pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 139
1.01M
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.768711
| 0.768711
|
Death Race HD
Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates mus..
Country: UK, USA, Germany
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Actor: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez, Max Ryan, Jacob Vargas, Jason Clarke, Fred Koehler, Justin Mader
Divergent HD
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the m..
Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: Neil Burger
Actor: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Jai Courtney, Ashley Judd
Resident Evil: Extinction HD
Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against the ev..
Country: Australia, France, Germany, UK, USA
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Actor: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Christopher Egan, Spencer Locke, Matthew Marsden, Linden Ashby, Jason O'Mara
Resident Evil: Apocalypse HD
Alice awakes in Raccoon City, only to find it has become infested with zombies and monsters. With the help of Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, Alice must fi..
Country: Canada, France, Germany, UK, USA
Director: Alexander Witt
Actor: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Thomas Kretschmann, Sophie Vavasseur, Razaaq Adoti, Jared Harris, Mike Epps, Sandrine Holt, Matthew G. Taylor
Blade II HD
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reapers, who are feeding on vampires.
Actor: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Luke Goss, Matt Schulze, Danny John-Jules, Donnie Yen
Resident Evil: Retribution HD
Alice fights alongside a resistance movement to regain her freedom from an Umbrella Corporation testing facility.
Country: Canada, France, Germany, USA
Actor: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Aryana Engineer, Li Bingbing, Boris Kodjoe, Johann Urb, Robin Kasyanov, Kevin Durand, Ofilio Portillo
Resident Evil HD
A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a labora..
Country: France, Germany, UK, USA
Actor: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, Ryan McCluskey, Oscar Pearce, Indra Ové, Anna Bolt, Joseph May, Robert Tannion, Heike Makatsch
Underworld: Evolution HD
Picking up directly from the previous film, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the w..
Actor: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Shane Brolly, Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, Steven Mackintosh, Zita Görög, Brian Steele, Scott McElroy
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back HD
After the rebels are overpowered by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Yoda. His friends accept shelter from a questi..
Director: Irvin Kershner
Actor: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones
Godzilla: Monster Planet - Part 1
Godzilla: Monster Planet - Part 1 HD
Years into the future and the human race has been defeated several times by the new ruling force of the planet: "kaijus". And the ruler of that force is Godzi..
Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi
Director: Kobun Shizuno
Actor: Mamoru Miyano, Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Tomokazu Sugita, Yuuki Kaji, Junichi Suwabe
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace HD
Two Jedi Knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface ..
Actor: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, Frank Oz, Oliver Ford Davies
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith HD
Three years into the Clone Wars, the Jedi rescue Palpatine from Count Dooku. As Obi-Wan pursues a new threat, Anakin acts as a double agent between the Jedi C..
Actor: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Jimmy Smits
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones HD
Ten years after initially meeting, Anakin Skywalker shares a forbidden romance with Padme Amidala, while Obi-Wan investigates an assassination attempt on the ..
Actor: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Ahmed Best
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi HD
After a daring mission to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the rebels dispatch to Endor to destroy a more powerful Death Star. Meanwhile, Luke struggles t..
Director: Richard Marquand
Actor: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope HD
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station w..
Actor: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones
The Man from Earth: Holocene
The Man from Earth: Holocene HD
14,000 year-old "Man from Earth" John Oldman, now teaching in northern California, realizes that not only is he finally starting to age, but four students hav..
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Director: Richard Schenkman
Actor: Vanessa Williams, Sterling Knight, Brittany Curran, David Lee Smith, William Katt, Davi Santos, Doug Haley, Akemi Look, Carlos Knight, Michael Dorn
Okja
Okja HD
A young girl named Mija risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a massive animal named Okja.
Country: South Korea, USA
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Actor: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun , Jake Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall
Star Wars: The Force Awakens HD
Three decades after the Empire's defeat, a new threat arises in the militant First Order. Stormtrooper defector Finn and the scavenger Rey are caught up in th..
Director: J.J. Abrams
Actor: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter HD
Alice returns to where the nightmare began: The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the on..
Country: France, Australia, Canada, Germany, USA
Actor: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Eoin Macken, Fraser James, Ruby Rose, William Levy, Rola, Ever Gabo Anderson
Power Rangers HD
Director: Dean Israelite
Actor: Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Caroline Cave
Jurassic World HD
A new theme park, built on the original site of Jurassic Park, creates a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, which escapes containment and goes on a killing..
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Actor: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Judy Greer
Species: The Awakening
Species: The Awakening HD
When she reaches the end of her lifespan, a scientist rushes to Mexico, in order to save the half-breed alien seductress he raised as his docile niece, but so..
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Nick Lyon
Actor: Edy Arellano, Marco Bacuzzi, Ben Cross, Roger Cudney, Cynthia Francesconi, Helena Mattsson, Jan Bouda, Montserrat de León, German Fabregat, Marlene Favela
Star Trek HD
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes ..
Actor: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin
The Beyond HD
Set in 2019, The Beyond chronicles the groundbreaking mission which sent astronauts - modified with advanced robotics, through a newly discovered wormhole kno..
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Hasraf Dulull
Actor: Jane Perry, David Bailie, Julian Graham, Nigel Barber, Amy Argyle, Kosha Engler, Brian Deacon, Noeleen Comiskey, Jessica Blake, Ezra Khan
Inception HD
A thief, who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology, is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO.
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials HD
After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.
Director: Wes Ball
Actor: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Patricia Clarkson, Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Darden
The Maze Runner HD
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with f..
Genre: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Actor: Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Aml Ameen, Blake Cooper, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Dexter Darden, Chris Sheffield, Joe Adler
Life HD
A team of scientists aboard the International Space Station discover a rapidly evolving life form that caused extinction on Mars and now threatens all life on..
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya, Alexandre Nguyen, Hiu Woong-Sin, Camiel Warren-Taylor, Naoko Mori
Logan HD
In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X, somewhere on the Mexican border. However, Logan's attempts to hide from the world, and his ..
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Actor: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant, Doris Morgado, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Dafne Keen, Sienna Novikov, Eriq La Salle
Ghost in the Shell HD
In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the..
Country: Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, India, China
Director: Rupert Sanders
Actor: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, Juliette Binoche, Takeshi Kitano, Peter Ferdinando, Rila Fukushima, Daniel Henshall, Yutaka Izumihara
Avengers: Age of Ultron HD
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's mightiest her..
Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Captain America: Civil War HD
Political involvement in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.
Director: Anthony Russo
Actor: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen
Captain America: The Winter Soldier HD
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threa..
Actor: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Maximiliano Hernández, Emily VanCamp
Captain America: The First Avenger HD
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a..
Director: Joe Johnston
Actor: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer
Thor: The Dark World HD
When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful entity known as the Aether, Thor is heralded of the cosmic event known as the Convergence and the genocidal D..
Director: Alan Taylor
Actor: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson
Iron Man 3 HD
When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
Country: China, USA
Director: Shane Black
Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Paul Bettany
With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father's ..
Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, John Slattery, Garry Shandling
Iron Man HD
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Paul Bettany, Leslie Bibb, Clark Gregg, Will Lyman
Blade Runner 2049 HD
A young blade runner's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Actor: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto
Flatliners HD
Five medical students, obsessed by what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods, each trig..
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Actor: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiersey Clemons, Beau Mirchoff, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Kiefer Sutherland, Madison Brydges, Jacob Soley
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1697
|
__label__wiki
| 0.61076
| 0.61076
|
Previos Next
2018’s Billion-Dollar Disasters Show Weather & Climate Impacts Across the U.S.
At long last, the government is open and the year-end climate reports from NOAA and NASA are out. As expected, 2018 was the fourth-hottest year on record globally, and another near-record year for U.S. weather and climate disasters. All of the years on record that were hotter or more disaster-filled came in the past decade.
To bring context to the global goal of limiting warming to 2°C, we compare the global temperatures to an earlier, pre-industrial 1880-1910 baseline. 2018’s global temperatures were 1.90°F (1.06°C) above that baseline — more than halfway there. This made 2018 the second-warmest year on record without an El Niño event, behind only 2017. (El Niño can enhance warming, but it can’t explain all of it). Only 2016 and 2015 were warmer years, and 2014 rounds out the top five. With the five warmest years on record happening during the past five years — and the 20 warmest occurring over the past 22 — a consistent warming trend couldn’t be clearer. Meanwhile, monthly averaged atmospheric CO2 concentrations have risen to 411 ppm at Mauna Loa Observatory, thanks in part to an estimated 2.7 percent increase in global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
While the U.S. had its 14th-warmest year in 2018, unusual heat in Europe and the Arctic propelled the globe to higher numbers. The oceans also had their warmest year on record — a trend that intensifies sea level rise, coral bleaching, and tropical cyclones such as hurricanes.
Hurricanes hit the U.S. especially hard, leading 2018’s near-record list of 14 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Hurricanes Michael and Florence combined for at least $49 billion in damages — over half of the total from the year’s included events (cost estimates will be updated over time). In addition, the Western wildfire season was the most expensive ever, with total damages of at least $24 billion. Even the sheer number of billion-dollar events is telling — only 2011, 2016, and 2017 have had more. Unless we rapidly reduce our climate-warming emissions, these costly climate disasters will only get worse.
Methodology: Calculations of average annual global temperature are performed independently at NASA and NOAA. Small differences in their calculations arise as NASA’s calculations are extrapolated to account for polar locations with poor station coverage, while NOAA relies more heavily on the polar station data. Climate Central compares temperatures to an earlier 1880-1910 baseline to assess warming during the industrial era.
National temperatures and disaster data are provided by NOAA. Cost of the disasters has been adjusted for inflation. NOAA combines all Western wildfires together as one annual event. Additional review of the methodology can be found from Smith and Katz, 2013.
2018 Global Temp Review: Land & Ocean
Shorter Cold Spells
At long last, the government is open and the year-end climate reports from NOAA and NASA are out. As expected, 2018 was the fourth-hottest year on record globally, and another near-record year for U.S. weather and climate disasters. All of the years on record that were hotter or more disaster-filled came in the past decade. To bring context to the
Billion-Dollar Disasters Trending Up
Floodwaters surged through Boston streets during a March Nor’easter. Nearly 19,000 structures were destroyed in the Camp Fire, which became California’s largest-ever wildfire just months after the previous record blaze. Hurricanes Florence and Michael flooded farms and flattened homes. It has been another year of devastating extreme weather events,
Fastest Warming Seasons
Climate change is causing temperatures to rise throughout the year, but some seasons are warming faster than others. As we approach the start of meteorological winter on December 1st, we see that winter is warming the fastest in most of the country. Since 1970, winter has warmed at least 1°F in all states analyzed, and at least 3°F in two thirds of
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1699
|
__label__cc
| 0.688113
| 0.311887
|
See the trend in winter high temperatures across the U.S.
Winter Warming Trends in the U.S.
Even with a couple of late cold snaps, 2016 will soon be declared the second hottest year on record for the U.S. and the hottest year on record globally. Across most of the continental U.S., winter is the fastest warming season, and is the only season that has seen significant warming in each climate division. While this does not mean that each winter will be warmer than the one before, the overall trend indicates that winters have been getting warmer, on average, over the last 45 years, and will likely continue to do so.
Winter warming trends in these U.S. cities
Warmer winters may seem nice at first, but they have major ecological and economic consequences. While warmer weather extends the growing season, it also changes the growing zones while also allowing for the survival of agricultural pests and weeds that normally cannot endure the cold, putting crops more at risk for damage. Warmer winters could also cause some plants to flower earlier, so by the time bees and other pollinators emerge in the spring, their food sources may have already disappeared, causing both bee and plant species to suffer. Winter snowpack, already on the decline, insulates soils for trees, provides water for reservoirs later in the year, and reduces wildfire risk, could disappear if winters continue warming.
In addition, many industries that depend on the cold and the snow could lose millions of dollars. Maple syrup production is reliant on cold snaps in the winter, so warmer winters could mean less syrup. And without snow or cold weather, ski resorts and cold winter clothing demand will also be down.
temperature trends - us,
winter tempe
Record Heat Beating Record Cold
2016 Was the Hottest Year on Record
Despite the current cold snap, 2016 is still on pace to be the second warmest year on record in the U.S. This temperature imbalance is illustrated in the ratio of record highs to record lows. In a stable climate, the long-term ratio should be in balance, or around 1-to-1, but that has not been the case for a long time. In 2016, the number of
Every State Had a Top 10 Hottest Year
Like the previous two years, 2016 is on pace to be the hottest year on record globally. In the U.S., the average temperature for the year is on track to be the second hottest in 122 years of records. In this analysis, we drilled down to the local level and examined how hot each of these cities has been in 2016 through the end of November.
It’s Finally Going to Feel Like Winter in the U.S.
Winter is coming. Finally. After months on end of warmth across the country, cold air will finally arrive for much of the U.S. next week. The chill will start in the West as Arctic air spills down and turns the map blue from Alaska to the Southwest and then migrates eastward as the week goes on. Temperatures could dip down to 30°F below normal
The Fall Heat Is On, Globally, Nationally, Locally
Warming fueled by greenhouse gas emissions continues to rewrite the record books: Over the past several weeks, heat records continued to fall at global, national, and local scales. At the largest of those scales, October tied for the third-warmest October on record according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) global
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1700
|
__label__wiki
| 0.546823
| 0.546823
|
Quiz: Can You Identify the Flora and Fauna of the United States?
Can You Identify the Flora and Fauna of the United States?
By: Bri O.
Image: media library
What’s truly precious about our flora and fauna in the United States is the balance of nature. Flora provide food and shelter for fauna, and fauna disperse seeds and fertilize soil to help the flora thrive. Upsetting this balance hurts both. What’s more, the diversity of nature is worth protecting, so that no single disease or parasite can eradicate a species. Increase your appreciation of the great outdoors by taking this quiz right now!
Take a minute to think about it. Some fauna fell trees, using only their teeth! Some flora live to be 600 years old with seeds called “helicopters," What you’ll find in the United States alone is just the tip of the iceberg. Take, for instance, marsupials such as the opossum. The babies, usually the size of a honeybee at birth, make their way into the mother's pouch to continue developing and growing. That’s one amazing example of the more than 400 species of fauna found here. Plus, there are over 7,000 species of flora in this country alone, so when you gaze across woods land or a marsh, you’re seeing botany at its best. Whether you’re an ecologist, biologist, botanist or simply love the outdoors and know your nature, this quiz will test your know-how and provide interesting details about the world around you. Take it now!
Which indigenous U.S. flora or fauna is pictured here?
The Bald Eagle has been the U.S. emblem since 1782 and is spiritually symbolic for some Native American cultures. This elegant bird of prey can live into its 30s and rarely hunts for itself, choosing instead to pick off the catches of other predators.
Grizzly bears have long claws and a slightly humped back around their should area, making them excellent diggers. When these bears prepare for winter, they eat to gain weight and can gain up to three pounds in a day.
Common Dandelion
Don't make the mistake of dismissing Dandelions as nothing more than weeds like most people do. This plant can be used both medicinally and in cooking. Dandelion root makes a great addition to teas. This plant thrives in moist soil conditions.
Raccoons are survivors, capable of adapting to their environment, whether it be a hollowed out tree trunk or an abandoned van. Their hands are similar to human hands, with five fingers that allow them to open things like shells, doors, lids, and so on.
Giant Iguana
Australian Crocodile
Alligators frequently lose and regrow their teeth, and can go through as many as 3,000 teeth in a lifetime. At any given time, the average alligator mouth has between 74 and 80 teeth.
Wild Cherry trees are most often grown ornamentally in parks instead of gardens. The wood of these trees is very valuable and used for hardwood flooring, cabinetry, furniture, and musical instruments.
American Buffalo (bison)
As of May 9th, 2016, the American Buffalo is the U.S. national mammal. It is the biggest mammal in the country.
Orca Whale
Florida Manatee
The Florida Manatee typically stays close to home base in the Sunshine State, but there have been sightings as far as Maine and Los Angeles. The species is also Florida's state mammal. Manatees are herbivores with a diet consisting mainly of sea grass and other vegetation.
Wiki commons
The forget-me-not has been the Alaskan state flower since 1949. There are over 100 species of this flower, some annuals and perennials. Forget-me-nots can grow to two feet tall and wide.
Utah Prairie Dog
The Utah variety is just one of five types of prairie dogs in North America. They have a 28-day gestation period and are very social animals. They take turns watching out for predators.
The smallest deer in North America, white-tailed deer spend the warmer months grazing in fields and colder months hunkering down in forests. Male white-tails grow antlers that fall off each winter while the females do not.
Snowshoe Hare
Checkered Giant Rabbit
Sumatran Striped Rabbit
The aptly named snowshoe hare's coat is winter-white, but changes to brown after the snow melts. It takes approximately ten weeks for the fur to fully change between colors. This species has very furry and large feet that allow them to travel on top of snow.
Mountain Goat
Pygmy Goat
The mountain goat is not a member of the goat family, but a member of the antelope family. There are about 100,000 of them living along the northwest coast and in the Rockies.
Black bears are considered to be one of the more intelligent mammals, with a large brain in proportion to body size and superior long-term memory. Their navigational skills are better than a human's, and they have basic logic capabilities.
North American Beaver
Oregon's state mammal and Canada's official animal symbol, the North American Beaver has been introduced to countries throughout Europe and South America.
The Black-eyed Susan is part of the sunflower family and is Maryland's state flower. The middle is often mistaken for black, but it is brown. This flower is considered an iconic species in the U.S.
Hemlock Tree
Not to be confused with poisonous hemlock, hemlock trees - scientifically known as Tsuga of the pine family - can grow up to 200 feet tall and are an important source of food for common animals, including deer, birds, porcupines, and rabbits. The trees can live up to 800 years, with four species native to North America and six to Asia.
American Mink
The American mink is a semi-aquatic species, like hippos and otters. Aside from Arizona, the American mink can be found in all U.S. states, particularly near forested sources of water. Minks are also found throughout Canada.
Mole Rat
Opossum babies are usually the size of a honeybee at birth. After birth, the babies go into the mother's pouch and remain there to continue developing and growing. Eventually, the young opossum will begin to split time between the pouch and the great outdoors. The species is known to eat nearly anything, including dumpster food, grass, nuts, fruit, roadkill, insects, small rodents, and chickens.
The Redwoods have existed for 240 million years, first appearing shortly after the dinosaurs. These trees grow exclusively on the Pacific coast of the United States and can have a trunk diameter between 8 and 20 feet. The roots can extend 50 feet from the tree, but only run up to 12 feet deep.
The pecan tree is indigenous to the U.S., having been grown by Native Americans for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers. This tree often serves two purposes: nut production and shade. Mature pecan trees can reach heights of 70 feet and a diameter of six feet.
Hackberry Tree
American Sweetgum
Spruce Tree
The Hackberry is prevalent throughout the U.S. and goes by a number of other names, including sugarberry, beaverwood, and nettletree. Part of the hemp family, this tree is often confused for an elm.
Red Robbin
Southern Finch
Singed Sparrow
The Baltimore Oriole is named as such because its colors - bright orange and black - were the same as Lord Baltimore's 17th-century coat of arms. The Baltimore Oriole is often misidentified as a Northern Oriole because of its frequent hybridization (reproduction between the two species), but they are genetically proven to be a distinct species.
Sycamore Tree
Evergreen Tree
Sycamore trees can live up to 600 years and tend to be found near water sources. The seeds of this tree are called "helicopters" in reference to the two small wings that come out of the top.
Saguaro Cactus
Jade Plant
The Saguaro Cactus is native to Arizona and Senora Mexico; some plants can be found in southeast California. The species' white flowers bloom in late spring and produce fruit by summer.
Lady's Slipper
The blue columbine is Colorado's state flower. There are 70 different columbine species and countless many hybrid species. It's a perennial that caterpillars like to eat.
American Crocodile
The American Crocodile is predominately found along the coasts of Central and South America, but is also native to Florida's southeastern coast and lowlands. Crocodiles are commonly mistaken for alligators, but are easily distinguished by their teeth. While crocodiles usually have a bottom tooth sticking out on both sides, alligators have room in their mouths to close around those teeth so they don't show.
There are roughly 200 different Hawthorn species growing across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its wood is used for making household products and sculptures. Hawthorn fruit is believed to aid digestion and heart function.
Orchids are a hardy plant, capable of surviving in harsh environments, such as near the Arctic Circle. However, most Orchid species are found in warm, humid climates, like those found in tropical rainforests. Some Orchid species are capable of surviving up to 100 years in the right conditions.
Spiny shrub
With 36 species native to North America, the pine tree is the most commonly found conifer - a type of tree - in the United States. Some of the most common pine species include the Eastern white pine, the Red pine, and the Virginia pine.
The birch tree requires moist soil, so it's often found near lakes and rivers. If you're ever in the wilderness with a broken limb, birch bark, when soaked, makes for excellent casting material. Roughly 20 percent of hay fever occurrences in the northern hemisphere are due to birch pollen.
CarilohaBamboo via youtube
Skinny Tree
Wheat Stalk
Bean Stalk
Bamboo is a type of grass that grows in tropical regions. Depending on the species of bamboo, heights can range from one foot to 1,300 feet. There are roughly 1,500 different species. Bamboo grows quicker than any other plant, able to reach heights of three feet within 24 hours under optimum climate conditions.
PetersonNaturePhoto Peterson via youtube
Muskrats are monogamous, meaning they live exclusively with their partner and offspring. They make feeding platforms near their dwellings where they bring all their food and eat it.
The largest member of the squirrel family, the woodchuck's love of veggies often drives them to destroy gardens. They're known to enjoy sunbathing when it's warm out.
The brown bear has been roaming Alaska for 100,000 years. There are many subspecies of brown bear, including the grizzly. About 32,000 brown bears live in Alaska compared to the mere 1,200 that live in the 48 continental states. Brown bears have a better sense of smell than dogs.
When few other plants are blooming, the aster brightens up the fall landscape with its starry flower heads. Depending on the aster variety, the plant can be as small as 8 inches or grow as tall as 8 feet.
Florida Softshell Turtle
The Florida Softshell Turtle is the largest softshell turtle in North America as well as the largest freshwater turtle. It can reach up to 15 to 76 cm in length. It's most distinctive feature is its snorkel-like nose.
Peoni
Lady's Slipper is a species of orchid most commonly found in the wetlands of the Northeast and Midwest. The showy Lady's Slipper is listed at some level of endangered or threatened in 14 states. It is Minnesota's state flower.
California Condor
Also known as the thunderbird by Native American tribes, the California condor is one of the largest birds capable of flight. They're able to fly at speeds up to 55 miles per hour and climb to altitudes as high as 15,000 feet.
There are a number of different Maple tree species, and they are a well-liked bunch for a variety of reasons. They're great for street or shade trees; they're beautiful in the fall because the leaves turn a multitude of colors; they're tolerant of drought conditions, and their sap can be made into delicious syrups.
Beech Tree
Oak trees are capable of absorbing up to 50 gallons of water per day and can produce over 2,000 acorns in a given year. Out of all the acorns produced by oaks, only one in 10,000 of them will grow into a tree.
Great White Wolf
Out of the U.S. states, Alaska has the highest population of gray wolves, somewhere between 7,000 to 11,200. The Great Lakes region has roughly 3,700 and there are about 1,675 in the Rockies. The gray wolf is the ancestor of the modern dog.
The Joshua tree is part of the Agave family and the largest species of yucca. It grows in very specific conditions and can be found in the Mojave Desert at elevations between 2,000 and 6,000 feet.
Hickory Tree
Douglas Firs
In nature, Douglas Firs live an impressively long life, spanning anywhere between 500 and 1,000 years. A variety of animal species use the tree as a source of food, including bears, who after scraping off the bark, eat the layer of sap underneath.
The hickory tree is a member of the walnut family. There are 18 total hickory species, with 15 of those native to North America and three to Asia. The wood of hickory trees was once used in the manufacturing of aircrafts.
Pronghorn Antelope
The pronghorn antelope is incredibly fast, capable of reaching speeds up to 65 miles per hour. While they are quite the runners, pronghorn antelope aren't great at jumping, so they often try to climb under obstacles like fences rather than jumping over them.
Walnut Tree
Walnut trees can grow to heights of 60 feet and produce a plethora of health benefits. Some of those benefits include, improved blood flow, decreased inflammation, reduced cholesterol, and accelerated wound healing.
Dogwoods are relatively short compared to most trees, reaching heights of just 15 to 25 feet. Between 30 and 50 species of dogwood can be found in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Jack-in-the-pulpit is for the patient gardener, as it does not flower until five years after it's planted. Aside from the western U.S., it can be found in all states.
The Wild Rose rivals the violet in popularity when it comes to state flowers. Both species are the flowers of multiple states. They're indigenous to the Pacific coastline and honeybees love to feed on them.
About Zoo
Our goal at Zoo.com is to keep you entertained in this crazy life we all live.
We want you to look inward and explore new and interesting things about yourself. We want you to look outward and marvel at the world around you. We want you to laugh at past memories that helped shape the person you’ve become. We want to dream with you about all your future holds. Our hope is our quizzes and articles inspire you to do just that.
Life is a zoo! Embrace it on Zoo.com.
Big Cats Quiz
Can You Identify All These Hoofed Animals From an Image?
Freshwater Fish Identification Quiz
Are You More Cat Than Human?
Which Horse Breed Reflects Your Soul?
What’s Your Southern Spirit Animal?
Can You Identify These Animals That Lay Eggs?
How Many Cattle Breeds Can You Identify?
What's Your Rank in the Wolf Pack?
Can You ID These Common Plants From One Image?
Science 7 Minute Quiz 7 Min
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1705
|
__label__cc
| 0.567816
| 0.432184
|
Section: Economy /Monday 13th October 2014
Matches:Iranian subsidy reform plan
* Iranian subsidy reform plan *
طرح هدفمندسازی یارانه ها
(Wikipedia) - Iranian subsidy reform plan From one of the lowest energy intensity users in the world in 1980, Iran has become one of the major consumers of energy with very high energy intensity.
The Iranian targeted subsidy plan (Persian: طرح هدفمندسازی یارانهها) also known as the subsidy reform plan was passed by the Iranian Parliament on January 5, 2010. The government has described the subsidy plan as the "biggest surgery" to the nation''s economy in half a century and "one of the most important undertakings in Iran''s recent economic history". The goal of the subsidy reform plan is to replace subsidies on food and energy (80% of total) with targeted social assistance, in accordance with Five Year Economic Development Plan and move towards free market prices in a 5-year period. The subsidy reform plan is the most important part of a broader Iranian economic reform plan.
According to the government, approximately $100 billion per year is spent on subsidizing energy prices ($45 billion for the prices of fuel alone) and many consumable goods including bread, sugar, rice, cooking oil and medicine. However, some experts believe direct subsidies are about $30 billion, depending on oil prices.
The subsidy system has been inherited from the Iran-Iraq war era but was never abolished. Iran is one of the largest gasoline consumers in the world, ranking second behind the United States in consumption per car. The government subsidy reform has been years in the making for various reasons. Iran''s Supreme Leader has backed the government''s latest subsidy reform plan.
1 Objectives
2.1 Budgeting
2.2 Income data
2.2.1 Data collection
2.3 Plan revision
2.4 Price adjustments
2.4.1 Other determinants
2.5 Consumption patterns
2.6 Economic adjustments
2.7 Second phase
3 Effects and criticism
Objectives See also: Iranian Economic Reform Plan, Energy in Iran and Fuel smuggling in IranAccording to the Iranian government, $100 billion is spent on subsidies each year. The reform plan aims to encourage public transport by decreasing fuel subsidies.
Iran was the largest provider of fuel subsidies in the world by 2009. Many Iranian experts agree that these unsustainable subsidies encourage waste among goods, including in the production sector, ranging from gasoline to bread that must be stopped and the only way to do that is to redirect subsidies.
The stated goal of the subsidy reform is "to rejuvenate Iran''s economy, increase productivity, give it a new footing and bring it out of the slump it has been in for so long". Concretely, the government plans to replace the subsidies with targeted social assistance. Consequences of the economic reform plan are that Iran will be less vulnerable to US sanctions because it will reduce fuel imports. The reform plan will also save money for the Iranian people because it will end a multi-billion dollar-a-year contraband (17% percent of fuel production in Iran is smuggled abroad daily). Due to subsidies, Iran had long had one of the cheapest gas prices in the world, 10 cents per liter or 40 cents per gallon.
Implementation of the plan will reduce waste and consumerism. In fact, according to official data, the higher income strata of the population has enjoyed the same subsidies as the poor until now. On the other side, subsidies reduction will reduce air pollution by reducing car traffic in Tehran. Finally, the subsidy plan will increase social justice through targeted social assistance. According to official data, the richest decile of households benefits 12 times more from gasoline subsidies than the poorest decile. Overall, implementation of the plan will increase productivity, efficiency, competitiveness of Iran''s economy, economic growth, oil exports and per capita income (all other things being equal).
Implementation See also: Supreme Audit Court of IranIran wants to save up to $100 billion on subsidies within three to four years.
For implementation of the bill, an entity has been established as a duly authorized governmental company under the name "Targeting Subsidies Organization".
The amount saved by the government, will be distributed as follows: 50% towards the poorest strata of Iranian society; 20% at the government''s disposal (to compensate for increased costs or as safety net); and the remaining 30% will be directed towards improving the efficiency of the utility, fuel and energy production infrastructure, public transportation development, industry and farming.
The plan will commence with energy, fuel and utilities in the first year and consumable goods will start in the second year. The start of the cuts will coincide with the beginning of the second half of the Iranian year on Sept. 23, 2010. At that time, the 2007 Gas rationing plan will come to an end.
Budgeting See also: Public finance and fiscal policy in Iran and Ministry of Petroleum (Iran)
In March 2010, the Iranian Parliament approved a $347 billion budget, in which the allocation from subsidies and the oil price were set at $20 billion and $65 per barrel, respectively. According to the Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs, Iran''s subsidy reforms would save 20 percent of the country''s budget. Iran wants to save up to $100 billion on subsidies within three to four years. In 2011, the Iranian parliament approved a $508 billion budget based on $80/barrel oil price. This bill also factors in $54 billion from price hikes and subsidy cuts.
Iran''s oil and gas projected revenues by the International Monetary Fund. Iranian officials estimate that Iran''s annual oil and gas revenues could reach as much as $250 billion by 2015.Iran''s GDP projections, 1999-2015 est.
IMF Projections/Scenarios
as at 2008/09 2014/15 Baseline 2014/15 Energy price reform
Real GDP growth −3.7% 3.5% ~8%
Real GDP growth (non-oil) 2.9% 3.8% ~8%
Crude oil exports 2.4 Mb/d 1.8 Mb/d ~2.5 Mb/d
Current account 7.2% 0.2% ~2.5%
CPI inflation 25.4% 10% ~7% (peaking above 30% in 2011)
Gross official reserves $80 billion $98 billion ~$170 billion
Overview of 2011–12 budget and comparison with 2010–2011 budget.
Item 2011–12 2010–11 % Change
General Budget, of which 170 129 31.8%
Development Expenditure 35 31.7 10.4%
General Expenditures & Other Items 135 97.3 38.7%
Budget for State-Owned Banks and Enterprises 355 252.5 40.6%
Total* 508 368.4 37.9%
Resources from Subsidies Phase Out 54 20 171.7%
* Totals may not add up due to rounding and deduction of double-counted items Note: all numbers are in billion dollars.
Income data See also: Labor and tax laws in IranAccording to the IMF, until recently a four-member Iranian household received an average of $4,000 a year in subsidies for oil and natural gas, compared with a typical annual income of about $3,600 a year.
According to the IMF, until recently a four-member Iranian household received an average of $4,000 a year in subsidies for oil and natural gas, compared with a typical annual income of about $3,600 a year.
In 2010, Iran''s Department of Statistics announced that 10 million Iranians live under the absolute poverty line and 30 million live under the relative poverty line. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says implementation of the targeted subsidy system will eradicate unemployment and poverty in Iran within three years.
Data collection See also: Social Security Organization (Iran) and "Justice shares" distribution in Iran
The administration has said earlier that it will be able to allocate different payment amounts to different people. To that end, in 2009, forms were distributed asking Iranians to report income, assets and property but the question remains on how the government will verify this information gathered by self-reporting. Many people have chosen not to report or withhold information. The administration has categorized the people into three income brackets; namely lower, middle, and higher for the implementation of the subsidy reform plan. On the other side, it was not clear in what form the compensation would be distributed, direct cash or goods. Another concern is the accuracy of government information on family incomes.
In September 2010, Iran''s Statistics Bureau announced that implementation was delayed by one month because they were still collecting information regarding the financial situation of households and opening bank accounts for them.
Plan revision See also: Banking and insurance in Iran
Later in 2010, the government announced that it had revised its plan because of lack of reliable data on personal incomes. To ease the economic pain of lost subsidies, the government indicated it would distribute $40 per person/month (i.e. 455,000 rials/month) to 90% of the general population, starting on December 18, 2010.
Original vs. Revised plan
Item Original/Budgeted plan (2010) Revised plan (2011)
% population receiving cash handouts 50% >90%
Amount re-directed from subsidies $20 billion/year <$54 billion/year
Cash handout per capita/month $25 $40
Cost in 2011 budget for this handout $10 billion >$30–35 billion (>$2.5 billion/month)
Amount allocated for production & government from subsidies re-direct $10 billion ($6 billion for production and $4 billion for government to cover increased costs) >$10 billion for production
Price adjustments See also: Inflation and monetary policy in IranBetween 2002 and 2006, the rate of inflation in Iran has been fluctuating between 12 and 16%
The government took control of deciding how much the prices should rise in a year, as long as the subsidy cuts on gasoline and other refined products, natural gas, electricity, water, food (sugar, rice, cooking oil and bread), health and education are between $10 and 20 billion dollars annually. Estimates indicate that the government has to increase existing prices by an average of 2.5 times to achieve the lower target and by 4 times for the maximum target. According to the IMF, Iranians can expect the first price hike to lift energy product prices between four and 20 times previous levels, with prices surging even higher eventually.
Other determinants See also: Agriculture in Iran
According to the plan, the type of consumption (i.e. whether agricultural, industrial and civil) will also be considered when setting energy prices. The subsidy plan will be implemented in proportion with geographical regions because warm regions consume more electricity during summer while cold regions consume more gas during winter. Finally, the time of consumption (i.e. during peak and off-peak hours) and the consumption demand (i.e. whether it is low or high) will be taken into consideration.
Commodity (or service) Old Price (as of 12/17/2010) New Price/Increase (as of 12/18/2010) Initial decrease in consumption (as of 01/01/2011) Target price (by 2015)
Gasoline 10 cents/liter; 40 cents/liter (beyond 60 liters/month) 40 cents/liter; 70 cents/liter (beyond the quota, except for public service cars which receive a higher quota) 5–20% (from 64 million to 53 million liters/day) Prices for oil derivatives not less than 90% of the prices in the Persian Gulf market (f.o.b) ($0.88-0.91 per liter as of 2014)
Diesel $0.06/gallon $0.6/gallon ($1.4/gallon on the open market) 20% (from 54 to 41 million liters/day) N/A
Natural gas 1-1.3 cents/m3 for households and 0.5 cents/m3 for power plants >500% price increase; on average 7 cents/m3 for households and industry and 8 cents/m3 for power plants 6% (for cooking gas) 75% of the average export price for the general population; 65% of the average export price for petrochemical companies for 10 years.
CNG 4 cents/m3 30 cents/m3 N/A N/A
Electricity 1.6 cents/KWh <300% 11% at production cost (8 cents/KWh as of 2010; 10 cents in 2015)
Water 9 cents/m3 25–37 cents/m3; 300-400% increase (2,500 rials/m3 for household usage; 4,128 rials/m3 for industrial usage) 5% at production cost (~10,000 rials/m3 for household usage)
Bread (loaf of brick oven bread) 5–20 cents; Wheat: 1 cent/kg 200% (40 cents); Wheat: 28–30 cents/kg. Price of bread increased again to 45 cents in April 2011. N/A N/A
Taxi & inter-city buses N/A 10–18% (city buses, domestic flights and the metro, are not allowed to raise prices at all) N/A N/A
Air+rail transport N/A >30% (not yet implemented) N/A N/A
Starting in April 2012, Iran''s consumers have been hit with a wave of rising prices that has now touched laundry detergent and food items such as cooking oil, rice, eggs and dairy products. Since April 2012, the price of food and other consumer products have risen between 10 and 20% in some cases.
The latest official data comparing prices of foodstuffs in the second week of April 2012 to the corresponding period in 2011 showed dairy products rose about 42 per cent, red meat 47.5 per cent, rice about 29 per cent, beans 45.7 per cent, vegetables 92 per cent, sugar 33 per cent and vegetable oil 30 per cent. The price of chicken nearly tripled since 2011.
Consumption patterns See also: Demography of Iran
As of October 2011, consumption of liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, kerosene, and diesel has cut between 4 and 19%, despite the fact that more than 1 million cars have been added to Iran''s fleet. Increased use of compressed natural gas (CNG) to fuel cars has also reportedly played a role in this. According to the government, if oil products consumption had not been managed, consumption of gasoline would have increased to 120 million liters per day, while by reforming consumption pattern the figure has fallen to 60 million liters per day. In November 2011, the Government reported that the subsidy reform plan has saved Iran $6 billion.
Subsidizing fuel prices has been the primary factor accounting for a 500 percent rise in Iran''s domestic energy consumption over the past three decades, while the size of the population has doubled over the same period.Iran''s gasoline and gas-oil production and consumption projection (2008–2012).
Item 2010 2011 Reduction in consumption (2010–11) Savings (as of January 2012)
Petrol 62.8mn liters/day 59.3mn liters/day 3.5mn liters/day $2.1 billion (for gas oil)
Liquid gas (CNG) 12.3mn liters/day 11mn liters/day 1.3mn liters/day $200 million
Gasoline 81mn liters/day 73mn liters/day 8mn liters/day $880 million, despite the fact that 4000 new cars are registered each day and continued fuel smuggling with neighboring states.
Kerosene N/A N/A 2.9mn liters/day $770 million
Furnace oil 18.1mn liters/day 11.5mn liters/day 6.4mn liters/day $1.350 billion
Electricity N/A N/A N/A ~$400 million ($10 billion when including capital investment and fuel for power plants)
Water N/A N/A N/A $8.1 billion
Wheat/flour N/A N/A -22.4% N/A
Total: N/A N/A N/A $15 billion
Economic adjustments See also: Sectors of Iran''s economy and Tehran Stock Exchange
The reforms target one of the major sources of inefficiency and price distortions in the Iranian economy, and will likely lead to major restructuring in almost all economic sectors. The banking sector in Iran is viewed as a potential hedge against the removal of subsidies, as the plan is not expected to have any direct impact on banks. Experts believe that following the launch of the subsidies reform plan, the electricity industry will undergo significant changes and will become more appealing to private investors.
On the other side, the cement industry in Iran is one of the economic sectors that will be hit the hardest in Iran following of the subsidy reform plan, because many Iranian cement factories are energy inefficient (Notwithstanding possible adjustment and/or liberalization of commodities prices by the government during implementation). Taxi, delivery and truck drivers have also been adversely affected by the recent gas price increase. Experts believe that the removal of subsidies is likely to have an adverse impact on the profitability of the automotive sector for at least the next 2–3 years. One major element of pressure on producers is the unchanged exchange regime of the Central Bank of Iran, which puts imported products at an advantage by failing to compensate for the relative increase in production costs of domestic producers.
Second phase See also: Social class in Iran
During the second phase, starting in June 2012, half of the funds from energy and food subsidies will be re-allocated to the people and the remaining 50% will go to the industrial sector. If approved by the Parliament, the government will pay an extra cash handout of 280,000 rials/month to 80% of the general population (i.e. people earning less than $2000/month, which is a comfortable income level in Iran). In July 2012, it was announced that implementation of the second phase was suspended awaiting further adjustments by the government and because of raising inflation (around 22% as of April 2012). Finally, in fall 2013, the parliament approved a plan to drop 22 million Iranians—the top 30 percent of earners—from the subsidy system instead. Yet, it was reported in 2014 that out of Iran’s population of 77 million, 73.6 million registered to receive the cash hand-outs.
Effects and criticism 2010
According to earlier critics, even if half of $20 billion is passed as part of the compensation to the poorer 50% of the Iranian society, it will amount to $25 per eligible person per month; "no way near enough to make up for such inflation rates".
Critics say that if the government goes for the top of this range inflation could rise up to 40% through the economy. The International Monetary Fund, however, has predicted a more moderate rise in inflation of just 32 percent. As of January 2010, the official inflation rate stands at 15 percent. The cost of living in Iran, according to the Majlis Research Center, could rise by up to 60 percent. Ahmadinejad''s administration contends that the negative side effects will be transient and that the projections are based on out-of-date models.
According to some western reports, cash payments have been denied to some opponents of the regime during the distribution phase.
Ahmad Tavakkoli, a parliamentarian, accused the government of “violating the law” and “mis-implementing” the plan because it earned 290,000bn rials ($23.6bn) from the cut in subsidies in the first 14 months of its implementation but paid people $36.7bn of compensation in return (he says).
It has also been reported that while the subsidy reform plan needs further adaptation and fine-tuning, citizens must separate the questions of public policy from the issues of government legitimacy. The IMF has hailed Iran''s economic reform and asked Iran''s expertise to be transferred to other countries. The Economist Intelligence Unit has also praised Iran''s subsidies reform plan for its positive effect on the economy in 2011.
In 2012, Iran''s head of the Expediency Council, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, criticized the government for failing to reinvest the money it saved by restructuring government subsidies. To compensate, the government says it has allowed producers to adjust their prices more liberally and it has given free loans and energy subsidies in some cases. In recent years, income inequality in Iran has declined by different measures, which may be an effect of the subsidy reforms. For example, the income Gini coefficient fell from 0.4023 in 2005 to 0.3813 in 2010. Between February 2011 and February 2012, the government earned 510 trillion rials (some $41.6 billion) by implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan.
According to the World Bank:
A revision to the system of subsidies and cash transfers to better balance reimbursements and fiscal accounts has been looked upon favorably by outside analysts. Iran has made important efforts to reform its income support system away from subsidies and toward better targeted social safety nets, and this has brought down the pace of prices.
In October 2012, 179 of 240 members of parliament voted in favor of pausing the subsidy reform, because of high inflation (exacerbated by the sanctions against Iran). Consequently, the growth in consumption of subsidized products rebounded in 2012.
It has been reported that implementation of the subsidy reform plan in the 2014-budget bill will likely force the government to double fuel prices.
Tags:2015, Agriculture in Iran, Ahmad Tavakkoli, Ahmadinejad, Audit, Audit Court, Ayatollah, Banking and insurance in Iran, CNG, Central Bank of Iran, Data, Energy in Iran, GDP, Hashemi Rafsanjani, IMF, Inflation, International Monetary Fund, Iran, Iran-Iraq, Iranian, Iranian Parliament, Iranian subsidy reform plan, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis, Parliament, Persian, Persian Gulf, President, Rafsanjani, Social class in Iran, Subsidy Reform, Supreme Audit Court, Supreme Leader, Tehran, Tehran Stock Exchange, The Economist, US, United States, Wikipedia, World Bank
Add definition or comments on Iranian subsidy reform plan
Upon approval, your definition will be listed under: Iranian subsidy reform plan
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1706
|
__label__wiki
| 0.883073
| 0.883073
|
Special Senate Committee on Charitable Sector Releases Final Report
By Terrance S. Carter, Theresa L.M. Man and Ryan M. Prendergast, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 451, June 27, 2019.
Implications of Ontario Budget Cuts for Ontario Not-For-Profits
By Terrance S. Carter, Barry W. Kwasniewski and Ryan M. Prendergast, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 448, May 24, 2019.
Applying for Federal Incorporation and Charitable Status
By Esther S.J. Oh and Terrance S. Carter, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 446, April 25, 2019.
Robust Social Media Policy Vital for Charities, Not-For-Profits
By Terrance S. Carter and Luis Chacin, published on April 18, 2019 in The Lawyer's Daily.
Federal Budget 2019: Impact on Charities and Not-For-Profits
By Theresa L.M. Man, Ryan M. Prendergast, Esther Shainblum, Terrance S. Carter and Sean S. Carter, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 443, March 20, 2019.
Legal Issues in Social Media for Charities and Not-for-Profits
By Terrance S. Carter, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 441, February 27, 2019
Court Declares Not-for-Profit Cemetery to be a Charitable Trust
By Jennifer M. Leddy and Terrance S. Carter, Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 439, January 31, 2019.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1713
|
__label__wiki
| 0.862043
| 0.862043
|
Senate Will Ensure Upgrade Of Minna Airport – Saraki
2 years ago / Nation
Nigeria's Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki says the Senate will ensure that the Minna Airport is upgraded to serve its primary function as alternative to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The Senate President explained that the proximity of the Minna airport to the Federal Capital Territory and its standard runway made it an alternative to the Abuja airport.
He noted that with the level of renovation work at the airport and its unique features, the Senate would not allow the facility to remain dormant.
“We have seen the airport and we have discussed it. With its standard and conducive runway and its closeness to Abuja, I don’t believe it should be in its present state; we cannot allow it to remain in this sorry state.
“The Senators from this state will table it on the floor of the Senate and we shall look into it. We shall ensure that we bring the airport to international standard,” Dr. Saraki said.
The Senate President made the remarks before departing Minna for Abuja through the airport, after paying condolence visits to Governor Abubakar Bello and the family of late Abdulkadir Kure, a former Governor of Niger State.
The Minna airport has been serving the annual airlifting of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for annual pilgrimage for over 10 years.
The renovation work on both the arrival and departure wings of the airport, which was initially built to serve as alternative port to the Abuja airport, was stopped by the previous administration due to lack of funds.
Previous: France, Nigeria To Partner To Boost ArtWork Next: Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning Sentence
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1716
|
__label__wiki
| 0.710596
| 0.710596
|
‘Outside-In’ with Ehrlich Yanai Architects
General / People / Places / Products / July 3, 2019
One was a design writer who later studied at Harvard GSD. The other earned a degree in literature at Rensselaer, then chose the Peace Corps rather than graduate school.
But they’re both founding partners in Los Angeles-based Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects.
And now the 2015 AIA Firm of the year has a new book out.
It’s called Outside-In. It’s an effort to differentiate their firm from any other practicing contemporary architecture in the West. And it’s a gem that shines with 15 of their contemporary California projects, and one more in Houston.
“California Modernism is a lot about blurring indoors and outdoors and then conceptualizing how outdoor spaces are used by other countries, like courtyards used for viewing, and the Japanese borrowed landscape,” says Takashi Yanai, the Harvard GSD grad.
So the new book deals with the impact of global design on the firm as much it does with its efforts to merge indoors and out. “It is about how architecture relates to the landscape and the environment,” he says. “The other aspect is about bringing in things that we have observed in our travels, so it’s about outside influences.”
Because of the temperate climate, California Modernism differs from its more formal counterparts in the East, like New Canaan.
“It’s more casual. There, it’s a single outdoor experience blurred by glass, and with us there’s no glass – it merges,” he says. “But we’re spoiled by the climate here – there’s a seamlessness here that were able to use by virtue of the climate.”
It’s about light and sun and a certain kind of openness unlike anywhere else. “It’s not tamed by tradition, and it’s forward looking,” he says.
That’s the brand of architecture that Steven Ehrlich, Takashi Yanai and their associates are striving to perfect.
For more, go here.
Tags: Ehrlich Yanai, featured
Terrazzo for Walls: Who Knew? June 26, 2019
Designer Aimée Wilder has discovered the balance of living to work, rather than working to live. The graduate of the Chicago...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1722
|
__label__wiki
| 0.758302
| 0.758302
|
Pallant House Gallery displays works by artists working in the field of British Constructivism
Kenneth Martin, Chance, Order, Change 13 (Milton Park A), 1980, Catherine Petitgas Collection © The Estate of Kenneth and Mary Martin/DACS.
CHICHESTER.- A selection of sculptures, reliefs and paintings by artists working in the field of British Constructivism have gone on display at Pallant House Gallery. The display complements the Gallerys major spring exhibition, Victor Pasmore: Towards a New Reality, which explores Pasmores controversial move from figurative to abstract art. Pasmore was a leading figure among the British Constructivists; his work is included in this exhibition alongside works by artists such as Kenneth Martin, Mary Martin, Anthony Hill and Norman Dilworth, all drawn from the Catherine Petitgas Collection.
British Constructivism
The British Constructivists were an unofficial group of abstract artists with shared interests who were inspired in part by the ideals of Russian Constructivism. In 1951 British artist Kenneth Martin published an article entitled Abstract Art in the publication Broadsheet No. 1: Devoted to Abstract Art in which he described the work of this emerging circle of abstract artists. He characterised the new constructed work as an object which is real and not illusional in that it sets out to represent no object outside [itself], but to contain within itself the force of its own nature.
During the 1950s, the British Constructivists organised a series of exhibitions. These included Abstract Paintings, Sculptures, Mobiles, at the A.I.A Gallery, London in 1951 and during the following year three weekend exhibitions held at 22 Fitzroy Street; the London studio of artist Adrian Heath. Unframed paintings, reliefs, collages, sculptures and mobiles were placed at different heights so that the space of the whole studio was animated. This environmental approach to the installation and their shared belief that their art was closely allied to the forms and materials of modern architecture was central to their contribution to the seminal exhibition This is Tomorrow held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London in 1956.
In the late 1950s and 1960s, they continued to exhibit their work and established the groups central position within the development of the British avant-garde. By 1960, a new generation of artists including Peter Lowe, Gillian Ware, Norman Dilworth and Jeffrey Steele joined and became closely associated with the groups ideas.
Victor Pasmore (1908-98) was a leading figurehead among the emerging constructed abstract artists in post-war Britain. He was however less theoretically radical than the others, and was the only one without a strong preoccupation with mathematics.
Kenneth and Mary Martin
Kenneth Martin (1905 1984) and his wife Mary Martin (1907 1969) are the best-known of the core constructivists. Their teaching methods had a long-lasting impact and a unifying influence on the development of the other artists in the group. Although always working closely and often exhibiting together, they developed two very distinct bodies of work.
Kenneth Martin was primarily concerned with the laws of chance or order, while Mary Martin focused on the working of permutations, structures, rotations and the golden ratio. Constructions were central to Marys work, while Kenneth explored mobiles and paintings, although both realised large sculptures and murals.
Norman Dilworth
Norman Dilworth (b. 1931) explores the many possibilities of forms that are at once organic and mathematical, with a degree of freedom that again demonstrates the connection between structures and plasticity. His sculptures are concerned with modular patterns and the way these organise a coherent whole.
John Ernest
John Ernest (1922 1994) was a gifted mathematician and craftsman of enormous skill, creating work by hand with apparent laser precision. He was a US-born artist who joined the group early and was to be central to the development of the constructivists. He also wrote on constructivism and collaborated closely with scientists including Nobel Prize winning chemist, John Kendrew to help them create visual representations of their discoveries. His most famous work, Tower (Vertical Construction) (1955), now in the Catherine Petitgas collection, has only been exhibited in public twice before.
Jeffrey Steele
In the late 1950s Jeffrey Steele (b. 1931) moved from figurative painting to creating monochrome abstract works. The visual effects of these paintings were determined by Steeles research, which used the objective arbitrary values of equations as starting and finishing points. The result is an oeuvre of immense interest.
Peter Lowe
Peter Lowe (b.1938) was a student of Kenneth and Mary Martin. His work embraces systematic rigour, having reduced patterns to a strict minimum in order to reveal their infinite variability. Simple, yet also complex and unique, his work attains a conceptual sense of space and volume.
Anthony Hill (b. 1930) was a keen mathematician and is different from many of his peers in that he never produced a single figurative work in his early years. His constructions are made from a combination of materials such as plastic, brass, copper and aluminium and each element is used directly from the manufacturers. The result is not about the demonstration of a mathematical equation but rather the harmonious relationship of the whole.
The Catherine Petitgas Collection
Catherine Petitgas is an art historian and patron as well as a leading collector of South American art. Since 2012, Petitgas has expanded her collection to include the work of significant British artists. The present exhibition from the collection is an opportunity to reflect on notions of the avant-garde in Britain and offers a valuable contribution to our understanding of what makes art new, and why it matters.
Museum sets out on a new path presenting a fresh reading of the work of Picasso
Stash of paintings discovered after 16 years just 50 miles from place of theft
Despite bad weather, Asia Week galleries opened their doors
Sweeping survey of Mexican modern art opens at the Dallas Museum of Art
Dubai hosts largest regional contemporary art expo
Christie's to feature rare 15th century masterpiece attributed to Hugo van der Goes
Dulwich Picture Gallery celebrates 200 years of visitors
Largest collection of jewelry worn by legendary stars of Hollywood's Golden Era goes to auction
Sotheby's Dubai opens gallery & office
Bertoia Auctions' March 25 Signature Sale sets new standard for quality and rarity
Artist profile: Erté
Sotheby's Hong Kong Evening Sale to offer western contemporary art for the first time
Art Institute of Chicago names new Dittmer Curator
South Africa's 'chicken feather' painter brushes off fame
Up on the roof, revamping Istanbul's Grand Bazaar
Peabody Essex Museum awarded grant to assess how neuroscience can enhance museum experience
Paddle8 announces first Takashi Murakami dedicated auction
Strongest showing of civil rights material yet at Swann Galleries annual African Americana auction
Phillips appoints Miety Heiden as Deputy Chairman, Head of Private Sales
Contemporary Fine Arts presents works by Chinese artists
Ayyam Gallery Dubai opens solo exhibition of Tehran-based painter Afshin Pirhashemi
Asian objects will be sold alongside items from the Western culture in Converse Auctions sale
Marriage medals at Spink, a match made in heaven
Exhibition reconsiders the immense visions of Forrest Bess and Joan Snyder
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1723
|
__label__wiki
| 0.974995
| 0.974995
|
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and musically influential groups in the history of popular music. Founded in 1965, Pink Floyd originally consisted of students Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. They first gained popularity performing in London's underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett's creative leadership they released two charting singles and a successful debut album. David Gilmour joined as a fifth member in December 1967; Barrett left the band in April 1968 due to his deteriorating mental health. After Barrett's departure, Waters became the band's primary lyricist, and by the mid-1970s, their dominant songwriter, devising the original concepts behind their critically and commercially acclaimed albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut. Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd and Wright subsequently joined them as a paid musician. They continued to record and tour through 1994; two more albums followed, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell. Inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, as of 2013 they have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States.
Awards by Pink Floyd
Check all the awards nominated and won by Pink Floyd.
World Music Award for World’s Best Live Act
World Music Award for World’s Best Group
Echo Award for Best Music DVD
Honored for : Pink Floyd: Pulse
Grammy Hall of Fame Award
Honored for : The Wall
Echo Award for Best Music DVD Pink Floyd: Pulse
Billboard Music Award for Catalog Artist of the Year
Honored for : The Dark Side of the Moon
Echo Award for Best International Rock/Pop Group
Brit Award for British Album of the Year The Division Bell
American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
Brit Award for British Group
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Honored for : Marooned
(Artist)
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance Marooned
Grammy Award for Best Music Film Delicate Sound of Thunder
MTV Video Music Award for Best Concept Video
Honored for : Learning to Fly
MTV Video Music Award for Best Concept Video Learning to Fly
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction Learning to Fly
Director: Storm Thorgerson
MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography Learning to Fly
Director of Photography: Gordon Minard
BAFTA Best Original Song Written for a Film
Juno Award for International Single of the Year
Honored for : Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2
Juno Award for International Album of the Year
Juno Award for International Album of the Year The Wall
American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single Another Brick in the Wall
Juno Award for International Single of the Year Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2
Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Wall
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Wall
Brit Award for British Album of the Year The Dark Side of the Moon
Juno Award for International Album of the Year Wish You Were Here
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1725
|
__label__wiki
| 0.863181
| 0.863181
|
Anthony Swofford follows his international bestseller, Jarhead, with an unforgettable first novel -- a powerful story about a youth spent on a U.S. air base in Japan and the gritty neon streets just outside it, where the Japanese underworld lurks and a rebellious young girl finds herself in great danger.Anthony Swofford took the literary world by storm with Jarhead, his electrifying memoir of serving as a U.S. marine in the Gulf War. Celebrated for its visceral candor and profane lyricism, Jarhead stands today as a landmark contribution to the literature of war. Now, in his bold fiction debut, Swofford demonstrates the same audacious vision as he plumbs the legacies of war, the wish for redemption, and the danger of love. Seventeen-year-old Severin Boxx lives on Yokota, an enormous American air force base on the outskirts of Tokyo that is home to fourteen thousand U.S. soldiers and a large contingent of long-range nuclear bombers. Just outside the base lies the busy Haijima rail station. Exit A is one of the many doorways into this place of movement, anonymity, and sudden disappearance. Much of the novel's action transpires in the netherworld around Exit A, a mad neon landscape of noodle shops, strip clubs, sushi joints, pawnshops, whorehouses, sake fountains, military surplus stores, tattoo parlors, hash bars, comic book stores, pachinko parlors, fish shops, and alleys -- "the alleys that all lead somewhere, usually down." It's here, not long before the Gulf War begins, that we first meet Severin, an earnest, muscular high-school-football star and son of a base colonel. Like most of the other young American men on the air base, Severin is mad for Virginia Kindwall, the base general's daughter, who is a hafu -- half American and half Japanese. Beautiful, smart, and utterly defiant of a father who wields godlike military power, Virginia has become a petty criminal in the Japanese underground. Severin is soon caught up in Virginia's world. But theirs is not a typical high school romance; they fall into trouble way over their heads and are quickly subjected to the enormous, unforgiving tensions between America and Japan -- a relationship still informed by the long shadows of World War II and America's use of the atomic bomb.Years later, Severin and Virginia remain lost to each other -- until an emotionally frayed, thirtysomething Severin embarks on a quest to find Virginia and, in so doing, the part of himself taken from him when his boyhood abruptly ended. Like Jarhead before it, Anthony Swofford's Exit A is darkly irreverent, frankly erotic, and more than a little wicked, a tale told in a brooding, pained voice filled with the simple human fury of being alive. It is, in sum, a first novel in full. Building inexorably toward a climax that is at once suspenseful and emotionally overwhelming, Anthony Swofford's fiction debut is a triumph.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1726
|
__label__cc
| 0.700489
| 0.299511
|
267. Sleeping Funny by Miranda Hill
Sleeping Funny stories by Miranda Hill
Rating: (5/5)
(Kindle.ca) - (US) - (Canada) - (UK)
Jul 2, 2013, Anchor Canada, 320 pgs
"Sleeping Funny is a rare book—a debut that introduces a mature writer in full possession of her powers, one who instantly draws you in with her sure voice, intelligence, and humour, and then keeps you reading with growing admiration and delight. Although they are united by these qualities, Miranda Hill's astonishing stories are otherwise notable for their protean variety. Rarely do we find a writer who can inhabit, with equal skill and empathy, the consciousness of a modern teenage girl trying to navigate an embarrassing Sex Ed class, a middle-aged country-village minister in the 19th century who is experiencing a devastating crisis of faith, a young pilot's widow coping with her grief by growing a "Victory Garden" during World War II, and a group of contemporary professional women living on a gentrified big-city street whose routines are thrown into disarray with the arrival of a beautiful bohemian neighbour.
Here are strikingly accomplished stories—surprising and witty tales for readers who love to be drawn in and transported from first word to last."
Received a review copy from Random House Canada.
I had no idea who Melanie Hill was when I started to read this collection except that she is the wife of the award-winning Canadian author Lawrence Hill. As I started reading Ms. Hill's stories I was astounded at how much I enjoyed them and I truly loved the outlook on life that they presented, though not always happy endings. I had to stop after a few and google her to find out if she was Catholic as she read to me like a Catholic author. Very little is available about her online but I did come across a CBC interview with her where she remarks that her work often carries the theme of miracles perhaps attributed "to being sent to Catholic school, even though my family wasn't Catholic. I was the little girl in the back pew, watching the other kids drink the wine that had been turned into blood." These stories are wonderful and while a couple fell flat with me the others were so outstanding I was entirely satisfied with this collection and can't wait to read more from the author. My favourite stories were "Because of Geraldine", "Apple" and "Rise: A Requiem (with parts for voice and wing".
1. The Variance - At sixty-two pages the first story in this collection could be called a novella as it reads like one with breaks for changes of view and passage of time. I quickly settled into the community in which this is set: the upper-middle class street of lawyers' and doctors' families with their children and nannies. Mothers who have high profile jobs but try to outdo each other with their commitments at the school to which all their children go. Everything is peaceful and the same here until the Revivo-Smithermans move in to the old Anderson house. They don't fit, especially Michal. She turns her front lawn into a garden. She has huge flyaway frizzy hair. She wears her baby in a sling. She is always home. She seems to have all the time in the world. The street at first ignores them, then feels them an irritation, until the day Michal hands out notices that she is requesting a zoning variance ... and they learn who she really is. Personally, I related most to Michal and loved her quiet effect on the neighbourhood women. She is a strong character, even though she remains mysterious and I was very satisfied with the ending. Great introduction to this author! (4/5)
2. Apple - SPOILERS. I love this so much I just have to talk about it spoilers and all. This is a bit of magical realism. The Grade 8 class usually hands out (fake) electronic babies for the class to look after as part of the Family Studies class. But they were broken this year and a new teacher took over. She did something which made the class able to see her parents in flagrante delicto at the time that she was conceived. Looking around the class every student was able to see this of the other students. Outside of the class they could see this of everyone they met. They couldn't see their own though; someone else had to tell them what they saw. Many are embarrassed, hurt or shocked by the circumstances under which they see themselves and others were conceived. The ability eventually goes away and is not discussed in class but it has lasting effects on the narrator who later chooses abstinence with her boyfriend, not trusting birth control as 100%, and "for our kid, I'd want something better." Boyfriend agrees with a smile. An "out there" story but brilliantly pro-life! (5/5)
3. Petitions to St. Chronic - A man jumps from a 24 story building and survives. It is a miracle! Three strangers gather to keep vigil at the hospital wanting to see him when he comes round: a Catholic man, a woman with a history of helping broken men and the narrator, an abused wife. Wonderful! A story of healing but not for the one you would think. Loved the religious overtones. (5/5)
4. 6:19 - A man's train pulls over every evening at 6:19 to let another train pass and while he watches out the window a woman gardening in her backyard, he starts to fantasize about her and her home. The story is really much more complicated than that and more about the man's feelings about his life, marriage, job: the worthiness and purpose of it all rather than having any plot. I just didn't like this guy and couldn't care about the story. (3/5)
5. Because of Geraldine - The eldest daughter of a couple narrates as she reflects back on her parents marriage which was always overshadowed by the father's first true love who ran away to Nashville to be a star. Then Geraldine returns one evening to play at the local legion and everything for her parents will forever be changed. Absolute sweet, pure perfection!! I can't imagine any story being better than this one. My favourite in the collection! (5/5)
6. Precious - At 49 pages this is the second longest story in the collection so far and could be called a novella by some. It is a completely compelling story. It is a sad story and one finds it hard to like the characters. Alex is seven when his baby sister is born. Alex is described as having a Picasso painted face and a twisted frame. He receives little affection from his parents but when his undeniably beautiful sister is born he is merely tolerated as long as he doesn't interfere with the sister. The mother obsesses and overprotects Kristi-Anne to such an extreme extent that she shares her room with her and the father is delegated to the couch, but the father is awed by his daughter and the new maternal instincts of the mother have made him fall in love with and respect her once again. The ending is ambiguous. It certainly is tragic for all concerned asking them realise what is truly precious in the end, but is the final event a release or tragedy for the one most concerned. Thought provoking! I still like "Because of Geraldine" better but this is still worthy of (5/5)
7. Digging for Thomas - Quite a short story this time. A woman's husband is off to war, probably WWII. She notices that his things are slowly disappearing, little things like pipe and socks and she gathers more of these items together and leaves them for "them" to take. After they receive word of his death in action, she and their little son work on a little garden which seems to represent the man's life to them. Then one not-so-fine day a big storm comes along breaking a secret and pulling apart the planted garden. One sees the characters learn to accept death for what it is. Only ok compared to the others. (3/5)
8. Rise: A Requiem (with parts for voice and wing) - Splendid! Set in the late 1800's we have a Gothic story of a minister on trial, doctors using corpses for practice, grave-robbing and the Apocalypse. What a tale. Absolutely delicious! I loved it! (5/5)
9. Sleeping Funny - A woman returns to her small home town after fleeing from it to Vancouver to have a baby out of wedlock. She's always made excuses not to return. Her mother's died and now her father is so ill, she finally must return to look after him for his final time, however long that will be. Her young daughter becomes attached to Grampa, reading him stories, but eventually he dies and now the house has been inherited by the daughter. A story of running away from home is really one of running from oneself, and upon returning one doesn't have to deal so much with what was left behind but with who the person was when they were running and coming to terms with the problem that still exists never going away until she came back to face it. A nice story, I enjoyed the characters very well, especially the daughter Melanie, but I did find my mind wandered through the reading. Probably the weakest story in the collection. (2.5/5)
Labels: 2013 Canadian author pro-life short stories
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1727
|
__label__wiki
| 0.981568
| 0.981568
|
NEW YORK, NY -- The high-powered art dealer Larry Gagosian says he bought it. The royal family of Qatar says they bought the sculpture, too. And now they are facing off in court over who owns Picasso’s important plaster bust of his muse (and mistress) Marie-Thérèse Walter, a star of the Museum of Modern Art’s popular “Picasso Sculpture” show.
The seller, in both cases, was Picasso’s daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso, 80. She declined to comment on why she appears to have sold the artwork twice.
Art collectors of ArtKabinett social media network have visited the work at the recent MoMA show of Picasso sculptures.
In a legal action filed this week in federal court in Manhattan against the Qatari family’s agent, Mr. Gagosian claims that he bought the 1931 sculpture in May 2015 for about $106 million from Ms. Widmaier-Picasso, and then sold it to an undisclosed New York collector who expects to receive it after MoMA’s show closes on Feb. 7.
But the Qatari family’s agent, Pelham Holdings, run by Guy Bennett, maintains in its own court documents that it secured an agreement with Ms. Widmaier-Picasso to buy the work in November 2014 for 38 million euros, or about $42 million.
Gagosian's Good Faith Acquisition
The bust, a major work from a highly creative period in Picasso’s life, reflects the evolution of a new erotic style of curves and exaggerated forms inspired by Walter’s charms.
The conflict exposes the stubbornly elusive nature of an increasingly competitive art market, in which deals are made behind closed doors and ownership can be ambiguous.
The case is further complicated by the particular nature of Picasso’s family, which includes a multitude of wives, muses, children and grandchildren who over the years have wrangled over the patriarch’s valuable creations, and in many cases sold off works.
In the action filed Tuesday against Pelham, the Gagosian Gallery asked a judge to “quiet” any challenges or claims to its title of the bust.
“We bought and sold the sculpture in good faith without knowledge of the alleged claim,” the gallery said in a statement, referring to Pelham’s lawsuit. “We are entirely confident that our purchase and sale are valid and that Pelham has no rights to the work.”
Mr. Gagosian has a longstanding relationship with members of the Picasso family, having collaborated with Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter, on a show of Picasso’s sculptures at Mr. Gagosian’s uptown New York gallery in 2003.
In 2011, his Chelsea gallery exhibited the plaster bust along with other work inspired by the relationship between Picasso and Walter, who were Maya Widmaier-Picasso’s parents (the pair never married). The show prompted several bidders to offer “more than $100 million for the work,” Mr. Gagosian’s court papers say.
Bargain for Qatar
According to Pelham’s filings, Ms. Widmaier-Picasso originally agreed to sell the sculpture in November 2014 through the art dealers Connery, Pissarro, Seydoux, a now disbanded firm, to Pelham, which bought it on behalf of Sheik Jassim bin Abdulaziz al-Thani. (He is married to Sheika al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairwoman of the Qatar Museums Authority, who has become one of the most powerful players in the art world. The Thani family has ruled the oil-rich state since its founding in 1850.)
In court papers, Mr. Gagosian questions how Pelham managed to secure Ms. Widmaier-Picasso’s “supposed consent to such an unreasonably low price,” referring to the $42 million, and whether the Pelham agreement was ever valid, since it requires “full payment.”
After consulting with her daughter Diana, who reminded her mother of the offers in excess of $100 million, Mr. Gagosian’s papers say, Ms. Widmaier-Picasso contested the sale as “null and void,” returning the 6 million euros (roughly $6.5 million) of the purchase price that Pelham had paid so far.
According to Pelham’s court papers, Ms. Widmaier-Picasso’s counsel, Sabine Cordesse, asked in April 2015 that the sale to the royal family be canceled. Pelham says Ms. Cordesse “told them that Widmaier-Picasso lacked mental capacity” to agree to the transaction “due to purported medical issues.” Ms. Cordesse, reached on Tuesday in Paris, declined to comment.
Pelham further asserts that its purchase of the sculpture was negotiated by Ms. Widmaier-Picasso’s son, Olivier Widmaier-Picasso, “whom no one contends was ever cognitively impaired or had any interest other than negotiating a fair market value for the sculpture.”
Mr. Gagosian later made his deal with Diana Widmaier-Picasso, Pelham says, “in an attempt to thwart Pelham’s rights because they sought a higher purchase price.”
Widow Accepted Gagosian's $105 Million
Mr. Gagosian asserts that Maya Widmaier-Picasso agreed to sell the work to him in May for $105.8 million, with the understanding that he would resell it.
That same month, Pelham sued Ms. Widmaier-Picasso and Connery, Pissarro, Seydoux in Switzerland to enforce the sale. It then obtained a court order to prevent Ms. Widmaier-Picasso from moving the sculpture, an injunction which has been challenged and is under appeal.
Mr. Gagosian maintains that on Oct. 2, 2015, title passed to him after his third payment to Ms. Widmaier-Picasso, and that he has to date paid $79.7 million, or 75 percent of the purchase price.
The dealer added in court papers that he “did not learn anything” about Pelham’s claim to the work until later that month, when Pelham — realizing that the disputed sculpture was in the MoMA show — alerted Mr. Gagosian that it had a “priority claim” to the work.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1728
|
__label__cc
| 0.647372
| 0.352628
|
IGT Not Deterred by Zynga Scrapping Real-Money Gambling Plans
July 26, 2013 at 2:40 pm PT
In its Q2 earnings report earlier this week, Zynga said it has abandoned its plans to pursue real-money gambling in the U.S. But Nevada-based IGT, which makes both physical and virtual casino games, said its plans are unaffected.
“What Zynga’s finding out is that breaking into real-currency wagers is a difficult thing,” said executive VP Robert Melendres, who heads IGT’s interactive division. “They built their business as more of a causal social gaming business. We are well situated to take advantage of [real money], just as we’ve done in Europe.”
Melendres’s goal is “convergence”: Bringing the experience someone might have playing, for example, a Wheel of Fortune slot machine (which IGT develops and manufactures) with the separately branded games of its social casino product DoubleDown Casino. In addition to getting cleared by regulators, he said part of the challenge is in the gameplay itself: Offering the same odds and the same “thrill” (his word) of risking real money that one gets in Vegas.
IGT acquired DoubleDown for $500 million in early 2012, one week before Zynga announced its now-scrapped casino ambitions. The Facebook-integrated site now offers roulette, blackjack, video poker and 37 slots games, which — like many of the innumerable competing social/mobile casino games — encourage users to purchase virtual currency, which is then what’s (legally) wagered.
According to its Q3 earnings report, the company’s social casino gaming revenue is up 105 percent year over year to $61.4 million, and monthly active users increased 28 percent from 5.2 million to 6.7 million in the same time frame. But Melendres said he is confident that IGT will be part of the “first meaningful wave” of real-money gambling for players in states that have legalized it, expecting to have a foot in the door by Q1 2014.
The real-money online gambling market, which H2 Gambling Capital said currently grosses about $30 billion worldwide, already surpasses other forms of social gaming and is expected to keep growing, as shown in this chart from Betable.
Tagged with: Betable, Blackjack, casino, Casino Gaming, Double Down Interactive, DoubleDown Casino, gambling, gaming, H2 Gambling Capital, IGT, real-money, Robert Melendres, slots, video poker, virtual currency, Wagering, Wheel of Fortune, Zynga
When AllThingsD began, we told readers we were aiming to present a fusion of new-media timeliness and energy with old-media standards for quality and ethics. And we hope you agree that we’ve done that.
— Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, in their farewell D post
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1730
|
__label__cc
| 0.700364
| 0.299636
|
Just Tell the Police
By Jennifer Fitz
A child — perhaps your own — has come to you with disturbing news: So-and-so was doing something that maybe wasn’t right. His hands were in a private place, or somewhere close by. She was taking weird pictures. There was something on his computer screen that he said was okay and I shouldn’t tell anybody about it. . . . What should you, the adult, do with this news? The answer is simple: Tell the police.
It is not your job to be investigator, judge, and jury. If someone’s in immediate danger, of course you’ll dial 911. When that’s not the case? Pick up the phone, call the city or county police office during business hours, and make arrangements to file the appropriate report. It’s okay to call and say, “I’m not even sure a crime took place, but –.” The police are used to getting these calls. It is their job to sort through the information and figure out how to proceed.
If it makes you more comfortable, first describe what you know about the possible crime, and wait to name the perpetrator until you’ve determined the action was in fact criminal. But call the police. Not your friend who’s a cop, not your neighbor, not the lady at church whose kid is going to the police academy. Call your police station, and make an official report. Even if the particular incident is not one that will result in a conviction, it can become part of a collection of evidence that paints the complete picture.
Do you need to worry about traumatizing the young person? No. Not if you handle the situation in a discreet and sensitive manner. There are steps you can take to ensure the youth is not scarred by the reporting process. I can say this from personal experience. I’ve been involved in two sexual abuse investigations.
In the first, as a child, my testimony was one of several that eventually helped convict a serial rapist. (Unfortunately, not before he’d committed some very serious crimes.) My part: To go down to the station with my mom, she had told the officer what I’d told her, I looked through a stack of photo albums to try to identify the guy, and that was it. No drama. Nothing scary. Not even the need to answer 10,000 questions — it sufficed for me to tell the adult I trusted, and let the adult do the difficult talking.
In the second case, I was 18, and called in to give my opinion on what turned out to be false allegations. I read the written statement given by another teen, gave the police my opinion of the facts in that statement, and answered some questions about what I knew about the alleged perpetrator. And that was it. Again, no drama, no pressure. Share what you know, say, “I don’t know,” to what you don’t know, the police take it from there. It’s their job. Eventually the innocent man was exonerated, and the false accuser was given help and support to deal with her personal problems.
Reporting can be part of the healing process. One of the traits of evil is the effort to make what is bad seem like what is good. A sexual offender will tend to pass off the abusive behavior as “normal” or “no big deal”. There’s in particular a tendency to minimize molestation that falls short of full-on rape or sodomy. To have an adult confirm that what happened is not normal, is not the victim’s fault, and does constitute a crime? It makes all the difference in helping the victim come to terms with the crime.
In the case of a false accusation, it is true that the process of being investigated is absolutely horrific for the victim. But failure to report doesn’t undo the accusation, it just leaves the question hanging in the air indefinitely. The seriousness of a police and social services investigation brings home to the accuser that this is not some game of cliquish politics, and gives the accused the chance to be proven innocent. False accusations are a serious offense in themselves, and deserve to be documented, to prevent the false-accuser from harming others.
Can a cautious call go wrong? Sure it can. Working in law enforcement is not a guaranteed path to canonization. I imagine that writing this post is going to bring out of the woodwork countless stories of lousy police and social work, the same way saying, “I love my priest!” seems to elicit 10,000 stories of not-so-wonderful priestly behavior. But the price of not calling is way too high. Call. Let the police know what you know. Let them take it from there.
Read all posts by Jennifer Fitz Filed Under: General
About Jennifer Fitz
Jennifer Fitz is the author of Classroom Management for Catechists, now available from Liguori Publications. She writes about the Catholic Faith at her Patheos blog, Sticking the Corners.
Lisa Mladinich says
This is excellent, Jennifer, and so important. Sharing!
Margaret Rose Realy says
An important and straight forward column. I pray more parents will have the courage to act.
Sandra Lagnese says
I agree with your article on calling… ever read those stories in the news or some article about a situation and then you sit there and wonder, “Why didn’t they call the police before it got worse?” Often so many time we wish to live in a perfect world or at least one where bad stuff doesn’t happen in our bubble of existence. Some people even rationalize what they’ve seen in order to meet that standard even more so when the act wasn’t committed against them directly. But I’ve always told myself that if I see something wrong I have to report it. By not doing so I am just as guilty as the person who commits whatever act they ought not to. The world is not perfect and there are people who make mistakes or worse are really bad guys that deserve a nice dose of justice. Words to keep in mind: vigilance and awareness or consciousness.
Jennifer Fitz says
Yep. Exactly.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1731
|
__label__wiki
| 0.546136
| 0.546136
|
Ancient Coin Collecting
Comments related to numismatic topics of personal interest.
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire...
The Committee for Cultural Policy has pointed out on several past occasions that exaggerated media reports, of Islamic State (ISIS) income from the sale of looted antiquities to art and coin collecting communities, are and have from the start been unfounded. The persistence of outright lies has cast a cloud over the credibility of several major media outlets and their academic "experts" who fed the flame for what is obviously an ideological anti-trade agenda. In their August 2017 newsletter, the CCP presents a report on the findings of a Dutch National Police investigation that flatly debunks this supposed collusion. In all fairness, similar findings have been reported by respectable archaeologists who value truth over public brainwashing—for what some believe to be the "greater good". Sadly, these laudable professionals have rarely been quoted and certainly are not heralded by their more radical peers. Who could ever have imagined that Cultural Property Nationalists would lead Archaeology down such a destructive path?
Posted by Wayne G. Sayles at 4:50 PM No comments:
A sign of the times?
Over the past decade, collectors of ancient coins have been faced with constant pressure from left wing radicals of academia—particularly the archaeological community leadership and their sycophants. Among the ardent supporters of anti-collector groups are a small but well entrenched cadre of bureaucrats in Washington. The level of governmental infiltration by these cultural property nationalists—bent on eliminating or controlling international trade in cultural property—is in itself cause for some concern. History is replete with examples of ideology supplanting law and individual rights in a quest for social management. It has been the cause of more than one major war between nations, not to mention a global plethora of internal strife over the desire to dictate.
In recent years there has been a barrage of baseless claims in the liberal press stating boldly that the terrorist movements of the Middle East are being funded by huge revenues from the sale (mainly within the U.S.) of ancient artifacts looted in conflict areas either from theft or support of illegal excavation and exportation. Even avowed supporters of academic archaeology have debunked these wild claims, but they continue to proliferate in the media without justification or any basis in fact. It's the "Big Lie" in what some see as its finest hour. One element of that campaign was an Executive Branch program created during the Obama Administration ostensibly to interdict illegal trade and monetary transfers that aided terrorists. The project was called Operation Choke Point and one of its goals was to throttle trade that the administration considered suspect. In reality, the project became a tool for ideologues to exert pressure on legitimate business that they disagreed with philosophically. Ancient coin dealers were among that group targeted. Under pressure from governmental agencies, several banks cancelled longstanding business accounts with dealers in ancient coins—not due to any transgression nor illegal activity, but simply because they dealt in ancient coins. Of course, those disenfranchised businesses lodged complaints with their elected representatives and Congress held numerous related hearings that outlined problems to no avail. The Executive Branch was apparently within its rights and sphere of influence in imposing this form of repressive overreach. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on which way one looks at the situation, the ancient coin community was not alone. Operation Choke Point affected many other legitimate enterprises in negative ways that the Obama Administration accepted and explained as "collateral consequences". One was expected to believe that the philosophical overtones were merely coincidental. This nonchalant writeoff of legitimate American business drew much attention and as early as January 2014 Forbes contributor Tom Basile wrote, "There is a dangerous arrogance of power among the President and senior-level Democrats that should concern every American."
Happily, we can now speak of Operation Chokepoint in the past tense. As of August 16, 2017 the Trump Administration has terminated that program and described it as a "misguided initiative". Hopefully, this is a sign of the times and the present administration will also recognize the negative consequences of bureaucratic overreach at the State Department and U.S. Customs. They might start with implementation of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act and guide the bureaucracy back to a position consistent with the law and not driven, as it has been, by misguided ideology.
Posted by Wayne G. Sayles at 12:34 AM No comments:
Three years ago, coin collector and hobby advocate Scott Barman posted on his blog an insightful article about the nature of what others have described as ideologically inspired bureaucratic overreach. He named the post "An Ancient Dilemma" and discussed the issue of unintended consequences in an era of "hyper-partisanship". Where other members of the coin hobby and trade—including myself on some occasions—have become understandably emotional on this topic, Mr. Barman exhibits a remarkable degree of restraint and appeals both to law and common sense. In the past several years, he has also written other pieces on this subject, see:
http://coinsblog.ws/2013/04/why-you-should-care-about-restrictions-on-collecting-ancient-coins.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2014/05/ancient-collectors-need-your-help.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2016/04/stop-the-government-from-turning-ancient-coin-collectors-into-criminals.html
http://coinsblog.ws/2016/09/collectors-of-ancient-coins-need-your-help.html
For those who would care to evaluate the "ancient coin collector" perspective, without the mindless media disinformation barrage of our times, the thoughts expressed by Mr. Barman will certainly be worth considering.
Posted by Wayne G. Sayles at 9:37 AM 1 comment:
A Sad Day for America
Today, Friday June 23, 2017, The Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives held a hearing entitled "The Exploitation of Cultural Property: Examining Illicit Activity in the Antiquities and Art Trade." This is certainly a worthy topic of consideration, though the tone is not exactly what the title implies. It's heartwarming, in one respect, that Congress has the time to consider these sorts of issues when the viability of our Republic is at serious risk. On the other hand, it may say something about the very nature of representative government and who is actually represented versus who the electorate is. The three bureaucrats testifiying before Congress in this hearing presented one point of view. They understandingly deplored the loss of cultural property, but essentially blamed that loss on private ownership that evolved through trade with illegal sources -- "trafficking" is the operative word. Not surprisingly, each heralded their own efforts to "save the past" for all of us. Nobody in the room talked about the failure of law enforcement worldwide to stop "trafficking". How is any buyer in an international market able to distinguish between an object recirculating in a vibrant and venerable trade from one stolen yesterday? That is not the "buyer's" job, it is the role of law enforcement and the markets based on verifiable evidence -- commonly called "due diligence". Does that mean providing extensive provenance on any object offered for sale? In the case of minor antiquities that is unreasonable and impossible in far too many cases. Still, some items may well appear "too fresh" and should be avoided by all sellers. The burden of proof that something is illicit, however, remains with the accuser.
What those few elected representatives in Congress present did not hear (the room was nearly empty) was the six-hundred-year-old story of how private collectors of antiquities have saved countless objects from loss through physical destruction for intrinsic metal value (for example, melting down silver and gold coins) or the countless museums worldwide that are populated with cultural property donated by private collectors. Why was that perspective not made clear? Because the Archaeological community stranglehold on academia and bureaucracy has made alternative views all but impossible. Why was the room nearly empty? Maybe because this is a special interest and most representatives were juggling impossible schedules. The approach of bureaucracy, in its mindless support of a small academic ("expert") interest, funded mainly by public support, is actually extralegal and counterproductive. Academia and Bureaucracy have no actual control over foreign governments, so they turn their attack instead toward the innocent who are blameless. This is most obvious in the liberal media where hardly a day goes by without some blatant and typically false propaganda. The actual truth is that private collectors do far more to save the past than the loose-lipped academics ever dreamed of doing.
So, what actually is the chance of a fair discussion of the issues involved? Virtually zero. This hearing was essentially a checkmark for the next step in a well planned legislative or bureaucratic event. The failure of governments and law enforcement in foreign lands to eliminate looting and wanton destruction has become a harpoon in the side of law abiding Americans who love the past. Worse than that, the U.S. Government has become the advocate for a disgusting array of foreign sovereignties who have not the slightest regard for individual rights. It's all about politics, not about justice or freedom. Yet, the LAW is what bureaucracy uses as a hammer by distorting the will of Congress in its letter and intent with impunity. It's a sad day for those who believe in the American system of Democracy and Justice.
“The Exploitation of Cultural Property: Examining Illicit Activity in the Antiquities and Art Trade”
Posted by Wayne G. Sayles at 5:07 PM 2 comments:
What happened to the Debate?
I was disappointed not long ago when I heard that Ann Coulter's scheduled talk at Berkeley was cancelled by the university and the conservative Young America's Foundation that had sponsored her. The action was taken in response to serious concerns about student and project-sponsor safety. Violence on campus has become a hallmark of that once prestigious university and the ultra-liberal element there has effectively abducted reason in their mind-boggling narcissistic tantrums. One radio talk show host characterized the actions and attitudes of Berkeley students as "Fascist" in their physical repression of free speech—which ironically the liberal community loudly demands when it serves their own purpose. How easily they forget that it is a right that ALL American citizens enjoy.
Back in the 90s, I don't recall the actual date, I was invited to participate in a program hosted jointly at Berkeley by the Classics Department of the University and the San Francisco Ancient Coin Club. I delivered a paper about clasped hands as a symbol of marriage on ancient coins. The atmosphere was very collegial and friendly. Nobody threatened nor insulted me. In fact, I was left with a very good feeling about Berkeley in general. What in the world happened between then and now?
Whatever it was, it didn't just happen recently. After founding the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild in 2004, I started attending U.S. State Department hearings of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) in Washington DC. My intention was to establish a dialogue with Archaeologists who opposed the 600-year tradition of private ownership of ancient coins and members of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that was then becoming proactive in adding ancient coins to designated lists of material restricted from importation into the United States. I had in fact sent a formal letter to Prof. Jane Waldbaum, then president of the Archaeological Institute of America, suggesting that our respective organizations had common interests and might explore areas of potential cooperation. She was then a Professor in the University of Wisconsin system and I mentioned our common ground, at least geographically—since I was a post-graduate student at Wisconsin and a PhD candidate. I never did receive a reply (in retrospect, no great surprise). At one of the CPAC meetings about six months later, while waiting in the lobby for clearance to enter, I happened to recognize Professor Waldbaum standing alone in the room. I walked over and introduced myself. I mentioned that I had recently sent her a letter and wondered if she had received it. She looked me straight in the eye and said "yes", then without another word, turned and walked away. At that point, I had a pretty clear indication where we were headed. Granted, I was only a PhD candidate at UW, but I had by that time become fairly well recognized in the field of Numismatics as an author, publisher and collector advocate. She knew very well who I was and who I represented. In a way, I suppose I should thank Jane Waldbaum for laying it out so clearly. That simple act of arrogance taught me a lesson that no classroom exercise ever could. Education is an ongoing adventure and my 75 years on this earth have certainly been adventurous. What I have learned about people is worth its weight in gold.
The Devil is in the Details
In America, the concept of Representative Democracy theoretically provides each citizen a proportionate voice in government through the election process. Those elected officials serve their constituents, and the nation in general, by creating the laws under which we all manage to co-exist. The faithful enforcement of those laws is delegated to the Executive branch of government and executed through a wide array of bureaus, departments and agencies. As the number of laws has increased over time, so too has the number and size of the enforcement entities. The resulting bureaucracy is managed through a pyramidal system that ultimately becomes difficult to manage in the chaos of election vagaries and changing leadership priorities. In this environment, "top down management" only works to a limited degree. Changes in policy at the bureau management level happen slowly in most cases, if at all. By the same token "undoing" bureaucratic action is easier said than done. Consequently, mid-level managers who have inherent protections—including job security that elected officials lack—are effectively empowered far beyond normal expectations. They make decisions daily that affect literally millions of people. For the most part, I believe these bureaucrats have the best interests of the nation at heart and do their best to serve. But, they are human. Some will inevitably be influenced by a special interest that strikes a chord with them. Since the enforcement of law can require more detail than legislation typically provides, rule-making at agencies becomes a critical element of the process. These rules can either support the letter and intent of legislation or they may reflect the interests or preferences, or even the training, of enforcement agency personnel. As always, the devil is in the details and they can be more subtle than politically appointed managers realize. This is especially true when there is a significant span of time between enactment of law and bureaucratic rule-changes. When agency rules fail to enforce a law in the manner intended and anticipated by Congress, the system suffers a break-down in confidence, effectiveness and credibility. At that point, law becomes a hammer rather than a harbor.
Although the "rules" of enforcement for the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CCPIA) are guided by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the action agency is actually Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs agents at every U.S. port of entry are trained, often by Archaeologists, to identify, detain and seize cultural property that is restricted from importation in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and a foreign nation. The MOU is consummated and its scope determined, according to strict parameters of law, by the U.S. State Department (DOS) with guidance provided to CBP for implementation. Therein lies the devil—in the details of implementation. What may start out as a rational effort to protect cultural heritage can become a repressive and extralegal process that infringes on the rights of ordinary law abiding citizens.
Recent press coverage of an event held by CBP's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), at the Boston Public Library, highlights a few objects being repatriated to Italy that were allegedly determined by ICE to be illicit. In addition the occasion was apparently convenient for transferring to Italy "nearly 200" ancient Roman coins that ICE had originally detained in Cincinnati more than three years ago. Although some of the objects at this public repatriation were significant and worthy of press coverage, the coins were very low grade and exceedingly common late Roman bronzes of a general type and character found in Middle Eastern "desert" climates. Virtually any serious collector of these coins would immediately recognize the powdery yellow and reddish patina that distinguishes them. In all but the very rarest of cases these types of coins are not the sort of significant cultural property that CCPIA protects. One can't help but wonder why they were detained, much less seized, and why they were being repatriated to Italy?
There are several paths that might lead CBP to seize ancient coins. If the appraised value of imported coins is greater than $5,000, and there is evidence that the coins were stolen, the coins may be seized by CBP under the authority of the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA). Most source countries for ancient coins have National Patrimony laws that vest ownership of all artifacts, including coins from antiquity, with the State. Therefore, any object exported from these lands without a State permit is by default "stolen" from the State. The recipient of such property in the U.S. may in some cases be guilty of a criminal law violation with serious consequences. A second path to seizure would be illegal importation of a coin or coins that have been restricted through a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and a country from which the coins had been exported. Import restrictions are authorized under specific criteria outlined in CCPIA and enforced by CBP on a case by case basis as determined by the State Department in a "designated list" of items. These coins would by law need to have first been found in, and subject to export control of, the MOU partner nation. Bureaucratic rule-making has expanded that and other criteria in alarming ways. A third path that ancient coins and other private property may be seized by ICE is through the process of "Civil Forfeiture" which allows law enforcement agencies to seize objects that are suspected of being involved in criminal activity—whether or not the owner was actually charged or convicted. This increasingly controversial action is not particular to coins nor the importation process. A fourth way is if imported coins are entered into the U.S. by means of a false statement.
The coins seized in Cincinnati were evaluated by a CBP contract "expert" who identified them as Roman Imperial bronze coins and apparently determined their value to be less that $5,000, which ruled out the NSPA. The stated invoice price was actually $1,000, which seems reasonable considering the nature of the coins shown in press releases. Under no circumstances would they meet the NSPA threshold. At some point, CBP must also have realized that the coins were exported from United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. does not have an MOU with UAE under the authority of CCPIA. Since there was no evidence of associated criminal activity, Civil Forfeiture was apparently ruled out. It would have been appropriate at that point for CBP to release the shipment with an apology and move on. However, three years ago there was a clamor in the Archaeological community and surrogate Media for widespread prohibitions on importation of virtually all cultural property. Returning these coins to their rightful owner might have been politically embarrassing. That left CBP with only one option—the false statement route. These coins were obviously found in the Middle East—not in Italy—based on photos released by CBP. Mint names on some of the coins, iconographic details on others and "desert patina" on virtually all leave no doubt as to their source. When CBP interviewed the importer they reportedly were told that the coins had a Middle East origin. The only viable explanation for seizure by means of "false statement" seems to be that ICE agents erroneously assumed Italy was the point of origin for all Roman Coins. Any other explanation would suggest intentional extralegal enforcement. Once the coins were seized, the importer had the right under law to appeal and contest the seizure. However, the cost of doing so and effecting a reversal of this action would far outstrip the value of the coins themselves. Keep in mind that the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild has been in court for eight years, with significant costs to both the Guild and the U.S. Government, fighting the extralegal seizure of $275 worth of low grade ancient coins. It is understandable that the importer simply gave up the coins. Whether intentional or not, this amounts to intimidation by a government agency charged with serving the public. The private property of a citizen in cases like this is seized without justification—and that is the basis of the ACCG court case which is in effect a class action suit on behalf of all collectors. Even if the documentation in Cincinnati were inaccurate, and it does not seem to be, the typical penalty in minor cases like this would be a reasonable fine, not seizure. Ironically, even if the coins had all been struck at the mint in Rome they were still not covered by the existing MOU with Italy because that MOU does not include Roman Imperial Coins, only early Italian and Republican coins and coinage of Greek colonies in southern Italy.
Adding insult to injury, CBP has now repatriated the coins to Italy—where they had probably never seen the light of day—and then self-applauded their "protection of cultural antiquities". There was no reason to detain or seize the above coins and no reason to repatriate them to Italy or anywhere else for that matter. One could easily imagine that a Customs Agent in Cincinnati might not be familiar with ancient Roman coins and might need to hold a shipment for a few days pending examination by a more knowledgeable party. One could even imagine that a person contracted by CBP as an "expert" on ancient coins might err or be misunderstood, but the above case is not a unique example of collateral damage. Extralegal and unduly aggressive seizures by CBP and ICE are of increasing concern to the many thousands of Americans who buy coins legally from foreign vendors. That concern will not be alleviated until the letter and intent of existing law is restored.
Posted by Wayne G. Sayles at 9:56 AM No comments:
The Law and Ultra Vires
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire, an apologist for cultural property nationalists and a critic of private ownership and trade in cultural property, has posted on his blog a quite lucid history of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) experiences in District and Appellate Court over the past eight years. The post is surprisingly light on the editorializing or histrionics one might expect. It simply relates the facts and the positions of the two adversaries with reasonable clarity—as well as the judgement rendered. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in cultural property issues.
That legal journey has in many ways reflected poorly on the Federal Bureaucracy and the Justice system in America. Of course that is not the conclusion of Mr. St. Hilaire, it is my own view and inescapably stems from my own background and experiences. The "law" in America that implements the cultural property protection resolutions of UNESCO, promulgated in 1970, is the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CCPIA). It is often referred to simply as CPIA. That law was thoroughly debated in Congress and did not reach a point of consensus and approval until 1983. In the process, the purpose of the Act and provisions for its implementation were very carefully codified. Specific protections for private ownership and trade in cultural property were intentionally incorporated in terms that were (and still are) unambiguous. As a result, many collectors and dealers in minor antiquities applauded the implementation of this Act. Indeed, for some who were infatuated with ancient history and were themselves protecting that flame, that law was a positive force. Personally, I still defend CCPIA and have done so publicly and in person at nine formal hearings of the State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Committee. As enacted, I believe it was and still is a good law. Unfortunately, the law is no longer being administered as it was intended and bureaucratic rule-making has supplanted the will of Congress.
For the first two decades after enactment, CCPIA worked as intended and focused on serious threats to Cultural Heritage. Midway in the first decade of this century there were warning signs that change was afoot. The Archaeological community theme that "Collecting equals Looting", championed by Lord Colin Renfrew, had by then become a cult-like mantra. A radical element dominated much of academia and Archaeological Institute of America leadership—and still does. What had for centuries been a productive alliance between professionals and amateurs evolved into a bitter struggle as Archaeologists became infatuated with control and dominance over what they envisioned as "their" turf. They were very well positioned to infiltrate and influence government agencies based on their credentials, social standing and natural affinity for institutional networking. It didn't take long for the protections that Congress wrote into CCPIA to vanish. By 2007, with bureaucratic intervention, the emphasis had shifted from protection of significant objects of cultural heritage to control of virtually all objects made in antiquity and well into the 18th century. The objects are targeted in a laundry list of items defined as "Cultural Property" in the UNESCO Convention, including even postage stamps over 100 years old. They include an unfathomable scope of personal and household items sold, traded, lost or disposed of over several millennia of civilization. Among these are hundreds of millions of ordinary coins that traveled far and wide both in antiquity and in modern times.
In the wake of this dramatic change, private collectors and dealers in ancient coins became alarmed at the potential threat to their venerable 600-year-old hobby. The nonprofit Ancient Coin Collectors Guild was formed in 2004 to provide representation for tens of thousands of American collectors of ancient coins. It's membership and support come from many foreign lands as well. In 2009, the Guild chose to challenge in U.S. Federal Court changes in bureaucratic rule-making that law professors Urice and Adler at the University of Miami have cited in Rutgers Law Review as "lawless" and in an earlier paper as "extralegal". The biggest deviation from law involves a bureaucratic reinterpretation that placed the "burden of proof" over legal/illegal status on an importer of objects rather than on the government. Must a collector prove, through an evidentiary process other than the standard required declaration, that an administratively detained or seized coin or group of coins was legally imported, or must the government, in a seizure, prove that they were not legally imported? What is the standard under law? That rather simple question has been batted around in courts like a tetherball for the past eight years and is yet to be judged on its actual merits. That in itself is a sad commentary.
When ACCG imported a small mixed group of ancient coins from Cyprus and China, it was with the expectation that they would be detained and ultimately seized. They were indeed detained, and Customs was advised of the intentions of ACCG to challenge a seizure. Ignoring the standard deadline, Customs refused to issue the seizure notice that would allow ACCG to contest. After nearly a year of being stonewalled by CBP, the Guild launched its own complaint against DOS and CBP. That case wound on, and on, and on in District Court with a final judgement that the complaint was not justiciable. That is, it could not be tried in a court of law. That ruling was appealed and the Appellate Court chose not to address the fundamental issues—but said they could be addressed in a Forfeiture Action. The complaint was then submitted to the US Supreme Court in a Writ of Certiorari, which the Court unfortunately did not entertain. The Forfeiture Action was scheduled with the same judge in Baltimore that presided over the original ACCG complaint and the result was similar to that of the original case in terms of addressing the merits of the bureaucratic rule-making. That judgement is now pending appeal.
In Mr. Hilaire's blog post, he describes these legal actions as "...the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild's (ACCG) invitation to strike down or weaken import restrictions that protect endangered ancient coins." That is misleading on two points. First, the ACCG is, and always has been, supportive of CCPIA and has no desire to strike down the law nor its provisions as enacted. That may very well include import restrictions on coins that are truly "endangered" (but most are not). Secondly, the coins that ACCG imported to challenge the extralegal bureaucratic rule-making are anything but "endangered ancient coins." They are, in fact, poor examples of common coins that have very little commercial value and no particular historical nor art historical significance and no connection whatever to an archaeological context. As Urice and Adler mentioned in this very case, the coins were legally exported. These coins were chosen purposely to illustrate how inflexible the rule-making has become. The fact that the U.S. government has already invested eight years and an extraordinary sum financially in defense and prosecution expenses, as well as the court's valuable time, just to seize coins worth less than $200 is perhaps an indication that they are more interested in deflecting attention from their so-called "extralegal" action than in saving "endangered coins". In his second paragraph, Hilaire cites "...ACCG's eight-year long legal struggle to attack American import restrictions placed on ancient coins in danger of cultural heritage looting and trafficking." He simply, and perhaps innocently, misunderstands ACCG's motivation and the point of this entire effort.
The decision of Judge Blake in Baltimore is accurately cited by Hilaire, but ACCG is obviously not content to accept a judgement that we see as contrary to our fundamental rights as well as the letter and intent of existing federal law. The government's position and the court's interpretation of CCPIA do not coincide with a reasonable interpretation of that law, nor the existing Congressional record of those who labored in committee to produce this piece of legislation. We know what they felt about burden of proof in 1983, and specifically about its applicability regarding the importation of ancient coins, because they have told us under oath in documented Congressional hearings. We also know because some of the "players" in that event are still alive today.
For the bureaucracy to arbitrarily reinterpret the meaning of CCPIA is a disservice to the whole concept of representative government. In the present situation, innocent collectors of ancient coins are unfairly suffering. In the case of a federal bureaucracy's ultra vires rule-making being validated and confirmed by federal courts, the whole nation suffers from an untenable precedent. Urice and Adler see the solution to this in statutory reform. ACCG has also recognized a need for statutory review by Congress of some provisions of CCPIA, but in the meantime feels a moral obligation to fight for justice and rule of law with every resource at its disposal—and will continue to do so.
WGS Interview
I recently came across an interview that I did a few years ago for CoinSupplyPlanet.com and thought it may be worth sharing here since it is still as relevant as the day it was recorded.
http://blog.coinsupplyplanet.com/interview-wayne-sayles/
The full interview can be viewed and read at the link above
Wayne G. Sayles
Gainesville, Missouri, United States
See bio at http://wgs.cc
Blogs that I follow closely
Illicit Cultural Property | art, heritage, & law
Cultural Property Observer
Past Times and Present Tensions
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1733
|
__label__wiki
| 0.562464
| 0.562464
|
Home > About us > Scientific Advisory Committee
The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Scientific Advisory Committee provides expert input and advice on program development and delivery to help ensure BHI meets current and future priority needs of stakeholders. The Committee consists of Australian and international experts capable of providing BHI with a more comprehensive perspective to ensure we remain at the forefront of best-practice performance monitoring and reporting. The Committee is chaired by our Chief Executive, Dr Diane Watson.
Dr Stephen Duckett
Dr Stephen Duckett is Director, Health Program at the Grattan Institute. He has held top operational and policy leadership positions in healthcare in Australia and Canada, including as Secretary of what is now the Commonwealth Department of Health. An economist, he is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Chris Graham
Chris Graham is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Picker Institute Europe based in the UK. He is also a National Institute of Health Research faculty member and an associate member of the University of Oxford’s Health Services Research Unit. Before becoming CEO in 2017, Chris led Picker’s research division from 2011 to 2016, overseeing the development and co-ordination of large scale research and evaluation projects. Chris has conducted research on and written widely about patient-centred care, and staff, patient and user experiences of healthcare.
Anna Greenberg
Anna Greenberg is Interim President & CEO at Health Quality Ontario in Canada, leading the design and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to improve performance monitoring and public reporting in Ontario. Anna was previously Health Quality Ontario’s Vice President, Health System Performance. Prior to that, she was Director, Strategic Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care where she led policy development in a wide range of areas including mental health and addictions, healthcare quality and safety, clinical and social service integration, and reproductive technology.
Jeannie Haggerty
Jeannie Haggerty is the Interim Scientific Director, St Mary’s Research Centre, St Mary’s Hospital Centre in Montreal, Canada. Her research is focused on measuring patient experiences in patient-centred healthcare, access and continuity, and how these measures relate to changes in organisational and professional practices. St Mary’s Hospital was part of the first wave of hospitals in Canada to engage patients in the improvement of health services, and Jeannie co-led action research programs engaging patients in the re-design of health services.
Richard Hamblin
Richard Hamblin is the Director, Health Quality Intelligence at the Health Quality and Safety Commission New Zealand, responsible for all aspects of the Commission’s measurement of the quality of New Zealand’s healthcare. This includes the New Zealand Atlas of Healthcare Variation, measurement of the effects of national quality improvement program, and design and implementation of national indicators of quality and value. Prior to this, Richard worked for 20 years in the National Health Service (NHS) in England, including as Director, Intelligence at the Care Quality Commission.
Kathleen Morris
Kathleen Morris is the Vice President, Research and Analysis at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). She leads an integrated program of health services and population health initiatives, including indicator development, web-based performance reporting, analytical reports and capacity building. Prior to joining CIHI, Kathleen led strategic and operational projects for hospitals, health regions and governments across Canada.
Sabina Nuti is Professor of the Management and Health Laboratory at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, Italy and a member of the Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health of the European Commission for the triennium 2016—2019. Sabina leads the performance evaluation system for the healthcare sector in the Tuscany region and a network of twelve other Italian regions. She is responsible for leading national and European research projects about healthcare management, performance evaluation and policy.
Kirstine Sketcher-Baker
Kirstine Sketcher-Baker is Executive Director, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Service with the Queensland Government’s Clinical Excellence Division. She is responsible for monitoring and supporting health services to minimise patient harm, reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare and achieve high quality care. Kirstine has a statistical background with a longstanding interest in patient safety and quality care. She has led the introduction of monitoring tools and information systems throughout Queensland and in Alberta including the Queensland Bedside Audit and Patient Experience Surveys.
Dr Jeremy Veillard
Jeremy Veillard is the Strategic Policy Adviser to the Senior Director at the World Bank Group. He is also the Program Manager, Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCIP), which focuses on improving the delivery of primary healthcare in low and middle-income countries. Previously, Jeremy was Vice President, Research and Analysis with the Canadian Institute for Health Information where he led all aspects of research and analysis, working with key stakeholders on health system performance and transformation.
Page updated: 18 Jan 2019
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1737
|
__label__cc
| 0.662392
| 0.337608
|
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a fathers only son, full of grace and truth.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1740
|
__label__wiki
| 0.987615
| 0.987615
|
Obvio!
Her ser du listen med Obvio! modeller. Vælg en model for at se alle årgangene.
Obvio! is a Brazilian automobile manufacturer. The company is specialized in the production of microcars.
Obvio! 828
Obvio! 828 is a car made by Obvio!. The car was originally made by Dacon as Dacon 828. Dacon was originally the Brazilian representative of Porsche, but when imports were prohibited in 1976 they developed a car of their own.
Obvious Child
Obvious Child is a 2014 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Gillian Robespierre (in her directorial debut) and stars Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann and David Cross.
The Obvious Child
"The Obvious Child" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his eighth studio album, The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), released by Warner Bros.
The Obvious
The Obvious is an independent alternative/punk rock band that was formed in Asbury Park, New Jersey in mid-2005. The band currently consists of frontwoman Surojanie "Angie" Sugrim (guitar, lead vocals), Dan Astorri (lead guitar, vocals), and Biff Swenson (bass).
"Obviously" is a song by English pop rock band McFly. It was released as the second single from their debut studio album, Room on the 3rd Floor.
Obvious (Westlife song)
"Obvious" is the third and final single released from Westlife's fourth studio album Turnaround (2003).
Obvious Song
"Obvious Song" is a song by British singer-songwriter and musician Joe Jackson, released in 1991 as the second single from his ninth studio album Laughter & Lust.
Twitter () is an American online news and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as "tweets".
Obvious may refer to:
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1742
|
__label__wiki
| 0.745574
| 0.745574
|
Here’s How the Church of the Future is Experimenting in the Cathedral of Milan
With video installations, electronic music, and abstract art. With Lenten readings from Oscar Wilde and Jack Kerouac. With the pulpit given over to nonbelievers. All this in the great diocese whose patrons are Saint Ambrose and Saint Charles Borromeo
ROMA, June 13, 2006 – One of the key phrases of the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI is “new evangelization.” But in the Duomo of Milan, the cathedral of one of the most important and populous dioceses in the world, governed by cardinal Carlo Maria Martini until 2002 and now by cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, this formula is being implemented in highly original ways.
Since September 22, 2005, in the cathedral’s crypt, beside the relics of Saint Charles Borromeo, who together with Saint Ambrose is a patron of Milan, there has been a video installation by English artist Mark Wallinger. It is entitled “Via Dolorosa.” The visitor enters a darkened box with black walls and three benches inside. He sits down and watches, for 18 minutes, scenes of the Passion excerpted from the film “Jesus of Nazareth” by Franco Zeffirelli. Or better, he must imagine watching these scenes, because the screen is almost entirely blocked by a black rectangle, as in the illustration above. There is no soundtrack.
The video installation is intended to remain there “forever.” At its inauguration, monsignor Luigi Manganini, archpriest of the cathedral of Milan, said that “the evangelization of the third millennium needs today’s forms of art,” and so the electronic image rightly enters the cathedral “with the same force as the entire history of great painting and sculpture.”
Manganini’s right hand man, Fr. Luigi Garbini, entered more deeply into the substance of the work. From the premise that “the Italian Church is stagnant in its inability to interpret contemporary phenomena,” he explained that “the blocking of 90 percent of the view brings the visitor into a cloud of unknowing, in which he finally faces the free decision: to believe or not believe.”
Wallinger’s video in the crypt of Saint Charles Borromeo is not the only gesture of “new evangelization” that has taken the stage at the Duomo of Milan. It is part of a series of other performances, some of which are distinguished by the English title of “pause.”
The latest “pause” was held in the cathedral last June 7, during the week of Pentecost. Under the artistic direction of Fr. Garbini, and with the organizing theme of “number,” the audience first listened to selections from the writings of Jewish philosopher and mathematician of the XVII century Baruch Spinoza.
It then watched a video by Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima, entitled “Counter Voice” and based upon the “metaphor according to which each human being has his own rhythm, and rhythm is the force that unifies the universe.” The dual image that marked the entire evening’s exhibition, taken from Miyajima’s video, showed a young woman with her face first immersed in and then raised out of a basin full of gelatinous liquid.
Finally came the main attraction: the first-ever performance of a work composed for the occasion by one of the leading figures in contemporary music, Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Stockhausen had already composed a piece for the Duomo of Milan the year before. It was a work for organ, soprano, and tenor, entitled “Klang – Erste Stunde: Himmelfahrt” (Sound – First Hour: Ascension). And this saw its worldwide premier in the Milan cathedral on the feast of the Ascension, May 5, 2005.
This time the title was “Klang – Zweite Stunde: Freude” (Sound – Second Hour: Joy). The composer entrusted to two very young female Dutch harpists the task of “singing the hymn of Pentecost, ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’, while clawing, caressing, striking, plucking, rubbing, and thrusting through their harps, exulting.” Stockhausen is famous for a quartet for archery bows accompanied by the whir of four helicopters, and a work performed by 19 concert musicians required to close their eyes and seek out a telepathic rapport with one another while the conductor listened motionless in the center.
The speakers invited to the Duomo of Milan are also consistent with this style.
On May 16 the speaker was Ramon Panikkar, theologian and mystic, previously a member of Opus Dei and a favorite disciple of Saint Escrivá de Balaguer, who then became a supporter of theories of dialogue that join Christianity and the Asiatic religions. His contribution was published before the fact in the weekly magazine “L’espresso” under the title “The Gospel according to Gandhi.” Balancing his theses from the point of view of the canonical Gospels was biblical scholar Gianfranco Ravasi.
On March 10, the prior of the monastery of Bose, Enzo Bianchi, was called upon to inaugurate the program of Lenten preaching. He proposed that Christians everywhere should accept silent martyrdom, like the Trappist monks killed in Algeria in 1996. Bianchi did not preach in the Duomo, but in the nearby church of San Carlo, while the cathedral hosted two of the following events in the cycle: a reading from the writings of the martyred Algerian monks, and a concert dedicated to Saint Francis by singer-songwriter Angelo Branduardi. The thesis supported by the prior of Bose raised protests from the Milan chapter of the Movement for Life, headed by Paolo Sorbi. The board of the Movement met with the archpriest of the Duomo, monsignor Manganini, in order to express their criticisms to him, and – through him, with a letter – to the archbishop of Milan, cardinal Tettamanzi.
On May 11 of 2005, an invitation to speak in the cathedral to introduce the cycle dedicated to the book of Job was extended to professor Massimo Cacciari: in addition to being the mayor of Venice, he is a “nonbelieving” philosopher like others who in past years have taken part in meetings promoted by cardinal Martini under the title of “Nonbelievers at the pulpit.” Cacciari spoke in glowing terms of living without faith and without certainty. Monsignor Ravasi again spoke to balance his statements a bit.
But what was perhaps the most revealing instance of how the Duomo of Milan intends to carry out the “new evangelization” came in Lent of 2004, which was also part of the cycle referred to by the name of “pause.”
The stated intent of the three evenings was to meditate upon the “last words of Christ on the cross.” But instead of the texts of the four Gospels, the audience gathered in the cathedral heard famous intellectuals and actors read pages from authors like Oscar Wilde, Marguerite Yourcenar, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Jack Kerouac.
Everything was accompanied by music and video. The singers included Alice, winner at the music festival of Sanremo in 1981. The video artists included Bill Viola and Michiel van Bakel.
The videos were projected on an immense screen that covered the entire wall on the other side of the front entrance to the Duomo. At the base of the screen was a stage for the musicians and singers.
To permit the public to admire the “great multimedia event,” the benches occupying the cathedral’s central nave had all been turned toward the entrance, with their backs turned to the main altar.
But the altar wasn’t even visible anymore, obstructed by a framework holding the reflectors, projectors, and light and sound controls.
On the last of the three evenings, the program assigned a place to the “presence” of the archbishop, cardinal Tettamanzi.
But the Duomo had already seen the precursors of this new course with his predecessor, cardinal Martini. In the summer of 1997, at the culminating moment of the funeral for the stylist Gianni Versace, which was broadcast worldwide, a piano stood at the center of the Milan cathedral. And Elton John played and sang “Candle in the Wind.”
On this website, on these topics:
> Focus on ART AND MUSIC
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1743
|
__label__wiki
| 0.642482
| 0.642482
|
New Report from CEPR Examines International Growth Slowdown In the Era of IMF Influence
New Report from CEPR Examines International Growth Slowdown In the Era of International Monetary Fund Influence
Calculates $15 Trillion Cost to Developing Countries of Growth Slowdown
For Immediate Release: September 25, 2000
Contact: David Levy, (202) 293-5380
WASHINGTON, DC-- As IMF and World Bank officials and G7 finance ministers meet in Prague, there is much discussion of the importance of economic growth, especially in less developed countries. It is commonly believed that the economic globalization of the last two decades has fostered economic growth. However, the official data tell a very different story, as reflected in CEPR’s new report, "The Emperor Has No Growth: Declining Economic Growth Rates in the Era of Globalization."
There will be a press conference to present the report and to highlight a nationwide day of actions in over 50 cities across the country to protest the negative impact of corporate globalization. When: Monday, September 25, 12 Noon. Where: Park across the street from the World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC.
"A whole generation has been lost to most of the developing world," said economist Mark Weisbrot, co-director of CEPR and co-author of the report. "Twenty-years is a long time, and the policies of the IMF and the World Bank, and other globalizing, unaccountable institutions have clearly failed to promote economic growth."
Referring to calculations reported in the report's Appendix, CEPR Senior Policy Analyst and report co-author Robert Naiman noted that, "Sixty-one developing countries would together have had $2 trillion more in output in 1999 alone, were it not for lower growth, and $15 trillion more in output over the last two decades. These figures dwarf the present indebtedness of the poor nations. Given that the UN faults the payments on this debt for costing the lives of seven million children each year, seven million would be a very conservative estimate of the lives that could have been saved if this economic growth had not been lost."
Economic growth over the last 20 years has slowed dramatically. From 1960-1980, output per person grew by an average, among countries, of 83%. For 1980-2000, the average growth of output per person was 33%.
Mexico would have nearly twice as much income per person today if not for the growth slowdown of the last two decades; Brazil would have even more than twice its current income per person.
In Latin America, GDP per capita grew by 75% from 1960-1980, whereas from 1980-1998 it has risen only 6%. For sub-Saharan Africa, GDP per capita grew by 36% in the first period, while it has since fallen by 15%.
"There is no region in the world that the IMF and the Bank can point to as a success story for their policies," said Weisbrot. "And in some places-- such as Russia, which lost half of its income in the 1990's-- they have presided over economic collapses that have never been seen in the absence of war or a major natural disaster."
For more information contact CEPR or read the report here.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1744
|
__label__cc
| 0.628356
| 0.371644
|
Emerging Technology: Three New Innovations To Be On The Lookout For in 2013
Posted by Liz Dean on Thu, Oct 25, 2012 @ 12:15 PM
Akihito Tsukioka, founder of Digitized Information, Inc., in Tokyo, Japan, is Chair of the committee for final judging of the annual report awards and other literature categories, website awards categories, app awards categories, video awards categories, and live event awards categories of The 2012 International Business Awards. (Sign up here to receive information on how to enter The 2013 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, opening in January.) We recently caught up with him in his busy DigInfo TV office in Tokyo.
What do you think are most exciting ideas/innovations that have been posted on DigInfo TV in the past year?
In my opinion, the three most exciting new ideas I have seen recently, and which may well be available soon, are:
The Ubi-Camera, which takes photos composed by framing them with your hands. A research group at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Japan is developing this prototype miniature camera. When you draw a picture or take a photo, you sometimes form a rectangle with your hands to decide the composition. With this camera, you can take a photo using the exact same motion. The camera contains a range sensor, and the framing is determined by the distance between the camera and the photographers face. With the current system, which is still in development, the lens has a fixed focal length, and zooming is done digitally on a PC.
The True 3D display technology, developed by Burton, which uses a laser to create luminous points of light at desired locations in air or underwater. This system is an evolved version of technology co-developed by AIST and Keio University, first announced in 2006. It works by focusing laser light to produce plasma excitation from the oxygen and nitrogen in the air. The researchers state that this is the world's first technology to show pictures without the constraint of a screen. Most current 3D devices project pictures onto a 2D screen, and make the pictures appear 3D through an optical illusion. But this device actually shows images in mid-air, so a feature of this system is that it enables 3D objects to be viewed naturally.
A research group at the Tokyo University of Science, led by Associate Professor Shinichi Komaba, has confirmed that hard carbon obtained by pyrolyzing sucrose, the main constituent of sugar, is an effective anode material for sodium ion batteries. Currently, most rechargeable batteries are lithium ion batteries. Japan imports its entire supply of lithium, a rare metal, so lithium ion batteries are expensive. Sodium ion batteries are intended to overcome lithium's disadvantages of high price and scarcity. The supply of sodium is unlimited. Also, sodium ion batteries can be made using iron, aluminum, and sodium, rather than cobalt or copper as before. What's more, results show that using carbon made from sugar as the anode can increase battery capacity. So high-performance batteries may be achievable using cheaper, more abundant materials. The Komaba Group has achieved a storage capacity that is 20% higher than that of conventional hard carbon. It's expected that many researchers will work on making sodium ion batteries commercially viable. The Komaba Group anticipates it may take about five years to achieve a practical version.
Dropbox, a free service that stores info across computers, mobile phones, tablets, whatever.
An actor.
The awareness that I will discover something new with each new day.
About Akihito Tsukioka:
Akihito Tsukioka has been in the translation business for over 25 years. He also has experience in public relations and communications. Akihito founded Digitized Information, Inc. in 1986. The company provides its customers with tailor-made video production and translation services. Its website, http://www.diginfo.tv/, receives 70,000 views per day on YouTube.
Mr. Tsukioka received a master's degree in city planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and is based in Tokyo, Japan.
About Digitized Information, Inc:
Digitized Information is a Tokyo-based video production/translation company providing videos of the latest cutting-edge technology and products from Japan in both English and Japanese. Established in 1986, the company employs a small team of video production staff in Japan, and works with a number of translators in various time zones.
Tags: business awards, app awards, live event awards, video awards, website awards, International business awards, innovative technology, Digitized Information, Akihito Tsukioka, Inc., emerging technology, annual report awards
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1746
|
__label__wiki
| 0.781505
| 0.781505
|
Charter Request Special Offers
call us for info, availabilities & booking!
Owners Yacht Charters in Greece
About BoatGreece.com
Sailing Activities
Flotilla Holidays
Sailing in Greece
Why Sail in Greece
Greece at a Glance
Sailing for Newbies
Bareboats
Map of Charter Bases
Sailing Itineraries
Weather in Greece
Climate and Weather in Greece
Weather Forecasts in Greece
Winds in Greece
Aegean & Ionian
About Aegean Sea
North Eastern Aegean
Chalkidiki and Thessaloniki
Sporades Islands
Saronic and Athens
Ithaca Island, Greece
An island known worldwide from Homer’s Odyssey, a mythical and symbolic place, the desired homeland of return for King Odysseus and his companions. Ithaca covers an area of 96 sq. km., has a coastline 101 km. long and lies 2 n.m. east of Kefalonia. Its western part is mountainous and treeless, with precipitous coastal cliffs, whereas the east, in contrast, has rich vegetation and slopes gently to the sea.
Myth has it that the island, inhabited by man since prehistoric times, is named after Ithakos, son of Poseidon and Amphimile. During the Mycenaean period it acquired great power, as is attested by the Homeric epics (Iliad and Odyssey). Neverthless, despite archaeological investigations, the Homeric capital of Odysseus and his palace have not been found, possibly because of the catastrophic earthquakes that have struck the region many times since time immemorial. An important turning point in Ithaka’s history was its capture by the Normans and later by the Orsini family (12th c.). During the ensuing centuries its fortunes were the same as those of the other Ionian Islands.
The island’s capital and port is Vathy, a pretty Heptanesian town built on the site of the Homeric harbour of Phorkys, in a gulf that is sheltered and deep (Gr. vathys), hence its name. Inside the enclosed bay is the verdant islet named Lazareto (or Soteras) with a small chapel of the Saviour and ruins of Venetian buildings (in the period of British rule it was used as a quarantine station). The Archaeological and the Folklore-Maritime Museum, as well as the Library of the town are of particular interest, while the Greek Orthodox cathedral of the Virgin has a noteworthy wood-carved iconostasis (of 1793) and belltower (1820). At the entrance to the harbour are the ruins of a Venetian castle.
THE VILLAGES – SIGHTS OF INTEREST
The shadow of the Homeric king still hovers over Ithaca and several place names refer to him. The area of Aetos (a narrow isthmus linking the north and south parts of the island) is well worth a visit. Known as ‘Castle of Odysseus’ (ancient city of Alkamenae), this is where the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, while searching for the ‘Odysseiakon Asty’, discovered remains of walls and temples as well as significant finds, most of which are now in the British Museum, London. Also associated with mythology and the Odyssey is the Cave of the Nymphs, 3 km. west of Vathy. In the north part of the island is the isolated hamlet of Anogi, built on a plateau upon Mt Niritos, with a spectacular view of the open sea and a notable church of the Dormition of the Virgin, decorated with Byzantine wall paintings. Dispersed around the village loom tall rocks, the so-called Menhirs, while a short distance beyond, at an altitude of 600 m., is the Katharon monastery, dedicated to the Virgin. Other pretty villages in the north of the island are Aghios Ioannis, Lefki, built on the west slope of Mt Niritos, with its outport of Ammoudaki, and Stravros. The last is the largest village on Ithaca, 17 km. northwest of Vathy, in an area of considerable archaeological interest. About 1 km. north of Stavros is Pilikata Hill, where excavations have brought to light remains of a small settlement of the third millennium BC, with a section of a Cyclopean fortification wall and a paved street. On the basis of the finds recovered, which are exhibited in a building in the area, archaeologists suspect that the ancient city of Ithaca was situated here.
Close to the small harbour of Stavros, in the Bay of Polis, is the Loizos Cave. This is a very ancient place of worship in which were discovered potsherds with graffiti, that bear witness to the cult of the goddesses Artemis, Hera and Athena. Twelve tripods, reminiscent of the Phaeacians’ gift to Odysseus, were also found here. Further north is Exogi, the remotest village on Ithaka, built at 500 m. a.s.l. and with a superb view. Next come Platreithia, in a verdant landscape with Mycenaean remains in a nearby locality known as ‘Homer’s School’, and the coastal village of Frikes (on the east side), with the picturesque little harbour (from where the ferry boats depart for Kefalonia and Lefkada) and the windmills. Last is the very beautiful village of Kioni (which has been declared a protected settlement), with its cosmopolitan ambience and natural harbour. The villages of Mavronas and Rachi are also located in this region. In the south part of the island is the small inland village of Perachori, to the southwest of which is the monastery of the Taxiarchs, which was founded in 1645. A rural tourism co-operative has been formed in the village, which markets organically farmed produce and lets traditional houses as accommodation for visitors. Hereabouts too are the ruins of the Medieval settlement of Palaiochora, which was capital of the island until the mid-sixteenth century. Visible are remains of stone-built houses and Byzantine churches. Further south, on the coast opposite the islet of Pera Pigadi, tradition has it that the Spring of Arethousa and the Homeric ‘Korax Petra’ ( crow stone) were located, while according to myth the pigsty of Hermaios, Odysseus’ swineherd, was at neighbouring Elliniko.
Ithaca has many lovely beaches to suit all tastes. Close to the town, there is good swimming at Tsirpis, Loutsa, Paliokaravo, Sarakiniko, which is an anchorage for yachts, and Filiatro, the most popular beach in the area. Further north is the superb beach of Gidaki, along with Skinos and Mnimata, while on the Aetos Isthmus is the beach of Aetos. In northern Ithaka are the beaches of Aspros Yalos, the bay of Polis, Afales, Limenia and Kourvoulia (at Frikes) and Sarakinari (at Kioni).
EVENTS – OTHER INFORMATIONS
Numerous cultural events are organized at Vathy: music and theatre festival (July-August), events for Odysseus and Homer (late August-early September). Traditional religious feasts are celebrated in many villages: of the Virgin (8 September) in the Katharon monastery. In August there is a Wine Festival in Perahori with local dances, food and drink. At Vathy and the island’s main resorts there is a wide
choice of places to eat and enjoy oneself. There are also facilities for watersports. Private seacraft can dock in the marina at Vathy, at Polis, Frikes and Kioni, to refuel and replenish water supplies.
Typical local products are olive oil, wine and embroideries.
Municipality: 26740 32.795
Ithaka Police Station: 26740 32.205
Harbour Authority (Vathy): 26740 32.909
Health Centre: 26740 32.222
Charter Bases
Website affiliated with
Copyright 2016 © BoatGreece.com, all rights reserved | Powered by OpenWare
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1749
|
__label__wiki
| 0.758108
| 0.758108
|
Arts & Entertainment, Editor Pick A&E, Side Feature
Exclusive with The Novel Ideas
October 6, 2016 10:33 am · 0 commentsViews: 111
By: Cleo Aukland on October 6, 2016.
The Novel Ideas.
This Friday night Colby will host the Massachusetts-based band The Novel Ideas. The group has played at Colby in the past, as part of the Friday Night Live concert series organized by SPB and during the Spring Loudness Festival in 2015. Self-identifying as a country-folk quintet, The Novel Ideas favor smooth and flowing melodies with gorgeous harmonies and jaunting (and often twangy) guitar accompaniment. The music is folksy and soothing, rich with vocals and instrumentation that complement each other. The group formed in bits and pieces: Danny Hoshino ‘11 (guitars, pedal steel, vocals) had known Daniel Radin (guitar and vocals) since kindergarten. The other members, Sarah Grella (vocals), James Parkington (bass guitar, vocals) and Karl Grohmann (drums) joined sporadically, through various college classes and common friends.
“The musicianship fit is really important,” said Radin during a phone interview with The Echo. “First and foremost, we’re friends and we get along together.” Indeed, the group is remarkably fun to watch in person: during a performance at Colby in 2015, the band members brought the audience to the echoing entrance hall in front of Page Commons and led everyone in an exquisite rendition of “Landslide”.
“Oh, yeah, that was really, really neat,” said Radin. He described the moment as one of his favorites on tour and expressed his thoughts on what makes Colby performances special. “I think colleges are really fun… especially somewhere like Colby, which is kind of secluded. It feels like people are really looking to connect and talk after the set and sometimes you can play a show and wonder if anyone enjoyed that, but at Colby you can definitely connect with people after.” Radin also told a story about seniors who approached him at the Spring Loudness Festival in 2015 and said how they remembered seeing The Novel Ideas perform freshman year, reiterating his fondness for Colby students and the emphasis on community. He also recounted speaking with a senior last March who was in The Colby Eight and mentioned that he’d learned one of their songs, and that they all played together after the set.
“We strive with all of our performances to be as honest and relatable and engaging as possible, whatever that looks like,” Radin said. Their shows are intimate, involved, and cozy. It’s evident that The Novel Ideas enjoy themselves when they perform and enjoy having a genuine and interested audience. Radin spoke easily over the phone, answering questions happily and honestly. It was obvious that he cares sincerely for his work and for making legitimate connections with people. This sentiment translates into the band’s music, which is relatable, warm, and beautiful. It’s rare to get such organic music, but after understanding the band’s emphasis on relating as honestly as possible, it fits.
“Surround yourself with as many talented people as you can, because they’re people that will just make you better,” Radin said in response to what advice he’d give burgeoning musicians. “You can lift each other up, because if you think you’re the best and the most talented in every room you go in, then you’re not going to learn anything. With our band, we each have sort of a specialty that we bring to it and we’re constantly checking each other to make sure we’re getting to a level that we want to be at.” And how to find these people? “Find someone that you’re like, ‘oh my god, this person is amazing, I want to listen to them sing all day,’ and see if they’ll play
music with you.”
The Novel Ideas recently released an EP called St. Paul Sessions, which they finished and brought with them when they played at Colby last March. They’ll be playing songs from that album, according to Radin, but will also play some old songs. “If you enjoy harmony-driven folk music then we’ll be up your ally,” Radin said.
SPB typically provides locally-catered snacks for the Friday Night Live series, which take place in the Bobby Silberman Lounge (LoPo). The show will be Friday, October 7 at 9:00 p.m. At the risk of editorializing, The Novel Ideas are completely worth your time. They’re good people intent on making good music, and we are very lucky to have them. The Colby Echo thanks Daniel Radin for taking the time to speak with us and for spending this Friday night with us.
Author: Cleo Aukland
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1756
|
__label__cc
| 0.74571
| 0.25429
|
Just Relief: Aims to be One of the Top 5 Healthcare Providers Catering to Total Marketshare of $280B
According to IBEF, the healthcare market in India was close to $100 billion as of 2015 and is expected to touch $280 billion by 2020, clocking a CAGR of 22.9 percent. As per some statistics, the industry size is expected to touch $160 billion by the end of 2017
05 December, 2016 by Soumya Gupta
Just Relief is an online pharmacy and healthcare services network which enables users to purchase prescribed medicines at their door-step. The platform allows consumers to order for medicines ranging from OTC drugs, homeopathy, ayurveda and nutrition. Just relief also provides facilities such as lab tests and vaccination services at the consumer’s doorstep and serves as a hospital and doctor discovery platform.
BWDisrupt interacted with Amit Goel, Founder & CEO, Just Relief
Just Relief started in mid-2015. Initially, the company started with four retail chain of pharmacies across Delhi NCR, in May 2016 – later the organisation came up with the concept of online pharmacies. At present, the company has eight retail pharmacies across Delhi NCR along with the current online platform. Just Relief has 5000 doctors listed on the platform.
Amit Goel is the Founder and CEO at Just Relief. An entrepreneur for last six years, Amit has now set his sights on making Just Relief a house hold name in preventive healthcare across the country. Amit looks after the marketing, operational and business development areas in the company.
Rahul Gupta and Gagandeep Singh are the co-founders at Just Relief. Rahul Gupta heads the supply chain operations at the organization and Gagandeep Singh is a member of the core management team who leads the overall operations and technology development.
How was the company started? What are the unique key feature/services?
A major factor that contributed to the emergence of Just Relief was the factoid that the pharmaceutical sector in India lacks a robust public healthcare system that could provide high quality yet affordable healthcare facilities. Over the past few years, India has witnessed a rise in health consciousness among people. The founders realized that there was a need to provide better access to healthcare and wellness facilities Pan-India. With easy access to information, higher disposable income and knowledge the demand for health and wellness products and services has grown. This led to the idea of creating a platform which can provide medical and wellness products and services at the consumer’s doorstep.
Just Relief aims to bridge the gap between technology and healthcare practices. It covers a complete 360 degree healthcare ecosystem starting from products to the services. The service bouquet includes at-home vaccination and diagnostic services, which is one of the key USP’s.
The long-term vision is to create a better healthcare ecosystem which provides services and medical assistance at consumer’s convenience and offers healthcare relief for everyone and that too at their doorstep.
How is Just Relief different from existing companies in similar space?
Just Relief provides delivery at the doorstep within 12-16 working hours in Delhi NCR. We at Just Relief provide holistic information of the drugs and other healthcare products like description of the drug, usage, side effects, and contraindications. We also offer vaccination as a service at home which is a key differentiator from market.
What is the Funding status and Monetization model?
Just Relief is a bootstrapped venture. We have invested close to 5.5 crores in the company so far. We are in conversations with investors and we are hoping to close the first round of funding early next year.
Currently, the organisation’s revenue is derived from the online pharmacy which includes sale of the medicines, OTC drugs, health and wellness supplements and lab tests.
The margins on sale of pharmacy products online are minimal due to highly competitive pricing and standard discounting feature on online pharmacy, which is, approximately 25-28%. Post the delivery charges the margin drops to 3-5%. The higher revenue feature is through lab tests, doctor appointments and vaccinations where the margins are higher and there are no heavy discounting opportunities.
Give us the traction details and your ideas on future plans?
Just Relief is present in 11 cities which include Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mohali, Panchkula. Currently, Just Relief has a registered customer base of 7,000. We have close to 1 lakh pharma products listed at our website. Today, Just Relief witnesses close to 150 transactions each day.
Over the next years, our primary aim is to be among top 5 healthcare providers catering to total market share of $ 280 bn. We are running successfully and are on track with our set targets for the company. We also plan to expand our reach in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Our aim is to expand our pharmacy/ medicines reach to 50 cities by May 2017. We also have set a target to increase our presence in more than 350 cities wherein we will have our lab services.
What kind of Marketing plans and challenges faced since inception?
Since, Just Relief has retail presence across Delhi NCR, it was easier for the organization to foray into the online space. Over the next few years, Just Relief will be highly focused on digital marketing with an aim to increase its outreach to online buyers and bridge the gap in accessibility of healthcare products and services amongst all.
Challenge:
Team is dedicatedly working towards strengthening the logistics and operations to reduce delivery time for the consumers. We aim to provide pharmaceutical products to end consumers within the same day or 12 working hours.
What is the market size & opportunity you are looking at?
According to IBEF, the healthcare market in India was close to $100 billion as of 2015 and is expected to touch $280 billion by 2020, clocking a CAGR of 22.9 percent. As per some statistics, the industry size is expected to touch $160 billion by the end of 2017.
There is a huge opportunity which is still untapped in the online healthcare sector. For startups there is a massive market in various subsectors including hospital management systems, doctor discovery, delivery of medicines and home healthcare services.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1758
|
__label__wiki
| 0.692957
| 0.692957
|
Down Under Dinosaur Burrow Discovery Provides Climate Change Clues
ScienceDaily (July 11, 2009) — On the heels of his discovery in Montana of the first trace fossil of a dinosaur burrow, Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin has found evidence of more dinosaur burrows – this time on the other side of the world, in Victoria, Australia. The find, to be published this month in Cretaceous Research, suggests that burrowing behaviors were shared by dinosaurs of different species, in different hemispheres, and spanned millions of years during the Cretaceous Period, when some dinosaurs lived in polar environments.
"This research helps us to better understand long-term geologic change, and how organisms may have adapted as the Earth has undergone periods of global cooling and warming," says Martin, a senior lecturer in environmental studies at Emory. Martin is also an honorary research associate at Monash University in Melbourne.
More in ScienceDaily
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1762
|
__label__cc
| 0.73393
| 0.26607
|
GOSPEL SING – David Fulk, Bill Stilfield & Ron Whited
David Fulk has lived in Liberty since 1981 when he came to William Jewell College. Since that time he’s played piano, sung in choirs and led congregations in hymn singing. He’s currently the interim music and worship leader at Second Baptist Church. He’s also the director of philanthropic giving at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate. David’s wife, Carolyn, is a social studies teacher at Heritage Middle School and their son, Davis, is a freshman at Liberty North. David’s been an active member of the community serving as host of the Liberty Summer Band, Liberty City Clerk, and has also served on boards of the Liberty Symphony Orchestra, Liberty Arts Foundation, Parks and Rec and Parks Foundation.
Bill Stilfield grew up in Liberty and is an LHS graduate. He later graduated with a music degree from MU. He’s been a lifelong pianist specializing in jazz improvisation. He spent 40 years in Los Angeles in the music business, first working for bandleader Stan Kenton, and then various jazz recording labels before forming his own two labels in 1987. Since Bill and his wife, Cathy, moved back to Liberty in 2012 he has performed with Corbin Theatre and is chair of the Liberty Arts Commission and event director for Make Music Liberty. He’s also the pianist with the FMO Big Band. Bill plays piano and sings in the choir of Second Baptist Church.
Lifelong pianist Ron Whited is a native Northlander and graduate of William Jewell College. Ron owns MinistrySense, a ministry-oriented multimedia solutions company, and enjoys playing piano and singing in the Sanctuary choir at Second Baptist Church. Ron and his wife, Becky, live in Liberty. Ron’s gifted playing style is perfect for a gospel hymn sing.
Liberty church musicians David Fulk, Bill Stilfield, and Ron Whited will lead a gospel hymn sing at Corbin Theatre on Tuesday, September 19. The mood will be relaxed, light and inspirational as audience members will call out hymns they want to sing from hymnals provided. Bill and David will also lead some hymn medleys in a jazz/gospel style for everyone to sing. If you like to sing hymns from back when, this event is for you!
Craig Davis & Friends
Divas of Liberty ~ A Night To Remember
One event on August 5, 2019 at 5:30pm
One event on September 9, 2019 at 5:30pm
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM MILLENNIAL EDITION
https://corbintheatre.ticketleap.com/dave-fulk--bill-stillfield-gospel-hour/
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1770
|
__label__wiki
| 0.835955
| 0.835955
|
COIN case: LRA Lords Resistance Army
Thread: COIN case: LRA Lords Resistance Army
Originally Posted by JMA
They are?
I see no evidence of success anywhere so please enlighten me.
Fair enough, and I'll attempt a feeble defense. First off, these are not war zones, so the military remains largely subordinate to the Department of State (DOS), and DOS is seldom about winning. They want to maintain control of the military strategy they don't understand. I question if they understand our political objectives, but that is a different argument.
Second, these operations take time, and more importantly they take the support of the supported nation. If your comment about the Ugandan forces not being disappointed is correct, then the FID approach won't work. At that point we need to reconsider what our way forward should be, to include leaving altogether. That would be a short term failure, but could contribute to long term success for more important missions when countries realize we're finally serious about them stepping up to the plate to address their own security problems. In Uganda I think our objectives extend well beyond killing Koni, so things may not be as bad you portray them.
If we're starting to provide support to Nigeria that will be a test case to watch.
To add to your argument I just saw a news flash about a potentially major terrorist attack on a Kenya coastal town. Still waiting for details. Carl has a point, we often have no intention on winning. It seems we prefer to take half steps for ever, which simply prolongs the fighting, prolongs the suffering, and creates a culture over generations that no nothing but war. We accused the Sri Lankan government of "winning" their war against the Tamil separatists the long way. We miss the point they won, and that country is being reconstructed. The level of hate and discrimination there is probably less than we experienced after our Civil War, but we only read history, we don't take lessons from it. We and the UN faulted the S. African mercenary unit who quickly and effectively suppressed the rebels in Sierra Leone. The more I think about we might be allergic to winning? Winning in most situations requires aggressive pursuit of the adversary, but doing so in a way that doesn't undermine our legitimacy at home and internationally like the French did in Algeria. No body said it was easy, but darned if we don't spend millions educating our officers to fight (I think), and instead we now have a movement to develop a military composed of nation builders. That is seen as more relevant because we're not allowed to win by fighting, so we put our hope in economic development.
Bill, my experience in soldiering with Americans has been all good. From my experience there is no problem with the quality of professional soldiers in your country.
That said I would suggest that the weakness in these overseas adventures at short notice is that the soldiers so deployed have none or very little local knowledge of enemy and terrain... but perhaps worse still no understanding of the local troops they are to work with or train.
IIRC it was Norwegians and/or Germans who were called in to train troops for Somalia. Maybe now you can understand my contention that it is a case of the blind leading the blind. What can a Norwegian or a German contribute to the training of Africans for a war in Africa? Zero, zip, nothing (unless in a specific weapon or weapon system).
A few years ago we saw reference to the training of a battalion in the DRC comprising elements from various rebel groups by a US training team. Not good, look it up.
I put my head on a block that the only way to train troops in Africa is through "training the trainers".
OK back to warfare. To avoid coming in blind US forces must be fed into the system over a period of years and not - under any circumstances - on a short tour.
Study is important and I would suggest it starts here:
BUSH WARFARE - The Early Writings of General Sir William C.G. Heneker, KCB KCMG DSO
This is an account of the experiences of a Canadian officer at the end of the 1800s who clearly was capable of understanding warfare in Africa and should be studied by all before deployment to Africa.
etc etc ...
Last edited by JMA; 06-17-2014 at 04:29 PM.
Seleka, a mainly Muslim rebel group in the Central African Republic, said it captured Dominic Ongwen, a leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army militants, on Jan. 3 and handed him to U.S. forces (in CAR) two days later. A U.S. officer offered Seleka a monetary reward, General Antime, a Seleka official, said in a phone interview today
Link:www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/central-african-republic-s-seleka-says-it-captured-ongwen.html?
Events in France pushed this matter into the background, although on searching others have covered the story - so for a little more detail:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30705649
Seleka rebels want $5m reward
Ho-hum, the Seleka haven't had their money or a thank you.
A Seleka commander said he was captured after a 25-minute battle, after which they informed US forces in the area. A US official had said that Mr Ongwen had defected, before being handed over to their forces.
Dominic Ongwen: The complex story of a child soldier
the story of the man as I know it, and what his defection might mean to the future of the LRA. More so than Joseph Kony, the founder and leader of the LRA, Ongwen is sadly typical of the LRA rank and file. His example refutes the erroneous but morally and sometimes legally convenient definitions of LRA members as either helpless victims or violent perpetrators. Abducted as a child, indoctrinated and forced into committing unspeakable acts before he had even hit puberty, Ongwen is clearly a victim, but he is also a perpetrator.
Which ends with:
The only thing clear from Ongwen’s surrender is that the LRA crisis is still not over.
Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...child-soldier/
Go to jail in Holland!
A senior militia commander wanted for war crimes has been handed over to Ugandan troops in the Central African Republic (CAR), the US says.
Rebels in the CAR said he was captured but US officials say he defected.
Uganda has said he will face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Of the top five in the LRA, one is left
Pending an official statement by Uganda the NYT reports:
The bullet-scarred remains of the No. 2 commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army, the guerrilla group that once terrorized central Africa, have been positively identified after having been exhumed three months ago in a Uganda-led military expedition, a person involved in the recovery operation said Monday.....only Mr. Kony, a warlord and self-described prophet, remains at large.
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/wo...n-uganda.html?
WaPo is shocked, I'm not
The small US mission has attracted a WaPo report, with a lurid headline and these two opening passages:
As their mission stretches into a fifth year, however, U.S. troops have turned to some unsavory partners to help find Kony’s trail. Working from a new bush camp in the Central African Republic, U.S. forces have begun working closely with Muslim rebels — known as Seleka — who toppled the central government two years ago and triggered a still-raging sectarian war with a campaign of mass rapes and executions. The Pentagon had not previously disclosed that it is cooperating with Seleka and obtaining intelligence from the rebels. The arrangement has made some U.S. troops uncomfortable.
As previous posts from January 2015 show this cooperation is hardly new.
Link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...19_story.html?
My husband the warlord: an extract from the memoir of Joseph Kony's wife
A short article, no doubt part of the publisher's advertising; caveat aside maybe it helps to explain:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...memoir-extract
Perhaps one day more will be said:
A senior commander with the rebel group Lord's Resistance Army has defected to villagers in Central African Republic, the U.S. Africa Command said Friday. The rebel commander defected near the community of Pangbayanga, and is being debriefed in the country by the African Union Regional Task Force and U.S. forces, the command said. No further details were given.
Link:http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:...7bd89be858d2cf
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-03-2016 at 09:51 PM.
'They have not gone away'
The pressure groups have told at least this Jo'burg-based journalist the LRA are active once more:
Rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have dramatically escalated their attacks, abducting more than 200 people - including 54 children - in the first two months of this year. The LRA carried out twice as many raids in January and February alone as during the whole of 2015, according to "LRA Crisis Tracker".....The LRA had been reduced to as few as 120 fighters and 100 accompanying women and children.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...f-attacks.html
AFRICOM -v- LRA an albatross?
Is this a pointer to an exit coming? The article opens with:
Africa Command’s five-year search for the elusive warlord Joseph Kony continues, but the mission in the remote jungles of central Africa has become an albatross for the general in charge of the campaign......An expensive albatross.
Link:http://www.stripes.com/news/africom-...-kony-1.405757
A child soldier with the LRA
A long review by Professor Stephen Chan, an expert on Africa, of a book 'When the Walking Defeats You' by Ledio Cakaj, as he explains:
It’s narrated by a young Ugandan student, pseudonym “George”, who was expelled from school and sent by his own family to join and fight with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). He became a bodyguard to the group’s infamous leader, Joseph Kony, who admired him for his learning.
...that as a very young soldier in Uganda, he also had his reasons and reflections, fears and hopes, pride and premonitions.
(Ends with) George’s telling is very much a narration of an encounter, not a psychological or intellectual inquiry. But it isn’t cheap or glib, and the book as a whole raises profund questions. Perhaps there are reasons why children fight – and perhaps even why madmen fight.
Link:https://theconversation.com/in-one-of-2016s-best-books-a-former-lords-resistance-army-child-soldier-reveals-the-reason-behind-the-mayhem-70027?
Lord’s Resistance Army: The U.S. Military’s Unorthodox Mission Against Kony
Moderator adds: the link is to the WSJ and cannot - here - be viewed without $ or registration.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-12-2017 at 11:02 AM. Reason: Copied from SWJ Blog. 75,737v
AFRICOM -v- LRA an albatross? Back again
From the NYT:
The Pentagon is poised to significantly scale back a decade-long mission to capture or kill Joseph Kony, one of Africa’s most notorious warlords, in a sign that the United States and its African allies no longer see him as a regional threat.
Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/w...o-africa.html?
Trump's transition team asked questions why, so the renewal in April 2017 may be different.
End of Joseph Kony hunt raises fears LRA could return
One episode in this long running campaign, truly a 'Small War', has come to an end:
Uganda and the US have ended a six-year hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Uganda began withdrawing its troops from their base in eastern CAR last week. The departure of 100 US special forces, who worked alongside the Ugandan soldiers, began this week.
There is more detail in the article, including two LRA leaders have defected and the group now may have 120 fighters - hiding in a forest area which both Sudan and South Sudan claim.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/global-d...ce-army-return
This man appeared in Post 245, in January 2016 and I spotted this update in a photo collection:
The international criminal court trial of former child soldier turned warlord Dominic Ongwen in Lukodi, Uganda, started on 6 December 2016, and was broadcast live. The first former child soldier to be tried at the ICC, Ongwen, 41, denied 70 war crimes and charges of crimes against humanity
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/global-d...ny-in-pictures
His ICC trial resume today. From:https://www.icc-cpi.int/uganda/ongwen
Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-01-2017 at 09:52 AM. Reason: 80,598v 3k up since March '17
An update and unusually the focus is on the local people in part of CAR and the likely impact of a Ugandan Army exit:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-39999324
Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-27-2017 at 11:23 AM. Reason: 84,445v 3.8k up in 3wks
The Resilence of the LRA
A short article that starts with:
The Lord’s Resistance Army is seriously depleted as a fighting force, but it still continues to exist as an armed group. This resilience is driven by several key factors.
It concludes:
In sum, the LRA has survived by virtue of its organizational cohesion, resource use, and the ability to read its political terrain in order to exploit regions without state structures. However, such strategies may not be sufficient to sustain the LRA indefinitely. The Ugandan-led Regional Task Force (RTF) has killed and captured senior commanders from the battlefield and increased fighter defections. To be sure, the hunt for the LRA has been hamstrung by logistical and political difficulties. Above all, RTF operations are currently at risk of losing their logistical support from the U.S. Special Forces, which have larger consequences for regional peace and security in central and eastern Africa.
Link:https://sustainablesecurity.org/2017...sistance-army/
Last edited by davidbfpo; 08-01-2017 at 12:39 PM. Reason: 90,881v 6k up since last post 2 months ago
Kony surviving on ivory deals with Arabs - captive
An allegation made by a defector to a Ugandan online news site; which supports a NGO report in 2015:
Mr Patrick Kidega, 32, who has been in the rebel ranks for 16 years but defected in December last year from the Central African Republic (CAR), says the elusive rebel leader is killing elephants for their precious tasks and selling them to Arabs to finance his operations.
Link:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Nation...kiz/index.html
The same news site in April 2018 reported that Kony was in the Central African Republic (a seperate thread for that troubled nation) and speculated Uganda might help the CAR Army.
Link:http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/P...egz/index.html
Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-03-2018 at 02:48 PM. Reason: 114,628v 14k up since last post 10 months ago
The British Indian Army
By blueblood in forum Historians
US Army Irregular Warfare Fusion Cell
By SWJ Blog in forum Doctrine & TTPs
All matters MRAP JLTV (merged thread)
By SWJED in forum Trigger Puller
Teach Your Organization the Basics of Counterinsurgency: COIN OPD/NCOPD Instruction
By Cavguy in forum Training & Education
Bulk the Army or Review the Policy: The Defense Dilemma
By SWJED in forum Blog Watch
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1774
|
__label__wiki
| 0.515508
| 0.515508
|
Tuskegee Airmen Inc. 45th Annual Convention Celebrates 75 Years of Excellence
April 26, 2016 4:59 PM | Anonymous
Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen Honored for Lifetime Legacy of Valor
Indianapolis, Indiana - Tuskegee Airmen Inc. is set to host its 45th Annual Convention, July 12 - 17, 2016 at the Westin Indianapolis Hotel, Indianapolis, IN. An exciting treat is the continued year-long commemoration of the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen; the long awaited Grand Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the "Tuskegee Airmen Experience."
Pilots, nurses, mechanics, ground crew, air traffic controllers, meteorologists, stenographers, armorers and other support personnel saw the activation of the first black combat aviation unit at Tuskegee Army Air Field and other locations. March 22, 2016 marked the 75th anniversary of the inauguration of the U.S. Army Air Corps 99th Pursuit Squadron on March 22, 1941. Distinguished Honorees - Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen will be in attendance.
This year's convention will proceed over several days and will feature a "Welcome Day", "Heritage Day", "Diversity/Military Day", and "Youth Day" intermingled throughout TAI organizational business meetings, training seminars, historical documentation, and more. Rounding out the convention and celebration will be the Tuskegee Airmen Grand Gala on Saturday, July 16, 2016 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m
About Tuskegee Airmen Inc.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (TAI), headquartered in Tuskegee, Alabama with 56 chapters in major cities and military installations across the U.S., was established over 40 years ago to educate the public and keep alive the legacy of those who were part of the Tuskegee Experience during World War II. Membership in TAI is open civilians, veterans, active duty and retired military from all service branches. For more information on TAI and a brief history of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, download the TAI Media Kit.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1776
|
__label__wiki
| 0.938135
| 0.938135
|
Lorraine Chow
A newly installed TransCanada natural gas pipeline exploded early Thursday in the remote Nixon Ridge area of Marshall County in West Virginia.
No injuries were reported but flames and smoke from the blast could be seen as far as 20 miles away, residents told local media. Area police told CBS News the fire was "very large—if you can see it from your house, evacuate."
"It sounded like a freight train coming through, or a tornado, and the sky lit up bright orange, and then I got up and looked out the window and flames were shooting I don't know how far into the sky," Tina Heath-Chaplin, of Moundsville, told WPXI.
TransCanada—the same company behind the Keystone pipeline—said the explosion has been contained and an investigation is underway.
"As soon as the issue was identified, emergency response procedures were enacted and the segment of impacted pipeline was isolated. The fire was fully extinguished by approximately 8:30 a.m," the company commented Thursday.
"The cause of this issue is not yet known," TransCanada continued. "The site of the incident has been secured and we are beginning the process of working with applicable regulators to investigate, including the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration."
Robert Burrough, the director with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's Eastern Regional Office, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the affected line is likely TransCanada's $1.6 billion, 160-mile Leach XPress pipeline, which started service in January.
Russ Girling, TransCanada president and CEO said at the line opening, "This is truly a best-in-class pipeline and we look forward to many years of safe, reliable, and efficient operation on behalf of our customers."
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1777
|
__label__cc
| 0.542979
| 0.457021
|
CS Table 12/4/18: Open Source and Security
Mon, 2018-12-03 14:53 — petersos
This week's discussion topic was suggested by an alumna, who writes:
Recently an NPM package author handed over control of his open source project to a stranger who promised to maintain the package for future users. The stranger added malicious code to the package, which was then downloaded by millions of users. This raises questions about responsibility in the open source world. What responsibilities does the owner of an open source project hold? What responsibilities are up to the user? What can developers do to utilize open source projects in a safe and secure manner?
There are two recommended readings for the CS Table discussion; the first is an account of the recent event we’ll discuss, and the second is a perspective on security and open source from Bruce Schneier, written in 1999.
Check your repos... Crypto-coin-stealing code sneaks into fairly popular NPM lib. Thomas Claburn. The Register. 26 Nov 2018.
Open Source and Security. Bruce Schneier. Counterplane Security and schneier.com. 15 Sept 1999.
You may also find these resources helpful or informative as you prepare for our discussion:
Core Infrastructure Initiative. The Linux Foundation.
What is NPM and why do I need it? Stack Overflow thread.
The GitHub issue for the exploit that was discovered.
Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00–12:50pm in JRC 224C (inside the Marketplace). Contact the CS faculty for the weekly reading. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department (sign in at the Marketplace front desk).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1780
|
__label__wiki
| 0.726305
| 0.726305
|
FOX News fares poorly in investigation of media edits to Wikipedia
Filed under: Archived,Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia,Internet,Original reporting,Science and technology,United States,Wikimedia Foundation,Wikipedia — admin @ 5:00 am
This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Virgil Griffith, creator of the WikiScanner
Virgil Griffith recently made headlines when his new tool, the WikiScanner, was revealed. The tool allows users to search for some edits to several editions of the online free-content encyclopedia Wikipedia made from Internet addresses assigned to particular companies.
The media buzz made Virgil’s tool near-inaccessible as it was swamped with queries. Initially broken by Wired, the articles highlighted edits from network addresses assigned to Diebold and the CIA, and encouraged readers to reveal and share their findings. Mainstream media such as the BBC revealed that edits made from CIA addresses had made changes to the article on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and that edits were made from Vatican addresses to Gerry Adams’s article.
Readers of the BBC news website were quick to point out that edits to Wikipedia also originated from the BBC network addresses. Peter Clifton, head of BBC Interactive, confessed to writing about himself and revealed that a prankster within the BBC had edited George W. Bush’s entry to state that his middle name was “Wanker”. The BBC’s Internet address range had a total of nearly 8,000 edits to other various English Wikipedia articles such as Janet Jackson, Super Furry Animals and Freeview.
Without confirmation such as Peter Clifton gave, it is usually impossible to determine from the IP address alone if the edits made from it were even performed by an employee of the organization. While it is likely that the majority of edits are from an organisation’s employees there is the possibility that visitors could be using a company address, or a public-wifi could be on offer. All of this would appear to be edits from the company according to Wikiscanner, and even when the edits do come from employees or representatives, there is no way to tell from the data alone whether the company endorses the edits, or even knows about them.
While Wikipedia advertises itself as the encyclopaedia “anyone can edit”, there are guidelines on the site directing how users may edit the articles—and even, in some cases, who shouldn’t be editing them. None of Wikipedia’s “conflict of interest” policies attempt to limit what people can edit based on the Internet address that they are using.
Wikinews had already started an investigation into just what edits the tool revealed. Hampered by the difficulty getting results due to the traffic load on the web server, we began checking company names and names of media groups. In addition to verifying that the vast majority of edits from network addresses assigned to the BBC were beneficial to the Wikipedia project, the others, CNN, MSNBC, Reuters and AP received a fairly clean bill of health. People using Reuters’ Internet connectivity appeared the first to discover Wikipedia, editing as early as February 2002. Users from AP had made a few edits to articles about the AP, none of which could be considered negative contributions, other contributions included additions to several The Simpsons episodes. However, edits originating at address space assigned to FOX News, and its parent company, News Corporation were more frequently unproductive, many which under Wikipedia and most other Wikimedia project policy, would be considered vandalism and would usually result in a block or ban of editing Wikimedia projects.
The edits from FOX’s address space, now totalling almost 700, start with an edit to the article on FOX which deleted links to websites critical of FOX. Some of the edits could be characterized as an attempt conceal criticism voiced in the documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism which alleges bias by FOX News. This was replaced with a link to the company’s official response and another to a story put out by FOX News questioning the validity of the film’s sources. The same Internet address at FOX News then removed criticism from the article on Alan Colmes.
Other addresses within FOX also edited articles on FOX News employees such as Brit Hume, Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace inserting positive information, highlighting their ratings successes and slogan, “fair and balanced” before going on to describe the New York Times as “left wing” and blanking the quotes section on the article about their columnist Mike Straka. The current version of this article is disputed on neutrality grounds as the entire biography and criticism sections have been removed. Including comments about anti-war protesters – “whom he has denounced as “smelly”, “stupid”, “stinking”, “jobless”, “anti-American” and “traitors”.“
More recent edits include downplaying Sean Hannity’s importance to the show Hannity and Colmes by removing the fact that he is the shows executive producer and referring to him as simply “host” or “co-host”. Details of Wendy Murdoch’s previous marriage to the husband from the couple who sponsored her trip to study in the United States were excised by another Fox News address.
Investigation of a wider field of media organisations revealed that the News Corporation subsidiary British Sky Broadcasting has the same history of juvenile and prank edits with insults posted against staff on their payroll as well as UK celebrities. The main proxy server that allows their staff on the Internet currently has a large warning of who the IP address belongs to and a list of block messages and block/edit warnings. Some of the vandalism committed through their proxy has been described as “racist” and “potentially libelous”.
WikiScanner cannot identify the origin of any edit made by a registered user. Users are not required to register an account to edit Wikipedia, and those who do not register have their edits associated with an IP address. Edits from unregistered users are, inaccurately, called “anonymous” edits.
Wikimedia’s privacy policy does not allow revealing the IP address of registered users except as dictated by Wikimedia’s privacy policy. Users of Wikiscanner cannot find out about editing by registered users, even if they are coming from the same IP address as the “anonymous” users who did not register.
Virgil’s conditions for speaking to the media include the format of a link to his website. His goal, to get a Google search for “Virgil” to return his page as the top listing. As of publication he’s succeeded.
Have an opinion on this story? Post it!
“Wikinews investigates Wikipedia usage by U.S. Senate staff members” — Wikinews, February 7, 2006
“United States Department of Justice workers among government Wikipedia vandals” — Wikinews, February 2, 2006
“Congressional staff actions prompt Wikipedia investigation” — Wikinews, January 30, 2006
This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.
Pete Clifton. “Wikipedia Edits” — BBC Editor’s blog, August 17, 2007
John Borland. “See Who’s Editing Wikipedia – Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign” — Wired, August 14, 2007
Mike Straka. “Grrr! Protesters From Hell” — Fox News, September 27, 2005
Google search for “Virgil”
British Sky Broadcasting web proxy’s Wikipedia page
Virgil Griffith. “VIRGIL.GRiffith” — virgil.gr, N/A
Virgil Griffith. “WikiScanner tool” — virgil.gr, August 13, 2007
Comments Off on FOX News fares poorly in investigation of media edits to Wikipedia
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1783
|
__label__wiki
| 0.85467
| 0.85467
|
Iraq’s stolen elections
Signs of systemic fraud cast doubts on Iraq’s votes, so what the world must do now
Salah Nasrawi , Friday 8 Jun 2018
The head of Iraq's Independent Higher Election Commission (IHEC), speaks during a press conference, in the presence of the nine members of the IHEC, on May 31 (Photo: AFP)
“The United States congratulates the Iraqi people on today’s parliamentary elections. Citizens from every ethnic and religious group, and from all 18 provinces, including those internally displaced, made their voices heard,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hours after polling stations in Iraq closed on 12 May.
UK Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt also welcomed the controversial elections which is marred by fraud allegations and boycotted by more than 56 per cent of eligible voters as a “historic day for Iraq.”
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres joined the chorus to congratulate the Iraqis following the parliamentary elections, applauding the “tireless efforts of electoral officials, party agents and the security forces in making the elections largely peaceful and orderly.”
Pundits in Western think-tanks were quick to hail Iraq’s fourth national elections since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein as “democratic” and predicted they would craft a way out of the country’s “morass.”
So, the question now is whether the Iraqi elections deserved this lavish praise despite deep flaws in the process that now threatens not only to derail the country’s fragile political process but also to plunge Iraq into turmoil or even a new civil war.
Some ten million Iraqis went to polling centres across the country to vote for MPs in the first general elections to be held after the Iraqi government’s victory over the Islamic State (IS) group in December.
A political alliance led by influential Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr won 54 seats, the most in the voting, according to results released by Iraq’s Higher Elections Commission (IHEC).
The Victory Alliance headed by incumbent Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi trailed in third place with 42 seats behind the Al-Fatih bloc that won 47.
Many contenders, however, declared the poll to be illegitimate due to alleged malpractices, while many Iraqis were particularly sceptical about the elections’ integrity and results.
Irregularities were reported in multiple provinces and focused on the balloting of overseas and security forces voters and on the tabulation system used in electronic voting machines employed for the first time in national elections in Iraq.
The fraud claims surfaced first in the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, where Arabs and Turkmens complained about systematic rigging by the two main Kurdish parties. Protesters surrounded the headquarters of the Provincial Elections Commission demanding manual recounts of the results.
In Sulaimaniya, the stronghold of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, several Kurdish parties complained about what they called fraudulent results and called on the IHEC to conduct a manual recount of votes in the province.
The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution seeking a partial recount. It also cancelled ballots cast from overseas and within displacement camps inside the country and required 10 per cent of all the votes to be manually recounted.
If cheating is discovered it could lead to a recount of all the ballots nationwide, according to the parliament’s resolution.
Meanwhile, the government decided on 24 May to form a panel to investigate reports pertaining to the elections.
A statement by the cabinet said the committee would be given access to all documents related to the electoral process and would then submit recommendations.
The IHEC, however, dismissed both decisions as “interference” in its independence. It announced it was partially cancelling the results from more than 1,000 polling stations.
It also voluntarily scrutinised 2,000 more stations, out of which 852 proved to have witnessed breaches, and the IHEC then cancelled their results.
Unlike previous elections in Iraq, a biometric electronic voting system was used that was meant to streamline the electoral process and prevent voter fraud.
The technology, provided by South Korean firm Miru Systems, has never been used in a major election and doubts about its reliability are common.
Many of the allegations centred on the voting machines, which critics said lacked the transparency needed to make everyone understand them.
The accusations also included tampering with the results in order to allow large numbers of voters from groups likely to vote for the losing candidate.
The elections were wracked by boycotts, low turnout and high abstention rates, and they reflected apathy and widespread discontent at the slow pace of reforms led by Al-Abadi’s government.
Prior to the vote, allegations were made about malpractices in voter registrations and the bribery of voters who had allegedly been offered money or food baskets by candidates in exchange for their votes.
Some voiced fears of rigging of the voting outside of Iraq as polling stations for millions of Iraqis in the diaspora lacked proper methods of registration and counting and could be controlled by Iraqi embassies and branches of the ruling political parties abroad.
Many groups have criticised the composition of the IHEC and accused its members of being affiliated to the main ruling factions. They fear that a biased IHEC cannot guarantee fair and efficient balloting.
One key shortcoming in the elections was the absence of adequate and effective monitoring of the process despite the presence of thousands of monitors from local and foreign NGOs and international organisations to oversee the count in each of the polling stations and prevent the theft of ballot papers.
USAID, UN agencies and the EU provided millions of dollars to assist local networks in monitoring the elections process, including the polling and counting inside Iraq and overseas.
This army of international election workers intended to deter foul play and ensure free-and-fair polls has thus far failed to issue a verdict, let alone make a strong and clear statement about the alleged violations.
Though the international observers did not do anything in Iraq’s elections that they had not previously done elsewhere in the world, their failure to condemn last month’s flawed voting process underscores the larger failure of the international community to stop the routine occurrence of election fraud in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Irregularities on a shameless scale have been reported before during elections in Iraq.
Allegations of election-rigging have been common since Iraq’s first post-Saddam vote in 2005. The reported irregularities have included ballot-stuffing, intimidation, stealing or destroying ballot boxes and threatening election officials.
In a country whose political elites have allowed $700 billion to go missing from oil revenues since Saddam’s fall, it is highly likely that they would struggle to win re-election even if deeply flawed polls made a mockery of democracy.
However, for the international community, free-and-fair elections in Iraq do not count for much even if the legitimacy of these elections has been seriously questioned and the country as a whole faces its biggest political crisis since the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 June 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Iraq’s stolen elections
Salah Nasrawi
Alistair Burt
António Guterres
Muqtada Al-Sadr
Haidar Al-Abadi
Turkmens
Sulaimaniya
US-led invasion
12:57 Taliban shut dozens of health clinics in Afghan province
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1785
|
__label__wiki
| 0.515261
| 0.515261
|
Long time no update! Hello! Project Wiki has definitely taken most of my H!P web time from this place. This is actually one of the biggest updates in a long time, though most of it is behind the scenes.
First off, the latest releases have been added. I usually don't make a point of mentioning them, but it's not usually a three month span covering at least one release by each major H!P group.
Second, the Hello! Project web page went through a total redesign, which broke hundreds of links to there from this site. Most of this has been fixed in two ways. All the old links now point to a version of the page stored on the Internet Archive, and use the site name HelloProject.com (archived). Links to the new version of the site just use HelloProject.com, but not all old artists' releases are covered on the site, so the archived version is as good as it gets.
Third, most of the site's pages have been trimmed a little in size, but not functionality. As one gets more pages doing things the same way (connecting to database, checking for cached version of page, etc.), ways to offload these tasks to a shared file that they can all refer to become more obvious.
Fourth, and the one that will make the biggest difference in the future, is that the site is now largely ready to be multi-lingual... it's just lacking the multi-lingual. Much of the text on various pages is now read from an English language file. Page titles, section titles, column headings. To make a version for another language would require little more than making a copy of that one file and changing the text within it. It's not a perfect solution: some of the English is stored in the database itself, and would require different changes to be made. Also long text like this or the explanation boxes found on the top-right of many List pages is unchanged. BUT I think if the situation were reversed, I'd be able to navigate a lot easier through a natively-non-English site now with English titles and headers. BUT the only other language file beside English I currently have is one for a fake semi-gibberish language just to see if it's loading that text correctly. So from the point of view of an English-reading user, it might just seem like there were some slight wording/spacing/line-breaking changes made here and there.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1786
|
__label__cc
| 0.644539
| 0.355461
|
Allergies and the Eye
Diabetic Retinal Disease
Retinal Holes and Detachments
Jonathan Andrews
Catherine Bene
Diane Corallo
Steven Donnelly
Theodore Jones
Helena Wu-Chen
Justin M. Shaw
Intralase IFS Laser System
VISX S4 Custom Excimer Laser
Wavefront System
Lensx Laser
Centurion Vision System
Infiniti Vision System
SLT/YAG Laser System
Micro Invasive Surgery
Justin M. Shaw, M.D.
Glaucoma Specialist
Comprehensive Ophthalmology
Dr. Justin M. Shaw is a board certified, fellowship trained physician and surgeon, and is a specialist in medical and surgical management of glaucoma, cataract, and general ophthalmology. He grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Hempfield High School. He attended Millersville University, where he graduated summa cum laude from the university honors college. Dr. Shaw attended medical school at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, where he decided to pursue a career ophthalmology. He performed his medical internship at the Johns Hopkins University/ Sinai Hospital program in internal medicine, and performed his ophthalmology residency training at the Krieger Eye Institute at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, where he served as chief resident during his final year. He performed additional fellowship training in the medical and surgical management of glaucoma at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, ranked consistently as the number one eye institute in the United States. He returned to Pennsylvania after fellowship training where he worked for 2 years in Wyomissing, PA before returning to his native Lancaster to join Eye Doctors of Lancaster in 2017.
Dr. Shaw resides with his wife Erin and their 4 children in Lancaster County, where they enjoy spending time together, especially outdoors. They are members of Calvary Church in Lancaster. Dr. Shaw also enjoys acting, writing, running, and hiking, and holds a first degree black belt in ATA taekwondo.
Dr. Shaw is a compassionate and highly trained physician and surgeon who strives to treat his patients with excellence in all regards. He adheres to the Hippocratic Oath taken at the outset of medical training, as well as the words of Jesus Christ to do to others as you would have done to you. “I try to treat my patients as I would want myself and my family to be treated, and this informs every decision I make.”
Professional:
Certifications and Licensure
© 2019 | Designed by Compulse Integrated Marketing
From our offices in Lancaster and Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, Eye Doctors of Lancaster serves customers patients throughout the area, including in Rohrerstown, York, Harrisburg, Mastersonville, Elizabethtown, Maytown, Willow Street, Ephrata, Brickerville, Cornwall, Hershey, Columbia, Donegal Springs, Rheems, Sporting Hill, Manheim, Lititz and Neffsville.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1787
|
__label__wiki
| 0.883986
| 0.883986
|
Palestine Pulse
Contradictory moves to rescue Palestinian economy
Daoud Kuttab May 24, 2019
While the United States is pushing for an economic workshop to help Palestinians, the mood in Ramallah is defiant with ideas to build an alternative independent economy — a goal sought by the Shtayyeh government.
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh speaks during a Cabinet meeting of the new Palestinian government, Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 15, 2019.
Newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh didn’t mince words about the situation facing Palestinians. Walking to his first Cabinet meeting since his appointment, the Fatah Central Committee leader told his government that it has to make major cuts. No more business class flights, no new purchases of cars — and they must agree on an austere Palestinian budget as soon as possible. This austerity mode is in sharp contrast with the Donald Trump administration’s attempts to flood Palestinians with investment money through the economic workshop due in Bahrain in June.
The main reasons behind economic problems facing the Palestinian government are all man-made. The United States drastically cut its aid package for the West Bank infrastructure programs (it had earlier stopped any direct support to the government), and the Palestinians had refused to accept the $60 million earmarked for the Palestinian security because of a new US law that would make it acceptable for any US aid recipient to be sued in American courts.
While the Trump administration’s effort to squeeze Palestinians financially was starting to be felt throughout Palestine, what the Israelis did in restricting the transfer of Palestinian money made things much more difficult.
As part of the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol, and in response to Palestinian plans to run the public sector, Israel agreed to collect customs and taxes for products earmarked for the Palestinian territories in return for a 3% service charge that has been in effect since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994.
But the Benjamin Netanyahu government — struggling to ensure victory in the April elections — had decided in February to unilaterally deduct an amount from Palestinian money equal to what the Palestinian government pays families of prisoners and martyrs, even though these payments have been paid with Israel’s full knowledge since the formation of the PA.
Calling the Israeli decision “theft,” Palestinians refused to accept any of its own money unless it was paid in full as agreed to in the Paris Protocol. Attempts to ask French President Emmanuel Macron and other Europeans to intervene with Israel made little difference because the Israeli decision had become law and couldn’t be reversed — even as many in the Israeli government (and especially the security apparatus) felt it might have gone too far.
Samir Hulileh, a Palestinian businessman with close ties to the Palestinian leadership, told Al-Monitor that the "crux of the economic problems is not new and is based on a consistent Israeli policy aimed at stunting economic growth based on security and political excuses."
Hulileh said that despite efforts by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet on the Middle East and former US Secretary of State James Baker to help kick-start the Palestinian economy, “The economy failed due to Israel’s refusal to cooperate in terms of what Palestinians could do in Area C (which covers 60% of the West Bank) and the crippling security restrictions.”
Hulileh — former CEO of PADICO, which is the biggest company in Palestine — said that Israel’s “refusal to allow Palestinians to extract gas offshore and oil in the West Bank, as well as its denial to allow telecommunications equipment to enter Palestinian areas, are just a few of the many examples of the negative effects of Israeli policy on our economy.”
Bringing Palestinians to their knees economically was not a coincidence, as the Trump administration revealed May 19 a plan to organize a workshop with Bahrain, aimed at supporting Palestinians economically. Naturally, Palestinians shouted foul as they felt that the Americans bypassed them and didn’t consult with them. If Washington is so keen on preserving the Palestinian economy, they argued, why is it so busy, along with Israel, in destroying it.
Shtayyeh told the Cabinet May 20 that the Palestinian leadership is not looking for ways to improve life under occupation. “We were not consulted about this workshop, and the financial crisis is the result of a financial war that aims to politically blackmail us. Our national rights are not negotiable,” he said.
Ori Nir, spokesman of Americans for Peace Now, told Al-Monitor that the Trump administration’s approach brings the conflict back to the 1970s and 1980s. “Back then, the Israeli governments followed an oxymoronic policy of ‘benign occupation,’ applying economic band-aids to numb Palestinian nationalism. The tragic difference is that while Israeli leaders knew full well that conflict resolution will have to accommodate the Palestinians’ yearning for national liberation and statehood, Trump’s team seems adamant on ending the conflict without liberating both Palestinians and Israelis from the disaster that the occupation is,” said Nir, who covered the first Palestinian intifada for Haaretz.
Hanan Ashrawi, an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a PLO executive committee member, argued in a post on her Twitter account that the Bahrain workshop is an attempt to “sidestep” the political and legal imperatives of a just peace. “We are perfectly capable of building a vibrant economy once we control our land, resources, borders and lives. Integrating Israel in the Arab world while maintaining its brutal occupation of Palestine is delusional.”
Hulileh noted that if the United States wanted to help the Palestinian economy, “[It] can work on releasing our money instead of seeking financial support from Arab and international donors.”
Head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry Samir Hazboun told Arab News May 21 that none of the businessmen he knows were invited or are planning to attend the US-sponsored workshop. He said he and his team had been working with the Palestinian government on a 100-day plan that would include “practical ways to speed up economic separation from Israel and become more economically dependent on our own.”
Bashar al-Masri, a Palestinian real estate businessman, said May 21 he has been invited but will not attend.
Mubarak Awad, founder and director of the Nonviolence International Center in Washington and one of the proponents of nonviolence in Palestine prior to the first intifada, told Al-Monitor there is a need for drastic economic policies to totally separate from Israel. “We need to stop using the Israeli currency, stop eating and drinking Israeli-made products, and take strong steps to totally separate from Israel, which will be costly in the short term but is necessary for the long term.”
The Shtayyeh government’s weekly press release May 20 spoke about Cabinet decisions to improve economic relations with Jordan and slowly cut off ties to Israel. A senior Palestinian source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that these proposals, as well as ending all medical referrals to Israeli hospitals, were a compromise. “Certainly, improving relations with Jordan is needed, improving local production is necessary, but Shtayyeh’s policy avoids bigger issues such as boycotting Israeli products or asking workers not to work in Israel,” the source said.
While Palestinians are going to be absent from a conference that will be talking about the Palestinian economy, a well-respected international expert on the Middle East thinks Palestinians should not totally dismiss the idea of giving the economic path precedence on the political track.
Nadim Shehadi, director of the Lebanese American University New York Headquarters and Academic Center, told Al-Monitor the economic track is not necessarily inferior to the political track. “Sovereignty is overrated, and there is no such thing as absolute sovereignty today. Palestinians should be present in any forum and shouldn’t boycott it so as not to be a hostage to a particular political point of view. The economic and political tracks are independent of each other, and attending an economic conference will not dilute Palestinian political demands,” Shehadi said via phone from New York.
Continue reading this article by registering at no cost and get unlimited access to:
The award-winning Middle East Lobbying - The Influence Game
Lobbying newsletter delivered weekly
Al-Monitor - Intelligence on the trends shaping the Middle East.
Found in: Economy and trade, Trump, Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist, a media activist and a columnist for Palestine Pulse. He is a former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and is currently director-general of Community Media Network, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing independent media in the Arab region. On Twitter: @daoudkuttab
Next for you
Ilhan Omar seizes spotlight to push pro-BDS resolution
EU says Iran deal parties trying to salvage deal, not ready to trigger dispute mechanism
How Turkey is planning to handle US blowback over S-400s
US forced to mull sanctions against Turkey after S-400 purchase
Updated: Iran's foreign minister receives visa, to arrive in NY Sunday
Traps abound as Iraq charts independent course based on ‘national vision’
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1791
|
__label__wiki
| 0.72475
| 0.72475
|
50 arrested as neo-Nazis march on Yom Kippur in climate of increasing antisemitism from Left and Right
Sue Donym
Swedish society has had a major problem which hardly ever makes the news abroad, in the shape of the rising antisemitism increasingly evident from all sections of society. In September this year, in an article reminiscent of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s recent UK study which found that 1 in 3 of the Jews polled had considered leaving Britain because of antisemitism, Arutz Sheva reported that in Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city with a population of 300,000 barely 500 Jews remain today of more than 2,000 who lived there in the 1970s. The rest had left either for Stockholm or for Israel. The European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights reveals that a third of the Jews of the Old Continent have stopped wearing religious symbols because of fear of attacks. From Denmark to Germany Jews are warned not to wear the Jewish kippah. Elsewhere we read of chants in Arabic of “Death to the Jews!” Malmo, however, seems to believe that it can deal with the problem by talking about it and argues that this is becoming successful. However, while the number of reported antisemitic hate crimes has decreased recently, Frederick Sieradzki, chair of Malmo’s Jewish community thinks that that does not tell the whole story.
“If you look at the raw statistics it can look like things are improving, but it can also be just that registered crimes are down,” he said. And then, perhaps unwittingly, Sieradzki names the fundamental problem which faces Jews everywhere in the west, that antisemitism is becoming so normalised and embedded into the discourse that far too often it is not recognised for what it is:
“If you don’t feel like something has happened, why would you report it? That’s a problem.”
In Sweden as elsewhere in Europe, left wing antisemitism is also emerging and strengthening. In 2015 events in Umea, where a 77th anniversary of Kristallnacht was commemorated to which no Jews were invited, evidenced not only that the organisers were totally insensitive to the impact of such a decision but also a growing trend of at least minimising the importance to Swedish Jews of commemoration of the Holocaust. Jews were not invited, according to one Jan Hägglund, a local lawmaker and member of the local (left-leaning) Workers’ Party [better known as the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SAP), Sweden’s largest party], because the rally could “be perceived as unwelcoming or unsafe situation for them.” According to [the centrist Swedish newspaper] Norrköping Tidningar, previous rallies have included Palestinian flags and banners where the Star of David was equated with the Nazi swastika. (The reader may be forgiven for wondering at least why such displays were permitted in the first place at these events if it was believed that they would lead to Jews feeling unsafe at them).
Perhaps as a result of similar thoughtlessness and failure to apprehend or assess their impact, there are also much more recent signs of the emergence in Sweden of far right antisemitism, see here and here . The last is particularly egregious. For all its laid-back attitude to such insult to others, it should beggar belief that Swedish officialdom should permit a Nazi rally to march past Gothenburg’s synagogue on the holiest day of the Jewish year. Following the outrage from Jewish community leaders, a court in Gothenberg rerouted the planned neo-Nazi march on Yom Kippur farther away from its synagogue.
The Gothenburg administrative court ruling concerning the 30th September march by the far-right Nordic Resistance Movement overrode the suggested route by police. The court also shortened the route, so that the Yom Kippur worshippers will not now have to encounter the neo-Nazis.
When the march went ahead, it was marked by violence between neo-Nazis and the police. Clashes between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters led to 50 arrests, with what reports portray as quite serious clashes between the two and police, with projectiles being thrown and fireworks being ignited. Around 600 neo-Nazis marched in black body armour in a pseudo-military display of intimidation.
On our initial report on the NRM, we uncovered several explicitly neo-Nazi beliefs which are clearly directly inspired by Hitler. Similarly, the tactic of large public marches with militaristic iconography is reminiscent of early Fascism.
SOURCEi24
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1796
|
__label__wiki
| 0.72215
| 0.72215
|
NM for the development of the company’s overall marketing strategy and direction. VISTA OUTDOOR Names SVP Jason Vanderbrink, as new SVP, is responsible for leading Vista Outdoor’s portfolio of domestic, international, law enforcement and government sales, and trade marketing operations. With Vista Outdoor since 2005, and most recently the company’s VP for retail sales, Vanderbrink brings 17 years of experience in the outdoor recreation industry working across channels and customers. UNITED SPORTING COMPANIES Appoints SVP, HR Director United Sporting Companies (USC) announces the promotion of Rob George to SVP of sales and marketing and Grace Brickle to director of human resources. In addition to the marketing team, George will be responsible for all USC sales related activities. In her new role, Brickle will be responsible for the company’s human resources. HOGUE INC. Hires Sales Manager Mike Keegan has been hired as the sales manager for law enforcement, government and international sales at Hogue Inc. In his new role, Keegan will maintain existing international sales channels as well as develop sales and marketing strategies within the military/L.E. markets. Keegan is a former law enforcement officer with involvement on his agency’s SWAT team and violence suppression unit. He earned a degree in criminal justice from Sonoma State University and most recently worked at Steiner eOptics. IHEA-USA Names Executive Director International Hunter Education Association (IHEA-USA) board of directors has hired Brad Heidel as its new executive director. Heidel brings over 15 years of experience in the outdoors industry to his new role. His career began with the Wildlife Heritage Association where his passion for hunting and conservation continued to grow. He also served as the director of corporate relations for Pheasants Forever, Inc. BENELLI USA Promotes Directors George Thompson has been promoted to director of product management from his most recent position as senior product manager for the Benelli brand. In his new role, Thompson will be responsible for leading the company’s product development and execution in the U.S. including the Benelli, Franchi, Stoeger, Uberti USA and Stoeger Airgun brands. He will also maintain direct responsibility for the product development of the Benelli brand. As director of sales and channel management, JP Fischer will lead Benelli USA’s sales and channel management initiatives within the U.S. for the Benelli, Franchi, Stoeger, Uberti USA and Stoeger Airguns brands. Fischer will help the Benelli brands further expand into emerging markets. Fischer joined Benelli USA in 2014 and most recently served as the independent channel sales and marketing manager. GERBER Announces Director Of Sales Marty Carlson has been promoted to director of sales, sporting goods for Gerber. In his position, Carlson will continue to direct leadership and act as sporting goods channel champion for the Gerber sales organization in the Americas. “Marty has played an instrumental role in Gerber over the last six years developing increasingly stronger relationships with a broad array of customers. His unique ability to advocate for our partners is matched only by his passion for the products and brand,” said Tom Diefenderfer, VP of sales at Gerber. STREAMLIGHT INC. Expands International Sales Presence Philippe Marzin has joined Streamlight as international regional manager, Europe. Based in Wirral, U.K., Marzin will build on Streamlight’s growing international network, developing and implementing sales and distribution channels throughout Europe. Marzin has more than 20 years of experience managing international sales programs. He has a degree in mathematics, physics and technology and earned a master’s degree in international sales and management from L’Ecole Supérieure des Technologies et des Affaires (ESTA School of Business and Engineering). WILEY X Hires SVP, Director Wiley X has selected Frank Rescigna to serve as SVP of sales. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in branding, licensing, sales and operations aspects of the global eyewear industry. Scott Donnelly also joins Wiley X and will serve as its director of product development. Donnelly was most recently the product development manager for FGX International and its brands: Gargoyles Performance Eyewear, Foster Grant Polarized, Rawlings Pro and Realtree. www.shootingindustry.com JUNE 2017 19
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1798
|
__label__wiki
| 0.558038
| 0.558038
|
David Elder
A son of a Lutheran minister at Wittenberg University, David Elder was slated to go to seminary, but instead turned out to be a sculptor. Upon completion of a Masters degree at Ohio State University, he had the opportunity to stay on as an apprentice to a classically trained sculptor in residence. “I learned more about the skills of making sculpture from old man Erwin F. Fry than I did in any classroom,” states David. While at Ohio State he also learned the art of bronze casting.
Arriving on the West Coast he proceeded to set up art foundries at California State Long Beach, Pasadena City College, and California State Los Angeles. At Northridge the foundry was already in place, but he developed it into one of the most active fine art university foundries in southern California. As a professional sculptor he started out in welded steel and later moved into working with Polyester Resin. He considers himself part of the “Finish Fetish School” of sculptors in the 60s. “Those of us working in that stuff tried to make it look like the hand of man had never touch it,” he remarked.
After his wife Linda and he built their home and studio in Ventura, he began to work in wood. He made contacts with several tree trimmers in town and they have kept him supplied with a source of logs. “I will carve any piece of wood that will stand still long enough,” he wryly states.
An interesting recent project was doing a show for the J. Paul Getty Museum. For that project he made a mold from one of their Renaissance bronzes and then cast 13 bronzes depicting the different stages of “lost wax casting” as it was traditionally cast in that period.
David Elder’s documentation took place in 1999. The FOTM Archive contains extensive information about this artist.
www.CrystalHawkStudio.com
← Linda Elder Michael Dvortcsak →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1799
|
__label__cc
| 0.709977
| 0.290023
|
« Three New Research Posts in Postdigital Cultures at Coventry University | Main | CFP: Thermal Objects, special issue of Culture Machine »
Radical Open Access Website Launched
Monday, October 23, 2017 at 10:22AM
The new and updated website for the Radical Open Access Collective website is now live!
https://radicaloa.co.uk
Formed in 2015, the Radical OA Collective is a community of scholar-led, not-for-profit presses, journals and other open access projects in the humanities and social sciences. We represent an alternative open access ecosystem and seek to create a different future for open access, one based on experimenting with not-for-profit, scholar-led approaches to publishing. You can read more about the philosophy behind the collective here: https://radicaloa.co.uk/philosophy/
As a collective, we offer mutual reliance and support for each other’s projects by sharing the knowledge and resources we have acquired. Through our projects we also aim to provide advice, support and encouragement to academics and other not-for-profit entities interested in setting up their own publishing initiatives. The current website contains a Directory of academic-led presses, which showcases the breadth and rich diversity in scholar-led presses currently operating in an international context and across numerous fields, and an Information Portal with links to resources on funding opportunities for open access books, open source publishing tools, guidelines on editing standards, ethical publishing and diversity in publishing, and OA literature useful to not-for-profit publishing endeavours. We will be further developing this into a toolkit for open access publishing in order to encourage and support others to start their own publishing projects. If you run a not-for-profit OA publishing initiative or are interested in starting your own scholar-led publishing project, we encourage you to join the Radical OA mailing list and get involved with the discussion!
Please do get in touch if you would like further information on the project or would like your publishing project to be involved.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1803
|
__label__wiki
| 0.559789
| 0.559789
|
17th century Soon after in Greenwich England, following his 1613-1615 grand tour, Inigo Jones designed and built the Queen's House between 1615-1617 in an early Palladian architecture style adaptation in another country. The Palladian villa style renewed its influence in different countries and eras and remained influential for over four hundred years, with the Neo-Palladian a part of the late 17th century and on Renaissance Revival architecture period. [edit]The 18th and 19th centuries In the early 18th century the English took up the term, and applied it to English country houses. Thanks to the revival of interest in Palladio and Inigo Jones, soon Neo-Palladian villas dotted the valley of the River Thames and English countryside: such as Stourhead by Colen Campbell-1720, Holkham Hall - 1730; Woburn Abbey by Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland-1744; and Chiswick House by William Kent-1788. The Marble Hill House in England was conceived originally as a "villa" in the 18th-century sense. Irish Neo-Palladian style was used for the villas Castletown House and Russborough House in Ireland. In many ways the late 18th century Monticello, by Thomas Jefferson in Virginia, United States is a Palladian Revival villa. Other examples of the period and style are Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Maryland; and many pre-American Civil War or Antebellum Plantations, such as Westover Plantation and many other James River plantations as well dozens of Antebellum era plantations in the rest of the Old South functioned as the Roman Latifundium villas had. A later revival, in the Gilded Age and early 20th century, produced The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, Filoli in Woodside, California, and Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.; by architects-landscape architects such as Richard Morris Hunt, Willis Polk, and Beatrix Farrand. In the nineteenth century, villa was extended to describe any large suburban house that was free-standing in a landscaped plot of ground. By the time 'semi-detached villas' were being erected at the turn of the twentieth century, the term collapsed under its extension and overuse. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the creation of large "Villenkolonien" in the German speaking countries, wealthy residential areas that were completely made up of large mansion houses and often built to an artfully creat d masterplan. The Villenkolonie of Lichterfelde West in Berlin was conceived after an extended trip by the architect through the South of England. In France the Chateau de Ferrieres is an example of the Italian Neo-Renaissance style villa and in Britain the Mentmore Towers by John Ruskin. [edit]The 20th - 21st centuries [edit]Europe With the changes of social values in post-colonial Britain after World War I the suburban "villa" became a "bungalow"[citation needed] and by extension the term is used for suburban bungalows in both Australia and New Zealand, especially those dating from the period of rapid suburban development between 1920 and 1950. German speaking countries; Britain; southern Europe; and the Baltics.[dubious - discuss] [edit]The Americas The villa concept lived and lives on in the Haciendas of Latin America and the Estancias of Brazil and Argentina. The oldest are original Portuguese and Spanish Colonial architecture; followed after independences in the Americas from Spain and Portugal, by the Spanish Colonial Revival style with regional variations. In the 20th century International style villas were designed by Roberto Burle Marx, Oscar Niemeyer, Luis Barragan, and other architects developing a unique Euro-Latin synthesized aesthetic. Villas are particularly well represented in California and the West Coast of the United States, where they were originally commissioned by well travelled "upper-class" patrons moving on from the Queen Anne style Victorian architecture and Beaux-Arts architecture. Communities such as Montecito, Bradbury, Bel Air, and San Marino in Southern California, and Atherton and Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area are a few examples of villa density. The popularity of Mediterranean Revival architecture in its various iterations over the last century has been consistently used in that region and in Florida. Just a few of the notable early architects were Wallace Neff, Addison Mizner, Stanford White, and George Washington Smith. A few examples are the Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California, Medici scale Hearst Castle on the Central Coast of California, and Villa Montalvo in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Saratoga, California, Villa Vizcaya in Coconut Grove, Miami, American Craftsman architecture versions are the Gamble House and the villas by Green and Green in Pasadena, California
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1806
|
__label__cc
| 0.578784
| 0.421216
|
Think this through
Learning is a life long task. It is the way we acquire the information we need to function.
Decisions should be made after gathering as much information possible.
It follows then, that learning leads to better decision making. (Noting that not everyone will derive the exact same assumption from the same set of data).
This is the essence of what those in attendance should take away from Thursday night's city council meeting that mostly centered on the issues of the city's floundering hotel.
Things learned.
Some key facts came to light that many did not know and others may have known but forgotten over the intervening years since the hotel project was first proposed. Some of the information was revealed via simple research into public documents. Some of it was explained by the city's extremely capable bond attorney, Ed McManimon.
The Lafayette Yard Community Development Corporation was incorporated in June of 1998 by Shelly Zeiger. The other "trustees" besides the incorporator were Acquest Realty's David Ong, along with Bill Watson, Allan Mallach, and Gwendolyn Long. These five were, according to the incorporation document, "designated by the Mayor of the City" and two others were to be "designated by the City Council at a later date." Mr. Zeiger was the registered agent for the corporation.
The purpose of the LYCDC was to assist the city, parking authority and state in redeveloping the parcel of land into a hotel, conference center and parking garage.
The LYCDC, when adopting its bylaws, made the Mayor the appointing authority, with advice and consent of the City Council.
The LYCDC, NOT the City of Trenton, owns the hotel.
The LYCDC, NOT the City of Trenton, issued the tax-exempt bonds to raise some of the money for the project.
The City of Trenton is the guarantor of the bonds. That is, if there is not enough revenue generated by the hotel operations to cover the payments of principle and interest on the bonds, the City of Trenton must make the payments. Since the hotel has, generally, not made a profit that means the city has made the payments and likely will continue to do so.
There are other, subordinate loans from the state and the Trenton Parking Authority that helped finance the project.
While the City of Trenton is responsible for the debt incurred to finance the development, it is NOT obligated to cover any operating shortfalls.
In order for the hotel to be sold, the title has to first transfer to the City of Trenton from the LYCDC.
What this means, in short, is that the LYCDC holds title to the property and operates it via a contract with a management company. The LYCDC is technically the borrower of the money used to construct the facility. The city is the backup...if there are not profits from hotel operations to pay the lenders back, the city must (and has been) make the payments. The city is not obligated to honor the cash calls made by the LYCDC to cover operating deficits.
Take a minute and let that sink in.
Ok, so what do we do?
There is universal agreement that the hotel needs to be sold. There is not so much agreement on the where, when, how and to whom,
It is also pretty much agreed that the hotel is more attractive to a buyer as an open and operating concern rather than closed.
To continue operations after the current agreements with Waterford (the management company actually "running" the hotel) and Marriott (the brand or "flag"), a new computer management system must be purchased and up and running. (This is because the current system in use is Marriott's proprietary system and when they go, it goes. It is that simple.)
There will also be expenses incurred removing all "Marriott" branded items from the property.
This is the $200,000 in transition expenses approved at last night's council meeting. This will allow Marshall, the incoming management company, to operate the hotel after midnight, June 14 when the property becomes "the-hotel-formerly-known-as-the-Trenton-Marriott".
What is not settled is whether to proceed with the re-flagging of the hotel as a Wyndham or operate it independently. Here there are differences of opinion.
Many in the business community, along with the LYCDC board majority, place importance on having a branded hotel. Their arguments range from the improved market recognition a flag carries to implied "standards" of service and facilities. Some say the public seek out name brand hotels when traveling because they are known entities.
Of course, running with a flag can mean additional costs. There is reportedly a $10,000 application fee just to be considered for the Wyndham name. Then there will be some kind of license fee, franchise fee, etc. to actually put the name on the property, tie into its reservation system and utilize the chain's marketing muscle. In addition, we cannot overlook the $3 million in property improvements that Wyndham wants done. These have thus far been described in reports as essentially cosmetic makeovers of the bar area and freshening up the decor in the guest rooms.
In the other camp are those who feel the hotel could operate just fine without a brand for the very brief (but as yet undefined) period between losing the Marriott name and being sold. The thought is that if you are coming to Trenton and inclined to stay at a hotel here in town, you will really have no choice. A brand name is not going to make a difference. Surely, Marshall can operate a property to "chain" standards without the benefit or expense of the brand name. The money saved on application and franchise fees can be freed up for marketing and for those property improvements and maintenance that are actually necessary.
Would operating independently eliminate the need of further bonding?
Operating independently might eliminate the need to issue more bonds to cover this expensive bar makeover and such. However, there are undoubtedly some repair and maintenance issues that should be addressed as part of "polishing this gem" (as one speaker referred to it last night) and readying it for sale.
There is another option that bears consideration.
Bond counsel Ed McManimon noted that the city could issue taxable bonds in the amount equal to the LYCDC’s tax exempt bonds, essentially paying off the LYCDC’s bond debt and acquiring the hotel. At current rates, the city’s debt would be about the same as it is currently paying as guarantor of the LYCDC bonds.
A new body could be created, with members from the state, perhaps the county, the business community and such to oversee the operation AND sale of the hotel.
Robert Lowe sketched it out this way in a post on Facebook last night:
The Trenton Hotel 7 Step
The City issues taxable bonds equal to the hotel equity it has guaranteed, approximately $13.5 mil, and retires the LYCDC bonds it has guaranteed in equal amount. With this action, the City officially owns the hotel, disbands the LYCDC and nullifies the Asset Manager contract.
The City works with the Management firm to operate as an unbranded hotel.
The City plans what is truly needed in a reservation system, and works with outlets such as Expedia, Flipkey, and the like to ensure continued internet marketing.
The City begins negotiations with the unsecured creditors to arrange for forgiveness of such debt.
The City studies the advisability of sale timing, and the possible returns potentially realized by initiating renovations - a true professional business assessment with realistic projections for each available scenario.
The City prepares an RFP for sale, and determines the timing of sale, based upon a thorough assessment of the business analysis described above.
The City sells the hotel, and encourages all stakeholders to step up to bat, requesting a demonstration of their support by steering business to the hotel. This includes the State, who by purchasing procedures and policy can drive volume.
We think Mr. Lowe is onto something.
We know we will likely never get back the money already invested in this project. We need to focus on getting the hotel into private hands.
As Mr. Lowe said, details need to be worked out. Still, this is more of a plan than we have seen or heard to date.
It is worth a shot.
Labels: Acquest Realty, bonds, Ed McManimon, LYCDC, Marshall properties, Shelly Zeiger, the hotel, Trenton Marriott, turn it around
Something is happening here but you don't know what it is...
...Do you, Mr. Mack.
The saga of the Tony Mack administration gets sadder.
While he awaits his day in Federal court on charges of conspiring to accept bribes in a make believe development deal, the indicted and embattled mayor continues to lose whatever shreds of credibility he may have had left.
In April, the Civil Service Commission ruled that the administration had wrongfully laid off former lead park ranger Michael Morris in favor of Mack croney, Robert "Chico" Mendez. The CSC gave the city a month to rehire Morris and dismiss Mendez. The city has done neither.
In fact, the administration is claiming that it wants to appeal the decision in the case. Strange, since the record shows that they did not even bother to respond to the matter when it was crawling through the CSC process.
Asking the city council to approve funding for an appeal that would seem to have no real standing but instead is based purely on the mayor's personal vendetta against a former employee is not going to be an easy sell. The governing body is increasingly wary of these kinds of wasteful and ultimately fruitless expenditures.
And, lest anyone think the council does not have a say in the matter, let us refer you to this little item from the city code:
§ 2-25 Special counsel.
Whenever (s)he deems the interests of the City so require the City Attorney may, with the approval of the Mayor and Council and within the limits of available appropriations, appoint special counsel to assist him/her in the preparation, trial or argument of such legal matters or proceedings as (s)he may determine. If the City Attorney should be disqualified with respect to any matter, the Mayor shall appoint special counsel, with the approval of the City Council, to represent the City for and with respect to such matter.
Clearly, the governing body has the approval. Period.
This might be a mere annoyance to a mayor who has repeatedly ignored the laws if they didn't agree with his personal agenda, but it is only the beginning.
“We received notification from DCA earlier today that they will not even consider any funding in support of the hotel until they receive a copy of a plan from the city with respect to available options for funding and profits — a more comprehensive plan,” business administrator Sam Hutchinson said.
After an hour long presentation meant to coax the city council into approving a $200,000 expenditure to help cover the costs of transitioning the hotel from Marriot to Wyndham and changing management companies, members of the governing body engaged in a little question and answer session about the hotel.
All of the responses from LYCDC president Joyce Kersey, the LYCDC attorney and representatiaves from the management companies circled around having more money appropriated to effect the changes and better position the property in the market place. Very little was said about efforts to sell the hotel beyond vague references to giving consideration to any "serious offer".
In response to a question from council president Phyllis Holly-Ward, city business administrator Sam Hutchinson announced that he had just that morning received communication from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs informing him that they could not proceed without a concrete plan in place.
Seizing the moment to solidify the obvious (and reported) inclination of a majority of the body to cut off further spending on the hotel, Councilman Zac Chester immediately asked if the administration would pull the item from the docket. Strangely, Hutchinson declined to defer to the mayor's higher authority and declined to withdraw the funding resolution from the docket.
It really didn't matter as the council has the authority to set its agenda and can add or remove items as it sees fit.
This didn't stop Councilwoman McBride from launching into an angy attack on the DCA, proclaiming that Director Neff was, in effect, the "mayor of Trenton" and that Mayor Mack had been reduced to nothing more than a mere figurehead.
The councilwoman was more correct than she knows.
The latest MOU signed with the state continued a three year trend of putting more control over city matters in the DCA's hands and creating less leeway for the mayor and his few remaining cronies to wreck their own particular brand of municipal mayhem.
The edict to not proceed with any further funding for the hotel without a concrete plan represents a very significant flexing of the state's muscles. It appears that the state "is not playing" anymore.
Something IS happening here.
Labels: DCA, Joyce Kersey, LYCDC, Mayor Tony Mack, Sam Hutchinson
Trenton City Council held a special meeting Tuesday night. The purpose of the meeting was to present publicly the legal process for filling any vacant elected offices (council or mayor).
The meeting was relatively brief, under an hour. The information was presented, council was provided an opportunity to raise any questions (they had none) and then members of the audience were invited to ask questions.
Despite reports last week of errors in the way the city legal department described the process to council in advance of the meeting, the information provided tonight was correct.
In short:
If a vacancy occurs in a council position, the remainder of the governing body appoints a replacement by a majority vote.
If a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor, the council president becomes the acting mayor until the body appoints a replacement.
In either case, if the vacancy occurs prior to September 1 of the final year of the term, a special election is scheduled for the next general or municipal election, whichever comes first.
If a vacancy occurs after September 1, the appointee completes the term; no special election is required.
There were some good questions raised by members of the public tonight.
Q: Who can be appointed? A: Anyone who is legally qualified to hold the seat. Not just a member of council or the administration.
Q. What constitutes a majority vote on an appointment? A. Four votes out of the seven possible (in the case of a tie in voting for a replacement council member, the mayor may vote).
A little trickier question was about whether there would be an open process of soliciting names and resumes of those interested in filling any future vacancies and just how that process might be handled.
The council president promised as open and transparent a process as the law allows and an open call for submissions from interested parties. The law director rightfully pointed out that criteria for evaluating the submissions would need to be agreed upon by the governing body and made known to the public.
All well and good. Moreover, the proceedings went better, largely, than one might have expected after reading of the earlier confusion over the actual process.
What was unsettling, though, were questions raised about whether or not members of city council had been approached about securing their votes for one particular individual or another to be appointed mayor in case of a vacancy.
The reason for the line of questioning was a obvious belief that some sort of back room deal had already been made on just who council would appoint to fill a vacancy in the office of mayor.
The political climate in Trenton has long fostered an abundance of conspiracy theories. One could suppose it is a natural by-product of politics.
However, if this is the tone the upcoming campaign is going to take than we have a big problem.
Trenton is in crisis. We need competent, steady leadership. We do not need another thin-skinned, suspicious, administration. We need to build coalitions and to include all segments of the population. We can no longer afford to discount or disparage others simply because they are rivals or challengers.
It is a given that candidates cannot absolutely control what their supporters say and do, but they can make an effort or distance themselves from those who won’t behave civilly.
There is no room for the accusatory challenges launched from the podium tonight. Nor is there cause for the commentary passed between various members of the audience. That kind of behavior is not going to save Trenton. It is only going to send us further along the road to dysfunction and divisiveness.
If you are going to campaign through innuendo and rumor, you are not going to win a lot of votes. And you are not going to help Trenton.
It would benefit us all if candidates and their supporters would keep their conspiracy theories to themselves unless and until they have very credible evidence to back up their assertions. Failing to do so will not only hurt their chances of obtaining the goal they seek, it will severely inhibit the city’s ability to move out of these troubled times and onto recovery.
Isn't the whole idea for us to be better, do better than our recent history indicates we are?
Labels: City Council, conspiracy, open and transparent, process, succession, vacancy in office
Something is happening here but you don't know wha...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1808
|
__label__cc
| 0.692587
| 0.307413
|
GPJOA.COM
Round and Round in the Nation's Capital
RIP Kenny Shields
January 9, 2018 Legal, Music, News No Comments
A Rock Icon Passes On
I know that it's been some time since his passing, but I was saddened when I learned that Kenny Shields had passed away last July. For those that don't know who Kenny Shields is, he was the singer for the Canadian rock band Streetheart. There are some who say that Kenny had the best voice in rock at the time Streetheart blasted onto the scene in the 1970's with their debut album. They had many of their own compositions, but may be more well known for their rendition of the Rolling Stones hit “Under My Thumb”. I have always considered the version done by Streetheart to be much better than the original done by the Rolling Stones
I was able to see Kenny perform live several times with his band Streetheart and he was an excellent showman. There are many who think the glove on one hand is a thing started by Michael Jackson, but Kenny Shields was doing it years before. Check out this video of Streetheart performing in Winnipeg in 1979 and look for the glove worn on only one hand by Kenny. The video was shot by the CBC and was taken in the St. Vital Hotel, which I believe is still running today.
Music in the 1970's
For most Canadians who were listening to rock radio in the 1970's, you were aware of how successful Streetheart was in the Canadian market. For whatever reason, the band didn't seem to be able to break out of the Canadian market into others, especially south of the border in the United States. They managed to fill arenas in their home country, but were unknowns elsewhere it seemed. The band did tour with well known American bands and even toured with AC/DC, but couldn't seem to crack the American market. I always thought the band should have done much better than it did and had music that would have been accepted anywhere. The band did put out several records before members left for other bands, most notably the band Loverboy. The band officially broke up in 1983, but did come back together in 1999 and continued to play shows until Kenny's death on July 21, 2017.
A Youth Remembered
Another piece of my youth is gone with the passing of Kenny Shields. I still listen to many of the band's recordings on Spotify as the music is still as relevant today as it was back in 1977. Kenny was one of the few vocalists whose voice seemed to defy time. Hearing him on one of his last shows, he was still able to belt out the tunes and hit many of the notes he did when he was in his prime. One of my favorite albums is still the Streetheart debut album, “Meanwhile Back in Paris” from 1978. It instills the fact that we're all getting older and there's no such thing as turning back time. Kenny was one of my favorite singers and now he's gone, like so many others from my youth.
RIP Kenny.
GP Joa
Tags: Canada, music, News
Ontario Minimum Wage Increase Not Going Over Well
Political Perks
GPJOA.COM Calendar
March is Finally Over
My Personal Hell
Another Justin Trudeau Blunder
Winter Driving In Ottawa
What a Snooze Fest
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1815
|
__label__wiki
| 0.859162
| 0.859162
|
Upscale growth, tech underpins RLHC’s evolution
Officials on RLH Corporation’s first-quarter 2019 earnings call touched on the company’s position five years ago compared to now, and where the company is headed with its midscale and upscale focus and tech investments.
By Dana Miller
dmiller@hotelnewsnow.com
@HNN_Dana
DENVER—RLH Corporation isn’t quite the same company it was five years ago, President and CEO Greg Mount said.
Mount told analysts on a recent earnings call that when he joined RLHC in 2014, the company owned 25 hotels and had 30 franchised hotels, which generated $1.5 million in franchise revenue. Today, it’s an asset-light franchise company with a franchise system of nearly 1,300 hotels generating $13 million in franchise revenue, he said.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2019, RLHC is down to eight owned hotels in its system, “several of which are actively marketed,” he said.
Click here for more Q1 earnings coverage
“We have come a long way and are excited about the direction we are headed,” he said. “With that said, 2019 is off to a terrific start.”
He said RLHC is “making headway” in adding to its upscale brands. During Q1, the company executed 56 franchise agreements. Eight were upscale and midscale hotels, and 48 were select-service, he said.
In 2017, the company realigned its brand portfolio, positioned Hotel RL as upscale, with Red Lion Hotels and Red Lion Inn & Suites in the midscale space.
Click here to read “RLHC’s growth focus shifts to midscale, upper midscale”
Regarding RLHC’s asset strategy, Mount said, “overall the contracts we’re entering into are generally of higher quality and more profitable franchises than those that are leaving our system.”
The hotels that are for sale, including properties in Atlanta, Washington and Anaheim, California, are currently still in the marketing process, he said.
He cited market volatility, which “sent mixed signals” in the first quarter, as a factor in the slower pace of deals.
“Consequently, buyers are taking longer to come to the table,” he said. “In fact, we believe this reflects broader real estate transaction market conditions, as both real estate transactions and real estate transaction volume were down in first quarter 2019 by 22% and 11%, respectively, according to estimates,” he said.
Mount said he remains confident the hotels will be sold, but he now anticipates the sales will occur in the second half of 2019.
Tech focus
While RLHC is focusing on its core franchise business, it’s also investing more in technology.
In April, RLHC hired Vinod Sankar as SVP and chief digital officer to oversee growth of the company’s global digital strategy and technology innovations.
“He’s already developing a framework for enhancing our revenue management system,” Mount said. “Vinod’s analytical perspective will be a valuable element in our efforts to remain on the cutting edge of technology.”
Mount said RLHC looks to stay nimble in developing a full suite of services for its owners to enhance guest experience, which will rely heavily on technology, such as through building cloud-based system RevPAK, a product of the recently launched subsidiary RLabs.
During the company’s fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call, Mount told analysts that RLabs will “focus on the new revenue verticals for the hospitality industry, including end-to-end software, robotics and artificial intelligence … (which) will allow us to leverage and monetize what we created for (RLHC) by primarily targeting upscale independent hotels.”
Several independent hotel owners and operators are showing strong interest in RLabs, Mount said.
Q1 performance, outlook
RLHC reported net loss of $4.1 million compared to a net income of $2.6 million in the prior year, EVO, CFO and Treasurer Julie Shiflett said.
She attributed the quarter-over-quarter change in net income to a $14-million gain associated with the sale of five hotels during the first quarter of 2018. The change also reflects the impact of the sale of four additional hotels during the remainder of 2018, she said.
Those hotel sales also affected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which remained flat at approximately $1 million, she said.
“On a year-over-year basis, nearly all of the EBITDA from the sold hotels was replaced by the growth in our core franchise business,” Shiflett said.
Franchise revenue increased nearly 29% to $13 million, driven by royalty fees, she said. Performance of the franchise business benefitted from the company’s acquisition of Knights Inn in 2018, as well as organic growth, she said.
Total revenue for all business segments for the quarter declined by 21% year over year to $26 million, which also reflects the impact of the hotel sales in 2018.
Shiflett said franchise margins are seasonally lower in the first few quarters of the year due to higher marketing spend devoted to driving reservations for the upcoming high travel season.
RLHC reaffirmed its guidance range for 2019, and is “well on our way to our guidance range of (executing) 160 to 200 franchise signings,” she said.
Guidance for adjusted EBITDA continues to be in the range of $20.5 million to $22.5 million.
As of press time, RLHC’s stock was trading at $7.39 a share, down 9.9% year to date. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was up 16.6% for the same time period.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1825
|
__label__cc
| 0.626067
| 0.373933
|
HomeFeatured
Preview: Knee Jerk
By Jason Meyers on September 25, 2014 Featured Previews
[Ed. note: This is a preview of a non-final, non-production prototype demo of the game. Our opinions reflect that of the game at the time we played it; the final product may feature some variation in game play, art, and components.]
My daddy always told me, “Son, think twice before you speak.” Alas, though I have heeded those words my entire life, and try to instill them in my own kids today, I still have an uncanny knack of spouting off as a result of the old “foot-in-mouth” disease. When I was younger, it would get me into trouble. Now that I’m older, it more than likely is just a bit socially awkward. Either way, I’ve now found an outlet for my graceless bumbling: Knee Jerk – where I can say whatever comes to my mind. Even if it’s the first bizarre thing that pops into my head!
How It Plays
Knee Jerk’s subtitle says it all: The Party Game of Instant Reactions. One player constructs a sentence from three customized cards, and the other participants must complete it with the first coherent ending they can think of.
The game consists of one 55-card deck. These cards merely state three simple phrases, one each on a green, blue, and orange banner. The green and blue colored banners also have arrows which point off to the right. When placed together in a staggered format, these arrows line up so that the green phrase will point to the blue phrase on the next card, which in turn points to the orange phrase on a third card. The resulting three phrases now form the bulk of a sentence which the other players will attempt to complete.
During a game, one player serves as the “host.” At the beginning of the game, she draws 2 cards, lining the first card’s green phrase up with the second’s blue one as describe above. So you might begin with something like, “I Feel Like We’re in A Horror Film” coupled with, “At the Mall.” To start a round, she then draws 3 additional cards, chooses one of the orange phrases, and tacks it onto the end. Say she picks, “Because Someone is Wearing…” Then the host reads the nearly completed thought altogether.
Staggered phrase cards read across to form the bulk of your silly, odd, or sometimes outright bizarre sentence!
As soon as she’s finished, other players try to complete the sentence before anyone else. The first player to blurt out a phrase wins. If two or more people chime in at the same time, the host may decide the winner – either based on merit, personal opinion, or completely at random. The only rule to your sentence-ending clause is that it must make some reasonable sense and the host has the right to deny any phrase. So, using the example above, if you say, “The Sky is Blue,” you’re unlikely to earn the point. Other than that, your add-on can be purely logical such as, “A Zombie Costume;” or funny such as, “Yoga Pants that are 6 sizes too small;” or totally off the wall such as, “A Human Head to Make Him Look Human, When in Fact It’s Actually an Alien Cause You Can See Its Antennae Sticking Out!” Of course, speed is essential, so perhaps that last example isn’t a good one, but you get the idea.
The first player to call out a clearly coherent clause, or is deemed the winner by the host, earns that card. The host then draws 3 new cards to start the next round and chooses a new orange-backed phrase to lay down with the original two phrases. Play repeats as before. When one player earns a set number of cards, they win that game and may host the next one.
Overreact or Stop and Think?
The British, and later American, comedy sketch show, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?, was famous for its quip, “The points don’t matter.” Billed as a quasi “competition,” the participants entertained in improvised skits manufactured by the show’s host and audience. The host would liberally throw out points for their efforts – or not – but the bottom line was to make everyone laugh. That’s all that mattered. Of course, that’s a concept not completely foreign to dozens of party games. There are a great number that ostensibly have an objective, structure, and point system. But really, the whole crux of the matter is to get together with friends and family, let your hair down, and have fun. That’s exactly what Knee Jerk is and does.
This is a fast, usually hilarious, and oftentimes silly activity. And I don’t use the word “activity” pejoratively. It’s an extremely light game designed for fun, casual entertainment. However, while the rules are simple, quite honestly Knee Jerk will not be for everyone. There are a handful of people who just really can’t think quickly on their feet. But more than that, there are lots of people – even gamers – who don’t like looking the fool or are uncomfortable in impromptu environments. You can play Knee Jerk seriously and logically, without being goofy. To be sure, a fair number of ending clauses will end up that way. That said, the game is meant for, and really shines in, a more jocular atmosphere with players at ease in letting their hair down. Indeed, the randomly bizarre outcome of many sentences almost requires that personality.
The real beauty of these phrase cards is they give you a jump start to spontaneity!
At the same time, you need not be the next Robin Williams, or some other king of spontaneity, in order to play. The simplistic card structure wonderfully gets the players started. After all, the concept here – the design’s ad hoc nature – is not a patented invention, by any stretch. Yet the phrase cards are a great tool to provide a spontaneous framework in which players can easily be creative. Sure, they’ll be some extremely reserved individuals that just won’t like this style of game. But even if you’re not used to such activities, or think your personality is unsuited for it, don’t summarily dismiss it until you’ve tried it. The design just might have you jumping right in more easily than you thought.
Finally, I appreciate Knee Jerk’s audience accessibility. It’s appropriate for family-friendly gatherings; it works in casually social occasions with a broad range of personality types where you need to be careful about offending people; or you can take it to a mature, adults-only level amongst close friends or other environments where you know it’s safe to be saucy or naughty. The design doesn’t force any of these directions, but allows the players – especially the current host constructing the sentences – to keep it suitable for whatever circumstance.
That customization should make Knee Jerk a replayable keeper. The combinations of phrases are legion. And the host has a great deal of leeway to tailor them to her audience’s tastes, preferences, and sensibilities. There are logical constructions with natural endings such as, “I feel like screaming, at the beach, because someone announced…” You can create hilarious concoctions such as, “I feel like I should call the cops, in the operating room, because someone made a sound like this:” You may have a strange group that delights in completing totally bizarre statements such as, “I feel nostalgic, in the distant future, because my psych evaluation said…” And for those that want to be a bit cheeky, you can mix together something like, “I feel stimulated, in the hot tub, because someone showed me…” The possibilities are many!
55 cards. 3 phrases apiece. Tons of possibilities!
The card sentence structure is ingenious, yet it’s so simple it’s a wonder it hasn’t been produced before now! In “starting them off,” it allows individuals to be inventive and funny, without requiring them to create the whole exercise from scratch. At the same, it’s open-ended and customizable enough to fit a variety of gaming scenarios – from kid-friendly family get-togethers to late night adults-only crowds. If you have a family, social gathering, or gaming group that shines in an improvised environment, enjoys being silly, and doesn’t mind looking the occasional fool, then Knee Jerk will absolutely prove a perfect fit.
Knee Jerk is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. The project has already met its funding goal and will continue running through Wednesday, October 15th. This pack of fun in a little tuck box is well on its way to its stretch goals. There is only one pledge level, and before you spout off half-cocked trying to guess what it is, let me just tell you! For only $10, you can grab your own copy – and be well on your way to a night full of many laughs and maybe just a few awkward moments…
This article is a paid promotion.
Tags: card gamecasualcasual gamingcustomizationfamilyfunnygood valueKickstarterKnapsack GamesKnee Jerkparty gamessocial
Jason Meyers
I have lots of kids. Board games help me connect with them, while still retaining my sanity...relatively speaking.
Previous ArticleShelf Wear #4: A Seasoned Look at Race For The Galaxy
Next Article Dragon’s Peak #2 – King’s Pouch and More
Review: LAMA
Preview: Deep Space Game Canopy
Review: Just One
Pingback: Today in Board Games Issue #228 - Designer Wisdom; Should I Buy Descent 2.0? - Today in Board Games
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1828
|
__label__wiki
| 0.822754
| 0.822754
|
Jane Austen, The Rice Portrait and the National Portrait Gallery
“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision” Paulo Coelho
Is the Rice Portrait truly a portrait of a young Jane Austen?
It is a question which has been the subject of intense debate and disagreement between its supporters and detractors, a debate which has raged on for decades.
In recent years a steady flow of evidence has emerged supporting the long held belief of the portrait’s owners that the Rice Portrait is genuine. And yet the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) continues to deny that the portrait is either of Jane Austen or by Ozias Humphry, insisting that it dates from the early nineteenth century. They justify this on the grounds of the dating of the costume and the stamp on the back of the canvas, notwithstanding the evidence that has been produced demonstrating that both dress and stamp could potentially date to before 1800. Why is there such reluctance on the part of the NPG to accept any of this new evidence?
Why does the NPG remain so implacably opposed to this portrait being a picture of the young Jane Austen?
Robert Chapman and the National Portrait Gallery
In the 1930s Austen studies were dominated by Oxford scholar Robert (RW) Chapman. The Director of the National Portrait Gallery was Sir Henry Hake and it is clear from reading the archives at the NPG that the two were working together on the subject of the Rice Portrait or the Zoffany as it was then known.
RW Chapman
In 1931/32 Henry Hake tried to acquire the portrait for the NPG. Following the failed attempt to purchase the portrait, Robert Chapman wrote in a letter to Henry Hake dated 26 October 1932: ‘I never feel happy about this picture, and I know that R.A. Austen-Leigh is very sceptical.’ He continues: ‘But it is possible that it may have been commissioned, e.g. by James Leigh Perrot, Jane Austen’s mother’s brother who was a man of wealth living, for the most part, in Bath’. But as Chapman said himself, he was no iconographer.
In 1939 Chapman wrote to Hake: ‘I have finished a small book on Jane Austen, which collects the facts. But I am not competent to write on the Portraits, being (as Jane says) that I never saw either, and for other reasons.’
Henry Hake
Director of the NPG
Chapman was also no fashion expert. He relied on the opinion of Charles Kingsley Adams of the NPG (later the Director) who reported in 1941 that the dress the girl in the portrait was wearing must date to after 1805 on the basis of the puffed sleeves and high waistline. The assessment gave Robert Chapman the ammunition he needed to justify his antipathy towards the portrait.
In 1948, immediately after the NPG purchased the ‘Cassandra scribble of her sister’ as Hake called it, Chapman unequivocally declared in his Jane Austen Facts and Problems that the Rice portrait ‘had a pedigree that any layman might think watertight; but it cannot be Jane Austen. It is a portrait of a young girl which can be dated by the costume to about 1805 (when J.A. was thirty) or later.’
The timing, immediately after the NPG had acquired the small portrait of Austen, cannot have been coincidence. The Rice family had refused to sell their portrait to the Gallery and all the latter had managed to purchase was a small, inferior amateur drawing.
From this point on, the NPG had a motive for downplaying any claim by the Rice family that their portrait was genuine and to talk up their own picture which they had swiftly claimed was the only authentic portrait of the novelist. Meanwhile Chapman’s assessment, based solely on the flawed judgement of CK Adams, continued to be relied upon and given a weight far greater than it deserved.
Chapman’s 1948 assessment that ‘it cannot be Jane Austen’ was cited by the Jane Austen Society in 1973 when they announced they believed the portrait was not of the novelist.
Jane Austen Society Report 1973
But in March 1998 the Chairman of the Jane Austen Society, Brian Southam, wrote to the Director of the NPG about the portrait. He said:
The Jane Austen Society has itself considered the question of the authenticity of the Rice/Zoffany portrait on several occasions in the past, each time coming to a negative verdict. It has to be said, however, that the Society possessed no expertise in the history of portraiture, fashion and other relevant factors, and I do not think that anyone would nowadays attach much weight to these past pronouncements.
Yet Robert Chapman’s assessment continued to influence the debate about the portrait. Even as late as 2007 when the portrait failed to sell at auction (of which more later) press reports at the time repeatedly cited the declaration made by Chapman way back in 1948, that the style of the dress did not match the date of the portrait.
That the opinion of one man who was not even in possession of the correct facts at the time – Chapman thought that the portrait was by Zoffany, and that it may have been commissioned by James Leigh-Perrot and painted in Bath – was still being quoted as evidence over sixty years later is quite incredible.
Deirdre Le Faye and the National Portrait Gallery
Deirdre Le Faye, an administrator at the British Museum, joined the Jane Austen Society in the 1960s and began researching Jane Austen in earnest in the 1970s.
In many ways Le Faye assumed the mantle of RW Chapman. Like him, she dominated debate about Austen for decades and assumed a proprietary interest in the novelist. Like Chapman, she is also dogmatic in her opinions and she is fiercely critical of anyone who disagrees with her.
In April 1983 Le Faye was researching the Rice Portrait and wrote to John Kerslake at the NPG. She described herself as a ‘devoted member of the Jane Austen Society’ and explained that she was ‘trying to find another little girl in the prolific Austen family to whom the picture can be correctly related.’ Her opinion of the Rice Portrait was clearly already fixed: ‘I don’t for a moment believe it is a portrait of JA the authoress,’ she said.
By now, however, John Kerslake had retired and Richard Walker, archivist at the NPG, replied instead. He reiterated the opinion of Madeleine Ginsberg of the V&A that the puffed sleeves and high waist on the dress dated the portrait to around 1805 – 1810. Le Faye replied that this suited her line of research very well. Of Henry Rice she said condescendingly:
He is now prepared to accept that the picture can't be Zoffany, but still clings to the idea that it is of the genuine Jane Austen; he now considers it might be by Ozias Humphry, because Humphry had Kentish connections and undoubtedly did paint the portrait of Jane's great-uncle Francis Austen which is presently in the Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield. This, however, seems to me an equally unlikely attribution.
In October 1993, Richard Walker, now retired, wrote to Le Faye again. He had been reading her revised edition of Jane Austen A Family Record and was interested to note that she had not mentioned the Rice Portrait. ‘I imagine, like me, you do not wholeheartedly believe in it,’ he wrote. But he concluded his letter: ‘I think the costume experts have been over-confident and the dress she wears could be of the 1790s – but I am still not convinced she is Jane.’
In 1996 Deirdre Le Faye published the results of her research. In her article, published in The Book Collector, Le Faye misled her readers by labelling four miniature portraits as specific female members of the Austen family when in fact only one of the portraits, that of Mrs Jane Campion, was identified - by a piece of paper in the back of the miniature on which was written ‘Jane Austen who married William Campion’ and the name WS Lethbridge together with an address in the Strand. Two years later Richard Walker wrote to Le Faye: ‘I am interested in the Lethbridge idea. He usually signed and dated on the back of the ivory and I imagine the Kippington miniatures are so inscribed.’ None of the miniatures were so inscribed. If Le Faye wrote to tell him so, there is no record of this letter in the NPG archives. Her thesis was that the portrait is of a distant relative of Jane Austen's, Mary Anne Campion, and was painted by Matthew William Peters. Le Faye presented no documentary evidence to support her theory.
Nevertheless, Deirdre Le Faye’s article in The Book Collector received the enthusiastic approval of the 18th Century Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. Jacob Simon had joined the NPG in 1983 and by the 1990s it is clear from the documents in the Heinz Archive at the NPG that Jacob Simon and Deirdre Le Faye had joined forces in their opposition to the picture.
Simon wrote to Le Faye in September 1996: ‘Your article is brilliant - just what is wanted – and must be published. Do keep me informed.’ A few months later in January 1997 he wrote, ‘Delighted to see your article on Jane Austen in published form. Congratulations. I shall make sure that my colleagues are aware of your excellent work. And it will be available to future enquirers, of course.’
Deirdre Le Faye's postcard to the NPG
In October 1997 Deirdre Le Faye wrote a postcard to Jacob Simon enclosing correspondence from Richard Wheeler who had been campaigning in favour of the picture. On the front of the postcard were cartoon images from Wind in the Willows showing Toad, Badger, Ratty and Mole. On the back she wrote: ‘I find the Toad family portraits more convincing!’
In 2001 Deirdre Le Faye, having retired from the British Museum, wrote to Jacob Simon telling him that ‘research flourishes’. She was, she said,
‘determined to bring your correct dating to the attention of the literary world upon every possible occasion!’
On 18 October 2003 an article appeared in The Times newspaper by Jack Malvern reporting that the portrait was indeed of Jane Austen. The article reported that this was supported by the opinions of Conall Macfarlane of Christie’s who believed the portrait was by Ozias Humphry; Regency costume collectors Lillian and Ted Williams who believed the costume dated to the eighteenth century; and Austen expert Dr Marilyn Butler, who pointed out that there were several possible references to the portrait in Austen’s writing.
Deirdre Le Faye immediately wrote to Conall Macfarlane, disputing his assessment. He replied on 23 October 2003:
Thank you for your letter of 20th October with the enclosures. I knew of Dr Jacob Simon’s theories about the dress depicted in the Rice portrait.
I am afraid I am not entering the lists regarding the sitter in the picture which I will leave to others better placed than I. My only contribution was to propose the attribution to Ozias Humphrey [sic], which seems to have gained general approval subsequently.
Le Faye wrote back to him:
Dr Simon as befits an impartial curator at one of the national galleries, is concerned only with the facts regarding the dating of the canvas; it is Mr Rice and his family, with a financial interest in the portrait, who invent theories regarding the dress of the sitter and like to claim the picture is by Ozias Humphrey [sic]. My years of likewise impartial research into the Austen family background have convinced me that the sitter is Mary Anne Campion.
On the enclosed copy of her letter to Conall Macfarlane which she sent to the NPG she wrote ‘Jacob: I thought CMacf’s muddle-headed letter deserved a clarifying response. Le Faye also sent a postcard to Jacob Simon on which she wrote: ‘Enclosed copy for your interest/amusement - do you know this Conal MacF? I assume he must be a new recruit to Christie’s, unaware of the background controversy.’
In fact Conall Macfarlane, who studied at the V&A, had been at Christie’s since the 1970s and had been a Director since 1991. But Le Faye’s comment is instructive – she clearly assumed that anyone who knew about the portrait’s history would not have the temerity to disagree with her or with Jacob Simon of the NPG.
Le Faye also launched a scathing criticism of Dr Butler, and claimed that she had ‘allowed her friendship with the owner of this picture to outweigh considerations of scholarly impartiality when assessing evidence.’ A remarkable statement, in the light of Le Faye’s longstanding and ongoing campaign against this portrait, which has been anything but impartial.
Deirdre Le Faye continues to maintain that the portrait is of Mary Anne Campion and that it was painted by Matthew William Peters. In her latest edition of her Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family, published in 2013, she presents her theory as if it were fact, and yet he only citation is her own article in The Book Collector. Her theory, supported by Jacob Simon, managed to gain some traction over the years, yet my own research has shown that the theory does not stand up to scrutiny.
It seems that, just as with Dr Robert Chapman, Deirdre Le Faye’s opinions were given more credit than was warranted, simply due to her stature in Austen circles.
Henry Rice and the National Portrait Gallery
Meanwhile, the owners of the portrait were initially oblivious, or at least inattentive, to criticism of their portrait.
Henry Rice
Edward Rice inherited the portrait from his father Henry Edward Harcourt Rice in 1943 and the painting hung at his home Dane Court until his death thirty years later. In 1973 Henry Rice inherited Dane Court on the death of his father, Edward. The entire contents of the house had been removed by Henry’s step-mother but she was unable to take the portrait which was entailed to him. Two years later Henry Rice sold Dane Court and he and his wife Anne moved to Guernsey, taking the portrait with them.
In 1983 Henry and Anne Rice returned to England. By now it was apparent that the portrait faced serious opposition and Henry began a campaign to prove that the portrait was indeed of Jane Austen the novelist. It was a fight which would continue for the rest of his life.
Henry Rice proposed that the portrait was not by Zoffany but by the lesser known artist Ozias Humphry which, as noted above, had also been suggested by Conall Macfarlane of Christie’s.
In 1985 the National Portrait Gallery published their directory, Regency Portraits, compiled by Richard Walker. In his book, Walker tried to keep a foot in both camps by stating that the portrait was by Ozias Humphry but that the dress dated it to around 1805. (This was not possible as Humphry was functionally blind by 1797.)
Richard Walker had been curator at the Palace of Westminster for 26 years and was also official art adviser to the Government from 1949 until 1976. For the following nine years he was employed at the National Portrait Gallery as cataloguer in the NPG archive. An unassuming man, Walker had a passion for cataloguing and research. He wrote to Henry Rice that he would try to be as impartial as possible and he seems to have been true to his word.
Ozias Humphry
Despite having written to Deirdre Le Faye in 1983 that the costume experts dated the portrait to after 1805, Richard Walker wrote to Madeleine Marsh in March 1985 that he thought she was ‘on the right track with the attribution to Ozias Humphry. It fits very well with his style of painting and your research shows that he would have been a likely artist to have been employed by the family.’
Walker was apparently convinced by BOTH the costume experts’ opinion AND Henry Rice's research which explains his contradictory entry in Regency Portraits that year.
In December 1985 Richard Walker visited Henry Rice at his home to examine the portrait. Afterwards he wrote to thank Henry for the visit. He went on to say:
I must say I do think your research team has done admirable work and clearly we must all be less adamant in our opposition to her identification as Jane. It looks as though there is a distinct possibility of the ‘experts’ being mistaken in rigorously brushing aside any suggestion that it should be earlier than 1800.
And as recorded above, in 1993 he told Deirdre Le Faye that he thought the costume could date to the 1790s. In a report, written in October 1993, Richard Walker wrote: ‘I myself, inexcusably dazzled by all these formidable authorities, accepted the costume objection and upheld it in my Regency Portraits of 1984.’
He went on to note that a great deal of research had been carried out by Henry Rice with ‘the disconcerting result that the costume experts may well have been over-confident in their judgement.’
At some point in the 1980s, Henry Rice attended a meeting with Jacob Simon at the National Portrait Gallery to discuss the portrait. I have been unable to find any record of this in the Heinz Archive but according to the recollection of Henry’s widow, Anne Rice, the meeting did not go well. Henry Rice apparently took great offence at Jacob Simon’s opinion that the portrait was not of Jane Austen. From that point on it seems that the dispute became entrenched on both sides. This would perhaps explain why Jacob Simon went to such great lengths to oppose the portrait.
In February 1994, art critic and curator Angus Stewart organised an exhibition at Olympia, London, under the title 'Jane Austen and her Family'. The exhibition gathered together a large array of artefacts, paintings and documents relating to Jane Austen's life and included the Rice Portrait, which also featured on the promotional leaflet for the exhibition. Angus Stewart invited Jacob Simon to examine the portrait prior to it going on display. According to Angus Stewart, his invitation to examine the portrait was not taken up and although Jacob Simon did visit the exhibition, he failed to scrutinise the portrait in any detail and gave it only cursory attention.
In April 1998 Jacob Simon published a letter in the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) arguing that the costume dated the portrait to 1800-1810. He wrote that ‘the Gallery has no axe to grind when it comes to the Rice portrait – only a search for truth based on sound evidence’. Yet he encouraged Aileen Ribeiro at the Courtauld Institute to write in opposition to the portrait, he supported Deirdre Le Faye in her opposition to the picture and he began researching any evidence which would disprove it was Jane Austen. These letters can all be viewed in the Heinz Archive at the NPG.
Then, on 18 December 1998, another letter from Jacob Simon was published in the TLS which seemed, on face value, to finish the argument.
In 1986 the backing of the portrait had been removed and had revealed a stamp on the linen which read Wm Legg, High Holbourn 1 Linen. Jacob Simon announced that there was indeed a William Legg trading as an artists colourman at 163 High Holborn – but that he was only trading there from 1801 until 1806 - therefore the canvas must date to after 1801.
Letters immediately followed in the TLS from supporters of the portrait, pointing out that the paucity of records for the eighteenth century meant Jacob Simon could not be certain that there was no William Legg trading in High Holborn prior to this date. Nevertheless the stamp convinced Richard Walker.
On 15 January 1999 he wrote to Jacob Simon:
I have only just got round to reading your letter to the TLS about the Rice Portrait and hasten to congratulate you on finally scotching this sorry tale. As evidence the Wm. Legg stamp seems conclusive and, as you say, the identification with Jane can now be eliminated.
I do hope this is the last we shall hear about her but I am afraid the opposition is pretty obstinate and I have no doubt she will surface again in the millennium.
Into the Millennium - the 2007 Auction
In 1995, Henry Rice wanted to send the portrait to the USA for an Austen exhibition. In order to leave the country, the portrait required an export licence. A temporary export licence was granted, on the advice of the NPG.
In 2001, Henry again wanted to send the portrait to the USA and approached the NPG. An unsigned draft of a letter to Henry Rice from the NPG, dated 3 August 2001, referred to the Gallery's position 'should you wish to apply for an export licence for your putative portrait of Jane Austen'. The NPG wrote that they were still of the opinion that there was insufficient evidence that the portrait was of Jane Austen, and concluded on the grounds of ‘stylistic features’ and the William Legg stamp on the reverse that 'the evidence is still not sufficiently conclusive and thus the identity of the sitter remains unresolved.'
Another export licence was granted, and this time the licence that was granted was permanent. This export licence remains valid to this day.
'L'amiable Jane silhouette
On 9 November 2004, Sandy Nairne, Director of the NPG, reaffirmed their position in a letter to Brian Southam, chairman of the Jane Austen Society, stating that ‘It is not a portrait that at this time we would wish to pursue for acquisition.’ He added ‘You may have noted that in addition to the sketch by Cassandra, we currently have on view a silhouette believed to be of Jane Austin [sic] and to have been cut from the life.’ This, despite the fact that the evidence for the silhouette being of Jane Austen is thinner than the paper from which it is cut. (The silhouette is no longer on display.)
So that, it seemed, was that. The National Portrait Gallery, despite apparently never having closely examined the picture, had decided that the Rice Portrait was not of Jane Austen and had washed their hands of the picture for good. Henry Rice was now free to sell the portrait wherever he chose and to whomever he liked.
Which makes what happened three years later quite extraordinary.
In 2007, Henry Rice put the portrait up for sale at auction with Christie’s of New York. Christie’s published a press release on 23 March 2007 describing the portrait as of Jane Austen by Ozias Humphry. They cited the support of Austen scholar Claudia Johnson and of Brian Southam, chairman of the Jane Austen Society. Christie’s concluded:
Christie’s supports the Rice portrait as a true depiction of Jane Austen and is honored to have been chosen by the family to organize a public auction – and to publicly exhibit the painting in New York City.
Christie's, New York
Christie's auction was due to take place on 19 April 2007.
The announcement generated another flurry of interest from the media. It also generated a flurry of internal emails at the National Portrait Gallery, where there was some discussion as to how to handle the publicity. On 23 March 2007 the press officer, Neil Evans, emailed Dr. Lucy Peltz, (Jacob Simon’s colleague and Curator of 18th Century Collections) and Jacob Simon, asking whether Christie’s had sought authentication of the portrait since 1994 (when the portrait was first granted an export licence and was sent to New York). Both confirmed that they had not been contacted by Christie’s during that time.
Jacob Simon also commented: ‘The message should be that we are quite open about the past history but that we do not comment on portraits while on the market.’
Lucy Peltz wrote on 24 March 2007 - ‘any reiterations of our past position could influence the value of the painting and the credibility of the auctioneers. She went on to say ‘we feel we cannot say anything further at this point as our institutional comments could prejudice the outcome of the sale.’
On 29 March 2007, Neil Evans sent another internal email explaining that BBC Radio Four’s PM Programme wanted to do an item on the Jane Austen portrait and wanted the views of the NPG. Evans reported that he had explained to BBC Radio Four that: ‘it was not our policy to speak about a portrait coming up for sale where we do not have a current interest.’Jacob Simon replied:‘I would not answer questions relating to the sale of the portrait which is not our business.’So, everyone seems clear – the NPG should not and would not comment on a portrait which was on the market as any such comment could affect the sale. As Lucy Peltz had asserted, a reiteration of the NPG’s past position could ‘influence the value of the painting and the credibility of the auctioneers’.
And yet just one week before the sale was due to take place, Jacob Simon, apparently without invitation from the auctioneers, did exactly that.
On Thursday 12 April 2007, Jacob Simon emailed Christie’s Auction House in New York at 16.47 in the afternoon. His email read:
Subject: Jane Austen
Dear Mr. Hall
William Legg is mentioned in the catalogue entry of your forthcoming Old Master Paintings sale on 19 April of the portrait described as the Rice portrait of Jane Austen, lot 120. I would like to draw your attention to new research on William Legg, which is now publicly available as part of the Directory of artists’ suppliers and colourmen, 1650 -1939 on the Gallery website at National Portrait Gallery/Research/Artists’ Suppliers/ Directory. The text of this entry is given below. I propose to communicate this research to the Times Literary Supplement where previous discussion has taken place on the dating of the portrait and its impact on the putative claims of the portrait to represent Jane Austen.
I am copying this e-mail to Piers Davies
Jacob Simon
Chief Curator
The research to which Jacob Simon was referring concerned William Legg of Reading and the birth records for his children which proved conclusively that Legg was definitely living in Reading until 1801.
However, Jacob Simon did not explain in his communication with Christie’s, nor in his article subsequently published in the TLS, that the stamp on the Rice Portrait differs from the other known stamps for William Legg of Reading. The Rice stamp reads Wm Legg whereas the other known stamps are for ‘W&J Legg’ and it also spells Holbourn differently, with a 'u'. It is by no means conclusive, therefore, that the stamps belong to the same person.
The stamp on the Rice Portrait (right) is not the same
as the other known stamps for William Legg of Reading
The case for William Legg of Reading being responsible for the linen stamp on the Rice Portrait was thus not as strong as Jacob Simon had suggested. And even if it were, what was Jacob Simon’s motivation for interfering in a private sale which was nothing to do with the NPG and contrary to their stated policy of making no comment on a sale in which they had no current interest?
Jacob Simon must have known that this email put Christie’s in a very difficult position. If they ignored Simon’s email and the portrait was sold as a picture of Austen, if it later transpired that it was not as claimed then – as they had been put on notice of Jacob Simon’s latest research - any purchaser may well have had a legal case against the auctioneer. But if they informed Henry Rice of the email, which would inevitably have led to him cancelling the sale, then this would have resulted in some very awkward questions being asked as to why the sale had not gone ahead.
Is it not at least possible that Christie’s informed prospective buyers that to bid on the portrait would not be such a good idea in the light of this recent revelation?
As it was, Henry Rice knew nothing of the communication between Jacob Simon and Christie’s New York and the sale went ahead as scheduled on 19 April 2007. The portrait failed to meet the reserve and did not sell.
The failure of the 2007 auction was then subsequently used as evidence that the art world did not believe it to be a portrait of Jane Austen, not least by Jacob Simon himself. Less than a month after the failed auction, on 4 May 2007, Jacob Simon wrote to the TLS. His letter opened with: ‘The Rice portrait of Jane Austen as a girl which recently failed to sell at auction in New York…’ He did not mention his own involvement, in emailing Christie’s, yet he was willing, almost immediately, to take advantage of the failed auction to press his own point of view.
Not long after the failed New York sale Henry Rice had a heart attack. His wife Anne believes it was caused by the stress of the failure of the sale. He never fully recovered and died three years later. Reprehensibly, Deirdre Le Faye then used Henry Rice’s obituary in The Times to attack his belief that his portrait was genuinely a portrait of Jane Austen.
It was not until 2013, following a Freedom of Information request from the Rice family, that Mrs Anne Rice, now the legal owner of the portrait, became aware for the first time that Jacob Simon in his capacity as Chief Curator of the NPG, had written an unsolicited email to Christie’s prior to the 2007 auction. This email has never been made public until now, although it can be viewed in the Rice Portrait files at the Heinz Archive of the NPG.
In 2014 the Rice family complained to the NPG that Jacob Simon’s actions constituted an interference with a private sale which was nothing to do with the Gallery and none of its concern.
The Director of the NPG, Sandy Nairne, responded in an email dated 11 April that ‘the new research pasted into the e-mail to Christie’s did not in itself directly concern the Rice portrait, but was about William Legg’.
This is clearly nonsense – Jacob Simon’s email was headed ‘Jane Austen’ and specifically referred to the portrait of Jane Austen, even quoting the lot number.
Since Henry Rice’s death in 2010, the fight to prove the portrait is indeed a painting of the young Jane Austen has been taken up by his widow Anne Rice and members of their family.
But they have been opposed every step of the way by the NPG.
In 2011 respected art restorer Eva Schwan, who had spent two years restoring the portrait, sent a report to the NPG stating she believed the artist to be Ozias Humphry and showing a photograph of his monogram on the portrait. Sandy Nairne replied that it was ‘certainly of interest’ and that he would ask for it to be ‘added to the material in the Heinz Archive and Library.’ An invitation from the Rice family for the NPG to view the portrait while it was at Eva Schwan's studio in Paris had been turned down.
The same year, in August 2011, the NPG issued a statement about the Rice Portrait in which Jacob Simon stated that the attribution to Ozias Humphry was ‘not tenable’ and that ‘he worked in a very different style to this portrait’. Yet Richard Walker, an acknowledged expert on Regency Paintings, had said that ‘It fits very well with his style of painting.’ Jacob Simon also again referred to the dating of the costume, citing ‘specialist curators and costume historians’ who ‘widely agree’ on an early 19th century dating ‘as set out by Deirdre Le Faye in her article on the portrait published in The Book Collector in 1996.’ Simon also cited the linen stamp, claiming that the existence of another William Legg was ‘unlikely’.
Signatures on the Emery Walker plate
In 2012, Stephen Cole of Acumé Forensics confirmed that he detected signatures of Ozias Humphry and words which he read as Jane Austen_7 written on a glass negative of a photograph of the portrait taken in 1910. Sandy Nairne wrote that ‘we are skeptical [sic] about the signatures that have allegedly been found on the 1910 photograph by Emery Walker.’ These photographic plates are owned by and in the possession of the National Portrait Gallery and yet, as far as I am aware, they have made no attempt to verify Acumé’s findings.
In 2013 journalist Henrietta Foster wrote to Sandy Nairne stating that she was ‘sorry to bring up the misery that is the Rice portrait again’, and criticised the work of Claudia Johnson, a long time supporter of the portrait. Foster informed Nairne that she and Austen scholar Dr Kathryn Sutherland were planning to write a challenge to the Rice Portrait via the columns of the TLS. The result was the article Brimful of Tricks which dismissed the findings of Stephen Cole and claimed that the portrait was a nineteenth century amateur fake. Not one expert, either for or against the portrait, had ever suggested this before. The article was published in the TLS in July 2014.
Despite the lack of forensic analysis offered by the authors of the article, the Foster/Sutherland thesis that the portrait was a fake was endorsed on his blog by Dr Bendor Grosvenor in a post titled ‘Still, sadly not Jane Austen’. Dr Grosvenor evidently takes some interest in the subject as there are a number of posts on his blog arguing that the Rice Portrait is not a portrait of Jane Austen.
For ten years, from 2004 until 2014, Bendor Grosvenor worked for the art dealing firm of Philip Mould & Company. Philip Mould was a member of the National Portrait Gallery Development Board for five years from 2003 until 2007 and is a life patron of the NPG. The NPG has purchased a number of paintings from Philip Mould Ltd over the years. In the minutes for November 2006 the Trustees expressed some unease about purchasing a portrait at full price from a business owned by a member of the NPG Development Board but concluded that there was ‘no formal conflict of interest’ (although I am not sure how you can have an informal conflict of interest). Two years later, the minutes for May 2008 recorded that ‘Trustees were particularly concerned about the relationship between the Gallery and Philip Mould Ltd’. The minutes record that the Chief Curator (Jacob Simon) said that the Gallery's good working relationship with Philip Mould has been to its advantage.
(Both Bendor Grosvenor and Philip Mould (who was given an OBE for services to art in 2005) are now familiar figures on British TV screens, featuring in programmes such as Antiques Roadshow, Fake or Fortune, The Culture Show and most recently Britain’s Lost Masterpieces.)
Since 2014, my own and others’ research has shown how closely connected Ozias Humphry was to the Austen family. We have shown that the costume evidence is flawed and provided examples of comparable dresses dating from before 1800 and have also demonstrated that the evidence of the Legg Stamp on the back of the portrait, so relied upon by Jacob Simon, is far from conclusive. My research has also shown that Eliza Hall, the recipient of the portrait when it temporarily left the family, was likely to have known Jane Austen personally.
The available evidence points towards Ozias Humphry being the artist and Jane Austen the sitter. No other credible candidate exists.
What is needed now from the NPG is courage - courage to admit that mistakes have been made in the past, and that they acted beyond their remit in 2007. Whether they have this courage remains to be seen. But it should be remembered that the NPG is a public body, financially supported by the British taxpayer and as such it is governed by the seven principles of public life - selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
Will the NPG learn lessons from the past?
It is time for the National Portrait Gallery to draw a line under this whole sorry story and start afresh by looking at the evidence impartially and give the Rice Portrait a fair hearing.
Next year is the 200th anniversary of Jane’s death – wouldn’t it be great if we could celebrate her life with the conflict over this portrait resolved?
Ellie Bennett
Posted by Ellie at 09:24:00
Labels: Acumé, Cassandra Portrait, Deirdre Le Faye, Eliza Hall, Jane Austen, Kathryn Sutherland, National Portrait Gallery, NPG, Ozias Humphry, Philip Mould, Rice Portrait
Hazel Mills 19 October 2016 at 20:21
Wow! Truly fascinating reading Ellie. I don't envy you condensing this to an after dinner talk, you may have to give us a taster then come back to a proper meeting for a longer main course! I wish Henry and Margaret could read this!
Ellie Bennett 20 October 2016 at 08:51
Thank you Hazel. You are right, there is such a lot of material - and I haven't published all of it yet! I will give a streamlined version otherwise we'll be there all night! Very much looking forward to it.
Two portraits by John Constable?
Who was Eliza Hall Part 2 - Jane Austen and Jamaica
Jane Austen, The Rice Portrait and the National Po...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1839
|
__label__cc
| 0.587634
| 0.412366
|
Alice in Merkeland
by Wayland Hunter | Posted April 16, 2016
The Europeans, brainy people that they are, have always had a problem understanding the concept of liberty.
It’s one of the simplest concepts in the world. It means being left alone to do what you want. For Europeans, however — and, I regret to add, for many millions of Americans as well — it has always been the concept of doing what the state considers to be good. It didn’t take long for the French Revolution to define liberty as the freedom to destroy Catholicism. It didn’t take long for the German revolution of 1848 to define liberty as freedom for German nationalism. It didn’t take any time at all for the Weimar Republic to define liberty as the government’s taking money from the people and wasting it on social uplift projects.
Now comes Angela Merkel. First she decides, without consulting anyone, to force the German people — and if she had her way, all other Europeans — to liberate the Syrians by taking them in and supporting them all on welfare. Then, mirabile dictu, she discovers that way too many Syrians want to take that deal, and way too many Germans don’t. So to save her face, she decides to bundle up the Germans’ money — again, without anyone’s permission — and give it to Turkey, so that Turkey can keep the would-be immigrants from getting into Germany. Thus her open door policy becomes an invitation for the Syrians to come on in — to Turkey. And stay there, courtesy the Turkish government.
But again she discovers that actions may have consequences. The Turkish president, Recep T. Erdogan, an equally domineering personality, decides that he wants more out of the deal. He wants Merkel to shut up his critics — in Germany.
For Europeans, however — and for many millions of Americans as well — "liberty" has always been the concept of doing what the state considers to be good.
German TV aired a song satirizing Erdogan. Erdogan’s government demanded that the video be removed from access on the internet. A German comedian, or perhaps would-be comedian, then went on TV and recited a poem ridiculing Erdogan. Erdogan therefore demanded that the comedian be prosecuted under a law saying that you can be sent to jail for five years for insulting a foreign leader. There are plenty of laws in Europe decreeing that you can’t say or publish certain things; this is what Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, whatever, call liberty. Go figure. But while you’re figuring, Merkel has already authorized the prosecution.
You see, this screwy law not only threatens you with imprisonment if you say something that some foreign politician doesn’t like, but it leaves the power to decide on prosecution with your own politicians. So, if we had such a law, Obama would be authorizing pleas for someone to be prosecuted for satirizing Castro, and Cruz, or whoever the Republican president might be, would be authorizing pleas for prosecuting someone who satirized Netanyahu. Not only is it an authoritarian law, but it’s a politically arbitrary one.
The result, right now, is that the Erdoganish Turks are saying, as many Europeans always say under such circumstances, that “this has nothing to do with free speech”; Merkel’s supporters are saying that by authorizing the prosecution she is “standing up for the rule of law”; and she herself is saying that her action does not represent “a decision about the limits of freedom of art, the press, and opinion.” She further opines that “in a constitutional democracy, weighing up personal rights against freedom of the press and freedom of expression is not a matter for governments, but for public prosecutors and courts.”
It’s the old story. You have rights, granted. But these rights have to be “weighed” against other rights. You got your “personal rights,” see; but then, on the other hand, you got your “freedom of expression.” Entirely different! And somebody’s got to “weigh” them. So . . . let’s see here. I know! Let’s have the “public prosecutors and courts” do it. After all, they’re not the “government,” are they?
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that’s all.”
The comedian is in hiding. He’s right: this isn’t funny.
Wayland Hunter is a midwestern university professor.
Johnimo
It's not too difficult to see just where the campus wimps get their ideas, is it? One wistfully thinks of an earlier time when Germans should have allowed a domestic leader to be ridiculed by their press. But let's not pile on the Germans. We're heading down the same road with the public school systems in the U.S. trying to disguise speech control under the guise of "bullying" and "hate" speech.
Do you suppose the Germans will prosecute those who criticize and make fun of Donald Trump? Don't hold your breath. I'm pretty certain the government's prosecution of these cases is highly selective.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1844
|
__label__wiki
| 0.744716
| 0.744716
|
Security in the Mideast
Emerging Plans for Collective Self-Defense
Debilitating Effects of Mideast Animosities
United States Aid to the Middle East
New efforts to bolster defensive capabilities of nations of the Middle East are being made in the face of threats, both external and internal, to the peace and security of the vast strategic region extending from the Mediterranean to Red China along the southern frontier of the Soviet Union. The United States, in cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan, is taking steps to strengthen the region against external aggression. At the same time, internal tensions and national rivalries are seriously weakening whatever capacities other countries of the Middle East may have for collective defense of the region.
The decision of the United States to extend military aid to Pakistan, announced Feb. 25, was a key move in the larger effort to strengthen the whole region, politically, militarily and economically. Present plans make no attempt to revive earlier western proposals for an all-embracing Middle East Defense Command. Instead, they offer American military assistance to those nations which are willing to take “effective collective measures” to prevent and remove threats to peace. While the original defense command project failed to win any positive support from countries within the area, the new approach has been welcomed by some of the stronger nations of the Middle East.
Turkey and Pakistan, among the countries nearest the Soviet Union, have announced their intention to conclude an agreement “to achieve closer friendly collaboration.” Two countries in the middle belt, Iraq and Syria, have hinted that they may be ready to join in regional security agreements. But sharp dissent has come from other countries of the Middle East.
Israel, Palestine, and Middle East Peace
Apr. 13, 2018 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Mar. 09, 2018 Saudi Arabia's Uncertain Future
Jun. 21, 2013 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
May 2009 Middle East Peace Prospects
Oct. 27, 2006 Middle East Tensions
Jan. 21, 2005 Middle East Peace
Aug. 30, 2002 Prospects for Mideast Peace
Apr. 06, 2001 Middle East Conflict
Mar. 06, 1998 Israel At 50
Aug. 30, 1991 The Palestinians
Oct. 19, 1990 The Elusive Search for Arab Unity
Feb. 24, 1989 Egypt's Strategic Mideast Role
Apr. 15, 1988 Israel's 40-Year Quandary
Mar. 02, 1984 American Involvement in Lebanon
Nov. 12, 1982 Reagan's Mideast Peace Initiative
Apr. 23, 1982 Egypt After Sadat
Jan. 04, 1980 Divided Lebanon
Jul. 20, 1979 West Bank Negotiations
Dec. 01, 1978 Middle East Transition
Jan. 13, 1978 Saudi Arabia's Backstage Diplomacy
Oct. 29, 1976 Arab Disunity
May 16, 1975 Middle East Diplomacy
Sep. 13, 1974 Palestinian Question
Dec. 12, 1973 Middle East Reappraisal
Apr. 25, 1973 Israeli Society After 25 Years
Aug. 19, 1970 American Policy in the Middle East
Apr. 25, 1969 Arab Guerrillas
Aug. 02, 1967 Israeli Prospects
Jul. 06, 1966 Middle East Enmities
Apr. 14, 1965 Relations with Nasser
Aug. 17, 1960 Arab-Israeli Deadlock
May 27, 1959 Middle East Instability
Jun. 04, 1958 Nasser and Arab Unity
Oct. 02, 1957 Soviet Threat in Middle East
Sep. 18, 1956 Suez Dispute and Strategic Waterways
May 09, 1956 Middle East Commitments
Apr. 13, 1955 Middle East Conflicts
Mar. 31, 1954 Security in the Mideast
Oct. 23, 1952 Israel and the Arab States
Jan. 30, 1952 Egyptian Crisis and Middle East Defense
Mar. 17, 1948 Palestine Crisis
Feb. 18, 1946 Soviet Russia and the Middle East
Regional Political Affairs: Middle East and South Asia
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1845
|
__label__cc
| 0.644458
| 0.355542
|
Artis Magnae Artilleriae, pars prima. K-6
Title: Artis Magnae Artilleriae, pars prima (Duplicate).
Published: Apud Ioannem Ianssonium, Amsterodami, 1650.
Format: folio (30.2 x 19.8 cm). Title engraved by I.v.Meurs after the author, [12], 284, [4] pp., with 22 plates, incl. one folding; without half-title, pp. 83 - 84 misbound, marginal closed tear to one plate without affecting the image, 2 leaves with marginal browning.
Binding: contemporary vellum binding, spine with raised bands, paper label in the upper compartment, manuscript title in ink; spotted, spine and corners chipped, one page detached from the block.
First edition of this ‘volume difficile a trouver’ (Brunet). An attractive copy in the contemporary vellum binding of the celebrated work that presents the accumulated knowledge of the author's contemporaries on design and construction of rockets, fireballs, and other pyrotechnic devices, as well as his pioneering ideas on applying a reactive technique to artillery. This record of the arms history, which for over two centuries was used in Europe as a basic artillery manual, was meant to have second part, but the author died soon after publishing the first one. The present edition was quickly followed by a French (1651) and then a German (1676) and an English translations (1726).
Siemienowicz (c. 1600 - c. 1651) was a Polish-Lithuanian artillery general, military engineer and pioneer of rocketry.
Reference: Brunet V, 377.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1846
|
__label__wiki
| 0.53593
| 0.53593
|
Will Solomon Islands abandon Taiwan?
James Batley
Taipei will find it increasingly hard to dispel the intangible sense the tide of history is running in China’s favour.
The official welcoming of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to Solomon Islands, November 2017 (Photo: PresidentialOffice/Flickr)
Published 4 Sep 2018 14:30 0 Comments
Over the last couple of years Taiwan has been steadily haemorrhaging diplomatic allies. Countries from Africa, Central America and the Caribbean have switched allegiance to Beijing, leaving just 17 countries maintaining formal relations with Taipei. The largest bloc of such countries is in the Pacific, comprising Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Following an address at the Australian National University this year, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Rick Hou ruled out any diplomatic switch ahead of his country’s national elections, which are due to be held by about March 2019.
There is increasing chatter about the prospect that Solomon Islands may be the first of Taiwan’s Pacific dominoes to fall.
Even so, the approach of the elections seems to have stimulated thinking in Solomon Islands about the merits of a future switch. There is increasing chatter about the prospect that Solomon Islands may be the first of Taiwan’s Pacific dominoes to fall.
Taiwan faces a number of challenges in shoring up its links with Solomon Islands. For the past couple of decades, Taiwan has invested heavily in Solomon Islands’ political elite through its support for the notorious “constituency development funds”, that is, discretionary funds provided for Members of Parliament to spend in their own constituencies.
In some respects, though, Taiwan has become a victim of its own success in supporting these schemes: as the size of these programs has grown, the Solomon Islands government itself has picked up ever more of the tab, to the point where Taiwan is now funding under 20% of the total, down from 50% less than 10 years ago. So the relative importance and impact of Taiwan’s contribution has shrunk.
Even more worrying from Taiwan’s point of view, China is far and away Solomon Islands’ largest export market. The most recent figures (for 2016) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia state that over 62% of Solomons’ exports go to China. (This is virtually all logs.) By contrast, Taiwan takes around only one per cent of exports from Solomon Islands.
Such a level of economic dependence on China leaves Solomon Islands highly vulnerable to economic pressure – should this be exercised. Senior Solomon Islanders will be aware of claims made earlier this year that Palau, another of Taiwan’s Pacific allies, has been the victim of economic pressure with China essentially turning off the tap of a lucrative flow of Chinese tourists to the small northern Pacific country.
There is no doubt that Taiwan has worked hard on its relationships in Solomon Islands over many years. High level visits, in both directions, remain an important part of Taiwanese diplomacy. And there is no doubt that many senior Solomon Islanders are sentimentally and sincerely attached to the relationship.
But not all Solomon Islanders view Taiwan’s influence fondly: key elements of civil society routinely bemoan the impact that constituency funds have had on governance in Solomon Islands, and on Taiwan’s role in fostering them.
Above all, Taiwan will find it increasingly hard to dispel the intangible sense of China as a rising power, the sense that the tide of history is running in its favour, and not Taiwan’s. The idea that Solomon Islands may be missing out on opportunities for “game-changing” or “transformational” levels of investment from China will be hard to counter. President Xi Jinping’s visit to Port Moresby for APEC’s November meeting will be a key opportunity for China to underline what countries such as Solomon Islands are missing out on.
And Solomon Islands’ elections will bring a new crop of parliamentarians onto the scene. Although three-quarters of MPs were re-elected in the last national elections, the historical average is closer to 50%. Whatever the result, new players will be on the scene, introducing – from Taiwan’s point of view at least – an unpredictable dynamic.
The impact around the region of a diplomatic switch would be significant. Solomon Islands is by far the largest of Taiwan’s Pacific allies in terms of population and land area. Such a move would reinforce the sense of China as an increasingly important player in the region.
The impact on Solomon Islands itself is, frankly, anyone’s guess at this stage. Certainly, any future Solomon Islands government contemplating a switch would come to the negotiating table with a lengthy shopping list of ideas for future cooperation. Chinese assistance could prove seriously disruptive within the donor community, still overwhelmingly dominated by Australia in the post-RAMSI era.
Australia will scrupulously avoid making any public comment on Solomon Islands’ diplomatic choices. As much as anyone, Australia knows where this is heading: in the end, the only uncertainty is in the timing. The last thing Australia wants to do is to end up on the wrong side of history.
A diplomatic switch by Solomon Islands to Beijing is by no means a sure thing following next year’s elections; the Taiwanese will certainly work hard to prevent that. Even so, the chances of it happening must be assessed as greater than at any time over the past several decades. Watch this space.
The Lowy Institute is part of the
Deterrence under the dragon’s shadow: Vietnam’s military modernisation
Regional security dilemma in the Pacific
Russia’s Vostok-2018: a rehearsal for global war?
Lauren Dickey 28 Nov 2018 14:00
Key takeaways from the Taiwan elections
The Kuomintang made big gains which have given the party a second opportunity at political relevance.
Pacific Islands links: PNG aftershocks, French Polynesia protests, and more
Links and stories from around the Pacific by The Interpreter team.
Erin Harris 10 Oct 2017 15:42
The Cook Islands and the downside of developed country status
As more small island developing states reach the high-income threshold, the OECD needs to review its measure of ODA eligibility.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1848
|
__label__cc
| 0.640167
| 0.359833
|
The American revolution: Pages from a negro worker's notebook
In 1963, drawing on his own experience as a factory worker and radical militant, James Boggs wrote this pamphlet. It addresses (among many things) the failures of the CIO, increasing automation, rising unemployment and the emergence of new social actors ('the outsiders') that he saw as a threat to capitalism.
James Boggs, born in Marion Junction, never dreamed of becoming President or a locomotive engineer. He grew up in a world where the white folks are gentlemen by day and Ku Klux Klanners at night. Marion Junction is in Dallas County where as late as 1963, although African-Americans made up over 57 percent of the total county population of 57,000, only 130 were registered voters. After graduating from Dunbar High School in Bessemer, Alabama, in 1937, Boggs took the first freight train north, bumming his way through the western part of the country, working in the hop fields of the state of Washington, cutting ice in Minnesota, and finally ending up in Detroit where he worked on WPA until the Second World War gave him a chance to enter the Chrysler auto plant. In 1963, drawing on his own experience as a factory worker and radical militant, he wrote these pages.
Boggs offers both a keen analysis of U.S. society and a passionate call for revolutionary struggle. He sees the growing trend toward automation, the decline of organized labor, the expansion of imperialism, and the deepening of racial strife as fundamentally rooted in the contradictions of U.S. capitalism. And he concludes that the only way forward is a new American revolution—one that, from his perspective writing in the 1960s, appeared to have already begun.
Above description from Monthly Review Press. Text of pamphlet taken from History Is A Weapon
Chapter 1: The Rise and Fall of the Union
Chapter 2: The Challenge of Automation
Chapter 3: The Classless Society
Chapter 4: The Outsiders
Chapter 5: Peace and War
Chapter 6: The Decline of the United States Empire
Chapter 7: Rebels with a Cause
Chapter 8: The American Revolution
Introduction ›
Juan Conatz
May 23 2012 06:20
Correspondence Publishing Committee
James Boggs
manufacturing and materials
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1850
|
__label__wiki
| 0.77531
| 0.77531
|
BASIS Ind. McLean Co-founder to Speak; BASIS.ed Ranks in Top 10 Schools in US News&World Reports
Friday, May 5th, 2017, 10:44am
BASIS.ed’s co-founder Dr. Michael Block will speak at a free, public information session on Wed., May 24 at BASIS Independent McLean at 6:15 p.m., located at 8000 Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Va. to discuss U.S. News & World Report’s Best High School Rankings that has listed five of the 10 schools as BASIS.ed – at first, second, third, fifth and seventh place. The public is invited to hear Dr. Block talk about the notable school curriculum that led to BASIS.ed’s reputable U.S. rankings. Cocktail reception begins at 6:15 p.m. with the session to follow at 6:45 p.m. To register, go to http://basisindependent.com/may24 or call 703.854.1253.
BASIS Independent McLean Students Enjoy Senegal for Spring Break
Wednesday, April 26th, 2017, 3:34pm
Many area students enjoyed a break from school over spring vacation, but BASIS Independent McLean (BIM) French students decided to take their break in Senegal, far from their classroom, but still deeply immersed in an enriching, educational experience of a lifetime. World travel is an optional opportunity for BIM students looking to take their education outside their textbooks and familiar settings. Senegal not only gave French students an immersive environment in the French language, but also provided them a new cultural and societal viewpoint of life outside of McLean, Va. For more information on the school, go to http://mclean.basisindependent.com.
Metro School of the Arts’ Jacob Anderson on Nat'l Tour of Roald Dahl’s U.S. Tour of Matilda
Thursday, March 30th, 2017, 3:12pm
Jacob Anderson, 11, a student at Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) of Alexandria Va., is making his national tour debut in the U.S. National Tour of Matilda The Musical. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, the blockbuster musical named TIME Magazine’s #1 Show of the Year, is on tour in select U.S. cities, now through June 25, 2017. Anderson of Fairfax Station, Va. plays the part of Nigel Hicks in the U.S. National Tour of Matilda the Musical. He’s been studying at MSA since 2014. For more information about the school, go to www.metropolitanarts.org, or view http://us.matildathemusical.com/tour/ for tickets.
“Being part of Matilda the Musical is a dream come true for me, said Jacob Anderson, Metropolitan School of the Arts’ student of Fairfax Station, Va.
LearningRx Names March Madness/Brain Awareness Month Winners
Tuesday, March 28th, 2017, 1:34pm
Katie Merritt, age 9 of Reston, Va and Gabriel Galdabini, age 7 of Arlington, Va. won LearningRx’s Brain Awareness Month’s March Madness Competition at its Reston and Vienna centers, respectively. The March Madness brain competition required all competitors to complete a circuit of five brain training activities as quickly as possible (with accuracy). Merritt held the winning time at LearningRx Reston at 2 minutes and 7 seconds, while Galdabini won with 4 minutes and 25 seconds LearningRx Vienna. For more information, go to www.learningrx.com.
Merrit and Galdabini received a basket full of brain training games and brain-healthy snacks, including: 5 Second Rule, Set, Spot It, Distraction and Apples to Apples, dark chocolate-covered blueberries and nut mix.
BASIS Independent McLean Earns First Place at MATHCOUNTS State Competition; Heads to Florida’s Natio
Thursday, March 23rd, 2017, 2:04pm
The BASIS Independent McLean MATHCOUNTS team placed first in the MATHCOUNTS state championships in Richmond, Va.; its first time participating in the annual statewide MATHCOUNTS competition. BASIS Independent McLean MATHCOUNTS members include: Austin Feng (8th grade), Joshua Fu (8th grade), Pravalika Putalapattu, (7th grade) and Ethan Zhou (6th grade), and are led by Coaches Tyler Sullivan and Rikki McCullough, s BASIS Independent McLean math teacher. MATHCOUNTS state champions head to the 2017 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando, Florida in May. For more information on BASIS Independent McLean, go to http://mclean.basisindependent.com.
BASIS Independent McLean Hosts Local Jack and Jill of America No. Va. Chapter at Writing Symposium
Thursday, March 16th, 2017, 10:58am
Jack and Jill of America, Inc.’s Northern Virginia Chapter conducted a Reading & Writing Symposium recently at BASIS Independent McLean in McLean, Va. facilitated by an Emmy-award winning journalist, distinguished authors, celebrated teachers and a gifted illustrator, to encourage pre-school through high school students to develop an appreciation for the art of writing and illustration through engaging, interactive activities. For more information on BASIS Independent McLean, go to http://mclean.basisindependent.com.
Author/Producer of The Butler to Speak at BASIS Independent McLean, Mar. 10
Wil Haygood, author and associate producer of the blockbuster film, The Butler, will present at BASIS Independent McLean on Fri., Mar. 10 from 6:30 pm to 8 p.m., to talk about writing and how his work launched him onto the world stage. The event is free and open to public, located at 8000 Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Va. Haygood will also be available for a book signing, as his two books will be available for sale; The Butler and his latest book, Showdown, which chronicles the battle of the Supreme Court nomination of Thurgood Marshall. For more information on the event, go to http://basisindependent.com/Haygood.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1852
|
__label__cc
| 0.57487
| 0.42513
|
How Nazi Germany Advertised Itself to American Tourists
BY Nick Greene
In 1935, just two years after the Nazi party seized power in Germany, Hitler was already at work shaping the country into his image. That year saw the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, a series of anti-Semitic measures to subjugate and abuse the Jewish population. 1935 also marked the first of five separate Neutrality Acts passed by U.S. Congress that barred any American involvement in overseas conflicts.
While the U.S.’s official stance was to turn a blind eye, Germany was actively courting American tourism dollars, as evidenced by these advertisements that appeared in the May 1935 issue of Fortune Magazine:
In the midst of perpetrating crimes against humanity, Germany marketed itself as "the healing country," full of rejuvenating resorts and spas. "Happy and gay is the life at these fashionable watering places," the ad copy reads, mentioning the inflation-free "Registered Travel Marks" offered to American tourists.
This other advertisement promises "proverbial German hospitality" aboard their steam ships, "Cherishing the welfare of every passenger whatever the class of accommodation":
Noticeably absent from these advertisements are any swastikas (which became Germany's official flag in 1935) or mention of the Nazi party or government. If one were to believe the ads he or she read in 1935, Germany would be a land of spa treatments, friendly cruises, healing health resorts, and nothing more.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1854
|
__label__wiki
| 0.855009
| 0.855009
|
@thebeast
Following 3373
Blog Categories Blurbs From The Net BRUCE DICKINSON Says His 'IRON MAIDEN Is Better Than METALLICA ?
BRUCE DICKINSON Says His 'IRON MAIDEN Is Better Than METALLICA ? Wednesday November 1 2017, 7:41 PM
Bruce Dickinson says that his claim that IRON MAIDEN was "better than METALLICA" was just about "throwing down the gauntlet" and wasn't directly aimed at the San Francisco-based metal giants.
Back in 2011, the IRON MAIDEN frontman elaborated on a past comment in which he boasted that his band was superior to METALLICA. Refusing to back down from the stance, he explained to Metal Hammer: "I got into trouble for saying that we're better than METALLICA… and it's true. They might be bigger than us and they might sell more tickets than us and they might get more gold-plated middle-class bourgeoisie turning up to their shows, but they're not MAIDEN. I did say it's a bit of a windup. I thought, 'If I'm going to turn into an asshole, I might as well, you know, go for it.'"
Now, in a brand new interview with Rolling Stone, Dickinson was asked for his current take on his past comments about the James Hetfield-fronted outfit. He said: "Look, I'm acutely conscious that when you say things in print, people are going to pick up on things. The stuff about METALLICA, quite frankly, was a really good windup. We have a great relationship with METALLICA. It wasn't aimed at METALLICA. It was aimed at the rest of the world to say, 'We're back and we mean it. We mean it so much that we're going to say something pretty outrageous, so why don't you come to the show and find out. We dare you.' It's throwing down the gauntlet, and I'm the lead singer. It's my job. It's what I do.
"So is it arrogant? Uh, yeah," he admitted. "You're the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN, and you're going to be arrogant every now and again, because it kind of goes with the territory, yeah. Mick Jagger, is he arrogant? Yeah, probably — it's Mick Jagger, for fuck's sake. Do I make a distinction between me walking down the street and me onstage with IRON MAIDEN? Yeah."
When questioned about Dickinson's initial comments, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took the high road, telling The Guardian: "I will never argue with that. I will always support Bruce Dickinson in whatever nonsense he says. That's part of the fun. So go IRON MAIDEN! It's fine."
Dickinson is promoting his autobiography, "What Does This Button Do?", which was released in the U.S. on October 31 via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Via Blabbermouth
NERGAL Says 'It Feels Surreal' To Know ROB HALFORD...
TORNADO Euro Tour Dates w/ Six Feet Under, Incite +...
Free Download - FuzzHeavy Sampler - July 2018 by...
MINISTRY releases "We're Tired of It" visualizer
HEART's ANN WILSON Releases Music Video For Cover...
GET IN A VAN WITH TATE
The Japanese band CEMMENT has signed with Agoge...
JINJER To Record 'Progressive' New EP In September
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1855
|
__label__wiki
| 0.791342
| 0.791342
|
The Tressels’ Record Release Show at Blockley Pourhouse Jan. 15
The Tressels have worked two and a half long years on releasing their album Bourbon Legend. It was marred by technical problems and a Spinal Tap-esque rate of drummer turnover. But through it all the core members rallied together to create a solid album that stands out among their best. Since their last album, 2006’s Prison Wine, earned them a spot on the Philadelphia City Paper’s Year End Critic’s Poll, it really says a lot. Of course, this time they also worked alongside Dan Hewitt (State Capital Records) and Bill Moriarty who has worked with Dr. Dog and Drink Up Buttercup. When you work this hard on an album, it calls for a serious celebration. And that’s exactly what the band intends to do when they play Blockley Pourhouse for their record release show tonight. They’ll be joined by Sure Juror, whose fast paced indie pop is sure to blend in well with The Tressels alcohol soaked tunes. Blockley Pourhouse, 3801 Chestnut St., 9pm, $5, 21+ myspace.com/thetressels - Bill McThrill
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1858
|
__label__cc
| 0.698489
| 0.301511
|
To Enter into a Two Party Underbridge Agreement with Network Rail
Decision Maker: Director for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills, Director of Corporate Services
Is subject to call in?: No
Delegated approval to enter into a Two Party Underbridge Agreement with Network Rail pursuant to SCC Cabinet resolution of 15th May 2019 (reproduced below for ease of reference). The underbridge agreement is now agreed with Network Rail and SCC Legal Team and ready to be signed.
Alternative options considered:
A new underbridge is to be constructed under the cross-city railway line which will facilitate the construction of the final phase of the Lichfield Southern Bypass. The agreement provides:
a) Network Rail’s authority for the County to design and construct a new underbridge under the cross-city railway line for the final phase of the Lichfield Southern Bypass.
b) Network Rail’s agreement to maintain the new underbridge structure at the cost of the County, subject to the terms and conditions of the underbridge agreement, which reflects the statutory obligations and framework within which Network Rail is obliged to operate the Railway.
c) Network Rail’s obligation to dedicate the land beneath the new underbridge to the public highway.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1859
|
__label__wiki
| 0.840736
| 0.840736
|
One Cardinal, Seven Bishops, and Four New "Dubia." This Time on Intercommunion
Last Saturday, April 28, Pope Francis received in audience the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, archbishop and Jesuit Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, accompanied by the secretary of that same congregation, Giacomo Morandi.
It is reasonable to imagine that they spoke about the clash underway among the bishops of Germany concerning the possibility of giving communion to the Protestant spouses of Catholics.
In confirmation of this, in fact, on April 30 the Vatican press office revealed that a meeting will be held at the Vatican on May 3 to address precisely this question.
But how has this barged its way onto the agenda? Let’s retrace our steps.
Last February 20, the German episcopal conference approved by a wide majority a “pastoral manual” of instructions - not yet published, but immediately presented in its essential contents by Cardinal Reinhardt Marx, president of the conference - which says when, how, and why to allow such communion, far beyond the rare cases of extreme necessity provided for in canon law.
But 13 bishops voted against. And seven of these, including one cardinal, on March 22 sent their “dubia” to Rome by way of a letter to the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, asking for a clarification. They also sent copies of the letter to Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the pontifical council for Christian unity, to Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, secretary of the pontifical council for legislative texts, and to the apostolic nuncio in Germany, Nikola Eterovic.
The seven signers of the letter are Rainer Woelki, cardinal archbishop of Cologne (in the center of the photo, with Cardinal Marx on his right), Ludwig Schick, archbishop of Bamberg, Gregor Hanke, bishop of Eichstätt, Konrad Zdarsa, bishop of Augsburg, Wolfgang Ipolt, bishop of Görlitz, Rudolf Voderholzer, bishop of Regensburg, and Stefan Oster, bishop of Passau.
It is helpful to recall that Woelki was first secretary and then successor in Cologne to Cardinal Joachim Meisner, a close friend of Joseph Ratzinger and one of the four signers of the famous “dubia” on the correct interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia,” still unresolved because of the lack of a response from the pope. While it must be remembered that Voderholzer was first Gerhard Müller’s assistant on the theology faculty at the university of Munich, then his successor as bishop of Regensburg, and finally an adviser at the congregation for the doctrine of the faith after Müller became its prefect. Moreover, both are editors of the publication of the opera omnia of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.
On April 4, news of the letter appeared in several German newspapers, with an immediate polemical reaction from Cardinal Marx. And over the next few days it emerged that Ladaria had already sent his response. The episcopal conference partially denied this leaked information. But on April 25, it confirmed that a summit would soon be held at the Vatican, naturally under the supervision of Pope Francis, precisely to resolve this conflict.
The German delegation at the summit on May 3 will be made up of Cardinal Marx, Münster bishop Felix Genn, Magdeburg bishop Gerhard Feige, Speyer bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, secretary general of the episcopal conference Hans Langendörfer, a Jesuit, all supporters of the “pastoral manual,” and - to represent the dissenters - Cardinal Woelki and Regensburg bishop Voderholzer.
While the Vatican contribution will come from prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith Ladaria, with his doctrinal section chief Hermann Geissler, Cardinal Koch, and undersecretary of the pontifical council for legislative texts Markus Graulich, all of them somewhat reluctant to change the current discipline.
More public support for the letter from the seven bishops came on April 20 from Cardinal Gerhard Müller, their countryman and the penultimate prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
In Müller’s judgment, the openness to intercommunion desired by the majority of the German bishops would result in “an ecclesiological nihilism that opens an abyss that would ultimately swallow up the Church.”
Müller presented his argument on the website of “First Things” in America, and then, in Italy, on “La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana.” But of course, he will not take part in the summit at the Vatican.
On April 25, Edward Pentin published in the “National Catholic Register,” in an English translation, the complete text of the letter of the seven dissenting bishops.
The letter is reproduced further below. Of the four “dubia” on which the signers are asking for clarification from the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, the most radical is this last one:
"Is it at all possible for a single national episcopal conference, in one particular linguistic region, to make an isolated decision concerning such a question about the faith and practice of the whole Church, without reference and integration into the universal Church?"
What is at stake here, as can be noted, is the actual scope of that process of differentiation which has been set in motion by Pope Francis among the national episcopal conferences, “as subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority” (Evangelii Gaudium 32).
As for the question of communion for Protestant spouses, it is well known that Francis would like to relax the rules. And this is given as certain by another German cardinal, Walter Kasper, who is also the pope’s theologian of reference.
What seems to emerge at the foundation of this conflict is precisely that process of “deconfessionalization” of the Catholic Church - in imitation of what has already happened in the Protestant camp - which Church historian Roberto Pertici has identified on Settimo Cielo as characteristic of the new course of Pope Francis:
> Bergoglio's Reform Was Written Before. By Martin Luther
And here is the March 22 letter from the seven German bishops to the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer.
Your Eminence, my dear confreres,
In the period from February 19 to 22, 2018, the German bishops met for their Spring Plenary Assembly in Ingolstadt.
Under item IL.1 of the agenda, the Bishops were given for a so-called "pastoral handout" by the Ecumenical Commission entitled: "On the path of unity with Christ: Confessional marriages and joint participation in the Eucharist" for consultation and decision-making. According to the text, mixed-denominational couples, as a "practical laboratory of unity,” take place in a state in which the separated churches are on their way together towards the goal. Because of the importance of marriages between Catholic and Protestant Christians in Germany, the statement respects “the pain […of those] who share their whole lives but cannot share God's saving presence in the Eucharistic meal.” According to the joint Reformation commemoration in 2017, the handout is intended as a voluntary commitment "to provide every assistance to interdenominational marriages, to strengthen their common faith and promote the religious education of their children," offering concrete help and regulation — as declared together with the Protestant Church in Germany in an ecumenical penance and reconciliation service on 11 March 2017 in the Michaeliskirche.
According to this, an opening to Protestant Christians in denominational marriages to receive Communion via Canon 844 (4) CIC 1983 is to be made possible, since a "gravis spiritualis necessitas" [grave spiritual necessity] is adopted according to the document presented on denominational differences of marriage.
On February 20, 2018, the text presented above on non-denominational marriages and the common participation in the Eucharist was voted on in the Assembly. The document was adopted by a 2/3 majority of the German bishops. Of the 60 bishops present, 13 voted no, including at least seven diocesan bishops. "Modi" (amendments) may be submitted until 16 March, but they will no longer call into question the fundamental adoption of the document.
Personally, we do not consider the vote held on 20 February to be right, because we do not believe that the issue we are discussing here is a pastoral one, but a question of the faith and unity of the Church, which is not subject to a vote. So we ask you, Your Eminence, to clarify this matter.
1. Is the document presented here a "pastoral handout" — as asserted by some German bishops — and thus merely a pastoral question, or is the faith and unity of the Church fundamentally called for, rather than the determinations made here?
2. Does Article 58 of the document not relativize the faith of the Church, according to which the Church of Jesus Christ is realized in the Catholic Church (subsists) and it is therefore necessary that an Evangelical Christian who shares the Catholic faith with regard to the Eucharist should in which case also become Catholic?
3. According to nos. 283 to 293, it is not primarily the longing for Eucharistic grace that becomes the criterion for [serious spiritual] distress, but rather the common reception of Communion of spouses belonging to different confessions. In our opinion, this distress is none other than which belongs ecumenism as a whole, that is, of every Christian who seriously strives for unity. In our view, therefore, it is not an exceptional criterion.
4. Is it at all possible for a single national episcopal conference, in one particular linguistic region, to make an isolated decision concerning such a question about the faith and practice of the whole Church, without reference and integration into the universal Church?
Eminence, we have many other fundamental questions and reservations about the proposed solution contained in this document. That is why we are voting in favor of renouncing a derogation and, instead, finding a clear solution in ecumenical dialogue to the overall problem of "Eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion" which is viable for the universal Church.
We ask for your help, in the light of our doubts, as to whether the draft solution presented in this document is compatible with the faith and unity of the Church.
We ask God's blessing for you and your responsible duty in Rome and greet you warmly!
Cardinal Rainer Woelki (Cologne)
Archbishop Ludwig Schick (Bamberg)
Bishop Gregor Hanke (Eichstätt)
Bishop Konrad Zdarsa (Augsburg)
Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt (Görlitz)
Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer (Regensburg)
Bishop Stefan Oster (Passau)
For more details on the matter:
> A Crucial Moment For the Church: Intercommunion Debate in Rome in May
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1861
|
__label__wiki
| 0.938571
| 0.938571
|
Home FEATURED Lives may be at risk in Metro station
Lives may be at risk in Metro station
By Ranjeet Jadhav www.mid-day.com
A letter written to MMRDA-MMOPL by the Fire Brigade states that the 10-storey-high station, which may end up delaying the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro corridor, is being constructed in such a location and has been designed in such a way that it may hinder fire fighting operations
The future of the Rs 2,356-crore Versova-Andheri- Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro corridor, which has been under construction since 2008 and has made driving on the Western Express Highway (WEH) a nightmare, may now be in jeopardy. Questions have been raised on the fire safety aspects of four stations on the corridor, especially the proposed WEH station next to the Jogeshwari Flyover, whose 31-metre height — more than a 10-storey building–and location will make it nearly impossible for fire engines to reach the source of the fire, should one erupt. A letter sent to the MMRDA — which is carrying out the construction of the corridor through the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) consortium – by the fire brigade and a petition filed before the High Court have pointed out these difficulties.
Fire Brigade officials say that MMRDA and MMOPL have only been given a conditional No-Objection Certificate for these stations and they will be inspected again once their construction is over. An MMRDA official said that should the WEH station fail to meet the Fire Brigade’s recommendations and requirements in the inspection, the Authority will either have to demolish it, change its location or lower the height to less than 24 metres, all of which will result in a cost escalation of at least Rs 5-10 crore and a delay of at least nine months. “In case the fire department denies us the final NOC for the WEH station, we will have to shift it ahead by 100-200 meters.
This means that we will have to not only demolish the piers of the present station, but will also need to make changes in the design, which will increase the project cost by Rs 5-10 crore,” he said, on condition of anonymity.
This also bodes ill for motorists on the stretch below the flyover, which leads to Andheri station and is already notorious for its bumper-to-bumper traffic and long traffic jams. Speaking to MiD DAY, Independent Architect Nitin Killawala, who has filed a petition against the Metro project said, “The thing that poses the most danger is that, while constructing the WEH station, MMRDA and MMOPL have not left any open space around it, which will create panic during an emergency. The MMRDA may claim that all fire safety norms will be followed and provisions will be made to ensure that there are no problems but how will the fire engines douse the fire if it takes place on the station, which is at a height of a 10-storey building?”
“The Fire Brigade may be having a ladder of more than 40 feet but even that will be of no use because there is hardly any space under the station for the fire engine to stand. Also, reaching the spot will be a major hurdle as the area under the station is perennially choked with traffic,” he added. Petitioners say all this poses a grave threat to people who will be using the station. “Human lives may be lost if the station is constructed in such a way that fire engines can’t reach the source of the fire,” said a petitioner. These points were also brought to the notice of the honourable High Court during a hearing of the case in December last year. The next hearing is in mid-June.
MMRDA and MMOPL began construction of the elevated metro stations on the VAG corridor in Feb-March 2010. There will be 12 stations on the corridor of which four stations – WEH, Marol, Ghatkopar and Airport Road station – have a height of more than 24 metres, which brings them under the high-rise category and thus, requires the MMRDA and MMOPL to obtain no-objection certificates from the fire brigade. A proposal regarding the permission for constructing the stations from the fire-risk point of view was sent by MMRDA-MMOPL to the Mumbai Fire Brigade in March 2010. The response given by Mumbai Fire Brigade to MMRDA-MMOPL – a letter dated March 8, 2010, a copy of which is in MiD DAY’s possession — states ‘the construction of metro railway stations and via-duct (tracks) of this proposal has already been started without fire permissions from the Chief Fire Officer’s department as per plans.’
The letter clearly states that the VAG Metro corridor weaves, for the most part, through congested areas such as Ghatkopar (West) and Andheri, which leaves marginal space between the stations and via-duct. It states that the metro railway station at WEH is being constructed at a height of 31.506 metres and is passing above the flyover. Since the platforms and via-duct are not accessible to fire engines and other vehicles and considering the traffic congestion on the road below, the via-duct is only accessible aerially from the flyover with help of sladders. ‘It will take considerable time to mount fire fighting and rescue operations, which may result in high life and property loss and chances of immediate exposure fire hazard,’ states the letter. It adds that the fire department can’t expect disciplined evacuation from the via-duct to the station in case of a situation of panic.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Ramesh Kolkumbe said, “At present, we have only given a conditional NOC to MMRDA and MMOPL for the construction of the metro stations. Once the construction work is complete, we will go and inspect the stations to check whether the fire safety norms have been followed.”
When Kolkumbe was told that a copy of the letter written by Mumbai Fire Brigade to MMOPL in March 2010 states that MMOPL had started construction work on the stations without taking permission from the Fire Department, he said, “It is true that construction of the stations was started without taking permission from us but a proposal was later submitted to us by the MMRDA and MMOPL stating that all fire safety norms recommended by the fire brigade will be followed.” A fire official also said that MMRDA and MMOPL were not taking permission from the fire brigade for the via-duct despite being asked to do so.
Traffic police’s take
Speaking to MiD DAY, Senior Police Inspector (Traffic) R C Patil from Saki Naka said, “Due to the ongoing Metro construction, traffic moves at a snail’s pace between J B Nagar-Marol Naka and Mahalakshmi hotel. Before giving the permission to start construction on this stretch, we had asked MMRDA-MMOPL to provide us with eight wardens at every junction, because of which it has become easy for us to monitor and manage the traffic.” The official also said that the traffic situation will continue to be bad until the entire civil work on the stretch is completed. “MMRDA-MMOPL should complete the work as soon as possible because this stretch is one of the busiest roads in Mumbai. 2,000-2,200 vehicles pass through this stretch every hour, during peak hours,” he added.
Letter says…
“It will take considerable time to mount fire fighting and rescue operations, which may result in high life and property loss and chances of immediate exposure fire hazard,” Letter sent by Fire Brigade to MMRDA-MMOPL in
Costs and deadlines
What is a Fire NOC?
Mumbai’s Chief Fire Officer (CFO) is in charge of issuing the fire department’s NOC. It is compulsory for a developer to obtain this document before construction work commences at any site. The NOC is granted only after the CFO is certain that the satisfactory fire precautions and open spaces are in place at the site.
In connection with the ongoing construction of the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor, the fire brigade has issued a conditional NOC for the construction of the station. The station falls under the high-rise category, as it rises to a height of more than 24 metres.
Costly connectivity
The construction of the 11.07 km-long VAG metro corridor will cost an estimated Rs 2,356 crore. It is the first metro corridor in Mumbai that will ensure easier and faster east-west connectivity.
The actual construction work on the corridor started in the year 2008. According to the MMRDA’s original plans, the corridor was scheduled to be operational by August 2011. However, the official date of completion for the project was revised to August 2012, after a concession agreement was signed between MMRDA and MMOPL.
The project ran into several hurdles, leading to the delay. The MMRDA had to obtain permission from the Western Railway (WR) before initiating construction of a steel bridge that would pass over the Andheri railway lines. Moreover, due to the presence of various underground utility lines passing under the roads on the route, the MMRDA-MMOPL had to revise the layout of the piers on the corridor. The delay in the construction of a cable-stayed bridge over the WEH also considerably held up the project.
New deadline
Speaking to MiD DAY, MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar said, “The work on the project is in progress round-the-clock. We are confident of completing the work by March 2012.” Another MMRDA official sounded less optimistic, saying, “I don’t think that the work will be completed by March 2012, because a lot of work needs to be done. The construction of the metro bridge over Andheri station will take at least another year.” MMRDA officials have claimed that around 85 per cent of work on the VAG corridor has been completed. However, petitioner Nitin Killawala said, “The metro construction work will take at least five more years, as civil work at many points is pending. The MMRDA is yet to begin the construction work at around 20 traffic junctions, which fall in the route. With so much work left, how can they claim that the corridor will be completed by March 2012?”
Justifying MMRDA’s stand, its Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar said, “The Metro construction by MMRDA-MMOPL is being carried out after taking all the requisite permissions from the concerned agencies. The stations have been designed with 100-per cent foolproof fire safety norms in mind. NFPA 130, the stringent fire safety norms of the United States which are followed the world over, have been followed in the stations’ construction.
All the permissions were taken from the fire authorities.” When Kawatkar was asked what would happen if the Fire Brigade denies the final NOC to the WEH station and they have to change the location of the station, he said, “I don’t think that such a situation will arise because the project has been planned by experts after taking all such aspects into consideration.”
An official spokesperson from MMOPL said, “The stations have been constructed within the Right Of Way (ROW) provided to us. At some locations where the ROW is very constrained, like Ghatkopar and Andheri, the station fa ade is close to the adjacent structures as we were left with no other option. However, the stations have been designed with 100-per cent foolproof fire safety norms as per NFPA 130. We have also received approval from the fire department for the stations.
metro coridor
MMRDA-MMOPL
Versova-Andheri- Ghatkopar (VAG)
Western Express Highway (WEH
Previous article'MMRDA will build trans harbour link on its own if necessary'
Next articleBollywood actor Salman Khan talks about his latest film
Tree Cutting For Metro Begins In Mumbai, Citizens Divided On The Environmental Cost
JICA to start consultation for funding of Mumbai Metro
Safety first while working in monsoon: Experts
Mumbai's dream of becoming an international financial centre may soon be...
Women drivers for Mumbai's Metro and monorail
Not fare: MMRDA to challenge HC order on Mumbai Metro
Help Pours in for Bus Driver's Twins Who Cracked IIT-JEE
R-Infra looks for refinance options on Mumbai Metro
Tata Motors test markets hybrid buses in Mumbai
Can Indian Railways make the leap as a logistics provider?
Mumbai metro suspended for an hour due to overhead equipment failure
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1867
|
__label__wiki
| 0.673631
| 0.673631
|
Research Articles:
Microbial Cell, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 150 - 162; doi: 10.15698/mic2015.05.201
Toxoplasma gondii inhibits cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in its host cell by interference with holo-apoptosome assembly
Kristin Graumann1,3,#, Frieder Schaumburg1,4,#, Thomas F. Reubold2, Diana Hippe1, Susanne Eschenburg2 and Carsten G. K. Lüder1
Show/hide additional information
1 Institute for Medical Microbiology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany.
2 Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
3 Present address: In den Brühlwiesen 12, 61352 Bad Homburg, Germany.
4 Present address: Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Münster, Domagkstraße 10, 48149 Münster, Germany.
# These authors contributed equally.
Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, apoptosis, pathogen-host interaction, caspase activation, intrinsic pathway, apoptosome, Apaf-1.
Received originally: 06/01/2015 Received in revised form: 24/04/2015
Accepted: 27/04/2015 Published: 04/05/2015
Carsten G. K. Lüder, Institute for Medical Microbiology, Kreuzbergring 57; 37075 Göttingen, Germany clueder@gwdg.de
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Please cite this article as: Kristin Graumann, Frieder Schaumburg, Thomas F. Reubold, Diana Hippe, Susanne Eschenburg and Carsten G. K. Lüder (2015). Toxoplasma gondii inhibits cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in its host cell by interference with holo-apoptosome assembly. Microbial Cell 2(5): 150-162.
Sébastien Besteiro (2015). Toxoplasma control of host apoptosis: the art of not biting too hard the hand that feeds you. Microbial Cell 2(6): 178-181.
| Crossref |
Inhibition of programmed cell death pathways of mammalian cells often facilitates the sustained survival of intracellular microorganisms. The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a master regulator of host cell apoptotic pathways. Here, we have characterized a novel anti-apoptotic activity of T. gondii. Using a cell-free cytosolic extract model, we show that T. gondii interferes with the activities of caspase 9 and caspase 3/7 which have been induced by exogenous cytochrome c and dATP. Proteolytic cleavage of caspases 9 and 3 is also diminished suggesting inhibition of holo-apoptosome function. Parasite infection of Jurkat T cells and subsequent triggering of apoptosome formation by exogenous cytochrome c in vitro and in vivo indicated that T. gondii also interferes with caspase activation in infected cells. Importantly, parasite inhibition of cytochrome c-induced caspase activation considerably contributes to the overall anti-apoptotic activity of T. gondii as observed in staurosporine-treated cells. Co-immunoprecipitation showed that T. gondii abolishes binding of caspase 9 to Apaf-1 whereas the interaction of cytochrome c with Apaf-1 remains unchanged. Finally, T. gondii lysate mimics the effect of viable parasites and prevents holo-apoptosome functionality in a reconstituted in vitro system comprising recombinant Apaf-1 and caspase 9. Beside inhibition of cytochrome c release from host cell mitochondria, T. gondii thus also targets the holo-apoptosome assembly as a second mean to efficiently inhibit the caspase-dependent intrinsic cell death pathway.
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite which is ubiquitous throughout the world and which infects a broad range of mammals and birds including up to one third of the human population. Although infection of immunocompetent individuals is usually asymptomatic or benign, it can lead to significant illnesses including lymphadenopathy or ocular disease in some patients. In addition, T. gondii is a major opportunistic and life-threatening pathogen of immunocompromized patients and of fetuses after trans-placental transmission [1]. Following ingestion of the parasite via contaminated food or water, or after uptake from the environment, fast replicating tachyzoites disseminate within the host. They partially transform to dormant bradyzoites which are able to persist within tissue cysts for the host’s life time. Long-term persistence is one of the hallmarks of T. gondii infection and is critical for parasite transmission and pathogenesis of reactivated toxoplasmosis.
T. gondii invades its host cell by active penetration through a moving junction at the host cell surface [2]. This enables the parasite to infect essentially any cell type of warm-blooded vertebrates. It leads to formation of a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) which is extensively modified by the parasite. During and after invasion, T. gondii secretes a variety of virulence factors mainly from two types of excretory-secretory organelles, namely the rhoptries and the dense granules [3][4]. These proteins are in part directly injected into the host cell cytosol during host cell penetration, or they are translocated to and inserted into the PV membrane where some of them have access to host cell signaling components [3][5][6]. Rhoptry and dense granule proteins have been recognized as microbial master regulators of the host cell physiology which are crucial for intracellular survival of T. gondii.
One of the innate resistance mechanisms of higher eukaryotes against intracellular pathogens such as T. gondii is the triggering of programmed cell death (PCD) [7][8][9]. This includes the execution of the intrinsic ‘suicide’ program induced by intracellular infection in order to restrict further development of the invader [10]. In addition, inflammatory responses during acute T. gondii infection lead to activation-induced PCD [11][12][13]. PCD can be induced after activation of cell surface receptors including Fas/CD95, after perforin-mediated uptake of granzyme B, or after encountering cellular stressors, e.g. radiation, growth factor deprivation or infection (reviewed in [14]). The cell-intrinsic PCD pathway converges at the level of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family which transduce death-promoting signals into the permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane (MOMP) [15]. It is also fuelled after triggering Fas/CD95 of type II cells [16] indicating a critical role of Bcl-2 proteins and MOMP during extrinsic death receptor-mediated PCD as well [17]. MOMP leads to the release of apoptogenic proteins including cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol where it binds to the regulatory WD40 repeat domain at the COOH-terminus of the apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) [18][19][20][21]. In the presence of ATP or dATP, cytochrome c-binding induces a conformational change in Apaf-1 which then allows Apaf-1 to form a wheel-like heptameric complex called the apoptosome [21]. Binding of caspase 9 to Apaf-1 via CARD (caspase recruitment domain)-CARD interaction leads to formation of the holo-apoptosome. Caspase 9 is then activated and subsequently cleaves downstream effector caspases 3, 6 and 7 [22]. Activation of effector caspases is believed to represent a ‘point-of-no-return’ that leads to execution of apoptosis, i.e. a caspase-dependent form of PCD [23].
Various intracellular pathogens including T. gondii have evolved mechanisms to inhibit PCD of their host cells (reviewed in [24][25]). Interference with host cell PCD signaling pathways at least prolongs the viability of the host cell by inhibiting cell-intrinsic or extrinsic death-receptor mediated PCD and thereby facilitates pathogen survival. Genetically modified malaria parasites and mycobacteria that are unable to inhibit caspase-dependent PCD within their host cells are indeed rapidly cleared after infection [26][27]. Infection with T. gondii renders mammalian cells largely resistant to the caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD triggered by irradiation, growth factor withdrawal and treatment with different cytotoxic agents [28][29][30][31][32][33]. It is believed that anti-apoptotic activities of T. gondii also counteract the innate PCD program with which infected host cells would normally respond to infection [10][28][33][34]. Importantly, during Toxoplasma encephalitis in mice, parasite-infected host cells are also protected from undergoing inflammation-associated PCD [35][36]. Release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the host cell cytosol is profoundly decreased in parasite-positive cells [30][32] and this is at least in part due to reduced activation of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 effector protein Bax [37]. Activation of NF-κB [31][38] and protein kinase B/Akt [33] may function as upstream signaling pathways contributing to the block of caspase-dependent intrinsic cell death in infected cells. By using a cell-free in vitro system of caspase activation, we have recently shown that T. gondii or excretory-secretory proteins released by the parasite are able to inhibit cytochrome c-triggered activation of caspase 3/7 [39]. Since this inhibition occurs in the absence of intact host cell mitochondria, it clearly differs from the well-known inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome c release exerted by T. gondii. In this study, we have pinpointed the holo-apoptosome formation as the step of cytochrome c-mediated caspase activation that is abrogated by T. gondii. Importantly, the data suggest that this mechanism contributes to a similar extent to the overall inhibition of the caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD pathway as the inhibition of MOMP and cytochrome c release from mitochondria of infected host cells.
Impact of T. gondii on cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in cytosolic Jurkat extracts
Cytosolic extracts of Jurkat cells have been widely used to dissect activation of the caspase cascade by cytochrome c independently of the release of PCD-regulating proteins following MOMP [39]. Incubation of such extracts with T. gondii prior to the addition of cytochrome c and dATP dose-dependently inhibited caspase 3/7 activity as determined by decreased cleavage of the fluorogenic peptide-based substrate Ac-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (DEVD-AMC) (Fig. 1A). This confirms a previous report that T. gondii is able to directly interfere with cytochrome c-induced caspase 3/7 activation independently of the inhibition of MOMP [39]. In order to get further insights into this novel putative anti-apoptotic activity of T. gondii we determined the activity of the initiator caspase 9 by measuring cleavage of the fluorogenic peptidyl substrate Ac-Leu-Glu-His-Asp-AMC (LEHD-AMC). Cytochrome c in the presence of dATP induced LEHDase activity in cytosolic Jurkat extracts whereas cleavage was dose-dependently inhibited by T. gondii (Fig. 1B). Indeed, 1 × 108 parasites per ml completely abrogated cytochrome c/dATP-induced caspase 9 activity (P = 0.003; Student’s t-test) similar to what we observed for caspase 3/7 activity.
FIGURE 1: T. gondii inhibits cytochrome c-induced activation of the caspase 9-caspase3/7 cascade in cell-free cytosolic extracts.
(A, B) Cell-free cytosolic extracts of Jurkat cells were incubated with increasing amounts of parasites as indicated (cross-hatched bars; no. of parasites per 0.1 ml) or were left untreated (black bars). After 1 hour, caspase activation was triggered or not by cytochrome c and dATP. Cleavage of the caspase 3/7 substrate DEVD-AMC (A) or of the caspase 9 substrate LEHD-AMC (B) was measured fluorimetrically. Data represent the increase in substrate cleavage over time; they represent means ± S.E.M. from at least 3 independent experiments. Significant differences were identified by Student’s t-test (** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001).
(C) Cell-free cytosolic extracts incubated or not with T. gondii as indicated and incubated or not with cytochrome c/dATP to trigger caspase activation were resolved by SDS-PAGE. After protein transfer to nitrocellulose, membranes were probed with antibodies recognizing caspase 3, caspase 9 and actin. Immune complexes were visualized using peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence detection. The experiment was repeated once with similar results.
Caspases are activated upon cleavage of the inactive zymogens into distinct subunits which subsequently assemble into the mature heteromultimers. In cytosolic Jurkat extracts incubated with T. gondii, however, proteolytic processing of inactive procaspase 3 into p20 and p17 and of procaspase 9 into p35 induced by cytochrome c/dATP was dose-dependently inhibited by the parasite (Fig. 1C) and was completely abolished by 1 × 108 parasites per ml of cytosolic host cell extract. Thus, T. gondii is able to inhibit activation of the caspase 9-caspase 3 cascade independently of its effect on MOMP [30][37].
Inhibition of cytochrome c/dATP-induced caspase activation in T. gondii-infected cells
In infected cells, T. gondii resides inside a membrane-bound compartment, i.e. the parasitophorous vacuole, which restricts the direct access of parasite components to signaling pathways of the host. It was therefore critical to assess whether T. gondii also directly interferes with cytochrome c-induced caspase activation when being confined to its natural intracellular habitat. In order to distinguish between the parasite-mediated inhibition of cytochrome c release from mitochondria as described previously [30][37] and the mechanism described herein in infected cells, we measured the caspase 3/7 activity which had been induced in cytosolic extracts from non-infected and T. gondii-infected Jurkat cells after addition of cytochrome c and dATP. The results showed that infection with T. gondii for 24 hours dose-dependently reduced such DEVD-AMC cleavage activity (Fig. 2A) suggesting parasite interference with caspase activation independently of MOMP in infected cells.
FIGURE 2: Infection of host cells with T. gondii diminishes in vitro and in vivo activity of caspase 3/7 triggered by exogenous cytochrome c. (A, B) Jurkat T cells were infected with increasing amounts of T. gondii (multiplicity of infection (MOI) 10:1 to 30:1; cross-hatched bars or as indicated) or were left non-infected (black bars or as indicated).
(A) After 24 hours of infection, cytosolic extracts were isolated and the caspase cascade was activated using cytochrome c/dATP. Caspase 3/7 activity was determined by fluorimetric measurement of DEVD-AMC cleavage over time. Results represent means ± S.E.M. (n=3).
(B) Alternatively, the cytosolic extracts from Jurkat cells and total extract from the same numbers of parasites as having been used for infection were separated by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by immunoblotting using antibodies which recognize T. gondii SAG1 or host cell actin. Bound antibodies were visualized using peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence detection. Results are representative for two independent experiments.
(C) Jurkat cells infected with T. gondii for 1 hour (MOI 30:1; cross-hatched bars) and non-infected control cells (open bar and black bars) were electroporated in the presence of cytochrome c (cytc) or bovine serum albumin (ctrl) or were left non-treated. After incubation of the cells and subsequent cell lysis, caspase activity was determined by fluorimetric measurement of the cleavage of the caspase 3/7 substrate DEVD-AMC. Data represent the increase of cleavage over time; bars indicate means ± S.E.M. (n=6). Significant differences were identified by Student’s t-test (*** P < 0.001).
(D) After infection and/or electroporation of cells as described above (C), cells were partitioned into a digitonin-soluble fraction comprising the host cell cytosol and a digitonin-insoluble fraction including mitochondrial proteins. Proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and after transfer to nitrocellulose, were immunolabelled using antibodies recognizing cytochrome c (cyt c), cytochrome c-oxidase subunit IV (COX) or actin. Immune complexes were visualized using peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence detection. Similar results were obtained in two independent experiments.
In order to exclude a contamination of the cytosolic Jurkat extracts with cell-associated parasite proteins during the extraction procedure, cytosolic extracts from infected and non-infected Jurkat cells were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. The major surface antigen (SAG)-1 of T. gondii was hardly detected in the lysate of Jurkat cells which had been infected with T. gondii even at the highest MOI (Fig. 2B). In contrast, TgSAG1 was strongly present in total lysates from the same numbers of parasites as used for infection. Control staining using an anti-actin antibody confirmed equal loading of lysates from infected and non-infected Jurkat cells onto the gel (Fig. 2B). Whether the faint actin bands, as observed in the total parasite extracts, are due to a cross-reaction of the antibody with parasite actin or a contamination of the isolated parasites with host cells is unknown. Together, these data strongly suggest that T. gondii can indeed inhibit cytochrome c-triggered caspase activation in infected cells.
In order to corroborate these data, we next electroporated T. gondii-infected and non-infected Jurkat cells in the presence of exogenous cytochrome c and subsequently compared the caspase 3/7 activity in extracts derived from these cells. Immunoblotting confirmed that electroporation in the presence of cytochrome c but not in the presence of a control protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA) strongly increased the amount of cytochrome c in the digitonin-soluble, i.e. the cytosolic fraction of Jurkat cells irrespective of whether being infected with T. gondii or not (Fig. 2D). The amount of cytochrome c also strongly increased in the digitonin-insoluble mitochondria-containing fraction after electroporation and clearly exceeded that of untreated control cells (Fig. 2D). Control staining with a cytochrome c-oxidase-specific antibody confirmed complete partitioning of mitochondria into the digitonin-insoluble fraction. Furthermore, staining of actin suggested a general loss of intact cells after electroporation as expected (Fig. 2D).
Most importantly, despite similar amounts of cytosolic cytochrome c in T. gondii-infected and non-infected cells after electroporation, the DEVD-AMC cleavage activity was significantly lower in infected cells as compared to non-infected cells (Fig. 2C; P = 0.000013; Student’s t-test). Electroporation in the presence of the control protein BSA did not increase the DEVDase activity in both non-infected and infected cells (Fig. 2C) thus confirming the specificity of the cytochrome c-mediated activity and its inhibition by T. gondii.
Together, these data indicate that T. gondii interferes with activation of the caspase 9-caspase 3 cascade both in infected cells and cell-free systems. Furthermore, this inhibition differs from the inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome c-release as observed in T. gondii-infected cells.
In order to assess the relative contribution of the parasites’ inhibition of cytochrome c-induced caspase activation as compared to the inhibition of MOMP to the overall inhibition of caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD exerted by T. gondii, we employed the caspase 9-deficient Jurkat line JMR and a genetically reconstituted mutant thereof (F9) [40]. Immunoblotting confirmed expression of caspase 9 in the complemented F9 but not the parental JMR line (Fig. 3A). Treatment with the pro-apoptotic kinase inhibitor staurosporine led to a similar release of cytochrome c into the cytosol in both cell lines as determined by immunoblotting of the digitonin-soluble cytosolic fractions (Fig. 3B). Furthermore, infection with T. gondii inhibited cytochrome c release by ~25% in both cell lines as determined by densitometric analyses (Fig. 3C, D). Most importantly, caspase 3/7 activity was further reduced in T. gondii-infected F9 cells to 46% of non-infected control cells (Fig. 3D). As expected, the caspase 3/7 activity in the caspase 9-deficient JMR cells was much lower (non-infected: 4,650 ± 1,092; infected: 3,085 ± 611 [mean AU ± SEM]) as compared to that in caspase 9-proficient F9 cells (non-infected: 163,391 ± 10,361; infected: 74.802 ± 10,093). Cell-intrinsic caspase-dependent PCD can occur in the absence of caspase 9 or Apaf-1 and has been suggested to depend on caspase 7 [41] which may explain the residual DEVDase activity as observed in JMR cells. Remarkably, the overall low caspase 3/7 activity in caspase 9-deficient cells was not further inhibited by T. gondii infection when compared to the parasite-mediated inhibition of cytochrome c release (Fig. 3C). This strongly suggests that the additional inhibition of the caspase 3/7 activity in F9 cells, as compared to the inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome c release, is due to parasite interference with the caspase 9-caspase 3 pathway. Thus, ~50% of the total parasite inhibition of caspase 3/7 activity after triggering the intrinsic apoptotic pathway may be achieved by interference of T. gondii with the activation of caspase 9.
FIGURE 3: Total inhibition of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by T. gondii considerably relies on a mechanism that operates down-stream of mitochondrial cytochrome c release and which relies on caspase 9.
(A) Total cell lysates were prepared from caspase 9-deficient Jurkat cells (clone JMR) and a reconstituted mutant thereof (F9) and were separated by SDS-PAGE. After protein transfer, nitrocellulose membranes were probed with antibodies recognizing caspase 9 and actin. Immune complexes were visualized using peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence.
(B) JMR and F9 cells were infected with T. gondii for 24 hours (MOI 20:1) or were left non-infected and were then treated or not with staurosporine to trigger the cell-intrinsic PCD pathway. After 90 minutes, cytosolic proteins were isolated by digitonin lysis (digitonin-soluble extract). Proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and after transfer to nitrocellulose, were probed with antibodies recognizing cytochrome c (cyt c) or actin. Bound antibodies were visualized using peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence. Band intensities of cytosolic cytochrome c after treatment of cells with staurosporine were determined by densitometric analysis and were normalized to actin band intensities.
(C, D) Cells were infected with T. gondii and/or treated with staurosporine as described above (B). After cell lysis, cleavage of the caspase 3/7 substrate DEVD-AMC was measured fluorimetrically. Data represent the increase of cleaved substrate over time. For comparison, the levels of cytosolic cytochrome c as determined by densitometric analysis (B) are displayed. Results are expressed as mean percentages ± S.E.M. of at least three independent experiments; the caspase 3/7 activities and the levels of cytosolic cytochrome c in non-infected cells have been set to 100%.
T. gondii inhibits holo-apoptosome formation but not cytochrome c-Apaf-1 binding
In order to further elucidate the mechanism of the parasite-mediated inhibition of caspase 9 activation, we performed co-immunoprecipitation analyses of components of the holo-apoptosome. To this end, cytosolic Jurkat extracts were incubated with or without T. gondii and formation of the apoptosome was induced by cytochrome c and dATP. Caspase 9 was immunoprecipitated from all cell lysates to a similar extent irrespective of whether having been incubated with T. gondii and/or treated with cytochrome c/dATP or not (Fig. 4A). Addition of cytochrome c and dATP to Jurkat lysate triggered the formation of caspase 9-Apaf-1 complexes, i.e. holo-apoptosome formation. Remarkably, T. gondii at a concentration of 1 × 108 parasites per ml lysate completely abolished co-immunoprecipitation of Apaf-1, indicating that T. gondii inhibits the cytochrome c-triggered complex formation (Fig. 4A).
FIGURE 4: Interference of T. gondii with holo-apoptosome assembly as revealed by co-immunoprecipitation analyses.
(A, B) Cell-free cytosolic extracts from Jurkat cells were incubated or not with T. gondii (108/ml). After 1 hour, apoptosome formation was triggered by addition of cytochrome c and dATP as indicated. Caspase 9 (A) or Apaf-1 (B) was immunoprecipitated using specific antibodies and protein A-sepharose in the presence of a caspase 3-inhibitor. A negative control precipitation without cell lysate was run in parallel (nc). Precipitates were resolved by SDS-PAGE and were analyzed by immunoblotting using specific antibodies as indicated. Bound antibodies were visualized by enhanced chemiluminescence after incubation with appropriate peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies. Unspecific binding of secondary antibodies is indicated by asterisks. The experiment was repeated twice with similar results.
After immunoprecipitation of Apaf-1, similar amounts of 130 kDa full length Apaf-1 were pulled down from all experimental samples but not from a negative control without cytosolic Jurkat extract (Fig. 4B). After triggering apoptosome formation, equal amounts of cytochrome c were co-precipitated with Apaf-1 irrespective of whether Jurkat lysates had been preincubated with T. gondii or not. This indicates that T. gondii does not interfere with one of the initial steps of apoptosome formation, i.e., binding of cytochrome c.
Together, these data suggest that T. gondii prevents the interaction of caspase 9 with Apaf-1, i.e. a critical step in the formation of the holo-apoptosome.
T. gondii protein extract inhibits caspase 9 activation in an in vitro reconstituted apoptosome formation system
In order to further pinpoint the interference of T. gondii with the apoptosome and to exclude any bystander effects of components of the Jurkat cytosol, an in vitro apoptosome assembly system was employed. The reconstituted system consisted of purified Sf21 insect cell-derived recombinant Apaf-1, purified Escherichia coli-derived recombinant full-length caspase 9 and horse heart cytochrome c as described previously [21]. In order to also corroborate the hypothesis that a parasite effector directly interacts with one of these apoptosome components without the necessity of viable parasites [39], we used a PBS-soluble Toxoplasma lysate in these experiments.
Incubation of Jurkat cytosolic extract with 2 to 10 µg/ml of parasite proteins confirmed previous results [39] that Toxoplasma lysate does suffice to inhibit cytochrome c/dATP-triggered caspase 3/7 activity (Fig. S1A). Furthermore, 2 to 10 µg/ml parasite lysate also clearly inhibited caspase 9 activity although this did not reach statistical significance due to a higher background activity and some variability between experiments (Fig. S1B). Importantly, incubation of purified Apaf-1 and caspase 9 together with T. gondii extract dose-dependently prevented subsequent activation of caspase 9 triggered by cytochrome c and ATP (Fig. 5A, C). LEHD-AFC (AFC: 7-amino-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin) cleavage was significantly inhibited after adding 10 µg/ml T. gondii proteins (P = 0.012; Student’s t-test) and higher concentrations even further decreased substrate cleavage (P = 0.004 (50 µg) and P = 0.002 (250 µg); Student’s t-test). In the absence of cytochrome c/ATP, only background caspase 9 activity was observed (Fig. 5C).
FIGURE 5: T. gondii protein extract dose-dependently diminishes caspase 9 activity triggered by cytochrome c and ATP in a reconstituted in vitro system.
(A, C) Recombinant human Apaf-1 and caspase 9 were incubated with increasing amounts of T. gondii protein lysate or were left untreated. After 1 hour, apoptosome formation was triggered by adding cytochrome c and ATP, and 15 minutes later, caspase 9 activity was determined by fluorimetric measurement of LEHD-AFC cleavage.
(B, D) Recombinant Apaf-1 and caspase 9 were induced to form apoptosomes using cytochrome c and ATP. After 1 hour, preassembled apoptosomes were incubated with increasing amounts of T. gondii protein extract for 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes later, caspase 9 activity was fluorimetrically measured as above.
(C, D) Data represent the increase in substrate cleavage over time from samples as described in (A, B); results are expressed as means ± S.E.M. (n = 3). Background activity in samples without cytochrome c/ATP is indicated by an open circle. Significant differences between activated samples without T. gondii proteins and those incubated with T. gondii proteins have been identified by Student’s t-test (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001).
(E) Recombinant and/or purified components were incubated with increasing amounts of T. gondii lysate according to the protocol depicted in (A) but without adding ATP. After SDS-PAGE and Western blotting, proteins were analyzed by immunostaining using specific antibodies as indicated and peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies. Immune complexes were visualized by enhanced chemiluminescence. Results are representative for two experiments.
In order to exclude the possibility that inhibition of caspase 9 activation resulted from an unspecific proteolytic activity of the parasite lysate, immunoblot analyses were performed. To this end, recombinant Apaf-1, caspase 9 and purified cytochrome c were incubated with increasing amounts of T. gondii lysate according to the scheme shown in Fig. 5A but in the absence of ATP to avoid auto-proteolysis. The results show that even in the presence of 250 µg/ml parasite lysate, full-length Apaf-1, caspase 9 and cytochrome c remained intact during the time of observation (Fig. 5E).
We then addressed the question whether T. gondii effector protein(s) also inhibit caspase 9 activity after pre-assembly of apoptosomes (Fig. 5B). Indeed, even when added 1 hour after triggering apoptosome formation, 2 µg/ml parasite lysate significantly decreased LEHD-AFC cleavage (P = 0.021) and higher concentrations of lysate further inhibited caspase activity (Fig. 5D; P = 0.0017 (10 µg) and P = 0.00034 (50 µg)). No LEHD-AFC cleavage occurred in the absence of cytochrome c/ATP.
Together, these data indicate that a parasite effector can directly prevent cytochrome c-triggered caspase 9 activation both during and after onset of apoptosome assembly.
T. gondii-infected cells are surprisingly resistant against induction of PCD in vitro and in vivo [28][29][30][31][32][33][35][36][37][42]. Here, we identify the Apaf-1 apoptosome as a hitherto unrecognized target of T. gondii to inhibit caspase-dependent intrinsic host cell death. Using an in vitro reconstitution system we exclude any indirect effects of host cell cytosolic components apart from Apaf-1, caspase 9 and cytochrome c being involved in the inhibition of cytochrome c-triggered caspase 9 activation. Importantly, our data indicate that the novel anti-apoptotic activity significantly contributes to the ability of T. gondii to inhibit the caspase-dependent intrinsic apoptotic pathway in infected cells. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first example of an infectious agent that diminishes host cell apoptosis by interference with cytochrome c-induced apoptosome formation.
After release of cytochrome c from mitochondria through MOMP, formation of the apoptosome is pivotal for activating the initiator caspase 9 which subsequently activates effector caspases 3, 6 and 7 [43][44]. Here we provide clear evidence that T. gondii inhibits the binding of caspase 9 to Apaf-1 thereby abrogating caspase 9 activity and subsequent caspase 3/7 activation (Fig. 6). Thus, recruitment of caspase 9 to the N-terminal CARD of Apaf-1 could be inhibited by the parasite. Alternatively, the heptamerization of Apaf-1-cytochrome c-dATP complexes can also be hindered by T. gondii since formation of the Apaf-1 heteroheptamer may significantly increase caspase 9 binding to Apaf-1 [18][19][22]. This is reminiscent to previous findings that mammalian heat shock protein (HSP)-70 inhibits apoptosis by preventing recruitment of caspase 9 to Apaf-1 [45] and/or formation of Apaf-1 oligomers [46].
FIGURE 6: Model of the T. gondii-mediated inhibition of the caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD pathway.
A cell-intrinsic pro-apoptotic signal leads via activation of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members to MOMP and release of apoptogenic molecules including cytochrome c from mitochondria. Binding of cytochrome c to Apaf-1 and nucleotide exchange induce conformational changes that allow oligomerization of Apaf-1, caspase 9 recruitment and caspase activation. T. gondii inhibits the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway at least twofold: (i) by inhibition of MOMP [17][30][32][37] and (ii) by inhibiting cytochrome c-triggered holo-apoptosome assembly (described herein). See main text for further details.
Our co-immunoprecipitation assays revealed a basal level of Apaf-1-caspase 9 interaction in the absence of cytochrome c/dATP which was strongly increased after addition of both cofactors (see Fig. 4A). This constitutive interaction may be due to the formation of Apaf-1-caspase 9 heterodimers as also indicated by others [47][48][49]. Remarkably, formation of these complexes was not inhibited in the presence of the parasite whereas cytochrome c/dATP-induced ones were completely abolished by T. gondii. This argues for a distinct step of the holo-apoptosome formation rather than mere binding of caspase 9 to monomeric Apaf-1 being inhibited by the parasite. One prerequisite for apoptosome assembly, i.e. binding of cytochrome c to Apaf-1, is not abrogated by T. gondii (see Fig. 4B). Cytochrome c binds to a groove between two regulatory β-propellers of Apaf-1 [49]. Furthermore, even a ten-fold excess of dATP does not abrogate the ability of T. gondii to inhibit cytochrome c-triggered caspase activation in vitro (Schaumburg and Lüder, unpublished data). It is interesting to note that using an in vitro apoptosome reconstitution system, we demonstrate that parasite lysate inhibits caspase 9 activation even when added to the pre-assembled holo-apoptosome. We therefore propose that T. gondii can interfere with the function of both monomeric Apaf-1 as well as pre-assembled apoptosomes thereby preventing recruitment of caspase 9 via their CARD and caspase activation (Fig. 6). Further analyses are required to exactly pinpoint the molecular mechanisms of the parasite-Apaf-1 interaction.
Several previous reports have provided unequivocal evidence that infection with T. gondii inhibits the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the host cell cytosol which is one of the pivotal events that regulate the caspase 9/caspase 3/6/7 pathway [17][30][32][37]. Using a mitochondria-free cytosolic caspase activation system, we describe herein a different mechanism of T. gondii thus confirming previous findings [39]. Importantly, using a reconstituted in vitro system comprising recombinant Apaf-1 and caspase 9 as well as purified cytochrome c [21] and dATP, we can exclude any other host cell cytosolic components being responsible for this parasite-host interaction.
Even more important is the evidence that the mechanism described herein operates in the parasite-infected cell. Firstly, parasite infection of host cells prior to the isolation of cytosolic extracts dose-dependently inhibits activation of the caspase cascade triggered by exogenous cytochrome c and dATP. Importantly, a contamination with cell-associated T. gondii proteins which could have been released during the Jurkat lysis was largely excluded. Instead, a yet unknown parasite effector which is responsible for abrogating holo-apoptosome formation may reach the host cell cytosol in the infected cell and has access to the apoptosome machinery thereby inhibiting caspase activation. We have shown previously that molecules discharged by extracellular T. gondii from their excretory-secretory organelles indeed mediate the inhibition of cytochrome c/dATP-triggered caspase activation in cell-free extracts [39]. It is thus likely that a parasite effector released by T. gondii from the rhoptries or the dense granules during or after host cell invasion [3][4][5][6][50][51] interferes with apoptosome formation.
Secondly, electroporation of infected and control cells in the presence of cytochrome c also indicates that intracellular T. gondii significantly inhibits caspase activation that has been triggered by exogenous cytochrome c (see Fig. 2C). Since the caspase cascade was activated independently of the release of cytochrome c from host cell mitochondria, this provides direct evidence for the parasite’s ability to target the cell-intrinsic PCD pathway downstream of cytochrome c release from mitochondria. T. gondii is not able to directly inhibit or even reverse caspase 3/7 activity [39] and apoptosome formation is unlikely to occur after lysis of the intact cells due to the NP-40 lysis buffer used for cell extraction. Therefore, we again consider an inhibiting effect of parasite components on caspase 3/7 activity after host cell lysis unlikely. The data instead also argue for a parasite interference with cytochrome c-triggered caspase activation in infected cells.
Finally, comparison of caspase 9-deficient JMR cells and caspase 9-proficient F9 cells revealed that caspase activation is more efficiently inhibited by T. gondii in the F9 cells than in the JMR cells whereas cytochrome c-release from mitochondria was similarly inhibited in both cells. This suggests that in F9 cells, T. gondii employs an additional anti-apoptotic mechanism that requires the presence of caspase 9 and that differs from the inhibition of cytochrome c release from host cell mitochondria. We propose that the relative differences in the parasite-mediated inhibition of caspase 3/7 activities between JMR and F9 cells are indeed due to an apoptosome-dependent caspase 9 activation in F9 but not in JMR cells. Importantly, this additional layer of anti-apoptotic activity appears to similarly contribute to the overall inhibition of the caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD pathway by T. gondii as the cytochrome c release from host cell mitochondria.
Together, this establishes the intriguing fact that T. gondii has evolved at least two different mechanisms to prevent the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, namely (i) inhibition of cytochrome c release from host cell mitochondria, and (ii) interference with holo-apoptosome assembly once cytochrome c has been released from the mitochondria (Fig. 6). Evolution of two layers of anti-apoptotic mechanisms by T. gondii within the same pathway may provide a safeguard to guarantee efficient abrogation of cell-intrinsic apoptosis thereby ensuring parasite survival.
Cell lines and parasite strain
Jurkat E6.1 human-derived leukemic T cells (European Collection of Animal Cell Cultures, Salisbury, UK) were cultivated in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (FCS), 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 µg/ml streptomycin. A caspase 9-deficient Jurkat clone (JMR), and a caspase 9-reconstituted mutant thereof (F9) were kindly provided by Ingo Schmitz (Braunschweig, Germany) and have been described previously [17][40]. Tachyzoites of the T. gondii type II strain NTE [52] were propagated in L929 murine fibroblasts as host cells in RPMI 1640, 1% FCS and antibiotics as above. Parasites were separated from host cells by differential centrifugation as described [42].
Preparation of Toxoplasma lysate
For large scale production of T. gondii, parasites were harvested from human foreskin fibroblasts after host cell lysis and were separated from contaminating host cells by filtration through a 3.0 µm Isopore filter (Merck Millipore, Schwalbach, Germany). After extensive washing, 4 × 108 parasites per ml PBS were lysed by three freeze-thaw cycles and were then sonicated twice on ice for 10 min each at an output level of 15-20% and with a duty cycle of 30% (Branson Sonifier 250, Danbury, CT). Insoluble material was removed by centrifugation at 20,800 × g for 20 min at 4°C, and PBS-soluble proteins were stored at -80°C. The protein concentration was determined by the BCA assay as recommended by the manufacturer (Biorad, München, Germany)
Parasite infection and triggering of caspase-dependent intrinsic PCD
Wild-type or mutant Jurkat cells were infected with T. gondii for 24 hours at infection rates of 5 to 30 parasites per host cell as indicated. The intrinsic PCD pathway in JMR and F9 mutants was induced by treatment with 1 µM staurosporine during the final 90 to 120 min of cultivation. Thereafter, Jurkat cells were washed in PBS and they were then lysed at 2 × 107 cells per ml in 1% NP-40, 150 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0 for 15 min on ice. After centrifugation at 20,800 × g and 4°C for 5 min, caspase activity in the soluble fraction was measured as described below.
Electroporation of Jurkat cells
The impact of parasite infection on cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in infected cells was determined in Jurkat cells which had been electroporated in the presence of cytochrome c [53]. To this end, 3 × 106 Jurkat cells were infected with T. gondii at a MOI of 30:1 for one hour or were left non-infected and were then resuspended in 400 µl FCS-free medium supplemented with 400 µg/ml cytochrome c from bovine heart (Sigma-Aldrich, Taufkirchen, Germany) or bovine serum albumin (BSA; Sigma-Aldrich) as a control. Cells were electroporated using a BTX cell manipulator 600 (BTX, San Diego, CA) at 160 V and 2300 µF. Cells were then incubated for 15 min on ice before being incubated in fresh cell culture medium for 60 min at 37°C and 5% CO2. Thereafter, cell extracts were prepared by NP-40 lysis (see above) and caspase activity was determined.
Cell fractionation
The subcellular distribution of cytochrome c and control proteins was determined after fractionation of cells into digitonin-soluble and digitonin-insoluble extracts [37]. Briefly, 4 × 106 cells per sample were resuspended in 30 µl of PBS and were then mixed with an equal volume of 150 µg/ml digitonin in 500 mM sucrose. After 60 seconds, heavy organelles including mitochondria were pelleted at 14,000 × g for 1 min and supernatants were saved as the cytosol-enriched digitonin-soluble fraction. The digitonin-insoluble fraction was then extracted in 1% Triton X-100, 0.5% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, 150 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 1 mM PMSF, 1 mM sodium orthovanadate, and 10 µg/ml each of leupeptin, aprotinin and pepstatin. After centrifugation at 20,800 × g and 4°C for 1 min, the supernatant was removed as digitonin-insoluble, mitochondrial proteins-containing extract.
Caspase activation in cytosolic Jurkat protein lysates
Cytosolic caspase activation extracts of Jurkat T cells were used in order to determine the effect of T. gondii on the caspase 9-caspase 3/7 cascade in a cell-free in vitro system [39]. To this end, Jurkat cells were washed in PBS and were then incubated at 1 × 108 cells per ml in 20 mM HEPES-KOH, pH 7.0, 10 mM KCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM EGTA, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 2 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) and protease inhibitor cocktail (EDTA-free; Roche, Mannheim, Germany) (caspase 3 activation). Alternatively, they were incubated at 2 × 108 cells per ml in 50 mM HEPES-KOH, pH 7.5, 50 mM KCl, 0.2% CHAPS, 2 mM MgCl2, 5 mM EGTA, 10 µg/ml cytochalasin B, 1 mM DTT and protease inhibitor cocktail as above (caspase 9 activation). After 30 min on ice, cells were lysed by repeated 23G needle passage. Lysis of at least 90% of the cells was controlled by trypan blue staining. The extract was then centrifuged at 10,000 × g and 4°C for 10 min and the cytosol-enriched supernatant stored at -80°C until further use. The protein content of cell lysates was determined by the BCA test.
To determine the impact of T. gondii parasites on caspase activation in vitro, cytosolic Jurkat extracts were incubated or not with different numbers of parasites or with T. gondii lysate for 1 hour at room temperature. Thereafter, the caspase cascade was activated by addition of 10 µg/ml cytochrome c, 250 µM dATP and 250 µM DTT or the caspase cascade was left non-activated. After 1 hour at 37°C, parasites were pelleted by centrifugation at 20,800 × g for 5 min and the supernatants were assayed for caspase activities or by immunoprecipitation. In some experiments, the caspase cascade was activated in cytosolic caspase activation extracts which have been isolated from T. gondii-infected and non-infected Jurkat cells at 24 hours after infection.
Caspase activity tests
Caspase activities were measured as described [39][54] in NP-40 lysates from cells triggered to undergo apoptosis or in cell-free cytosolic Jurkat extracts after cytochrome c/dATP-induced activation of the caspase cascade. Briefly, 10 µl cell extract was mixed in triplicate with 90 µl of 50 mM NaCl, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.0, 40 mM β-glycerophosphate, 2 mM MgCl2, 5 mM EGTA, 0.1 mg/ml BSA, 0.1% CHAPS and 10 µM Ac-DEVD-AMC (caspase 3/7 substrate) or 50 µM Ac-LEHD-AMC (caspase 9 substrate; both from Bachem, Weil am Rhein, Germany). Kinetics of substrate cleavage was recorded at 37°C using a Victor V fluorimeter (Perkin Elmer, Rodgau, Germany); the increase in substrate cleavage over time was used to calculate the caspase activity.
Co-immunoprecipitation
Binding partners of constituents of the apoptosome were identified by co-immunoprecipitation. To this end, 400 µl of cytosolic caspase 3 activation extract were incubated with or without 1 × 108 parasites per ml for 1 hour at room temperature. The caspase cascade was then activated for 15 min at 37°C by addition of 10 µg/ml cytochrome c, 250 µM dATP and 250 µM DTT or was left non-activated. An aliquot of 100 µl was then used to measure the caspase activity as described above, and the remaining 300 µl were incubated overnight at 4°C with 1.4 µg of mouse monoclonal anti-Apaf-1 (clone 24; BD Transduction Laboratories, Heidelberg, Germany) or rabbit polyclonal anti-caspase 9 (H-170; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Heidelberg, Germany) and 100 µM of the caspase 3 inhibitor Ac-DMQD-CHO (Calbiochem, Darmstadt, Germany) to inhibit secondary Apaf-1 cleavage [55]. Immune complexes were collected by incubation with 40 µl of 50% Protein A-Sepharose (GE Healthcare, Freiburg, Germany) for 90 min in an end-over-end rotator and subsequent centrifugation. After having been extensively washed, immunoprecipitates were analyzed by immunoblotting.
SDS-PAGE and Western blotting
Cell extracts, subcellular fractions, immunoprecipitates or recombinant proteins incubated with T. gondii lysate were separated by standard SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions. After semi-dry transfer of proteins to NC membranes (Hybond ECL; GE Healthcare, Freiburg, Germany), unspecific binding sites were blocked using 5% dry skimmed milk, 0.2% Tween-20, 0.02% NaN3 in PBS, pH 7.4. Membranes were incubated overnight at 4°C with rabbit anti-caspase 3 antiserum (1:200), rabbit anti-caspase 9 antiserum (1:200), 2 µg/ml mouse monoclonal anti-cytochrome c (clone 7H8.2C12), 1 µg/ml mouse monoclonal anti-Apaf-1 (clone 24) (all from BD Transduction Laboratories, Heidelberg, Germany), 1 µg/ml mouse monoclonal anti-bovine cytochrome c-oxidase subunit IV (clone 20E8-C12; Molecular Probes, Leiden, The Netherlands), rabbit anti-T. gondii antiserum, rabbit anti-T. gondii surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1) or mouse monoclonal anti-actin (clone C4, kindly provided by J. Lessard, Cincinnati, OH; 1: 10,000) diluted in 5% dry skimmed milk, 0.05% Tween-20 in PBS, pH 7.4. After washing (0.05% Tween-20 in PBS, pH 7.4), primary antibodies were labeled with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit or anti-mouse IgG (Dianova, Hamburg, Germany). After extensive washing, immune complexes were exposed to enhanced chemiluminescence reagent (GE Healthcare, Freiburg, Germany), and digital images were recorded using a LAS-4000 luminescent image analyzer (Fujifilm, Düsseldorf, Germany).
Apoptosome formation in a reconstituted in vitro system
The impact of T. gondii on the apoptosome was also assessed in a reconstituted caspase 9 activation assay [21]. To this end, recombinant human Apaf-1 and caspase 9 were expressed in Sf21 insect cells or E. coli, respectively, and purified as described [21]. A reaction mixture of 0.4 µM Apaf-1 and 0.2 µM caspase 9 in 50 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM MgCl2 and 5 mM DTT was incubated or not with 2 – 250 µg/ml T. gondii lysate for 1 hour at room temperature. Apoptosome formation was then triggered for 15 min at 30°C using 2 µM cytochrome c and 1 mM ATP. After addition of 100 µM Ac-LEHD-AFC (Biomol GmbH, Hamburg, Germany), caspase 9 activity was fluorimetrically measured in a Cary Eclipse fluorescence spectrophotometer (Agilent Technologies, Böblingen, Germany). In order to determine the impact of T. gondii on preassembled apoptosomes, 0.4 µM Apaf-1 and 0.2 µM caspase 9, 2 µM cytochrome c and 1 mM ATP in 50 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM MgCl2 and 5 mM DTT were incubated for 1 hour at room temperature. Thereafter, T. gondii lysate was added at the concentrations indicated above and incubated for 45 min at room temperature and subsequently for 15 min at 30°C before measuring the caspase 9 activity as above.
Results are expressed as means ± S.E.M. of three independent experiments unless otherwise stated. Mean values of normally distributed continuous variables were compared using the Student’s t-test. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered to be significant.
J. Montoya, and O. Liesenfeld, "Toxoplasmosis", The Lancet, vol. 363, pp. 1965-1976, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)16412-x
J.M. Dobrowolski, and L. Sibley, "Toxoplasma Invasion of Mammalian Cells Is Powered by the Actin Cytoskeleton of the Parasite", Cell, vol. 84, pp. 933-939, 1996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81071-5
J.P.J. Saeij, J.P. Boyle, S. Coller, S. Taylor, L.D. Sibley, E.T. Brooke-Powell, J.W. Ajioka, and J.C. Boothroyd, "Polymorphic Secreted Kinases Are Key Virulence Factors in Toxoplasmosis", Science, vol. 314, pp. 1780-1783, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1133690
E.E. Rosowski, D. Lu, L. Julien, L. Rodda, R.A. Gaiser, K.D. Jensen, and J.P. Saeij, "Strain-specific activation of the NF-κB pathway by GRA15, a novelToxoplasma gondiidense granule protein", The Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 208, pp. 195-212, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20100717
C.J. Beckers, "The Toxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein ROP 2 is inserted into the parasitophorous vacuole membrane, surrounding the intracellular parasite, and is exposed to the host cell cytoplasm", The Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 127, pp. 947-961, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.127.4.947
A. Bougdour, E. Durandau, M. Brenier-Pinchart, P. Ortet, M. Barakat, S. Kieffer, A. Curt-Varesano, R. Curt-Bertini, O. Bastien, Y. Coute, H. Pelloux, and M. Hakimi, "Host Cell Subversion by Toxoplasma GRA16, an Exported Dense Granule Protein that Targets the Host Cell Nucleus and Alters Gene Expression", Cell Host & Microbe, vol. 13, pp. 489-500, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2013.03.002
G.T. Williams, "Programmed cell death: a fundamental protective response to pathogens", Trends in Microbiology, vol. 2, pp. 463-464, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0966-842x(94)90648-3
H. Everett, and G. McFadden, "Apoptosis: an innate immune response to virus infection", Trends in Microbiology, vol. 7, pp. 160-165, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0966-842x(99)01487-0
K. Labbé, and M. Saleh, "Cell death in the host response to infection", Cell Death & Differentiation, vol. 15, pp. 1339-1349, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2008.91
C.G.K. Lüder, and U. Gross, "Apoptosis and Its Modulation During Infection with Toxoplasma gondii: Molecular Mechanisms and Role in Pathogenesis", Role of Apoptosis in Infection, pp. 219-237, . http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27320-4_10
I.A. Khan, T. Matsuura, and L.H. KASPER, "Activation–mediated CD4+ T cell unresponsiveness during acute Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice", International Immunology, vol. 8, pp. 887-896, 1996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/intimm/8.6.887
O. Liesenfeld, J.C. Kosek, and Y. Suzuki, "Gamma interferon induces Fas-dependent apoptosis of Peyer's patch T cells in mice following peroral infection with Toxoplasma gondii.", Infection and immunity, 1997. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9353050
L.C. Gavrilescu, and E.Y. Denkers, "IFN-γ Overproduction and High Level Apoptosis Are Associated with High but Not Low Virulence Toxoplasma gondii Infection", The Journal of Immunology, vol. 167, pp. 902-909, 2001. http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.167.2.902
N.N. Danial, and S.J. Korsmeyer, "Cell Death", Cell, vol. 116, pp. 205-219, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(04)00046-7
R.J. Youle, and A. Strasser, "The BCL-2 protein family: opposing activities that mediate cell death", Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, vol. 9, pp. 47-59, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrm2308
C. Scaffidi, I. Schmitz, J. Zha, S.J. Korsmeyer, P.H. Krammer, and M.E. Peter, "Differential Modulation of Apoptosis Sensitivity in CD95 Type I and Type II Cells", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 274, pp. 22532-22538, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.274.32.22532
D. Hippe, O. Lytovchenko, I. Schmitz, and C.G.K. Luder, "Fas/CD95-Mediated Apoptosis of Type II Cells Is Blocked by Toxoplasma gondii Primarily via Interference with the Mitochondrial Amplification Loop", Infection and Immunity, vol. 76, pp. 2905-2912, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/IAI.01546-07
Y. Hu, L. Ding, D.M. Spencer, and G. Núñez, "WD-40 Repeat Region Regulates Apaf-1 Self-association and Procaspase-9 Activation", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 273, pp. 33489-33494, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.273.50.33489
S.M. Srinivasula, M. Ahmad, T. Fernandes-Alnemri, and E.S. Alnemri, "Autoactivation of Procaspase-9 by Apaf-1-Mediated Oligomerization", Molecular Cell, vol. 1, pp. 949-957, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1097-2765(00)80095-7
J.M. Adams, and S. Cory, "Apoptosomes: engines for caspase activation", Current Opinion in Cell Biology, vol. 14, pp. 715-720, 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0955-0674(02)00381-2
T.F. Reubold, S. Wohlgemuth, and S. Eschenburg, "A New Model for the Transition of APAF-1 from Inactive Monomer to Caspase-activating Apoptosome", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 284, pp. 32717-32724, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M109.014027
K. Cain, S.B. Bratton, C. Langlais, G. Walker, D.G. Brown, X. Sun, and G.M. Cohen, "Apaf-1 Oligomerizes into Biologically Active ∼700-kDa and Inactive ∼1.4-MDa Apoptosome Complexes", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 275, pp. 6067-6070, 2000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.275.9.6067
L. Galluzzi, J.M. Bravo-San Pedro, I. Vitale, S.A. Aaronson, J.M. Abrams, D. Adam, E.S. Alnemri, L. Altucci, D. Andrews, M. Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli, E.H. Baehrecke, N.G. Bazan, M.J. Bertrand, K. Bianchi, M.V. Blagosklonny, K. Blomgren, C. Borner, D.E. Bredesen, C. Brenner, M. Campanella, E. Candi, F. Cecconi, F.K. Chan, N.S. Chandel, E.H. Cheng, J.E. Chipuk, J.A. Cidlowski, A. Ciechanover, T.M. Dawson, V.L. Dawson, V. De Laurenzi, R. De Maria, K. Debatin, N. Di Daniele, V.M. Dixit, B.D. Dynlacht, W.S. El-Deiry, G.M. Fimia, R.A. Flavell, S. Fulda, C. Garrido, M. Gougeon, D.R. Green, H. Gronemeyer, G. Hajnoczky, J.M. Hardwick, M.O. Hengartner, H. Ichijo, B. Joseph, P.J. Jost, T. Kaufmann, O. Kepp, D.J. Klionsky, R.A. Knight, S. Kumar, J.J. Lemasters, B. Levine, A. Linkermann, S.A. Lipton, R.A. Lockshin, C. López-Otín, E. Lugli, F. Madeo, W. Malorni, J. Marine, S.J. Martin, J. Martinou, J.P. Medema, P. Meier, S. Melino, N. Mizushima, U. Moll, C. Muñoz-Pinedo, G. Nuñez, A. Oberst, T. Panaretakis, J.M. Penninger, M.E. Peter, M. Piacentini, P. Pinton, J.H. Prehn, H. Puthalakath, G.A. Rabinovich, K.S. Ravichandran, R. Rizzuto, C.M. Rodrigues, D.C. Rubinsztein, T. Rudel, Y. Shi, H. Simon, B.R. Stockwell, G. Szabadkai, S.W. Tait, H.L. Tang, N. Tavernarakis, Y. Tsujimoto, T. Vanden Berghe, P. Vandenabeele, A. Villunger, E.F. Wagner, H. Walczak, E. White, W.G. Wood, J. Yuan, Z. Zakeri, B. Zhivotovsky, G. Melino, and G. Kroemer, "Essential versus accessory aspects of cell death: recommendations of the NCCD 2015", Cell Death & Differentiation, vol. 22, pp. 58-73, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2014.137
F. SCHAUMBURG, D. HIPPE, P. VUTOVA, and C.G.K. LÜDER, "Pro- and anti-apoptotic activities of protozoan parasites", Parasitology, vol. 132, pp. S69-S85, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0031182006000874
C.G. Lüder, R.R. Stanway, M. Chaussepied, G. Langsley, and V.T. Heussler, "Intracellular survival of apicomplexan parasites and host cell modification", International Journal for Parasitology, vol. 39, pp. 163-173, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.09.013
M.R. van Dijk, B. Douradinha, B. Franke-Fayard, V. Heussler, M.W. van Dooren, B. van Schaijk, G. van Gemert, R.W. Sauerwein, M.M. Mota, A.P. Waters, and C.J. Janse, "Genetically attenuated, P36p-deficient malarial sporozoites induce protective immunity and apoptosis of infected liver cells", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 102, pp. 12194-12199, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0500925102
K. Velmurugan, B. Chen, J.L. Miller, S. Azogue, S. Gurses, T. Hsu, M. Glickman, W.R. Jacobs, S.A. Porcelli, and V. Briken, "Mycobacterium tuberculosis nuoG Is a Virulence Gene That Inhibits Apoptosis of Infected Host Cells", PLoS Pathogens, vol. 3, pp. e110, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.0030110
P.B. Nash, M.B. Purner, R.P. Leon, P. Clarke, R.C. Duke, and T.J. Curiel, "Toxoplasma gondii-infected cells are resistant to multiple inducers of apoptosis.", Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 1998. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9469443
S. Goebel, C.G.K. Lüder, and U. Gross, "Invasion by Toxoplasma gondii protects human-derived HL-60 cells from actinomycin D-induced apoptosis", Medical Microbiology and Immunology, vol. 187, pp. 221-226, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004300050096
S. Goebel, U. Gross, and C.G. Lüder, "Inhibition of host cell apoptosis by Toxoplasma gondii is accompanied by reduced activation of the caspase cascade and alterations of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase expression.", Journal of cell science, 2001. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11682609
T.M. Payne, "Inhibition of caspase activation and a requirement for NF- B function in the Toxoplasma gondii-mediated blockade of host apoptosis", Journal of Cell Science, vol. 116, pp. 4345-4358, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.00756
J.C. Carmen, L. Hardi, and A.P. Sinai, "Toxoplasma gondii inhibits ultraviolet light-induced apoptosis through multiple interactions with the mitochondrion-dependent programmed cell death pathway", Cellular Microbiology, vol. 8, pp. 301-315, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-5822.2005.00622.x
L. Kim, "Toxoplasma gondii triggers Gi-dependent PI 3-kinase signaling required for inhibition of host cell apoptosis", Journal of Cell Science, vol. 119, pp. 2119-2126, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.02934
J.C. Carmen, and A.P. Sinai, "Suicide prevention: disruption of apoptotic pathways by protozoan parasites", Molecular Microbiology, vol. 64, pp. 904-916, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05714.x
U. Händel, A. Brunn, K. Drögemüller, W. Müller, M. Deckert, and D. Schlüter, "Neuronal gp130 Expression Is Crucial to Prevent Neuronal Loss, Hyperinflammation, and Lethal Course of Murine Toxoplasma Encephalitis", The American Journal of Pathology, vol. 181, pp. 163-173, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.03.029
K. Drögemüller, U. Helmuth, A. Brunn, M. Sakowicz-Burkiewicz, D.H. Gutmann, W. Mueller, M. Deckert, and D. Schlüter, "Astrocyte gp130 Expression Is Critical for the Control of Toxoplasma Encephalitis", The Journal of Immunology, vol. 181, pp. 2683-2693, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.181.4.2683
D. Hippe, A. Weber, L. Zhou, D.C. Chang, G. Hacker, and C.G.K. Luder, "Toxoplasma gondii infection confers resistance against BimS-induced apoptosis by preventing the activation and mitochondrial targeting of pro-apoptotic Bax", Journal of Cell Science, vol. 122, pp. 3511-3521, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.050963
R.E. Molestina, "Activation of NF- B by Toxoplasma gondii correlates with increased expression of antiapoptotic genes and localization of phosphorylated I B to the parasitophorous vacuole membrane", Journal of Cell Science, vol. 116, pp. 4359-4371, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.00683
P. Keller, F. Schaumburg, S.F. Fischer, G. Häcker, U. GroÃ, and C.G. Lüder, "Direct inhibition of cytochromec-induced caspase activationin vitrobyToxoplasma gondiireveals novel mechanisms of interference with host cell apoptosis", FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 258, pp. 312-319, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00241.x
A.K. Samraj, E. Keil, N. Ueffing, K. Schulze-Osthoff, and I. Schmitz, "Loss of Caspase-9 Provides Genetic Evidence for the Type I/II Concept of CD95-mediated Apoptosis", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 281, pp. 29652-29659, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M603487200
V.S. Marsden, L. O'Connor, L.A. O'Reilly, J. Silke, D. Metcalf, P.G. Ekert, D.C.S. Huang, F. Cecconi, K. Kuida, K.J. Tomaselli, S. Roy, D.W. Nicholson, D.L. Vaux, P. Bouillet, J.M. Adams, and A. Strasser, "Apoptosis initiated by Bcl-2-regulated caspase activation independently of the cytochrome c/Apaf-1/caspase-9 apoptosome", Nature, vol. 419, pp. 634-637, 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature01101
P. Vutova, M. Wirth, D. Hippe, U. Gross, K. Schulze-Osthoff, I. Schmitz, and C.G.K. Lüder, "Toxoplasma gondii inhibits Fas/CD95-triggered cell death by inducing aberrant processing and degradation of caspase 8", Cellular Microbiology, vol. 9, pp. 1556-1570, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-5822.2007.00893.x
H. Zou, W.J. Henzel, X. Liu, A. Lutschg, and X. Wang, "Apaf-1, a Human Protein Homologous to C. elegans CED-4, Participates in Cytochrome c–Dependent Activation of Caspase-3", Cell, vol. 90, pp. 405-413, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80501-2
P. Li, D. Nijhawan, I. Budihardjo, S.M. Srinivasula, M. Ahmad, E.S. Alnemri, and X. Wang, "Cytochrome c and dATP-Dependent Formation of Apaf-1/Caspase-9 Complex Initiates an Apoptotic Protease Cascade", Cell, vol. 91, pp. 479-489, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80434-1
H.M. Beere, B.B. Wolf, K. Cain, D.D. Mosser, A. Mahboubi, T. Kuwana, P. Tailor, R.I. Morimoto, G.M. Cohen, and D.R. Green, "Heat-shock protein 70 inhibits apoptosis by preventing recruitment of procaspase-9 to the Apaf-1 apoptosome", Nature Cell Biology, vol. 2, pp. 469-475, 2000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35019501
A. Saleh, S.M. Srinivasula, L. Balkir, P.D. Robbins, and E.S. Alnemri, "Negative regulation of the Apaf-1 apoptosome by Hsp70", Nature Cell Biology, vol. 2, pp. 476-483, 2000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35019510
X. Jiang, and X. Wang, "CytochromecPromotes Caspase-9 Activation by Inducing Nucleotide Binding to Apaf-1", Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 275, pp. 31199-31203, 2000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.C000405200
S.J. Riedl, W. Li, Y. Chao, R. Schwarzenbacher, and Y. Shi, "Structure of the apoptotic protease-activating factor 1 bound to ADP", Nature, vol. 434, pp. 926-933, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature03465
S. Yuan, M. Topf, T.F. Reubold, S. Eschenburg, and C.W. Akey, "Changes in Apaf-1 Conformation That Drive Apoptosome Assembly", Biochemistry, vol. 52, pp. 2319-2327, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi301721g
S. Taylor, A. Barragan, C. Su, B. Fux, S.J. Fentress, K. Tang, W.L. Beatty, H.E. Hajj, M. Jerome, M.S. Behnke, M. White, J.C. Wootton, and L.D. Sibley, "A Secreted Serine-Threonine Kinase Determines Virulence in the Eukaryotic Pathogen Toxoplasma gondii", Science, vol. 314, pp. 1776-1780, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1133643
L. Braun, M. Brenier-Pinchart, M. Yogavel, A. Curt-Varesano, R. Curt-Bertini, T. Hussain, S. Kieffer-Jaquinod, Y. Coute, H. Pelloux, I. Tardieux, A. Sharma, H. Belrhali, A. Bougdour, and M. Hakimi, "AToxoplasmadense granule protein, GRA24, modulates the early immune response to infection by promoting a direct and sustained host p38 MAPK activation", The Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 210, pp. 2071-2086, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20130103
U. Gross, W.A. Müller, S. Knapp, and J. Heesemann, "Identification of a virulence-associated antigen of Toxoplasma gondii by use of a mouse monoclonal antibody.", Infection and immunity, 1991. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1718876
J. Vier, G. Linsinger, and G. Häcker, "Cytochrome c Is Dispensable for Fas-Induced Caspase Activation and Apoptosis", Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, vol. 261, pp. 71-78, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1999.0942
D. Hippe, A. Gais, U. Gross, and C.G. Lüder, "Modulation of Caspase Activation by Toxoplasma gondii", Host-Pathogen Interactions, pp. 275-288, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-204-5_19
S.B. Bratton, G. Walker, D.L. Roberts, K. Cain, and G.M. Cohen, "Caspase-3 cleaves Apaf-1 into an ∼30 kDa fragment that associates with an inappropriately oligomerized and biologically inactive ∼1.4 MDa apoptosome complex", Cell Death & Differentiation, vol. 8, pp. 425-433, 2001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.cdd.4400834
Download Supplemental Information
We thank Ingo Schmitz (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany) for kindly providing caspase 9-deficient and caspase 9-reconstituted cell lines. We also appreciate the kind gift of the anti-actin monoclonal antibody provided by James Lessard (Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH).
Toxoplasma gondii inhibits cytochrome c-induced caspase activation in its host cell by interference with holo-apoptosome assembly by Kristin Graumann et al. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
– Introduction
– Discussion
– Material and Methods
– References
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1869
|
__label__wiki
| 0.962558
| 0.962558
|
Nobel Peace Prize How To Win
Nobel Peace Prize Denis Mukwege Nadia Murad win 2018
“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize,” Moon said. “The only thing we need is peace.” This kind of talk is premature, given how tenuous is the progress of talks between North... The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has taken out one of the world's most prestigious awards, the 2017 Nobel Prize for Peace.
Malala and Kailash Satyarthi win Nobel Peace Prize bbc.com
3/10/2018 · On Friday, the winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced by the Nobel committee in Oslo. The award is given each year to the person or group that has done the most to advance world peace.... The Nobel Peace Prize has frequently caused controversy. One reason is that many Laureates have been contemporary and highly controversial political actors, another is that the Prizes in many instances, have increased public focus on international or national conflicts.
Here Are the Favorites to Win the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize
• In recent years it’s been getting harder for ‘youngsters’ to win the Nobel Prize; the most recent Nobel Prize on our list is from over 40 years ago. • The 11 youngest won in: 1915, 1923, 1932 (twice), 1933, 1938, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1973. how to use student tile sd in amadeus Every year, a person or an organization is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Nobel Peace Prize is among the five Novel Prizes that were established by Alfred Nobel.
Nobel Peace Prize 2018 shared by activists fighting sexual
The Nobel prize is awarded for outstanding contribution in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences. Every year, laureates are awarded this honor for distinguished advances or achievements in these six areas. Famous examples include Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, Barack Obama among many others. how to set up a butterfly sewing machine On Friday the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee will announce the winner, or winners, of arguably the world’s most prestigious award: the Nobel peace prize.
Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Prize 2018 Many Names Few
Congolese doctor Yazidi activist champions in fight
Why Dr Denis Mukwege deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize
Female 'peace warriors' win Nobel news.com.au
5/10/2018 · Denis Mukwege, a doctor who helps victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
The will Alfred Nobel made in 1895 was inspired by belief in the community of man. The Peace Prize was to be awarded to the person who had done most for "fraternity between nations, for the
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are among the bookmakers' top contenders to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
The peace prize has gotten around the limitation by awarding the prize to an organization rather than an individual, and Norden says that the “physicists have been tempted … to give it to a
In the list of quizzes, this one shows it as asking for presidents who have won the "Noble Peace Prize." I believe a spelling correction might be in order.
How To Stop Your Dog From Eating Its Poop
How To Send Large Files Through Emails
How To Turn Off Data Roaming On Iphone 5
How To Train Agility Runescape
How To Use Android Wear On Kw88
How To Take Care Of Your Fingernails And Toenails
How To Turn Keepvid Audio Into Audio File
How To Stop A Leech Bite From Bleeding
How To Write A Unit Evaluation
How To Take Good Screenshots In Eso
How To Remove Watermark Stop Motion Pro
How To Use Blue Keys On Asus Keyboard
How To Write And Talk To Selection Criteria Free Download
How To Turn On Auto Retaliate Rs3
John on How To Use Xbxo Rom
Pablo on How To Use Lavender For Sleep
Bruce G. Li on How To Write Business Meeting Minutes
Marlin on How To Stop A Pimple From Weeping Through Makeup
Samanta Cruze on How To Use Discord Pokemon Go
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1875
|
__label__wiki
| 0.974301
| 0.974301
|
MIFF 2018 to honour Shyam Benegal with V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award
Mumbai: The V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Shorts & Animation Films – MIFF 2018 will be conferred upon veteran film maker Shyam Benegal. The award carrying a Trophy, a shawl, citation and cash prize of Rs 1 million (Rs 10 lakhs) will be presented by the Governor of Maharashtra, Shri C Vidyasagar Rao at the MIFF 2018 Valedictory Function at NCPA on Saturday.
An independent committee comprising Rahul Rawail, Kiran Shantaram, Prasoon Joshi, Bharathi Pradhan and Vinod Anupam unanimously recommended the name of Shri Shyam Benegal, taking note of his significant contribution to the growth and sustenance of documentary movements in India.
One of the leading and widely respected filmmakers of India, Shri Shyam Benegal is known for making thought provoking films centre around contemporary Indian experience. He is credited with pioneering new cinema in the country.
While Shyam Benegal has made 28 feature films including landmark films like Ankur, Nishant, Mandi and Junoon, his filmography also includes 41 documentaries covering a wide variety of subjects including cultural anthropology, sustainable growth, biopic, art and culture. His 1982 documentary ‘Satyajit Ray’ won the National Award for Best Biographical Film, while his 1985 film ‘Nehru’ won the award fro Best Historical Reconstruction.
His work on television consists of several popular series including the 53 part series Bharat Ek Khoj, first broadcast on Doordarshan in 1988. He also made the much acclaimed ‘Samvidhaan – The Making of the Constitution of India”.
Born in 1934 in Hyderabad, Shyam Benegal completed his M.A. in Economics from the Osmania University and began working in an advertising agency, before venturing into film making. He made his first documentary film ‘Gher Behti Ganga’ (Ganga at Doorstep) in Gujarati in 1963. Shri Benegal credits his photographer father and cousin Guru Dutt as early influencers for him taking up film making as a career.
Shri Benegal also taught mass communication between 1966 and 1973 and later took an active role in shaping film education as Chairman of the Film & Television Institute of India during the 1980s and early 90s. Recipient of many awards including 9 National Awards for his feature films, Shri Benegal has been honoured by the Government of India with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan as well as the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
About V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award
The V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to the documentary movement is conferred on a veteran filmmaker at every MIFF organized by Films Division. The award is instituted in memory of legendary filmmaker V Shantaram, who was closely associated with the Films Division as Honorary Chief Producer during the 1950s.
Previous articleOdisha-CFAR Organizes Public Hearing for Construction Workers
Next article‘The Tall Man Biju Patnaik’ – Book Presentation Ceremony at Mumbai
KIIT Names Athletic Track After Dutee Chand
Pavan K. Verma, Rajendra Kishore Panda, Paro Anand to be conferred with Prestigious Kalinga Literary Awards of 2019
Biswa Bhusan Harichandan new Governor of Andhra Pradesh
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1884
|
__label__wiki
| 0.723284
| 0.723284
|
Home Who are we ? Activities Publications Contact RBN digital version
Membership medal of the Society by A.H. Veyrat
(unique piece in gold, donated to É. Vanden Broeck in 1897
and kept in the Coin Cabinet at the Royal Library in Brussels)
Welcome on the website of the Royal Numismatic Society of Belgium. By using the navigation keys at the top of the screen, you can find information on who we are and what we do and publish. You can also contact us by e-mail in case of more information.
© KBGN-SRNB, 2008-2019
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1885
|
__label__wiki
| 0.887827
| 0.887827
|
Take Your MPP to Work
Fun Facts about Flo
Florence-born Florence Nightingale (May 12, 1820 - August 13, 1910) was an accomplished nurse, writer, statistician and reformer. She came to prominence during the Crimean War (1853-1856) for her pioneering work in nursing, and was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" as a result of making rounds in the hospital wards after eight p.m. to tend injured soldiers. Nightingale’s lasting contribution has been her role in founding the modern nursing profession. She set an example of compassion, commitment to patient care, and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration. The annual International Nurses Day is celebrated world-wide on her birthday.
At 17 years of age, Florence asked her friend, the Prussian Ambassador to England, Chevalier Bunsen, how she could “do something toward lifting the load of suffering from the helpless and miserable.” He told her about the great work of Pastor Fliedner in Germany’s prison reform movement, where he and his wife trained probationary nurses to care for the imprisoned. Nightingale visited the pastor and his wife for a three month period to learn more.
The pie chart was invented by William Playfair but Florence Nightingale developed it in 1857 to disprove the medical assumptions during that time. She became a pioneer in presenting information with statistical graphics and developed a pie chart now called the polar area diagram that illustrates nursing statistics.
One of the medicines Florence kept in her wooden medicine box was powdered rhubarb, which helps the digestive system.
In 1860 she set up the Nightingale Training School (for nurses) at St Thomas’s Hospital in London, England. The nurses who completed the training were known as ‘Nightingale Nurses’.
Florence hated being famous. She called it “the fuzbuzz about my name”.
Her family was wealthy. Her mother was named Fanny and her father was named William. Florence also had an older sister called Parthenope.
Helping her tend to the wounded, Florence’s own aunt, Mai Smith, worked under Nightingale at the same hospital during the Crimean War in the fall of 1854.
As a girl, Florence had a pet owl named Athena.
Her early writings are considered major contributions to English Feminism. While not published until after her death, essays like Nightingale's "Cassandra" showcase her feelings about a woman's role in the world. Nightingale believed that women were often unnecessarily thought of as helpless when they were quite capable.
Florence Nightingale died in 1910 at the age of 90. She is buried in a Hampshire churchyard in the southern coast of England. Her simple tombstone bears only her initials and the years in which she was born and died.
RNAO Website |
Nursing Best Practice Guidelines |
Upcoming Events |
Action Alerts |
RNAO Membership
Unless otherwise noted, all content is the property of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO)
158 Pearl St. Toronto, Ont. M5H 1L3
(416) 599-1925 or Toll Free: 1 (800) 268-7199
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1886
|
__label__cc
| 0.569016
| 0.430984
|
Heat Vision and Jack
Heat Vision and Jack is a TV pilot made by Ben Stiller starring Jack Black and Owen Wilson back in 1999. It's a parody of the action TV shows of the 70s and 80s - the opening credits are even inspired by the Six Million Dollar Man.
I found it funny - but I am a Jack Black fan. Anyway, you can check it out below.
This is what video on demand is all about. Thank you internet!
www.passfieldgames.com
Born from an egg on a mountain top
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame) worked with Chen Shi-zheng to create the music and look of Journey to the West, an opera based on the Chinese epic novel of the same name.
Aussies, Kiwis and Brits were introduced to this Chinese story through Monkey - a Japanese TV show filmed in China and dubbed into English. Click on any of the above links to find out more.
What's really cool is that the BBC used the Jamie Hewlett animations for their Beijing Olympics coverage. Check it out.
More on Strongbad's Cool Game for Attractive People
I've been playing the Wii version of Strongbad's Cool Game for Attractive People and am enjoying it. I like the interface, it works well with the Wii.
The controls are simple - every on screen object takes a single click to look at, use, pick up or talk to it (if it's a person). The conversation system is easy to grasp - it's represented by a few visual icons that make Strong Bad ask about the image from the icon when clicked on.
Getting around is also easy, you can pull up a map and jump to another location at any time. You can also double click and hold the A button to make Strong Bad run faster to wherever the cursor is on the screen.
There's also a neat little treasure hunt side game where you can use a metal detector in each location to look for treasure.
The only problem I've experienced so far is that some of the initial goals aren't quite clear enough. I had to visite gamefaqs.com to work out what to do on two occasions. Unfortunately the thing I was supposed to do wasn't obvious (at least to me) and I wasn't getting any feedback from the game world to nudge me in the right direction.
It could just be me - I am a little out of touch with adventures and they do require a certain mind set to play. But as a first installment it would have been nice if the goals were a little clearer.
Apart from that, I'm having fun playing the game (thank heavens for gamefaqs.com!). It's worth checking out if you're a Homestar Runner fan and like adventure games.
Some adventure games
Jay Is Games is a great source for indie and casual games. They cover a whole range of games so if you haven't been there I thoroughly recommend you check them out.
They've previewed a few point and click adventure games recently and I've been playing two of them.
Dirty Split is a stylish murder mystery inspired by the works of Josh Agle - an artist with a fifties/sixties commercial art bent. Developed by Dreamagination the game is very slick and is totally free. Grab it here. You can also download the soundtrack.
The other game I'm playing is Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (episode 1) on the Wii. Developed by Telltale Games it's proving to be fun to play on the Wii - a system that is made for point and click adventure games.
It's worth checking out even if you're not too familiar with Homestar Runner, the website/comic that it's based on. The humor is broad enough for even non-fans to have a chuckle - and the interface and puzzles aren't too difficult (so far).
Posted by Passfield Games at 8:32 PM No comments:
Adventures in Facebook
In case you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, you can play the Facebook version of Brainiversity here. It's been up and running for a few months now and the user base has been steadily growing.
Facebook is a great platform to develop for - I get to use my Flash, HTML, PHP and SQL skills all at once! Not to mention I also get to brush up on my art skills :-)
One of the interesting things about game development on Facebook is that it gives you a direct connection with the end user - more so than with downloadable casual games. You can react to feedback almost instantaneously - you launch faster and build your game with the players - making game dev a more evolutionary process.
Very cool and definitely the way of the future.
Posted by Passfield Games at 11:53 PM No comments:
Dial Up Internet
I'm on vacation near the beach with my wife and kids and we are having a blast chilling out.
Once a day we check email using a dial up service (nope, the place doesn't have broadband!). I had completely forgotten what surfing the web was like not that long ago when everyone had dial up. Needless to say, it's slooooooow.
No wonder people had a hard time predicting the rise of online Flash games - these things would have been a pain to play back then. Heck, they're a pain to play now with dial-up. It's amazing that broadband has opened up a whole new way of playing games.
I can't wait to get it back again :-) Long live broadband!
More on Strongbad's Cool Game for Attractive Peopl...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1889
|
__label__cc
| 0.749344
| 0.250656
|
His Majesty the King as inventor and innovator
"VILLAGERS have said that miracles happen wherever the King treads. Arid land becomes fertile once again."
To the uninitiated, it must be tempting to dismiss this approximate translation of a Thai radio spot as worshipful hyperbole. Yet to Thais, apart from the obvious affection towards their King, the statement contains a very real element of truth. For over half a century, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has applied his technical ingenuity and resources to improving the lives of his people, in particular farmers otherwise at the mercy of nature. His inventions have helped make droughts more bearable, water less polluted and innovation more widely appreciated.
What the Thai people have long known has again been given due recognition by the outside world.
On January 14, 2009, Dr Francis Gurry, director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) presented the WIPO Global Leaders Award to His Majesty the King.
WIPO, a United Nations specialised agency with 184 member states, announced in January 2007 that His Majesty would be the first recipient of this award - its most prestigious recognition of outstanding contributions by world leaders to the cause of intellectual property to promote development.
In its press release, WIPO acknowledged His Majesty's "remarkable contribution to intellectual property both as an inventor and as an active proponent of intellectual property as a tool for development", also noting him as an artist who has "created over 1,000 works including paintings, photos, musical and literary works such as songs and novels".
Some of His Majesty's best-known projects relate to artificial rain. Rain-making techniques invented by His Majesty, with such memorable names as "sandwich" and "super sandwich", have brought welcome moisture to land parched by drought, and relief to thousands of farmers.
The Royal Rain Project, as it is called, is one of the more than 4,000 royally-initiated development projects to date. Others include those pertaining to irrigation, farming, drought and flood alleviation, crop substitution, public health, distance learning and employment promotion. - Government of Thailand
Posted by Dennis at 3:42 PM
Labels: ASEAN, patent
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1890
|
__label__wiki
| 0.764501
| 0.764501
|
Archbishop announces vision and strategies for Perth
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe speaks at the announcement of his vision and priorities for the Archdiocese of Perth last Thursday, 10 September at St Mary’s Cathedral. PHOTO: Ron Tan
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe has last week officially announced his vision and priorities for the Archdiocese of Perth.
The Archbishop made the announcement in front of a number of invited members of the Catholic community at St Mary’s Cathedral on Thursday, 10 September 2015, inviting them to participate in a comprehensive consultation process over the coming months.
More than 500 representatives from across the Archdiocese who were present for the historic announcement by the Archbishop, included members of the clergy and religious orders, parishioners, representatives from Catholic Education and tertiary institutions, welfare agencies and other organisations, in addition to committee members and staff.
In his homily for the occasion, the Archbishop spoke about the great challenge facing the Archdiocese.
“In my homily at my installation Mass three and a half years ago, and so often since, I have insisted that the great challenge we face is ‘to return the Church in our Archdiocese to Christ, and return Christ to the Church’,” the Archbishop said.
“As we prepare to enter into the Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis and, in the spirit of the Lord’s call to repentance, it seems very clear to me that this is a time for us, as a local Church, to pause and consider where we have come from as a diocese, where we are at present, and where we must go in the future.”
The Archbishop went on to announce seven key priority areas that have formed the basis for the review and consultation process, including Professional Standards, Effective Communication, Outreach to those in need, Strengthening and Revitalising Parishes, Support for Clergy, Adult Faith Formation and Archdiocesan Growth and Development.
The review and consultation process has been entitled The Way Forward, referencing Pope John Paul II’s letter to the Church in January 2001, at the start of the Third Millennium, when at that time he proposed “a way forward” for the Church.
In announcing The Way Forward plans and objectives, the Archbishop said he has one overarching hope and dream for the Archdiocese: “That we begin to see ourselves, and conduct ourselves, as a people called to walk together in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd.”
The Archbishop went on to extend a genuine invitation and opportunity for all people of the Church to participate in the forthcoming review and consultation process.
A video message from the Archbishop and an online questionnaire is now available on the new Archdiocesan website at www.perthcatholic.org.au.
Participants may choose to register their details or participate anonymously. All submissions will be treated as confidential.
The Release and Launch of The Way Forward Plan is scheduled for Good Shepherd Sunday, 17 April 2016.
Archbishop Costelloe’s final message to those gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral, and to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese, was a heartfelt invitation.
“Join with me, brothers and sisters, in this journey of faith.
“Let us open our hearts and our lives to Jesus. Let us follow His way, entrust ourselves to His truth, and embrace the fullness of life He holds out to us. Let us walk together in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1893
|
__label__cc
| 0.576234
| 0.423766
|
Policy Trajectories
Blog of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Comparative and Historical Sociology
ASA Comparative Historical Sociology Section
A rightward shift, but not quite a shock: Municipal elections in Brazil and South Africa
Benjamin Bradlow
In both Brazil and South Africa a pall of crisis hangs over domestic politics. In Brazil, the recent impeachment of elected president Dilma Rouseff for questionable cause triggered allegations of a parliamentary “coup”. In South Africa, persistent accusations of “state capture” go straight to President Jacob Zuma and his suspicious relationship with a group of elites doing business with state-owned enterprises. Two recent nation-wide municipal elections (South Africa: August 3; Brazil: October 2) tell us a lot about not only where both countries might be heading in the future, but also how we arrived at the current conjuncture.
Both countries had remarkably similar transitions to democracy. In particular, powerful independent trade unions formed united fronts with neighborhood groups organized around urban inequalities, such as housing, transport, and basic services. Such issues remain politically decisive today. In São Paulo, the historic divide between rich and poor mapped onto a center-periphery dynamic driven by both market forces and state-sponsored evictions. There, the democratic era has seen a progressive coherence of local government institutions, as well as a dominant tendency towards widening the social basis of policy reform. In Johannesburg, the divide between north and south of the city was historically much more clearly a result of legislation. Waves of state-led forced evictions over half a century created the sprawling dormitory townships of the southern part of the city. In its democratic era, the city has struggled to bring coherence and coordinating capacity to its key institutions, and has seen its social base narrow.
When São Paulo first held direct mayoral elections in 1989, the victory of Worker’s Party (PT) activist Luiza Erundina initiated a set of policy experiments that urban activists had long advocated. In particular, the housing crunch on the sprawling, crowded periphery of the city was a major focus of attention. Despite constrained national and state-level financing for housing, the Erundina city administration provided support for self-build housing by organized activist groups. These groups continued to grow and advocate for broader urban reforms.
Erundina lost her 1992 campaign as the old machine politicians of the military dictatorship era fought back control through more democratic means, most clearly exemplified by the rule of the notoriously corrupt Paulo Maluf. His large infrastructure projects made headlines and appealed to the permissive “rouba mas faz” (“he steals, but he gets things done”) attitude of many voters accustomed to underhanded political administration. Even so, the early experiments with self-build housing and the activist core that had been energized during the Erundina period continued to build steam and widen its coalition as part of a national urban reform movement.
The PT was able to win back the mayor’s seat in the city in 2001, this time with a new candidate, Marta Suplicy. She represented elements of the working class activist core of the party as well as an increasing middle class orientation. Key policies included increased housing delivery, slum upgrading, health and schools in the periphery, as well as negotiating with bus operators to bringing public buses into a unified city-wide system. Although she failed to win re-election, the Suplicy administration left its mark on urban development. The national expansion of progressive urban policies gained an institutional home under the first ever Ministry of Cities and a legislative basis in the City Statute of 2002. Furthermore, the housing and urban infrastructure programs begun in the periphery under Erundina and continued under Suplicy, were inspirations for scaled up national programs begun under the PT administrations of Luiz Ignacio “Lula” da Silva.
By the time Fernando Haddad regained the mayoral seat for the PT in 2012, the party was promising a new “urbanist” vision of city-wide mobility and environmentally sustainable development. His administration angered the car-owning middle classes with his attempts to take back more of the road for public bus-only lanes and reducing the speed limit on major freeways. This, combined with general anger at the Rousseff administration, meant that he did not win a single ward in the city in the elections of 2 October. João Doria, of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSDB), became the first mayoral candidate to win in the city without a run-off election.
The year 1995, under the first ANC government, saw the first attempt to redress the past. The plan was to amalgamate eleven separate municipal authorities into the single Metropolitan Municipality of Johannesburg under the mantra of “one city, one tax base.” This slogan echoed that used by rent and rates boycotters in the large southern township of Soweto in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The move was only a partial success, however, because developers and wealthy property owners ring-fenced their tax contributions through sub-municipal units of administration in their neighborhoods. Meanwhile, activists in black township neighborhoods were demobilized and subsumed within ANC party structures.
A second moment emerged out of a financial crisis in the municipal government in 1999, due in no small part to the withholding of taxes by residents of the wealthiest northern neighborhoods of the city. The crisis resulted in a “corporate” reorganization of key city agencies and associated management of revenue. While this centralized administration at the scale of the city, it fragmented agencies. Spatial planning in particular became difficult because line agencies such as electricity, water, roads, and trash collection, all operated on a separate revenue neutral basis, and infrastructure and operational plans were not coordinated.
Over the course of the next decade, land use planners began to develop more comprehensive planning instruments that could coordinate across departments. But developers resisted, exploiting the differences in land use plans between the Gauteng provincial government and Johannesburg city government. A landmark Constitutional Court case in 2010 sought to clarify planning power between the city and provincial governments. Nevertheless, private property developers and neighborhood-based movements of wealthy residents have innovated strategies to maintain the basic logic of Apartheid era spatial divides, without ever explicitly opposing efforts at reform.
The persistent spatial inequalities of the city, combined with national disgust over the Zuma administration’s corruption, lead to a defeat of the ANC in the city in August’s municipal elections. Turnout was historically low in many poor black areas of the city, suggesting that the election result was more of a loss for the ANC than a vote of confidence in any particular other party. The center-right Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Herman Mashaba could only assume the mayoral seat with the support of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who refused any type of formal coalition with the DA.
In both Brazil and South Africa, the history of urban policymaking helps explain not only the recent change of power in each country’s largest city, but where urban politics may be heading next. We can make two predictions from here. First, São Paulo, like Brazil as a whole, will lurch to the right, with significant privatization of state assets and more austere social expenditures. Rising inequality is likely in the short term. But there will be a strong historical basis for fighting back through civil society. The possibility of a working-middle class coalition persists in part because of the memory of attempts at institutionalizing such a coalition’s vision in successive periods of PT rule in the city. Second, Johannesburg will likely have a similar shift rightwards, which will mean going further down the same path of inequality that has characterized the city in all of its democratic era. But the basis for resistance is much less clear. The divide between working class and middle class visions for the city has yet to be overcome. In both cities, the likelihood of crafting a progressive social coalition linked to a formal political party capable of representing that coalition’s vision rests in large part on a recognition of why this has, or has not, been possible in the past.
Posted on October 28, 2016 by chswebsite
Previous Previous post: Are we witnessing a political realignment?
Next Next post: How to influence the election… legally
Follow Us & Share
http://policytrajectories.asa-comparative-historical.org/2016/10/a-rightward-shift-but-not-quite-a-shock-municipal-elections-in-brazil-and-south-africa/">
Archives Select Month December 2017 (1) August 2017 (1) July 2017 (1) June 2017 (1) May 2017 (1) April 2017 (5) February 2017 (6) January 2017 (2) December 2016 (5) November 2016 (4) October 2016 (4) September 2016 (3) August 2016 (3) July 2016 (5) June 2016 (2) May 2016 (3) April 2016 (4) March 2016 (5) February 2016 (8) January 2016 (11) December 2015 (5) November 2015 (3)
The Global Retreat from Human Rights under the Trump Administration December 12, 2017
Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains August 23, 2017
Does populism still endanger the European Union? July 14, 2017
Fake terrorism experts? June 27, 2017
Anti-Semitism Still Defines Marine Le Pen’s Front National May 6, 2017
Central European University and the Hungarian Tragedy April 23, 2017
Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States: A sociological conversation April 7, 2017
Our Political-Scientific Responsibility against the Muslim Ban April 7, 2017
The travel ban and the imagined Muslim threat April 7, 2017
The Muslim Ban and Its Opponents April 7, 2017
Gaidar Forum 2017: Global Transformation in the Context of Historical Sociology February 10, 2017
Gaidar Forum 2017: Collective investment, neoliberal fragility, and the US February 10, 2017
Gaidar Forum 2017: “Great Disorder under Heaven”: The Crisis of the Global State System February 10, 2017
Gaidar Forum 2017: A Road to Peace in West Asia February 10, 2017
Gaidar Forum 2017: Can We Have Globalization without the US? February 10, 2017
Graduate Student Workshop on the History and Politics of Public Finance February 3, 2017
History matters for understanding the future of disability rights January 31, 2017
Nations Dissolving? Populism, Nationalism, and Emotional Disintegration January 25, 2017
Communication as Perspective (part 2 of 2) December 27, 2016
Communication as Perspective: an interview with Michael Kennedy December 24, 2016
What will Trump do about NAFTA? December 19, 2016
Making Sense of Neoliberalism under the Trump Administration December 16, 2016
The Case for Block Grants December 10, 2016
What’s the matter with Iowa? November 21, 2016
What Will and Won’t Constrain Trump November 15, 2016
Fred Thompson on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Phillip Magness on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Bill Barnes on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Phil Magness on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
J.C. Bradbury on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
John Jackson on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Josh McCabe on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Kurt Newman on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Przysuchy on Book Symposium: Democracy in Chains
Richard Lachmann on Fake terrorism experts?
"The opinions expressed on the blog are authors’ own, and do not reflect those of the editorial staff, or the American Sociological Association.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1895
|
__label__wiki
| 0.507024
| 0.507024
|
Louisville International Airport
Get Louisville International Airport essential facts below. View Videos or join the Louisville International Airport discussion. Add Louisville International Airport to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
Standiford Field
Owner/Operator
Louisville Regional Airport Authority (LRAA)
Hub for
UPS Airlines
501 ft / 153 m
38°10?27?N 085°44?11?W / 38.17417°N 85.73639°W / 38.17417; -85.73639Coordinates: 38°10?27?N 085°44?11?W / 38.17417°N 85.73639°W / 38.17417; -85.73639
www.flylouisville.com
Show map of Kentucky
SDF (the United States)
Show map of the United States
17R/35L 11,887 3,623 Concrete
17L/35R 8,578 2,615 Concrete
11/29 7,250 2,210 Concrete
5,782,767,038 lbs.
Sources: FAA,[1]RITA/BTS,[2] Airport website[3]
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (IATA: SDF, ICAO: KSDF, FAA LID: SDF) is a public and military use public airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers about 1,500 acres (6.1 km2)[1] and has three runways. Its IATA airport code, SDF, is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field. It has no regularly-scheduled international passenger flights, but it is a port of entry, as it handles numerous international cargo flights.[4]
Over 3.8 million passengers and over 5.7 billion pounds (2,890,000 t) of cargo passed through the airport in 2018.[5] It is also the third-busiest in the United States in terms of cargo traffic, and seventh-busiest for such in the world.[6] The Airport will be renamed as Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.[7] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011-2015 categorized it as a "primary commercial service" airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year.[8] As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 1,684,738 enplanements in 2017, an increase of 3.26% from 1,631,494 in 2016.[9]
The airport is home to Worldport, the worldwide hub of UPS. The Kentucky Air National Guard's 123d Airlift Wing operates C-130 transport aircraft from the co-located Louisville Air National Guard Base.
On January 16, 2019 the Regional Airport Authority voted to change the name of the airport to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in honor of the legendary boxing great Muhammad Ali who is a Louisville native.[10] On June 6, 2019, the airport unveiled its new logo, featuring "Ali's silhouette, arms up and victorious, against the background of a butterfly."[11]
Standiford Field was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 on a parcel of land south of Louisville that was found not to have flooded during the Ohio River flood of 1937. It was named for Dr. Elisha David Standiford, a local businessman and politician, who was active in transportation issues and owned part of the land. The field remained under Army control until 1947, when it was turned over to the Louisville Air Board for commercial operations.[12]
Until around 1947 Bowman Field was Louisville's main airport. For many years passenger traffic went through the small brick Lee Terminal at Standiford Field. Today's more modern and much larger facilities were built in the 1980s. Most of the Lee Terminal was later torn down.[]
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 45 weekday departures on Eastern Airlines, 19 American, 9 TWA, 4 Piedmont and 2 Ozark. Scheduled jet flights (Eastern 720s to Idlewild) began in January-February 1962. Parallel runways, needed for expanded UPS operations, were part of an airport expansion begun in the 1980s.[]
When Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport was built by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 1941, it had one 4,000-foot (1,200 m) runway and was called Standiford Field. The airfield opened to the public in 1947 and all commercial service from Bowman Field moved to Standiford Field. American, Eastern, and TWA were the first airlines and had 1,300 passengers a week. The airlines used World War II barracks on the east side of the field until May 25, 1950, when a proper terminal opened. Lee Terminal could handle 150,000 passengers annually and included 6 new gates, which increased terminal space to 114,420 square feet (10,630 m2). The three runways (1, 6 and 11) were all 5000 ft.
In 1970 the terminal again expanded; the main lobby was extended and the 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) Delta Air Lines concourse was built.[12]
The 1980s brought plans for a new terminal, the Louisville Airport Improvement plan (LAIP). Construction of a new landside terminal designed by Bickel-Gibson Associated Architects Inc. began, costing $35 million with capacity for nearly 2 million passengers in 1985.[13] Most of the improvements began construction in the 1990s and the airport was totally renewed. During the 1990s Southwest Airlines passenger boardings increased 97.3 percent. In 1995 the airport's name was changed from Standiford Field to Louisville International Airport. Around that time SDF got two new parallel runways: runway 17L/35R, 8,578 feet (2,615 m) long and runway 17R/35L, 11,887 feet (3,623 m); both are 150 feet (46 m) wide. The Kentucky Air National Guard moved its base to SDF with 8 military aircraft; a new UPS air mail facility, new corporate hangars, a 4 level parking garage and a new control tower were also added. A new FBO was added, run by Atlantic Aviation and managed by Michael Perry. In 2005 a $26 million terminal renovation designed by Gensler Inc. was completed.[14] Yearly passenger enplanements are about 1.7 million and are forecast to increase in the next 5 years. Louisville International is served by several airlines including Allegiant, American, Delta, Southwest, United, FedEx, and UPS.[15] On January 16, 2019, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority voted to rename the airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, after boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native.[16]
Louisville International-Standiford Field covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) at an elevation of 501 feet (153 m). It has three concrete runways: 17R/35L is 11,887 by 150 feet (3,623 x 46 m); 17L/35R is 8,578 by 150 feet (2,615 x 46 m); 11/29 is 7,250 by 150 feet (2,210 x 46 m).[1] Runway 17R and 17L will be lengthened to 13,000 feet and 10,500 feet respectively within the next 2-3 years as an extra margin of safety for the new generation of cargo and passenger super-jets.
In the year ending May 31, 2018, the airport had 167,470 aircraft operations, an average of 459 per day: 76% airline, 15% air taxi, 7% general aviation, and 2% military. 36 aircraft were then based at this airport: 75% jet, 22% military, and 3% single-engine.[1] The terminal is named the Jerry E. Abramson Terminal Building and includes 23 gates. The airport recently added more than ten nonstop destinations, bringing the current number to 33. In the future, the focus will be on growing more nonstop destinations and investing in a program called SDF Next, which will involve more than $100 million in terminal enhancements. SDF Next will include upgrades to the moving walkways, elevators and security checkpoint, as well as significant changes to parking and rental car services. Adding Federal Inspection Services in the next four years to allow international flights, specifically Mexico, is also in the works.
Allegiant Air Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando/Sanford, Punta Gorda (FL), St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Seasonal: Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Myrtle Beach, New Orleans, Savannah [17]
American Airlines Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles [18]
American Eagle Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Washington-National [18]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta [19]
Delta Connection Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia
Seasonal: Atlanta [19]
Frontier Airlines Denver
Seasonal: Orlando [20]
Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love, Denver, Fort Lauderdale (begins November 3, 2019), Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix-Sky Harbor, Tampa [21]
United Express Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, Washington-Dulles [22]
Beckley, Charleston (WV), Decatur, Madison, Warsaw (IN)
Ameriflight Huntsville, Knoxville, Moline/Quad Cities, Peoria, Smyrna (TN), South Bend
Cincinnati, Memphis, Oakland
SkyLink Express Hamilton
Albany (GA), Albany (NY), Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Billings, Birmingham (AL), Bogotá, Boston, Buffalo, Burbank, Casablanca, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland, Cologne/Bonn, Columbia (SC), Columbus-Rickenbacker, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Dubai, East Midlands, Fargo, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Wayne, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hamilton, Harrisburg, Hartford, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Jackson (MS), Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lafayette, Lansing, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manchester (NH), McAllen, Memphis, Mexico City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montréal-Mirabel, Newark, Newburgh, New Orleans, New York-JFK, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Peoria, Philadelphia, Phoenix-Sky Harbor, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Sacramento-Mather, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose (CA), San Juan, Seattle-Boeing, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Sioux Falls, Springfield (MO), Syracuse, Tampa, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Tulsa, Vancouver, Campinas-Viracopos, Washington-Dulles, West Palm Beach
Airline market share
Carrier shares for May 2018 - April 2019[2]
Passengers (arriving and departing)
SkyWest
Busiest domestic routes from SDF (May 2018 - April 2019)[2]
1 Atlanta, Georgia 342,060 Delta
2 Chicago-O'Hare, Illinois 153,450 American, United
3 Charlotte, North Carolina 145,250 American
4 Chicago-Midway, Illinois 122,430 Southwest
5 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 121,580 American
6 Baltimore, Maryland 112,060 Southwest
7 Denver, Colorado 101,900 Frontier, Southwest, United
8 Detroit, Michigan 76,460 Delta
9 Houston-Intercontinental, Texas 67,750 United
10 New York-LaGuardia, New York 66,090 American, Delta
Annual traffic
Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at SDF, 2003 through 2018[3]
2018 3,866,057 2010 3,343,968
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is home to a Republic Airline maintenance complex, capable of holding nine planes.
In addition to commercial air traffic there is a significant amount of general aviation activity at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, for business travel and other purposes such as the Kentucky Derby.[23]
Worldport
UPS Worldport Air Hub at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS (United Parcel Service) located at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Although UPS has had a hub at Louisville since 1980, the term was not used officially by the company until 2002, after a $1 billion, five-year expansion.[24] Previously, the project was named Hub 2000. The facility is currently the size of 5.2 million square feet (48 ha; 80 football fields) and capable of handling 115 packages a second, or 416,000 per hour.[25] With over 20,000 employees, UPS is one of the largest employers in both the city of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a whole. The facility, which serves all of the company's major international and domestic hubs, mainly handles express and international packages and letters.
A UPS 757 cargo aircraft in former UPS livery.
A one-million-square-foot expansion was completed in spring 2006 to integrate heavy freight into the UPS system. The expansion was prefaced by the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, formerly Emery Worldwide. The new facility, designated Worldport Freight Facility (HWP), went online in April 2006 and was the first of the company's regional hubs to begin integrating the Menlo volume into the system. Menlo's facility in Dayton, Ohio, was taken offline in June 2006.
In May 2006, UPS announced that for the third time in seven years it would significantly expand its Worldport hub, with a second billion-dollar investment. The second expansion was completed in April 2010, with the facility now measuring 5,200,000 square feet (480,000 m2), with a perimeter of 7.2 miles (11.6 km). The plan was for more than one million square feet to be added to its existing facility, with another 334,500-square-foot (31,080 m2) of space to be renovated with new technology and equipment. Worldport sorting capacity was to expand from 300,000 packages per hour to 416,000 packages per hour. Additionally, several ramps at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport were to be built or altered bringing a total increase of just over 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2).
Since many of the jobs are part-time and overnight, UPS has hired mostly college students by offering both nationwide tuition reimbursement and a special program called Metropolitan College, in which University of Louisville and Jefferson Community and Technical College students who work part-time overnight can receive 100% tuition reimbursement.
Worldport was featured on an episode of the television show Ultimate Factories in June 2008.
On September 28, 1953, Resort Airlines Flight 1081, a Curtiss C-46 Commando leased from the USAF, crashed on landing at Louisville-Standiford Field when the aircraft ballooned slightly during the flare-out, causing a loss of control when it climbed to 300 feet and stalled. Out of the 41 on board, 22 passengers and 3 crew were killed. Failure of the left elevator during landing was the cause.[26]
On August 14, 2013, UPS Airlines Flight 1354 registration N155UP from Louisville to Birmingham, Alabama crashed while attempting to land on Runway 18 at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Both pilots were killed.
World War II portal
Kentucky World War II Army Airfields
Bowman Field
World's busiest airports by cargo traffic
Transportation in Louisville, Kentucky
^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for SDF (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 15, 2012.
^ a b c "RITA | BTS | Transtats - Louisville, KY: Louisville International-Standiford Field (SDF)". March 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved 2014.
^ a b "Reports and Statistics". Louisville Regional Airport Authority. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015.
^ US Customs and Border Patrol Archived October 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Louisville Regional Airport Authority Aviation Statistics" (PDF). December 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved 2019.
^ "Table 2 - TOTAL CARGO TRAFFIC 2013 - Preliminary World Airport Traffic and Rankings 2013 - High Growth Dubai Moves Up to 7th Busiest Airport - Mar 31, 2014". Airports Council International. March 31, 2014. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014.
^ "Louisville Hopes Renaming Airport For Muhammad Ali Is Greatest For Business". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved 2019.
^ "2011-2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.
^ "Calendar Year 2017 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF, 2.9 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. November 7, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved 2019.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved 2019. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
^ Ladd, Sarah (June 7, 2019). "Louisville's renamed Muhammad Ali International Airport debuts logo". usatoday.com. Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved 2019.
^ a b "History". Louisville International Airport. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved 2016.
^ "Engineering News-Record". 209. McGraw-Hill. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved 2012.
^ Adams, Brent (June 17, 2002). "Capital projects at Louisville Airport proceed; officials keep eye on security costs". Louisville Business First. archives.californiaaviation.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016.
^ "Airlines". Louisville International Airport. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved 2016.
^ Kobin, Billy (January 16, 2019). "Louisville is renaming its airport after Muhammad Ali". Courier Journal. courier-journal.com. Retrieved 2019.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved 2019. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
^ a b "Flight schedules and notifications". American Airlines. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved 2017.
^ a b "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved 2017.
^ "Check Flight Schedules". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved 2017.
^ "Timetable". Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved 2017.
^ Epstein, Curt (May 5, 2015). "Derby, Boxing Match Fuel Atlantic's Best Day Ever". Aviation International News. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved 2015.
^ UPS Pressroom: Press Release Archive
^ "UPS Worldport Facts". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2013.
^ Accident description for N66534 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on April 30, 2019.
Louisville International Airport, official site
Kentucky Air National Guard, official web site
Standiford Field ANG / Louisville International Airport at GlobalSecurity.org
Aerial image from USGS The National Map
FAA Terminal Procedures for SDF, effective June 20, 2019
AirNav airport information for KSDF
ASN accident history for SDF
SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSDF
FAA current SDF delay information
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
ERJ-140 Takeoff from KSDF Louisville International Airport
Louisville Airport to Be Renamed After Muhammad Ali
GTV - Shama
D'Angelo Russell Cited for Marijuana Possession at LaGuardia Airport
Smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone forces airplane evacuation
S16E05 Nancy Christy-Moore
Blue Diamond Apartments in Louisville, KY - ForRent.com
ForRent.com Clearwater Farm Apartments For Rent in ...
The Willows Apartments in Louisville, KY - ForRent.com
Blue Diamond Homes Apartments in Louisville, KY - ForRent.com
Louisville_International_Airport
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1897
|
__label__wiki
| 0.938031
| 0.938031
|
Get Nellie McKay essential facts below. View Videos or join the Nellie McKay discussion. Add Nellie McKay to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
McKay at the Farm Sanctuary 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City on May 14, 2011
Nell Marie McKay
(1982-04-13) April 13, 1982 (age 37)
Vocals, Piano
Columbia Records 2002-2006
Vanguard Records 2006-2009
Verve Records 2009-present
nelliemckay.com
Nell Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982[1]) is a British-American singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera (2006).
McKay was born in London[2] to an English father, writer-director Malcolm McKay, and an American mother, actress Robin Pappas. She holds dual citizenship. While growing up, she lived with her mother in Harlem, New York, in Olympia, Washington and in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.[3] She studied jazz voice at the Manhattan School of Music, but did not graduate. Her performances at various New York City music venues, including the Sidewalk Cafe and Joe's Pub, drew attention from record labels.[2] She signed with Columbia Records.
Nellie McKay at the Farm Sanctuary 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City
The recording sessions for McKay's debut album Get Away from Me took place in August 2003 with Geoff Emerick as producer. Emerick was known for working as the Beatles' engineer on such albums as Revolver and Abbey Road.[4] The title is a play on Norah Jones' Come Away with Me.[3] McKay is said to be the first woman to release a double album as her first release.[] Originally, her contract with Columbia called for 13 songs, but McKay aggressively lobbied her label for a double album, including bottles of wine, a PowerPoint slideshow, and a mock photo of her threatening Emerick with a gun.[]
Get Away from Me was released in February 2004. Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the album "a tour de force from a sly, articulate musician who sounds comfortable in any era".[5] The album was included on several "Best of 2004" lists.[6]
McKay was one of the major breakout artists from the 2004 SXSW Festival and was a finalist in the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. She toured the northern United States in July 2004 as an opening act on the first half of the Au Naturale tour co-headlined by Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies.[7]
McKay wrote and recorded several songs for the motion picture Rumor Has It.... The songs were released on the iTunes Store on 27 December 2005.[]
Pretty Little Head was released in the United States on 31 October 2006 on McKay's own label, Hungry Mouse, and was marketed by SpinART Records.[8] The album was the intended 23 tracks as originally planned, divided into two discs with a 44-page color booklet. Release of the album in other countries, including Canada, was delayed until November 21, 2006. After SpinART declared bankruptcy in 2007, Pretty Little Head was released by Sony Columbia.[9]
McKay made her Broadway debut as Polly Peachum in the Roundabout Theatre Company's limited-run production of The Threepenny Opera, co-starring with Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Cyndi Lauper, and Brian Charles Rooney. The role earned her a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.[10]
McKay's third full-length studio release debuted on 25 September 2007. With both of her previous albums lasting over 60 minutes and spanning two discs each, Obligatory Villagers, with only nine tracks (ten if purchased from iTunes), totaling 30 minutes was her shortest release to date.[11] The album was produced on McKay's own label, Hungry Mouse, and released by Vanguard Records. The album was recorded at Red Rock Recording Studio in the Pocono Mountains where McKay went to high school.
On October 13, 2009 she released her fourth studio album, Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day on Verve Records. The album contains twelve covers of songs made famous by Day, as well as one original tune. Barnes & Noble featured an exclusive edition, packaged with the bonus track "I Want To Be Happy".[12] iTunes also featured an exclusive edition with a different bonus track, "I'll Never Smile Again".[13]
On September 28, 2010 McKay and Verve Records released her fifth album, Home Sweet Mobile Home, with original tracks. It was produced by McKay and her mother, Robin Pappas, with artistic input from David Byrne.[14]
In 2013, McKay appeared in the Off-Broadway revue show Old Hats.[15]
On March 24, 2015 McKay released her sixth album, My Weekly Reader, a covers album of songs from the 1960s. Songs include Moby Grape's "Murder in My Heart for the Judge", The Small Faces' "Itchycoo Park", the Steve Miller Band's "Quicksilver Girl", Frank Zappa's "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", The Beatles' "If I Fell", The Cyrkle's "Red Rubber Ball", and Herman's Hermits' "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter".[16]
On February 1, 2007, McKay joined Laurie Anderson, Joan Osborne, Suzanne Vega and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra for Four Scored, a single performance of reworked songs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[17]
McKay also had a role in P.S. I Love You, a 2007 film directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. McKay was cast as Ciara Reilly, sister of Holly Kennedy (played by Hilary Swank). She has written three Christmas-themed songs, "A Christmas Dirge", "Take Me Away", and "Weed (All I Want for Christmas)".[]
McKay is featured in the song "How Are You?" on David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's concept album Here Lies Love, released in 2010. The album chronicles the life of Imelda Marcos.[18]
McKay, along with violinist Philippe Quint, starred in and contributed music to the independent film Downtown Express, directed by David Grubin.[19]
Her musical show "I Want to Live!" is based on the life of murderer Barbara Graham, who also inspired a 1958 film with the same name.[20][21] Another show, "A Girl Named Bill", draws upon the life of transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Nellie Mckay had also had her music published in the television show Weeds by Jenji Kohan.
McKay is a vocal feminist, and wrote a satirical song relating to feminist issues called "Mother of Pearl".[22]
McKay "is a proud member of PETA" (album notes); her song "Columbia Is Bleeding" dealt with the issue of Columbia University's cruelty to animals. She wrote a 2004 song ("John John") about her feelings in favor of political candidate Ralph Nader over Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.[23]
She has performed at events for the progressive radio station WBAI, Planned Parenthood, Farm Sanctuary,[24] and the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, among many groups. McKay was one of several musicians to write a song in support of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis.[25]
In 2018, she appeared on The Jimmy Dore Show, a progressive political commentary show on YouTube,[26] and performed an updated version of Country Joe McDonald's anti-war song "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag".
2004: Get Away from Me
2006: Pretty Little Head
2007: Obligatory Villagers
2009: Normal as Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day
2010: Home Sweet Mobile Home
2015: My Weekly Reader
2018: Sister Orchid
Soundtracks and covers
2005: Grey's Anatomy (TV series) : "David", "The Dog Song"
2005: Rumor Has It... : "Pasadena Girl", "Face of a Faith"
2005: Monster-in-Law : "Won't U Please B Nice"
2005: Weeds : "David"
2007: P.S. I Love You : ""P.S. I Love You"
2010: Terrible Thrills, Vol. 1
2010: Downtown Express
2010: Boardwalk Empire : "Wild Romantic Blues"
Collaborations and other appearances
2005: "If I Needed Someone" off the album This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul
2009: "Light and Night" as a single with the band Tally Hall
2010: "How Are You?" off the album Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
2016: "Pack Up Your Sorrows" duet with Richard Barone off his album Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s
"The In Crowd"
"John-John"
"Teresa"
"Late Again"
"A Christmas Dirge"
"Take Me Away"
"The Cavendish"[27]
"Compared to What" (Original written and performed by Les McCann, Nellie McKay has included it in her performances during 2015.)
2007 P.S. I Love You Ciara Reilly
2010 Downtown Express Ramona
^ VanAirsdale, S.T. "Nellie McKay: The Musician, the Myth, the... Movie Star?". Movieline. Retrieved 2016.
^ a b Gay, Jason (May 18, 2003). "Whoa, Nellie". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008.
^ a b Tannenbaum, Rob (April 4, 2004). "Her Life Is a Cabaret". New York.
^ Hurwitz, Matt (September 1, 2004). "Recording Nellie McKay's Get Away From Me with Geoff Emerick". Mix Magazine.
^ Pareles, Jon (February 8, 2004). "Flying Hitlers and Pepsi's Super Bowl Fumble". The New York Times.
^ "Metacritic: Best Albums of 2004".
^ Schweizer, Barbara. "barenaked-music.ch - BNL News (english)". www.barenaked-music.ch. Retrieved .
^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (October 6, 2006). "Arts, Briefly". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010.
^ "Nellie McKay - Pretty Little Head". Discogs. Retrieved .
^ "Theatre World Awards Recipients". Retrieved 2017.
^ Nellie McKay: Review, rollingstone.com; accessed February 14, 2017.
^ "Nellie McKay's "Normal As Blueberry Pie-A Tribute to Doris Day" on NPR Music". No Depression. 2009-10-07. Retrieved .
^ Normal As Blueberry Pie - A Tribute to Doris Day (Bonus Track Version) by Nellie McKay, 2009-01-01, retrieved
^ "Home Sweet Mobile Home - Nellie McKay | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved .
^ Isherwood, Charles (March 4, 2013). "Aging Clowns and Brand-New Gags". The New York Times.
^ "My Weekly Reader - Nellie McKay | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved .
^ The Brooklyn Paper: 'Four-Scored': Laurie Anderson joins the Philharmonic at BAM, brooklynpaper.com; accessed February 14, 2017.
^ "David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Here Lies Love". Discogs. Retrieved .
^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia and Tom Huizenga (June 8, 2011). "Classic And Indie Rock Collide On The Big Screen in 'Downtown Express'". NPR.
^ Holden, Stephen (March 24, 2011). "Bringing Out the Bad Girl for Some Tough Times". The New York Times.
^ DiNunzio, Miriam (February 9, 2012). "Speaking With .... Nellie McKay". Chicago Sun-Times.
^ Pareles, Jon (December 17, 2007). "A Multi-Voiced Warbler With an Electric Ukulele". The New York Times.
^ "NPR: All Songs Considered: Political Songs & Satire". NPR. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved 2017.
^ Heyman, Marshall (May 16, 2011). "Saving Pigs, Not Eating Them". The Wall Street Journal.
^ Powers, Ann (September 21, 2011). "Songs For Troy Davis: Why Musicians Take On Death Row". NPR.
^ The Jimmy Dore Show (2018-06-04), The Amazing Nellie McKay's Anti-War Song Update!, retrieved
^ Boilen, Bob (2008-04-02). "Nellie McKay Reveals 'Cavendish'". NPR. Retrieved .
Nellie McKay - Official Website
Nellie McKay on IMDb
Nellie McKay at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Trouser Press entry
Nellie McKay - David
Nellie McKay - In a Sentimental Mood
Nellie McKay David
Nellie McKay :: I Wanna Get Married (live)
Nellie Mckay - The Dog Song - Letterman
Nellie McKay :: The Dog Song (live 2007)
Nellie McKay "Zombie"
Nellie McKay - The In Crowd
Nellie McKay - Ding Dong on Jools Holland
Nellie McKay :: Mountain Stage Interview 11.01.09
Nellie McKay - The Dog Song
Nellie McKay - "Suitcase Song"
Guitar Man - Bread (David Gates 1972) - Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Billy Joel, Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay - The Very Thought Of You (Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson 1-11-10).avi
Nellie McKay :: Ding Dong (live 2008)
Nellie McKay :: Long & Lazy River (live 2007)
Nellie McKay on Cool In Your Code
Nellie McKay sorry at late show
Nellie_McKay
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1898
|
__label__wiki
| 0.554249
| 0.554249
|
Savage Arena
Savage Arena. Joe Tasker. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1982. 270 pages, 52 black and white photographs, 8 sketch maps, 6 diagrams. $18.95.
Climbing, more than most sports, seems to foster the autobiographical urge. At its most difficult, its violent changes of mood offer considerable opportunity for introspection. Possibly, it may be too personal and subjective an experience to really write about effectively. However, when an attempt is made, there is no doubt that it must include a certain amount of soul searching if the tale is not to bog down irksomely in technical jargon.
Joe Tasker died on Mount Everest in 1982, a fact that makes it difficult to think about Savage Arena objectively. I was brought up to believe that an autobiography written in the prime of life would, of necessity, be incomplete. But this is not necessarily the case in writing about climbing, where memories of a septuagenarian may not reliably recall the intensity of the mountaineering experience. Nor can a climber of Tasker’s caliber, with his high ambition, count on a long span of “sunset” years in which to reflect. We are lucky to have one book by him, let alone three. (He also wrote Everest: The Cruel Way and, with Peter Boardman, The Shining Mountain. )
Savage Arena certainly adds something to our view of the cutting edge of modern Himalayan climbing. In it, Tasker describes both the debilitating effects of these climbs and the subsequent epic descents with candor.
The contradictory facets of his personality apparently worked together to produce the successful ascents of which he writes: a strong romanticism coupled with hard-nosed practicality and a love of life alongside a willingness to accept death. Yet, there are anecdotes in this book that make one wonder whether to praise the author for his honesty or to criticize him for his insensitivity. He speaks as candidly of his intolerance of Asian bureaucracies and his tentmates’ habits as he does of a hit-and-run incident with a herd of goats. He writes almost as if he knew that by the time this book appeared in print, he would be beyond reproach. Indeed, throughout much of the book, Tasker dwells on what he sees as auguries of his own fate, only to reject them each time, as anyone who continues to climb at that level must, with the argument that the risks are, however, closely calculated. It is astounding to read of the rapidity with which he recovered from near-fatal efforts only to go right back for another attempt. Therein lies much of the fascination of the book and of the man.
Having been to some of the places of which he writes and having met some of the people, I find his descriptions accurate. Yet, at times, their brevity is annoying, particulary in the nonclimbing segments. For instance, there is only one sentence about Skardu, a brief mention of the “rigorous atmosphere of Islam” and almost nothing about Kathmandu. I find it hard to believe that most climbers are as uninterested in these adjuncts of the mountain experience as Tasker seems to be. This same taciturnity leads him to give tantalizingly incomplete glimpses of his own past and psychological makeup. He mentions his seven years in a seminary almost in passing, yet I got the feeling that his reasons for being there, and for leaving, are closely bound to his climbing.
To fault the book for these omissions is not really to fault it at all. This is a fine collection of gripping adventures, good inspirational reading before one’s next climb. It flows quickly and easily and the photographs complement the text well.
Yet the more books I read about climbing, the more I wonder why no book on the subject has quite the same relevance to our lives as Hemingway’s writing about fishing or Saint-Exupery’s about flying. Until such a genius comes along, Joe Tasker’s book will suffice. All the essential ingredients are in Savage Arena : serious situations, profound emotions, exotic locations and aesthetic sensibility.
Ron Matous
Illampu, Northwest Face, Tiquimani, South Face and Huayna Potosí, West ...
Arjuna, First Ascent by West Face
Gasherbrum II and Hidden Peak — New Routes
Bubbs Creek Wall, Aquaman
South America, Chile—Central Andes, Various Ascents
Everest: The Ultimate Challenge
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1900
|
__label__wiki
| 0.616356
| 0.616356
|
I saw Skyfall last night, having skilfully avoided spoilers for a couple of weeks. I’m not really a big Bond fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed Casino Royale, which appeared to be a more modern, gritty and open-minded take on what had really become an oily slick and dated super-spy overblown popcorn fest. Although follow-up Quantum of Solace was a disappointment, I’d heard great things about Skyfall. Many reviews had proclaimed it to be the best Bond ever, and I’d also seen a surprising amount of commentary from people arguing the film marked a turning point regarding Bond and sexism. Several such columns were written by women. This all sounded very promising.
Perhaps this is why the film shocked me. Not in terms of the plot, which was generally ham-fisted, illogical, and yet trying really very hard to be clever; instead, it merely overcomplicated things, leading to a surprisingly flabby run-time. Not in terms of the set-pieces, which had their moments but rarely elevated themselves beyond typical action fare (and having recently seen Dredd—a hardcore take on action films—Bond was PG by comparison). No, what shocked me was James Bond seemingly forgetting what century it’s set in, and those in charge doing a semi-reboot and partying like it’s 1969.
Note that if you’ve not watched the film yet, you might want to stop reading, because there are spoilers ahead.
Spoilery spoilers.
OK, then…
Not every film is going to promote equality and nor should it be forced to. Real-life has sexism, and so it goes that characters within movies will be sexist, including Bond. To some extent, this is a given: Bond is portrayed as a cold-hearted weapon that uses anything as a tool to get his way and succeed in his mission. However, this does not excuse the Bond film itself from extolling the same values. In other words, just because Bond is a sexist who discards women like candy wrappers, there’s no reason why the film itself cannot offer strong women as characters. Indeed, Bond has offered strong women recently, such as the relatively complex Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, and also Judi Dench’s wonderfully hard-arsed M, for me one of the few redeeming aspects of the Brosnan Bonds.
Here are the women I specifically remember from Skyfall, and how I read what the film did with them:
The unnamed woman Bond wakes up with, having survived in an unlikely manner his being shot and falling hundreds of feet to a river, and then plunging over a waterfall. Did she save his life? Who knows? She doesn’t get an introduction, nor a single word of dialogue. She’s just set-dressing—titillation that doesn’t even really move on Bond’s story. (The entire section could easily have been cut right to a drunk Bond attempting to down a shot with a scorpion on his hand.)
Sévérine, a victim of constant sexual abuse (having been enslaved by traffickers for a number years), a fact that she shares with Bond, while visibly shaking. Knowing this, and despite saying he could help her, Bond’s next act is to sneak into Sévérine’s room and have sex with her in the shower. A couple of scenes later, she’s tied up with a glass of whisky on her head, and unceremoniously dispatched by the film’s bad guy. Bond quips that was a “waste of good scotch”, which is just astonishingly callous. It reduces Sévérine to nothing but a plot-device vehicle, and transforms Bond into an utterly irredeemable shit, beyond all hope. But compare this to the Bond in Casino Royale who comforted Vesper Lynd in the shower when she was shaken. In Skyfall, he’d have probably just shagged her too. I was wondering if at some point, Daniel Craig would tear off his mask, revealing a laughing Roger Moore underneath.
A female MP leading an enquiry, whose main role appeared to be banging on a bit before being told to pipe down by a man.
M, as previously mentioned, a capable head of MI6, only in this film she’s rebooted as a relatively inept head of MI6. Although she somewhat gets to show her worth towards the end of the film, setting up booby traps during a firefight, she’s ultimately killed for no obvious plot reason, and immediately replaced by a man, because that’s clearly the way things should be at the top of MI6!
Eve, a capable, tough agent, who is ordered to take a shot that results in Bond being hit rather than the bad guy MI6 were chasing. For reasons unknown, Eve doesn’t shoot again (perhaps through shock). Regardless, she subsequently saves Bond later in the film, yet decides to become a secretary, given that the non-shock reveal was that her surname is Moneypenny.
So if you’re taking note, women in Skyfall are one or more of disposable, throwaway, incompetent, “know their place” or set dressing. With Dench’s departure, the only confirmed recurring role will be Moneypenny, and I can only hope she won’t be the Moneypenny of old, but a new incarnation who does more than receive Bond’s bursts of innuendo. But given how the writers cast women in Skyfall, I’m not optimistic.
Again, that Bond himself as a character is clearly sexist isn’t the issue— it’s that Purvis, Wade and Logan churned out a script that marginalised women and reset Bond to the 1960s. What’s even more baffling is how Skyfall has been championed as a less sexist and more modern take on the character, rather than the throwback that it is.
Further reading: Giles Coren’s Bond, Villain, in which he states the shower scene was “so vile, sexist and sad that it made me feel physically sick”.
November 17, 2012. Read more in: Film
12 comments on “Skyfall: James Bond’s return to male-gaze misogyny”
Thank you for posting an honest, insightful review. The shower scene was just terrible. Couldn’t believe it. Agree with you on every level.
I even being a guy thought the shower scene was weird to say the least. I don’t think he really tried to save the girl either, even though he could have probably disarmed everyone in the scene, as he did so many times in this movie.
Am I the only one who thinks the ‘waste of a good scotch’ scene was one big product placement for the scotch. Which actually Makes it even more sexist than if it was just meant to be a sexist bond line.
After all the positive reviews I feel betrayed by this movie. And all your points in this review are spot on.
Yep, no clue why this movie got such good reviews. It started out fine, with hints of an interesting spy mystery, but quickly devolved. It easily manages to top the most horrid misogyny of the earlier Bond movies, and if this doesn’t deter you from seeing it, be advised that the second part of the movie completely abandons any hints of a plot, and merely ends up as a poor copy of Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13.
You state at the beginning that you’re not very familiar with Bond, so I’m going to attempt to address your concerns.
1) The unnamed woman was there to set the scene for Bond’s character: he’s a womanizer, an addict, and a killer. The movies and books don’t try to glamorize it, in fact he’s often paying the price for that throughout the entire series, which is why he and M have such a love/hate relationship. She’s also there to say that Bond’s enjoying his fake death/retirement, boozing and sleeping around in true Bond fashion, and that’s it’s only going to take a huge terrorist attack to get him back because he doesn’t really want to be back.
2) Sévérine is a Bond Girl. The Bond Girl has, since Flemming created Bond, served as the means for Bond’s demise, often sleeping with him and then aiding in his assassination, kidnapping, or otherwise emotional distress. The femme fatale acrchetype in her truest form. In Skyfall, she seduces him, serves as the liaison between him and Silva, and gets him kidnapped. Had Bond reacted the way he was feeling to her murder, he would have gotten himself killed, and MI6 wouldn’t have been able to capture Silva. Also Bond never loved Sévérine, he was using her. Because he’s an asshole. Because that’s the way his character was written, and in no way has Flemming or the producers tried to make him seem like a decent human being. Decent human beings make for terrible spy characters.
3) Don’t know why this is an issue and I don’t really remember the scene so I’ll leave this out.
4) Unfortunately, M had to be killed off. Judi Dench is going blind and is unable to appear in anymore Bond films because of it. She will be greatly missed. But, M was only deemed incompetent by Mallory because he thought she was getting old. Which was a recurring theme throughout the entire movie. M getting too old to run MI6, the 00 unit being obsolete, Bond being too old for field work. It’s the 50th anniversary of James Bond this year, so the whole movie was basically a throwback to old-school Bond, hence the “old” theme, the old cars, the old technology, Bond’s and M’s pasts coming back to haunt them in the form of psychopathic ex-agents and childhood trauma. It was the entire point of the movie.
5) Moneypenny! I think they portrayed her as a field agent to give Bond and her their relationship. If you’re familiar with the old Bond films, you know they kind of have a flirty friendship thing going on, and there’s a connection between the two, and I think the directors wanted to explore the depth of her character and her relationship to Bond. Again with the old school Bond themes, introducing her in to the mix. Moneypenny was ultimately created by Flemming as a secretary, so it was obviously her destiny in Skyfall to end up as one after deciding field work wasn’t for everyone. I think is made her totally bad ass and a way more interesting character. Also she doesn’t shoot again because the shock of killing her friend made her lose the target and he disappeared under the tunnel.
Basically, this is a spy thriller. Don’t look at Bond as a hero, he’s absolutely not and never claimed to be. You’ll have a much better time accepting him as the womanizing asshole that he is. Just because he’s the protagonist of the story doesn’t make him a hero.
Elizabeth: I state that I’m “not really a big Bond fan”, not that I’m unfamiliar with the series. And the main point that I made was that there’s a big difference between Bond being a sexist/misogynistic arsehole and an entire production being taken in that direction. The way the writers have shaped Bond post-Casino Royale is clearly as an irredeemable git, which is a pity—he could have actually had some depth. But that’s no excuse for setting the women in Skyfall in the way that they did.
Regarding your overviews, the point I made with the unnamed women wasn’t that Bond was shagging her, but that she was literally throwaway—not by Bond but by the entire film. You say that was the point, but that also sets the scene for how the entire production treated women. As for Sévérine, she is not a femme fatale—she’s a petrified sexual abuse victim. She says she’d been owned by traffickers. The clear inference is she was regularly abused/raped. So the next thing Bond does is sneak into her shower and make references to her now being defenceless as he fucks her. I’ve seen quite a lot of commentary on this scene going further than I did, describing it as a rape. At the very least, that scene alone showcases some very serious problems in the film’s script, and it absolutely demanded far more context to be in any way justifiable from a film-making perspective (not a Bond-as-a-person perspective).
On Dench, she’s quoted as saying: “In response to the numerous articles in the media concerning my eye condition—macular degeneration—I do not wish for this to be overblown. […] It’s something that I have learnt to cope with and adapt to—and it will not lead to blindness.” She does have deteriorating vision, but she also has “no plans to retire”. For whatever reason, it was decided she would no longer be in Bond. I cannot find any reference stating why she has left the series, but again my points were about the nature in which Skyfall tore down aspects of her character and the manner in which she went out with a whimper (becoming the damsel in distress, dying in Bond’s arms). How much more interesting would it have been for her to have taken down the villain and for that to have been her end? For her to have saved Bond? But, no, because this is the 1960s in 2012.
Finally, Moneypenny. Just because Moneypenny was a secretary in the books, there’s no reason why she should end up as one in the new films—it’s not like they’re slavishly following the source material. Frankly, it’s insulting to a great field agent to end up in such a position, simply to align with 1950s/1960s attitudes. (The one exception I’d make: if Bond was literally a film set in that era, Mad Men-style. But it isn’t.) I have no problem with her quitting field work, but if her character remains behind that desk, doing little of anything: ugh. At the very least, she showed her tactical savvy and ability throughout the remainder of the film, and that would be utilised by any agency that didn’t decide women need subjugating. I guess in the next film everyone will see precisely what version of MI6 the writers wish to portray.
Yeah the “waste of good scotch” line is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in a while. Spent the rest of the movie hoping he’d just get shot.
MediumRob says:
Well, I’m going to sit on a fence, and both agree and disagree. Collectively, it is poor for female characters as a movie, even if most of the individual acts of misogyny can be justified in context. It has problems as a movie anyway, since it doesn’t make a lick of sense (what _exactly_ is Silva’s plan? Why Bond in Scotland rather than the SAS? And so on), and the ending – as has been pointed out – is the ending to Crocodile Dundee 2, which itself made more sense.
However, I think there are a few things that are a little more nuanced.
1) Yes, Tonia Sotiropoulou doesn’t get any lines or character, but then neither really does anyone else, even Bond, at that point. It’s a series of scenes designed to show that he’s lost all meaning and purpose so is throwing his life away on empty sex, drink and stupid scorpion-based bets. He needs to be a spy and without that, he doesn’t want to live.
And while that could have been demonstrated without TS, it’s a Bond film and that’s the nature of the character – people forget that before he was chasing after Eva Green in Casino Royale, his established nature was to shag married women because they were less complicated. I’ve even seen complaints from the likes of Fleet Street Fox that half the point of a Bond film is the shagging and there isn’t much in Skyfall. TS at least goes some way towards fulfilling the needs of that segment of the audience.
2) The shower scene is absolutely unforgivable and disgusting. The Scotch line is, I think, intended both as a distraction and is an attempt by Bond to pretend that he’s not been affected by her being shot. But I know this line has had a lot of different interpretations, so I’m not going to defend it strenuously. It stood out a bit, I think, as a rubbish and unnecessary line more than as a sign of the throwaway nature of women. At the very worst, you can excuse it as Bond’s regarding her as throwaway, which is the nature of the character (Casino Royale the book’s final line, more or less, is him calling Vespa a bitch because she was a traitor).
3) Yep. Bad female role. Individually, not a problem, but as part of the whole movie, a problem. Arguably, she’s only there to give Ralph Fiennes a way to build his character, which is necessary for the future series, but is rubbish for women.
4) Judi Dench is quitting – it’s her decision not to do any more but I don’t think that’s because of her blindness. But she could have been written out better. All the same, she is both old and not supposed to have been a field agent whereas both Silva and Bond are so you can’t really have her taking down Silva and Bond doing nothing. Retirement would have been a reasonable option.
And as for whether it has to be a man replacing her, if the whole thing in its own weird way is supposed to be one of a continuing series of prequels to the Bond movies as we know them that will eventually give us a fully formed Bond with a fully formed MI6, then first we have to have a male M as per the books with a secretary called Moneypenny as per the books. Then we’ll eventually have it being run by Judi Dench with the assistance of another secretary called Moneypenny. Don’t ask. You’ll be wondering how he got the Aston Martin from Thunderball before he’s even met Dr No next.
5) Moneypenny couldn’t have taken another shot – too long to reaim and/or reload (? I forget whether it was a semi or bolt-loader) before the train passes under the bridge. But yes, her suddenly deciding after a movie of kick-assness to become a secretary was ridiculous. The least they could have done was given her a war wound at some point that incapacitated her, forcing her to take a desk job. Hell, they didn’t really need to give Fiennes the wound – he could have been heroic and protected someone while Moneypenny got shot protecting M. Wouldn’t have taken much of a rewrite to do that.
To be fair to the movie, though, Moneypenny is barely a character in the books at all and it’s Bond various secretaries, particularly Mary Goodknight, who get all the limelight. Even The Moneypenny Diaries fail to give her much to do in terms of daring do, so this is the absolute most any (authorised) Moneypenny has ever had to do in any medium ever. But they could have done a lot better.
So that’s me fence-sitting for you.
Alicyn says:
I walked out of Skyfall with my head full of everything you said in your two closing paragraphs. I was so worried that all those thoughts were in my head only. Thank you for confirming my sanity.
Thanks a lot for this post!
Dunya says:
Thank you so much for this.
I thought all the same things. Very disturbing.
In response to Elizabeth:
Everything about this movie was sexist and misogynistic. Everything.
The movie starts off with predictable jokes about a woman’s driving inability. Lesson one for young girls: Women, even when they are working as MI6 operatives, can’t drive.
During the first chase scene, the female operative continues to be a largely useless helper that James easily outshines, but as he is the main character and supposed to be a bit of a bad-ass (not getting into harmful male stereotypes in this particular rant), I suppose we can ignore the fact that his hapless helper is female, as I’m sure anyone would look hapless with comparison to macho James.
Lesson two for young girls: Women, even accomplished MI6 operatives, are hapless, and hopeless.
Now comes the disturbing and mysoginistic part. We are introduced to this film’s bond girl, as usual a curvaceous and beautiful woman valued solely for her appearance. I make that assumption, because when we meet the character, we don’t hear a thing out of her mouth, but we do get to check her out for quite a while.
Lesson three for young girls: The most important thing about a woman is the way she looks, and she exists to be observed and evaluated by men.
This particular bond girl, we quickly learn, is also a former sex-worker. This detail is important, as it serves to undervalue her, since, as we later find out, she is a “thing” to be possessed by men, including James.
Lesson four for young girls: If you have been a sex worker, (or are otherwise “stained” as in, not a virgin) you are worthless.
We find out that this “sex worker” is “owned” by a powerful, violent and feared man who has 3 male bodyguards watching her every move at all times.
Lesson five for young girls: Men own you. They can and should scrutinize your every move and have control over your decisions and body.
James promises to “rescue” the poor, abused sex worker, only to, a scene later, walk into a shower with her, uninvited, and make a comment about the fact that her gun is no longer on her (e.g. she is defenseless). She, being the “object”, unquesioningly submits to his sexual advances without even inquiring as to how he mysteriously appeared in her apartment, let alone her shower, naked.
Lessons six and seven for young girls: Women are to be rescued by men. Women are to submit to sex from men unquestioningly, even under the most “strange” of circumstances (e.g. complete stranger shows up naked in your shower).
The most blatant and obvious mysoginism occurs when the villain in the movie makes a comment about how, when “things” in his life become redundant, he “gets rid of them”. We flash to the tied-up, bleeding, beaten Bond girl. The “villain” decides to ask James to participate in a contest testing his marksmanship by putting a shot glass on the woman’s head and asking James to aim for it. James, being the chivalrous knight he is, misses. The “villain” then shoots the woman in the stomach. Neither man flinches. The woman is left for dead.
Lesson eight for young girls: You are a “thing”. Not just that, you are a “redundant” thing. When a man has had his fill of you, he will dispose of you. He can beat you. He can turn your body into a target for a gun, for sport. He can even kill you and not flinch. He can even watch you get killed and make a callous joke about it.
There is no excuse for this. None. I don’t care who his character is. Saying and doing that does nothing to advance his character as a womanizing asshole (we knew that before he made the joke and made no attempt to save the woman). Disposing of a woman in this way does nothing to advance the plot (she could have just as easily been killed off in an impersonal explosion). But no. The writers specifically CHOSE to murder her, in cold blood, with James watching and making a joke about it. It was blatant, obvious violence towards women. If that offends you, good. It should. If it doesn’t, that’s very scary.
When Jame’s car is blown up by the villain, the famed musical score swells and we see him get perceptibly worked up about his car. We can almost see him thinking, “Now I’m gonna get you.” Not so when he sees a person being murdered in cold blood in front of his eyes… not just any person either, but a person he just slept with. But alas,… she was definitely worth less than the car. (Sarcasm).
They end up killing M off and replacing her with a male. No surprises there. Judy Dench was getting a little “too wrinkly” and old to be in the James Bond franchise any longer (not according to me, but definitely according to the mysoginist male producers of the film). She also had another major flaw: a vagina.
The coworker James began the movie working side by side with “chooses” to change to a desk job and becomes his secretary, Moneypenny.
Lessons nine and ten for young girls: Even the most accomplished older woman becomes incompetent in old age and is easily replaced by a man. And women aren’t really meant for action, or driving, or saving the world. When not working as “sex workers” and being owned, raped, beaten, and killed by men, they should work as their underlings and secretaries.
In 2012. This was shown on the big screen. This made money. In 2012.
Slow clap for people who say they don’t see the “point” to feminism in 2012.
pams says:
Hated it! Was the only one in our group who did, but did. Hated that the agent turns into a secretary. Hated that M didn’t take the shot to kill herself and the villain since she was dying anyway. Hated that M had to be “rescued” by Bond. Hated the way they killed Severin. Hated that M was made so incompetent. Hated the whole thing. Will NEVER see another Bond film!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1901
|
__label__wiki
| 0.586661
| 0.586661
|
Sailor Moon S Part 2 will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray in June
Posted on April 6, 2017 by Adam
We finally have confirmation from Viz Media that the second part of Sailor Moon S will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray in June. We previously had only learned, based on an insert included in the Sailor Moon S Part 1 release, that it would be out in Spring 2017. The first day of Summer is June 21st so if the release is out before the 21st it will technically count as Spring! All of this was announced by Viz Media at Anime Boston’s Moon Panel which was held this past Saturday April 1st.
Twitter user Absolute Zero Now was live tweeting the panel and snapped a couple of relevant photos. The first is of a slide stating the release would be out in May but the second stating it would be out in June. This was confirmed by Viz Media as being the updated and correct date at the panel and on Twitter.
This release will include episode 109 to 127, concluding the Sailor Moon S season with the battle with Mistress 9 and the appearance of Sailor Saturn. The set will include the new English dub by Viz which has not previously been heard. Bonus features will include interviews with the cast, production art and more. This release still does not have a listing on the stores of online retailers such as Amazon and Right Stuf. These should be up in the coming months as a specific release date is determined.
The original Sailor Moon anime will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray starting November 11th
Sailor Moon Crystal’s English dub is coming to Hulu in November and Blu-Ray in 2016 plus the English voices for the Witches 5 have been announced
Meet Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin, Susan Roman and Toby Proctor at Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con June 19th to the 21st and OZ Comic-Con Melbourne June 27th and 28th
Viz’s new English voice actors for Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Saturn and more revealed at the Anime Expo Sailor Moon Panel
Meet Stephanie Sheh and Michelle Ruff and see Viz’s Official Sailor Moon Panel at C2E2 in Chicago this weekend
This entry was posted in Sailor Moon Anime (1992) and tagged Anime Boston, Blu-Ray, DVD, Sailor Moon S, Viz, Viz English Dub by Adam. Bookmark the permalink.
14 thoughts on “Sailor Moon S Part 2 will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray in June”
Zaya on April 6, 2017 at 10:20 am said:
Luke Yannuzzi on April 6, 2017 at 11:10 am said:
After that we should get information about the VIZ dub of Sailor Moon Super S (aka the fourth season).
Stephanie Shockley on April 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm said:
Ya, it was announced on April Fools Day. So this may not be true.
Joseph on April 7, 2017 at 1:57 am said:
The first Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was announced near or on April 1, so that was a confusing! But I think this is legit.
Luke Yannuzzi on April 9, 2017 at 3:37 pm said:
In the short stories, I think that Mina is a short tempered, stubborn, and hot headed brat better than Raye who is not.
Drew on April 6, 2017 at 3:49 pm said:
Yes! Part 2 has a bunch of episode I’m dying to see. Despite it was announced on April’s Fool’s, they should be telling us the truth.
Rami Ungar on April 6, 2017 at 4:44 pm said:
About bloody time.
Luke Yannuzzi on April 7, 2017 at 2:43 am said:
If someone comments me, please know that I usually don’t find Rei’s comment about Usagi being last to the arcade playfully teasing. Please reply.
supersonicjc on April 10, 2017 at 3:45 am said:
finally the better half of the season will be coming and we can hear the rest of the English redub cast, plus that just means that super s and stars for the first time in English will be coming out hopefully before 2019 at the current releases which is sad but if they give us the last 4 sets sooner then that im all for it, cant wait to spend money on this set and hopefully we soon hear if they will be doing English dub of crystal season 3 plus any info on season 4 and stars ???? I don’t care if this is an april fools or not the fandom all demand this to be true lol
Pinoydatu on April 13, 2017 at 6:34 am said:
I’m scared that world events could put a stop to Sailor Stars getting an English dub.
Madd on April 11, 2017 at 8:37 am said:
I wish they would release it sooner. After the last wait which was clearly not for quality, this is a disappointing timeframe. I hope this time it means they would have better quality video, but I doubt it. I can’t believe with that delay for S part 1 they still had inaccurate dialogue/translations and bad video quality. Hopefully this release will be better.
Anna on May 23, 2017 at 9:43 am said:
On Twitter, someone had placed a photo of the moon panel and shows the cards that will be available when you buy Sailor Moon S part 2 on Rightstuf. Photo at the link below
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DATSPFJXsAcfx6I.jpg:large
Roxanne on June 1, 2017 at 9:39 pm said:
Will SAILORMOON S part 2 be on AUSTRALIA ITUNES because part 1.is
Leave a Reply to Luke Yannuzzi Cancel reply
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1908
|
__label__wiki
| 0.765138
| 0.765138
|
Archbishop Nichols reminds Marriage Care to follow Church teaching
The Archbishop of Westminster has warned Marriage Care that it must conform to Catholic teaching after it emerged that the charity is offering marriage preparation services to same-sex couples.
The charity, which receives money from the Catholic Church, states: “Our counselling service is open to and welcomes everybody over the age of 16, married or not, straight or not.” It also offers marriage preparation and “welcome all couples considering a committed relationship such as marriage”.
A spokesman for Archbishop Vincent Nichols, president of Marriage Care, said his role was exercised “solely on the basis that the charitable objects… are to provide relationship counselling, marriage preparation and relationship education services to ‘promote and support marriage and family life in accordance with the Church’s vision of marriage as a vocation of life and love’.”
He added: “It is the legal and fiduciary responsibility of the directors of the company to ensure that the charitable objects of Catholic Marriage Care Limited are observed and fulfilled. The provision of services in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church is also a requirement for Catholic Marriage Care Limited to maintain its continued use of the title Catholic within its designation and to retain the patronage of one of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales.”
– CatholicHerald.co.uk.
Archbishop of WestminsterCatholic_ChurchMarriage / familyVincent Nichols
Previous PostHenri Nouwen, Gay Priest and “Wounded Healer”Next PostAndrew Sullivan on Henri Nouwen and the “Blessing” of Homosexuality
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1909
|
__label__wiki
| 0.7167
| 0.7167
|
An independent digital magazine about everything Iraqi
To Ali Wadi
By Nabil Salih
Apr 11, 2017 in Politics Tags: Love, Refugees
Every day, television screens and social media feeds are inundated by horrifying images of ordinary people risking their lives to cross the seas to Europe. Thousands die while desperately trying to escape poverty, deprivation and what seems to be an endless war. And for those that survive the life threatening journey, new perils await as they’re often faced with racist attacks and the constant threat of imminent deportation.
Amidst this massive human catastrophe, in November of 2015, Reuters reported the death of seven people in a helicopter crash in eastern Slovakia. A spokesman for the Slovak interior ministry at the time stated that, “The Mi-2 helicopter with Ukrainian markings was flying at a low altitude in very bad weather conditions as if it was trying to avoid being detected.”
I came to know about this accident because one of the people on board the helicopter was Ali Abed, a 25 year old Iraqi young man, who had recently graduated from Ternopil State Medical University in western Ukraine. He was also a good friend of mine.
Ali and I met in Tenopil, where I was studying pharmacy at the same university, and we kept in touch when I returned to Baghdad, while he stayed to complete his degree. Like thousands of others, he also wanted to forge a better future away from his troubled homeland, and so he also engaged on this journey of death.
I found about his death in the same way that we find out about the deaths of thousands, scrolling by on a Facebook newsfeed. It was a post of his picture, smiling, just as I remembered seeing him last, but this time, his picture was part of a stream of condolences and commemorations.
Disadvantaged and underprivileged youth like Ali, fleeing war-torn countries, die every day, but their names are never mentioned nor are their stories known to the world. This is Ali’s story.
Leaving Baghdad
Shortly after graduation, Ali and a group of his friends tried to cross into countries of the European Union through its eastern borders and travel to Belgium by car, where they would seek asylum. But heavy security on the roads at the time brought an early end to their trip.
He returned to Baghdad, with a medical degree in hand, but his stay there would be short lived as well. The lack of opportunities and numerous dangerous obstacles facing doctors in Iraq often force ambitious junior doctors to recede and escape the lawless country, and that’s exactly what Ali did. He moved back to Ukraine, armed only with a plan to reach Germany this time, and seek out a better life for himself.
After returning to Ukraine, Ali would tell his friends that he hooked up with a local smuggler, who would get him across the border by helicopter in November.
“He wasn’t feeling good about it. He was skeptical, unsure if it was the best way to cross from Ukraine into the EU,” said Hussein, Ali’s roommate and best friend, as he sent me pictures of them together over Facebook Messenger.
“They kept him in a small apartment in a rural town. Ali said it was timeworn and dingy, and that it reminded him of Chernobyl,” he added.
On the 11th of November, at around 2 in the morning, Ali texted Hussein saying a car would take him to the helicopter, and take off within an hour. The journey was supposed to take up to twelve hours, and his family and friends waited to hear from him.
They never did.
“He disappeared for four days and we went crazy,” said Hussein, explaining how even other friends who were supposed to welcome Ali in Germany hadn’t seen him either.
Later one of the Ukraine based smugglers called to inform them of the accident. The helicopter crashed, and most of its passengers were killed. Hussein was in shock. He told me how he had to gather his strength and contact Ali’s family in Baghdad to tell them what happened.
Iraqi stories these days rarely have happy endings, yet Ali’s loved ones hoped he would still be alive, and that he was one of the few survivors of the crash. But their hopes were disastrously dashed a few days later, when his uncle, a German citizen, arrived in Slovakia and identified Ali’s body.
“He was more than a brother to me, we were friends since the first day of college, we remained tight for the next six-years,” said Omar Kareem, another close friend of Ali’s.
Ali’s friends were in agony as they grieved for their friend. His family is yet to recover from the trauma of their son’s tragic death.
“He was such a loving person. He had a huge family, but he kept in touch with everyone and spoke to each one of them almost every day,” said Hussein, praising his beloved late friend.
Ali’s death was not an accident. He was murdered by all those that have played a part in the destruction of Iraq. His demise was an inevitable outcome for any young Iraqi that grew up during genocidal sanctions, and two US-led wars. They either died at home, or perished on the open seas. For us, the ones that survived, we remain steadfast in our commitment to build a different Iraq for future generations.
I want to think that Ali is in a better place now, a place with no concrete walls and barbed wire fencing, with no heartless guards at the gates turning him away because of the color of his passport.
Ali would have celebrated his 27th birthday this month.
Rest in power Allawi.
Nabil Salih is a Baghdad based engineer and writer. Follow him on Twitter at @NabilJSalih.
More from shakomakoNET
Fleeing Iraq
Women & Gender in Iraq
Sinan Antoon and the Gulf War: 25 Years Later
Doctors in Iraq: Vilified, Hunted and Killed
Accessibility from Mosul to London and beyond
« Fleeing Iraq » El Bnaya
A FILM BY DIMA AL GHARBAWI:
It Was All A Dream
RADIO FEATURE:
Ten Years of Occupation
IRAQ 101:
A Dummy's Guide To Iraq
PRINT AND SHARE:
EVERYTHING IRAQI
Anti Copyright
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1915
|
__label__wiki
| 0.942484
| 0.942484
|
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Winner of both the Audience Award and Best Documentary prize at last year’s Fantastic Fest, Jodorowsky’s Dune tells the story of French-Chilean cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s legendarily ambitious but ultimately doomed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel Dune. Directed by Frank Pavich, this entertaining and well-polished movie connects as a slice of exploratory nonfiction portraiture, and serves as a reminder that, in significant ways, we can be defined or best remembered by efforts that don’t achieve success or even fruition — we can be celebrated for the manner in which we conduct ourselves in noble defeat.
A shamanistic cinematic surrealist who attained acclaim chiefly via a pair of early-1970s avant-garde films in which he also starred, El Topo and The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky initially set out to make Dune for seemingly no particular reason other than the expansive canvas it afforded. (Jodorowsky hadn’t even read the book, he just had the recommendation of a friend). He set out to assemble a group of like-minded “spiritual warriors” to craft a movie that would open the minds of those who saw it, and spark revolutionary thought, especially in a younger generation.
Jodorowsky’s Dune, then, unfolds as a curated trip through the filmmaker’s erstwhile tilting at windmills, with producer Michel Seydoux and the now 85-year-old Jodorowsky discussing in detail a pre-production process that included the commissioning of music from Pink Floyd and Magma, as well as Jodorowsky’s plans to cast Salvador Dali and Orson Welles as Emperor Shaddam Corrino and Baron Harkonnen, respectively, and David Carradine and Mick Jagger in supporting roles. (Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn also pops up, describing a post-dinner conversation in which Jodorowsky led him through his massive Dune pre-production book, with thousands of storyboards, character sketches and other concept art.) The result of course has more remove than Lost in La Mancha, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s more or less real-time 2002 documentary about Terry Gilliam’s ill-fated adaptation of Don Quixote, but Pavich makes use of his subject’s memory and extensive archives to provide a visually lively and compelling look at this alt-universe Dune that never was.
It helps, too, that Jodorowsky is a figure of such enthusiasm and positivity; if there was bitterness surrounding the project’s dissolution, it’s long since dissipated. In keeping with this, Pavich’s film is mostly about art, and not commerce; as the title augurs, it serves as a platform for Jodorowsky’s ideas about Dune, and not so much a story of the particulars of its funding collapse and termination. (The realized big screen version of the film, by David Lynch, isn’t really mentioned until over 70 minutes into Pavich’s movie, and even then in generous fashion, with Jodorowsky assigning blame for its failure with producers, and not the Blue Velvet filmmaker.) For the most part this tack works, though one does on occasions ponder profligate pre-production spending and rights windows and all that.
Jodorowsky’s Dune does a good job of convincing viewers of its subject’s singular vision, and of the fact that the filmmaker’s adaptation of Herbert’s sprawling novel would have been a bold and imaginative work. Apart from its narrative and thematic adventurousness, some of the shots and special effects Jodorowsky describes as wanting to do are definitely of the groundbreaking variety, and it’s hard to know how (or if) he could have pulled them off at the time, on a technical level. It’s less settled whether Jodorowsky would have made it to the screen with his entire repertory company intact (while Dali and Welles weren’t necessarily known for saying yes to lots of projects, they were also capricious figures), and of course more speculative and even less settled still how this work would have been received commercially, no matter the name recognition of the book.
What can be established, however, is the talent of the behind-the-scenes creative team that Jodorowsky assembled, including Jean “Moebius” Girard, Chris Foss, Dan O’Bannon and H.R. Giger (the latter two of whom would famously reunite on Alien). That they would go on to make important contributions in many other films speaks to Jodorowsky’s eye for talent, certainly, as well as the notion that a lot of great art needs a touch of madness. For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. (Sony Pictures Classics, PG-13, 90 minutes)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1916
|
__label__wiki
| 0.995579
| 0.995579
|
by jayrocker | Dec 5, 2015 | Artists and Bands |
Photo By Jonas Rogowski (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Glen Danzig (Electric piano and vocals) formed the band Misfits in January 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey, USA, incorporating Jimmy Battle (Guitar), Diane DiPiazzi (Bass guitar) and Manny Martínez (Drums) as members. Diane DiPiazzi and Jimmy Battle left after a month of playing with the band and Jerry Caiafa (Bass guitar) replaced DiPiazzi and the band continued for a while as a trio.
In 1977 Misfits recorded their first rock music single ‘Cool’/ ‘Cough’ released on their own label Blank Records. On the record sleeve Jerry Caiafa’s name was misspelt prompting him to insist that his only name in future only be registered as Jerry only, which led to Jerry Only becoming his stage name. Frank Licata (Guitar) joined the band under the stage name of “Franché Coma” joined the band in August 1977; this allowed Danzig to phase out the electric piano. In December Martinez was fired from the band, ‘Mr Jim’ Catania (Drums) took his place.
Mercury Records made an offer to Danzig of thirty hours of free studio time in exchange for the trademark to the Misfits’ label Blank Records which Mercury wanted to use for one of its subdivisions. In January 1978 the Misfits recorded their first studio rock music album ’12 Hits from Hell’ in the Mercury Record’s studio, however the Misfits could not find a label to release their album. They released their ‘Bullet’ single with four rock music lyrics on their new label Plan 9 Records. Their debut album ‘Static Age’ was eventually only released in entirely until 1997.
It was at this stage of their career that the Misfits members started using dark makeup and wearing clothes inspired by the horror films, Danzig and Doyle, Only’s brother, took to styling their ‘Devilock’ hairstyle and their style and music would be defined as a new sub-genre Horror Punk. In October 1978 Franché Coma left the band and was the temporary stand-in by Rick Riley (Guitar). Jim Catania left shortly after being averse to the new horror trend that the band was following. Bobby Steele (Guitar) and Joey Image (stage name of Joey Poole) (Drums) replaced the two former members. With the new line-up the Misfits released the single ‘Horror Business’ in June 1979. In November 1979 the band released the rock music single ‘Night of the Living Dead’. A few weeks after Image left the band.
In January 1980 the band released an EP ‘Beware’. Joseph McGuckin (Drums), under the stage name of Arthur Googy, joined the band. In October 1980 Only’s younger brother Paul ‘Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein’ Caiafa (Guitar) was inducted into the band and Steele was fired.
In April 1981 the Misfits released three rock music songs as ‘3 Hits from Hell’. The band accepted the offer from Slash Records to record and release their next planned album ‘Walk Among Us’. They released two more songs off their 1980 album as their ‘Halloween’ single.
In March 1982 the band released their second rock music album ‘Walk Among Us’ with Ruby and Slash Records. Shortly after its release Danzig fired Googy and Eerie Von (Drums) stood in for the leaving band member on a temporary basis. Roberto ‘Robo’ Valverde joined the Misfits in July 1982. In November 1982 the band released a limited rock music edition available only to members of the Fiend Club (the Misfits Fan Club) seven songs as the EP: ‘Evilive’ from their November 1981 San Francisco performance.
In June 1983 Glenn Danzig confided in Henry Rollins that he was unhappy in the band and intended leaving the band. The Misfits finished recording their EP, but Danzig decided to record two more rock music tracks and turned it into a full length album ‘Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood’ which was released in December 1983, two months after the band dissolved. The band was plagued with arguments between Danzig and Robo, Robo leaving in August 1983. At the Halloween performance at Greystone Hall in Detroit, Brian Damage (Drums) was inducted as the band’s new member, but after becoming inebriated he was escorted off the stage by Doyle and Todd Swalla filled in for him for the rest of the concert. Danzig announced that this was the band’s last performance and the Misfits disbanded on their return to Lodi.
After the disbanding, Danzig launched his new rock music band Samhain. Several albums were then reissued with previously unreleased material between 1985 and 1987. In 1985 the first released was the collection album ‘Legacy of Brutality’ which Danzig overdubbed the albums instrumental tracks that the other band member had played that they could not claim on the royalties. The album contained many of the unreleased album ‘Static Age’ songs. The second of these albums was ‘Misfits’ released in 1986, usually referred to as ‘Collection I’ and the reissue, with five new tracks added, as a complete album of the EP ‘Evilive’ in 1987. This resulted in a protracted legal wrangle ensuing between Danzig and Only. An out of court settlement was reached in 1995: Only and Doyle retained the rights to: record and perform as the Misfits, sharing the marketing rights with Danzig. ‘Collection II’ Misfits third compilation album of Misfit songs was released late in 1996.
Doyle and Only then set about revamping the image of the Misfits by incorporating David ‘Dr. Chud’ Calabrese (Drums). Glenn Danzig was offered the position as the lead vocalist in the band, but refused to re-join the band; Dave Vanian was also approached, but also refused the position. At an open audition Michael Emanuel (Vocals) was appointed as Lead Vocalist, singing under the stage name of Michale Graves. The new band made an appearance in the film Animal Room in 1995.
A collection of the entire band’s Danzig’s era recordings from 1977 to 1983 in the ‘Misfits Box Set’ was released in 1996, including dubbed and undubbed versions of song from the albums: ‘Static Age’; ‘Legacy of Brutality’; ‘Collection I’ and ‘Collection II’.
‘Static Age’, Misfits original unreleased debut album was also eventually released in 1997. The band’s tribute album ‘Violent World’ was also released in 1997, covering songs from the Glenn Danzig era and another tribute album ‘Hell on Earth’ was released in 2000.
The new personification of the band Misfits released their debut album ‘American Psycho’ in 1997 making videos of two songs ‘American Psycho’ and ‘Dig Up Her Bones’. Graves took a hiatus and with his return the band signed with the Roadrunner Records label, releasing in 1999 their second studio rock music album ‘Famous Monsters’, with a video of the single ‘Scream’. The band made more film appearances in: Big Money Hustlas (2000); Bruiser (2000) and Campfire Stories (2001).
Tensions rose in the band and during a performance in October 2000 at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, Chud and Graves walked off the stage leaving the band. The lead vocal and bass guitar playing was taken over by Jerry Only, the sole remaining original member of Misfits. Dez Cadena (Guitar) and Marky Ramone (Drums) were recruited as the band’s new members. In 2001 the album ‘Cuts from the Crypt’ consisting of rare songs and old demos, from the Graves and Chud period from 1995 to 2001, was released. The band, unhappy with their label, left Roadrunner Records having completed their contractual obligations.
The band formed their own recording label Misfit Records in 2001 and they released a split single featuring the Misfits and Balzac. The album ‘Project 1950’ was released in 2003 with the Ramone/Cadena/Only of the Misfits. The band lost their drummer Marky Ramone, he was replaced by Robo returning to the band.
In October 2009 the band released a new single ‘Land of the Dead’. Robo was dismissed in 2010 and he was replaced by Eric ‘Chupacabra’ Arce. The bands new studio album ‘The Devil’s Rain’ was released in October 2011.
In 2013 the band released their third live rock music album ‘Dead Alive’ and in October they released a 12”single of a new recording of ‘Descending Angels’ under the new title ‘Science Fiction/Double Feature’.
In May 2014 Glenn Danzig instituted legal proceedings against Jerry Only claiming that Only registered trademarks for all things related to Misfits since 2000 behind his back, including the classic ‘Crimson Ghost’ logo. Danzig claimed that this was in violation of their 1994 contract the two had signed. The case was eventually dismissed by Central District of California Judge Gary Klausner.
Misfits genres are: Heavy Metal; Horror Punk and Hardcore Punk.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1920
|
__label__wiki
| 0.6051
| 0.6051
|
Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
10:19 pm 10 March 2016
Quick review for a moderately quick read. I had a copy of the ARC as provided by NetGalley, but I also purchased the book from Audible, which was beautifully performed by Madeleline Maby. What the heck do I say about this book? I'll admit it still left me with questions, but I was thoroughly engaged and wanting to see what happened through the whole of this entire read. I honestly didn't want to put the book down.
First it comes across as the story of a woman who finds her husband dead at the base of stairs. Considering she's hiding in a secret identity already and she can't explain his death, she goes on the run...again. Ends up at a bar, finds a woman ("Blue") who sees through her disguise, and the two end up being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone ends up dead, again. (Okay, maybe more than a few end up kicking the bucket, but work with me.) Then, our heroine ends up switching identities with "Blue", but circumstances are not so easy as what's handed our heroine. In fact, it makes things more complicated. (But seriously, how do these ladies just disappear without someone thinking "Wait...")
The more I think about how this book's overarching relationship ties to its respective title, the more brilliant I think "The Passenger" came across. You have a woman whose circumstances are defined by how much she's in the shotgun role for everything - from how her identities are handled to what made her run in the first place, and it ties in a circle with the ending's events. You would think that this would make her a passive character, but it really doesn't. I couldn't help but feel like she'd been handed a bad deal in places. Our nameless heroine really tries to make a life for herself and stay on the run from her past, but she really doesn't catch a break as she tries to do what she thinks is the right thing for the life she's trying to assume (Well...as much as circumstances would allow, but she does so many things so, so wrong.) I'll admit I actually was able to care about her plight and that surprised me even if I still found myself with lingering, even important questions with how the pieces fit together for the narrative. Some I wished were a little more vetted out and given just a bit more edge to round out the story. But I liked it, and I really liked the audiobook narration because I felt Maby's voice fit the heroine very well.
It was definitely quite a ride, and if you like stories with a flawed (complicated) heroine, a bit of mystery and twisted sense of justice, this might be one to check into.
Overall score: 4.5/5 stars
Note: I received this as a galley from NetGalley on behalf of the publisher, but I also bought the audio version from Audible.
mystery thriller suspense Contemporary crime audiobooks psychological netgalley favorites Lisa Lutz arc-or-galley multi-povs better-than-i-expected the passenger
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1921
|
__label__cc
| 0.697988
| 0.302012
|
Sandra Osborne MP was today delighted to welcome Scottish Labour’s Deputy Leader, Anas Sarwar MP, to Ayr Carrick and Cumnock Constituency.
Anas Sarwar MP and Sandra Osborne MP today joined local party members and councillors at a street stall in Ayr’s High Street where they met and spoke to members of the public about Labour’s plans for the economy. Anas also met with Cllr John McDowall, Deputy Leader of South Ayrshire Council when John spoke to him about the recent introduction of the living wage for South Ayrshire Council workers.
Cllr John McDowall said
"It’s only been a few months since Labour was elected as part of the administration in South Ayrshire, and we have now introduced the living wage which makes real Labour's commitment to workers and their families. The living wage will make a big difference to people here in South Ayrshire and goes some way towards helping them and their families make ends meet in these difficult economic times."
The MPs also took the opportunity to visit Ayr College to visit participants of the Chamber Academy – a pilot project of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce which aims to prepare young people for entering employment. The Academy is funded by Access to Employment, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, South Ayrshire Council and STEP.
Anas Sarwar said
‘In Scotland today 1 in 4 young people are unemployed, which is a waste of talent and energy and is unacceptable. This project is a real partnership between a range of organisations, pulling together to support young people make a positive transition into employment. I am particularly pleased that local businesses through the Chamber of Commerce are lending their time and skills to this vital project, working alongside the public sector to do the best for young people in South Ayrshire.’
Sandra Osborne said
‘I was delighted to be able to welcome Anas to the constituency today to meet with local party members, councillors and members of the public and to hear first hand of the excellent work of the Chamber Academy – a very worthwhile initiative to support young people in their quest for employment.
‘The Conservative economic plan has failed and I am supporting Labour’s plan for jobs and growth which includes a £2 billion tax on bank bonuses to fund youth jobs and bringing forward long term investment projects to get people back to work and strengthen the economy, which is an issue I recently called for on the floor of the Commons’
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1924
|
__label__cc
| 0.547603
| 0.452397
|
Infantile ‘Radicalism’, Domestic Labour Debate & Anti-Rape Movement: A Leninist Critique of Marxism-Feminism
By Maya John
Reacting to a debate on the issue of rape and on the question of strategy required to combat the oppression of women, Bhumika Chauhan, Ankit Sharma and Paresh Chandra released their formulation of what the appropriate working-class intervention should be on the ‘women’s question’. While they have expressed their agreement on some basic points raised by me in the recent debate, they have also articulated certain differences of opinion. Guided by ideas and what I identify as misconceptions floated by ‘Marxist-feminists’, they have criticized me for failing to take the “right” step in the formulation of the “politico-strategic wisdom” required to address the problem of women’s oppression, and for indulging in particular oversights on the commonality of oppression faced by middle-class and working-class women. Since their response represents continuity in the position taken by the editorial team of Radical Notes, I have made it a point to respond not only to this more recent article, but also to an earlier editorial piece posted by Pothik Ghosh. I respond in order to make the necessary clarifications, to further discuss the relevance and nuances of the Marxist position on the women’s question and to show how my supposed oversights reflect nothing but my unwillingness to pass over to the side of Paresh and Co.
This intervention has become necessary as the editorial team at Radical Notes has wrongly and unnecessarily shifted the entire focus of the debate from the issues and questions that actually expose the compromised nature of the anti-rape movement. The hodgepodge of non-Marxist and post-Marxist views introduced by them has frustratingly allowed them to elide over the issue of rape altogether, i.e. the issue on which this debate evolved. They have instead digressed to the debate surrounding women’s domestic labour in their desperate effort to prove that middle-class women not only share a commonality of oppression with working-class women but also constitute the working-class position itself. In the process of making this bizarre intervention they have presented an extremely problematic view of women’s domestic labour. Apart from this they have come to propagate the need for, what they call a “feminist moment” in the proletarian struggle, by which they imply the intensification of struggle between the male and female segment of each class as the necessary form of class struggle. I am, as a result, compelled to respond at length on the Marxist position on domestic labour and its class dimensions in order to prove how inadequate intra-class male–female equality (a la feminist project) is for the emancipation of the majority of men and women.
Although ridden with inconsistencies, taken together Radical Notes’ overall position represents a quasi feminist view of women’s oppression that I have critiqued throughout this debate. Reflecting nothing but an eclectic reconfiguration of feminist formulations on women’s oppression, their intervention has consciously avoided the question of how capitalism inculcates both vulnerability and culpability, and how complicity stemming from a privileged class position removes all possibility of a homogenous category of women or a common class condition of women to even exist. In line with the feminist position, their formulations also reduce class to something that should be accounted for merely to explain the burden borne by working-class women in addition to their gender identity. By doing so the editorial team at Radical Notes has conveniently abstained from using class to explain the varied inequalities stemming from it and the complicit role played by upper-class women in maintaining these inequalities. For them the identity ‘woman’ is a homogenous category because it is simply a sub-set of the working class.
In sharp contrast to what Paresh and Co and the editorial team of Radical Notes would have us all believe, Marxism represents the summation of different experiences of the working class in its conflict with capital. Accordingly, rather than arguing that all the different identities are simply sub-sets of the working class or momentary congealment of the working-class position, Marxism argues that the working-class position is just one of the class positions within any given identity. In this way, it understands identities as multi-class entities which can be pulled in different directions by the varied class positions within them. Having said this, Marxism is conscious of the fact that different identities have different ontological depths – something which makes no two identities the same. By extracting the varied experiences emanating from different sites of struggle, i.e. from different identities, Marxism actively unites the working-class experience spread across separate identities. Its intervention or effort in this regard is crucial since it is ultimately through the position of the working class that the different (oppressed) identities can be united and radicalized into a wider, anti-systemic struggle which goes beyond the form in which society exists. The possibility of such a struggle exists since apart from being the direct object of the most fundamental and determinative form of oppression and exploitation within capitalism, the working class (spread over different identities) is the revolutionary class whose interests do not rest on the oppression of other classes. In fact, because the objective interest of the working class for its own emancipation is the destruction of class it can create conditions for the liberation of all human beings in the struggle to liberate itself. In this way, Marxism stands for a synthesized articulation of the concrete universalism of the working class.
The ideological position of individuals who are uprooted from mass activities and have thereby lost confidence in the actual tradition of Marxism-Leninism is such that the deflection to (ever expanding) positions like Marxism-Dalitism/Ambedkarism, Marxism-nationalism, Marxism-feminism, Marxism- X or Yism has become possible and attractive. These unhappy alliances between Marxist politics/ideology and various, particularized (class-eliding) ideologies signify Marxism’s entrapment in different moments in the development of capital, which means the opportunistic use of Marxism by competing fractions of the capitalist class (and the upward mobile middle-class sections) that exist within different (oppressed) identities. This entrapment, of course, comes at the cost of an assertion of universalism, i.e. the concrete synthesized articulation of different particularities in their march towards universal emancipation.
Such positions that promote particularized ideologies in the name of Marxism are to be rigorously critiqued because of the confusion they spread under the garb of ‘radicalism’, and because of the disservice they do to Marxist class analysis by playing with non-Marxist and post-Marxist arguments. Furthermore, these positions are highly questionable as they lead to a class-collaborationist line that creates ample space for middle-class hegemony over mass movements. Importantly, unlike our ‘radicals’ of today, women communist leaders like Clara Zetkin, Alexandria Kollantai and others were extremely critical of the ideology and politics of feminism because of the particularism it promoted in the name of emancipating women. This particularism that communists referred to and questioned included the tendency of feminism to the project the discontent of upper-class women as in the general interest of women and to particularize male–female equality by basing such an aspiration on the parcelization of society between men and women.
Aware of this inherent weakness of feminism, many ‘radicals’ like Pothik Ghosh and Paresh and Co have taken recourse to an eclecticism which allows them to blend ‘class analysis’ with the feminist analysis of inequality. My criticism of Radical Notes’ use of class emerges from two points in particular. First, I engage with the pseudo vitalist optimism of Pothik Ghosh whose efforts to project “impossible demands” as the means to wrest power from the state fails to engage with the actual (bourgeois) form of the anti-rape movement. Ignoring the hegemonic control of the dominant section of society on the anti-rape movement, Ghosh has not only produced an inadequate critique of the anti-rape movement, but has also wrongly assumed that, in its given form but with new slogans, moments in the anti-rape movement can transcend into anti-capitalist mobilizations. The second point of my criticism of Radical Notes’ position is their propagation of the reformist and unapologetically reactionary demand of wages for housework. I thus begin with their engagement with the anti-rape movement and then proceed to their understanding of the determining factors behind women’s oppression, and their misconceptions about the Marxist understanding of the women’s question.
Critique of Legalism or Infantile ‘Radicalism’
In an extremely factionalist vein, Paresh and Co while engaging with Kavita Krishnan’s position on rape and other related issues, tried to critique the tendency of legalism imbued in her position. I respond to their critique of legalism not only because it is highly inadequate, but also because what emerges from their analysis is not a critique of legalism per se (i.e. of the form taken by bourgeois law), but a critique of any and all legal demands, i.e. the law’s content. Here it is worth noting that much of their critique of legalism draws on an article written by Pothik Ghosh. Paresh and Co, in fact, press for the continuity of the position taken by Ghosh in his editorial article, ‘Delhi Gang Rape and the Feminism of Proletarian Militancy’. In this article, Ghosh argued for “steering clear of juridical-legal demands” such as “improving the abysmally low rate of conviction in rape cases, making rape investigations less patriarchal and strengthening our frail and ineffectual anti-rape laws” because such demand-raising “presuppose[s] that the current [capitalist] system is capable of delivering on them”.[1] Clearly, Ghosh took this position since he believes that sexual violence and other forms of patriarchal oppression are embodiments of class domination,[2] which are “enshrined in and as the systemic rule of law”, and so “…our struggle against any immediate domination [such as rape] must in the same instance also articulate a struggle against the generalised hegemony [of capital and its history]”. Hence, rather than “extending the remit of the legal”, Ghosh (and now Paresh and Co have) advocated that gender oppression such as rape is best fought through “abolition of the law”.
In many ways this critique of any and all legal demands does not assist working-class politics in its addressal of the women’s question. This is because such an approach fails to historicize and contextualize the form and content of many demands that have emerged from existing campaigns and struggles of women’s organizations.[3] As a consequence, Paresh and Co do not see how the contradiction between the content and the form of bourgeois law appears only with the historical unfolding of the process in which more and more discontent can be seen as propelled by and also lying unaddressed due to the persistence of the existing legal form. In this context of a growing contradiction, intermediate demands play a crucial role in providing an organized, anti-systemic form to prevailing discontent. However, Paresh and Co’s “politico-strategic wisdom” is doomed to ignore the relevance of any legal demands at a conjuncture where a large section of women are materially positioned in ways that allow for their exploitation and oppression on a daily basis, and in a context where enthusiastic but inactive ‘radicals’ have created no ground for an insurrectionary occupation which can replace the adjudicating powers of the bourgeois state.[4]
When delineating the Marxist/communist position vis-à-vis the feminist and social-democratic position, I argued that the Marxist position recognizes that equality between the two sexes is insufficient for the emancipation of womankind, especially working-class women whose exploitation and oppression cannot be resolved within the system of capitalism. I thus argued that over and above male–female equality, it was the liberation from prevailing class divisions and resulting inequalities that would create the possibilities for the complete emancipation of all women. It was in the light of this discussion that I spoke of the necessity of intermediate demands, many of which were legal ones that worked towards providing immediate relief to women victims in the most debilitating conditions.
The specific reasons for highlighting the importance of these intermediate demands included the following: (i) to expose how legal demands that emerge from within the bourgeois sphere of rights are a creation of the gradual historical transformation of society within capitalism, and hence are demands that often predate the women’s movement, and (ii) how the demands for certain pending legal reform represent important efforts that press forth the generalization of bourgeois legality, or basically, the further unfolding of the bourgeois legal form so as to incorporate a larger and more varied (dis)content.[5] By engaging with the historical relevance of these demands, my paper refused to divest certain legal demands of the radical potential that they could have in exposing the bourgeois state’s unwillingness to curb various forms of women’s oppression. Of course while doing so, I moved on to explain how the prevailing (dis)content or women’s oppression cannot be fully resolved within the existing form of bourgeois law and realization of legal rights. In this regard, I have argued that the mere existence of a legal paradigm cannot resolve the problem of rape as long as the material conditions on which men–women relationships are based are not transformed. And so, intermediate demands must connect with a politics that is informed by the ultimate vision of liberating both men and women’s sexuality, and thus works towards overthrowing capitalism.
This brings me back to the position taken by Pothik Ghosh, who advocated that a “mass upsurge” in response to heinous sexual assaults like that of 16 December 2012 should be oriented towards “impossible demands” rather than juridical-legal demands that “the system can possibly deliver”. What I’d like to highlight here is that the issue is not about what is possible or not possible in the given system, but what the masses (i.e. different classes) articulate as part of their immediate demands. Of course, the demands of the middle class and working class may differ, which means that the more important question is whose or which class’ demands are being accepted as the “popular subjectivity of the mass movement”. Simply put, the determination of whether by positing certain demands before the bourgeois state, we weaken the command of the state or end up being more commanded by it depends on the kind of demands raised. If the demands posited before the state stem from the working-class perspective, they are sure to effect the consolidation of the disparate masses under working-class leadership – an outcome much desired compared to the working-class movement’s isolation or its domination by middle-class slogans and leadership.
However, in the process of identifying “impossible demands” and the need for insurrectionary “people’s militias that wrest Delhi and its streets from all oppressors…for popular vigilance and control”, Pothik Ghosh advocates yet another form of middle-class hegemony over mass discontent. This is best reflected when he attempts to establish the relevance and “insurrectionary” potential congealed in a nascent form within ongoing ‘reclaim the night’ campaigns. He writes: “The carnivalesque spontaneity of this reclamation campaign posits – of course, in a rather nascent form – the possibility of an insurrectionary sociality of people’s militias…”[6] According to Pothik Ghosh, a “people’s militia” in its nascent form has only to “recognise its objectively incipient working-class character so that it can be generalised”. Once ‘’orientate[d]” and the middle class has seen its working-class character, it will go on to “demand the impossible of the system”.[7] For Ghosh it is such demand-raising that propels “the popular subjectivity of the mass movement’’ into developing “solidarity networks” which eventually unfold into “uninterrupted insurrections”.[8] Ghosh also argues that “politics based on demanding the impossible” is important because the “system is structurally incapable of ridding itself of gender-inequality”. Nevertheless, in the same line he concedes that the current system can possibly deliver on certain fronts, and thereby tends to co-opt some people. Of course, as I have argued, in the context of women’s oppression those some (co-optable) people include upper-class women. This means that there is no incipient working-class character to the mass upsurges being analysed. Instead, these mass upsurges represent middle class if not multi-class movements that are controlled by the dominant section of society. Riding the wave of mass discontent the dominant section of society and their women seek to win certain ‘concessions’ from the system while relegating the voice of the working class to the margins.
In this regard, can the middle class generalize its struggle beyond the “student-youth axis” when the majority of protesting students/youth are from the upper classes? Pothik Ghosh seems to think it can. However, one is compelled to ask whether it is not a blatant assumption that middle-class discontent and demands have a unifying character that invariably convert momentary equivalence in discontent into political alignments which can take the struggle beyond its contemporary horizon, thereby outgrowing into a revolution. After all, what if the upper classes can be co-opted and their ‘women’s question’ conforms to the particularist bourgeois resolution – a point which I have argued when delineating how male–female equality within a certain class defined form is possible in capitalism.
So, if we overemphasize the tendency of protest forms (no matter how narrowly initiated or socially based) to express a kind of social discontent that is capable of awakening the elements of social revolution from dormancy or of raising them to new levels, we have surely failed to understand the need for autonomy and independence of will and action of the working class. If the working class is not being organized independently on the basis of its specific discontent and its energies are simply misdirected within multi-class movements that are hegemonized by the protesting middle class, then can the working class through its political party provide leadership to other oppressed sections and classes? The answer is a definite no, but it seems as if Pothik Ghosh thinks otherwise.
In many ways Ghosh’s position stands to overrule the necessity of a vanguard party that can organize the working-class and other oppressed classes. I say this because of the ease with which Ghosh speaks of insurrection in isolation, thus hinting that the class can attain its liberation by itself. Writing in a context where a country-wide revolutionary communist party no longer exists and only small revolutionary Left groups are to be found, it is perhaps easy for Ghosh and the likes to evade the question of how no revolutionary insurrectionary moment or “uninterrupted insurrections” can ever exist without years of cadre and organization-building within the masses. After all, the question is about asserting and establishing the revolutionary leadership of the working class over the “solidarity networks” that seek to be drawn across classes in order to fight the capitalist structure and the gender oppression it breeds. For such working-class leadership to be possible, years of ground level work in organizing the working class and strengthening the revolutionary party is essential. To quote Engels on the question:
insurrection is an art quite as much as war or any other, and subject to certain rules of proceeding, which, when neglected, will produce the ruin of the party neglecting them….never play with insurrection unless you are fully prepared to face the consequences of your play. Insurrection is a calculus with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day; the forces opposed to you have all the advantage of organization, discipline, and habitual authority: unless you bring strong odds against them you are defeated and ruined …[9] [emphasis added]
Considering the organized force of the structure we wish to expose and fight as well as the complex nature of class relations nurtured by capitalism, revolutionary organizations and radicals will have to engage in a more rooted manner with the prevailing discontent against women’s oppression and be more critical of the various (class) forms in which this discontent expresses itself. In this way, a more nuanced approach to certain long-standing legal demands tends to prevent Left organizations from falling prey to right wing deviation, i.e. a situation in which by merely raising popular slogans, we fall prey to petty-bourgeois [10] (hegemonic) views, lose our critical tinge as well as our independent proletarian will and action to go beyond capitalism. It is then important to draw a distinction between concrete intermediate demands for greater state accountability and the clamour surrounding the immediate, more popular, media savvy slogans that are nothing but manifestations of the hegemonic views of the dominant section of society – views that conceal the depth of the problem confronting us, especially in terms of the role played by class inequalities in the oppression of women and the complicit role played by upper-class women in this oppression.[11]
Of course, this pulling back effect of middle-class women, especially their complicit role has left Paresh and Co very perturbed. Driven by this discomfort they have alleged that because I have failed to engage with the materiality of middle-class women’s oppression, I have wrongly established their complicit role in furthering women’s oppression, whereas, according to them none exists. Not surprisingly, their response has shifted the entire focus away from the material basis on which the complicity of (especially) new middle-class women evolves. They have, instead, tried to highlight the material basis of middle-class women’s vulnerability, i.e. their (house)working class position which stems from the domestic labour performed by them and which (supposedly) makes them part of the working class. In the process, Paresh and Co have simply harped back to the domestic labour debate and to demands like wages for housework that Marxist-Leninists discarded more than thirty years ago. They have replaced the Marxist-Leninist position on the women’s question in general and household work in particular with Marxism-feminism. Hence, in sharp contrast to the Marxist-Leninist position, Paresh and Co have refused to refer to the category of middle class as an identifiable strata and have instead adamantly asserted that it is only a “subjective position” which attempts to protect privilege. Quite naturally, my attempt to locate feminism within a tangible (new) middle-class position was lost on them, and since my efforts were geared towards identifying the middle class as a coherent group and not a subjective position, I was unhesitatingly accused of resorting to a “sociological” use of class.
The Ahistorical Perspective: Denying Change in the Composition of Household Work and Neglecting Class
Annoyingly, for all their claims of going beyond sociology,[12] Paresh and Co actually fail to provide any definitive meaning of the term, which is why I am forced to do the needful and define the sociological approach as one in which: (i) the social position is seen or identified as contra the process unfolding, which means that rather than seeing class as an unfolding process, its immediate expression at a given moment of time is hypostasized and understood as class; (ii) class is seen as a non-relational position that simply (and in a mechanical way) bears certain functions and (iii) class is reduced to a mere empiric rather than seen as the expression of collective interest. Ironically, these descriptions of the sociological use of class show how Paresh and Co, who reduce the middle-class position to mere subjectivity instead of seeing it as an expression of a collective class interest, can be accused of the same. This compels me to evaluate the ways in which they play with the concept of class when analysing the role of (unpaid) domestic labour in the subjugation of women. In the process, I attempt to illustrate the marked difference in my understanding of class and how incorrect it is of Paresh and Co to label my effort to identify the middle class as a group with a collective interest as a “sociological” use of class.
To begin with, Paresh and Co’s analysis allows them to eternalize and homogenize household work, i.e. to project it as an ever-present and unchanging form of labour performed by women-as-wives within capitalism.[13] Their understanding of domestic labour stems from their uncritical adoption of (in fact, repeating verbatim) certain theories formulated by feminists in the 1970s–80s. In the attempt to forge an (unhappy) marriage between feminism and Marxism, these feminists conveniently drew on Marxist concepts (like mode of production, relations of production, labour power, exchange value, etc.) to explain women’s subordinate position in the home. Projecting the home as the ‘social factory’ of capital, Selma James, Dalla Costa (and now Paresh and Co) have argued that: (i) the cost of labour power, which the capitalist has to pay to men who work, diminishes with the exclusion of the cost of women’s labour power; (ii) a woman’s domestic labour does not just create her husband’s labour power but cheap labour power as her labour provides for certain goods and services that the worker would otherwise need to purchase off the market and for which he would claim higher wages; (iii) women’s domestic labour in the confinement of the home creates surplus value; (iv) all women are slaves of domestic labour and so exist as a caste in themselves [14] and (v) in this process of subordinating women into domestic roles, both capital and the male segment of each class emerge as the common enemy of women.
Clearly, such an approach fails to take into account the changing nature of household work in a context where women are increasingly stepping out for jobs, single male workers are functioning without a household structure, and the bourgeois state and capitalist market are providing certain services and subsistence goods (respectively) that were earlier specifically sanctioned to women as part of their domestic duties. Paresh and Co’s approach also overrides the fact that the magnitude and nature of housework performed by upper-class women is markedly different from that performed by working-class women. And so to begin with, their assessment of domestic labour is erroneous because they assume housework to be a static entity which exists equally across varied class positions.
Here when we examine their use of class it is obvious that contrary to their claim of going beyond the horizon of sociology, Paresh and Co actually reproduce a (mechanical) understanding of class whereby, anyone who labours becomes a member of the working class – an approach that brings them dangerously close to certain feminist positions which work with a notion of women as a class based on the assumption that all women-as-wives perform the same tasks and so share a common oppression/material exploitation rooted in production for the household. In other words, according to Paresh and Co the marriage contract becomes the basis of the common class condition of women. What is assumed here is that through marriage women lose the right to their own labour, and that their husbands win control on their labour. In the process, men come to exploit women’s labour, and so constitute their class oppressors.
When Paresh and Co identify husbands as “agents” of capital who invariably “accumulate the wife’s unpaid (sexual and non-sexual) labour” they are projecting the prevalence of an autonomous form of exploitation – namely, patriarchal exploitation which constitutes women as a distinct class, united by their common oppression by men, and irrespective of theirs or their husbands’ class position. Quite obviously, this smacks of the dual systems theory, for what emerges out of Paresh and Co’ analysis is simply this, that women inhabit a dual class position. So while they share the same class position of their husband/family, they simultaneously inhabit a (house)working-class position – the latter being one which unites all women into a common class condition. It is precisely due to this understanding that they attribute to the middle-class woman a working-class position and come to assert that the middle-class-ness of middle-class women is merely a “subjective position…attempt[ed] to protect privilege”. Quite naturally, Paresh and Co refuse to account for the fact that based on her privileged class position – which is a product of hers and/or her husband’s incomes – a middle-class woman can actually change the form and content of her domestic work.
An approach which assumes middle-class women as reproducing middle-class status but inhabiting a working class position reflects nothing but discomfort with identifying the actual class interests embodied in these women. It is in the same vein as the class-eliding politics of feminism that Paresh and Co propagate cross-class alliances based on the conflation of two contradictory class positions, and hence support wages for housework. Their imprudent formulation that “the middle-class woman too is, in material fact, a worker” means that for them the identity ‘woman’ is nothing but a sub-set of the working class, i.e. it is an identity which represents the momentary congealment of the working-class position rather than existing as a multi-class entity. The problem with such a non-Marxist understanding of the ontological configuration of identities is an issue that I have discussed at length in my paper titled ‘Critiquing Intersectionality, Populism and Gender Disembodied of Class’.[15] I am compelled to reassert these objections, but this is an issue to which I will return later.
Before I delve further into their problematic understanding of what constitutes the working-class position, I consider it important to discuss in detail some of the problems associated with their theoretical and political conclusions regarding the role of domestic labour in the oppression of women. The first problem I wish to draw attention to is the presumptuousness with which they accuse me of denying the existence of gender segmentation within the working class. In their haste to prove how my analysis tends to “side-step the question of man–woman equality”, Paresh and Co have conveniently forgotten to do their research, let alone read my original paper carefully. Here I would like to point out to them that in sections of the paper I have traced how the working-class woman was subjugated within the family due to historical transformations (unleashed by capitalism) in the household structure and larger economy.[16] I have highlighted how women’s segmented status within the household stemmed from the privatization of household work/family life.
Nevertheless, while tracing the role of women’s domestic labour in the capitalist economy, I showed how it is just one of the factors (and certainly not the only factor) which contributes to lowering the value of labour power. Although this contribution of women’s domestic labour can explain to some extent why capitalism has a stake in maintaining women in a subordinate position within the home, I do recognize (unlike my critics) that there is no invariant relationship between domestic labour and the value of labour power. Indeed, the value of labour power is subject to historical and cultural variations, and so it stands to vary across different categories of labour (skilled/unskilled, male/female, upper/lower-caste), and according to particular circumstances which affect the bargaining position of labour at a given conjuncture (like the level of class struggle achieved, the general rate of accumulation, the levels of profits accrued in a given enterprise/sector, political instability in country, etc.).
In this context of multiple determining factors, it is categorically wrong on the part of Paresh and Co to claim that women’s domestic work plays a crucial role in establishing the value (in particular, depressing the value) of labour power. As a consequence, it is erroneous of them to presuppose that the (subordinate) position of women in the home is attributable to a supposedly axiomatic connection between domestic labour and labour power. To best explain how no self-evident connection exists between housework performed by women and the value of labour power, it is worth considering certain important facts.
For one, any Marxist analysis of women’s domestic labour must take into account the fact that capitalists appear relatively unconcerned as to who are the agents who perform domestic work. After all, domestic work is performed not only by women, but also by single males, children, etc. In connection to this is the second important fact about domestic labour in capitalism, which is that it is precisely where the input of domestic labour is minimal that the value of labour power is the lowest. We know for a fact that it is the labour power of single-male migrant workers which is most devalued, resulting in them being paid the lowest wages in the labour market. These single-male workers usually reproduce their labour power on a daily basis without drawing on female domestic labour, and it is in fact because of their below average wages that most of them are unmarried and residing in shanties, hostels, sweat-shops, under-construction buildings, footpaths, etc. Devoid of a ‘hearth’ or a household structure, these single-male workers survive on food and services obtained through the market or by attending to domestic chores themselves. The simple truth which emerges is that the home (and hence the ability to draw on women’s domestic labour) is itself contingent on a worker enjoying a higher value of labour power. With capitalists increasingly paying wage-rates that are just about equivalent in value to the bundle of commodities required for the reproduction of the wage earner’s labour power, many male workers are unable to start families, or to bring their families with them to the cities where they find work. With substantial numbers of workers being denied a ‘family wage’ the capitalist system is itself eroding the (material) basis on which the working-class man can draw on the domestic labour of his wife and subsequently “exploit” her.
The employment of working-class children in middle-class homes, sweatshops, scrap yards, eateries, etc. reflects yet another important fact that a significant section of working-class children are already part of the workforce and are reproducing not only their own labour power but are contributing to the reproduction of their other family members’ labour power (by sending money back home, etc.). Simply put, inter-generational reproduction of labour power through the household (i.e. dependence on the parent’s wage for the reproduction of a future worker) is non-existent in many cases since working-class children have already stepped into the labour market to contribute to the reproduction of the working-class family’s labour power and have come to sustain themselves outside a household structure.
Furthermore, the change in the composition of housework and its relevance for capitalism is also reflected in the fact that both the bourgeois state and capitalist market have intervened to provide some of the services and goods that were formerly products of housework. Again, by providing certain services and goods at a relatively low cost, the capitalist system has ensured that single-male workers, who do not reside in household-like structures and so depend on the market for food and other essential services, are the ones who are paid below average wages. Indeed, within the capitalist system the bourgeois state assumes the responsibility of providing certain subsistence goods and services since individual capitalists are unwilling to cover the costs of these via wages. The assumption of this responsibility by the state stems from the fact that these goods and services are important for the reproduction of labour power, which is why their cost is ultimately borne by social/collective capital (embodied in the state). Of course, the provision of these goods and services is dependent on a host of factors, particularly on the level of class struggle and the rate of capitalist accumulation attained. At present, for example, there has been a gradual shift from the ‘welfarist’ stance of the bourgeois state to a ‘neo-liberal’ one. For the working class this withdrawal has spelt much ruination as it has led to working-class women and children spending more time in arduous tasks like fetching water, obtaining and preparing food, looking after the sick and elderly, etc. It is then important to note that whatever the limited and fluctuating intervention of the state, such intervention has affected and continues to affect the domestic realm radically.[17]
Undeniably then, changes within the mode of production have clearly affected domestic labour. With the resulting change in the composition of housework, it seems highly unlikely that in its interest, capitalism maintains the realm of women’s domestic labour in the same form. In fact, certain changes brought on by the capitalist accumulation process as well as the intensification of class struggle have been eliciting the opposite effect; thus making the dependency of capitalism on housework more varied and complex.
Domestic Labour and Its Class Dimensions
To further elucidate the changing nature of domestic labour it is essential that I demonstrate how domestic labour differs from class to class, especially in the context of historically evolving class relations. In today’s day and age, for instance, it is obvious that bourgeois women or the female kin of capitalists do not indulge in day-to-day housework. The domestic labour of the bourgeois woman is undertaken not so much by her but by an army of servants and a host of the most expensive household appliances. Even if these women take to certain housework, this is done to assert a style statement rather than reproduce (cheaply!) the ‘labour power’ of the capitalist husband and capitalist babies. Of course, these women have an active biological reproductive role to play.[18] But if we must account for the fact that “labour power and capital are not things but social relations”, which Paresh and Co rattle on about but fail to apply its logic, we must recognize the fact that bourgeois women reproduce their class (and not just babies as things) in the process of procreation. And since their reproductive roles do not erase their socio-economic positioning in society via some biological (apocalyptic) moment, bourgeois mothers enjoy the freedom to sub-let the entire process of child-rearing to nannies, and later, to expensive boarding schools. Divested of the burden of domestic labour and belonging to a class that has witnessed an exponential growth in its class power (both economically and politically) in the last few decades, it is difficult to attribute a subjugated position to bourgeois women. With sizeable shares in firms and companies, the economic independence to annul marital relations and ‘domestic helps’ to do the needful, the bourgeois woman sticks out like a sore thumb in Paresh and Co’s formulation of women’s subordination across class. Evidently, it is within the structure of capitalism that these women have come to resolve the issue of their segmented status and have as a result overcome their subordination within the class.
There are then no class unifying attributes to women’s domestic labour. In fact, the sharp contradiction in interests stemming from class hierarchy is very much present in the realm of domestic labour. Once we honestly engage with this class hierarchy it becomes impossible to relegate the term middle class to a mere “subjective position” like Paresh and Co do. To qualify my arguments and to remove the space for any ambiguity on this point, I wish to specify certain facts about the materiality of this class position. The first fact I wish to draw attention to is that the middle class is constitutive of that section of people which exists in-between the two basic classes present in capitalism, i.e. the working class and capitalist class. Second, it is an extremely heterogeneous category consisting of shop-keepers, high-salaried employees, self-employed professionals, rentiers, etc. Third, the common characteristic shared by these heterogeneous elements is that they do not necessarily own property (many times they simply own high skill as a property form) but still share (with the capitalist class) a portion of the surplus value created by the working class. The next essential fact to note about the middle-class is the course of its evolution in India. Riding the wave of liberalization of the Indian economy – a development that greatly benefitted a certain segment of middle-class households – an entire second and third generation has emerged within middle-class families which has come to associate salaried work with prestige, thereby creating further scope for middle-class women to pursue careers and sub-let domestic work to the paid ‘help’.
We have seen the emergence in our big cities of a new middle-class in sharp contrast to the old middle-class where an entire generation of women were discouraged from pursuing a career. At the most, women from older middle-class families have been/are in the position to complete a basic education, which has led them into very limited kinds of jobs like school teaching, running boutiques/parlours, home-based businesses like pickling, etc. – all of which are occupations that provide ‘ample’ time for these women to return home (or to work from home) and attend to the bulk of housework. These women from (old) middle-class families have and continue to attend to housework themselves since the concept of paid ‘help’ was/is frowned upon. As of now these older middle-class families are either being proletarianised due to changes in the capitalist accumulation process, or are gradually embarking on the journey to become a part of the new middle class. In the case of the latter, it is typically the younger generation of middle-class men and women who move to big cities in search of jobs and higher education. However, in the intense competition to ‘make it big’ and with limited resources in hand, many of these youth simply end up aping the new middle class settled in big cities. Often frustrated with the lack of opportunities, they have become prone to conservatism and have the tendency to be co-opted by fascist forces.[19] Of course, a sizeable portion of migrating middle-class youth from small cities are able to overcome the limitations of their position and become part of the new middle class. This is precisely why we are witness to inter-generational differences in lifestyles, ideology, culture, etc. within many middle-class families.
It is interesting to note that in contrast to the generation of their mothers and grandmothers, women from the younger generations of middle-class families are consciously steering clear of being ‘just housewives’ and are competing for better educational and employment opportunities outside the home.[20] We are increasingly seeing this tendency unfold in our big cities, which have become the most sought after centres for education and employment. Most of the younger generation of middle-class men and women, or youth of the new middle class are oriented towards matching their ambitious career aspirations with aspirations to ‘marry well’. What this means is that the new middle-class youth, which is settling down in our big cities, is consciously seeking partners who have stable careers and can help sustain or improve their existing lifestyle and status.[21] Hence, we see the growing tendency amongst new middle-class youth to reject or rebel against marriage proposals where suitors are less educated/qualified than them.
With the sizeable growth in ‘double income-earning’ couples the dependency on paid domestic ‘help’ is on the rise. In fact, (new) middle-class women have increasingly retained salaried work (post marriage and post pregnancies) in the pressure to maintain the particular status and standard of living typical of their class. It goes without saying that like their husbands/partners, they too tend to join the high income-earning segment of the labour force. As a result, middle-class women can afford to hire paid ‘help’, i.e. maids to take care of their housework. Higher incomes also ensure that middle-class homes are well equipped with several household appliances, and that they can afford to regularly purchase a number of other utility services and subsistence goods offered by the capitalist consumer market. Even when some of these middle-class women are not part of the labour force, a significant portion of their domestic work is still sub-let to the domestic ‘help’ as well as fulfilled through the use of household appliances, etc. And so, we find two broad patterns of hiring domestic ‘help’; one in which middle-class couples hire full-time maids/children who even reside with the middle-class family in their homes, and the other in which middle-class couples hire a maid who generally comes in once or twice in the day to attend to the family’s washing, cleaning and cooking. This means that based on their husbands’ incomes middle-class women have been able to negotiate and change the content of the domestic labour expected of them.
It is the very same middle-class woman whose subordination through domestic labour is reified by Paresh and Co, who typically employs an under-age tribal girl to look after her endless household chores. We have all witnessed, for instance, middle-class couples coming to dine or shop in public places, trailed by, of course, a young tribal girl (often a child herself) who fusses around the couples’ toddlers, carries the baby’s bags and is often made to eat at a separate table. It is again in many middle-class households that young working-class boys are employed as domestic ‘helps’. Of course, these young working-class children are far from ‘gainfully employed’ since many of them are paid a pittance (and sometimes nothing) for their laborious work. They are consequently rarely in the position to free themselves from such ‘employment’.
Even in the case of adult working-class women employed in middle-class homes, the story of blatant exploitation is indisputable. While not all individual middle-class women unleash a reign of terror on their working-class maids, the fact is that many do and that the average middle-class woman does not pay a family wage to her domestic ‘help’ – a reason why most of these working-class women are compelled to perform this back-breaking work not just for one but several middle-class homes. In this light, I find it essential to point out to Paresh and Co that the ‘Marxist’-feminist ideologues whose positions they have so uncritically accepted have been known to argue that there is a possibility of a collaboration between employers (the Madam) and employees (the Maid) based on ‘proper’ remuneration. For instance, Dalla Costa in her article ‘Women’s Autonomy and Remuneration for Care Work in the New Emergencies’ even suggests that paid care-work could be an acceptable job option for women, considering the existing economic conditions and other alternatives currently available to women!
However, the simple fact is that when a working-class woman steps into the shoes of an upper-class woman to perform her domestic work, she is subject to exploitation no matter what kind of wage-relation her madam imposes on her. Unlike Dalla Costa and many other proclaimed Marxist-feminists, I wish to call a spade a spade and to stop justifying paid care-work in paternalistic tones. For communists, paid care-work performed for upper-class households is not the kind of employment women should be recruited for. The fact that a large number of working-class women are employed in such jobs reflects the need for working-class organizations to fight for more productive and greater employment of working-class women, and to unionize existing paid ‘care-workers’. This stands in sharp contrast to the let-each-of-us-treat-our-maids-with-respect-and-better-pay-kind of approach promoted by Dalla Costa and others. I hope Paresh and Co see the point and realize that in many ways the ‘humanization’ of the middle-class couple [22] in terms of having ‘quality time’ to spend with each other, etc. is based on the dehumanization of the overworked working-class woman (as the ‘bai’) and her relationship with her man and children.[23]
Moving on, even if we consider the reproductive roles of new middle-class women, it is obvious that with the employment of domestic servants and the mushrooming of play schools, crèches, etc., child rearing is no longer the sole responsibility of these women. Overall, Paresh and Co’s argument about the woman being denied “personal autonomy…which forces her to sublimate her energies into housework or…into the production of labour-power” seems far-fetched in the case of new middle-class women. This is not just because most of their housework is performed by working-class women, but also because of the kind of lifestyle new middle-class women have come to inculcate. Freed from most domestic duties and extremely conscious of their class position, these women are nurturing social networks and a culture that reproduces their class status.[24]
By pointing out these essential facts my purpose is not to project that just as in the case of bourgeoisie women, middle-class women too are in the position to completely resolve the question of their discontent within the framework of the capitalist mode of production. Instead, my emphasis has always been on how middle-class women’s complicity in maintaining class inequalities is preventing them from resolving the question of women’s oppression from the perspective of the working-class woman, and hence, in their own long-term interest. [25] Rarely affected by poverty, most new middle-class women and feminists can really be conscious only of inequality that hits them directly, i.e. unequal relations within their homes and workplaces, between them and men of their class. This is precisely why we find that the tendency to project patriarchy as an overarching, independent system of oppression finds most adherence within the upper echelons of society where women are materially positioned in better terms, like men of their class. Not surprisingly, unlike their working-class sisters who are burdened by pauperization, women from the new middle class are less likely to comprehend and organize against the material basis on which women’s oppression stands. They are, instead, more prone to organize and speak out against ‘gendered mentalities’, ‘sexist culture’, etc. Unfortunately, by limiting the question of women’s oppression to the issue of patriarchal mindsets, aggressive masculinity, lack of sensitive laws, etc., new middle-class women have not only succeeded in particularizing women’s oppression but have also artificially separated it from the question of prevailing class inequalities.[26]
Having said this, when I state that middle-class women address the problem of women’s subordination in a particularist and restrictive fashion it does not mean that their segmented status is a mere product of ideology, and that they have already achieved a state of emancipation due to their privileged class position. No doubt middle-class women embody a segmented status within their class – a status which allows for their oppression at the hands of their male partners and male kin. Rather than being mere expressions of patriarchal ideology, there is something more tangible to the domestic violence, bad sex, sexual harassment and rape that middle-class women are subjected to. [27] Precisely because this segmentation is real (though not absolute), the larger image of women’s vulnerability and subjugation – nurtured by the oppressed and exploited condition of working-class women – can find the space to express itself in middle-class homes and high-end offices/universities. Importantly, unlike Paresh and Co, I recognize that the role played by the larger (subjugated) position of women is a significant factor to reckon with when analysing the oppression faced by middle-class women. This is because the image of women’s vulnerability is overdetermined not so much by the individual class position of the middle-class woman, but by the larger social structure.
Middle-class women are not just victims of gender segmentation within their class (a division/gap which has the tendency to narrow down with time), but are also victims of an exploitable, vulnerable image that is not directly reduce-able to their class position. This means that despite the consistent efforts of new middle-class women to attain gender equality with men of their class, the possibilities of their oppression shall persist due to the lack of change in the position of the majority of women in our society, i.e. working-class women. It is only with the eradication of gender segmentation within their class as well as of prevailing class divisions that middle-class women can enjoy an emancipated position. Unfortunately, the necessity of challenging class hierarchy and resulting (social, economic and sexual) inequalities is lost on middle-class women, and their focus and energies tend to gravitate (at the most) towards the particularist agenda of feminism, i.e. a politics in which male–female inequality is wrongly projected as the major fault-line of bourgeois society, which results in gender equality being isolated from the question of prevailing class inequalities.[28]
The problem then is that despite their segmented status and the burden imposed by the image of female vulnerability, middle-class women are not providing any anti-systemic form to their discontent. They are instead compromising with men of their class and with temporary solutions thrown up by capital in order to gain/maintain access to the same class privileges. To elucidate this fact, I would like to point out two significant trends that reflect the complicit role played by upper-class women. The first is a trend that I have discussed at length in my earlier papers, which is the indulgence in hyper-femme dressing and behaviour by upper-class women – a practice which is used by them to attract partners from within their own class or from a higher status. Indeed, it is by resorting to patriarchal feminity and its concomitant forms of hypergamy that many women gain/maintain access to (upper) class privileges, or come to aspire for privileges akin to the upper classes. In this way, skin-tight jeans, miniskirts and other articles of hyper-femme dressing are metaphoric expressions of an obviously class-informed notion of beauty. However, apart from representing an act coloured by class, such indulgences represent a distinct problem, which is the ‘double-bind’ in which new middle-class women in particular are trapped. This double-bind is constitutive of the middle-class woman’s vulnerability on the one hand, and her complicity on the other. This means that while she tries to draw on all her class privileges, the new middle-class woman is simultaneously faced with the tremendous pressure to fit into prescribed competitive notions of ‘beauty’ and feminine behaviour.
In the process of trying to outbid other women and inculcating all the expected mannerisms which appeal to men who are likely to be their partners, middle-class women are actually confronted with a form of oppression that paves the way for a never-ending process of compromises. After all, it’s not just what these women end up doing to their own bodies in order to ‘stay young’, ‘feel beautiful’, ‘catch his attention’, etc., but what they end up allowing men to do to their bodies. This double-bind of vulnerability-cum-complicity in which middle-class women are trapped ensures that they are often in no position to confront the inherent dilemma of their oppression, and are therefore, incapable of resolving such oppression, i.e. by opting out of the situation. It is precisely this double-bind which: (i) makes them identify the problem as simply stemming from the prevalence of an aggressive male mentality, and (ii) prevents them from also questioning the kind of life-style, sexual codes, etc. assigned to them as women of a particular class.
Moving on, the second example which reflects the compromised nature in which middle-class women respond to oppression is one that relates to the behaviour of women professionals. As part of the labour market, women professionals, for example in universities, have consciously fought for the constitution of women development cells (WDCs) in their educational institutions. These institutionalized bodies have become platforms for expressing and giving shape to young educated women’s concerns with respect to gender discrimination (within the home or in public spaces). That university spaces – which employ not just women professionals but also a sizeable number of women workers (as cleaners, mess attendants, clerks, security guards, etc.) – are equipped with WDCs but not with crèche facilities is indicative of how women professionals tend to combat gender discrimination at workplaces only on their terms. As they can afford play schools, can employ maids and avail of childcare leave, they have obviously not felt the need to push for something as crucial as subsidized childcare centres within the space of the university/workplace – a demand which can cater to the needs of women workers and working-class women students who are juggling the burden of familial responsibilities without any external support.
Evidently, working-class women stand in sharp contrast to middle-class women, for they exercise tremendous potential of raising anti-systemic demands and struggles. This is because the materiality of their exploited and oppressed conditions is un-concealable and inseparable from their class position. For example, working-class women – whether employed or not – are completely burdened with household work. This is because neither the ‘family wage’ of working-class husbands, nor the ‘supplementary’ wages of working-class women are sufficient to equip working-class homes with essential household appliances. Not surprisingly, considering theirs and their husbands’ meagre earnings, these working-class women are in no condition to employ maids to share the burden of their housework. As a result, they come to bear the burden of both domestic work and waged labour. Caught between the pull and push of waged labour as well as the complete burden of housework, the participation of working-class women in the labour market has been reduced to a constant state of flux. They are hence easily pushed into the least rewarded and ‘protected’ category of waged labour – a situation which contributes to their vulnerability within the household, especially in terms of being dependent on their husbands’ wages.
It is then apparent that by stressing the materiality of women’s ‘common’ oppression, Paresh and Co dangerously assimilate more and more privileged women on the same platform as working-class women, i.e. irrespective of stark differences in their class position. Such assimilation has been possible by side-stepping the fact that women from the privileged classes can sub-let their domestic labour to working-class women, and that the manual/physical labour performed by working-class women as part of their housework is inequitable to the kind and magnitude of domestic labour performed by upper-class women. Overlooking the aforementioned facts, and hence ridden with a static conception of housework, Paresh and Co end up delinking domestic labour from the actual process of capitalist accumulation. For all their claims of connecting women’s domestic labour to the logic of capitalist exploitation, they still fail to account for the fact that women’s domestic labour in relation to capital has come to mean different things to different classes of women.
Trapped in this misconception they have quite easily projected that the future of class struggle lies in greater valuation of domestic labour. In arguing so, they support their claims with certain theoretical formulations like women’s domestic labour “produces labour power” and “surplus value”, and should hence be remunerated. By this very (economistic) logic, the tyranny of capital (and its timely co-option of male workers as husbands) is best combatted by waging/intensifying class struggle along the lines of the Wages for Housework movement. Hence, for them the “reconstitution of the working class into a class-for-itself” is only possible when the working-class struggle attains a “feminist moment” by providing women-as-wives wages for their housework. However, contrary to what Paresh and Co project as the Marxist (i.e. the working-class) position, the household has never been conceived as the locus of the production of labour power. Instead, Marxists who have intervened in the domestic labour debate have always emphasized that women’s domestic labour produces various use values in the form of goods and services which are needed for the reproduction of the labour force.[29] As argued by Himmelweit and others, “Domestic labour is necessary in order that the labourer lives; but it does not produce the commodity labour-power, which is just an attribute of the living individual”.[30] More importantly, even though this work of reproduction is essential, its locus is not always the family, for such tasks are even undertaken by agencies like the state and the market. By not taking these important facts of reproduction into consideration, Paresh and Co’s Marxist-feminist approach has failed to explain the actual source of women’s oppression and exploitation and its relevance for capital. As a result, their “politico-strategic wisdom” comes to legitimize and propagate one of the most reactionary demands thrown up by the feminist movement, that is, wages for housework.
If we assume like Paresh and Co that wages for housework allows the working-class movement to resolve the women’s question, then we must also assume that domestic labour can be quantified and averaged across the board, as in the case of any other commodity. It is, after all, only through the operation of the law of value that the labour-time necessary for the production of any particular commodity can be established. It is based on this socially necessary labour time that a price/wage can be assigned for such labour. By this logic, the wage payable to the working-class woman is what will be generalized for women across the board – unless, of course, we expect the valuation process to work in a discriminatory manner that would assign women wages according to their respective class position. What is important to note is that even if all domestic labour (performed by different classes of women) is assigned the same value, some women – namely, those from the privileged classes – would still be in the position to purchase such labour off the market and hence would not perform domestic labour at all.
Lastly, even if women came to be paid for their domestic work, the male–female segmentation within classes would persist and would, in fact, be further legitimized with women being associated with household work. This is because women in the household (even when paid a wage) will be ghettoized, or simply relegated to a segmented status marked by the ‘feminization of work’. This feminization of work represents the attribution of domestic labour to women as part of a ‘natural’ sexual division of labour. There is, of course, nothing natural in this process as most of this labour can be socialized, which leads to the question how exactly will wages for housework emancipate working-class women from the drudgery and sole responsibility of domestic labour? Are they not being pushed further into a segmented position that is based on their enslavement to a form of labour that can and should otherwise be socialized?
I understand that it is important for us to engage with and comprehend the significance of women’s domestic labour; but I believe that the subsumption of such efforts within slogans of wages for housework does the issue much injustice. I say this for several reasons, including the fact that we must learn to contextualize domestic labour amidst all the tendencies unleashed by capital to change or to maintain it. If we fail to do so, we will end up with Paresh and Co’s-kind of economistic approach to domestic labour based on a flat ontology of women’s variegated class positions. One must realize how their kind of approach prevents us from fully comprehending the nature of women’s economic and non-economic activities within capitalism. The entire discussion above indicates that the performance or non-performance of domestic labour is itself not the cause for women’s subordination. With women stepping into waged/salaried work to substantiate family incomes, it is factors that lie outside the realm of the household which seem to have a greater determining significance. To better comprehend the grave limitations of their assessments it is best to explore some (if not all) the nitty-gritty’s pertaining to women’s position within the organization of production under capitalism.
The Marxist-Leninist Position on Women’s Domestic Labour
As argued in my original paper on rape [31] the organization of production under capitalism (i.e. the separation of the means of production from the class of producers) and the process of proletarianization eliminated the corporate aspects of kin-group functioning. Increasingly, people came to face the state as individuals; the socialization of labour came to be accompanied by the privatization of personal (i.e. family) life; productive labour came to be separated from kin relations; and the family unit increasingly became just a unit of social reproduction (reducing in size steadily) and of consumption (as basic necessities like food, clothing, etc. came to be produced by the market, and family labour was, consequently, no longer expended like it was when households were spheres of production). It was by creating a ‘non-economic’ private sphere in opposition to an ‘economic’ public sphere that capitalism came to unleash new levels and a new form of oppression on women. However, the story does not end here, for the historical development of capitalist accumulation as well as the trajectory of working-class struggles has unleashed several contradictory tendencies which, in turn, have affected both the value of women’s labour power in the labour market and women’s dependent position within the family.
We have, for example, the tendency of capitalism to lead to the pauperization of working-class families and of a certain segment of middle-class families. As a consequence of the pressure unleashed on household budgets, capitalist accumulation can compel even the most patriarchal of men to allow their wives/daughters to enter waged work. And so, capitalism exercises the ability to draw women out of their homes for waged work under particular kinds of occupations and also during certain circumstances that create a shortage of labour supply. Clearly, the reality eats into the primacy attributed to patriarchy in the (feminist) explanation of women’s oppression.
In the process of the capitalist market drawing working-class women out of their homes for waged labour, the bourgeois state (representative of the collective interests of capital) tends to play a crucial role. For instance, even though individual capitalists resist protective labour legislations pushed forth by working-class struggles, certain ‘welfarist’ labour laws – especially pertaining to women – as well as other social welfare legislations have been formulated and enforced by the state over a period of time. Hence, we have state investment in education and health, as well as legislations like equal remuneration, etc. The logic behind such state intervention is that over-exploitation of labour by individual capitalists is bound to fuel a large-scale mobilization of the working class that goes beyond factory-level workers’ struggles. From the point of view of the general interest of capital over-exploitation by individual capitalists is also considered undesirable as it most certainly affects the reproduction of labour as well as the consumption of the largest segment of society, namely, the working class. Having said this, it is important to note that the bourgeois state’s intervention in labour and social welfare is far from unilateral or pro-working class.[32]
Considering the contradictory tendencies unleashed by capital (often in its struggle with labour), it is highly inappropriate to raise a demand that further traps women in the realm of unproductive labour and fails to improve the overall condition of the working-class family. [33] Let us consider the instance of women being paid for their domestic labour, i.e. either through a share of their husbands’ salaries, or via a special allowance paid by the state. Unlike what Paresh and Co would have us all believe, neither does such a payment substantially raise family incomes, nor does it work towards the redeployment/redistribution of national income to meet the needs of the working class. Indeed, payment for housework is a demand which is most likely to be co-opted by the bourgeois state in terms of a trade-off of family allowance against tax – a measure that reflects the simple fact that the family wage would not necessarily rise even if the method of payment was reorganized.[34] Furthermore, by pressing forth with wages for housework Paresh and Co end up taking a position which creates the scope for further privatization of family life and greater isolation of women within the structure of the family. In contrast to propagators of wages for housework, the progressive women’s movement and the working-class movement have quite rightly focused on greater employment for women as it offers them the opportunity to step out of the isolation in which they perform their domestic tasks at their individual kitchen hearths.
Tied to the burden of their housework, working-class wives have little scope of building unity amongst each other and are more often than not embroiled in petty struggles amongst themselves. As long as working-class women are unemployed and/or forced into the least rewarding and most insecure jobs there is little chance of organizing them effectively. Bound to their homes, working-class women can at best be represented by local level activists, or momentarily brought together on certain issues affecting the larger community (like inflation, slum demolition, neighbourhood violence, etc.). Such issue-based forms of mobilization are in the long run unproductive, for working-class women end up withdrawing into the space of their homes as soon as the issues die down or when such mobilizations face intense state repression.
It is then important that this vulnerable section of women are freed from their individual kitchen hearths and brought into the realm of the public through gainful and permanent employment. In their workplaces, working-class women are in a better position to organize and unite with other women. Once outside the home in large numbers, they have entered a position through which they can fight against gender segmentation nurtured in waged work. Their mass participation in waged work is also the initial step towards establishing their economic freedom outside the household structure. What has then been identified by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Clara Zetkin as the essential stride towards the liberation of working-class women is waged labour outside the home. This means that communists must fight to create (new) spaces of working-class struggles that can become platforms for launching the larger struggle which undermines the existence of capitalism itself. By this logic, rather than desperately trying to fit the main locus of working-class politics into less productive moulds/spaces/axes (such the family, male–female inequality), communists must push for greater participation of the oppressed in spaces/axes of struggle that can sustain the larger movement against the tyranny of capital. Importantly, productive employment of all women outside their homes is one such axis because by its very nature greater employment of women is contrary to the logic of capital, which sustains its accumulation process by creating a reserve army of labour. It is then only anti-systemic demands of such nature that deserve support. In this regard, Paresh and Co’s slogan of wages for housework stands in sharp contrast to the Marxist tradition, and hence to the demands that have emerged from within the socialist movement.
Clearly, unlike Paresh and Co who attribute women’s segmented status simply to domestic labour, the experiences of working-class struggles have taught Marxists to understand the relation between women’s subordination and the reproduction of the capitalist mode of production in a more complex manner.[35] Seeing this relation as an outcome of the combination of several determinations, a truly Marxist analysis would also take women’s present conditions in the labour market into account when envisaging appropriate strategies to combat women’s oppression. it is, after all, not just the burden of domestic duties, but also the lack of good (and equal) pay for waged work that prevents/dissuades women from working outside the home. Thus the labour market itself reinforces women’s subordinate position within the home by restricting their employment, by hiring them last and firing them first, by denying them maternity leave/benefits and consciously depressing their wages by drawing a link between their position in the domestic sphere and their extra domestic presence – all of which amount to practices that reduce the presence of women in the workforce to a constant state of flux, and hence create huge possibilities for women to be pushed back into the domestic sphere.
With this undeniable role that the labour market plays in facilitating women’s subordination within the household, it is incorrect to conceive women’s position in society as determined exclusively by their position within the home. In this light, more than wages for housework, it is the demand for greater employment of women, secure work contracts, equal wages, safe and conducive work conditions, provision of crèche facilities at workplaces, etc. that can help to weaken (and eventually destroy) the structures of oppression within the home (in particular, women’s dependency on the privileged/higher male wage) as well as to remove (through concerted workplace-related struggles, unionization, etc.) the discriminatory barriers outside the home. In the same vein, it is the demand for the provision of heavily subsidized household appliances and the demand for greater socialization of housework (and not the right to continue performing traditional domestic work, albeit with pay) which pave the way for confronting the sexual division of labour, in addition to creating greater leisure time for the working-class family.
Thus in contrast to Paresh and Co whose propagation of wages for housework would simply institutionalize housework as the major role of women, the working-class demands that actually address the issue of sexual division of labour include greater employment of women, equal wage for equal work, greater socialization of housework (in terms of free laundries, free schooling, free nurseries, etc.) and reorganization of work hours and shortening of the work week. The last demand is crucial from the working-class perspective for two particular reasons: (i) that it goes a long way in providing both men and women greater time for nurturing their relationships and to be in a (better) position to share the load of domestic labour, and (ii) that shorter working hours translate into greater employment of the currently unemployed (of whom a large percentage are women). Quite obviously then our task as communists “does not consist of striving for justice in the division of labour between the sexes…our task is to free both [emphasis added] men and women from petty household labour”.[36]
I support the aforementioned views by drawing on certain observations made by Marx and Engels on the issue of domestic labour and the question of emancipating women. While it may be true that Marx relegated the performance of domestic labour “to the labourer’s instinct of self-preservation and of propagation”, he did at the same time qualify his assessment by linking the issue of reproduction of the working class to the particular functioning of the specific historic mode of production, i.e. capitalism. [37] Of course, the question is not whether Marx and Engels were right or wrong in emphasizing the destruction of the (old form of) family with the advent of capitalism. Instead, what is important to note is whether their study of the role of the family (and thus women’s subordinate position within the household) led them to the right conclusion. Here it is worth noting that Marx argued the following:
However terrible and disgusting the dissolution, under the capitalist system, of the old family ties may appear, nevertheless, modern industry, by assigning as it does an important part in the process of production, outside the domestic sphere, to women, to young persons, and to children of both sexes, creates a new economical foundation for a higher form of the family and of the relations between the sexes…[38]
While arguing that capitalism paved the way for a new and higher form of family, Marx and Engels also emphasized the need to develop upon certain opportunities provided by the capitalist system (like the employment of women outside the household) in order to destroy the family structure altogether – a development which, according to them, would facilitate greater emancipation of women. In German Ideology, for example, Marx argued that capitalism was the first system to create the possibility of transferring housework from the private to the public sphere.[39] In tune with this line of argument, both Marx and Engels identified that the initial and essential step towards the weakening of the exploitative form of the family structure was greater participation of women outside the home, i.e. as part of the economy. Lenin too, in this regard, argued that “petty housework crushes” and “degrades” a woman by making her “…waste her labour on barbarously unproductive, petty, nerve-wracking and stultifying and crushing drudgery”.[40] He thus emphasized that “the real emancipation of women” must include “the wholesale transformation” of household work into socialized labour.
In this light, Selma James and Dalla Costa’s claim that “those who advocate that the liberation of the working-class woman lies in her getting a job outside the home are part of the problem, not the solution”, [41] stands not only in sharp contrast to the working-class position but is also an expression of an unsubstantiated value judgement which presumes that working-class leaders have been/are simply gender-blind and have perpetuated women’s oppression through empty slogans.[42] Typically, feminists like Dalla Costa like to project women’s waged labour as the burdensome ‘second job’ that results in the lengthening of the woman’s workday. However, while Marxists are sensitive to the pressures brought on by waged work in addition to domestic labour, they have refused to deny the necessity of waged work for women’s emancipation. This is why in sharp contrast to the aforementioned feminist position, Marxists argue for greater employment of women outside the home along with greater socialization of domestic labour. In fact, Marxists project that with greater and more long-term employment of women outside the home, the ability of women to challenge the sexual division of labour within the home will be much higher.
Ironically, Paresh and Co, in an extremely snobbish vein, come to mock the very idea of socialization of housework when they approvingly quote Dalla Costa and Selma James. They suggest that by employing women outside the home and pressing for socialization of housework we simply create the “possibility at lunchtime of eating shit collectively in the canteen”.[43] By quoting Costa and James verbatim they show tremendous hostility towards the demand and efforts to socialize women’s domestic labour. In a position to sub-let their housework to the paid domestic ‘help’ or perhaps under the impression that they represent sufficiently ‘sensitive’ partners who readily share the burden of housework, such snobbery and the haste to undermine the liberating outcome of socialization of domestic work is expected.
It is unfortunate that by moving away from the actual tradition of Marxism and convinced that Marxism is itself incapable of theorizing the political economy of women,[44] Paresh and Co have turned to Marxism-feminism in order to explain women’s oppression and the way forward. It goes without saying, that the Marxist-feminist position is premised on the logic of the dual systems theory – a fact reflected in its very nomenclature. It represents an unholy alliance of two contradictory ideologies, in which Marxism is used to explain certain dynamics connected to a given issue, and feminism is used to explain what Marxism ‘fails’ to explicate. Moreover, Marxist-feminists propagate the vague notion of a dual struggle in which the working-class woman must fight against capitalism on the one hand, and on the other, against the male segment of her class that has allegedly become an agent of capital. By asserting this Paresh and Co come to ally with anti-Marxist arguments made by Heidi Hartmann [45] and others who have written extensively on what they consider as the inability of Marxism to theorize patriarchy. According to Hartmann (and now Paresh & Co), male workers in alliance with capital have come to ensure that women are excluded from economically productive resources and have also come to control their sexuality. The ability of men to do so stems from their control over women’s labour. In more specific terms such an argument presumes that men workers are intrinsically driven by a patriarchal mentality to unite with employers and the bourgeois state in order to keep women out of waged work and hence preserve their male power/dominance. However, such claims stand unsubstantiated, as reflected in an insightful response to Hartmann’s assumptions by Jane Humphries, [46] who closely studied the behaviour of male miners in Britain around the time when the 1842 Mines Regulation Act was enforced. Interestingly, Humphries showed how male miners preferred to recruit their own wives and children to work alongside them as this ensured that the wage paid to them did not have to be shared with anyone outside the family.
Clearly, Hartmann-like claims completely overlook the role of class and the fact that there is a convergence of (women and men’s) interests into what can be identified as common class interests. When asserting that male workers would do anything to preserve male/patriarchal power, such positions fail to contend with the fact that often the interests of class prevail over patriarchal desires to subjugate one’s wives, daughters, etc. For example, for a working-class man the employment of his daughter would be preferred any day to the employment of someone else’s son. Hence, it is important for Paresh and Co to realize that women come to share the benefits and the agonies of being in a class, and it is this membership to a class which determines the form and content of their segmented status within their class.
To elucidate this point, let us engage with the segmented status of a capitalist’s wife. It is a known fact that this class of women was initially denied the right to property and the right to vote – an issue around which the feminist movement first took root. The purpose behind denying them equal access to certain forms of capitalist wealth despite their membership to the class was not so much to keep intact patriarchal control on these women. Instead, in the context of the early stages of capitalism when the most valued form of property existed mostly in land or immovable assets, the denial of property rights to female kin allowed the individual capitalist to keep his land/property from fragmenting, and hence from becoming less productive. In a patrilocal society in which women became part of separate family structures, it was not feasible for bourgeois families to transfer property rights in land over large geographical spaces – something which would have resulted in intense competitive claims over such immovable forms of property. Of course, with gradual changes in the property form, property rights also came to be transferred to female kin of bourgeois families. It was only when the need for direct control on property diminished (especially with the separation of management from ownership, greater financialization, and the opening up of several avenues for diversification of capital) that property rights for women became viable and desirable for the capitalist class as a whole. So, with certain historical developments within capitalist relations, social relations within the capitalist class have undergone visible change – a process that has allowed bourgeois women to rise above their segmented status within the class.
This means that women’s segmented status is neither static, nor is their segmented status devoid of or delinked from the class positions they inhabit. Recognizing this fact, Marxism or working-class politics has always argued that gender equality means different things for different classes. By extension this means that there is no general women’s question, and each class has its own women’s question. In contrast to Marxist-feminists and Paresh and Co, the actual Marxist tradition has taught activists to engage with the fact that the form and content of the working-class woman’s segmented status is co-relational to her working-class position. Since the working-class woman’s position prevents her from escaping the burden of domestic work, her emancipation lies in solutions (like mass employment, eradication of segmentation in the existing labour market, a shorter work day, socialization of housework, etc.) that transcend the very logic of capital and its structuring of society. Since the emancipation of working-class women offers more than just stop-gap solutions, the interests of middle-class women ultimately coincide with the proletarian resolution to the women’s question. For example, from the very moment that the transition period, marked by greater employment of working-class women outside the home takes off, both existing women professionals and women workers will immediately enjoy a stronger bargaining position to negotiate for better work conditions, permanent work contracts, greater socialization of the domestic realm through active state intervention, etc.
The Masked Discomfort with Class Analysis
It is evident that Paresh and Co have missed the whole point and resorted to an unnecessary diversion that fails to advance the ensuing debate. In the process of focusing merely on the segmented status of women (within their respective classes), they have resorted to typical Negrian analysis according to which all identities (in this case women) are equally subordinated to the rule of capital. Lost in this scheme of things is the simple fact that identities such as gender, nationality, caste, etc. are multi-class entities which cannot be assumed to axiomatically constitute the working-class position, and hence to be equally subordinated to the rule of capital.[47]
As any given identity is infiltrated by different class positions it is fallacious to assume that an identity such as woman is a working-class position in itself. If we make such a fallacious assumption we will also lose sight of the fact that not all women are exploitable merely on the basis of their gender identity. So by reducing women’s domestic labour to a static entity that is unaffected by the laws of capitalist accumulation, Paresh and Co wrongly project that working-class and middle-class women are equally subordinated to domestic work. In this way, like most feminists, they too have drained gender segmentation of its class dynamics. They have succeeded in doing so by narrowly concentrating on the categories of housework and housewives; thereby, side-lining an entire ensemble of women’s economic and non-economic activities and the wider relations within which these are rooted.
This is best reflected in their repetitive assertions that it is the “feminist moment” in class struggle which can actually resolve the question of the working-class woman’s segmented status within the class. What this means that the average working-class struggle (untouched by feminism) does not by itself raise the issue of such segmentation, and so does not elicit a process of greater gender equality as it unfolds. Disconnected from class in this manner, gender becomes a social position on which a separate, “autonomous” struggle must be waged – an autonomous struggle in which male–female equality takes precedence over the eradication of class-based inequalities when it comes to women’s oppression. Ironically, the historical trajectory of the progressive women’s movement and the international working-class movement has contested this notion of an autonomous struggle time and time again.[48]
It goes without saying that more than the interests of working-class women such calls for autonomous struggles represent the interests of upper-class women. As members of a more privileged class, upper-class women tend to attribute theirs and the oppression of working-class women simply to their gender. The oppression unleashed by the material conditions of inequality stemming from the working-class position is lost on upper-class women. In this light, the demand raised by a few middle-class ‘radicals’, academicians and NGOs for remunerating housework becomes an avenue through which an opportunistic alliance between upper-class and working-class women is sought to be forged while projecting a commonality of class position based on gender roles. Considering that the majority of upper-class women are in the position to sub-let most of their domestic duties to maids, the call for intensification of class struggle by working-class women via wages for housework campaigns restricts the solution to domestic slavery within the very structure of capitalism.
I argue this because the efforts of Dalla Costa, Selma James and other Marxist-feminists to project women as a class has allowed them to misrepresent spaces or spheres of resistance and struggle, like relations between employer–employee, client and service-provider, etc. as negotiated spaces which can be used to build cooperation between antagonistically positioned persons. By this logic since a maidservant and her mistress supposedly share a commonality of oppression, their employer–employee relationship can be lubricated and negotiated into a non-exploitative one. [49] A change of heart, individual good will, generosity, etc. expressed by middle-class women replaces the need for more gainful employment of working-class women. Thus by playing down class antagonism, the Marxist-feminists idolized by Paresh and Co have legitimized withdrawal from several long-standing working-class demands. They have made a virtue out of the little scope of liberation offered by capitalism; thereby sidelining the need to raise demands and campaigns that actually create the necessary preconditions for greater and more lasting organization of women, and hence the foundation for a revolutionary movement against capitalism. A piecemeal approach that never really prepares the ground for future transformation of society cannot be the cornerstone of working-class strategy to fight gender segmentation. This is all the more when we consider how Selma James and Dalla Costa, whom Paresh and Co quote extensively, responded to their critics by claiming that their demand of wages for housework was merely part of a “consciousness-raising” exercise and not something they sought the implementation of![50]
The problem with Selma James and Costa’s demands-that-are-not-actual-demands as well as Pothik Ghosh’s impossible demands and Paresh and Co’s reactionary demand is the artificial divide they create between the masses and intellectuals/activists. This division is created because their strategy, which emanates from an upper-class world-view, fails to galvanize the masses that articulate their aspirations in the form of immediate demands – about which Paresh and Co have nothing substantial to add. Failing to address the immediate concerns of the masses and to link these to intermediate demands, the aforementioned ‘radicals’ – by raising unconnected ‘demands’ – make a strategic miscalculation which ultimately results in the co-option of the masses by right wing forces or by the bourgeois state that makes timely concessions to pacify burgeoning discontent. In sharp contrast to such a misplaced strategy is the communist one which seeks to galvanize the discontented masses on intermediate demands that represent our claims to remould the given society, and are thus conducive for paving the way for revolutionary conditions where the fulfilment of ultimate demands becomes possible. That in this exercise of raising intermediate demands communists win over the masses rather than appearing as absurd ultra-radicals who offer no viable alternatives is extremely significant since communism has never and can never propagate its transformative politics in isolation. Of course, at certain conjunctures intermediate demands may be met by the bourgeois state in its bid to win back the support of the masses. However, by their very nature intermediate demands help unleash a higher level of class struggle by facilitating greater cadre-building within the masses, establishing popular influence, etc.; hence creating the space for communist organizations to guide the masses beyond the state’s bids of co-option.
This brings me back to the fundamental flaw in Paresh and Co’s approach, which is its undeniable proximity to the feminist position on women’s oppression – something that prevents them from comprehending the complexities of the relationship between capitalism and women’s oppression. It is exactly due to their quasi-feminist approach to domestic labour that they have failed to account for the phenomenon of single male migrant workers, many of whom are residing in cities without a household structure. Surviving in dehumanizing conditions that create no opportunity for them to nurture human relationships, a number of these male workers are increasingly turning to individuated, apolitical and sexist forms of expressing the frustration stemming from their exploited (class) position. Their culpability in acts of crime like rape is clearly attributable to the (social, economic and sexual) inequalities bred by capitalism. However, Paresh and Co do not even engage with this issue of culpability that is bred by the class divisions prevalent in our capitalist society. For them the sexist behaviour of working-class men is simply attributable to their unholy (patriarchal) pact/alliance with capital, which implies that the culpability of men is nothing but a product of the intersection of patriarchal mindsets and colluding capital that seeks to “reproduce the capital relation and forms of segmentation”. The narrowness and inadequacy of such an approach is best reflected in its inability to explain the rape of children (little boys included) by adult men. One wonders what gender segmentation or gender power is sought to be asserted when little boys and girls are brutalized. As this is an issue I have already addressed in my original paper and in my reply to Krishnan, I will avoid repeating my arguments here.
Evidently, Paresh and Co’s arguments represent yet another intersectionalist position which I have critiqued earlier.[51]Their deployment of the safety valve theory that positions women as a “passive receptacle for the frustrations and desires of the working class man” is a mere repetition of platitudes about bad sex in capitalism that are well known to us. The lack of mutually gratifying sexual relationships has a lot to do, as I have pointed out in my original paper, with the lack of time brought on by long work hours. In a scenario when men and women are working 12 to 14 hours a day, there is little time for fulfilling sex and romantic love to develop between them. When sex becomes a quick five minute affair which is desperately fitted into the daily routine of going to bed on time so that one may wake up early next morning for work it can remain little else but a channel to give vent to pent-up frustrations. This is actually one more reason why there is a case of convergence of interests of both working-class men and women against capital, i.e. in terms of demanding shorter working hours and the right to lead lives which may be considered human. However by way of solution, instead of taking recourse to the time tested communist solution of fighting for a shorter work day, Paresh and Co seem to suggest that women should prioritize the struggle against men within the family structure. In contrast to their position, the appropriate stand to take is that the struggle for good sex should be waged by working-class men and women together against capital that appropriates the hours which could have been used for romantic love and sex.
As argued by me earlier, the typical feminist position that Paresh and Co espouse is extremely wary of class analysis, which is why even when feminists accept the role of class in the creation of vulnerability and institutional bias, they adamantly deny that class simultaneously affects the formation of rapists, and hence contributes towards culpability in a large section of men, i.e. working-class men who have little time/capacity/life-conditions to maintain a fulfilling sexual life. For feminists, rape and other forms of women’s oppression is simply an expression of brute (male) power and control. They see ‘male power’ or patriarchy as a sufficient explanation for sexual assaults committed by men across the board, even if sexual offenders belong to the most marginalized sections of our patriarchal society. Likewise for radicals like Paresh and Co, working-class men – as “agents” of capital – enjoy a patriarchal dividend which they can draw on to oppress and exploit working-class women. However, in the process of asserting this collusion of working-class men with capital, Paresh and Co never explain how patriarchal behaviour is itself shaped and reproduced by capitalism.
Unlike Paresh and Co, I endeavoured to explain the sexist behaviour of individual working-class men by steering clear of formulations like working-class men enjoy access to a patriarchal dividend that intersects with the interests of capital which seek to divide the working class and reduce the cost of labour power, and so on and so forth. In fact, in the entire debate my efforts have been to demonstrate how a large number of working-class men tend to become perpetrators of sexual crimes or to act in sexist ways due to the manner in which capitalism generates social, economic and sexual inequalities across classes.[52] Thus, rather than reducing working-class men to “agents” of capital, I have engaged with how working-class male sexuality is imprisoned and dehumanized by capital, which is why the interests of working-class men are ultimately antithetical to the interests of capital. To prove this point, my original paper explained at length how the sexuality of working-class men, especially of those employed in the most menial jobs, is actually shackled by capital which is resulting in the development of an aggressive male sexuality in them.
In Lieu of a Conclusion: From Unfolding of the Bourgeois Revolution to the Creation of Conditions for a Socialist/Sexual Revolution
Instead of seeing the issue of culpability and vulnerability in the context of capitalism entrenching itself within all spheres of life, some individuals have responded to the development of an aggressive male sexuality in male workers and to incidents of rape involving working-class men by emphasizing the tendency of lumpenization, especially in countries that have not seen, what they consider, a full-fledged capitalist development due to imperialism. As a result, working class men are seen as recluses who are still stranded in their village mentalities. Rapes by them are then seen as a “perversion” that is representative of the clash between remnants of pre-capitalist forms of society and the new order of society which creates new kinds of inequalities. While I recognize that such theories attempt to go beyond the hegemonic (feminist) explanations for rape that are becoming popular amongst the upward mobile, new middle class and that reduce everything to a patriarchal gaze and male power, I also feel that such theories wrongly assume rape to be a perverse act indulged in by lumpen elements. This can be proved if we look more closely at assumptions on which theories of lumpenization are based.
First, most of these arguments attributing sexual violence to lumpen elements tend to project such violence as a persistent problem in erstwhile colonized countries that are ‘still’ reeling under the pressures of pre-capitalist forms of oppression; presuming therefore that such countries have not yet witnessed the emergence of advanced capitalism. In the case of India, such a position is hard to accept considering the trajectory taken by the country’s political economy, especially over the last three to four decades, wherein the Indian capitalist class has come to dominate the Indian economy. Indeed, since 1947 or the ‘transfer of power’, the Indian bourgeoisie has come on its own after successfully hegemonizing the Indian national liberation movement. It has since then succeeded in removing the dominance of foreign capital in the basic sectors by using public savings and investment by the state.
If we closely trace the development of the Indian bourgeoisie’s class power, we find that it grew steadily since the late colonial period with the indigenous merchant class raking in substantial profits due to its alliance with imperialist capital, and with the emergence and consolidation of a rich peasant class in India’s villages. Importantly, this rich peasant class became the roots from which the regional bourgeoisie emerged post-Independence. This transformation was fuelled by the introduction of truncated land reforms after 1947 that gradually eliminated the stratum of big zamindars. The gradual elimination of the zamindar class facilitated the upward mobility of a stratum of better-off tenant peasants, who began diversifying their capital (i.e. profits accrued through agriculture) in secondary and tertiary sectors like transport, construction, liquor production, real estate, etc. With time the ambitions of the regional bourgeoisie resulted in a series of conflict with the big/all-India bourgeoisie. In the outbreak of tensions within these two factions of the capitalist class (as seen in the tumultuous 1960 and 1970s), the regional bourgeoisie was able to draw on much support from state governments due to the existence of the federal form of governance. However, a section of the regional bourgeoisie later joined the ranks of the all-India bourgeoisie. With the end of what has been identified as ‘license-quota-permit-raj’ there has been a reduction in the veto and regulatory power of the central government. By 1998 only seven industries needed licensing with wide-ranging consultation from regional governments. The items reserved for public sector were reduced from seventy items in 1956 to three items in 1993. This made it increasingly possible for regional bourgeoisie to diversify their capital into new industries. The intense conflict between the regional bourgeoisie and all-India bourgeoisie of the 1960s and 1970s has clearly given way to more collaboration and interdependence.
In this way, the collective interests of capital have come to outgrow intra-class conflicts, which is why India has witnessed the growing reassertion of unity within the capitalist class (as reflected in their general support for neo-liberal reforms, which can be seen as initiated in the Rajiv Gandhi era but was consolidated only post 1991 as a major macroeconomic policy-level change; thereby diminishing the public sector’s role in basic economic production and services). The more recent phase of these historical developments has brought with it a phenomenal increase in the class power of the Indian bourgeoisie, resulting in mammoth overseas acquisition of capital as well as alliances with international capital – alliances that are together plundering our country’s natural and human resources.[53]
Clearly, despite having borne the yoke of colonialism, a country like ours has long been witnessing the development of a relatively advanced stage of capitalism compared to some other erstwhile colonial countries. Whatever then the impact of imperialism on the socio-economic fabric of erstwhile colonized countries like India, it cannot itself explain the trajectory of human sexuality’s development within late capitalism – be it in imperialist nations or in backward countries. This is because even in advanced capitalist nations where the course of capitalist development has created a more ‘advanced’ working-class and tangible counter-culture, rape statistics are soaring.[54]Thus it is wrong to assume that greater development of capitalism invariably creates the condition for the growth of a more progressive, egalitarian culture.
This brings me to the second objection vis-à-vis arguments about greater prevalence of gender inequality in erstwhile colonized countries, which is that pre-capitalist structures of domination are kept alive due to the persistence of pre-capitalist modes of production alongside capitalism. Typically, such a perspective explains rape and patriarchal oppression as remnants of an older form of society. The point to note here is that such an explanation at best explains only some of the rapes which are occurring in our society; namely, those occurring in our villages in which upper-caste men sexually assault Dalit women in the bid to assert their dominance over village common land, etc. Nevertheless, even in the case of these rural rapes it is necessary that we unpack such violent backlash in the present context of rural class relations. Far from being static, class relations in our villages have undergone a change in terms of the composition of the dominant castes that are oppressing Dalits, [54]and also show that traditional customs which run parallel to institutionalized, bourgeois law of the state are being increasingly challenged. Thus the prevalence of sexual violence in our villages must be located within the changing dynamics of class relations rather than being merely equated with a residue of pre-capitalist structures of domination.
The need to do so arises all the more when we consider the growing phenomenon of ‘urban rapes’ (a term I am compelled to use in lieu of any better one) involving working-class men. According to some, urban rapes are simply an extension of the rural mentality which informs the conscience of majority of men who migrate to the cities. However, such assessments fail to explain the specificities of urban rapes of the kind that occurred on 16 December 2012, thereby downplaying the depth of the sexual crisis prevailing in our society and concealing the limitation of the existing form of the anti-rape movement. As argued in my original paper, the growth of urban rapes involving impoverished male workers is far from indicative of a continuation of a rural mentality. Devoid of any class privilege, these men’s culpability is wrongly seen as influenced by feudal (rural) dominance, or as solely determined by patriarchy. [56] After all, many of these male workers are neither from dominant castes nor in the position to continue reaping the benefits of belonging to an upper caste once they have joined the ranks of the urban poor. Urban rapes are the outcome of more complex factors than the mere continuation of a semi-feudal past or the prevalence of ‘male power’ that always seeks to subjugate female sexuality. Instead, these rapes are locatable within the class divided structure created by capitalism. It is then the peculiar class conditions and resulting inequalities created by capitalism that constitute the specificities of urban rapes, i.e. in terms of nurturing culpability within a large section of men, or basically, those men who are from the working class.
Structurally excluded from all those things which enable men to inculcate a fulfilling sexual life, working-class men are bound to develop an aggressive male sexuality. Distanced from higher education, intellectual/cultural activities and pursuits, in addition to being overworked, underpaid and devalued despite their skilled labour, a large section of working-class men are falling prey to a bodily-based, aggressive masculinity that overemphasizes their biological maleness. Add to this the creation of sexed-up forms of sexual desire and sexual expressions by capital through its beauty, fashion, porn and larger entertainment and media industry, as well the hedonistic lifestyle of the new middle class. Bombarded by this, otherwise, artificially created sexual desire, yet materially positioned in a way that prevents them from indulging in concomitant forms of sexual activity, working-class men are imbued with a strong sense of being denied equal sexual access/enjoyment. Evidently, when such (artificially created) masculinity, conditioned by the hyper-sexualized milieu, confronts female sexuality it creates the scope for unequal and exploitative sexual encounters as well as an overall sexist/patriarchal behaviour.
Hence, we must come to terms with the fact that there is something intrinsic to the class divisions and resulting inequalities created by capitalism as the dominant mode of production, which creates the scope for an increased rate of sexual crimes. Having said this, I realize that protagonists of certain theories have and continue to argue that such kinds of oppression are products of the persistence of semi-feudalism as a dominant mode of production. According to such positions, no further legal reforms are possible within bourgeois society due to the lack of development of full-fledged capitalism, or because capitalism has entered a reactionary phase. However, the societal trends that are so easily identified as contrary to the capitalist mode of production are actually intrinsic to it. As a dominant mode of production, capitalism has been compelled to shape society and the political economy in ways that we now see them only because of its interests in creating and/or maintaining a particular rate of accumulation. And so, more than just allowing older structures of domination and inequality to persist in their traditional form, capitalism has changed their very contours by providing them a new lease of life within its circuit of accumulation. It is in this process of appropriating older structures of inequality within newer forms of oppression created by it, as well as in the process of creating new kinds of inequality, that capitalism throws up conditions for sexual violence and other forms of women’s oppression.
In reality, the bourgeois revolution (in its classical or ‘passive’ form) has never really been democratic in the sense that it has created formal equality from the moment of its occurrence. In reality the uneven development of the capitalist socio-economic structure has merely created the scope for democratization, which is only actualized through further struggles by the discontented masses. One has only to turn to the iconic 17th, 18th and 19th century bourgeois revolutions to ascertain this fact. The most classic of such revolutions, i.e. the French Revolution of 1789-90, did not proceed to create truly representative bodies or democratic governance – a fact reflected in the rise of Napoleon, the constant outbreak of mass discontent (as in 1830, 1848, 1871, etc.), the reversal of anti-slavery regulations passed by the Jacobins and the denial of adult male franchise right into 1875. That French society had to further wait till 1944 for the enfranchisement of adult women is further proof of the chequered, halting and restraining course taken by the bourgeois revolution. A similar trajectory of bourgeois revolutions is to be seen in England where the era of revolution from 1642–51 to 1688 merely paved the way for Restoration, and finally, constitutional monarchy, wherein the English monarch was denied the power to rule without the Parliament’s consent. Again in 19th century England, despite a series of Chartist strikes against property qualifications for enfranchisement, adult male franchise was granted only in 1918, while adult female enfranchisement had to wait till 1928. In case of India, even with the formal handover of power to the Indian capitalist class by the colonial state in 1947, formalization of democratic rights like the abolition of feudal property ownership; granting of greater rights to property, divorce, etc. to women as well as the introduction of laws protecting the sexual rights of women were granted only subsequent to intense and organized struggles that have characterized the post-Independence era.
What this means is that bourgeois revolutions are merely geared towards curbing/limiting the power of monarchical structures, or (in cases where monarchy has been eliminated) towards compelling the feudal elites to observe the new rule of law. The immediate target of bourgeois revolutions has been the protection of the capitalist accumulation process from arbitrary (feudal) bids at rent-seeking. Furthermore, though far from a linear and uncomplicated development, bourgeois revolutions tend to further the process whereby the individual legal subject position can be consolidated in order to constitute new forms of property rights and labour relations that challenge the system of traditional rights based on birth. By weaning away the individual from community control and obligations, bourgeois law initiated a process which increasingly made it difficult for the individual to shelter in the anonymity of his community and escape individual responsibility for contractual or other legal obligations. Of course, in its efforts to create ‘free’ contracting individuals or workers who can be exploited in the interests of capitalist accumulation, bourgeois law continued to be ridden with inconsistencies.
Angered by the inconsistencies in bourgeois law and the local feudal elites’ continued circumvention of the rule of law (i.e. in order to protect their status and privileges), the oppressed masses, and sometimes even factions of the capitalist class, turned to rebellion. However, since these upsurges have tendentially moved towards the ‘centre of gravity’ or rule of law established by bourgeois rule, the adjudication of conflict by the bourgeois state, and hence perpetuation of capitalism has been possible. In this way most mass upsurges have amounted to further unfolding of the bourgeois revolution in accordance, of course, with the changing needs of capitalist accumulation – a point I have elucidated above when explaining the necessity that drove the capitalist class to grant (bourgeois) women the right to property. This has been all the more possible because working-class discontent and struggles against capitalism have been subsumed within multi-class movements that have kept intact the hegemony of the dominant section of society. In the process we find that struggles against capitalism end up being reduced to farcical repetitions of struggles between different fractions or sections of the capitalist class, or between the capitalist class and middle class (which tends to use prevailing discontent to wrest certain opportunities of upward mobility that can empower it to join the ranks of the bourgeoisie).
It is my contention that the feminist-inspired women’s movement is an excellent example of struggles that are restricted to the bourgeois form of politics. I have argued that bourgeois and new middle-class women tend to use general discontent to put forward their own (particularist) claims for a greater share in the class privileges equal to their men, and in the process restrict the scope and slogans of the women’s movement in ways that keep their class privileges intact and their complicit role out of the question. Feminism as an embodiment of the discontent of upper-class women typically tries to project a temporary equivalence in discontent across women of different classes and so creates a populism of sorts so as to appeal to the larger mass of women. By drawing on feminism and making it the hegemonic view of the women’s movement, upper-class women tend to relegate to the sidelines the concerns of working-class men and women on the issue of women’s oppression. Even at moments when the feminist-inspired women’s movement picks up issues that have a substantial working-class content, it does so in a manner which keeps these issues within a bourgeois form of addressal/solution-building. Thus even if it is fuelled by working-class discontent and participation yet as it lacks the independent working-class position within it and is divested of working-class leadership, such a movement is in no way going to outgrow the given capitalist socio-economic structure or bring substantial relief to the majority of women (i.e. working-class women and a large section of middle-class women).
Considering the magnitude of the problem of sexual violence and also the fact that women are part of all classes, the incident of 16 December did evoke a widespread response. As the whole movement was heavily dominated by the new middle class, the issue of consent and bodily autonomy was raised only from the point of view of this class. By doing this the new middle class was not breaking any new ground but only seeking fuller generalization of the bourgeois-democratic form of law; the basis of which has already been produced by capitalism. The dominant thrust within the anti-rape movement was, in fact, centered on better implementation of laws and good governance. It should be recognized that consent as a prerequisite for establishing claims of rape emerged not as a product of the women’s movement but as the product of the historical transformations which established the rights and status of the individual over the community.[57] Furthermore, the issue of rape as the violation of the individual right over one’s own body, no matter how universalist it may appear, definitely had its class overtones and ultimately worked against the general interest of both working-class men and women. This is a fact I have discussed and elaborated at length in my original paper and in my reply to Kavita Krishnan and so will not repeat here.[58]
By bringing back the question of class to the debate on the strategies required to fight women’s oppression my intervention has sought to reassert how the working-class resolution to the women’s question can alone emancipate working-class and middle-class women. I have explained how the complex role played by class divisions in sexual violence and the oppression of women is lost on middle-class women since for they are soaked in (middle-class) ideology. Nonetheless, it is important to note that this ideology is false not in the sense that it misrepresents the reality. Instead, this ideology is false because it is based on the reification of reality, i.e. the complex whole is reduced simply to the narrow middle-class experience. The ideology encapsulated by the average middle-class woman is (along with other constituent factors), constitutive of what she thinks. Considering their privileged class position, women from the upper classes are less likely to comprehend and organize against the material basis on which women’s oppression stands. And so, when it comes to the issue of her subjugation, upper-class women are geared towards identifying this subjugation as a product of a patriarchal mentality that stems from her unequal position within her class. The coherence of this ideology is based on the exclusion of the larger structuring reality, which is that despite her segmented status within her class, the new middle-class woman – due to her privileged class position – plays a complicit role in her own oppression and in the oppression of working-class women. The exclusion of class (both in terms of concealing the complicity exercised by upper-class women and in terms of downplaying the fact that class divisions breed gender inequality across and within different classes), is what actually constitutes the crux of this middle-class ideology. In other words, it is the absent cause which, if injected, would completely destroy the coherence of such middle-class ideology.
In such a context, revolutionary politics can hardly afford to emphasize what new middle-class women already know, i.e. that they are vulnerable due to their segmented status within their class. Informed of this consciousness, new middle-class women are already raising certain demands that press the state to reduce the gender discrimination faced by them. Due to this consciousness they are also in the position – again due to their privileged class position – to seek respite in certain (temporary) solutions, like resorting to private transport instead of struggling for more (and therefore less crowded) public transport, employing maids to share the burden of household work instead of pressing for socialization of domestic work, or sanitizing spaces that they frequent from ‘deviants’ instead of fighting for a real sexual revolution. Of course, it is the same new middle-class woman whose indulgence, for example, in patriarchal feminity/hyper-femme dressing and behaviour contributes to the conditions that nurture sexual violence.[59] It is precisely this complicit role which leads to their premature withdrawal from the long-term struggle and from the challenging journey that strives for complete transformation of society, and hence for a real sexual revolution. Considering this, the challenge before revolutionary politics is to emphasize how middle-class women fail to comprehend the depth of theirs and working-class women’s oppression due to their stake in the current scheme of things.
It is then essential for revolutionary politics to press middle-class women to come to terms with their complicit role in maintaining class hierarchy and the gender oppression which such hierarchy unleashes on womankind. By doing this alone, working-class politics can prove that it is only by aligning with the working class (i.e. both working-class men and women) that middle-class women stand to liberate themselves and can do the things which entail the emancipation of all. It is only by doing so that working-class politics can prevent the unnecessary dilution of the independent working-class perspective on women’s oppression – an independent position which will allow it to march towards universal emancipation rather than middle-class (feminist) particularism.
Maya John is associated with Centre for Struggling Women (CSW) and is a researcher working on labour laws at Delhi University
1. Here one is reminded of the Leninist dialectical approach to legality which recognizes the importance of pressing for legal demands wherever possible in order to show the contradiction inherent in the bourgeois legal form. See, Evgeny Pashukanis (1925), Lenin and the Problems of Law, https://www.marxists.org/archive/pashukanis/1925/xx/lenin.htm, accessed on 6 March 2012.
2. It seems Pothik Ghosh assumes that when a man from the most inferior rung of the class hierarchy rapes a woman from an upper class he is simply acting as an agent of capital, i.e. to keep all women subjugated to all men – a position I have critiqued in my original paper. Specially see the section ‘Going Beyond Feminist Contentions: Is Rape Simply About Exercising Power’ in Class Societies and Sexual Violence: Towards a Marxist Understanding of Rape, http://radicalnotes.com/2013/05/08/class-societies-and-sexual-violence-towards-a-marxist understanding-of-rape/, 8 May 2013.
3. See the section ‘Bourgeois Law, Rape and the Importance of Intermediate Demands’, in Class Societies and Sexual Violence: Towards a Marxist Understanding of Rape, op. cit., endnote 2. Here I have provided a more convincing critique of the bourgeois legal form by assessing its contradiction with the emerging (dis)content in society.
4. If Paresh and Co were to have their way, an important demand like effective police action against violence on women (i.e. compulsory and immediate filing of complaints at police stations, people’s control of local police stations through citizens’ committees, surveillance of police stations through CCTV cameras, better policing of streets, time-bound police investigations, swift action on distress calls, etc.) may not come across as the need of the hour for such “legalist measures in the name of generating a safe city…allow the state to intrude and monitor the everyday life…” What Paresh and Co fail to contend with is the fact that when the police force tends to discriminate between the rich and the poor in its day-to-day functioning, the demand for effective police action offers the scope for exposing the class-biased and anti-women stance of the state, as well as the scope for rescuing victims of sexual crimes (an operation these anti-legalists can hardly undertake themselves). By side-lining the importance of such a demand, Paresh and Co appear to be creating legitimate space for conservative forces like the Aam Aadmi Party that are notorious for opportunistically playing on the emotions of the distressed masses by staging timely protests at police stations which have compromised investigations and mistreated complainants.
5. A more nuanced critique of legalism requires proper engagement with the historical development of laws, of legal categories like individual subject-hood, and of the contradictions within the form of the law that necessitates its further unfolding. An engagement of this kind allows us to comprehend how interventions, like that of the progressive women’s movement, are historically significant and essential. For greater elucidation of this point see the section on bourgeois law in my paper, op cit., endnote 2.
6. It is worth noting that such ‘reclaim the night’ campaigns have little or no participation of the working class, especially because they do not envision the kind of equality which has any meaning for working-class men and women – a point explained by me in my reply to Kavita Krishnan, ‘Critiquing Intersectionality, Populism and Gender Disembodied of Class’, http://sanhati.com/excerpted/7237/,10 June 2013. Hence to say (as Pothik Ghosh does) that these typically middle-class protest gatherings have an “incipient working-class character” is to assume that somewhere the middle-class position is akin/orientate-able to the working-class position – an assumption that I will critically evaluate shortly.
7. Interestingly, Ghosh’s position is one which is echoed by the newly formed Workers’ Socialist Party (WSP), a Trotsky-ite organization. Writing on the anti-rape movement, Rajesh Tyagi from WSP claimed that the anti-capitalist revolution, which his generation had not yet seen, was knocking at the door of Raisina Hill. He argued that the masses were on the verge of uprooting the capitalist state and that the real revolution had already begun. In this light, he argued that with the masses at the verge of revolution, the call for reforms would only work towards strengthening the class rule of the elites. While many Indian activists saw middle-class presence and dominance at protest venues, Tyagi projected mass mobilization of the working class in a movement that had arisen against the “concentrated expression of ‘capital’” and against the “shackles of old, inert, bureaucratic mass organizations” of reformists, Maoists and Stalinists. This exaggerated account (obviously aimed at an international audience unaware of WSP’s fringe presence in the anti-rape movement or any movement for that matter), did not end here as Tyagi went on to claim that WSP’s proposed program of “disbanding the corrupt and brute police and organization of youth militias…drew immense support from the youth and students”. See, Rajesh Tyagi (2012), ‘The Lessons of December Uprising and Our Tasks’, 27 December.
8. Ghosh’s piece on the Delhi gang-rape revolves around an implicit deployment of Trotsky’s line of permanent revolution. This position is actually redundant in today’s social context as the capitalist mode of production is dominant and the Indian bourgeoisie is far from weak, and so is able to influence the model of development in the country. Permanent revolution has never been considered relevant by the majority of communist revolutionaries because it unnecessarily collapses the distinction between the bourgeois and socialist revolutions by assuming that prevailing discontent and its concomitant forms of mobilization around democratic demands invariably unfold into a series of revolutions that culminate in the proletariat accomplishing its final task. By arguing for the need to make a distinction between bourgeois-democratic movements and socialist-influenced mass upsurges, I do not lend support to the view of a formulistic, stage-wise transition from the bourgeois to the socialist revolution. In fact, the distinction between the two cannot be seen as locked into two distinct historical phases as if a Chinese Wall existed between them. This distinction is not particularly chronological but logical. The transition to the socialist revolution actually depends on the working class successfully asserting its hegemony over mass upsurges created in the process of further unfolding of the bourgeois revolution. In other words, the transition from the bourgeois to the socialist revolution is a product of the alignment of different classes, and is an outcome of the working class’ ability to become the leading force in such alignments and to make not just an autonomous intervention but one which facilitates a new beginning for all. For Radical Notes’ avowal of the otherwise discredited Trostky-ite line, also see Bhumika Chauhan (2011), ‘A Review of ‘The Politics of Combined and Uneven Development: The Theory of Permanent Revolution’ on Radical Notes. Also see Georg Lukács, (1970), Lenin: A Study in the Unity of His Thought (London: New Left Books). Here Lukács discusses how Marx’s assertion of a distinction between the bourgeois and socialist revolution is one of his greatest theoretical contributions. According to Marx, the distinction between the bourgeois and socialist revolution is essential for politically differentiating between the socialist revolution that goes beyond capitalism, and what can be seen as a struggle within capitalism against feudal remnants or can be seen as a competitive struggle to gain benefits within the system. For Marx’s position, see Karl Marx (1977) [1848], ‘The Bourgeoisie and the Counter-Revolution’, in Karl Marx and Friedrick Engels, Collected Works, vol. 8 (Moscow: Progress Publishers).
9. Frederick Engels (1979) [1851-52], Revolution and Counter Revolution in Germany, in Collected Works, vol. 11 (Moscow: Progress Publishers), p. 85-86.
10. In the ensuing debate on rape and women’s oppression, I have used the term middle class and petty bourgeoisie interchangeably.
11. A typical right wing deviation includes the uncritical absorption of a petty-bourgeois inspired slogan like ‘reclaim the night’, which apart from its vagueness is extremely problematic for the hedonism it legitimizes in the name of ‘freedom’ – a concern I have detailed in my paper ‘Critiquing Intersectionality, Populism and Gender Disembodied of Class’, op. cit. endnote 6. In contrast to such vague demands for the ‘freedom to be reckless’ are certain concrete (legal) demands for greater accountability of the bourgeois state.
12. For a general critique of (mainstream) sociology from the Marxist point of view, see Göran Therborn (1976), Science, Class and Sociology: On the Formation of Sociology and Historical Materialism (London: New Left Books).
13. The problem with Paresh and Co’s approach to domestic labour (and even to gender) as category of analysis is their tendency to reduce it to redundancy. Unlike Marxism that is conscious of the fact that the categories we use to know about the reality are dynamic and changing, Paresh and Co fail to engage with constant state of flux in which the social reality exists, and hence do not come to use the category of household work critically, i.e. in its dynamic form. Importantly, Marx in many of his writings and correspondences argued that, “…categories are no more eternal than the relations they express. They are historical and transitory”. See Marx’s Letter to Annenkov, 28 December 1846, Appendix to The Poverty of Philosophy (Moscow: Progress Publishers).
14. See, Mariarosa Dalla Costa (1972), ‘Women and the Subversion of the Community’, reprinted in “Care Work” and the Commons, edited by Camille Barbagallo and Silvia Federici (New Delhi: Phoneme, 2012), p. 24.
15. ‘Critiquing Intersectionality, Populism and Gender Disembodied of Class’, op. cit. endnote 6.
16. I have also directly addressed the question of women’s domestic labour and its role in capitalist exploitation both in a short article that appeared in The Hindu on 1 October 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-salary-plan-that-changes-nothing/article3951975.ece and in a televised panel discussion that was organized on the issue of women being paid an ‘honorarium’ by for the domestic work they performed. See, Programme name: Gender Discourse, Theme: ‘Should Homemakers Get Salary?’, Anchor: Lotty Alaric, Channel: Lok Sabha TV (LSTV), September 2012.
17. With greater liberalization of the economy, the state has been withdrawing from its duty of providing certain social services and subsistence goods at subsidized costs. An apt illustration of this withdrawal is the crumbling state of government-run schools and hospitals, the steady dismantling of the public distribution system (through which cheap grain and subsistence goods are provided to economically weaker sections of society), the privatization of water and electricity processing and supply, the withdrawal of subsidies on essential items like cooking gas, etc. Moreover, even under the banner of numerous ‘well-meaning’ schemes the state continues to shirk the responsibility of providing essential services like adequate government-run childcare centres, more schools and a larger number of hospitals across the country. Ironically, many such ‘welfare’ schemes amount to nothing but informalization of essential social services. For instance, from the time of the sixth plan (1980-85) we can see mention of the fact that the central government was to explicitly use NGOs or rather GONGO, i.e. government organized non-governmental organizations, instead of government agencies, for providing social services to the masses. This sub-letting of state responsibility is based on sheer exploitation of the work force employed as ‘volunteers’ – a practice which has severely affected the quality of the services provided. For example, with informalization of healthcare work, underpaid anganwadi workers (who are supposed to regulate the nutrition and health of children in slums, etc.,) and accredited social health activists/ASHA workers (who are supposed to assist in rural health) have been brought in as stop-gap solutions to address the problem of deteriorating health conditions – in particular, falling nutrition levels in women and children – which has been brought on by the crumbling state of primary healthcare, the lack of well-equipped hospitals and full-time doctors, among other factors. This informalization of healthcare work and its steady privatization translates into the intense burdening of a large section of women, i.e. in terms of shifting the entire burden of childcare and maintenance of family health on them.
18. If willing, some bourgeois women can even bypass their reproductive role by opting for surrogacy. The growing presence of surrogacy in its unregulated form in India is a source of much worry. Most surrogate mothers are from weak economic backgrounds, are the single earning member of their families (often working as domestic ‘helps’ for rich families) and so come to depend greatly on the maintenance provided by affluent couples who wish to start families. See Himanshi Dhawan (2013), ‘Unregulated surrogacy industry worth over $2bn thrives without legal framework’, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-18/india/40656818_1_commissioning-parents-surrogate-mother-17-lakh, accessed on 19 July 2013.
19. For an exposition of the relationship between an assertive, new urban middle class and recent movements (infested by the fascist form of politics) on the issue of corruption and governance, see Maya John (2011), “Corruption And Class Discontent: The Contours Of Bourgeois Political Forms And State-Formation”, http://radicalnotes.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/corruption-and-class-discontent-the-contours-of-bourgeois-political-forms-and-state-formation/
20. Anne Waldrop (2012), ‘Grandmother, Mother and Daughter: Changing Agency of Indian, Middle-Class Women, 1908-2008’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 46 (3): 601–38.
21. In the process of asserting their individual choice, many middle-class women so as to sustain an existing lifestyle or to access a better one are practicing hypergamy, i.e. marrying into a higher social status. They are now, particularly in urban areas, progressively opting for marriages outside their communities. Inter-caste marriages are indicative of this trend. However, this practice of hypergamy has put women under tremendous pressure to not simply look attractive, but to look ‘better than the rest’. The graver problem with this particular form of oppression is that it paves the way for a never-ending process of compromises. In order to keep things going so many women end up compromising on various fronts: careers, fulfilling sex, self-respect, etc. It is in this process of maintaining ‘respectable’ matches/relationships that so many middle-class women have come to tolerate bossy boyfriends, domestic violence, unfaithful husbands, etc. See the section ‘Internalizing the Male Gaze and Co-option of Feminism’ in the original paper, op. cit., endnote 2.
22. Interestingly, if the paid domestic ‘help’ was to withdraw her services, even the appearance of happiness, love and respect that middle-class couples parade for each other in public will be impossible to sustain; thus exposing the fragility of their relationships and of the temporary solutions sought by middle-class women when addressing their segmented status.
23. As I have shown earlier, Kavita Krishnan draws an equivalence in discontent, and thereby merely adds to the list of victims in order to account for the difference in the degree of oppression faced – a maneuver which allows her to erase the issue of how capitalism breeds complicity in upper-class women to maintain class hierarchy. Likewise, Paresh and Co also slip into the same quasi-feminist formulation and continue to work with the notion of equivalence in discontent – though oblivious of this slippage. Paresh and Co should check whether their analysis adequately explains the power relations that constitute/contribute to the aforementioned difference in the degree and kind of oppression faced.
24. The kitty-party culture is an appropriate example that comes to mind. Interestingly, it is through kitty parties that many middle-class ‘housewives’ gain access to opportunities both for saving and for making (influential/well-connected) friends and acquaintances, without stepping far outside the boundaries of ‘proper’ female middle-class behaviour. Couple kitties as a recent phenomenon have also become a way in which middle-class couples forge larger networks and contacts through which better employment opportunities, desirable intra-class (and often intra-caste) marriages, admission of the kids into good schools, acculturation of good taste by the family, etc. are consciously pursued. This sharing of contacts, information and money between middle-class women and their families is nothing but status generation and maintenance of middle-class stature.
25. I have in my earlier two papers highlighted the complicit role played by middle-class women in the general oppression of women; be it in terms of exploiting working-class women and children as domestic servants, or in terms of legitimizing patriarchal feminity through uncritical absorption of hyper-femme behaviour and dressing.
26. As a consequence of downplaying the role of class, middle-class women have restricted the resolution to the women’s question within the structure of capitalism. And like it or not, this entire process manifests itself in the growth and espousal of feminism. The characteristic feature of feminism has increasingly become its dis-identification with class. In the west (where this distancing first started aggressively), post World War II witnessed a disturbing convergence of some of the feminist movement’s ideals with the demands of an emerging new form of capitalism—post-Fordist, ‘disorganized’ and transnational. Nancy Fraser in her article on second-wave feminism argues this in extremely compelling terms. She begins with delineating the defining features of second-wave feminism and then goes onto expose the co-option of the movement by new forms of capitalism. Fraser argues that with the growth of neo-liberalism came the transformation of political culture, i.e. claims for justice became increasingly claims for the recognition of identity and difference rather than for redistribution. With this “shift ‘from redistribution to recognition’ came powerful pressures to transform second-wave feminism into a variant of identity politics” (p. 108). See Nancy Fraser (2009), ‘Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning Of History’, New Left Review, vol. 56 (March-April 2009): 97-117.
27. The tangible material inequalities that nurture the segmented status of middle-class women includes the discriminatory treatment of women professionals in the labour market, the lack of employment, the lack of permanent and secure work contracts – all of which compel a significant number of middle-class women to compromise with the family structure in order to maintain themselves and to secure the future of their dependent children. The role of these external (outside the home) factors is a point I will further discuss in the paper.
28. For elucidation of this particularism of feminism, see the section ‘Class and Its Discontent’ in Class Societies and Sexual Violence: Towards a Marxist Understanding of Rape, op. cit. endnote 2.
29. Use value at a very general level is the usefulness of an item created through purposive labour. In this sense use value is an inalienable property of any useful thing, regardless of the social form of production. However, use value of an item changes with the change in the mode of production. For instance, in commodity production, i.e. production for exchange, use value is the bearer of exchange value that conceals value. In capitalist production, use value is of interest to capitalists only as the bearer of value and surplus value, since the immediate aim of capitalist production consists in extracting profit rather than in satisfying human need. In this particular sense, a commodity appears as a union of two different aspects – use value and exchange value. In its exchange value the commodity commands certain quantities of other commodities in exchange. Women’s domestic labour creates items which husbands consume, along with, of course, other items produced by the market, and this consumption can be seen as sustaining the labour power of husbands rather than creating it partly or entirely. Importantly, capitalists do not pay a husband a wage to be exchanged with the subsistence the husband provides for his wife in lieu of her domestic labour to sustain his labour power. So, it is not an exchange between the wage and labour power producing ‘labour power’. Moreover, the process of exchange creates an equivalence, but no such equivalence can be seen forming between concrete labour performed by women-as-wives in the domestic sphere and similar work that’s performed by a worker in capitalist production. Since different women-as-wives performing different concrete labour and similar work performed in capitalist production is not subject to general equalization of labour, the socially necessary labour time required to do any work is not applicable to women-as-wives performing domestic labour.
30. Susan Himmelweit & Simon Mohun (1977), ‘Domestic Labour and Capital’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, no. 1: 15–31.
31. Op. cit. endnote 2.
32. The problem with protective labour legislations is not they are subject to continuous change (i.e. amendment) and are rarely implemented, but that they are selectively enforced to protect a small segment of workers who constitute the better-paid and more organized force amidst the working class. To elucidate, Chapter VB (section 25K to 25Q) of the Industrial Disputes Act, which prohibits lay-off, retrenchment of workers and closure of an establishment without permission from the appropriate government or such authority, applies only to enterprises which employ 100 or more workers. Workers who have not been employed for a stipulated number of months before the employer’s decision of lay-off, or, are employed as daily-wage labour, do not gain protection under the said clauses of the ID Act. Hence, by granting protection to a certain segment of workers during strikes, unionization, ‘rationalization’ drives and day-to-day functioning of an industrial establishment, the law curbs the possibilities of workers uniting across the shop-floor, and across different establishments on the basis of common discontent. Indeed, through stringent laws for the registration of trade unions – something which ultimately eats into capacity of workers to organize – and also by leaving an entire sea of workers outside the ambit of protective legislation, the bourgeois state creates ample space for the non-implementation of existing labour laws even on workers who otherwise fall within the protected category specified in the law. In this context, protective labour legislation – whether implemented or not – can be seen as pacifying the higher segments of workers in the labour force while severely affecting the most vulnerable segments in the labour market, i.e. contract workers – most of whom are unorganized and of whom a large component are women.
33. According to Marx, the categories of productive and unproductive labour relate to wage-labour alone, and so such categories are irrelevant in the analysis of domestic labour. See Karl Marx (1963), Theories of Surplus Value, vol.1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers), p.152. While I am aware of this fact, I continue to use the term ‘unproductive’ labour for household work, since I wish to imply that a worker’s labour power can be reproduced independently of such domestic labour. Due to the fact that no such intrinsic link exists so as to make the reproduction of labour power dependent on the performance of domestic labour, women’s domestic work should in this sense be seen as unproductive labour.
34. Recently, under the influence of lobbying by domestic and international NGOs, the Ministry and Women and Child Development considered formulating a bill that would make it mandatory for husbands to pay part of their salary as an honorarium to wives for the household work they performed. For more on this, see op. cit. endnote 15.
35. Several comments by Marx and Engels in their correspondences as well as in The Communist Manifesto and other writings show that the Marxian dialectical method paid keen attention to the gender dimension of modern emancipation. How the early Marxist movement consciously engaged with the women’s question is apparent in the writings of important leaders like August Bebel who wrote Women and Socialism (1879) and Engels who provided a more definitive assessment of women’s oppression in Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884). Interestingly, apart from international working-class leaders of the Atlantic countries and America, the early Marxist labour movement of Central and Eastern Europe also produced a unique number of women leaders who provided important insights on the women’s question: Angelica Balabanoff, Kata Dalström, Alexandria Kollontai, Anna Kuliscioff, Rosa Luxemburg, Henriette Roland-Holst, Vera Zasulich, Clara Zetkin, E.O. Kabo, Nadezhda Krupskaya, to name a few. It is also worth noting that Marxist social democracy was also the first so-called male political movement to campaign for women’s right to vote.
36. See, E. Preobrazhenskii (1920), ‘Put’k Raskreposheniiu Zhenshchiny’, Kommunistka, vol. 7, p. 19. Quoted in Wendy Z. Goldman (1993), Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936 (Cambridge: CUP), p. 6.
37. Karl Marx (1986), Capital, vol. I, part VII, Chapter 23 (Moscow: Progress Publishers), p. 537.
38. Ibid., Part IV, Chapter 15, Section 9: 460
39. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1976) [1845-46], The German Ideology, in Collected Works, vol. 5 (Moscow: Progress Publishers), p. 75-76.
40. V.I. Lenin (1966), The Emancipation of Women: From the Writings of V.I. Lenin (New York: International Publishers).
41. See Costa (1972), p. 45, op. cit. endnote 13. On the contrary, see Bina Agarwal’s very dense empirical work where she has shown how by acquiring an independent income outside the home, women’s position within the household changes, http://www.binaagarwal.com/downloads/apapers/bagaining_and_gender_relations.pdf, accessed on 27 June 2013.
42. Interestingly Pothik Ghosh has articulated the same assumption when he writes: “the working-class movement would, therefore, do well to realize that the paradigmatic blindness of its dominant tendencies [emphasis added] to this [gendered] dimension of our political-economic reality has yielded a conception of working-class unity that is nothing but the instrumentalization of the everydayness of working-class women by the politics of the male proletariat. That has rendered the latter [emphasis added] the oppressive intermediaries of capital and dominant petty-bourgeois agencies of property-forms vis-à-vis the former”. That actual working-class or Marxist politics (in contrast to economistic, workerist and feminist politics) has produced some of the most convincing expositions of the political economy of women is a fact that ‘radicals’ must learn to retrieve from the labyrinth of working-class experiences rather than merely succumbing to popular misconceptions and vulgar Marxism consciously pumped up by the autonomous women’s movement.
43. Bhumika Chauhan, Ankit Sharma and Paresh Chandra (2013), ‘Anti-Rape Movement: A Horizon beyond Legalism and Sociology’, http://radicalnotes.com/2013/06/10/anti-rape-movement-a-horizon-beyond-legalism-and-sociology/, accessed on 13 June 2013.
44. In an earlier instance, Paresh Chandra in a pamphlet expressed his doubts about the theoretical understanding and credentials of the founders of the communist movement. He opined “When Marx says ‘working-class’, does he mean only the ‘male, white, industrial proletariat?…” Quoted from ‘More on what continues to ail University Democrats and the Likes!’, http://radicalnotes.com/2010/09/15/more-on-what-continues-to-ail-university-democrats-and-the-likes/
45. Heidi Hartmann (1981), ‘The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union’ in Women and Revolution: The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism, edited by Lydia Sargent (London: Pluto Press). For an exposition of an extreme feminist position, see Christine Delphy (1976), The Main Enemy (Women’s Research and Resource Centre). She considers, like Paresh and Co, that the relations of production are derivative of the relations between the sexes, and in that sense the fight against patriarchy becomes more important and it is by fighting patriarchy we fight capitalism. According to Delphy, the Marxist identification of classes from their places in the production process fails to account for the “specific relations of women to (non-capitalist) production in the home”. It is this “mode of exploitation” arising on the basis of housework that constitutes women as a separate class from men, irrespective of their occupation or their husbands’ class position. In an unequivocal manner she calls for the autonomous mobilization of women against men – the main enemy. Paresh and Co, instead of calling women a separate class, consider all women – irrespective of their occupation, their husbands’ class position and difference in domestic labour performed, call all women part of the working class. Such a formulation comes quite close to Delphy’s paradigm.
46. Jane Humphries (1981), ‘Protective Legislation, the Capitalist State and Working Class Men: The Case of the 1842 Mines Regulation Act’, Feminist Review, vol. 7. Also see, Sara Horrell and Jane Humphries (1992), ‘Old Questions, New Data, and Alternative Perspectives: Families’ Living Standards in the Industrial Revolution’, The Journal of Economic History, vol. 52 (4).
47. For elucidation of this point, see Krantikari Yuva Sangathan’s (KYS) scathing critique of Paresh Chandra’s position in the UCD debate. See section 3: How Marxism Identifies the Position of the Working Class vis-à-vis Identities in the paper “More on what continues to ail University Democrats and the Likes!”, op. cit. endnote 40. In his article which was criticized by KYS, Chandra wrote “The problem of identities is the way it exists in the current conjuncture…all equally [emphasis added] subordinated to the rule of capital”.
48. In an interesting article on the origins of feminism in America, Karen Sacks argues that the industrial working-class women’s movement for economic improvement and equality, the black women’s movement, the white middle-class women’s movement for legal equality, as well as the class tensions between these movements, went into the making of the feminism. Clearly, according to Sacks, although these separate movements seemed to have a specifically “women” orientation (in terms of their reference point, their major political constituency, the immediate beneficiary of their demands, etc.), or (as in the case of working class struggles) a large number of women participants/leaders, they were deeply rooted in class politics and had an unmistakable class content. Sacks, therefore, reveals that while women emerge as a distinct object or agent in the unfolding historical process, this very emergence is attributable to concealed dynamics of class.
49. See, Massimod Angeles, “Preface”, “Care Work” and the Commons, edited by Camille Barbagallo and Silvia Federici (New Delhi: Phoneme, 2012), p. IX. Also see p. 365 for the Interview with Priscilla Gonzalez, conducted by Silvia Federici.
50. Quoted in p. 37 of Eva Kaluzynska (1980), “Wiping the Floor with Theory: A Survey of Writings on Housework”, Feminist Review, vol. 6: 27–54.Kaluzynska is a very sympathetic espouser of the wages for housework campaign.
52. See, Julia and Herman Schwendinger (1983), Rape and Inequality (London: SAGE). In a similar vein, they also argue that more than an expression of a patriarchal dividend, rape conducted by the marginalized section of men is a manifestation of entrenched class inequalities nurtured by capital. Also see James Messerschmidt (1997), Crime as Structured Action: Gender, Race, Class and Crime in the Making (New Delhi: SAGE).
53. Some prominent examples that come to mind include Tata’s acquisition of Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover; Hindalco’s purchase of Novelis; UB Group’s acquisition of the Scottish whisky-maker, Whyte and Mackay; overseas ventures of ONGC Videsh; Nagarjuna Construction Company’s successful bids at tender auctions for reconstruction projects in war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq; and mining ventures – supported aggressively by the Indian state – of several Indian companies in different African countries. It is important to note that the Indian state to buttress Indian capitalist ventures is spending hugely in developmental assistance to various African nations and countries in South-east Asia.
54. See ‘National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), a 2010 survey by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in USA. It was reported that in America, rape was more common than smoking. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
55. More than the traditional upper castes of the zamindar class leading casteist backlash on landless Dalits in villages, it is now middle castes which, having acquired a dominant stature due to their rich peasant status, are perpetrating atrocities on Dalit men and women.
56. The history of anti-rape agitations in our country’s smaller towns and villages have always been against not just a callous, conniving state, but also against the power of dominant castes who are usually the perpetrators of such sexual violence. In sharp contrast, when rapes involving men from the lower classes have occurred in cities, new middle-class women who were, for example, at the forefront of the recent anti-rape movement, have agitated against such sexual violence as if ‘male power’/patriarchy is the lone determinant behind such crimes. So for the first time in the history of anti-rape agitations in this country, the feminist argument of male–female inequality as the sole cause behind sexual violence has received widespread acceptance amongst the new middle class. For details, see section ‘The 16 December Gang-rape: Understanding the Specificities of Urban Rapes’ in the original paper, op. cit. endnote 2.
57. In my original paper I have discussed at length the nature of bourgeois law and the question of rape. See the section ‘Bourgeois Law, Rape and the Importance of Intermediate Demands’, op. cit. endnote 2. My basic contention is that many features of bourgeois law like the individual subject position and individual consent developed well before the women’s movement took root. However, since the given form of bourgeois law, i.e. the complete realization of the individual subject position is yet to fully unfold itself and spread out evenly so as to diminish its internal inconsistencies, the demand of the women’s movement for greater legal reform has emerged as a possibility. In this way, the women’s movement has played an important role in the further unfolding of the bourgeois-democratic revolution. That the women’s movement – hegemonized as it is by the dominant (upper class) section of society – has restricted itself to this role by making legal demands the final demands is, of course, a serious limitation. Moreover, even while certain important reforms like punishment for marital rape, etc. are increasingly being considered by the legal fraternity, the fact remains that despite such laws coming into force in the near future, for many women the freedom from marital rape and unfulfilling sex will remain a mirage due to the absence of economic independence.
58. See the section ‘Internalizing the Male Gaze and Co-option of Feminism’ in the original paper, op. cit., endnote 2 and the paper ‘Critiquing Intersectionality, Populism and Gender Disembodied of Class: A Marxist Reassertion’, op. cit. endnote 6.
59. See the section ‘Internalizing the Male Gaze and the Co-option of Feminism’ in the original paper, op. cit. endnote 2.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1925
|
__label__cc
| 0.710264
| 0.289736
|
The World Bank and the United Nations have both set their sights on ending extreme poverty by the year 2030. The Bank has also set a concomitant target of universal financial access by 2020 as a major contributor to ending extreme poverty. Our assessment, after reviewing the contributions that microfinance institutions and other financial providers have made toward these two goals, is this: if financial services are meant to play an important part in bringing an end to extreme poverty, we will not come close to reaching it. Microfinance has demonstrated the viability of providing financial services to people in poverty and technological advances have drastically reduced the cost of providing financial services. But, we still do not see widespread adoption of financial services among the largest groups of those that still need to be reached: those living in extreme poverty.
We use this State of the Campaign Report to highlight the progress of the microfinance community toward two goals set at our 2006 Global Microcredit Summit: 1) reach 175 million of the world’s poorest families with microfinance, and 2) help 100 million families lift themselves out of extreme poverty. This year, we report those numbers in the context of the larger movements to provide universal access to financial services and to end extreme poverty—and they show the challenge we are having in attaining our goals.
At the end of 2013, the microfinance community reached 211 million clients, 114 million of whom were living in extreme poverty.[1] While the microfinance community provided loans to the most clients in its history last year, the number of poorest clients fell for the third straight year. The growth in clients for microfinance has occurred primarily among those who live above US$1.90 a day.
The latest World Bank report on global poverty reports that, in 2012, 896 million people lived in extreme poverty.[2] The 2014 Global Findex reports that more than half of all adults in the poorest 40 percent of households in developing countries did not have access to formal financial services. (This is a 17 percent improvement over the 2011 Findex.[3]) That makes those living in poverty one of the largest and most difficult-to-reach population segments excluded from the financial system. The 2020 target of universal financial access compels us to reach everyone living in extreme poverty; yet, the part of the financial community that has done the most to expand financial access among the poor over the last few decades—microfinance providers—have stalled in their outreach to this segment.
A financial system that reaches and benefits everyone will need to provide financial services that people with the lowest income and with households in the most remote places find accessible and useful. This means we need to approach such a challenge with the end in mind—start from the end goal and work back to how we want to get there. In this way, we can design a system to sustainably reach clients in the most remote areas and who transact in the smallest sums. This design process must include the following steps:
Measure: In order to track our success with including those living in poverty, we must measure the income levels of the financially included, as well as the excluded. For this reason, we are greatly encouraged by the recent announcement from the World Bank that it will invest in conducting household surveys every three years in the 78 poorest countries—and making sure it happens.[4]
It also requires a good definition of success, that is, what it means to be included in the financial system. On the other hand, we believe the 2014 Findex’s definition for “financial included” is too narrow. It counts a person as included if they have an account at a registered financial institution or with a mobile money provider. We find this definition inadequate for two reasons. First, it excludes people who maintain accounts with savings groups or other informal savings and credit associations, as well as people who have accounts with microfinance providers that are not licensed banks. Second, it includes people who have opened accounts, but do not use them in any meaningful way. For us, true inclusion means that a person not only has an account but has access to a full range of financial services that they can use in a way that benefits them.
Map: Reaching the excluded requires knowing where they are. Mapping the locations of these excluded people helps us place them in their geographical, cultural, and economic context. It helps us understand the sets of related factors that may contribute to their exclusion.
Understand: People living in poverty use financial services to accomplish their own objectives: to mitigate risks, take advantage of opportunities, build a better future for their children, celebrate joys, and mourn losses. Those who seek to provide financial services for this group need to understand the rhythms of their lives, their aspirations, their fears, and their cash flows.
Design: This understanding can help financial service providers design products and services that match the objectives and life cycles of their clients at price points that reflect what people living in poverty can afford and what they value.
Deliver: Delivering these products and services at scale will require alliances and partnerships that together can provide delivery channels and aggregators to reduce costs, hasten response time, and improve service. MFIs, banks, savings associations, telecommunication companies, governments, civil society organizations, and NGOs can all play a role in delivering a range of useful products and services to a widely dispersed population.
At our 2013 Microcredit Summit in the Philippines, we focused on the partnerships required to deliver financial services to those living in poverty. At our 2014 Summit in Mexico, we focused on innovations in microfinance with a demonstrated capacity to reach those in extreme poverty. Since then, we have continued to research the products, services, delivery channels, partnerships, and alliances that will enable the financial services community to make financial inclusion a key pillar in the global movement to end extreme poverty. In this report, we present six “pathways” where financial services can support families in their journey out of extreme poverty.
Six Pathways
Integrated health and microfinance: Health shocks often trap families in poverty or pull them back into it. They can also cause loan defaults and account closures. Financial providers can support growing livelihoods for their clients, and reduce risk in their portfolio, by providing health financing and health training, and by partnering with others to deliver health products and provide health services.
Savings groups: The global savings group movement now reaches over 10 million clients worldwide, most of whom live on less income than the typical microfinance client. The self-help group movement in India provides financial services to over 50 million clients. Recent innovations with bank linkages, mobile delivery, and fee-for-service facilitation have expanded the range of services offered through these informal groups, while also increasing their viability.
Graduation programs: The ultra-poor graduation model developed by BRAC has proved effective in Bangladesh and many other countries at reaching those living in the direst poverty and helping them to develop livelihoods and financial capability. Linking these programs to financial institutions and government social-protection programs can allow these initiatives to reach scale.
Agricultural value chains: Most people living extreme poverty live in rural areas and earn most of their income from agricultural work. Expanding agricultural value chains to reach smallholder farmers, providing them with financing, risk mitigation tools, and access to the inputs and markets they need to expand production will increase income and employment opportunities.
Conditional cash transfers: Government social-protection programs provide cash transfers (both conditional and unconditional) to households living in extreme poverty, to the elderly, and to those with physical disabilities. Delivering these payments through accounts in financial institutions, combined with incentives for savings and education, help households build assets over time.
Digital finance: Digitizing financial transactions can greatly reduce costs, while increasing speed and accuracy, making it possible to profitably deliver transactions in small units and over great distances. The most popular financial service so far has been the ability to transfer payments over the phone. Recent innovations, such as getting mobile network providers to pay the cost of microinsurance as a lure to retain customers or mining transaction data to determine credit-worthiness, have expanded the range and value of services delivered digitally.
These six pathways represent key strategies to break out of the microfinance sector’s current stall and greatly expand outreach to those living in extreme poverty. They have even more power, though, when they are combined: for example, digitally delivering conditional cash transfers (CCTs) into a savings account, mobilizing the CCT recipients into savings groups, and furthering their ability to earn a livelihood through graduation programs.
In this report, we look more closely at each of these pathways and the ways that financial service providers can work within them. We also focus on the key role of mapping, an often overlooked step, in identifying where people living in extreme poverty reside and congregate, and what channels and linkages can provide the best routes for serving them.
Using Poverty Measurement Tools to Meet Client Needs
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1935
|
__label__wiki
| 0.783654
| 0.783654
|
FISL 12
29 JUN / 02 JUL 2011
Centro de Eventos PUCRS - Porto Alegre - Brasil
Patrocine
Agende-se para o fisl13! De 25 a 28/07/2012
Nome de usuário / E-mail
Mantenha-me logado
Novo usuário Eu esqueci a minha senha!
ou Registre-se
Aperte Enter para enviar a consulta.
Esperanto English Español Português
0sem comentários aindaLeia mais
<a href='/fisl12/patrocinadores'><span>Patrocinadores</span></a>
<a href='/fisl12/mostra-de-solucoes-e-negocios-livres'><span>Mostra de Negócios Livres</span></a>
fisl in the Web
Atractions
Open Network Conf
Free Robotics
Convoys
Friend's Page
fisl12
Service Provide
Tourism Agency
Alternative Hosting
Tela cheiaSair da tela cheia
4 de Março de 2011, 0:00 , por Software Livre Brasil - | Ninguém está seguindo este artigo ainda.
Visualizado 29517 vezes
Have a look who are the speakers that already confirmed their presence at fisl12! There's a lot more to come, be aware!
Daniel Domscheit-Berg - (previously known under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt) is a German technology activist. He is best known for his prior work as spokesperson to Germany for WikiLeaks, a whistleblower organisation. Before working with Wikileaks, Domscheit-Berg was involved with the German hacker group the Chaos Computer Club.He opened a new website for anonymous online leaks called OpenLeaks, which went public on 26 January 2011
Karlisson Bezerra - web developer and illustrator, graphic arts professional, he is the creator of the "Nerdson não vai à escola" (Nerdson does not go to school), comix blog that portraits in a good humoured mood the lives of geeks and nerds. Has huge experience with the free tools Gimp and Inkscape.
Bruno Souza - founder and leader of the SouJava, elected for JCP Executive Committee in May. It is the most important committee for definitions of the future of Java programming language. From 2007 to 2009, Bruno was an administrative counselor to the Open Source Initiative where he now has a emeritus status.
Jacob Appelbaum - is an independent computer security researcher. Is currently employed by the University of Washington, and is a core member of the Tor project. Is known for representing Wikileaks at the 2010 Hope conference. He has subsequently been repeatedly targeted by US law enforcement agencies, who obtained a court order for his Twitter account data, detained him 5 times at the US border after trips abroad, and seized a laptop and several mobile phones.
Jon Phillips - founder and developer of Fabricatorz, a global open production company fabricating total creative and commercial projects. Co-founded Aiki Lab in Singapore, the Aiki Lab Cultural Center in Damascus and the Aiki Framework Open Source Web Software. Helped launch the open source drawing tool, Inkscape, founded the Open Clip Art Library, taught design+technology at San Francisco Art Institute, built Creative Commons community and business development strategies from 2005 until 2008 and is Community Director for Status.Net (Identi.ca).
Matthias Kirschner - is the Coordinator of Free Software Foundation Europe's German team. He has been a GNU/Linux user since 1999, got active in FSFE in 2004, and is a full time staff member since 2009. Amoungst other policy work, Matthias is in charge of FSFE's "I love Free Software", the "Ask your candidates", and the "Free Software PDF Readers" campaign.
James Beasley - is the Atom Software Business Development Director for Intel's Software and Solutions Group. Has been with Intel for 10 years, were he has held several roles including Global Director, Linux OSV / Open Source and APAC Regional MNC Manager based in Singapore. Holds an MBA from the University of California, and studied at Jochi Daigaku in Tokyo, Japan and Universiteit Maastricht in the Netherlands.
Michael Verdi - joined the Mozilla support team in 2010 as the content manager. In addition to creating Firefox documentation and screencasts for 400 million users, he previously co-authored the book Secrets of Videoblogging and created the Freevlog video tutorials.
Bruce Momjian - co-founder of the PostgreSQL Global Development Group, has worked on PostgreSQL since 1996. Is the author of PostgreSQL: Introduction and Concepts, published by Addison-Wesley. Bruce is employed by EnterpriseDB. Previously, he was employed by SRA Japan and Great Bridge LLC, both PostgreSQL support companies. He has spoken at many international open-source conferences.
Takanori Suzuki - member of Zabbix-JP community. He is currently working for Miracle Linux, a Linux distributor in Asia, since 2007. He has been an active member of Zabbix community, and has been working to provide Zabbix services.
Tim Bray - is a software developer who has also founded two companies and written over a million words on his blog. Currently, he serves as a Developer Advocate at Google, focusing on Android.
Trevor Johns - Developer Programs Engineer for Android at Google. Before joining the Android team, he worked on the Google Data APIs for Blogger, Google Calendar, Contacts, and Spreadsheets. He graduated from the University of Southern California, where he earned a MS in Computer Science and a BS in Computer Engineering.
Lenz Grimmer - member of the Oracle Linux Product Management team at Oracle, has been involved in Linux and Open Source Software since 1995. From 1998 to 2002, he worked as a distribution engineer for SuSE Linux AG in Nuremberg, Germany. He then joined MySQL AB as a release engineer and later became a member of MySQL's Community Relations team. In this role he transitioned from Sun Microsystems to Oracle.
Barry Newstead - Barry Newstead - Chief Global Development Officer (CGDO) of the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). Leads WMF's efforts to support growth of the Wikimedia projects in the developing world (with a priority focus on India, Brazil and the Arabic-speaking Middle East and North Africa), build mobile and offline products and services that expand the reach of Wikimedia-created knowledge.
Jessie Wild - works as Manager of Special Projects at the Global Development Department, at the wikimedia Foundation. Contributes to a variety of initiatives in places such as India, Brazil and North African countries and supports development of strategies for cellphones and offline, coordinates relationship with universities and with the Open Educational Resources Community.
Charline Poirier - has a PhD in anthropology and has spent her career exploring how technologies impact people's lives. Has joined the Design team at Canonical as user research programme lead. Since her joining Canonical, has conducted a variety of research to ensure that Ubuntu is useful, usable and enjoyable to its users.
Leonardo da Mata - Computer Science Master's student from Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Working at International Syst with the development of Linux Distributions for Eduactional Platforms, including Metasys MeeGo.
Leo Cunha - Lead Software Engineer at Qt, Nokia, as part of the UI team in Oslo, Norway, currently involved in the future UI capabilities of Qt through QML and the Qt Quick Components project. Holds a M.S.c in Computer Science from UFPE-BR and previously worked at INdT (Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia) developing applications for mobile devices.
Noirin Plunkett- got her open source start at Apache, helping out with the httpd documentation project. Within a year, she had been recruited to the conference planning team, which she now leads. Was involved in setting up the Community Development project at Apache and has previously acted as Org Admin for the Google Summer of Code.
Alexei Vladishev - is the author of Zabbix, an enterprise class open source monitoring solution, and also the founder of Zabbix SIA (Ltd), a company developer of Zabbix, a software that help companyes in various ways, starting from low-level monitoring of equipment to business level SLA statistics.
Bruno Oliveira - Developer Relations Engineer in the Google's Android and Orkut teams, works to strengthen and increase the communities around Google's technologies. Special focus in gathering brazilian developers, helping them to create high quality applications.
Daniel Galpin - Developer and enthusiast in the Adroid team, at Google. Focus at Games and OpenGL, working both with Dalvik and NDK. Before joining Google, had been working with Android extensively. Developed several media applications, a tutorial video and was tech reviewer of a famous book about the system.
John Ceccarelli - is the head of engineering for the NetBeans open source project and for the VisualVM Java profiler. Started with Sun Microsystems in 2001 as a technical writer and has since held a variety of positions including technical publications manager, engineering manager, and NetBeans IDE 6.9 Release Boss.
Roger Brinkley - Java Evangelists and the Community Leader for the Mobile & Embedded Community at Oracle. He is part of the Evangelism team in the Java Platform Group, was a member of Sun's Open Source Group, and serves as a Track Lead for the JavaOne Program Committee. Has more than 30 years of industry experience with over 16 years at Sun and Oracle. He is a frequent speaker at technical conferences around the world and hosts the weekly Java Spotlight Podcast.
Dalibor Topic - lives in Germany and works as Java F/OSS Ambassador for Oracle. Joined the OpenJDK project in order to help make it a successful open source project, and stayed for anchoring Java in Linux distributions, and as an all around Java F/OSS community guy. Joined the Java strategy team at Oracle to help provide community feedback into the long-term strategy planning.
Arun Gupta - Java EE and GlassFish evangelist working at Oracle. Has over 15 years of experience in the software industry working in the Java(TM) platform and several web-related technologies. In his current role, works to create and foster the community around Java EE and GlassFish. Has been with the Java EE team since its inception and contributed to all Java EE releases.
Simon Ritter - Java Technology Evangelist at Oracle Corporation. Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Brunel University in the U.K. Originally working in the area of UNIX development for AT&T UNIX System Labs and then Novell, moved to Sun in 1996. At this time he started working with Java technology. Having moved to Oracle as part of the Sun acquisition he now specialises in looking at emerging technologies.
Luke Kowalski - vice president in the corporate architecture group at Oracle. Helps with technology policy, industry standards, community, and government affairs. He also works on M&A integration planning with internal counsel and corporate development. He is in charge of a few corporate controls and approvals, including accessibility, interoperability, and external presence.
Dave Stokes - MySQL Community Manager for Oracle, has been using MySQL for over 15 years. Previous was the MySQL Certification Manager and spoke before groups ranging alphabetically from the American Heart Association to Xerox.
Anil Gaur - vice president of Java Platform, Enterprise Edition, and GlassFish Server at Oracle in the Fusion Middleware Group. Is responsible for creation of Java EE Specifications, Reference Implementation, and Compatibility Test Suites. Leading the evolution on Java EE into Cloud and PaaS environment through the Java EE 7 standard. Prior to that, managed the delivery of Java EE 6 Platform and SDK which quickly gained momentum in enterprise application development and deployments.
Jon Melamut - vice-president of Products and Operations, Services OEM. Worldwide field engineering, business development and product management/marketing teams responsible for working with ODMs, OEMs, Operators and other commercial organizations that want to bring mobile computing devices, new computing platforms, and servers to the market pre-installed with Ubuntu, the world's leading Linux client OS and emerging leader in cloud computing.
Helio Chissini Castro - Works with computers since the arrival of the first personal computers in Brazil. For 10 years he worked as the primary KDE developer in Mandriva Conectiva. Also worked developing applications in C + + and C, his programming experience ranges from the Amiga platform to Linux / Unix and Win32. He currently works for Collabora as senior developer in varied projects.
Rodrigo Vivi - Computer Engineer graduated at UNICAMP. Involved with Linux since 2002, worked at IBM's Linux Technology Center and Nokia Technology Institute, using Linux in embedded systems. He currently works for Collabora, having Nokia as the main customer, where he participates in a performance team for Maemo / Meego product.
Omar Toral - Training Director of Ecosystem Software for Latin America, he is member of the Software and Services team. The group encourages innovation on Intel technology, adding value to ISVs through programs designed to provide better end-user experience, combining the core capabilities of each company.
David Mirza - Specialist in security and open source, started his professional experience as a founding member of Security Focus, which was acquired by Symantec in 2002. During that time he moderated the Bugtraq mailing list, a historically important forum for discussion of security vulnerabilities, for over four years.
Corinna "Elektra" Aichele - developer of mesh routing algorithms like OLSR and B.A.T.M.A.N. that have empowered communities to build mesh networks. She was building wireless networks and teaching classes about wireless technology in Bangladesh, India and Africa. Author of the book Mesh: Drahtlose Ad-hoc-Netz and co-author of the book "Wireless Networking in the Developing World", references in the area of global networks with millions of free downloads.
Diego Búrigo Zacarão - free software enthusiast, contributes to the community snce 2006, where his journey began, through the Fedora Project. Currently works in the development of a Web platform for translations management, called Transifex, being the co-creator of the project
Armando Neto - Participates in the Mozilla JetPack Ambassadors program, acting in the popularization of Moziila technologies, with special focus in the addons development kit for Mozilla firefox.
Denis Gilmore - member of Fedora Infrastructure, formerly I was on the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) steering committee, FESCo and Fedora Project Board. I helped to form EPEL.
Dave Crossland - consulting for Google on the Web Fonts project. In 2009 graduated from the University of Reading's MA Typeface Design programme and his student project Cantarell was chosen for the launch of Google Web Fonts and became the default User Interface font for GNOME.
Andrew Gerrand - Developer Advocate for the Go Programming Language, an open source project to make programmers more productive, Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction.
Jared Smith - Fedora Project Leader, work with the Fedora Docs project and the Fedora Infrastructure team, mostly around the Fedora Talk server.
Carol Smith - Program Administrator for Google Summer of Code. Started in 2005, the Google program has allowed for over 2500 students from 98 countries to contribute under the watchful eye of a professional mentor with code to various open-source projects.
Stormy Peters - Head of Developer Engagement at Mozilla, advisor for The Humanitarian FOSS Project (HFOSS), OpenSource World, and IntraHealth Open. Has worked as Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation, established OpenLogic‘s Expert Community and founded and ran HP’s Open Source Program Office.
Tobias Oetiker - creator of the softwares MRTG, RRDTool and Smokeping. Now working as IT specialist at OETIKER + PARTNER AG and collaborates with numerous projects on free software. Has a Masters in Electrical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and is the author of "The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e".
Chris Hofmann - As Director of Engineering and Special Projects at the Mozilla Foundation and Corporation, has spearheaded the research and development work of thousands of open source contributors around the world. A Netscape employee before joining Mozilla, Chris contributed to every Netscape and Mozilla browser release since 1996. In 2004, managed and executed the first worldwide release of Mozilla Firefox 1.0, setting Firefox on a path to remarkable market share growth over the last several years (Firefox is available today in over 70 languages).
Jon "Maddog" Hall - Executive Director of Linux International, has over 40 years in the software industry. Spend most of his time going to free software events around the world. He always say that fisl is the biggest community event of free software in the planet.
Simon Phipps - chief strategy officer at identity startup ForgeRock, a director of the Open Source Initiative and writes for IDG’s ComputerWorldUK as well as his own blog, webmink.com. He’s been in the computer industry around 30 years and has worked for Sun, IBM and Unisys among others.
Jeremy Allison - is a computer programmer known for his contributions to the free software community, notably to Samba, a re-implementation of SMB/CIFS networking protocol, released under the GNU General Public License. Other contributions include the early versions of the pwdump password cracking utility.
Tony Wasserman - is a Professor of Software Management Practice at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, and the Executive Director of the Center for Open Source Investigation. Previously, he was Director of Mobile Middleware Labs for HP’s Middleware Division, where he managed a development team working on software infrastructure for mobile web services. He is Ph.D. in computer sciences from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and B.A. in mathematics and physics from UC Berkeley.
Randal L. Schwartz - is the co-author of several widely used books about the programming language Perl, has written regular columns about Perl for several computer magazines and popularized the Just another Perl hacker signature programs. He is a founding board member of the Perl Mongers, the worldwide Perl grassroots advocacy organization, and a member of the Squeak Oversight Board, which oversees theSqueak programming language.
Tags deste artigo: speakers fisl fisl12 keynote
Promoção, organização e realização:
Projeto Software Livre Brasil Associação Software Livre Brasil
Transmissão:
Rádio SL TV SL
Creative Commons 3.0 by-sa Brazil
© Copyright 2011 - ASL
Desenvolvido pela Colivre
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1937
|
__label__wiki
| 0.598409
| 0.598409
|
Home » The Burning Hand » Collette Bowyer
2/2/1967 Babineaux
Collette Pickering was born on the 13th June, 1861. Her father, Richard, was a moderately wealthy industrialist, and she spent her early years in the family home in Manchester. She was doted on by her mother, Eleanor, and it was from her that Collette developed a love for learning.
Eleanor Pickering was something of a remarkable woman in her own right; intelligent and encouraged to pursue an education by her enlightened husband, Eleanor was equally encouraging with her daughter. Collette was school by her mother from an early age, and by all accounts could read and write from a very young age.
As a child, Collette received her education at home, from governesses and tutors who were hand-picked by her mother. By the age of ten, she was proficient in the piano and the clarinet. By the age of thirteen she was fluent in French and German. Her love of reading continued throughout her adolescence, and she devoured the modern works of fiction with gusto.
At the age of 20, Collette was a vivacious young woman who yearned to see the world. She was introduced to Stephen Bowyer whilst holidaying in Bath, and the young man was immediately taken with her. He wooed her during the Summer of 1881, and made repeated trips to Manchester from his home in London. They were married in the December of that same year.
Stephen’s family were big in shipping, and he was able to buy a large house for Collette close to Regent’s Park in London. They travelled extensively during the first two years of their marriage, conducting a grand tour of Europe before venturing as far as India and China.
In the autumn of 1883, Collette gave birth to her first child, Stephen. The boy was healthy and robust, and the couple settled down to a family life in London.
Her second child, Sarah, was born on 21st November 1884. Tragically the baby died while only a few days old. Collette, devastated, withdrew from the world. It is said that this is the first defining moment of her life; that her path from then is ruled by a need to bring meaning to such an apparently senseless death.
Two years later, Emily was born. It is thought that this period of Collette’s life was the happiest, and the most normal. In her diary of the time, she writes:
Emily is such a blessing. Nothing can replace Sarah in my heart, but I feel that Emily carries with her the spark of life that was denied my second child. Stephen is ecstatic. I have not seen him smile this way in years.
The Death of Stephen Bowyer
The family enjoyed a stable life for the next few years. Stephen spent as much time as he could in London, but as a partner in the family business he travelled extensively. In July of 1894, Collette received word from Stephen’s father that he had been caught up in the plague epidemic in Hong Kong, and had subsequently died of the disease.
Loss and Learning
After the death of her husband in 1894, Collette Bowyer was distraught. She began to display signs of depression and hopelessness, until one of her friends, an older widower named Jeaneane Derbyshire introduce her to Spiritualism. After a year of consulting with mediums about the spirit of her husband, she declared them all charlatans. She became interested in Theosophy after hearing Katherine Tingley speak during her international tour of 1896.
The Mystery Years
We have only glimpses of Bowyer’s activities throughout the last three years of the 19th Century. No personal diaries exist for this period, even though she was an almost obsessive journalist throughout the whole of her life. In 1897 her son Ernest was 14, and away at boarding school. Her daughter Emily, who was only 11, was sent back to Manchester to be cared for by Collette’s parents an a governess. It seems this was done in order to allow Collette to travel, unimpeded with familial burdens. We know she left England in the January of 1897. In May of that year, she was definitely staying in India as a guest of her husband’s cousins. By November she had surfaced in the New England region of the USA.
Impossible Sightings
Most of the other sightings and records of Bowyer’s travels during this time are hard to verify. Some seem downright impossible. One notable example is Bowyer’s appearance at a society party on the island of Manhatten whilst two days later using a reader’s ticket to enter the reading room of the British Library in London.
There are some other examples of these ‘impossible’ sightings of Bowyer during her travels. They have led to certain myths about her ‘ability’ to travel great distances very quickly, with some suggesting she gained access to the Skein itself.
On News Year’s Eve, 1899, Collette found herself in the luxurious Hôtel Ritz. It is thought she was probably alone that evening, surrounded by the raucous festivities of the vibrant city celebrating the turn of the century. Her diaries speak of her ennui:
I am in a dark place. The world around me screams with life. The people are ecstatic, the whole city awash with light and life. But I feel totally alone. Lost.
Nothing feels real anymore. Since Stephen left, a maw has opened up inside me. Even my children, my wonderful blessed children, do not fill my soul in the way that they should. The world is a stage play, all set dressing and costume. And we the actors follow our parts obediently.
But what if I look beyond the footlights. What would I see there?
Whom would I see?
For the next few months, Collette purports to have a series of dreams and visions which present to her a view of the world she had started to glimpse. She writes this all down, and with the help of one of her husband’s prior colleagues, publishes The Tellurian Artifice in February of 1901.
After the publication, those who read the pamphlet fell into two broad categories. Many of Collette’s former friends were embarrassed by her seemingly incoherent rambling’s. They shunned her, leaving her and her family alone.
There were others, however, who saw Collette as a visionary. Some who had never before being exposed to her worldview were swayed by her writings. They began to call on her, wanting to ask questions and discuss the beliefs she had laid down in her book.
Collette began to hold regular discussion groups in her house near Regent’s Park. At its height, she had nigh on 30 followers who met regularly to discuss and expand on Bowyer’s gnostic philosophy. In 1905 she declared them all ‘her coterie of awakened souls’, and this name for the group, The Coterie, stuck.
Among the Coterie’s members were those men and women responsible for the individual acts that made up The Co-incidents of 1908. Two years after these events, Bowyer was made aware of the theory of The Co-incidents after a visit from the Reverend Graeme Dawlish of Boston, USA. Listening to his collections of stories from around the world terrified her. She wrote:
To hear this tales of horror and woe is impossibly hard. To think that they are the outcome of my little book is too much to bear. Damned to those who set these things in motion. And I include myself in that curse, for without me those others would never have succumbed to their blind curiosity!
She never met with the members of her coterie again, although it continued to exist in other forms after she disassociated with it.
The Manchester Years
In 1911, a the age of 50, Bowyer moved back to Manchester to be with her family. Her children, now in their 20s, had settled in the area, and Bowyer resolved to mend their relationships, which had become distant. She became a doting grandmother to Emily’s children.
Educating Ernest
Ernest, who never marries, was a botanist at this point. He became close to his mother again after his perceived abandonment at boarding school. It is likely that Collette began to reveal the wisdom she had gained on her travels and the consequences of writing The Tellurian Artifice. Ernest took his own journeys after the Great War. His route was notable for including many of the destinations listed in the Reverend Dawlish’s research.
Further Works
Collette became very cautious about publishing anything new. Throughout this last part of her life, people still found their way into her presence, either wanting to meet a woman they thought of as a legend, or those seeking the knowledge and power they thought she might possess. She turned them all away without question.
No work, other than The Tellurian Artifice, bears the name Collette Bowyer. Speculation regarding various noms de plume began after her death, though none of these has ever been confirmed.
Collette Bowyer died on June 3rd, 1935. She was almost 74 years old. She dies in her sleep, in the house of her daughter in Manchester.
Previous post Quote
Next post Quote
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1941
|
__label__cc
| 0.532154
| 0.467846
|
Urbana High School Theater plunges into Urinetown
November 8, 2018 / 9:37am / Debra Domal
Civil liberties are not just at the heart of current political debate—they are also front and center in the Urbana High School Theater’s fall musical, Urinetown.
The following content has been shared directly from the UHS press release.
“There is a focus on standing up for one’s individual rights and those of others, as well as revolution, symbolic of community, national, and international events,” said Director of Theatre, Tim Broeker.
Urinetown was inspired by Greg Kotis, who while on a trip to Europe in the 90s, encountered a pay toilet. A few years later, he teamed with Mark Hollman to write and ultimately, create this symbolic Broadway musical that inspires individuals to critically think about human rights in a comedic way.
Urinetown
Urbana High School Cobb Auditorium
1002 South Race Street
November 7-10, 7:00 pm
November 11, 2:30 pm
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults and are available at the box office, which opens 30 minutes prior to each performance.
Submit to SPlog
The SPlog is available to our community of readers and Editors to get the word out about upcoming shows, events, ideas, quick opinions, photos, videos, overheard quotes — anything really, provided that it doesn't break the law.
SPlog posts aren't meant to be read as full articles — most often, they are short, quick bits of information about something that doesn't necessarily warrant a full article, though are worthy of posting.
Smile Politely also allows businesses who advertise with the magazine to access the SPlog to promote most anything and everything that's going on with them in their world.
Ultimately, we monitor the SPlog closely, so if we don't post your submission, we'll get in touch with you and discuss why. If every submission got posted, well, things would get messy in a hurry. We hope you understand.
Editors' note: Smile Politely maintains the right to edit all SPlog entries for grammar, punctuation, and syntax, but will never change the meaning or content of any submissions.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1946
|
__label__wiki
| 0.851958
| 0.851958
|
Refractory: a Journal of Entertainment Media
Tag Archives: fans
Lily Frankenstein: The Gothic New Woman in Penny Dreadful
~ Stephanie Green
Abstract: Techniques such as recursive adaptation, narrative hybridity and ensemble performance are now a tradition in fantasy screen drama, in both cinematic and serial mode, from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) to Agents of Shield (2013), in which several popular culture sources are woven together to create a new evocation of themes, stories and identities. Set in late-Victorian London, the richly awarded TV series Penny Dreadful (2014) alludes to a host of precursor texts from nineteenth century Gothic and sensation fiction. Among the many interesting elements of this finely crafted series is the ways in which it recasts minor or supporting female characters from these stories as powerful leading figures. This discussion will discuss the portrayal of Lily Frankenstein, a crucial minor character, to show how Penny Dreadful portrays transformative female identity through a Gothic redefinition of the late-Victorian New Woman.
She bleeds but doesn’t die. She hungers but cannot love. She seeks companionship but rejects the companion for whom she was made. If the original Victor Frankenstein’s creature was a new Adam forged by early nineteenth century science at the hand of human hubris, monstrously self-liberated from his maker’s control, in Penny Dreadful (Showtime/Sky 2014–2016) his second successful creation is the recreated Lilith, a ‘new’ woman who asserts; “Never again will I kneel to any man. Now they shall kneel to me” (3.02). As this paper will show, the portrayal of Lily Frankenstein is one among several instances of how Penny Dreadful attempts to portray transformative female identity through a Gothic redefinition of the late-Victorian New Woman.
The New Narrative
Set against a fantastical portrait of late-Victorian London, the richly awarded TV series Penny Dreadful alludes to a host of precursor texts from nineteenth century Gothic and sensation fiction, which remain popular in transmedia forms, from film and television drama to video games. The series features themes and characters that appeared in the ‘penny dreadful’ novelettes of the day, referring directly to techniques of the popular fiction form to which its title refers; such as recursive adaptation, reinvention and narrative hybridity. Among the many fiction sources for the series are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1814), Rymer’s Varney the Vampire (1847), Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872), Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1895) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). By the third season, extended plot elements, new settings and characters reflect the changing generic flavours of fantasy narrative from the Gothic through to the influence of late nineteenth century American Western frontier fiction. With the Gothic, the Western has been fertile ground for transmedia adaptation, from the novels by James Fenimoore Cooper and Zane Grey to American to mid twentieth century DC and Marvel Western Comics, a form of popular fiction that has been similarly adaptable to new contexts, tastes and social conditions, able to absorb and reanimate already popular story lines.
First published in the 1830s, ‘penny dreadfuls’ were the trash fiction of the nineteenth century, thrillers full of shock, adventure and awe. A penny dreadful installment was cheap at one penny and the story line ever-evolving until the readership faltered (Springhall). Authors cribbed story lines, plagiarized plots and cobbled story lines together from diverse sources and recycled popular stock characters endlessly. Moralists railed against them as having a pernicious influence on the young (Chisolm), but they continued to flourish. According to the celebrated nineteenth century journalist George Sala, who read them voraciously as a boy, they offered
a world of dormant peerages, of murderous baronets, and ladies of title addicted to study of toxicology, of gypsies and brigand-chiefs, men with masks and women with daggers, of stolen children, withered hags, heartless gamesters, nefarious roues, foreign princesses, Jesuit fathers, grave-diggers, resurrection-men, lunatics, and ghosts (148).
Produced by Sam Mendes and John Logan, the television series Penny Dreadful exploits many of the traditional narrative techniques used in Victorian Gothic fiction, reframed as film noir. This is far from a deferential costume drama or a literary recreation. Penny Dreadful takes familiar characters such as Dr Frankenstein and his Creature, the ageless Dorian Gray, and various witches, vampires and monsters and uses them to evoke the idea of a haunted past as a background against which to tell new stories of a world that is, like our own, on the brink of unimaginable change. The settings, costumes, historical references and cultural tropes situate the story largely within the British Fin de Siècle, a period associated with literary and artistic experimentation, sexual decadence, progressivism and the popularization of women’s rights movements. The characters of Penny Dreadful do not think or behave in the same way or hold the same beliefs as their fictional forebears once did, but they represent familiar social and cultural identities and positions from that time. Lee and King regard them as “cultural memes that continue to live in contemporary culture” (2015 n.p.). In various ways, the series engages actively with the discursive elements of its source materials, using the ideas and experiences of the characters as symbolic strands of influence for reweaving meaning and narrative.
Techniques such as recursive adaptation, hybridity and ensemble performance are well established in fantasy screen drama, in both cinematic and serial mode, from 1940s Universal films, to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Stephen Norrington, 2003) to Agents of Shield (Billy Gierhart et al., 2013), in which several popular culture sources are woven together to create a new incarnation of longstanding themes, stories and identities. Hutcheon remarks that we “retell – and show again and interact anew with – stories over and over; in the process, they change with each repetition, and yet they are recognizably the same” (Hutcheon 177). As this paper argues, however, Penny Dreadful takes up key ideas that emerged with force during late-Victorian culture and connects them in ways that reveal underlying connections and disconnections. The evolving genre of transmedia fantasy fiction enables the series to create a new account of lasting issues and anxieties in Western culture; including the use of excessive power, mechanistic control over human creativity, the dangers of enchantment, the sufferings of the Other, and the struggle for women to transcend bodily and domestic confinement as autonomous rational beings.
Recasting Women
Among the many interesting elements of this finely crafted series is the way in which it recasts minor or supporting female characters from these stories as powerful leading figures. Its depiction of women is broadly coloured by historical conditions in which women lived during the late Victorian period. The series alludes to feminist advocacy for changing social roles at a time when women were excluded from universities, politics and the professions (3.01). Murphy has argued with reference to late Victorian fiction that the figure of the New Woman emerges at moments of cultural anxiety and change (2016). Negotiations over changing attitudes to women went hand in hand with changes in other attitudes and beliefs. Acceptance of investigative science was just beginning to influence public discourse, as reflected in Penny Dreadful in the public lectures on evolution conducted by Christian Camargo’s attractively sinister appearance as Count Dracula in the guise of research scientist Dr Sweet during Season Three. New ways of thinking about selfhood were also becoming important, as is conveyed by the appearance of the character of Dr Seward (Patti LuPone) in Season Three: a revisioning of the character from Stoker’s Dracula. Just as the pages of the historical penny dreadful were peopled with clichés and archetypes – super heroes, mad scientists, magicians, vanquishers and villains – the characters of Penny Dreadful are larger than life, with magical or extra-natural powers that are sometimes beyond their own control. Its women are shown as capable agents of transformation, unconstrained by conventional Victorian social limitations; self-determined, articulate, desiring autonomy, or longevity or control. More interesting than their mere potential to nurture and harm, theirs is nevertheless a compromised power, inflected with darkness, uncertainty and threat.
Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper), Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), Evelyn Poole (Helen McCory) and Hecate Poole (Sarah Greene) are – or become – able to wreak supernatural forces, with powers to defend themselves and/or to control and recruit others. Their potency is, at the same time, limited by their relationship with more powerful male figures in their lives, whether human or inhuman. The witch or ‘nightcomer’ Evelyn Poole aligns herself with a mysterious Demon to achieve longevity and personal power but is destroyed by Vanessa and Ethan (2.09 and 2.10). Although in Seasons One and Two, Vanessa resists dominance by the same satanic figure who seeks to embrace and control her powers, she is consistently depicted as a figure of suffering resistance and recovery. In Season Three her promise as the Gothic New Woman is revealed when she begins to embrace her desire for Dr Sweet aka Count Dracula. She is ultimately portrayed as an acquiescent victim, rather than as an effectual force for good in the world (3.09). The character in Penny Dreadful which most clearly emblematises the Gothic New Woman is Lily Frankenstein. Only Lily expresses her desire for control in political terms: she rejects the idealism of the late-Victorian suffrage campaigners seeking equality with men, to assert a claim for a different kind of female power, literally the creation of a super race of women warriors bent on destroying the male “grasp” (3.01). Lily seizes agency and acts decisively to change her own circumstances and potentially those of others. Hers is a vision of a future in which female dominance is all and, as a force of destruction, she too is doomed to fail.
Lily’s references to a female super race are far from anachronistic post-hoc invention. Just at the time that the New Woman discourse emerged, the feminist Theosophist Frances Swiney was developing her vision of woman’s “cosmic progression” towards supreme being eclipsing all differences between men and women (Robb). Swiney turned the tables on the patriarchal establishment of evolutionary theory, as she saw it, to argue that biologically the male was a defective variant of the human species. A “preacher of the superiority of women” she argued for a new natural law based on the supremacy of woman (Gates 152-157). By the early twentieth century the idea that a woman, or a man, could be ‘made’ better, stronger, brighter, took hold in a new way as the ideas of Francis Galton found fruition in the work of the early twentienth century eugenistic movement with the notion of fostering human evolution through selective breeding (Galton 17 May 1904) – whose ugly implications would be realised with Hitlerian Facism. Lily offers a twist to this narrative – the spawning of a race of superwomen – that fails to bear fruit as the series draws to an end in the last episodes of Season Three and Lily is overcome by the rising power of institutionalised pseudo-science, represented by Dr Jekyll.
Unlike precursor accounts of the female ‘bride’ of Frankenstein’s monster – such as the short-lived female mate in Frankenstein (Shelley 1814/1980) or James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935) who are pieced together from ragged human shards and then destroyed due to the reproductive implications of her survival – Lily is portrayed as a new product of industrial manufacture. She is created in the first episode of Season Two by a mixture of design and serendipity as Victor Frankenstein lines up his human-making machine to receive the lightning strike that will animate dead flesh and bones. Whereas his first attempts at animation were stitched together from body parts, this new female creature is made from the body of a whole woman, the consumptive street girl Brona Croft whom we first meet as the lover of toothsome American adventurer Ethan Chandler in Season One (1.02). The scene of Lily’s birth captures the shadow of industrial Gothic that is cast across the series; a dusty dungeon, poorly lit and crammed with gigantic machines of ugly purpose. Here, the birth of Lily reflects the theme of unnatural disorder produced by mechanical technology. As Parker observes, with reference to some of the key texts upon which Penny Dreadful draws – Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and Dracula – nineteenth century industrial Gothic examines the “eruption of horrific fantasy into the everyday” in order to examine the vision of a brutally mechanized nineteenth century urban society with its institutions of overwhelming cruelty and power (156-159). This theme is further explored in the series, in its various scenes of female entrapment, for example when Vanessa Ives is locked in a Victorian madhouse because of her visions (1.05 and 3.04).
Lily rises from the forge of mechanical creation in perfect form, beautiful, seemingly innocent and born anew without memories of her past, and – as we discover – virtually impervious to destruction. She is manufactured by Victor to supply his first created progeny, the scarred Creature, with a mate to mitigate the burden of his loneliness: a classic allusion to the original story. But Lily recoils from the Creature, her promised husband, who calls himself John Clare after the self-made Romantic poet (1793––1864). Although she models herself on her maker, adopting his accent and politeness, gradually she does remember the brutality and suffering of her past life (2.07). Even more importantly, she realises that she now has supreme strength and power. Creed argues that women in screen drama are confronting not because they are monstrously other but because they are already fully formed and fearfully empowered (Creed 6). The female monster appears as a compelling figure of supernatural power partly because she is already beyond being human. In masculine terms, Creed observes, with reference to Lurie and Williams, the uncastrated female is a ‘freak’ of nature whose sexuality threatens to overwhelm and destroy (Creed 6). Created by men, Lily refuses the modesty of covert sexuality and demands to be seen. She rejects her maker, Victor, and the romantic submission that John Clare proffers. Instead she is bent on revenge against man for the abuse suffered during her former life and conquest over the weak human race, and to make a new and pitiless world. She thus reconfigures the fin de siècle persona of the proto-modern New Woman to embody the far more forceful Gothic New Woman and become the harbinger of a world without men.
The Troubling New Woman
The New Woman of the 1890s emerged in the late nineteenth century as a trope of social and cultural change, one that was at once a sign of new possibility and of frightening upheaval. Within the public sphere, as women’s voices spoke up for female interests and concerns (Ledger 1-10), the New Woman appeared in literary and popular magazines, in novels, short fiction, essays and journalistic discussions of women’s role in society. Often the subject of cartoons, in the popular imagination of the day she was at first the mannish, bespectacled bluestocking, neglectful of wifely duty that was frequently pilloried in Punch (Shapiro) and eventually the sporty, bicycling Amazon (Heilmann 34-35). Her identity went hand in hand with the emergence of the women’s movement, from the 1860s through to late nineteenth century public campaigns for women’s property rights, suffrage, access to higher education, the professions and fashions that freed women from corsetry constraint (Purvis). She reflected the rising importance of female authorship and authority within a fast expanding publishing industry (Palmer ; Easley), and gave a face to the public voice for women’s interests.
On the one hand the New Woman was a triumphal figure – heralding in the new age of female opportunity and independence – and on the other she was regarded by the fierce purveyors of tradition as ‘improper’ and an easy target for marginalisation, fear and ridicule (Pykett). The New Woman sought education, independence and a role in public life. Emerging as the century drew to a close, the New Woman was enmeshed with the popular discourse of the ‘new’ and the cult of decadence with which Oscar Wilde and The Yellow Book writers and artists were associated (Ledger 94). Characterised as those who “abandoned the traditional sphere to lead more complex lives” (Nelson 6), she was thus regarded a threat to moral codes and social order, a harbinger of the decay of the phalanx of nineteenth century social institutions that loomed so large in the Victorian Gothic imagination. Wilde’s play Salome and the illustrations for its first published British edition by Aubrey Beardsley encapsulated the terrors and desires surrounded this vision of perfidious feminine desire as she reaches for the dripping severed head of John the Baptist with greedily parted lips. As the Gothic New Woman Lily reanimates Salome’s ambition for revenge and like her is a spectacular object of desire with a voracious appetite to author her own ‘master’ narrative.
References to the New Woman began to emerge in the British and American press at a time when Victorian Gothic sensation fiction, intimations of sexual decadence, urban serial killers and other threats, as the demands of women for access to education and suffrage were characterised by some popular journals. As the satirical periodical Punch so often reminded its readers in various ways, “stern women are alarming” (20 July 1895). At this same moment the promisingly modern character of Mina Harker became famous as Dracula’s victim in Stoker’s classic novel (1897), to be safely settled into domestic matrimony by its conclusion. As Djikstra remarks, “what better surrogates could there be to take the role of the executioner in man’s masochistic fancies?” (374-75). Badged with feminist eccentricity, she was easy for some to dismiss as the inconsequential irritant of a dying century. The New Woman would have her legacy, however, in the next generation of women and their supporters, including the so-called Sufragettes, who lobbied successfully on the London streets, in town halls and in parliament for access to education and the suffrage (Holton).
The emergence of the Gothic New Woman can be seen as closely associated with the rise of mass print media consumption at the nineteenth century fin de siècle: a sustained cultural moment which contained the “transformation of the generic materials of the text into a motley fusion of speech and writing, recording and transcribing, image and typography” (Wicke 470). Although modes of narrative consumption have evolved and hybridised radically since that time, undoubtedly the diversification and delivery of dramatised narrative via small screen media has expanded its mass audience to achieve a global reach. The metaphor of consumption has special relevance in relation to the Gothic New Woman, as both an embodied figure of gendered difference and a subject of popular culture. The depiction of the late Victorian woman as voracious in her impetus for education, political and professional autonomy, shows the extent to which she was aligned in the public imagination with the personae of female destruction, the Eves, Liliths, Salomes and harpies of western cultural tradition (Djikstra). In Penny Dreadful, however, the New Woman is Gothic not simply because she is associated with destruction but because she is associated with unending change.
The connections between monstrosity, modernity, sexuality and the representation of the New Woman in fin de siècle Britain were rehearsed in the novels of Sarah Grand, George Meredith, Olive Schreiner, Kate Chopin, and in Beardsley’s illustrations of Salome (Cunningham ; Showalter ; Murphy). She had her precursors in the monstrous femme fatale figures of the 1860s and 1870s, Braddon’s Lady Audley, Rosetti’s rampant Lilith with their “outward purity and inward lust” and “seeming self-sufficiency” (Djikstra 374). Reforging her new persona in the furnace of revenge, Lily Frankenstein adopts elements of the New Woman as a figure of triumphal independence and conquest. As the Gothic New Woman, she is darkly independent, seductively resistant to domination, brilliantly articulate, refusing the rules of femininity and feminism in favour of power’s bloodier embrace (2.07). She casts off the demure Victorian mantle of wifehood provided by Victor Frankenstein who dresses her in high necked lace gowns and constraining corsets. In this role she prepares his food and lives as his secret companion. Her wide eyes, girlish smiles and modest glances reinforce his insistence that she is too unformed and ‘unready’ for marriage to the Creature. Even when she turns to him sexually (2.06) Frankenstein refuses the idea that her desire can be for anyone or anything but himself. By now, however, Lily is awake to the memory of her former self. Stifled by the small dwelling where Frankenstein keeps her she seeks a life of her own, drawn back to the night life of the flaneur that she explores with the charming Dorian Gray (2.07). What appears to be a burgeoning story of Lily’s double life as wife and lover is radically and violently overturned when, instead of returning to her wifely abode, she seduces a man at a public house and strangles him in his bed at the moment of climax, a private orgy of sex and death which reveals her new found strength and aggression, contrasts markedly with the oppressive experiences of her previous consumptive existence and unleashes her drive to power (2.07).
Much more than the harbinger of doomful desire or the awkward figure of alterity that Punch depicted when it lampooned the bluestocking women who fought for female suffrage and higher education, Lily Frankenstein is, rather, a new new woman; a Gothic redefinition of the late Victorian persona. Consider the moment when a group of suffrage advocates marches into the London square where Lily and Justine sit at a café. Lily dismisses their efforts as,
so awfully clamorous, all this marching around in public and waving placards. It’s not it. How do you accomplish anything in this life? By craft. By stealth. By poison. By the throat… quietly slit in the dead of the night (3.03).
Remade by men, now Lily remakes herself. She rejects their attempts to romanticise their desire for her and dismisses the bargain they have between them about the purpose of her existence. As she says to John Clare at a key moment: “Shall we wander the pastures and recite your fucking poetry to the fucking cows? You are blind… like all other men” (2:08).
As indicated, Lily is not the only character in Penny Dreadful with whom the theme of new womanist horror resonates: the glamorous sufferings of Vanessa Ives, the dark predations of the witches and the mysterious Dr Seward all reflect the idea of the transformative feminine. But where Vanessa seeks to triumph over supernatural evil and liberate herself from the clutches of the dark master, Lily wants much more than a life of adventure and desire. She is determined to gain control, to establish a new race of superbeings and to destroy all that has gone before. In seeking visceral revenge for the harm she and other women have suffered, however, she takes her ambitions one step too far. She is drawn to Dorian Gray and his search to transcend the dullness of eternal existence through extreme excitation (2:08); but this will be a fatal alliance for her enterprise.
Lily is one of several female characters in the series who might be said to represent the persona of the Gothic New Woman, among them Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and Hecate Poole (Sarah Greene) but the term applies particularly to Lily because her portrayal unites key tropes of the Victorian fin de siècle: decadent, embodiment of the new age of modern machine manufacture, advocate of visceral female empowerment, above all, a force of change. As a remade woman her reincarnation as Lily – the flower of rebirth – gives her the supernatural strength needed to accomplish dominance over the men who exploited her in her previous life as the prostitute Brona Croft. She is also uncanny because having been created by man she can never die in the usual way, or go back to existence as her former living self. She can only move forward with history, subject to its material conditions just as she also attempts to reshape them. In this sense she seems more human than humanity itself.
Being Supreme
Although the series Penny Dreadful is set at the turn of the nineteenth century in London, Lily Frankenstein’s liberty is not the progressive freedom espoused by late Victorian suffrage reformists. She seeks a far more radical form of transformation. Although created by Victor and the Creature to become ‘a proper woman’, and to serve their own interests, as Season Two draws to its conclusion, it is clear that Lily is determined to choose her own future. In a speech that poses a frightening manifesto for the risen dead, she poses a question to Victor’s first progeny, John Clare, “why do we exist? Why have we been chosen?” and after her first revenge killing (2.07) answers her own question;
We were created to rule, my love. And the blood of mankind will water our garden. We are the conquerors. We are the pure blood. We are steel and sinew, both. We are the next thousand years. We are the dead. (2.08)
At a devastatingly triumphant moment, the final scene of Season Two (2.10) Lily Frankenstein (Billy Piper) dances with Dorian Gray in the ballroom of his London mansion: her exquisite late Victorian gown swings out as the couple circles the room, blood dripping down their backs, leaving a red stream in their wake. As Victor Frankenstein stares at the dancers, appalled by the spectacle of deathless horror, Lily tells Dorian “let him live with what he”s created…, a monster race.” Together they anticipate a new horror narrative of extreme supremacy (2.10). Two episodes into Season Three and the female monster has become a Superwoman ready to bathe the world in blood to achieve Liberty: the “bitch that must be bedded on a mattress of corpses” (2.08). But the partnership with Dorian also leads Lily to the limit of her possibility. Her greatest obstacle as a force for resistance is, however, that she remains throughout an object of male desire.
The discussion is underpinned by the work of feminist cultural theorists who have interrogated the spectacular representation of the feminine in screen narrative as at once desirable and terrifying. Mulvey observes that the representation of the female body has been framed by “the mythology of the feminine … in which the woman became a phantasm and a symptom” (Mulvey xiii). Lily is created by Victor Frankenstein precisely out of male desire for possession of a feminine fantasy. Even before her creation, Lily is desired by John Clare as an ideal romantic companion with whom to share long walks and poetic thoughts (2.01). Once she is ‘born’, she is desired by her maker, Victor, who betrays his pact with John Clare (2.08 and 2.09). Victor attempts to clothe Lily in girlish Victorian lace dresses and a tight laced corset so that she can barely breathe (2.04). He tells her that women “wear corsets not to exert themselves. What would they do if they did?” She replies that “they’d take over the world” (2.04). After she leaves Victor, she is desired by Dorian Gray as a source of excitation and shared enterprise. Ultimately, however, Dorian sets her up and then betrays her just as the other figures of male power in her life have done.
In her discussion of the female revenant in fin de siècle writing, Liggins observes that it is often the excessive potency and fluidity of the female body that poses “the greatest threat” (40). For the men who have used Lily, both before and after her reanimation, it is “the spectacle of the aestheticized but horrific dead body of the female” (42) that appears most monstrous. One of the show’s most consistent tropes is its depiction of the human body as pushed to excess – always on the edge of being broken. In various ways, the female characters struggle with the attempt to seek empowerment, whether caused by enchantment, witches and demons that seek to inhabit their minds, or by institutional incursions and restraints. In the scenes in which Vanessa Ives is trapped in one way or another by possession, hallucination, or memory, her thin white body is marked brutally by her sufferings, and her shadow eyes are particularly haunting. Vanessa alludes to her position as a woman whose truth is unable to be heard (3.04); instead she is subjected to the institutionalised discipline of silence and conformity. She survives through mental determination, the force of will over physical suffering, whereas Lily Frankenstein chooses action through violent games and gestures of dominance.
A woman whose own body has been used by countless men and then reanimated in the service of male scientific achievement, Lily inverts the terms in which her body has been put to use, and sets out to instigate a ‘new’ technique of her own. Invoking Salome, she commissions her followers to bring her the severed hand of every man in London they can find (3:06). The focus on spectacular embodiment in particular shows this, for example as Lily Frankenstein first gains control of her own circumstances, testing her physical strength and psychological power and then seizing control over others through seduction and brutality.
These experiments in body technique can be seen, in part, as a manifestation of the hybrid transmedia environment that screen adaptations of the Fantastic mode entail. As characters are remade, recontextualised, relocated, so is their potential for narrative evolution. However, the attempts of Penny Dreadful to remake classic stories of the past and thus to revision the potentialities of its characters for the future are in practice constrained, both by the financial and ideological imperatives of mass screen entertainment. Although powerful, the women of Penny Dreadful repeatedly face visible and invisible forces greater than themselves. The confluence between an ethos of advanced mechanical production and scientific inquiry with the presence of vast and fearsome ancient forces serve to remind the viewer of the shifting dangers and precarious conditions with which its central characters confront the world, making and unmaking themselves as agents, destroyers and victims of powerful forces around them. The stories of Lily, Vanessa and the other female characters in this series seem to be little more than adaptive ways of telling the old story in which the Gothic New Woman must be contained. At the same time, they promise more: whether through sacrifice, determination, strategy, or even through emotional connection. At the end of Season Three, in episode eight Lily reveals her heartbreaking story to Frankenstein and he releases her from the threat of Jekyll’s numbing serum. Like the first Frankenstein’s monster she escapes the grip of her maker, offering the hope of return.
What possibilities, then, do Lily and Penny Dreadful suggest for the future stories of woman in screen narrative? Schubart argues that the identity of the contemporary female screen hero must be regarded as complex and conflicted (113). Screen drama post-feminism portrays women who seek power and express desire, and refuse to sacrifice a sense of purpose for romance. With Vanessa Ives, several of the female characters in Penny Dreadful show us a similar reframing of the late nineteenth century female persona, as women in possession of autonomy, desire and a personal or supernatural potency that enables them to overcome resistance to male authority and societal expectation. It is the character of Lily Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s second successful progeny, created by the dark mysteries of nineteenth century industrial manufacture (2.01), whom speaks most strongly to these themes. A ‘made’ woman who seeks self-determination, she reframes the cultural trope of the nineteenth century new woman for a frighteningly modernist, revolutionary purpose – to seize control of the means of [human] production and take revenge on her exploiters. That she is also portrayed as a mother in her former life further complicates her significance.
Creed argues that “most horror films also construct a border between what Kristeva refers to as ‘the clean and proper body’ and the abject body, or the body which has lost its form” (11). Owing its ‘debt to nature’, the maternal female body is inherently abject as a site of conflicted desire. “The corpse, the most sickening of wastes, is a border which has encroached upon everything. It is no longer I who expel, ‘I’ is expelled” (Kristeva qtd in Oliver 231). As a ‘made’ woman, Lily is a supreme object of male desire, a commodity exchanged between men. However, Lily reauthors her own narrative and asserts her subjective will, transcending her status of object to achieve self-determination. Lily’s radical imperative is to overcome the ultimate abjection – death – to show the possibility of a race of women who are able to reproduce without reliance on male or female sexual organs and thus threaten to overtake the means of production. Arguably, she thus promises to overcome the idea of the abject mother, promising a new race of superwomen. Lily is in one sense the epitome of the “body without organs” (Deleuze & Guattari 9-10), in her impulse to appear wholly purposeful yet to break down convention and the mechanism of production and to proliferate her kind. Yet, she is also something more: she is the Gothic New Woman, a figure of triumph and change while yet subjected to abuse and repression, just as the historical new women of the late Victorian era were pilloried for their claims to equality. As the extreme conventionalists of the 1880s asserted, women were (or should be) slaves to their bodies. Their lot in life was to reproduce and to serve the family, not to pursue educational or political aims. Some went so far as to claim that gaining an education would irrevocably change a woman’s body, destroying her ‘femininity’:
it would not be one whit more absurd to affirm that the antlers of the stag, the human beard, and the cock’s comb are effects of education; or that, by putting a girl to the same education as a boy, the female generative organize might be transformed into male organs … women whose ovaries and uterus remain from some cause in a state of complete inaction, approach the forms and habits of men. While woman preserves her sex she will necessarily be feebler than man, and, having her special bodily and mental characters, will have to a certain extent her own sphere of activity; where she has become thoroughly masculine in nature, or hermaphrodite in mind, – when, in fact, she has pretty well divested herself of her sex, – then she may take his ground, and do his work; but she will have lost her feminine attractions, and probably also her chief feminine functions (Maudesley 32).
The series’ writer John Logan commented that the context of the late Victorian period was important for the writing and development of the series Penny Dreadful, with its emerging discourse of Darwinian evolution and its questions about what it mean to be human;
the fact that they were on a cusp of a modern age is why I chose to set it then. I think we’re on the cusp of the same thing now, & it’s frightening & there’s dissonance & there’s excitement about uncharted waters (Radich).
Although Penny Dreadful is undoubtedly a contemporary remaking of Victorian Gothic tropes, its characters and stories speak to a host of twenty-first century screen narratives and perspectives. One of the most intriguing things about Lily as the Gothic New Woman is the way that she brings together themes and tropes currently at work in our contemporary global culture: from the popularization of the revenant or zombie in entertainment culture, and questions of reproductive and ‘nutri-genetic’ control to the framing and production of human tissue for material manufacture at a time when mass bodily destruction has never been greater.
The theme of mass production and consumption has particular resonances with the television series Penny Dreadful. Here layers of historicity are appropriated for compelling story-telling, using techniques such as recursive adaptation to produce contemporary iterations of familiar stories and archetypal characters that resurface time and time again in popular mass consumption. The series offers all the accoutrements of historicist fin de siècle proto-modernity to create a Gothic fantasy account of a past time and place in which women seek to transcend their female limits, whether through self-determination and/or supernatural transformation. Yet, the overriding narrative driver for each of the female characters of Penny Dreadful is uncertainty. They must each face the possibility that what they make of themselves is fuel for the work of others who seek to exploit them. Made by others, yet determined in her goals to become more than her design, Lily’s ambition is, above all, to seize control of the narrative that defines her. Her enterprise is ambitious but seemingly unachievable as the series draws to a close. In the last four episodes of the third and last season, Lily is captured and drugged by Dr Jekyll and Dorian Gray and chained to a chair in the laboratory of the Victorian Lunatic Asylum where Jekyll performs his experiments on the unfortunate.
The confluence between an ethos of advanced mechanical production and scientific inquiry with the presence of vast and fearsome ancient forces serve to remind the viewer of the shifting dangers and precarious conditions with which its central characters confront the world, making and unmaking themselves as agents, destroyers and victims of power. The ambitious predator of a new age of transformation, Lily Frankenstein is the artificially revivified female monster who promises a superhuman triumph: to possess autonomy and power and overcome injustice against women. Like the Promethean creature of Shelley’s original novel (1814/1980), she also reminds us of our own frail humanity, the sacrifice of visionary ideas to petty short-sighted cruelties and the dangers of striving for monstrous perfection.
Chisholm, Hugh. “How to counteract the ‘Penny Dreadful.’” The Fortnightly Review, vol. 64, no. 58 (1895): pp. 765-775.
Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous Feminine. Routledge, 1992.
Cunningham, Gail. The New Woman and the Victorian Novel. Macmillan Press, 1978.
Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Felix. Anti-Oepdius. A&C Black, 2003.
Dijkstra, Bram. Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-de-Siecle Culture. Oxford University Press, 1986.
Easley, Alex. Literary Celebrity, Gender and Victorian Authorship 1850-1914. University of Delaware Press, 2011.
Galton, Francis. “Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope and Aims.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 10, no. I, 1904, pp. 1-25.
Gates, Barbara. Kindred Nature, Victorian and Edwardian Women Embrace the Living World. University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Holton, S. S. “The Making of Suffrage History.” Votes for Women. Edited by June Purvis and Sandra S. Holton. Routledge, 2000, pp. 13-33.
Heilmann, Ann. New Women Fiction; Women Writing First-Wave Feminism. Macmillan, 2000.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation. Routledge, 2006.
Ledger, Sally. The New Woman: Fiction and Feminism at the Fin de Siecle. Manchester University Press, 1997.
Lee, Alison and Frederick D. King. “From Text, to Myth, to Meme: Penny Dreadful and Adaptation.” Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens, vol. 82 Autumn 2015): http://cve.revues.org/2343
Liggins, Emma. “Gendering the Spectral Encounter at the Fin de Siecle.” Gothic Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, 2013, pp. 37-52.
Radich, Christina. “John Logan Talks Penny Dreadful.” Collider, January 18 2014.
Mulvey, Laura. Visual and Other Pleasures. Palgrave, 1989.
Murphy, Patricia. New Woman Gothic. University of Missouri Press, 2016.
Nelson, Carolyn Christensen. A New Woman Reader: Fiction, Articles and Drama of the 1890s. Broadview, 2000.
Kristeva, Julia. “The Powers of Horror.” The Portable Kristeva. Edited by Kelly Oliver, Columbia University Press, 2002, pp. 225-294.
Palmer, Beth. Women’s Authorship and Editorship in Victorian Culture: Sensational Strategies. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Parker, Martin. “Organisational Gothic.” Culture and Organization, vol. 11, no. 3, 2005, pp. 153-166.
Pykett, Lynn. The ‘Improper’ Feminine: The Women’s Sensation Novel and the New Woman Writing. Psychology Press, 1992.
Robb, G. “Eugenics, Spirituality, and Sex Differentiation in Edwardian England: The Case of Frances Swiney”. Journal of Women’s History, vol. 10, no. 3, 1998, pp. 97-117.
Sala, George Augustus. Seven Sons of Mammon. Vol.1. Boston: T.O.H.P. Burnham, 1862
Shapiro, S. C. “The Mannish New Woman, Punch and its Precursors.” Review of English Studies, vol. 42, no. 168, 1991, pp. 510-522.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. Oxford University Press, 1980.
Showalter, Elaine, editor. Daughters of Decadence: Women Writers of the Fin-de-Siecle. Rutgers University Press, 1993.
Shubart, Rikke, “Women with Dragons: Daenerys, Pride and Post-Feminist Possibilities”, Women of Ice and Fire: Gender, Game of Thrones and Multiple Media Engagements. Edited by Anne Gjeslvik and Rikke Schubart. Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. 105-130.
Springhall, John. “‘Disseminating Impure Literature’: The ‘Penny Dreadful’ Publishing Business since 1860.” The Economic History Review, vol. 47, no. 3, 1994, pp. 567-584.
Whale, James. Bride of Frankenstein. Universal Pictures, 1935.
Bio: Dr. Stephanie Green is Deputy Head of School (Learning & Teaching) and Program Director for the Graduate Certificate in Creative and Professional Writing program, in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. Her academic books and journal articles include biography, studies in creative writing, literary and screen culture. Her most recent major publication is The Public Lives of Charlotte and Marie Stopes (2013). As a practicing creative writer, she has published fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and cultural journalism. Her work has appeared in journals such as Axon, TEXT, Griffith Review, Overland and in a variety of anthologies and collections.
The Journey: Vanessa Ives and Edgework as Self-Work
~ Rikke Schubart
Abstract: This paper analyzes the witch Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) in ensemble horror series Penny Dreadful (2014–16). Witches have been television material since Bewitched (1964–72), usually in comedy or light drama, and often for teen audiences. Penny Dreadful, however, is a horror-gothic show for adults, and Vanessa a woman plagued by her powers. She is traumatized by earlier sexual escapades and family losses, and now fights evil in late-Victorian London as part of a group led by Sir Malcolm. In this paper, I read Vanessa’s journey to know herself as a form of edgework, which in sociology is a term for when we in our leisure time perform extreme, exciting and dangerous activities that take us beyond the limits of safety. In sport sociology, ‘edgework’ is when participants ‘work’ the edge of danger (Laurendeau, 2008). Whether in sport or fiction, ‘edgework’ can both challenge social rules and facilitate self-growth. This analysis therefore takes an interdisciplinary approach to screen horror as phantasmagorical play (Sutton-Smith, 1997) that enables emotional edgework.
“Man, know thyself, and you are going to know the Gods.”
~ Egyptian proverb written inside Luxor Temple
Vanessa: “It all began several years ago and far from here. The moors of the West country. I went in search for answers to who I was, to a woman I came to know as the Cut-wife of Ballentree Moore. She was the first witch I ever met.”
Penny Dreadful, “The Nightcomers,” 2.03
In the television horror-drama Penny Dreadful (Showtime/Sky, 2014–2016), the character Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) speaks verbis diablo, can cast curses, and is called Mother of Evil. Over the show’s three seasons she struggles to understand her powers and know her self. Is she the Devil’s whore? A witch? Or the Mother of Evil? She pursues these questions until she is killed at the end of the series.
In this paper, I read Vanessa’s journey to know herself as edgework, which in sociology is a term for when we in our leisure time do exciting and dangerous activities which can get us killed, like skydiving or BASE jumping. In edgework players do activities from which they learn to manage their emotions, manage their selves, and become more skilled at their choice of edgework. When they “work the edge,” they risk their lives, and they feel more alive than they do in their ordinary and safe lives. The edge takes them to an emotional peak experience, which is desirable, exciting, and dangerous. Edgework is this struggle to reach the peak, live on the edge, and push one’s edge still closer to death. Sociologist Stephen Lyng explains edgework as, “most fundamentally, the problem of negotiating the boundary between chaos and order” (1990 855). Thus, edgework is both physical and exterior and also psychological and interior. So, too, for fictional character Vanessa and for us, the audience, who engage with her. Vanessa faces exterior supernatural forces and her inner demons. We, the audience, face fictional events and our inner demons or, in the words of psychologist Michael Apter, we do self-substitution edgework (2007 66). We use fiction characters to substitute for our selves and do our edgework. Furthermore, edgework is gendered, and the paper will discuss Vanessa’s journey over the three seasons with the stereotypes (or tropes or scripts) of the medium, the witch, and the hysteric.
The journey to know one’s self is not easy or happy. It is an exploration of the darkness in the world and the darkness within. Vanessa’s journey is hazardous and the terrain hostile, but when offered an ordinary life, she refuses. Rather explore the dark than be bound to the light. The goal of such a life journey is not to ‘find’ one’s self. The self is not a pot of gold at the end of the journey; rather, the self unfolds in the process of doing edgework and in the journey as lived life.
The article starts with a brief look at Penny Dreadful and Vanessa. Next, I unfold further the theory of edgework before I examine Vanessa’s journey through the lens of edgework. I then return to the difference between a fiction character’s edgework and the audience’s edgework and, last, speculate how imaginary edgework can be self-work for the audience.
“Vanessa, c’est moi”: Penny Dreadful as Edgework Television
John Logan, creator and writer of Penny Dreadful, referred to Vanessa as “the beating heart of the series” (Ryan May 4, 2016) and at the show’s end said that, “Vanessa Ives, c’est moi,” echoing Gustave Flaubert’s famous words “Bovary, c’est moi” (Ryan June 20, 2016) about his protagonist in Madame Bovary (1856). I take this as a sign that Vanessa is a deeply personal creation and that her life’s journey reflects if not Logan’s own personal journey (this is not an auteur article), then values and themes Logan find important. For Flaubert, at least, Mme Bovary was a treasured artistic progeny and became his creative legacy.
Penny Dreadful is a horror-drama series conceived and written by the American playwright Logan and produced by American TV-network Showtime and English telecommunications company Sky. The plot centers on a group of four people who battle dark forces in Victorian London in 1891: Fifty-year-old explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), about-thirty-year old aristocrat Vanessa who has supernatural powers, American sharpshooter and werewolf Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), and doctor Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway). The show takes its title from so-called penny dreadfuls, cheap serial fiction sold in the 1830ies for a penny per weekly issue, and it uses a mash-up of characters from Gothic novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890, 1891), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Around the group we find Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle (Simon Russell Beale), decadent aristocrat Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), and Frankenstein’s creatures John Clare (Rory Kinnear) and resurrected prostitute Brona, now Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper).
In the first season, Sir Malcolm is searching for his daughter Mina who has been abducted by a vampire. Vanessa Ives first joins him. The Murray and Ives families were once neighbors and Mina and Vanessa once best friends. But when Vanessa was engaged to Mina’s brother Peter, she seduced Mina’s fiancé, which caused a rupture between the families and led to Vanessa’s commitment to a mental clinic, the death of Vanessa’s parents, Peter’s death, Mina’s abduction, and Malcolm’s divorce. At the end of season one, Malcolm forgives Vanessa her “sin” and accepts her as his ward and new daughter. In Season Two the group battles a witch coven, and in Season Three they battle Dracula and the onset of the Apocalypse.
Among the show’s fantastic characters, Vanessa can be said to be the protagonist. She is prominent in publicity material and graces the cover of monthly comic book Penny Dreadful (June 2016–) which continued the story after the show’s end. She is presented as a strong woman: “It’s all about strong women, for me, this show, in spite of all the incredible male characters there are. The core is always going to be a woman,” Logan explained and emphasized Vanessa was “why I started writing it in the first place” (Ryan May 4, 2016). Penny Dreadful was popular with critics, rose from 70 to 83 on Metacritic, and received numerous nominations and won, among others, a Critics’ Choice Television Awards for Most Exciting New Series and a Satellite Awards for best television series and best actress (Green) in 2014, and an IGN Awards for best actress (Green) in 2014. Thus, fans were surprised when season three ended with Vanessa’s death and the words ‘The End.’ After the last episode was aired, Logan explained to fans that midway in writing season two he knew Vanessa should lose her faith and die in season three to regain her faith and be with God. And that it would be “an act of bad faith” (Ryan June 20, 2016) to continue Penny Dreadful without Vanessa. Frustrated fans speculated that the show ended because Showtime, disappointed with ratings, offered Logan a new show to write.[1]
Sidestepping the discussion of why the show ended, we can think of Penny Dreadful as edgework television: it balances on a precarious tightrope with, to one side, dark emotions and a complex intertextual mash-up horror plot and, to the other side, economic demands of commercial television. Penny Dreadful is an example of what Jason Mittell (2015) calls complex television, also known as quality television and literary storytelling due to its complexity of stories and psychological depth of characters.[2] Also, Season Three spends considerable time dealing with Vanessa’s depression. So, whether or not the show was intended to be three seasons, we will read Vanessa as a complex and psychologically deep character, like Mme Bovary.
Edgework, Fiction, Play: “What Games We Will Have Now”
Let us return to edgework and to how Vanessa and her viewers work the edge. Most edgework research I know discusses activities such as risk sports, criminal behavior, running with bulls in Spanish cities, and risky sex. In short, these are activities where players risk physical trauma. How is fiction, then, edgework, if the audience cannot break a leg or lose our life when watching? It is beyond this article to discuss the relation between fiction, engagement, and psychology, however, let me offer two arguments: First, when we are fully engaged with fiction, we experience events and emotions as if they were real.[3] When we watch a horror film we scream when characters scream, and we are happy when characters are happy. Second, we understand that fiction is an as-if world, and that we will not die when characters die. Thus, fiction is an example of what Apter calls a detachment frame; we can detach ourselves from events by telling ourselves they are ‘only’ fiction and cannot hurt us. Psychologically speaking, fiction can be edgework where the audience does high-level and low-level cognitive work, oscillating between experiencing real emotions and telling ourselves that although our fear is real, events are not real.[4]
Another way to look at edgework is as play. Thus, mountaineering and watching horror are different activities, yet, mentally they are both play in the sense that they are voluntary, exciting, and non-instrumental – they are for ‘fun.’[5] When we play, we are in play mode, meaning that we agree with those we play with that what we do is play and not real, and we momentarily exchange the rules of the real world with play rules. To play is ambiguous and paradoxical and can feel more real or ‘serious’ than reality itself. Play is experimental and free, yet bound by certain shared play rules. The player who brings a gun to the football match to take down the opposite team’s players breaks the rules of soccer. Or if a player says he or she doesn’t care about winning a match, the player also breaks the rules. Apter uses watching horror films as an example of edgework (but does not discuss this type of edgework). We can say that audiences treat fiction worlds and fiction characters as play and as as-if events. Thus, we feel real emotions yet know we are safe from physical trauma (but not safe from psychological trauma or being ‘hurt’ by a fiction).
Penny Dreadful is aware of being fiction and leisure time entertainment, and it alludes to its status as play by having characters visit theaters, cabarets, fairs, and wax museums. The first season’s vampires hide at the Theater du Grand Guignol, and the group fights them on the stage in the last episode. And in “What Death Can Join Together,” when Vanessa is possessed during her kinky sex with Dorian, the Devil greets her, “Good evening, my child. I’ve been waiting. What games we will have now” (1.06). Playing with fiction and playing with risks in risk sports are different yet similar activities. The fiction characters are extensions of us, the audience; without our engagement they would not exist, but would be merely words on paper or colors on a canvas. To sum up: fiction characters do substitute edgework, and the audience experiences real emotions in an as-if world.
What, then, is edgework? Edgework is voluntary, dangerous, and exciting. Lyng, who takes the term from gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, uses edgework about the excitement in risk sports like skydiving. The ‘edge’ is the line between order and chaos, life and death: edgework is the management of one’s performance on this edge, and practitioners are ‘edgeworkers.’ Edgework is, on the one hand, an individual and inner psychological experience, but also, on the other hand, a social and skilled activity you do in a world with others. “The ‘edge,’ or boundary line, confronted by the edgeworker can be defined in many different ways: life versus death, consciousness versus unconsciousness, sanity versus insanity, an ordered sense of self and environment versus a disordered self and environment” (857).
Apter expands edgework from risk sports to a variety of activities like fast driving, hooliganism, watching horror movies, committing crimes for fun, or giving a public lecture. Apter also uses the concepts of mental zones. Edgework activities take the player from a safety zone into a danger zone, which is next to the trauma zone. In the safety zone you are safe, in the trauma zone you risk being traumatized or dying, and in the danger zone you ‘work’ to push the edge as close to trauma as possible. Furthermore, Apter explains players use ‘safety frames’ when they do edgework. There are three: the confidence frame (they tell themselves they have the skill to perform the dangerous activity), the safety frame (they tell themselves they are still in the safe zone), and the detachment frame (the player feels psychologically detached from events, either because she feels she is an observer, fantasizes, remembers, or uses fiction). Safety frames give players a psychological experience of being safe, whether they are safe or not.
A paradox in edgework – the same that is often asked about fiction horror – is why we want to risk our lives for fun (in horror, why do audiences voluntary seek out negative emotions). Not all play involves negative emotions, however, many types of play do (you can loose a game or get hurt while playing).[6] The paradox can be addressed on several theoretical levels. On a social level, Lyng explains edgework as a response to over-socialization in modern society. When society is (too) safe, we feel restricted, bored, and lack being challenged. Edgework takes you to the very edge of your abilities. On an evolutionary level, Apter explains risk-seeking behavior as innate; we are naturally born to seek out exciting and dangerous activities, a behavior which is not sex-specific, but varies from individual to individual. Some are more risk-seeking than others, and young more than adults. Risk-taking behavior is adaptive to a group: it is better that one dies on the edge than the entire group, and the individual thus brings valuable information about risks and dangers back to the group.
On a neurological-chemical level, Apter points out edgework is characterized by our simultaneous experience of excitement and anxiety. In terms of neurochemistry, these two emotions are identical: both prepare for a fight-or-flight response to a situation and both start as an adrenaline rush. The difference is in our appraisal of the danger situation: If we think we can manage the situation, we feel excited, and if we don’t think we can, we become anxious. Cognitively speaking, we interpret the adrenaline rush as an emotion of either excitement (we feel safe) or anxiety (we feel fear). The closer we get to trauma, the harder adrenalin kicks in, and the more intense is our experience of excitement. “In other words, one buys excitement with fear, and the greater the cost, the better the product,” says Apter (43). As a mountaineer puts it: “Death is so close. You could let go and make the decision to die. It feels so good” (39).
On an individual-psychological level, finally, edgework is linked to self-work. “I wasn’t thinking at all – I just did what I had to do,” a skydiver explains, “[a]nd after it was over, I felt really alive and pure” (added emphasis, Lyng 1990 860). Lyng says, “[i]n edgework, the ego is called forth in a dramatic way” (860). This urgency makes you feel alive. On the edge there is no time for doubt and we use skills without questioning them. When Vanessa in Season Two suddenly speaks verbis diablo, the Devil’s language, she says it came to her “like an animal instinct” (2.01).
Finally, the self is gendered. In the development of our self, we use what cognitive psychology calls mental schemes, scripts, and stereotypes, which are the socially created ideas we use to know our world and to construct our self. There are schemes for every social role, and gender is a basic scheme we internalize from the age of five.[7] Edgework is gendered, and sociologist Jason Laurendeau (2008) says, “the ways skydivers, freeclimbers, mountaineers, or BASE jumpers, for example, ‘do’ risk are also – and simultaneously, and always already – ways that they negotiate gender” (304). We recall that the drive for excitement-seeking is not sex-specific. Therefore the differences in how players do edgework is a result of cultural learning, not biology. In my discussion of Vanessa’s journey to know herself, I will pay attention to how her edgework is gendered through the use of the scripts of the medium, the witch, and the hysteric.
Season One: Vanessa, the Medium
“I see things sometimes. I am affected by forces beyond our world,” Vanessa tells Ethan in episode three. In season one Vanessa’s script is the medium for the living’s communication with supernatural forces: ghosts, monsters, the Devil and even Egyptian Gods.
The séance held by Ferdinand Lyle at a party (“Séance,” 1.02) is an excellent example of Vanessa’s script and edgework. The séance was a popular Victorian parlour entertainment, and Lyle has invited medium Madam Kali, who appears to be an entertainer rather than a medium.[8] Lyle encourages Vanessa to take a seat at the table: “It will be an adventure!” When Madam Kali (Helen McCrory) summons the spirits, Vanessa is possessed. The well-behaved and elegant Vanessa transforms into a medium and a “possessed woman” who speaks in the tongues of Malcolm’s children Peter (dead in Africa) and Mina (who is missing), and also speaks as what seems an Egyptian God: “Amunet? No, much older.” Vanessa makes quite the spectacle, loosening her hair, bending backwards on top of the dinner table, and next leaves to have sex with a stranger in the street.
As said, we internalize the gender schema at the age of five, and unless we make a conscious effort to not be gendered, our every move, thought, and behavior is performed through a gendered lens. So, too, with edgework. Our choice of an edge, how to work the edge, and how to think of one self when doing edgework, is unconsciously gendered. In her study of gender and edgework, sociologist Jennifer Lois followed a team of voluntary mountain rescue workers for five and a half years. She observed that the women and men used the same meta-narrative about gender that said men were emotionally strong and women weak, and the workers shared a “norm of masculine emotional stoicism” (2001 387).[9] The meta-narrative about gender provided positive scripts for men (male stoicism), but undermined women’s belief in their ability (if stoicism is male, it means women are weaker than men). Male rescue workers were self-confident, and women were anxious and set low expectations. “[W]hen I talked to equally experienced men and women, apprehension still dominated women’s anticipatory feelings . . . and confidence dominated men’s. Furthermore, even when women performed well on missions, it did not seem to boost their confidence for future situations, while conversely, men’s poor performance did not erode theirs” (389). The difference was in anticipation and expectations, however, Lois observed no difference in men and women’s management of their emotions when working the edge.
Returning to Vanessa, we can interpret the supernatural domain as her “edge” and her communication with the supernatural forces as “edgework.” In “Night Work” Vanessa describes the demimonde to Ethan as “a half world between what we know and what we fear. A place in the shadows, rarely seen but deeply felt” (1.01). We can see the demimonde as a version of the danger zone situated between the safe zone, which is our “ordinary” world, and the trauma zone, which would be where vampires, monsters, and Gods reign. The trauma zone is then the ‘other’ side, whereas the demimonde Vanessa describes is a zone where humans and supernatural entities communicate. This half world is open to those who want to enter it. Thus, it is an edge, and if you go over the edge you will be ‘traumatized’: Mina becomes a vampire, the witch who enters a pact with the Devil becomes a Nightcomer in the second season, and when Vanessa gives in to Dracula in Season Three she becomes Mother of Evil. Vanessa the medium, however, works the edge and returns to the ordinary world.
The role as medium is gendered female in Western bourgeois society. Howell and Baker (2017) describe Vanessa as typical of the Victorian medium: “In the spectacle that Vanessa Ives makes of herself, the scene registers the appeal and disruptive potential of the female medium in the Victorian and Edwardian era spiritualist movement as one who could ‘invade and upturn the domestic havens of respectable gentlemen and their obedient wives through the subversive and often highly-sexualised séances’” (Howell and Baker ). The efficiency of social scripts is that we do not invent them; they are already written and ready for us to perform, which Vanessa does when Lyle urges her to the table.
We might imagine the ability to communicate with supernatural forces had nothing to do with one’s sex, yet Victorian society’s script as ‘Medium’ is female. Cognitive psychologist Sandra Bem (1981) says that when a schema (in our case a script) is gendered, it means it “conforms to the culture’s definitions of maleness and femaleness” (355) and it also “teaches that the dichotomy between male and female has extensive and intensive relevance to virtually every aspect of life” (362). In the first season, Vanessa performs as medium – that is, allows supernatural forces to “talk” through her physical body – three times: First at the séance, next in the flashback in episode five when she is committed to Dr Banning’s clinic, and the third time when she is possessed (after she has had sex with Dorian) and the group performs an exorcism on her in episode seven, “Possession.” The situations portrayed here connect supernatural communication with transgressive sexuality: having sex with a stranger in public, seducing one’s best friend’s fiancée, and implications of sado-masochism when Vanessa cuts Dorian with a knife during intercourse.
As we perform social scripts, we also negotiate them. We can follow them, or vary them, or, if we are conscious of them, try to change or reject them. Bem wants us to reject the gender schema because it is a negative schema that restricts women. In Vanessa’s case, her supernatural powers are represented in a script where woman is sexualized, unable to control her desires, and these desires presented as transgressive. Vanessa is also a sexualized spectacle; in her youth, her mother dies from heart attack at the sight of the naked daughter tied to the bed and possessed by the Devil, a spectacle the audience also sees (1.05). The sexual acts are overlaid with negative emotions of jealousy, shame, guilt, and the concept of sin. When Vanessa discovers her mother’s affair with Mina’s father, she starts to pray to the dark and becomes jealous of Mina. “How I envied you. Perhaps even hated you” (1.05). Vanessa’s mother blames the daughter for the social catastrophe: “Have you no shame?” Malcolm, too, accuses Vanessa: “I always thought my traveling would kill my family . . . I never thought it would be a cruel little girl.” When the adult Vanessa recalls this past she is ready to assume her guilt. “Perhaps it was already inside me, this demon” (1.05).
It is clear from episode one, when Ferdinand deciphers the ancient writing on a vampire body, that Vanessa is the object of dark forces that seek to take over the world of the living. However, the events of season one create ambiguity about whether she is predestined to be “the devil’s whore” (as a vampire calls her) or if this is her choice. When Vanessa is back from Banning’s clinic, lobotomized and tied to the bed, the Devil says at her bedside, “you always had a choice. You sought it out and fucked it. You could have shut the door at any time. You still can” (1.05). Is her sexuality her own, or is it manipulated by the Devil? It turns out that Malcolm has used Vanessa’s susceptibility to the dark forces by encouraging her to have an affair with Dorian. Malcolm hoped this would open the door to the demimonde and allow him to contact his daughter Mina. “You are now in a very special place between our world and the other. Perhaps between life and death. Reach out to Mina,” Malcolm asks Vanessa when she is possessed (1.07).
Vanessa’s ‘edge’ is expressed through sexualized encounters with dark forces. The season ends with Vanessa repressing her desire and rejecting Dorian after the exorcism: “Mr. Gray, I’m not the woman you think I am. And with you I am not the woman I want to be” (1.08). The last episode has a “decent” Vanessa, properly dressed and fighting vampires with the three men in the group, thus signaling she is now playing by a modified script. At this point in the series we can call this modified script a version of Mina since, like Mina in Stoker’s novel Dracula, Vanessa is both Medium and vampire hunter. Although Vanessa participates in the vampire battle, the men do most of the killing, and the season ends with Malcolm forgiving Vanessa her sin and making her his ward. In the season’s final scene, Vanessa asks a priest about exorcism. He says, “Now, if you have been touched by the demon it’s like being touched by the backhand of God, makes you sacred in a way, doesn’t it? Makes you unique. There is a glory in suffering. Now here’s my question: Do you really want to be normal?” (1.08).
Season Two: Vanessa, the Witch
Season two turns to the script of the witch which I later in this section differentiate into two subscripts, the Christian witch and the magical witch. Where the medium is a channel of communication and thus object rather than subject of supernatural forces, the witch is an active agent who can control and use supernatural forces. The medium sees where a witch acts. In Season One it is unclear if Vanessa does edgework out of choice (free will) or because it is predestined (“who wants to know they are hunted by the Devil?” 1.02). Season Two casts her journey in different terms: Vanessa is gifted (or cursed) with supernatural powers, but can she learn to master her powers?
The season presents the witch script as a process of learning, and from the opening episode to the finale we follow Vanessa from being unable to control her powers to be able to defeat the Devil and the witch coven. In edgework, too, the player must learn to perform on the edge. Lois divides edgework into four phases: “[P]reparing for the edge, performing on the edge, going over the edge, and extending the edge” (385). To prepare is to train and learn before approaching the edge. To perform is when players work on the edge, use their skills, and experience the adrenaline rush which takes them into a state that creativity researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996 111-113) has called flow, where we are focused, lose sense of time, and perform our best. Edgework is performed in flow. Next, to go over the edge is when players release tension after working the edge and they allow themselves to experience emotions from the adrenaline rush, which might be joy if work went well or guilt if work went badly. To extend the edge, finally, is when players evaluate and assess their performance and emotions and set expectations for future edgework.
Now, as discussed earlier, the “edge” in edgework is both a geographical place – the location of one’s actual edgework whether BASE jumping or battling the Devil – and a mental location. The danger zone is the zone between the safe zone and the trauma zone, and within the danger zone, the edge is the border that touches the trauma zone. The edge is the literal place where you are in danger of being traumatized but are confident you can manage, and it is also where you “touch” trauma yet are confident you can return to the safe zone. One of Lois’ rescue workers, criticized for walking on dangerous cornices, explains, “Well, I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t safe. It’s not safe for you to be doing it, no, but it’s safe for me because I know what I’m doing” (388). In her study of BASE jumpers, Men on the Edge, anthropologist Caitlin Forsey says, “loss of control, fear, anxiety, dread and discomfort were connected to understandings of risk, as was the need to control the future through careful consideration of the potentially fatal consequences of the sport” (2012 52). Or, as Forsey quotes a BASE jumper, edgework is “taking necessary precautions and then knowingly doing something that could kill you” (52). The sport is a way to manage risk instead of avoiding risk. Laurendeau says BASE jumpers are “courting danger while still maintaining control over themselves, their equipment, their surroundings, and/or their sanity . . . The ‘edge,’ then, is that point at which risk takers are in peril of losing control” (294).
The season opens with Vanessa and Ethan being attacked by witches who try to abduct Vanessa. She defeats them by speaking verbis diablo, the devil’s language, which she did not know she could speak – “words came to me blindly, like an animal instinct. I don’t even know what I said” (2.01). It turns out Madam Kali (the medium in season one) is Evelyn, a powerful witch and head of a coven with four young witches. Evelyn has entered a contract with the Devil to deliver Vanessa to him in exchange for power, youth, and beauty. To fight the coven Vanessa must remember the past. In the flashback episode “The Nightcomers” (2.03) she remembers how many years ago, after Mina’s abduction, she became apprentice to a witch known as the Cut-wife. The Cut-wife, whose name is Joan (Patti LuPone), leaves Vanessa days outside the house before inviting her in. “You’re strong-willed and agile, like the scorpion,” says Joan (2.03), and Vanessa’s sign becomes the red scorpion she draws in her blood. It turns out Evelyn and Joan are sisters, the first using her powers in the service of the Devil, the second using her powers to serve her community.
Joan teaches Vanessa to harness and control her powers. “Why do you want to learn the arts?” “To find out who I am.” “And if the answer you don’t like?” “Better to know who I am.” When Vanessa cannot draw a Tarot card, Joan slaps her hard on the head and tells her to ‘feel’ the cards, to ‘believe’ in her sight. She says “you’ll know” and “you can do better” about interpreting signs. Vanessa then selects a card: ‘The Devil.’ In season one it was unclear if Vanessa invited the Devil in. Season Two removes this doubt: “I learned it. You were born with it,” Joan says about the powers. Joan shows Vanessa how to use plants and herbs for medicine, teaches her the verbis diablo, to cast the Tarot cards, and shows her a book with curses. Joan warns verbis diablo will lead to evil. “If you believe in God, better you pray with all the God in you. Only if all fails, speak the devil’s tongue, but mark me, girl, it’s a seduction and before you blink twice, it’s all you can speak” (2:3).
We can situate the witch narrative in Penny Dreadful by taking a wider look at history and witches. The powers of a witch are believed to be a magical relationship with the world; she can control the weather, kill crops, cause disease, kill and raise the dead, and tell the future. The extent of her magic depends on the intensity of her powers. Edgeworkers, too, report an almost magical ability to manage danger and master the physical world and “speak of a feeling of ‘oneness’ with the object or environment. For example, motorcycle racers and test pilots describe a feeling of ‘being one with their machines,’ a state in which they feel capable of exercising mental control over the machines” (Lyng 1990 861). Joan warns Vanessa against the spells. “Forbidden. The poetry of death. If ever the day comes when my little scorpion is crushed and beaten, if her God deserts her completely, only then does she open it. And on that day, she will never be the same. She will have gone away from God. Forever” (2:03). At the end of episode seven, Vanessa uses spells to kill the local Lord who burnt Joan as a witch and branded Vanessa, and now threatens her again. Ethan is upset, “You’ll never get your soul back,” he says and adds: “Welcome to the night, Vanessa.”
Season Two has only female witches: The sisters Joan and Evelyn, Evelyn’s coven of four young daughters, and Vanessa. The show draws from a Western culture’s belief in witches, which we can divide into two scripts: a Christian witch and a pre-Christian, or magical, witch. Evelyn is in league with the Devil and a Christian witch, whereas Joan uses her skills to serve a community. Joan, thus, is a magic witch. Let us briefly look at historical witch studies. Scottish historian Lizanne Henderson in Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment Scotland, 1670-1740 (2016) examines historical witch trials and witch beliefs. Witches are an old superstition and Henderson points out that not until 1450 did the Church claim that a witch was demonic, that is, in league with the Devil. Between 1450 and 1800, 100,000 people were accused of witchcraft and more than 60,000 executed, most of these women. But before 1450, the term “witch” was used about many practices such as charmer, diviner, sorcerer, magician, necromancer, warlock, and more. The Bible’s Witch of Endor (I Samuel 28:3-25) was for example a necromancer who had “divinatory powers and could raise the dead” (81) and the passage “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) has kashaph, a Hebrew word that “carried the meaning of magician, sorcerer or diviner, but was not considered diabolical” (81).
Joan is a magical witch who uses her powers for the good of the community and Evelyn is a Christian witch who uses her powers for her own greed and serves the Devil. Next to these historical scripts – the Christian and the pre-Christian witch – there are also several popular culture witch scripts. There is the old evil hag with “bad skin, crooked teeth, foul breath, a cackling laugh and a big nose that has a wart at the end of it” (66) and the young pretty witch we know from Sabrina – The Teenage Witch (ABC, WB, 1996-2003). Also, we find a middle-age witch obsessed with youth in fairy tales like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, William Cottrell).[10] If we ask Henderson what the typical historical witch was like, she was neither old, nor young, nor obsessed with youth. Of women accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1670 and 1740, 78 per cent were married and only two per cent single, and if a common trope is the midwife (Joan’s calling name, Cut-wife, is because she performs abortions), only nine of 4,000 Scottish cases were midwives by occupation. Records show the typical woman accused of witchcraft was ordinary, belonged to the middle class, could be any age, and that accusations started with quotidian quarrels, “reflective predominantly of tensions between women” (84). And although 95 per cent of witches in Scotland were women, on Iceland, in contrast, of 22 executed witches only one was a woman.
In Penny Dreadful Evelyn is the middle-aged witch who has made a deal with the Devil to appear eternally youthful, while Joan is a good and magical witch slowly growing older. By magical I mean that Joan is the kind of witch before they were demonized by the church. What kind of witch, then, is Vanessa? Joan says, “I have never known a Daywalker with such power, truly, I don’t know if your heart is good or bad.” At the end of the season, Vanessa goes alone to Evelyn’s mansion to battle the coven and the Devil. Evelyn creates voodoo dolls with the hearts of murdered babies and the face of whom they represent, and Vanessa faces a doll with her own face and the Devil’s voice. He shows her a nuclear family with Vanessa, Ethan, and two children: “Let me show you what I can give you: to be free of pain. To be normal. To be loved by others. Is that not the aim of all human beings?” Joan had earlier asked if Vanessa would follow in her footsteps and be witch in Ballentree Moore. Vanessa refused (to serve the community) and she also refuses the Devil (her desires). She instead chooses her personal quest, to find Mina. “You selfish bitch, you will never have a happy life,” Joan warns.
“The Nightcomers” ends with Joan’s words ‘be true,’ which we will read as meaning Vanessa must be true to herself. When you are on a journey to know your self, you must stay the course even if a storm is coming. In “And They Were Enemies,” the Devil says: “There is no more powerful inducement than this: Face yourself” (2.10). Vanessa’s sense of self lies in her ability to repel the Devil with his own words, verbis diablo, a gibberish that makes no sense. She refuses to be ‘normal’ and tells the Devil. “You offer me a normal life. Why do you think I want that anymore? I know what I am – do you? . . . Beloved, know your master” (2.10). Her edgework is to force the Devil back and her powers – her mental edgework – are her ability to manage the adrenalin rush, which edgeworkers experience as a magical unity with one’s environment. They say they feel self-realization, self-actualization, and self-determination and find “a purified and magnified sense of self” (Lyng 860). They feel more alive on the edge than in their everyday lives. This aliveness and strength from the adrenaline rush becomes terrifying rather than purifying when granted a woman. In season two Vanessa learns to use her powers, and she kills a bounty hunter (with a knife) and a Lord (with spells) before overcoming the Devil. Such display of strength is awesome and terrifying. Henderson links the witch trials to society’s fear of women. The witch is an “independent adult woman who does not conform to the male idea of proper female behavior” because she is “assertive . . . [and] does not nurture men or children, nor care for the weak” and “has the power of words – to defend herself or to curse” (77). In a patriarchal world, “the imagery of a rebellious, subversive woman must have seemed incredibly threatening to men and women alike” (77). Henderson reminds us that the rebellious witch script is modern, since the historical witch was no rebel.
Vanessa, thus, enacts a complex and modern witch script: she is desired by the Devil whom she rejects, and she is also asked to be a magical witch, which she rejects too. Thus she takes neither the path of Evelyn or Joan. She learns the power of words to defend herself, and she insists on her own path. We can read Vanessa as a re-authored witch with an eye for modern feminism: a selfish witch choosing to reject the nuclear family as well as the Devil, a witch who, however, is not egocentrical but on her very own journey, and willing to pay the price for stepping off the beaten track.
At the end in Season Two, characters set out on each their life journey. Ethan pleads guilty to his werewolf murders and is arrested, Malcolm travels to Africa, Victor becomes a drug addict, and Vanessa is alone. Losing Ethan, she loses her faith and burns her crucifix. “So we walk alone,” are the season’s last words.
Season Three: Vanessa, the Hysteric
As said, the journey to know oneself is not a merry one. Penny Dreadful is about the encounter with dark forces, and edgework is about facing trauma and possible death, and season three takes us to the perhaps darkest of all places, depression. The first two seasons cast Vanessa as medium and witch and we now come to the script of the hysteric and the setting of the padded cell in the Victorian mental clinic for ‘women’s diseases.’
First episode, “The Day Tennyson Died,” opens with Vanessa having isolated herself for five months in Malcolm’s mansion to dwell on the loss of her faith and of Ethan. The Egyptologist Lyle visits her and recommends an alienist (the Victorian age’s term for a psychoanalyst). Vanessa consults Dr. Seward (Patti LuPone), who tells her to do “something you’ve never done before.” Vanessa visits the Natural History Museum, where she meets museum director Dr. Alexander Sweet (Christian Camargo), who will turn out to be Dracula. Vanessa asks which creatures Dr. Sweet prefers? “The unloved ones. The unvisited ones. The broken and shunned creatures” (3.01). At the end of the episode Vanessa combs her hair and looks in the mirror: “The old monsters have gone. The old curses have echoed to silence and if my immortal soul is lost to me, something yet remains. I remain.” This “I” is a physical entity.
The third season intertwines supernatural forces with clinical depression, faith with flesh, medical treatments with a talking cure. Somewhere in this matrix is the person Vanessa, trying to locate her “self,” whatever such an ephemeral and mythisized thing is. In her sessions with Dr. Seward, Vanessa recovers herself. Dr. Seward tells the patient, “I don’t care about politeness. There are no manners here. If you want to scream like an animal you should. Or cry. Or yell. There are no emotions unwelcome in this room” (3.02). On a date with Dr. Sweet, Vanessa is in a labyrinth of mirrors, where a creature tells her she earlier met the Master in “the white room.” Vanessa therefore asks Dr. Seward to use hypnosis to return her to the Banning clinic, where she spent five months. Dr. Seward warns her: “The emotions can be very raw, I am warning you, are you willing to give yourself over to it?” (3.03). Although she is emotionally fragile after her depression, Vanessa insists: “Can I be more traumatized?”
Banning’s clinic was introduced in season one, where Dr. Banning performed trepanning (drilling a hole through the skull into the brain) on Vanessa. In the late nineteenth century, the historical setting of Penny Dreadful, female hysteria was a common medical diagnosis and women were believed to be of a weaker mind and more emotionally frail than men. Season One presented Vanessa as both a hysteric and possessed. Dr. Banning diagnosed Vanessa’s condition as “hysteria of a psychosexual nature” to be treated with “narcotics and escalating hydrotherapy. Cold water reduces circulation to the brain thereby reducing the metabolism and motor activity. The agitation and mental trauma will slow down and cease,” and if this does not help there are “surgical options” (1.05).
The audience is returned in season three to the Victorian treatment of “women’s disease,” which in Vanessa’s case has supernatural causes. She is also cast as hysteric, scratching her hand repeatedly during sessions which makes Dr. Seward comment on this physical symptom of inner conflict. Also, her isolation and unkept appearance signal mental disturbance. In “A Blade of Grass” Vanessa returns through hypnosis to the clinic. Here, her only visitor is a nurse, played by Rory Kinnear who also plays the creature John Clare, Frankenstein’s male monster. Vanessa laments: “God has forgotten me. He can’t find me here. I’m not Vanessa Ives here. I’m no one. I have no name. No purpose” (3.04). She is scratching the padded walls, attacks the nurse, refuses food and must be force-fed, and her thoughts ruminate about God and the Devil. At one point Dr. Seward is in the cell. “It’s a dissociative break, something like a coma,” Seward explains, “you will come out of it. When you’re at the heart of your trauma. When you’ve found what you’re looking for.” Vanessa then sees the fallen angels Lucifer and Dracula (both played by Kinnear), one wanting her soul, the other her body. Dracula tells her: “You’re powerful. You feel it coiling within you. Become the wolf and the bat and the scorpion. Be truly who you are . . . In this world you will always be shunned for your uniqueness but not with me. They will brand you as a freak and a sorceress” (3.04). Vanessa resists Lucifer and Dracula, levitates in the room and defeats them with verbis diablo (which, paradoxically, in the time-line of the story, means she knew verbis diablo before learning it from Joan).
The role of emotions in edgework is interesting in terms of sex and the gender script. In her observation of how the male and female rescue workers handle emotions, Lois say they interpret emotions differently. On the edge, everyone experiences the so-called adrenaline rush. This is not an emotion proper but a feeling state, which leads to emotions of urgency and fear. Low-level fear improves edgework but high-level fear impedes it. How you handle the adrenaline rush is crucial to your performance on the edge. Lois also observed that the rescue workers’ gendering of emotions – excitement was masculine and anxiety was feminine – led to emotions being considered appropriate and inappropriate. “For example, they believed that emotions such as uncertainty, urgency, fear, upset, vulnerability, and guilt were undesirable because those powerful feelings were potentially disruptive. They could interfere with members’ performance, causing them to sacrifice the efficiency of the mission as well as the safety of other rescuers and the victims” (401).
In a talking cure, the patient must examine his or her emotions. From an emotions research perspective, shame, guilt, and anxiety are not intrinsically feminine or masculine, but are equally innate in both sexes. Further, research in gender and power, e.g. in leadership, shows no sex difference; female leaders, for example, are not more emotional than male leaders, and male leaders not more rational than female leaders.[11] Where there is a difference in behavior, this difference is a result of mindset, stereotyping, and assumptions about gender appropriate behavior. When Dr. Seward tells Vanessa all emotions are welcome, this prompts the patient to open up instead of repressing emotions. At the same time, the emotions Vanessa is about to re-experience are those society deems ‘female,’ unwelcome, and unworthy: guilt, shame, anxiety, and paranoia.
We recall Vanessa’s mother and Malcolm in the first season blamed her for the social consequences of her seduction of Mina’s fiancée. This so-called sin was forgiven at the end of the season, however, guilt remains in her and we now re-visit Vanessa’s trauma, a knot of sexual transgressive behavior (the seduction), sin, and social disgrace resulting in self-punishment, self-blame, shame, anxiety, guilt, and physical reactions (scratching). I understand the trauma as Vanessa’s ‘edge’ in season three and her work with the trauma as her edgework. The show interweaves the scripts of the hysteric with that of the possessed woman and voices a modern feminist critique, expressed in Vanessa’s conversations with her nurse. “It’s science, it’s meant to make you better,” he says and asks her to pretend to be normal so the force-feeding and her treatments stop. Vanessa objects, “It’s meant to make me normal. Like all the other women you know. Compliant, obedient” (3.04). Whatever she is, she cannot be normal. Where the medium is welcome in the Victorian home, the hysteric is banned and isolated. The hysteric needs a cure, and Vanessa was released in her youth after trepanning. In the present, under hypnosis with Dr. Seward, Vanessa returns from the trauma when she knows the name of her adversary: Dracula.
As the season progresses, Vanessa is seduced by Dr. Sweet, and after they make love one night in the museum, she learns he is Dracula. When Dracula promises to love her to the end of time, never to leave her, and to let her be her self, she accepts to be his bride and lets him bite her. “I accept . . . my . . . self,” she says at the end of “Ebb Tide” (3.07), and London falls into the Apocalypse. “This is what I am. I have brought this terrible darkness to the world,” she says in the show’s final episode, “The Blessed Dark” (3.09).
Vanessa’s character expands from the tropes of medium, witch, and hysteric to include the martyr-hero. That is, a hero who sacrifices her or his life in the service of one’s faith. When Dr. Sweet asks whom Vanessa admires, she says Joan of Arc, who died singing, keeping her faith in God: “She heard a voice and believed it. And to believe with confidence is heroic” (3.02). Martyrdom and edgework seem different activities, however, both are voluntary, dangerous, and can take players to the extreme of trauma. We may also not think martyrdom a matter of play, however, play can be as obsessive as faith. Thus, Carl Boenish, the father of BASE jumping, died at the age of 43 when he jumped off a mountain in Norway, recorded by a film crew that was with him.[12] And the film Everest (2015celebrates the death of mountaineer Robert Edwin Hall, who died leading an expedition in 1996. When the group comes to save Vanessa, she begs Ethan to shoot her to end the darkness. At this moment she has become darkness itself and only her death will stop the Apocalypse. We can understand this belief as literal – there are forces of evil – but also as a psychological embrace of darkness within – that she is her self when she works the edge and touches trauma.
The third season ends with a visit to her grave. Here are what remains from the original group – Ethan, Malcolm, and Victor – and three characters introduced in the third season: Ethan’s Indian father Kaetenay (Wes Studi), Dr. Seward, and vampire hunter Catriona Hartdegen (Perdita Weeks). The creatures John Clare and Lily are alive and free to write their own life scripts.
Extending the Edge: Free Will and Self-Work
Let us now turn to edgework as self-work. What does it mean “to face yourself,” as the Devil challenges Vanessa to do at the end of Season Two? What do players take from edgework? And what can we, the audience, take from fiction edgework? Until now, we have discussed how Vanessa has prepared for and performed on the edge. I now want to explore the last phases, to ‘go over the edge’ and ‘to extend the edge.’ All four phases of edgework contribute to edgework as self-work, an activity already, simultaneously, and involuntarily also gendered self-work. We will now ask how Vanessa’s edgework is gendered.
We recall Lois found that men and women do edgework differently: Men anticipate the edge with confidence and excitement, women with trepidation and anxiety (2001 386-387). This is because men’s positive expectations are supported by society’s meta-narrative. “Yup. I am a cocky, young, think-I-can-do-it-all kid. I can get out of a situation . . . I perform tremendously under pressure. That’s when I shine at my absolute, top of my game. And I love being put in the hot seat,” says a 28-year-old male rescue worker (387). Women, on the other hand, are undermined by society’s meta-narrative and constantly worry that they will be unable to manage emotions. “I mean, I always second-guess myself in the field. I guess my problem is that I’m always unsure of myself. Like, I’d be afraid that I would do more damage than good, in a way . . . And that’s where my hesitation always comes in” (386).
We can read exterior and interior darkness as Vanessa’s “edge,” which is expressed differently over seasons: As guilt/Satan/vampires, as witchcraft/Satan, and as depression/Dracula. If we look at the four phases, then in the phase of preparation, Vanessa worries, like the female rescue workers, whether she will be strong enough to face evil, if she is worthy of being forgiven past sins, if she is haunted by evil, and if she will ever be happy. Other characters despair too in Penny Dreadful (especially Victor and his creature), however, men do not experience the same amount of shame, anxiety, guilt, and trepidation. In the second phase, performing on the edge, Vanessa’s performance is sexualized, making her an unconsenting spectacle and subject of erotic acts and sexual abuse. Here, male characters’ edgework has the form of traditional “masculine” activities such as battling, fighting, killing, and doing unethical science, rather than having sex.[13] However, when Vanessa confronts evil in the finales of season one and two, she controls her body, her emotions, and her desires, and she is dressed in decent Victorian fashion. In these situations, Vanessa works the edge without anxiety or worry. Yet, edgework is gendered: In the Grand Guignol Theatre Vanessa is the damsel-in-distress to be saved by the men, and in Evelyn’s mansion she almost kisses the voodoo doll, metaphor for the narcissistic desires the Devil promises to fulfill, which she refuses by cracking the doll’s face.
The third phase, to go over the edge, is when players release tension after working the edge and allow the adrenaline rush to become emotions. If edgework goes well, rescue workers hug one another and celebrate, but if a rescue mission fails, men and women cope differently. Female rescue workers cry, but male rescue workers do not allow themselves the “feminine” release of sadness and tears, and instead drink to stop negative emotions. In Penny Dreadful men drink too. Vanessa instead cries to release tension, like the female rescue workers. She cries when she is possessed (1.07), she cries when Ethan leaves her (2.10), and in season three she cries in sessions with Dr. Seward (3.03, 3.04), when Dracula bites her (3.07), and when she begs Ethan to kill her (3.09).
How, then, can we understand Vanessa’s death? Does she work the edge (manage chaos), does she go over the edge (let go of emotions), or does she extend the edge (go beyond existing limits)? The crying Vanessa wears a cream-colored simple dress which looks a bit like a bridal dress, perhaps to signify virtue and her soon-to-be union with God. “This is what I am. And this is what I’ve done. Brought this terrible darkness to the world,” she says (3.09), taking responsibility for the vampire plague. We can see her acceptance to become Dracula’s bride, to embrace inner darkness, and her surrender to death, as neither working the edge nor going over the edge, but instead as letting go. As ceasing her battle with chaos. But edgework is not a mountaineer’s willingness to fall to his death, or a BASE jumper jumping off without a parchute. Edgeworkers report being turned on by the risk of dying and be willing to take this risk. To embrace evil and beg for death is another story; it is not play, but suicide.
We could interpret Vanessa’s death is as martyrdom (like her favorite hero, Joan of Arc), yet this seems out of character compared to Vanessa’s earlier persistance in fighting. Fans complained about the season’s development and, for instance, found it wrong to introduce the action-heroine-like vampire hunter Catriona. A female blogger and film critic commented, “It felt like they [wanted] to introduce a character who could physically protect Vanessa, because Vanessa wasn’t a fighter like that, but Vanessa has her own powers. She doesn’t need a ninja/fencer lady.”[14] Or we could understand Vanessa’s death as an act of free will. Show creator Logan described her death as an expression of control: “[T]he show is about empowerment, and she controls her own destiny. To me, whether you’re male, female, gay, straight, whatever – you control your destiny. You make the choices that are right for your morality and your ethics and your heart, and that’s what she does. She owns her life, and at the end of the day, she owns her death” (my emphasis, Ryan June 20, 2016). Vanessa’s death, then, can be seen as a depressed woman giving in to darkness (suicide), martyrdom (sacrificing her life, like Joan of Arc, for her faith), or free will (freely choosing Dracula/evil as her destiny).
Let us return to why people do edgework. Sociologists explain edgework as an escape from the conventions of a safe and boring life, as a rebellion against social conventions, and as a way to create personal transformation and character development. It is, on the one hand, protest against an over-socialized society which does not let people express their true selves, and, on the other hand, a self-development which late-modern society encourages. Drawing from Beck’s theory of the risk society and Foucault’s thinking of the “govermentality” of bodies, Lyng points to edgework as a paradox intrinsic to modern society where “the risk society and governmentality perspectives may capture two dimensions of the same social order in the late modern period. The paradox of people being both pushed and pulled to edgework practices by opposing institutional imperatives reflects complexities in the contemporary experience of risk that we are just beginning to appreciate” (2005 10). When society is overwhelmingly organized, it leaves little space for our “I,” and edgework re-connects edgeworkers to their “I,” a self where they feel more real and more in control than in their ordinary life.
By choosing death, Vanessa is – if we take Logan’s words at face value – more in control of her own life than by living a “normal” life. She “owns” her death. However, in the line of my argument to see her engagement with darkness as edgework, this is not edgework because it crosses from the edge into the abyss. Arguably, at the moment of her death Vanessa changes from being an edgeworker to becoming a martyr, and perhaps not even a martyr, since a martyr is disinterested. Instead, Vanessa has become Dracula’s bride, Mother of Evil, and Queen of darkness. Perhaps, in fact, Vanessa has become a slave to her nature; her darkness is no longer for her to battle, but to give in and fall victim to. In which case Vanessa is, like the evil queens in fairy tales, destined to die. Or, like Mme Bovary, destined to die by her author’s hand.
Conclusion: Choosing Death and Doing Edgework
Playful engagement with death is expressed from the start of Penny Dreadful when Lyle recognizes the writings on the skin of a dead vampire as text from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Lyle explains to Malcolm that if the Gods Amun-Ra and Amunet were joined, “Amunet would become the Mother of Evil. All light would end and the world would live in darkness,” and adds, “I would not tell Miss Ives this” (1.02). Vanessa is about to become the center of an edgework show where the mythesized nuclear family is a temptation to be rejected and a love story must be played out as tragedy. Her life journey is that of the edgeworker, reaching for the next challenge, and her self-work is that of the risk-taker.
Let us, in conclusion, step back and view edgework in a bigger perspective. Empirical studies show that leisure edgework is popular in rich Western nations and done overwhelmingly by white middle-class men. Today, five per cent of BASE jumpers and twenty per cent of skydivers are female.[15] Laurendeau points out that “willingness to place one’s body ‘in harm’s way’ is . . . one of the central ways in which sport acts as a proving ground for masculinity” (296). Laurendeau underlines that gender is not static, but constructed in our choice of edgework and in how we perform edgework. Risk-regimes are lived as gender-regimes, and play with danger constructs risk as gendered. When men do edgework, they construct a masculinity sustained by society’s meta-narrative about gender. Edgework is a revolt, but this revolt is individualistic, independent, and requires a skilled, fit, and strong body. In short, edgework requires the body of the quintessential male Western hero.
When women do edgework they, too, embody gendered risk-narratives, but without the support of the meta-narrative. Thus, when Rob Hall died in 1996 on Mount Everest he was portrayed a hero in Everest and noone held against him that he left behind a pregnant wife. In contrast, when elite mountaineer Alison Hargreaves died on a climb in 1995, she was described as “an errant, unthinking mother” (Laurendeau 296). When people do edgework, they choose what edge to work and how to work it and, moreover, are viewed differently by society. So, too, with fiction characters. It is only fair to say that several characters in Penny Dreadful risk their lives to battle darkness, however, they embody different scripts, different emotions, and have different journeys. Ethan is cursed with lycantrophy, but not raped by the Devil, and when he cries, his are tears of love, not of traumatic pain like Vanessa’s. Joan of Arc might have sung when she burnt, but Vanessa cries when she dies. Joan and Vanessa’s fates are not parallel. Joan is triumphant and Vanessa heartbroken. Ethan becomes the hero destined to kill his beloved who has surrendered to dark forces (the story also of Wolverine and Jean in X-Men: The Last Stand [2006, Brett Ratner, 2006]). In fact, Ethan’s struggle is the edgework of season three’s finale, and he says, “I have stood at the very edge, I have looked into the abyss. Had I taken one more step I would have fallen. But no matter how far I ran away from God, he was still waiting ahead” (3.09).
Vanessa’s life journey illustrates that women are ambiguously able to take the stage as protagonists in fantastic fiction, yet remain restricted by gendered tropes and scripts that limit their range of action. If Vanessa illustrates a “politics of self-expression, identity and power,” (Owen 1989 240) hers is a conflicted journey. Writing about the Victorian female medium, Alex Owen describes how women then negotiated roles as medium, female hysteric, and wife, daughter, or independent woman, the latter by far the most dangerous. “We are left with the unresolved question of what is meant by a feminist politics, and the problem of how we deal with the crucial issues of power and strategy,” Owen concludes (1989 240). Fantastic fiction can take women beyond the limits of the natural world, however, not beyond a male author’s decision to end their lives or, from a production perspective, beyond the rules of commercial television. If Vanessa’s edgework was too dark for a mainstream audience, she remained popular with critics and fans who protested her end. “I’m done with Showtime. I cancelled my subscription last Friday,” a fan wrote and another lamented, “you let her die in that evil. Shame on you for sure when you could have given it an other ending [sic].”[16]
Vanessa did not manage to extend her edge so she could continue edgework, however, in afterlife she demonstrates that women, too, can work the edge. And if her creator and production company killed her, she is not their property. She belongs to us, the fans. We can use Vanessa to feel and work on our own emotions and life journeys. Thus, “Vanessa, c’est nous.”
Apter, Michael J.. Danger: Our Quest for Excitement. Kindle edition. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2007.
Bem, Sandra Lipsitz. “Gender Schema Theory: A Cognitive Account of Sex Typing,” Psychological Review, vol. 88, no. 4, 1981, pp. 354-364.
Cameron, Deborah “Evolution, Language and the Battle of the Sexes: A Feminist Linguist Encounters Evolutionary Psychology,” Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 30, no. 86, 2015, pp. 351-358
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.
Fletcher, Robert. “Living on the Edge: The Appeal of Risk Sports for the Professional Middle Class.” Sociology of Sport Journal, vol. 25, 2008, pp. 310-330.
Forsey, Caitlin. Men on the Edge: Taking Risks and Doing Gender Among BASE Jumpers. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing, 2012.
“Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy: Penny Dreadful Wasn’t Supposed to End This Way.” N.n. Wired, 2 July 2016, https://www.wired.com/2016/07/geeks-guide-penny-dreadful/ Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.
Henderson, Lizanne. Witchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment Scotland, 1670-1740. eBook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Howell, Amanda and Lucy Baker. “Mapping the Demimonde: The Narrative Spaces and Places of Penny Dreadful.” E-journal Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media, February, 2017.
Laurendeau, Jason. “‘Gendered Risk Regimes’: A Theoretical Consideration of Edgework and Gender.” Sociology of Sport Journal, vol. 25, no. 3, Sep. 2008, pp. 293-309.
Lois, Jennifer. “Peaks and Valleys: The Gendered Emotional Culture of Edgework.” Gender and Society, vol. 15, no. 3, June 2001, pp. 381-406.
Lyng, Stephen. “Edgework: A Social Psychological Analysis of Voluntary Risk Taking,” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 95, no. 4, January 1990, pp. 851-886.
Lyng, Stephen, ed. Edgework: The Sociology of Risk-Taking. eBook. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Owen, Alex. The Darkened Room: Women, Power and Spiritualism in late Victorian England. Cambridge: Virago Press, 1989.
Ryan, Maureen. “‘Penny Dreadful’ Creator Talks Season 3, Vanessa’s Demons and the American West.” Variety, 4 May 2016, http://variety.com/2016/tv/features/penny-dreadful-john-logan-interview-1201766847/ Accessed 12 Jan. 2017.
Ryan, Maureen. “Creator John Logan and Showtime’s David Nevins on the Decision to End ‘Penny Dreadful’.” Variety, 20 June 2016, http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/penny-dreadful-ending-season-3-series-finale-creator-interview-john-logan-david-nevins-1201798946/ Accessed 12 Jan. 2017.
Schubart, Rikke Mastering Fear: Women, Emotions, and Contemporary Horror. NY: Bloomsbury, 2017, forthcoming.
[1] For angry fans, see online comments to Ryan, “On the Decision to End ‘Penny Dreadful’.” For speculations as to the show’s end as commercial rather than creator-decided, see ”Penny Dreadful Wasn’t Supposed to End This Way,” https://www.wired.com/2016/07/geeks-guide-penny-dreadful/ Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
[2] For complex storytelling, see Jason Mittell, Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling (New York: NYU Press, 2015); see also Jason Mittell, “Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television,” The Velvet Light Trap, no. 58, Fall 2006, pp. 29-40; for fantastic women as complex characters see the introduction in Rikke Schubart and Anne Gjelsvik, eds., Women of Ice and Fire: Gender, Game of Thrones, and Multiple Media Engagements (NY: Bloomsbury, 2016), pp. 1-17.
[3] For the experience of fiction emotions as real and suspension of belief (not disbelief), see Torben Grodal, Embodied Visions: Evolution, Emotion, Culture, and Film (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 101; for emotions as real, see also Rikke Schubart, Mastering Fear: Women, Emotions, and Contemporary Horror (NY: Bloomsbury, 2017, forthcoming). For discussions of emotions and thoughts in horror, see also the classic study by Noël Carroll, The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart (New York: Routledge, 1990).
[4] See the introduction in Grodal, Embodied Visions, pp. 3-21.
[5] For horror as mental play fighting and imaginary edgework see Schubart, Mastering Fear.
[6] For an excellent discussion of playing with failure in computer games, see Jesper Juul, The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2013), especially chapter 2, “The Paradox of Failure and the Paradox of Tragedy,” pp. 33-45.
[7] For gender schema see Sandra Lipsitz Bem in references; for gender as a negative stereotype see Margaret Shih, Todd L. Pittinsky and Nalini Ambady, “Stereotype Susceptibility: Identity Salience and Shifts in Quantitative Performance,” Psychological Science, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 1999, pp. 80-83; for an excellent study of negative stereotypes, see Claude M. Steele, Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. Kindle edition (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010).
[8] On Vanessa and the medium, see Amanda Howell and Lucy Baker, “Mapping the Demimonde: The Narrative Spaces and Places of Penny Dreadful” in this issue of e-journal Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media, 2017. See also Alex Owen, The Darkened Room in the references.
[9] The linguistic Deborah Cameron describes the meta-narrative as, “a larger framework into which research findings on male-female differences can be slotted, whether their immediate subject is the differing behavior of men and women in shopping malls or their differing rates of involvement in violent crime . . .” (353). For the meta-narrative, see Deborah Cameron, “Evolution, Language and the Battle of the Sexes: A Feminist Linguist Encounters Evolutionary Psychology,” Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 30, no. 86, 2015, pp. 351-358.
[10] More recent examples of the middle-aged and youth-obsessed witch are Stardust (2007, Matthew Vaughn), Enchanted (2007, Kevin Lima), and The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan).
[11] On the mythologization on sex difference in leadership, see Judith Baxter, The Language of Female Leadership eBook (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), p. 68.
[12] See the documentary Sunshine Superman (2014, Marah Strauch) about Carl Boenish. The failed jump was a repetition of a jump performed successfully the day before, where Boenish and his wife set a world record by jumping off the highest point in BASE jumping history.
[13] Dorian is an exception, because although the character is sexualized, his escapades are not edgework in Penny Dreadful.
[14] Female blogger and film critic Theresa DeLucci quoted in “Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
[15] Five per cent is from Forsey, Men on the Edge, p. 58. Twenty per cent is from Naomi Bolton, “History of Women in Skydiving,” http://www.dropzone.com/news/General/History_of_Women_in_Skydiving_1017.html. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
[16] Fans’ comments to the series finale are available online at http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/penny-dreadful-canceled-no-season-four-season-three-end-showtime-series/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
Bio: Associate Professor Rikke Schubart teaches at the Institute for the Study of Culture at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research explores emotions, gender, and genre in film and television. She has published many studies of horror and action films and about women in films. She also writes fiction. Her books include, Super Bitches and Action Babes: The Female Hero in Popular Cinema, 1970-2006 (McFarland, 2007) and Women of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones and Multiple Media Engagements (Bloomsbury, 2016).
“There Is Some Thing Within Us All”: Queer Desire and Monstrous Bodies in Penny Dreadful
~ Jordan Phillips
Abstract: It has been said that we live in a time of monsters. Within the horror genre, these monsters commonly take the form of the creatures you would find in ancient mythologies or Gothic literatures; however, they have also been allegorically aligned with LGBT or Queer persons. John Logan’s queer horror series Penny Dreadful (2014-present) presents a nuanced and somewhat paradoxical portrayal of queer bodies within a horror text. The main characters are predominantly based on those of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction (Victor Frankenstein and his Monster, Dorian Gray, among others), and thus act both as a contemporary commentary on socio-cultural attitudes towards queerness, and a retrospective commentary on the state of queer politics within Victorian-era London. While the series does examine queer anxieties within Victorian times, it is my contention that the series is principally concerned with anxieties within the gay community from the last thirty years or so (1980s onwards). These points of unease are largely explored through the queer desires and monstrous bodies of its non-heterosexual characters, with their monstrously queer bodies acting as sites of transformative evolution or devolution. Within Penny Dreadful, queerness and monstrosity are often conflated (both literally and symbolically), meaning that the cultural categories of man/monster and human/non-human are unfixed. By close textual analysis of characters such as Ethan Chandler, AKA the Wolfman, and Dorian Gray, this paper will attempt to pinpoint these rhetorical slippages and analyse their meaning in relation to issues of cultural unease regarding queerness within both contemporary society and the Victorian era.
Since the earliest days of the moving image, the figure of the monster has been implemented as a way in which to mobilise ideological tensions and socio-cultural anxieties connected to particular time periods and historical moments. Within the horror genre (the monster’s native milieu), these ideological messages are mainly constructed and transmitted through the performance of the abject body and its sexually transgressive desires, both of which have been critically understood by some as an allegorical conduit for queerness – that is, non-heterosexual or non-normative desire (Benshoff 1997). As marginalised social groups fought arduously for social recognition, the fictional monster was on a parallel path, prowling in the shadows, acting as a narrative locum tenens for the depoliticised and the demonised. Harry M. Benshoff (1997) postulates that some of the most sociologically and cinematically significant readings of the monstrous body are coterminous with that of the queer body – that is, those which consider themselves to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise non-heterosexual or non-normative. Benshoff historicises queer monstrosity as a largely disparaging paradigm, with queer bodies and desires being either symbolically annihilated or manifested metaphorically through the monster, ultimately resulting in heterosexist and phobic depictions of queerness. More recently, however, the queer monster has found a more nuanced and progressive domicile in the form of John Logan’s Neo-Victorian horror television series Penny Dreadful (2014-2016). Throughout this paper, I will interrogate the series’ depictions of performative queer desires and monstrous bodies by making use of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s (1996) monster theory in conjunction with Judith Butler’s (1990; 1993) theories of gendered performance, in order to analyse the extratextual and intratextual positioning of Penny Dreadful’s queer characters. By doing so, I aim to examine issues of cultural unease regarding queerness within the Victorian era, and how Logan’s series utilises its period setting in order to narrativise queer anxieties in the 21st century.
Theories of Queerness and Monstrosity
The horror genre can be broadly defined by the structural relationship between normality and abnormality – or, the normative and the monstrous (Wood 2002). The rhetorical slippages between the ontology of the human and that of the monster has fostered scholastic attention in relation to the monstrous body as a conceit for postmodern racial, gender, and sexual politics. Within Penny Dreadful, the interstice between normality and abnormality, between humanity and monstrosity, is performative. On the whole, horror is inherently performative in nature. Just when we think we have become inoculated to the virus-like popularity of horror, another strain presents itself and performs the social, political, and cultural dread imbricated within its particular time period. In this sense, horror is concerned with “dressing up” – that is, wearing the disguise of cultural terror in order to play out ghastly narratives within the creative quarantine of the often fantastical horror genre. To use Judith Butler’s (1990) example of identity-as-performance, horror is akin to the concept of drag – that is, performing gender identity through the reversal of gendered social roles i.e., hair, clothing, make-up. Horror, however, dresses up social unease and anxiety through the artifice of monstrosity and fear.
The unfixed, grotesque nature of these anti-normative bodies and desires invites a queer reading – that is, one which aims to deconstruct and dislocate culturally prescribed binarisms such as man/woman, heterosexual/homosexual from their hegemonic, heteronormative positioning (Turner 2000). Butler defines the concept of “performativity” as a tool in the study of identity formation and ritual-making in society. For Butler, “Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularised and constrained repetition of norms… This iterability implies that ‘performance’ is not a singular ‘act’ or event, but a ritualised production…” (1993 95). While Butler refers to identity (chiefly through the construct of gender), I instrument her theories as a way in which to anatomise the performance of queer monstrosity within Penny Dreadful i.e., how monstrosity may be concealed by performing as something else (human), and how the series literalises the performance of uncontrollable, transformative monstrosity to queer identity. Moreover, in his book Monster Theory: Reading Culture (1996), Jeffrey Jerome Cohen posits the monstrous body as a potent metaphor for the so-called “cultural body,” suggesting that monsters are a way in which to read the culture from which they antecede: “The monster is born only at this metaphoric crossroads, as an embodiment of a certain cultural moment – of a time, a feeling, and a place” (1996 vii). It is my contention that the monstrous bodies within Penny Dreadful act as totems for socio-cultural anxiety and unease within contemporary society, under the guise of moralistic and puritanical Victorian belief systems and ideologies.
Penny Dreadful and its Queer Characters
Penny Dreadful is predominantly based on characters and plots adapted from nineteenth-century Gothic fiction, most notably Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Mina Harker from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). The series also features cinematic characters which were directly inspired from the works of Gothic literature i.e., the Bride of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man from the 1935 and 1941 films of the same names. The series is inherently anachronistic in nature, being produced in the second decade of the 21st century and set during Victorian era London circa 1891. This dichotomy works to actualise the series’ political potential, giving voices to marginalised characters who have been historically disenfranchised – both in Gothic literature and the society which it mirrors. Logan’s Neo-Victorian series breathes new life into real-world issues which were embryotic in the Victorian era e.g., the deconstruction of socially entrenched gender binaries. Industrialisation brought about a crisis of masculinity due to the new working woman. Anxieties began to emerge over male feminisation and the perception of effeminacy being equated with homosexuality (McGunnigle 2005). While original Gothic tales have their villains embody the repressed anxieties and undesirable sexualities of the heroes and their society, Neo-Victorian texts emphasise the dual role of both the hero and the villain within their characters. This slippage of roles (both gender and character roles) is the creative and queer nexus of Penny Dreadful.
Scholars of teratology commonly examine the monster through its relationship with bodies that are seen as non-monstrous or normative. The monstrous Other is a liminal figure who represents the disruption of socially administered categories and the destruction of culturally constructed boundaries such as man/woman, good/evil, and heterosexual/homosexual (Halberstam 1995 27). However, as scholars such as Miller (2011) and Elliott-Smith (2016) have elucidated, the figure of the queer monster has undergone a cultural evolution since its conception as a totem of essentialising Otherness, and now has the potential to symbolise universalising Sameness. It is within this incongruous space where the reimagined Gothic characters of Penny Dreadful are narratively situated.
Penny Dreadful’s protagonists are a motley band of supernaturally-endowed deviants who ostensibly protect those they love from even more monstrous threats than themselves. The “heroes” in this series are monsters themselves. Monstrosity, including queer monstrosity, is not explicitly synonymous with evil. The series’ creator and sole writer, John Logan, is no stranger to queer, camp, or horror. His writing credits include cult films such as Bats (1999) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Logan, has commented upon the series’ queer inflection, articulating that his own experiences growing up as a gay man in 1970s New York served as an impetus for this correlation. Logan expresses that he always felt a connection to the closeted monster, and that the ways in which the series’ characters address the secrets within themselves ultimately defines who they are. Logan embraces this Otherness and implements its queer charge in order to narrativise the struggles and anxieties he has felt within his own life through the textual lens of these reimagined Gothic characters. Logan articulates that, “… the thing that made me alien and different and monstrous to some people is also the thing that empowered me…” (Thomas 2014). Logan also comments that he does not believe in the Manichean binaries of good and evil or hero and villain, opting instead for a more ontologically and moralistically fluid approach to his monsters. While I do not wish to predicate the entirety of my argument on the, widely contested, concept of auteur theory, I do in fact suggest that Logan’s own personal alignment with monstrosity and Otherness informs the series’ queer sensibility, and that his authorial intent is perhaps too potent to be overlooked entirely.
Textual and Extratextual Analysis
One of the key narrative drivers in Logan’s series is that of desire (or, to be more concise, queer desire). Many of the characters are portrayed as polysexual and do not conform to the compulsory heterosexuality commonly associated with traditional horror texts. Equating queerness with monstrosity creates a complex dialogue in regards to the historicity of Otherness. On one hand, queerness is intrinsically Other. There are those, like Logan, who welcome the association with the abnormal, the divergent, and the monstrous. However, there are those who would repel such associations, avowing that queerness and Otherness are socially constructed and are only as non-normative and as monstrous as the dominant social position (in this case, white, male heterosexuality) recognises them to be. Although this discursive polarity may seemingly convolute Penny Dreadful’s status as a queer artefact, it is within this very polarity wherein queer readings find their discursive power. Queer is fundamentally mobile. To conflate queerness with one particular genre, ideology, or any fixed positionality would undermine and destabilise the mutability and fluidity of queerness.
Logan’s series deploys a rhetorically ambiguous stance in relation to queerness. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1990) speaks of two views in relation to sexual identity and desire: the minoritising view and the universalising view. Queer people, like monsters, can exist in the minoritising shadows and seek to accrue political power through the solidification of Otherness; or, they can present their monstrosity unashamedly and reject their secretive, closeted existence, thereby harnessing the discursive power of universal Sameness. For Wood (2002 27), Otherness is representative of what white, heterosexual bourgeois ideology, “… cannot recognise or accept but must deal with… by rejecting and if possible annihilating it, or by rendering it safe and assimilating it, converting it as far as possible into a replica of itself.” Otherness can be projected as essentially different, or it may be converted into an assimilatory production of Sameness. Through both extratextual materials and intratextual characterisations, Logan creates an ambiguous dialogue in regards to queer bodies and desire by simultaneously suggesting that these characters’ bodies and desires are both monstrous and normative, Other and Same, hero and villain. Extratextual (in this case, any text that is not strictly within the episodic diegesis of Penny Dreadful) conditions greatly affect the rhetorical positioning of a text and its characters. In the case of Penny Dreadful, its status as an artifact of queerness is affected by its extratextual and paratextual scaffolding. Cultural theorists such as Stuart Hall (cited in Benshoff 1997) have indicated, discourses do not exist vacuously and are subject to multiple sites of reception which, in turn, allows for the active negotiation of textual subjectivities. In terms of the so-called “New Golden Age of Television” (2000-present), digital extratextual materials are a key component of television programming, with some suggesting that these texts are significant in the manufacturing of characterisation within the intratextual diegesis (Brookey and Westerfelhaus cited in King 2010). While I do not wish to imply that these extratextual materials (the series’ opening credit sequence and the promotional materials used to market the series) are unitarily responsible for the monstrous and queer positioning of the series’ characters, I would ascertain that they operate in tandem with Penny Dreadful’s intratextual narrative in order to establish an omnipresent sense of Otherness and monstrosity, and that this was a conscious decision by the series creator which moves beyond the realm of authorial expressivity.
The contrast between monstrosity and humanity is made consciously evident in the series’ opening credits sequence, with the characters being juxtaposed with images of animals and other deathly signifiers. Ethan Chandler AKA the Wolf Man (portrayed by Josh Hartnett) is analogised with the wolf and the serpent, whereas Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) is compared with the spider and its prey. This first image suggests darkness over light, alluding to the characters’ dark, unholy desires. The last shot, however, sees the creature of the bat going forth into the light, implying a more virtuous side to the night-dwellers. The sequence plays with chiaroscuro as a way of symbolising the balance between Otherness and Sameness, a boundary which Logan’s monsters tread lightly between. The fear of humanity and monstrosity coinciding had taken root in Victorian society after the release of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859. The post-Darwinian panic of ontological miscegenation is represented here though the performance of queer monstrosity, most notably through the desires of Ethan Chandler and Dorian Gray. This binary is also strongly present in the promotional materials for the series, in which the characters (some of whom are distinctly human) are positioned as intrinsically monstrous and Other. While these extratextual characterisations are consistent with Logan’s personal adoption of Otherness, they simultaneously carry a charge of Sameness in relation to monstrous bodies and queer desires.
“There is some thing within us all.” This ominous slogan played a significant part in the paratextual promotional posters (and was later introduced into the narrative proper) of Penny Dreadful’s first season. However, the ideology lurking behind this refrain is one which undulates ubiquitously throughout the series’ story and character arcs. The idea that there is some thing, something Other, something monstrous, is the thematic lynchpin of Penny Dreadful’s intradiegetic narrative. This ideology paradoxically suggests that we all have the potential to be the minoritising queer monster, but also positions Logan’s series as a more universalising narrative of queer monstrosity. These extratextual materials blur the boundaries between monster and human, normative and non-normative, and hero and villain. The monster-human duality of these characters is a preconceived paradigm, it is not one which they have thrust upon them by outside forces decoding their behaviours and actions. The promotional slogan for Penny Dreadful’s second season (“The Devil is in all of us”) is decidedly less runic in terms of the characters’ moral compasses and transgressive desires. The unidentified “thing” which resides within the characters has now been given a satanic marker, further solidifying their resonance with monstrosity and Otherness.
The promotional trailer for the series’ second season is a frenetic and lubricious sequence which displays the human-monster duality of the characters and alludes to the monstrous desires festering beneath their human exteriors. For example, Ethan performs his Sameness, his human side, until the frame dramatically shifts to a distorted image of his Otherness, his monstrous side, the Wolf Man. There is a kind of pageantry tied to these characters, a performative veneer of normativity and humanity. Queer theorists such as Judith Butler reject stable categories and address how human subjects “perform” gender and sexual identity, claiming that gender and sexuality is socially constructed and performative. The culturally constructed categories of monster and queer coalesce as oppositional categories to that of normativity: the abnormal which gives the normal its discursive meaning. The monster is the abject body which is used in order to support the hegemony of the non-monstrous bodies in society, much the same as queer bodies bolster the dominance of heterosexual bodies. Queer monstrosity, then, like gender and sexuality, can be considered to be constructed and performative. While some of Penny Dreadful’s characters reject and entomb their monstrously queer natures, others embrace their Otherness as a fundamental part of who they are. This idea is problematic, however, as the series’ characters represent both the human and the monster in one disruptive, queer body.
As Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) elucidates in the fifth episode of the first season, “There are things within us all that can never be unleashed.” Again, the thing within these characters, their Otherness, is continuously highlighted and carries a queer charge. Ethan is a lycanthrope (à la the Wolf Man) and Vanessa has powerful magical abilities. Both shape-shifters and witches have long been associated with queerness, and their coupling results in a queer reading. Their desires for a relationship, on several occasions, has been deemed infeasible due to their monstrous circumstances. They openly discuss their feelings for one another, but these moments quickly dissolve into discussions of their monstrous Otherness. In episode ten of the second season, Vanessa is shown a vision of an untenable future of normalcy with Ethan. In this alternate history, one without their monstrous conditions, the two live happily in their opulent Victorian home. Dressed all in white, the pair speak adoringly of their two children and bask in the contented glow of their “normal” life. Vanessa understands, however, that this illusion is just that: A mirage of normalcy she will never attain. The children, the human signifier of procreational hetero-normalcy, are the most impracticable in Vanessa’s eyes. It is unknown within the mythos of the series if Ethan’s or Vanessa’s supernatural capabilities would be hereditary, but the inclusion of the two children in the dream sequence heavily implies that Vanessa not only once craved a traditional familial life, but also that she fears that her possible offspring would be genetically predisposed to monstrosity.
Ethan and Vanessa are situationally queered in the sense that they are non-normative and have monstrous bodies, their desires carrying a queer charge in the process. The “thing” which was alluded to in the tagline of the promotional materials yearns to be released. The characters’ monstrous desires build up inside of them until they cannot be contained any longer (Ethan’s lycanthropy and Vanessa’s witch-like powers, respectively). According to Rigby (2006 70-71), within the male-dominated narrative worlds of Gothic literature, “… The women seem to mean the same ‘thing’: They act as conduits through which unacceptable male desires are routed… and, appropriately enough, most of the women suffer the same fate: death”. For Rigby, the thing within Penny Dreadful’s narrative is locatable as femininity or femaleness (which have long been aligned with male homosexuality and queerness). Women are not divorced from their ill-fates within Logan’s Neo-Victorian series, however, with both central female characters meeting their demise at the hands of male characters at various points within the series. The “thing”, whether it be representative of femininity, femaleness, queerness, or a triad of all three, is ultimately banished or eradicated.
Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) is another character whose fluid sexuality creates queer sensibilities within Penny Dreadful. As in the original novel, Dr. Frankenstein creates his “monster” (later dubbed Proteus, portrayed by Alex Price) from parts of other bodies and brings him to life by using electrical power generated by a storm. In Penny Dreadful, the virginal doctor creates life by using both nature and science, without the use of a woman or any kind of “natural” methods of procreation. This parthenogenic, monstrous body symbolises both the uncertainty of modernity and medicine/technology, as well as the doctor’s own queer sexuality. Upon his “birth,” the doctor holds his monster in a caring caress, as a mother does her child. While there are moments of intimacy between the two men, they are often interrupted by the presence of women. For example, Dr. Frankenstein takes the newly born Proteus walking around the streets of Victorian London for the first time. Here they are encountered by Ethan and Brona Croft (Billy Piper) – a prostitute dying of consumption and Ethan’s initial love interest – another non-normative couple. Brona insouciantly flirts with Proteus, much to the chagrin of both Ethan and Dr. Frankenstein. This exchange is indicative of the fragile homosocial/homosexual continuum, a popular trope in Gothic fiction (Sedgwick 1985). Whenever male homosociality verges too close to the homosexual, female characters are interpolated into the narrative in order to diffuse any homosexual signifiers. For Young (cited in Elliott-Smith 2016 106), who draws upon Sedgwick’s work in her analysis of James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935), the female exists as a, “desperate cover-up” and displacement of homoeroticism. While this may seemingly undercut Penny Dreadful’s queer aesthetics, this triangulation of queer desire works to supplement the series’ queer readings rather than hinder them.
As aforementioned, queer is inherently mobile and subversive. If Victor and his monster were in an illicit homosexual union, they would undeniably be a queer couple. However, as soon as their same-sex relationship encroaches the realms of possible exploitation, then their coupling would become problematic. Texts which exploit or sensationalise same-sex partnerships or aesthetics undermine the subversive and political potential of queer, effectively “de-queering” and depoliticising the characters and the social situations which they represent. Later, in a Pygmalion fashion, Victor falls in love with another one of his creations, Lily – a reanimated and renamed Brona. The two eventually consummate their relationship on a stormy night (season 2, episode 5), much like the ones which permitted the births of Frankenstein’s creatures. In this sequence, Victor’s queer sexuality is anthropomorphised by the storm. By engaging in a sexual union with one of his female creations, Victor is succumbing to his compulsory heterosexuality (despite Lily’s body being a decidedly queer one, she is still female). The next day, the storm has passed and Lily has cooked breakfast for her lover in the morning sunlight; their heterosexual coupling is textually reinforced by the ironically domestic mise-en-scene. The “thing” within Frankenstein appears to be his latent heterosexual urges and desires. By presenting Frankenstein’s sexuality as a kind of “queer heterosexuality” (Smith 2000), Penny Dreadful preserves the transgressive and fluid nature of queer. Earlier in the series, Brona articles the in impracticable nature of her sexual relations with men by stating: “You’re fucking a skeleton every night. There’s no future in it for either of us!” Brona’s words here are suggestive of Lee Edelman’s polemical analysis of queer theory, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive (2004). For Edelman, queerness disrupts the social Order and derives pleasure in anti-procreative desire (that is, non-heterosexual sex). Due to Brona’s infected, and later monstrous, body, she too is representative of the anti-procreative queer, despite being heterosexual. It is this precise lack of hetero-procreative futurity which positions these reimagined Gothic characters as agents of queer monstrosity.
Early on in the series, the characters are introduced to the concept of the “demimonde,” a midpoint between heaven and hell where dark souls are contained. Etymologically, the term comes from 19th century France and refers to a group of hedonistic people who live on the fringes of respectable society. Vanessa explains to Ethan that the demimonde is, “a half world between what we know and what we fear,” a shadowy realm where some cursed souls are doomed to dwell forever. Ethan, who hitherto believed he was alone in his monstrosity, asks her what would happen if the monsters within them were to be unleashed, to which Vanessa replies, “[then]…, we are most who we are. Unrestrained. Ourselves.” Semantically, demi-monde is a fitting term for our band of sexually transgressive deviants whose supernatural natures Other them from respectable Victorian society. At a syntactic level, however, Logan’s re-appropriation of the supernatural demimonde is symptomatic of the queer monsters’ purgatorial desires. These characters, particularly Ethan and Dorian, are a living personification of the demimonde. Both Ethan’s and Dorian’s literary and cinematic counterparts have been historically aligned with queer monstrosity. Both have a dark and monstrous secret: Ethan’s is his lycanthropy, his monstrosity presenting itself cyclically every full moon, whereas Dorian’s is his portrait where he has stored his monstrous soul, preserving his youthful beauty.
Both Ethan and Dorian go through transformations (symbolic and somatic) which are representative of their monstrously queer performativity. Ethan Chandler performs as the quintessential Southern man. He’s tall, tough, muscular, and slips comfortably into the male protector role within the first few episodes of season 1. Ethan soon begins a relationship with Brona, who later becomes Lily Frankenstein. During this relationship, we begin to see moments of tenderness and femininity in Ethan; he is just as loving and gentle as he is masculine and aggressive. The characters’ monstrous desires build up inside of them until they cannot be contained any longer, in Ethan’s case, the monster within; the burgeoning, bestial presence he so desperately tries to banish. Ethan oscillates between the performance of the Southern gentleman and the monstrous Wolf Man. The latter side haunts Ethan; he knows he cannot control his monstrous body and, when he is transformed, he hunts and kills people across London uncontrollably. In episode 4 of the 1st season, Ethan takes Brona to see a stage play named “The Transformed Man,” a tale that involves lycanthropes and death, both of which resonate deeply with Ethan’s tortured soul, the living demimonde. Ethan later rebukes her company and retires to Dorian Gray’s excessively lavish manor. Dorian regales Ethan of the climactic music from the German operatic drama Tristan and Isolde. Liebestod (which, translated from German literally means “love death”) acts here as a musical signifier of the demimonde, and also the duo’s transgressive, purgatorial desires. In this scene, Ethan’s trauma over his divided Self presents itself by way of mental images tied to his monstrous nature: the cryptic symbols associated to the demimonde, the bloodied bodies of the people he has killed, and his fellow animal: the wolf. Here, Ethan and Dorian’s monstrous bodies are conflated with their queer desires.
Earlier in the episode, Ethan somberly asks Dorian if he wishes he could be someone else, to which Dorian replies, “all the time.” These words carry different inflections to these two men, however. Ethan loathes who he is, his monstrous body, seeing it as a curse he cannot be rid of. He hides his secret to the best of his ability and performs as a regular member of Victorian society, wishing he could be like everyone else. He clings to a universalising view of his monstrosity, hoping to acclimate into the very society that scorns him. Dorian, on the other hand, embraces his monstrous body and queer desires, opting instead for a minoritising viewpoint. Dorian remarks to Ethan: “I suppose we all play parts.” Ethan enquires as to which “part” Dorian plays, to which he replies: “human.” Ethan performs as human because he wishes to be normal, whereas Dorian performs as such simply because he has to, relishing his true nature of difference. Both of their performances are suggestive of the concept of “passing” i.e., a non-heterosexual person trying to pass as heterosexual out of fear of censure. Despite agreeing with Ethan that he too would like to be someone else, he relishes the idea of not being like everyone else. He pontificates, “to be different, to be powerful, is that not a divine gift?”
Over the last few decades or so, there has been a fiercely contested dichotomy raging within the gay community: the homomasculine or “straight-acting” discourse. There are many within the gay community who prescribe to the culturally constructed notion of “manliness” – that is, hard, stoic masculinity that attempts to emulate the dominant heteronormative codes of masculinity, thereby performing as the very systems which dominate them. They reject notions of homoeffeminacy or “femme-acting,” instead choosing to champion a universal discourse of power rather than a minority one (Clarkson 2006). This discourse is reflected within the performance of queer monstrosity within Penny Dreadful, with Ethan epitomising the homomasculine Same, whereas Dorian is totemic of the homoeffeminate Other. Other male characters who embody facets of these dichotomies are Ferdinand Lyle (Simon Russell Beale), a fey Egyptologist and informant to Ethan and co, and Angelique (Jonny Beauchamp), a transgender courtesan and love interest to Dorian.
The effeminate Lyle enacts the stereotype of the “sissy”, often fawning over Ethan’s charm and muscularity. He has a wife, however, one which we later find out he has implemented as part of his closeted, heterosexual performance. Lyle cryptically speaks of his “condition” (his homosexuality) and harbors a great deal of shame because of this. He and Ethan are two sides of the same coin: One femme-acting, one straight-acting, but both queer and unsure how to channel their non-normative desires. Angelique, on the other hand, is anatomically male but prefers to dress and identify as a woman. The situation is, again, complicated by the presence of Lily. Dorian is attracted to her otherworldly presence and begins to court her, quickly forgetting about the lovelorn Angelique. At a cursory glance, it seems that Dorian is attracted to Lily because he senses the monstrous being within her. However, the fact remains that he leaves (and actually kills) Angelique to be with a biological female companion. As a reanimated creature, Lily is obviously monstrous. Towards the end of the second season, she reveals a demonic demeanour and vows to destroy humanity with Dorian by her side. These two immortal monsters are a problematic couple in terms of queer politics. Dorian killed his queer lover Angelique to be with Lily instead; however, his desire to be with Lily seems to stem from her monstrosity, not her innate femaleness. In this sense, as with Frankenstein and Lily, the heterosexual pairing is equally as queer as the non-heterosexual one.
In summation, Penny Dreadful is somewhat paradoxical and problematic in terms of its depiction of queer desire and monstrous bodies. Logan’s Neo-Victorian series plays with queer monstrosity in ways in which its Victorian progenitors could only have hoped to. Many of the characters are portrayed as polysexual and do not conform to the compulsory heterosexuality widely attributed to their fin de siècle counterparts, creating a rich, yet ambiguous, dialogue in relation to queerness, both within the Victorian society on which it is based and the contemporary society within which it is created. Some of the series’ characters, such as Ethan Chandler, are representative of universalising queerness, performing as normative in the hopes that he can one day escape his perdition as the living demimonde, his bestial side, his transformative body. Others, like Dorian Gray, however, adopt a more minoritising position, embracing his queer desires, his monstrous body, and his place within the shadowy demimonde. The series as a whole is reflective of the homophobic and heterocentric ideals upheld by Victorian society, but is also emblematic of contemporary discourses surrounding queerness and discursive models of power. The series presents its characters as sexually and morally ambiguous, and are a way of reading the Victorian culture from which they were originally bred, and also the contemporaneous one which has seen them adapted them in Logan’s series. Most of Penny Dreadful’s characters have elements of Otherness and Sameness embedded within their extratextual and intratextual DNA, inasmuch that they have both heroic and villainous characteristics, heterosexual and homosexual tendencies, and very human and monstrous desires.
Benshoff, Harry. Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Butler, Judith. Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Cohen, Jerome, Jeffrey. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” In: Cohen, Jeffrey, Jerome, ed. Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, pp. 3-26, 1996.
Clarkson, Jay. “’Everyday Joe’ versus ‘Pissy, Bitchy, Queens’: Gay Masculinity on StraightActing.com.” The Journal of Men’s Studies, Vol. 14, issue 2, pp.191-207, 2006.
Edelman, L. No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive. USA: Duke University Press, 2004.
Elliott-Smith, Darren. Queer Horror Film and Television: Sexuality and Masculinity at the Margins. New York and London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2016.
King, Sisco Claire. “Un-Queering Horror: Hellbent and the Policing of the ‘‘Gay Slasher’’.” Western Journal of Communication. Vol. 74, issue 3, 2010, pp. 249–268.
McGunnigle, Christopher. “My Own Vampire: The Metamorphosis of the Queer Monster in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Gothic Studies, Vol. 7, issue 2, 2005, pp.172-184.
Miller, S. J., “Assimilation and the Queer Monster.” Horror after 9/11: World of Fear, Cinema of Terror. Edited by A. Briefel and S. J. Miller. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011, pp. 220-234.
Halberstam, Judith. Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.
Rigby, M. Frankenstein and the Queer Gothic. PhD Thesis: Cardiff University, 2006.
Sedgwick, Kosofsky, Eve. Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Sedgwick, Kosofsky, Eve. Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.
Smith, C. “How I Became a Queer Heterosexual.” Edited by C. Thomas. Straight with a Twist: Queer Theory and the Subject of Heterosexuality. USA: University of Illinois Press, 2000, pp. 60-67.
Thomas, June. “’The Thing That Made Me Monstrous to Some People Is Also the Thing That Empowered Me‘.” Slate.com, 9 May. 2014, Accessed 30 September 2016.
Turner, B, William. A Genealogy of Queer Theory. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000.
Wood, Robin. “The American Nightmare: Horror in the 70s.” Horror, The Film Reader. Edited by M. Jancovich. London: Routledge, pp. 25-32, 2002.
Bio: Jordan Phillips is a postgraduate researcher, teaching associate, and academic support tutor at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. His main areas of interest are sexuality and queerness within the horror genre; fan performance culture and audience reception; and gender and sexual politics within contemporary superhero texts. Jordan is a regular contributor to Critical Studies in Television (Online) and The Big Picture Magazine, and has co-organised/presented queer horror-specific screenings at film festivals.
Cowboys and Wolf-Men: Ethan Chandler, Transgressive Masculinity, and Depictions of The Monstrous in Penny Dreadful
~ Tobias Locke
Abstract: Penny Dreadful’s commercial and critical success stems from its transformative adaptation of the Gothic literary canon that precipitated it, and its willingness to use that adaptation as a vehicle for contemporary discourse. While previous and current scholarly literature has linked Penny Dreadful with theories of adaptation, there has little focus yet on the active role the series’ characters play in this process. As admixtures of canonical and semi-original creations, Penny Dreadful’s principal characters are a driving force behind its adaptation of the Gothic, and act as powerful instances of cultural criticism, as exemplified in the character of Ethan Chandler. As a textual hybrid who inhabits multiple Gothic character archetypes simultaneously, Ethan is uniquely positioned to act as the series’ cultural critique of ideologies surrounding Victorian and contemporary masculinity.
The year is 1891, around late September. Some nights past, a nest of vampires was slain in an abattoir beneath an East End opium den, but the London public is more concerned with a mother and child dismembered in a tenement some blocks over, not far from the garret where Victor Frankenstein assembles his latest creature. The Whitechapel crowds whisper amongst themselves: “Is it the Ripper come back?” and newspapers stoke public excitement with sensationalist headlines. One can only imagine the coverage if they knew the killer was a werewolf. Meanwhile, in the sedate mansions of Westminster, an African explorer and a medium discuss the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Dorian Gray expands his private pornography collection (Logan Penny Dreadful 1.01 “Night Work”, 1.02 “Séance”).
This smorgasbord of the Victorian Gothic, as reimagined by screenwriter John Logan, comprises the narrative foundations of Showtime’s Penny Dreadful (2014-2016), which over the course of three seasons garnered critical acclaim and a voracious international fandom. Much of its success came from the way it reimagined rather than outright adapted its source texts: “If its literature were a song,” writes Slayton , “Penny Dreadful is an addictive remix instead of a cover that loses the potency and point” of the original. Slayton’s distinction is critical: despite Penny Dreadful’s appropriation of characters, themes, and narrative elements originating from archetypal Gothic texts – Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray – showrunner John Logan was more interested in using these precursor texts as “provocation” for the series’ own narrative than making Penny Dreadful a straightforward adaptation (Wightman). Rather than faithfully re-presenting the Gothic canon on the small screen, Penny Dreadful acted as an admixture of its source material that destabilized the patrilineal relationship between adaptation and adapted text to favor the adaptation. This destabilizing comes from the series’ deliberately “un-naming” of its precursor texts, a means of creative development first articulated by Bloom (10). By refusing to situate itself as “descended” from any single text, Penny Dreadful freed itself of the expected “adherence to plot or character development” that constitutes direct adaptation; instead, the series situated its precursors in purely “generic terms: the penny dreadful, that which is, by its nature, derivative and second hand” (Poore 70-71). This deliberately obfuscated and self-reflexive relationship to its literary precursors and allowed John Logan the creative freedom re-present some of the Gothic’s “iconic characters in a new way” (Logan “Inside Penny Dreadful”). Even when canonical characters like Victor Frankenstein appeared in-narrative, they were ‘bespoke’ hybrids formed from their originals and other (occasionally disparate) Victorian Gothic archetypes, “calculatedly anachronistic” creations cut from a “vaguely familiar” cloth (Logan “Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative”; Poore 73). This allowed Penny Dreadful to sidestep what critic Joanna Russ terms “generic decadence,” whereby genre stories become “petrified collections of rituals, with all freshness and conviction gone” (49). More importantly for this discussion, the hybridity of the show’s characters situates them amidst one of the Gothic’s principal discursive archetypes: the abhuman, through which Gothic media demarcates or interrogates the ideological division between the human and monstrous. It is how Penny Dreadful’s characters function in the latter sense that will guide the focus of this paper, which pays particular attention to the character of Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett).
In this discussion, due emphasis is placed on John Logan’s original characters, around which the series’ “central spine” was built (Logan “Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative”). Previous scholarship has almost exclusively prioritised Penny Dreadful’s heroine, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), whom Logan constructed as the series’ centrepiece (“Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative”): a haunted young woman scarred both by the constraints of her society and an all-too-tangible inner darkness that demands violently destructive or sexual self-expression. Penny Dreadful uses Vanessa as a pointed deconstruction of Gothic femininity by presenting her as a “character whose sexuality plays out along traditionally male story markers” and fulfills a narrative role more akin to the Byronic hero than the Gothic heroine (Poore 73; Valentine). Vanessa is bold, inquisitive, and passionate, which encourages her rebellion “against the theological [and] social patterns of [her] day” and exposes her to a world of demons and supernatural darkness, precipitating the series’ core conflict (Gosling and Logan 123). Vanessa-as-Byronic-figure is able to critique the lassitude and domesticated feminine purity of the traditional Gothic heroine, not only by her agency in the series’ narrative, but by existing as a fully realised and flawed character in her own right (Poore 73; Luckhurst xxii).
This paper does not aim to dispute these findings – Vanessa Ives is a central vehicle for analysing Penny Dreadful’s self-reflexive relationship to the Gothic – but it expands them, by applying the same analysis to another of the series’ original characters: Ethan Chandler. Like Vanessa, Ethan’s character embodies multiple generic archetypes: the gunslinger cowboy of Western fiction, the tortured and introspective Gothic/Romantic hero, and the changeling victim/victimizer of the werewolf. Unlike Vanessa, who exists outside of convention from the series’ outset (be it going gloveless at a dinner party or later seeking the help of an alienist), Ethan is initially depicted in conventional, even generic terms, as a rugged and rebellious trigger man, and only reveals his hybrid identity through a series of transformative moments throughout Penny Dreadful’s first season. These transformative instances complicate his previous characterisation, and positions Ethan, like Vanessa, as a critique of the gendered ideologies inherent in the archetypes he performs: specifically the bodily mastery and patriarchal dependency of the cowboy and the egotism of the Romantic hero. The revelation of Ethan’s “morphic varability” as a werewolf undermines the bodily mastery of the cowboy and Romantic hero, and positions Ethan, like most of the series’ cast-, as an ‘outsider,’ someone who, by their actions, ideology, or existence, threatens societal norms (Hurley 1996 3-4). However, Ethan-as-werewolf also emphasizes the individual introspection and sublime connection to nature inherent to the cowboy and Romantic hero archetypes; his abhuman state foregrounds Ethan’s part in Penny Dreadful’s central “reframing of the monster narrative” and associated cultural critique (Thomas; Hurley 2012 198). This self-reflexive and transformative relationship with character archetype typifies the show’s relationship to its precursor texts and the wider Gothic genre, and is fundamental to our understanding of its success in adapting the Gothic for the twenty-first century.
Lover, Liar, Lycanthrope – Ethan Chandler and Character Archetype
Despite my earlier description of Penny Dreadful’s central characters as “original,” there exists a more accurate descriptor – what Poore terms a ‘bespoke’ character. “Bespoke” characters, he claims, are “calculatedly anachronistic reflections” of character archetypes from Penny Dreadful’s precursor texts: figures pieced together from a traditionally Gothic pattern, but with an explicitly “modern” sensibility (73). The “vaguely familiar” nature of these bespoke characters allows John Logan to guide the audience to expect particular narrative outcomes, while affording him the creative freedom to meet or subvert these expectations to a greater degree than he could with Penny Dreadful’s canonical characters (“Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative”). This methodology is what Logan uses when he first introduces the audience to Ethan, in the third scene of Penny Dreadful’s pilot. The opening titles and preceding scenes firmly establish the show as high Gothic Victoriana, with images of blood-filled teacups and scarab beetles, East End tenants being torn apart by unidentified assailants, and introducing us to Vanessa Ives as she fends off a nightly demonic visitation ( 1.01, “Night Work”). This makes our introduction to Ethan Chandler all the more tonally jarring: we snap to a scene of light and colour, gunfire and brass bands as he swaggers through a sharpshooting exhibit in a Wild West show. Ethan is dressed as a caricature of the “gunfighters of the old American West, such as Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody” (Sinha-Roy): long flowing curls, a sheriff’s star, buckskins, cowboy hat, and a moustache so extravagant it covers his entire mouth as he recounts General Custer’s last stand against the Sioux at Little Bighorn (which he claims to have survived), all the while juggling horseshoes in the air with shots from his pistols. While Ethan certainly entertains the crowd (with Vanessa a steely-eyed exception), the sheer extravagance of his routine makes it come off as the kind of weary almost-parody that denotes decadent genre (Russ 49-50); Ethan himself can barely suppress a sigh as he wraps up his tale of pluck and daring.
The only hint we get that there might be a genuine cowboy beneath all the greasepaint is when Ethan, in an impromptu finale, shoots the feathers off a lady’s hat, cheekily winking at the riotous applause and earning a wry smile from Vanessa. We cut to him enthusiastically copulating with the woman whose hat he shot; afterward, in the midst of tearing off his stage moustache (to reveal another underneath), he tells his conquest that while she’s made his visit “truly memorable,” the “peripatetic” life of a theatrical is calling him away, just as the lure of the wild open ranges would call cowboys away from their sweethearts (Aronson and Kimmel 188). Even here, when we begin to see Ethan as a genuine gunslinger, there’s a self-awareness present; instead of being despondent, his partner merely asks if he’d like to know her name before he departs – indicating both are somewhat aware their encounter is all part of the show. By the time we move to the next scene, the show expects us to have a clear impression of Ethan’s character: a “brash, cocky American” gunslinger “who survives on his wits as much as his frequently-drawn guns” and “has a tentative relationship with the right side of the law,” despite the hint of performativity underpinning his roguish charm (Gosling and Logan 18). Yet Logan uses Ethan’s next scene to complicate his inhabiting the cowboy archetype, by pitting him against Vanessa and her uncanny powers of perception. Seated across from Vanessa, Ethan’s flirtatious Western drawl becomes less a part of his character than “a mask of on-stage bravado” (Gosling and Logan 19); she asks for his help with some “night work,” he responds with flirtation, leading her to bluntly query whether Ethan’s shooting ability and Western pluck are “a tall tale as well.” Ethan responds lackadaisically – “What do you think?” – and Vanessa ripostes with the following:
Expensive watch, but thread-bare jacket. Sentimental about the money you used to have. Your eye is steady but your left hand tremors, that’s the drink, so you keep it below the table hoping I won’t notice. You’ve a contusion healing on your other hand, the result of a recent brawl with a jealous husband, no doubt. Your boots are good quality leather but have been re-soled more than once…I see a man who has been accustomed to wealth but has given himself to excess and the unbridled pleasures of youth…A man much more complicated than he likes to appear. ( 1.01, “Night Work”)
Ethan’s response to her analysis is telling – he maintains his Western cockiness at first, but as she continues, becomes visibly uncomfortable, before staging his first transformative moment, revealing a steely calm as he asks if Vanessa means to have him murder someone. He attempts to cover this ruthlessness by reverting to his cowboy persona when he accepts the offer – “One smile and I say yes” – but it doesn’t take, and Ethan is left contemplative and half-in shadow, a picture of Romantic moral ambiguity.
In the next few scenes, as Ethan joins Vanessa and Sir Malcolm Murray in their vampire hunt, Penny Dreadful moves into the realm of an oblique Dracula adaptation (Slayton). Through our awareness of Dracula as one of Penny Dreadful’s source texts, and the vague familiarity inherent in Ethan’s characterization, we are guided to assume Ethan will “echo” Stoker’s Quincey Morris as the brash and romantic “muscle” of Penny Dreadful’s burgeoning “band of heroes” (Crow; Logan “Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative”). This expectation, which has been echoed by most television critics, is not unreasonable: like Quincey, Ethan is the outsider in both a geographical (an American in London) and generic sense (a cowboy in a Gothic narrative); he enters the realm of the supernatural in pursuit of a haunted female figure (Vanessa Ives or Lucy Westenra/Mina Harker), and most importantly, his American brashness acts as a powerful symbol of modernity amidst Gothic antiquity and superstition. Quincey’s moral fortitude and worldliness prove instrumental in holding the “band of heroes” together in the face of the vampiric threat, and essential to defeating Dracula, who meets his end courtesy of Quincey’s “very Texan Bowie knife”; furthermore, as namesake to Jonathan and Mina’s son, Quincey represents the American-led future of the 20th century (Crow, emphasis original; Stoker 162, 350-51). Logan seems to echo this American-as-modern mindset through Ethan by creating him specifically as the contemporary American audience’s “eyes into the story,” assuming an American character would be easier for audiences to follow into the ‘alien landscape’ of Victorian London and its supernatural demimonde (Gosling and Logan 20; Logan “Inside Penny Dreadful”).
However, a cowboy cannot survive in a Gothic world: Quincey dies at Dracula’s hands (Stoker 350), and the “guts and glory” of the archetypal cowboy cannot be sustained in the face of supernatural terror: Ethan flees the demimonde, despite his fascination with Vanessa, and her enigmatic claims that he seeks to escape a curse similar to her own ( 1.01, “Night Work”; Aronson and Kimmel 188). When Ethan returns in the second episode of the series, however, Logan stages another transformative moment: the episode opens with Ethan ‘standing alone, disoriented and bemused, on the cold, wind-swept shores of the Thames. Gone is the confidence and strength of the archetype’ that Ethan initially embodied; instead we see a tortured ambivalence that ‘makes Ethan, just for a moment, as alone in his strangeness as Vanessa is in hers, or as Frankenstein in his terrible knowledge’ (Gosling and Logan 19; 1.02, “Séance”). This expands on the hints of Romanticism we saw in the pilot, and integrates Ethan further into the show’s developing narrative cosmology.
If Penny Dreadful were a Dracula adaptation, this transformation would be (at least perceived as) a deviation from its source; rather, it reveals new patterns and connections inherent in the cowboy archetype that created both Quincey and Ethan. The archetypal cowboy is a wanderer, “unconstrained by the demands of civilized life” (Aronson and Kimmel 188). Expand upon the individualistic moral code and rebellious mystique of the cowboy, and conflate his quest for a personal form of “justice” with a quest for individual understanding or redemption, and the result will mirror the brooding egotism and existential angst of Romantic heroes from earlier Gothic fiction (Aronson and Kimmel 122-3). Thus, Ethan-as-Romantic hero is less deviation from and more expansion of his original gunslinger characterisation, allowing his character to move beyond merely echoing Quincey Morris as a cowboy in a Gothic novel, and develop a more active role in Penny Dreadful’s emergent narrative.
Furthermore, Ethan’s Romantic elements add depth and nuance to his character as he echoes Quincey Morris later throughout the series, most notably in the second-to-last episode of the first season, when Vanessa suffers a violent demonic possession. This episode acts as another oblique Dracula adaptation: Ethan, Frankenstein, Sembene, and Sir Malcolm’s four-week vigil at Vanessa’s bedside echoes the gathering of van Helsing, Quincey, Arthur Holmwood, and Jack Seward to prevent Lucy Westenra’s death from the vampire’s attacks (Stoker 104-52) and later, to save Mina Harker from vampiric infection. Subsequently, Ethan moves into an approximation of Quincey’s role throughout the episode as both watchman and moral centre of the group, and like Quincey, is the one to first offer Vanessa the option of a ‘clean’ death before she succumbs to her monstrosity ( 1.07 “Possession”; Stoker 305). “Unlike Quincey, Ethan grapples with the ethical quandary of either killing Vanessa, or letting her live and prolonging her suffering, bringing him into conflict with Sir Malcolm, who, echoing van Helsing with Mina, attempts to use Vanessa to track down the remaining vampires in London. Furthermore, in an extended bout of introspection, Ethan laments Vanessa’s position as outcast between worlds, comparing it to the Americanising of Native American children, who are ultimately outcast from either world. Ethan’s soliloquy not only castigates British and American colonialist ideology through a supernatural lens, but also acts as a self-reflexive criticism of his own archetypal position as a cowboy who tamed the Western frontier to serve white American expansion (Aronson and Kimmel 188; 1.07, “Possession”). As we later learn, it was Ethan’s role in the Indian Wars and the wholesale slaughter of Native peoples that shaped his Romantic introspection and moral crisis, and that rather than a cowboy’s sense of honor, it is a Romantic desire for atonement that drives Ethan to commit to protecting Vanessa from the supernatural forces that hunt her: “You will not die while I am here. You will not surrender while I live. If I have one goddamn purpose in my cursed life, it’s that” ( 2.07, “Little Scorpion”). The visual and narrative context around this dialogue – which echoes a similar declaration of fealty from Quincey to Mina Harker (Stoker 305) – firmly establishes Ethan-as-Romantic-hero over Ethan-as-cowboy: surrounded by nature, Ethan rejects Vanessa’s fatalistic belief that her struggle will never with a rebellious statement of individualist strength (both hers and his, which is how they overcame her previous possession), but it is the following exchange that solidifies Ethan as a Romantic figure while again complicating his character:
Vanessa: You are one man.
Ethan: More than that, and you know it. We are not like others.
We have claws for a reason’ ( 2.07 “Little Scorpion”)
This exchange refers to the third archetype that Ethan embodies throughout Penny Dreadful, an archetype I have up to now ignored in my analysis: the werewolf. The revelation of Ethan-as-werewolf complicates my heretofore-argued position of Ethan as a Romantic hero playing the cowboy by adapting portions of both characterizations into a transformed hybrid narrative: we become aware of Ethan’s lycanthropy in the closing scenes of the first season, and this transformative moment hinges upon Ethan simultaneously inhabiting the cowboy and Romantic hero archetypes. As a cowboy, he is on the run from a pair of Pinkerton agents, but this Western narrative is given a Romantic bent, as Ethan is hunted for a Gothic-seeming, deliberately obscured crime, the nature of which, and Ethan’s accompanying guilt for, necessitated his self-imposed exile in London. However, when cornered by the Pinkertons, Ethan responds with neither a cowboy’s gun-blazing defiance nor a Romantic hero’s fatalism: the bones shift under his skin, revealing a clawed, yellow-eyed wolf-man, who dismembers the Pinkerton agents and everyone else in the vicinity, as the camera tilts up to a mist-shrouded full moon (1.08, “Grand Guignol”).
Ethan-as-werewolf serves as an archetypal meeting point that brings his cowboy and Romantic hero elements into a cohesive whole: like the cowboy, the classical werewolf is a violent lone wanderer; like the Romantic hero, he is set apart from the rest of humanity due to a hidden sin or “curse” that causes anxiety, introspection, or a fatalistic belief in one’s own damnation, and all of these elements form a critical part of Ethan’s characterization (Gosling and Logan 20). Interestingly, Ethan-as-werewolf also emphasizes the connection to wildness, to nature as opposed to civilization, that is implicit in both the cowboy and Romantic hero, although this Logan only references this obliquely, such as in the visual framing of Ethan’s declaration to Vanessa, where they are situated in a natural arch of greenery ( 2.07, “Little Scorpion”).
However, the reveal of Ethan-as-werewolf, and its subsequent impact upon the other archetypes he performs in Penny Dreadful’s narrative, is more interesting if we examine how it makes Ethan an extension of John Logan’s “creative goal” for the series – exploring humanity through depictions of the monstrous (Gosling and Logan 15). If we examine Ethan’s hybrid characterisation through this lens, it becomes apparent that Ethan, like Vanessa, acts as a critique of the masculine ideologies that his cowboy- and Romantic hero-selves embody. As with Vanessa, Ethan’s ability to present this sort of gendered critique is entirely dependent upon his hybrid identity – both as a ‘bespoke’ echo of Penny Dreadful’s textual canon, but more importantly, as an extension of the Gothic abhuman.
Abhuman Humanity – Ethan as Wolf-Man
The abhuman is an almost omnipresent Gothic entity, apparent in texts as far back as Frankenstein, but was formally defined by Hurley (1996 3-4) as “a not-quite human subject, characterised by its morphic variability, continually in danger of becoming not itself, becoming [O]ther”; a liminal body that exists between disparate states such as living and dead, human and animal, or between binary expressions of gender (Hurley 2012 190). Arguably, both Ethan and Vanessa exemplify this condition of being: Vanessa due to her connection to the spiritual world, “masculine” (i.e active and dominant) expressions of sexuality, and the physical and emotional exertions that accompany possession; Ethan due to his lycanthropy and the associated loss of emotional and bodily control that results in a violent physical metamorphosis.
The physical and emotional transformations that the abhuman state enacts causes the traditional Gothic narrative to cast it as the ‘ruination of the human subject’ and, by that token, a powerful source of horror – Frankenstein’s Creature or Mr. Hyde, for instance, are presented as repugnant figures that parasitically consume and ultimately destroy their human counterparts (Hurley 1996 3). The abhuman is terrifying for the ways it is not human, rather than identifiable for the ways it is. However, in a later analysis, Hurley notes that the abhuman, if presented sympathetically, allows Gothic narratives to ‘critique the cultural norms which the monster violates’, emphasizing the human aspect of the abhuman to effect social commentary (2012 198). Penny Dreadful’s depictions of the abhuman serve the latter purpose, in order to perform “a reframing of the monster narrative…onto the feelings of the outcasts rather than the majority” that critiques normative ideas of identity, sex, and gender (Thomas).
While Vanessa and Lily carry the gender critique of the series, and Frankenstein’s Creature interrogates general notions of the outsider, Ethan-as-abhuman acts as a critique of heteronormative (traditionally “manly”) conceptions of masculinity and patrilineal inheritance, which have been present in the Gothic since its inception (Brinks 11). Brinks raises the intriguing question: “if a male subject can be inhabited, displaced, or self-alienated, even temporarily, by uncanny forces that unleash, precipitate, or coincide with effeminzing effects, in what sense does he possess a masculine identity?” (12) This query is directly applicable to Ethan: his abhuman identity displaces and transforms the masculine identities he embodies as cowboy and Romantic hero. This liminal identity and its accompanying physiological metamorphosis causes Ethan to lose his ‘“volition” and rationality, qualities which are traditionally the special prerogative of the masculine subject”; Ethan-as-werewolf is “Thing” rather than man, “a mere body without self-identity or violition” beyond carnal desire, making him (by Victorian standards, at least) an “imperfect” or feminized male subject – a fact John Logan and actor Josh Hartnett confirm in a public interview, where Ethan’s lycanthropy was metaphorically linked to the menstrual cycle and described as being rooted in “emotional” (i.e. feminine) rather than physical (masculine) power (Hurley 1996 144-5; Wightman). This metaphoric conflation solidifies Ethan-as-abhuman as an example of ‘failed’ Gothic masculinity, which is explored in various ways through the series’ interwoven narrative strands (Brinks 11-2; Hurley 1996 144-5).
Throughout the first season, as the audience is given hints to Ethan’s abhuman identity, they coincide with moments where he embodies non-traditional (i.e. emotionally-driven and community-oriented) masculinity: Ethan first demonstrates his power through preternatural communion with a pack of wolves at London Zoo; later, his repressed memories of his lycanthropy prompt a homosexual encounter with Dorian Gray; most tellingly, his ‘official’ revelation as a werewolf in the first season finale is rooted in his grief for a lost loved one ( 1.03, “Resurrection”, 1.04, “Demimonde”, 1.08, “Grand Guignol”). This coincidence continues throughout the second season as Ethan’s lycanthropy becomes more apparent. Rather than a physical protector, he acts as an emotional support to Vanessa, and is emasculated by her when confronting the supernatural threats of that season: it is Vanessa’s knowledge of the Verbis Diablo and its occult power that enables her to drive away witches, enact revenge on Sir Geoffrey Hawkes, and ultimately overcome Evelyn Poole, the season’s antagonist ( 2.01, “Fresh Hell”, 2.07, “Little Scorpion”, 2.10, “And They Were Enemies”). In all of these instances, Ethan’s abhuman power is ancillary to Vanessa’s own abhuman state, and the associated ‘inappropriately aggressive femininity [that requires] as object an effeminized version of masculinity’ to offset it, which Ethan (and arguably, most of the male cast) provides (Hurley 1996 143).
Ethan’s seemingly inverted masculinity enables the series to portray social fears of individual or social degeneration evident in fin-de-siècle Gothic texts, which reviewers claim is echoed in contemporary Gothic media’s preoccupation with notions of monstrous identity and gendered domestic insecurity (Sarner; Buzzwell; Valentine). The werewolf figures as a key symbol that both the Victorian and contemporary Gothics use to negotiate these concerns, and understanding how this symbolism (especially surrounding gender) has persisted and altered from the Victorian to the contemporary Gothic will help formalise Ethan’s situation as part of Penny Dreadful’s gender commentary.
Victorian depictions of the werewolf, and more generally of the abhuman/monstrous body, were based around a process of “identity formation by negative definition” that involved juxtaposing the Anglo middle-class male (the de facto Victorian example of a ‘stable’ human identity) against an abhuman other, in a process that foreshadowed Kristeva’s theories of abjection (Coudray 2; Hurley 1996; Kristeva). The Victorian werewolf, as an extension of the abhuman, symbolized a ‘process of degeneration as imprinted in the psyche, and seeping outward to become imprinted on the body’, disrupting a stable self/Other binary through the hybridizing of human and animal, gradually giving rise to the figure of the bipedal wolf-man that Ethan becomes in Penny Dreadful (Coudray 12-4). The abhuman is a fundamentally changeling representation of its audience’s conception of the Other – sexual, national or otherwise; consequently, Victorian depictions of the werewolf operated fairly equally as a male or female archetype, as the werewolf’s metaphoric purpose was to act as a signifier of general difference, transgressive gender performance, or moral and physical disintegration (Six and Thompson 238-9; Coudray 6, 10, 12-4). Examining Ethan-as-werewolf in this light situates him as a “failed” or transgressive instance of the Victorian masculine figure, in keeping with Penny Dreadful’s textual roots, yet this reading is complicated when we overlay contemporary conceptions of the werewolf archetype onto this analysis. While the contemporary werewolf shares broad metaphoric similarities with its Victorian predecessor, humanised portrayals of lycanthropy in media such as Twilight (although this trend extends to the early 1990s, if not earlier) have re-symbolised and increasingly gendered the werewolf archetype. Contemporary depictions of lycanthropy portray it as almost exclusively masculine – to the point that female werewolves are “rare or aberrant” – and heterosexual: the werewolf’s abhumanity is now linked to “male aggression and [the] uncontrolled, unprovoked violence” that lies beneath masculine interaction and the male identity, with the wolf a pseudo-Jungian Shadow that must be dominated by the human male (McMahon-Coleman and Weaver 41-4). Alternatively, the contemporary werewolf acts as allegory for heterosexual adolescence: the (typically male) protagonist in a werewolf narrative is forced to “grow up” and achieve social, sexual, and/or emotional success through displays of supernatural dominance and self-determination, which has most recently been depicted in MTV’s adaptation of Teen Wolf (Pappademas; Schell 112-15).
With this reading in mind, Ethan-as-werewolf should re-align with the heteronormative masculinity implicit in the cowboy or Romantic hero archetypes he performs, yet as a werewolf/abhuman, Ethan is presented as an in- or subverted masculinity more in keeping with Victorian conceptions of the abhuman. Thus, Logan situates Ethan’s character as a deliberate critique of Victorian heteronormative masculinity, using the series’ historical setting and characterization to provide “a cultural criticism of the nineteenth century from the perspective of the twenty-first,” a relatively traditional means of discourse in historical fantasy that is more interesting for the ways that it in turn reflects upon twenty-first century conceptions of masculinity (Poore 73). The moments of inverted or “failed” masculinity that reveal Ethan’s lycanthropy in the first season should not be read as failings but rather as representations that develop an alternate, and arguably healthier, masculine identity, which in turn re-symbolises his abhuman shapeshifting as an opportunity “to step beyond or resist more stereotypical or traditional depictions of male-female roles [and] inhabit a new space” (McMahon-Coleman and Weaver 41). Ethan’s encounter with the wolf pack presents an idea of masculinity rooted in the fraternal and communal rather than ideas of individual dominance; his encounter with Dorian re-symbolises Penny Dreadful’s imagining of the werewolf as a metaphor for sexual fluidity, capable of expressing tenderness and intimacy as much as violence and aggression.
These transformative moments mean that by the time Ethan’s abhuman nature is fully realized at the end of the first season, John Logan was able to re-symbolise Ethan-as-werewolf as a masculine symbol–yes–but as a symbol of protectiveness, loyalty, and empathy, rather than a narrow caricature of violent dominance. Ethan-as-abhuman is not made less masculine by his abhumanity, but rather uses it throughout the series as a source of strength to overcome the demons that plague him, be that supernaturally or emotionally. Part of this re-symbolisation arises from Penny Dreadful’s relationship with its source material – its generic rather than specific relation to its precursor texts means that Gothic archetypes such as the werewolf can be examined from an alternate perspective. It is worth noting, that at least in Ethan’s case, the word ‘werewolf’ is never used to describe him in-narrative: his lycanthropic state is either described as “the wolf,” or more specifically as Lupus Dei (lit. “Wolf of God”) – a supernatural protector, whose identity in Penny Dreadful’s narrative cosmology is built around the altered masculine ideology Ethan-as-werewolf espouses ( “Fresh Hell”, 2.07, “Little Scorpion”, 2.09, “And Hell Itself My Only Foe”). This process is key to understanding Penny Dreadful’s success in transforming the Gothic: it re-creates its predecessors in a way that destabilizes the preconceptions and ideologies attached to them. Despite presenting us seemingly familiar Gothic characters in a familiarly Gothic space, Penny Dreadful, rather than retreading a well-worn path, disrupts and re-shapes his ‘bespoke’ characters in a way that forces audiences to re-examine them and their relationships to their predecessors, and give some thought to what exactly is so ‘monstrous’ about these terrifying figures.
Aronson, Amy, and Michael Kimmel. Men and Masculinities: A Social, Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO Inc., 2004.
Bloom, Harold. The Anatomy of Influence – Literature as a Way of Life. Yale University Press, 2011.
Brinks, Ellen. Gothic Masculinity: Effemincacy and the Supernatural in English and German Romanticism. Bucknell University Press, 2003.
Buzzwell, Greg. “Gothic Fiction in the Victorian Fin De Siècle: Mutating Bodies and Disturbed Minds.” Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians. 2014. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gothic-fiction-in-the-victorian-fin-de-siecle
Coudray, Chantal Bourgault du. “Upright Citizens on All Fours: Nineteenth-Century Identity and the Image of the Werewolf.” Nineteenth-Century Contexts vol. 24 no. 1, 2002, pp. 1-16.
Crow, David. “Penny Dreadful: A Twisted Reflection of the Dracula Story.” Den of Geek 31 October 2014. http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/penny-dreadful/236850/penny-dreadful-a-twisted-reflection-of-the-dracula-story
Gosling, Sharon, and John Logan. The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful. Titan Books, 2015.
Hurley, Kelly. “British Gothic Fiction, 1885-1930.” The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Edited by Jerrold E. Hogle, Cambridge University Press, 2012. pp. 189-207.
—. The Gothic Body – Sexuality, Materialism and Degeneration at the Victorian Fin-De-Siècle. Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.
Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Translated by Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press, 1982. Print.
Logan, John. “Inside Penny Dreadful.” 10 May 2014. Web.
—.Penny Dreadful. Television program. Showtime, United States, 2014-2016.
—. “Penny Dreadful: A New Narrative.” March 17th 2014. http://www.sho.com/video/30671/inside-penny-dreadful
Luckhurst, Roger. “Introduction.” Dracula. By Bram Stoker. Oxford University Press, 2011. pp. vii-xxxii.
McMahon-Coleman, Kimberley, and Roslyn Weaver. “Wolf Boys and Wolf Girls: Shapeshifting and Gender Politics.” Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture: A Thematic Analysis of Recent Depictions. McFarland & Company Inc., 2012. pp. 41-67.
Pappademas, Alex. “We Are All Teenage Werewolves.” The New York Times20 May 2011. ww.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/magazine/we-are-all-teenage-werewolves.html
Poore, Benjamin. “The Transformed Beast: Penny Dreadful, Adaptation, and the Gothic.” Victorianographies vol 6 no. 1, 2016, pp. 62-81.
Russ, Joanna. “The Wearing out of Genre Materials.” College English vol. 33 no. 1, 1971, pp. 46-54.
Sarner, Lauren. “Why Is the Gothic Having a Comeback Right Now?” Inverse 2015. https://www.inverse.com/article/6795-why-is-the-gothic-having-a-comeback-right-now
Schell, Heather. “The Big Bad Wolf: Masculinity and Genetics in Popular Culture.” Literature and Medicine vol 26 no. 1, 2007, pp. 109-25.
Sinha-Roy, Piya. “Actor Hartnett Takes on Mystery and Monsters in ‘Penny Dreadful’.” Reuters 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-television-pennydreadful-idUSKBN0DR0PO20140511
Six, Abigail Lee, and Hannah Thompson. “From Hideous to Hedonist: The Changing Face of the Nineteenth-Century Monster.” The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Edited by Mittman, Asa Simon and Peter J. Dendle, Ashgate Publishing, 2012. pp. 237-56.
Slayton, Nicholas. “How Penny Dreadful Reanimated the Gothic-Horror Genre.” The Atlantic 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/a-good-fright-is-hard-to-find/373597/
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Thomas, June. “’The Thing That Made Me Monstrous to Some People Is Also the Thing That Empowered Me’.” Slate 2014. http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/05/09/penny_dreadful_s_john_logan_why_a_gay_writer_feels_a_kinship_with_frankenstein.html
Valentine, Genevieve. “10 Reasons You Need to Be Watching Penny Dreadful.” io9 2014. http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-reasons-you-need-to-be-watching-penny-dreadful-1585906220?IR=T
Wightman, Catriona. “Penny Dreadful’s Comic-Con 2014 Panel: As It Happened.” Digital Spy 2014. http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a586320/penny-dreadfuls-comic-con-2014-panel-as-it-happened/.
Bio: Tobias Locke (b. 1995) is a current doctoral candidate at Griffith University’s School of Humanities, specializing in contemporary and Neo-Victorian Gothic fiction. He blames Penny Dreadful for this, and looks forward to enacting revenge by writing extensively about it. This is his first publication.
The Contaminant Cobweb: Complex Characters and Monstrous Mashups
~ Anita Nell Bech Albertsen
Abstract: This article maps out character complexity in Penny Dreadful by focusing on the intertextuality of monstrous female characters. The aim of this study is twofold. First, it seeks to examine show how mashup characters gain complexity through textual contamination as they are woven into an intertextual cobweb of signification. Secondly, it aims at examining how monstrous characters like Vanessa Ives can be conceived as mashups contaminated by different manifestations of the monstrous-feminine as coined by Barbara Creed. An overarching hypothesis of this study is that interfigural strategies contribute to character complexity of traditional female monsters usually seen in televisual horror-drama.
In the televisual landscape, a horror-drama TV hybrid has emerged in recent years – a sub-genre that stretches from Scream Queens (2015), Hannibal (2013-15), American Horror Story (2011-) to Fear The Walking Dead (2015-) among others. Period horror-drama Penny Dreadful (2014-16) has also contributed to this wave of New Gothic television. Set in the late Victorian era, it makes space for many strong and complex female characters who challenge the traditional Victorian male perception of women and the codes of morality.
By focusing on the intertextuality of (morally) complex female characters, this article – in dialogue with David Greetham’s The Pleasures of Contamination (2010) Brian Richardson’s work on transtextual characters (2010), and Barbara Creed’s well-known book The Monstrous-Feminine (1993) –will examine how characters like Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) can be conceived as mashups “contaminated” by different manifestations of the monstrous-feminine. Penny Dreadful’s mashup characters are woven from an intertextual cobweb which deepens the complexity of horror’s traditional female monsters. This article’s theoretical take on how characters gain complexity and depth through textual contamination draws on a range of well-known media and literary theories, such as Creed’s study and Wolfgang G. Müller’s literature-based theory in “Interfigurality – A Study on the Interdependence of Literary Figures” (1991), to capture new developments in recent horror television, focusing on monstrosity and character complexity and transtextual or mashup characters.
By mapping out character complexity in Penny Dreadful, this article aims to show how hybrid female monsters can be conceived as a locus for an ongoing negotiation of gender in horror, a site where stereotypical gender roles are transgressed and modified, then fed back into the circulation of social patterns. This argument thus challenges the classical conception that female monsters, such as the witch (Vanessa Ives), are entirely monstrous by claiming that supernatural female characters have emerged in contemporary horror which incorporate contradictory traits, such as being powerful yet vulnerable, empowered yet sexualized, possessing magical powers, yet suffering all-too-human doubts.
Using the monstrous-feminine as impetus, Penny Dreadful showcases some of the most complex (and conflicted) female characters in contemporary screen horror-drama, transgressing against more traditional and stereotypical performance of femininity through monstrous figures like protagonist Vanessa Ives and also Hecate Poole (Sarah Greene) and Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper). Although embodying female empowerment, they are also conflicted figures of pain struggling with (sometimes literal) inner demons of which Vanessa Ives reminds us by saying “The devil is in all of us. That’s what makes us human.” Thereby she pinpoints a feature shared by many monstrous creatures, such as the witch, in contemporary horror: the embedded humanity and ambiguity within the monster itself.
A Contaminant Cobweb of Gothic Stories
Penny Dreadful can be best described as literary mashup, as it embraces heterogeneous cultural and literary sources by merging nineteenth century high and low culture and weaves several mythical literary characters known from the late Victorian era into a new narrative patchwork, evolving and mutating material to fit new times. Thus Penny Dreadful breathes life into a genre – the fantastic – which according Tzvetan Todorov has been bled dry by modern age and in particular by the rise of Freudian psychoanalysis. The series does so by transforming classic texts through the employment of epigonic postmodern storytelling techniques like genre blending and diverse intertextual strategies including the adaptation practice termed ‘contamination.’ According to David Greetham’s The Pleasures of Contamination (2010) this practice occurs when “one mode of discourse . . . leaks into or infects another, so that we experience both at the same time” (1). In Penny Dreadful, creator John Logan demonstrates the practice of intertextual contamination – both at a thematic, an ideological and a narrative structural level – where several narrative elements and famous characters from nineteenth century novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) are blended together and through which these myths of gothic fiction ‘contaminate’ each other and the series itself. To further complicate this reading of adaptive and intertextual processes, these Victorian novels are themselves imitations and adaptations. (See Rikke Schubart’s and Toby Locke’s discussions of adaptation elsewhere in this issue).
Such epigonic techniques applied by Penny Dreadful transgress the textual and generic boundaries of the series by combining elements and characteristic traits of several text-types into a woven web of signification. In the opening credits, this method of intertextuality and hybridity appears to be represented by the image of a spider spinning a web. A similar method also serves as an underlying principle when language creator David J. Peterson constructs the artificial language Verbis Diablo for the series, the “devils tongue” spoken by anyone touched by the Devil. This language is not original, but a pastiche made up of several languages (Arabic, Middle Egyptian, Attic Greek, Latin, Farsi etc.). Peterson combined grammar as well as pieces of multiple words from many different languages in order to produce new ones, including portmanteau words,[1] through a process of linguistic and semantic blending.
Penny Dreadful makes numerous references to British literature (William Shakespeare, John Clare, William Blake, William Wordsworth among others)[2] and also to horrific popular culture, of the nineteenth Century (Putney’s Family Waxworks – a gruesome version of Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Grand Guignol’s naturalistic horror theatre, press sensationalism, Victorian snuff theatre shows, spiritualist séances). Numerous intertextual references are rattling around inside the series’ storylines, their meaning shaped by strategies of quotation, plagiarism, pastiche, and allusion, all of which create an interrelationship between texts, adding layers of depth to Penny Dreadful and its characters by drawing on the viewers’ prior cultural knowledge.
Through its title and its imitations, plagiarism, and adaptation of popular texts and culture, the television series lives up to the reputation of the penny dreadfuls in the nineteenth-century. This publishing phenomenon was popular serial literature printed at a low cost and this literature was designed to shock and awe a mass audience by focusing on the sensational, adventure, horror, crime, and the supernatural. These genres also merge together into one hybrid form in Logan’s television series, creating a new work that appeals to (post)modern audiences with lurid tales of crime, transgressive sexuality, and the supernatural.
On an ideological level, Penny Dreadful furthermore adapts a multitude of ideas by synthesizing Christian theology, elements from Egyptian mythology, and nineteenth century spiritualism and imperialism. This remixing of ideas reflects postmodernism and the perspective that our traditions and their cultural content can be reimagined by taking material and merging it into a new original creation. In that sense, the series is a playful game of layering meaning into a contaminant cobweb of signification.
Postmodern Monster Mashup – Lucifer did not Fall Alone
In Penny Dreadful diverse characters from different literary works and traditions are brought together in a new fictional context and in this new constellation of characters each of them are changed. If re-used characters from several pre-texts are considered as organic parts of the subsequent narrative, the perception of them necessarily changes as the narrative itself generates change. Simultaneously, the mashup impregnates the original texts with meaning blurring the line between original creation and adapted material. By this mode of signification Penny Dreadful aligns with postmodernism in particular through its promiscuity and playful blending, also its collapse of the distinction between high art and mass/popular culture.
The only characters who are Logan’s own creation and don’t obviously originate directly from source texts are Ethan Chandler and protagonist Vanessa Ives (although articles elsewhere in this issue, by Locke, Amanda Howell and Lucy Baker offer insights into the literary origins of both). Throughout all three seasons of the series the main plotline focuses on Vanessa’s inner battle between faith versus religious despair as she wrestles with her inner demons – literally, as Lucifer (so it appears for two seasons) is haunting her and desires her as his bride. He believes she is the reincarnation of the mother of all evil, the Egyptian primordial goddess Amunet (meaning ‘the female hidden one’), the consort of the god Amun-Ra (a.k.a. the Dragon, Dracula and Dr. Alexander Sweet), who, if conjoined together, will plunge the world into eternal darkness. A number of subplots are interwoven into this main storyline about Vanessa’s battle and each subplot is related to different antagonists in each season of Penny Dreadful. In the first season the antagonist is a master vampire with different nests of vampires, and in the second season the series brings a villainous antagonist, the witch Evelyn Poole and her coven, the nightcomers. Nonetheless, the primary antagonist that seem to go throughout all three seasons is finally revealed in the third, at first disguised in human form as zoologist and director at the London Natural History Museum, Dr. Alexander Sweet, who befriends Vanessa in an attempt to manipulate her and in the end: seduce her. However, his true nature as Dracula is exposed in “Predators Far and Near” (3.02).
Logan reimagines and develops Bram Stoker’s original character as the brother of Lucifer expelled from Heaven, a fallen angel in his own right – contributing to a complex cosmology that blends a great deal of mythological source material – Egyptian and Christian mythologies interwoven with classical gothic elements. Within the storyworld of Penny Dreadful this cosmology is presented through, among other things, The Verbis Diablo, used on eleventh century relics inscribed by Brother Gregory– what Mr. Lyle refers to as “the memoirs of the Devil” (2.04). By deciphering the satanic memoirs the group led by Malcolm Murray learns that while Lucifer is a demon of spiritual essence who feeds on the souls of the dead in Hell, his brother Dracula is by contrast a demon of the flesh who fell to Earth, where he was cursed to feed on the blood of the living by night. As eternal rivals for ascension to the heavenly throne, they both quest for Vanessa in her incarnation as the mother of all evil. A prophecy says she is needed in order to complete the apocalypse where both are released from their bondage allowing them to reconquer Heaven: “And so will the Darkness reign on Earth, in Heaven, everlasting. And so comes the Apocalypse” (2.08).
For two seasons viewers were under the impression that Lucifer was the only one vying for Vanessa’s soul, but in the final season Vanessa is courted by Dracula from outside, while continuing to be haunted by Lucifer within. What’s particularly fascinating about this supernatural merged Dracula-Amun-Ra-demon-character is that a higher level of ambiguity and humanity is embedded within him than is usually seen in horror. For example, he wants Vanessa to reciprocate his romantic feelings. He is truly in love with her. Adding to his humanity, he is extremely powerful, yet he is not all powerful because he needs Vanessa to complete his masterplan and he has been patiently waiting 2000 years for this plan to be fulfilled. Although he is a mashup character from traditional figures of relatively uncomplicated evil such as Dracula and the Devil, Dr. Sweet, as indicated by his name, is a more morally ambiguous character, one who deconstructs the boundaries between monstrous and human, between supernatural and mundane.
When disparate characters are blended and new creations (mashups) arise, the original characters interpenetrate one another so that audience recognizes and experiences each of them simultaneously. They are furthermore contaminated by a history of adaptations in literature, film and television that have transformed figures like Dracula over time and turned them into vehicles of cultural transmission. Paradoxically, mashup characters also trigger the opposite effect of familiarity – that is alienation – when original characters are re-introduced in an unfamiliar (merged) way that deviates from conventionalized representations. In other words, despite being shaped by intertextual strategies such as appropriation, mashup characters also create originality through deviation or what Russian Formalist Victor Shklovsky calls defamiliarization.[3] This aesthetic effect he defines as art’s capacity to de-automatize habit and convention by investing the familiar with strangeness in order to revitalize that which has become too familiar. Similarly, mashup characters are forcing audience to see mythical figures from a different and more complex perspective.
In all three seasons of Penny Dreadful monstrosity is a theme closely interwoven with motifs like doubt, repression, guilt, transgressive sexual desires, and not the least, with the confluence of good and evil that runs through the veins of many characters. This makes it postmodern in that sense that it stresses the equalization and levelling out the symbolic hierarchy between good and evil. Instead, as the episode title “Good and Evil Braided Be” (3.03) suggests, each character is simultaneously good and evil. This is what– among other things –makes characters in Penny Dreadful complex and morally ambiguous.
Lucifer (light bringer) and Lupus Dei (the wolf of God) are the most prominent traditional figures of ambiguity depicted in the series. Whereas Lucifer is a fallen angel (of light) expelled from Heaven and cast down to Earth, Lupus Dei brings about good by means of evil acts. As suggested by Ethan Chandler himself “We have claws for a reason” (2.07) indicating that there might be a higher (godly) purpose to his monstrous acts and nature. This is confirmed by The Verbis Diablo relics where “the Wolf of God” is mentioned as a long-fated protector of Vanessa and as such he turns out to be the key player in the battle against Lucifer and Dracula for her soul.[4]
Dark Shadows and Human Complexity
Penny Dreadful’s thematic structure is characterized by a sort of confluent duality which is formulated in the second season teaser by each character in turn declaring that “There is no light without darkness. No courage without fear. No pleasure without pain. No salvation without sin. No life without death.” In other words, each character in the ensemble, assisting the adventurer Malcolm Murray in the search for his missing daughter Mina, is characterized by conjoined concepts: light-darkness (Vanessa Ives), courage-fear (Ethan Chandler), pleasure-pain (Dorian Gray), salvation-sin (Malcolm Murray) and life-death (Victor Frankenstein); accordingly, they depict ambiguous personality traits. Not only does this dualism resonate deeply with the Victorian idea of man’s dual nature – i.e. his sinister alter ego – but also with the debates of that time about the plurality of human consciousness and moral behavior, because moral concerns received special attention in the Victorian era as a consequence of people losing their religious beliefs.
The dichotomy between good and evil, light and darkness, is integral to Vanessa’s character. Simultaneously she is a practitioner of Catholicism, skepticism and pagan witchcraft: her catholic rituals often cross the line into other spiritual practices like clairvoyance and witchcraft; while she is praying she both makes the sign of the cross and draws her protective talisman, a scorpion, with her own blood, an allusion to Egyptian mythology. Much of the series has been devoted to the tension between Vanessa and her faith and eventually by the end of second season, her loss of faith – which is the ultimate consequence of her suffering in God’s absence. Vanessa’s psychological dilemma seems to capture the zeitgeist of the fin de siècle at the threshold to the modern era, which is the transformation and dissolution of theology into anthropology.[5] In a state of religious despair Vanessa frequently seeks out her friend John Clare (Rory Kinnear) alias The Creature, whom she meets as they volunteer together in the cholera dungeon, for comforting debates on theology and poetry as they tend to the afflicted. He, on the other hand, seems to impersonate modernity and the rise of the new man emancipated from the chains of religion, because – as he explains Vanessa in “Verbis Diablo” (2.02) – “I believe in this world and those creatures that fill it. That has always been enough for me. Look around you. Sacred mysteries at every turn.” He presents a critique of religion that echoes the thoughts of German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach from Das Wesen des Christentums (1841), where he emphasizes that religion deprives man of temporal life by promising him eternal life and by teaching him to trust in God’s help it takes away man’s trust in his own powers. In other words, truth is considered profane according to John Clare. When asked if he truly doesn’t believe in heaven, John Clare answers by quoting four lines from William Blake’s poem Auguries of Innocence (1863) “To see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, / Hold Infinity in the palm of your Hand / And Eternity in an Hour.” In other words, by celebrating the worldly and profane instead of eternity John Claire has no fear of hellfire as most Christians. He and other pagans “can be who they are, good or ill as their nature dictates. We have no fear of God, so we are accountable to no one but each other” (2.02). Thereby he unfolds secularism and anthropology as moral narratives of modernity, according to which the creature of modernity knows itself to be the true agent of its actions, in contrast to people of the Victorian era who displace their own agency onto gods, demons, and so forth.
Intertextually contaminated by late Victorian literature and its exploration into the duality of human mind and into mankind’s choice to do moral and immoral acts, the series Penny Dreadful dwells on the shadow side of the human psyche associated with evil, repression, and demonization of the other self, i.e. the doppelgänger. Thus, on a thematic level, Penny Dreadful owes a lot to Stevenson’s portrayal of Dr. Jekyll’s struggle between his dual personalities of the honorable Henry Jekyll and his evil double Edward Hyde in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In contrast to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Stevenson’s monster is not created by stitched-together body parts, but rather emerges from the dark side of the human personality – a sinister alter ego. This thematic resemblance between Stevenson’s work and Penny Dreadful is intertextually hinted by quotation in third season’s character-driven flashback episode “A Blade of Grass” (3.04) where the caring orderly (The Creature before his transformation) at the Banning asylum reads Stevenson’s poem for children “My Shadow” (1885) to Vanessa, while she is institutionalized, and shadows of beasts appear on the wall of her padded cell when she wrestles with her demons. Appropriately enough, Stevenson’s poem is about the dual nature of man – not unlike Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which takes duality of man even further by literally splitting the consciousness of Dr. Jekyll into two: a decent side suppressing desires that runs contrary to the restraints of society and an amoral side that seeks to gratify instincts. In Penny Dreadful and in Stevenson’s book the exploration of the idea of duality and its metaphor of light and dark is also a commentary on the duality of British society in the Victorian era. Even London itself has a dual nature in Penny Dreadful with its respectable streets side-by-side with crooked alleys and sinister areas. with blood-splattered theaters and underground private clubs where aristocratic gentlemen indulge in criminal behaviour (illegal dog fights) and macabre sexual proclivities such as snuff theatre shows.
Women of Complexity
In the course of the eighteenth century the concept of individuality in characterization in literature gained central importance and consequently character types were rejected as non-realistic, at least in high culture. Since then, the construction of character complexity through increased humanization and enrichment has been an ideal to strive for. This ideal is also emphasized by narrative theory, for example in Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan’s Narrative Fiction , where she proposes three axes to categorize literary characters in terms of the story: “complexity [one or more character traits], development [static vs. dynamic], penetration into the ‘inner life’ [the availability and details of mental life information]” (Rimmon-Kenan 41). Since interiority in visual media is a restricted area of access, viewers must use their cognitive mind-reading ability to infer characters’ beliefs and morality on basis of exterior clues including appearance, utterances, behavior and how other characters act towards and talk to them. Individual characters are given psychological depth, individuality, and complexity “mostly through (often conflict-laden) interaction with other characters. As spectators, we observe their behavior, errors, and twists and turns” (Trohler 468). The ideal of a representation of individuality can thus be approached by using a constellation of traits that “stands in apparent contrast to each other, or of which some are surprising to find in combination with the others” (Eder et al. 39).
This also applies to the style of characterization of Penny Dreadful. Vanessa Ives is contradictory in so many ways. She seems more terrified of happiness, conformity and normality – which she initially strives for – than of the darkness and its creatures haunting her. Eventually she rejects normality in the second season episode “And They Were Enemies” when confronted with Evelyn Poole’s Vanessa-fetish-doll possessed by the Devil (2.10). Through this demonized (hence distorted and fraudulent) self-image, the Devil asks Vanessa to face herself. He tempts her with a deep longing of hers by showing her the conventional life she could have – one that involves marrying Ethan and having adorable children – in exchange for her soul when she dies of old age. Already having given up on the possibility of being normal, Vanessa out-duels her look-alike doll by asking it: “You offer me a normal life. Why do you think I want that anymore? I know what I am. Do you?” and while chanting in verbis diablo she finishes the doll off by cracking its face open while saying “Beloved. Know your master!” (2.10). Thereby she releases the scorpions within the doll, her true nature, realizing what her struggle will be: to come to terms with the darkness in her.
In regards to characterization, one of the most captivating things about Penny Dreadful is how patiently it deepens the complexity of its characters by grounding them psychologically through flashback episodes. They provide a swift summary in which prior happenings leading up to the current point in story are recounted in order to fill in crucial backstory of its protagonist whose inward development is of crucial importance. As far as Vanessa Ives goes, her character is complex, meaning she is complicated and contradictory in so many ways. She has a variety of ambiguous and multiple traits to her personality – that undergoes important changes as the plot of the series unfolds. However, the various characters in Penny Dreadful are not grasped as having the same ‘degree of fullness,’ as E.M. Forster already recognized in Aspects of the Novel from 1927 with his distinction between flat and round characters. Considering how Rimmon-Kenan defines the character as a “network of character-traits” (Rimmon-Kenan 59) a round character’s complexity and psychological depth can be achieved by implementing several paradoxical attributes to it. Paradoxicality is what Evelyn Poole is lacking as character and therefore she is not grasped as having the same degree of fullness or psychological depth as Vanessa, Lily and John Clare/The Creature. This quote from Forster also supports the importance of complex characters acting in ways that challenge viewers’ expectations “The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. If it never surprises, it is flat. If it does not convince, it is flat pretending to be round” (Forster 231) In Forster’s conception, round characters cannot be summed up in a single phrase, as they are highly developed and complex, meaning they show a full range of emotions and have a variety of traits and different sides to their personalities that may create conflict in their character. In contrast, flat characters are schematically reduced and immediately recognizable on account of some few distinct traits. They are constructed around a single idea or quality and therefore identical with caricatures, types, and stereotypes.
As character Vanessa is highly developed, dynamic, and complex, capable of unexpected and surprising behavior as demonstrated in the two-part finale of Season Three, including episodes 8 and 9: “Perpetual Night” and “The Blessed Dark.” Many viewers and critics were surprised by Vanessa’s choice of embracing perpetual darkness in the form of Dracula, and they were struck by disbelief about her eventually choosing death rather than the Apocalypse. However, those viewers seem to have ignored Vanessa’s previous choices to consciously act evil – for instance by seducing her best friend’s fiancé on the evening before their wedding in “Closer Than Sisters” (1.05) and later by chanting a spell from Joan Clayton’s book Verbis Diablo to have Sir Geoffrey’s dogs kill him in retaliation for his burning of Clayton. In other words, not unlike other characters in Penny Dreadful, Vanessa is both good and evil, and she makes a choice in second season to abandon her faith in God, and later in third season to embrace her dark destiny as well as her evil nature. After abandoning her faith, Vanessa experiences like many other characters in Penny Dreadful the downside of modernity as described by existentialism – that is, the loneliness which is an unavoidable condition of humanity in a world without God. “So we walk alone” (2.10), Ethan declares in his letter to Vanessa, emphasizing that loneliness is the only villain that nobody can defeat in the series’ storyworld.
Plots can be operationalized as story events that make it difficult to predict how a protagonist will behave, but Vanessa’s inner conflict between good and evil place viewers in a position of predicting how she might choose to act. Her unexpected and surprising behavior prompts viewers to reconcile her actions with their understanding of her basic dispositions. Considering Vanessa’s long-term inner struggle, her heart-wrecking loneliness after her loss of faith, and her longing for love and companionship, it wasn’t really such a surprise that she eventually gave in to Dracula, as this seems to be a perfectly logical emotional choice. Furthermore, death seems to be a logical conclusion for Vanessa’s moral choices – for instance in “A Blade of Grass” (3.04) where she tries to starve herself to death at the Banning’s asylum, and in “Possession” (1.07) where she asks Ethan to end her life when the moment is right.
But after all, did Vanessa give in to Dracula? When embracing him by saying she was accepting herself rather than accepting him she chose herself over him. Thus, she alone is master of her fate, and without her faith this act of choosing herself simultaneously situates every Heaven and every Hell on Earth; or, as coined by Vanessa herself in the final episode, “Fear not old prophecies. We defy them. We make our own Heaven and our own Hell.” Thereby she is – similar to the human being in modernity – condemned to her own freedom, leaving her with the decision of right and wrong. Metaphorically speaking, similar to any autonomous existence Vanessa is emancipated from the chains of religion and must thus be the governor of her moral life and face her inner darkness. And in the end, she eventually demonstrates her ambivalence about the evil inside her by using her own death to subvert her previously choice of the apocalypse and thereby saving Earth from perpetual darkness. Thus, despite being a character of repression Vanessa Ives is actually empowered throughout the series as her storyline takes shape, gradually developing her from being a tortured institutionalized deviant, unwillingly possessed by the Devil and tormented by witches into a woman who personifies female empowerment. In other words, Penny Dreadful subverts the traditional woman-in-peril storyline when Vanessa surrenders to Dracula and simultaneously declares “I accept… myself” (3.07). Thereby she finally accepts her dual nature and finds her own subjective truth: the very same thing that makes her monstrous also empowers her and makes her who she is.
Something Borrowed – Intertextual characterization
In his article “Interfigurality” (1991) Wolfgang G. Müller presents a widely applicable theory of transtextual characters showing how literary characters gain depth and resonance by sharing elements with characters in other works. Accordingly, ‘interfigurality’ refers to the intertextual fragments of characters or to intertextual markers manifesting through characters. Müller’s theory could also be used to analyze the complex characterization in visual narratives such as Penny Dreadful and the series’ pastiche-like combination of original characters from very diverse pre-texts to new creations (mashup characters). Additionally, the series is based on character combinations, where familiar figures from different pre-texts are brought together and made to interact with each other. According to Müller, the clearest type of interfigural reference is contributed by the names of characters related. Names are also the most obvious device of relating characters of several heterogeneous sources in Penny Dreadful. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Alexander Sweet, for example, is a contamination of three different mythical figures: Dracula, the Devil and the Egyptian god Amun-Ra. Now Dr. Sweet cannot be simply interpreted as an amalgamation of these three mythic figures, as Dracula is the primary model for Dr. Sweet, whereas the other two figures seem subordinate to Dracula/Dr. Sweet. Braided together with these two figures Dracula/Dr. Sweet is not only provided with backstory. Simultaneously, he is woven into a bigger mythology surrounding the Devil and Amun-Ra contributing to build up Penny Dreadful’s own fictional world and complex mythology. Such mashups of re-used characters can be considered as an extreme type of interfigurality, in Müller’s conception, which emerges “whenever a literary figure is extricated from its original fictional context and inserted into a new fictional context” (107). In other words, mashups can be considered as a deviation technique meant to undermine original figures – meaning that characters re-emerging in later works are more than just duplicates as they are “marked by a characteristic tension between similarity and dissimilarity with their models from the pre-texts” (Müller 109).
Mashup characters share several attributes, prominent traits, and large and complex story elements (such as fragments of storyworlds and environments) with diverse characters in other works. Through John Logan’s intertextual characterization, i.e. the intertextual links manifesting through blending characters, he plays with audience’s prior cultural knowledge, adding complexity and psychological depth to each of the series’ mashup characters by absorbing them “into the formal and ideological structure of his own product, putting [them] into his own uses” (Müller 107). Accordingly, a mashup character’s degree of complexity depends on it being recognized by viewers as something familiar and antecedent. In other words it should be considered as a re-used slightly distorted character where names provide clues for further interfigural links, encouraging viewers’ memory to make connections between different characters and different stories. Thus, intertextual characterization is rooted in cognitive processes of the viewer and, therefore, the mashup character is not just a bundle of traits based on different textual data. They are also mental constructions based on viewers’ knowledge and previous experiences of other texts and characters from which mashups draw much of their appeal and content.
This also applies to the monstrous dimension of Penny Dreadful‘s female characters. In Monstrous-Feminine Barbara Creed unfolds a psychological reading of female monsters and focuses her analysis on seven faces or manifestations of female monstrosity in horror films, where monstrosity is produced at the border:
… between human and inhuman, man and beast … in others the borders are between the normal and the supernatural, good and evil . . . or the monstrous is produced at the border which separates those who take up their proper gender roles from those who do not . . . or the border between normal and abnormal sexual desire (Creed 11).
Creed’s theory is formulated in reference to Julia Kristeva’s notion of abjection which refers to what threatens life and therefore “must be radically excluded” (Creed 11) – that is the distortions of the feminine created from subconscious male fears. Creed outlines such misogynist fantasies about female monstrosity – faces of female monstrosity – as the archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator. These archetypical representations of the monstrous feminine simply form a catalogue of typical horror-film iconography, and due to the reductionism of such categories they might seem rather insufficient for dealing with the complex female characters in Penny Dreadful. Acknowledging that complex characters rarely fit into firm categories as the monstrous feminine, both Vanessa and Lily are, however, essentially reminiscent of pastiche-like combinations of Creed’s seven guises of the monstrous feminine, adding an archetypical dimension and further depth to these characters. They are complex, multidimensional and have morally ambiguous character traits and therefore capable of surprising and culturally subversive behavior. Yet, they tend to be innovative variations of well-known (stereotypical) character types. Furthermore, as a merged character Vanessa is woven into an intertextual cobweb that adds layers and depth to her personality. Besides her gift of being a clairvoyant and a medium, both Evelyn Poole and the Ferdinand Lyle believe Vanessa is the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian goddess Amunet (1.02). However, given the fact that Vanessa’s sigil, the scorpion, in Egyptian mythology belongs to the Goddess of protection named Serket, originally the deification of the scorpion, Penny Dreadful takes certain liberties with Egyptian mythology by merging the lore surrounding Serket and Amunet into one character.
To further the mystery surrounding Vanessa’s character it is revealed in second season that she is also a powerful witch and if there is one monstrous role that belongs entirely to women in horror it would be that of the witch. This character is a focal point in horror and fantasy where it has been attributed stereotypical traits and thereby turned into a stock character – partly because of frequent use in popular media fictions. In many cases, stereotypical media stock characters owe their existence to few influential works, and in horror the representation of the witch consistently foregrounds her sexual nature, her supernatural powers, and her being closer to nature than men (see Rikke Schubart’s discussion of Vanessa as witch in this issue). According to Creed, the witch is defined as an abject figure in that she “sets out to unsettle boundaries between the rational and irrational, symbolic and imaginary. Her evil powers are seen as part of her ‘feminine’ nature.” (Creed 76). The complexity of Vanessa’s character is not only caused by characterization but also by her merged and interfigural nature. She is intertextually contaminated by several archetypes of female monstrosity – including “the possessed monster” and “the witch.” Thus, what characterizes the witch in Penny Dreadful is a playful subversion of key aspects of the witch trope that appears by merging it with other iconic character’s and archetypes of the monstrous-feminine – such as “the monstrous mother” and “deadly castrator” – as impersonated by Evelyn Poole, who also merges many traditional witch tropes such as “the enchantress,”“the diabolic priestess,” and “the child-hurting villain.”
Revolt of the Monstrous-Feminine
In Monstrous-Feminine Creed challenges the mythical patriarchal view that women terrify because they are castrated. Instead she argues fear of the feminine arises due to castration anxiety. Thus, as emphasized by Creed the concept of border is also essential to the construction of the characters’ monstrosity in Penny Dreadful where that which crosses or threatens to cross the border is abject – in the Kristevan sense of the word. Many female characters, including Vanessa Ives, Lily Frankenstein, Dr. Florence Seward, Joan Clayton, and Catriona Hartdegen, can be perceived as distortions of the Victorian ideal of womanhood. They all fight social restraints imposed upon them by a male-dominated society, as when Lily – after her resurrection, empowerment and vendetta against men – escapes Victor Frankenstein’s plans to domesticate her by turning her “into a proper woman” (3.07). By “proper woman” he means a tamed, obedient, and silenced woman who loves him but has no independent thoughts or impulses, basically destroying Lily and through medical treatment reducing her to a controllable thing.
In a sense, both Lily and Vanessa are victims of a male-dominated medical discourse and as characters they allude to the way deviant women were treated in the nineteenth century. The flashback episode “A Blade of Grass” (3.04) contains an embedded narrative about Vanessa’s five-month institutionalization in an insane asylum. The framing narrative takes place entirely in Dr. Florence Seward’s office, where Vanessa under hypnosis recalls her first encounter with Dracula in her padded cell where she undergoes all sorts of horrific medical practices of the nineteenth century such as isolation, hydrotherapy, lobotomy and the use of gags, strait-jackets, and forced feeding. Vanessa insists she is being tortured through these practices which the orderly calls science and Vanessa believes is meant to make her “normal, like all other women you know. Compliant. Obedient. A cog in the social machine.” What Vanessa critically calls torture is in her opinion social control of women, manifested by the asylum, over female deviance and it has stripped away her identity and purpose by refusing to see her as a subject. According to Vanessa, conformity is forced onto women who deviate from the cultural norm in terms of role, sexual orientation, demeanor, and so on.
The character Vanessa hides almost endless complexity. She seems smooth on the surface visualizing the Victorian ideal of the domestic and socially restricted woman. First of all, she embodies the ideal of submissive womanhood by being a ward under a male guardian (Sir Malcolm Murray) and secondly through her Victorian clothing, such as her tight-lacing and high-necked dresses, that clearly perfects a message of willingness to conform to submissive pattern and to repress her sexuality. However, Vanessa’s inner demons lurk beneath this surface of equanimity and they are released every time she gives in to her true sexual nature liberating herself from social restrictions.
In the episode “Possession” (1.07) Vanessa’s recurrent episodes of demonic possession return triggered by her falling for libertine Dorian Gray, which unleashes her dark side during sex with him. By constantly drawing connections between feminine desire, sexuality, aberrant feminine behavior, bodily vulnerability, and abjection this episode aligns with one of the archetypical representations of the monstrous feminine as coined by Creed, that is, woman as possessed monster. This episode’s portrayal of Vanessa as a possession victim belongs to the lineage of dual personality horror figures and it owes a lot to The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973). Both as demonic possessed and as medium Vanessa is regularly invaded by another personality which according to Creed is abject as the “boundary between self and other has been transgressed” (ibid.). In her states of possession Vanessa is aggressive and violent, has supernatural strength, and is capable of telekinesis and levitation. She speaks with a hoarsely mocking, guttural, and malicious voice, crawls around like an animal, leaps up onto the ceiling and utters obscenities. She also directs her rage at the most taboo sexual desires of men, for example when she asks Malcolm about pornographic necrophilia: “There is a brisk trade of photographs of dead woman, did you know that?” (1.07).
Despite the combined endless efforts of Malcolm, Ethan, Victor and Sembene, Vanessa is possessed for weeks. As much as this frustrates the men, Vanessa’s battle against her inner demons is hers to fight, hers alone. Therefore “Possessions” seems, in terms of gender roles, to be an exploration of female monstrosity and the inability of patriarchal order to control the woman those perversities is expressed through a rebellious body which is transformed into a playground for bodily filth – for instance her hair hangs in a greasy tangle and her skin erupts in sores. The graphic display of a rebellious body is central to the construction of the abject in “Possession,” in particular through signs of bodily excretion like spittle, blood, urine, and sweat – filth that stains Vanessa’s clothes and bedlinen. As possessed body, Vanessa is monstrous because she breaks major taboos. Thus, she is abject by disturbing the paternal symbolic which is govern by “identity, system and order” (Creed 1993 37), that serves to establish and maintain a proper self and body.
Vanessa’s recurrent episodes of possession are consistently linked to her deepest desires and sexuality – as some sort of psychosexual hysteria caused by guilt brought to the surface by unrestrained sexual activity, which is how Dr. Frankenstein interprets her possession. As revealed in the flashback episode “Closer Than Sisters,”(1.05) a major cause of Vanessa’s possessions is her mother. Vanessa becomes susceptible to evil in her early adolescence when she spies on her mother, who is fornicating with Malcolm. Rather than being repulsed by their adultery, she enjoys watching them and simultaneously an evil presence ignites within her.
Engaging with Morally Ambiguous Characters
Multifaceted narratives like Penny Dreadful are constructed to encourage viewers to empathize with morally ambiguous character, because the series’ style of characterization sets up oppositions then fades black and white into greyscale areas of morality, presenting a multifaceted vision of people and the world, which resonate with postmodern audiences and cultural norms beyond a good-and-evil dichotomy.
Vanessa Ives is an example of one of those highly individualized complex characters, “who resist abstraction and generalization, and whose motivation is not susceptible to rigid ethical interpretation” (Scholes et al. 101). When viewers respond to and evaluate morally ambiguous characters, the question of right or wrong cannot be put so easily to their actions because such characters’ behavior and/or beliefs seem to complicate viewers’ common sense concepts of good. Vanessa, for example, has a built-in tension as there is always the question whether her evil nature will be able to take over, causing her to fail her quest. Although Vanessa may behave in morally questionable ways the negative effects on viewers’ moral judgements of these characters may be diminished by character motivation. In a 2013 study “What makes Characters’ Bad Behaviors Acceptable?” Maja Krakowiak and Mina Tsay-Vogel (empirically) tested how character motivation and a story’s outcome influence how viewers’ perceive characters. Their findings suggest that many viewers may even sympathize with characters acting morally ambiguous, because “they are able to excuse these actions through the process of moral disengagement” (Krakowiak & Tsay-Vogel 180). The process of moral disengagement may be facilitated if certain cues are present in a narrative. For example, it can be easier to excuse an immoral action if the character’s motivation is altruistic rather than selfish or if the immoral act produces a positive rather than negative outcome. This also applies to Vanessa, who in the final episode makes an altruistic sacrifice so that everyone else can live.
Penny Dreadful’s Victorian period setting and female characters reflects the beginning of social changes that led to redefining gender relation questioning the foundation of paternalistic society in an attempt to consolidate women’s rights. Similar to contemporary television series such as Game of Thrones (2011-present), the series takes part of a growing trend of strong female characters revolting against social norms and masculine supremacy. Both series present some of the most compelling and interesting female characters on screen where plot and complex characters blur the line between good and evil, reflecting changing social ideas about modern women and their roles. In both television series female characters are shaped in contradictory ways by gender norms of today’s culture and contemporary mythologized ideas about the past in such a way that today’s gender roles are remade through the depiction of an inherently misogynistic past. In both series there is an underlying narrative of moral ambiguity and female empowerment that touches common ground and resonates deeply with modern audiences reflecting moral complexity as a modern human condition.
Blake, William. “Auguries of Innocence” (1863).
Cardwell, Sarah. Adaptation revisited. Manchester UP, 2002.
Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Illustrated by John Tenniel, Macmillan and Co, 1872.
Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous-Feminine. Routledge, 1993.
Eder, Jens, Fotis Jannidis, and Ralf Schneider. “Characters in Fictional Worlds: An Introduction.” Characters in Fictional Worlds: Understanding Imaginary Beings in Literature, Film, and Other Media, edited by Eder, Jens, et al., Walter de Gruyter, 2010, pp. 3-66.
Fludernik, Monika. An Introduction to Narratology. Routledge, 2009.
Forster, E.M. Aspects of the Novel and Related Writing (1927). Edward Arnold, 1974.
—. “Flat and round characters” (1927). The Theory of the Novel, edited by Philip Stevick, The Free Press, 1967, pp. 223-231.
Greetham, David. Pleasures of Contamination: Evidence, Text, and Voice in Textual Studies. Indiana University Press, 2010.
Huxley, Thomas Henry. The Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study (1886). Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
Krakowiak, Maja & Tsay-Vogel, Mina. “What Makes Characters’ Bad Behaviors Acceptable? The Effects of Character Motivation and Outcome on Perceptions, Character Liking, and Moral Disengagement.” Mass Communication and Society, vol. 16, no. 2 2013, pp. 179-199.
Mackie, J.L. “Evil and Omnipotence.” Mind, vol. 64, no. 254, pp. 200–212.
Müller, Wolgang G. “Interfigurality – A Study on the Interdependence of Literary Figures.” Intertextuality, edited by Heinrich Plett, Walter de Gruyter, 1991.
“Penny Dreadful Season 2 Warns the Devil is in All of Us.” YouTube. Posted March 31 2015. Accessed 30 March 2017.
Richardson, Brian. “Transtextual Characters.” Characters in Fictional Worlds: Understanding Imaginary Beings in Literature, Film, and Other Media, edited by Jens Eder, Fotis Jannidis, Ralf Schneider,Walter de Gruyter, 2010, pp. 527-41.
Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (1983). Routledge, 2002.
Herbert Schlossberg. Conflict and Crisis in the Religious Life of Late Victorian England (2009). Transaction Publishers, 2009.
Scholes, Robert, James Phelan, Robert Kellogg. The Nature of Narrative (1966). Oxford University Press, 2006.
Shklovsky, Viktor. “Art as Technique” (1917). Literary Theory: An Anthology, edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1998.
Todorov, Tzvetan. The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre. Cornell UP, 1975.
Trohler, Margrit. “Multiple Protagonist Films: A Transcultural Everyday Practice.” Characters in Fictional Worlds: Understanding Imaginary Beings in Literature, Film, and Other Media, edited by Jens Eder, Fotis Jannidis, Ralf Schneider,Walter de Gruyter, 2010, pp. 459-477.
Wordsworth, William. Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (1807). D. Lothrop and Co., 1884.
[1] “Portmanteau” refers to a linguistic blend of words in which multiple words – both their sounds and the meanings of its components – are combined into a new word. An example of a portmanteau word would be brunch which is a contraction of breakfast and lunch. This linguistic technique of combining words in various ways is also used in Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking-Glass (1871) where Humpty-Dumpty explains to Alice what “mimsy” means. “Mimsy” means miserable and flimsy which are packed up into one word.
[2] There are many literary references in Penny Dreadful. For example, episode “Resurrection” (1.03) opens with Victor Frankenstein contemplating on the brutality of mortality, quoting lines from Wordsworth’s poem Ode. Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (1807) referring to the way modernity (modern science) has corrupted the romantic ideal of beauty. This is hinted by Frankenstein’s creation Caliban alias the Creature when he equates himself with the age of industry asking Frankenstein: “Did you not know that’s what you were creating? The modern age? Did you really imagine that your modern creation would hold the values of Keats and Wordsworth? We are men of iron and mechanization now … were you really so naïve to imagine that we’d see eternity in a daffodil?” (1.03).
[3] Victor Shklovsky introduced this concept in his seminal essay “Art as Technique” from 1917.
[4]Being God’s creatures both Lucifer and Lupus Dei personate the problem of evil which is an argument against the existence of God. This problem is related to the traditional conception of God as all-knowing, all-good-willed, and all-powerful which implies that if God Exists then he knows how to, wants to, and is able to prevent evil and all suffering. Evil and suffering, though, are parts of the world around us and thus there is no such God. There are many different philosophical answers to this problem but none of these are entirely satisfactory alone – one of them is presented by John Mackie in “Evil and Omnipotence” (1955).
[5] A similar point has been made by Thomas Henry Huxley in his 1886 essay “The Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study” where he argued that the proper use of theology was as a subject to be studied by science within the realm of anthropology, which itself he considered a subdivision of biology. For further reading on English religion in the Victorian period, please see Herbert Schlossberg: Conflict and Crisis in the Religious Life of Late Victorian England (2009).
Bio: Anita Nell Bech Albertsen is an Associate Professor of Danish Literature at the University of Southern Denmark where she has taught courses in Danish literature, Literary theory, Media studies and Creative Writing. Her research interests include narrative theory, e.g. text world theory, anti-narration, and cognitive theory. In 2007 she was a visiting scholar at Project Narrative, Ohio State University, working under the auspices of Professor David Herman – on a PhD thesis on cognitive theory, phenomenology and anti-narration (published in Danish 2010). Her recent publications include Danish articles on televisual documentaries and narrative theory.
Mapping the Demimonde: space, place, and the narrational role of the flâneur, explorer, spiritualist medium and alienist in Penny Dreadful
~ Amanda Howell and Lucy Baker
Abstract: This paper uses the perspectives and formative obsessions of familiar figures from nineteenth century pop culture and literature—the flâneur, the explorer, the alienist and the spiritualist medium—as lenses through which to view and the means to map the interlocking narrative worlds of Penny Dreadful. Aimed at understanding how its world is shaped by remediation, by borrowing from and refashioning media of the past, it argues that the notion of the demimonde, described by Vanessa Ives as a ‘half world’ between this one and another, supernatural one, is the master metaphor of the series. Using these historical, literary, stock characters as guide and prompt, the paper surveys the series’ pervasive concern with liminality, its operational aesthetic for building an imaginary nineteenth century world in the interstices between or the collisions of the pop cultural and pop fictional texts it brings together.
mapping is a deceptively simple activity. To map is in one way or another to take the measure of a world. . . . the mappings record is not confined to the archival; it includes the remembered, the imagined, the contemplated. . . . the map is both the spatial embodiment of knowledge and a stimulus to further cognitive engagements. (Cosgrove 1-2)
Do you believe there is a demimonde, Mr. Chandler? A half world between what we know and what we fear. A place in the shadows, rarely seen but deeply felt. Do you believe that? (Vanessa Ives 1.01 “Nightwork”)
‘Penny dreadful’ is the pejorative term given to those cheap serial fictions aimed at newly literate working classes of the nineteenth century in Britain, a ‘monster audience of at least three millions’ (Collins 221), positioned despite its size on the edge of Victorian Britain’s leisure cultures. These fringe-dwelling narrative entertainments lend their name to Showtime’s British/American co-production, Penny Dreadful, while their pop fictional and pop cultural milieux, broadly conceived, inspire the premise and settings for the three-season series focused on supernatural adventure. Just as contemporary horror cinema reinvents the kinetic aesthetics and visceral pleasures of the ride and rollercoaster (Ndalianis), the horror television of Penny Dreadful is shaped by remediation, as it borrows from and refashions media of the past. In these terms, its London setting in particular resembles nothing so much as a historically-themed amusement park focused on sharing with both characters and audience the diverse novelties offered by Victorian leisure culture of which cheap serial fiction is only one, particularly evocative, example. From a Wild West display, to an evening’s séance, wax museum, gossima tennis (ping pong) parlour, underground rat-baiting club, a theatre devoted to gory spectacle, and a public lecture illustrated by magic lantern, the series surveys diversions with an emphasis on the exotic and adventurous, the thrilling and forbidden. Appropriate to this amusement park aesthetic, suggestive of a walking tour of the pop cultural past, each season’s action culminates in a violent confrontation in a haunted house: The Grand Guignol of Season One (transferred, miraculously, from Paris to London), the witches’ castle of Season Two, and the dockside lair of Dracula in Season Three.
The work of remediation does not stop here, however: despite the emphasis in Penny Dreadful on collecting and recreating the cheap (and not so cheap) thrills of Victorian popular culture as the basis of verisimilitude, particularly in its urban settings, the parameters of its stories are never bound by the physical world it creates. Characters, tropes, plots drawn from multiple sources in popular literature and popular culture are extended and interwoven in the course of the series, expanded through the memories of characters and open to further development still by knowing readers in the audience. In this respect, the term demimonde (reserved in the nineteenth century to describe the not-quite-respectable edges of high society) refers not just to the liminal social spaces of urban amusement, or even, as in Vanessa Ives’s recasting of the term, only to the dark realms of the supernatural. As a master metaphor for the spaces of Penny Dreadful the notion of the demimonde signals instead a more pervasive concern with the liminality that characterises the series’ operational aesthetic, its methods of shaping its world and its stories in the interstices between or the collisions of the pop cultural and pop fictional texts it brings together.
This paper addresses itself to some of the ways that the varied, in-between narrative spaces of Penny Dreadful are mapped for the audience, specifically by looking at how familiar figures from nineteenth century pop culture—the flâneur, the explorer, the alienist and the spiritualist medium—have shaped the series’ character network and in their distinctive perspectives helped to map its interlocking narrative worlds. The flâneur is that urban man of leisure, the strolling observer characterised by a roving eye and appetite for distraction, empowered to cross boundaries of class and station, his mobile gaze associated with the diverse pleasures and possibilities of emergent modernity; the explorer is associated with adventure in colonised worlds, crossing oceans and cultures to seek out the dangerous, exotic, and other; the medium and the alienist, despite being associated with what appear to be the diametrically-opposed fields of spiritualism and medical science, share the ability to cross or collapse boundaries of time and space, one by accessing the parallel world of spirits and the other by accessing the hidden world of unconscious memory through the ‘talking cure.’
These figures have the ability to survey spaces of and between this world and that, to take the measure of worlds both known and (collectively) imagined within genres of fantasy and crime, adventure and horror—the stuff of the penny dreadfuls themselves. We come to know the world Penny Dreadful creates primarily through characters drawn from an array of Victorian fictions, their perspectives shaping the series’ ‘spatial embodiment’ of the Victorian scene. Accordingly, the discussion to follow offers an overview of some of the ways Penny Dreadful maps for audiences an imaginary nineteenth century world shaped by its diverse source texts and the multiple perspectives of its ensemble cast.
Penny Dreadful as complex television
[T]here is comparatively little experimentation in terms of innovative spatial storytelling, so if we were to predict where another wave of narrative innovation might come, we might look to how serial storytelling plays with space. (Mittell 275)
In its multiple, interwoven narratives and narrative worlds, self-reflexive and historically-conscious Penny Dreadful is an example of what Jason Mittell calls “complex television,” exemplifying a contemporary tendency toward a “more self-conscious mode of storytelling than is typically found within conventional television narration” (41). As such, it offers a double layer of pleasures: engagement with the world of narrative fiction and engagement with the way that the narrative fiction is constructed. As a nod to its origins in formulaic pop and pulp fictions of the past, there is a quest that centralises action for each season: the search for Mina Murray/Harker (Olivia Llewellyn), daughter of Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) in the first season, the pursuit of Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) by the Devil (represented by various actors) in season two and by his brother Dracula (Christian Carmargo) in season three. These quests are echoed by sub-plots in which the Creature re-named John Clare (Rory Kinnear) and his creator Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) both seek their bride in the female monster Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper), who, like Vanessa Ives, pursues her own quest, refusing her role as narrative object of male seekers and lovers. The quest narratives of Vanessa and Lily are very different—in the grand Manichaean schemes that characterise the series’ larger story arcs, one seeks to stop the apocalypse the other to enkindle it—but both are determined to remake themselves as subjects of their own narratives (as indeed are the witch antagonists, Evelyn and Hecate).
These interwoven quests keep the serialised narrative moving forward, but the series also has what might be better described as a multi-nodal structure, owing to the way that its varied source texts are stitched together. The most obvious and best known of these are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Jules Verne’s Vingt mille lieues sous les mers /Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869), Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). These are combined with the varied contributions from gothic tales of werewolves, penny serials like James Malcolm Rymer’s and Thomas Peckett Prest’s Varney the Vampyre (1845-47), mid-nineteenth century dime Westerns, popular tales of exploration and colonisation, and folklore such as stories of “skinwalkers” held by North American First Peoples. In the way it uses and embroiders on the stories and characters of no-longer-copyrighted literary fictions, myth, and folklore, Penny Dreadful persistently reminds the audience that the public domain is not just a negative space—a space where there are authors and inventors, but no owners—but also a space of shared memory and engagement, open to adaptation, transformation, and audaciously entrepreneurial repurposing. Positioned “always in the middle, between things, interbeing” in the manner of Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome (27), Penny Dreadful functions as an intersectional text as it continues the narratives of genres and specific works that circle around each other, back and forth through time and space. We perceive, track or map them largely through those characters who serve as their representatives in Penny Dreadful, characters shaped in part by the readers’ experience, memory, perceptions of precursor texts.
These characters, remade and reworked from their originary texts, are the stuff of what Henry Jenkins, in his 2007 discussion of transmedia storytelling, describes as a type of anti-capitalist corporate folklore, each iteration adding to an ever-expanding archive created and curated over time by multiple readers and writers across diverse media. In this respect, Penny Dreadful fits the definition of what Abigail Derecho, in her theorisation of fan fiction as artistic practice, refers to as “archontic literature” (61). Relevant to the way that familiar Victorian narratives and characters are used in Penny Dreadful is Derecho’s observations concerning the way that archontic literature—the array of continuations, sequels, spinoffs, remediations, fan fictions—use the play of similitude and difference to explore “potentialities within the originary texts” (74). These ‘potentialities’ within source texts produce the series’ characteristic play of proximity and distance, the familiar and strange, in its imagining of the Victorian world—varied plateaus of understanding and engagement offering each viewer something of an individualised journey through the reimagined spaces, times, and genres. The familiar characters and tropes that are the focus of this discussion highlight the series’ use of its source texts to engage with concerns shared by its imagined Victorian world and the contemporary world of the Penny Dreadful audience: the challenges of urban modernity, family life, nationalism and colonialism, sex and gender roles.
Accordingly, in Penny Dreadful there is a diegetic emphasis on the work of interpretation and reading and mapping that mirrors the extra-diegetic activity required of the audience, as each character carries or pursues his or her story from the past, reflecting and bidding viewers to reflect on how it might be utilised in the present and perhaps reconfigured in the future. For instance, the once marginal literary figure, the bride of Frankenstein’s monster, moves from the fringes of literature to the centre of the Penny Dreadful world, both remembered and re-membered. Then there is the narrative trajectory of Dr. Frankenstein’s friend, Dr. Jekyll (Shazad Latif), which −once he inherits the title of Lord Hyde upon his father’s death −rests entirely within the imagination of the knowing viewer alert to possibilities offered by this allusion to and reconfiguration of the source text’s representations of monstrosity and class difference, in terms of race and Britain’s colonialist history.
The Flâneur’s Roving Eye: mobility, modernity, and the possibilities of urban space
For the perfect flâneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world. . . . we might liken him to a mirror as vast as the crowd itself; or to a kaleidoscope gifted with consciousness, responding to each one of its movements and reproducing the multiplicity of life and the flickering grace of all the elements of life.. . . . He is looking for that indefinable something we may be allowed to call “modernity,” for want of a better term . . . . the transient, the fleeting, the contingent. (Baudelaire “The Painter of Modern Life”)
The gods had given me almost everything. But I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. I amused myself with being a FLÂNEUR, a dandy, a man of fashion. . . . Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in the search for new sensation. What the paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. Desire, at the end, was a malady, or a madness, or both. (Wilde, “de Profundis”)
The perspective offered on urban spaces of Penny Dreadful owes much to the nineteenth century notion of the flâneur, that mobile seeker after urban views and scenes. Chief among characters who play this role is Dorian Gray, through whom the series engages with “potentialities” of Wilde’s source text in regard to the decadent appeal Victorian London’s popular culture and more broadly still the possibilities it offers for queering the series’ view of that urban space. Everywhere and in some respects nowhere in the ensemble performances of the series, omnipresent yet distanced, Gray with his mobile gaze and sensation-seeking offers access to London entertainments both high and low. In the way Gray, like Baudelaire’s “Painter of Modern Life,” connects diverse spaces and experiences, he reflects the flâneur’s role as a “living bodily site on which vision, movement, and sensation pre-cinematically came together” (Charney 1998, 75). But he also functions as an agent of modernity—a catalyst, sparking change in characters and storylines when he takes the role of an “urban-observer-artist who is not a detached voyeur but rather interacts with the city in what is almost a symbiotic relationship, feeding off the city that he creates from its own fragments” (Parsons 2000, 36), as he pursues his desire for sensation and diversion.
The pursuit of excitement, of decadent self-indulgence, makes Gray a conduit to the perverse, dangerous, and forbidden for other characters whose depths and desires he helps to reveal along with the possibilities of the urban scene: he meets ailing prostitute Brona Croft (Billie Piper), the mysterious heiress Vanessa Ives, and American sharpshooter Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) in quick succession in season one and has erotic encounters with all three, sparking strong affective responses in each. He and the world-weary consumptive prostitute Brona unexpectedly revel in her imminent death when she coughs blood on him during a pornographic photo shoot (“Séance” 1.02). His rhetorical question, “I’ve never fucked a dying creature before. Do you feel things more deeply, I wonder?” speaks not just to his decadent sensation-seeking but likewise the basis of her re-creation from the tragic Brona Croft into Lily Frankenstein, whose narrative trajectory from undead bride to vengeful immortal is rooted in recollected feeling, Brona’s experience of poverty, pain, and loss. After a night of gorily flamboyant theatricals at the Grand Guignol, blood-sport, bar fighting, absinthe, and Wagner, Dorian Gray’s seductive charms bring Ethan Chandler’s inner animal that much closer to the surface in a scene that evokes troubling memories and ends in an evocative kiss (“Demimonde” 1.04). And, Vanessa Ives re-encounters her Demon when she climaxes during a sexual encounter with Gray (“What Death Can Join Together” 1.06). Bearing out the lessons of Wilde’s source text (echoed in turn, by Wilde’s own reflections in De Profundis at the end of his two-year imprisonment under the Labouchere Amendment [1885] for “gross indecency”), encounters with Dorian Gray as the embodiment of urban modernity are never dull, but can prove dangerous to moral life.
In his more murderous proclivities, Dorian Gray recalls Wilde’s dark vision of a character whose privileged access to the varied diversions of the city and decadent appetites destroy those around him while corrupting his soul. Wilde’s prison letter De Profundis, on the other hand, offers a different vision of the flâneur as one whose desires and sensation seeking ultimately render him vulnerable. Penny Dreadful takes a certain delight in reclaiming the transgressively queer desires that landed Wilde in prison for its Dorian Gray, particularly in its characterisation of his relationship with Angelique (Jonny Beauchamp) and his dalliance with Chandler. But it also registers the potential vulnerability of the urban wanderer, according the mobile gaze of the flâneur to various characters less empowered than Gray, those whose bodily autonomy is never assured, always at risk as a consequence of their social position.
For instance, in stark contrast to Gray’s mobile gaze is that of John Clare who is also known as ‘Caliban’ or ‘the Creature’, whose jealous surveillance of first the Doctor and then Lily Frankenstein carries him through the alley-ways of the city, even as his search for employment and human comfort lands him first at the Grand Guignol (“Resurrection” 1.03), then the even more dubious entertainments of the Putney Family Waxworks (“Fresh Hell” 2.01), and causes him to seek respite in the underground dwellings of London’s homeless and impoverished where Vanessa and Sir Malcolm work in a soup kitchen (“Verbis Diablo” 2.02). Clare’s physical difference keeps him to the shadows, literally: from him we get a view of the alleyways, the back-stages, the hidden corners of the city, often alternate views of the same varied haunts frequented by Dorian Gray. Despite being himself a creature of modernity, of industrial manufacture, Clare refuses the cityscape that Gray embraces. Instead he turns inward and back in time to the ethical and aesthetic frameworks of Romantic poetry to find meaning in a world he experiences as utterly hostile, a source of continual anxiety and pain. Through Clare we have a very different perspective of London, the flip side of the flâneur overwhelmed by “the chaotic and bewildering environment of. . . rapid industrializing and growing cities of the nineteenth century” (Parsons 19). Unemployed, displaced, and monstrous, he too often finds himself not a subject of the urban scene like Gray but rather—like the prostitutes who eke out precarious livings on the street—its object.
That Clare is always in danger of becoming an urban spectacle himself is confirmed by the gruesome end to his brief career at Putney’s. Clare’s role recalls the unhappy travels of the monster in Shelley’s source text but also provides an opportunity for the series to explore its interest in othering Victorian England, made explicitly queer in regard to the gregarious and cosmopolitan Egyptologist Professor Ferdinand Lyle (Simon Russell Beale) who provides another alternative view of its urban space, giving entry to the secret and inaccessible corners of the British Museum when he and Ethan Chandler stage a ‘heist’(“Verbis Diablo” 2.02), having previously shared his particular corner of society with Sir Malcolm and Vanessa (“Séance” 1.02). Being both secretly Jewish and a closeted homosexual who performs heterosexual Christianity in order to protect himself, he is yet another figure in which the urbanity and mobility of the flâneur is wedded inextricably to vulnerability at a time when the penalty for sodomy was life in prison.
As is made clear by Gray’s involvement with both Angelique and Brona/Lily, similarly vulnerable and challenging is the prostitute who, like the flâneur, is a quintessentially urban, mobile figure. She is at once an object of desire, offering visual pleasure, a commodity in a burgeoning culture of leisure-time diversion. But she is also a threat to male authority, the challenging public spectacle of undomesticated female sexuality: in “the same moment that prostitutes reaffirmed the privilege and power of the flâneur” by offering the possibility of commodified sex on demand ‘the mobility of prostitutes provided cause for concern’ (Hubbard 324-25). In this respect, the prostitute has the potential to reshape the experience of the urban space she moves through, a potential explored and exploited most fully by Lily Frankenstein. Significantly, once Lily begins in earnest to retaliate against male dominance of the streets, remaking the prostitute’s role as a challenging but quintessentially vulnerable urban wanderer by turning the tables on male sexual violence, Gray all but withdraws from his peripatetic ways, even as his home is transformed from a site of reclusive decadence into a bright haven for mistreated women. When confronted concerning his altered attitude to the social experiment he initially supported, Dorian Gray explains to Lily Frankenstein that, once again, he is bored:
I’ve lived through so many revolutions, you see, it’s all so familiar to me. The wild eyes and zealous ardour, the irresponsibility, and the clatter. The noise of it all, Lily. From the tumbrils on the way to the guillotine to the roaring mobs sacking the temples of Byzantium. So much noise in anarchy. And in the end it’s all so disappointing. (“The Ebb Tide” 3.07)
As season three progresses, in fact, Gray appears increasingly static. His engagement with modernity is for his own amusement, one disrupted by Lily’s transformative tendencies and aims. At the end, his gaze is no longer that of restless modernity but instead that of a “perfect, unchanging portrait” of himself, finally appearing as just another beautiful addition to the blue gallery (Dorian Gray in “Blessed Dark” 3.09). He rejects Lily’s vision of a transformed urban modernity when its novelty gives way to sameness in the eyes of the urban wanderer who is also a jaded immortal. But even—or perhaps especially— in his fickleness, he personifies the modern sensation- and entertainment-seeking public.
Explorers: paternalism, colonialism, tales of adventure
Most of the local natives have been run off, or captured by the Germans and the Belgians for the rubber and ivory trade, for slaves in all but name. What romance I saw in Africa is done for me, the land is tainted now beyond repair, and I want to be quit of the filthy place. What then? Are there no fresh wonders left? No worlds yet to conquer? (Sir Malcolm Murray “The Day Tennyson Died” 3.01)
In the first two seasons of Penny Dreadful, an oversized map of the Nile dominates the main parlour of the London residence of Sir Malcolm Murray, reminder of his past as an explorer and adventurer. The world whose measure it takes offers an apt metaphor for the series itself, being as it is poised on the edge of history and fantasy: it is an archival record based on eyewitness accounts of mid nineteenth century expeditions to discover the source of the Nile by the likes of Henry Morton Stanley, David Livingstone and Richard Burton, but also one that evokes the adventure genre more broadly, one of the favourites of cheap fiction.
In the way that it uses explorers and the trope of exploration to build and expand its narrative worlds, Penny Dreadful engages with the concerns of the subgenre of late Victorian fiction scholars have labelled “Imperial Gothic” (Warwick; Brantlinger). A key figure in exploring these concerns in the series is Sir Malcolm Murray whose narrative is dominated by his journeys into Africa, the stories of adventure interwoven with revelations of his myriad failures as a father and husband. The horrors of his domestic dereliction, neglect, and abuse are highlighted at the climaxes of both Seasons One and Two, even as the map overlooks the scene of a new family of sorts, which forms and reforms itself to pursue his daughter Mina, then later to save his illegitimate daughter Vanessa, then to save Sir Malcolm himself. Sir Malcolm’s rather ignominious, sometimes strikingly anti-heroic history illustrates a key concern of Imperial Gothic, that there has been a “diminution of opportunities for adventure and heroism” (Warwick 338). And, through the changing figure of Sir Malcolm Murray-as-explorer, Penny Dreadful addresses what Stephen Arata points out as one of the key cultural contexts of horror in Stoker’s Dracula, a sense of the “decline of Britain as a world power” and how “the increasing unrest in British colonies and possessions” all “combined to erode Victorian confidence in the inevitability of British progress and hegemony” (622). More pervasively, Penny Dreadful confirms in its varied engagements with the figure of the explorer the link that Patrick Brantlinger observes in Imperial Gothic between the lure of the primitive and exotic on the one hand and the appeal of the occult on the other (Arata 624; Brantlinger 228-29).
This twinned fascination with the primitive/exotic and with the occult shapes the season three courtship by and characterisation of zoologist Dr. Sweet (Christian Camargo), who is ultimately revealed to be the most recent persona of Dracula. His characterisation makes clear the link between colonial exploration, death and destruction, his courtship of Vanessa Ives turning on his interest in collecting dangerous beings and his longing to explore dark and dangerous places abroad—and the intimation that he regards her as both of these things. In this way, Dr. Sweet, as would-be explorer, taps into key tropes of the Imperial Gothic, just as Sir Malcolm does, wherein the danger and excitement of that exploration is gendered: the dark, ‘feminine’, ‘non-rational’ space of Africa is presented as “one of the last mysterious places left on earth” (Warwick 340), a formulation that will be echoed in turn by Sigmund Freud’s characterisation of female sexuality as “the dark continent.” Vanessa Ives appears intrigued by Dr. Sweet’s implicit acceptance of her otherness, her kinship, for instance, to the Omdurman or Death Stalker scorpion. After bonding over a shared interest in dangerous creatures, death and taxidermy, the consummation of their affair surrounded by corpses and relics, aestheticised death on display in the Natural History Museum of London, echoes Vanessa’s teenaged seduction of Mina’s fiancé, closing the circle, linking her past and present, the beginning and end of the series.
Ultimately Dracula/Sweet, with his growing army of Night Creatures, offers his own zoological spin on what Stephen Arata identifies in Dracula as a fear of “reverse colonisation” (623-24) engaging fears of degeneration and decadence that are part of the Imperial Gothic in his characterisation of those ‘night creatures”’ on display in his museum and those awaiting his command in the dockside lair, with their common claim on sympathy. As Alexandra Warwick observes in regard to this notion of reverse colonisation,
During the course of the nineteenth century, the very poor and socially marginal had become increasingly gothicized. Their world is a mysterious labyrinth that exists alongside the life of middle class, its effects leaking out in uncontainable ways. By the end of the nineteenth century anthropology provided ways of seeing the underclass as belonging almost to a separate and more primitive form of existence. The philanthropist William Booth’s nonfictional text In Darkest London (1890) demonstrates this in clearest of ways…with the East End sharing all the “othered” qualities of its distant territories. (340-41).
The street people who are also Dracula’s night creatures, those “broken and shunned creatures” figure the Imperial Gothic fear of the primitive and the regressed. Ultimately they carry the ability to other, to regress, all of London once the poison fog descends at the end of season three, when humans are animalised, reduced to carcasses to be bled dry in “The Blessed Dark” (3.09).
While Vanessa Ives and Dr. Sweet explore their shared fascination with the exotic and dangerous, Sir Malcolm first disavows his ties to Africa—replaying a disgust with corporatized exploitation of its mineral wealth which has stripped away any romance it once held—only to have his wanderlust rekindled. When Kaetenay (Wes Studi), a “Chiricahua Apache by birth and rite” rescues him in the East African settlement of Zanzibar, he sets Sir Malcolm off on another journey, to save the wayward werewolf Ethan Chandler (“The Day Tennyson Died” 3.01). Thus the imaginary frontier of Africa is replaced by an equally fantastic representation of America. Kaetenay, as native informant and guide offers, like the flâneur, a mobile perspective on the West, while like Vanessa he also serves as a spiritualist medium for visions. Figuring in this respect another sort of connection between the exotic/primitive/colonised portions of the world and the occult/supernatural, Kaetenay propels the narrative from the urban slums of the repeatedly-colonised Zanzibar in Africa to the open spaces and sparse cities of the Wild West, back again to London, reasserting through his visions that London is no longer primarily an industrial or urban space but a space of transformation, a spiritual realm. Like Vanessa Ives and her mentor Joan Clayton (Patti LuPone), Kaetenay is an explorer of the spiritual landscape beneath the physical one. And, for Kaetenay like Clayton this is signalled by a privileged relationship with nature. Different in this respect from colonisers like Murray—or even a collector like Sweet—nature is not intimidating, nor is it to be conquered, nor captured as a trophy, only understood and cohabitated with. In his mystery and mobility, Kaetenay is both guide for the resolutely unmagical Sir Malcolm and supernatural father for Ethan Chandler. And, as the last of a tribe systematically extinguished by America’s conquering of its frontier, he is a relic of a different sort of apocalypse than that faced by Londoners, a link between that experience of genocidal violence and that which threatens darkest London at the conclusion of the series.
The connection between the exotic and the supernatural that underpins those anxieties animating the Imperial Gothic is tied to difference more generally in Penny Dreadful. Like Professor Lyle and Lily/Brona, Vanessa, Dr Sweet and Kaetenay all confirm the series’ investment in seeing the Victorian era differently—or more precisely, for using its richly detailed setting and its familiar narratives of adventure and horror and mystery for a spectacular staging of difference, whether it’s the queering of urban culture or the critical reassessment of the Victorian cult of domesticity/true womanhood. It is an aesthetic and narrative investment that is, in some respects, strikingly at odds with—at the same time that it is also enabled by – the frame-story’s dualist insistence on good and evil, light and dark, so typical of the formulaic narrative worlds of the penny dreadful, also colonialist narratives of dark continents and dangerous primitives. The series’ stagings of difference qualify the purity of evil and good, emphasizing instead the mixed composition of characters. Their difference sets them apart from the mainstream within the series’ Victorian milieu and is fundamental to their appeal and authority as narrative agents.
Given its investment in difference, Penny Dreadful is, in some respects, metatextually subversive in its engagement with familiar genres of discovery and colonialism. However, in spite of this impulse toward subversion, it is ultimately the core group of men from the main character group who survive at the end of season three. Vanessa Ives, despite her importance as an explorer of psychological and spiritual landscapes makes a final sacrifice of her death. Spiritualist counterparts Kaetenay and Joan are both dead by the end, while Lily/Brona is disempowered and abandoned. While Dr Seward and Catriona Hartdegen survive, the alienist and the vampire hunting thanatologist are returned to unobserved sites of origin. The resplendently othered and individualised Professor Lyle has left for warmer and more hospitable climes, while Mina has long since been laid to rest. And so, the series finishes with what could appear to be an affirmation of paternity and colonialist masculinity in the survival of Sir Malcolm and his adopted son Ethan. They have the last word, their final conversation an epilogue of sorts to the series:
Sir Malcolm: Never have I so wanted to run away. On some hunt or expedition to Africa, India. Anywhere but here.
Ethan: Will you?
Sir Malcolm: No. I must find my life without her. Miss Ives was the last link to who I was. I must find out who I am yet going to be. Oh, I will miss her to my bones. Will you stay, Ethan?
Ethan: You’re my family.
(both recline against the wall in Vanessa’s previous bedroom, staring at her bed in the dusklight) (“The Blessed Dark” 3.08)
There is the hint here of perhaps further adventures to be undertaken by the adoptive father (though he denies it) and son, bound in grief and loss. That said, the scene also emphasises the importance of death, both real and metaphorical, to the series in the way that it is represented through key characters as a liminal space of alterity and possibility. In this way the series explores the ongoing potential and appeal of the undead offered by Stoker’s source text and its many adaptations. Thus the spaces of the museum—both public and private—with their displays of exotic corpses are not just a testament to the achievements of explorers like Sir Malcolm but are privileged and eroticised as gateways to the supernatural, to other stories and other worlds, while being linked more generally to the potentialities of death-as-transformation that persist as point of fascination Penny Dreadful shares with its gothic source texts.
The alienist and the spiritualist medium: talking cures, visions, and stories across time and space
. . . . like spirits, spinsters were culturally perceived as threatening and transitional, moving across borders and hovering between worlds, liminal bodies existing on the fringes of a society they threatened with their very liminality. The circumvention of Victorian heteronormative sexuality is performed by [Georgiana] Houghton through her role as spinster, which enables her to engage in reproductivities outside of those of the Victorian marriage contract, as she birthed spirits through her séances . . . . (Williams 10-11)
hysterics suffer for the most part from reminiscences (Breuer and Freud)
From the mid nineteenth century onward, the spiritualist movement was a part of popular Victorian culture, particularly attractive to women—like well-known medium and artist Georgiana Houghton—perhaps because it offered “possibilities for attention, opportunity, and status denied elsewhere” also “a means of circumventing rigid nineteenth-century class and gender norms” (Owen 4). Penny Dreadful engages with spiritualism especially through the character of Vanessa Ives, whose abilities as seer make her an agent of focalisation and conduit to other worlds and times, first vividly in evidence when she upstages Madame Kali (Helen McRory) at an evening salon in home of Professor Lyle (“Séance,” 1.02). Although the scene is set for Kali’s spiritualist performance, Ives, suddenly possessed, engages with the past of adventurer Sir Malcolm Murray, channelling the voice of his son who died during their expedition in Africa, also relaying secret knowledges in the voice of a vengeful spirit who berates the famous adventurer for his sexual escapades. The scene connects London to darkest Africa, the salon’s exotic supernatural spectacle to less salubrious images of colonial exploration, all insects and dysentery, Sir Malcolm’s failures as father and husband twinned with colonial exploration as a summary portrait of male privilege abused. In the spectacle that Vanessa Ives makes of herself, the scene registers the appeal and disruptive potential of the female medium in the Victorian and Edwardian era spiritualist movement as one who could “invade and upturn the domestic havens of respectable gentlemen and their obedient wives through the subversive and often highly-sexualised séances” (Williams 9). Spaces of the past and present, public and private, sacred and profane throughout the series continue to clash in the performances of Vanessa Ives.
Positioned between multiple narrative worlds, Ives reveals and gives access to—via memories accessed through hypnosis and letter writing, also through her native emotional acuity and acquired knowledge demonic language—the spatial, temporal, and thematic connections between stories and story worlds. She is both a spiritualist medium and also a conduit for the mediumistic work of the alienist in Season Three. Specifically, Mina Murray and much of Stoker’s Dracula exist in an alternate dimension that in season one is accessed almost entirely through her visions (“Resurrection” 1.03; “Closer than Sisters” 1.05) and tarot reading (“What Death Can Join Together” 1.06). In Season Two, we only come to understand the work of the three witches through Vanessa Ives’s own memories of her retreat to the rural remoteness of Ballentree Moor where she studies with Joan Clayton (“Nightcomers” 2.03). In season three Dracula enters the diegesis in the guise of charming zoologist, Dr. Sweet, but we only discover his backstory, when Ives, on the advice of Professor Lyle, seeks the help of an American alienist, Dr. Seward (Patti Lupone), to deal with her deep depression following the departures of Ethan Chandler and Sir Malcolm Murray at the end of season two. Her hypnotic state allows her to access not just memories of her struggle with Victorian treatments for mental illness during her incarceration at the Banning Clinic (“A Blade of Grass” 3.04 ), but also her contact with the supernatural, the contest between brothers Lucifer and Dracula (Rory Kinnear). Seward, like Clayton is represented as an empowering figure for Vanessa Ives, one who illuminates a potentially dangerous path to greater knowledge, through dark magic and the scarcely less harrowing possibilities of the unconscious mind. Through the backstory of the clinic we see Ives’s similarities to Lily Frankenstein, the connections between their stories as characters who struggle against the normalising spectre of womanhood, a struggle inflected by but surpassing class difference. Ives’s experiences in the clinic—like Lily’s in Dr. Jekyll’s lab where Dr. Frankenstein plans to restore his beloved to a Victorian feminine ideal by removing much of what makes her herself— expose the institutional and technological control of bodies and minds by medical and scientific establishments, control to which Victorian women are shown to be particularly vulnerable.
The recollected space of the Banning Clinic is punctured by Dr Seward’s hypnosis of Vanessa Ives in a way that links the work of the medium to that of the alienist, both having the power to recur to a troubled past, to explore and reveal secret histories of a ‘dark continent’. By exposing the Clinic’s abusive treatment of an unruly woman—torture and persecution in the guise of care with the aim of restoring normalcy—and by changing Dr. Seward’s gender from its originary text in Dracula, the series undertakes an explicitly feminist intervention into the all-male environment of the Victorian medical establishment. And along the way, it dramatically alters the gendered dynamic of early experiments with the talking cure like those recorded by Breuer and Freud in Studies in Hysteria. As a restaging of these late nineteenth century histories of psychoanalytic exploration, Seward’s theraputic sessions with Ives are linked to the series’ ongoing interest in offering counter-narratives of Victorian culture, even as they valorise those qualities in Vanessa Ives punished at the Banning Clinic. Just as Professor Lyle attests to recovering his sense of identity, of being offered by Dr Seward the opportunity become “resplendently himself,” Seward similarly offers Ives a greater sense of purpose and self, effectively attempting through the talking cure effectively to change her story. The Doctor attempts reformulate her self-representation as the object of demonic possession into more nuanced notion of complex psychology, to replace evil with illness. The Creature, Clare, whose past as an orderly and Ives’s guard in the Clinic attempts a similar reformulation, his monstrous unhappiness contextualised by the story of his kindness and humanity to Ives and the family he left behind.
The use of the same actress to portray both Joan Clayton, cut-wife – witch and midwife, abortionist and healer—and her descendant Dr Seward explicitly links their functions within the Penny Dreadful universe. Both the witch and the alienist through their ministrations to women offer alternative perspectives on the worlds of the series, attempting (with mixed results) to help the women to challenge their social restrictions, offering freedom from reproductive coercion and the psychological manifestations of control—thus the opportunity to change women’s place in and the trajectory of narrowly proscribed gendered narratives. As the cut-wife/ abortionist, Joan Clayton works to offer women options within the gendered limitations of Victorian culture, to change their stories by allowing those regarded as fallen women to reclaim their place in the home. As the healer and the witch Clayton also forces the universe to bend to her will; like her descendent Seward, she reshapes space and time, not by tapping into unconscious memory through hypnosis but instead through witchcraft. Dr. Seward works through the new science of psychoanalysis, but that said she is not beyond weaponising her skills, for instance against Renfield, her assistant, after he becomes a victim/acolyte of Dracula, provoking guilt and shame to draw out of him the strange tale of Dracula, information crucial to their fight. In Professor Lyle’s salon, Vanessa uses her role as medium and her sensational account of the Sir Malcolm’s past as an active condemnation of masculine entitlement and wrong-doing. Similarly, Dr Seward’s role as alienist, her delving into Vanessa’s past, is used to condemn the doctors of Banning Clinic, also Renfield’s weakness of character, while supporting her patient’s intuition and experience by accessing hidden spaces of her traumatic memory.
While a number of minor characters are new creations, Vanessa is the only major character not obviously based upon a previous work. That said, she is clearly inspired by both the challenging female sexualities of Dracula (his hungry, lustful brides) and its varied engagements with that figure of gendered promise and threat, the New Woman (figured especially in what Stoker’s novel, unlike Penny Dreadful, represents as a rather stoic and resourceful figure of Mina Harker). Vanessa’s dramatic shifts between sacred and profane, blessed and cursed, make her in some respects the personification of the bifurcated roles allotted to and the limited scope of Victorian femininity evident in Stoker’s work, as she is both the fallen woman and the angel in the home. In her role as narrative conduit, Vanessa emphasises the way that promising and problematic femininity, once held in thrall by the supernatural seductions of Dracula, is viewed by Stoker in terms of both supernatural empowerment and also mental and moral illness. More broadly, as a single woman—the defiantly unconventional spinster heiress, Miss Ives—Vanessa represents a figure that, like the prostitute, troubles the Victorian model of female heteronormative sexuality bound to the home (Logan 198-99; Krandis 199, 3). She is a figure that, at the same time she enables multiple narratives and connects multiple narrative spaces, also, like Brona Croft/Lily Frankenstein, works against the narrative trajectories which situate the woman solely as the object of male desire, of male quest. Vanessa is pursued but resists pursuit, and in the end chooses her own path of destruction to thwart Dracula’s plans.
In the remediated world of Penny Dreadful, popular fictions of the Victorian era are repurposed, compositing a new reality from multiple texts. Tapping into both the original texts and their potentialities, it is a world where the remembered and the imagined, the actual and the desired, are given narrative and spatial representation. The viewer, prompted to draw on memory and knowledge of the same texts, extends the stories and their spaces further still. By way of surveying this complex world, this discussion has focused specifically on how figures drawn from Victorian popular culture—the flâneur, the explorer, the alienist and the spiritualist medium—have shaped the series’ character network and through their work of focalisation, also its narratives and spaces.
Through remediation and multi-perspectival narration, Penny Dreadful offers an example of complex television, a variation on the multi-dimensional world. It is not as extreme in this respect as, say, Lost which plays with alternate realities; but it is clearly an experiment in “spatial storytelling” (Mittel 275). In the way that it narrativizes and spatializes the relationship between one text and another—one form of amusement and another—the series can be usefully understood in terms of the contemporary trend of transmedia storytelling. The source texts of the series, like the myriad public amusements that make up the London setting of the series, are imagined as spaces that extend beyond the screen, each a site of nascent storylines in the manner of transmedia franchise properties where each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story. One could watch and comprehend Penny Dreadful without having read the works by Shelley, Stevenson, Wilde, Verne, and Stoker—but it would be a limited comprehension of only part of The Penny Dreadful universe, which we understand both to reinvent but also to co-exist alongside these originary texts.
Our discussion has focused on how popular, familiar character types anchor this hermeneutic project. Penny Dreadful pays homage to the dominant narratives with the typical aspirational world views conjured by the most celebratory accounts of the flâneur-as-observer, the conquests of the explorer, the other-worldly sensitivities of the spiritualist medium, and the scientific certainties of the alienist. Each offers a way of reading the world and access to the new, strange, wonderful, and unseen. But the series also offers counter-narratives related to the urban, exotic, supernatural and psychological adventures conjured by these figures, using its interest in socially marginalised characters and the liminal spaces—including the intersectional spaces when different genres are brought together—to variously queer and critique those dominant narratives. Self-reflexive and historically-conscious in the way it uses its recursive fictions and remediative aesthetic to replay and reframe the enduring pleasures of nineteenth century popular culture and fictions, Penny Dreadful extends the scope of its interwoven narrative worlds through both the character network of its ensemble cast and through its imaginative challenges to its audience. An innovative example of cable programming-as-archontic literature in these terms, it is appropriate, then, that the series would achieve its own sort of immortality, transcending through transformation the deathblow of cancellation, reanimated as comic series written by the series scriptwriters and published through Titan Books (which has already published a prequel), set six months after the television finale. The persistent appeal of the familiar narratives and the durability of the Penny Dreadful characters confirmed, they begin a new life expanded into other transmedia properties.
Arata, Stephen. “The Occidental Tourist: ‘Dracula’ and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization.” Victorian Studies, vol. 33 no. 4, 1990, pp. 621-45.
Baudelaire, Charles. “The Painter of Modern Life” (1863). The Painter of Modern Life And other Essays. Translated and edited by Jonathan Mayne, Phaidon Press, 1964.
Borch-Jacobsen, Mikkel. Remembering Anna O: A Century of Mystification. Translated by Kirby Olson, Routledge, 1996.
Brantlinger, Patrick. Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830-1914. Cornell University Press, 1988
Breuer, Josef and Sigmund Freud. Studies in Hysteria (1895). Translated by Nicola Luckhurst, Penguin Books, 2004.
Charney, Leo. Empty Moments: Cinema, Modernity, and Drift. Duke University Press, 1998.
Collins, Wilkie. “The Unknown Public.” Household Words, vol. XVIII, no. 439, 21 August 1858, pp. 217-222. http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-xviii
Cosgrove, Denis. “Introduction: Mapping Meaning.” Mappings, edited by Denis Cosgrove, Reaktion Books, 1999, pp. 1-23.
Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Continuum, 2004.
Derecho, Abigail. “Archontic Literature: A Definition, a History, and Several Theories of Fan Fiction.” Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, edited by Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, McFarland & Co, 2006, pp. 61-78.
Hubbard, Phil. “Women Outdoors: Destabilizing the Public/Private Dichotomy.” A Companion to Feminist Geography, edited by Lise Nelson and Joni Seager, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005, pp. 322-334.
Jenkins, Henry. “Transmedia Storytelling 101.” In Confessions of an ACA Fan, The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 22 March 2007.
Logan, Deborah Anna. Fallenness in Victorian Women’s Writing: Marry , Stitch, Die, Or Do Worse. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 1998.
Mittel, Jason. Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling. New York: NYU Press, 2015.
Ndalianis, Angela. “Dark Rides, Hybrid Machines and the Horror Experience.” In Horror Zone: The Cultural Experience of Contemporary Horror Cinema, edited by Ian Conrich, 11-26. London: IB Tauris, 2010.
Owen, Alex. The Darkened Room. Women, Power and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Parsons, Deborah L. Streetwalking the Metropolis: Women, the City, and Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Warwick, Alexandra. “Imperial Gothic.” In Encylopedia of the Gothic. Edited by William Hughes, David Punter, and Andrew Smith, 338-342. Oxford and Malden MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2016.
Williams, Sara. “Introduction.”Evenings at Home in Spiritual Séance (1882),by Georgiana Houghton, edited by Sara Williams, 5-17. Brighton: Victorian Secrets Press, 2013
Wilde, Oscar. “de Profundis” (transcribed from 1913 Methuen & co. edition). e-books@Adelaide. University of Adelaide Library.
Bios:
Dr Amanda Howell, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University, Australia, is a screen scholar especially interested in gender, race, and “body” genres: action, war, horror, and the musical. Her most recent major publication is A Different Tune—Popular Film Music and Masculinity in Action (Routledge 2015). Her other publications have appeared in journals such as Camera Obscura, Screening the Past, Genders, and Continuum. She is currently developing a book-length project focused on contemporary art house horror.
Lucy Baker is a Doctoral Candidate in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences at Griffith University Australia, where she also teaches in cultural and media studies. Her research focuses primarily on the representations of gender in fanworks and adaptations. She is the author of “Girl!Version: The Feminist Framework for Regendered Characters” in the Journal of Fandom Studies (2016), book chapters on the television series Elementary, and has a forthcoming chapter about vampires and domesticity.
Playing At Work – Samuel Tobin
Abstract: People play games at work, especially digital games, rather than asking “why” this paper starts with “how”? To do so the game Minecraft and its players are used as a focus to address how people manage to play while at work and in workplaces. This data is drawn from public online forums where hundreds of Minecraft players offer tips for circumventing technical, bureaucratic, social and ethical play constraints and share their feelings, experiences and successes. In these specific and detailed accounts of media practices constrained and engendered by the demands and expectation of workplaces we see the shifting nature of public and private, of work and leisure.
Playing at Work
This paper focuses on the way people play the game Minecraft (Mojang, 2001) at work and the ways in which they talk about that play and the practices that support it. The Minecraft players I study write about this play and the tactics needed to engage in it at work as a combination of subterfuge, escape, challenge, invention and guilt-ridden compulsion. I show how this complicated relation to their play is informed by the ways in which play, games, work and the work place are continuously redefined through these players’ practices and discourse. I focus on adult players of the game Minecraft and the ways they manage to play while they are at work. This data is drawn from the forum reddit.com, where hundreds of Minecraft players offer tips for circumventing technical, bureaucratic, and social play constraints. These online discussions detail a range of technical and play practices constrained and engendered by the demands and expectation of workplaces. In these practices and discourse we see the continuously shifting nature of public, private, work, leisure, mobility and most of all play.
From the Minecraft subreddit on reddit:
thread title: who plays Minecraft at work?
I’ll be honest, this game has pretty much destroyed my productivity recently. I work in IT so I’m on the computer all day. I also have my own office so people cruising by and catching me building really isn’t an issue. Since I bought thisgame 2 weeks ago I’ve wasted more time at work than I even care to admit. Everyday I tell myself I will focus and do actual work, and everyday boredomsets in and I am drawn to Minecraft like a moth to a flame. I am a sad pathetic individual. Who else is with me? – Apt Get
The short answer is “lots of people.” But what these people mean when they say “Yes, I play Minecraft at work” and refer to themselves as “sad pathetic individuals” is complicated. To address these complicated and complicit issues, I focus on the central problem for these players: “How do you bring your game to work?” In the sections that follow I rework the phrase “bring your game to work,” stressing different words to expose what is at stake in these spaces and practices of work and of play. First, however, we need to ask what people might or could mean by Minecraft. In exploring how people play Minecraft at work (or any game), we are asking “how” not just in the sense of “How do you manage” but also “In what manner” do you play at work. The manner or way of playing changes the nature of the game, redefines it, pushes certain aspects of the game forward while eliding others. As we will see below, players redefine Minecraft, sometimes radically, as they need to in order to play it.
Here at the outset are some general observations and caveats. At the time of this research (2011-2012) few posters in the subreddits (as the forum threads of reddit are called) mentioned mobile or “Pocket” versions of the game when discussing how to play it at work. This may be due to a kind of self-selection of Minecraft fans in the threads. People who like the game enough to read and write about it on an online forum may not be interested in playing it on platforms other than the PC or laptop. In any case, the issue of mobility for most reddit users is not as much about buying a Minecraft app for a smartphone, as getting Minecraft onto their work computers. What we see when we look at the responses people gave to the question “How do you play Minecraft at work?” is a move to redefine what Minecraft play can be while referencing a core experience and object: PC-based Minecraft play.
Foregrounding the “at” in the phrase “playing at work,” focuses our attention on “work” as “workspace,” a space constituted by labor, and also by architecture, furniture, expectations, routines, and movements. We need to attend to the implications of bringing play materials and practices into the workspace, and to the movements such play demands. The workplace context and the practices it demands make mobile a game which otherwise might not be. This complicates definitions of mobile games, while reinforcing the importance of space and situation to the understanding of game play.
To play Minecraft at work, players need to find ways to bring the game with them to the office. The barriers to this are technical, securitized, cultural and practical. In order to access saved games through workplace firewalls, players trade tactical tips on online forums on how to load Minecraft files onto thumb drives, email zips to themselves, and to otherwise convince their work networks that no barriers have been breached and that nothing is amiss. Commenters discuss issues of visual surveillance and subterfuge, with extensive discussion of monitor tilting, lines of sight, glare, minimizing routines, hotkeys, and ways to arrange a play mis en place that looks like work (a point we will return to). These commentators are not always employees contriving to avoid being caught by their boss: the thread at the top of this piece was originated by a boss, Apt Get, who wants to hide his play from his peers as well as from his underlings, and ultimately from himself. These techniques of circumventing lines of sight and firewalls allow people to play at work and at the same time shape and define what that play can be. This play is both proscribed and defined by the context. While details and the differences are important, what these players in all sorts of work contexts share is an array of needs, worries and techniques developed in order to play at work.
It is easy to see how work could be a hostile environment for Minecraft play. Yet in many cases, for some players, work is a less fraught play space than other alternatives. As Apt Get’s comments later in his thread on playing Minecraft at work shows:
Glad to know I’m not alone. I am also guilty of sketching things on graph paper during meetings when I am without a computer. I am married and have 2 small kids, so work is about the only time I get to play. – Apt Get
This comment reminds us not to assume a neat split between workplace and labor on one side, and domesticity and leisure on the other. The nature of the relation between work and play is a key issue for any study of play or games. In Games of Empire (2009), Greig de Peuter and Nick Dyer-Witheford discuss the historical transformation of this relationship through their critical account of games, capitalism and immaterial labor. In Free labor: Producing culture for the digital economy (2000), Tiziana Terranova makes similar points. Julian Kücklich’s account of computer game modification, or “modding” as a strange mixture of labor and play or “playbour” (2005), also helps us historize the shifting relationship between play and work, and the new hybrid modes that emerge from these categories. In “Alienated Playbour: Relations of Production in EVE Online” (2015), Nicholas Taylor et al. show how what we might assume is “just” play can in fact be work.
These questions of the work-play relation predate contemporary developments in game studies. We see the relation and separation enforced to different degrees in classics such as Roger Caillois’s Play and Games and Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Hannah Arendt writes in the Human Condition: “(A)ll serious activities, irrespective of their fruits, are called labor, and every activity which is not necessary either for the life of the individual or for the life process of society is subsumed under playfulness.” (1998) Similarly, in the “Sociology of Sociability,” Georg Simmel expresses an interest in play because of its very apartness from other ‘material’ spheres of life, including work (1949). Separation for these authors is a matter of motivation, economics and necessity.
For Apt Get and many responders at reddit, work is defined spatially. Apt Get asks: “Do you play Minecraft at work?” rather than asking, “Do you play Minecraft instead of work?” Work, for Apt Get and many other players, work is defined more as a place than an activity. This definition of work as a location means that itretains its status as a place for labor even when play is brought in to it. To understand what is at stake when people bring their Minecraft play to work, we need to pay attention not just to what they mean by “work” and “at work” but also to what they mean by “home” and what they do “at home.” For Apt Get, his job is where he can play, even if it is difficult to do so. He can’t or won’t play at home. His posts suggest it is more difficult for him to play at home than it is a work. No doubt many of us recognize ourselves and our workplaces in these posts. What we find in the threads is a complicated and contradictory range of attitudes, experiences and ideas about the appropriateness, pleasures, worries and requirements of playing Minecraft (and other games) at home as well as at work.
Is playing at work always a modified, compromised form of Minecraft play? Not necessarily. This author, who has the luxury of work of an office with a door, a personal computer, and students who rarely take advantage of office hours, is able to play Minecraft in an as unfettered manner as one could hope for. Indeed like Apt Get, time at work was the only time I really could play Minecraft or, for that matter, wanted to. Game play is never “free-play,” as it is always defined and constrained as well as afforded in by the exigencies of everyday life (office, door, computer, students, teaching preparation, publication pressures). Play is always in relation to the everyday, to the rhythms of leisure and labor and socialization and movement and the un-freeness of free time. Playing at work then is not (or not just) a more constrained or diminished form of play, even if it is often viewed this way. Playing at work is a compromise, but a compromise that can lead to new and interesting permutations of play.
Minecraft play is typically described as open-ended, free, and creative, in short as the kind of play celebrated by ludic utopians of every stripe. But what we see in the Minecraft “subbreddit” is a discussion of an even more expansive and “free” play, one perversely bounded by the space of work, as we can see in following two examples, which while specific and personal, are not outliers, and which give glimpses of play tactics and techniques shared in the Minecraft forums, when responding to the question: “How do you play at work?”
Figure 1. A player shares an image of how he “plays at work.” He has used his companies’ Maple computer algebra system to model a possible Minecraft construction.
Figure 2. A player shows how he “plays at work” by stacking shipping boxes in a recognizably Minecraft manner.
These are very different ways to play Minecraft. They are different from each other and different from our expectations of how people play Minecraft. These (seemingly) radically different approaches to Minecraft play result in part from differences between these two posters’ workplaces. However what these two players share are places of work filled with tools and objects of labor. Both players use the stuff of their jobs to build things as Minecraft play practice. Each is playing Minecraft, but in a kind of play that arises out of and reflects the specific contextual affordances and constraints of their work. Each plays in a way that is both in contestation and conjunction with work and its boundaries. These two images of Minecraft play would not exist without the work and work places that shaped them. These are just two examples of how the space and tools of one’s work shapes the kinds of play needed to fit those contexts. For every job site and set of tools or materials, we might expect to find different play practices. These examples point to the need to account for a thicker, messier kind of play for playing not just Minecraft, but for all kinds of games played at work. And while Minecraft may be especially suited to these ludic perruques, it is not unique in being a game people like to play when they are otherwise expected to be working. For each game, as for each work site, we can expect new play practices, cultures and experiences.
With these new practices we get new discourse. How do the Minecraft forum commentators talk about their relationship to this place into which, against which, and with which they forge new play practices? Many commentators, Apt Get included, use negative and loaded language borrowed from substance abuse and addiction to describe their relationship to their Minecraft play. In my book, Portable Play in Everyday Life, I found that Nintendo DS players use these same metaphors to describe games that they play intensely (2013). We see similar language going back all the way to David Sudnow’s Pilgrim in the Microworld. The angst conveyed by this fraught language seems to go against the perspectives we see in work by researchers like Leonard Reinecke (2009) or Paul Mastrangelo et al. (2006), who argue that play at work is useful or salutary in the sense that it helps one to work better or longer. This perspective may seem managerial or exploitive, but it is also useful for those of us who are invested in a critical approach to games, and to further examining the connections between play, work, playbour and leisure. The reddit commentators are much more likely to talk about their play as transgressive, criminal or pathetic, than restorative. Their discourse is not one of break-rooms and recharging, but of addiction, subterfuge, and tricks. I suggest that this kind of player language should be read as not (only) about compulsion or addiction, but also as code for a particular kind of pleasure and awareness of the larger cultural context for understanding and describing that pleasure. It is a compliment to call a game addictive. It is not only a self-flagellating or distancing remark.
play at work
This discourse brings with it the habitus of the addict: of secret drunks and self-deception. In order to keep the activity going, there needs to be subterfuge, evasion, cover and camouflage. This is a different kind of playing, a “playing at.” This is playing at in the sense of playing as make believe, as “acting as though.” This approach to playing at work owes much to Johan Huizinga’s sense of play as always secretive, even in plain sight, and as having a “pretend” quality (Huizinga 1955). It also carries a bit of the sense of calling out something as deceptive, as bullshit, as in the phrase: “What are you playing at?”
The kind of pretense most essential for these commentators is pretending to work while “really” playing. The hidden or furtive aspect of playing games at work is neither new nor endemic to Minecraft. Older Macintosh users may remember the “quick the boss is coming” feature from games such as Othello, a command which would instantly bring up a mock spreadsheet to hide your game. The personal computer’s WIMP interface (windows, icons, menus, pointer), with its layers upon layers of windows, allows a kind of slight of hand and easy hiding of games or other NSFW (Not Safe For Work) activities. Digital games can be harder to sneak into work outside of white-collar office settings. But as desktop and other types of computers increasingly are used in stores as point of sale systems, in entry ways, and at front desks, we can suspect that many are being used to play games, although it is impossible to know how many, how often — I know that I played a lot of web based games while a clerk at a wine store. This kind of video game playing at work has clear connections to la perruque (“the wig”) as described by Michel de Certeau, except instead of “a worker’s own work disguised as work for his employer” it is a worker’s play disguised as work. This has more in common with how de Certeau mobilizes la perruque to describe a whole range of practical détournement (s) of time and space (2002). The time and the spaces which are constituted by work are not our own but spaces of the other. As de Certeau writes:
(A) tactic is a calculated action determined by the absence of a proper locus. No delimitation of an exteriority, then, provides it with the condition necessary for autonomy. The space of a tactic is the space of the other. Thus it must play on and with a terrain imposed on it and organized by the law of a foreign power (2002).
We should take literally de Certeau’s suggestion that the tactic “must play on and with a terrain imposed on it.” In the case of Apt Get and his interlocutors, this terrain is one of cubicles and frosted glass, but also of box trucks, servers, firewalls, nosey neighbors, and if we merge terrain with time, deadlines, lunch breaks and all-nighters.
If we look back to the algebra-derived model above, or think of design doodles in meetings, or other more expansive ideas of what constitutes Minecraft play, we see that these are perhaps unsurprisingly also potentially cases of perruquesque tactics. The shipping box stacking, while not at all subtle, takes advantage of the fact that the thing being used in play is also the thing used at work, here not just boxes, but also the act (and skill) of stacking them. This points not just to a flexibility inherit in the tactics needed to play at work, but also to a more fundamental relationship and tension we see in cases where objects of labor are used for play or pleasure. This is especially common in digital play (think of the keyboard and mouse of pc gaming), but as the shipping box example demonstrates, not unique to digital play. The tools employed in the case of Minecraft play at work, whether the PC in orthodox forms of Minecraft play, or the diverse workplace materials (graph paper, algebraic software) of the more outré tactics, are always ready to shift back and forth between ludic and mundane. Whatever is reworked towards play always shifts back. This too, is consistent with de Certeau’s understanding of the tactics of everyday life; whatever tactics of subterfuge might win us, we must be willing to readily discard (2002). Minecraft play at work is a kind of playing at the level of mimesis and pretense as well as duration; it is, in the best sense of the word, improvised.
To close, let’s return to the two images presented above of work-place play (or work/place/play). If we (mis)read these as being about Minecraft play, and not forms of Minecraft play itself, we leave behind these practices and these players. If we leave exclude these players and their play from our definition of what Minecraft play really is, we must then face the realization that there is no center to hold on to in defining Minecraft play: When is it real, really? In adventure or survival mode? When one is playing alone, or only in groups? Networked or not? To better understand all forms of digital play we must take the limit or fringe cases seriously. Stacking real boxes at work at first may seem like a strange way to play Minecraft, but it is also somehow the most Minecrafty practice one can think of. This is due to the creativity of the player, but also to the centrality of space and context for determining what play looks like and what play can be. We move then from the ideal to the possible, from the discrete to the situated, from the simulated workspace of the mine to the real and contested work place of the player.
This is a move that we need to make when we study games in general, a move towards the world of the player rather than just the world of the game. This is important not only for understanding work-themed games played at work, or mobile games played on the go, but also for understanding more seemingly stable arrangements between player and place, from the historic arcade, to the tavern, to the couch and TV coupling of the home. These spaces are in many ways as mysterious and as contested as any mine, dungeon, or alien galaxy. When we listen to players talk about how they play rather than just what they play we can begin to attend more to the nuances of these mundane spaces to understand the situated, contextual and contingent nature of play and to see play as always complicated and complicit. We may well then arrive at an understanding of play as more like the rest of our lives: complicated, compromised, and vital.
apt_get. “How Many of You are Playing Minecraft at Work?” http://Minecraft.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/dtbiz/how_many (accessed November 2011)
Arendt, Hannah, and Margaret Canovan. 1998. The human condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Caillois, Roger, and Meyer Barash. 2001. Man, play, and games. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
De Certeau, 2002. Michel The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Dyer-Witheford, Nick, and Greig De Peuter. 2009. Games of empire: global capitalism and video games. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Huizinga, Johan. 1955. Homo Ludens: a Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Boston: Beacon Press.
Mastrangelo, Everton, and Jeffery A. Jolton. 2006. “Personal Use of Work Computers: Distraction versus Destruction,” CyberPsychology & Behavior. 9, no. 6, 730-741.
Reinecke Leonard. 2009. “Games at Work: The Recreational Use of Computer Games
During Working Hours” CyberPsychology & Behavior 12, no. 4 461.
Simmel, G. and E. C. Hughes. “The Sociology of Sociability.” The American Journal of Sociology 55, no. 3 (1949): 254-261.
Sudnow, David. 1983. Pilgrim in the microworld. New York, N.Y.: Warner Books.
Taylor, N., Bergstrom, K., Jenson, J. & de Castell, S. 2015. “Alienated Playbour: Relations of Production in EVE Online,” Games and Culture 365-388
Tobin, Samuel. 2013. Portable Play in Everyday Life, Basingstoke and New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
Terranova, Tiziana. 2000. “Free Labor: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy.” Social Text, 63 (Volume 18, Number 2), Summer 2000, 33-58
Samuel Tobin is an Assistant Professor of Communications Media and Game Design at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts who studies play, media and everyday life. He is the author of Portable Play in Everyday Life: The Nintendo DS (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.)
Days of YouTube-ing Days of Heaven: Participatory Culture and the Fan Trailer – Kyle R. McDaniel
Abstract: This study analyzes the aesthetic content and user-generated feedback of fan-appropriated film trailers exhibited in on the Internet. The aim of this research is to gauge participatory culture’s involvement in the transformation of promoting archival motion pictures on the Internet. This research study looks to fan trailers as unique media entities that exist as visually empowered narratives created through specific acts of fandom. Specifically, this study investigates the audiovisual and discursive elements of competing trailers for Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978). The findings suggest that fan trailers are capable of generating myth and nostalgia for aging motion picture properties through user-generated acts. The broader goal of this project is to understand the relationship between participatory film cultures and studio-controlled motion picture content available on video streaming and sharing media channels.
Fig. 1: The memorable and Biblically referential swarm of locusts in the film Days of Heaven.
Introduction: Trailers at a Turning Point
A YouTube video by an unknown director can suddenly blow up on the marketplace, and there will be three studios bidding for it. (Without having yet met the director!)…Maybe execs are busy watching YouTube instead of hearing pitches. Our work is virtual.
-Lynda Obst, Sleepless in Hollywood (2013, 27).
In April 2014, an online user released a high-definition film trailer on YouTube for David Fincher’s forthcoming thriller, Gone Girl (YouTube 2014a). Several hours after the trailer’s debut, an impressive 186,000 fans had accessed the content with 276 of that number contributing written feedback to the message board on the webpage. While film fans were sharing interest and excitement for the trailer on YouTube, News Corp., the media entity that financed Gone Girl through 20th Century Fox, perceived a threat of digital piracy. The following day, the conglomerate removed the trailer and the fan commentary. In the absence of this content, News Corp. left a statement reading, “FOX has blocked [the trailer] on copyright grounds” (YouTube 2014b). This incident is representative of the contemporary state of affairs between media conglomerates with a controlling interest in motion pictures and film fans in online spaces. The presence of film trailers on the Internet presents a specific set of issues for both parties as well, especially in relation to film marketing and promotion, in addition to content ownership and control over copyright.
This study engages with how film fans interact with once-profitable motion picture properties through fan trailers on the Internet. Here, the fan trailer is defined as the act of re-editing and re-exhibiting abridged film content through online channels. Fan trailers are realized through specific and largely collective acts of user-participation, and have the potential to revitalize interest in aging film properties. This article explores the audiovisual and content-related aspects of fan trailers in comparison to a distributor-owned trailer for Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick 1978). Furthermore, the feedback or commentary on message boards is also investigated as part of this research project to locate how such discourse speaks to the collective memory of Hollywood archives. In order to understand the issues surrounding the emergence and popularity of the broad spectrum of Internet trailers, this study looks to literature on the relationship between the evolution and of fan involvement with digital cinema and new media, as well as scholarship on the history of film trailers and film promotion and advertising. The findings from this article suggest that fan trailers play a crucial role in continuing the lifespan of aging Hollywood properties or archival films. The proliferation of fan trailers through video streaming and sharing websites as well as the message board commentary suggests that fan participation is instrumental to building relationships between film and viewer. In turn, participatory cultures that interact with older film titles in online channels incorporate aspects of their public and private selves as part of this creative process. The following research questions are designed to further explore this relationship between film fans inhabiting online spaces and the evolving state of fan trailers in digital cinema: What are the content-related (i.e., audiovisual) similarities and differences between the distributor-controlled, official trailer and the fan trailers under study? And what role(s) does user-generated commentary or feedback play for these trailers?
Fig. 2: A black-and-white still of Terrence Malick on the set of the film.
Film Promotion in the Digital Age: New Strategies, New Rules
For much of the 2000s, Hollywood was reluctant to promote film content through online channels for fear of losing theatrical and home video revenue (Sickels 2011a). The film industry seemed confused by the ever-growing presence of the Internet and related online technologies for film exhibition. But to effectively reach a global audience, the studios and their parent media conglomerates were eventually forced to adapt to the changing media landscape. As Sickels (2011) stated: “Deals with Netflix and the like are only going to delay the inevitable…Audiences don’t want to wait, and they certainly won’t when their only reason for having to do so is an artificial time structure concocted by the studios…”(145). By the second decade of the century, the industry’s fears had become a reality, with on-demand film and television viewing radically altering the industry.
Scholars have pointed to the different complexities of film marketing in the digital age and the associated challenges for the U.S. film industry (e.g., Cunningham and Silver 2013). In Perren’s (2010) words, “A wide range of economic, cultural, political, and formal factors are at play; different entities have distinctive stakes in online distribution” (77). In other words, films with a greater potential to appeal to a global audience receive preferential treatment from media conglomerates, as well as promoters, marketers, and distributors. With video-on-demand (VOD) revenue climbing steadily since 2010, the studios are looking to different methods for advertising motion pictures beyond the more traditional formats, which includes one-sheets of film posters and theatrical and television spots (Roxborough 2013). Film trailers on the Internet are a viable option in this evolving landscape. The Internet Movie Database and YouTube are the most frequently visited websites supporting online film trailers, with both entities supporting numerous trailers for new releases and older Hollywood titles. In effect, the spectrum of film trailers on the Internet presents a number of potential issues for the film industry. Trailers, historically controlled by studios for advertising and publicity purposes, are increasingly pirated by outside entities. One scholar argues that film industry insiders are the ones largely responsible for leaking studio-controlled content online, with the availability of illegal anti-encryption and watermarking software to bypass copyright restrictions playing a role as well (Bettig 2008, 200-201). Since the release of the DVD De-Content Scramble System (DeCSS) in 2002, film content has been descrambled and decoded for public access and use, despite the studios efforts to control motion picture content (Litman 2002).
Film fans, however, have argued that such laws overwhelmingly favor those with a financial stake in motion picture properties, thereby inhibiting individual and collective acts of creative expression (Boyle 2008). As such, studio-backed restrictions have resulted in more frequently cited instances of pirated motion pictures as well as an upsurge in websites devoted to streaming and downloading studio-owned film content (Sterbenz 2014). Scholars and journalists reporting on the film industry have addressed some of these issues in relation to film trailers. For instance, Rothman (2014) discussed how theatrical trailer standardization discourages user interactivity. Tolson (2010) reported that fan participation with film content suggests an increase in technological “play” that disrupts the traditional model of media production to consumption. Others have looked at how trailer “mobility” is encouraged in a cross-platform media environment, and the effects of contemporary trailer length and message on the viewer (see Franich 2013; Johnston 2008). While many of the issues surrounding film promotion in online spaces remain unanswered, trailers continue to serve as a primary marketing tool for motion picture studios and their parent conglomerates. Fan involvement with film trailers is a burgeoning area of contemporary film marketing and new media, but scholarship on this subject is lacking. Therefor, how participatory cultures connect to older film titles in online spaces through the fan trailer remains an unexplored avenue of study for cinema and media scholars.
Fig. 3: The film’s main titles are appropriately positioned in the concluding seconds of the Paramount Movie’s YouTube-exhibited trailer.
Trailers in Transition: A Brief History and Contemporary Definitions
The most time-honored marketing strategy for film promotion is the movie trailer, commonly referred to as the “preview.” Kernan (2009) traced the genealogy of film trailers to 1919, citing the National Screen Service (NSS) as the first unified company responsible for creating these advertising spots. The author asserts that the evolution of the film industry during the 20th century affected changes in the types of motion pictures produced, thereby altering the aesthetics and meta-messages of trailers in the ensuing decades. A transition in film marketing occurred during the 1970s, and then again in the 1980s, with a rise in independent filmmaking, an upsurge of art-house theaters, and eventually, the summer blockbuster. During these decades, films trailers debuted on network television in thirty-second spots, visually supported by moments lifted from the film, and complete with the now-familiar and once-prominent voice-of-God narration. By the contemporary era, trailers had become “unique form[s] of narrative film exhibition, wherein promotional discourse and narrative pleasure are conjoined (whether happily or not)” (Kernan 2009b, 1). In essence, this period saw the rise of distinct promotional film advertisements alongside the audience’s familiarity and ability to detect such media forms.
Scholars regard the modern film trailer as both complex and historically shifting media type. A leading scholar on the history and transition of motion picture trailers suggests that these forms are specifically targeted, easily recognizable visual media that are created to capture, direct, and guide viewer attention (Wyatt 1994). Today, both media entities and online film fans aid in determining trailer standards and audiovisual elements. Trailers are guided by audiovisual messages through structured narratives to connect with the largest number of viewers through multi-platform distribution. Some have argued that film trailers in the digital era are defined by their dynamic if fleeting presence, asserting that contemporary trailers are forced to compete with other media forms to encourage audience-driven participation or feedback (see Rombes 2009a). Smartphones and digital tablets indicate an increase in trailer mobility and interactivity on behalf of audiences, who are receiving different media in shorter, eye-catching bursts (Grainge 2011). Scholars have also argued that the efforts of fans on the Internet extend film capital beyond traditional home video or cable and network replay through film mashups or distributing abridged content (e.g., Sickels 2011c; Hoyt 2010a). Tyron (2009) traced the inception of the digital movie trailer to a fan preview for The Shining (Stanley Kubrick 1980) that gained Internet traction the same year as the inception of YouTube. According to the author, the fan trailer was an outgrowth of DVD culture “that allowed viewers to recognize that texts were ready to be ripped apart and reassembled in playful new ways” (151). Lazzarato (2006) described these types of fan creations as influential because they are “activities involved in defining and fixing cultural and artistic standards, fashions, tastes, consumer norms, and, more strategically, public opinion” (132). In sum, film fans use popular film properties to engage with and further promote such content to a wider range of consumers.
Re-appropriating and exhibiting film content is oftentimes understood as a group effort. Rose (2012a) argues that the cyclical discourse that occurs in online social networks encourages is what engages users to interact with film properties. Citing Avatar (James Cameron 2009) and The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson 2001-2003) trilogy as examples, the author maintains that a strong and relatable narrative or story is of the key to fan involvement. According to Rose, online visual narratives must be able to entertain as well as challenge participant-viewers, thereby encouraging individuals to take part in the creative act (233). Through user-participation and online media channels, the modern film trailer appears in transition. In an environment increasingly dominated by new media platforms and social networking, video-sharing websites are stimulating the development of relationships among social actors.
Defining Participatory Cultures and Digital Cinema
Participation raises the question of whose story is it? And, the answer I think is, it’s all of ours. In order to really identify with the story, in some way we have to make it our own.
-Frank Rose, The Art of Immersion (2012b).
Online users are now affecting many aspects of the motion picture industry and most recently, have turned to collaborative involvement with film trailers. Through an increasing number of video streaming and sharing websites, fans are producing and exhibiting short and hybrid motion picture forms from existing film content. Jenkins (1992) defined networked individuals who engage with and repurpose existing media materials as members of participatory cultures. These persons “speak from a position of collective identity, forge an alliance with a community of others in defense of tastes which…cannot be read as totally aberrant or idiosyncratic” (23). The author attributed the roots of this phenomenon to fan communities that built up around popular television programs, such as Star Trek, and who communicated and bonded through sharing information at conventions and fan clubs. More recently, Jenkins (2006a) has adapted his definition to include new media and social networking. Although optimistic about the endeavors of participatory cultures, Jenkins has noted the drawbacks of these communities as well, including the shifting power dynamics of group members and the involvement of corporate entities. In addition, the author has described the illegal activities of some members of participatory cultures, specifically those parties who undermine media conglomerates through acts of digital piracy and copyright infringement. Jenkins (2006b) has also commented on the burgeoning relationship between participatory cultures and digital cinema:
[I see] media fans as active participants…seeing their cultural products as an important aspect of the digital cinema movement. If many advocates of digital cinema have sought to democratize the means of cultural production and distribution to a broader segment of the general public then the rapid proliferation of fan-produced Star Wars films may represent a significant early success story for that movement (551-552).
In other words, the upsurge in digital cinema is dependent on fans in much the same way that fans are dependent upon interacting with cinematic creations. Digital cinema, as such, is oftentimes described as an outgrowth of online fan participation. Rombes (2009b) claims that collective acts of nostalgia, personal expression, and the adaptation of new technologies play a role in shaping digital cinema. Beginning with the rise of digital video and cinematography in the mid-1990s, the author discusses an additional factor in the relationship between digital cinema and the actions of participatory cultures: “There is a tendency in digital media – and cinema especially – to reassert imperfection, flaws, an aura of human mistakes to counterbalance the logic of perfection that pervades the digital” (Rombes 2009c, 2). In consideration with Rose’s (2012) insistence on powerful storytelling, Rombes argues that digital cinematic forms are generated and desirable because of factors such as pixilation and noise, which appear to mirror human imperfections. While fan intervention in existing film content raises questions for the future of digital cinema and a general understanding of what constitutes motion picture archives, participatory cultures have contributed to film marketing and promotion since the late 1990s. According to Erickson (2009a), who studied Internet film campaigns for The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez 1999) and others, studios appropriate fan-based advertising strategies if fan efforts prove financially successful. This article is concerned with how participatory cultures repurpose and interact with the content of older motion picture titles. The entrance of fan trailers through online video streaming platforms suggests new territory for digital cinema, as well as the possible extension of the lifespan for archived film properties.
Fig. 4: A still image from the opening titles of a student-generated video essay for Days.
Case Study Film: Days of Heaven
Since it was first released, “Days of Heaven” has gathered legends to itself…[it] is above all one of the most beautiful films ever made. Malick’s purpose is not to tell a story of melodrama, but one of loss. His tone is elegiac. He evokes the loneliness and beauty of the limitless Texas prairie.
-Roger Ebert (1997a).
In the contemporary media marketplace, conglomerates and studios overseeing film distribution and exhibition pay close attention to the role of technologies in film promotion and branding. This is also true when considering how older film titles are released, with potential revenue gained from cable and network television broadcasts, DVD rentals and sales and most recently, VOD. Those with a financial stake in film archives oftentimes publicize and rerelease only a select number of dated film titles per year, with those properties having the most commercial potential regarded as particularly valuable on the marketplace. While some noteworthy and popular motion picture titles are available for little-to-no pay through video-sharing online services, media conglomerates use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and iTunes, for instance, to promote their most commercially viable films. It is here that the role of participatory culture and the evolution of the fan trailer in the archival value of film properties must be taken into consideration. Days of Heaven is significant because of its longstanding popularity amongst fans, its continual re-emergence in the public arena, and its location in cinematic history. Malick’s film arrived at a turning point in the New Hollywood of the 1970s. The competition between fledgling studio productions and a burgeoning independent film movement marked much of the decade’s releases (see Thompson and Bordwell 2010; Biskind 1998, et. al.). “But by the late 1970s,” Thomson (2012) writes, “there began to be fewer grown-up pictures meant to disturb and provoke” (459).
Before and after its release, Days of Heaven was considered an oddity for Paramount Pictures, a none-too-profitable feature that rested on the short reputation of its filmmaker.[1] Malick spent his early years in Hollywood penning several projects for other directors until his first feature-length film, Badlands (Terrence Malick 1973), gained traction from both audiences and critics, garnering a reputation as the second Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn 1967). Patterson (2007) said Malick’s film offered the director the chance to “work outside more conventional parameters” (28). The filmmaker’s follow-up, however, was grander in scope and presented to audiences as a thematic American period piece. Set in the Great Plains of the 1910s, the narrative focused on a romantic amongst two migrant workers and a land baron. Morrison and Schur (2003) described Days as “wed[ding] Whitman’s poetic ideal of the democratic vista to the interior landscapes of Henry James, with a plot that evokes The Wings of the Dove and ends with a quasi-biblical plague of locusts” (23) [Fig. 1]. Indeed, the locusts were memorable, as was a lengthy scene in which wildfire spreads rapidly across the grasslands, scorching a vast swath of farmland. But much of the film’s storyline involved the happenings of Malick’s starring quartet – Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Linda Manz, and Sam Shepard – with the characters’ muted emotions drawn out in close-ups paired with character voiceover.
Fig. 5: Gere and Adams’s characters traveling atop a railcar with other migrants in the film.
Much of the film’s legend was only realizable years after its release. For one, Malick departed from filmmaking for two decades after Days, leaving a questionable legacy for a motion picture whose long-term stability rested on the director’s reputation and the film’s much-discussed cinematography. Over time, those perfectly composed images of man and nature, or what Kehr (2011) glowingly referred to as, “aesthetic shock effects [that] create vast, harmonious wholes,” were responsible for keeping the film in the minds of journalists and cinephiles (23-24). The film’s cinematography eventually became something of Hollywood lore [Fig. 2]. Ebert (1997b) detailed the infighting between credited director of photography, Nestor Almendros, and his predecessor, the notoriously cantankerous Haskell Wexler, in his “Great Movie” review of the film. Over the years, rumblings over credit for the look and feel of the film have led to a reconsideration of the man responsible for capturing such well-regarded images. In the years since its release, Malick returned to filmmaking and has garnered generally favorable reviews and some commercial success.[2] No fewer than ten book-length volumes are dedicated to the filmmaker’s resurgence, including The Terrence Malick Handbook (Smith 2012), and a number of academic and trade journal entries have surfaced on the canonical worthiness of Days (e.g., Crofts 2001; Woessner 2011; Koehler 2013, et. al.). Not surprisingly, praise and frustration for the film reigns on the Internet as well. The number and popularity of video clips available on video streaming and sharing websites suggests additional enforcement of the scholarly and journalistic discourse devoted to the film as well. While Days remains a much-debated and discussed film more than 35 years after its theatrical release, the role of trailers for the film on the Internet deserves attention in the era of cross-platform film promotion.
Selection of Trailer Case Studies: The Presence of Days of Heaven Online
The “Paramount Movies” channel on YouTube, overseen by Viacom, offers an original trailers for Days of Heaven [Fig. 3]. The Criterion Collection, responsible for marketing and distributing the Blu-ray and HD-DVD versions of the film, also displays an official trailer on its homepage for Days.[3] Mysteriously, Paramount’s trailer has received few visitors on YouTube while Criterion’s showcases an impressive 153 user-generated comments. The seeming randomness of attracting viewers to trailer content in online spaces is represented in this brief comparison, which appears to crossover to fan trailers as well (YouTube 2014c; The Criterion Collection 2014). The volume and popularity of fan trailers and video clips of Days showcased on YouTube overshadows this corporately controlled material in several ways as well. For one, the power of the video sharing website’s status as a social networking outlet is immediately evident. The “WorleyClarence” YouTube channel, for instance, has reposted an official version of Paramount’s trailer with an astonishing 360,000 views and 97 message board posts.[4] “JokerTreePictures,” described as an umbrella channel for three student filmmakers, has created a seven-minute video essay for Days that has gathered significant attention [Fig. 4]. Another YouTube user offers a promotional video compiled from scenes from Days matched with the music of Rod Stewart’s pop single, “Broken Arrow.” The sum of this content, which includes fan-exhibited interviews with the cast and crew as well as scenes lifted from the film, is evidence of the film’s presence on the Internet (YouTube 2014d).
For this study, three trailers were chosen as individual case studies based on the following criteria: 1) the recognizable differences in their audiovisual content, 2) the number of online views (i.e., “hits”), and 3) the number of message board posts or available online feedback. Two fan-appropriated trailers exhibited on YouTube were selected based on these requirements, as was the aforementioned trailer available through The Criterion Collection. The necessity of the trailer selection process was to compare and contrast elements of fan trailers with an official trailer approved by a media outlet in an effort to answer the research questions for this study. Many trailers that did not meet the research criteria were not selected because of factors such as conflicting content with the selected trailers, a lack of available user-generated discourse on message boards, and/or the number of recorded views or hits online. After completing the selection process, trailers were coded A (“WorleyClarence” YouTube Channel), B (“cnharrison” YouTube Channel), and C (The Criterion Collection), respectively. The researcher conducted individual and comparative audiovisual analyses on trailers A, B, and C and made notes on narrative structure and trailer content. This was followed by a qualitative content analysis of the online commentary or feedback on the message boards for each trailer’s webpage. In effect, the trailer selection process and resulting analyses were guided by the research questions for this study: What are the content-related (i.e., audiovisual) similarities and differences between the distributor-controlled, official trailer and the fan trailers under study? And what role(s) does user-generated commentary or feedback play for these trailers?
YouTube. 2008. “Days Of Heaven – Trailer (1978).” Last modified April 17, 2008.
YouTube. 2013. “Days of Heaven – Trailer.” Last modified on April 13, 2013.
YouTube. 2013. “Days of Heaven–A Video Essay.” Last modified on October 16, 2013.
Fig. 6: Adams and Shepard photographed in silhouette, with the symbolic farmhouse looming in the background.
Days of (Online) Fan Trailer Heaven
Trailer A opens with an image of Paramount Pictures’ trademark logo. The studio’s signature emblem fades into an image of brooding clouds looming over a wind-worn prairie. Thunder bellows on the soundtrack, and a shot of a bird of prey morphs into a backlit figure of a man standing in the grasslands at sunset. “In 1916, America was changing,” the narrator says in the trailer’s opening seconds. An image of a railcar passing over a bridge fades into a scene of factory workers digging through heaps of coal, followed by another wide frame of an empty sunbaked wheat field. The viewer is then swept into close-ups of the rough-hewn faces of the film’s stars – Gere, Shepard, and Adams – amidst passing railcars and horse-drawn carriages en route to the barren frontier [Fig. 5]. One minute and fifteen seconds into Trailer A, the serene mood and tone of the narrative changes abruptly. The narrator’s voice states that the film is “the story of a man who had nothing…the woman who loved him…and the man who would give her everything for a share of that love” (YouTube 2014e). With these words, the imagery moves away from the thematic scope of the land and its inhabitants and into the romantic dilemma at the heart of the film. A scene in which Gere’s field hand runs from law enforcement on horseback is juxtaposed with a quieter moment of his character embracing Adams in a quiet meadow. The next shot is an extreme close-up of Shepard’s watchful gaze, as if overseeing these scenes from afar.
As the narrative for Trailer A moves towards its conclusion, Adams and Shepard are photographed in silhouette inside the latter’s large estate, while the bedraggled face of Gere’s character peers up at the duo through a windowpane from below. This moment is framed from Gere’s perspective, with the actor and the encompassing field bathed in the deep blues of a Midwestern dusk, suggesting the loneliness his character will face with the coming of night. The film’s title appears over this closing shot, foreshadowing a troubled outcome for the trio. Trailer A presents much of the entire film’s narrative in under two minutes; what begins as a broad glimpse of turn-of-the-century westward expansion in the U.S. evolves into a minor tale of lost love [Fig. 5]. Thematically, the trailer’s primary audiovisual message suggests a heightening of nostalgia for both the American West and the Hollywood of the late 1970s, with the mythic qualities of innocence and utopia highlighted in the cinematography and production design [Fig. 6]. The professionalism of the editing in Trailer A, including the pairing of shots and sequence evolution provides a seamless story arc. Thus, the inclusion of Paramount’s introductory logo, the ‘70s-era voice-of-God narration, and the production elements suggests that this user-exhibited fan trailer was re-appropriated without revising the original trailer’s content. Therefore, Trailer A is most likely an original trailer for the film repurposed by one or more online fans. Trailer B also provides a visually compelling narrative to signal nostalgia and romanticism for the American West. But here, the viewer is immediately transplanted into to the lives of the film’s primary characters without the broader introduction of the land and its inhabitants as witnessed in Trailer A [Fig. 7].
Fig. 7: The film’s use of natural light to emphasize dramatic elements is also highlighted within the trailers.
The opening shot in Trailer B, a striking low-angle image of Gere, Adams, and the younger Manz running to catch a moving train, introduces the film’s predominant family dynamic.[5] Next is a shot of moving railcars topped with migrant travelers that segue into multiple close-ups of these characters’ hardened faces. Already, the viewer is guided toward the themes of travel and migration. The following image shows the Gere, Adams, and Manz trio atop one of the railcars, amidst the masses, fleeing the East for better opportunities. The rest of Trailer B’s running time focuses on the romantic triangle that ensues. Several important elements in Trailer B suggest a greater degree of user- repurposing. Manz’s tinny backwoods drawl, taken from the film’s narration, guides the trailer’s audio track for much of the running time, and is backed by a second musical track of delicately plucked guitar strings. In addition, the caption for Trailer B, located just below the video player on YouTube, states, “Bill, Abby, and sis arrive on the panhandle,” a sentiment only marginally correlated with the majority of the trailer’s visual narrative (YouTube 2014f). Another item that speaks to user re-appropriation is the individual shot duration, which moves at a more leisurely pace here, and seems to have been edited mostly to match Manz’s voiceover.
Further suggestive of fan involvement with Trailer B’s content is the abrupt segue from Manz’s voice and the guitar string audio tracks to the ambient sounds of trotting horses and rolling wagon wheels. Visually, the nonprofessional editing is emphasized at this point as well, with a sequence in which Gere’s character is propositioned for work by a land baron, a moment that is abruptly interrupted by a long shot of migrants moving en mass across the prairie. Throughout the two and a half-minute running time for Trailer B, the mood and tone shift in favor of different scenes from the film that drive the trailer towards a questionable conclusion. Marketing and film promotion is immediately evident on the webpage for Trailer C [Fig. 8]. The Criterion Collection offers viewers the option of purchasing several DVD versions of the film, reading a written essay on the film’s historical significance, a list of DVD special features, and links to related films from the company in addition to the trailer.
The trailer itself, however, is constructed from film content not included in Trailers A and B. In this much-abridged version, the guitar audio track preceding Manz’s narration is audibly fragmented and disassociated from any cohesive visible narrative. As such, the film’s primary visual content is made up of close-ups of the nondescript faces of migrants overlooking a land of grazing crows and antelope on the abandoned prairie. Here, Manz’s brief narration serves to introduce the film’s quiet mood and leisurely pacing. The aforementioned scene of Gere interacting with the land baron is cut prematurely in Trailer C, presumably for purposes of keeping the trailer’s length under the running time of one minute. In this version, the scene that introduces the bullhorn-gripping farm owner is interrupted by an establishing crane shot that places the viewer in the midst of migrants scampering towards the opportunity of work. Each of these moments take up several seconds worth of running time, and Criterion’s trailer closes abruptly with a surprising fade-to-black.
Fig. 11: Criterion’s webpage for Days of Heaven offers visitors a number of options to interact with the film.
Whereas the finales of both fan-appropriated trailers on YouTube are classically structured to mirror the resolutions found in many trailers of the 1970s, the transition to a black frame in Trailer C suggests a different kind of closure. The trailer concludes by returning to a still frame of six farmhands standing in awe of an insect downpour, a somewhat iconic image from the famous “locust scene” in the film. This visual placeholder is representative of Criterion’s idyllic version of the film’s significance. As such, this striking still image speaks directly to curating the memory of Days, arguably more so than the totality of the narrative for Trailer C. Although the design of the distributor’s webpage is simultaneously content-heavy and visually arresting, this emblematic still frame stands apart, begging the visitor to click, watch or re-watch and possibly, purchase the film from the distributor.
Feedback on Heaven: The Online Discourse of Cinematic Aesthetics & Nostalgia
The contents of three hundred user-generated message board posts for Trailers A, B, and C were analyzed for this study. Most of this feedback was found to be praiseworthy of Days, with many of the user-posts lauding the film’s cinematography. The discourse on Criterion’s webpage for the film was overwhelmingly positive and found to reflect the distributor’s marketing intentions. “A beautiful spectral and view of the early 1900s mid-western America,” Mike Santoro wrote on the message board. “I love Malick’s brilliant direction in this [film]” (The Criterion Collection 2014b). Others commentators on this webpage used specific discourse that intertwined aspects of their real-world lives with the film’s history and nostalgia. “My first Malick movie, discovered when I was watching every movie on rogerebert.com’s ‘101 Movies To See Before You Die,’” Taylor P. stated. Bennett Duckworth wrote, “…thanks Dad for introducing this movie to me.” And mimicking Manz’s drawl in the character’s narration, Arthur Mhoyan said, “There were people sufferin’ in pain and hunger. Some people their tongues were hangin’ out of their mouths” (The Criterion Collection 2014c).
While single-word and somewhat elusive statements, such as “Breathtaking” and “Beautiful,” were found on the Criterion message board as well, much of the feedback was more detailed and descriptive. The lack of negative comments on the message board is further indicative of Criterion’s approach to online publicity and distribution for the film. In turn, the majority of user-feedback for Trailers A and B on YouTube was specifically targeted at the film’s cinematography. Equal parts excitement and praise for the film’s imagery was evident on both message boards, suggesting that the film’s visual approach is endorsed through fan-recall on these video-streaming webpages. For example, the “GregF” channel wrote, “…all 5 [of] Malick’s movies are beautiful but there are no words to describe Days Of Heaven…pure magic.” The “44eelz” channel posted, “i haven’t seen this movie yet but the cinematography looks amazing.” The “ErikHutt” channel added that “[Days] was shot in Alberta,” and the “MrKeepitunderyourhat” channel said, “To be honest, I’d say that the most famous aspect of the entire film is its magic hour cinematography” (YouTube 2014g).
The similarities in the content and tone of the statements analyzed across all three webpages suggest that fans are fond of the film’s historical significance and imagery. The cause-effect nature of this discourse also acts as an effort to keep the film in memory while promoting it to others. The content of this rhetoric also signifies the film’s ability to evoke an era in Hollywood history in which aesthetic power swayed and captivated audience members. In sum, much of this online discourse speaks to how film fans in online spaces curate the myth and nostalgia of aging mainstream film properties. Much of these statements reflect a sincere familiarity with Malick’s production design and the aesthetic properties of the cinematography. The statements under analysis, therefore, speak to the role of message boards in film advertising as well as the intricacies of fan-generated promotional feedback.
Promoting Hollywood Through the Fan Trailers: The Archive in Transit
YouTube. 2015. “Honest Trailers.” Accessed February 11, 2015.
This article investigated how participatory cultures use fan trailers to engage with aging Hollywood titles in online spaces. The findings suggest that online film fans utilize fan trailers to interact with others while drawing attention to archival film properties. In effect, the findings from this study demonstrate several ways in which trailer repurposing and exhibition on the Internet aids in developing fan support around older motion pictures. An upsurge in fan trailers on the Internet is a burgeoning avenue of marketing for Hollywood studios and film distributors. Through new media platforms, fan trailers have the potential to reach global audiences and encourage social networking and commentary. In this study, the number of fan trailer views and user-generated message board posts was found to play a role in supporting interest in online film content. The audiovisual elements of both fan trailers for this study were generated from existing film content and repurposed to varying degrees. Specifically, the fan-edited trailer content was found to draw attention to the emotive properties of the film text. Collectively, the trailer narratives for this study presented an overwhelmingly favorable image of the case study film, as well as its historical significance and nostalgic qualities. The textual or written discourse analyzed in message boards on the webpages under investigation was found to shape the collective memory of the case study film as well. The content from this portion of the analysis also helped in preserving a positive view of the film itself, with much of the user-generated feedback positioned to promote the film’s cinematography and production design.
The composite findings indicate that fan trailers play a detrimental role in reviving older studio properties. The unintended consequences of these actions suggest a new avenue for media conglomerates and/or film distributors in marketing older motion pictures in the digital era. With Hollywood making fewer “midrange films [with] distinctly American subject matter,” such as Days of Heaven, smaller production companies and independent channels are overtaking this once-profitable market (Goldstein 2012). The role(s) taken on by members of participatory cultures, as well as the long-term effects of their interventions in online spaces, remains to be seen. For aging Hollywood film, fan trailers appear to offer one example of a promotional tool for film distribution and archiving. In June 2015, more than 88 million viewers had accessed 107 mock fan trailers through Honest Trailers, the YouTube-hosted channel by Screen Junkies (YouTube 2015). As Erickson (2009b) suggested, “with rapidly evolving technological features and equipment, tomorrow may yield an entirely new approach to using the Internet in a film promotion campaign” (51). As technological advancements in cinema and digital media continue to unfold, new online platforms and Web channels are creating an increasing number of spaces for participatory cultures and motion pictures. While many of these changes are on the horizon, scholars have predicted a continuous stream of content-related interruptions from tech-savvy film fans, as well as an evolution in the blending of virtual selves with cinematic information in cyberspace (e.g., Hansen 2006; Hardt and Negri 2004). Although the art of re-appropriating film content on the Internet has ballooned into a truly mass phenomenon, the future and direction of the fan trailer will depend on the negotiated balance between online cinephiles and digital control of motion picture properties.
Bettig, Ronald V. 2008. “Hollywood and intellectual property.” In The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry, edited by Paul McDonald and Janet Wasko, 195-205. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008.
Biskind, Peter. 1998. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-‘n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Boyle, James. 2008. The Pubic Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Cunningham, Stuart and Jon Silver. 2013. Screen Distribution and the New King Kongs of the Online World. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Crofts, Charlotte. 2001. “From the ‘hegemony of the eye’ to the ‘hierarchy of Perception’: The reconfiguration of sound and image in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven.” The Journal of Media Practice 2, no. 1: 19-29.
Ebert, Roger. 1997. “Great Movie: Days of Heaven.” RogerEbert.com., December 7. Accessed January 20, 2015.
Erickson, Mary P. 2009a. “Co-opting ‘independence’: Hollywood’s marketing label.” In The Business of Entertainment: Movies, Vol. 1, edited by Robert Sickels, 129-152. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Erickson, Mary P. 2009b. “KingKong.com verses LOLTheMovie.com: Toward a framework of corporate and independent online film promotion.” In The Business of Entertainment: Movies, Vol. 1, edited by Robert Sickels, 37-54. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Franich, Dennis. 2013. “Do audiences actually WANT shorter movie trailers?” Entertainment Weekly, June 7. Accessed November 13, 2014.
Goldstein, Patrick. 2012. “Hollywood’s global strategy: Made in America, but not for Americans.” 24 Frames: Movies: Past, Present and Future (Los Angeles Times blog), January 10. Accessed December 17, 2014.
Grainge, Paul. 2011. Ephemeral Media: Transitory Screen Culture from Television to YouTube. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hansen, Mark B. N. 2006. Bodies in Code: Interfaces with Digital Media. New York: Routledge.
Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. 2005. Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire. New York: Penguin Books.
Hoyt, Eric. 2010. “The future of selling the past: Studio libraries in the 21st century.” Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media 52. Accessed January 18, 2015.
Internet Movie Database. 2015. “Days of Heaven.” Accessed March 12.
Jenkins, Henry. 1992. Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
Jenkins, Henry. 2006a. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Jenkins, Henry. 2006a. “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars?: Digital cinema, media convergence, and participatory culture.” In Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, edited by Gigi Durham Meenakshi and Douglas Kellner. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Johnston, K.M. 2008. “’The coolest way to watch movie trailers in the world’: Trailers in the digital age.” Convergence 14, no. 2: 145-160.
Kehr, Dave. 2011. “Days of Heaven.” In When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade, 23-27. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Kernan, Lisa. 2009. Coming Attractions: Reading American Movie Trailers. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Koehler, Robert. 2013. “What the hell happened with Terrence Malick?” Cineaste 38, no. 4: 4-9.
Lazzarato, Maurizio. 2006. “Immaterial labor.” In Radical Thought in Italy: A Potential Politics, edited by Paolo Virno and Michael Hardt, 132-146. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Litman, Jessica. 2002. “War stories.” Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 20, no. 2: 337-365.
Morrison, James and Thomas Schur. 2003. The Films of Terrence Malick. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Obst, Lynda. 2013. Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Patterson, Hannah. 2007. “Two characters in search of a direction: Motivation and the construction of identity in Badlands.” In The Cinema of Terrence Malick: Poetic Visions of America, edited by Hannah Patterson, 27-39. London: Wallflower Press.
Perren, Alisa. 2010. “Business as unusual: Conglomerate-sized challenges for film and television in the digital arena.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 38, no. 2: 72
Rombes, Nicholas. 2009. Cinema in the Digital Age. New York: Wallflower Press.
Rose, Frank. 2012. The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Rothman, Lily. 2014. “Movie trailers will get shorter, but won’t become interactive anytime soon.” TIME, January 27. Accessed October 3, 2014.
Roxborough, Scott. 2013. “Global on-demand revenues to top $6 billion by 2018.” The Hollywood Reporter, August 14. Accessed September 8, 2014.
Sickels, Robert. 2011. American Film in the Digital Age. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers.
Smith, Emily. 2012. The Terrence Malick Handbook – Everything You Need to Know about Terrence Malick. Unknown Location: Tebbo.
Sterbenz, Christina. 2014. “How sketchy streaming sites really work – and why some are illegal.” Business Insider, April 24. Accessed January 10, 2015.
The Criterion Collection. 2015. “Days of Heaven: Terrence Malick.” Accessed on October 22, 2014.
Thompson, Kristin and David Bordwell. 2010. Film History: An Introduction (3rd ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Thomson, David. 2012. The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Tolson, Andrew. 2010. “A new authenticity? Communicative practices on YouTube.” Critical Discourse Studies 7, no. 4: 277-289.
Tyron, Chuck. 2009. Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Media Convergence. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Woessner, Martin. 2011. “What is Heideggerian cinema? Film, philosophy, and cultural mobility.” New German Critique 38, no. 2: 129-157.
Wyatt, Justin. 1994. High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Avatar. 2009. Directed by James Cameron. USA: 20th Century Fox.
Bonnie and Clyde. 1967. Directed by Arthur Penn. USA: Warner Brothers.
Days of Heaven. 1978. Directed by Terrence Malick. USA: Paramount Pictures.
Gone Girl. 2014. Directed by David Fincher. USA: 20th Century Fox.
The Blair Witch Project. 1999. Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. USA: Haxan Films.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. 2001. Directed by Peter Jackson. USA: New Line Cinema.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. 2002. Directed by Peter Jackson. USA: New Line Cinema.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. 2003. Directed by Peter Jackson. USA: New Line Cinema.
YouTube. 2009. “Days of Heaven – Terrence Malick (1978).” Last modified on November 9, 2009.
[1] Days of Heaven’s 1978 box-office gross was $3.5 million nationwide. Compare this figure to other mainstream studio releases of 1978 that received Oscar attention and critical acclaim, such as Heaven Can Wait ($81.6 million) (Beatty 1978), The Deer Hunter (roughly $49 million) (Cimino 1978), and Midnight Express ($35 million) (Parker 1978) (BoxOfficeMojo 2014).
[2] At the time of this writing, three Malick-directed films are in various stages of development, with his next feature, Knight of Cups, scheduled for wide release in 2015.
[3] The one-hour, thirty-three minute feature film is also available for rent or purchase on YouTube.
[4] Paramount Pictures’ YouTube channel displays fewer than 4,000 posts.
[5] This image is also used near the end of Trailer A, primarily to symbolize the passage of time for migrants moving from urban to rural areas.
Kyle R. McDaniel is a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. His research interests include the intersections between American cinema and digital culture in the 21st century. His forthcoming dissertation focuses on the usage and repetition of visual effects in contemporary documentary film.
“Children should play with dead things”: transforming Frankenstein in Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie – Erin Hawley
“You gave me no choice”: A queer reading of Mordred’s journey to villainy and struggle for identity in BBC’s Merlin – Joseph Brennan
When a Good Girl Goes to War: Claire Adams Mackinnon and Her Service During World War I – Heather L. Robinson
‘Rock‘n’roll’s evil doll’: the Female Popular Music Genre of Barbie Rock – Rock Chugg
Morality, Mortality and Materialism: an Art Historian Watches Mad Men – Catherine Wilkins
1970s Disaster Films: The Star In Jeopardy – Nathan Smith
Blockbusters for the YouTube Generation: A new product of convergence culture – Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller
Abstract: While scholars have paid much attention to YouTube in a Web 2.0 environment, the YouTube blockbuster is yet to be discussed as part of this convergence culture. It differs from transmedia storytelling in that no single company owns or controls the characters or concepts. Once users have elevated videos with rich narrative qualities to the heights of fame within YouTube and other virtual social networks, they are taken from the YouTube archive by global commercial media and given new exchange values in traditional media forms such as books, films, television shows and ancillary products, using fragmented classical narrative techniques to do so. This paper traces the history of the blockbuster as a way of large commercial media adapting to social and technological change after World War II, to its refinements in the 1970s to cater for younger audiences and changes in the media landscape, to its most recent incarnation in YouTube. We argue that the economic and cultural values of the blockbuster are being transformed and refigured by the new form it has begun to take within convergence culture.
Susan Boyle is a dowdy, middle-aged Scottish singer with bushy eyebrows and frizzy dark hair. She was the “fairytale for the YouTube generation” (Wooley, 2010) in 2009 and now has one of the world’s fastest selling debut albums of all time. The story began when Boyle surprised audiences with her faultless rendition of Les Miserables’ “I dreamed a dream” on the hit reality television show Britain’s Got Talent. The Washington Post later reported that the judges and audience were “waiting for her to squawk like a duck” (McManus, 2009). Within hours of her performance, a snippet of footage was uploaded to YouTube by a computer user and shared among millions of people throughout the world. Another piece of footage, uploaded by the producers of the television show, has received almost 100 million hits. Boyle is now one of the world’s most recognizable faces, with guest television appearances, stories in newspapers and magazines, books and record deals. Ironically, the 48-year-old songstress had never heard of YouTube before her performance. She told one interviewer: “I hadn’t even seen a computer…Google what’s that? Is that some kind of gargle?” (Wooley, 2010).
This paper argues the Susan Boyle phenomenon is an example of an emerging media form – the YouTube blockbuster. Just like its cinematic forerunner, this is an example of large commercial media adapting to social and technological change. The two forms retain much in common and we will highlight the work of Marco Cucco (2009) to outline these similarities. Importantly, however, we aim to show how the two models differ within a convergence culture. The traditional blockbuster model developed by Hollywood in the 1960s and `70s depends upon corporate media investing significant economic capital to produce and market a product with an expectation it will appeal to mass audiences and generate huge profits. Its production has always been controlled by single media conglomerates which make the final decisions on plot and character development as well as licensing agreements for ancillary products. Elana Shafrin (2004) argues that in recent times cinematic blockbusters have been “infused with new modes of authorship, production, marketing and consumption” (Shafrin, 2004, p.261). She uses case studies of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and George Lucas’ Star Wars franchises to discuss how a growing number of “active” or “participatory” fans (Jenkins, 1992) exhibit a sense of ownership that includes an investment in the creative development of these productions. Shafrin shows how internet clubs and websites have provided venues for fans to establish connections to Jackson and Spielberg and their evolving franchises through social gossip, artistic production and political activism.
The YouTube blockbuster is different because its character and plot development is not determined by a single media conglomerate, nor are the licensing agreements for its associated merchandise. It begins with huge interest within participatory media culture before the corporate media make any significant investment and it is dependent on both “bottom up” participatory culture as well as “top down” corporate media (Jenkins, 2006, p.242) to drive its production. Media scholars including Tiziana Terranova (2000), Andrew Ross (2009), Robert Gehl (2009) Banks & Humphreys (2008) and Banks & Deuze (2009) offer different perspectives in the debates surrounding co-creative labor and free labor, who controls content and information flows, who benefits and who profits. There is not space to work through these arguments here. YouTube does, however, provide an example of these complex, yet interdependent co-creative relationships as it thrives on its ability to function as both a business and cultural resource. YouTube has its own brand channel, provides transparent advertising platforms and offers advertising placements in frames on the site, but with its catchcry “Broadcast Yourself”™, it also provides a global stage for creative expression and is celebrated for its participatory culture. It allows everyone with an internet browser to produce, share, find and watch videos stored in its vast digital archive. It is the free, participatory culture of YouTube that is so attractive to “top down” corporate media. It offers a symbiosis with new media, as well as opportunities to build on YouTube success with a range of narratives and products. The YouTube blockbuster is unique within convergence culture as it has progressed from transmedia storytelling, the term used by Henry Jenkins (2006) to describe the ways in which the movie blockbuster production process changes when multimedia platforms are used to tell and sell a story. This paper also argues that a common feature of both old and new blockbusters is the use of narrative, even though it may be constructed in different ways. While classical Hollywood theorists claim narrative has been lost in the industrialisation of film culture, we will argue it is what helps bind new and old media in the production of the YouTube blockbuster.
Blockbuster production: A brief history
The term “blockbuster” is a synonym for something big and is commonly used to describe any cultural product that is a hugely popular commercial success, from art exhibitions to novels. However, it is most closely associated with film where the term was originally coined to describe a big budget production with mass popular appeal.
Cucco (2009) traces the blockbuster’s evolution in Hollywood to the 1940s and ‘50s when the industry was in a state of a crisis brought about by the large-scale, post-war demographic shift towards the new suburbs where there were very few cinemas. The baby boom reduced cinematographic consumption, and the birth of new media competition, especially television (Cucco, 2009, p 217), left movie houses struggling to attract audiences.
In the Studio Era of the 1950s and ‘60s Hollywood enjoyed some successes with films including Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music, but it was in the 1970s that it appeared to have found a concrete solution to its crisis with the release of films such as The GodFather (1972), Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1976). These were big budget films that recorded phenomenal takings at the box office – Jaws alone grossed $470.6 million in its initial release worldwide and cost $7 million to produce (Box Office Mojo, 2010). No three films had ever made so much money more quickly (Bordwell, 2006). They heralded the birth of the Hollywood blockbuster and provided a successful business model for media conglomerates to create big and expensive productions that could appeal to mass audiences and generate massive profits. According to film historian Thomas Schatz (2002), the emergence of the blockbuster signified what the New Hollywood was all about, that is “the studio’s eventual coming-to-terms with an increasingly fragmented entertainment industry – with its demographics and target audiences, its diversified multimedia conglomerates, its global markets and new delivery systems” (2002, p. 185). The rise of the blockbuster was met with strong criticism that such films signified the death of classical narrative and that Hollywood was relying on spectacle and special effects alone to tell and sell a story. Filmmaker Jean Douchet claimed post-classical cinema had given up on narrative and the image was “designed to violently impress by constantly inflating their spectacular qualities” (Buckland, 1999, p 178). Schatz says film became: “…so fast-paced and resolutely plot driven that character depth and development are scarcely on the narrative agenda and this emphasis on plot over character marks a significant departure from classical Hollywood” (Schatz, 2002, p. 194). Justin Wyatt (1994, p. 18) argues the cinematic blockbuster can be summarised on one sentence or image, usually called a logline, to make it easier to market. He gives examples from the 1980s including Flashdance (1983) and American Gigolo (1980), which were designed around the public’s taste and market research, and required a simplification of narrative in favor of the image as major appeal.
Most recently, Cucco (2009) has outlined three distinctive features of the cinematic blockbuster which we argue apply to the YouTube blockbuster as well. They include a high economic investment using both technology and human resources; a promise of a “spectacular” or something that is “must see”; and an ability to supplement the earnings from its audiovisual receipts with receipts from merchandising (Cucco, 2009, pp. 219-222). We will consider how each of these features applies to the YouTube blockbuster in this paper, beginning with the third feature – merchandising potential. This is best understood by considering how the blockbuster and ancillary products first came to co-exist. Instead of competing with television, the blockbuster of the 1970s embraced it as a tool for massive advertising. The release of Jaws, for example, was preceded by a large-scale television promotional campaign to entice audiences. Gomery (1998) says the huge success of Jaws proved saturation advertising was the strategy that would redefine Hollywood (Gomery, 1998, p. 51). The print campaign featured a poster depicting a huge shark rising from the water towards an unsuspecting swimmer, while the radio and television ads exploited the well-known Jaws theme music (Schatz, 2002, p. 191). Bordwell (2006) argues that by the early 1980s, merchandising was added to extend the lifespan of the story beyond the cinema, so tie-ins with fast-food chains, automobile companies and lines of toys and apparel could keep selling the movie.
Scripts that lent themselves to mass marketing had a better chance of being acquired and screenwriters were encouraged to incorporate special effects. Unlike studio era productions, the megapicture could lead a robust afterlife on a soundtrack album, on cable channels and on video cassette. (Bordwell 2006, p.3)
The blockbuster strategy flourished within a new media environment where conglomerates controlled how and when a story could be produced and promoted across a range of mediums from television to the internet. Jenkins (2006) calls this “transmedia storytelling”. He uses the example of the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster The Matrix, which gives audiences pieces of the story and narrative through films, books and video games. Jenkins argues that within this idea:
Each medium does what it does best so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels and comics and its world might be explored and experienced through game play…such a multilayered approach to storytelling will enable a more complex, more sophisticated, more rewarding mode of narrative to emerge within the constraints of commercial entertainment (Jenkins, 2006, p. 105).
Although the story is told across mediums, Jenkins argues that transmedia storytelling still depends on a central media company selling the rights to unaffiliated third parties to manufacture products while licensing limits what can be done with the characters or concepts to protect the original property. The production of most ancillary media is achieved by a combination of labor but ultimately the licensor has “the power”, for example the production of “tie-in novels” (Clarke 2009) depends on freelance and supervisory labor but the licensor has ultimate control over timeframes, characters and narratives. This marks the most fundamental difference in the evolution of the YouTube blockbuster because no single company owns or controls the characters or concepts.
Beyond transmedia storytelling
Cucco (2009) outlines the use of high economic investment using both technology and human resources as a feature of the blockbuster. To understand how this relates to the YouTube blockbuster, we must acknowledge the identities and forms of agency that underpin the success of products of convergence culture such as YouTube. While there is not space here to look closely at this debate, scholars have tended to focus their discussions on the political economy of media production or classical development versus dependency theories (Jenkins, 2006; Banks & Deuze, 2009; Gehl, 2009). There was always a clear division between the role of the producer and consumer in the traditional market-driven cinema model, but that division has blurred since the “people formerly known as the audience” began creating content, uploading photos and videos and sharing information online. Croteau (2006) suggests “mega media products, along with other forms of traditional media, will increasingly be competing for attention with a constantly changing population of literally millions of media producers” (Croteau, 2006, p. 343). The YouTube blockbuster highlights this interdependency. As van Dijck (2009) observes; “YouTube’s role as an internet trader in the options market for fame is unthinkable without a merger between old and new media” (van Dijck, 2009, p. 53).
The production of the YouTube blockbuster depends on a variety of human resources, motives and objectives. They include those responsible for hosting YouTube, the people who upload content online and those who view and pass on links to popular footage via email, blogs, websites, telephone and word of mouth. Global commercial media are also involved, and their role includes extending the life of YouTube footage beyond the online archive by creating new plot developments and ancillary products of their own.
In her research to assess the future of Web 2.0 social networking sites, Kylie Jarrett (2008, p. 132) highlights that it is the appeal of, and control provided by community structures rather than corporate intervention which is fundamental to the success of sites such as YouTube. Burgess and Green (2009) describe a continnum of cultural participation in YouTube where:
…content is circulated and used without much regard to its source, it is valued and engaged with in specific ways according to its genre and its uses within the website as well as its relevance to the everyday lives of other users, rather than according to whether or not it was uploaded by a Hollywood studio, a web TV company or an amateur video blogger (Burgess & Green, 2009, p. 57).
YouTube is owned by Google, yet Google does not charge licensing fees to those who wish to upload content or enforce subscription fees on anyone who wishes to view material on the site. This allows for large-scale site traffic, providing people have internet access and can invest in the necessary equipment for video editing and uploading. It is YouTube’s role as a cultural resource that underpins the success of the YouTube blockbuster. The relatively free, participatory nature of YouTube is what attracts the interest of global media companies seeking to create their own exchange values from popular content. Often the original creator of material is not acknowledged in the archive and if copyright restrictions are unclear, anyone can take advantage of this ambiguity and control the way the content is developed outside of the archive.
This shows that the YouTube blockbuster has moved beyond Jenkins’ (2006) transmedia storytelling, which depends on a central media company driving production. It does, however, reinforce Cucco’s idea that the success of the blockbuster depends on its ability to generate merchandizing and ancillary products. Without this ability, there would be no large-scale investment in popular YouTube footage from global media. This investment can range from deploying resources such as journalists to report on the phenomena for commercial media, to book deals, movie rights or merchandizing.
The ‘Singing Spinster’ spectacle
Boyle’s appearance on Britain’s Got Talent was first recorded and uploaded by computer users. There was no initial large-scale investment apart from the costs associated with the production of the reality talent show, but this hardly compares with the massive budgets afforded to create Hollywood blockbusters. The YouTube users who uploaded footage had made some minor investment with basic computer equipment and internet access to upload content onto what is considered a cultural resource. But there were no special effects or spectacle deployed on YouTube, in fact the footage of Boyle is grainy and poor quality and lasts for less than four minutes. Once footage was uploaded, news within the YouTube community spread like a virus. Boyle became a spectacle through viral videos, word of mouth and email. The first international news reports came after the YouTube footage had received millions of hits. Newspapers across the world were reporting less than 24 hours after her television appearance of her global success on YouTube with international headlines such as “Scottish spinster a world media sensation” (no author (a), 2009, p. 16) and “Unlikely singer is YouTube sensation” (Lyall, 2009, p. 1).
Large-scale economic investment in the Boyle phenomena was made after the footage was a massive hit in YouTube and corporate media saw value in its production outside of the archive. In the case of traditional media, it provided a chance to “gobble up its most promising prospects” for its own financial gain (Croteau, 2006). Until now corporate media has always had to take a gamble that their large-scale investment in blockbusters will pay off with audiences. They have had to rely on previously successful formulas and market research (Wyatt, 1994). In the case of YouTube phenomena, television stations and talk shows such as Oprah, newspapers across the globe from the Washington Post to The Australian, magazines and book publishers all sought a slice of Boyle only after the footage had been endorsed in YouTube on a grand scale. There were media reports in May 2009 that Catherine Zeta-Jones had asked about the film rights to the singer’s life story and that Oscar-winning film director James Cameron wanted to direct the film (no author (b), 2009, p. 54) Fremantle Media, the producer of Britain’s Got Talent which discovered Boyle, found even it was scrambling to maximise potential from the phenomena and it was only after millions of hits had been received that it negotiated to set up a YouTube channel and sell advertising around official Boyle clips. The Sunday Times of London reported in April 2009 that more than £1 million in potential advertising income had been lost because no deal was in place before Boyle’s ‘I dreamed a dream’ was viewed more than 75 million times.
No single media conglomerate could control the way the Boyle footage was used outside of YouTube. Whereas J.K. Rowling can control the licensing agreements that govern how her creation Harry Potter is portrayed in merchandizing products, sequels and plot development, both internet users and global media can take the story surrounding a piece of YouTube footage in almost any direction they choose.
YouTube says in its corporate website that every minute a mind boggling 13 hours of video is uploaded and attracts millions of users and viewers. To understand why Boyle has become a YouTube blockbuster we must identify the qualities that make her ‘I dreamed a dream’ stand out from the millions of other video clips in the YouTube archive. The Boyle footage has attracted 300 million hits worldwide and its rich inter-textual narrative appears to differentiate it from other highly popular videos such as “Where the Hell is Matt”, which is not well known to traditional media audiences but has attracted more than 25 million hits and appeared on YouTube’s list of most popular clips. We argue that strong narrative qualities can elevate certain YouTube footage to blockbuster status. International audiences can identify with the story and the corporate media can use the narrative to extend the footage’s appeal beyond the YouTube archive.
Cucco emphasises that a common feature of the blockbuster is the need for a spectacle or something that is “must see”. The spectacle of the YouTube blockbuster is not the footage itself, but the hype created around the footage. We argue this is achieved through narrative techniques, which critics say has crumbled under the industrial weight of the blockbuster.
There are several noteworthy scholars who argue that contemporary Hollywood blockbusters still have narrative structure intact, regardless of quality. Kristin Thompson (1993) examined dozens of post 1960s films such as Jaws, Alien (1979) and GroundHog Day and found dense plot developments, rather than incoherent and fragmented ones. Schauer (2007) further argues that transmedia storytelling has the potential to improve upon the standard film narrative rather than fragment it to the point where it becomes obsolete. He argues that his study of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones was an important example of transmedia storytelling as ancillary products were part of director George Lucas’s marketing strategy from the beginning, but that the film still displayed strong connections to narrative.
The use of classical narratives within the global media has also been noted by scholars, particularly within the field of media and journalism. Traditional narrative themes are often used in news stories where journalists portray the hero, the villain, the damsel in distress. Bell (1991) calls journalists the professional storytellers of our age: “The fairy story starts: ‘Once upon a time’. The news story begins: ‘Fifteen people were injured today when a bus plunged’.” Stories define actors moving through sequences of events filled with victims, villains and heroes (Woodward, 1997). Propp (1975) is well known in media studies for identifying recurrent patterns, set characters and plot actions in all fairytales. The main characters include villain, donor, the helper, the princess, the dispatcher, the hero and the false hero. More recently, Booker (2004) has outlined seven basic plots that are structural transformations of ancient tales: overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, rebirth, comedy and tragedy. Carroll (2001) identifies and explores key stories or archetypes at the source of Western culture from the virtuous whore; the troubled hero; salvation by a god; soul-mate love; the mother; the value of work; fate; the origin of evil; and self-sacrifice.
In their research on news reporters’ use of YouTube, Hess and Waller (2009) argue that journalists create disjointed and hybrid narratives to extend the appeal of YouTube footage for their audiences. The way the news media use classical narrative and archetypes to create new exchange values from YouTube deserves attention, especially if we consider narratives in the media as simply a way of selling something (Fulton, 2005).
This paper aims to highlight that a strong connection to classical narrative is emerging as a key feature of the YouTube blockbuster. The story of Susan Boyle bears strong resemblance to those themes identified by Booker such as rags to riches and the classic folk tales Cinderella and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Duckling. The global media identified these themes and many stories retain some of the narrative structure of these tales with headlines such as “A life lesson on looks turns into the fairy-tale ending” from the Chicago Tribune and The Sunday Times in Singapore headline “Beauty in ‘Ugly Ducking’ Susan Boyle”. This extract from the British Daily Mirror also highlights the way the news media developed a storybook theme:
…The only man (Brian) to have kissed singing sensation Susan Boyle claimed yesterday it would be a privilege for any lucky guy. The Britain’s Got Talent wonder –nicknamed the Hairy Angel – now has millions of fans worldwide but revealed she has never found a man to love or kiss. “I never knew her to have a birthday party because she was busy caring for her mother,” Brian said. Brian also told how Susan, born with learning difficulties, was targeted by louts. He said: “They would call her names, throw snowballs at her door and dare each other to knock and run away”. (Daily Mirror, 2009).
British journalist Nicci Gerrard wrote a comment piece shortly after Susan Boyle was reportedly admitted to a celebrity rehab clinic after suffering an emotional breakdown in June 2009 (Cooper, 2009). In her article, “The Susan Boyle fairytale was just a fairytale” she writes:
Even this small human tragedy can be easily turned by those so adept in the manipulation of individual stories to fit the required narrative. In fact, it makes it even more gripping. You can be pretty sure that soon, brave Susan will be back — just in time for her album and autobiography (released before Christmas) … it’s actually nowhere near enough to have talent; you have to have a story. You have to be on a journey. You have to have suffered (makes you heroic) and you have to be redeemed (gives you that essential happy ending). You have to be able to cry and make others cry.
Only rare YouTube moments are imbued with qualities that not only attract millions of viewers, but have the potential as bankable products for media conglomerates that can ultimately propel them to blockbuster status. This paper has focused on Susan Boyle, but there are other examples of this new form of blockbuster, such as “Christian the Lion”, which possesses the same kind of rich, universal narrative qualities as the Boyle story. This YouTube blockbuster captures a tale of remarkable love between beast and man in just a couple of minutes of low-quality, grainy 1970s footage in which the lion embraces its former owner. It has spawned best-selling books for children and adults, documentaries and massive international news media coverage and commentary.
The global reach of popular YouTube footage is unprecedented and YouTube phenomena such as the Susan Boyle footage can attract as much, if not more attention from fans and audiences than some of Hollywood’s most famous actors. Martin Conboy (2002) says the popular press survives on its ability to maintain a dialogue with contemporary cultural trends. So it comes as no surprise that YouTube, a new form of popular culture, attracts interest from global commercial media.
The YouTube blockbuster shares some of the features of its cinematic forerunner – most importantly, it has the “must see” quality that Cucco describes. It also attracts massive global audiences, offering opportunities to reap big profits from merchandizing and spin-off media products. But the nature of the hype that traditionally surrounded the blockbuster has been transformed and democratised by new media communities and technology. It is no longer a case of marketeers rolling out slick promotional campaigns designed around public taste and market research to build expectations for months before a blockbuster is released. The circulation of viral emails and links from social network sites alert increasingly large networks of people to the existence of “must see” YouTube footage and they are able to access it instantly. In the process, both the economic and cultural values of the blockbuster are being redefined. It was once under complete corporate control, big budgets and big profits were its hallmarks and slick production, spectacle and special effects were the drawcard. The YouTube blockbuster is first and foremost under YouTube user control, it’s relatively cheap to produce, the nature of the “spectacle” has changed and production values are relatively unimportant. Narrative is in the ascendancy.
The global commercial media is still coming to terms with the latest transformations of the media landscape in which corporate control is slipping. As in the post-war period and again in the 1970s, creative industries must find new ways to profit. The Susan Boyle blockbuster is an important example of the media redefining itself by finding ways to meet the challenges posed by the new cultural forms, delivery systems and diversification Web 2.0 presents. YouTube users make large investments of human capital and small investments in technology at the front end of the YouTube blockbuster, but media spectacle and big profits are still possible for the global commercial media when it takes the guaranteed popularity of a YouTube clip and can spin it into traditional media products such as news, documentaries, books, films and audio recordings.
But the YouTube blockbuster is a fragile entity and models of storytelling in convergence culture are evolving as rapidly as the technology itself. YouTube is both a business and a cultural resource co-created by its users and the larger in scale and demographic reach, “the more that is at stake and the more significant the tensions between labour, play, democracy and profiteering become” (Burgess & Green, 2009, pp. 35-36) Already there have been disputes over claims of copyright infringement with Viacom, and most recently Warner Bros’ battle over music video clips. It is YouTube’s role as a cultural resource that underpins the success of the blockbuster. If corporate interests intervene, for example, through the introduction of subscription fees, then the community framework which supports the blockbuster will surely weaken.
The blockbuster phenomenon highlights the synergies between new and old media in a convergence culture. No one can predict what the next blockbuster will be, nor can they orchestrate it, but what is certain is that unlikely stars will continue to be rocketed into this new media stratosphere such as the “Hairy Angel” Susan Boyle.
Banks, J. & Deuze, M. (2009). Co-creative labour. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 12(5), 419-431.
Banks, J. & Humphreys, S. (2008). The labour of user co-creators: Emergent social network markets? Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 14(4), 401-18.
Bell A. (1991). The language of the news media. Oxford: Blackwell.
Bordwell, D. (2006). The way Hollywood tells it: story and style in modern movies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Box Office Mojo (2010). Retrieved February 15, 2010, from http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jaws.htm
Buckland, W. (1998). A close encounter with Raiders of the Lost Ark: notes on narrative aspects of the new Hollywood blockbuster, in S. Neal & M. Smith. Contemporary Hollywood Cinema. New York: Routledge, 166-177.
Buckland, W. (1999). Between science fact and science fiction: Spielberg’s digital dinosaurs, possible worlds and the new aesthetic realism. Screen 40(2), 177-192.
Burgess, J. & Green, J. (2009). YouTube: online video and participatory culture. Cambridge, Malden: Polity.
Clarke, M. (2009). The strict maze of media in tie-in novels. Communication Culture and Critique 2 (4), 434-456.
Conboy, M. (2002). The press and popular culture. London: Sage Publications.
Cooper, M. (2009). Susan Boyle suffers breakdown after shock talent show loss. Sydney Morning Herald, June 1, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/tv/2009/06/01/1243708385483.html
Croteau, D. (2006). The growth of self-produced media content and the challenge to media studies. Critical Studies in Media Communication. 23(4), 340-344.
Cucco, M. (2009). The promise is great: the blockbuster and the Hollywood economy. Media Culture and Society. 31(2), 215-230.
Fulton, H. (2005). Print News as Narrative. In Helen Fulton (ed) Narrative and Media. New York Cambridge University Press, 218-244.
Gehl, R. (2009). YouTube as archive: Who will curate this digital Wunderkammer? International Journal of Cultural Studies. 12(1), 43-60.
Gerrard, N. (2009). The Susan Boyle fairytale was just a fairytale. The Age, June 3. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-susan-boyle-fairytale-was-just-a-fairytale-20090602-bua5.html
Gomery, D. (1998) Hollywood corporate business practice and periodizing contemporary film history. In S. Neale & M. Smith (eds) Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, New York: Routledge, 47-57.
Hess, K. & Waller, L. (2009). Play it again, Sam: How journalists cashed in on Australia’s favourite koala. Australian Journalism Review. (31)2, 75-84.
Jarrett, K. (2008). Beyond Broadcast Yourself ™: The future of YouTube. Media International Australia. 126, 132-140.
Jenkins, H. (2003). Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars?: Digital cinema, media convergence, and participatory culture. In D. Thorburn & H. Jenkins (Eds.), Rethinking media change: The aesthetics of transition, 281–312. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: University Press.
Lyall, S. (2009). Unlikely singer is YouTube sensation. New York Times, April 18, p. 1.
McManus, J. (2009). The Dream she Dreamed: Cheers for a Voice to Silence the Cynics. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041602419.html.
No author. (2009). Scottish spinster a world media sentation. Townsville Bulletin, April 18, p. 16.
No author. (2009). Hollywood swoops on Boyle story. Townsville Bulletin, May 2, p. 54.
Roper, M. (2009). The only man to have kissed the Britain’s Got Talent star speaks out. The Daily Mirror. Retrieved June 5, 2009 from http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/04/18/the-only-man-to-have-kissed-britain-s-got-talent-stars-susan-boyle-speaks-out-115875-21286353.html
Ross, A. (2009). The political economy of amateurism. Television and New Media. 10(1) 136-7.
Shefrin, E. (2004). Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and participatory fandom: Mapping new congruencies between the Internet and media entertainment culture. Critical Studies in Media Communication. 21(3), 261-281
Schatz, T. (2002). The New Hollywood in Turner, G. The Film cultures reader. London, New York: Routledge.
Schauer, B. (2007). Critics, Clones and Narrative in the franchise blockbuster. New Review of Film and Television Studies. 5(2), 191-210.
Terranova, T. (2000). Free labor: Producing culture for the digital economy. Social Text. 2(18), 33-58.
Thompson, K. (1999) Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Van Dijck, J. (2009) Users like you? Theorising agency in user-generated content. Media Culture Society. 31(1), pp. 41-58
Woodward, K. (1997) Identity and Difference. New York: Sage.
Wooley, C. (2010) Living the Dream. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1037281
Wyatt, J. (1994) High Concept: Movies and marketing in Hollywood. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Kristy Hess is a Lecturer in Journalism in the School of Communication & Creative Arts at Deakin University. Her current research projects focus on social justice and the regional media; social capital and the media (PhD); parent/student learning partnerships to improve literacy; and developing national curriculum resources as part of the Reporting Diversity project. She has published articles in Asia Pacific Media Educator, Australian Journalism Review, and Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal. Email: kristy.hess@deakin.edu.au
Lisa Waller is a part-time journalism lecturer and a full-time Phd student in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University. As a recent graduate of Deakin’s Graduate Certificate of Higher Education and now a member of the GCHE advisory board, she is interested in the education of tertiary educators. She is also interested in curriculum and pedagogy in higher education, especially curriculum renewal and the scholarship of teaching in higher education. She has published articles in Asia Pacific Media Educator, Australian Journalism Review, and Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal.
Archives Select Month June 2017 September 2016 August 2016 October 2015 February 2015 August 2014 June 2014 February 2014 December 2012 November 2012 August 2011 May 2011 July 2010 November 2009 June 2009 April 2009 January 2009 December 2008 August 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 September 2007 May 2007 January 2007 December 2006 July 2006 October 2005 February 2005 October 2004 June 2004 February 2004 December 2003 August 2003 June 2003 March 2003 August 2002 September 2001 May 2001 March 2001
Categories Select Category Animation Browse by Media Browse Past Volumes Call for Papers Comics Contents Page Only Digital Media/Internet fan culture Film Games Museums Music Older Media Other Other Journals Print Media Refractory Sound Television Uncategorized Urban Space Volume 01 Volume 02 Volume 03 Volume 04 Volume 05 Volume 06 Volume 07 Volume 08 Volume 09 Volume 10 Volume 11 Volume 12 Volume 13 Volume 14 Volume 15 Volume 16 Volume 17 Volume 18 Volume 19 Volume 20 Volume 21 Volume 22 Volume 23 Volume 24 Volume 25 Volume 26 Volume 27 Volume 28
blockbuster born digital cinephilia computer games cultural heritage Dorian Gray Dracula Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde eye-tracking fan culture fans film flâneur Frankenstein Games gender gothic Grand Guignol Hollywood horror horror films horror television horror TV intermedia intermediality Manovich monsters music narrative Penny Dreadful reality tv Sherlock spectator spectators spectatorship supernatural Television transmedia uncanny vampires Vanessa Ives victorian videogames vision werewolf
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1949
|
__label__wiki
| 0.814116
| 0.814116
|
A Radios began to increase in popularity amongst civilians.It was also a rallying source and was used by the government to gain public support. In the many country it became the primary source of information after the shut-down of television stations. The way in which radio was used also changed the world after World War II. While it had been a source of entertainment in the form of serial programs, it began to focus more on playing the music of the time. The “Top-40” in music became popular and the target audience went from families to pre-teens up to adults in their mid-thirties. Music and radio continued to rise in popularity until they became synonymous with one another. FM radio stations began to overtake the original AM stations, and new forms of music, such as rock and roll, began to emerge.
Today, radio has become much more than Tesla or Marconi could have ever imagined. Traditional radios and radio broadcasting have steadily become a thing of the past. Instead it has steadily evolved with more satellite radio and Internet radio stations. Radios are found not only in homes, but they are also a staple in vehicles. In addition to music, radio talk shows have also become a popular option for many. On the two-way radios front, digital two-way radios allow for one-to-one communication that is typically encrypted.
Radio are talented team brings with them a wealth of experience and knowledge needed to create impactful events, brand activations and experiential marketing campaigns. They use a comprehensive creative strategy that leaves no detail forgotten, which has made the company a sought-after player for corporate galas, casino entertainment, major fundraising events, and large-scale festivals for clients.The Radio team are also experts in talent acquisition, and they know how to leverage star power to leverage an unforgettable fan experience. The team’s professionalism and dedication has resonated with industry players across the world.
The Future of AM Radio
Best Audio Streaming Software for Your Radio Station
Radio Station Equipment for a Professional Studio Setup
How To Lose The Dreaded Radio Voice
A radio is a device that either makes, or responds to, radio waves. radio waves are part of the larger group of the electromagnetic waves, the group which also includes light, x-rays, even gamma rays. These waves can travel through materials, like air or wood or glass or concrete, or even through the empty vacuum of space.
Tksradio.Net
No. 117 Clarendon Street, Victoria-USA.
tksradio@gmail.com
© 2019 tksradio. All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1950
|
__label__wiki
| 0.55583
| 0.55583
|
This Site: Library Site All Sites People
Guidelines for Classroom Copying: Books & Periodicals
Guidelines for Off-Air Taping (Television & Radio Programs)
How to Register a Copyright
What is Not Protected?
How to Obtain Permission
Linking Directly to Articles in Library Databases
Copyright & Fair Use Resources
Fair Use Guidelines (Chart)
LSCC Copyright Presentation (Fall 2008)
Copyright law ensures that authors or creators have exclusive rights to protect their creative efforts. The item protected must be a tangible one, whether it be a book, periodical article, poem, software, multimedia work, recording, work of art, web site, digital audio or video file, digital image, or any other publication. The item must also be creative; an alphabetical list of facts would generally not be copyrighted while a creative compilation of those same facts would be protected.
The 1976 Copyright Law of the U.S. (Title 17, U.S. Code) provides basic protection for original works of authorship. Section 106 of the Copyright Law gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, or license his or her work, or to produce or license derivative copies of his or her work.
As new technologies associated with the Internet have evolved and distance education initiatives have expanded, copyright laws developed in 1976 have become increasingly inadequate. In 1988 the United States signed the amended Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Work, an international copyright treaty. Changes brought by the Berne Convention included greater protection for copyright holders, copyright relations with other countries, and the elimination of a requirement of copyright notice on a protected work.
In 1998 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 was signed into law by President Clinton. Its primary purpose was the implementation of two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties that extended the same copyright protections to foreign works as to domestic ones. Other provisions of the law include:
new prohibitions concerning the circumvention of encryption, scrambling or any other technological locks used by copyright owners to protect their works,
limited liability of higher education institutions serving as online service providers for copyright infringement by faculty members or graduate students, and
required the Registrar of Copyrights to submit recommendations to Congress for balancing distance education information needs with the the rights of copyright owners.
The TEACH Act became law on November 2, 2002. The law was supported by the higher education community and libraries, and carries out recommendations made by the U. S. Copyright Office. The legislation supports distance education by expanding the materials that may be used, allowing educators to deliver course content outside of the classroom, providing authority to archive copies of distance education course materials, and the right to convert some materials to digital formats. The TEACH Act also carries restrictions on access and copying, limits on the quantity of works that can be digitized, as well as other restrictions. The University of Texas Coyright Crash Course includes a checklist of criteria for meeting the TEACH Act.
The U.S. Copyright Office provides further information about Copyright Basics.
Faculty and students have "fair use" rights to use copyright-protected works for educational activities. The goal is to enable teachers and scholars to use copyrighted materials for teaching, scholarship, and research, balancing those needs with respect for the rights of copyright holders.
The Copyright Law of 1976 outlines conditions that constitute fair use for research and education but does not define fair use. Section 107 lists four factors that a court will consider in determining fair use. The factors include:
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes,
the nature of the copyrighted work,
the amount and substantiality of the use, and
Fair use guidelines were developed by an ad hoc committee convened by the House Judiciary Committee in 1976 during deliberations on the Copyright bill. They were endorsed by the Conference Committee and included in the conference report that accompanied the bill. These guidelines are considered to be an authoritative interpretation of fair use in relation to photocopying of books and periodicals for educational use:
AGREEMENT ON GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM COPYING IN NOT-FOR-PROFIT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS -- WITH RESPECT TO BOOKS AND PERIODICALS
The purpose of the following guidelines is to state the minimum and not the maximum standards of educational fair use under Section 107 of H.R. 2223. The parties agree that the conditions determining the extent of permissible copying for educational purposes may change in the future; that certain types of copying permitted under these guidelines may not be permissible in the future; and conversely that in the future other types of copying may not permitted under these guidelines may be permissible under revised guidelines.
Moreover, the following statement of guidelines is not intended to limit the types of copying permitted under the standards of fair use under judicial decision and which are stated in Section 107 of the Copyright Revision Bill. There may be instances in which copying which does not fall within the guidelines stated below may nonetheless be permitted under the criteria of fair use.
I. Single Copying for Teachers
A single copy may be made of any of the following by or for a teacher at his or her individual request for his or her scholarly research or use in teaching or preparation to teach a class:
A. A chapter from a book;
B. An article from a periodical or newspaper;
C. A short story, short essay or short poem, whether or not from a collective work;
D. A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
II. Multiple Copies for Classroom Use
Multiple copies (not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course) may be made by or for the teacher giving the course for classroom use or discussion; provided that
A. The copying meets the tests of brevity and spontaneity as defined below; and,
B. Meets the cumulative effect test as defined below; and,
C. Each copy includes a notice of copyright.
(i) Poetry: (a) A complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages or, (b) from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words.
(ii) Prose: (a) Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.
[Each of the numerical limits stated in "i" and "ii" above may be expanded to permit the completion of an unfinished line of a poem or of an unfinished prose paragraph.]
(iii) Illustration: One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture per book or per periodical issue.
(iv) "Special" works: Certain works in poetry, prose or in "poetic prose" which often combine language with illustrations and which are intended sometimes for children and at other times for a more general audience fall short of 2,500 words in their entirety. Paragraph "ii" above notwithstanding such "special works" may not be reproduced in their entirety; however, an excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of such special work and containing not more than 10% of the words found in the text thereof, may be reproduced.
(i) The copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher, and
(ii) The inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.
Cumulative Effect
(i) The copying of the material is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made.
(ii) Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term.
(iii) There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.
[The limitations stated in "ii" and "iii" above shall not apply to current news periodicals and newspapers and current news sections of other periodicals.]
III. Prohibitions as to I and II Above
Notwithstanding any of the above, the following shall be prohibited:
(A) Copying shall not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works. Such replacement or substitution may occur whether copies of various works or excerpts therefrom are accumulated or reproduced and used separately.
(B) There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be "consumable" in the course of study or of teaching. These include workbooks, exercises, standardized tests and test booklets and answer sheets and like consumable material.
(C) Copying shall not:
(a) substitute for the purchase of books, publishers' reprints or periodicals;
(b) be directed by higher authority;
(c) be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.
(D) No charge shall be made to the student beyond the actual cost of the photocopying.
Section 110(1), referred to as the "classroom exemption," provides an exemption to the rights of the copyright holder for performances and displays in the classroom if certain face-to-face teaching conditions are met.
In 1981, a congressional subcommittee created guidelines for off-air taping of television and radio broadcasts for educational use. The guidelines allow educators to tape a radio or television broadcast for instructional use if the following conditions are met:
the program is recorded simultaneously with the broadcast
the program is being broadcast without charge
the program is recorded only in response to a specific request
the program is recorded (but not necessarily used) in its entirety
the program is not altered
the tape is retained by the educational institution for no longer that 45 days after the date of the recording
the tape is used only once with each class during the first ten consecutive school days of the 45-day retention period
the tape is used from the tenth to the 45th day of the retention period for teacher-evaluation purposes only.
Although courts have ruled in many fair use cases, no precise definition of fair use has emerged. Although some interpret the guidelines liberally as minimum examples of the intent of the law, rather than using them to set specific limits, it is safer to assume a more rigid interpretation, considering the ad hoc nature of the guidelines.
In 1994, as part of President Clinton's National Information Infrastructure initiative, the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights in the Electronic Environment called for interested groups to participate in CONFU: The Conference on Fair Use. This group worked until 1997 to propose guidelines in the following areas:
Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Distance Learning
Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
Fair Use Guidelines For Electronic Reserve Systems
A Proposal for Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Digital Images
Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Guidelines
Although much work was accomplished in the CONFU process, no consensus was reached, with copyright owners feeling they were giving too much away and users believing the guidelines were too restrictive. Some still use the proposed guidelines as a starting point but there is no guarantee that using the guidelines provides protection against a lawsuit. See CONFU: The Conference on Fair Use for more information.
The TEACH Act does not limit fair use; it still applies in the distance learning environment. Instructional performance, displays, students downloading course materials, and other aspects of distance education continue to be subject to fair use guidelines.
Under current law, works created after March 1, 1989, are protected whether or not a copyright notice is attached and whether or not the work is registered. "Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is 'created' when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time." 1
The U.S. Copyright Office Registration Procedures provides printable information circulars and forms for requesting copyright registration. You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to view some circulars and all forms.
Works not protected by copyright law include:
Works that lack originality (compilations like the phone book)
Materials in the public domain
U.S. government publications
Short phrases
Facts (unless they are presented in an original work such as a list of facts)
If the name and address of the copyright holder are not included, the information may be found by using the Internet or library reference sources. Many publishers' web sites provide information on how to obtain copyright permission. Acqweb provides addresses for book publishers (the site is dated but still includes useful links). You can check the Ulrich's Periodicals Directory from the libraries' reference section to find contact information for magazines and journals.
The Copyright Clearance Center provides a fee-based academic permission service for books and journal articles. If the work you want to use is registered you can get permission within several days.
When writing to a copyright holder for permission, include the following information:
Title, author, editor, and edition of the materials to be duplicated
Exact material to be used, including page numbers and chapters; a photocopy should be included if possible
Number of copies to be made
The use for which the copies are needed
The manner of distribution; for classroom use, for use in a newsletter, etc.
Indicate whether the material will be sold
Type of reproduction (photography, photocopy, etc.)
You should include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and should give the publisher sufficient time to respond to the request. Some commercial copy services will obtain necessary permissions (for a fee) when producing course packs.
Check the U.S. Copyright Offices's Copyright Office Basics and the LSCC Library's list of Copyright and Fair Use resources for further information.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1956
|
__label__cc
| 0.649821
| 0.350179
|
Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer - Shastrix Books
Home Star Trek
Trek reviews
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Z Biography Childrens Comedy Crime Fantasy Historical Fiction Legal Thriller Manga Non-Fiction Other Fiction Popular Science Science Fiction Teen Thriller 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Buy book:
Kirsten Beyer
In a region of space which has lived in fear of instant annihilation, Voyager is charged with reaching out to possible allies and resolving old enmities. But these are not the friendly stars of the Federation, and out here the unknown and the unexpected cannot be dealt with by standard Starfleet protocols.
Reviewed on 17th October 2009
Just like Beyer's previous novel in this series, Unworthy is absolutely fantastic. She has really got a grip on the characters the she is writing and their personalities and emotions and makes them far more real than any other Star Trek author.
This novel continues the story from where Full Circle left off, with Voyager and most of her crew returning as part of a fleet to the Delta Quadrant to explore and make friends. Tom is planning to resign and join his wife and daughter in hiding, while Seven has suffered a severe breakdown following the destruction of the Borg.
Beyer's new characters are as rounded and real as those we've known for years and fit in perfectly with the existing team - every one has good reason to be there, and the novel spends a good amount of time focussing on each of the characters rather than smothering us with one to the detriment of the others.
The plot is full of interesting and unexpected turns, and although one of the later twists was fairly obvious to me from early on it had its own unique sub-twist that hit me from out of the blue. The book feels like it has a good resolution even though there are a number of plot strands left hanging, and I'm really hoping that Beyer will continue to author this series.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1957
|
__label__cc
| 0.505921
| 0.494079
|
Opening the Gates to Canal Cuisine:
Preserving the American Era
Foreword by Judith Russell, UF George A. Smathers Libraries
Paper ISBN 13: 9781944455040 - Pub Date: 2/8/2017 Details: 408 pages, 7.5x9.25 Subject(s): Latin American - History
Gourmand International World Cookbook Awards, Selected to Represent Panama in the America Category
The transfer of the Panama Canal to the Republic of Panama at the end of 1999 marked the end of a special and unique relationship between the United States and Panama that endured over 96 years. It is important to note the significant roles played in the 20th Century by those two countries in the development of world commerce and to acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions made by the thousands of men and women who participated in this great enterprise.
The community of people who contributed to the Canal effort was wide and varied--American and Panamanian, French, West Indian, Spanish, European, Asian, Indian and many other nationalities all came together to help build the Canal. They and many of their descendants who stayed to work in Panama remain imbued with the rich and fascinating cultures of all the participating nations.
This incredible cookbook, filled with hundreds of recipes that were used by people of all nationalities during the American Era, represents the merging of all those cultures. It aims to preserve the unique cultural and historical heritage of those dedicated men and women who labored to make the Canal truly one of the World’s greatest accomplishments.
Gourmand Cookbook Award - 2017
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1959
|
__label__wiki
| 0.58999
| 0.58999
|
Problems Faced by Surface Book 2 Model of Microsoft
Motorola P30 renders leak, shows a very iPhone X-like design
AndroidPure claims to have had access to official renders of the Motorola P30, and we can not verify whether these renders are legit or not. The Motorola P...
Samsung could stop manufacturing mobile phones at one Chinese plant
India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China, and Samsung is keen to secure a high position in the market, as well as export India...
Pixel 2 XL 128GB gets a $300 discount on Australian Google Store
Now when Samsung has announced its flagship note device Galaxy Note 9, people have started looking to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL . It's that time of year and...
Bethesda pressures Sony with "non-negotiable" cross-platform demand
PS4 owners also couldn't play with people who owned those consoles, either, which effectively separated them from other console players. The company now allows ...
Honda Civic Sedan, Coupe Feature Refreshed Styling, New Sport Trim
An nearly legendary combination of reliability, affordability, and driving fun have been hallmarks of every (well, nearly every) Civic, and the 10th-generation ...
Google reportedly working on Windows 10 dual boot feature for Chromebooks
Google has not spoken about this in any official way, but on a open Chrome OS forum run by Google, sometimes future tools are worked on in the public eye. Rem...
Google Tracks Users' Movements With Location History Turned Off
Peter Lenz, a senior geospatial analyst at advertising technology company Dstillery said that Google's obsession with tracking user locations is all to do with ...
Red Dead Redemption 2 Gameplay Feature That's Inspired by Splinter Cell
Therefore, the side acts and missions will quite benefit for every single player. You'll need to bond with your horse to improve its temperament, which sounds a...
Lenovo reveals its powerful new ThinkPad workstations
And it looks the part, with the staid, basic black ThinkPad aesthetic. Nvidia Quadro P2000 graphics can be had too, supported by up to 4 TB of M.2 PCI express S...
Doom Eternal gameplay shown off at QuakeCon
The biggest reason for this seems to be the shift away from traditional multiplayer and onto the invasion mechanic that Doom Eternal has. Bethesda has re...
Fallout 76's Perk Card Packs Can't Be Purchased With Real Money
Stay tuned to the homepage today for more Fallout 76 news, and watch the full Q&A panel, featuring game director Todd Howard, below (skip to 38:00). Then you ...
Wait for Fortnite ends on Android unofficially - APK now available
Epic Games has finally made good on their promise to bring Fortnite to Android devices but the popular shooter is a little bit more hard to get on your pho...
Intel's first 9th-generation Core processors may arrive October 1st
Based on Intel's 14 nm manufacturing process, the collection includes 8 core and 6 core CPUs, including Core i9-9900K, the first mainstream desktop Core i9 chip...
Palm’s first phone in years has leaked and it’s tiny
The new Palm phone, codenamed " Pepito " will be made by TCL who purchased the brand back in 2014 after the companys well publicised collapse under the stewards...
Pokemon Let's Go Leak Confirms Mega Evolutions
Video game stories from other sites on the web. Moreover, to initiate these evolution stages one must have the suitable key for it. We already knew that Alolan ...
Monster Hunter World Gets Steam Workshop Support for Mods
Monster Hunter: World released earlier this year on Xbox One and PS4 but the PC version's release was pushed until today. This came true today, with the game r...
Baidu ready to beat Google if US firm returns to China: CEO
China's government has indicated Google is welcome back as long as it follows the law . "The decision to exit the Chinese market was a huge blunder, which mad...
Samsung’s Note 9 is a welcome return to obscene specs
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 wallpapers are abstract and colorful, with a square ratio and a resolution of 2,560 x 2,560. That's just the base model, though. U...
Google Nexus 5X finally receives Android 9.0 Pie via AOSP ROM
Epic confirmed to GameSpot that Android users will not be able to download Fortnite on their devices from Google's digital store, but rather through its o...
[H]ardOCP: Magic Leap One Is Available to Creators Starting at $2,295
After ordering, a person will set the device up for you. There's just one thing: Regular folks like us aren't the intended audience. The timing of Gattis de...
« First ‹ Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 Next › Last »
What is Google looking for from its 4,000 would-be Stadia developers?
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 215 CPU brings modern features to budget phones
The Nintendo Switch is getting a cheaper and more portable 'Lite' version
Raspberry Pi 4 does no longer work with some USB-C chargers
Star Trek: Picard key art revealed
Cardi B claps back at Jermaine Dupri over ‘stripper rappers’ comments
Storm Barry's threat to New Orleans heightened by climate change
A Major Villain Is Rumored to Return in 'Bond 25'
'I am not a fan of Bitcoin': Donald Trump slams cryptocurrencies
Ford, Volkswagen promise details on electric, autonomous vehicle alliance
US Consumer Price Index up 0.1% in June
American Airlines Apologises For Telling Passenger To Cover Her Outfit
Here's how to join Google Messages' Beta program
Nintendo reveal a new Switch Lite console with a Pokémon special edition
Galaxy Tab S6 could have two cameras on its back
MacBook Air gets price cut as entry MacBook Pro adds Touch Bar
Nokia Daredevil is the Nokia 5.2, to Offer High-end Features
Pixel 4 XL renders have some surprises in store
Over 1000 Android apps are collecting user data without permission
Stranger Things time-warps PCs with Windows 1.11 app
Forget Android or MacOS! Huawei’s HongmengOS is faster
Redmi 7A Launched in India
How The Coalition’s Gears of War 5 Escalation Mode Differs from Fortnite
"Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) Lands with an 8" display
AMD fires back at 'Gargantuan' NVIDIA with Radeon RX 5700 tag cuts
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1960
|
__label__cc
| 0.730374
| 0.269626
|
172 Food Law and Animal Rights: An Interview with Tyler Lobdell from the Animal Legal Defense Fund
Posted on April 24, 2018 by Nichole
http://media.blubrry.com/vwpapodcast/p/content.blubrry.com/vwpapodcast/172-Tyler-Lobdell.mp3
Today we are thrilled to publish our fascinating interview with Tyler Lobdell of the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) about the current state of animal law, and about what he (and the ALDF) have been doing in the world of food law as it relates to animal rights!
Tyler Lobdell, food law fellow for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), joins us today to talk about animal law, particularly as it relates to the work he and the ALDF are doing to improve the welfare of animals used for the production of food products, increase transparency in the food industry, and ensure that consumers have access to cruelty-free and plant-based alternatives.
We talk about the current state of animal law in the United States, talk a bit about the fight against deceptive advertising, and then dig more deeply into food access issues and the work Tyler is doing in this area, especially around the campaign to get plant-based foods into schools:
Plant-Based Food in Schools
Currently, the FNS does not allow schools serving plant-based alternatives like tempeh, seitan and some non-dairy milk and yogurt to be reimbursed for the meals they serve to students under the National School Lunch Program and other Child Nutrition Programs, leading many to simply not offer them at all. Among the reasons listed in the comments for offering more plant-based alternatives to students are:
The growing public interest in plant-based diets and animal welfare
In the U.S., research found a 600% increase in the number of people that identify as vegan since 2014, and found more people are making an effort to avoid buying factory farmed products out of concern for how animals are treated and how they impact the environment.
The health benefits of a plant-based diet
People following a plant-based diet have a lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and some forms of cancer.
Consideration of non-white cultures and health needs
For the most part, only culturally white foods (including meat and dairy) are credited by the FNS, even though many other plant-based alternatives have been served as dietary staples in non-white cultures for millennia. Research shows that approximately 63-98% of all people of African, Indigenous American, and Southeast and East Asian decent are not able to consume milk or lactose-rich dairy products without experiencing significant physical discomfort. By crediting plant-based milk and yogurt products, FNS can allow schools to more easily provide versions of these foods that are agreeable to students of all races.
Joke in the Middle
How many men’s rights activists does it take to change a lightbulb?
University Develops Virtual Rats to End Animal Testing (VegNews)
Big Dairy Concerned As Canada Proposes Food Warning Labels (Plant Based News)
Tech Startup Helps Dairy Industry Make Vegan Products (VegNews)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1963
|
__label__wiki
| 0.873418
| 0.873418
|
Zimbabwe opposition goes to court to challenge Mugabe election victory
in Africa August 9, 2013
In Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has asked the country’s highest court to nullify last week’s re-election of President Robert Mugabe. Africa’s oldest leader was declared the winner of the July 31 election, but the Zimbabwean leader does not know when he will be sworn in.
Journalists congregate Friday outside outside Zimbabwe’s constitutional court, which will determine who will be the head of this southern African country.
Last week, the Zimbabwe Election Commission declared that Mugabe had handily defeated Tsvangirai, 61 percent to 34 percent.
On Friday, just before the close of business, a spokesman for Tsvangirai’s MDC party came out of the Constitutional Court.
MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said, “The Movement for Democratic Change has filed its election petition. The prayer we are seeking is that this election be declared null and void in terms of section 93 of the constitution of Zimbabwe, also a fresh election be called within 60 days.”
Mwonzora also said the MDC had 15 reasons detailing why they want the president’s re-election nullified. Those reasons include alleged bribery of the electorate by some of the contesting candidates and lack of professionalism by the Zimbabwe Election Commission [ZEC].
The MDC accuses ZEC of rigging the July 31 election in favor of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party.
Outside the constitutional court was Tafadzwa Mugwadi, a ZANU-PF youth leader. He said he believes the challenge will fail.
“The MDC is challenging peaceful elections that were held in this country. That is an instruction coming from Sydney, coming from Canbera, Ottawa, it is coming from America, it is coming from the British,” said Mugwadi. “We are not worried by the challenge because it will not amount to anything, because certainly the president is going to be sworn in.”
It is not clear when Mugabe might take the oath of office for a new term. Under Zimbabwe’s constitution, once there is litigation, the swearing-in of a president is withheld until the case is finalized. The constitutional court has 14 days to dispose of the case.
If the election is nullified, fresh polls will be called in 60 days. If the case is dismissed, Mugabe will be sworn in within 48 hours after the ruling.
Zimbabwe’s election is set to dominate the meeting of Southern African leaders in Malawi next week. In 2008, African leaders refused to recognize an election in which Mugabe had claimed victory over Tsvangirai. They forced the two to form a fragile power-sharing government, which ended with the July 31 elections.
The polls were Tsvangirai’s third attempt to defeat Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. VOA
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1964
|
__label__wiki
| 0.621835
| 0.621835
|
Sharing knowledge, exchanging news & understanding ceramic collections
Pots!
All there in blue and white
by Rebecca Wallis
Plate, lead-glazed earthenware, underglaze blue printed 'Willow' pattern, probably Staffordshire, dated 1818
For many, the blue and white Willow pattern is the most iconic of all British ceramic designs. Its scene of temple, willow tree, bridge and boat was inspired by Chinese porcelain but the story of the tragic lovers it supposedly depicts was actually invented in the mid-19th century by the British ceramics industry as a clever marketing tool.
Rice plate, earthenware, underglaze blue printed 'Makassar' pattern, J.& M. P. Bell & Co. Ltd., Glasgow, c1890
The combination of cobalt blue decoration and a white ground is one of the most familiar and distinctive visual effects in ceramics. Originating in Iran and perfected in China, blue and white ceramics have been made for over 800 years. Exported from China in vast quantities from the 14th century, first to the Middle East and later to Europe, they were highly prized and widely imitated.
In Britain, blue and white decoration is most strongly associated with printing on ceramics, a technique pioneered in the 1750s and brought to a mass market by 1800. Printing allowed the increased production of ceramics with high-quality and technically-precise decoration. The ready assimilation of designs from other print media enabled a rapid response to contemporary society and culture, and a wide reach.
Dish, earthenware, underglaze blue printed pattern, Staffordshire, England, c1820
The display Blue and White: British Printed Ceramics showcases the wide variety of designs, including the ever popular Willow pattern, from the 1750s to the present day: designs inspired by landscapes, flora and fauna, history and global trade. The continuity of themes from historic to contemporary production demonstrates the enduring appeal and relevance of blue and white.
Plate, 'Foot and Mouth no. 5', Paul Scott, England, 2001, reworked 2012
Generously supported by The Headley Trust, the display includes loans from The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, The Spode MuseumTrust and private lenders. Also featured are ceramics from The Wedgwood Collection, on show at the V&A for the first time since the Collection was saved by the Art Fund with major support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, private donations and a public appeal.
Rebecca Wallis is Curator of Western 19th century ceramics & glass at the V&A.
Blue and White: British Printed Ceramics is on at the V & A until 3 January 2016.
Spode's Incense Burners
from Pam Woolliscroft
Following on from Ben Miller's sweet smell of success with reference to Wedgwood, below, I thought it might be interesting to discover more about ceramics and smells!
I have written about 'Spode and Incense Burners' on my Spode History blog. The function of an incense burner was to gently perfume a room. You can find my article about items made by Spode in the early 1800s for this specific use by clicking here.
Here is an image of one of the many styles of incense burner produced by Spode. It is called a 'Beaded Upright Scollopd Incense Burner'. Made from very beautiful, translucent and very white Spode bone china it dates from about 1824. It could be decorated in different ways. Patterns are recorded in the Pattern Books now in the Spode archive.
This is decorated with a version of a pattern with a charming, if bewildering name, 'Tumbledown Dick'. This version of the pattern is in cobalt blue and gold - two of the most expensive ceramic raw materials - helping to confirm that these specialist items were for the well-to-do. More can be found out about this popular pattern here on the T page of my Spode ABC.
Spode incense burner from the V & A collections
Other manufacturers made incense burners too and many were of similar styles and patterns. Spode called this shape a 'Dolphin Tripod' and you can see 2 versions of it on my blog but this one is from Wedgwood. Click here for another version in black basalt.
Wedgwood incense burner from the V & A collections
If you have an incense burner in your collection let us have some details and an image to add to this page. Please use the contact form in the first instance.
The Sweet Smell of Success
from Ben Miller of the Wedgwood Museum
A selection of 18th century Wedgwood perfume bottles
© Wedgwood Museum Trust
Both ceramics and perfume production can be traced back to the ancient world. Much like the supply of fashionable ceramics the history of perfume has been inextricably linked with the discovery of new and exotic materials, the refinement of manufacturing techniques and the demands of the customer.
Wedgwood’s production of scent bottles mirrors the familiar supply and demand of fashionable tastes, of which royalty were often the patrons.
It was perhaps the French aristocracy that most popularised the use of perfume throughout 18th century Europe. Figures such as Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour spent vast amounts of money on sourcing the raw materials (violet, rose powder, jasmine, orange flowers and tuberoses) in order to produce their favourite scent.
Within Georgian England it was primarily the apothecaries who sold perfume. Jewellers and trinket shops also sold perfume and a wide range of perfume containers. Indeed, the museum's archive show' that a number of individuals and retailers in London purchased perfume (smelling) bottles alongside products such as beads, cameos, arsenic pots, and eardrop dispensers from Wedgwood.
Josiah Wedgwood's first mention of 'smelling bottles' came in April 1788 when writing to his son Josiah II. He remarked 'The smelling bottles with the stadholder & the princess are very good & pretty things, particularly that with the festoon border of which pattern I would have the rest made.' Shape-book One contains illustrations of a number of jasper perfume bottle designs. The bottles were produced with a threaded neck and were designed to take a cork stopper and metal screw top. On display in the Wedgwood museum gallery are seven jasper bottles and one cut glass with inset jasper cameo. The subjects for the relief decoration consist of a number of classical subjects as well as portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte.
I believe that the production of scent bottles, in particular those made of jasper, is comparable to Josiah's business savvy move to create Queen’s ware. Josiah's identification of both the increasingly fashionable use of perfume among the aristocracy of Europe combined with the realisation of his successful jasper body, much adored by aristocracy, highlights the fact that he had his finger well and truly on the pulse of 18th century culture.
A Case of Mistaken Identity
from Joe Perry, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
They say don't judge a book by its cover, and that appearances can be deceiving. But when you have nothing else to go on, it can be difficult to interpret an object in any other way.
Take this tile. It’s clearly a ceramic object and the expert may recognise it’s made from stonepaste. This body, consisting chiefly of crushed quartz with glass and small amounts of clay, creates a white-firing ceramic and is indicative of an Islamic pottery tradition. This conclusion is backed up by the style of decoration and the use of Arabic script.
And what of this decoration? Inside a floral border the tile bears two columns of Arabic inscription below an arch in which various implements are depicted, including a pair of scissors and a comb. Assuming we are unable to read the Arabic inscription, as was the case when this object arrived at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, what do we make of this object?
If you're thinking, "Evidently the price list of a barber", you're wrong! But don't be upset, this is exactly what curators thought when the tile was acquired by the museum in 1950. The tile was misunderstood for decades until a visiting scholar finally interpreted the Arabic inscription.
This is actually a funerary tile, taken from the tombstone of a barber from a graveyard in Tehran. The tombstone was erected by the brother of Muhammed Haja Tuba who died in A.H. 1018 (the year in the Hijri calendar is equivalent to 1609 AD).
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery has a significant and representative collection of Islamic Ceramics with a number of particularly important pieces. This tile will soon be on loan to Birmingham Museum & ArtGallery as part of the exhibition, Qalam: the art of beautiful writing.
A Meissen Cup
from Rebecca Klarner
The factory of Meissen in Germany was the first European factory to unravel the secret of 'white gold' – porcelain. Porcelain had been imported from China from the middle of the 16th century and was sold for extremely high prices. In 1710 the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger was finally successful in his experiments and the first porcelain was produced in Meissen. Böttger basically was a prisoner of Augustus the Strong – Elector of Saxony and King of Poland – who took him into 'protective custody' to find out for him how to make porcelain and gold.
This cup and saucer can be dated by their design to the 1720s or 1730s. The whole of Europe was fascinated by everything foreign and exotic and goods from East Asia were extremely popular but also extremely expensive. You can see this perfectly well in this example: one of the handles broke off, but instead of simply buying a new cup it was meticulously, and surely not cheaply, repaired with an ormolu handle.
This little set – made for drinking hot chocolate which was, together with coffee and tea, one of the new, fashionable and exotic drinks – shows Chinese people and Chinese life through the eyes of a European. Johann Gregorius Höroldt is probably the most famous painter having ever worked for the Meissen factory. He started working for Meissen in 1720 and the one design he is still most famous for are his so-called 'Höroldt-Chinese people' which we also find on this chocolate set. Of course Höroldt cannot possibly have personally painted all of those thousands of Chinese scenes on Meissen pieces, but almost all of the designs can be directly ascribed to him. He had never been to China but he drew his 'Chinese' scenes on large sheets of paper which were then used for years by him and other painters in the factory. Pinpricks on some of the drawings show that they were actually used in the workshops. Coal dust was powdered through these little holes so that the outlines of the designs showed on the porcelain.
A merchant named Georg Wilhelm Schulz bought these drawings shortly after 1900 and he had a small number of the 132 sheets - which were unknown until then - published in 1922. Since then this collection of drawings was called the Schulz-Codex and it was only fully published for the first time in 2010.
A bearded man from Cologne
from Rebecca Klarner, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
This smiling face has travelled quite a long way. It was made in the first half of the 16th century in Cologne in Germany and came to England with many others of its kind.
These vessels are called Bartmannkrug, which translates as 'beard man jug'. They were made in vast numbers in Cologne and the nearby Frechen to satisfy the high demand especially from England and Holland. But excavations show that these bearded men actually travelled all over the world, either carrying goods, or waiting for their purpose to carry goods.
This smiling fellow eventually made its way to the collection of the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent where it can be found amongst other German stoneware. Its big belly gives it quite an impressive size of 38.5 cm in height and also more than enough space to accommodate decoration. In this case it sports three big oval medallions: the centre medallion shows (on a shield) a knight on horseback drawing his sword. The shield is decorated with other heraldic symbols such as helmets, horses, and aigrettes. The two other medallions to the left and the right show the same crowned coat-of-arms. This coat-of-arms is not completely unravelled yet. It is quite elaborate with many different heraldic elements, but parts of it seem to point in the direction of the duchy of Cleves-Jülich-Berg. The other components of the coat-of-arms are still to be identified and due to our bearded man’s long and exhausting journey and the
resulting wear and tear they are not very easy to decipher.
So if you should happen to be an expert in German heraldry and can give any more information please feel free to contact the ceramics department of the museum. You can use the Contact Us tab at the top of this page.
But why a big bearded man as decoration? Why not something that is a bit more let's say eye-pleasing? The answer is, we don't know the answer or rather it seems to have been forgotten. There are several theories. One links it to the mythical 'Wild Man' creature that can be found in Northern European folklore from the 14th century and is later used in various contexts. Other opinions say that this ornamentation had a purely decorative character as mask decorations were widely used in Renaissance times in various contexts.
However, we also find pieces that have individualised features to portray people and also pieces that have christomorphic features. Also examples of female 'bartmann jugs' are known - without a beard though.
Another name for these vessels was 'Bellarmines', referring to the Italian Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). Cardinal Bellarmine appears to have been very unpopular with the English, and also the (Protestant) Dutch, most likely because of the role he played in the Counter-Reformation. Connecting his name with a vessel like this could either be simply to ridicule him and his appearance or could be due to his anti-alcoholic stance.
'Staffordshire porcelain'?
Porcelain – not just for pretty things…
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, 'Staffordshire porcelain'? A quick search on the internet brings up what most of us imagine. Finely made tea sets, sometimes elaborately decorated, sometimes elegant in their simplicity, dainty porcelain figures, graceful and iconic in form. All of these objects have their place and significance in ceramic history.
But porcelain is not just for pretty things…
Rubber Glove Formers
© Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
A.G. Hackney & Co. Ltd, 1983 Burslem,
Stoke-on-Trent.Accession Number: 1984.P.37
These rubber glove formers are an important reminder of the other side of the pottery industry, the side preoccupied with the manufacture of ceramics for use in industry and manufacture. Porcelain is hard wearing, able to withstand extreme temperature changes and has high chemical resistance.
Formers like these are mounted onto racks and dipped in liquid latex. This coating can then be sprayed with cotton (if you want a soft, fluffy lining) and vulcanised at 100 °C. This ensures the rubber remains strong and flexible. Once cooled and dried, the gloves can be turned out are ready to be worn! You can see the process for yourself by clicking on the YouTube video below.
A.G. Hackney & Co Ltd operated from 1938 to 2008 manufacturing porcelains for use in the electrical and radio industries as well as formers for latex processes. Other formers include swim caps, beach balls, football bladders, baby bottle teats and balloon shapes. These formers were gifted to the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery by the manufacturer in 1984.
Spot the differences...
with thanks to members' collections
A series of early 19th century teapots in similar style from different manufacturers aiming at the same customers.
Wedgwood teapot from the V & A, c1810
Museum no. 2375&A-1901
The lid knob or knop is sometimes described as an alligator but the Spode archive reveals it to be a 'crocodial'. And both the V & A and the Wedgwood Museum describe it as crocodile.
Each museum dates their item slightly differently showing that it is not always easy to date pieces.
Spode 'crocodial' teapot, Spode Museum, c1805
Collection no. WTC 3017
Also available in white!
Wedgwood teapot from the Wedgwood Museum c1800
Accession No. 10703
Ceramics Network
Connecting ceramic collections; sharing specialists' knowledge.
Sign up for email updates here
Follow @CeramicsNetwork
Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Bristol Museums Galleries & Archives
Ceramic Collection & Archive, Aberystwyth University
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
Collections Trust: Unlocking the Potential
Dudson Museum
Gallery Oldham
Gladstone Pottery Museum
Lars Tharp
Liverpool Museums
Museum of East Asian Art
Northern Ceramic Society
Nottingham Museums & Galleries
Royal Crown Derby Museum
Spode Exhibition Online
Spode History/Pam Woolliscroft
Spode Museum Trust
Spode Museum Trust Visitor Centre
Stoke-on-Trent City Archives
The Ashmolean Museum
The Bowes Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum
The Holburne Museum
The Museum of Royal Worcester
The Potteries Museum
The Wallace Collection
Wedgwood Museum
York Museums Trust
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1966
|
__label__wiki
| 0.683016
| 0.683016
|
sport for development
it's your party
(Cross-posted from H+M.)
I love being in DC for the World Cup. It's probably because of all the international organizations that are based here, but my fellow citizens are approximately 1000x more excited about this event than people anywhere else I've ever lived.* And even though I'm not much of an athlete, or even much of a sports fan, I dig it; I think it's the global nature of the event, the fact that fans are sort of required to know about things that are happening in Croatia or Ghana, even if they're only related to soccer. And in a way, it feels more globalized even than the Olympics - maybe because there's only one sport, so the country-level fandoms are way more focused and intense (as opposed to the Olympics, where there are so many sports and affiliated politics that it's easy to lose track).
I'm also really interested in sports and global integration from another angle - the idea of one sports team as a unifier of diverse fans. Which brings me to the point of this post: a fascinating article by Sam Knight in Grantland that explores whether or not the diversity of the Belgian national team is leading to greater "Belgitude" - an attitude roughly analogous to national pride, with a dose of "I guess this country shouldn't split up after all" in the mix. The idea is that, while many Belgians are permanently annoyed that they live in the kind of country that can go for multiple years without a government, the diversity of younger generations has led them to appreciate Belgium for what it is: a weird place, but not necessarily a bad one. For example:
...(T)he article also put forward the idea that the country’s newest citizens might be the first to truly accept Belgium on its own eccentric terms. Leman believes that theory has come true. “How to explain?” he said. “Our national discussions are internal discussions, and very domestic, and these guys coming from outside look at Belgium and they say, ‘Why destroy this country? With its nice system?’”**
As a person who has seen the Mighty Ducks movies,*** I know the trope of sports as common ground is a bit simplistic, but I also think there's something to it - maybe because it's simplistic, actually. Sports fandom is a little bit primal; as much as we might like to imagine that it comes from our head, I think it's probably based in the heart and the gut. Which means that even though there are a million political and economic differences that a sports team will never bridge, that instinctive aspect of being a fan lets us circumvent all of that and, for a moment, find common ground with someone else. It's not everything, but it's also not nothing.
And what's even more interesting about cases like the Belgian team is that, if this analysis holds up, they're actually taking the idea of sports-based unity to the next level by not only bringing people together, but by creating a new reality in order to do so. (Granted, that reality can best be summed up as "This isn't so bad," but again, you've got to start somewhere.) I'll be interested to see if it holds up, and to consider the implications of this narrative creation for the future - after all, as divided states go, Belgium is probably among the tamer examples.
Also, I am kind of obsessed with Stromae and his video about the Red Devils' official song, "Ta Fête" ("Your Party").
*With the possible exception of South Korea, but everyone there would have been cheering for one team.
**A sentiment that reminds me of Tina Fey's turn as Blerta, the Albanian addition to Girls. ("I have roof over head. For this, I thank God.")
***QUACK QUACK QUACK
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1970
|
__label__wiki
| 0.834875
| 0.834875
|
I Am Slacker
Hello, welcome to the Phile, the most updated blog on the internet. So, was Santa good to you lot? Logan got from Santa a Flying V guitar, a telescope and a digital camera. All
he needs is a swivel chair and he could make a remake of the Goo-Goo Dolls "Iris" video. I got a shit load of DVD's, so I will be busy for the next few weeks. Santa left one of his white gloves behind at our house, so for the rest of the
night he flew around like Michael Jackson. I just came back from seeing I Am Legend. It will be reviewed later, but it was about a guy played by Will smith and his dog Sam. The movie was going to be called I Am Sam but there was already a movie with that name. Did you hear about that tiger that attacked and killed two men? For a moment I thought that Tigger was in trouble again. So, this is the last entry of 2007. My new year's resolutions is to loose 15 pounds by February, and to deny that Jessica Alba's baby is mine. In 2008 I will hit 20 years at Disney as
well as 40 years of age. This whole blog is pretty much a tribute to 2007, which is going to heaven. Soon
it'll be 2008, ain't it great?
FLORIDA IS BASS ACKWARDS
Florida, well-known for its theme parks and beaches, has another - more dubious - distinction, a tendency toward bizarre news and 2007 was no exception. There was the battle over former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's body, the city manager who was fired after he became a she, and the love triangle involving the female astronaut who drove 1 609km, allegedly using diapers to save time, to confront a romantic rival. But beyond those headlines, there was so much more. Two-time Nascar Busch Series champion Martin Truex was caught urinating on a car. Asked by a police officer if it was worth a $100 fine, he held out a $100 bill only to be charged with disorderly intoxication. There were plenty of strange stories fuelled by alcohol.
Proving that drinking and driving still do not mix, a 30-year-old woman taking driving lessons ran over her instructor. Her blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit. Then there was the mug shot of a 41-year-old woman arrested in Tampa for driving while intoxicated whose T-shirt read, "I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings." In the town of Largo, police were left baffled after being called to a bar disturbance only to have one intoxicated man call for help saying
he was surrounded by police. A10-year-old girl faced a felony charge in Ocala after she brought a kitchen knife to school to cut the steak she brought for lunch. Two Tampa-area middle-schoolers were arrested on charges they tried to poison their science teacher by pouring a fabric freshener into her soda. A Tampa-area mom was sentenced to a year in jail after boarding a school bus and telling her daughter to fight another girl. As always there were plenty of dumb crimes to report. A man with no arms and one leg who refused to stop driving was sentenced to five years in prison after the latest in a long list of driving offences. A former felon swopping his old clothes for new ones in a department store dressing room was caught because his old prison ID badge was in the pants he left behind. A Tampa woman was charged with faking her teenage daughter's death to scam a medical clinic out of $500 (R3 500) for funeral expenses. She had spent two years in prison for faking her husband's death to
collect insurance four years earlier. A man trying to rob a pharmacy got stuck in an air shaft for 10 hours. He said he was trying to retrieve a cat. A burglary suspect fleeing Miccosukee Tribe police jumped into a lake where signs warn "Danger Live Alligators." He was killed by an alligator. For pet lovers, there was the story of the man who was arrested after authorities found 300 cats in his home, which was covered in faeces 5 to 8cm deep. Others were more tragic. The owner of an exotic animal farm in Wewahitchka died after an 816kg camel sat on her as a local TV station filmed a feature story. As for weird police stories, Orlando-area police gave away sneakers for people who turned in guns and got a little more than they expected
when a man exchanged a 1.2m long surface-to-air missile launcher for sneakers for his young daughter. There were robbers with a heart. An Altamonte Springs gunman let a convenience store clerk call 911 during a robbery because she said she might be having a heart attack. He then stole $30 and cigarettes saying as he left, "I'm sorry". A man in St Lucie County went to hospital and told doctors he had woken up with a bad headache. Doctors quickly found the cause of the pain - a bullet. The couple confessed the wife slept with a gun under her pillow and accidentally shot her husband when a burglar alarm went off.
Frank Capra Jr: Guess what line of work he was in.
Ruth Wallis: Heave Ho, Heave Ho.
Oscar Peterson: Dead AND Canadian.
Mae West performs an "Adam & Eve" skit that gets her banned from NBC radio.
Abu Nidal gunmen open fire at Rome and Vienna airports in coordinated attacks, killing 18 holiday travelers.
Harry Connick, Jr., was arrested at Kennedy Airport in New York City after telling authorities he had an unloaded 9mm pistol in his luggage, which he said he had forgotten that his sister had given to him.
I saw I Am Legend in the movies and purchased an Iron Man t-shirt from Hot Topic and a Barenaked Ladies concert DVD from Borders.
NUTTED BY REALITY
The big news on Sunday’s episode of "The Amazing Race 12" was the appearance of this season’s first non-elimination leg. In July, The Orlando Sentinel’s TV critic, Hal Boedeker, reported that the non-elimination legs had been dropped, citing a conversation with one of the series’ executive producers, Jonathan Littman. Boedeker didn’t quote Littman, but reported, “The show will will do two fewer episdoes [sic] and drop the noneliminations to create more excitement.” Later, executive producer and showrunner Bertram Van Munster confirmed that, telling Reality TV World, “The audience and ourselves, we’re not crazy about non-eliminations. It’s exciting to see people eliminated at the end of every episode. … Penalties just make it murky. This is just such a clean-cut concept, it’s not about finding more penalties and hurdles for people. That’s not what this thing is about. I think the audience and our fans like eliminations from what we understand. .. For the contestants, the heat’s on every step of the way. Every leg of the way the heat is on because they can be eliminated.”
While host Phil Keoghan’s introduction to the race in the first episode suggested this was coming, with fewer eliminations than pit stops, but I assumed that meant another twist, like legs that spanned multiple episodes. Anyway, this revelation came at the end of a rather thrilling episode, one that was packed with action and drama and made those boring-ass airport episodes worth the wait. Let’s just hope it keeps up. On board a ferry to Italy, Vyxsin said, “This is the time to get serious,” and together they touched up their makeup, because as we all know, the key to successful travel is good makeup. Whoever writes the subtitles decided viewers were too dumb to understand Italian city names, so they translated them to their English versions, even when the audio was clear. Every time an Italian person would direct a team to “Firenze,” the on-screen title would say “Florence,” even though the person clearly said “Firenze.”
TK and Rachel left their clue on a table, and also apparently missed the clue of their camera operator zooming in on it while they ran off to their car. That led to conflict, although they fight like they’re stoned. “Did you check your pockets?” Rachel asked. “I don’t have pockets,” TK said. After the recovered the clue, he said, “This has been too much, man. I’m too mellow to handle this.” See? Phil introduced this season’s only Fast Forward, which was rather evil (“Where’d they think this shit up?” Donald asked). Phil explained that teams attempting the Fast Forward “will discover that they have to have a permanent tattoo drawn on their body, the letters ff, which stand for ‘fast forward.’” They apparently had to have it on their upper arm, which Nicolas and his grandfather went for with surprisingly little hesitation, although we’d expect that from Nicolas, who isn’t exactly the sharpest needle in the tattoo parlor. Jen, who is not at all self-centered, said, “I was really impressed that Nate actually listened to me.” Yes, it’s often impressive when others are impressed by you. Christina cried out, “Daddy!” and Ronald replied, with a rather indignant tone, “What? What?” She’s such a whiner; he was only driving away without her as she stood at the open car door, with her feet about to be run over by the tire. In 12 seasons of this show, I can’t remember a team member threatening suicide if their teammate ignored them, but that’s what we during the dating goths’ first real meltdown. As Vyxsin accelerated down a narrow street, Kynt screamed, “Stop this car! Stop this car Vyxsin! You’re not capable. I’m going to jump out if you don’t stop!” Alas, he did not. When Kynt and Vyxsin checked in last, Phil told them they were safe. “This is the first of only two non-elimination legs,” Phil told them, and explained the new penalty. “Some time during the next leg of the race, you’re going to encountera new twist in the race, and it’s called a speedbump. A speedbump is only you have to complete while the other teams have to keep racing. You don’t know when it’s coming.” Just like misinformation from producers promoting their show.
GEEK TALK
My post-Christmas stomach is in very bad shape ... Some new artwork from this summer's The Incredible Hulk has arrived online, and while it's still only artwork (in fact, all we've seen so far of this film has been artwork), it's definitely a piece that should whet your appetite for destruction. Arriving in theaters on June 13, this version of the Hulk stars Edward Norton as the emotionally-conflicted Bruce Banner, who's on the run hiding from authorities, as well as his own demons. Tim Roth will play Hulk's nemesis Emil Blonsky, while Liv Tyler (Betty Ross), William Hurt (Gen. Ross) and Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns) also star. That TV movie/series launch/contemporary re-boot of Knight Rider now has a very very brief 15-second teaser trailer online for all of you to geek out over. While there's not much except the uncovering of the new, updated car, we do get to hear a brief snippet of that classic Knight Rider music, followed by some other, flashy TV music. Ah, and Will Arnett as the voice of KITT -- does it seriously get any better than that? From the official Knight Rider press release: "The movie stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case," "All My Children"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS," "The Young and the Restless"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars," "Grindhouse") and Bruce Davison ("Breach," "Close to Home"). In addition, David Hasselhoff (NBC's "America's Got Talent") - who starred in the popular lead role as Michael Knight for four seasons during the original series - returns as the same character in a special guest-star appearance. Will Arnett (NBC's "30 Rock," "Blades of Glory") will provide the voice of KITT." Don't you love how Hasselhoff's credit is from "America's Got Talent", as if no one would remember the dude's awesome turn in TV's "Baywatch". Finally, we haven't heard much about the Pixar film arriving in between Wall-E (2008) and Toy Story 3 (2010), titled Up. Now, Upcoming Pixar has picked up a note from the film'sofficial wikipedia entry which stated that Up may in fact be a "re-telling, somewhat, of the classic Don Quixote fable." Here's what we have so far by way of a synopsis for Up; let the speculation begin: "Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson are preparing this "coming-of-old-age story" about a seventysomething guy who lives in a house that "looks like your grand-parents' house smelled." He befriends a clueless young Wilderness Ranger and gets into lots of alter kocker altercations. Says Pixar: "Our hero travels the globe, fights beasts and villains and eats dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon." (via CinemaBlend)
SHARPENING AXES
Losing your mind was all the rage this year. We browsed through the loony bin for the dingiest broads.
Ellen DeGeneres: (Man, she made it on two lists). Daytime´s number two televesbian violated her adoption agreement when she tried to regift the terrier she got from Mutts & Moms. So the rescue group took it back, causing Ellen to snap into her own private Vietnam on live TV. Imagine the public bawling when heterosexuality comes to take back Portia de Rossi.
Chris Crocker: This quasi-sexual´s career got its jump start after a viral video hit the Web featuring him hysterically begging the public to "leave Britney alone!" Yeah, ´cause Britney (too obvious a choice for this list) needs someone more bat shit than she is stepping to her defense.
Amy Winehouse: We´ve taken a lot of shots at Wine-o, but after the year she´s had—three minutes in rehab, on- and off-stage escapades with coke, and bloody fights with her husband—the woman left us no frigging choice.
Lisa Marie Nowak: This astronaut reportedly wore diapers to avoid pit stops during her breakneck drive from Houston to Orlando, where prosecutors say she attempted to kidnap the girlfriend of a former coworker. Lab tests of the soiled undergarments found in her car by investigators revealed digested Tang and dehydrated ice cream.
CANNED LAUGHTER
A police officer stops a local for speeding, and asks very plainly, “May I see your license and registration, sir.” The local replied with a huff, “I wish you guys would get your act together. Just yesterday you took my license away from me, now you expect me to show it to you?!?”
And now for a year in review version of...
MOVIE BUZZ
Who cares about Christian Bale? Now it's all about the great Heath Ledger vs. Jack Nicholson debate. For Heath's "interpretation" of the Joker, seen in the great trailer, he said he locked himself in a hotel room for a month and imagined becoming a person who thought AIDS is funny. And Michelle Williams called off their engagement why?
We all knew giant robots beating the crud out of each other was going to be awesome, but Shia LaBeouf played the perfect everyman and genuinely seems like a person who won't get drunk on his own stardom. Getting drunk and making an ass out of himself at 2 a.m. at a Walgreens? That's a different story.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
For all the joking about Harrison Ford's advanced age, this return to the franchise sounds like it'll be more Raiders and less Temple of Doom. I just fear that I'm going to have more gray hair on my head than Ford by the time a trailer is finally released.
So, the trilogy wrapped up with a whimper instead of a bang, and it was hard to figure out who was crying more: Toby, Kirsten or the fans who felt let down.
Cloverfield and Rambo
The two most badass looking movies of 2008 are both being released in January. That's a month with so much brutal awesomeness in it that I fear the rest of the year is going to have to hang its head in shame.
I'm thrilled the franchise is coming back and that J.J. Abrams' film will mostly feature Spock. All those months training myself to do that stupid Vulcan hand gesture hasn't gone to waste.
This third-tier superhero may turn out to be the biggest hit of next year. While I still say he looks like a guy who can be defeated with a can opener, the Ozzy Osbourne-fueled trailer gets me pumped.
More hyped than just about any other film this past year, it ended up being the biggest financial disaster, too. So, Middle America wasn't ready for a three-and-a-half-hour homage to the sleazy movies that nobody saw back in the '70s in the first place? Who would have guessed.
It seemed like 2007 went by with a daily rumor about which "hot" young actor was going to play which superhero. Now the whole project seems up in the air, thanks to the writers strike. I say they just cut up old comic books, animate the mouths like they did with those '60s Captain America cartoons and be done with it.
And I thought I was a dork for drawing superheroes on the backs of my notebooks.
Let's see now. Bald hero does impossible stunts along with a funny, sarcastic, spikey-haired sidekick and is based on a 20-year-old franchise. Is it any wonder I keep getting this flick mixed up with The Simpsons Movie?
More than any other trailer, this is the one where more people came up to me, screaming in my face because they were so totally freaked out by it. I don't understand why. I mean, it's just … Wait. She has teeth where? Oh my God, that's horrible!
And now a review of
I AM LEGEND starring Will Smith. Smith is a military scientist and the last man alive after a worldwide epidemic wipes out all humans. His daytime companion is a really loyal dog. His nighttime enemies are the undead superhuman vampire zombies left in the wake of the epidemic. He may have a cure for the disease, but it'll mean capturing one of them and using it as a guinea pig before they figure out where his locked-down lab is. And before he goes nuts himself from the isolation. You hope against hope that big movie stars will choose projects that strike the balance between polishing their heroic, crowd-pleasing image and delivering unstupid films to a mass audience. OK, actually you wish they'd all go off and make weird movies with interesting directors like Nicole Kidman does. But failing that, you hope for solid popcorn movies that you won't regret having spent money on as soon as the lights go up. So this is one of those popcorn movies. It moves fast, it's exciting, it's suspenseful, stuff blows up, and, best of all, Smith isn't smirking and showboating. It balks at the moral ambiguity of the 1954 novel it's based on (in that one, the last man on Earth unwittingly kills people who aren't part of the vampire-zombie hordes), but you can't have everything. Cameo that made me happy and then disappointed within the first 60 seconds: Emma Thompson opens the movie as a doctor who's discovered the cure for all cancers. I thought, "Oh, good, I dig Emma Thompson." After that scene, the screen goes black and reads: "Three years later." You see New York City overgrown with weeds. Wild animals roaming free. No people anywhere. And then it's pretty much a guarantee that Thompson won't be around for the rest of it, having been the unwitting angel of death for all humanity. Bummer. The coolest thing about this story: It's like a sponge that can absorb whatever social anxieties exist during the era it's set in. The '50s novel can be a metaphor for the Cold War; the Charlton Heston film version, The Omega Man, includes a Manson-like madman and his group called "The Family"; and this one's subtext is everyone's current fixation on superbugs, bird flu, apocalypse and the end of the world. A few weeks ago, I was in a multiplex near my house, and lined up on the wall were Coming Soon posters for this movie, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and Cloverfield. If that's not a collective cultural subtext happening, then there's no such thing.
There you have it, Phile Phans, the last entry of 2007. On Jan. 8th the Phile will be two years old, and I am not stopping yet. The next entry will be next Thursday, and in the meantime, check out the Phile's Myspace page at Myspace.com/peverettphile and Foghat.com where you can buy new merch from Loentz's Emporium. Until then, spread the word, not the turd. See ya next year.
Posted by Peverett Phile at 12/27/2007 No comments:
Merry Christmas! Oh No, I Used The 'C' Word.
Season's greetings, happy holidays, Merry Christmas, pholks. If I had anymore Christmas spirit, I'd be shitting jingle bells. So, how is everyone? Did you see the new Alvin & The Chipmunks movie? I will give the review at the bottom of the entry, by the way. I remember being a big fan o the 80's cartoon "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and liking their records. My dad once said to me, "What's the big deal? They just speeded up someone's voices." Leno and Letterman and Conan announced they will
be back on the air in January. Great. That means I can start ripping off their monologues again. A few days ago a Guest at Disney's Animal Kingdom had a heart attack and died on the Expedition Everest ride. Now they are going to change the name of the ride to
Expedition Ever Rest. Apparently he saw the Yeti and thought it was his mother-in-law. Also at Disney, a guy was thrown out the park for singing "Chipmunks Roasting
An Open Fire" to Chip and Dale. So, Logan and I have been playing a lot of video
games lately. We play so much I am starting to introduce myself as Player 1. I tried to convince my wife our next vacation should be to Vice City. I complained to You complain to my urologist that I have pain in my joystick. The U.S. Justice Department is looking into possible price fixing in the chocolate industry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday on its Web site. The Journal reported that a Mars spokeswoman said the company had been contacted by the Justice Department's antitrust division and that if the agency initiated an investigation Mars would cooperate. Chocolate? Wrong brown sticky stuff? "Time" magazine announced the Person Of The Year. Me! No, it's really Vladimir Putin, but it was a close race. "Person" of the year? Hearkens to George Carlin, "What do we call a ladies' man now, a person's person"? Okay, so what do you think about the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant story?
It goes to show you, that's what you get when you give fifty million dollars to a white
trash family. If nothing else you'd think she'd learn from trainwreck sister. How sad. Can you believe their mother was writing a parenting book? Rightfully, it has been put on hold. Nickleodeon said that they support her decision to have the baby and hav a nice life. They did consider changing the name of her tv show "Zoey 101" to "Zoey PosterChild for Abstinence-Only Education".
Jillian Kesner-Graver, who played Fonzie's girlfriend Lorraine in "Happy Days": Not cool!
Dan Fogelberg: He wrote pop, but don't hold it against him. You're probably still humming "Another Auld Lang Syne". My dad once said, "The worst thing about having Foghat as the band's name is that we are always going to be next to Dan
Fogelberg in the album racks."
Daniel Restrepo often suffered seizures after he was shot in the head as a boy in Colombia; now authorities in Florida are calling his death a homicide caused by those 12-year-old wounds. Restrepo, 25, never fully recovered, and he was found dead in bed Nov. 30 at his father's home in Royal Palm Beach. The medical examiner blamed a fatal seizure and labeled his death a homicide. "It's really strange, the death at least a dozen years later. Throw in the fact it's out of the country, it's really unique," said Detective Steve Ultsh of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating Restrepo's death. Restrepo's father, Gonzalo, was driving the car when Daniel was shot on his way to school in Medellin, where the family lived at the time. He declined to talk about the shooting, but blamed his son's death on a change in his seizure medication. The shooting "wasn't the cause of my son's death," Gonzalo Restrepo told The Palm Beach Post. Authorities here hope to provide the information on Daniel's death to officials in Medellin for their potential murder case, Ultsh said. It was not immediately clear if Colombian authorities had suspects or if anyone was ever arrested in the shooting.
This woman walks into a tattoo shop and asks for a tattoo of a Christmas tree on her right inner thigh and a cocktail drink on her left inner thigh. The tattoo artist says "thats an unusual request. Why do you want two tattoos there?" She replies "because my husband needs to eat between Christmas and New Years."
Three men die in a car accident Christmas eve.They all find themselves at the pearly gates waiting to enter Heaven.On entering they must present something Christmassy. The first man searches his pocket, and finds some mistletoe, so he is allowed in. The second man presents a cracker , so he is also allowed in. The third man pulls out a pair of panties. Confused at this last gesture , St. Peter asks "how do these represent Christmas?" Answer "they're Carol's."
Q. What did Santa say to the three blondes? A. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Q. Why are women's breasts like a train set a kid gets at Christmas time ? A. Because they were originally made for children but the father wants to play with them.
Q. What do blacks and Christmas trees have in common ? A. They both have colored balls.
I have a proposal: If football continues to push "The Amazing Race’s" debut later, and CBS insists upon airing all of "60 Minutes" and screwing up its entire prime-time schedule, and that night’s episode of "The Amazing Race" starts with 20 minutes of teams trying to get airline tickets, cut that segment out and just replace it with a voiceover from Phil. Perhaps it’s just fatigue after 12 seasons, but starting episodes this way is just boring. Every team reads the damn route marker, takes a cab to the airport, researches flights, lines up at a not-yet-open ticket window or travel agency, and then obnoxiously begs the ticket agent to hurry up because they’re late for their flight, which they eventually get on. Five minutes, okay. A third of the episode? Too much, even when, as last night, something that happens during that segment leads to a team’s elimination. Because last week’s egregious product placement wasn’t enough, Phil started his recap of last week’s episode by saying, TK and Rachel arrived first, and were awarded a vacation of a lifetime from Travelocity.” Then TK became the producers’ whore, saying in an oddly stilted (hmm) way, “Thank you Travelocity.” Upon learning that they were traveling to Croatia, Hendekea said she knew a bit of the language, a word “which means, ‘there’s a party in my pants.’” Azaria said, “Hopefully we can get a few dollars with that,” Ronald looks like all cuddly with those “Who’s your daddy?” t-shirts, but sometimes he can be a real bastard.” He interrupted a ticket agent serving another team, and when they objected, Ronald got angry. “Just a simple question, man. What’s the big deal?’ he said. “It ain’t [censored]in’ anyof your reservations.” Vyxsin told Christina, “It’s okay; Ihave a dad, too.” While most of the world would be thrilled to learn they’d been accidentally upgraded to business class, that’s a huge no-no on the race, as teams must purchase coach tickets (although they can sit in business or first if they paid coach prices). “Business class?” Hendekea said, horrified. There were no more coach seats on the flight, but the agent assured them that the original flight was “not going to make it on time” anyway. What a helpful agent: books the wrong tickets on a flight that’s delayed. For some reason, after arriving in Croatia and running out of the airport to catch taxis, none of the teams had backpacks. Apparently the production collected them for some reason, “You’re the meanest person I’ve ever met sometimes,” Jennifer told Nate during one of their many fights, not elaborating on what he is other times. They had a meltdown while paddling a boat, and she said, “I’m never going be with you ever again.” It was unclear if she meant “be with you” in the Biblical sense.
Jen’s meltdown’s, while so familiar it seems like we’ve seen them all before, was still somewhat fun. She went from being upset about not being able to catch a cab to excoriating their relatonship. “This is pathetic. Oh my god, Nate! This is so unfair! No, it’s not okay. Our relationship sucks,” she said, crying. When Ronald and Christina checked in, Phil Keoghan said, “Who’s your daddy now?” and instantly gave fans a sound clip to use as their ringtone. Phil didn’t have anything witty to say to Jennifer and Nate; instead, he had to yell at them. “You’re the second team to arrive. However, you did not take a legal form of transportation from the Detour finish point to get here to the mat. So, you need to go back to that spot, get some legal transportation, and make your way back here before I can check you in,” he said, and finished it off with “make haste.” They still checked in third, and Phil noticed that things were a bit icy: “not a lot of affection there with the handshake.” Nicolas and his grandfather Donald also had a bit of a meltdown, with Nicolas becoming increasingly surprised that his grandfather is slow. Paddling a boat, he said, “Worry about yourself,” and his grandfather said, “I’m helping here, whether you know it or not.” Hendekea and Azaria checked in last, and were eliminated thanks to their initial flight problems. Hendekea said, “The thing that really sucks here is, it wasn’tlike somebody beat us. We beat ourselves.”
The translation of the word “Mistletoe” itself isn’t very romantic. A few centuries back, some people apparently observed that mistletoe tended to take root where birds
had left their droppings. “Mistal” is an Anglo-Saxon word that means “dung” and “tan” means “twig,” so mistletoe actually means “dung on a twig.” Since the 1970’s, The Kennedy Space Center has made their Shuttle landing facility available for emergency landing by Santa Claus should problems develop during his annual visit to
children around the world! Umm... that's just dumb.
I pity the fool who doesn't want a Hobbit film! I did not see I Am Legend this past weekend, but apparently there was a poster planted in the film's fictional Times Square for a Batman vs. Superman movie, due out on May 15, 2010. Folks immediately began speculating -- was this a secret teaser poster for Justice League? Had they changed the name (as previously rumored) to Batman vs. Superman? No such luck fanboys (and girls); seems it was only a gag dreamed up by screenwriter/producer Akiva Goldsman, who, long ago, was attached to write a Batman vs. Superman film. But it's still pretty cool, and a neat little Easter Egg if you ask me. We know John Singleton has signed on to direct a big-screen A-Team movie, and that casting is currently underway, but what's the script look like? Moviehole got their hands on the script, and there's some "interesting" stuff in there. Like, B.A. Baracas (played by Mr. T on the TV show) is listed as a "22-year-old walking steel with two-percent body fat." Yup, expect Tyrese Gibson in this role. Here's a bit more from their synopsis: "I'll be honest - it's not that tantalizing. The whole action of the movie revolves around some vases and stolen art. At one point there's a scene that takes place on a yacht - and it's an art auction. It's just not that interesting." Head on over to Moviehole to read their full review of the 118-page script. This morning it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line had kissed and made up, and are moving ahead on the long-planned Hobbit adaptation. However, Jackson is only listed as an executive producer, which means they still needto seek out a director to helm the picture. I'd expect Sam Raimi to be the first one they call, but if Sam takes on this monstrous double-feature, don't expect the guy to be back in the director's chair for Spider-Man 4. Which will also likely mean that Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will opt out. Would you gladly take Raimi on Hobbit, or could Jackson get real nutty and somehow convince Guillermo del Toro to give up all 300 of his current projects to direct two Hobbit films? Where do you stand? Who do you want directing these movies, if not Jackson?
While Daniel Craig can be seen racing boats for an action scene in these photos, it's been announced that producers may have found the next Bond Girl, a little-known actress named Gemma Arterton. I may never have heard of her, but the photo's I saw of her makes me think of water, too — a waterbed.
The first trailer for Will Smith's action comedy about a drunken superhero shows him destroying lots of property and cruelly throwing a beached whale back into the ocean. Jeez, between this and I Am Legend, no animal in Hollywood is gonna want to work with him ever again.
Peter Jackson and New Line have come to an agreement that will have Jackson executive producing two LOTR prequels. Isn't it nice when a total bomb like The Golden Compass can bring two old friends together again?
The official trailer is finally online, and the film looks like it's going to be extremely dark and violent, which is awesome. The one scene where Heath Ledger begs Christian Bale to run him over with the Batpod is especially scary. Wasn't that the same bit of S&M he tried on Jake in Brokeback Mountain?
John Travolta may have been the last defender of the long-gestating update of the classic TV drama, but producers finally kicked him to the curb and replaced him with Ben Stiller. To deliver the bad news, they had Patrick Duffy surprise Travolta in the shower to tell him that the last 10 years trying to get the film made was all a bad dream.
The X-Files 2
A fan caught some video of David Duchovny and new co-star Amanda Peet shooting on the Vancouver set. If you listen real closely, you can hear David say, "Hey, she's a whole lot cuter than the Cigarette Smoking Man."
WALL*E
There's a cute new trailer for the Pixar flick that shows the title robot playing with different items he finds in a trash dump, including a fire extinguisher, a bra and a paddleball game. Woo-hoo! That sounds like my New Year's Eve plans.
There's a trailer from George Clooney's new flick about the early days of football, when players just wore cheap little leather helmets as protection. I hope nobody hit him in the head too hard or he might start to think making Ocean's Fourteen is a good idea.
Judd Apatow directed a hilarious short starring Paul Rudd, Justin Long, Jonah Hill and "The Office's" Craig Robinson, who tries to beat up the director when he finds out he's in a viral marketing ad, which is perfect because viral ads always make me want to punch somebody in the head, too.
Original graphic novel artist Dave Gibbons posted apicture of himself on the movie set and wrote about how honored he was to be surrounded by a bunch of adults wearing superhero costumes. Honored? Hasn't he ever been to Comic-Con? It's actually kind of dorky.
And now for the review of
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Jane Lynch, the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, and Matthew Gray Gubler. It's an origin story, like the kind every comic-book superhero has, except that these are CG chipmunks. Alvin, Theodore and Simon find Dave Seville, a struggling songwriter, and together they become a famous singing group and teach each other the true meaning of family. Someone out there will hate it for that reason and assume it's part of the liberal media's agenda to promote nontraditional living arrangements as normal. But really, who's to say that adopting three digital rodents doesn't make you a dad? Not me. I've been dreading this for months now. Seriously, just wishing that all the prints would burn up in a fire. That was the marketing campaign's fault, dressing them in hoodies and making them look all gangsta. It's the Scarface-ification of children's pop culture, and it's just wrong. So anyway, the actual movie doesn't go in for much of this. They do update that dorky song "Witch Doctor" to be all Black Eyed Peas-ish, but beyond that, the worst thing that happens is that part in the trailer where one of them accidentally eats the other one's poop. Gross, yes, but kids will fall out laughing.
Amount of fear and loathing parents should have: surprisingly very little. Your kids will love it, and it won't wreck your own childhood memories of the Chipmunks much at all. Meanwhile, it passed my personal test of including a non-offensive cover of that Christmas song about the hula hoop that they're most famous for. It sucks the most when the little rats aren't around. Then all you get are a lot of humans gritting their teeth for a paycheck. Cross seems to be having the most true fun, but Lee seems unhappy to be in the film. He doesn't even yell "ALVIN!" very loudly. I question his commitment to acting opposite computer-generated talking animals. Trivia: Lee's character lives in apartment 1958, the year the Chipmunks were created by Ross Bagdasarian. And if you're a fan of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, you'll be interested to know that Bagdasarian is the pianist that Jimmy Stewart spies on. I gave it a 9 and Jen gave it an 8, which is pretty good for her.
Okay, that's the last entry before Christmas. Have a safe one and the Phile will be back next Thursday which will be the last for 2007. Until then, spread the word, not the turd. Oh, and go buy something from Loentz's Emporium at Foghat.com.
Oh Come All Ye Adore Me
Season's greetings, and welcome to the most updated blog on the internet, I am your host, the golden comp-ass. Or platinum bastard, one of the two. Did you see that movie,
The Golden Compass? I did and will review it in this blog. Anyway, in the movie, all humans have animals called deamons as pets. Some have leopards, some have dogs, some have monkeys, and so on. If it was real, and I had a daemon, knowing my luck it'll be an elephant and I wouldn't be able to go out bcause it'll be so big. Or a skunk, or Walter the Farting Dog. Last weekend a lady tried to get into the Magic Kingdom with
gun, scissors and a knife in her trenchcoat pockets, and she was arrested. I don't know what the big deal is, I go to work at Disney every day with a rocket in my pocket. Expect cheers among hardcore online game enthusiasts when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to "w00t."
"W00t," a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's online poll for the word that best sums up 2007. That's st00pid. Webster's word of the year is the same as every year. #^%%@! It means "I'm 39 Fucking Years Old so stop Fucking picking me up, asshole!" Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for running a "cruel and inhumane" dogfighting ring and lying about it. This has got to be the most expensive personal eff-up in the history of mankind. $100 Million is gone and will probably never come back. Well, one thing will be sure. He will NOT be able to play Tight End. His new position will be Wide Receiver. Yes, I KNOW he's a QB.
Ike Turner: Looks like he beat Tina to death.
A 25-year-old man in Winter Haven was arrested after police said he ran over his neighbor's front yard Christmas decorations and then shot the man several times. A Polk County Sheriff's Office report said Matthew Lankford became involved in an altercation involving his sister and neighbor Douglas Sheldon. Lankford got into a vehicle and drove over Sheldon's Christmas decorations that were in the front yard.
Witnesses said Lankford retrieved a .45-caliber gun and shot Sheldon several times in the arm and abdomen. Witnesses said Sheldon did not appear to have any weapons.
Sheldon was transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center in stable condition. Lankford was charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting. Looks like the Grinch came early this year.
The feast of St. Lucy. Because her extreme beauty attracted too many admirers, Lucy gouged her own eyes out. Miraculously they grew back. After refusing to marry, the Romans forced her to become a whore. Early depictions show Lucy offering her eyes on a platter; she is now the patron saint of Sicily and of opticians.
The Japanese Army occupies Nanking, China. For the next three weeks, with the unspoken permission of the army, soldiers literally rape the city, committing untold individual acts of atrocity and killing 350,000 civilians. The Rape of Nanking remains an event unacknowledged and unapologized by the Japanese government.
A fire at a Knights of Columbus men's dance in St. Johns, Newfoundland cooks approximately 100 people. The exits were locked.
The Reverend Jim Jones is arrested in a cruisy movie theater bathroom in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Jones had the bad luck to hit on an undercover LAPD vice officer while masturbating in the Westlake Theatre men's room.
Twelve people die in a religious sacrifice in Tijuana. Industrial alcohol is introduced into fruit punch of ceremony recipients. It is unknown whether the incident constituted suicide or murder.
Q: How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: Wanna go ride bikes?
It's been noted in press reports that the alleged charges brought against "Kid Nation" have been dropped and the state of New Mexico won't be pursuing them. After watching the entire season, I can see why. For whatever flaws the show might have had (and it had several), it didn't seem to measure up to any sort of child abuse or violation of child labor laws. The pre-season brouhaha cited the lack of adult supervision as a big problem. Alas, for me, it was all of the adult intervention which became the biggest issue I had with the show. It wasn't the kids -- they were overall a fantastic bunch! There hasn't been an announcement whether there will be another season of the show or not. They had been accepting applications on the CBS website, but the deadline is long past and the link for applying has vanished. I think if they do have another season, a tad less blatant direction of the kids is in order. I know they can't just let the kids go wild -- maybe some ground rules, but I personally think that journal should be buried under the not selected "Kid Nation" monument. Tonight's finale opened with kids waxing eloquently about their fellow kids. Once again, I keep wondering about the editing and time frames of some of the scenes. Throughout the season, Greg's chin scrape has appeared and disappeared. Kids wear jackets and it seems very cold, then the next scene they're looking comfortable in short sleeve t-shirts. What's up with that? So, what happens to the "pioneers" when structure is removed from their lives in town? Mike discovered the job board moved to the center of a street and on fire. And, then it started. Absolute chaos reigned as the kids were told they had no more jobs or responsibilities for the remaining two days. Uh-oh.
The candy and dry goods stores were looted. It reminded me of outright looting seen during riots, the blackout of 1977 in NYC, and such. Oh, without the danger or anger in those situations, but certainly with the wanton destruction of property and the theft issues. But then there are those kids. You know which ones -- the kids with a conscience. I'm talking Zach, Sophia, DK, and others. Even some who initially got taken in with the idea of all the candy they could barf came around to their senses.
The next day, the kids all came together and cleaned up the mess from the madness of the night before. Aw, such a perfect little world they have going on there, don't they? I don't think that happened after many of the real life lootings. Sure, friends and some volunteers help out, but you don't see the looters return to clean up their mess. Then adult host Jonathan Karsh announced there would be no showdown and the council had to decide right then and there (after a brief discussion) who would be the last gold star recipient. DK, who might be a bit too sensitive for his own good, cried because he didn't want to make such an important decision. Now, I like DK, but he does need to toughen up just a bit. I think the council made a good decision is choosing Zach. He cries sometimes too, but on the whole he controls his emotions a bit more than DK. He's a good worker, has great moral values, and was the perfect choice for the final golden star, I think. But, of course, it wasn't the final golden star as we would find out on their Day 40. In the meantime, Migle ended up getting hyped up, as did Morgan.
That's another faux pas with the show. I realize they feel they might have to remind us of the value of some kids. After all, there were 40 of them (37 in the finale). No, we can't remember them all by face and name. Sometimes I'd see a kid and wonder where they were all season. Sometimes kids who were featured prominently in an episode or two vanish into the woodwork. Divad is an example of a woodwork child. But it's always a dead giveaway when the show focused on a child or two other than some of the key players like Jared, Greg, Zach, Laurel, other council leaders, etc. With no real showdown, they kind of had a showdown. The kids had to prepare for a Bonanza City Bonanza party by completing three tasks in an alloted time frame. The reward would be three huge $50,000 gold stars awarded as opposed to the ones throughout the season which were merely $20,000. Looking at it from my jaded adult view, I could see that the whole thing was set up to make the kids all work together as a team to accomplish their goals. Heck, even some of the kids there could see it. But work together they did -- making a huge spaghetti meal from scratch which included making the pasta and crushing tomatoes for the sauce. Then they had to build picnic tables and finally, they had to bury all of the trash from their dump. They made it within the time frame and got an added treat. Their parents all came! Woohoo! Tears of joy all around and lots of hugging. I noticed that Alex seemed to shun physical hugging ... interesting. The kids got to show off their town and a good time was had by all.
Then it got down to business. The parents went with the children for the last town hall meeting. Sophia was the first one selected to win one of the big gold stars. Like the Zach choice, I think it was well-deserved. She's been a rock through the whole show and a good worker, too. And, another thing I like about her is that she will speak her mind. She really held concern about the town on the whole and her own personal work ethic was admirable. Then it was Morgan and Migle, not unexpectedly at all due to the build-up. I'm sure they're deserving kids. But I would have liked to see Mike get one. That excitable boy tried so hard throughout the season that I thought he might pop blood vessels in his excited phase. My main little man Jared never won a gold star, but I think he won a lot of hearts over out there. He wasn't always a hard worker. He also didn't always behave like an angel. But he's such an oddly delightful and intelligent child that I'm sure he could very well win that Nobel Prize sometime in the future. For me, he's one of the reasons I enjoyed the show so much. Will there be another "Kid Nation"? I really don't know at this time. But if there is, I'd be tempted to watch it once again just to get to know the kids. How about you? If they return, what changes would you suggest?
When am I gonna learn how to punch? AICN is posting a nutty rumor today with regards to the new Justice League flick. Remember how director George Miller had said recently during the AFI Awards that when it goes before cameras, Justice League would have a different name? Well, according to a tipster, that name may have already been leaked by Batman. No, not the rumored-to-be-playing-Batman, Armie Hammer, but the other Batman, Christian Bale. Here's what they claim: "Christian Bale was on Nova (FM) today in an interview (pre-recorded I assume) for "Yuma" and said he has "nothing to do with AMERICAN HEROES, and their Batman will be different to our Batman." Wait, so are they calling it American Heroes? WTF? Personally, not only do I think it's a horrible title, but there's no way Warner Bros. will go with a title that could potentially hinder box office sales worldwide. This is the same issue G.I. Joe was having; how they're apparently going out of their way to include a wide array of characters from different countries in order to make it less American and more world-friendly. I doubt this is the title, but if it was, what do you think?
George Lucas swore that he'd have a trailer ready for fans byChristmas, but instead all we get is a crummy painted poster. George, here's a New Year's resolution for you: Don't lie.
The funny first 10 minutes of the John C. Reilly comedy are now online, and they show his character as a young boy and his brother growing up on a farm and getting involved in dangerous stunts like playing chicken with a tractor and dueling with machetes. At least those things are better than daring each other to experience their "first time" with the livestock. By the way, I downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes and it's great.
Some fan caught the first blurry pictures of Chris Pine as Captain Kirk wearing some kind of strange orange outfit. However, with the recent sentencing of Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Vick, maybe orange jumpsuits are the wave of the future in fashion.
There's a newer, more action-filled trailer for the sci-fi film that features Hayden Christensen being able to teleport himself anywhere in the world, including on top of famous landmarks like Big Ben and the Sphinx. The only place not so fun to find oneself on? Sitting on top of the Washington Monument.
Bio-Dome 2
Stephen Baldwin says he's going to star in a sequel with or without his co-star. Who would have thought after all these years it would be Pauly Shore who would be the one to hold onto his last shred of dignity?
Cop Movie
Keenen Ivory, Shawn and Marlon Wayans, the guys behind the first two Scary Movies, are planning to do the exact same thing for action flicks. So, they'll make one semi-decent comedy that spawns an endless series of unfunny crap.
The Grudge star Sarah Michelle Gellar is starring in another remake of a Japanese film. This time, her dead husband possesses her creepy brother-in-law. Gellar loves being in Japanese remakes so much she's even sewn her own rubber Godzilla suit just in case.
The big screen update of the beloved '80s TV series may have scored a decent director: Boyz in the Hood's John Singleton. The new version also promises to be more violent and sexier than the show ever was, which I hope means there's plenty of scenes where the team's van is a-rockin'.
Some sites are saying that this incredibly gory film about a girl who gets her arm cut off and replaces it with a machine gun is going to be next year's big cult hit. I'll recommend watching the gross trailer, but there's so much blood spraying in this thing you might want to put a raincoat on first.
In the trailer, Brendan Fraser has the magical ability to bring any fantasy character he wants to life. If I had that power, I know who I'd conjure up first: Smurfette.
Drew Barrymore is going to make her directing debut about women's roller derby, where girls strap on skates, zip around in a circle and elbow, punch and knock each other down. I've had a couple of dates that sound very similar.
THE GOLDEN COMPASS starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ben Walker, Eva Green, Sam Elliott, Christopher Lee, and the voices of Freddie Highmore, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Kristin Scott Thomas and Kathy Bates. A headstrong young girl named Lyra (newcomer Richards) holds the keys to the upcoming battle between worldwide oppression and … um … dust. OK, they don't explain the significance of the dust exactly, except that all matter seems to come from it, and the "Magisterium" (this story's stand-in for the Church) hates it when people talk about it and would like to outlaw any acknowledgment of its existence. The girl gets involved with a truth-telling compass, an alcoholic warrior bear, some traveling Romany-ish folks, a child-theft conspiracy led by Kidman, spirit-guide animals and a gang of foxy witches. Look, it all makes sense when you watch it.
It moves at a land-speed-record pace, which might bug some people, because you never really get time to breathe (it's in that much of a crazy fire-engine hurry), but that's because they've got a lot of stuff to pack in. And the character of Lyra is as emotionally involving as Luke Skywalker and Frodo. No, I don't think that's an exaggeration, so save your e-mails. Why aren't there awards for voice casts? Because McKellen as the armored-covered warrior bear Iorek Byrnison makes you wish you could have your own armor-covered warrior bear guarding your back. He makes this CG animal majestic and troubled and brave and moving. That's deserving of some sort of prize. Cookie bouquet. Something. I saw this ad for Botox recently and its newtagline is "express yourself," which is pretty funny considering that injecting it into your head makes you look like you've been cryogenically frozen. And although I have no hardcore evidence that Kidman is addicted to the stuff, I think we can all agree that her face looks a little different than it used to. Here, her recently acquired facial immobility (she is able to move her eyebrows though — I paid attention) really works for her character, upping the icy, creepy evil she wants to project. As usual, she's on point. Note to Atheists: It might be subtextually anti-organized religion and, thematically, the flipside of the Narnia coin, but it exists in a magical spiritual world all the same, one where souls are real and locked in battle with evil forces. So just because the hard-core religious people will protest it, don't think this movie is some kind of answer to your prayers. From 1 to 10, I give it a 6.
There you have it, pholks, another entry of the Phile. Check out the Phile at Myspace.com/peverettphile as well as myspace.com/foghatmusic and Foghat.com. Until next week, spread the word, not the turd. Peace!
Smack My Ass And Call Me Santa
Season's greetings, Phile Phans, and welcome to another entry of the Phile. I just got home from working late, so if this entry seems short, its probably because I fell asleep. So, you heard of Toys For Tots, right? Well, I want to start pu Toys For Tits. Sad news in Omaha. A gunman opened fire at a busy Omaha mall yesterday, killing at least eight people, wounding at least five others and then killing himself. The gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home which said he was "going out in style." Going out in style??? You are... I mean WERE in Omaha, for shits sake! A college student shoved a pumpkin pie into the face of a shopping-mall Santa Claus in Montana. He "lightly smooshed" the pie into the man's face Wednesday and shouted, "What do you think of that, Santa?" Hope you find the legal fees funny there, Einstein. Moron. So, this weekend my wife and her neice are going to go see Keith
Urban twice in concert. If I was him, I wouldn't thrust my hips, roll my shoulder, make eye contact, hug my guitar, sweat, or sing. In fact, I wouldn't even show up.
What am I talking about? Of course I would. I am doing that right now.
Evel Knievel: But he said his death would be "Glorious". I want a refund!
A man who robbed two other men he met through a telephone dating service has been arrested, police and sheriff's deputies said today. Mark Joseph Scott, 44, was arrested in St. Petersburg and charged with two counts of armed robbery, resisting with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. Last Saturday, police say he arranged to go to the Indian Rocks Road house of a man he met through a telephone dating service. Once inside, he threatened the man with a knife, tied him up and stole some property. Two days later, he committed a similar crime at a residence off of Rosemary Lane, they said. Largo Police and Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputies worked on the cases together and developed Scott as a suspect. They arrested him after a brief struggle Wednesday in St. Petersburg, and say they recovered items taken from the victims' homes.
Guillotining of Mme. du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. "She screamed, she begged mercy of the horrible crowd that stood around the scaffold, she aroused them to such a point that the executioner grew anxious and hastened to complete his task."
At 9:05 AM, the munitions ship Mont Blanc explodes in Halifax harbor after being struck by another ship. It is the largest explosion before the atomic age. The ship was carrying 200 tons of TNT, 61 tons of gun cotton, 35 tons of Benzyl, and 2,300 tons of picric acid; the explosion destroys 325 acres of the city, leaving 1,900 people dead and injuring over 9,000.
A concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont ends in the death of a fan at the hands of the Hells Angels, who were hired for security.
Televangelist Jim Bakker of the PTL ministry has a 15 minute quickie in a motel room with Jessica Hahn. The minister uses the line "When you help the shepherd, you're helping the sheep". Baaaa. PTL later pays Hahn hush money, but seven years later the incident becomes public and Bakker resigns in disgrace.
Three teenagers in Missouri beat a friend to death and blame the incident on heavy metal inspired satanism. The jury didn't buy their story, instead finding a pattern of drug use among the youths and evidence of animal torture during childhood by their ringleader.
Marc Lepine kills 14 women at Ecole Polytechnic, University of Montreal, and injures 15 others. It is the worst mass murder in Canadian history. On him is a suicide letter explaining his actions as being specific revenge against 19 "feminists who have ruined my life... I have decided to put an end to those viragos."
Q. What's female Viagra? A. Jewelry.
Q: How do you know when a woman is about to say something smart? A: When she starts her sentence with "A man once told me..."
Q: Why are seagulls called seagulls? A: Because if they flew over the bay, they'd be called bagels!
Q: Why do blondes wear green lipstick? A: Because red means stop.
Q. Why is sleeping with a man like a soap opera? A. Just when it's getting interesting, they're finished until next time.
Oh, my. The time is really getting down there for the kiddie pioneers of "Kid Nation". Next week is the season finale. So many deserving kids, so many kids who are mere faces in the crowd. Who will get the last few gold stars? Brains? Brawn? Need? Greed? What will be the criteria? Well, they're kids, so it's hard to say. But one thing is for sure, they'll be steered by the invisible adults in the background all the way to the decision. For me, that's been the nagging flaw of the show -- the amount of adult intervention. But the most enjoyable aspect of the show is getting to know the children themselves. The little kids are the ones I enjoy the most. Jared, with his crooked glasses and often odd headgear, spouting Shakespeare and quantum theories. Alex with his snaggly tooth and more knowledge of science than I had as a college senior. Even Zach, only ten years old, yet compassionate and wise beyond his years. Heck, even tonight Taylor showed a bit of maturity. Maybe there's hope after all, eh?
I have a lot of problems with Monday's season/fall finale of "Heroes". Why didn't Hiro freeze time again when he got into the vault with Adam? Why didn't Peter just stop time when Nathan was shot? Why was Nathan's press conference indoors when he was about to announce he could fly? What's the sense in killing Nathan and not Matt and Peter, when they can just show the world their powers? Why can't Hiro just go back in time to prevent Nathan from being killed, or why don't they just use Claire's blood (or Peter's?) to save him? And on and on and on it goes. I guess that's the problem of introducing time travel and immortality to a story. Anything can happen so it all seems ridiculous. Still, the show is a blast and I'll be back for the third volume. Creator Tim Kring has an interview over at TVGuide.com where he talks about the finale. I won't tell you everything he has to say (he doesn't give any hints as to what the fates of Nathan and Niki are), but I would guess that the most interesting news is that the strike might actually help the show in a (small) way. Since the filming has been pushed back, Zachary Quinto (Syler) will probably be done filming Star Trek and be available for "Heroes" full-time again.
I'd just like to say that it's a pleasure to write about three films that aren't sequels: A brand new behind-the-scenes clip from Speed Racer has hit the net, courtesy of "Entertainment Tonight". In it, they go on set with Matthew Fox (aka Racer X) to learn a little about the cars, the film's vibe and the production. I hated the cartoon, but after seeing the trailer it looks so unbelievably awesome -- you seriously have no idea how insane this film is going to look. No idea. The Wachowski Brothers are back and they're officially bad ass to the bone. Just hold on because you're all in for one helluva ride when this puppy touches down in theaters on May 9. Looks like that live-action G.I. Joe project is slowly piecing together its cast. Slashfilm reports that Ray Park (better known as Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I) has been cast as Snake Eyes. Those fans of the toyline, animated series and comic books will remember Snake Eyes as this mysterious ninja character who is known for his martial arts capabilities. the day? Anyway, Sienna Miller has already been cast as the Baroness, evil sidekick to Destro. So whaddya think of Ray Park? Maul is back baby! Finally, Paramount is sending around a new photo from Iron Man, which looks pretty damn awesome. In the film, which arrives in theaters on May 2, Robert Downey Jr. kicks off a whole new superhero franchise as the alcoholic, multi-millionaire-turned-robot loving madman, Tony Stark. He builds this suit, kicks some ass, woos Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and, at some point, runs into Samuel L. Jackson as fellow Marvel hero Nick Fury. Here's hoping director Jon Favreau kicks off the Summer of '08 with a bang ... and a boom.
There's a new teaser poster out and reports now say Batman doesn't even appear in the film's first six minutes, which will be shown before I Am Legend IMAX screenings. Instead, the Joker pulls off a bank robbery then kills his henchmen, who are all dressed like clowns. I ask you, is that something Jack Nicholson would have done? By the way, you can see the poster on the Phile's Myspace page.
Johnny Depp might join Michael Mann's biopic about the legendary bank robber John Dillinger who once allegedly busted out of jail using a fake gun carved out of a potato. After spending so much time with knives on Sweeney Todd, Johnny is looking to work with much safer props.
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
There's several promo photos showing the boys, among other things, in a sex shop with Neil Patrick Harris and with two lingerie-clad babes in an airplane hanger. Of course, it would be better to be hanging with the girls in the sex shop, but anything's better than being stuck in the Cuban prison.
Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk
The two superheroes may cross over into each other's movies next year, in secretly filmed scenes. That'd be cool. It'd be like watching the Jolly Green Giant opening a can of peas.
Will Ferrell gets his '70s groove on while sporting extra short basketball shorts and a giant afro in the movie. The reason his hair's so high is that his character's signature move is to hide the ball in there just before he makes a big shot.
It looks like Tom Cruise is going to have to stay out of the sun and transform himself into a pasty-faced freak to portray the vampire Lestat in this sequel to Interview With the Vampire. It also looks like Katie is preparing herself to audition for a co-starring role.
The cult Stephen Dorff-starring horror film from the '80s about tiny demons overrunning a suburban house is getting a modern remake with high-tech F/X. Meanwhile, Dorff is busy sitting at home remaking his brief five-month relationship with Pamela Anderson in his mind.
I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence is now back on to make a movie out of the novel by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), about a guy who intentionally crashes an airplane. The film was originally going to be made back in 2001, but production halted at the time. Hmmm, I can't imagine why …
Tanner Hall
A rejected UPN pilot by Ringo Starr's daughter about girls living at a boarding school is being reworked into a feature film. Awesome! Now maybe they can finally make a big-screen version of my favorite UPN show, "Homeboys in Outer Space".
Gucci Biopic
Ridley Scott has announced yet another project, a biopic of Maurizio Gucci who ran the family fashion business in the '80s and '90s and who was gunned down in front of his house. An overzealous stickler caught him coming out wearing white pants after Labor Day and went berserk.
And now, the review of...
BEE MOVIE starring Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Larry King, Ray Liotta, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Miller, Megan Mullally, Rip Torn, and Michael Richards. First, it's about a bee that dreams of being outside the hive instead of working nonstop; then it's about a bee — same bee — falling in love with Zellweger, which is weird, and the whole interspecies romance thing is never fully explained; then it's about a bee — still, same bee, and from here on out, I'll still be talking about the same bee — that's upset that humans are eating honey; then it's about a bee that becomes a lawyer and sues the people of Earth; finally, it's about a bee that flies a jet airplane. They could do this forever with sequels. The next movie, he'll be a bee that wants to make artisanal cheese who becomes hell-bent on revenge when his family is attacked by street thugs. Every 10 minutes or so, something that'll make you laugh happens. The true moral(s) of the film are there's no place like home. Have dreams but be realistic about them. Don't be lazy or anti-work. If you're Ray Liotta or Sting, have final say on how they design a character that's supposed to look just like you. As for as CGI animated movies go, there's no end in sight. They can keep making these forever. They can make another bee movie if they want. They did it with ants. IT WILL NEVER END. Anyway, I gave it a ten rom a scale of 1 to 10. I hate bees, but after seeing this movie, I kinda think they're cool.
Well, there you have another entry of the Phile, and as I write this, it's 12:30, and I am tired as hell. Check out the Peverett Phile at Myspace as well as Foghat.com and Myspace.com/foghatmusic. Until next week, spread the word, not the turd.
Posted by Peverett Phile at 12/06/2007 1 comment:
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1972
|
__label__cc
| 0.627743
| 0.372257
|
TranceAddict Forums > Main Forums > Chill Out Room > The movie recommendations thread, son
Pages (254): « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 [15] 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 » Last Thread Next Thread
Location: Intergalactic Mimosa Station
Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Finally saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang... Val Kilmer as a gay private eye had me laughing before his first line.
script is one of the most try-hard ones I can remember, but still enjoyed it.
> S u s h i p u n k . P h o t o g r a p h y <
Aug-29-2009 13:37
LeopoldStotch
Suapremae tranecadictt
Location: Yawbs,Giaks,and Automobiles
the Val Kilmer-Robert Downey Jr combo did it for me.
Low pH
Registered: Oct 2008
Location: Western Block
"The Fall" is an amazing movie.
Originally posted by WittyHandle
Watched Sunshine Cleaning last night. Loved it.
I saw this and Adventureland last night. I really enjoyed both, especially Adventureland [surprisingly enough].
The script just felt very real to me. And since it was set against the backdrop of the 80s, the tunes were personally well-received.
Sep-05-2009 01:12
Lebezniatnikov
Stupidity Annoys Me
Kind of embarrassing, but I finally saw A Thin Red Line this weekend, and it confirmed to me that Terrence Malick has the best eye of all working directors. Nearly every shot is visually stunning. He doesn't rely much on script to tell a story; in fact, the script seemed rather underdeveloped. But the impressionistic way he uses images and tone to convey feeling is pretty awesome.
i love it when they show random bad movies in the middle of the night.
this movie is just horrible. the ending of the movie i was doing this ... ... then ....
and it's supposed to be a horror movie.
Originally posted by LeopoldStotch
If she wasn't absolutely gorgeous, Kate Beckinsale would get so much hate for having one of the worst resumes of any actress still working in Hollywood. She's like the Rob Schneider of beautiful women.
Be a Good One!
Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Brasilia, Brazil and Manaus, Brazil
Anything with Alyson Hannigan.
�All I have learned, I learned from basslines.�
How I Met Your Mother is pretty awesome, though.
Kind of embarrassing, but I finally saw A Thin Red Line this weekend...
I'm in the same boat. I just saw Kill Bill 1 and 2 this weekend. Something always came up every time I wanted to watch 'em.
Fuck, I love Tarantino. The scenes with Gordon Liu as Pei Mei were amazing.
I liked "The Reader":
Lots of gratuitous sex scenes in the first half of the film and, in the end, there's this very moving dilemma the characters struggle with.
Originally posted by Renzo
I didn't really like either. I like randomness, but Kill Bill tried too hard to try too hard
Yeah, The Reader is pretty good.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1976
|
__label__cc
| 0.601176
| 0.398824
|
Where Books Lead
Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
BACK TO BACK JOHN GREEN Paper Towns – John Green
The YA novel is written from the perspective of Quentin Jacobsen who has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. One night she climbs into his life dressed like a ninja and they set out for an all-night campaign for revenge. The next day Quentin arrives at school but there is no Margo. It would seem that she left clues for him to find, and to ultimately find her.
I read Paper Towns after reading The Fault in Our Stars and I have to be honest I had some trouble connecting with Quentin at the beginning of the novel. Quentin and Margo’s campaign for revenge was interesting but left me wondering whether there was a point to all the craziness. The novel takes a more serious tone after Margo disappears which is when I really started to enjoy Paper Towns.
The first clue that Margo left for Quentin is the poem Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Quentin only reads the poem in sections (the parts that Margo highlighted) in the hope of finding a clue as to where Margo is. Quentin keeps referring back to the Walt Whitman poem as the book progresses. He later realised that he had to read the poem in its entirety to fully understand it. I found it to be such a clever metaphor for understanding people. You have to get the whole picture before deciding what that person is like and even then your interpretation of the person (or the poem) could be different to that of someone else. He had to get the whole picture of who Margo is in order to understand her and thus had to read the whole poem.
(Image by Philippe Put)
Paper Towns also explains the idea of understanding how and why certain people act the way they do and to realise that they are unlikely to change. In one chapter Quentin describes one of his best friends Ben as an asshole. His other friend Radar tells Quentin:
“You know your problem, Quentin? You keep expecting people not to be themselves.”
– John Green, Paper Towns.
We have to let people be who they are. I don’t think it means that we should not expect the best of people but rather we should know them well enough to know which things matter and which things don’t.
“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.”
– John Green, Paper Towns
Quentin falls in love with the idea of Margo Roth Spiegelman. He has this idea of what Margo is like but he soon finds out that the reality is much different. It is false to believe more of a person that what they really are. It creates these high expectations that a person can’t ever live up to.
Okay maybe this isn’t such a spoiler since the book is called Paper Towns but Q eventually finds Margo in a paper town called Agloe, New York. The fictional town of Agloe, New York was designed as a copyright trap. I didn’t know what a paper town was when I started the novel so I found the concept very interesting. It would seem that not only can people not be who they seem to be but whole towns can seem to be real when they do not exist. I could keep going about all the symbolism and metaphors in the book but it might be best to read it from the author himself… check out http://johngreenbooks.com/paper-towns/ for more on this awesome YA novel.
I found Paper Towns to be truly fascinating, tremendously entertaining and full of quotable quotes. I would definitely recommend it.
wherebookslead
Random Reads
John Green, Margo Roth Spiegelman, Paper Towns, Quentin Jacobsen
The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
The story is told from the point of view of 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster, as she battles cancer. A tumour-shrinking medical miracle has bought Hazel a few years, but she has never been anything but terminal. While Hazel attends a church support group for cancer survivors, she meets Augustus Waters. Augustus has lost his leg due to cancer and now wears a prosthetic. This is the story of Hazel and Gus. Okay? Okay.
You can’t really say that you “enjoyed” this novel by John Green. It awakens too many emotions as you connect with the characters in the story. Most of us know someone who has or had cancer. The Fault in Our Stars, however, tells it like it is. Green doesn’t just paint a picture of suffering and sadness but also one of humour and sarcasm. He portrays the teenagers in the book as teenagers even if they are battling a dreaded (or terminal) disease. I especially liked the banter between Gus and his blind friend Isaac. Isaac’s eyes had been removed due to eye cancer.
“How are the eyes?”
“Oh, excellent,” he said.“I mean, they’re not in my head is the only problem.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.
Hazel’s favourite book is called An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten. This fictional novel created by John Green is about a girl with cancer. An Imperial Affliction ends mid-sentence which would suggest that the girl died while writing her story. Throughout The Fault in Our Stars I was concerned that Green might end the novel in the same way but it didn’t end mid-sentence. Green created this whole other fictional novel to portray how the writer has a responsibility to the reader to finish the story. The uncertainty of how An Imperial Affliction ends seems to echo the uncertainty that Hazel has about her own life. She worries about what will happen to the people she loves when she dies. And even though we know that one day Hazel’s story will also finish mid-sentence there is closure at the end of TFIOS.
Hazel and Gus bond over their love for the book An Imperial Affliction and their desire to find out what happens to the characters in the book after it ends so abruptly. Hazel and Gus’s love story is epic.
“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”
“But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.
Their love story is innocent and real. They see each other while being sick and fall in love while knowing that they might not have that much time to spend together.
TFIOS is honest, funny and incredibly moving. If you haven’t read it yet, then do so. I would suggest reading the book before seeing the movie (as I would with most adaptations). The movie is brilliant but the book is better.
Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster, John Green
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
It is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary, but Nick’s beautiful wife, Amy has gone missing. Nick’s lies and odd behaviour has everyone questioning whether he had killed his wife…
This really is an addictive novel as I was taken with the story from the start. I couldn’t put it down. The novel makes use of a dual-narrative structure as Nick narrates the story from the day that Amy goes missing. Amy tells her story through a series of diary entries dated from the day she first met Nick.
The characters in Gone Girl are interesting and complex. I switched constantly between liking and sympathising with Nick, to really questioning his behaviour. The novel starts off by Nick describing the back of his wife’s head and you’re immediately hooked. I mean he has to be the killer, right? Who thinks about the back of their wife’s head in such detail?
The novel, however, keeps you guessing. In one of the first few chapters Nick states that it was the 11th time that he had lied to the police that day. It made me go back to see what he could have lied about. As the novel progresses, however, you feel more sympathy for Nick.
Especially when Diary Amy becomes Real Amy. It was such a surprising plot twist. I enjoyed every minute. Amy has to be one of the scariest villains out there. I mean who plans their husband’s demise in such absolute detail? I felt so sorry for Nick. He was trapped.
The ending also made me (a claustrophobe) feel trapped and hopeless. Amy had planned it all so well that there was no way for Nick to escape. I didn’t like how the novel ended. I wanted Nick to outsmart Amy and expose her. With that said I really enjoyed this novel and would definitely recommend it.
Read 1 CommentAdd a comment
Enter your email address to subscribe to Where Books Lead and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Losing Sleep Over Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson
Someday, Someday, Maybe: A Novel by Lauren Graham
Why You Shouldn’t Be Reading Go Set a Watchman
Attachments – Rainbow Rowell
Big Brother is Watching You 1984 – George Orwell
Why You Shouldn’t Be Reading Go Set a Watchman | Where Books Lead on Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
qrparker on The Giver – Lois Lowry
Anna-Marie Jacobs on Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
Reading like Rory
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1979
|
__label__cc
| 0.606654
| 0.393346
|
Tue, 2019-Feb-12 01:14 UTC
The featured article for Tuesday, 12 February 2019 is Goldcrest.
The goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers gives rise to its English and scientific names, and possibly to it being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore. Several subspecies are recognised across the very large distribution range that includes much of Eurasia and the islands of Macaronesia. Birds from the north and east of its breeding range migrate to winter further south.
This kinglet has greenish upper-parts, whitish under-parts, and has two white wingbars. It has a plain face contrasting black irises and a bright head crest, orange and yellow in the male and yellow in the female, which is displayed during breeding. It superficially resembles the firecrest, which largely shares its European range, but the latter's bronze shoulders and strong face pattern are distinctive. The song is a repetition of high thin notes, slightly higher-pitched than those of its relative. Birds on the Canary Islands are now separated into two subspecies of the goldcrest, but were formerly considered to be a subspecies of the common firecrest or a separate species, Regulus teneriffae.
The goldcrest breeds in coniferous woodland and gardens, building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Ten to twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone, and the chicks are fed by both parents; second broods are common. This kinglet is constantly on the move as it searches for insects to eat, and in winter it is often found with flocks of tits. It may be killed by birds of prey or carry parasites, but its large range and population mean that it is not considered to present any significant conservation concerns.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:14 UTC on Tuesday, 12 February 2019.
For the full current version of the article, see Goldcrest on Wikipedia.
This has been Joey. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1980
|
__label__wiki
| 0.602799
| 0.602799
|
OTHER ARTICLES Last modified on August 6, 2018
Improving surface access is a commercial and environmental challenge facing airports across the globe, write ICF’s Angus Reid-Kay and Rob Rushmer.
To focus on airlines and the development of an airport’s route network would provide only a partial view of that airport’s connectivity. This is because surface access matters, and failure to meet demand on the ground can hamper growth.
Airports know and understand this, but worldwide they face an emerging 21st century challenge: how to balance their service, commercial, cultural and sustainability objectives.
The aviation industry tends to think of the passenger’s journey as being from airport X to airport Y. Indeed, we spend most of our time monitoring the activity of airlines and modelling the movement of aircraft, passengers and cargo around our network of regional and global airports.
Arguably, we spend less time focusing on the passenger’s surface journey to and from the airport. In most cases, that infrastructure is outside of the airport’s control – whereas the air journey is fully within it – so a focus on air connectivity is understandable, but it is not forgivable.
Whether going on holiday, visiting family and friends or a business trip, every passenger’s journey begins and ends at home. And, although journeys vary and might involve a taxi, hire car or public transport trip, they inevitably include a trip to the airport or train and/or bus station, potentially weighed down with luggage, and likely stress.
The surface journey at both ends features large in the passenger’s planning. Who has not been more stressed worrying about an on-time arrival at the airport to catch the flight, than an on-time departure once safely through security?
Airports are somewhat unusual businesses in that the customer is not entirely theirs. At the airport, the passenger interacts with the airline, the airline’s agents, the airport’s retailers, or the state’s border authorities. Outside the airport, the passenger interacts with the state’s transport network.
Therefore, surface connections at the airport itself – most notably the final mile (set down, car parking or train or bus station interface) – present one of the few passenger touchpoints that the airport can fully control.
It is therefore very important for the airport to get it right: to gift the passenger a good experience and memory of the airport. It is also a commercially important touchpoint, and in some regions the most important for the airport.
North America in particular is exposed to the commercial impact of a reduction in private car related income with around 40% of airports’ non-aeronautical income derived from the use of a private car, but its geography makes it more challenging to put in place public transport alternatives.
In contrast, Hong Kong has a natural geographical advantage promoting the use of public transport.
However, in a time of increasing focus on climate change, airports worldwide are, through preference or legislation, having to manage a modal shift away from private to public transport means of accessing the airport. This can clearly create commercial tension.
From an environmental perspective, there is a clear order of preference for public transport access as the most sustainable, long-term solution, through parking a private car, to drop off by taxi, which has the advantage of likely also taking a different passenger from the airport, to private drop-off, being the least sustainable necessitating two vehicle journeys for every one passenger journey.
In geographies that historically have prioritised the private vehicle, either through practical necessity or as a perception of personal aspiration, this trend requires that the passenger’s journey through the public transport network, likely carrying luggage on and off trains and buses, is simplified and eased.
How, therefore, have airports tackled this challenge? The world is perhaps too full of mixed success stories. Debatably, the most successful examples are in Asia-Pacific where certain states have either natural geographical advantages to the widespread uptake of public transport (Hong Kong, for example), but, possibly, they have also avoided the US and European historical legacy of seeing the private car as an aspiration.
The most recent example of the addition of a new rail link to an airport is the Soekarno-Hatta Airport rail link in Jakarta, Indonesia, where road access to the airport has been notoriously difficult.
The new rail link, which opened in late 2017, offers a 55-minute journey to central Jakarta compared to an unpredictable two hours that a car journey may take.
And the government is now contemplating extending the high-speed rail network to serve the airport.
Less successful has been the city of Toronto’s efforts to encourage passengers onto the Union Pearson Express (UP Express), linking Union Station in downtown Toronto to Pearson International Airport.
Following lukewarm interest from the private sector, it was eventually built by the government and, despite high customer satisfaction, low patronage has allegedly led to significant tax payer subsidy.
On the other hand, the newly opened and high-performing rail link at Taoyuan International Airport (Taipei) is on track to wash away any negative connotations relating to the long roll-out of the project. After all, the express service reaches downtown Taipei in 35 minutes and offers check-in and baggage check services at stations along the route.
Maybe the UP Express will attract passengers in time and perhaps the delayed opening of the Taoyuan rail link will be forgiven, but the greatest success story must be the Hong Kong Airport Express. The challenges of excavating through mountains, navigating the Victoria harbour and linking it with the airport on reclaimed land were overcome by the advanced planning of the government majority owned MTR Corporation.
On top of the seamless connectivity the rail link adds to the Hong Kong mass transit railway’s (MTR) network, the Airport Express offers a higher service standard than commuter lines, as well as check-in at Hong Kong and Kowloon stations.
Although it must be noted that despite the comfort, reliability and convenience of the Airport Express, as well as Hong Kong’s natural geographical advantage, the rail link still only captures just over 20% of the market to and from the airport, perhaps demonstrating the difficulty of satisfying the wide-ranging needs of individuals connecting to an airport.
Nevertheless, the success of Hong Kong has lead the MTR Corporation to announce that it is contemplating backing new rail links into Heathrow in the UK. The UK government has recently commenced a process of engagement to encourage private sector involvement to develop new rail links into Heathrow.
Global experience offers successful and unsuccessful examples of public transport links to airports. Cultural expectations play a part, as do the challenges or advantages of the particular geographies.
It is, however, likely that as global initiatives in the 21st century increasingly prioritise impacts to climate change, all airports will become more involved with their surface access and the use of public transport.
In so doing they can take greater control over a key customer touchpoint, but must balance that with the commercial needs of an evolving range of non-aeronautical incomes.
AW3 2018
AIRPORT WORLD ISSUE 3 2018
SURFACE ACCESS
COMMERCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE
AIRPORTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
ANGUS REIDKAY
ACI’S WORLD BUSINESS PARTNER NEWS
People Matters
Project Watch - Tocumen International Airport
Runway shift
Location, location, location!
back to top MORE IN OTHER ARTICLES
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1983
|
__label__wiki
| 0.795069
| 0.795069
|
Home 450th News Hotel booking numbers slim for Celebrate 450!
450th News
Hotel booking numbers slim for Celebrate 450!
With the kickoff of St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary celebration only 30 days away, demand and bookings for hotel rooms in the city over that weekend have been slow, according to Richard Goldman, CEO and president of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau.
While St. Johns County was reported to have enjoyed a robust period of tourism in May, Goldman said the bottom line is there are still plenty of rooms available for the Labor Day weekend and Celebrate 450!, set to kick off Sept. 4 and run through Sept. 8.
Goldman said the lag in demand could be attributed to steep booking costs or just the timespan of the celebration.
“We’re hoping this will turn around and hoteliers will start looking into the production and opening up some things and things will pick up,” he said.
Kanti Patel is owner and CEO of Jalaram Hotels Inc., a collection of hotels located in St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Patel oversees hotels in the historic district, Spanish Quarter, on the beach and on the bayfront.
“We don’t have a high demand at this point,” he said. “Maybe some people don’t want to come to a crowd.”
Patel and others in the business are comparing the September celebration to Mumford & Sons’ Gentlemen of the Road stopover in 2013 where hotels fared well.
“When Mumford announced they were going to hold a concert here, most hotels sold out in four to five hours,” Patel said. “It looks to me like that’s not going to happen that weekend.”
Although the two are often compared, Goldman said the stopover and the celebration are different.
“It’s a much more complex sale when you think of it from a transactional standpoint, but I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
Both he and Patel remain hopeful as travelers often make quick decisions and could come last minute.
St. Augustine has been recognized for a number of accolades in a number of publications including FamilyFun Magazine, National Geographic and USA Today’s travel section. A feature in the Aug. 9 edition of Parade magazine lists the city as one of the country’s “National Treasures.”
But it’s unclear if the city’s marketing efforts have reached far enough to round up the tourists in time for the celebration.
Patty Jimenez, leisure communication specialist for Visit Jacksonville, said there has been communications concerning the 450th but no marketing efforts in the neighboring county.
“When it comes to advertising St. Augustine’s big events we have not done any paid ads since our focus is Duval County,” she said in an email to The Record. “But I can tell you that St. Augustine is a very popular destination with our visitors so we do tell them about the many wonders the city offers in our Visitors Guide as well as our website.”
As for the hotels booking numbers, Jimenez said Visit Jacksonville doesn’t have a way of tracking those staying in Jacksonville with intent to visit St. Augustine.
However, they do know day trips to the historic sites are popular with their visitors.
As for Daytona Beach, Lori Campbell Baker of the convention and visitors bureau said in an email, “While some of our visitors might very well be timing their early September bookings to coincide with St. Augustine’s 450th, we’re not hearing anything specific just yet.”
Dana Ste. Claire, director of St. Augustine 450th Commission, said it’s likely people will come in for a day of the five-day celebration.
He’s confident bookings will pick up as the celebration gets closer but the important thing to keep in mind is the celebration of St. Augustine’s history.
“At the end of the day, this is a celebration for the community, by the community,” he said. “Tourism is important, but we want to focus on what is really important to us.”
Previous articleAug. 16, 1900: Big pineapple
Next articleEvents calendar for Aug. 21-27
450 Years of History
Where History Lives Slideshow
Aviles artist makes first U.S. visit
FACES ON HISTORY: NOTABLE PEOPLE IN ST. AUGUSTINE’S AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY
Focus on the 450th: Fort Mose rebuilds to bring history to...
Journey exhibit tells living history
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1984
|
__label__wiki
| 0.885969
| 0.885969
|
ARCHIVE ABOUT EMAIL
Michael Brissenden presents AM Monday to Friday from 8:00am on ABC Local Radio and 7:10am on Radio National. Join Elizabeth Jackson for the Saturday edition at 8am on Local Radio and 7am on Radio National.
Not sure what this is? Find out more
AM 40th Anniversary - a look back at the history of the ABC's agenda-setting morning radio program.
The World Today
Correspondents Report
More Current Affairs:
Select program 7.30 Report Australian Story Background Briefing Foreign Correspondent Four Corners Inside Business Insiders Landline Lateline
This is a transcript from AM. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio.
You can also listen to the story in REAL AUDIO and WINDOWS MEDIA and MP3 formats.
Row breaks out between Howard and Obama
PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
AM - Monday, 12 February , 2007 08:00:00
Reporter: Michael Rowland
TONY EASTLEY: The Prime Minister, John Howard, is unpopular with US Democrats after his statements about the Iraq War, and at home new polls indicate Mr Howard is falling out of favour with Australian voters.
More on John Howard's poll figures and the rise and rise of Kevin Rudd in a moment, but first to Washington.
US Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has hit back at Mr Howard, after he condemned the Senator's plans to pull all US troops out of Iraq by March next year.
Mr Howard said any withdrawal would destabilise Iraq and that Senator Obama's announcement would have al-Qaeda praying for a Democrat victory in next year's Presidential election.
Senator Obama says Mr Howard's comments are "empty rhetoric".
Washington Correspondent Michael Rowland reports.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Barack Obama's audacious bid to become the next President of the United States, has put many people on their toes, including the Australian Prime Minister.
In an unusually robust intervention into the US political scene, Mr Howard has told the Nine Network of his unhappiness with Senator Obama's plan to pull American troops out of Iraq.
JOHN HOWARD: Yes, I think he's wrong. I mean, he's a long way from being President of the United States. I think he's wrong, I think that would just encourage those who wanted completely to destabilise and destroy Iraq and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory.
I mean, if I we're running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: A seasoned politician, John Howard, probably had a fair idea of the firestorm he'd just set off.
REPORTER: Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, says al-Qaeda in Iraq would benefit if Democratic Senator Barack Obama becomes President and were to follow through on his idea of bringing US troops out of Iraq by March of 2008...
MICHAEL ROWLAND: The Prime Minister's comments have been big news in the US, and they've created a big stink within Democratic ranks.
Barack Obama says it's flattering that one of George Bush's closest allies has attacked him the day after he launched his presidential bid.
BARACK OBAMA: I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is that Mr Howard has deployed 1,400.
So, if he's (inaudible) if to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and somebody close to the party's 2008 frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, has been just as direct.
TERRY MCAULIFFE: Firstly, the Prime Minister has been a great friend of George Bush's. He has been with him lock-step from day one on this war in Iraq.
He and George Bush, they can go off and talk to each other. We don't care what he says.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: Then there's this from Democrat Senator, Ron Wyden.
RON WYDEN: The most charitable thing you can say about Mr Howard's comment is bizarre. You know, we'll make our own judgements in this country with respect to elections and Barack Obama is a terrific public servant.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: The swiftness and tone of the Democratic response suggests the robust US-Australia alliance could be tested if Senator Obama or any other anti-war Democrat wins the election and Mr Howard is still in the Lodge.
Even some Republicans have been offended by the Prime Minister's comments. John Cornyn is a Republican senator representing President Bush's home state of Texas.
JOHN CORNYN: Well, I would prefer that Mr Howard stay out of our domestic politics and we'll stay out of his domestic politics.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: But Republican presidential candidate, Congressman Duncan Hunter, has leapt to John Howard's defence.
DUNCAN HUNTER: I think the Aussies have earned a right to comment on the world stage about their partner in this endeavour, because they've been fighting side-by-side with us in Iraq.
And so I think that John Howard, while it wasn't a very complimentary statement, he is basically stating the truth and that is that what we say on the Senate floor on or the House floor goes to a world audience.
And it has an impact on not only our allies, but also our adversaries.
TONY EASTLEY: Republican Congressman, Duncan Hunter, ending that report from Michael Rowland.
The Prime Minister rejects Opposition claims that his attack on Barack Obama's Iraq policy damages the US-Australian alliance.
A spokesman for Mr Howard says since coming to office, the Prime Minister has worked closely with both Democratic and Republican Presidents.
The spokesman says Mr Howard stands by his comments and says a withdrawal from Iraq is not in the security interests of the US or Australia.
© 2018 ABC | Privacy Policy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0039.json.gz/line1985
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.