The full dataset viewer is not available (click to read why). Only showing a preview of the rows.
The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 30
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
return json_reader.read()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
self._parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
ValueError: Trailing data
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 30
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
pred_label
string | pred_label_prob
float64 | wiki_prob
float64 | text
string | source
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.958807
| 0.958807
|
Today's Globe Local Politics Opinion Magazine Education NECN Special reports Obituaries
Traffic | Weather | Mobile
US general says Iraq will get deadlier
8 Americans swell day's toll from attacks
Residents gathered at the scene of a car bomb attack in a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad. At least 30 were killed and another 80 wounded there yesterday. In Samarra, 12 policemen were killed in a car bombing. (Namir Noor-Eldeen/Reuters)
By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times | May 7, 2007
BAGHDAD -- A US Army general yesterday forecast a rise in deaths among American forces in the coming months, a prediction underscored by the announcement that a roadside bomb had killed six US soldiers and a foreign journalist north of Baghdad. Five other American troops died elsewhere over the weekend.
Major General Rick Lynch, commander of the Third Infantry Division, said casualties will climb as American troops dig into enemy territory as part of a stepped-up military operation ordered by President Bush in January. Lynch, who oversees a swath of territory to the south and east of Baghdad, gave his bleak prediction on the heels of the deadliest month this year for American forces in Iraq.
In April, 104 troops were killed, the fourth time since the beginning of 2005 that US deaths exceeded 100 in a single month. At least 25 troops have been killed in May, a grim start to a month in which Democrats are expected to keep up pressure on the White House to plan a withdrawal from Iraq.
The latest deaths came on a bloody day for Iraqi security forces and civilians as well. At least 58 Iraqis died in attacks, including 42 killed when a car bomb tore through a market in the Baghdad neighborhood of Bayaa.
North of the capital, in the city of Samarra, 12 police officers died when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the police headquarters.
Witnesses said scores of vehicles filled with people waving black flags representing the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim insurgent group, cruised through the city before the attack. The vehicle occupants fired on police stations, killing one officer before the car bomber struck.
Those killed in the blast included Samarra's police chief, Colonel Jaleel Nahi Hassoun.
In February 2006, a bomb shattered Samarra's Golden Mosque, one of the holiest shrines to Shi'ite Muslims, in an attack that unleashed fierce sectarian warfare between Shi'ites and Sunnis.
In his comments, Lynch echoed other military warnings that insurgent groups linked to Al Qaeda are escalating attacks in hopes of igniting fresh Sunni-Shi'ite warfare.
"I believe he's out there looking for another Golden Mosque," Lynch said of Al Qaeda.
Lynch gave a bleak assessment of the situation on the ground. In coming months, as the remainder of 28,000 additional US troops move into place to enforce the US security plan launched in mid-February at Bush's command, he said American casualties will go up.
"There are going to be increased casualties during this surge because we're taking the fight to the enemy," Lynch told journalists.
He said troops in his area of operation are facing a "thinking enemy" that has been on the ground far longer than most US soldiers and has adopted techniques to trip up the Americans, such as planting roadside explosives too deep to be detected by high-tech equipment.
"He dominates that terrain," Lynch said, adding that 13 of his troops have been killed since he came to Iraq in March. Lynch said most of his troops died as a result of armor-piercing roadside bombs that US officials allege are coming from Iran.
Eight US troops died in combat yesterday, including the six killed in Diyala Province, a Sunni stronghold north and east of Baghdad, when a roadside bomb exploded under their vehicle. A journalist traveling with them also was killed, the military said in a brief statement.
It did not identify the journalist, but a military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver, said later the victim was on a temporary assignment to Iraq and was neither American nor Iraqi.
Diyala has seen a spike in US troop deaths since the start of the security plan, which drove many insurgents out of neighboring Baghdad and Al Anbar.
This year, at least 60 American soldiers have been killed in the province, compared with 20 all of last year.
Two roadside bombs, one in northern Baghdad and one in the southern part of the city, killed the other two soldiers during the day. Another soldier died of injuries not related to combat.
The military also announced the deaths of two Marines in Al Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, on Saturday.
Latest coverage:
Double suicide bombings in Iraq kill 20 (AP, 8:45 a.m.)
PHOTOS: The cost of war: What does $456 billion buy?
DISCUSS: How would you spend $456 billion?
From today's Globe:
Spread of disease tied to US combat deployments
Resilient infections are causing concerns for military doctors
EASTON: Hundreds mourn sergeant for his compassion, dedication
N.E. War Dead: Iraq Post a tribute
PHOTOS: The war bill's timeline
The cost of war: What does $456 billion buy?
Quitting Bush: GOP voices of dissent
Globe special reports from Iraq and around the world
Globe World stories |
Latest world news |
All Globe stories since 2003 are now FREE
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© The New York Times Company
|
cc/2022-05/en_middle_0048.json.gz/line4
|
__label__cc
| 0.569474
| 0.430526
|
Benchwarmer Home Page
Bottom-Feeder Open Quarterfinal - Game 1
Arkham at Mars
Arkham 1
Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SB E
Max Kepler OF 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Shohei Ohtani DH 4 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Corey Seager (B2) SS 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Justin Upton OF 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Jorge Soler OF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brandon Drury (B4) 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
John Hicks (B5) C 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wilmer Flores 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Willy Adames 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Slot IP K H BB ER S
Cal Quantrill P1 4.3 5 10 2 8 0 L (0-1)
Bullpen 4.7 2 5 3 4 1
Pinesitter Bullpen Pitchers : 2
Ramon Laureano OF 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Jeff McNeil OF 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Rafael Devers DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pete Alonso 1B 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Matt Chapman 3B 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
D.J. LeMahieu 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Shin-Soo Choo OF 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Elvis Andrus SS 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Benchwarmer Catcher C 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Dallas Keuchel P1 6.0 3 6 2 0 0 W (1-0)
Raw Scores
Team Batting Score Pitching Score Superior Pitching Home Team Total
Arkham 4.42167 12.59231 0 0 1.04359
Mars 4.24333 -0.33448 -1 0.33 8.74782
BWB Score Formula - Final score is a combination of your batting score and your opponent's pitching score.
Component Batting Scores
Team RR ATB HR Score
Arkham 2.81 5.03333 0.5
Mars 1.25333 6.23333 0.5
Component Pitching Scores
Team Starter ER BP * BI K Score Sv Score HBB Score Err Score
Arkham 8 4.30769 0.71538 0.25 0.75 0.5
Mars 0 0 0.73448 1 -0.1 1.5
Hitters scored using MLB Game 142
Starting pitching performance pulled from the closest start to MLB Game 142 (within 7 games)
Bullpen scored using MLB Games 137 through 142
Statistics and Box Score Data: Content Copyright 2019, The Sports Network. Distributed by XML Team Solutions.
|
cc/2022-05/en_middle_0048.json.gz/line14
|
__label__cc
| 0.596029
| 0.403971
|
m (→The corridor challenge)
This Wiki describes the design and implementation of software which lets a robot autonomously solve a maze. The robot used during the project is called PICO. PICO is a driving robot which has a Laser Range Finder (LRF) sensor which can make a 2D scan of the world. It has an omni-base, which grants complete driving freedom. This omni-base is equipped with encoders that provide odometry measurements, handily transformed to displacement measurements of the x, y and alpha coordinates with respect to its starting position. Unfortunately these measurements are prone to errors, which show especially when accumulated over time. These sensors give PICO very basic human-like capabilities; the LRF can be compared to the eyes of a human and the odometry to the human sense of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception proprioception]. The only thing that PICO is missing is the equivalent to a brain; which exactly what needs to be developed in this course. PICO also has a computer on board which runs Linux 14.04. The software is programmed using the program language is C++ and managed using GitLab.
This Wiki describes the design and implementation of software which lets a robot autonomously solve a maze. The robot used during the project is called PICO. PICO is a driving robot which has a Laser Range Finder (LRF) sensor which can make a 2D scan of the world. It has a holonomic base, which grants complete driving freedom. This base is equipped with encoders that provide odometry measurements, handily transformed to displacement measurements of the x, y and alpha coordinates with respect to its starting position. Unfortunately these measurements are prone to errors, which show especially when accumulated over time. These sensors give PICO very basic human-like capabilities; the LRF can be compared to the eyes of a human and the odometry to the human sense of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception proprioception]. The only thing that PICO is missing is the equivalent to a brain; which exactly what needs to be developed in this course. PICO also has a computer on board which runs Linux 14.04. The software is programmed using the program language is C++ and managed using GitLab.
=TODO=
*Matthijs:
**evaluatie corridor challenge
**Gmapping mist veel dingen (instellingen, trade-offs, accuracy, wat kan er mis gaan?) + visualisatie
**<s>Set point generation mist reden waarom</s>
**<s>Set point mist inleidend verhaal</s>
*Joeri:
*Joep:
*Rens:
*Sil:
*Daniel:
*Joeri/Iedereen: recommendation (Joeri hoofdverantwoordelijk)
= Group Members =
*All tasks must be executed autonomously
*The system should work on any maze
*The robot mustn't get trapped in loops
*The robot must not get trapped in loops
'''Functions: ''' The functions which have to be implemented are subdivided into the different contexts. Motion functions describe how
For the final software implementation, a interface for debugging the code and a general toolset for supporting functionality were made as well as that the main skills were implemented.
=== SLAM ===
Because of the chosen maze-solving algorithm, a global position is required. The odometry of PICOis inaccurate and therefore useless for determining the position PICO. Localisation on the laser range finder, improves the accuracy of the position. Because the environment is unknown, SLAM, simultaneous localisation and mapping, is needed. Various SLAM algorithms are available. Choosing the correct algorithm, implementing it and tuning it can take a lot of effort, therefore Gmapping[http://openslam.org/gmapping][http://wiki.ros.org/gmapping] in ROS is used. Gmapping is a implementation of a highly efficient Rao-Blackwellized particle filter.
Because of the chosen maze-solving algorithm, a global position is required. The odometry of PICO is inaccurate and therefore useless for determining the position PICO in the long term. The laser range finder, however, is much more accurate and thus using this data simultaneously improves the accuracy of the estimated position. Because the environment is unknown, an algorithm called Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (SLAM) is needed. There are many variations of SLAM algorithms available, however, choosing the correct algorithm, implementing it and tuning it can take a lot of effort. Therefore a ROS node called Gmapping[http://openslam.org/gmapping][http://wiki.ros.org/gmapping] is used. Gmapping is an implementation of a highly efficient Rao-Blackwellized particle filter.
Gmapping is only used to provide PICO with a more accurate global position than provided by the odometry. The created map is not used for detection of primitives, therefore the accuracy of the map is irrelevant. The accuracy of the position is relevant. To improve the accuracy of the position, two parameters are tuned. The update interval of the mapping is shortened. This way the occupancy grid is updated at a higher frequency. The localisation update is based on rotation and translation of the robot. These update thresholds are lowered together with map update interval. To compensate for the relative bad odometry, the localisation thresholds are lowered even more. Time updates of the location are disable. This prevents jumps in the position, when PICO is not driving. Tuning is done on the straightness of the map and reducing the odometry compensation in the simulator, which should be nihil.
Gmapping is used solely to provide PICO with a more accurate global position than provided by the odometry. The created map is not used for detection of primitives, therefore the accuracy of the map is irrelevant — only the accuracy of the position is relevant. To improve the accuracy of the position, two parameters are tuned. The update interval of the mapping is shortened. This way the occupancy grid is updated at a higher frequency. The localisation update is based on rotation and translation of the robot. These update thresholds are lowered together with map update interval. To compensate for the relative bad odometry, the localisation thresholds are lowered even more. Time updates of the location are disable. This prevents jumps in the position, when PICO is not driving. Tuning is done on the straightness of the map and reducing the odometry compensation in the simulator, which should be nihil.
Gmapping cooperates with TF[http://wiki.ros.org/tf]. TF handles all the different coordinate frames and their transformations. TF also allows us to transform points in a specific frame to an other frame.
For determining the locations of decision points corner and segment features are required, from which primitive detection can generate decision points. Corner features are defined as locations where two, connected walls meet i.e. a corner, segment features are the features which are not corners which describe beginning and end points of wall segments. In Figure 8 these features are shown, corner features in red and segment features in blue. Since the laser data contains values showing out-of-range data these values are set equal to 100 indicating an open section. In these out-of-range sections no features are set.
The strategy to find segment features is based on the difference between two consecutive laser points, if the difference is greater than a threshold value (set at 0.3) a segment is detected and both points are set as segment features. For the corner features a split and merge algorithm is applied to every segment (from an even segment feature to the next segment feature, i.e. from 0 to 1 and 2 to 3).
#::goto 2</pre>
# done
The split and merge algorithm is also shown in Figure 10, with some resulting examples in Figure 9. This split and merge algorithm is tested in Matlab first of which executable code is provided in [[File:split-and-merge-matlab.zip]]. As a comparison to the Matlab code also a [https://gitlab.com/snippets/1665341 snippet] of the class implementing the algorithm is posted. For completeness a simple animation of the algorithm is shown in Figure 10.
Another possible cause of error is how out of range data is handled, if this data is discarded there is are circumstances where two sections are joint together. This happens when the range before an out of range section is equal to the range after an out of range section. A result is that two sections are joint and therefore primitive detection will give a wrong output.
|
cc/2022-05/en_middle_0048.json.gz/line19
|
__label__wiki
| 0.949564
| 0.949564
|
How closely Republicans align with Trump is a midterm dilemma facing them
New training academy launched at Devonshire Arms
Opinion | The anger over Biden’s Neanderthal comment shows…
Seattle Storm sign Stephanie Talbot, Tamera Young to…
By Evan Vega Last updated Jan 15, 2022
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is stepping up his election-year efforts to dominate the Republican Party with a rally Saturday in Arizona where he plans to castigate anyone who dares question his lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen , likely including that of the state’s GOP Gov. Doug Ducey.
But 2,000 miles east in Washington, there are small signs that some Republicans are sick of the charade. Mike Rounds, the generally humble South Dakota Senator, was perhaps the boldest when he acknowledged the fact that the election was indeed fair. Rather than being shunned, he was endorsed by his GOP peers, including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Rounds later said the party needed to “get louder” to tell voters the truth about the 2020 campaign.
Meanwhile, leading Republicans in Washington have been working behind the scenes to encourage Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, one of the party’s most vocal opponents of Trump, to run for a Senate seat. And on Saturday, Glenn Youngkin will become the first Republican to be sworn in as governor of Virginia since 2010 after leading a campaign that kept Trump at bay.
With less than two months to go before the 2022 primary begins, Trump remains the most popular figure among voters who will decide which Republicans will advance to the general election in the fall. But the recent momentum brings new clarity to the debate that the GOP is likely to enliven throughout the year: how closely GOP candidates should align with Trump and his election lie.
“I’ve been very heartened by the response from a number of different senators supporting the senator rounds,” said former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was a rare Republican and urged the party to break away from Trump and his electoral obsession.
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that the election was stolen. Election officials and his own Attorney General dismissed the idea. Trump’s arguments have also been flatly dismissed by the courts, including judges appointed by the former president.
Still, dissenting opinion on Trump’s election lie remains rare within the GOP. From Ohio to Georgia and Arizona, candidates running for Senate, governor and attorney general have wholeheartedly embraced Trump’s untruths as they attempted to win his support, deflect his anger, or win his base.
In the short term, such a positioning can help Republican candidates assert themselves in the often-crowded primary fields. But there are concerns it could hurt the party in the fall, particularly among suburban voters who have become increasingly determined in recent campaigns. Now, as Republicans move to the right, it could become easier for their Democratic rivals to portray them as extreme in a general election.
And any time candidates spend looking back is time they don’t spend attacking President Joe Biden, who is considered particularly vulnerable amid rising inflation and coronavirus cases.
“It’s one of those subjects that’s extremely popular in an elementary school and unpopular in a general,” said Chris DeRose, a Republican attorney and former clerk for the Supreme Court in Maricopa County, Arizona.
He said candidates, who often privately acknowledge the election was fair, were clearly courting the former president by expressing skepticism about the 2020 election.
“Donald Trump is obviously the most coveted confirmation among Republican candidates,” he said. “That can make all the difference in a Republican primary.”
John Shimkus, a Republican and former Illinois congressman, said it’s easy for “armchair quarterbacks” who aren’t on the ballot to judge candidates who are doing whatever it takes to win their primary.
“All races will be run by Trump and highlighted on Fox. So these candidates have to be very, very careful. You have to win the primaries to win the general,” he said.
However, the risk is clear in the Arizona Senate race. In a year that favors Republicans, the state should be a relatively achievable pickup, and some in the party are excited for Ducey to enter the race against Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly. But Trump’s repeated attacks on Ducey, who has refused to support election conspiracies, could make it difficult for him to succeed in a GOP primary.
Ahead of his trip, Trump made a statement that he would never support Ducey.
Whichever Republican comes out on top in Arizona and other critical races must convince voters that they should participate in an electoral system that Trump has ridiculed for years as rigged.
Many Republicans still blame Trump for the party’s loss in Georgia’s two Senate runoffs in 2021, arguing he depressed turnout by insisting the election was being rigged and giving them control of the Senate refused. (Trump has argued that further investigation is the only way to inspire confidence in future elections.)
“Trump still has this outsized voice and influence, and too many candidates fear his wrath,” said Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania and a Trump critic. “We know that Donald Trump will use his megaphone to condemn those who don’t believe his lies and false narrative about the 2020 election. So these candidates are bound: if they tell the truth, they risk losing their primary and incurring the wrath of Trump, and if they comply and go along with this nonsense, they risk alienating a lot of voters.”
Still, DeRose said he has no concerns that the issue will depress voter turnout, despite events in Georgia.
“The Republican base is pretty excited,” he said, predicting turnout at levels seen in 2010, when Republicans made historic gains in the House of Representatives. Faced with rising inflation and continued criticism of Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, he said, “Things are not going well in this country and I think you’re going to see this huge setback.”
Others disagreed. Barbara Comstock, a Trump critic and former GOP congresswoman from Virginia, warned Republicans against nominating fringe candidates who would lose in the general election.
“Republicans feel like they’re going to win no matter who’s on the ticket. And I don’t agree with that thesis,” she said, pointing to Ohio, where Senate candidates have been desperate to outdo each other. “I think you’re really taking a chance on blowing reliable races.”
Nonetheless, Trump is expected to continue hammering the issue on Saturday in Florence, Arizona, a Republican stronghold about 70 miles southeast of Phoenix. It is the first of what aides say there will be an accelerated pace of Trump events in the coming months. Trump on Friday announced another rally later in January in Texas, where the March 1 primary officially kicks off the midterm campaign.
Story by Jill Colvin. Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report
AligncloselydilemmafacingmidtermRepublicansTrump
Maryland Judiciary extends Phase III operations through March 6
With Voting Rights Bill Dead, Democrats Face Costly Fight to Overcome GOP Curbs
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cc/2022-05/en_middle_0048.json.gz/line21
|
__label__cc
| 0.691673
| 0.308327
|
Migration to Kingdom – Sub Roman Britain
An assessment.
I began developing a set of ancient campaign rules one year ago today and looking back at the different versions each have merit and would certainly be used again. As our players gained experience with DBA 3.0 the campaign rules also evolved as newly collected armies would offer new possibilities.
The Quick Play Campaign system (September 2016) was designed to bring our usual three games an evening into a campaign context and using variable terrain. The game replicated a campaign season of one year whereby each player built up activity points to allow certain actions to take place. The process was simple and did not add extra time to the game as the attacker-defender roles were defined and terrain selection was resolved.
This model differs in that it was designed to deal with conflicts necessitating long periods of inactivity between engagements, the barbarian invasions along the Rhine and Danube Limes come to mind. I am confident that this set would work well.
The first test of Roman Britain ended covering a twenty year period highlighted by four noteworthy engagements. This does not rule out the possibility of other encounters in that same period, they were simply not worth the effort to record.
The card system served its purpose by defining the month and year plus the adversary; the month is particularly useful if one wishes to add weather. Plus knowing the year can help tie historical events (internal and external) to the campaign.
In addition to the card draw, players must cast one die. This served not only to add troops to an army, but the same score would help define the terrain to be fought over. This worked well as three of the four engagements were fought in arable terrain and the fourth in hilly country.
To assemble an army players are no longer guaranteed the standard 12 element size force. In this test most battles were fought with 8 or 9 elements which meant battles became intense as they were quickly over. The sole Roman Britain victory was fought with six elements against ten Saxon, someone’s star is rising.
However, losing a battle would certainly tarnish a general’s reputation as a subsequent call to arms would be met with less enthusiasm. This occurred twice for the Roman Britain as the die casts were excellent (sixes), but having lost the previous battles took to the field with a lower strength.
There are still a few details that need work.
After a series of victories by the barbarians at what point would they begin settlements in Roman Britain? I am debating if this should be related to the number of victories or the number of years that have lapsed.
It should also be possible for the Roman Briton to become the attacker. How this is to done should be linked with the initial card draw and/or die cast which will save a step. It is possible that this will be resolved when the role of the face cards (knave, queen, king) is defined.
Map: Roman Britannia 410 AD
By User:Lotroo / R. Botek; Изработено от Потребител:Lotroo - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1088947
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cc/2022-05/en_middle_0048.json.gz/line22
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__label__wiki
| 0.545693
| 0.545693
|
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Last Updated: 01-19-2017 5:47PM UTC || Parent Organization Last Updated : 10-01-2021 1:49PM UTC
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Features | Podcasts | Records | Tracks
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Comps | #
1. The Beach Stop
2. Chordblocker, Cinnamon Toasted
3. Metrotopy
4. Wienuss
5. They Know Your Name
6. Syncropticians
7. Cricket
8. Imatch
9. Polaroyced
10. Gearknot Cherry
11. Bruised to Imwimper
12. Baku Hipster
13. Seaqz
Other Records by Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars: Varcharz
Mouse on Mars
Parastrophics
(Monkeytown; 2012)
By P.M. Goerner | 19 March 2012
Ah, shit. Looks like Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma are just about ripe to suffer the progenitor’s curse. Last month’s release of their first record in almost six years—and let’s not forget that our last meeting was over the bewildering and impenetrable but ultimately rewarding Varcharz (2006)—kind of makes me feel like these rather legendary dudes were starting to feel a little dissed after the tenth or twelfth time that someone obviously heavily indebted to their blissfully radical electronic deconstructionism was given credit for inventing the wheel.
No patronizing insult meant of course, all these new wheels sure are great, and I like how you painted those purple flames there; it’s just that, particularly in the critical realm, it amazes me sometimes how ready people are to call things “new.” It’s no secret that those recontextualized sounds are transformed as much through that new context and circumstance as they are defined by their technical constitution and corporeal attributes, I know, but I’m a student of history. It makes me feel good to be able to connect things, and listening to Mouse on Mars makes me feel like I’m coming closer to an understanding of the muscular threads that unite so much of what is always trying to separate itself into the “new.” When it comes to modern electronic music, Mouse on Mars just might be the universal glue I’m looking for.
To my surprise and eventual satisfaction, much of the band’s new LP, Parastrophics, eschews the wildly unpredictable composition of most of their most well-known material, and instead finds comfort in settling in with a more unified palette to capture the signature Mouse on Mars toolbox-tumbling-down-stairs electro-ecstasy in mid-somersault. That sounds kind of silly to say in the context of the group’s history, but though there may not be so much actual paring down, things just feel much more together than in the past, and here the songs are lent that familiar sense of ecstatic variability through a much more exclusive collection of textures and frequencies, with those sounds simply being mined more deeply through extensive creative modulations. So many of the shards and spikes that walled Varcharz and interjected unexpectedly within the duo’s tracks for years have been supplanted by friendlier textures—warm vocal samples, invitingly fuzzy analog sounds suspended in glowing dust clouds, and an overflow of the caffeinated melodies that were always so fun to dig out of the old tunes. And that’s another thing I’m quite happy to welcome back: the ramshackle fun that Mouse on Mars have always had a talent for injecting into the oft-intellectualized realm of IDM and strange electronic music. I don’t personally need to go much further than the almost-totally-absurd-but-somehow-perfect eccentricities of a track like “Chordblocker, Cinnamon Toasted” to know I’m back in the familiar hands of electronic music’s most artful tricksters.
In the midst of the edged funk of “They Know Your Name,” for instance, a track that makes Mouse on Mars’ ability to sublimate, absorb, thoroughly digest, and ultimately refresh the musical landscape around them like some kind of electronic nitrogen cycle, I also can’t help but feel like these fellows do the elder statesmen thing with a kind of unrivaled class. They unabashedly reclaim some of the sounds that they themselves were instrumental in inspiring, bridging the gap between then and now and sparing their astute audience a “classic” routine. To be more specific, “Imatch” touches on more than just a little of Flying Lotus’ sparkling, kitchen sink funk, and could pretty easily be mistaken for a track from Cosmogramma (2010) in the first few moments. These tracks do a grand job of marrying that kind of modern maximalism to the carefully sharpened experimental minimalism of Mouse on Mars’ European pedigree (also, the melting, confrontational tachycardia of closer “Seaqz,” which splits it’s own sensibility almost right down the middle), and let’s just say that by the time “Imatch” morphs into a lost Zapp! jam at about a minute and a half, I’d totally forgotten that I’d had any reason to wonder what had happened in the last half decade.
Admittedly, I’m a sucker for the deceptive narrative of lineage, but Mouse on Mars are there for me in regards to my connective insecurities. After all, these are the guys that originally taught me how to demand that electronic music not only be physically engaging but that it be interesting and kind of confounding in an “I must know more” sort of way—and now, in a graceful return to form, Jan and Andi make it clear that they’re as present as ever, ready to jump into the game like it hasn’t been six years since we last met. I’d laud this as a comeback, but it simply doesn’t need the help, and Varcharz still suits me pretty well as a soundtrack to typewriter porn, so it’s not as if there’s much to come back from. Ok, ok, we can go ahead and cue the part that sounds like the victory music from Super Mario Bros now.
:: mouseonmars.com
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Over 3 years (23)
The British Journal of Psychiatry (16)
Psychological Medicine (3)
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (1)
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (8)
Dimensions of temperament and character as predictors of antidepressant discontinuation, response and adverse reactions during treatment with nortriptyline and escitalopram
Ole Köhler-Forsberg, Robert Keers, Rudolf Uher, Joanna Hauser, Wolfgang Maier, Marcella Rietschel, Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer, Katherine J. Aitchison, Ole Mors
Journal: Psychological Medicine , First View
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2021, pp. 1-9
Personality traits may predict antidepressant discontinuation and response. However, previous studies were rather small, only explored a few personality traits and did not include adverse drug effects nor the interdependency between antidepressant discontinuation patterns and response.
GENDEP included 589 patients with unipolar moderate-severe depression treated with escitalopram or nortriptyline for 12 weeks. Seven personality dimensions were measured using the self-reported 240-item Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R). We applied Cox proportional models to study discontinuation patterns, logistic and linear regression to investigate response and remission after 8 and 12 weeks, and mixed-effects linear models regarding time-varying treatment response and adverse drug reactions.
Low harm avoidance, low cooperativeness, high self-transcendence and high novelty seeking were associated with higher risks for antidepressant discontinuation, independent of depressed mood, adverse drug reactions, drug, sex and age. Regression analyses showed that higher novelty seeking and cooperativeness scores were associated with a greater likelihood of response and remission after 8 and 12 weeks, respectively, but we found no correlations with response in the mixed-effects models. Only high harm avoidance was associated with more self-reported adverse effects.
This study, representing the largest investigation between several personality traits and response to two different antidepressants, suggests that correlations between personality traits and antidepressant treatment response may be confounded by differential rates of discontinuation. Future trials on personality in the treatment of depression need to consider this interdependency and study whether interventions aiming at improving compliance for some personality types may improve response to antidepressants.
Childhood maltreatment and adult medical morbidity in mood disorders: comparison of unipolar depression with bipolar disorder
Georgina M. Hosang, Helen L. Fisher, Karen Hodgson, Barbara Maughan, Anne E. Farmer
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 213 / Issue 5 / November 2018
Print publication: November 2018
The medical burden in mood disorders is high; various factors are thought to drive this pattern. Little research has examined the role of childhood maltreatment and its effects on medical morbidity in adulthood among people with unipolar depression and bipolar disorder.
This is the first study to explore the association between childhood maltreatment and medical morbidity in bipolar disorder and in unipolar depression, and examine whether the impact of abuse and neglect are distinct or combined.
The participants consisted of 354 psychiatrically healthy controls, 248 participants with recurrent unipolar depression and 72 with bipolar disorder. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and received a validated medical history interview.
Any type of childhood maltreatment, child abuse and child neglect were significantly associated with the medical burden in bipolar disorder, but not unipolar depression or for controls. These associations worked in a dose–response fashion where participants with bipolar disorder with a history of two or more types of childhood maltreatment had the highest odds of having a medical illness relative to those without such history or those who reported one form. No such significant dose–response patterns were detected for participants with unipolar depression or controls.
These findings suggest that childhood maltreatment may play a stronger role in the development of medical illnesses in individuals with bipolar disorder relative to those with unipolar depression. Individuals who had been maltreated with a mood disorder, especially bipolar disorder may benefit most from prevention and intervention efforts surrounding physical health.
Interaction between the FTO gene, body mass index and depression: meta-analysis of 13701 individuals
Margarita Rivera, Adam E. Locke, Tanguy Corre, Darina Czamara, Christiane Wolf, Ana Ching-Lopez, Yuri Milaneschi, Stefan Kloiber, Sara Cohen-Woods, James Rucker, Katherine J. Aitchison, Sven Bergmann, Dorret I. Boomsma, Nick Craddock, Michael Gill, Florian Holsboer, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Ania Korszun, Zoltan Kutalik, Susanne Lucae, Wolfgang Maier, Ole Mors, Bertram Müller-Myhsok, Michael J. Owen, Brenda W. J. H. Penninx, Martin Preisig, John Rice, Marcella Rietschel, Federica Tozzi, Rudolf Uher, Peter Vollenweider, Gerard Waeber, Gonneke Willemsen, Ian W. Craig, Anne E. Farmer, Cathryn M. Lewis, Gerome Breen, Peter McGuffin
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 211 / Issue 2 / August 2017
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018, pp. 70-76
Print publication: August 2017
Depression and obesity are highly prevalent, and major impacts on public health frequently co-occur. Recently, we reported that having depression moderates the effect of the FTO gene, suggesting its implication in the association between depression and obesity.
To confirm these findings by investigating the FTO polymorphism rs9939609 in new cohorts, and subsequently in a meta-analysis.
The sample consists of 6902 individuals with depression and 6799 controls from three replication cohorts and two original discovery cohorts. Linear regression models were performed to test for association between rs9939609 and body mass index (BMI), and for the interaction between rs9939609 and depression status for an effect on BMI. Fixed and random effects meta-analyses were performed using METASOFT.
In the replication cohorts, we observed a significant interaction between FTO, BMI and depression with fixed effects meta-analysis (β=0.12, P = 2.7 × 10−4) and with the Han/Eskin random effects method (P = 1.4 × 10−7) but not with traditional random effects (β = 0.1, P = 0.35). When combined with the discovery cohorts, random effects meta-analysis also supports the interaction (β = 0.12, P = 0.027) being highly significant based on the Han/Eskin model (P = 6.9 × 10−8). On average, carriers of the risk allele who have depression have a 2.2% higher BMI for each risk allele, over and above the main effect of FTO.
This meta-analysis provides additional support for a significant interaction between FTO, depression and BMI, indicating that depression increases the effect of FTO on BMI. The findings provide a useful starting point in understanding the biological mechanism involved in the association between obesity and depression.
Modulatory effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism on prefrontal regions in major depressive disorder
Rebecca MacGregor Legge, Shahbaz Sendi, James H. Cole, Sarah Cohen-Woods, Sergi G. Costafreda, Andrew Simmons, Anne E. Farmer, Katherine J. Aitchison, Peter McGuffin, Cynthia H. Y. Fu
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 206 / Issue 5 / May 2015
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018, pp. 379-384
Print publication: May 2015
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism contributes to the development of depression (major depressive disorder, MDD), but it is unclear whether neural effects observed in healthy individuals are sustained in MDD.
To investigate BDNF Val66Met effects on key regions in MDD neurocircuitry: amygdala, anterior cingulate, middle frontal and orbitofrontal regions.
Magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired in 79 persons with MDD (mean age 49 years) and 74 healthy volunteers (mean age 50 years). Effects on surface area and cortical thickness were examined with multiple comparison correction.
People who were Met allele carriers showed reduced caudal middle frontal thickness in both study groups. Significant interaction effects were found in the anterior cingulate and rostral middle frontal regions, in which participants in the MDD group who were Met carriers showed the greatest reduction in surface area.
Modulatory effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on distinct subregions in the prefrontal cortex in MDD support the neurotrophin model of depression.
Nursery Epidemic Due to Multiply-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae: Epidemiologic Setting and Impact on Perinatal Health Care Delivery
Kelly T. McKee, Jr, Robert B. Cotton, Charles W. Stratton, Gail B. Lavely, Peter F. Wright, Jayant P. Shenai, Martin E. Evans, M. Ann Melly, J.J. Farmer, David T. Karzon, William Schaffner
Journal: Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 3 / Issue 2 / March/April 1982
Print publication: March/April 1982
Gram-negative bacilli frequently cause epidemics in high-risk newborn intensive care units. Recently, an epidemic caused by a multiply-resistant K. pneumoniae, serotype 21, occurred in the Vanderbilt University intensive care nursery. The background of this outbreak included an increasing endemic nosocomial sepsis rate, operation of the facility in excess of rated capacity, and increasingly inadequate nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The epidemic lasted 11 weeks; 26 (12%) of the 232 infants at risk in the unit became colonized. Five infants developed systemic illness and one died. Cohorting, reinforcement of strict handwashing and isolation procedures, and closure of the unit to outborn admissions resulted in rapid termination of the outbreak. Followup studies performed on infants colonized with the epidemic bacterium demonstrated persistent fecal shedding up to 13 months following discharge from the hospital. This epidemic had a detrimental influence on high-risk newborn and obstetric health care delivery in an area encompassing portions of three states. Under a system of progressively more sophisticated referral units, nosocomial infections occurring at a tertiary center can have an impact on other hospitals within the network.
Life-event specificity: bipolar disorder compared with unipolar depression
Georgina M. Hosang, Ania Korszun, Lisa Jones, Ian Jones, Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 201 / Issue 6 / December 2012
Little is known about the impact of different types of stressful events (for example divorce v. bereavement) on unipolar depression compared with bipolar disorder. Inconsistencies exist concerning the association between independent events (beyond an individual's control, such as bereavement) and bipolar disorder.
To examine the role of specific, independent and dependent events in mood disorders.
Life-event information was collected from 512 people with bipolar disorder, 1448 people with unipolar depression and over 600 controls.
Various events were associated with unipolar depression and bipolar disorder, but some event specificity was detected. For example, financial crisis was more strongly related to bipolar disorder rather than unipolar depression. Independent events were only related to unipolar depression and not bipolar disorder.
The events that were linked to bipolar disorder and unipolar depression were similar. Independent events were not associated with bipolar episodes, suggesting that life stress may be a consequence of, rather than a trigger for, bipolar episodes.
White matter abnormalities and illness severity in major depressive disorder
James Cole, Christopher A. Chaddock, Anne E. Farmer, Katherine J. Aitchison, Andrew Simmons, Peter McGuffin, Cynthia H. Y. Fu
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 201 / Issue 1 / July 2012
Print publication: July 2012
White matter abnormalities have been implicated in the aetiology of major depressive disorder; however, the relationship between the severity of symptoms and white matter integrity is currently unclear.
To investigate white matter integrity in people with major depression and healthy controls, and to assess its relationship with depressive symptom severity.
Diffusion tensor imaging data were acquired from 66 patients with recurrent major depression and a control group of 66 healthy individuals matched for age, gender and IQ score, and analysed with tract-based spatial statistics. The relationship between white matter integrity and severity of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory was examined.
Depressive illness was associated with widespread regions of decreased white matter integrity, including regions in the corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus and anterior corona radiata, compared with the control group. Increasing symptom severity was negatively correlated with white matter integrity, predominantly in the corpus callosum.
Widespread alterations in white matter integrity are evident in major depressive disorder. These abnormalities are heightened with increasing severity of depressive symptoms.
27 - Biological treatments of depression and anxiety
from Section 5 - Treatments in Psychiatry
By Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer
Edited by Robin M. Murray, King's College London, Kenneth S. Kendler, Virginia Commonwealth University, Peter McGuffin, University of Wales College of Medicine, Simon Wessely, Institute of Psychiatry, London, David J. Castle, University of Melbourne
Book: Essential Psychiatry
Print publication: 18 September 2008, pp 622-635
This chapter focuses on the psychiatric aspects of intellectual disability. Emerging research in this area has progressed from epidemiological studies to investigations into the causation of problem behaviours and comorbid mental disorders. The chapter describes the causation and the heterogeneity of dual disability. The presence of mild intellectual disability rarely has a single identifiable cause but is a consequence of both polygenic and social/environmental influences. The chapter deals with psychiatric and behaviour disorders in people with intellectual disabilities. In the case of both the presence of an additional mental disorder or of behaviour problems, a combination of developmental, biological, social or psychological factors interact and influence the occurrence of such behaviours. The chapter presents the prevention and detection of mental ill health and its treatment. It discusses the maintenance of mental health and prevention of mental ill health.
By Katherine J. Aitchison, Louis Appleby, John Bancroft, Aaron T. Beck, Sidney Bloch, Marc B. J. Blom, Roger Bloor, Anne Buist, Alistair Burns, E. Jane Byrne, Paul Carey, David J. Castle, Alex Cohen, Michael Craig, Ilana B. Crome, Kimberlie Dean, Tom Fahy, Anne E. Farmer, Michael Farrell, Alan J. Flisher, Glen O. Gabbard, Ragy R. Girgis, Sir David Goldberg, Ian M. Goodyer, Wayne Hall, Edwin Harari, Anthony Holland, Matthew Hotopf, Assen Jablensky, Navneet Kapur, Shitij Kapur, Kenneth S. Kendler, Sean Lennon, Jeffrey A. Lieberman, David Mamo, Peter McGuffin, Paul E. Mullen, Robin Murray, David Ndegwa, Jessica R. Nittler, Vikram Patel, Perminder Sachdev, Ulrike Schmidt, Scott A. Schobel, Jan Scott, Pak C. Sham, Dan J. Stein, Ezra Susser, Michele Tansella, Graham Thornicroft, Janet Treasure, Evangelia M. Tsapakis, André Tylee, Peter Tyrer, Jim van Os, Elizabeth Walsh, Paul Walters, Myrna M. Weissman, Simon Wessely, Marieke Wichers, Kimberly Yonkers
Print publication: 18 September 2008, pp vii-xi
2 - Current approaches to classification
from Section 1 - The Tools of Psychiatry
By Anne E. Farmer, Assen Jablensky
Print publication: 18 September 2008, pp 39-52
Two international classifications currently dominate research and clinical practise; the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV. Both classifications provide detailed descriptions of all the main psychiatric syndromes, personality disorders and other disorders of behaviour or function. The first comprehensive nosology covering an entire range of diseases and including a classification of mental illness was produced by the newly formed World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948. The WHO has the responsibility to produce regular revisions of the ICD for international use. Disorders in ICD-10 are arranged in groups according to major common themes or descriptive likenesses. DSM-IV has more categories than ICD-10, which may reflect the requirements of the health care system in the United States. The International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) assesses the phenomena and life experiences that are relevant to the diagnoses of personality disorders in DSM-IV and ICD-10.
Confidentiality in Munchausen's syndrome: Invited commentary on… Neuropathica diabolica
Anne E. Farmer
Journal: Advances in Psychiatric Treatment / Volume 14 / Issue 4 / July 2008
This commentary questions whether the usual ethical and legal requirements for maintaining confidentiality of individuals who fabricate illness should be breached in order to prevent further harm to themselves as well as cost to society. A case report of an individual with Munchausen's syndrome submitted for publication in Advances in Psychiatric Treatment provoked considerable Editorial discussion regarding the absence of written informed consent from the individual described. It is hoped that this commentary will widen the debate regarding the requirement for confidentiality in the exceptional circumstances of patients with Munchausen's syndrome.
Attributional style and depression
Harriet A. Ball, Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 192 / Issue 4 / April 2008
Few studies have examined whether attributional style (an individual's explanation of why events happen) is a genetically influenced vulnerability factor for depression.
To investigate whether attributional style is an enduring vulnerability trait for recurrent depression.
As part of the Cardiff Depression Study, we interviewed 108 people with depression and their siblings, and a control group of 105 healthy individuals and their siblings, using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry and the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. Participants also completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire.
Regression analyses showed that attributional style results from mood state and is not a familial risk factor for depression. However, the tendency to internalise negative events was related to having had a prior episode of depression, suggesting a ‘scarring’ effect. Also, non-severe events were associated with one subset of optimistic attributions.
Attributional style mainly measures current mood and does not reflect a familial risk factor for depression.
The classification of depression: are we still confused?
James Cole, Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 192 / Issue 2 / February 2008
Recent developments in the classification of major depressive disorder are reviewed in light of the predictions made by Kendell in the 1970s. Particularly, the institution of operational diagnoses along with the contentious issues of subdividing major depressive disorder and its characterisation on a dimensional as opposed to a categorical scale.
Humiliation, loss and other types of life events and difficulties: a comparison of depressed subjects, healthy controls and their siblings
ANNE E. FARMER, PETER McGUFFIN
Journal: Psychological Medicine / Volume 33 / Issue 7 / November 2003
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 September 2003, pp. 1169-1175
Background. It has been proposed that adverse life events involving loss or humiliation are particularly potent in provoking depressive episodes. We have also previously suggested that experiencing high rates of non-severe events may play a role in the development of resilience to the impact of severe threatening events when these occur.
Method. The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) (Brown & Harris, 1978) was used to record the life events experienced by 108 depressed probands and their nearest aged siblings as well as 105 healthy control subjects and their nearest aged siblings. All subjects were interviewed using the Schedule for the Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) (Wing et al. 1990).
Results. Depressed probands were significantly more likely to have experienced a severe threatening event, loss event, or a humiliation event compared to the other subjects. These events also made up a greater proportion of the total number of events, in the depressed probands. Humiliation events were more frequent in depressed men than depressed women. There were no differences between the four groups for experiencing a non-severe event, although depressed probands also experienced more difficulties than the other three groups. Fifty-six healthy subjects who had not become depressed despite having experienced at least one severe and threatening event, had significantly more non-severe events, than the 116 subjects who were depressed at the time of interview.
Conclusions. The findings support the hypothesis that loss and humiliation events are particularly depressogenic. Experiencing a high rate of non-severe events may be associated with resilience to becoming depressed in the face of a threatening event.
Heritability of Schneider's first-rank symptoms
Alastair G. Cardno, Pak C. Sham, Anne E. Farmer, Robin M. Murray, Peter McGuffin
Journal: The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 180 / Issue 1 / January 2002
Schneider's first-rank symptoms are given particular weight when making a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but the nuclear syndrome, characterised by one or more first-rank symptoms, has been found previously to have no heritability.
To estimate the heritability of the nuclear syndrome.
A total of 224 twin pairs (106 monozygotic, 118 same-gender dizygotic) were ascertained from the Maudsley Twin Register in London via probands with any psychosis. Lifetime-ever first-rank symptoms were rated using the OPCRIT checklist. Probandwise concordance rates were calculated for the nuclear syndrome and a heritability estimate was derived from biometric model fitting.
Probandwise concordance rates were 13/49 (26.5%) for monozygotic and 0/45 to 2/46 (0.0–4.3%) for dizygotic pairs. The heritability estimate for the best-fitting model was 71% (95% CI 57–82).
These results indicate that the nuclear syndrome shows substantial heritability, although this is slightly lower than that for schizophrenia as defined by the DSM and ICD systems.
Bioethics and genetic research in psychiatry
Anne E. Farmer, Michael J. Owen, Peter McGuffin
The demise of the published case report – is resuscitation necessary?
Concurrent Validity of the Opcrit Diagnostic System: Comparison of OPCRIT Diagnoses with Consensus Best-Estimate Lifetime Diagnoses
Nick Craddock, Philip Asherson, Michael J. Owen, Julie Williams, Peter McGuffin, Anne E. Farmer
OPCRIT (a suite of computer programs that allow data entry and generate diagnoses according to 12 operational diagnostic systems) is used in a wide range of psychiatric research including both European Science Foundation and NIMH research initiatives in the molecular genetics of mental disorders. We examined its concurrent validity in 100 subjects collected for linkage studies of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia.
We compared diagnoses generated by OPCRIT from data rated by two trained clinicians with diagnoses made according to consensus, best-estimate, lifetime procedures by the same two raters according to DSM–III–R and RDC classifications.
Good to excellent agreement was achieved between OPCRIT diagnoses and those made by consensus best-estimate procedures.
OPCRIT provides a convenient, reliable, rapid and valid approach to polydiagnostic assessment that can be used as an adjunct to conventional (but time consuming) best-estimate consensus diagnostic procedures.
Genetics, chance and dysmorphogenesis in schizophrenia
Peter McGuffin, Michael J. Owen, Philip Asherson, Anne E. Farmer
Methodological Issues in Using a Polydiagnostic Approach to Define Psychotic Illness
Anne E. Farmer, Simon Wessely, David Castle, Peter McGuffin
Although a polydiagnostic approach to the definition of psychotic disorder provides many advantages to the researcher, there are also disadvantages. A comparison between several different sets of operational criteria using the opcrit computer program on a consecutive series of 397 psychotic subjects is described. The results show that although current diagnostic procedures are generally reliable, such approaches can still only supplement skilled clinical judgement, and there remain many pitfalls for the unwary.
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Third Reich 1933-1945 (Germany)
Flags used 11th March 1933 - 15th September 1935
Last modified: 2005-09-17 by santiago dotor
Keywords: third reich | nationalsocialist | president | pilot | postal | disc (white) | swastika | cross: swastika (black) | hakenkreuz | iron cross | cross: formy (black) | bordure (white) | bugle |
by António Martins 3:5
by Mark Sensen and António Martins
Flags adopted 14th March 1933 as co-national flags, used jointly until 15th September 1935
Civil Flag and Ensign 1933-1935 (National- und Handelsflagge)
Swastika Flag (Hakenkreuzfahne)
Swastika Flag Specifications and Construction Sheet
Centred vs. Offset Disc and Swastika
President's Standard 1933-1935 (Standarte des Reichspräsidenten)
War Ensign and Jack 1933-1935 (Reichskriegsflagge und Gösch)
State Flag and Ensign 1933-1935 (Reichsdienstflagge)
Retired Naval Officers' Civil Ensign 1933-1935 (Flagge für ehemalige Marineoffiziere als Führer von Handelsschiffen)
Pilot Flag 1933-1935 (Lotsenflagge)
Armed Forces State Flag March-April 1933 (Dienstflagge der Wehrmachtbehörden zur See)
Flags of the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht):
Flags of the Army (Heer)
Flags of the Navy (Kriegsmarine)
Postal Flag 1933-1935 (Reichspostflagge)
Subnational Flags 1919-1935
Prussian Provincial Flags 1919-1935
Introduction to Third Reich Flags
Flags used 15th September 1935 - 8th May 1945
National Socialist German Worker's Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei / NSDAP / Nazi Party)
Axis History Factbook by Marcus Wendel
Civil Flag and Ensign 1933-1935
National- und Handelsflagge
by António Martins
The Nazis reinstated the schwarz-weiss-rot flag when they came to power in 1933 — the black-red-gold of the Weimar Republic (and modern-day Germany) being associated by the right-wingers with Germany's defeat in 1918. However the Swastika Party Flag was flown alongside it, including on merchant ships where it flew from the starboard yard-arm. In 1935 anti-Nazi activists boarded a German ship in New York harbour and tore down the Swastika flag. The American authorities refused to take any action on the grounds that only a political flag had been tampered with, not the national colours. The Reichstag subsequently unanimously declared the swastika flag the [sole] national flag of Germany in September 1935.
Roy Stilling, 9 April 1996
The national flag and the merchant ensign were both the black-white-red tricolour at first (1933-1935), then the red flag with the white disk containing the Hakenkreuz which from 1935 to 1945 fulfilled these functions.
Pascal Vagnat, 4 September 1996
I believe the ratio of all Imperial German flags and ensigns, except the war ensign (Kaiserliche Kriegsflagge) was 2:3 not 3:5. However, when the 1871-1918 flag was readopted in 1933 as co-national flag (together with the swastika flag), did it keep the 2:3 ratio (and the swastika a 3:5 one), or was it enlarged to 3:5?
Santiago Dotor, 29 March 2001
Actually the new flags were not introduced officially until 14 March 1933, although this usage may have formally started earlier.
Norman Martin, 17 November 2001
Swastika Flag
Hakenkreuzfahne
both by Mark Sensen and António Martins
Hitherto the party flag of the Nazi Party, the swastika flag was declared to be jointly the national flag with the black-white-red and was to be flown jointly with it. On merchant ships the black-white-red flew from the stern. The colours were those of the Second Reich, and before that the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation. They combined the black over white of Prussia and the red and white of the Hanseatic League (see also the red and white flags of the modern states of Bremen and Hamburg).
Norman Martin, 1998
It is clear that only the centered version was used on land 1933-35. The only version used or authorized at sea at any time 1933-45 was the off-centered version.
Norman Martin, 14 September 1999
Retired Naval Officers' Civil Ensign 1933-1935
Flagge für ehemalige Marineoffiziere als Führer von Handelsschiffen
by Jaume Ollé
Flag adopted 1933, abolished 1935
The black-white-red tricolour with a double-bordered Iron Cross in the black stripe at the hoist, thus the Weimar merchant flag with the Iron Cross (which it replaced) with the black-red-gold canton (but not the Iron Cross) removed. It was in use 1933 to 1935.
Pilot Flag 1933-1935
Lotsenflagge
by Santiago Dotor
Flag adopted 4th July 1867, abolished 1922, readopted 1933, abolished 1935
Like the previous pilot flag, but with the plain black-white-red flag instead of the former merchant flag in the center, thus a reversion to the Imperial pilot flag. This flag remained in use until 1935.
Armed Forces State Flag March-April 1933
Dienstflagge der Wehrmachtbehörden zur See
by Tom Gregg
The black-white-red tricolour with the national eagle in the center of the white stripe. Except for the form of the eagle, this is the same as the flag of the Governors of German East Africa and Kiaochao of the Imperial era. This flag was official for vessels of the armed forces not entitled to fly the ensign from 11th March to 22nd April 1933, when it was superseded by the Government Authorities flag [state flag and ensign]. Considering the short period of time involved, it is dubious as to whether and how often it was actually flown.
The "military authorities flag" was established by the Verordnung über die Hoheitszeichen der deutschen Wehrmacht of 14 March 1933:
nr.10
Die Dienstflagge der Reichsbehörden zur See, soweit sie von Behörden der Wehrmacht geführt wird, wie die Reichskriegsflagge, jedoch im weißen Streifen der Reichsadler an stelle des Eisernen Kreuzes.
The same ordinance changed the design of the war flag by eliminating the black-red-gold canton. It appears to have been superceded by the new Reichsdienstflagge established by the Zweite Verordnung über die vorläufige Regelung der Flaggenführung of 22 April 1933, although it is not explicitly mentioned. Even though I do not have a copy of the ordinance of 31 October 1935, I am pretty sure the "military authorities flag" did not last that long, firstly, because my notes say so —although they do not mention an authority—, but also because the flag publication of the interior ministry of 1934 [Reichsministerium des Innern 1934] does not illustrate it. If that is nevertheless not so, the "military authorities flag" certainly did not survive the 1935 change.
Norman Martin, 13 December 2001
Postal Flag 1933-1935
Reichspostflagge
Like the State Flag and Ensign 1933-1935 except with a gold posthorn replacing the eagle, thus very similar to the Imperial era Postal Flag, except for the crown.
Adopted 31 March 1933. Abolished 19 September 1935. Source: a paper by Emil Dreyer in the Reports of the 15th International Congress of Vexillology.
The similarity with the 1893-1919 flag (just leaving away the crown) is very striking, even the post horn is essentially the same. There was no postal flag in the period 1935-1936. Sources: Meyer 17 1960, Dreyer 1999 and Hecker and Hoog 1978.
Marcus Schmöger, 29 March 2001
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Loop Pylon Bridge Prague
← Dr. Andreas Quidenus
SALON am MARKT →
The new connection from Karlin to Holesovice over the Moldau in Prague is designed as a unique, simple and elegant figure. It connects both riverbanks with a continous path for pedestrians and bycicles supported by a central loop pylon on Stvanice island. A circulation ramp, designed as a virtual shadow of the loop pylon, allows traffic from and to the island.
All three connections to Karlin, Holesovice and Stvanice are designed to allow complete barrier free access. Every connection is carfully blended into the urban environment, allowing adequate space to access the bridge.
On the Karlin side the bridge connects directly to the bycicle and pedestrian path on top of the flooding dam. The park connection towards Rohanske nabr. ensures the barrier free access to the street level.
Holesovice riverbank is connected directly to the pedestrian lane along Bubenske nabr. The bridge support structure on this side preserves the free passage along the lower riverbank pathway.
The loop pylon, it’s shadow ramp and five anchoring cables create a minimum footprint on Stvanice island and adapt in all requirements to the natural landscape planning for the island.
The cross section of the bridge allows for a 4,5m horizontal clearance for any service or rescue vessel. The vertical clearance is only limited by the cables which allow a minimum of 4m height for the full 4,5m profile. A lighting system along the whole bridge illuminates the floor to ensure a safe and comfortable passage for visitors also during night times. A second lighting system on the outside of the bridge profile illuminates the cables and the pylon.
The bridge’s lower edge is in general 190.1m above the sea level to ensure flooding clearance. Minimum clearance for the lower canal between Karlín and Štvanice is thereby also guaranteed. All structural elements below this clearance are designed to allow flood water to bass by continuously.
The Loop pylon is 50m high and holds the bridge with 17 Y-branched cables. Five V-shaped cables on Stvanice island anchor the bride and the pylon to the ground. Branching columns support the connections to Karlin and Holesovice without interfering with any river traffic.
General – The proposed concept for the new Karlin-Holesovice Bridge is a cable stayed integral bridge with a curved bridge deck and two spans of 100 and 155 meters. There is one central ellipsoid pylon in the middle of the bridge which supports the suspension cables. Bridge deck and pylon stay, which allows for horizontal movement due to thermal expansion of the deck. All load bearing elements are designed as hollow steel profiles with bracing ribs on the inside and are coated for corrosion protection. Bridge deck and pylon are accessible from the inside for maintenance.
Assembly – All structural parts can be prefabricated in larger elements and mounted on site.
The Pylon can be assembled horizontally by welding lifted into the final vertical position. After assembling the cantilevering bridge ends the bridge deck and suspension cables will be assembled step by step from the middle parts towards the ends. The bridge deck connections are designed as bolted connections. All elements can be moved into position by floating vessels, then lifted and bolted to the existing structure.
Ellipsoid Pylon – central element of the bridge construction is the ellipsoid pylon. It is supported by a combined pile raft foundation and ha a maximum height of 50 meters. The cross section is a trapezoidal hollow steel profile with rounded corners and bracing ribs in longitudinal and cross direction on the inside. The cross section varies from 1.5×1.1 meters to 3.0×2.0 meters and allows to be accessed from the inside for maintenance. The suspension cables are connected at the upper part of the ellipsoid – all connection details are located on the inside of the profile, which allows extended maintenance intervals. The pylon can be assembled from segments on the site and lifted onto its position.
Suspension Cables – the cables are designed as weaved steel cables with a synthetic coating for protection. Stainless steel fittings are placed at the point where the cables split in order to support both sides of the bridge deck.
Support-Grid – according to the distribution of suspension cables that support the middle part of the bridge, a grid of compression members is placed at the ends of the bridge deck. The increases the constructive height at the supports and allows for a larger cantilever from the end points. The gird also allows influencing horizontal vibration behavior of the bridge deck.
Deck – the bridge deck is designed as a hollow steel cross section with bracing ribs in longitudinal and cross direction and varying wall thickness of 15 to 25 mm. The whole deck is accessible from the inside via revision openings on the top of the deck. In the middle part of the bridge the deck is supported by suspension cables.
V-Suspension – In the area of the island the bridge deck is directly connected to the ground by V-shaped columns. This is reducing the span of the bridge and serves as support for the suspension cables at asymmetric load cases. In addition, these columns allow to effectively damping the horizontal and vertical vibration behavior of the bridge deck.
Ramp – the bridge is accessible from the island by a ramp with an ellipsoid shape in plan.
The ramp deck is designed as a hollow steel cross section similar to the bridge deck and supported by V-shaped columns. The horizontal softness of the ramp allows the bridge thermal expansion and also is damping horizontal vibrations.
Foundation – There are four major supports of the bridge structure: two rigid supports at the ends of the bridge deck, one rigid support at the base of the ellipsoid pylon and hinged supports at the bottom of the V-shaped columns. All supports are designed as base plates from reinforced concrete in combination with bored piles.
Thermal expansion – as the deck of the bridge is curved in plan, longitudinal expansion due to temperature load lead to a horizontal movement in the middle of the bridge. Due to that, no hinged supports at the ends of the bridge are necessary, which allows reducing details and maintenance of the supports of the bridge significantly. In addition, the bridge can easily be rigidly supported, which allows reducing the overall height of the bridge deck cross section.
Vibrations – The bridge stiffness is designed regarding the vibration frequency limitations for pedestrian bridges. The vertical bridge vibration frequencies are above pedestrian frequency impulse and additionally can be damped by the V-shaped columns in the middle of the bridge.
Melisa Ali
Moritz Heimrath
Structural Consultant:
Bollinger+Grohmann
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Review: Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (XB)
Alex Lucard | November 3, 2005 | Archive, Video Game Reviews, Xbox | No Comments
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox)
Developer: Head First
Publisher: Bethesda
Date Released: 10/26/05
First things first. This is my 100th video game review. Is that insane or what?
Ah Lovecraft, an author I’ve been familiar with since I was in single digits. The Cthulhu Mythos is something I’ve always had a fondness for. In fact, the name of my folklore column, Nyogtha, is a direct reference to the Cthulhu Mythos and Lovecraftia. I have about half a dozen papers published on the genre as well as the author, and I have to say I’m a huge fan of his writing, from the vocabulary that sends most readers scurrying t o a dictionary, to the fact that his tales of Eldritch Horror from beyond the stars aren’t about gore or violence, but instead revolve around unspeakable things, no human could neither view nor even receive a description of, lest their sanity dwindle down like an ebbing candle down to the tiniest bit of wick. Lovecraft made it quite clear mood, theme, and the understanding that Humanity could NEVER compete with the Elder Gods or the Great Old Ones outright.
And this is why Lovecraft never translates well into video games. Because most gamers want to see direct visuals of what is trying to disembowel them. Because most gamers want to kill things and overcome crazy odds defying logic and reality. And because Lovecraftia honestly just doesn’t translate well to a video game. Let’s take a look at previous games that actually used Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos in their video games:
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of The Comet. Infogrames published this PC game back in 1994. And in fact, it’s still probably the closest to getting things right. The game balances puzzles, thinking skills, and includes some abject violence, but it also holds very close to the source material in writing style, theme, and most of all, by including a “Lovecraft Museum.” It’s very cute. But the game falls short in 1 very big way. Your character ends up taking on not one, but 4 Great Old Ones. This alone has old Howard Phillips spinning in his grave. Let me explain to those of you totally ignorant of the Cthulhu Mythos. Just being in contact with a GOO is enough to melt your brain. Your sanity is pretty much guaranteed to say “Well…bloody hell,” and run from your psyche screaming in terror. And it’s a lock that you’ll be dead within 30 seconds of this occurrence. 4? Yeah, that destroys the value of the game by completely defecating on Lumley, Bierce, Chambers, and all the others who have added to the Mythos.
Necronomicon. This PC game by Dreamcatcher, made in 2001 gets the mood and storytelling aspects of a Lovecraft story perfectly. However, this game is a perfect example of WHY Lovecraft doesn’t work as a video game. You spend 20 hours reading books, doing research, and occasionally solving a puzzle or twelve. The ending is anticlimactic, there is no violence, and you spend a lot of time listening to long convoluted stories told by people who have encountered Things That Should Not Be. Thematically, Necronomicon is perfect, but it’s also a perfect example of how Lovecraft is for reading, not for immersive gameplay.
Personal 2: Eternal Punishment/ This PSX game made by Atlus is in my top 5 RPG’s of all time. It really doesn’t capture the mood or theme at all of Lovecraft. But it doesn’t try to. There are a few Mythos characters, such as Hastur and Nyarlathotep in the game, but aside from one big bit of EP, all Lovecraft references are in-jokes or tributes to the Mythos. The Crawling Chaos is portrayed very accurately, but from a sheer Lovecraftian point of view, the game merely takes the concepts and gives them a Japanese twist. Which is understandable, as Japan has been doing this since Makai Suiko den by Kurimoto Kaoru, which is the first book that really introduced Cthulhu and pals to the Japanese. And these Mythos characters do fit the Japanese mold very well.
Often though, it’s games that don’t actively use names and places from Lovecraft and his cronies’ writings but instead really capture the essence of what Lovecraft wrote about that have been the most successful. Games like Eternal Darkness, Alone in the Dark, HellNight/Dark Messiah, Koudelka, and others are the crown jewels in the genre of Lovecraftian inspired video games, and are by far games any fan of HPL’s writing should devour with enthusiasm. Well except HellNight, as it was only released everywhere EXCEPT America.
So enter Bethesda’s recent release. Dark Corners of the Earth has been plagued by controversy. Most games never make their original release date? But DCotE? This game was delayed for SIX years. How insane was that? People actually doubted whether or not this game would ever be released or if they would finally outright cancel it.
The second controversy was in play style. By making DCotE a first person shooter, the game instantly pissed off diehard fans of the mythos. Anytime you take a concept totally based around “You can’t hurt these things” and make it into a “Let’s blow the shit out of monsters,” it sends up a red flag to your target audience that you know bupkiss about what you’re doing.
The third controversy was the adaptation of one of Lovecraft’s most famous stories, The Shadow over Innsmouth. Would the game be modernized? Would it be set in the early 1900’s as the story was originally? Would it come off something like the film Dagon, where things were changed like the story going from Rural MA to coastal Spain and where the Deep Ones ended up looking like Star Spawn instead of fish people?
So now, I’m finally reviewing a game I was supposed to have in 2001. This generally denotes a game is going to be really good because they took the time to tweak everything, or it will be amazingly bad as the developers and publishers finally threw up their hands in the air and decided to release the buggy piece of crap in order to recap some money. Star Wars Galaxies, anyone?
So what do we have here with DCotE?
Let’s Review
1. Story
Once upon a time there was a well written 48 page short story by a man named Howard Phillips Lovecraft. It was called The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Then Bethesda came and published a game that pretty much dug up Lovecraft’s remains, raped his corpse, and shat on the story that was adapted to become Dark Corners of the Earth. At least in regards to holding true to the Mythos and mood set by writers ranging from Robert W Chambers and his, The Yellow Sign, to Henry Kuttner’s “The Salem Horror.” But before I get into my massive tirade about how this game is only going to appeal to faux Lovecraft fans who don’t even read his work and just like playing Chaosium’s pen and paper RPG or watched “Cast a Deadly Spell” on HBO, I should actually get into the plot of the game.
The story of DCotE revolves around one Jack Walters in Feb, 1922. In the prologue of the game, we learn Jack is a slightly famous police detective with a sixth sense for solving crimes. Then he encounters a cult that worships Yithians. Jack accidentally summons a being of Yith and he goes schizophrenic from seeing it, spending six years in Arkham Asylum.
Jack gets out, as one day he wakes up totally normal again. And so they just let him out. And yes, I am banging my head in stupefaction on my desk while writing this. Jack becomes a private detective and receives a call from the district manager of the First National Grocery Store Chain to locate a young manager of a store in a sleepy town called Innsmouth. Said manager was missing after a break-in, and the district manager believes that the young man in question is in trouble and not the cause of the break-in as the Innsmouth police believe. Jack takes the case and from there, we are exposed to a homage to Lovecraft so amazingly gobstopping awful, that I have expect a character to jump out and say, “I NEED SPINAL FLUID TO FEEL MY BABY!”
Now don’t get me wrong, done right, SoI would be an amazing game to adapt. The problem is that Head First only took names and locations of things. They only used the outer layers of anything Mythos related, and gutting out all the depth and horror and feeling that Lovecraft and crew portrayed in their writing. Sure it’s cute to see “Unausprechlichen Kulten” just lying on a desk haphazardly. It’s a nice aside. But then at the same time, it also destroys the mood of the game utterly. Why would this be just lying on someone’s desk? There are only six copies in existence! The casual Mythos fan that gets most of their stuff from RPG’s and movies will go “YAY! This game is SOOO true to Call of Cthulhu! Rock on!” The person who has actually read and enjoyed the works of all the authors who have laboured with the Mythos with love for a century now will basically shriek at how random and casual things are just thrown out at you. “Hey! Book of Eibon!” It’s like Head First decided to they needed to desperately prove they actual knew something about the Call of Cthulhu setting and threw in everything they could to legitimize themselves, and in fact, caused the exact opposite to happen. It blew my mind how awful this game was in adhering to the Mythos. This played like a Gary Gygax Monty Haul campaign for power gaming munchkins. “Sure! You can fight Dagon with a gun! That would make Lovecraft rise from the dead to bitchslap our entire development team!” Ugh ugh ugh.
And then there’s the writing. Holy hell is the writing awful. The dialogue is so poorly scripted, it makes people outright wince. First of all, the game is set in 1922. So why is everyone talking like its 2005? Look, I realize the idea is to make the game more appealing to Modern Gamers who seem to have stopped caring about plot and just want to shoot the heads off of things, but still. Go look at Eternal Darkness. They managed to balance time periods with modern speaking. Why couldn’t Head First? They only had SIX YEARS OF DELAYS! What were they working on?
And it’s not just the speech patterns. But it’s the actual lines delivered. “Holy Shit! That noosed broad hung herself?” That’s the closest this game comes to capturing the time period’s essence, and you know what? People didn’t even talk like that in Sam Spade novels! And the casual use of terminology “This painting seems to depict a cosmic horror.” Who would every actually verbalize that? Look, half of the appeal of the Cthulhu Mythos is in the alliteration, vocabulary, and the mood set by the underlying verbiage of the characters and narrator. This game has NONE of that in the game, save for the load screens.
So what we half is a very poorly, almost soulless story being told. Head First has tried to market their version of Shadow Over Innsmouth to the lowest common denominator. Characters are disjointed in speaking and phrasing, and the game comes off like a really play dramatization where the authors were like, “Holy crap! The majority of people won’t get 95% of what’s going on. So let’s appeal to them even though they probably won’t pick up the game as they can’t even pronounce Cthulhu, but let’s try and pull shenanigans on the 5% who will know what we’ve done by random name-dropping.” Ugh. This game holds about as “true” to the Cthulhu Mythos lineage as the following stream of babble: “Holy shit! Tarnation! Squamous cosmic beast! Book of Dyzan! Devermiis Mysteriis! It won’t budge! It won’t budge! Outsider, stop! Shub-Niggurath! Zoth-Ommog! Yog-Sototh!” And I have the deep seated need to punch myself in the dick after writing that, because half of that is actually FROM THE DAMN GAME!
And guess what folks, I’m not done yet. There are still two big issues that need to be covered. Let’s talk foreshadowing first.
See, in the actual The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Lovecraft was subtle and slowly drew out the obvious conclusion and horrific aspects of his tale? In DCotE, you are hit over the head with the plot that it is both insulting and aggravating. You want to see two examples before the game is even on? Watch the face of Jack Walters when lighting strikes on the menu screen? And three different people saw the same thing I did: a big cloud on the screen is the facial shape of The Creature From the Black Lagoon. I noticed this within 30 seconds of looking at the menu screen, as did three other friends of mine who all noticed it separately and brought it up to me. Jesus Christ, does Head First really think their audience has the intelligence and problem solving skills of a kitten? They must, because the game continues to slam you over the head for the first few hours. Hey look! Book of Dagon. Watch as the game actually spells out for you what you are facing and the entire history of the fish-race. You can’t see it, but I am gritting my teeth with rage while writing this. Again, part of the love for Lovecraft is how drawn out things are. How the reader has to put things together. How they must solve along with the main character the dark forbidding mystery that now taints their existence. The entire game’s secrets should NOT be summed up in a page of written text that you collect from a bloody safe!
Here’s a thought people. Besides SoI, go read Lovecraft’s The Outsider/ Perfect example of how DCotE is the EXACT OPPOSITE in stylization of what Lovecraft would do. This game am Bizzaro Lovecraft made.
Finally, let’s just talk sloppy. Hey, this game takes place in February 1922 in Massachusetts. That’s funny. No one is wearing coats. There’s no snow on the ground. Why it’s like a balmy spring day! In a region of New England that damn near killed the Pilgrims due to the crazy harsh winters they had to deal with. ARRRGH! Little things like that that could have been noted upon if the developers had just actually put some common sense and effort into the development of the game plot and story wise. Sadly no, this game is full of snafus like that that built up to the discerning critical eye.
Okay. Whew. I think all the needless elitist anger is out. Deep breaths there Lucard, deep breaths.
Bottom line, this game is below average story quality wise even for a normal video game, but it is bloody awful in regards to actually holding true to the dozens of authors who have taken the Mythos and made it so beloved. From classic writers like August Dereleth to Ramsey Campbell, or modern award winning authors who have used the Mythos and even managed to respect it under a comedy setting like Neil Gaiman and Christopher Moore, this is pretty much an insult to all of them. Just using terms and monsters and grimoires mentioned by other writers does not make something hold true to Lovecraft’s legacy. It just shows the shallowness and ignorance of those involved with this project.
Plotwise, this is quite easily the worst Lovecraftian adaptation I can think of. It’s on par with the film “Bleeders” which was an adaptation of Lovecraft’s The Lurking Fear. Andrew Migliore described this film as, “…another Lovecraft adaptation to bleed the horror out of the original story, reducing what HPL wrote to a terrible puddle seeping into a waster hour and a half of video.” Change it to 10-12 hours, and that quote is perfectly apt for the plot of Dark Corners of the Earth
Story Rating: 3/10
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. After the last three pages of me ripping this game’s plot several new assholes, you’re probably thinking I hate the thing more than a furrie convention. But you’d be wrong. Yes, the story is worse than having to compete in a shit-eating contest, but there are things about the game that manage to be…decent.
Take the graphics for example. If the game had come out when it was supposed to, DCotE would have been the measuring stick for all Xbox games visually. Back then everyone was open mouthed in amazement at the quality and brilliance of what was shown in demos or at large gatherings such as E3. But now, due to massive delays stemming from removing most of (but not all) the bugs in this game, politics, and other such jargon, we have a game that still looks good, but has decidedly not aged well from its inception half a decade ago. Many games have since passed DCotE by in terms of pushing what the Xbox can do graphically, but that’s not to say this game still isn’t good-looking.
DCotE uses shading and shadows better than a lot of games that attempt to be spooky or horrortastical. The backdrops such as buildings, the night sky, and the like are well rendered and fun to interact with. The ability to kneel down and peer through a basement level window and seem something inside is enjoyable, as are added little touches like looking through certain windows and seeing things you wouldn’t necessarily expect…
Where the game falls a bit short is in the character models. At least, the human character models that is. Most of them look very generic and are in between PSX and PS2 quality. In fact, a lot of the characters reminded me visually of the ones from Necronomicon, which was a very pretty game back in 2001, but is just kind of decent when compared to today’s games.
The same can be said for the residents of Innsmouth, even those with “The Innsmouth Look.” The residents of the town all look so much alike, it’s jarring. Yes, there should be some physical similarities between all considering things I can’t say because I don’t want to spoil the game even though DCotE spoils itself rather magnificently. They’re well done, but they’re missing that level of greatness due to the obvious aging of this game compounded with its release at the tail end of the Xbox’s lifespan.
However, that being said, the full-on Deep Ones are marvelous. They’re straight out of the artwork one would find in Chaosium’s RPG. And when you get to a certain scene on a boat, there’s a very large “Deep One” that is by far the best looking thing in the game, even if plotwise it’s total bollocks re: staying true to Lovecraftia, which was what this game preached it would do for years.
Good looking game, even in spite of it not being the brass ring of Xbox graphics anymore. If you’re looking for something to visually entice you with body parts strewn all over and some well made rural hamlet type buildings, this is for you.
Graphics Rating: 7/10
3. Sound
The sound of DCotE is an area than leaves me pretty apathetic. For every good voice actor, such as Hotel Clerk Charlie Gilman or a certain aristocratic looking lady, there’s some dreadful voice acting like Ruth Billingham or the lead character of Jack Walters. Jack sounds so monotone he might as well be a Vulcan in disguise. I realize he had a 6 year long psychotic episode (hey, like the length of delays that plagued this game. Hmm…), but the guy sounds like he’s recovering from mono not schizophrenic induced amnesia. Very mixed bag here.
Then there are the sound effects. These are actually well done. Such as the sound you make when plummeting from a great distance. Ouch. The gunshots, footsteps, and other assorted little bells and whistles that get lost into the background of your mind while engrossing yourself in a gaming experience are all well done here and very realistic.
Finally, we have the music playing throughout the game. The score/soundtrack is pretty decent. There’s nothing memorable that will stick out after you’re done playing or will get caught in your brain pan like the Legend of Zelda theme, but there’s nothing that will assault your ears like the shriek of a banshee or anything featuring Carrot Top.
Really, aurally, DCotE is slightly above average. It’s a decent package tempered only with some voice actors/actresses that could have used emotion and a sense of urgency in their delivery of their lines.
Sound Rating: 6/10
4. Control and Gameplay
You can some up the controls of DCoTE with a single sentence: The game handles pretty darn well until you actual need some degree of precision and accuracy from your character, when it basically breaks down into gobblygook leaving you frustrated and uttering profanity.
What I mean by this is that the game requires your character to be in very specific spots or it will take the wrong action. And said wrong action will generally get your ass killed quickly. The fact that life and death can be a hair’s off is awful to do to a gamer.
Let’s give you an example with the chapter of the game I have the biggest love-hate relationship with. It’s called “Attack of the Fishmen.” This occurs about a fourth into the game and is the first chance your character will engage in combat. And by combat I mean, getting killed repeatedly without the opportunity to even punch something.
In this part of the game, Jack is awakened in his hotel room by an angry mob of residents who wish to kill him. His goal is to flee through the hotel, jump across to another building and repeat for what feels like an eternity until you’re finally safe. It’s thrilling and frustrating all at once, and typifies what is great and awful about DCotE all at once.
The problems are that you can’t even PUNCH your enemies. Now, you’re a private dick. The fact you can’t hit an inbred freak of nature and that you went into a strange freaky town without even a GUN tells you something about the sloppy planning that went into this game. But besides that, your character must basically do everything perfectly straight through or you will die. Again and again, and have to sit through a 2 minute+ cut scene every time you die. This just adds to the annoyance.
In order to survive this section, your character must run through rooms, bolt doors behind him, shove heavy pieces of furniture VERY SLOWLY why guys with axes and shotguns are after you, and then eventually leap through the sky to where if you do not time your jump exactly right, or are in the one specific spot your character needs to stand, you will plummet to your death, even after you have become so adept at dodging the pre-Deep Ones that you take no damage at all in the first building. It’s simply awful. I can’t tell you how many times my character would be staring at the bolt to the door and then just OPEN THE DOOR instead, allowing an angry mob to gun him down instead of being bought precious seconds of fleeing time. Or when I am standing where I swear I did last time to push a heavy wardrobe, but it won’t move! And wondering why I couldn’t move said bookcase before this scene even though the game hits you over the head with the fact you’ll need to move this eventually. Sigh.
It’s amazing how well the game for the first few hours and then it plays like it was designed by someone with a massive case of OCD. Again, Head First had 6 years to work crap like this out, and they failed miserably. Was the game actually playtested? Because things like this, along with a few bugs you’ll encounter just don’t add up to quality assurance issues being addressed.
That being said, there ARE times when the game is supposed to go wonky on you in several ways. DCotE mimics the far superior Eternal Darkness by having sanity effects in this game, including to where your character will commit suicide if his sanity reaches zero. However, you never come close to that danger zone or to any real sanity losses through most of the game, which not only flies in the face of the CoC RPG license Bethesda got for some reason and then never actually used, but also prevents you from seeing some of the best stuff in the game. Your controller with vibrate in time with Jack’s elevated heartbeat, your character will react with jerky twitchy movements, you’ll develop vertigo when looking down from high up places, and your vision may blur. These effects, albeit rare, are well done, and can be countered by Jack’s unlimited supply of morphine. Yes, the game has a private detective who somehow has a suitcase full of morphine, but who forgot to pack a gun or at least a sock with rocks in it. Yeesh.
What is worth talking about is the fact the first 1/4th of the game involves no killing and only sleuthing. It’s very Lovecraftian in this respect. But by this point, they’ve probably pissed off the core FPS audience because hey, nothing has its brains splattered against the wall. So even in spite of a poorly done story, the game was progressing as one would expect from an interactive version of The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Then it all goes to hell and you’ve got a crazy ass New England Murder Machine game claiming to be “HARDCORE MYTHOS.” Again I must sigh and shake my head.
Bottom line: The game plays like ass when you need the controls to be responsive the most. But thankfully half the time it does this on purpose due to the sanity effects. Still, the other half of the time, you can scream and throw your joystick and have your 9 year old-esque temper tantrum all you want. Just you know, not in front of the ladies.
Control and Gameplay Rating: 5/10
DCotE offers four difficulty options, as well as 5 grades ranging from A-E for each level. So if you’re a massive masochist, then I heartily suggest playing until you achieve all possible 20 combinations. But in truth, there’s no point playing through the game more than one. Everything is amazingly linear and you’re forced in some situations to do a single action and only that action. I didn’t WANT to open the attic containing a Deep One, but guess what; I didn’t have a bloody choice. And the game is loaded with this constant shoving forward like you’re working in a chain gang.
You can only access two difficulty settings right away: Boy Scout and Private Dick. Boy Scout mode is for those who, and I quote this from the manual, “are more interested in the story.” Ho ho ho ho ho. My sides, they are splitting. But in all grounding of reality, go with Boy Scout as you can finish the ten hour ordeal and then return the game to your local Blockbuster or trade it in for something of quality. You can unlock the other difficulty settings on further playthroughs.
And trust me, the one ending you get is as anticlimactic as the Dreamcatcher Necronomicon game. Short, insipid, and if you were playing through simply to say you beat the game, welcome to disappointment alley!
You get no noticeable bonuses for playing through DCotE, and really, only the most delusional gamer will want to play again or make claims that this is anything close to an actual Mythos story is setting or theme save from the outright “Let’s gut everything that makes The Shadow Over Innsmouth a great story and replace it with guns and the ability to kill Dagon with four shots from a gun!” attitude.
But hey, twenty possible ways to replay the game and get the same ending. That counts for something, right? RIGHT?
Replayability Rating: 4/10
6. Balance
Balance is probably the trickiest part of DCotE to review. Unlike most games, there is no real bar or numerical data indicating your health and/or sanity level. Instead you have to use visual clues such as the sanity effects or your screen getting splattered with blood/losing colour. The other option is to go into the menu screen and see how badly damaged Jack appears to you on that. If he’s got a bloody stump for a right arm, it’s a good indication that you should heal that bit of him. There are also various forms of healing in the game, each with their own special effect. The problem is healing takes time, and under certain situations, it may be better to stay injured than take that vital time to risk healing yourself.
The other aspect of balance is of course regarding combat. And sadly, here things get wonky. Battles are either crazy hard or so easy you have to wonder what the developers were thinking making it so say, JACK WALTERS CAN DEFEAT FLIPPIN’ DAGON WITH FOUR SHOTS OF A WEAPON! Of course, when compared to things like the chase scene I mentioned earlier, it almost seems like Head First had a form of schizophrenia itself, half the team made the game a cakewalk, the other made it frustrating and annoying.
Aside from that, there are several excellent puzzles. The safe puzzles are a nice idea, and something I haven’t seen since Still Life by The Adventure Company. There’s also a good deal of sleuth work to engage in and a nice “how to sneak” intro towards the first 30 minutes of the game. With things like this, DCOtE has provided some excellent tutorials and hints which you can turn on or off in the game menu. Good for them!
Balance Rating: 5/10
7. Originality
Well, let’s see. Original story? Nope. Adaptation of a HPL story instead of doing a new one. Sanity Effects? Nope. Been done in other games. First Person Horror title? Nope. It’s been done with games like HellNight. First Person Shooter with monsters? Umm…Doom anyone?
Really there’s very little in this game that when separated into the component pieces has any originality whatsoever. But with all the pieces tied together? It’s the only Mythos inspired First Person Survival Horror Shooter where you can die from going mad as well as being eaten by Fish People that I can think of.
I will say I enjoy the difference you will encounter between aimed and standard attacks. I’m not the biggest fan of FPS games, but I will say I like the reality of recoil and a nervous/going mad Jack has shaky aim.
In the end, there’s nothing highly original nor anything truly cliche and overdone in the game. It fills a niche, and a very small one at that, but at least it gets filled.
Originality Rating: 5/10
8. Addictiveness
Well, one thing I will say for DCotE, is that it was hard for me to put the bloody thing down. Of course most of that was wanting to beat the game from spite and checking the “% completed” screen so I knew how much longer I’d have to deal with this game. But things like the chase scenes and a few other places in the game where you’ll die a few dozen times before finally thankfully getting through the scene are where you’ll be so tempted to stop playing for a while and let your ire die down, but as the game only quick saves at the start of new scenes instead of fully saving the game, you’ve got two choices: massive backtrack or forge ahead. So you keep playing, although it’s kind of a negative form of addiction rather than a “Holy hell, I love playing this wonderful game. In no way does it make me want to drink lye!”
As well, when you’re dealing with the more Lovecraftian aspects of the game, such as sneaking around to get some forgotten tome of unspeakable lore, or putting the six year gap of Jack’s life together, it’s quite fun. Heck, even the FPS aspects taken without being scrutinized through a Mythos microscope are enjoyable, and I generally do not enjoy FPS games unless they’re Eye of the Beholder or the like.
The game does go by quite quickly as well, not counting the time you spend repeatedly dying of course. And as it is so short, you do get draw into it very quickly. It may sound funny to say that the first 2-2.5 hours have no violence whatsoever, but that’s 20-25% of the game!
So I’ll have to say DCotE has a decent amount of addiction to the game, but in a negative way, and most people will get frustrated with the game/simply put it down. Remember, the FPS aspects will put off the core CoC audience, and the lack of heavy violence for a lot of the game will put off the FPS audience.
Addictiveness Rating: 6/10
9. Appeal Factor
Well, that was a nice segueway, no?
As mentioned throughout this entire review, Head First has managed to make a game guaranteed to alienate any real audience. I’ve asked three gaming stores so far, and heard the same thing from all the clerks: People are curious but not willing to buy. Why? Lovecraft does not mix with an FPS. Cut and dry. Not an intelligent decision. Of course, neither was taking a pen and paper RPG license and then NOT USING IT AT ALL. That’s like taking Shadowrun’s license and making a platformer out of it. Or why not Vampire: The Masquerade and turning it into a cell shaded 2D shooter! It makes about as much sense!
The Cthulhu Mythos is all about brains over brawn and Bethesda has published a game where you blow the heads off of Deep Ones. Hello? You’ve basically alienated your average Cthulhu freak. And First Person Shooter fans? They’re going to go nuts with rage over the lack of violence for the first fourth of the game and that some times they can’t fight back, and half to run like this was some fish filled version of Clock Tower/ And trust me, Scissorsman is an enemy I’d rather go into combat against over amphibious scale encrusted spellcasting greater servitors of Cthulhu himself who are naturally smarter, faster, stronger, and tougher than any hairless ape!
Much like Shining Force Neo was a game created without the glory of common sense (Let’s take a strategy RPG and turn it into a Diablo Clone!), a game that should have been an action adventure or RPG game is instead in a genre that typifies everything that would make Lovecraft sick to his stomach.
The overall reaction I’ve seen is “CoC should not be an FS game” save from a few people who utterly ignore this is the antithesis of almost everything written as part of the Mythos collective.
Plus, the total lack of marketing for this game coupled with the six year delay doesn’t help getting those copies off the shelf either. Unless you are a diehard person who will buy anything Lovecraft, CoC, or Mythos related or someone who can try and rationalize a Cthulhu game chock full of gunshots, this game isn’t for you. It’s destined for a small cult appeal where the general public thinks the game sucks and it sells poorly, while a small fanatical audience that utterly loves this game for some odd reason will exist. I call it Beyond Good & Evil syndrome.
Appeal Factor Rating: 4/10
I’ve really ragged on this game for 12 (soon to be 13) pages now. And trust me, every last bit of it is deserved. However, the game isn’t awful. On it’s own, it’s a decent FPS that tries to do something different from “Run around with guns and kill things.” Sure that’s there in spades, but they have branched out a bit. If you’re looking for a quick weekend rental and you’ve run out of First Person Shooters to play, than give this a shot. It may click for you where it utterly failed with me.
But as a Lovecraft homage game, it’s pretty poor. It gets little right which is utterly baffling considering the amount of delays put on this game was enough time to make an entirely new game in its stead.
If you can ignore all the anger and anal retentive nit picking I mentioned in the Story section of this game, you might be able to enjoy this game a bit. But Cthulhu ANYTHING should be about story first and foremost, so I have to give this game a thumbs down. It’s like setting the foundation of a house and using cake batter instead of mortar or cement. No matter how good you try to make the finish product, it’s still going to crumble easily and the fault will show to any sort of knowledgeable person inspecting the end result.
Miscellaneous Rating: 5/10
Story 3
Sound: 6
Control/Gameplay: 6
Replayability: 4
Originality: 5
Addictiveness: 6
Appeal Factor: 4
Miscellaneous: 5
Total Score: 51
Overall Score: 5.0 (AVERAGE)
Mediocrity, thy name is Dark Corners of the Earth. The only Call Cthulhu is hearing from this game is, “Stay in bed dark lord. The Stars sure as shit aren’t right yet if this game is any indication. Keep slumbering there in R’lyeh until something deserving of your name is finally released.” Awful Cthulhu game. Decent FPS with monsters. It all averages out to well…average. Pick it up if you’re curious, but for almost everyone this is a one shot rental you’ll be thankful afterwards that you didn’t add to your permanent collection. I swear to god, Head First and Bethesda better have learned from all six years of madness that went into this game, but knowing the VG industry, I strongly doubt it.
Encore Extra Stage #09
Review: Need for Speed: SHIFT (Microsoft Xbox 360)
5 Comments | Oct 21, 2009
Review: Cave Story 3D (Nintendo 3DS)
Review: Deception IV (Playstation 3)
Alexander Lucard
Alexander Lucard was the Editor-in-Chief of Diehard GameFAN and Director of Operations for the InsidePulse network. He has since retired from writing, but clearly shows up now and again. He has worked in video game journalism since 2002 and was also a paid consultant for Konami and The Pokemon Company. Alex has previously written for Tips N Tricks, Gamespot, White Wolf, TSR, Wizards of the Coast, Eden Studios, 411mania, Not a True Ending and more. His writing could also be found in the monthly periodicals Massive Online Gamer and Pokemon Collector Magazine.
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Microsoft to relaunch its search engine Bing.com
Microsoft is set to relaunch its rebranded search engine Bing.com in an attempt to overtake its nearest rival Yahoo. A beta version of the search engine will go live in the US later this before being launched later worldwide.
While most new search engines claim that they are set to take on the market leader Google, which boasts over 64% of the global market, Microsoft are targeting Yahoo, who currently enjoy a 20% share in contrast to Microsoft's 8.2%
According to the software giant, Bing will understand the intentions of search queries and thus deliver more relevant results. Paul Stoddart, Microsoft UK's search team leader, hopes that the new site will create an "emotional connection" with its users.
"Google haven't been able to innovate a lot of the UI (user interface) because they have to display their ads as that's how they make their revenue. We can try things a bit differently," Mr Stoddart told the BBC.
internet,
Microsoft,
yahoo,
Your iPad is evil
Microsoft and Yahoo agree web deal
Microsoft's Bing closes in on Yahoo
Yahoo cuts off talks with Microsoft and turns to Google
Tim Bernier-Lee is anti-Phorm
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Deed from Indians on the Susquehanna (1700)
1 2019-06-12T19:08:07-07:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a 7200 1 (path) gallery 2019-06-12T19:08:07-07:00 1700 Susquehannock (Conestoga) people. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (10768). Land deed from the Susquehannah Indians to William Penn dated September 13th, 1700. The deed concerns rights to the "River Susquehannah and all the Islands therein and all the Lands Situate lying and being upon both sides of the said River," as well as nearby woods, underwoods, miners, quarries, and other resources. Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a
1 2018-02-12T13:39:28-08:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a Transcribed Records Will Fenton 23 image_header 2020-12-06T06:39:50-08:00 Will Fenton 82bf9011a953584cd702d069a30cbdb6ef90650a
1 2016-08-19T14:51:30-07:00 An Act for Preventing Tumults and Riotous Assemblies 3 An act for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies, and for the more speedy and effectual punishing the rioters. gallery 2018-02-12T12:38:16-08:00 [Philadelphia : Printed by B. Franklin, 1764] Pennsylvania. Call Number: Tower 722.5 Passed Feb. 3, 1764, in response to the actions of the Paxton Boys. Caption title, preceded by headlines. Ascribed to the press of Benjamin Franklin by Hildeburn. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9782; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W7478; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1949; Miller, C.W. Franklin, 816. Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
1 2016-08-19T12:58:20-07:00 An Address of Thanks to the Wardens of Christ Church and St. Peters 1 An address of thanks to the wardens of Christ Church and St. Peters, : and the Reverend W----S----h. D.D. [i.e. William Smith] provost of the college and tool to the p----r, and J---b D---e A.M. and MV.D. [i.e. Jacob Duche] From F---- A.----n D.D. [i.e. Francis Alison] and J---n E----g [i.e. John Ewing] in their own name and in the name of all the Presbyterian ministers in Pennsylvania. ... Reverend and worthy gentlemen; Permit us to return you ... our most sincere thanks for opening your church doors to dissenters in general, and us on particular ... to carry into execution a scheme of the utmost importance for the advantage of our profession; the down-fall of monarchy; and the support of a republican government ... 2016-08-19T12:58:20-07:00 Alison, Francis, 1705-1779. LCP #Am 1764 Alison 959.F.76 [Philadelphia, Pa. : Printed by Anthony Armbruster, 1764] Dated: Philadelphia, October the 26th. 1764. Imprint supplied by Evans. Printed area measures 27.4 x 15.0 cm. 1 sheet ([1] p.) ; 29 x 17 cm Evans, C. American bibliography, 9560; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W1211; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1940. 1 1
1 2016-08-19T12:59:53-07:00 The Addition to the Epitaph 1 The addition to the epitaph, without the copper-plate. 2016-08-19T12:59:53-07:00 Dove, David James, 1696?-1769. LCP # Am 1764 Dove 959.F.67 [Philadelphia, Pa. : Printed by Anthony Armbruster, 1764] "A burlesque in the form of a prayer to the Devil."--Hildeburn. Text begins: Thou great Prince of Darkness! Thou author of all rebellions and insurrections, whether Paxtonian or others! Thou Father of my friend the Kirk. Concerns the Paxton Boys' march on Philadelphia. The target of this satirical piece sided with the Paxton Boys, and opposed Benjamin Franklin's negotiations. At head of title, within an ornament (Reilly 120): The authentic one. Attributed by Evans to David James Dove. Imprint supplied by Evans. 1 sheet ([1] p.) ; 31 x 29 cm Evans, C. American bibliography, 9645; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W21213; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1938 1 1
1 2016-08-19T14:52:52-07:00 By the Honourable John Penn 2 By the Honourable John Penn, Esq; lieutenant-governor and commander in chief of the province of Pennsylvania, and counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex, on Delaware, a proclamation. : Whereas on the twenty-second day of December last I issued a proclamation, for the apprehending and bringing to justice a number of persons, who ... had inhumanely killed six of the Indians, who had lived in Conestogoe Manor ... Given under my hand, and the great seal of the said province, at Philadelphia, the second day of January ... one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four. gallery 2018-02-12T12:40:19-08:00 Philadelphia [Pa.]: : Printed by B. Franklin, and D. Hall., [1764] Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Governor (1763-1771 : Penn). Call Number: Ab 1764 -1 Signed: John Penn. By His Honour's command, Joseph Shippen, secretary. At head of title: royal arms. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9783; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W7605; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2043; Miller, C.W. Franklin, 825. Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
1 2016-08-19T12:58:42-07:00 A Conference Between the Devil and Doctor Dove 1 A Conference between the D---l and Doctor D--e [graphic] : Together with the Doctor's Epitaph on himself ; Here continues to rot ... 2016-08-19T12:58:42-07:00 LCP Cartoons [1764] Con [959.F.69] [Philadelphia, ca. 1764] The conference, between the Devil and David James Dove, is depicted in a cartoon above the title; the text, in two columns, is a mock epitaph accusing Dove of sexual immorality. Imprint supplied by Evans. Text in two columns; engraved cut at head of title. 1 print : etching and engraving ; 40 x 19 cm. (16 x 7.5 in.) Evans, C. American bibliography, 9617; Murrell, 16 1 1
1 2016-08-19T15:02:52-07:00 Copy of a Letter From Charles Read 1 gallery 2016-08-19T15:02:52-07:00
1 2016-08-19T12:58:17-07:00 The Counter Medley 1 The counter-medly, being a proper answer to all the dunces of the medly and their abettors. 2016-08-19T12:58:17-07:00 Dove, David James, 1696?-1769. HSP Bc 612 C83 [Philadelphia : Printed by Anthony Armbruster, 1765] David James Dove's reply to Isaac Hunt's The medley, accusing Dove of gross immorality. Verse in sixteen stanzas; first line: Hail poets twelve! None like you e'er were born. Followed by: A song. To the tune of a free and an accepted Mason. First lines: Come let us prepare We true men that are. Imprint supplied by Evans. Text in four columns; engraved cut at head of title. 1 sheet : ill. (engraved cut) ; ?�. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9943 1 1
1 2016-08-19T12:59:28-07:00 The Election, a Medley 1 The election a medley, humbly inscribed, to Squire Lilliput Professor of Scurrillity. [graphic]. 2016-08-19T12:59:28-07:00 LCP Political Cartoons - [1764] Ele [1885.F.32] [Philadelphia: s.n., 1764] A pro-Franklin cartoon depicting a crowd gathered to vote at the Philadelphia courthouse during the Pennsylvania Assembly Election of October 1764. The print advocates Franklin's appointment as provincial agent to Britain despite his election loss which was a result of his double-sided politics in dealing with the "Paxton Boys;" white frontiersmen who murdered peaceful Native Americans. Contains thirty-three verses attributed to Rev. Isaac Hunt to be sung to various tunes. Created as an attack on satirist James Dove, referred to in this title as "Squire Lilliput Professor of Scurrility," in response to his anti-Franklin print, "The Paxton Expedition." The courthouse crowd includes caricatures of James Dove and five African Americans, including a woman stating "Mase Lidiput you puchuss a me;" a reference to a character pursued sexually by Dove in an earlier anti-Dove cartoon, "A Conference between the Devil and Mr. Dove" (1764). Place and date of publication provided by Snyder and Murrell. Possibly after the work of Henry Dawkins. Manuscript note on recto in Watson's hand: Wrote by the Revd. Isaac Hunt at or before 1764 - when Franklin was made agent to London for this "Medley" says "Franklin will be agent." [and] Property of John F. Watson. Manuscript note on verso: Purchased from John F. Watson, Esq. June 14 1860. C.P. [Charles Poulson]. 1 print: etching and engraving on laid paper; 48 x 36 cm. (19 x 14 in.) Evans, C. American bibliography, 9650 1 1
1 2016-08-19T13:44:05-07:00 Explanatory Remarks on the Assembly's Resolves 2 Explanatory remarks on the Assembly's resolves, published in the Pennsylvania gazette, no. 1840. gallery 2018-02-12T12:41:54-08:00 [Philadelphia, Pa. : Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1764] Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790. Call Number: Am 1764 Franklin 992.F.19 Setting forth the case against proprietary government. Caption title. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin by Miller. Imprint supplied by Miller. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9656; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W17046; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1987; Miller, C.W. Franklin, 806. Library Company of Philadelphia.
1 2016-08-19T12:58:26-07:00 Franklin and the Quakers 1 [Franklin and the Quakers [graphic] / James Claypoole?]. 2016-08-19T12:58:26-07:00 Claypoole, James, 1720-1784?, etcher. LCP Cartoons [1764 Fra] [Watson's Annals Ms. p.274. (HSP)] [Philadelphia, 1764] 1 print : etching and engraving ; 19 x 33 cm. (7.25 x 13 in.) Murrell, 13 1 1
1 2016-08-19T13:00:25-07:00 The German Bleeds and Bears Ye Furs 2 The German Bleeds & bears ye Furs Of Quaker Lords & Savage Curs ... [graphic]. plain 2016-08-31T18:47:18-07:00
1 2016-08-19T12:58:25-07:00 An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies 1 An Indian Squaw King Wampum spies ... [graphic] : [first of eighteen lines of verse / Henry Dawkins]. 2016-08-19T12:58:25-07:00 Claypoole, James, 1720-1784?, etcher. HSP Bc 612 D32a [Philadelphia, 1764] Attributed to Claypoole. 1 print : etching ; 21 x 26 cm. (8.25 x 10.25 in.) Murrell, 14. 1 1
1 2017-10-07T12:20:03-07:00 The Indians giving a talk to Colonel Bouquet in a conference at a council fire... 3 (annotation) plain 2019-06-14T18:17:19-07:00
1 2016-08-19T12:59:17-07:00 The Life and Adventures of a Certain Quaker Presbyterian Indian Colonel 1 Now in the press, and will be speedily published, the life and adventures of a certain Quaker Presbyterian Indian colonel. : To which is added, the qualifications necessary to entitle a man to the dignified name of a modern moderate Quaker. / By Tim Trimmer. 2016-08-19T12:59:17-07:00 Trimmer, Tim LCP Am 1766 Tri 992 .F.38a [Philadelphia : s.n, 1766] In opposition to the election of John Dickinson to the Assembly. 1 sheet ; 39 x 25 cm English short title catalogue (ESTC), W35895 1 1
1 2016-08-19T14:39:59-07:00 A Looking-Glass for Presbyterians (Inscribed: J. Arbo) 2 A looking-glass for Presbyterians. Or A brief examination of their loyalty, merit, and other qualifications for government. : With some animadversions on the Quaker unmask'd. Humbly address'd to the consideration of the loyal freemen of Pennsylvania. gallery 2018-02-12T01:33:35-08:00 Philadelphia. : Printed [by Anthony Armbruster], in the year M,DCC,LXIV. [1764] Hunt, Isaac, approximately 1742-1809. Call Number: Am 1764 Hun Ar64 L87a Inscribed: J. Arbo (Expanded). "To the friends of Pennsylvania and lovers of liberty. This Looking-glass is with much affection and great respect inscribed by a Pennsylvanian."--p. 3. Attributed to Isaac Hunt by Evans. Ascribed to the press of Anthony Armbruster by Evans. "Appendix. The substance, of a council held at Lancaster August the 28th 1764, by a committee of Presbyterian ministers .."--p. [25]-34. "A dialogue between a churchman in the country, and a Presbyterian in the city of Philadelphia."--p. 35-38. "A letter from a gentleman in
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Digital vocabulary How Internet and Gadgets Define Us
Invisible algorithms and digital semantics
Media asceticism
Perils and disorders
Creation on the Net
Digital routine
Network communication on the run
The new feelings
Attention on the Net
The Internet sociology
“Human — tool interaction” Principle
Three stages of technology grasp
Magic perception of technology
“Human — tool interaction” Principle — technologies undertake certain human functions, change their habits and behaviour.
Extension of man
Canadian father of media philosophy Marshall McLuhan considered technology as an extension of man. Any tool enhances the abilities of the human body. Hunting bow lengthen the hunter’s hand, car expands the opportunity to travel. Speech extends the senses potential, that is to say through stories you can keep the memories and through narrative — trigger and convey emotions.
According to the principle of “human — tool interaction” man gives shape to the instrument, and tool in response changes the man. People invented the cell phone and it modified our speech, pace of living and our mobility. The Internet expands the human nervous system, and it goes outside the human body. As written by Marshall McLuhan, “Now man is beginning to wear his brain outside his skull and his nerves outside his skin.”
The technologies not only extend man. Man delegates the technology specific functions and in time these abilities or skills die. Automatic literacy check takes out the need for orthography; the Internet transforms the principles of thinking, portable gadgets changes the memory, etc. These changes may have both pros and cons, but one thing is clear — new technologies breed a new man.
Technologies influence is not limited to the personal practices of a person. Technologies reform our society, politics, economics (supersystems), and intrude into areas such as conscience or feelings. Create an algorithm that will automatically make decisions for a human or will take on the role of commentator on the Internet, and the human’s conscience may eventually atrophy.
Personal practices
In our interactions with technology we have very much unconscious, “implicit”. In relationships with technologies, as in the language, there are explicit and implicit levels. When a person saves the document in Dropbox to return to it in the future, it is a conscious action and it obviously exhibits their culture. When a girl unconsciously pushes out her lips, when pointing at herlefself the smartphone objective — this fact refers to the unconscious, “implicit culture”. Most people are not even aware of the absurdity of many of their actions, which appeared thanking to the invasion of technology into their lives. These meaningless automatic reactions often take the form of dependence. Just a couple of years of evolution, and here we are unconsciously getting the smartphone, just to feel bored, or take selfie in the toilets.
Technologies sneak in quietly to our habits, slowly taking off our guard. As noticed by Alan Cooper in his book “The inmates are running the asylum”, “Computer literacy is that it is like anesthesia: the patient drifts slowly and gently into unconsciousness.” “Frog caught in a pot of cold water on the stove, is not aware of how deadly is the temperature rising. On the contrary, heat dulls the senses of frog.”
Technologies change our lives unnoticed by us. Like the frog we are experiencing slow anesthetic intrusion of technology into our everyday life.
Three stages of technology grasp — Shock, Fascination and Estrangement. These are three stages which an individual or society goes through in the face of a new technology (based on publications of Anton Gumenskiy).
Stage number 1. The Shock
Every new technology right after its launch usually gets cool welcome of the masses. Unknown technology startles, scares, confuses. It offers new forms of interaction, and if it also aspires to take the lead in person’s life, then it adjusts their habits considerably. People still don’t understand the technology essence, how to make the most of it and what hazards it conceals. Man is afraid of losing control over the situation and his habitual world perception. Person experience hostility and undergoes techno stress.
The first to begin to go and use the technology are the most educated innovators and the early followers. As a rule, they are opinion leaders, ambassadors for technologies, covered all over with new gadgets, and dashing off reviews for fashion magazines.
Stage number 2. The Fascination
Person starts to get the feeling of overall comprehension of the technology as they grasp it. There comes the period of heavy use. Imagine a child given a bike or a camera, and he or she would plunge into a new hobby. The crowd in front of the shop on the eve of market launch of the new phone model, millions users of the new social network, — are all a manifestation of this stage.
The user is hooked on and mesmerized by the technology, not able to think sensibly. This sometimes causes failures: selfie in the toilet, check for updates of news feed for every five minutes and ridiculous statements in Twitter from famous people who would never have taken the liberty to say such a thing in public.
At this stage the use of technology often has a ritual nature. The person still can’t make head nor tail of the technology working principles. Extreme examples of this are the cargo cults. Man treats the technology as a magic, being enchanted by the new opportunities.
So, the attitude of modern user to gadgets at this stage is not much different from the attitude of some aboriginal to his tool. Aboriginals were dependent on their spears, they felt attraction towards them, embellished them (just as modern users beautify their gadgets with colored cases), the wife of the hunter could be jealous to hunting weapons. To cut a long story short, there is every emotion and behavioral characteristic that can be seen in modern users of tablets or smartphones.
This stage is a heyday of all kinds of media and technology addictions. Technologies keep a tight rein on the behaviour of users.
Stage number 3. The Estrangement
If a person is aware of their user experience, they can consciously separate themselves from the technology. At best, person draws the line and halts the automatic reaction. This scenario may spring to life only on condition person opts for a conscious approach and views his actions in a sensible light.
The other way is almost impossible when technology is omnipresent — is a technology renunciation. Haven’t weathered the storm, person cuts off the technology, and “leaves for analog forests”. The desire to turn off the Internet, to be removed from social networking are the feelings related to the third stage. Complete unplugging is more of a loss than a step towards freedom and new experiences. Periodic digital detoxes are not the plasters for all sores, but may tune up the experience in some way, and clear the way to realization of your anxiety about technology use.
Both technologies users and technologies creators are expected to develop a completely different from the consumer’s or user’s attitude, but an ascetic one to the technical object. As stated by the philosopher of technology Gilbert Simondon, “We should not be consumed with passion for technical objects; the attitude towards them should not be equal to a ridiculous affair. On the other hand, you should not be indifferent to them, treat them like slaves. We need to develop a friendly, correct form of co-existence with them in the same room.”
Magic perception of technology — perception of technologies as magic objects, since people possess both poor technoculture and comprehension of working principles of technology.
Erik Davis in his book “TechGnosis: Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information” notes, that technomania has magical nature and mystical faith in the omnipotence of the technologies.
“Historians were wrong drawing the conclusion that magic disappeared with the coming of ‘quantitative science’. The last has just substituted the known part of magic. Electricity, fast transport, radio and television, aviation and computers have just fulfilled the promises first formulated by magic, becoming the result of supernatural creation of wizards. Technology […] embodied our ideas and wishes, first appeared in alchemical beakers of the sealed mysticism.” Erik Davis, american writer and journalist
The fact remains that people do not understand the principles of operation of “techno-things”. Physics, chemistry and electricity for many remain “a thing in itself”, which functioning principles are unknown and which defy common sense. We easily let technologies into our life, use them for enjoyment and relaxation, or for maintenance of the essential life processes, but in most cases perceive them as black boxes. Person wants the bank card to give answer immediately, without understanding that the signal needs to circumnavigate the globe before the screen shows the desired numbers. There is a special word for this phenomenon — “automagically”. It describes the situations when something happens automatically but in unclear way.
The age of social networks combined the social and technological, letting magic perception into our relationships with others. Magic perception of social networks is revealed by the accurate observation of Soren Gordhamer noted in his book on the nature of social networking “Wisdom 2.0: Exploring Ancient Wisdom in Modern Life”:
“Refreshing your Facebook page today is like pulling the handle of a game machine. By pressing F5 we expect to hit the information jackpot, to see something that will change our lives”
Each update can be perceived as a personal conversion of the world to the user through their virtual presence: “So, let’s see what life has brought us this time.”
Soren Gordhamer is the founder of the conference Wisdom 2.0, which gathers programmers and managers of Facebook, PayPal, Google and the other services to discuss with psychologists and experts on meditation the principles which it is possible to build computer services on.
Have you ever noticed that you treat some technology around you as something magic?
Hence comes the term AFK (Away From Keyboard). It is an acronym, meaning that the person is not in front of a computer. The term faded into insignificance with the spread of mobile Internet. Now person is online actually anytime and anywhere.
“Digital Vocabulary” is an extremely time-sensitive project. A few years ago, warnings regarding new technologies could be considered far-fetched. However, today we understand that the principle “I’ll turn it off if I please” no longer works: technology has been long now deciding when it is time to switch us on and off — by operating cycles, TV-program schedules, alarm clocks in smartphones, mobile apps, games and wearable devices. An important thing is that operational guidelines go hand-in-hand with theory. Thus, it allows not only to adapt to the prevailing conditions but also to suggest how the situation will develop further. And then, apparently, the next initiative by “Digital Vocabulary” authors will be required — new technologies and social changes are not long in coming.
Anton Gumenskiy
Media Researcher, Lecturer Theory of Communication Faculty of International Journalism at MGIMO
There is hardly anything more natural to a man than attempts to understand themselves. Every day we think over our behavior, analyze feelings and motives. Technologies are a part of our lives — the further, the greater their impact. It means that our condition, relationships with close ones, friends and colleagues also depend on new world structure. The “Digital Vocabulary” project, laid-back, by dint of observations and researches explains where we have come to, where we are going to, and why everything is the way it is. In other words, it gives meaningfulness to our actions.
Anastasia Chernikova
IT Journalist, Editor at Hopes & Fears
I’m getting old, the twinkle in my stardust is fading like a birthday candle. I remember the time when a friend told me about a lecture he’d just attended, it was a time with no personal computers and no mobile phones – yes, such a time actually existed, I was born in that time. My friend told me that the lecturer had said “In the future, there will be two kinds of people, technocrats and technopeasants,” Well, here we are in the future (a future sadly bereft of hover scooters) and I guess that prophetic lecturer was right. I had chosen to be on the side of the technopeasants because I figured that the world of theatre, “to which I am shackled like a boozer to his bottle, a dogged gambler to his game…” would not be impinged upon by the technological revolution. Well, I was wrong and the reason I was wrong is because the technological revolution has gotten rid of the actor and replaced him with an uber-marionette of cosmic proportions – it has changed the mind of man – it may be that we are no longer able to “hold a mirror up to nature” as creative artists but that the quantum and intra worlds of meta-linguistics are actually dragging us by the ego into the whirlpool of narcissism, where we are being devoured by vicious metal sharks and turned into bloody chum – until that is the human voices of digital detox wake us, “and we drown.”
Martin Cooke
Artistic Director, English Actors International
The “Digital Vocabulary” is a unique project. Nowadays, a great many write about technology’s impact on mankind (I’ve read almost everything of that, therefore my judgement can be called authoritative), but only Alex and Dmitry could comprehend, make it loud and simple, show it from an unexpected point of view, bring in their own insights and create a fabulous in its depth analytical portal, which considers all the aspects of the homo digitalis life. It is remarkable that both voluntarily Internet-addicted and committed techno luddites and media ascetics would find a lot of exciting things. Highly recommended to all fans of pushing the boundaries of reality: “Digital Vocabulary” provides a detailed 3D-model of the digital world and tools to its contemplation.
Irina Gusinskaya
Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Head of Interactive Publishing at Alpina Publisher
Our most precious, irreplaceable resource is our time. For me personally, books are one of the wisest ways we can invest that time. A book is the direct transfer, mind to mind, of the thoughts of another human being. Today, we are assailed by a thousand distractions every hour, as various sources of information compete for our attention. Those of us who grew up in the pre-Internet era know the slow time experience of immersion in a powerful or moving book. And when we switch our attention to Facebook, or Reddit, or any of a million and one other potential distractions, we are losing our time to an insidious digital addiction.
The shallow accretions of Internet data doses are finely tuned to captivate our attention, titillating our minds with illusory promises of satisfaction which can never be fulfilled except by more of the same, in an endless cycle of meme, news flash and tawdry ‘human interest’ stories, optimized with click-bait headlines. What we gain in content, we lose in meaning.
We are also losing our privacy, our innocence and most importantly, we are losing the ability to think deeply about important subjects. As long as we embrace too-easy gratification, we will continue to remain in thrall to the digital domination of instant information. I am concerned that human beings are subjecting themselves to a new way to trigger neuro-chemical changes in our brains, that may ultimately lead to a decline in the quality of our human relationships.
I therefore advocate and support the message of entering slow time. Take a hike in nature. Disconnect from the constant digital flood. Interact with your friends. Share a meal together. Switch off from every external distraction, and embrace the flow of life beyond the digital fix. Your future may depend upon it.
Paul Gillingwater
Journalist & Filmmaker. Managing Editor at The Local Austria
It’s about time someone(s) put together a GPS for navigating the digital gadget landscape. And Alex and Dmitriy have succeeded in this wonderfully! More than a dictionary of terms that only a geek could love, this vocabulary introduces and explains key terms in both their technical and cultural significance. Moreover there are highlighted key sentences in each section for those who have only an “Internet minute” to cover the material.
Tom Mahon
Technology Publicist, Journalist and Activist
Author “Charged Bodies: People, Power, and Paradox in Silicon Valley”
The Digital Vocabulary Project is a nuanced perspective to how we, digital media practitioners and theorists look at the digital landscape. The Internet of Things and Big Data have massively revolutionized our lives in profound ways. These technological and structurally changes to our personal and professional lives, has brought about social, cultural and political implications. This nuanced perspective is what project presents to its readers. As a marketing communications professional I have seen numerous studies and analyses written about how the digital revolution is and will continue to create tremendous economic opportunities for brands and marketers. I have also heard perspectives on how consumer behavior is greatly influenced through these advancements in technology. But what Alex and Dmitriy bring to the table is a psychological and sociological perspective to these changes. The Digital Vocabulary Project zeros in on the central theme of digital anthropology — which is increasingly important in this day and age, as we progress into an even more technologically advanced world.
Florent D’Souza
Consultant. Aspiring entrepreneur. Strategist. Marketing communications professional. Polymath.
Digital Vocabulary
hello@digitalvocabulary.com
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PHILIPPE PARRENO ELSEWHEN
Collateral Event of the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is pleased to announce the opening of its new exhibition, Elsewhen, displaying a whole new installation by French artist Philippe Parreno at the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia. As part of the Collateral Events of the 58th International Art
Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, this presentation has been produced in the framework of the Fondation Louis Vuitton “Hors-lesmurs” programme. This programme, inaugurated in 2014, showcases previously unseen holdings of the Collection in the Espaces
Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Beijing and Venice, thus realizing the Fondation’s commitment to mount international projects and make them accessible to a broader public.
Emerging on the art scene in the early 1990s, Philippe Parreno constantly changes the relationship of an artwork and its exhibition ‒ the very notion of the exhibition is a creative piece; a polyphonic entity that he conceives as a large automaton composed of diverse media, ranging from film, IT and soundtrack, to drawing, sculpture and animation. These elements come together in a scripted space, a choreography using a recurrent vocabulary that notably includes marquees, balloons, music, sounds, films and objects to create
an intangible sensory experience. Time is also a core component, setting a tempo for the exhibition: time-coded computer programmes create sequences, control sound, lighting effects and activate spaces and objects.
Parreno has used the activity of living microorganisms housed in a bioreactor conceived and engineered by scientists Jean-Baptiste Boulé (CNRS ‒ French National Centre for Scientific Research, French National Museum of Natural History, Sorbonne University) and Nicolas Desprat (Statistical Physics Laboratory, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research ‒ University Paris-Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité) to run his exhibitions If This Then Else (Gladstone Gallery, New York, 2016). Yeasts have continued to grow and mutate throughout major exhibitions at Tate Modern, London, the Jumex Museum, Mexico City, or the Gropius Bau, Berlin. Each presentation is an experiment that measures reactions of the microorganisms to their environment which, in turn, will influence the exhibition. This new work continues this story and the enduring development of the microorganisms,the memory of the exhibition played back as remembered by the bioreactor.
While the walls are covered in a phosphorescent yellow wallpaper patterned with black irises, a grand luminous marquee,reinventing those that once stood on top of cinema entrances, floats above a large vertical mechanical mirrored shutter.
An experimental hybrid digital programme controls these interdependent elements, causing light to appear or disappear at irregular intervals by rotating the louvres and forcing pulses of air or synthetically generated sounds, all echoing the microorganisms’
reactions integrated in the programme. As the blinds move, the mirror reflects silhouettes of viewers and the structure of the marquee. When the light turns out, all shapes become ghostlike, accentuated by the phosphorescent walls mutating to dark
green and black. Far from their initial utilitarian nature, the elements take on a playfully equivocal identity, bringing the pulse of life into the space and building a singular interaction between the viewer and the context.
Samstag, Mai 11, 2019 bis Sonntag, November 24, 2019
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Defiled Young Housewife- Part 4
Defiled Young Housewife- Part 4Returning to her knees, Reggie yanked her close to the edge of the bed and shoved her legs wide open. “This is better, Christy. It’s best if we don’t fight. We’ve already done plenty of nasty things that I’m sure you don’t want your husband or anyone else to ever know about, like how you like sucking my big black cock and swallowing my jism, and how much I make you cum when we fuck. You becoming my girlfriend, even if you don’t want to.”His face wore a disgusting smile as he said these awful things to her. She would never be his girlfriend.With her legs vulnerably apart, Reggie pulled her bikini briefs to the side — their delicate fabric strained in his fist like a stretched rubber band — and delved his tongue right into her soft pink flesh. Unable to control her body’s embarrassing reaction, her sweet juices began copiously flowing from her pussy into his mouth — exactly the response he sought from her.He parted her labia, keeping her completely open, and his tongue wandered over her clit. He carefully stroked her prepuce with his thumb, exposing her super-sensitive glans. He explored her other folds that were extensions of her clitoris, his tongue licking them, his fingers gently fondling them. Reggie had learned how susceptible Christy became when he touched her the right ways long enough.She sobbed. “Why won’t you just leave us alone? You made me have sex with you all last week. I don’t want to keep doing this with you. Please, it’s wrong. I’m married to Dave and I don’t want this.” But he kept her fully open, and wrong or not, her clit truthfully revealed something different to Reggie, growing noticeably fuller and harder from the unwanted stimulation he gave it. He would make her like it soon enough, he thought. She felt him doing unmentionable things to her down there — things she didn’t want to see. No one — not even Dave — ever touched her this way, did such perverse things to her, scrutinized her private anatomy in such humiliating detail. She would never permit anyone to do this to her. But Reggie wasn’t just anyone. He was a dangerous and powerful criminal, and he did what he wanted to her, touched her private parts in such intimate and embarrassing ways.”Oh, don’t do this to me again, Reggie —p-p-please.””You beautiful, baby,” he kept reassuring her as he held her pussy stretched completely open and manipulated her most private and sensitive places. “You my girlfriend and I love you.”His words gave no solace. She didn’t want his love, and her beauty wasn’t his to enjoy, yet he helped himself to it anyway. He had taken away her normal life and her self-confidence, turning Christy into a victim of sexual abuse, a damaged person. He had mortally wounded her once healthy marriage by destroying its monogamy, and he kept re-inflicting these wounds, keeping them raw and infected, making them fester. Filled with shame, her thoughts screamed: Oh, god, no. I’m so sorry, Dave. He’s stretching my pussy open, looking at me, touching me again! But there was nothing she could do to stop Reggie.He continued going down on her, licking and sucking on her clitoris. He performed oral sex on her like a starving man devouring a tasty morsel, her pussy the only delicious treat in weeks he binged upon. She squirmed beneath him, unable to move herself away from his unwanted attentions.His mouth stayed on her vagina and she couldn’t avoid receiving oral sex from him.”Please, stop it.” “Why you crying when it feel good, baby?””No, I don’t like it — please.””Your wet pussy be telling me something else— the truth, so stop lying.” His tongue resumed exploring her vagina after his humiliating comment.Christy stared at the ceiling, moans slowly infiltrating her pleas for him to stop. “No, I hate this and I hate you. Ooh… you bastard… ah, ooh…ooh, no — leave me alone. I need to look for work today. Ooh, ooh stop. No, please, not there again. Ah, aah, oh.” He kept licking and touching her clitoris, just the right way, sucking on it, and it began feeling good — really good — adding to her humiliation and frustration.He wasn’t her lover, but he came to know her like one. Every woman was unique, and during their times together Reggie had found Christy’s weaknesses — the techniques that evoked physical responses he sought from her. He had learned what gave her body pleasure. He kept focusing on those susceptibilities and specific places where bundles of nerves resided, sending delicious tidal waves to her brain. He held her completely open and Christy didn’t realize how candidly her body revealed what aroused it. But Reggie observed her responses when he did something she liked — the subtle undulations her pelvis made, the way her pussy moistened like the mouth salivates for something appetizing, the change of pitch in her voice, the faint moans that infiltrated her cries, the way her hands grasped him while attempting to push him away with less determination, and how her nipples hardened. He made her clitoris engorge and become ever more receptive to touch, and he continued indulging it. He gave Christy intense sensations he knew she didn’t want from him.She arched her back. “Ooh, no, not there anymore. Ooh, you bastard — stop doing that. Ah, oh, ooh, stop touching me there like that. No, don’t suck on it again. Oh, my god, don’t. Ooh, I’m going to tell the police, and have you sent to jail. Ah, ooh, ooh, ooh, oh my god — no.”Her body displayed its arousal like the easily read instrument panel in a fine sports car, and Reggie almost laughed at her empty threat. Besides his promise to kill her family and friends, she was too ashamed to ever concede to anyone that she had been fucked numerous times by a gang banger, a nigger from the hood who had forced her to cum. Her orgasms filled her with guilt and made telling anyone even more difficult. No, Christy would have reported him that very first time he had taken her if she was ever going to do it. Although Reggie felt confident that Christy would never make good on her threat and go to the police, he still needed to remind her of her place, and most importantly, keep her submissive. He briefly rose from between her legs, his hands grasping her thighs tightly and holding them spread apart, her silky juices glistening, practically dripping from his chin and lips like he had been eating luscious fruit. Christy thought she saw sparks of anger in his deep, dark eyes as she looked up at him from the bed.”You threaten me bitch?”She defiantly stared at him. He slapped her face, her head whipping sideways and an imprint of his hand remaining on her cheek. The blow was unexpected and blinding, like a strike of lightning. “Answer me, bitch.””Ow!” She rubbed her cheek where his strike had landed, bright sparks from his smack slowly clearing from her vision like afterimages from the flash of a camera. She made a mistake and had forgotten how violent he could be when she didn’t cooperate. “No Reggie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I promise I’ll never tell anyone about you.””Convince me then. Tell me you my girlfriend and that you love me.””I’m your girlfriend and I love you,” Christy sobbed. She hated saying that to him almost as much as having sex with him.”That’s right. Now keep repeating it. Remember that I own the police. I’ll know if you tell anyone about me, and so will my homeboys. Real bad things will happen to your family if anything happens to me. You my girl and you belong to me. Don’t forget it.” Her beautiful blue eyes remained locked to his.”Now keep your legs open wide for me, or it gonna be rough again. You understand me?” She brought her thumb to her lips and slowly nodded her reply, her eyes teary.”You not gonna give any more sass. You mine. You my girlfriend and you gonna learn to like this and love me. Say it to me again.” “I love you and I’m your girlfriend,” Christy cried.”And you like what I’m doing to you because it feels good, doesn’t it?Christy silently nodded.Now keep saying it, baby. Don’t make me remind you.” She obediently lay there while he grabbed her knees with his strong hands, spread her legs wide open, and resumed orally assaulting her. He went right for her clit again, keeping her at that threshold between torture and ungodly pleasure. She renewed her whimpers and her moans, fought her hips from rising. She hated him and the way her body yearned to respond to him. “Ooh, I’m your girlfriend… No, Reggie, please not there again. Oh, oh, no, that feels good. I love you. No, ooh, ooh, ah, ooh, I’m your girlfriend, please stop it. Ooh, ooh, I love you. Oh god don’t…”The oral sex lasted until Reggie fully ripened her for intercourse, her clit swollen hard from his unwanted attention. She rose on her elbows and looked down as he finally yanked her panties off.”What are you doing?” she stupidly asked between her sniffles, as if she didn’t already know from prior experience. Reggie again guided her legs apart until they could open no further. He positioned his cock at her luscious entrance. Christy’s hands grasped at his hips in desperation and tried holding him off. “No, I can’t have sex again, Reggie. I’m not taking birth control. I’m married to Dave and I don’t want this. I don’t want you to make me pregnant.”Christy didn’t take birth control pills because of the side-effects and relied on Dave using condoms to avoid an untimely pregnancy. She wasn’t sure exactly when her fertile period would begin.The head of Reggie’s penis slowly entered Christy’s unprotected vagina anyway, despite her protests, her hands uselessly attempting to hold his hips at a distance, pushing against them, but unable to thwart his progress. Christy’s eyes met his. “Please, at least use one of Dave’s condoms for me this time. They’re in the dresser drawer.”Reggie steadily penetrated further. “Oh, no, baby. We haven’t used rubbers before and we not starting to now. You already kocaeli escort got me spoiled on doing this with you bareback. It more intimate. I wanna feel you and I want you to feel me, not some latex barrier separating us. You very special to me and it’s better this way; it’s natural and we’ll enjoy it more. Don’t worry. I’ll pull out this time, so you won’t get pregnant.”Christy remembered how she was unable to control her own body the last time they had sex, the powerful orgasms he had made her have, how his withdrawal was delayed and how his big cock overfilled her pussy with semen. His penis had continued spurting even after he pulled out, leaving messy trails of slippery spunk all over her stomach like sugary glaze drizzled on a pastry. She didn’t want to experience him this way again, so intimately, his huge penis inside her. She wanted as little contact with him as possible, yet the opposite kept occurring and she was forced to share the most personal sensations with him. Against her will she was becoming more familiar with Reggie as her sexual partner than with her own husband, and it filled her with guilt and disgrace. “Reggie, please. I’ll do anything else you want. I’ll jerk you off; I’ll suck on your cock — just not intercourse again. Take it out now before we go too far and can’t stop. I don’t want a baby.”Christy thought the threat of pregnancy would stop Reggie, but in reality, it made him more excited and desirous for her. What better way was there for her and her family to pay for their privileged, white lives than for him to put a black baby in her belly? He pushed more of his thick, lengthy cock into her and watched her grimace from the invasion. “It too late for that, baby. I’m already inside you and I can’t stop now. Your pussy feel too good.” Reggie’s voice sounded distant to Christy. She heard his words but was no longer listening to them as her attention was focused elsewhere. She responded in unison to Reggie’s thrusts. He went deeper and deeper instead of pulling out. “Ow, ah, okay, ah, ah, oh.” With Dave home during the weekend, it had been two days since having Reggie inside her. Her anatomy needed to adjust once more to Reggie’s exceptional size, to his thick long penis advancing and separating the walls deep inside her birth canal.He incrementally pushed more of himself into her and caused Christy to start crying out. “Ow, please. No, not too much. Ow, wait, go slower, Reggie. Oh, no more. I’m not ready yet. Oh…it’s too far… hurting. Easy. Oh, oh, you’re going so deep inside me. Oh, oh, ah, okay…” With the entirety of Reggie’s long, thick negro phallus inside Christy’s snug vagina, her whimpers continued for a few minutes synchronized with his thrusts. The depth he reached far exceeded what Dave could achieve.Typical of most females, Christy’s vagina was amazingly adaptable. Her discomfort diminished, and her pussy soon stretched and conformed to Reggie’s absurd size again. Christy welcomed the relief as her pain subsided, not fully grasping how her anatomy was changing for him.”Wrap your legs around my ass now and start hugging me, baby. And keep telling me that you love me, how good my cock feels inside you, and that you my girlfriend. Start acting more as if you like this.”How could he ask her to do that? He sickened her, and she tried ignoring him.For some reason Christy needed a little more encouragement today. Over the weekend she must have forgotten what he had taught her. Reggie lifted himself off her, his weight supported by only one arm and his incredible strength displayed in its bulging muscles.For a fleeting second Christy thought he was finished and that this awful act was ending. But instead of pulling out, his huge penis stayed stubbornly embedded in her pussy, like an irritating splinter stuck under the skin. He unexpectedly slapped her face, on her other cheek this time, to get her attention and let her know he meant business. The impact sent her head in the opposite direction from his earlier strike. “Did you hear me? Hug me and wrap your legs around my ass. Keep saying what I told you to say. I’m not gonna tell you again. Start fucking me back and act like you enjoying this!””Oh, god, no — I can’t,” Christy balled as his solid torso returned to rest on top of her. But she complied, hesitantly reaching her arms around his back and wrapping her legs around his ass.”I’m your girlfriend and I love you, Reggie,” she sobbed. “You feel so good inside me.” “That’s right, keep saying it, but like you mean it, and hug me tighter, baby, like you can’t get enough big black dick.” Was it possible to hate him more than she already did? In anger, her arms and legs tightened their grip to him. She was keenly aware of his gigantic penis completely filling her with his presence. “Yeah, that’s it, baby, like that. That’s good. Now say them magic words.”His huge penis moved in and out of her pussy with renewed fervor and it was becoming overwhelming, like a blast of music that drowns out all other sounds.Christy’s eyes were like open dams, a flood of tears rushing from them. Instead of her husband, Reggie was inside her. Her legs remained locked around his muscular buttocks as she hugged him tightly. “I’m your girlfriend and I love you. Uh, your cock feels good. You’re so deep inside me. Oh, oh, I like it. “Please stop making me say these awful things and stop making me do this, Reggie. No… ooh…ah… oh…no…”Reggie felt her pussy begin contracting around his cock and he grinned. Although she was reluctant to repeat what he had told her to say, more importantly her body was doing exactly what he wanted it to do. Her hands u*********sly latched onto the big, hard muscles in his back and she gritted her teeth in angry frustration. Why did her body react this way to such a heinous act?But her vaginal spasms defied her anger, becoming stronger and more frequent.”You starting to enjoy my big black dick for real again, like every time we fuck, baby. I feel it in your pussy; it clenches my cock when you cum.” What Reggie said couldn’t be true. But he was inside her and he could feel her having orgasms. There was no way of concealing them from him. Why couldn’t she stop her body from doing this? The humiliation was unbearable. “Oh, son-of-a bitch. No, I don’t want this. You’re a sick, disgusting, basta…………”But before Christy could finish saying ‘bastard’, she drifted off in mid-sentence, her eyes becoming dreamy. “Oh, ooh… don’t Reggie.”Reggie had accelerated his thrusts and altered his motions while Christy was speaking. He knew what he was doing and how to deliver himself to her. The change caught her completely off guard, his long, thick cock making firmer contact with her g-spot and creating more friction. She was keenly aware of the lengthy travels his penis was making, sliding in and out through her tightly stretched vaginal lips, titillating the millions of nerves lining the walls of her entire birth canal. Neurons bombarded Christy’s brain with signals of pleasure and a series of very powerful orgasms had snuck up on her, silencing her objections and concentrating all her attention on her pussy. The deep penetration that had caused pressure and discomfort earlier now felt exceedingly good and her entire universe took on that single focus. “Oh, oh, ooh, uh-huh,” she moaned unable to complete her thoughts.She never orgasmed this strongly before and unintentionally hugged him even more tightly. She simply couldn’t stop herself from embracing him when he made her cum like this.”Oh Reggie, you’re making me cum. You’re so deep inside me. Oh, oh, don’t…ah.”Moans of female arousal replaced Christy’s cries of grief and her earlier sobbing had completely stopped. Their bodies remained upon each other, Reggie in her continued embrace. He felt her soft firm tits against his burly chest, her erect nipples hardening further, her pussy contracting around his cock in strong orgasmic spasms she couldn’t control. “I gonna take good care of you. Keep holding me tight and keep saying what I told you to say,” he whispered while kissing her neck and ear.Christy didn’t want to reply to Reggie’s encouragement, but her pussy was in control and she found herself doing so anyway. “Oh, oh, okay, I love you, ah. Dave wants me to be nicer to you. I’ll be your girlfriend. Your cock feels so good.” The powerful orgasms passed, and Christy returned from her sexual musings remembering that she loathed him, hated allowing him to fuck her. How could he think she really loved him or liked any of this? Why would he make her say such terrible lies to him? How could he say that he loved her — that he would take care of her? She wanted to shove him away and kick him in his gigantic testicles, even if her body was conveying a much different message.Was Christy becoming distracted? Her hips were losing enthusiasm and subtle shoves that sought separation began interrupting her embraces. But he wasn’t ready to end their union yet. “Open your pretty lips and let me give you some tongue, baby. I got a lot more love to give you and we ain’t near being done yet.”They weren’t making love. They were fucking, Christy thought. She closed her eyes, wishing she could ignore him and that this would all stop. “Did you hear me? You gonna learn to like it and love me. Now hug me tighter and open your goddamn mouth for me before I beat the fucking shit out of you! Or would you prefer something bad happen to your family — your parents or Dave? Perhaps it’s time for me to send my homeys a text.”She heard him and didn’t want him to hit her again — or worse, hurt her family. Her lips separated, and their tongues met in her mouth. “Mmm, oh, mmm, please, no, Reggie, mmm, I don’t want to do this… I don’t really like it; stop making me say I do…mmm…oh, mmm…mmm. Okay…for a little while… I’ll be nicer to you… just don’t hurt kocaeli escort bayan my family or Dave…I love you. Mmm, I’m your girlfriend…your big cock feels good. Ah.”She would never enjoy this with him, even if he made her act like it, she thought. But contrary to her intentions, the spells where she forgot he was r****g her were becoming more frequent and lasting longer. She was unaware of her own reflexes and how her pelvis, with a mind of its own, resumed making coital motions. Instinct was an overwhelming force and it made her participate in the sex act. The longer they fucked and the longer he made her hug and kiss him, the more natural all of it began to feel, like a role an actor plays many times over. I love you and I’m your girlfriend echoed in her mind like a mantra, their hips moving together once more with the rhythm of passionate dancing partners. Their lips remained locked and their tongues, like their sex organs, eagerly greeted each other. Reggie had regained Christy’s attention and her universe once more collapsed around the magic they were making. Christy had been virtuous and never dreamed of having a relationship outside of her marriage. But sex with Reggie, whom she had despised, began feeling normal and acceptable to her, as if she belonged with him as much as Dave.Perhaps she didn’t hate Reggie. Maybe she even liked him. She was becoming comfortable having intercourse with him and Dave wanted her to be nice to him. Although she remained in denial about it, she had become accustomed to Reggie’s big cock. He felt really good inside her — better than Dave. There was so much more of Reggie. Reggie’s thicker and deeper penetration forced her to have a physical unity with him that she never experienced with Dave. Part of her wanted to be Reggie’s girl and part of her was learning to enjoy sex with him like he had said she would.She tried to banish her horrific thoughts, remembering it wasn’t love they were making. She was married to Dave and Reggie was committing one of his heinous crimes on her. He was forcing her to do this and it was sick, wicked and wrong. How could it possibly feel good? “I love you and I’m your girlfriend. Your cock is so deep inside me. Oh, it feels good.” She couldn’t stop hearing herself repeat those awful phrases he made her keep saying to him. He was a despicable d**g dealer, murderer, gangster, and r****t who threatened her husband, family and those she loved. She would always hate him.But intercourse with Reggie continued, his deep penetration along with all the kissing, the embracing. While they fucked and their bodies remained joined, emotions from a deeper, more primitive part of Christy’s brain, urged her to espouse their illicit act and bond with him — to accept and trust him. They kept resurfacing, like bubbles from the bottom of a pot of water once it reaches a rolling boil. Her sentiments began reflecting what their bodies kept doing with each other. Although Reggie had coerced her into having sex, they had engaged in it enough to begin influencing her feelings for him in irrational ways, especially when participating in carnal behavior with him. “Oh, you feel so good deep inside me, Reggie. I love you and I’m your girlfriend…”They finished another round of French-kissing and she saw the clock on her nightstand. Dave had worked overtime, yet where did the hours go? She was hugging Reggie tightly; they were fucking zealously. Christy had become more complaisant the longer this immoral act continued. Her prolonged victimization caused Christy to question if Reggie had actually seduced her. What he did to her felt good and made her orgasm, and this filled her with guilt and made her believe she was partially responsible for what was happening to her. “Ooh, oh, uh-huh, ooh, Reggie, we’ve got to stop now. Ah, oh… ooh, please. Look at the time. Dave will be home soon. Please, ooh… he’ll find out about this. I can’t let him see what we’ve been doing.” “Show me some more love, baby. Say what I want to hear and start squeezing my cock with your pussy again. I’m close, but you gotta cum with me this one last time. Don’t try faking it either, because I’ll know.”How did things come to this — to where she was trying to cum for him? She didn’t want to do it but couldn’t risk delay and Dave coming home and seeing them together. Christy let go of the little resistance she had mustered. A telling squeal escaped from the back of her throat, her fingers digging into Reggie’s muscular back, her vagina clenching his penis. “Oh, ooh, I’m your girlfriend. Uh-huh, ah, oh, I love you. Oh, I’m cumming, Reggie. Oh, god, you’re so deep inside me and feel so good. Please cum for me now, Reggie.”He felt her pussy tightly squeezing his cock in another series of orgasmic fits. There was no way she was faking this one. “Oh, yeah, baby. That what I’m talking about. Good girl. I love you and I love when you do that for me. You showing me how much you like this and expressing love for me. That the way.” He drove into her harder, deeper, and she felt the familiar, powerful tension in his huge muscles, his heart thumping in his chest.Was this the third one for him? Reggie had promised to pull out. She couldn’t remember how many times he came today, but they were orgasming together now. “Ooh, don’t, oh, you’re cumming in me again, Reggie. No… you promised to take it out before you came this time,” she uselessly murmured. Once more he experienced incredible pleasure and relief as his huge, hard penis fed what his enormous balls produced in excess to her soft, wet vagina. “Ah, yeah, baby, you feel so good. I can’t pull out. I’m cumming in your pussy. Oh, I love you so much.”She knew what he wanted her to say to him, and while it hurt to keep betraying Dave, she said the words Reggie wanted to hear anyway. “Oh, I’m cumming too Reggie. I love you and I’m your girlfriend.”He kept pumping more of his cum deep in her pussy.Her arms loosened their embrace around his strong shoulders and her legs released his firm ass. She labored her words while catching her breath. “Ooh, oh, that’s enough. Pull out now.” She was still having her own orgasm when Reggie lifted off her, withdrawing his long, thick cock from her sperm-filled cunt, their bodies at last untwining. He wasn’t completely done either; she felt warm spurts from his penis landing on her stomach after he withdrew. She knew what he wanted her to do. Her fingers wrapped around his cock and gently stroked it to help him finish. He ejaculated more than Dave — more than any normal man. His huge testicles made too much sperm and Christy thought this was probably the reason why he was so aggressive and demanded sex so frequently. He likely couldn’t help himself. “Oh.. you’re cumming so much this time,” she absently remarked.”I know baby. Because I love you and missed being with you over the weekend.””Ooh, Reggie… it’s so much,” she repeated staring down at his cock, mesmerized by the way it fired it’s warm ammunition all over her belly, like a gun in her hand.His penis was becoming softer and had finally stopped spewing semen. “Are you done?” she softly asked. She let go of his cock and his hands began massaging the slippery spunk he had ejaculated on her stomach into her skin as he spoke. “Yeah, we done. Did that feel good for you, baby?” It wasn’t supposed to feel good, she guiltily thought. He kept forcing her to do this and it was wrong. Christy momentarily turned her face away from him, her cheek sinking into her pillow, without answering as he rubbed his semen across her flat abdomen with his strong hands. He rose from the bed and stood nude looking at the family pictures on her dresser, among them her wedding photo with Dave. Reggie was proud of himself for spoiling a white man’s beautiful wife. Poaching married white pussy was like hunting quarry and he enjoyed the sport of it. His nicest trophy was lying in bed, her womb filled with his semen and her body covered with it. Christy was a keeper.Reggie’s smirk at her wedding photo went unnoticed by Christy. She remained in the bed. Her eyes briefly wandered to his huge, flaccid penis coated with the slick, wet sheen she had put on it. The intense orgasms had left her feeling relaxed and exhausted even though Reggie performed most of the work. But the sex had ended, the euphoria was fading, and rationality began returning to Christy along with her disdain for him. His seed was oozing from her pussy; the excess he had rubbed all over her stomach was drying on her skin, turning into crusty residue. She detested what he did to her. She had lost count of how many times she came and resented what he made her say and do to him, the way he had forced her body to respond in ways she didn’t want. Did her orgasms really mean she enjoyed sex with this vicious criminal and loved him like he kept making her say to him? She hated Reggie and she couldn’t allow her mind to play tricks on her. There wasn’t time to entertain these disturbing thoughts. Dave would be home shortly. She got out of the bed and hurriedly changed the sheets, noticing a disgusting wet spot left on one of them. After making the bed, Christy took a shower to eliminate the last remaining evidence of what had occurred. The after-sex shower where she used a washcloth to remove Reggie’s cum from her vagina was becoming a ritual. She didn’t want him staying in her body, but she knew his penis had gone far inside her and that some of him would remain anyway. She kept remembering how much semen he produced. It seemed to blast from his penis like water from a firehouse when he orgasmed.Her pussy felt a little sore this time. Over the weekend she hadn’t had sex with him, and her vagina must have tightened some. He was so much thicker, longer and harder than Dave. It seemed like ages since she made love to Dave, and it was because of Reggie. She exited izmit escort the shower and wiped away some of the steam on the mirror. Thankfully, the marks Reggie had left on her cheeks weren’t too noticeable. She quickly put on makeup and blush to further conceal them.Christy began making supper moments before Dave’s arrival. Dave returned home fatigued after working hours in a hot warehouse. He barely responded to Christy’s hugs and kisses as she greeted him in the kitchen. Reggie stood beside Christy apparently helping her prepare dinner. Dave was glad to see them getting along better. Christy must have listened to him last night and was apparently being nicer to Reggie.”Hi, Honey — I’m dead tired. What’s for dinner?” Dave asked, noticing the extra rosiness in her cheeks and her eyes that looked a little red and puffy, yet failing to recognize the full extent of Christy’s anguish. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying or something,” he remarked.Christy and Reggie glanced at each other for a moment. Her mouth opened but words failed her. “Um…” Panic set in. She didn’t know what to say. If the wrong words left her lips, things could quickly turn ugly. She looked down at the dish she had been preparing and tried to gather her thoughts. The ingredients in the pot provided an excuse. She forced a grin and gave a girlish giggle. “No, I was just cutting some onions and Reggie had to finish them for me. And my allergies have been awful. I just took an antihistamine.” Her bright smile allayed Dave’s concern.Reggie recalled why Christy had been crying. She was an incredible fuck, and he didn’t want anything jeopardizing that, especially her dumbass husband. He quickly reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Michelob to distract Dave. “Hey, bro, you look like you can use a few cold beers tonight.” Reggie’s face beamed as he handed Dave the beer. Dave really had no inkling that his gorgeous wife was getting fucked by a big black cock when he went to work. How could Dave possibly be that ignorant? But it was working out well for Reggie. Dave was young and he was naïve like Christy had been before Reggie began m*****ing her. The smile on Reggie’s face grew bigger as he took another beer for himself and went into the living room with Dave pretending to be his friend. Christy remained in the kitchen preparing supper while Dave and Reggie sat in the living room watching another football game on TV. Christy heard them howl over a play. She disliked them bonding. Reggie was like cancer in her marriage, separating her from Dave physically and isolating her from him emotionally. Why couldn’t Dave see it? Reggie’s charade sickened her — pretending to be Dave’s buddy while taking her behind his back. Christy needed carrots. When she opened the refrigerator, she stared contemptuously at a full case of beer Reggie had left in it for Dave. Dave rarely drank before Reggie moved in with them. But with Reggie’s encouragement, Dave now became intoxicated almost every evening.She finished cooking and went to the living room to fetch Reggie and Dave for dinner. She had never been cognizant of penis size before, but her eyes lingered on the outline of Reggie’s huge dick that hung down the left leg of his grey sweatpants as he sat next to Dave on the sofa. Reggie had made her suck on it, swallow his ambrosia, and she knew how he tasted. He had made her play with it and hold it, and she knew how warm, thick, massive, and hard he felt in her hands. He had fucked her with it, and she knew how he felt deep inside her, stretching her open, rubbing against her sensitive folds, completely filling her. Compared to Reggie, Dave’s penis barely hinted at a presence in his trousers. Unlike Dave, Reggie was big, strong, and muscular and his cock was huge. Reggie wanted her every opportunity they were alone together; it seemed like he could never get enough of her. I love you and I’m your girlfriend, echoed in Christy’s mind along with what he did to her and what they did together — the way he touched her, the deep penetration, the combination of pressure, discomfort and pleasure, the powerful multiple orgasms Reggie’s large penis combined with his tender caresses always caused her to experience. Dave had never made her cum.She was getting wet! What was wrong with her and how had she become seduced by this evil gangster? She became angry with herself for staring at Reggie’s bulge and having perverse thoughts. He had ****d her. He was a monster and she hated him. The clang of utensils against plates filled the dining room as the three sat for dinner around a beautiful oak table purchased by Dave and Christy during better times. “So, did you have any luck looking for work today?” Dave asked her.Dave’s question made Christy remember how she had spent the day and filled her with more guilt. “A couple of prospects maybe,” she nervously replied without further explanation. What would she tell him if he questioned her further? “Well, I’ve got some great news, baby,” Dave announced. “I’m getting a $300 bonus, plus earning more overtime. I’m going to the Amarillo warehouse for two weeks. They’re short on help there.” Reggie called her ‘baby’ when they were alone together. She felt uncomfortable hearing Dave say it to her now. Her world was collapsing around her and she was helpless to stop it. She looked worriedly at Dave. “Amarillo is almost 500 miles from here. You mean you won’t be home for two weeks? When do you have to go?” I need to pack some things tonight because I’m leaving tomorrow. It’s kind of short notice, but I jumped at the opportunity to earn some extra money.”Dave earned the little bit money they had by working hard and now he was leaving her alone with Reggie for two weeks for a measly $300 bonus. Reggie, on the other hand, had more cash than he could spend by selling d**gs and ruining lives. It seemed so unfair to Christy. Christy noticed Reggie — who sat across from her — grin as she tried to maintain composure. She knew why he was smiling. It was like a sick, inside joke she shared with Reggie that excluded her husband.But the joke wasn’t funny. Dave couldn’t leave her alone with Reggie for two entire weeks. Dave had no idea what that would mean — who Reggie was and what he would make her do with him. “Oh, Dave, I don’t want you to go and leave me. Can I come with you?” “I’m afraid not. The company is making us share hotel rooms and the insurance doesn’t allow non-employees to travel in the vehicles.”**********************************Reggie asked if he could ride along with Dave and Christy as they were leaving to drop Dave off for his trip. Reggie claimed he wanted to pick up some things at the grocery store on the way back, but Christy knew better. Reggie accompanied them and Christy missed her last opportunity to be alone with her husband for the next two weeks. After dropping Dave off at work, the drive home began in silence, a blur of vehicles and buildings passing outside the car’s windows, like a rear projection scene in an old movie. Then Christy felt Reggie’s hand glide up her inner thigh and begin to rub her crotch. “Please stop touching me, Reggie.” “Don’t try and pretend you don’t like it. You get real wet and cum an awful lot every time we make love. Your pussy don’t lie to me, baby.”What she had done with Reggie more times than she wanted to remember wasn’t making love. Silent tears began flowing from Christy’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks as she drove home. Reggie’s hand was messaging her pussy through her yoga pants. She thought about how distant she was becoming from Dave, how they hadn’t made love in weeks because of what Reggie was doing to her. Reggie had fucked her almost every day when Dave went to work. Now Dave was leaving her alone with Reggie for two weeks. Dave wouldn’t be home in the evenings, nor on the weekends to give her any reprieve from this horrible sex monster that lived with them. It seemed like Reggie never tired of sex. She dreaded how much he would force it on her with Dave away. She wished there was some way out of this mess without jeopardizing her marriage and everyone she loved.Unlike Christy, Reggie looked forward to getting home and spending the next two weeks alone with her. Christy had begun showing signs of accepting him during intercourse, but he wanted their relationship to expand past the bedroom. Reggie preferred the challenge of white women, especially ones married to white men. After learning that Christy wasn’t taking birth control, Reggie had begun fantasizing about her flat stomach swelling with a bastard black baby inside it; watching her nurse a black baby with her beautiful white tits heavy with nourishing milk and made that way by a black man— preferably himself.Christy stopped her car in the driveway to drop Reggie off. She wanted to leave him at the house and find someplace else to stay for a little while. She didn’t know exactly where to go. She didn’t have enough money for a hotel, couldn’t risk the questions friends or family would ask if she went to them, and if she stayed away too long, Reggie might make good on his threats. But none of that mattered. She needed to get away from him.Reggie had anticipated her intentions. “Pull into the garage, Christy.”She became defiant. She needed time to figure things out. “No, Reggie, I’m not staying alone with you. I’ll go somewhere else for a while.”Surprised by Christy’s sudden courage, Reggie needed to take the fight out of her and make her obedient. “I warned you before about ever crossing me. We finally getting some decent time alone without your husband coming home to interrupt us, and you wanna go someplace else to stay? You staying right here with me and you gonna love me. You my girlfriend and you better act like it.” She would never be his girlfriend and didn’t want to pretend she was anymore.He began unbuttoning Christy’s pants there in the driveway.How could he attempt this outside where someone might see them? She tried to pull his hands away from her. “What the hell are you doing? Not out here where people can see us.” Continue…
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