show by Christian Dior jewelry Creative Director Victoire de Castellane.) The only constant seems to be what’s bound to sell.
Image: Zeng Fanzhi “Untitled”, 2014 © Zeng Fanzhi. Courtesy Zeng Fanzhi Studio and Gagosian Gallery.
Nicelle Beauchene Gallery
11:00 AM to 6:00 PMWebsite
Afruz Amighil: Far from God
Cut-paper nerds are certain to go crazy for Amighi’s hanging curtains adorned with patterning, detailed renderings of architectural spaces, and the occasional figure. The sole image on Beauchene’s website suggests we’ll see sculptural work in a more minimalist vein than we’ve seen previously from Amighi, but that too, seems worth a view.
Smack Mellon
92 Plymouth Street
5-8pmWebsite
Smack Mellon Open Studios
It’s Smack Mellon Open Studio season! We recommend checking out the work of Bryan Zanisnik, the winner of last year’s DUMBO Art Festival prize. Zanisnik is known for incorporating his parents into his work and transforming spaces with childhood memorabilia, photos, and objects. We’re not overly familiar with many of the other artists, and we take that to be a good sign; Smack Mellon always introduces us to new talent. Look forward to seeing the following artists’ work: Chelsea Knight, Sreshta Rit Premnath, Lina Puerta, Six Of Twelve, Saya Woolfalk, Bryan Zanisnik, and Tyler Henry.
Postmasters
5:30 - 8:00 PMWebsite
William Powhida: Overculture
For this exhibition of new paintings, drawings, sculptures, and lists, William Powhida is tackling the meaning of “overculture” in the art world. One definition of “overculture” provided by Powhida is “a small cultural group (artists) within the larger culture, often affirming the beliefs or interests of the ruling class (collectors).” It’s an important question to wonder how we in the arts remain complicit with the rampant fashions of the blue-chip, art-fair class of dealers and collectors, even when we feel otherwise, that price should not be the rallying point for any discussion. Thankfully, Powhida’s there to make us question ourselves; and if the Tweets included in the PR are any example of what we’re to expect on Saturday, it seems he’s been keeping track of the dissent that’s been fomenting for some time.
Tagged as: Afruz Amighil, Alejandro Puente, Alfredo Jaar, antique chinese art, David Lamelas, David Medalla, Edward Krasiński, Gagosian, Gego, Hélio Oiticica, jewish museum, Kerry James Marshall, leigh ledare, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, My Barbarian, Nicelle Beauchene, Noemí Escandell, Norberto Puzzolo, primary structures, Rasheed Araeen, Saloua Raouda Choucair, sandwiched, Sergej Jensen, Sérgio Camargo, Stanislav Kolíbal, the whitney, Willys de Castro
The office of failed projects March 10, 2014 at 9:39 pm
hey ladies! leigh ledare’s show opens next friday, march 21st > http://www.miandn.com/exhibitions/
Previous post: AFC’s Art Fair Coverage Roundup
Next post: The Whitney Museum Still Doesn’t Pay All Its Artists
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Home Sports Cricket
Stokes and Hales in England one-day squad for Australia
England's Ben Stokes gestures to the crowd as he walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed for 69 during an ODI against Pakistan. Photo: AFP File
AFP, Sydney
Suspended all-rounder Ben Stokes was included Thursday in England's squad for their one-day series against Australia, although whether he plays remains in doubt.
Stokes is currently banned from international cricket while British authorities probe his alleged involvement in a late-night fight outside a Bristol nightclub.
Batsman Alex Hales, who was caught up in the same fracas, was also named in the 16-man squad for the five-game series, starting in Melbourne on January 14.
Selectors said in a statement they were advised to name their strongest squad, and included the pair accordingly.
"Both Alex Hales and Ben Stokes are included, though their involvement remains subject to any relevant legal or disciplinary developments in relation to the incident in Bristol in September," they said.
New Zealand-born Stokes did not travel to Australia with the rest of the squad for the Ashes Test series, and has missed the first two in Brisbane and Adelaide, with England losing both of them.
But speculation that he is preparing for a dramatic call-up was fuelled by his decision to sign with New Zealand provincial side Canterbury as their overseas player in late November.
In his first limited overs match for his birth province against Otago, he was bowled for two.
He did better against Auckland on Wednesday, hitting 34 from 41 deliveries as he shakes off the rust.
Stokes could yet return mid-series to the Ashes if police decide not to charge him.
British detectives late last month passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision, but there has been no word since.
The England Cricket Board said in their statement Thursday that once they receive formal confirmation on whether he has been charged or not, they would meet within 48 hours to decide on whether he plays.
Hales, who is an opener, has not played any professional cricket since the September nightclub incident, learned this week that he will face no criminal charges, opening the door for his trip to Australia.
In addition to Stokes and Hales, Kent batsman Sam Billings and Durham seamer Mark Wood were added to the squad that beat the West Indies 4-0 in England at the end of the British summer.
"With around 18 months to the start of the 2019 World Cup, our ODI side continues to make solid progress with series wins over the West Indies and South Africa last summer and a semi-final berth in the Champions Trophy," said selector James Whitaker.
"The forthcoming series against Australia presents another significant opportunity for this group to showcase their skills and talent against a quality side away from home."
England one-day squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
1st ODI - Sunday, January 14, Melbourne Cricket Ground
2nd ODI - Friday, January 19, Gabba, Brisbane
3rd ODI - Sunday, January 21, Sydney Cricket Ground
4th ODI - Friday, January 26, Adelaide Oval
5th ODI - Sunday, January 28, Optus Stadium, Perth
Alex Hales
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Domingo seeking continuity leading into T20 WC
Root’s four puts Eng on the brink
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Australian Music Database
Marty Willson-Piper
Marty Willson-Piper was born on the 7th of May 1958 in Stockport, England
Marty's current age is 61.
2 Bands
Marty Willson-Piper is known to have been a member of 2 bands
The Church Guitar, Vocals, Bass 1980 - 2013 (More...)
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Violence Revisited
January 26, 2013 Posted in Film 8 comments
I’ve been thinking about young men and violence. And now, in the wake of the Pentagon’s announcement earlier this week that women are henceforth approved to engage in front-line combat, young women and violence, too. And this matter of how much violence some of us can stomach—and how much violence others of us seem to need (and even celebrate).
As Layne astutely pointed out in her comments to my previous post on movie violence, such films tend to attract huge audiences, and ergo, must be filling some need. The fact that fellow commenters Fred and Dennis, along with myself, are revolted rather than fed by such violence suggests how wide is the gap between different people’s temperaments and sensibilities. One person’s intolerable and gratuitous gore is another’s ecstatic celebration. (The fusion of these was on prominent display in last weekend’s seemingly endless loop of a commercial during the NFL playoff games, touting the latest incarnation of the Die Hard movies. One fiery explosion and gunburst after another plays out to the soundtrack of Beethoven’s triumphant Ninth Symphony and its resounding celebration of universal brotherhood. “Oh, the atrocity,” I thought. “Oh, the hilarious irony,” the filmmakers undoubtedly thought…)
So: Dennis’s 16-year-old son can’t get enough of film violence, while Dennis himself checked out of such fare with Taxi Driver in 1976—when Dennis was a very young man himself. Does this suggest that the depiction of violence fills some type of developmental and sublimatory need for testosterone-fueled young men, and that we do well to provide these outlets for them—courtesy of Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Willis, et al—lest their instinctual urges turn to more ominous outlets? Maybe. On the other hand, in the wake of my previous post I received the following personal note from a dear and gentle-souled friend of mine, female and 60+:
I feel this way about horror movies, too—that somehow if I allow such evil to be entertainment, I’m making a place in my soul where evil is acceptable. And if evil and horrific violence at this level are acceptable, and even entertaining, today, what will be entertaining tomorrow? Why then, do I love The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? Hmmm. Maybe I’m not as clean as I like to think.
The deliciousness of this musing cannot be overstated—why indeed does a peace-loving, peace-practicing mature woman enjoy her own version of Tarantino-Willis fare in the best-selling vengeance thrillers of Stieg Larsson? She offers a possible answer, but I would amend her first-person speculation to this: Maybe because we, that is, the entire human race, are not as clean as we like to think.
Turning away in disgust from that dark side, or blaming it on an explicit devil as various simplified theologies do—is to ignore the fact that the devil resides within us and always has.
Who can argue with that, given the long history of blood-drenched violence that requires no elaboration here and stands stoutly alongside our capacity for love and goodness as a competing narrative of the human soul? Turning away in disgust from that dark side, or blaming it on an explicit devil as various simplified theologies do—is to ignore the fact that the devil resides within us and always has. The psychologist Carl Jung famously called this humankind’s “shadow,” and he posited that the best and only way to overcome its influence is to extend a hand to it, embrace it as part of ourselves, a prima facie component of our multi-faceted inner lives.
So, back to the developmental aspects of this seeming need for explicitly rendered violence: Perhaps, once we grapple with and come to accept and understand its residence in our own souls—in other words, once we become conscious—we no longer need or desire to either practice it or see it explicitly depicted. Indeed, we may come to experience it as offensive and even painful, rather than as the release of tension that so many young men seem to experience with their mayhem-filled films, football, cage combat and video games.
Women, psychologically the more sensitive gender, have historically been more repelled by violence, but that may be changing along with all the other roles they have been assuming in society over the past century. Numbers of women in the audience at football games: way way up, as are women boxers and wrestlers and, of course, soldiers. And now those soldiers will be on the front lines of combat, in real war, not the sublimated kind that humans have devised in competitive athletics. Real war where real flesh is sliced and blown to bits and one kills in order not to be killed.
Will this latest “barrier” to fall in gender roles ultimately help change the nature of war and our cultural romance with violence? Or will such change await our first female secretary of defense, or first female president? Or the first time that the sum total of female presidents and prime ministers around the world finally outnumber males?
Or will none of that make any difference, since the only women assuming such roles will be those who have bought into the same approaches and tendencies that have fueled their male counterparts over the eons?
The answers to these questions will play themselves out over time, but meanwhile, what we know is that violence will likely remain with us for a good long while, artists will continue to reflect it, and some of them, driven by their own testosterone-fueled fantasies abetted by vast commercial riches, will continue to churn out work that offends many of us while keeping others of us entranced in giddy amusement. And to all of this, we most tellingly can quote another who beheld violence with a sardonic and saddened eye:
Rotating banner photos top of page courtesy of Elizabeth Haslam, some rights reserved under Creative Commons licensing, see more at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizhaslam/
Tags: Die Hard movie trailer, females in combat, sports as sublimation, violence in film, young men and violence
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8 comments to Violence Revisited
I want to make it clear that I too avoid violent films. This essay made reminded me that the earliest films that horrified me–I'm going to age myself if I list them–gave me nightmares for one reason alone: I was told that I should close my eyes during the scary parts of the films.
This technique did me no good at all because I'm imaginative. What I imagined was far worse than anything that could have been shown on the screen. Psycho's punchline is a skeleton, for example. Had I looked at it, I would have faced the horror instead of aggrandizing it. But yes, film techniques have improved and the gore is more realistic. I'm agreeing with your concern, but audiences are savvy and have the ability to shrug away "sick" filmmakers. Or not.
Moderation in all things. Art is supposed to be entertainment. My complaint is that most movies are either political or documentaries about disasters. What do you want to experience in a two-hour break for entertainment? The Civil War or a tsunami?
Violence exists. All we have to do is look at the news, newspaper, the street outside our home. In some sad cases, our own homes. For the most part, movies offer us an easy out. A hero/ine who is smart enough, fast enough, brave enough to face it head on and in most instances—win. The fatal wounds last a few seconds, the wounded are somehow brave and carry on. A short-lived, false respite from the more complex and realistic picture of violence. The real picture of violence consumes fast, smart, brave individuals. The wounds—be they psychological or physical or both—that bring the best of us to our knees. These are the heroes of the real movie. They bear the burden of the real violence far far worse than any movie could begin to depict. I don't think anyone could watch that movie and leave feeling like there's a hero out there somewhere who will solve it all for us.
Joan Voight says:
This violence discussion is intriguing, especially with the Superbowl ahead. Unlike combat, this is violence for entertainment—we rally and party around it. Ironic, really.
Dennis Ahern says:
I gave the impression I had renounced violent films after Taxi Driver in 1976, when I was 18, but that is a false impression. I actually saw it many years after it came out and enjoyed the gritty reality of it immensely at the time. I still think it's a great film. But that is the first time I recall asking myself consciously "do I really want to subject myself to watching this sort of thing?" It took a solid 10 or 15 years after seeing Taxi Driver before I made an active decision that, for the most part, I would not bother subjecting myself to screen violence. I don't have a strong moral judgement about it. I don't think screen violence is a cultural pathology. Nor am I haunted or do I wish I could un-view anything I have seen as you mentioned about Reservoir Dogs in the first post. Well….I wish I could wipe Jersey Shore from my brain, but I digress.
And like Layne I believe its popularity is an indication that it serves some collective unconscious need. Football is just a modern form of Gladiators, or Our Village against Your Village, but sanitized and made acceptable because we don't actually kill anyone after all. Just pulverize their brains and wreck their knees. All in good fun.
To your point, Andrew, about embracing the shadow in order to move beyond the fascination with screen violence, my move away from interest in violent depictions coincides with an interest in Jungian psychology and my own exploration of my relationship to my "shadow" side. So maybe that's all that is needed to move beyond the desire to watch screen violence? To shake hands with it? I'm not so sure. I've had plenty of discussions about evil and shadow with my 16 year old son, who has read Jung and Bly and Bukowski. He came home the other day raving about "Kill Bill". "Inglorious Bastards" is one of his favorite movies. But how much can a 16 year old really embrace the shadow side? He is far from ready to turn away.
This is the sort of discussion best had over a good dark beer or strong coffee and Coltrane in the background.
ahidas says:
Dennis, I didn't mean to sound facile (my worst Hitchcockian nightmare) in suggesting that embracing the shadow effectively settles whatever need there may still be to experience violence, even gratuitously on the movie screen. Sizing up, confronting, and dancing with the shadow is more a lifelong affair, though I do think it is full of increasingly subtle encounters rather than the blunt-force trauma one sees depicted in uber violent movies. And, I doubt a 16-year-old can embrace his shadow yet—he has to see & experience it first, and let us hope your son is blessed thus far in being mostly spared such visions. Plenty of time for that as he motors along toward adulthood.
Jim Malin says:
Along with the guns and violence discussions, I continue to be amazed at the legitimizing of MMA and "Unlimited Fighting" spectacles that were once relegated to Pay per View, but now seem to have found a home on: (Where Else) the Fox Network. Boxing is bad enough, but "cage fighting" is ridiculous. We outlaw dog fighting, and cock-fighting, but cannot seem to put a stop to these human gladiators???? It makes no sense.
Kevin Feldman says:
Very much enjoyed following the two posts and the thoughtful responses – a major conundrum indeed, our attraction to violence in so many forms (football, movies, stories etc) appears to be magnified in our media saturated culture, yet objective evidence seems to suggest we are becoming less violent as a species, at least according to Steven Pinker in his book The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, nicely summed up in his recent TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myt… – so maybe individual film makers like Tarantino are less potent than we may think (personally I was done after R. Dogs never saw any others, not interested)… Do they contribute to any moral/artistic vision? Hardly in my view – yet some cinematic portrayals of violence do serve an important purpose I would argue (the D-Day invasion sequence from Saving Private Ryan) creates a far different visceral experience than the sanitized version a generation earlier in The Longest Day… and one that serves a moral purpose, telling the truth about the horrible senselessness of war while at the same time honoring the unimaginable bravery of young men giving their lives to free Europe from the Nazi nightmare…(as well as the young Germans who were victims of the Nazi hallucinations) tough questions Drewski & fellow blog respondents… thanks for taking the time! PS My 22 yr old son loves Tarantino films, and he is a really good "kid" so go figure! I don't get it…
Kevin, I thought of "Saving Private Ryan" as I pondered the problem of film violence. It could be hardly be argued that there was anything gratuitous about the invasions scenes. When something is viewed as historic, it is easier to imbue that sort of violence with an air of respectability as opposed to the Tarantino sort which seems to be primarily cathartic or entertaining (maybe the same thing). Tarantino might argue (as he did on Fresh Air recently) that he could put much more violence in and it still would not be anything like the true horrors inflicted by the slave trade. True enough. I loved the Private Ryan invasion scene. I think that one will be used in film classes 30 years from now. Still…….I find myself reluctant to put myself through the ordeal of watching it. Ambrose's D Day book seems so much more palatable.
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Closing argument in Mladić
6th December 2016 By Alexander Kay
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General Mladić faces an eleven count indictment, alleging genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. These substantive offences are alleged to have been committed through all possible modes of liability under the Tribunal’s Statute, including command responsibility and four separate joint criminal enterprises. Evidentially the case is divided into four components, with crimes being alleged in Srebrenica, Sarajevo and 15 municipalities. He is also alleged to be responsible for taking UN personnel hostage in May 1995.
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Aber Chess
It's Default That Counts
Aberystwyth B took on formidable opposition on Monday 20th February at the Emlyn Cafe, but were helped by the fact that Carmarthen could only raise three players. (It was unfortunate, however, for Tony Geraghty, who didn't get a game.) On top board, Julie van Kemenade underestimated Gerry Heap's queenside attack - she sacrificed a rook to try to get some play on the kingside, but it was never enough. Buoyed up by some recent good form and the chance to get my live grading over 1700, I went after Keith Downey's Sicilian with uncharacteristic aggression, sacrificing a pawn, then a piece, then the exchange. The advantage was not always clear in the complex position, and both players used a lot of time, but it was harder in practice to defend than to attack, and the gamble paid off. James Cook got a comfortable position from his Caro-Kann, but when Huw Morcom began to probe for attacking chances he unwisely weakened his kingside and was quickly finished off. With the default on Board 4, the match was tied at 2-2, an excellent result for the B team.
Gerry Heap - Julie van Kemenade 1-0
Matthew Francis - Keith Downey 1-0
Huw Morcom - James Cook 1-0
Posted by Matthew Francis at 14:24 No comments:
Back to Tanygroes
Match venues have been more varied this season - it seemed a long time since our last match at what had previously been our regular venue, the Emlyn Cafe, Tanygroes, when Aberystwyth A took on Haverfordwest A on Wednesday 15th February. On top board Rudy van Kemenade may have been slightly surprised by Colin Denham's choice of 1...e5 instead of his usual French, but he is very comfortable in the Ruy Lopez. Black attempted to seize the initiative with an unsound sacrifice, but Rudy offered the piece back shortly afterwards. Black's position was hopeless either way, and he was soon two pieces down. Julie van Kemenade seemed under pressure on the kingside against Ron Wade for a while, but when he dropped a central pawn his own kingside was suddenly the more vulnerable and he was overwhelmed. Meanwhile, on Board 4, Georgina Gray had quickly succumbed to Jan Sendall's classic open-game attack against the uncastled king. My Board 3 game against Scott Hammett was the last to finish, even though I had won an exchange before we were out of the opening. I missed several opportunities to break through and finally offered a draw with only five minutes left on the clock, clinching the win for Aber, 2½-1½.
Rudy van Kemenade - Colin Denham 1-0
Ron Wade - Julie van Kemenade 0-1
Matthew Francis - Scott Hammett ½-½
Jan Sendall - Georgina Gray 1-0
Cardigan Strengthen Their Position
Cardigan A increased their lead at the top of the Dyfed League on Tuesday 7th February by beating their nearest rivals Aberystwyth A at the St David's Club. Strangely, Aber matched their opponents on the top two boards, despite being outgraded, but conceded points on the lower two, where the grading advantage lay with them. On top board, Mark Talbot played the King's Indian against Howard Williams, who had pressure on the queenside for a while, but it dissipated leaving a drawn position. Rudy van Kemenade played the Bishop's Opening to avoid Iolo Jones's Petroff, but his kingside chances were neutralized. Neither player could make much headway in the resultant position with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops. Matthew Holborow got hit by a couple of clever tactics in his game against Tony Haigh, losing first a pawn, then the exchange, and was given no chance to recover. Finally, on board four, Julie van Kemenade forced her dangerous and much-improved opponent Howard Leah into a double-edged sacrifice; she has never been one to shrink from a fight, but has struggled for form recently, and had the worse of the complications before losing on time. The result was 3-1 to Cardigan A.
Howard Williams - Mark Talbot ½-½
Rudy van Kemenade - Iolo Jones ½-½
Tony Haigh - Matthew Holborow 1-0
Julie van Kemenade - Howard Leah 0-1
Quick, Quick, Slow, Slow
On Monday 6th February, Aberystwyth B played Haverfordwest A at the Emlyn Cafe, Tanygroes, a return match of the first fixture of the season, which Aber won by 2½-1½. this time Aber got off to the fastest possible start. Ian Finlay, playing White on Board 4, had too much fire-power for Robbie Coles and forced his king into the open board, winning in only fourteen moves. Not long afterwards I achieved a similar result when Ron Wade overpressed in the opening, got his attacking pieces into a compromising situation and ended up dropping his queen. Though the game lasted a slightly longer time than the first to finish, it was even shorter in moves played - only twelve. The middle two boards were much more leisurely. James Cook, playing the exchange variation against Colin Denham's French Defence, picked up a pawn early on and improved his position patiently to obtain a winning ending - a fine example of positional play. That left Tony Geraghty, also playing the French, against Jan Sendall. He had pressure against the king but couldn't find a way through, and he was concentrating so hard he lost track of time, allowing his flag to fall with a couple of moves still to make before the time control. The clock has caused Tony a few problems in recent games, and he lost in a similar way to the same opponent only a few months ago. The match finished 3-1 to Aber, a good result against evenly matched opponents.
Ron Wade - Matthew Francis 0-1
James Cook - Colin Denham 1-0
Jan Sendall - Tony Geraghty 1-0
Ian Finlay - Robbie Coles 1-0
The match on Monday 30th February was, in effect, a mirror image of the one the previous week between Cardigan A and Aberystwyth B. This time it was Cardigan's B team trying to see if they could match the good result achieved by their counterparts against an opposing A team. On top board, Aber's Mark Talbot dropped a pawn with his English Opening, and had to face an attack as well. Looking for activity, he sacrificed the exchange and Tony Haigh reacted too passively, allowing him to force the draw. Rudy van Kemenade's experience told against Jamie Sen, who was facing the Budapest Gambit for the first time, and did a reasonable job of defending Black's attack, but lost too many pawns. Julie van Kemenade picked up a couple of pawns early on against Roland Spencer, and looked to be comfortable. But as the time pressure began to build, she went in for some risky complications in search of a quick kill and allowed Black to get back into the game, which was eventually drawn. Finally, Awne Osinga returned the compliment for Cardigan; Tony Geraghty had a lost ending but White misplayed the position, and this game too finished in a draw. Overall, Cardigan B did slightly better than Aber B managed last week, 2½-1½ to Aberystwyth A.
Mark Talbot - Tony Haigh ½-½
Jamie Sen - Rudy van Kemenade 0-1
Julie van Kemenade - Roland Spencer ½-½
Awne Osinga - Tony Geraghty ½-½
Mon 30/09/19 Cardigan B (A)
Mon 14/10/19 Carmarthen (H)
Mon 28/10/19 Steynton B (A)
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Mon 24/02/20 Cardigan A (A)
Tue 10/03/20 Aberystwyth U (H)
Mon 27/04/20 Steynton A (A)
Aberystwyth Chess Club
Chair / Blogmaster: Matthew Francis
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Meets every Tuesday 7.15 pm, at Meeting Room 4, Aberystwyth University Students' Union. Visitors welcome. There is no charge.
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Dear Parler Paris Reader,
Freedom! Erica's New Car in L.A.
Paris Public Transportation
After spending 10 days in California and going through a reverse culture shock having to acclimate to life in the U.S. (even if for only 10 days), now that I'm back and into the swing of life in France, I have reflected on the differences of the two lifestyles. There are plusses and minuses to both, naturally, but the question is: which is preferable?
First and foremost, there is the obvious difference of riding in a car vs using one's own feet or public transportation. In a perfect world, the public transportation would be exemplary as would the ability to travel by car freely, easily, inexpensively, making any of the choices good ones, but that's not the reality.
Los Angeles would be a very different place to live if the public transportation was better and the traffic lighter. Even so, with the city so sprawling, having a car (or motorbike) is the only logical form of transportation. With everyone's need to have a car, more cars are on the roads than the roads can handle, making driving a nightmare (except I discovered during holiday time). On top of that, what bothers me most about living in a car culture, is having to drive, park, pay to park, return to the car, drive, park, pay to park, return to the car, and so on and so forth until the day is said and done and your last trip is to home. This renders you in a kind of bubble, with no opportunity to "commune" with the public...you go from your house to your car, to your destination, back to your car and back to your house, perhaps never needing to rub elbows with anyone except sales people or waiters. And worst of all, you can't go from Point A to Point B to Point C, etc., without going back to Point A to retrieve the car. It's like a ball and chain disguised as "freedom."
Life in Paris (or Nice and most cities in France) is a whole lot different thanks to great public transportation and rarely needing a car. (Except during transportation strikes like this one rendering us all a bit helpless. Even having a car wouldn't be much help since the traffic is unbearable. This is why the transportation strikes are so effective!) Not owning and operating a car is not only freedom from the responsibility and the danger of driving on the roads, but it frees up an average of about $8,500 a year in costs. "AAA has been tracking vehicle ownership costs for decades, and motorists are often surprised when they learn the full scope of the costs involved. In 2016, owning and operating an average sedan costs $8,558 per year, which is equal to $713 per month or 57 cents per mile." (aaa.com/)
What I like most about being carless is the ability to go from Point A to Point B to Point C, etc., without going back to Point A to retrieve the car. And one major change is that without that car, I am no longer living in that bubble. When you're on the street or in public transportation, you are surrounded physically by other human beings of all kinds and capable of interaction. That's a whole lot more interesting than spending hours on Facebook or cursing other drivers from the inside of your car because they've done something to annoy your or slow down your trip.
Customer service is perhaps the biggest difference between the lifestyles/cultures which apply countrywide. In fact, this might be the number one challenge to overcome when coming from La La Land (or anywhere in the U.S.) where every service person is so happy, friendly, accommodating, etc. No one ever says "no" to anything...they just behave as if they're having a blast doing their jobs, love their customers to bits and feel rewarded when they can make you, the customer, happy.
It can be a very different experience here in France, but that is not to say you can't achieve the same level of service...you just have to understand that you are 50 percent of the equation, so you get back what you give out. Let me explain...
In the U.S., customers get treated pretty much equally — with courteousness and respect, since the customer is the one holding the money. The relationship is in place even if you've never encountered that salesperson before. There's no effort to it and it doesn't matter how you behave — they are trained to treat you well, regardless of how you treat them. It can really spoil you by expecting to be treated this way wherever you go. It was a shock for me in L.A. when they just couldn't be nice enough. It was almost effusive. One waiter apologized so many times for something very unimportant that I finally had to say, "Okay you can stop now!" That would never happen in France, at least not from a waitperson who has no real relationship with you other than as a server. The truth is you're more likely to get blamed for having caused the problem to begin with!
In France, money isn't what it's about — it's about mutual respect, appreciation and the relationship you build with the establishment, its proprietors and staff. If you start with the attitude that you are walking into someone else's domain as the stranger, and behave humbly with respect, you will be treated with mutual respect, if not with a friendly attitude. Be demanding thinking that you, the customer, "is king" and I can assure you, you will be treated with disdain. This is not the way to win friends, but to make enemies.
A French Waiter
Photo by Lisa Anselmo for Save the Paris Café
Lunch with Lagniappe, Café Charlot
An Ad for Eyeglasses. Could that be Adrian?
Sabine at Optique des Vosges
One trick I always use is that I never, never, never take a seat in a café without first saying "Bonjour" and then asking politely if I can take the seat I want. You would not believe how that improves my status immediately in their eyes, even when they hear my obvious American accent and smile jokingly to themselves. Take this a step further and become a loyal patron. That will gain you queen or king status that will carry you a long, long way. (One of my friends here calls it getting the "badge of honor" to be accepted as one of them.)
As many know, my habit is to lunch at Café Charlot almost daily. One reason, besides the fact that the food is pretty much unbeatable, and besides the fact that there is a "plat du jour" every day that makes every meal a different experience, is how they treat me...like royalty. The waitstaff secretly call me "Madame Plat du Jour" (my daughter discovered this), try to reserve the same table for me everyday and allow me to substitute things to suit my crazy diet without question. The chef knows I love his food (because I often send my "compliments to the chef" via a waitperson) so in turn he often sends over an additional something special for me, like what we call in New Orleans, "lagniappe" — "a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (such as a 13th doughnut on purchase of a dozen), or more broadly, something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure." (Wikipedia.org) (The word is from the Louisiana French brought in to New Orleans by the Spanish Creoles.)
This past week, I ordered up the "onglet aux échalotes" plat du jour without substituting the "pommes de terres sautés" and what arrived was all that plus a big honker plate of "salade des haricots verts" (that he knows I love). This special treatment is a sign of how customer service in France can go beyond the norm once you've established the relationship. (BTW, I'm going to get fat if I keep having lunch there and they keep treating me so well!)
I have also become quite loyal to an optical shop which has kept me in great-looking specs for 15 years: Optique des Vosges. From the first moment I stepped into the shop in 2005 and the owner, Sabine, asked "Are you just looking or are you serious?" and I answered, "Well, I suppose I am serious," I have been treated beyond the norm. Just before Christmas, Eric, Sabine's brother, called me up and said, "Adrian, nous avons a petit cadeau pour toi." (Adrian, we have a small gift for you.) Hmmm...I had ordered up two new pairs of eyeglasses this past summer, so what could it be?
He and Sabine both got on the phone and explained that the lens manufacturer had made a mistake and made two pairs of my lenses (value: €850!). Normally they would have tossed them, but in this case, they made a point to call to give me the good news. Eric went on to say, "You don't have to get the frames here. This is not for me to make a sale. Go find some really wild frames...like at L.A. Eyeworks or wherever you like and we'll make them for you free because we love you."
And now you see why I am loyal to them, too. Did I go to L.A. Eyeworks? No! I went to Optique des Vosges and I chose new frames. Of course I did. This mutual respect and loyalty has paid off time and again...and it feels very different from the way we do business in the U.S. where every customer is treated equally.
Now, I know you're going to argue that these relationships can be built in the U.S., too. And you would be right. If I were to behave the same way in the U.S., by taking the attitude that I am the intruder in their domain, showing respect for their authority, and loyalty, I'd get back what I was giving. But, I contend that because we get treated so well from the outset without having to earn it, we as customers don't make the same kind of effort as we make in France.
We all have stories to tell and we all have our little moments with French merchants and suppliers that fuel our affection for this culture, as tough as it might seem from the beginning. The point is, not to simply believe that customer service in France is bad and that it's good in the U.S., but to fully understand that you can't expect to be treated well if you aren't giving the level of respect you expect to receive. It's actually easy in France to achieve once you develop a relationship! It's all about the relationship you build with these people, not about how much money you spend. And I'm not convinced you can do that as well in the U.S. as you can here in France.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
(in her new glasses, thanks to Optique des Vosges)
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How to Boost Funding to Public Education
Home/Education/K-12 Public Education/How to Boost Funding to Public Education
The Texas public school finance system is due for some renovations. And we need raw material to get the job done.
As the Texas Public School Finance Commission debates changes to how we fund our schools, commissioners also need to consider how to find the money needed to support public education.
Scrub the tax code to remove outmoded or wasteful exemptions
There are several places in the state tax code where lawmakers could find additional revenue. For instance, the “high-cost” special treatment for natural gas production reduces the tax rate of costly gas wells. Lawmakers created the exemption in 1989, when the natural gas industry was weak and needed incentives to expand drilling. But now the natural gas industry is strong and the incentive, which cost the state $368 million in lost revenue in 2017, is no longer needed. Lawmakers should repeal it in 2019.
Similarly, school districts can grant a local percentage homestead exemption of up to 20 percent, in addition to the statewide school homestead exemption of $25,000. A homestead exemption is a tax break for a homeowner’s primary residence. Lawmakers created the local-option exemption in 1981, when the current appraisal system began and all property was, for the first time, appraised at its full market value. The intent was to cushion the “sticker shock” felt by homeowners by their newly increased appraisals. But the transition to a new system is long over, and lawmakers should repeal the exemption, which cost the state $636 million in 2017.
Modernize the sales tax
The sales tax is the largest source of tax revenue for the state, so it is key to providing sufficient support for our schools. Lawmakers approved the sales tax in 1961, and it still largely reflects the manufacturing economy of the 20th Century. The modern economy is a service economy, and lawmakers should update the sales tax to include the many business and professional services that are currently excluded from the sales tax. These include such services as lawyers, accountants, and stockbrokers – all of which benefit from public services and should therefore pay their fair share. Taxing these services (except those that are health-care-related) could have generated $3.4 billion in 2017.
Bring tax rates up to date
Many state taxes still have rates set decades ago and have not been updated to reflect inflation. For instance, the tax rates on beer and other alcoholic beverages have not been changed since 1984, when they were raised to help pay for previous, important school finance reforms. Similarly, lawmakers last increased the state gasoline tax (20 cents per gallon) back in 1991, when gas cost just $1.00 a gallon. Raising alcohol, gasoline, and diesel taxes by 50 percent could have increased state revenue by $1.9 billion in 2017.
Texans pay taxes forward, not for immediate exchanges for public goods, but so we can have them available in the future. As our children grow and public education needs change, we all participate in this system of forward exchange. Texas businesses benefit from the taxes our parents and grandparents paid in the past through highways to move products and an educated workforce. We should all support budgets that plan for the needs of the future.
We encourage the Texas Public School Finance Commission and lawmakers to consider these methods for raising revenue to support public schools.
Will Texas Drop the Ball on Funding Higher Education?
Dick Lavine
Education, K-12 Public Education
Dick Lavine, Public education, public schools, School finance, Texas Legislature, txlege
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Dick Lavine focuses on building state and local revenue systems that meet Texans' needs. Before coming to the Center in 1994, he was a Senior Researcher at the House Research Organization of the Texas House of Representatives for ten years. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and served for many years as a member and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Travis Central Appraisal District. He is also a member of the Executive Board of AFSCME Texas Retirees, the statewide union local of retired public employees. The Equity Center named him the 2011 Champion for Equity for his work to reform our tax system to ensure it can adequately support public education and other public services. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1969, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975.
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YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE 2018 NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL AT ANZ STADIUM ON SUNDAY
NRL Grand Final Day celebrations begin at 11am on Sunday with a host of fan and family-friendly activities in Sydney Olympic Park;
Sunday marks 20 NRL Grand Finals at ANZ Stadium (Stadium Australia) with Roosters and Storm facing off for first time in a premiership decider;
Some tickets still available for the game here.
Return travel on ALL public transport included in tickets;
Arrive early to make the most of a massive day and allow additional time for security screening.
Julian Keith
THIS Sunday the two most dominant NRL clubs this century will face off for the first time ever in a Grand Final at ANZ Stadium and it's set to be a celebration like no other.
The Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm have appeared in 15 of the last 20 premiership deciders at ANZ Stadium (Stadium Australia) but the 2018 NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final will be the first time they compete for the honour of lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy.
2018 will see ANZ Stadium host its 20th NRL Grand Final and we're encouraging everyone to come out early to Sydney Olympic Park and celebrate with a monster day of activities.
The Precinct will come alive once again with a host of family-friendly activities for everyone to enjoy before gates open.
Grand Final Day will start in the Stadium with the historic first NRL Holden Women’s Premiership Grand Final with the Sydney Roosters facing the Brisbane Broncos.
Another Sydney club will feature in the 2018 Intrust Super State Championship Grand Final, with Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs playing Redcliffe Dolphins.
With a big day and a cracking atmosphere on the way, here is everything you need to make sure you have an unforgettable night.
WHAT TIME DOES IT START?
11:00am: Huge precinct celebration begins in Sydney Olympic Park;
1:15pm: Gates Open;
1:35pm: Inaugural NRL Holden Women’s Premiership Grand Final: Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos;
3:40pm: 2018 Intrust Super State Championship Grand Final: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Redcliffe Dolphins;
6:30pm: Entertainment, featuring Gang of Youths, commences inside ANZ Stadium;
7:20pm: 2018 NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final Sydney: Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm.
PRE-GRAND FINAL CELEBRATIONS
*click the map for full-res version
From 11am on Sunday fans are invited to Sydney Olympic Park for a celebration of food, drink, entertainment and all things rugby leage.
Fans can hit the entertainment area in Cathy Freeman Park with a marquee and bar, live entertainment and a host of activity spaces for the whole family.
Hungry? Olympic Boulevard will be transformed into a "Boulevard of Bites" on Saturday as a number of internationally themed street food pop-up stalls take over the area.
Plus, more than 20 static cafes, bars and restaurants will be open both before AND after the game in Sydney Olympic Park which will have you covered for a feed any time of day. Check the full list here.
Directly outside ANZ Stadium's Gate C will be a host of fan activations to get you warmed up before you head inside.
GRAND FINAL FEED
Cheering on your team in the NRL Grand Final can be hungry work, so why not refuel with some of our new food items available at the Stadium on Sunday?
Head here to see a list of food items and locations
HOW CAN I GET TO THE GAME?
Fans are strongly encouraged to arrive early to enjoy a full day of activities and beat the late afternoon rush ahead of the game.
Where possible, leave the car at home and take advantage of the return travel on ALL public transport (trains, buses, ferries & light rail) included in your tickets to the game.
Sydney Olympic Park Major Event Buses are running for the game and will begin between 11:50am and 12:30pm, depending on the route.
Additional direct train services will be running regularly to Olympic Park Station from both eastern and western Sydney beginning at around 1pm.
To plan your trip, head to the Transport for NSW Event Page here
Best plan is to leave the car at home, but if you must drive it is vital you pre-book your parking spot here.
WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
No rain for Sunday says the Bureau with an overcast day and a top of 19C on the cards.
Public safety is our No.1 priority at ANZ Stadium.
The Stadium works closely with NSW Police and other authorities to ensure everyone's safety at all events.
A high NSW Police and Security presence will be in place for the NRL Grand Final, both inside ANZ Stadium and throughout the Sydney Olympic Park precinct before, during and after the event.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early and leave additional time for the security screening process when entering the Stadium. This process will include mandatory bag searches and personal checks.
Only small bags (no larger than 30cm x 40cm) are permitted into ANZ Stadium for events, and all bags will be checked by security. Fans should arrive without bags if possible.
See something/Say something: Please report any unusual or suspicious behaviour or unattended items to Customer Service staff, Police or Security.
Thank you for helping us provide a safe environment for this great event.
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Home » Promotions
Hydro launches First Defense
Published: 08 October, 2013
Hydro International’s First Defense vortex separator is now available for the first time in the UK, in response to the growing need for economical surface water treatment on new developments, car parks and highways.
Already well-established and proven in the US, First Defense uses a gentle vortex action to remove coarse particles, litter and oil from surface water runoff – a requirement which will become increasingly important in the future as a result of growing regulation for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).
The First Defense has been launched as part of the Hydro StormTrain Series of surface water treatment devices, a comprehensive toolbox for silt, sediment and pollutant removal as part of SuDS.
“By introducing First Defense, Hydro is adding a well-established, proven technology to its UK range of surface water treatment devices, creating the broadest choice of proprietary treatment products available,” said Alex Stephenson, director of Hydro International’s UK stormwater division.
Delivered as a pre-cast, standard-size concrete manhole with internal components pre-fitted, First Defense delivers pollution control for small- to medium-size catchments with easy installation and minimal maintenance.
The internal components of First Defense are designed to create a low-energy rotational flow within the chamber, allowing sediments to settle to the sump, while oils, floating litter and debris rise to the upper containment area. Harmful pollutants are therefore captured safely within the device, protecting public areas.
The gentle action of low-energy vortex separation eliminates excessive agitation of captured pollutants, ensuring they are not resuspended during peak flows. During peak rainfall events, the integral bypass also ensures pollutants remain within the chamber and are not washed out.
The orientation of the outlet can be adapted to suit site conditions. Single and multiple inlet pipes are also available, along with an inlet surface grate for maximum design flexibility.
“Deciding on the correct SuDS-compliant treatment solution can be difficult,” added Mr Stephenson. “Hydro StormTrain Series offers a comprehensive range of options and the devices, including First Defense, that can be used individually or in combination to achieve an effective SuDS management train.”
For more information on the Hydro StormTrain Series call the StormTrain hotline on 01275 337955, email stormtrain@hydro-int.com or visit www.hydro-int.com/stormtrain.
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Saturday Night Live's Version of the VP Debate
Courtesy NBC's Marc Liepis via Politico -- 'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' WELCOMES BACK TINA FEY AND QUEEN LATIFAH FOR THEIR TAKE ON THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE:
QUEEN LATIFAH AS GWEN IFILL: 'Good evening, I'm Gwen Ifill and welcome to Washington University in St. Louis Missouri to the first and only 2008 Vice Presidential Debate between the Republican nominee, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware. Let's welcome the candidates.'
TINA FEY AS GOV. SARAH PALIN: 'Can I call you, 'Joe?'
JASON SUDEIKIS AS SEN. JOE BIDEN: 'Of course.'
FEY AS PALIN: 'OK, 'cause I practiced a couple of zingers where I call you Joe.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Now tonight's discussion will cover a wide range of topics including domestic and foreign policy matters. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to a direct question and then an additional two minutes for rebuttal and follow-up. As moderator, I will not ask any follow-up questions beyond 'do you agree?' or 'your response?' so as not to appear biased for Barack Obama in light of my new book (holding up book) 'The Breakthrough: Politics of Race in the Age of Obama,' coming out on inauguration day and available for pre-order on Amazon.com. And finally, we would like to remind our audience that due to the historically low expectations for Governor Palin, were she simply to do an adequate job tonight, and at no point cry, faint, run out of the building or vomit you should consider the debate a tie. Alright, let's begin. Senator Biden, how, as Vice President would you work to shrink the gap of polarization that has sprung up in Washington?
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'Well, I would do what I have done my whole career, whether it's been dealing with violence against women or putting 100,000 police officers in the streets. I would reach across the aisle. Like I've done with so many members of the other party. Members like John McCain. Because look, I love John McCain. He is one of my dearest friends. But at the same time, he's also dangerously unbalanced. I mean, let's be frank, John McCain -- and again, this is a man I would take a bullet for -- is bad at his job and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, 'God love him, but he's a raging maniac...' and a dear, dear friend.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Governor Palin. How will your administration deal with the current financial crisis?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'Well first of all, let me say how nice it is to meet Joe Biden. And may I say, up close your hair plugs don't look nearly as bad as everyone says. You know, John McCain and I, we're a couple of mavericks. And gosh darnit, we're gonna take that maverick energy right to Washington and we're gonna use it to fix this financial crisis and everything else that's plaguin' this great country of ours.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'How will you solve the financial crisis by being a maverick?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'You know we're gonna take every aspect of the crisis and look at it and then we're gonna ask ourselves, 'what would a maverick do in this situation?' And then, you know, we'll do that.' (SHE winks.)
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Senator Biden, how would your administration address the current financial crisis?'
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'Barack Obama and I understand that we need to regulate
Wall Street. John McCain voted against Wall Street regulation 41 times. Let me repeat that. 41 times! And again, this is a man I love. If I had to spend the rest of my life on a desert island with only one other person it would be John McCain -- no doubt about it. I mean, you should see the way my face lights up when he walks into a room. But the fact is, John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time, let me say that again: time.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Governor Palin, would you like to respond to Senator Biden's comments about Senator McCain?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'No thank you, but I would like to talk about bein' an outsider. You see while Senator Biden has been in Washington all these years I've been with regular people. Hockey moms and Joe Six-packs I'd also like to give a shout out to the third graders of Gladys Woods Elementary who were so helpful to me in my debate prep. Also too, you see, I think a bit differently from an insider. I don't think it's patriotic to pay more taxes. I don't think it's patriotic to criticize these wars we got goin' on. I do think it's patriotic to tell the government, 'Hey get outta my way! Stop tryin' to impose on my right to shoot wolves from a helicopter.' But a Washington insider like Joe Biden probably disagrees.'
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'You know I get a little tired of being told I'm an insider. I come from Scranton, Pennsylvania and that's as hardscrabble a place as you're gonna find. I'll show you around some time and you'll see. It's a hellhole. An absolute jerkwater of a town. You couldn't stand to spend a weekend there. It is just an awful, awful sad place filled with sad desperate people with no ambition. Nobody, and I mean nobody, but me has ever come out of that place. It's a genetic cesspool. So don't be telling me that I'm part of the Washington elite because I come from the absolute worst place on Earth: Scranton, Pennsylvania. And Wilmington, Delaware is not much better.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Senator Palin. Address your position on global warming and whether you think it's man-made or not.'
FEY AS PALIN: 'Gwen, we don't know if this climate change hoozie-what's-it is man-made or if it's just a natural part of the 'End of Days.' But I'm not gonna talk about that I would like to talk about taxes, because with Barack Obama, you're gonna be paying higher taxes. But not with me and my fellow maverick. We are not afraid to get maverick-y in there and ruffle feathers and not got to allow that. And also, too, the great Ronald Reagan.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'The next question is for you, Senator Biden. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?'
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'I do. In an Obama-Biden administration same-sex couples would be guaranteed the same property rights, rights to insurance, and rights of ownership as heterosexual couples. There will be no distinction. I repeat, no distinction.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'So to clarify, do you support gay marriage, Senator Biden?'
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'Absolutely not. But I do think they should be allowed to visit one another in the hospital and in a lot of ways, that's just as good, if not better.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Governor Palin. Would you extend same-sex rights to the entire country?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'You know I would be afraid of where that would lead. I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers. But don't think I don't tolerate gay people. Because I do. I tolerate them with all my heart. And I know quite a few too. Not personally. But I know of them. I've seen 'Ellen.' Oh, and there was this one girl on my college basketball team. She wasn't officially 'a gay,' but, you know, we were pretty sure.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Governor Palin, what is your position on Healthcare regulation?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'I'm gonna ignore that question and instead talk about Israel. I love Israel so much. Bless its heart. There's a special place for Israel in heaven. And I know some people are going to say I'm only saying that to pander to Florida voters, but from a very young age, my two greatest loves were always Jews and Cuban food.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'I would now like to give each of you a chance to make a closing statement.'
FEY AS PALIN: : (holding flute): Oh, are we not doing the talent portion?
(FEY AS PALIN plays flute, winks)
(LATIFAH AS IFILL stares)
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Senator Biden, your closing statement?'
SUDEIKIS AS BIDEN: 'My goal tonight was a simple one. To come up here and at no point seem like a condescending, egomaniacal bully, and I'm gonna be honest, I think I nailed it. Sure there were moments when I wanted to say, 'Hey, this lady is a dummy!' But I didn't. Because Joe Biden is better than that. I repeat Joe Biden is better than that (pointing at FEY/PALIN). So to all of the pundits who said I would seem cocky or arrogant. You dopes got schooled Biden-style.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Governor Palin?'
FEY AS PALIN: 'I liked being here tonight answering these tough questions without the filter of the mainstream gotcha media with their 'follow-up questions,' 'fact-checking' or 'incessant need to figure out what your words mean and why ya put them in that order.' I'm happy to be speaking directly to the American people to let them know if you want an outsider who doesn't like politics as usual or pronouncin' the 'g' and the end of words she's sayin' I think you know who to vote for. Oh, and for those Joe Six-packs out there playing a drinking game at home -- Maverick.'
LATIFAH AS IFILL: 'Well, this concludes tonight's debate. The book drops November 4, and Live From New York...It's Saturday Night!
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Lakers are Rose's favorite to win title (1:25)
Jalen Rose sees the Lakers' height being a problem for teams around the league. He goes on to say he would pick the Lakers right now to win the championship. (1:25)
Dave McMenaminESPN Staff Writer
Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a quiet summer night for Anthony Davis.
With the rumor mill churning, he sought refuge with Keanu Reeves -- just another anonymous moviegoer watching bad guys get pistol-whipped in "John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum."
As the film came to an end, Davis closed out his check. (It was one of those luxury cinemas where orders are brought right to your seat.) In the dark of the theater, he slid his credit card back into his wallet and his wallet back into his bag.
The next morning, Davis left his home near Thousand Oaks, California, and stopped at a gas station. Standing at the pump to pay, he felt like he'd just taken a John Wick roundhouse kick to the stomach: He didn't have his wallet.
"It must be at the movies," Davis thought. So he called the theater and asked to speak to the manager.
"No, no, your wallet's not here," he was told.
Undeterred, Davis and a couple of friends drove to the theater, trying to retrace his steps. Again, they asked if a wallet had turned up. It had not.
They searched the theater, in and around his seat. No dice.
He called the next day. No wallet.
He called the day after that. Still no wallet.
Another day passed, and Davis returned to the theater, this time to see the Seth Rogen-Charlize Theron comedy "Long Shot." He wasn't optimistic but asked about the wallet one last time. They didn't have it.
Gone were both his Illinois state ID and driver's license. He arranged for a new medical insurance card and contacted credit card companies to issue new sets of plastic. And then came the issue of the actual wallet itself. Davis figured he'd never see the black and blue Goyard wallet again. In its place, he picked up an all-black Louis Vuitton pocket-sized valise to complete the swap.
This was not what Davis had in mind when he went to the theater for a reprieve. Then again, things hadn't exactly gone according to plan since a January trade request went public and submarined his season.
IN MID-APRIL, when the New Orleans Pelicans retooled their front office, hiring former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin as their executive vice president of basketball operations, Griffin inherited a quandary: whether to honor a preexisting trade request by Davis or attempt to mend fences as a fresh voice and risk the next season devolving into a high-stakes standoff.
The rub was two-fold: One obstacle, sources told ESPN, was Pelicans owner Gayle Benson's sour feelings toward L.A. -- a lingering disdain over how Davis' final season with the franchise had been compromised by AD's initial request.
"Clearly the process began at the trade deadline," Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka says. "But I think it's no mystery that there wasn't engagement in them wanting to do a trade at that time. I think that's just sort of fact."
The second problem? Despite all of that, the Lakers were their most viable -- if not their only -- option.
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"When I took over, there was some latent discontent, maybe with the way things had been handled," Griffin says. "We just talked about the fact that, look, in all likelihood the best package is going to come from this team, because it's the only team that AD's willing to stay at."
Acting on behalf of his client, agent Rich Paul had all but made the decision for the Pelicans. He signaled to any other interested trade partners -- i.e. the Boston Celtics, who sources say coveted the big man for years -- that Davis would walk as a free agent in the summer of 2020 if they dealt for him.
"The last thing you want to do is put a GM in a situation where he trades away an asset and then the guy walks out the door," Paul says. "Like, you can't do business that way. So it's not really a hard conversation to have.
"And I don't think it stopped Danny Ainge from trying. It's just that maybe he didn't have the deal [he wanted]. He wasn't willing to give up the young players, which I don't blame him. I wouldn't give them up either if the guy is not going to re-sign."
Griffin, who acknowledges that his preexisting relationship with Paul was likely a benefit when he was selected to replace Dell Demps, couldn't help but admire the agent's moxie.
"Rich had done such an effective job of smoking out all of the competition for the Lakers that we were left with the sense that the best deal is going to very likely come from them. And if we can get X-Y-Z, we have to execute the deal," Griffin recalls.
But if the Pelicans were going to part with AD, it wouldn't be for just X-Y-Z. They wanted the whole alphabet.
And on May 14, they'd get their chance.
The results of the draft lottery helped grease the wheels for renewed trade conversations, league sources told ESPN. The Lakers walked away with the No. 4 pick, despite having just a 9.4% chance of doing so; the Pelicans, bucking mere 6% odds, landed the No. 1 pick and first dibs at Duke's Zion Williamson.
"[Davis] wanted to go to two places: New York or L.A," Paul reflects. "After the draft [lottery], I was able to see where everything lies. The fact that [the Pelicans] were going to get the first pick caused me to understand that it softened the blow of losing Anthony Davis because the organization could still have some momentum.
"Now, where he would go was up to who was going to step up and give the best offer."
"Major NBA trades live on the edge of a dime. I think maybe the everyday fan doesn't know how the fulcrum is so razor-thin."
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka
The Lakers parted with the No. 4 pick, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, as well as a 2021 first-rounder protected Nos. 9-30 (which becomes unprotected in 2022), first-round swap rights in 2023 and a 2024 first-round pick with the option to defer to 2025.
"Throughout the whole time, we were trying to gauge the value of the fourth pick," Griffin says.
Many pundits viewed a steep drop-off following the top three prospects in Williamson, Ja Morant and RJ Barrett. Unless there was a team that viewed another player worthy of that group, the fourth pick really wasn't all that much more valuable than, say, the 10th pick -- only more expensive because of the cascading rookie salary structure.
Playing out the hypothetical trade opportunities that could exist if the Pelicans did the deal with the Lakers, Griffin eventually found interest from the Atlanta Hawks, who ended up sending New Orleans the No. 8, No. 17 and No. 35 picks in the 2019 draft and a heavily protected 2020 first-rounder for No. 4 so the Hawks could take De'Andre Hunter out of Virginia.
"Major NBA trades live on the edge of a dime," Pelinka says. "I think maybe the everyday fan doesn't know how the fulcrum is so razor-thin, and something's close to being done and then it's far from being done and then you think you have it done and you start over.
"The day that it was completed, I remember there were a number of hurdles that seemed insurmountable that came up where we thought this just is never going to happen."
Griffin, who had parted ways with the Cavs just days before Kyrie Irving requested a trade out of Cleveland, had ruminated for some time on how he would have handled that situation. Now that he was in the driver's seat with Davis, he was intent on leveraging a killer deal.
"Literally the day that the trade happened," Pelinka says, "there were a couple points I was convinced that there would be no further conversations."
But the Lakers were too invested to walk away. They owed it, Pelinka thought, to LeBron James.
"When a player of LeBron's stature puts his trust in the organization," Pelinka says, "I think there's an implicit bilateral trust going back, saying: 'We're going to do everything we can to put you in a position to win more championships, because that's what you're about.'"
Anthony Davis spoke with Kawhi Leonard during free agency in the hopes that the reigning Finals MVP would sign with the Lakers and form a new Big Three before Leonard eventually chose the Clippers. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BACK IN 2015, NBA journeyman center Kendrick Perkins landed in New Orleans, where he would play one season alongside Davis on the Pelicans. On the road, the two would frequently break bread together, and their dinner conversations would often turn toward James, whom Perkins had played with on the AAU circuit as a teenager. They were also teammates in Cleveland during James' second stint with the Cavs. During those dinners, Perkins would gush about the four-time MVP's focus and preparation.
"I used to brag about Bron a lot with him," Perkins says. "He really didn't have to ask me [about James]. I was doing more of the talking."
In the summer of 2018, when word got out that Davis could be looking for a new agent, it was Perkins who introduced Davis to Klutch Sports.
"I thought it was the best thing for AD," Perkins says. "I thought he needed to be around that type of greatness."
Paul saw the star beneath Davis' signature synophrys and knew there was much more for the power forward to accomplish in the league beyond one second-round postseason appearance.
"He's just as talented as anyone who's ever played this game," Paul says. "Six-11, makes 3s, blocks shots. I think he's one of the better passing big men in our game. In my opinion, this is what makes him different from Giannis [Antetokounmpo].
"Like, if you put Anthony Davis on that Bucks team last year, they'd be playing in the Finals. He knows how to make guys better. That's not a knock to Giannis, but that's just what [I think]."
After that fateful meeting manifested the three-team trade to form a new superstar duo, James and Davis shared a new dream of parlaying their duo into a trio. As free agency opened in July, Kawhi Leonard was indisputably the biggest free agent on the market.
The King and The Brow set their sights on The Claw.
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Davis says he spoke to Leonard over the phone once in the first five days of free agency. Hardly a fervent flirtation, but as much as he felt comfortable engaging in.
"I don't really know Kawhi like that -- I don't think no one really knows Kawhi like that. But obviously we were hopeful," Davis says. "I definitely thought that it was a possibility that we could get him. ... I'm not going to be a haggling guy. Especially when he came and said he didn't really like the media [attention] and people pressuring him.
"But I think there was a time where all of us felt like we were really, really close to getting Kawhi."
So close that Davis and James started envisioning what the Lakers would look like with arguably the biggest Big Three of all time roaming the court.
"I think it [has] always been about the Big Three," Davis says. "We were talking like, 'Man, we get Kawhi, man, this is what we can do. We can do it like this, this, this, this. ...'"
On July 6, though, Leonard made his announcement: The reigning Finals MVP would forsake the Toronto Raptors not for the Lakers but for their Staples Center cohabitants, the LA Clippers. And Davis immediately flipped his mental switch.
"[I was] like, 'Wait, hold on,'" Davis recalls. "'We [still] got LeBron and Anthony Davis. Let's do it.'"
FROM THE MOMENT that Davis signed on with the Lakers, he found himself almost constantly engaged in player personnel decisions with his new GM. For Davis, who says he was consulted on major moves in New Orleans but never the minutiae, it took some getting used to.
"We were doing constant calls about, 'What do you think of this or this player?'" he says. "Rob was almost like a stalking girlfriend. He was an agent, so he's played both sides. He knows that in order for stuff to work, the players have to be involved. And he tried to make sure that LeBron and I were involved as much as possible. During free agency, every decision I got a text or a call, even just two minutes, 'Look, this is going on. ... How do you feel? OK, cool.'
"Every single decision. I [have] never been involved so much. No matter who the player was, he wanted to make sure. It was on everything. And it was like, 'Wow.' To the point where I was like, 'All right, Rob, stop calling me.'"
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Pelinka, who says that treating "superstars like partners" is a mentality that front offices must adopt in the era of player empowerment, fully acknowledges that this is his approach. He estimates hundreds of three-way calls with James and Davis since the trade.
Such collaboration is enticing in the moment but also a plausible avenue for escape later. Case in point: Magic Johnson was blamed for being the architect of the Lakers' ill-conceived roster last season -- one that prioritized playmakers over shooters -- despite undoubted discussions at various points with others in the organization, including James, about the construction.
Still, being scrutinized is just part of the Laker experience, as Davis sees it. In fact, he says he relishes it.
"I think a lot of stuff that I did in New Orleans, people saw and heard about. But then again, people said, 'Well, it was New Orleans.' I think the big question is, 'All right, let's see what he can do on a big stage. Obviously the playoffs are the playoffs, but let's see what he does on 35 [national] TV games now," Davis says.
"Nobody was really waking up [for a game] in New Orleans. Every game now is like, 'All right, if we beat the Lakers [we accomplished something].' [With the Pelicans] we could lose games and people were like, 'OK, well, no one expected them to win this game,' or whatever. Now every night you have to show up. If not, the next day here comes your name through the tabloids."
It's a pressure the low-key Davis -- who admits that James already rides for not watching enough game film on his downtime, preferring to unwind by playing Madden -- says he embraces.
"I think having that for the first time is going to be fun," he says. "I'm looking forward to it. Just to show the world, like, 'All right, it wasn't a fluke for seven years in New Orleans.'"
Rob Pelinka so frequently consulted Anthony Davis on player personnel decisions that Davis finally asked the GM to "stop calling me." Mark Ralston/Getty Images
WITH A WALL full of green cardboard pizza boxes folded up behind him and a vegetarian pie smothered in sheep cheese resting on the paper place mat in front of him, James basked in the warmth emanating from the open kitchen floor plan at Jon & Vinny's.
James had become a regular at the West L.A. outpost of the trendy Italian restaurant. In fact, he ate at the spot so often the chef concocted the off-menu sheep cheese pizza to align with his dietary restrictions. With no entrée costing more than $26 and brown paper napkins complementing the white paper place mats on the tables, it was easy to feel comfortable.
But as low-key as the setting might have been, it was a special occasion.
Seated with him at the wooden booth on this clear summer night was Davis, the latest in the Lakers' long line of star big men and perhaps the key piece to James enjoying success in the latter stages of his basketball career.
"It was the end of the dinner," Davis says. "He pulled out a card. He was like, 'My wife wanted me to give you this.' I was like, 'Why is Savannah giving me a card?'"
Davis tore open the envelope and began to read the inscription.
"'Welcome to L.A.' such and such and such, 'bro,'" Davis says, remembering the note. "I stopped reading. I said, 'Wait, Savannah doesn't even call me 'bro.'"
He scanned to the bottom of the card for the signature: King James #6.
"Then he pulls the jersey out."
From inside the to-go bag the waiter had brought over, James whipped out a gold Lakers jersey with No. 23 stitched in purple numerals.
"He was like, 'This is yours.'"
Davis figured the gift to be one of James' own jerseys. That was until he turned the jersey around: Across the shoulders, stitched just above the No. 23, was the name "Davis."
"He was like, 'I know you wanted 23,'" says Davis, who wore the number at both the University of Kentucky and all seven seasons in New Orleans. "For him to, in an instant, just say, 'Here. Here's 23. You can have it.' ... It was a cool moment."
It ended up being the ultimate "it's the thought that counts" gift. While league sources confirm the NBA would have bent the rules to allow for James to swap his jersey number without meeting the deadline to file the paperwork a year ahead of time, Nike intervened. The official uniform supplier for the league -- and a company that James and Davis both represent -- cited tens of millions of dollars in potentially wasted inventory of James No. 23 gear, according to sources.
The moment was ironic -- in a what-a-difference-a-decade-makes sort of way. Davis had first met James nine years prior and some 2,300 miles away as a camper at the LeBron James Skills Academy.
"For him to, in an instant, just say, 'Here. Here's 23. You can have it.' ... It was a cool moment."
Anthony Davis, on LeBron James offering his jersey number
Long before he would ascend to the No. 1 pick in the draft, Davis had folded a growing and near-7-foot frame into a Greyhound Bus for an 11-hour trek from Chicago to Akron, Ohio. There at the camp the 17-year-old Davis watched the TV special "The Decision" before James arrived at the gym later that week.
Davis donned a random camp-issued No. 44 jersey with "LeBron James" printed across the chest -- just another kid trying to stand out in a crowd of phenoms. When James arrived after announcing his intentions for South Beach, Davis was happy to just get a glimpse of him, dap him up, snap a photo. "It was just like, 'Man, this is LeBron,'" Davis recalls.
Now it was no longer Davis, the camper, hoping to meet James, the superstar. It was James, one of the greatest of all time, hoping to impress Davis, the superstar. It was no longer James shifting the balance of power in the league by going from Cleveland to Miami. It was Davis turning the Lakers back into contenders by going from New Orleans to L.A.
"It was like," Davis says before trailing off. "It speaks about who he is and how bad he wanted me to be here."
A FEW WEEKS after the trade was consummated, Davis settled back into L.A. life. Wielding his new, fully stocked wallet, he returned to the same theater to see another film: the raunchy, laugh-out-loud "Good Boys." As the screen flickered with images, an attendant approached his seat.
"I'm like, 'Excuse me, may I help you?'" Davis says. "They were like, 'Our manager told us to let you know that we have your wallet.'"
He couldn't believe it. "I said, 'What?!' It just had to be because I'm a Laker now. I mean, they had my wallet the entire time."
The manager apologized profusely and tried to make it up to him. "She gave me a whole bunch of vouchers -- like 25 movies I can go see," Davis says.
He doubts he'll ever cash in on the free flicks, though. Now a part of the Lakers, Davis has moved 30 miles east of Thousand Oaks into a mansion in Bel Air.
He found his old wallet. He found his new team. He hopes to find the Larry O'Brien trophy in his hands in June.
"I really feel like we can win it."
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Home » Posts » Google Snippets » How Wistia Builds Its Competitive Advantage
How Wistia Builds Its Competitive Advantage
October 16, 2012 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment
@allanbranch Yup, and we love it.
— Chris Savage (@csavage) September 18, 2012
Wistia provides super easy, distinctive video hosting, management, and marketing for businesses. We wanted to find out from co-founder and CEO, Chris Savage, how Wistia uses iDoneThis and why they love it.
In the past year, Wistia has gone through a growth spurt, doubling to a total of fifteen people. Chris wrote a great blog post about the challenges of staying productive during such rapid growth, pointing out how Wistia’s “internal communication mechanisms have had to evolve so that they are less disruptive, more relevant, and more helpful.”
Allotted ample ownership and authority, people at Wistia have a great deal of freedom over what they do. As a result, as Chris explains, “it’s hard to know what everyone else is doing, which I think is really important.” So, the Wistia team uses iDoneThis to “facilitate what would often be those random connections that would happen if you were sitting next to somebody, if you were walking by somebody working on something.”
iDoneThis enables fast-growing companies like Wistia to revive something of the easy immediacy of two founders working in a room together, capturing valuable information that wouldn’t have been pre-set on a task list or deemed “worthy” of sending out yet another email. Chris notes, “That’s something that’s been really big. It’s good that other people can see that that’s happening, know that it’s important, and can comment on it.”
The Wistia team relies on tools like Yammer to keep the productivity engine running and continues to hold weekly stand-up meetings, but specifically for announcing goals for the week. iDoneThis is used for “a very different purpose,” says Chris. “It’s an accomplishment list and a way to show others what we’re working on. Other tools don’t supply that.”
What’s distinctive about the Wistia team is the obvious pride that they have in the company culture and the deliberate effort with which that culture is cultivated. Chris elaborates, “A big thing we wanted to do was start to write it down and talk about it and have a vocabulary, because we felt like if we don’t fight for it, we won’t be able to maintain it. It actually feels like a competitive advantage.”
Part of building that company culture meant defining a company identity, or the “Wistia way” of doing things. When Wistia launched a free version of its service in June, for example, they created a rap video instead of simply sending out an email and adding the plan to the pricing page. They did it the Wistia way: “Go a little over the top, have a lot of fun with it, and express our own excitement.”
We haven’t created a rap video about it, but we’re very excited that iDoneThis helps make the Wistia way happen!
Filed Under: Google Snippets Tagged With: Case Study, Management, Wistia
“I Done This allows us to track performance and of course, it’s amazing to keep in sync with everyone, working as a remote team. I Done This is invaluable to us and has changed our productivity for the better.”
Leo Widrich, COO at Buffer
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Cowboys News: Rod Marinelli will reportedly be coaching for the Raiders in 2020
by TDCfan January 15, 2020 Articles
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Plus, Leighton Vander Esch got surgery; when will he return?
Report: Raiders replacing line coach with Rod Marinelli – Darin Gantt, NBC Sports
With the expected hirings of Mike Nolan as defensive coordinator and Jim Tomsula as defensive line coach, that seemed to indicate Rod Marinelli’s days in Dallas were finished. We got hard confirmation of that on Tuesday, as the coach took a job in Sin City.
According to Jim Trotter of NFL Network, the Raiders are firing defensive line coach Brentson Buckner. To replace him, they’re expected to hire former Cowboys defensive coordinator and line coach Rod Marinelli.
The 70-year-old Marinelli was Gruden’s assistant head coach and line coach in Tampa Bay from 2002-05, before he left to become head coach of the Lions. The Raiders seemed to make progress this year under Buckner, improving from 13 sacks in 2018 to 32, and going from 30th against the run to eighth.
Xavier Woods predicts Cowboys will play in Super Bowl next season – Charean Williams, NBC Sports
On Tuesday, Cowboys safety Xavier Woods went on the show Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe to discuss all things Cowboys. Along with some other interesting nuggets, Woods made a bold prediction about the 2020 Dallas Cowboys.
While defending Garrett, Woods also said the Cowboys have all the talent they need to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. In fact, according to Woods, the Cowboys had all the talent they needed in 2019 but couldn’t “put it together.”
Mike McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl with the Packers, now is charged with getting the Cowboys where they haven’t gone the past 24 seasons. “New energy breeds something different,” Woods said. “He’s won before.”
Woods is so confident in the Cowboys’ talent and McCarthy’s history that he predicts the Cowboys will play in Super Bowl LV in Tampa next February. “We’ll be in the Super Bowl,” Woods said. “I don’t know where it is [next year], but we’ll be there.”
Cowboys LB Vander Esch undergoes neck surgery – Jeremy Bergman, NFL.com
Leighton Vander Esch missed nearly half of the 2019 season with a neck stinger, a potential concern given the linebacker’s history with the injury. And while he never went on injured reserve, Vander Esch did get surgery to hopefully fix the issue.
Vander Esch was expected to undergo some type of surgery when Dallas placed him on season-ending injured reserve on Dec. 23. NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported at the time that the second-year linebacker was expected to be back well before training camp.
Vander Esch has had recurring neck issues dating back to his college days at Boise State. The linebacker wears a restrictor to keep his range of motion under control while playing, but suffered a stinger during the 2019 season. Issues with his neck and back limited him to nine games during the 2019 campaign.
Jimmy Johnson’s Hall of Fame surprise was the Cowboys’ biggest triumph in 25 years – Justin Tinsley, ESPN
It’s been well documented that the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since the days of the Triplets, and even though they technically won a ring without Jimmy Johnson, it was the team he helped build. Now that Johnson is being inducted to the Hall of Fame, it’s a sobering reminder of what Dallas has become without him.
Perhaps most surprising was how this tearful induction marked the finest moment in the past 25 years for the Dallas Cowboys, a franchise marred by inconsistency and mediocrity, unable to recreate the success forever synonymous with Johnson at Valley Ranch.
The moment was poetic justice distilled, a quarter-century after poetic injustice crippled a dynasty when Johnson unceremoniously left Dallas after a falling out with owner Jerry Jones. That one decision stands as the turning point that has haunted the team, especially Jones, ever since.
The truth is that for an entire generation of Cowboys fans, fandom is more of a family heirloom than it is due to anything the team has done on the field in the 20-plus years since Jimmy’s departure. It is a remembrance of a time when the nickname “America’s Team” carried weight or of a franchise that combined popularity and dominance so seamlessly that its only competition for cultural supremacy was Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
There have been talented teams post-Jimmy — perhaps none more so yet ultimately more disappointing than this season’s team. There has been a 13-3 season here, a 12-4 campaign there and occasional divisional championships. But gut-wrenching playoff losses are the closest the franchise has come to the successes of yesteryear.
Mike McCarthy’s chance to succeed with Cowboys comes with power Jerry Jones never afforded Jason Garrett – Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Morning News
It’s no secret that Jerry Jones, one of the few owners to also act as general manager, is heavily involved with the day to day operations of the team. That makes it all the more surprising that Mike McCarthy is being given free reign over his new coaching staff.
McCarthy is expected to call plays, but if he doesn’t, it’ll be his choice as opposed to the owner’s decision. Moore and Doug Nussmeier, who’s moving from tight ends coach to quarterbacks coach, will be the only holdovers from Garrett’s staff. None of the new dudes have a history with Jones. Their loyalty is to the guy who hired him: McCarthy.
But it’s important to note the 2020 Cowboys will have an entirely new feel because it will have a new head coach for the first time in a decade, a new defensive coordinator for the first time in six seasons and a new offense for the first time since 2007, when Garrett arrived as offensive coordinator.
Giving McCarthy control of the staff and the ability to hire and fire gives him juice. It’s important for players to know the coach – not the GM – controls their future on the roster.
Mike McCarthy has Everything he Needs to Turn Cowboys Around Quickly – Matthew Lenix, Inside the Star
Mike McCarthy was no doubt brought in for the Cowboys to be successful immediately, especially with all the money Jerry Jones is about to spend on his players. It’s good, then, that McCarthy seemingly has all the pieces in place to get the Cowboys where they need to be sooner rather than later.
Quarterback Dak Prescott saw his numbers go through the roof this season. He set career highs in yards (4,902) and touchdown passes (30). He led the league in passing yards for the first 15 weeks until eventually being edged out by Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston. Moore really took the shackles off and let Prescott’s true arm talent be put on display, unlike the days of former OC Scott Linehan. McCarthy has been around some of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time during his coaching days such as Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. I have no doubt he’ll bring the best out of Prescott.
Ezekiel Elliott is coming off another excellent season, albeit under the radar. The two-time rushing champion finishing fourth in rushing (1,357), tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns (12), second in all-purpose yards (1,777), and tied for first in 100-yard games (7). Mind you, he did this while playing with the NFL’s second-leading passer and two 1,100-yard receivers, which doesn’t happen often. During his introductory press conference almost a week ago, McCarthy made it clear that Elliott would indeed get his touches.
“I think first off with Zeke, he’s going to get the football,” McCarthy said. “Let’s make no mistake about that. I think you have to clearly understand when you saw the offense is going to make a quarterback successful, the best play to make him successful is a great run game. We clearly understand what we have here and how we could build off of that.”
BTB Podcast
We have a special edition of The Ocho on the BTB podcast for you. Our own RJ Ochoa filled in on ESPN San Antonio’s The Blitz on Tuesday and along with Jason Minnix interviewed Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay. Listen to it right here.
Make sure that you never miss an episode from Blogging The Boys by subscribing to the Blogging The Boys podcast feed!
Could the 2020 Dallas Cowboys offense mirror the Kansas City Chiefs?
The Story of Mahatma Gandhi |Baapu|Father Of Nation |October 2
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Timothy Cann on My Dallas Cowboys HOLDS the L vs The Philadelphia Eagles
george wood on My Dallas Cowboys HOLDS the L vs The Philadelphia Eagles
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A truer spirit of Christmas
Published Tuesday, December 10, 2013 in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal.
As Christmas approaches, I’m finding two vastly different images from recent news flashing through my mind.
The first is that of an early morning crowd of people surging and shoving for first access to Black Friday specials. Apparently some punches were thrown, some people were hurt and some shots were fired. But retailers indicate that over two million televisions were sold that day.
The second image is that of thousands of shocked, dazed survivors lined up in an orderly queue amid the rubble of Tacloban, Philippines, to receive emergency supplies. For people who have just lost family members, friends and most of their life’s possessions, they’re remarkably – no, incredibly – civilized.
Good intentions, questionable outcomes
It’s hard to witness the frantic consumer side of Christmas and not experience at least a twinge of unease. To be sure, our intentions are noble: it’s the time of year when we express good feelings by giving to those dearest to us.
But unfortunately, our good intentions don’t always translate into good outcomes. We often struggle for ideas, and end up giving things that are not useful or durable. We feel obliged to reciprocate when gifts appear from unexpected sources, only because we don’t want to appear cheap, and end up giving something that is not wanted or needed. We may spend more than we should, perhaps in atonement for time not spent together.
Plus we create a mountain of trash. We’d do well to put some milk and cookies out for our poor, beleaguered garbage man, because he hauls away half of what Santa hauls in, and then some. How else could we make place for two million new televisions?
Somehow, a deep, time-honoured celebration of love and hope appears to be slipping ever closer to becoming a shallow celebration of stuff.
Perhaps there is a better way – a middle ground between unbridled consumerism and Grinch-like austerity that better reflects the true spirit of the season.
Since most of our enduring joys come from our traditions and our people, bring on the eggnog and the get-togethers. And cheers to thoughtful, reasonable gift giving too. (Need ideas? Think local; experiential; edible; fair trade. Seek out durable; quality; no batteries; minimal packaging; recyclable.)
But since, in this blessed part of the world, most recipients of our gifts actually need very little, why not direct a portion of our giving to places where need is greater, whether a block away or a world away?
We can help our local emergency shelter by buying a symbolic night of accommodation – just $10 at the Fredericton shelter!
We can help a needy family overseas by buying them a cow, a goat or other farm animal through wonderful organizations like Chalice and Plan Canada.
Through UNICEF, we can buy new school supplies for a child unable to afford them, or help rehabilitate a child soldier.
A quick internet search will yield a myriad of additional options to suit the values and priorities of any donor.
If much of our joy at Christmas comes from giving, perhaps that joy is greatest when we give where need is greatest. As recent images from the Philippines underline, there is no shortage of need. Not for TVs, but for food – shelter – livelihoods.
Become ‘a means’
A closing thought: maybe this Christmas we can draw inspiration from Pope Francis, who has made the poor his focus and humility his trademark. Perhaps the Prayer of St Francis, inspired by the Pope’s namesake, St Francis of Assisi, best reflects the truer spirit of Christmas our world thirsts for: “Make me a means of your peace; where there is despair, (let me sow) hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy... for it is in giving that we receive”.
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도영락 교수
Nano Chemistry
Ph.D. Brown University
Webpage :http://nanochem.kookmin.ac.kr/
E-mail : yrdo@kookmin.ac.kr
Tel/ Room : (office) +82-2-910-4893 , (lab) +82-2-910-5885 , 5257
Location : (office) Room 613 [Dormitory D], (lab) Room 506 , 510 , 522-2 [Science B/D]
B.Sc., Korea University, Department of Chemistry (1982 – 1986)
M.Sc., Korea University, Department of Chemistry (1986 – 1988)
Ph.D., Brown University, Department of Chemistry (1989 – 1994)
Senior Researcher, Samsung SDI Co. Ltd., Corporate Research and Development Center, Korea. (Sep. 1993 – Feb. 2000)
Principal Researcher, Samsung SDI Co. Ltd., Corporate Research and Development Center, Korea (04, 2000 – 02, 2004)
- Synthesis, simulation and characterization for 2-dimensional nano-strucutre (photonic crystal) for the application to the optical and electronic materials.
- Design and application of nano-structure template for nano-materials to electronic devices, for the interdisciplinary purpose of combining chemistry,
physics, electronics and optics.
- Synthesis of inorganic nano-materials, quantum dot, and luminescent materials.
- Fusion methodology of combining nano-technology (NT) and information-technology (IT)
- Materials for flat-panel display, lighting and laser.
: organic light emitting diode (OLED), field emission display (FED), light emitting diode (LED), photonic-crystal lighting and nano-laser.
"Excellent color rendering indexes of multi-package white LEDs", J. H. Oh, S. J. Yang, Y.-G. Sung, Y. R. Do, Optics Express, 20(18), 20276-20285 (2012) [Featured in the NewsBreraks of Laser Focus World, "Warm- to cool-white tunable LED package has high CRI, luminous efficacy" 48 (2012)] [Featured in Large Display Report, "Warm- to cool-white tunable LED package has high CRI, luminous efficacy" 10, 25 (2012)].
"Comparisons of the Structural and Optical Properties of o-AgInS2, t-AgInS2, and c-AgIn5S8 Nanocrystals and their Solid-Solution Nanocrystals with ZnS", Sung Pyo Hong, Hoo Keun Park, Ji Hye Oh, Heesun Yang, and Young Rag Do, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22, 18939-18949 (2012).
"Superhydrophobicity of 2D SiO2 hierarchical micro/nanorod structures fabricated using a two-step micro/nanosphere lithography", H. K. Park, S. W. Yoon, and Y. R. Do, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22(28), 14035-14041 (2012).
"Highly-efficient, tunable green, phosphor-converted LEDs using a long-pass dichroic filter and a series of orthosilicate phosphors for tri-color white LEDs", J. H. Oh, J. R. Oh, H. K. Park, Y.-G. Sung, and Y. R. Do, Optics Express, 20, S1 (2012). [Energy Express S1 (2012)] [Featured in the NewsBreraks of Laser Focus World, "green phosphor-converted LED with LPDF aims at ultrahigh efficiency" 41, 14 (2011)].
"Fabrication of wafer-scale polystyrene photonic crystal multilayers via the layer-by-layer scooping transfer technique", J. R. Oh, J. H. Moon, S.Yoon, C. R. Park, and Y. R. Do, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 21, 14167-14172 (2011). [Featured in the inside frontcover, Selected as a hot article, Selected article in the themed issue: Materials Chemistry of Nanofabrication].
"New paradigm of multi-chip white LEDs: combination of an InGaN blue LED and full down-converted phosphor-converted LEDs", J. H. Oh, J. R. Oh, H. K. Park, Y.-G. Sung, and Y. R. Do, Optics Express, 19, A270-A279 (2011). [Energy Express, 2 (2011), Selected articles published in recent Optics Express issues].
"Wafer-scale colloidal lithography based on self-assembly of polystyrene nanospheres and atomic layer deposition", J. R. Oh, J. H. Moon, H. K. Park, J. H. Park, H. Chung, J. Jeong, W. Kim, and Y. R. Do, 20, 5025-5026, Journal of Materials Chemistry (2010). [Featured in the backcover of J. Mater. Chem.].
"Highly efficient phosphor-converted white organic light-emitting diodes with moderate microcavity and light-recycling filters", S.-H. Cho, J. R. Oh, H. K. Park, H. K. Kim, Y.-H. Lee, J.-G. Lee, and Y. R. Do, Optics Express, 18, 1099-1104 (2010). [Energy Express, 1 (2010), Selected articles published in recent Optics Express issues].
"Enhanced extraction efficiency of Y2O3:Eu3+ thin-film phosphors coated with hexagonally close-packed polystyrene nanosphere monolayers", Y. K. Lee, J. R. Oh, and Y. R. Do, Applied Physics Letters, 91, 041907 (2007). [Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology, 16 (2007)].
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Blue Economy: An Agenda for the Indian Government
September 19, 2014 Vijay Sakhuja Leave a comment
Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Navinchandra Ramgoolam of Mauritius, during their meeting on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of the former in May 2014 in New Delhi, agreed to increase cooperation in ‘maritime security, renewable energy, and the blue-economy, including development of related infrastructure’. Earlier, Seychelles Vice President Danny Faure had stated that his country was ‘working closely with India on developing the Blue Economy concept’ and that both countries had accorded high priority to issues like ‘maritime pollution and overfishing that impact the Indian Ocean’.
Before going any further, it is important to understand ‘blue economy’. The idea of blue economy was argued during the Rio+20 preparatory meetings, where several Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) observed that ‘Green Economy’ had limited relevance for them; instead, ‘Green Economy in a Blue World’ was a good concept and most suitable for the sustainable development and management of ocean resources.
A number of countries have included blue economy in their national strategy and have published white papers and official documents. For instance, China has long followed this idea and has instituted Five-Year Development Plan for National Marine Economy which monitors progress of various marine sectors. China’s State Council has published a White Paper on the subject which notes that the Chinese maritime economy grew at 17 per cent annually in the 1980s, and 20 per cent in the 1990s. In January 2013, China released the 12th Five-Year Development Plan for National Marine Economy which notes that the marine economy is expected to grow at 8 per cent annually up to 2015, generate 2.6 million new jobs, and could be about 10 per cent of the national GDP.
Likewise, the European Union has announced its ‘Blue Growth’ strategy for sustainable development of marine and maritime sectors to contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is estimated that it would result in nearly 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of about €500 billion annually and generate sustainable jobs and growth. In the Indian context, the idea of blue economy is yet to develop. There are as many as 17 different agencies whose mandate includes matters maritime/marine; ironically, there is no synergy among them partly due to the absence of an overarching agency to facilitate dialogue among these agencies.
During his first address to the newly constituted 16th Lok Sabha, President Pranab Mukherjee outlined major policy priorities of the new government over the next five years which included setting up of the National Maritime Authority (NMA), an apex body, to address coastal security concerns. This is a significant initiative and addresses gaps in coastal security and would help prevent terrorist attacks from the sea similar to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. It is equally important to harness the seas to enhance the maritime power potential of the country. A multi-disciplinary maritime advisory body can help bring together a number of national / state bodies and can help formulate a maritime vision, draw up plans and coordinate economic, environmental and security activities in the maritime domain which can then work to ‘craft a National Maritime Security Policy’. This could then be integrated with the maritime strategy which would automatically ‘reinforce maritime security’.
Taking this argument further, Prime Minister Modi’s announcement to do away with the eight-member Planning Commission and set up a larger think tank that accommodates the states to do the ‘big thinking and thinking for the future’ could explore the possibility of constituting a group of specialists under a maritime think tank to develop a blueprint for growth of blue economy.
Mauritius and Seychelles are important island nations in the Indian Ocean and have made a strong case for blue economy as an important pillar of their national development strategy. As noted earlier, their leaders have passionately argued about their commitment to sustainable exploitation of living and non-living marine resources and deep seabed minerals to enhance food and energy security. However, these countries are constrained by a number of technological and investment limitations for the development of the maritime sector which is critical for their economic growth and look towards India or even China for support.
At another level, the high decibel security discourse in the Indian Ocean centered on asymmetric threats and challenges appears to have swamped the idea of blue economy and pushed it to the back burner. There is no doubt that security is critical for sustainable development of sea based resources, it will be useful for India, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka to jointly promote the idea of blue economy in the Indian Ocean and keep environment and ecology high on the agenda.
Dr Vijay Sakhuja is the Director, National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Indian Navy or National Maritime Foundation. He can be reached at director.nmf@gmail.com. This article was cross-posted by permission and appeared in its original form at India’s National Maritime Foundation.
ChinafeaturedIndiaIndian OceanMaldivesMauritiusSeychellesSri Lanka
Strategic Outlook
Diego Garcia…Not yet Cause for Alarm
June 14, 2012 Scott C-P 1 Comment
Bombs away or bombs to stay?
In 2016 America’s 50-year lease on the island of Diego Garcia expires. Under the current terms of the agreement, the option to extend leasing rights for a further 20 years must be agreed upon by both the U.S. and Diego Garcia’s owner, Britain, no later than December 2014. On June 8th, likely spurred on by the looming deadline, the prime ministers of both Britain and Mauritius met to discuss the future of the island. At issue is the question of sovereignty.
Mauritius, located 1200 miles to Diego Garcia’s southwest, is typically grouped into African international associations and has only tenuous connections with Diego Garcia’s Chagos Archipelago. Prior colonial rulers Britain and France at various times lumped the island chains together administratively. Once it became a self-governing colony in 1959, Mauritius retained control of the Chagos archipelago until it sold the islands back to Britain in 1965, the same year Mauritius voted for complete independence. Britain then proceeded to depopulate the newly formed British Indian Ocean Territory, sending (both voluntarily and not) the approximately 2,000 inhabitants to the Seychelles and Mauritius, to make room for an American military build-up.
Now, it appears there is a good chance Britain may transfer sovereignty back to Mauritius to extract itself from the fallout of forthcoming legal rulings. Originally I wasn’t going to post on this situation because, while interesting, I didn’t feel the saga was likely to change much of the Asia-Pacific’s strategic make-up. However, a couple widely read maritime blogs and a National Review Online article have sounded alarms over fears raised by The Guardian‘s coverage of the topic. Namely, the assumption that if the British give up their sovereignty the Americans will lose their ability to use the base for strategic Pacific purposes (no irony intended).
The “footprint of freedom’s” long-range assets.
This fear is misplaced for a couple of reasons. First, Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam has taken pains to assure Washington that while “The objective of 2014 is to reassert sovereignty,” there is “without question” a need for the West to maintain a base on Diego Garcia. And there’s reason to believe him. There’s little other economically profitable activity the island and surrounding waters can sustain. In all cynical likelihood, the great interest Mauritius has taken in “regaining” control of Diego Garcia is precisely to be the recipient of American rent for its operations there.
Second, setting aside the moral issues stemming from the deportations, upcoming legal rulings at the U.N. and E.U. Court of Human Rights might force Britain’s hand if it holds on to the islands (although the matter of enforcing the ruling might leave its effects in limbo). If Mauritius gains control over the archipelago, a ruling in favor of the Chagossians could be mitigated by the powers Mauritius exerts over its own citizens, forcing them to accept additional compensation in exchange for perhaps occasional visits, or a token designated area of inhabitation.
Don’t say your goodbyes just yet.
Third, strengthening ties with Mauritius fits in to the strategic architecture not only in the Asia-Pacific, but also for the western Indian Ocean and Africa. As a democracy with a strong Western tilt and Indian ties, Mauritius represents a stable base from which to make inroads into critical areas along maritime trade routes. In a further act of signaling to reassure, Prime Minister Navichandra took the opportunity of visiting Downing Street to also sign an anti-piracy agreement with the U.K., opening up Mauritius as a destination for the prosecution and jailing of pirates. For its part, the U.S. has good relations with the country and helps to train its military in counter-terror and other missions.
In some regards the Cassandras of the Chagos are right to worry about the outcome. It’s hard to imagine a more ideal military outpost and waypoint than the current setup at DG: no neighbors to complain about the noise or pry into operations, cheap pay for imported labor, excellent diving (if you don’t mind the sharks). The only real drawback is perhaps its slightly too-distant location from hot spots in Southeast and Northeast Asia, but it can’t be everywhere at once. If Mauritius does come into ownership, the U.S. may pay more for its continued use of the basing, pay more for labor and have to hire former islanders or their descendents, and put up with a few inhabitants and the complications that they bring. All in all, however, such changes would be mostly superficial.
Yes, Mauritius could always change its mind on basing rights in the future. But there’s not yet cause for alarm.
LT Scott Cheney-Peters is a surface warfare officer and the former editor of Surface Warfare magazine. The opinions and views expressed in this post are his alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy.
Air ForceDiego GarciaIndian OceanMauritiusunited kingdom
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The Microfinance Promise
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Image retrieval: Current techniques, promising directions and open issues
by Yong Rui, Thomas S. Huang - Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation , 1999
"... This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the technical achievements in the research area of image retrieval, especially content-based image retrieval, an area that has been so active and prosperous in the past few years. The survey includes 100+ papers covering the research aspects of image fea ..."
and future promising research directions are suggested. C ○ 1999 Academic Press 1.
Comparison of Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms: Empirical Results
by Eckart Zitzler, Lothar Thiele, Kalyanmoy Deb , 2000
"... In this paper, we provide a systematic comparison of various evolutionary approaches to multiobjective optimization using six carefully chosen test functions. Each test function involves a particular feature that is known to cause difficulty in the evolutionary optimization process, mainly in conver ..."
, the experimental results indicate a hierarchy of the algorithms under consideration. Furthermore, the emerging effects are evidence that the suggested test functions provide sufficient complexity to compare multiobjective optimizers. Finally, elitism is shown to be an important factor for improving evolutionary
Monitoring the future: National survey results on drug use
by Lloyd D. Johnston, Ph. D, Patrick M. O’malley, Ph. D, Jerald G. Bachman, Ph. D, John E. Schulenberg, Ph. D - I: Secondary school students (NIH Publication No. 05-5726). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse , 2005
"... by ..."
Kodaira-Spencer theory of gravity and exact results for quantum string amplitudes
by M. Bershadsky, S. Cecotti, H. Ooguri, C. Vafa - Commun. Math. Phys , 1994
"... We develop techniques to compute higher loop string amplitudes for twisted N = 2 theories with ĉ = 3 (i.e. the critical case). An important ingredient is the discovery of an anomaly at every genus in decoupling of BRST trivial states, captured to all orders by a master anomaly equation. In a particu ..."
particular realization of the N = 2 theories, the resulting string field theory is equivalent to a topological theory in six dimensions, the Kodaira– Spencer theory, which may be viewed as the closed string analog of the Chern–Simon theory. Using the mirror map this leads to computation of the ‘number
Reexamining the Cluster Hypothesis: Scatter/Gather on Retrieval Results
by Marti A. Hearst, Jan O. Pedersen , 1996
"... We present Scatter/Gather, a cluster-based document browsing method, as an alternative to ranked titles for the organization and viewing of retrieval results. We systematically evaluate Scatter/Gather in this context and find significant improvements over similarity search ranking alone. This resul ..."
We present Scatter/Gather, a cluster-based document browsing method, as an alternative to ranked titles for the organization and viewing of retrieval results. We systematically evaluate Scatter/Gather in this context and find significant improvements over similarity search ranking alone
Feature selection based on mutual information: Criteria of max-depe ndency, max-relevance, and min-redundancy
by Hanchuan Peng, Fuhui Long, Chris Ding - IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
"... Abstract—Feature selection is an important problem for pattern classification systems. We study how to select good features according to the maximal statistical dependency criterion based on mutual information. Because of the difficulty in directly implementing the maximal dependency condition, we f ..."
, arrhythmia, NCI cancer cell lines, and lymphoma tissues). The results confirm that mRMR leads to promising improvement on feature selection and classification accuracy.
A fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm with application to . . .
by Amir Beck, Marc Teboulle , 2009
"... We consider the class of Iterative Shrinkage-Thresholding Algorithms (ISTA) for solving linear inverse problems arising in signal/image processing. This class of methods is attractive due to its simplicity, however, they are also known to converge quite slowly. In this paper we present a Fast Iterat ..."
Iterative Shrinkage-Thresholding Algorithm (FISTA) which preserves the computational simplicity of ISTA, but with a global rate of convergence which is proven to be significantly better, both theoretically and practically. Initial promising numerical results for wavelet-based image deblurring demonstrate
TCP Vegas: New techniques for congestion detection and avoidance
by Lawrence S. Brakmo, Sean W. O’malley, Larry L. Peterson - In SIGCOMM , 1994
"... Vegas is a new implementation of TCP that achieves between 40 and 70 % better throughput, with one-fifth to onehalf the losses, as compared to the implementation of TCP in the Reno distributionof BSD Unix. This paper motivates and describes the three key techniques employed by Vegas, and presents th ..."
the results of a comprehensive experimental performance study—using both simulations and measurements on the Internet—of the Vegas and Reno implementations of TCP. 1
Symbolic Model Checking without BDDs
by Armin Biere , Alessandro Cimatti, Edmund Clarke, Yunshan Zhu , 1999
"... Symbolic Model Checking [3, 14] has proven to be a powerful technique for the verification of reactive systems. BDDs [2] have traditionally been used as a symbolic representation of the system. In this paper we show how boolean decision procedures, like Stalmarck's Method [16] or the Davis ..."
which reduces model checking to propositional satisfiability. We show that bounded LTL model checking can be done without a tableau construction. We have implemented a model checker BMC, based on bounded model checking, and preliminary results are presented.
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Twilight-Serie Club
Twilight-Serie Images on Fanpop
Twilight-Serie
RARE pics of Twilight Set
twilight cast
Twilight Hintergrund
BELLA & EDWARD as Vampire
Vampire A-Z
Vampire have existed in a variety of cultures almost since the dawn of time. Until the 19th century, they were believed to be monsters, rather than the stereotype of a Mehr aristocratic being who could infiltrate the world around us, as popularised Von Bram Stoker. Legend has developed since, with pop culture shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", which tackles concepts such as a vampire with a soul and possible redemption for a creature previously believed to have had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Bella lists her observations when she is researching on the internet: "Speed, strength,...
My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my Favorit hemd, shirt - sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.
In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town Mehr than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent...
The Twilight-Serie Club
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Cambodia New Vision
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PM Hun Sen to Brad Adams: Cambodia Is a Sovereign Nation, Not Subject to any Foreign Laws
Source: FN Cambodia is not under any foreign laws; Cambodia is a sovereign, independent and strong member of the United Nations, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told Brad Adams, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia on Thursday. His remark came after Brad Adams issued a statement accusing 12 Cambodian Armed Forces Leaders. “I told…
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If CNRP Wasn’t Dissolved, Cambodia Can’t Escape from War: PM Hun Sen
Source : FN Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated the success of Cambodia in preventing war by dissolving the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). The statement was made on Thursday, addressing to approximately 30,000 workers from 25 factories in Kandal Province’s Ang Snoul district. “Cambodia can’t escape war if CNRP wasn’t dissolved,” said Prime Minister…
Selected Impromptu Speech at the Gathering of Factories Workers/Employees in Angsnuol District, Kandal province [Unofficial Translation]
Were There No Wars and Genocide, Cambodia Could Have Developed More Cambodia could have made even more progresses were there be no wars in 1970s and the regime of genocide. Unfortunately the country went through wars from 1970 through to 1975, and the genocide from 1975 through to 1979. Everything was destroyed. We stood up…
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