pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 75
951k
| source
stringlengths 39
45
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.597976
| 0.597976
|
Hardware Software Wrap-Up Comments
Oct 7, 2017, 10:00 AM by Eric M. Zeman @zeman_e
The Sony Xperia XZ1 is one of the first smartphones to run Android 8 Oreo. It packs the latest processor and camera technology into Sony's age-old, metal-and-glass chassis. While some table-stakes features are aboard, others are missing. This uneven effort from Sony has a lot going for it, but there's plenty holding it back. Here is Phone Scoop's full review.
Is It Your Type?
The Xperia XZ1 is a high-end handset from Sony that crams top specs into a metal and glass chassis. Media features are its strengths, but there are some surprising gifts under its aluminum hood. Read on to find out what they are.
Much like Apple, Sony hasn't updated its smartphones' basic design language in half a decade. The XZ1 looks incredibly similar to the XZ, which looked incredibly similar to its predecessor and so on and so forth.
The design language used here is something Sony calls "Loop". The metal side edges are neatly curved and create a seamless "loop" when you view the phone's ends. The device still has the distinct corners that Sony's handsets are known for, which may make the phone uncomfortable in your pocket. The improvements in the design are small, but they do make for a more attractive and usable device.
Perhaps the best thing about the XZ1 is that it upgrades to an all-metal chassis. The entire rear panel is a seamless piece of material that wraps around the sides, creating a completely smooth contour. The 2.5D glass front panel fits into the frame nicely. The metal and glass combo is really appealing.
The phone's size is manageable. It has a smaller 5.2-inch screen, though the ridiculous bezels add a lot to the phone's footprint. Even so, it stands well under 6 inches tall and sits well under 3 inches wide. Almost everyone should be able to use the phone one-handed. The XZ1 is slim at 7.4mm, and slips into pockets just fine. The phone is roughly the same size as Samsung's Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, but with a smaller screen.
Sony has never skimped on quality, and the XZ1 is no exception. The glass front panel is exceptionally smooth under the thumb. The rounded metal chassis is perfectly shaped and mated to the glass and end caps seamlessly. The metal build of this year's phone is a huge improvement over the polycarbonate of the XZ. This is a flagship phone through and through, and Sony assembled it tightly.
The front face is all glass. As noted, Sony is one of the worst offenders when it comes to ugly bezels. There's nearly an inch of framing above and below the screen, with several millimeters on either side of the screen as well. The display is swimming in a too-big frame. It's a design from yesteryear that's beyond dated and needs to change. The XZ1 has stereo speakers.
A hatch on the left edge covers the SIM/memory card tray. It's no trouble to find and use. I particularly like that you can pull it out without a tool; a fingernail will do. The rest of the controls are piled up on the right edge. The lock button is near the middle of the side edge. It's rather flat, but easy enough to find. The volume toggle is positioned above the screen lock key and works well. It has a slim profile and I like the travel and feedback. The dedicated camera button is where you expect to find such a key, at the bottom of the right edge. It's a two-stage control and functions perfectly.
The headphone jack is on top and the USB-C port is on the bottom.
There is no fingerprint reader in the U.S. version, a huge omission for a flagship phone.
The rear metal panel is perfectly flat. I like the quality of the paint and metal finish. The camera elements are tucked into the top-left corner. The round module sticks out about 1mm. It's much smaller than the camera bump on the iPhone 8/Plus. The phone has a laser to assist in focusing on your subject. The focus/flash array is positioned to the right of the camera module in a thin strip. The painted-on Xperia logo is hardly visible on the metal. The rear panel is a solid piece and cannot be removed, nor can the battery. It's incredibly plain, but I'd call that a bonus.
Like many Xperia handsets, the XZ1 is rated IP68 for protection against water and dust. It can sit in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes with no worries. That's a table-stakes feature for today's flagship smartphones and Sony nails it. I tested the XZ1 in the shower, in a bucket, in the local river, and other wet environs. It survived like a champ.
I'm utterly bored with Sony's design language at this point, but the company does continue to manufacture quality hardware that functions as it should.
The 5.2-inch 1080p HD display is fine for what it is. The screen is bright, colorful, and clear. I think Sony is missing the boat with respect to the resolution, however, and it's past time Sony up its game. Most competing flagships have quad HD screens, which is much better for virtual reality. Sony told us it is skipping quad HD screens and will eventually go straight to ultra HD (4K) once they make more economic sense. We've already seen at least two 4K handsets from Sony, such as the XZ Premium released earlier this year. Those screens were incredibly impressive, though rather pricey. Many competing phones also have a screen with a 2:1 aspect ratio that fills more of the phone's face. For now, however, Sony is sticking with full HD resolution and the 16:9 aspect ratio.
The pixel density on the XZ1 is certainly good, thanks to the small size of the screen. Sony's slogan-y display tech (Bravia Engine, TriLuminos, et al.) doesn't appear to add much obvious real-world value. Viewing angles are good, and outdoor visibility is fine as long as you crank up the brightness.
Sony's software gives you a lot of control over how the screen behaves. For example, you can select from three different color profiles (adjusts saturation), as well as white balance. The display supports use with gloves, though you have to manually enable this setting.
Sony is selling the XZ1 unlocked in the U.S. with support for AT&T/T-Mobile. It includes band 66 for T-Mobile, though not band 71. (At the moment, band 71 is only a big deal if you live in the sticks.)
I tested the phone on both AT&T and T-Mobile in the NYC area and came away impressed. The phone handily latched onto AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G LTE networks and remained there throughout testing. Data speeds were robust, but didn't reach the peaks I've seen from other flagships. In real world terms, the XZ1 was able to stream video via YouTube and music via Spotify with no trouble. I saw little to no buffering and didn't experience any dropouts or pauses. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all loaded content swiftly. It's a good data phone.
As for making phone calls, the handset was able to connect on the first dial each time I made a call. The phone maintained calls over miles of highway driving perfectly.
I'd rate call quality as very good, but short of superb. The earpiece produces clean calls that are free of distortion and noise. Voices sound nice and crisp. People I spoke to through the XZ1 said I sounded excellent.
I wish volume were just a bit better. I had to keep the volume set to the max in order to hear calls at home, in the car, in coffee shops, and so on.
The speakerphone is more prone to distortion when cranked up, but holy hellfire can this phone get loud. Sony updated the amplifiers for its speakers, and sure enough, this phone pushes a lot of air. I had no trouble hearing speakerphone calls in noisy spaces. It's crazy loud.
Ringers and alerts are jarringly noisy. The vibrating alert is amazing.
The XZ1 has a 2,700 mAh battery tucked inside, which is definitely short of impressive. In fact, it's 10%-30% smaller than those of competing flagships. But worry not. After several days of testing, it's clear that the battery is well-matched to the rest of the hardware. The result is a phone that I could barely kill during a day of rigorous testing. Most people should be pleased with the battery life they get from the XZ1. The majority of the time I used the phone it managed to make it from breakfast to bedtime, though with only a few percent to spare. If you tweak the settings a bit you might have more of a cushion at the end of the day.
The handset includes the base Android power-management tool. It can help a bit if you suddenly find yourself at 10%. The XZ1 also includes Sony's advanced battery tools, including extended modes. Activating the base Sony power-save mode automatically delivers hours of extra battery life by dimming the screen, adjusting radios, quieting notifications, and similar. If you bother with extreme mode, you'll easily score a half-day more from the battery because it shuts down all the but core apps.
More importantly, the XZ1 supports rapid charging technology for quick powerups. Sony claims plugging your phone into the included charger for just 30 minutes will give you an entire day's worth of battery life. I don't know about that, but the phone does charge crazy fast.
Due to the metal rear panel, the XZ1 does not support wireless charging.
Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, WiFi
The XZ1 has a good selection of secondary radios and they all perform really well.
You'll find Bluetooth 5.0 aboard. When it came to connecting to headsets, speakers, cars, and other devices, the XZ1 got the job done. The phone paired with little effort. Phone calls passed through my car's hands-free system were adequate. Music, on the other hand, sounded amazing when streamed to my favorite headphones. The phone supports aptX HD, which is the newest high-resolution stereo Bluetooth codec. As long as you have a compatible piece of audio gear, expect to be impressed.
The GPS radio interacted well with Google Maps. The XZ1 was able to pinpoint my location within just a few seconds of opening the app, and accuracy was as good as about 20 feet. The phone managed real-time navigation with no trouble at all.
The NFC radio that's aboard the XZ1 helps it pair with Bluetooth accessories and also supports Android Pay.
The WiFi worked very well.
view article on one page
Next page: Software
Hands On with the Sony Xperia XZ1
Sony's latest flagship smartphone is the Xperia XZ1. The phone largely carries over the design we saw on last year's XZ handset, but manages to stuff the chassis with a slew of new and exciting camera tricks that make a compelling case for the XZ1.
Sony's Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact Let You Scan 3D Objects
Sony today announced the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact smartphones, two metal-clad flagships that pair novel features with classic Sony looks. The phones share nearly all specs and capabilities, with the XZ1 Compact downgrading only a few components due to its smaller size.
Sony's 2018 flagship phone, the Xperia XZ2, sees the company catch up to the competition in terms of design and features. It boasts a metal-and-glass chassis, introduces a 2:1 screen, adopts Android 8, pass the best processor, and includes table-stakes tools such as bokeh photography.
Hands On with the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
The Xperia XZ1 Compact is a true miniaturized version of the larger XZ1 flagship handset. It includes nearly every single feature offered by its bigger brother, but stuffs them into a more compact and usable piece of hardware.
Hands On with the Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro
Huawei is taking aim at Apple, Samsung, and LG with its latest flagship handsets, the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. These high-quality devices feature stunning hardware, top specs, and table-stakes features such as fingerprint readers.
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC, Fingerprint Reader, Water-Resistant
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5237
|
__label__cc
| 0.670856
| 0.329144
|
Go Coyotes
VHS Tanagers
Vermillion, SD (57069)
Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Roger Hale
Roger Archie Erwin Hale, 74, passed away June 6, 2019 at the home he proudly designed and built next to the Vermillion Golf Course in 2009.
In the Archibald and Alvena Hale family, girls were born in a hospital and boys were birthed at home. Roger (as the youngest son and fifth of six children) was born as foretold at home in Vermillion on Nov. 16, 1944. He lived with his hard-working family—two brothers, Arnold Wayne and Lu Ray Wendell Wilkie who both predeceased him, and three living sisters, Vivian Hale Starr, Normagene Purella Hughes and Bobbie Arvilla Okazaki—until he graduated from high school in 1963. He enlisted in the Army, serving in Germany where in took his discharge to travel extensively and discover what our European neighbors were like. He especially loved the Scandinavians and their way of life. Eventually home called and Roger returned stateside to begin his education and work careers.
Roger loved travel, education, finance, teaching and helping others, especially kids. Once back in the states, Rog took a job working for the Federal Reserve Bank in Portland, OR. He enrolled at Portland State University, working on dual master’s degrees in education and history. After completing his BA in education, he taught fifth grade in Portland while continuing his masters work and enriching his life with love and a fuller homelife. He and Barbara Ann, his wife of 26 years, welcomed two children, a son Roger AE, Jr. and a daughter Kimberly Renee, both of whom predeceased him. However, Kimberly gave them a granddaughter, Joelle Renee, now age 19.
Upon completing his two master’s degrees, Roger’s career moved into setting up more varied and complex educational programs to help students and educational communities all over the United States. Since he loved travel and welcomed new challenges and was willing to move wherever he thought he could help most, he used his talents in varied ways in various communities. Among his many work opportunities, he served as a counselor and vice principle in Manzanita, OR, Clackamas, OR, and in Greenville, MI. He was Dean of Students at Sheldon Jackson College, a private college located on Baranof Island in Sitka, AK, the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska.
You will notice that all his work sites share a common benefit—they offered beautiful scenic views. Roger loved the outdoors, exploring, camping, fishing, hiking, biking and discovering the meaning of nature. His friends and siblings were never surprised when he rang the doorbell, outfitted for the outdoors, bedroll and fishing gear tossed in the back of the pickup, and cheerfully invited, “let’s go exploring!”
Roger was happy to return home to Vermillion in 2009. He was a private man who took pride in the Vermillion home he built. He avoided crowds, unless it involved USD basketball or an occasional high school soccer or basketball game to cheer on his neighbor girls. For years he loved the occasional road trip, but in recent years was more comfortable at home. He loved life, a Red Lobster or Café Brule meal, acknowledging his delight with the flavor of a meal by murmuring a loving mhm-mhm-mhm! He indeed enjoyed watching good TV and reading political novels, autobiographies, and almost anything about our forefathers. He loved doing random acts of kindness in the community, especially if it benefitted a deserving child, but always asked to stay anonymous. A day of fishing, even if he caught nothing, left him knowing joy.
He leaves behind his beloved dog, Lady (formerly the cherished dog of his daughter Kimberly and granddaughter Joelle). Lady gave Roger Peace, Loyalty, and Companionship in the last six years of his life.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 29 at the Hansen Funeral Home in Vermillion. HansenFuneralHome.com.
‘Last Out’ Performances Scheduled July 19-21 At VHS
Committee Recommends New Government Services Center
Was Darwin Right?
Clay County Police Report
Clay County Sheriff's Report
School Board Adopts Fiscal Year Budget
Proposed VHS Addition Has Estimated $2 Million Cost
Doug Peterson Selected As New School Board President
Bingo at The Center
What is your favorite event at the Clay County Fair?
The Clay County Fair will be held August 8-10, 2019 at the Clay County Fair grounds in Vermillion.
Fair Princess Pageant
Barnyard Olympics
Clay County Has Talent
Vermillion Youth Baseball To Earn Hardware In SE SD League Tournament
Cliff Deverell
Harold R. Buchmann
Virginia Hartmann
Flamez 4-1 In Final Games Before State
3 Bedroom Lower Level Duplex East of Vermillion, Tenant Pays
3 BD Townhouse. River Court Apartments, Vermillion. Rent based income.
Rental Investment For Sale by Owner. 302 N. Franklin St.
plaintalk.net
201 W. Cherry Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Email: staff@plaintalk.net
Gayville/Mission Hill/Volin
© Copyright 2019 PlainTalk.net, 201 W. Cherry Street Vermillion, SD
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5244
|
__label__wiki
| 0.554371
| 0.554371
|
Start your sponsorship
About child sponsorship
SAY YES TO GIRLS’ EDUCATION
Partner With Us Join an adventure Come to an event
Give a Gift of Hope
Sponsor a child Donate to an Emergency Be a Supporter of Change Gifts in Wills
MyPlan (Login/Register)
How we work >
Katherine Fell
Katherine Fell’s role is to support the management and development of the Education & Early Childhood Centred Development (ECCD) and Health portfolio for Plan International Australia. Katherine manages projects across Asia, Pacific and the Region of East & Southern Africa (RESA) that promote innovation and creative solutions for people who fall outside the net of mainstream learning, with a focus on improving educational opportunities and outcomes. She contributes to ensuring the portfolio has an emphasis on inclusion that addresses social barriers, not only related to disability, but also to gender, ethnicity and other factors that prevent children from accessing their right to ECCD. She is the Co-Chair of the ACFID Education Workgroup.
Katherine has worked as an education design consultant in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Philippines and the Northern Territory. She has been an Indigenous Literacy Advisor for Plan Philippines and was the Manager of the Young Refugee Mentoring Program at AMES, Australia. She has led the development and publication of fifteen children’s storybooks in eight indigenous languages (and English) in the Philippines and Ethiopia. This series of books aims to fulfil the important role of passing on traditional culture and knowledge in remote communities and improving literacy outcomes for children. Katherine has graduate qualifications in Human Rights and Education.
Click here for media enquires.
Stay informed on what matters
What makes Plan International different?
Plan International Australia recognises the power and potential of every single child. As one of the most experienced organisations in our field we know that there is nowhere in the world where girls are treated as equals.
We work alongside children, young people, supporters and partners to tackle root causes of the injustices facing girls and the most marginalised children.
© 2019 - Plan International Australia ABN 49 004 875 807 | Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible in Australia
Privacy | Child Protection Policy | Feedback and complaints | Access to Information Policy | Conflict of Interest Policy | Development and Welfare Policy |
Evangelism and Partisan Politics Policy | Sitemap
As we work together to build a just world for children, Plan International Australia will collect some of your personal information. We’ve updated our privacy statement to better explain exactly how it’s used and stored. www.plan.org.au/contact/privacy
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5245
|
__label__cc
| 0.598508
| 0.401492
|
The Sally 2008
"The Sally" benefits Westchester Youth Services
CHRISTINA KELLY
SCARSDALE, NEW YORK
Sally would have loved it -- the beautiful autumn day, the laughter on the paddle courts, and another year of successful fundraising for a wonderful charity.
“The Sally” is an annual platform tennis tournament that takes place each fall. It is held at Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale to benefit The Children’s Village, Westchester County’s only shelter for homeless teens. The event is named after Sally Rogers, a long-time volunteer at The Children’s Village, an avid paddler, and a past president of Fox Meadow.
Sharon Saunders and her committee (including Barbara Underhill, Anna Filardi, Sugar Genereaux, Barbara Rau, Mary Cosgrove, and Robert and Ann Brown) did a terrific job organizing this event which drew 45 teams from all over, including Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Besides a full day of paddle, there were raffles, a silent auction, and a delicious lunch.
The winners this year were Amy Shay and Cynthia Dardis, who defeated Lisa Reach and Nancy Harwood in the finals. In the 64 consolation finals, Mary Sturgis teamed with Christine Reiss, her daughter, to beat Liz Corsini and Susan Del Rio. The 64 consolation reprieve was won by Beydoun and Rosen as they beat Celebre and Kemper (by default). In the 32 consolation, Malloy and Stanton bested Bascio and Muller. Aisenman and Birritella beat Hummers and Simone in the 32 conso reprieve (by default). And in the round of 16 consolation, Ginn and Holskin beat Andrews and Weil.
The real winners, of course, were the kids that will benefit from this tournament. More than $30,000 was raised this year ($20,000 from sponsors and “angels,” including Federal Astoria Bank which for the past five years has been the main corporate sponsor). In total, since the inception of this event in 1981, almost $200,000 has been raised. Proceeds this year will be directed to Westchester Youth Services, a program for county kids who are homeless, street-involved, or otherwise at risk. WYS provides a 24/7 hotline, a shelter for runaways, a van that travels the county’s most dangerous streets, and employment services.
After the long and successful day, Saunders and her crew were ready to pack up at about 6:30. “In the feel-good moment of the day, I had to shoo Ruth Weil and Kathy Holskin out of the parking lot as they were having such a good time making a new friendship. It was only after they exhanged e-mails and phone numbers that I could convince them to go home to New Jersey and Philadelphia.”
A new friend, a beautiful day, and a great cause. Yes, Sally would have loved it.
The Sally 2008 Slideshow
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5246
|
__label__wiki
| 0.72746
| 0.72746
|
Ellen Fanning
Highly experienced and respected, Ellen Fanning is an award-winning current affairs journalist and an exceptional MC, moderator and facilitator.
Media, Journalists and Current Affairs Speakers
Testimonials for Ellen Fanning
It was a pleasure working with her and I will most definitely be recommending her for future events. Ellen Fanning was very professional and did a lot of behind the scenes investigating to ensure she truly understood the event content and background and could therefore tackle any question and handle the panel session. Ellen was quick on her feet and was one of the highlights of the event.
Australian Council of Local Government
Ellen was flexible and really easy to work with. She added to our script to make it her own and ad-libbed as required.
Australian Training Awards
Ms Fanning displayed an incisive grasp of the business issues and current affairs combined with great charm and humour. She went to considerable lengths prior to the event to work with us as the client and her preparation and research was very impressive, also her grasp of the issues important to ANRA gave us real peace of mind in the run up to the event. In short, she is a pleasure to work with and made an enormous contribution to a very successful event that attracted national media coverage. I would not hesitate to recommend her as both a polished performer and someone who is prepared to go the extra yard to ensure a professional and satisfying event.
ANRA
Ellen, you were the consummate professional. I get the impression the studio could be in flames and falling around your ears and you would still be able to deliver in a calm, controlled manner. Thank you for all the advice and direction.
Fuji Xerox Australia
Ellen Fanning Travels from NSW
Fee Range: :$5001 to $10000
Ellen Fanning's Biography
At 24, Ellen Fanning broke new ground, becoming the first woman to host one of ABC Radio's national current affairs programs. Two years at the helm of PM were followed by several years anchoring AM on ABC Radio and serving as occasional host of ABC TV's 7.30 Report.
Ellen served as the ABC's Washington correspondent and has been a reporter for the Nine Network's 60 Minutes and Sunday programs. She was the last presenter of the Nine Network's prestigious Sunday program and a columnist on legendary The Bulletin magazine.
She has reported from locations as diverse as Transylvania and the North Pole, under the Indian Ocean aboard an Australian Navy submarine and 30,000 feet over Serbia from a US Airforce refuelling jet. She has interviewed every current and former Australian Prime Minister, and has met and interviewed world leaders from France, Britain, Ireland, Israel and the United States.
Ellen Fanning has had extensive experience moderating political, business and community events in Australia. As a facilitator her strength lies in her ability to clarify goals, define roles and reach agreed outcomes across both cultural and language barriers.
Ellen has hosted award ceremonies for government, business groups and industry organisations over many years, including the BRW / ANZ Private Business Awards 2009, Australian Council of Local Government - Commendation and Category Awards and Dinner, 2009; Australian Investor Relationship Awards 2008; and the Prime Minister John Howard's Employer of the Year Awards at the Great Hall, Parliament House.
An impeccable presenter, Ellen is able to ad-lib and improvise when necessary to keep events flowing and to ensure prize winners and other presenters feel comfortable when delivering their own speeches stage.
With a wealth of experience in communications, politics, social, cultural and business issues, Ellen's informative and stimulating presentations make her an ideal MC, moderator, facilitator and keynote speaker.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5247
|
__label__wiki
| 0.77275
| 0.77275
|
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is bursting with guts and beauty
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is magnetically beautiful with an emotional depth that feels special. It begins this weekend at Filmscene.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is bursting with guts and beauty The Last Black Man in San Francisco is magnetically beautiful with an emotional depth that feels special. It begins this weekend at Filmscene. Check out this story on press-citizen.com: https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2019/07/07/last-black-man-san-francisco-bursting-guts-and-beauty/1660832001/
Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa City Press-Citizen Published 3:34 p.m. CT July 7, 2019 | Updated 5:46 p.m. CT July 7, 2019
There's no one person to blame for the hurt in The Last Black Man in San Francisco. To say there is puts too much stake in the small, pedestrian pains that blur as friends Jimmie (Jimmie Fails) and Montgomery (Jonathan Majors) skate by.
There's Jimmie's father (Rob Morgan) who over a lifetime of hard living filled his son with smoke and unreality. There's Montgomery's blind father (Danny Glover) who would turn his son on his best friend for fear of being alone. There's the real estate agent who would steal their family's storied home and offer it to the wave of suspicious white faces slowly washing away the familiar in its path.
The story follows the ill-fated struggle of Jimmie Fails to keep hold of a house that comes to represent his only connection to his home.
In this San Francisco, buses never come, hazmat suits roam polluted bays and childhood friends sweat unmoving, making the same jokes and threats as the day before. The point of impact, whether from gun violence or eviction, is kept off-screen, committed by forces that are hard to pin down. The cumulative effect is the feeling of a house that can no longer be home.
But where a more bleak treatment would have left these characters in the grit, Jimmie and Montgomery glide. Down nearly vertical street inclines. Past great warships anchored off in the bay. They are small in the landscape until resting at Jimmie's familial home in a quickly gentrifying, whitening San Francisco.
Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors appear in The Last Black Man In San Francisco by Joe Talbot, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen from photographer Peter Prato. Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
In these moments of flight, there is an excitement. The woodwind theme pulses excitedly. Even people that would do them harm get left behind. The cinematography is luxurious, willing to stretch time for a long moving landscape shot.
The landscape may be doomed but Jimmie and Montgomery as subjects are limitless in it. Scenes feel joyful as they scream excitedly at the thought of at last having found stability in Jimmie's Victorian home or as they lay pallets in "Mont's" room talking about the future.
To be sure, the movie introduces elements it chose in the final cut not to resolve. Montgomery is given a room in Jimmie's house and told to make something of it, but before he is able to they are thrown out. One scene draws a parallel between the friends and a husband and wife next door but leaves them on the kitchen table. A mutated fish flops off-screen as quickly as it jumped into Montgomery's boat. But maybe these threads only underscore the possibilities, the wonder of the leads.
The writing prevents itself from being lost in the euphoria of character interactions. It insists on them pushing each other leading Jimmie to a twist at the climax.
At the heart of this movie are the stories we use to make sense of ourselves, our home. As violence and the environment slowly break these narratives down, Montgomery pushes Jimmie reminding him he lives outside these stories.
There is no one person to blame in The Last Black Man in San Francisco and maybe that's its greatest strength. The many slights suffered on the leads turn them to one another. But they do not find salvation in one another. Instead, as history and place are peeled away, they prepare each other to make sense of what is left.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is playing at Iowa City's independent cinema Filmscene.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM:Subscribe to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Press-Citizen. Reach him at zsmith@press-citizen.com or 319-339-7354, and follow him on Twitter @zacharyos.
Read or Share this story: https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2019/07/07/last-black-man-san-francisco-bursting-guts-and-beauty/1660832001/
Iowa City Police responded to alleged terrorist threat within minutes
Fairfax farm kid made a career with the cosmos
July 12, 2019, 11 p.m.
Police arrest man for threats made on Facebook
Man fell off the Ralston Creek bridge in accidental death
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5256
|
__label__wiki
| 0.890167
| 0.890167
|
10 issues likely to spark debate in Iowa Legislature
Here are 10 issues facing the Iowa Legislature in 2016 that are likely to spark debate.
10 issues likely to spark debate in Iowa Legislature Here are 10 issues facing the Iowa Legislature in 2016 that are likely to spark debate. Check out this story on press-citizen.com: http://dmreg.co/1RfLgJK
William Petroski and Brianne Pfannenstiel, DesMoines Published 9:45 p.m. CT Jan. 9, 2016 | Updated 6:53 p.m. CT Jan. 10, 2016
The Iowa Capitol from the west side.(Photo: William Petroski/The Des Moines Register)
The Iowa Legislature convenes Monday for its 2016 session with a battle looming over the $7 billion state budget, particularly state spending on kindergarten through 12th-grade schools.
The House and Senate will gavel in at 10 a.m. in the wake of a contentious and partisan session last year. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's veto of $55.7 million in one-time spending for education left Democrats and some Republicans seething.
The upcoming session will also see debate on a host of other issues, from a push to defund Planned Parenthood to a proposal that would funnel some school sales tax revenue to water quality projects. Look for arguments over firearms issues and pressure from business leaders for a tax break for renewable chemical manufacturing.
The session is tentatively scheduled to adjourn around April 19, when legislators' daily expense payments end. But the session could linger if a budget deal isn't reached. In 2011, a stalemate meant the budget wasn't approved until June 30, leaving only hours to spare before the start of a new state fiscal year.
Another factor: All House members and half of senators are up for re-election in November. That means some lawmakers will try to score political points, but they also will want to adjourn on time to hit the campaign trail.
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said last week he approaches each session with optimism.
"We'll make some hard decisions. I am confident there will be cuts in the budget in various places, but we're not going to just sign a blank check to the governor. I am confident we will work through that," Gronstal said.
Related:Tension lingers as Iowa lawmakers stress unity
Landmark longevity: Branstad seals governor tenure record
House Speaker-select Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, also sounded upbeat, predicting quick action on funding for K-12 schools.
"I believe legislators come to do this job because of their desire to serve Iowans," Upmeyer said.
But some rank-and-file Democrats are still angry at Branstad over last year's education spending veto, the push for private management of Medicaid, the closures of state facilities at Toledo, Clarinda and Mount Pleasant, and other issues. Those tensions could make for a difficult session.
"We have great legislators on both the Republican and Democratic sides, and I trust those guys," said Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center. "The trouble is when things get to the governor's office: Is he actually going to work with the Legislature? I think that should be a concern for Republicans in the Legislature as well."
Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley and House Speaker pro tem, said his hope is for a business-like session where partisan differences can be bridged.
"Is there going to be political contention? There absolutely will be. There always is," Windschitl said, adding it will likely focus on school funding. " ... But my hope is that it will be brief and that we will be able to move forward quickly."
Here is a look at 10 things to watch in the 2016 Legislature:
The single biggest spending item facing the Legislature is an annual general fund budget in excess of $7 billion. It provides for operations of state government ranging from prisons to state universities, as well as money for local schools, public health, public safety and other critical government services.
Republicans and Democrats agree the budget will be tight for the 2017 fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2016, but they differ about the severity of the problem.
Rep. Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the latest revenue estimate shows about $153 million in new general fund revenue. However, Gronstal points to projections of 4 percent revenue growth, which total about $281.8 million in new state money compared to the current budget year. But Upmeyer says previous revenue estimates have missed the mark, and lawmakers need to take a conservative approach.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency projects built-in increases in the state budget of $200.7 million, including spending increases for Medicaid, teacher leadership programs and property tax relief, which compounds the difficulty in addressing the state's finances.
"We've certainly asked our committee chairs and vice chairs to look very hard at each line in the budget," Upmeyer said. "Because if we genuinely want to fund priorities at the level we want to fund them, then it very well may require not funding something else."
Sen. Robert Dvorsky, D-Coralville, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, dismissed the worrisome talk, saying he doesn't believe that "the sky is falling" on Iowa's economy. The Legislature can maintain investments to expand Iowa's middle class, he said.
"This includes helping prepare Iowans for 21st century jobs, making higher education more affordable, and taking steps to make sure Iowa schoolchildren in every Iowa school receive a quality education so they can succeed in life," Dvorsky said.
Senate Democrats and House Republicans spent most of last year's session deadlocked on school aid before reaching a consensus to provide a base increase of 1.25 percent, plus an additional $55.7 million in one-time spending, for an overall increase of about 2.62 percent. But Branstad vetoed the $55.7 million, prompting bitter criticism from some lawmakers and educators.
The House has already approved a 2 percent spending increase for education for the upcoming academic year, up about $81 million, according to Upmeyer. Gronstal says a 4 percent increase approved by the Senate is appropriate. Upmeyer said she is optimistic the differences can be resolved quickly, adding that schools are relying on legislators to address the issue.
Water quality plan
Branstad last week made what he described as the “biggest and boldest” proposal of his six terms as governor, pledging to make increased state funding for water quality projects a cornerstone of his 2016 legislative agenda. The plan would extend an existing sales tax earmarked for school infrastructure improvements and property tax relief. But the plan also would divert billions over the next three decades to address water pollution caused by farm runoff.
"This would be an extraordinary investment and have a huge impact,” Branstad told reporters last week. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a Democrat and a former Iowa governor, endorsed Branstad's proposal. He outlined several steps the U.S. Department of Agriculture will take to make it easier for Iowa farmers to access federal conservation and water-quality programs.
But Branstad's proposal initially received a chilly reception. Gronstal said the plan amounts to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Upmeyer was noncommittal, promising only that lawmakers will review the plan.
Medicaid privatization
Branstad's unilateral decision to transfer Medicaid management to national, for-profit companies has brought a chorus of angry complaints from Democratic legislators, as well a few Republican lawmakers. The state-federal Medicaid health insurance program costs $4 billion annually and covers 560,000 poor or disabled Iowans.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad photographed Wednesday Jan. 7, 2014 at his ceremonial formal office in the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Rodney White/The Register)
Branstad said the shift can save taxpayers money and improve health care quality. But Democrats are worried business profits will take precedence over Iowans' health care needs.
Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Cedar Rapids, is chair of the Iowa Senate Human Resources Committee, said the Senate passed a measure last session seeking comprehensive legislative oversight of the privatization plan, but the legislation was resisted by the Iowa House. That lack of oversight "is probably coming to roost now" amid controversies involving the program, which will likely prompt the Senate to push again for strengthened legislative monitoring of Medicaid, she said.
Upmeyer said she agrees legislative oversight is required. But she believes the issue can be handled through regular committees and a legislative oversight panel, as opposed to a separate Medicaid committee.
Renewable chemical manufacturing tax breaks
A host of Iowa business and farm groups are lobbying for state tax credits to attract investment in renewable chemical manufacturing and advanced bio-refining. The goal is to build upon Iowa’s renewable fuels industry. Iowa needs to move swiftly because of competition for businesses looking to invest in the industry, business lobbyists say.
"If we are looking at a game changer for this session, this is it. It is absolutely huge," said Jay Byers, chief executive officer of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Legislation to provide renewable chemical manufacturing tax credits was approved by the House last session, but failed to pass the Senate.
Gronstal said he's willing to listen to the proposal. But he said it should be “revenue neutral,” meaning it wouldn’t reduce existing state revenues, and should be offered under a tax credit cap that exists for economic development programs.
Business lobbyists said bio-based chemical production is expected to account for more than 25 percent of global chemical production in the next decade, up from 10 percent today. Iowa's biofuels infrastructure puts the state in the driver's seat to be able to capitalize on this growth, business groups say.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate are expected to renew a bipartisan push to allow the sale of retail consumer fireworks such as bottle rockets and Roman candles, which have been banned in Iowa for more than 70 years. A bill legalizing fireworks passed the House last session but stalled in the Senate.
A state fiscal analysis estimates that legal fireworks would generate annual sales tax revenue of about $1.1 million.
Opponents warn that legalizing fireworks would cause more fires and tragic injuries, plus nuisances for Iowans trying to sleep on warm summer nights. Advocates say Iowans are already buying fireworks by the trunkload in Missouri and other states.
Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, a supporter of legal fireworks, said the Senate bill remains eligible for debate in the 2016 session. “I think this will be a good year to get that legislation passed.”
A bill passed by the Senate and heavily amended by the Republican-controlled House last year would have made changes to state gun laws, but it ultimately died in the Democrat-led Senate. The amended bill included provisions allowing Iowans to legally acquire gun suppressors, allowing children under the age of 14 to use handguns under adult supervision and creating a statewide law enforcement database of permit holders.
Windschitl, a Republican, and Sodders, a Democrat, had key roles in last year's debate, and both told The Des Moines Register a discussion on firearms policy will continue during the upcoming session, although it's far from clear what will emerge.
Windschitl said 2nd Amendment supporters may take a different approach, passing individual firearms bills rather than debating sweeping omnibus legislation. Sodders, a Marshall County deputy sheriff, agreed. He'd like to see a bill approved to legalize gun suppressors and legislation to assist the law enforcement community. But he said Senate Democrats are uneasy about eliminating age limits on allowing handgun use for minors.
Related:Battle brews in Iowa over Planned Parenthood funds
Planned Parenthood funding
Christian conservatives have vowed to eliminate all state funding for Planned Parenthood in Iowa. It could be a hot topic, particularly near the end of the session when the overall state budget is finalized. The issue is fueled by a national controversy over videos involving Planned Parenthood employees.
Planned Parenthood officials say the series of secretly filmed videos falsely portrays the organization's work in life-saving scientific research, while abortion foes say they show a criminal conspiracy to make money off aborted baby parts. While no state money is spent directly on abortions in Iowa, opponents of abortions say they don't want Planned Parenthood to receive any money from state government, even for family planning services.
The Family Leader, a Christian conservative group, is vowing to push for defunding the organization. Supporters of reproductive rights have vowed to block any efforts to strike state funding for Planned Parenthood.
Iowa fantasy sports players who are now banned from legally claiming prizes and big bucks would be allowed to bank their winnings under a proposal expected to be revived by lawmakers..
The Senate approved a bill last session that would have legalized cash payouts for fantasy sport players, but it failed to clear the House. Rep. Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, the chief author of the House bill, said he’s retooling the legislation with a goal of reaching a consensus among all key parties.
An estimated 354,000 Iowans play fantasy sports. Players draft teams of real-world college and professional athletes, and based on statistics from real contests, win or lose against others in their league or game. Iowa is among a handful of states where cash payouts are currently either illegal or subject to ambiguous laws.
A change in leadership
Upmeyer will make history as the first female speaker of Iowa's House of Representatives. She succeeds Rep. Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, and will be sworn in Monday.
Upmeyer recently joked with reporters during a legislative briefing that Paulsen is a man of few words, so "things might take a little bit longer" when she assumes his seat.
Linda Upmeyer. (Photo: Special to the Register)
"I’m pretty transparent in the direction that we want to go," she said. " ... I also really like to take opportunities to delegate big things for people to have opportunities to kind of test their wings and do some interesting things."
Serving in her seventh term, Upmeyer said she plans to continue maintaining the budgeting principles House Republicans have established, focusing on using only ongoing revenue to fund ongoing expenses. She said it’s also a priority for her to make a decision on education funding early.
House Republicans also elected others to new leadership positions, including Rep. Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor Heights, who will replace Upmeyer as House majority leader; Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, who will serve as House majority whip; and Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Bondurant, who will serve as an assistant majority leader.
Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/1RfLgJK
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5257
|
__label__wiki
| 0.746481
| 0.746481
|
Sen. Hatch Introduces Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act
by Matthew Johnson | Dec 24, 2018 | Pharmaceutical, PTAB News
Sen. Orrin Hatch has introduced a bill that would augment the Hatch-Waxman Act, limiting challengers ability to proceed with patent challenges both in court and at the PTAB. Following is the introduction of the “Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act of 2018.” The...
Revised Standard Operating Procedure 2 and the New Path to PTAB Precedent
by Doug Pearson | Oct 31, 2018 | Pharmaceutical, PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics
By Doug Pearson Prior to the USPTO’s issuance of revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 2 on September 20, 2018 (available here), designation of Board decisions as Precedential or Informative required, among other things, nomination of a decision to the Chief...
USPTO’s Revised SOP Sheds Light on Selection of PTAB Panels
by Matthew Johnson | Oct 30, 2018 | Pharmaceutical, PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics
By Josh Nightingale and Matt Johnson The USPTO has revised its standard operating procedure (SOP) governing the assignment of judges to panels in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cases. The SOP, available here, provides guidance to Board administrative personnel...
PTAB Grants Rare Motion for Additional Discovery
by Gasper LaRosa | Aug 22, 2018 | Evidentiary Issues, Motions Practice, Pharmaceutical
By: Mital B. Patel and Gasper J. LaRosa The PTAB recently granted a rare motion for additional discovery into the question of whether an unnamed party, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Amneal”), should have been named as a real-party-in-interest. In Kashiv LLC v. Purdue...
Federal Circuit: “All the Expenses” Does Not Mean “Attorneys’ Fees”
by Greg Castanias | Jul 31, 2018 | Federal Circuit Appeal, Pharmaceutical
By: Gregory A. Castanias and Daniel Kazhdan Last Friday, the Federal Circuit issued its en banc opinion in NantKwest, Inc. v. Iancu, No. 16-1794 (Fed. Cir. July 27, 2018). The Court held, by a 7-4 vote (Judge Chen, the former PTO Solicitor, was recused), that if the...
Sen. Hatch on Amendment to Incentivize Generic Drug Development
by Matthew Johnson | Jul 30, 2018 | Pharmaceutical
As we reported in our July 2, 2018 article Hatch Bill: Restore Hatch-Waxman Balance; Limit Generics’ Access to PTAB, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the namesake and coauthor of the Hatch-Waxman Act, proposed (but has not yet introduced) an amendment titled the...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5262
|
__label__wiki
| 0.963878
| 0.963878
|
EFCC arrests oil tycoon as corruption probe widens
"The net is widening and it's not clear how deep the rabbit hole goes. There will be a few people looking over their shoulders."
Nigeria has arrested the chairman of a local oil firm, a security official said on Tuesday, as part of a widening graft investigation in Africa's biggest petroleum producer that has also netted former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Days after British police detained Alison-Madueke, one of Africa's most powerful women, the official said their counterparts in Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arrested Atlantic Energy chairman Olajide Omokore on corruption and money laundering charges.
The arrests, which follow pledges by President Muhammadu Buhari - a former military dictator - to "clean up" Africa's biggest economy, have sent shockwaves through Nigeria's globe-trotting corporate and political elite.
"A lot of people have been shocked," one oil executive in Nigeria told Reuters. "The net is widening and it's not clear how deep the rabbit hole goes. There will be a few people looking over their shoulders."
The EFCC official said Omokore, listed by Forbes magazine in 2012 as one of "Ten Nigerian multi-millionaires you have never heard of", remained in custody.
"He is being interrogated," the official, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters. He gave no further details.
Omokore's lawyer and a spokesman for his company could not be reached for comment.
Alison-Madueke, whose house in Abuja was raided by Nigerian police on Friday night, was accused by former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi of presiding over a state oil sector that leaked tens of billions of dollars during her five-year tenure.
Sanusi was sacked by then-President Goodluck Jonathan after raising concerns that $20 billion in oil revenues had not been remitted to government coffers by the state oil firm, NNPC, between January 2012 and July 2013.
Sanusi also criticised Alison-Madueke for giving Atlantic - then an unknown start-up - a major contract with the NNPC shortly after becoming oil minister in 2010. She left office in May after Buhari's election victory over Jonathan two months earlier.
Alison-Madueke has denied any wrongdoing. Attempts to reach her in London have been unsuccessful.
The arrests have turned the spotlight once again on Nigeria's oil sector and the suspicions that oil theft, graft and mismanagement have created an ultra-rich elite in an economy typified by poverty, power cuts and shaky public services.
Atlantic Energy was one of two firms that signed so-called Strategic Alliance Agreements with NNPC’s upstream arm, NPDC, in May 2011 to manage oil blocks sold by oil major Royal Dutch Shell.
At the time, parliament criticized the two deals, which had a combined value of $6.6 billion, as having been subject to no bidding process.
Sanusi also questioned the logic behind them, saying they were simply transferring state assets into private hands. He identified the set-up as one of the three main methods through which he believed the NNPC was losing billions.
The Natural Resource Governance Institute, a U.S.-based watchdog, has also criticized the NPDC for holding onto substantial revenues despite having limited operational costs. It made an estimated $6.28 billion over a 19-month period in 2012-2013.
Since coming to power, Buhari has ordered an audit of NNPC, the central bank and other key state institutions, saying as much as $150 billion was stolen from the state over the previous decade.
CABINET LIST
Four months after being sworn in, Buhari has failed to nominate a cabinet - to the chagrin of the business and investor community - but has made clear he will preside personally over the petroleum sector to push through reforms.
A cabinet list sent to parliament on Tuesday included Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, a former Exxon-Mobil manager appointed to the helm of the NNPC in August after Buhari sacked the previous board in the first salvo of his reform drive.
Kachikwu's portfolio was not specified but oil industry sources say he is set to become state petroleum minister overseeing daily operations under Buhari.
It was not immediately clear who will run NNPC in his stead. Oil industry sources also said Buhari might also appoint a special advisor for oil.
Since taking office, Buhari has overseen the cancellation of controversial crude-for-product swaps and a costly refinery crude supply contract.
NNPC head Kachikwu announced an audit of the state company by PriceWaterhouseCoopers that is expected to be completed in December, sources familiar with the matter said.
The NNPC also said it wants to review upstream production contracts and split NNPC into smaller units to improve efficiency and end corruption.
Join the "sabi" clique
Thank you! You have successfully subscribed to receive the pulse.ng newsletter
LIKE PULSE NIGERIA FOLLOW PULSE NIGERIA
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Miyetti Allah tells Buhari to arrest, deal with Obasanjo
Pulse Opinion: Clearly, Buhari doesn't know what he's doing anymore
Published Yesterday at 9:21 AM
13 Things to know about Gov Seyi Makinde's N48billion worth
Published Last Tuesday at 12:19 PM
'Your life is at risk,' Northern Elders order herdsmen to leave the South
Fasoranti’s son narrates how his sister was killed
Published Last Saturday at 1:31 PM
Bishop Kukah:“Hating Fulani herdsmen is dangerous for Nigeria”
Published Yesterday at 11:23 AM
Tribunal orders INEC chairman to produce electoral documents
Army declares 5 soldiers wanted for stealing millions from VIP
This is the list of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s Commissioners
Published Last Monday at 8:08 AM
3 couples in BBNaija ‘Pepper Dem’ and all you need to know about them
Buhari: “I didn’t know some of the ministers I appointed in 2015”
Pulse NG is Nigeria's new media publisher. 24/7 live news & videos
© 2019 pulse.ng
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5264
|
__label__cc
| 0.648305
| 0.351695
|
How Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump Profit Off Your Outrage
They both have 61 million followers on Twitter, but the parallels don't end there.
Eden Arielle Gordon
The Kardashians want you to be reading this article. So does Donald Trump.
If you're already struggling to breathe while wearing Kim's shapewear and/or have fallen so unconditionally in love with Trump that nothing he does could change your opinion of him, they're happy you're here. But they're especially happy if you're prickling with rage, or if you're preparing to share this on your news feed, along with an angry comment about racism or cultural appropriation.
They're happy you're here because they've both figured out something about the modern media landscape and its purportedly elusive algorithm: Trump and Kim Kardashian know that they can profit off your indignation. They make money, they dominate headlines, and they win elections off the knowledge that any and all coverage, no matter how scathing, will benefit their careers.
This week's Kardashian publicity ploy: Kim has released a new lingerie line called Kimono. This has sparked instant rage from Japan, as well as anyone who has remotely paid attention to a single headline or news report or tweet about the problems with cultural appropriation.
A kimono, of course, is a gown tied with a sash that has been worn by people in Japan for centuries. To appropriate a kimono when you don't belong to its culture of origins is bad enough, but to package it and sell it for profit is an even more despicable act. Kim and her team's actions are, far and away, much worse than those of the white girl who received widespread backlash for wearing a traditional Chinese cheongsam to her prom.
That act, though not excusable, was one 18-year-old's poorly thought-out decision. In contrast, Kim's brand had to be conceptualized, vetted, marketed, and handled by hundreds if not thousands of people. Many of these people are extremely intelligent and well-versed in the ways of media and the social world, including Mrs. Kardashian West herself. They knew what they were doing and went ahead and did it anyway, applying for trademarks for the name "Kimono" in the United States, as well as "Kimono Body," "Kimono Intimates," and "Kimono World."
It's insidious—and brilliant. If Kim had simply released an underwear line, maybe it would've sold well among its target demographic; perhaps it would've provoked a few tweets from Jameela Jamil about the body-shaming nature of shapewear clothing. But now, because of this controversy, everyone with an Internet connection knows that Kim has released a new product. Everyone's sharing it, reading it, spreading it around like it's the plague in 14th century England (or its 21st century equivalent: the meme)—and so now it will reach people who might otherwise not have cared but who will now roll their eyes and say something about special snowflakes. Ideally, they'll buy the Kimono line out of spite and wear it as a kind of twisted testament to their all-American brand of kommodified, kolonialist, kapitalist freedom.
This marketing strategy is actually quite similar to the tactics used by the Trump campaign in 2016, tactics that the president will continue to use as he launches his campaign for 2020. It goes without saying that Trump's brand runs on a steady diet of outrage. It works: Studies have shown that negative press coverage helped elect Trump and has helped normalize him throughout his reign. In addition, the media's obsession with his personal controversies has distracted people's attention from natural and political disasters, as well as, god forbid, actual policy reform.
Donald Trump has built an empire by being more of a cultural icon than a politician, providing more personal drama and generating more rabid media coverage than arguably any Hollywood movie star ever has. His ammunition is controversy: His end goal is the spotlight, at any cost.
He shares this with the Kardashians, who have been open about their addiction to any kind of media attention. In 2015, Kim told Rolling Stone, "We'd go anywhere and everywhere just to be seen. We knew exactly where to go, where to be seen, how to have something written about you."
Image via E! News
For journalists and people against bigotry, hate, and abuse of power in general, this presents an infinite loop. To remain silent would be to ignore atrocity, yet providing more negative coverage fuels the fire. In short, we are running in circles.
So here's another article about the Kardashians and Trump, to be sent out into the labyrinth of the Internet, where it will join the ranks of millions of thinkpieces that burned brightly for a moment, perhaps sparked a flicker of contempt or conversation, and fizzled out to rest in the graves where all thinkpieces older than one week go to die. They'll be covered up by more outrage, more controversy. Fresh cuts will open elsewhere, distracting everyone from the wounds at hands. In the end, we'll all be left with the scars.
Change, if it's possible, will only occur when we open our eyes and see that we are building the walls of our own cage. Perhaps if we realize that we are being played by the same game, we could begin to dismantle this relentless carousel by forgoing brief flares of outrage for critical inquiry and ongoing protests against systemic issues.
Kim Kardashian: New 'Kimono' shapewear sparks cultural ... ›
Kim Kardashian launches Kimono, a shapewear line ›
'Ignorant' Kim Kardashian's Kimono underwear brand slammed by ... ›
Kim Kardashian West's Kimono underwear meets Japanese backlash ›
Kim Kardashian West on Twitter: "Fun Kimono Fact- Kanye drew the ... ›
People In Japan Don't Seem Thrilled With Kim Kardashian West's ... ›
Kim Kardashian's Kimono shapewear sparks backlash in Japan ... ›
Kim Kardashian's new 'Kimono' brand is getting a lot of backlash ›
Kim Kardashian just trademarked 'Kimono.' Let the backlash begin ... ›
Kim Kardashian West's Kimono shapewear touches nerve in Japan ... ›
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5266
|
__label__wiki
| 0.930976
| 0.930976
|
'Ashes to Ashes' Is the Second Half of Chris O’Leary’s Deep Dive into All Things Bowie
What began as a blog becomes Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016, a tome for fans and critics.
Linda Levitt
The 21 Best Album Re-Issues of 2018
In 2018, the music world saw amazing reissues spanning rock titans to indie upstarts and electronic to pop of all stripes.
Stumbling Into Town Like a Sacred Cow: 'Loving the Alien' Chronicles David Bowie in the '80s
The fourth in a series of David Bowie boxed sets, Loving the Alien (1983-1988) covers a period in the late artist's career than many hardcore fans would prefer to forget. Time for a reassessment.
David Bowie's 'Welcome to the Blackout' Is a Triumph
David Bowie's well-received Record Store Day 2018 collection goes on general release via CD, streaming and download.
One Life, Breathlessly Lived: On Artist and '70s Scenster Duncan Hannah's Memoir
Things get hazy with drugs and bloody with violence, but hipster Hannah remains happy.
'David Bowie Made Me Gay' Raises the Question, How Do We Define LGBT Music?
The World's Worst Records blogger is funny, catty, and gossipy. Capturing the history of LGBT music in book form, however, outwits the author.
Megan Volpert
The Roots of Romanticism in David Bowie's Berlin Triptych
In its response to modernity, Romanticism's grand enterprise inspires us to question the current state of things, to ponder how we might "be heroes / just for one day".
Paul S. Rowe
'David Bowie: The Last Five Years' Compellingly Reflects on the Final Projects of the Artist's Life
If you are unfamiliar with the final, fertile phase of Bowie's career — which followed his retirement from performing, after a 2004 onstage heart attack — this is a fine introduction.
Robert Lloyd
'Smithsonian Rock and Roll' Welcomes the Amateur Concert Photographer
This new book featuring concert photos taken by fans is a stylish, interesting, and absorbing, yet somewhat incomplete look at the history of popular music.
Jessy Krupa
Filtered Through the Prism of David Bowie's Quixotic Mind: 'A New Career in a New Town'
The third installment of the series of deluxe David Bowie box sets covers some of his most celebrated albums but not without controversy.
Chris Gerard
David Bowie Tributes: Complexions Dance + Sound & Vision Celebration + Royal Mail Stamps
Through stamps, dance and musical tributes, David Bowie lives on.
Sachyn Mital
Space Oddity: ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ is Strictly a Vehicle for David Bowie
Nicolas Roeg’s mid-'70s sci-fi misfire about an alien (Bowie) trying to save his planet but falling prey to Earth’s temptations is self-indulgent garble with a haunting premise.
Chris Barsanti
Glam Is Good
Simon Reynold's Shock and Awe is a thorough investigation into the many facets of rock's most maligned moniker.
David Bowie in Conversation
Turn and face the strange: a posthumous interview compilation shows David Bowie as a brilliant artist and a warm conversationalist, an all-too-rare combination.
Form Follows Function: 'The Life of Pablo' and 'Blonde' Challenge the Notion of an Album
Kanye West and Frank Ocean have created imperfect perfect albums which invert our notions of flaws and challenge our perception of the album as an art form.
Tanner Smith
Phish and the Spiders From Mars Take Las Vegas
Phish has personally transformed Halloween into the holy high holiday of the rock world due to their legendary musical costume performances...
Greg M. Schwartz
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5267
|
__label__cc
| 0.641163
| 0.358837
|
"Volver"
Autor: Antonio C. Márquez
Editorial: University of New Mexico Press
Born on the eve of World War II into a family of Mexican immigrants in El Paso, Antonio C. Márquez remains a child of the border, his life partaking of multiple cultures, countries, and classes. Here he recounts his life story, from childhood memories of movies and baseball and friendship with his Chinese Mexican American neighbor, Manuel Wong, to the turbulent events of his manhood. Márquez recalls the impact of immigration and war on his family; his experiences of gang conflict in El Paso and Los Angeles in the 1960s; enlisting in the Marine Corps; his activism in the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement of the Vietnam era, and the Crusade for Justice; and his travels to crisis-ridden Latin American countries. From a family where no one had the luxury of higher education, Márquez became a professor when universities hired few Chicanos. His is a story of survival and courage.
The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro
La quinta columna
ALBERTO LAGUNA REYES, ANTONIO VARGAS MÁRQUEZ
ANTONIO C. CORONEL
Entorno e información de mercados. COMM...
JOSÉ ANTONIO DE ORADOR MÁRQUEZ
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5268
|
__label__cc
| 0.687098
| 0.312902
|
17,487 Officials Had Something To Say
17,487. That is the number of officials whose investment in this avocation motivated them to respond to the recent National Association of Sports Officials...
Follow My Lead
By Jason Palmer Taking a page out of corporate America's playbook in a bold, aggressive step to mitigate the officials shortage in the state, Oregon...
Transition Game
By Scott Tittrington Basketball has taken Ka-Deidre “Didi” Simmons around the globe. After a stellar collegiate career at Seton Hall University that saw her graduate...
Late on the evening of Sept. 24, 2012, three men enjoy a nightcap at a New York City hotel. On the TV, the Seattle...
Q&A with Dr. Karissa Niehoff
Dr. Karissa Niehoff needed no prompting to address the elephant in the room. “We’re definitely supportive of the great work that our officials are doing,...
Just One Official Away …
By Steven L. Tietz How did you fall in love with officiating? At the NASO Summit in Louisville, Ky., this past July, there were smiles and...
Officials Who Coach
We start with my story. I was officiating with a rookie partner (who had great potential) on a middle school championship basketball game. Perfect pairing...
More than just baseballs get thrown at the Minor League Baseball Umpire Academy, nestled in Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla. Attendees seeking to...
The Shot
As an exhausted Tom Clark settled back into the aisle seat of his Delta Airlines flight the morning of March 29, 1992, a slight...
Why We Officiate
1. Camaraderie The fellowship and humor officials share with one another are incomparable. 2. Boos There’s nothing like fans booing when you have the silent satisfaction of...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5275
|
__label__wiki
| 0.733434
| 0.733434
|
Franz Josef & Fox Glacier Travel Guide
Home / Franz Josef & Fox Glacier Travel Guide
“Thank you for putting together such a great vacation package for us! We had such a great experience in your country. The accommodations were very good. Great job!” – Mr & Mrs P Radcliffe (UK)
Within this 600 kilometre long swathe of Eden, no wider than 70 kilometres at any point, the mountains look closer, the lakes clearer, the rivers larger and faster, the forests more lush than anywhere else in the country.
Not surprisingly, given its rich environmental heritage, the West Coast of the Southern Alps boasts five of New Zealand’s fourteen national parks – Kahurangi, Paparoa, Arthur’s Pass, Westland, Mt Aspiring – along with the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area.
Days can be spent exploring the region, which Rudyard Kipling described as “the last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite apart”. Among the scenic treasures to be found on the West Coast are New Zealand’s highest mountains, lowest glaciers, finest lowland rainforests (with the tallest trees), wildest beaches, longest caves and most natural rivers.
Franz Josef & Fox Glacier Sightseeing Day Tours
Franz Josef & Fox Glacier Tours (3)
Combine an awesome scenic helicopter flight over the glacier with a unique guided walk through the extraordinary alpine landscape. See the ice-flow from above and then up close, on an unforgettable guided walk. Or for those that would prefer to skip the hike we have a few scenic flights over the glaciers.
Some 140 glaciers flow from the Southern Alps, but of these only two (the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers) penetrate as far as the lower rainforests.
Few sights equal the spectacle of these giant tongues of ice grinding down through temperate rainforest to just 250 metres above sea level (this is the only place outside Argentina where this occurs).
Visitors are often surprised to find such a warm/mild climate in Franz Josef (due to the moderating effect of the sea and rainforests), given the proximity of the glaciers and the highest peaks of the Southern Alps only a few kilometres from the township.
Two guiding companies offer a variety of guided walks & climbing experiences, to suit all ages and abilities. Heli-hikes and scenic flights with or without snow landings are also available. Other activities include a variety of rafting experiences, white heron sanctuary Tours, rainforest and coastal walks.
Franz Josef township offers a range of quality accommodation, hotels, cafés, arts & craft retail, a general store and service station for motoring needs.
The Fox Glacier township offers a more intimate ‘village’ experience than its bigger neighbour, Franz Josef. Tucked into the rainforest-clad foothills of the Southern Alps, the township offers a range of good quality accommodation, hotels, cafés, a general store and service station for motoring needs.
The Fox glacier offers a different set of glacier experiences than the Franz Josef glacier, and visitors are increasingly booking activities on both glaciers during their visit to Glacier Country. Local companies provide access to the Fox Glacier by way of guided walks, heli-hikes, and scenic flights with or without snow landings.
Fox Glacier is also internationally renowned for Lake Matheson’s stunning reflections of Aorangi/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. The lake is located 6 kilometres west of the township. Further down the valley, driving through rimu rainforests, brings you to the site of the old gold mining settlement of Gillespies Beach on the shores of the Tasman Sea.
West Coast Glaciers Quick Facts
Location: West Coast, South Island, New Zealand
Main Townships: Franz Josef, Fox Glacier
Average Temperatures (°Celcius): Summer: (Dec – Feb) 12-25°, Autumn: (March – May) 9-17°, Winter: (June – August) 5-15°, Spring: (Sept – Nov) 9-17°
West Coast Drive Time: The full length of the West Coast (Karamea to Haast) is about 550km.
Five National Parks on the West Coast:
Paparoa
Mount Aspiring
Closest Cities:
Greymouth and then Nelson — North
Christchurch — East (over the Southern Alps via car, coach or TranzAlpine train)
Queenstown & Wanaka — South via Haast Pass
Discover the North Island
Waitomo Glowworm Caves
East Coast Beaches
The Great New Zealand Touring Route
Discover the South Island
Nelson & Abel Tasman National Park
Queenstown & Wanaka
Milford Sound & Doubtful Sound
Aoraki (Mt Cook)
Franz Josef & Fox Glacier
Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks)
Sightseeing Tours & Activities
Reasons to Book with us
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5276
|
__label__wiki
| 0.695908
| 0.695908
|
Updated map shows location of over 46 cases of clubroot confirmed in Saskatchewan
The Saskatchewan Government has mapped out where clubroot has been discovered in the province. To date, there have been 46 confirmed cases of the disease in commercial canola fields, up from 37 reported late in 2018. The pathogen was even confirmed in three fields that did not exhibit symptoms. “Monitoring the spread of clubroot through… Read More
Wheat Pete’s Word, Jan 9: Life-long learning, talking plants, compaction trade-offs, and seed-placed P
Just like that, we are knee-deep in meeting season — and that means, engaging speakers, research findings, sales pitches, and new ideas for the growing season ahead. Fresh off another successful Southwest Agricultural Conference, Wheat Pete’s Word host Peter Johnson is raring to go answering your top agronomic questions. First though, if you’re looking for… Read More
Mackay stepping down as president of Canadian Centre for Food Integrity
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity will soon be on the hunt for a new president, as Crystal Mackay has advised the CCFI board she will be leaving the organization at the end of April. Mackay has been with organization, previously under the Farm & Food Care umbrella, and now CCFI, for nearly 10 years. “Crystal… Read More
Notable ag entrepreneur and advocate takes leadership position with DOT
Robert Saik will be taking on the role as chief executive officer of DOT’s Ready Retail (DRR) sector. Saik’s main role will be to establish a Canadian and global retail and distribution system to support autonomous farming, the company says. “Given Rob’s vast experience in the agriculture industry and his record as an agri-business thought leader, he… Read More
RealAg Radio, Jan. 8: TruFlex gets approved, PEDv in Alberta, and working biologicals into your crop input decision
RealAg Radio is back in full force today starting off with news with Guse! RealAg Radio host, Shaun Haney and news lead, Jessika Guse have the top ag news stories of the day to start off the show. Guests on today’s show include, Jon Treloar of Acceleron BioAg. Treloar explains working biologicals into the crop input… Read More
Alberta announces first-ever PEDv case found in the province
Alberta Pork has notified pork producers that a 400-head hog operation has tested positive for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus. According to a news release, this is the first-ever reported case of the deadly disease in Alberta. Once hogs come into contact with the disease, it causes severe diarrhea and vomiting in pigs, often fatally…. Read More
4-H Canada honours Elaine Froese with inaugural distinguished alumni award
Elaine Froese has been named the recipient of 4-H Canada’s first-ever distinguished alumni award. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and leadership of 4-H alumni across Canada, in the areas of community engagement and communications, science and technology, environment, and healthy living, or sustainable agriculture and food security. Froese is being recognized for her accomplishments in community… Read More
American Vanguard buys herbicide product line from Corteva Agriscience
American Vanguard Corporation has acquired the quizalofop product line of herbicides from Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DowDuPont. The transaction means American Vanguard acquires the technical registrations, commercial sales information, and the existing product supply of the herbicide line up, according to a press release. The quizalofop line is currently registered for use in… Read More
Corn School: Be on alert for tar spot, a new leaf disease
It’s not the greatest news to start of the winter learning season — corn growers need to be on alert for a new leaf disease making its way towards Canada. Speaking at the Southwest Agricultural Conference, Martin Chilvers, field crop pathologist with Michigan State University, says tar spot has moved swiftly out of Indiana and… Read More
TruFlex trait gets China’s stamp of approval
China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) has granted a safety certificate approval for the import and food/feed use of Bayer’s TruFlex canola with Roundup Ready technology. According to a news release, MARA has notified Bayer that a safety certificate for TruFlex canola has been granted, and they’re now awaiting final documentation which should be… Read More
Cash advance program can be particularly beneficial for young farmers
Dale Leftwich
The government-backed Advance Payments Program, commonly called the cash advance, is a tool used by farmers to even-out cash flow and help take the pressure off marketing decisions. It has expanded over the past few decades from a small program offered by the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) for wheat, barley, and durum, to a program… Read More
A look to late winter, early 2019 planting season weather
When your livelihood depends on the weather, it seems like it’s never too early to start getting a handle on the forecast. James Garriss, historic climatologist with Browning Media, was a guest presenter at the recent SouthWest Agricultural Conference at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus. RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin had a chance to chat with… Read More
RealAg Radio, Jan 7: Weather predictions, soybean management, and the host is back!
Welcome back to the first edition of Agronomic Monday for 2019. On today’s show, RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney is back from a relaxing family vacation, and has Eric Richter, of Syngenta Canada, first up to talk all about soybean management. You’ll also hear from James Garriss, of Browning Media, who explains the potential weather… Read More
Rough year triggers estimated $3.2 million in insurance payouts for Manitoba hay producers
More than 20 per cent of Manitoba producers who had select hay or basic hay insurance have claimed they harvested less than 50 per cent of their long-term average hay yield. That significant number has triggered the Hay Disaster Benefit (HDB) to roll out. The HDB was first introduced in 2014 as part of a… Read More
Grain Growers of Canada names new executive director
Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) has named Erin Gowriluk as its new executive director. Gowriluk will be based out of Ottawa, Ont. Gowriluk will run the day-to-day operations as well as managing advocacy and policy work. According to the GGC, Gowriluk has extensive knowledge in agriculture with a diverse background in agriculture policy. Her most recent position… Read More
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5285
|
__label__cc
| 0.599982
| 0.400018
|
Nepal 2018
In the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, the Losar Festival celebrating Tibetan New Year ends with the great Boudhanath stupa receiving a fresh coat of white paint to welcome in the new year. The final touch comes with the addition of color to represent lotus leaves encircling the stupa.
– Scott Faiia ©2009
PCV Malaysia 1973–1975
Irrigation Engineering
Area 57K mi2; 147K km2
Population 29M (509/mi² 197/km²)
Gov’t Federal parliamentary republic
Capital Kathmandu (1.2M)
GCP/capita $2,500
Unemployment 46%
In poverty 25%
Life expectancy 71 yrs
Infant Mortality 29/1K live births (66th)
Literacy 64%
Languages Nepali (official), Maithali, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, others
Religions Hindu 81%, Buddhist 9%, Muslim 4%, Kirant 3%, Christian 1%, other 1%
Education 3.7% of GDP (87th)
Military 1.4% of GDP
Labor Force Agriculture 69%, industry 12%, services 19%
PCVs 1962–2004, 2012–present CURRENT: 65, Agriculture; TTD: 3,740
Colors of Nepal: Kathmandu, Boudha, Bakthapur, Patan, Pharpin
Peter Takeuchi, 2013
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 27, 2013)
From the introduction:
In the late 1960s, Nepal was a popular destination for some of my affluent Hippie friends. It was an exotic place, ruled by a King, with friendly people, spectacular scenery, cheap beer, and good “ganja.” They returned with wild stories of dancing and drinking parties and trekking through remote mountain villages, but I never went. After working in the movie business for 25 years, and raising two kids, I retired in 2004 and travelled throughout Asia. Then in 2007, I met a wonderful woman in Tibet, and convinced her to marry me. Helena designs jewelry, buys precious stones in India and crafts her pieces in Nepal and Thailand. So, I made it to Nepal, but it was a very different place, embroiled in a civil war between Maoists in the countryside and the Monarchy in Kathmandu. Students demonstrated against the government and police fired tear gas at them. Starving children were begging in the streets. We stayed in the Thamel district of the city where hotels, bars, restaurants and handicraft shops lined every narrow street. Taxis, motorcycles and tourists competed for space. Nepal was nothing like the stories I heard. Nepal is a poor country, in fact, I consider it a failed state. Officials cannot agree on any issue and refuse to write a new constitution. Corruption runs rampant and if foreign aid and NGOs stop pouring cash into the economy, the country would probably collapse. Here is a land with an abundance of fresh water flowing from the Annapurna and Himalaya mountain ranges, yet they suffer from power outages most of the day and their drinking water is polluted. Dirt streets turn into muddy streams during monsoon season. Healthcare and education are only available to those who can afford it. So, we moved from Kathmandu to the suburb of Boudha and explored the ancient towns of Patan and Bhaktapur, all UNESCO World heritage sites. We enjoy walking and my wife loves to shop, so we see and meet many of the local people. I carry a black Micro 4/3 camera, with a 40mm prime lens and take many photos. A person or group catches my eye, then the background and I search for natural light and the best angle. This happens quickly, so I simply set the aperture and let the camera do the rest. I've learned that the camera does it better and much faster than me. Smiling, looking people in the eye and asking politely before taking their photo almost always works, particularly in Nepal. Most, despite their poverty, their clothes, or hair, pause and look into the lens; not with a “Kodak smile,” but an honest look that shows in their eyes. Afterwards, I show the digital image to them and offer to email it, but most don't have email, a computer, smartphone or internet access. Beauty is subjective and comes in many colors; some bright, some dark. What interests me are real people in real life situations. Beautiful people and places do not inspire me, but I see beautiful beggars, workers and street dogs. Capturing this reality in a fleeting moment, with my camera and limited technical skills is my intent. I want you to see the subject or situation and feel the emotion that charged that moment in time. That emotion can be joyous or sad and I hope it is felt in your heart. Colors of Nepal is my first book. The photos were shot over two five-month periods in 2012-13, mostly in Kathmandu, Boudha, Bakthapur, Patan, and Pharpin. Friends looked at my photos and read the stories and encouraged me to do a book, then some of them actually did it for me. I’m very grateful.
Chandra’s Magic Light: a story in Nepal
Theresa Heine; illustrated by Judith Gueyfier
Format: 38pp., col.ill.
Age Range: 5–8 years
Publishers: Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books, 2014
A heartwarming story set in Nepal of two resourceful sisters who bring the safety of solar-powered light to their family.
Film: The Black Hen (Kalo Pothi)
Director: Min Bahadur Bham
Date of Release: 2015
Language: Nepali
The film is based on a journey embarked on by two friends, Prakash and Kiran—belonging to different castes—in search of a missing hen, and unaware of the tyranny brought by the fragile 2001 ceasefire during the Nepalese civil war.”
Sophia Pande of Nepali Times wrote that the film is "an example of the new wave of Nepali cinema, the kind that chooses to portray stories with truth and heart, over melodrama and action.”
The Himalayan Times wrote in its review: "A mixture of tragedy and comedy, while portraying the brother-sister bond, friendship, caste-based discrimination and the then time of Maoist insurgency in the country, Kalo Pothi has been made with finesse."
Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Bolstered by stirring performances from his cast, Bham and his crew have produced an evocative piece about harsh lives unraveling in a war-torn, rustic land. Mixing moments of humor and tragedy, along with realism and the ethereal—the latter embodied in fantastic dream sequences illustrating Prakash’s suppressed feelings of grief and loss—Black Hen is an effective showcase of a promising filmmaker in flight.”
Best Film at Venice International Film Festival, Critics Week, 2015
Sur Sudha
Sur Sudha is known as Nepal’s “Musical Ambassadors,” and is dedicated to creating music that disseminates a universal message of peace and harmony, and supports the effort to remove poverty from the face of the Earth. Their music additionally works to demonstrate how two of the world’s great religions—Hinduism and Buddhism—find perfect fusion in Nepal. Sur Sudha seeks to promote these ideals through traditional Nepali instrumental music rendered with the flute, sitar, and tablas; these are the most popular Nepali instruments, and are referred to as “the three sons of Nepal.” Having performed for Heads of State around the World, Sur Sudha has the power to captivate and enthrall—providing listeners a sense of the enlightening power of music. Play for Change.
Abu Gobi Tarkari: Vegetable Curry
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin-Madison is a public charity registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. Its EIN is 39-1669348. It is also an affiliate group of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA).
NPCA champions lifelong commitment to Peace Corps ideals by connecting, engaging and promoting its members and affiliate groups as they continue to make a difference in communities in the U.S. and abroad. NPCA is also dedicated to advocating for, contributing to, and supporting the betterment of the Peace Corps. Visit NPCA to learn more.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5287
|
__label__wiki
| 0.930343
| 0.930343
|
A tow operator from Totem Towing tends to a Honda Civic that was involved in a crash with a B.C. Transit bus on Tuesday morning. Both the car and the damaged bus
UPDATED: Car crashes into bus during morning commute in Saanich
Three people sent to hospital including the driver of a B.C. Transit bus after a collision with a Honda Civic early Tuesday.
Kyle Slavin
Mar. 6, 2012 12:00 p.m.
Three people were sent to hospital after a commuter bus was involved in a crash on Quadra Street during the morning rush hour.
Two passengers aboard the bus were taken to Victoria General Hospital with back and neck injuries when the bus struck the front passenger side of a Honda Civic that crossed a double solid yellow line to make a left turn.
Around 8:40 a.m. the northbound Civic was trying to turn in to an apartment complex mid-block in the 4000-block of Quadra St.
The driver of the southbound No. 6 bus attempted to brake, but hit the car.
Four passengers on the bus reported injuries, two of whom walked away with just scrapes and bruises. The female driver of the car was also taken to hospital, believed to have head injuries as a result of the collision and airbags.
The bus driver was uninjured, but he was in shock, according to B.C. Transit spokesperson Meribeth Burton.
“He is perfectly healthy. We have programs in place and resources to offer him to talk over the situation, which is very traumatic,” she said.
There were another 10 passengers on the bus at the time of the crash.
Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene. Quadra Street was temporarily blocked off to southbound traffic while investigators were on scene.
Saanich police Const. Richard Burdet said speed, alcohol and driver impairment do not seem to be factors in the crash.
The investigation is ongoing, and he said charges under the Motor Vehicle Act could possibly be issued.
kslavin@saanichnews.com
Capital Region’s flags unfurled in Afghanistan
Feds double up on Johnson Street bridge funding
‘Goodness prevails’: neighbours reflect following suspicious death of 60-year-old Metchosin man
Martin Payne was found dead in his Metchosin home on Friday. Police have confirmed foul play.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5290
|
__label__wiki
| 0.923353
| 0.923353
|
March 19, 2018 / 2:10 AM / a year ago
Australia PM meets Myanmar leader Suu Kyi, to raise human rights concerns
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Canberra on Monday to be met by a military honor guard and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has said he will raise human rights issues during her visit.
Suu Kyi has been in Australia since Friday, attending a special summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders in Sydney, where her presence drew street protests and a lawsuit accusing her of crimes against humanity.
Australia’s Attorney General has said he would not allow the lawsuit, lodged by activist lawyers in Melbourne on behalf of Australia’s Rohingya community, to proceed because Suu Kyi had diplomatic immunity.
Since coming to power in 2016, Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, has faced growing criticism for failing to condemn or stop military attacks on her country’s minority Rohingya Muslims.
U.N. officials say nearly 700,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh after militant attacks on Aug. 25 last year sparked a crackdown, led by security forces, in Rakhine state that the United Nations and United States have said constitutes ethnic cleansing.
The U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in Geneva this month she saw growing evidence to suspect genocide had been committed.
Myanmar denies the charges and has asked for “clear evidence” of abuses by security forces.
Slideshow (3 Images)
Neither Suu Kyi nor Turnbull made public remarks before their meeting, but the Australian leader said on Sunday that Suu Kyi spoke “at considerable length” during the ASEAN meeting about Rakhine State, appealing to her Southeast Asian neighbors for humanitarian help.
Suu Kyi had been scheduled to give a speech and answer questions at a foreign policy think-tank event in Sydney on Tuesday but canceled because she was not feeling well, event organizers said, without giving more details.
Suu Kyi’s spokesman Zaw Htay declined comment and referred questions to the Myanmar embassy in Canberra. A Reuters call to the embassy went unanswered.
Reporting by Tom Westbrook and Byron Kaye in SYDNEY and Simon Lewis in YANGON; Editing by Jane Wardell and Alex Richardson
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5294
|
__label__wiki
| 0.843599
| 0.843599
|
October 24, 2018 / 8:49 AM / 9 months ago
Japan grants cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status
Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) on Wednesday gave the cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status, permitting the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association to police and sanction exchanges for any violations.
FILE PHOTO: Representations of the Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration picture, February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
The government has been reviewing its approach toward an industry that has been hit twice by large-scale thefts.
The FSA approval gives the industry association rights to set rules to safeguard customer assets, prevent money laundering, and give operational guidelines. The association will also have to police compliance.
“It’s a very fast moving industry. It’s better for experts to make rules in a timely manner than bureaucrats do,” a senior FSA official said in a briefing, declining to be named.
Similar officially sanctioned bodies exist in industries such as securities brokerages.
“We will make further efforts to build an industry that is trusted by customers,” the cryptocurrency industry association said in a statement following the FSA approval.
Japan last year became the first country to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, as it encourages technological innovation while ensuring consumer protection. Exchanges have to register with FSA.
Both the regulator and the industry were criticized after about $60 million was stolen from cryptocurrency firm Tech Bureau Corp in September. Before the incident, the company was slapped with two business improvement orders by FSA following the theft of $530 million in digital coins at Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc in January.
Some FSA officials said the crypto industry now needs heavier regulatory approach, while not wanting to stifle its growth.
Yuri Suzuki, senior partner at law firm Atsumi & Sakai, said the self-regulatory body’s rules are stricter than the current law and she expects them to help the industry to regain public trust.
At the same time, “the self-regulatory body’s workload is likely to be heavy and there is an issue of whether it can secure enough staff with expertise in crypto exchange business,” said Suzuki, who closely follows crypto industry regulation at home and overseas.
FSA on Wednesday also published a set of guidelines for those applying to run crypto exchange. The agency said there are about 160 entities expressed interest.
There are 16 approved crypto exchanges. FSA has not granted any new approval since December last year. “We are looking into more details than before. In that sense, the approval process has become more strict,” the FSA official said.
(This story has been refiled to remove stray comma from lead paragraph)
Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim & Simon Cameron-Moore
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5295
|
__label__wiki
| 0.599232
| 0.599232
|
Art, Design & Media
Beauty & Complementary Therapies
Computing & Multimedia Technology
Cookery & Baking
EFL (English as a Foreign Language)
ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
Humanities & Creative Writing
Learners with Learning Difficulties or Disabilities
Lip Reading and Sign Language
Music, Choirs & Jazz
Personal Wellbeing
Science & Maths
Teaching & Training
Hillcroft Women Only Courses
Starting Soon
Hillcroft 2020
Facilities and Hires
Parkshot Gallery
Supporting RHACC
Working at RHACC
The Bridge at RHACC
Richmond Art School
Richmond Business School
Richmond Drama School
Richmond Jazz School
Learn English: ESOL and EFL
School of Ideas
Supported Learning
Hillcroft Women's Education
Help with your fees
Fees and Refund Policy
IT Support and Wifi
Free courses for low earners
Contact RHACC
Home > Schools > Languages
Our language classes are a great way to meet new people while expanding your language skills as well as stimulating your brain at the same time. We offer interactive, fun courses in eight different languages including Chinese Mandarin, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. We also have Lip Reading and British Sign Language classes. Courses are offered at different levels to suit you.
Language Levels
Courses are offered at different levels. Find out where you sit on our chart here.
Languages - Learner Profiles
http://www.richmondcvs.org.uk/
http://www.portcullistrust.org.uk/
Awarding Bodies
http://ec.europa.eu/esf/home.jsp
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign
https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/mayor-london
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/skills-funding-agency
http://matrixstandard.com/
https://www.britishcouncil.org/
https://www.facebook.com/rhacc.college/
https://twitter.com/RHACC_College
http://www.instagram.com/rhacc_college
http://www.youtube.com/racctube
Governors intranet
© 2019 Richmond and Hillcroft Adult and Community College, Parkshot, Richmond Upon Thames, London TW9 2RE, Tel: +44 (0) 208 891 5907
By using this site you agree that we can set and use cookies. See our Cookie Policy and Website Disclaimer for more information.
Website by Rouge Media
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5298
|
__label__wiki
| 0.740681
| 0.740681
|
Home Prescribing Information Important Safety Information
Rhophylac
Request More
Important Safety
Informational Video View the
Informational Video
Administration Guide Download a PDF of
Rhophylac Compatible
Needle-free System Learn More
Rhophylac®, Rho(D), Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human), is indicated for suppression of rhesus (Rh) isoimmunization in:
Pregnancy and obstetric conditions in non-sensitized, Rho(D)-negative women with an Rh-incompatible pregnancy, including routine antepartum and postpartum Rh prophylaxis and Rh prophylaxis in cases of obstetric complications, invasive procedures during pregnancy, or obstetric manipulative procedures.
Incompatible transfusions in Rho(D)-negative individuals transfused with blood components containing Rho(D)-positive red blood cells.
For suppression of Rh isoimmunization, Rhophylac can be administered IM or IV. Consider IV administration if reaching the muscle is of concern.
Rhophylac is indicated to raise platelet counts in Rho(D)-positive, non-splenectomized adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). For the treatment of ITP, Rhophylac must be administered IV.
WARNING: INTRAVASCULAR HEMOLYSIS IN ITP
This warning does not apply to Rh0(D)-negative patients treated for the suppression of Rh isoimmunization.
Intravascular hemolysis leading to death has been reported in Rho(D)-positive patients treated for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) with Rho(D) Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human) products. Intravascular hemolysis can lead to clinically compromising anemia and multi-system organ failure, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); acute renal insufficiency, renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) have also been reported. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of intravascular hemolysis in a healthcare setting for at least 8 hours after administration. See full prescribing information for complete boxed warning.
Rhophylac is contraindicated in individuals with known anaphylactic or severe systemic reaction to human immune globulin products. Rhophylac is contraindicated in IgA-deficient patients with antibodies to IgA and a history of hypersensitivity to Rhophylac or any of its components. Do not administer Rhophylac to the newborn infant of a mother who received Rhophylac postpartum.
Allergic or hypersensitivity reactions may occur with Rhophylac; early signs of hypersensitivity include generalized urticaria, chest tightness, wheezing, hypotension, and anaphylaxis.
Rhophylac is derived from human plasma. The risk of transmission of infectious agents, including viruses and, theoretically, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent, cannot be completely eliminated.
Suppression of Rh Isoimmunization: The most common adverse reactions in the suppression of Rh isoimmunization with Rhophylac (≥0.5% of patients) are nausea, dizziness, headache, injection-site pain, and malaise.
Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura: The most serious adverse reactions in patients receiving Rho(D) immune globulin have been observed in the treatment of ITP. ITP patients being treated with Rhophylac should be alerted to and monitored for signs and symptoms of intravascular hemolysis, including back pain, shaking chills, fever, and hematuria. Potentially serious complications of intravascular hemolysis include clinically compromising anemia, acute renal insufficiency, and, very rarely, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and death.
The most common adverse reactions observed in the treatment of ITP (>14% of patients) are chills, pyrexia/increased body temperature, headache, and hemolysis. In patients with preexisting anemia, Rhophylac may increase the severity of anemia.
Immunoglobulin administration may transiently interfere with the immune response to live virus vaccines, such as measles, mumps and rubella.
Please see full prescribing information for Rhophylac.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Important Safety Information | Prescribing Information | Contact Us | Site Map
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About CSL Behring
© 2019 CSL Behring. The product information presented on this site is intended for US residents only. RHO13-09-0017 3/2014
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5300
|
__label__cc
| 0.710401
| 0.289599
|
Home Magazines Scaly Tales The Banded Rock Gecko
The Banded Rock Gecko
When I’m out on a walk looking for critters to photograph, I’m always on the lookout for rocks to upturn. Rocks and stones hide all kinds of interesting animals underneath them. Depending on the area you’re searching in, you could find anything from tiny insects to a big snake under one of them!
To increase my chances of success and so as not to waste energy, I only upturn what I think to be the right-sized rocks for the job. Anything smaller than an unhusked coconut is unlikely to harbour anything interesting beneath it. On the other hand massive rocks are too big to be moved and are also best left alone. Some rocks are literally ‘rolling stones gathering no moss’ and are also quite useless.
The best kinds of rocks are the ones that are between 30 to 90 cm. across and sit with a small part of their mass submerged in the ground. Upturn one of these and you might find something very interesting. Like this banded rock gecko that I chanced upon on a nature walk in the Mollem National Park in Goa.
Most animals will quickly dart away when exposed like this but luckily for me this gecko just sat unmoving while I photographed him. Once I was finished taking photographs of the gecko, I put back the roof of his house.
This isn’t as simple as rolling the stone to its original position. This is because in doing so more than likely you will smash the heavy rock onto the little critter. So I first coaxed the 10 cm.-long reptile away. Then I moved the rock back into its original position. With the rock back in place, the lizard needed little convincing to dash back underneath it! So remember, don’t try to do this unless you have an experienced naturalist with you or you could do more harm than good.
Back home I thumbed through my reptile books but found hardly any information on this species of gecko. An Internet search turned out to be a little more productive and revealed some fascinating bits of information about this species in particular and geckos in general.For instance I was surprised to know that the gecko climbs walls with the help of tiny setae (bristles) under its feet. The suction power created by these setae is so strong that a gecko can easily suspend its entire body hanging from a single toe! When lifting its foot to move forward, a gecko bends its toes in the opposite direction from the way we do. In doing so the setae suction forces are drastically reduced allowing the gecko to ‘unstick’ its foot and move forward.
According to the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), there may be more than 80 species of geckos found in various parts of India. Many of these are nocturnal.
A gecko’s tail breaks off easily when grabbed by a predator allowing the little reptile to make a hasty getaway. The gecko will eventually grow a new tail but rarely, if at all, will the new tail resemble the original one in shape and size.
The banded rock gecko can be distinguished from other geckos by its vertical pupil. Like all geckos, it lacks eyelids and instead has a transparent shield. Come to think of it, I’ve never noticed a gecko blink. But I’ve more than once seen geckos lick their own eyes to keep them clean!
Rahul Alvares, 31, is a wildlife consultant and snake rescuer based in Goa. He also edits an online newsletter called The Creepy Times. Be sure to check out his website: www.rahulalvares.com
by Rahul Alvares, First appeared in: Sanctuary Cub, May, 2013.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5306
|
__label__cc
| 0.535236
| 0.464764
|
Book review: The Gustav Sonata
This novel is a remedy. If you have been reading too many fast-moving, cliff-hanging, emotionally-wringing new novels which don’t give you time to breathe, now sink into this. The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain is a sensitive portrayal of the friendship of two boys who meet at kindergarten and form a lifelong on-off friendship. Gustav and Anton are the products of their parents and upbringing, and the baggage they inherit. All of this is complicated by post-war Switzerland. The war seems, to them, irrelevant, but in fact it frames their whole lives.
Gustav lives with his widowed mother Emilie in a small town in Switzerland. Money is tight and Emilie juggles jobs to manage. As a lonely toddler who misses a father he barely remembers, Gustav longs for more warmth from an emotionally-distant mother. She encourages him to ‘master himself’, his behaviour, his emotions, his ambitions. He accompanies her to her cleaning job at the local church, he helps by cleaning rubbish from beneath the grating; instead of throwing it away, he keeps it carefully in a tin. The only person with whom he shares these treasures is Anton, his first real friend. Visiting Anton’s home and meeting his parents, Gustav comes to realize that his own lifestyle is not the norm and that other people live and love in different ways. He starts to question his mother, her distance, her lack of love, and why she will not talk about Gustav’s father, Erich. Anton, Gustav soon understands, is emotionally vulnerable and unable to master himself. This makes him feel protective of his friend, especially when it becomes clear to Gustav that his mother dislikes Anton. The reasons why are hinted at but not understood until the story of Erich is told.
This is a slow-paced novel about friendship, love, and how and where these connect and disconnect. It is about the expectations of relationships and how these can run afoul when any hopes and ambitions are hidden. And it is about conscience: when to do the right thing; what is the right thing; when to remain silent and when to speak out. Decisions taken based on conscience can haunt an individual all their life and affect everyone around them forever. The conflicts faced by the two boys and their parents reflect the moral dilemmas faced by Switzerland during World War Two and afterwards, long after the two boys have become men.
The story is told in three parts. Gustav’s childhood to the age of five. The story of Emilie and Erich’s romance and early married life. And finally Gustav and Anton as men in their fifties. Facts are slowly revealed which explain Emile’s coldness, and Erich’s failure as a police officer. But some things remain a secret until Gustav himself is nearing retirement and his mother is no longer there to question. Anton’s hoped-for high-flown career as a concert pianist morphs into the underwhelming one of music teacher in his hometown. Gustav opens a hotel and concentrates on creating comfort for his guests. A comfort he never felt in his own home: warmth, soft beds, roaring fires, exquisite food. Both men are products of their childhood but lack the self-awareness to change things mid-life. At the heart of it all is Mitteland, their ordinary hometown.
Mitteland in itself is an indication of how Tremain spins a compelling story out of everyday ingredients. There is nothing glamorous about The Gustav Sonata. There is depression, privation and jealousy. But there is also love and hope. The scenes in Davos when the two boys play make-believe, running a sanatorium for imaginary sufferers of TB, are delicate and touching. Rose Tremain is an author whose books vary considerably from each other. The breadth of her understanding of human nature, and the diversity of history and settings she writes about, is humbling. She is never a boring author. Read more about Tremain’s The Colour here.
‘Birdcage Walk’ by Helen Dunmore
‘Ghost Moth’ by Michèle Forbes
‘The Ballroom’ by Anna Hope
‘The Gustav Sonata’ by Rose Tremain [UK: Vintage]
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
THE GUSTAV SONATA by Rose Tremain #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-35k via @SandraDanby
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5308
|
__label__wiki
| 0.668493
| 0.668493
|
Climate Week Reportback
By Patrick Robbins Here at Sane Energy Project, we’ve had a pretty quiet couple of days, you know, nothing big. Except for the premiere of our groundbreaking mapping tool on Saturday, the biggest climate march in history on Sunday, a full day of direct action at #floodwallstreet on Monday and a presentation of the Solutions Grassroots Tour in Brooklyn on Tuesday, you could say it’s been kind of a snore. All joking aside, where do we begin? This was an astonishing, historical couple of days we’ve had. We are so grateful to everyone who came out for any part of it. Check out our facebook page for a compilation of photos and videos of everything. Here’s how it went down, day by day:
SATURDAY: You Are Here. Our new online mapping tool premiered at the Graffiti Church as a part of the People’s Climate Convergence. More than a hundred people showed up at the historic community center. Zephyr Teachout, former gubernatorial candidate and anti-corruption advocate, gave an impassioned speech on why mapmaking is so important–maps tell stories that make sense of our physical environments, and when you control the map, you control the story. Our mission has always been to restore that control to the people, and so we heard from three grassroots activists from impacted New York State communities–Mark Pezzatti, Maura Stephens and Bill Huston–who have been instrumental in helping us build the mapping tool over the last year. And afterward, people were able to demo the map on laptops and tablets. Think about it–more than a hundred people felt strongly enough about this issue to spend the better part of a beautiful Saturday indoors looking at coordinates. Not bad! And there’s more to come; stay tuned for further events and social media on the map in the coming weeks!
SUNDAY: The People’s Climate March. By now you’ve probably seen the statistics. 400,000+ people marched through the streets of New York City, more than 500 buses brought people into town from all over the country. Participants came from all over the world, and solidarity actions took place in 166 countries. As impressive as the numbers are, the numbers can’t convey the whole story–how incredible it felt to see all of our hard work come to fruition, the amazing feeling of walking with other people who are giving everything they have to fight fossil fuels around the world, the wave of sound that surrounded us after the moment of silence, and the incredible outpouring of creativity and art that swept across the city like a people’s storm. The fracking block was BIG, it was LOUD, and it got the message out that FRACKING = METHANE = CLIMATE CHANGE. One of the most impressive aspects of the march was how we kept seeing this message throughout the march, and not just in the fracking block. If you ever doubted that anti-fracking activism is an integral part of the climate movement, the march firmly laid those doubts to rest.
MONDAY: Flood Wall Street. Sane’s Outreach Coordinator, Kim Fraczek, was arrested with 96 others when thousands of activists took over lower Broadway in an incredible act of civil disobedience. People assembled in Battery Park all morning, getting trained in the day’s action and hearing from speakers such as Chris Hedges and Naomi Klein. At noon, the people took the street, stopping traffic across five blocks for nine hours. We don’t know what our favorite moment was–it could have been hearing indigenous voices amplified a thousand strong by the people’s mic across the financial district. It could have been the “carbon bubbles,” the giant inflatable metaphors for our stranded investments in fossil fuels, which the police ultimately destroyed. (How about that? The NYPD is tackling climate change after all!) It could have been singing as one voice, or hearing from Tim DeChristopher, or watching with glee while activists took over a tourist bus. What we do know is that this is the start of a new era in New York City activism, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it. Kim explained why she joined the action: “The fossil fuel industry makes pointed calculations on how to break, shape, bribe, create loops and openings in our law so that their profits trump our public health and our democracy. While they play shell games with numbers and shareholders on Wall Street, we see the results: life on the planet is actually dying, our families and friends suffer, our water and our food is poisoned. This is the time to escalate everything we have built in our movement. That includes non-violent civil disobedience on a mass scale.”
TUESDAY: The Solutions Grassroots Tour. We all went over to the Irondale Theatre to check out Bill McKibben (before he had to duck out and go address the UN, that is); John Fenton leading a troupe of actors; folk legends Peter and Bethany Yarrow; and Nahko Bear. Over the course of the night, we got to know families and communities at every point of the fossil fuel life cycle–from rural families who discover to their horror that they do not have any legal recourse against the companies drilling on their land, to the wars fought in the name of industry, to the neighborhoods in coastal areas who have to contend with storms while knowing all along that there’s no one coming to help. After presenting this panorama of how we live now, the Solutions group connected audience members to renewable energy providers and encouraged them to organize among themselves. Renewables, entertainment, empowerment–these really are a few of our favorite things.
Thanks so much again to everyone who helped make the last few days special–this was really a glimpse of a different world, one that gets closer and closer every day!
All photos copyright Erik McGregor
Newer PostReportback from AIM Hearing
Older PostYOU ARE HERE Launches!
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5310
|
__label__wiki
| 0.838746
| 0.838746
|
Home » Wolfe’s Woofers » Wolfe’s Woofers: Which is Worse?
« Older: Wolfe’s Woofers: More Confessions
Newer: » Wolfe’s Woofers: Ghosts
Wolfe’s Woofers: Which is Worse?
“Charlie will be down in a few minutes,” Sean said, as he served me a cup of coffee. “I sent word to him upstairs that you were here.”
As I sat at the table at Estel’s, Mike Green came in and sat with me.
“Well, we’re leaving tomorrow,” he said. “I sure do hate to go back to Arkansas after spending two months here.”
“We’re going to miss you,” I told him.
“Where is Charlie this morning?” he asked.
“Sean told me he was coming down but that was twenty minutes ago.”
“Maybe he forgot,” Mike said.
Fifteen minutes later Charlie finally wandered down and took a seat.
“Sean, bring me a beer,” he said. “I hope you guys haven’t been waiting long.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mike said. “We figured you had forgotten the message that we were here.”
“Don’t laugh,” Charlie said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
“Maybe you’re getting senile,” I told him. “At your age it’s probably just Alzheimer’s setting in.”
“It could be but I don’t think so. I was trimming my beard and my hand was shaking so bad it took me twenty minutes.”
“Maybe you’re getting Parkinson’s disease,” Mike said. “The one that makes your hand shake.”
“No,” Charlie said. “It was tequila. It was all of those shots we did yesterday. When I finally got my beard trimmed I had already forgotten that you guys were down here. Forgetfulness also comes from tequila.”
“Well, at least it’s not Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease,” I said. “If I had to choose I don’t know which one of those old age diseases I would take.”
“That’s easy,” Charlie said. “I’d rather have Parkinson’s than Alzheimer's.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
Charlie said, “Well, I think it would be better to spill half of my beer than to forget where I left the glass.”
More on Wolfe’s Woofers
Wolfe’s Woofer: Catch A Monkey
Wolfe’s Woofer: Is The Beer Talking?
Wolfe’s Woofer: Mexican Eggs
Taxi Operator Dionicio Trujillo found murdered
2017 Carnival Road March attracts thousands in Belize City
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5311
|
__label__cc
| 0.539751
| 0.460249
|
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SCHEDULE 13D
(Rule 13d-101)
INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT
TO § 240.13d-1(a) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT
TO § 240.13d-2(a)
(Amendment No. 1)*
Eagle Materials Inc.
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
26969P108
Michael D. Adamski
Sachem Head Capital Management LP
250 West 55th Street, 34th Floor
(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive
Notices and Communications)
Copies to:
Richard M. Brand
Joshua A. Apfelroth
One World Financial Center
(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)
If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §§240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box. ☐
Note: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See §240.13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.
* The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).
CUSIP No. 26969P108
NAME OF REPORTING PERSON OR
I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON
CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP
(a) ☐
(b) ☐
SEC USE ONLY
SOURCE OF FUNDS
OO (See Item 3)
CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e)
CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
SHARES BENEFICIALLY
OWNED BY EACH
SOLE VOTING POWER
SHARED VOTING POWER
SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES
PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON
Uncas GP LLC
Sachem Head GP LLC
Scott D. Ferguson
This amendment No. 1 to Schedule 13D (this “Amendment No. 1”), amends and supplements the Schedule 13D filed on March 28, 2019 (the “Initial 13D” and, as amended and supplemented by this Amendment No. 1, together, the “Schedule 13D”) by the Reporting Persons, relating to the common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), of Eagle Materials Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Issuer”). Capitalized terms not defined in this Amendment No. 1 shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Schedule 13D.
The information set forth in response to each separate Item below shall be deemed to be a response to all Items where such information is relevant. The Initial 13D is hereby amended as follows:
Item 4.
Purpose of Transaction
On May 8, 2019, SH, in compliance with the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Issuer (the “Bylaws”), submitted to the Issuer its formal notice of intent (the “Notice”) to present a stockholder proposal and nominate candidates for election to the board of directors of the Issuer (the “Board”), in each case, at the 2019 annual meeting of stockholders of the Issuer (including any adjournment or postponement thereof or any special meeting held in lieu thereof, the “2019 Annual Meeting”).
The Notice stated that, at the 2019 Annual Meeting, SH, in its capacity as an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in the Bylaws), intends to nominate for election as directors of the Issuer, Scott D. Ferguson and Wendy E. Lane (each a “Nominee” and collectively, the “Nominees”).
In the Notice, the Reporting Persons reserved the right to further nominate, substitute or add additional persons in the event that (a) the Issuer purports to increase the number of directorships; (b) the Issuer makes or announces any changes to the Bylaws or takes or announces any other action that purports to have, or if consummated would purport to have, the effect of disqualifying any of the Nominees as nominees and/or (c) any Nominee is unable or becomes unwilling for any reason to serve as a director of the Issuer.
SH also submitted to the Issuer stockholder proposals for consideration at the 2019 Annual Meeting, proposing (i) the repeal of each provision, or amendment to, the Bylaws adopted by the Board without the approval of the stockholders of the Issuer subsequent to August 6, 2015, which is the date of the most recent publicly available amendment to the Bylaws (the “Bylaw Proposal”) and (ii) that the Board take all action necessary to adopt an amendment to the Issuer’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (as amended or restated and in effect as of the date hereof, the “Charter”) and the Bylaws to fully eliminate the classified structure of the Board, in a manner such that the term of each member of the Board shall expire at the Issuer's annual stockholder meeting for 2020 (the “2020 Annual Meeting”) and any director elected to the Board at or after the 2020 Annual Meeting shall be elected on an annual basis (the “Board Declassification Proposal” and, together with the Bylaw Proposal, the “Stockholder Proposals”).
The Reporting Persons currently intend to conduct a proxy solicitation to elect the Nominees to the Board and approve the Stockholder Proposals at the 2019 Annual Meeting.
In addition, on May 8, 2019, Sachem Head sent a public letter to shareholders (the “Letter”) and issued a press release (the “Press Release”) announcing the delivery of the Notice to the Issuer and the issuance of the Letter. A copy of the Press Release (which includes a copy of the Letter) is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.3 and incorporated herein by reference.
Sachem Head, on behalf of SH, has entered into an engagement and indemnification agreement (the “Engagement and Indemnification Agreement”) with each Nominee, substantially in the form set forth as Exhibit 99.4 hereto, pursuant to which, each Nominee agreed to be named as a nominee in Sachem Head’s proxy soliciting materials related to the 2019 Annual Meeting and to serve as a director if elected. Sachem Head has agreed to indemnify each Nominee against any losses suffered, incurred or sustained by such Nominee in connection with such Nominee’s being a member of the slate or the solicitation of proxies in connection therewith and reimburse each Nominee for reasonable, documented, out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of such Nominee’s being a member of slate, including, without limitation, travel expenses and expenses in connection with legal counsel retained to represent such Nominee in connection with being a member of the slate. Furthermore, Ms. Lane received $100,000 upon execution of the Engagement and Indemnification Agreement. The foregoing is qualified in its entirety by reference to Exhibit 99.4, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Interest in Securities of the Issuer
Item 5 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:
(a), (b) Sachem Head, SH Management and Scott D. Ferguson may be deemed to beneficially own 4,100,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Subject Shares”). The Subject Shares collectively represent approximately 8.9% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock based on 45,898,591 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of January 25, 2019 as reported in the Issuer’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on January 29, 2019.
Sachem Head, as the investment adviser to the Sachem Head Funds, may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) all of the Subject Shares. As the general partner of Sachem Head, SH Management may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) all of the Subject Shares. As the general partner of SH and SHM, Sachem Head GP may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or to direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) 3,000,000 of the Subject Shares, constituting 6.5% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. By virtue of Scott D. Ferguson’s position as the managing partner of Sachem Head and the managing member of SH Management and Sachem Head GP, Scott D. Ferguson may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) all of the Subject Shares.
(c) On May 7, 2019, SH and SHM settled Physically Settled Swaps referencing 667,684 and 107,316 shares of Common Stock, respectively, and, upon such settlement, the counterparties to such Physically Settled Swaps delivered to SH and SHM an aggregate of 667,684 and 107,316 shares of Common Stock, respectively. Other than such settlement of the Physically Settled Swaps and the transactions set forth in Exhibit 99.2 to this Schedule 13D, which is incorporated herein by reference, no Reporting Person or Sachem Head Fund has effected any transactions in the Common Stock during the past sixty days.
(d) The Sachem Head Funds have the right to receive dividends from, and the proceeds from the sale of, the Subject Shares.
(e) Not applicable.
Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer
The information set forth in Item 4 is incorporated by reference herein.
On May 7, 2019, SH and SHM settled Physically Settled Swaps referencing 667,684 and 107,316 shares of Common Stock, respectively, and, upon such settlement, the counterparties to such Physically Settled Swaps delivered to SH and SHM an aggregate of 667,684 and 107,316 shares of Common Stock, respectively. The Sachem Head Funds no longer own any Physically Settled Swaps.
Except as described herein, the Reporting Persons have no other contracts, arrangements, understandings or relationships (legal or otherwise) with any person with respect to any securities of the Issuer.
Material to be Filed as Exhibits
Joint Filing Agreement, among Sachem Head Capital Management LP, Uncas GP LLC, Sachem Head GP LLC and Scott D. Ferguson.*
Trading data.*
Press Release and Letter to Shareholders, dated May 8, 2019.
Form of Engagement and Indemnification Agreement entered into by and between Sachem Head Capital Management LP on behalf of Sachem Head LP and each Nominee.
* Previously filed.
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of each of the undersigned’s knowledge and belief, each of the undersigned certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.
Dated: May 8, 2019
By: Uncas GP LLC, its General Partner
/s/ Scott D. Ferguson
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
Exhibit Number
Description of Exhibits
Joint Filing Agreement, among Sachem Head Capital Management LP, Uncas GP LLC, Sachem Head GP LLC and Scott D. Ferguson.
Trading data.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5313
|
__label__cc
| 0.732396
| 0.267604
|
Miles Mahan's Half Acre Hulaville (Gone)
Hesperia, California
Mahan's Half Acre (Hulaville) was an outdoor folk art environment of wine and beer bottle tree sculptures and desert sandblasted painted wooden signs. Miles Mahan (1896-1997) lived in the middle of this splendid squatter's jumble, in a pickup truck camper without the pickup truck. It was the only folk art environment with a boot hill and a driving range.
Civilization was steadily encroaching, as we noticed on four visits, from 1985 to 1997. A new memorial park rose from where Mahan once had his a homemade miniature golf course.
The large wooden sign of a dancing Hula Girl, a business discard rescued and erected by Mahan, still stands sure, a lookout above his shaded open air couch, seeming to protect her aging owner from the gentrification. The crude hand-lettered sign beneath her read: "People travel through the state, how little will they know her fate, for traveler who'll ever be the wiser, her life was saved by the Supervisors."
By 1995 Miles was off his Half Acre and in a convalescent home, and passed away on April 15, 1997. By summer of that same year, Mahan's Half Acre had been quietly scraped off the high desert along I-15, as witnessed on a drive-by on our way to Exotic World. A self-storage facility sat where once the highway shoulder poet would regale all with his sun-baked tales of the 1920s (when posh gambling ships were docked in the waters off Los Angeles).
Fortunately, some of Mahan's funky works were recovered and preserved. The California Route 66 Museum in Victorville became the new home of the Hula Girl, now a precious cultural artifact. The museum includes other Mahan items, such as the bowlegged "Howdy" cowboy sign.
The museum also exhibits a scale miniature version of Mahan's Half Acre.
Miles Mahan's Half Acre Hulaville
More on Miles Mahan's Half Acre Hulaville
More Quirky Attractions in California
Stories, reports and tips on tourist attractions and odd sights in California.
Create Your Own Bizarre Road Trips!
California Latest Tips and Stories
Abraham Lincoln Shrine, Redlands, California
Feature: Real Space Capsule on School Playground, Ophir, California
Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco, California
Nixon's Other Favorite Mexican Restaurant, Dana Point, California
Medieval Monastery, Vina, California
Nearby Hotels: Hesperia, California
Econo Lodge Hesperia I-15, 8458 mi. (From $77)
Americas Best Value Inn, 8458 mi. (From $88)
La Quinta Inn & Suites Hesperia Victorville, 8458 mi. (From $115)
Banana Museum
Los Angeles Attractions
Sacramento Attractions
San Diego Attractions
San Francisco Attractions
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5320
|
__label__wiki
| 0.728512
| 0.728512
|
Kahaani Ratings & Reviews Explanation
Kahaani Photos
Vidya Bagchi arrives in Kolkata from London to find her missing husband. Seven months pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband. With nothing to rely on except fragments from her memories about him, all clues seem to reach a dead end when everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist. She slowly realizes that nothing is what it seems. In a city soaked in lies, Vidya is determined to unravel the truth about her husband - for herself and her unborn child - even at the cost her own life.
Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Sujoy Ghosh
Advaita Kala, Sujay Ghosh
Mar 9, 2012 limited
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures & Pen India
Nawzuddin Siddiqui
Saswata Chatterjee
Critic Reviews for Kahaani
All Critics (4) | Top Critics (1)
Buttressed by compelling perfs, this adroit thriller makes the occasional misstep but maintains momentum and credibility.
Mar 13, 2012 | Full Review…
Russell Edwards
[Sujoy] Ghosh, who gave us a couple of trashy films after his sparkling debut, Jhankaar Beats, is back with a story with a strong sense of place and character.
Mar 27, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Shubhra Gupta
The film, with its tough, intelligent femme hero, seems to be a wry rejoinder to the male-centered action of so much Bollywood and Hindi cinema. It's great fun.
Peter Galvin
sbs.com.au
Essentially a one-woman show for Vidya Balan, and what a show it is.
Apr 9, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
Audience Reviews for Kahaani
Bollywood films mostly have women roles reduced to being love interests, but in Kahaani that stereotype is broken. While the plot does go downhill by the third act Kahaani is still a refreshing experience from the usual male-central Bollywood flicks. Kahaani is about a pregnant woman's searching for her missing husband which takes her from London to Kolkata, but everyone she questions denies having ever met her husband. The narrative structure of the film is very smart. One very good storytelling choice is introducing all the character within the first twenty minutes. Gradually building upon from first introduction. The mystery element of the film is well played. We only get a small glimpse of the overall mystery, but eventually grows into something bigger. The progression of the mystery feels natural with every new clue clearing up a part of the puzzle. The first two act are solid adding more to the mystery and characters past, but the last act is where the plot begins to crumble and show it cracks. It immediately stop building up the mystery behind our heroine missing husband and a twist ending that turns the film into an undercooked spy thriller. The twist never receives any buildup throughout the entire film making it reveal completely artificial and convoluted. Vidya Balan is outstanding in the leading role. Her ability to tailor her emotions of sympathy, anger and despair - multiplies the strength of her character and the film. At time coming of vulnerable and other frustrated over a missing clue making you worried about her safe being. Parambrata Chattopadhyay is subtle and splendid as Rana. Acting alongside with Balan in many scenes with great and convincing chemistry. Aside from the top notch acting it's succeed from a technical standpoint. Director Sujoy Ghosh makes the city of Kolkata a character of the film with it cinematography. He perfectly captures the essence of city - the culture, durga-puja, dirty alleys and even the strained lifestyle. There are no ultra-clean streets with pretty models running about; no unbelievably dramatic situations; no interrupting songs. This accompanied with the score which plays innocently as the characters travel the length and breadth of the city enchanting the mood of what we're seeing. Elegantly shifting mood with every new music piece we listen. Kahaani twist ending might diminish part of the viewing experience for some, but the complete package still satisfies. Filled with fine performances and a mystery that will have you hooked until the very end more than make up for any shortcomings that occur in the last act.
Caesar M Super Reviewer
There's several reasons I enjoyed this movie. I thought the twist near the end of the film that changes how you viewed what already happened. And I think that's the best type of twist, the type that completely changes how you viewed everything that already happened. I think it's a tad convoluted, but it was a good twist. And the other reason I liked the film was Vidya Balan. She has a confidence about her that is a welcome sight and she does a great job in this film. The problem with this film is that the story, or better yet the story progression, is lacking. The movie progresses like this 'find a lead, follow up on that lead, get a clue that leads to another lead' rinse and repeat. And I hate films that progress like that, it's just not good. The film tries to tie it to Vidya trying to find her husband and never giving up, so they do try to make it a personal affair for the main character, but I simply don't like this story progression. I suppose every film like this progresses like that, but it's far more noticeable in this film. Still, it's still a good film from top to bottom. There was never any point in the film that I thought that it was bad, so it's never bad at any point fortunately. That's about it really, this is a solid thriller. Flawed, but solid.
Jesse O Super Reviewer
Kahaani of loopholes. But such creative licenses are often used under the disguise of fictions. Yet, people can't help arguing which is quite understandable. I too wish that they hadn't used the IB backdrop. Some local police force or CID would have been more appropriate. For IB involves Intelligence which would probably end up feeling insulted by this highly logical Kahaani it tells!!! Apart from that, my other concern was the incredible Acting by Vidya Balan. Of course, there are moments when we get that natural performance. If only, it were easily natural to her!!! The movie is as good as her acting. Few have compared it to Lucky Number Slevin (can't quite recall it, but am sure that the premises weren't the same) for its treatment. Maybe. I can't confirm how much it's influenced from Ruby Cairo either since I haven't seen the latter as yet. Nor am I least keen to. Kahaani in itself is enough. Worth letting go than going for, but if you've nothing else for entertainment, you've MY heartfelt condolences.
familiar s Super Reviewer
If you are thinking this is a tearjerker movie or something and are giving this a miss, you are at loss. This is one of the best thrillers to come out of Bollywood in recent times. The narration is really tight most of the times. Brilliant acting by all people in the film. About Vidya, all I can say is if she wins the National Award for this year too, it'll be a deserving win. The director has made Kolkota almost a character in the film. He beautifully captures the myriad expressions of the City of Joy. Bonus points for portraying the Intelligence Bureau officers in a rationally realistic way. Btw, we might have seen some plot elements in certain Angelina Jolie films before, but never mind. Who makes entirely original stuff these days ;)
Anoop K Super Reviewer
Kahaani Quotes
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5327
|
__label__cc
| 0.741017
| 0.258983
|
Asiana Airlines Flights
Asiana Airlines Inc. (formerly Seoul Airlines) is one of the two major airlines in South Korea, the other being Korean Air. Asiana Airlines’ international hub is at Incheon International Airport (70km from Seoul Central) and its domestic hub is at Gimpo International Airport, with its headquarters in Seoul’s Asiana Town building. Asiana also happens to be Air Busan’s largest shareholder, as well as wholly owns Air Seoul, both low-cost regional carriers in South Korea. The airline, apart from being a member of the Star Alliance, is also the official sponsor of the South Korean National Football team. It also has codeshare agreements with 28 airlines.
Fleet:
Asiana Airlines has the following passenger aircrafts in its fleet – 7 Airbus A320-200s, 2 Airbus A321-100s, 20 Airbus A321-200s, 15 Airbus A330-300s, 1 Airbus A350-900s, 6 Airbus A380-800s, 2 Boeing 747-400s, 1 Boeing 747-400Ms, 7 Boeing 767-300s, and 11 Boeing 777-200ERs – a total of 72 aircrafts.
Asiana Airlines Domestic Destinations:
Asiana Airlines serves 10 domestic destinations in South Korea – Busan, Cheongju, Daegu, Gwangju, Jeju, Jinju, Muan, Seoul, Ulsan and Yeosu.
Asiana Airlines International Destinations:
Asiana Airlines serves 70 international destinations.
Asiana Airlines offers 5 classes or cabins across its fleet – First Suite Class, First Class, Business Smartium Class, Business Class and Economy Class. The first two are usually offered on flights between Seoul and Frankfurt, Chicago, NYC, and LA, while the other flights have the rest. Also, only the Airbus A380-800s, Boeing 747-400s, Boeing 747-400Ms and few Boeing 777-200ERs have First Class.
Although rules change from destination to destination, passengers should have a passport and a visa at the minimum.
Inflight Service
Asiana Airlines doesn’t provide inflight entertainment on its domestic routes, especially those which consist of a flight time of one hour or less. Asiana, however, has two inflight magazines – Asiana Entertainment and Asiana (travel magazine) – for all its passengers.
Asiana Airlines provides passengers with hot meals, snacks and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). See here for more.
Check out the lowest airfare of Asiana Airlines on Skyscanner and find the best Asiana Airlines flights for your journey.
Why fly with Asiana Airlines?
How to Check-in
Passengers with Asiana Airlines can check in online, check in with the Asiana Airlines mobile app, check-in at the self-service kiosks as well as the counters at the airport. Passengers can do a web check-in here, check-in using reservation number and departure date, or flight ticket number and departure date. One can web check-in between 48 hours and 30 minutes before departure for domestic flights, and between 48 hours to 1 hour for international flights. For flights to the Americas, web check-in is open from 24 hours before till 1 hour before departure. Mobile check-in is possible for all Air Seoul codeshare flights.
Baggage Allowances and Fees
Checked baggage allowance for domestic flights (all-Economy) is 20kg. Checked bag allowance for International (Americas) flights is 32kg x 3pc (First Class), 32kg x 2pc (Business Class) and 23kg x 2pc (Economy Class). Checked bag allowance for International (Non-Americas) flights is 32kg x 3pc (First Class), 32kg x 2pc (Business Class) and 23kg x 1pc (Economy Class). Carry-on baggage allowance is 10kg x 1pc (all-Economy) for domestic routes. Carry-on baggage allowance for international routes is 10kg x 2pc (First Class), 10kg x 2pc (Business Class) and 10kg x 1pc (Economy Class). For international flights, see here. For domestic Korean flights, see here.
Domestic flights seats reservation is free. For international flights, preferred seating fees are charged. See here.
There are no booking fees for booking flights with Asiana Airlines’ website.
We rate providers based on user feedback about: price reliability, fees, customer service, and the ease of use of the provider's site.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5328
|
__label__cc
| 0.519344
| 0.480656
|
Unplugged music session at the NCCD
The National Centre for Craft and Design.
Published: 18:10 Friday 03 February 2017
The next Unplugged session in the National Centre for Craft and Design (NCCD) falls on Tuesday, February 7, from 6.30pm to 9pm.
Everyone is welcome, whether singing or playing an instrument, and new members are encouraged to come along and take part.
This will be the first Unplugged session of 2017, as there was no session held in January.
Members will meet in the cafe area at the NCCD
Hot and cold refreshments are available.
Concert supports charity
View artist impressions of how things could look after councillors agree on £4million funding for three-screen cinema and food court for Sleaford
Proposals to close off road passing by RAF College Cranwell to tighten security
LIVES life savers praised after truckers fun day in aid of them turns into real life emergency
East Midlands Trains announces services during strike action on Lincolnshire routes
Charity curry night in memory of Millie
More from Sleaford Standard
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5329
|
__label__wiki
| 0.64757
| 0.64757
|
Whilst the tide has come in and gone out and come in again on the shores of heavy music, Slomatics have patrolled the surf, unmoved by the shifting sands, unflinching in their dedication to tone and riff. True pioneers of what we call sludge and doom, blending elements of psychedelic rock, conjuring images of overgrown celestial bodies marshalled by undiscovered extraterrestrial entities. Name any heavy band from the last ten years and you will find Slomatics as a crucial ingredient in their own primordial soup, whether they are listed as an influence or not. Essential, irreplaceable, impeccable and peerless heavy music. Influenced by the past, here in the present, echoing a vision of the future...
Formed in Belfast late 2004, Slomatics aim to reduce riffs to a primal state of heaviness, to produce music which whilst imploding under its own weight, creates a joyous and euphoric state of wellbeing which can only be obtained with a slew of vintage amplifiers, fuzz pedals and analogue synths.
This has endured through UK tours, gigs in Europe, six albums and a mountain of split/vinyl/cassette releases. The band’s trilogy of A Hocht/ Estron/ Future Echo Returns received universal praise, including shortlisting for the N. Ireland Music Prize and the vinyl release of ‘Futurians’ celebrating their triumphant set at the legendary Roadburn Festival. In 2018 the collaborative release of 'Totems' with Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard received critical acclaim worldwide, with the bands endless boundary pushing seeing them reach new heights. Festival appearances including Psycho Las Vegas, Desertfest, Void Fest, Soulcrusher and Hostsabbat have followed. The band released their new album "Canyons" on BlackBow Records June 2019.
Slomatics are:
Chris-Guitars
David-Guitars
Marty-Drums/Vocals
Slomatics picture by Gerry dollso
Click Here for press pictures and logo.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5330
|
__label__cc
| 0.510321
| 0.489679
|
Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables - May 3, 2019
Ingersoll Rand reaches 45% GHG reduction
Ingersoll Rand announced it has reached a total 45% reduction in GHG emissions intensity and a 31% reduction in absolute emissions. The company also exceeded its 2020 goal to increase energy efficiency in owned facilities by 10% by 2020, reaching 23%.
The announcement came with the release of Ingersoll Rand’s 12th annual ESG Report, “Performance with Purpose,” which outlines the company's update on its environment, social, and governance performance.
According to the report, the energy efficiency reduction, from a 2013 baseline, achieved through several initiatives across their operations including optimizing HVAC systems; employee Green Team programs; eliminating leakage in compressed air systems; and re-lamping.
In a letter to shareholders, Michael W. Lamach, chairman and CEO, said, “Our 2018 performance underscores the long-term strength and earnings power of our business model. By continually reinvesting in our business, we have built a differentiated company with deep domain expertise and sustainable products and services that keep us on the forefront of addressing global challenges and enhancing the quality of life.”
Among other highlights from the report:
Solar power installations at three locations in the U.S. and China address 15% of the energy needs of those facilities – the equivalent of taking 1,000 cars off the road in each region
Approximately 25% of the company’s revenue is from products and services that contribute to the transition to clean energy
Keywords: ingersoll rand
Ingersoll Rand premieres solar at N.J. plant
Ingersoll Rand aims for 2030 sustainability targets
Infographic: Ingersoll Rand achieves energy goals ahead of schedule
Ingersoll Rand achieves target, signs PPA
3 energy efficiency truths you may have overlooked
Innovation Awards winners announced
Planet Fitness announces 1st solar powered gym
Renewables top coal for first time
Walmart signs 46 solar PPAs across 5 states
Target’s goal: 100% RE by 2030
Bank of America aims for targets with solar at 60+ locations
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5331
|
__label__wiki
| 0.583028
| 0.583028
|
By Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The almanac determines traditions in Kerry’s family. Only her granddaughter Amanda doesn’t want to follow the almanac. And if Amanda doesn’t, then the power, hidden inside those traditions, might destroy her—and everyone she loves. Chosen as one of the best stories of the year, “Harvest” evokes the powerful force of family legacy. More
The almanac determines traditions in Kerry’s family. Only her granddaughter Amanda doesn’t want to follow the almanac. And if Amanda doesn’t, then the power, hidden inside those traditions, might destroy her—and everyone she loves. Chosen as one of the best stories of the year, “Harvest” evokes the powerful force of family legacy.
“Like early Ray Bradbury, Rusch has the ability to switch on a universal dark.”
USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.
To keep up with everything she does, go to kriswrites.com. To track her many pen names and series, see their individual websites (krisnelscott.com, kristinegrayson.com, krisdelake.com, retrievalartist.com, divingintothewreck.com, fictionriver.com). She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.
Available ebook formats: epub
Buy Add to Library Give as a Gift
How gifting works
Create Widget
Category: Fiction » Fantasy » General
Category: Fiction » Horror » General
Published by WMG Publishing
Published: Oct. 30, 2013
Words: 4,760
Tags: horror fantasy family sorrow dark fantasy tradition legacy
About Kristine Kathryn Rusch
New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.
Publications from The Chicago Tribune to Booklist have included her Kris Nelscott mystery novels in their top-ten-best mystery novels of the year. The Nelscott books have received nominations for almost every award in the mystery field, including the best novel Edgar Award, and the Shamus Award.
She writes goofy romance novels as award-winner Kristine Grayson and futuristic sf as Kris DeLake.
She also edits. Beginning with work at the innovative publishing company, Pulphouse, followed by her award-winning tenure at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, she took fifteen years off before returning to editing with the original anthology series Fiction River, published by WMG Publishing. She acts as series editor with her husband, writer Dean Wesley Smith, and edits some of the volumes, as well.
To keep up with everything she does, go to kriswrites.com and sign up for her newsletter. To track her many pen names and series, see their individual websites (krisnelscott.com, kristinegrayson.com, retrievalartist.com, divingintothewreck.com). She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.
Learn more about Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Also by This Publisher
Fiction > Fantasy > Epic
Fiction > Science fiction > General
Fiction > Fantasy > Short stories
Fiction > Adventure > General
Fiction > Adventure > Action
This book has not yet been reviewed.
Report this book
Reason for report: — Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.
Report Book
You have subscribed to alerts for Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
You will receive an email alert if one or more of the authors you're following has a new release. If you like, you can change the digest interval below. You can view and manage by clicking to Manage Smashwords Alerts.
Would you like to favorite Kristine Kathryn Rusch?
Favoriting is a great way to show your support for the authors you love.
Yes, add Kristine Kathryn Rusch to my Favorites
Click on any of the links below to share with your social network.
You have been added to Kristine Kathryn Rusch's favorite list.
You can also sign-up to receive email notifications whenever Kristine Kathryn Rusch releases a new book.
By default you will receive a daily digest containing any books that were published by authors in your subscription list. If you like, you can change the digest interval below.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5334
|
__label__wiki
| 0.750503
| 0.750503
|
Peter FitzSimons: Sydney siege met with courage, wisdom and one exception
By Peter FitzSimons
December 19, 2014 — 5.44pm
A brutal week in the life of Sydney, met, yet, with mostly extraordinary courage by the families of the victims, overwhelming empathy from the wider populace, and wisdom from many of our political leaders by way of their measured response. A gross exception in the latter category, however, came from Senator David Leyonhjelm, who was quick to seize the moment to provide a solution of his own to prevent future such tragedies.
"What happened in that cafe would have been most unlikely to have occurred in Florida, Texas, or Vermont, or Alaska in America, or perhaps even Switzerland as well," he told ABC's AM program. "Statistically speaking [in those jurisdictions], one or two of the victims, would have had a concealed gun. That nutcase who held them all hostage wouldn't have known they were armed and bad guys don't like to be shot back at."
Illustration: Reg Lynch.
Where does one even begin?
This is your solution, Senator? You left the Libs because of John Howard's wise crackdown on guns after the Port Arthur massacre; we have had no such mass gun massacre since, and yet you still think Australia would be a safer place with more guns? How is that working in America?
Simply gobsmacking.
Avalanche of kindness
Equally breathtaking was the reaction against the mass movement started by Brisbane woman Rachael Jacobs, called #Illridewithyou, the broad premise of which encouraged non-Muslim Australians to stand by Muslim Australians at a time when it was most likely they would be vilified. According to one politician and some commentators, instead of this being a heart-warming moment of solidarity among Australians eager to ensure that in highly troubled times we turn to each other, and not on each other, it was all some lefty conspiracy.
Jacobs herself was robust in her reply.
"I'd rather deliver a message to racists, bigots and anyone who dares to derive a message of hate from this tragedy – it is you who are unwelcome here. Your values have no place in civilised society, and if you spread intolerance, there's an avalanche of kindness ready to take you down."
Licensed head case
Regular readers will recall my yarn in March, concerning my licence renewal. I asked if I could follow the lead of hijabs, hijabsmy
"And what is that?" she asked.
"The Me religion," I said, deadpan.
She conferred with a colleague, and came back.
"Okay, you can wear it," she said.
No court case, no nonsense. Bravo!
Now, a Deep Throat tells me, there is some consternation among the mandarins as to whether what I cited is a "legitimate religion," and that the whole issue might be re-opened. The whole thing might even go to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. I certainly hope so!
Say sorry to Julia ...
Let's read it again:
"Julia Gillard did not commit any crime and was not aware of any criminality on the part of these union officials. . ."
Yup. So says, in black and white, with the full imprimatur of the law of the land, the interim report of the Royal Commission into Union Corruption, on the subject of our erstwhile Prime Minister. Yes, folks, $50 million spent on this politically motivated, government-driven Ditch-the-Witch-hunt, and after all that fire, all that fury, all those allegations, once the law patiently sifted through all the evidence this is the verdict. Stand by for the craven apology from the government and the commentariat.
Set your watches for 2025.
Pick up a pen
Just so as yers know, this week the the State Library of NSW announced the launch of the inaugural Russell Prize for Humour Writing, the only award of its kind in Australia. Light or dark, fun or farce – published works of fiction, memoir, poetry and verse by Australian writers will be considered for the biennial $10,000 prize, with entries now open. The Prize has been made possible by the generous bequest of the late Peter Wentworth Russell, a farmer, businessman and passionate reader, and TFF is honoured to act as Patron for the prize. Start writing!
"Tori loves flowers. I'm sure he can see it. He's been able to make our city smell like flowers."
Thomas Zinn, partner of Lindt Cafe hero Tori Johnson.
"We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."
Sony can't take anymore leaking and pulls The Interview after, seemingly, being hacked to near death by North Korea espionage geeks.
"I see myself as Australia's relationship manager."
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
"We know what it's like. It affects the whole nation. The last few days in Tasmania, it's been a very harsh reminder and a reality check for us."
Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie says the state still hasn't gotten over 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
"What happened in that cafe would have been most unlikely to have occurred in Florida, Texas, or Vermont, or Alaska in America, or perhaps even Switzerland as well."
Senator David Leyonhjelm on the ABC's AM program, sets a post-war Australian record in stupidity.
And so ends this column for 2014. My thanks for your readership throughout the year, and your copious correspondence. May your stocking be filled with my book on Gallipoli, and I'll see you in late January. In the interim, you'll find me between the flags on Newport Beach.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5335
|
__label__wiki
| 0.537662
| 0.537662
|
The Fiesta in the Town of Ghosts
A ritual fistfight in the Bolivian Andes reveals a profound but simple truth about men and boxing
Darkness. Punches from the darkness to my belly. I want to throw up. I want to cry. I want to turn and leave.
"Don't you worry. This fight ain't over, no, it's not. He got somethin' up his sleeve. Ali, he a magician. He—"
A pickax of a right hand cuts him off. My eyelids shut. I feel it land and rip through me.
"A ruse. He playing another game. That Ali . . . oooooh!" A Larry Holmes left strikes Muhammad Ali's head. Me, I can only feel it in the belly. Kneeling in the darkness in an aisle at Madison Square Garden. The only light shafting from a projector to a screen. Next to me, the black man is finally silent.
LOFTY GOALS FOR A CLIMB OF EVEREST
By Robert Sullivan
BIRDS ON THE WING
The Blue Jays won three of four from Detroit in the first of a two-round AL East title fight
By Peter Gammons
HOW 'BOUT THOSE EXPOS?
Tabbed for the cellar last spring, another won't-quit Canadian club is still alive
By Alexander Wolff
THEY'RE FIT TO BE TIED IN THE SEC
Auburn confronted Tennessee, and a third conference power, LSU, took on Ohio State. Amazingly, nobody won or lost
By Hank Hersch
The NFL Strike
WHEN PUSH CAME TO SHOVE
Tempers flared as the NFL players went on strike and the owners prepared to supplant no ball with scab ball
By Paul Zimmerman
A TEST OF UNITY AND LOYALTY
The strike had members of the Cowboys, like other NFL players, checking their wallets and their consciences
By Jill Lieber
NBC WAS STRIKINGLY SUPERIOR
By William Taaffe
Meggyesy
Still on the Outside
Nearly two decades ago Dave Meggyesy took on the NFL in his scathing book. Now as a union man his struggle continues
A CUP FOR THE OLD WORLD
Europe's Ryder Cuppers came a-calling and beat the U.S.
By Jaime Diaz
TRIUMPH FOR PIGG POWER
Mike Pigg won the USTS title on Hilton Head Island
THE A'S NEW STEW CAN DO
Dave Stewart, once washed-up, is now awash in success
Tinku
By Gary Smith
BY GEORGE, SHE'S GOT IT!
An angling Eliza Doolittle learns the ways of salmon
By Judy Muller
IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE
Roberto Clemente's sports center is taking shape
A Roundup of the Week Sept. 21-27
Compiled by Amy Lennard
Point After
REGGIE: AN APPRECIATION
How I rate Reggie Jackson. And how he rates himself
By Donald J. Barr
Edited by Sarah Ballard
Ali's jaw sags. Holmes looks at him and, almost sorrowfully, throws his right again. Why? Why?
No other sport, no other form of art or entertainment—no, only boxing keeps rubbing our faces in this spectacle. Jim Jeffries, returning to be ravaged by Jack Johnson. Louis, pulverized by Marciano. Frazier, fungoed by Foreman. Masters, again and once more and again, coming back to be humbled.
What makes them do it? What makes me watch it? Duran, Leonard, Arguello, Foreman, Ali, Holmes, each of them walking away and then running back, risking injury in their decline. Money did it, people said. Pride. Ego. Go down! I almost scream to Ali on the screen. My eyes drop, glance sideways, briefly meet the black man's. Both of us look back to the floor. On the screen, they are stopping the fight. Swiftly I turn and walk into the night.
What does tinku mean?" I asked.
"Tinku means fight," the drunk waiter told me.
"Where is the tinku?" I asked.
"No, do not go to the tinku" the bespectacled engineer told me. I was sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Cochabamba, Bolivia, leaning forward, eyes wide. An Indian man in an oddly curved cowhide helmet—a replica of the metal ones that Spanish soldiers wore when they conquered South America—had just walked past, and all at once four street urchins were throwing mock punches and a word I'd never heard was moving from table to table.
"What kind of fight is the tinku?" I asked.
The waiter, grinning, placed my beer on the table. "Once a year the Indians come down from the hills into a village, put on those helmets and beat the hell out of each other."
"Where? When?"
"Listen to me, my friend," the engineer said. "Let this thought leave your head. People die on the roads that go there. Mountain roads, dirt ones, thin as an old woman's wrist. The trucks have many years, and the tires. . . . " He rubbed the bald crescent on his head.
"Many other fiestas you must go to in Bolivia," the drunk waiter said. "Go to the one in Copacabana, where the people climb the hill carrying rocks and then kneel at the top and pray to Mary and get drunk."
"Or the one in Quillacollo," said the engineer, "where people pour liquor over themselves and then roll on the ground in flour."
"The tinku," I said. "Where do I find these trucks that go to the tinku? Is it soon?"
The waiter laughed. The engineer removed his glasses, laid them on the table and slowly rubbed his face.
"Americano," he said, "listen well to me. There is no electricity there, no food or water safe to drink. No doctors when you get sick. And for three or four days after you arrive, no way to leave. Think. All this to see Indians make each other bloody?"
I started in darkness on a morning in late July, tossing my gear up to a cluster of dark figures in the back of a truck and then scrambling aboard to squeeze among them. Soon the old engine began to rumble, and we left the town behind. There was no room to sit, so I stood, shivering beneath a coat and blanket, and clutched a rope running down the middle of the truck's bed in order not to fall. I peered through the gloom but could not see who was making this journey with me.
Night lifted. In the Andean valleys that stretched on and on around us, the mist lay like a lake of white gauze. Now and then a solitary form, a peasant huddled in shawls and a peaked woolen cap, waded across the smoky lake. Its vast-ness mocked him, but he didn't seem to know.
At last it grew light enough to see my Indian companions: wool-capped babies, eyes closed, suckling their mothers; children contorted in positions not human, trying to sleep; teenagers shoving wads of coca leaves into their cheeks, sucking the juices to deaden the bite of winter; men with caps tugged low, cheekbones high, eyes narrowed, staring far ahead; women with the impassive faces Andean women wear—dark, stoic full moons rimmed by black bowler hats and two long braids running down their backs. The women sat upon sacks of grain and onions they would sell to the Indians coming down from their isolation in the hills to beat the hell out of each other.
The land lost its smoothness and began to convulse. Here and there we passed small adobe huts with bulls' horns protruding from the tops of thatched roofs to chase the evil spirits. Near the road, families stared blankly at us. The truck stopped, and an Indian hawked long spikes of sugarcane for the passengers to crack open and gnaw. No, this could not be: Now more sacks of food were being pitched over the truck's wooden siding, more round Indian women wrapped in five tiers of skirts were climbing in. The truck began to roll again. No room remained on the truckbed for both of my feet; I lifted one and felt the other begin to ache. "¡Cuidado!" ("Care!") someone shouted too late. I ducked, but the thorn-covered tree branch had already strafed me, clawing two welts on my neck.
An hour passed. The chill and mist of dawn were gone, chased off by an angry sun. We corkscrewed up a thin dirt mountain road, peeling sweaters and shirts, eating dust. With his hands, a man near the edge signaled how many inches separated the truck's wheels from a half-mile fall. I drew in my breath. You made your decision, I told myself. Whatever happens, happens.
Instead of looking down, I gazed straight up at the ribbon of road above. Staring down at us over the edge, outlined by an impossibly blue sky, was a pair of figures, motionless. I stared back at them, disturbed. "¿Hombres?" I asked, not wanting to point.
"No, espantajo."
"Oh, scarecrows."
"No, scarecrow. One man, one scarecrow."
I looked up again at the two figures. Everyone fell silent. It was something more in the attitude of their bodies than in their stillness: Which was stuffed with blood and muscle, which with straw? The truck crept along the road, the roar of its motor the only sound. Which of us three, I wondered, would be the first to break the trance?
Stomach coiled, mouth dry, hands twitching. Five minutes until the first Leonard-Duran fight. Closed-circuit projector busted, doors locked, 5,000 black men clenched outside, and me. West Philadelphia. Unlit ghetto. Rumors flying.
"Gonna fix it any minute, gonna open up the doors. . . ."
"Honky rip-off. Ain't never gonna see no fight here. . . ."
Fists pounding the glass. Stomach coiled, mouth dry. Go home now, get away. Three minutes left. But the fight. . . .
Shouts all around me. A surge toward the door: an elbow in my back; a knee in my thigh; an obscenity in my ear. Go home. Two minutes. But the fight. . . .
A bottle flies and shatters. Go home. The thick glass in the door shudders from the pounding. Go home. Shoved forward, knocked backward. But the fight. . . .
One minute. A siren. A riot, this is going to be a riot. What are you doing here? Go home. But the fight. . . .
Cannon shots across the Andes. The truck's exhaust system began to backfire, echoing off the mountainside. A baby began to wail. The sun's eye followed us, unblinking. More turns, turn-and-stop-and-back-up-and-turn-again-tight turns. The truck swayed and groaned, jolting over ruts, sending loose rocks over the precipice. Engine backfiring, stalling, restarting, truck pitching, baby wailing, tires spinning for grip at the edge. My God.
"I knew well a man who died on a truck here," said a young man. He smiled. A moan and then another. Children vomited, falling over each other to make it to the side, failing, one boy throwing up on another's head. My eyes darted. If only I could move. The truck lurched. I crashed against an Indian woman, bouncing her from sleep.
I wondered if I could figure out a way to eject if this truck began to tumble. Carefully I started to step over bodies, through tangles of arms and legs and sacks. My knee sank into someone's back. A pair of eyes glared up at me. My weight came down upon a hand. The man attached to it never blinked. Three more steps, two more apologies, I made it to the side. A loose plank. I wedged my sneaker into it and hoisted myself up near the top of the siding. I looked over the edge, straight down and down and down into a dry river gully.
Every bounce went through me; it hurt my legs and wrists to stay braced to jump. That's O.K., I thought. The others in the truck sat knitting, sleeping. I alone was prepared for a failure in the driver's judgment or the truck's brake pads or. . . .
A screech, a shot of pain, a body flush of terror. I looked down, panting, clutching. A chicken, dying from the heat and closeness, had lurched up in a death spasm and pecked a hole in my leg and nearly sent me over. The Indians looked at me and laughed, and then fell back to sleep.
To the Spanish ear, the village was called Toro Toro. But in ancient Quechua—a modern version of which is the language most of the Indians in Bolivia speak—it was thuru thuru, meaning mud, mud, and during the rainy season no vehicle ever reaches the village at all. We arrived in Toro Toro beneath a sky turning dark, local boys running escort the last mile, flapping their arms and legs ecstatically at our breakthrough from the outside, from beyond.
Stiffly I climbed down. "How far did we travel?" I asked the driver.
"More or less 130 kilometers."
Twelve hours, a scarlet sunburn, a coat of dust, a pounding headache, a mountain range and river crossed, with water lapping at the door handles. Eighty miles.
"When is the tinku?" I asked. "I don't want to miss it."
"Do not worry," a man said. "It will find you."
The mayor offered me a barren room in the crumbling town hall. No running water inside, no bathroom, no furniture. I smiled my thanks for the blankets and cot, dropped off my bag and walked the streets. Donkeys and goats bent their heads, grazing on weeds that grew between the cobblestones.
Now it was black. Little tongues of candle flame tottered down the streets, tottering shadows closely following. Nearly everyone was drunk. A wooden cup was thrust in front of me. "Tome," said a voice. I stared into the cup filled with chicha, a home brew made from fermented corn the color of a puddle half made by rain and half by a drunk with an aching bladder. I drank.
"Are you from Toro Toro," I asked my host, "or have you come for the tinku?"
He was a thick, well-fed man who grunted as he bent to fill his wooden chicha dipper. "I was born here," he said, "but now I return only for these three days. My belt, you will see how I use it. I whip it in circles to keep the people from coming too close to the fighters."
"I do not understand the tinku," I said. "Who fights whom?"
"Two peoples," he said. "The Laimes from the south against the Pampas from the north. They are all campesinos from the hills."
"But why do they fight?"
"Years ago they fought over boundaries or llamas or women," he said. "Tome."
I swallowed with him. From somewhere far or close came a melody—relentless, simple, plodding. A few repeated notes a man alone on a moonless tundra might blow through the hollow thighbone of an ancestor.
"There is a rumor that the priest will ask the campesinos not to fight this year," he said. "That he will tell them God does not want them to use violence."
"What will the campesinos do?"
"I do not know. Most of them are Catholics . . . but they also believe any blood spilled here is an offering to the earth goddess, Pachamama. No one has died for a few years in the tinku, but if someone does, they believe it will be a good year for the crops. Some in the past have even worn brass on their knuckles when they fight. But rocks are worse. It is only very bad when the women become involved, and the people reach for rocks."
We watched shadows stagger past us and buttoned against the cold. From some unseen source came the melody, insistent, relentless, working its way inside me and digging out a hollow. What kind of instrument would make that music, I wondered. What kind of man?
My host liked to talk. "There are no doctors here," he said. "Usually the Indians that fight treat their wounds with donkey dung. If blood is running from their faces, they try to lick it. They believe it will increase their courage."
He smiled with contempt at the chicha yet in my cup. I drank it and he dipped back into the dirt-streaked bucket. "A town of ghosts," I said, nodding at the passing shadows.
"That is so even in sunlight now," he said. "Except during the fiesta, 30,40 families is all that remain here."
"What happened?"
"Many people lived here when I was a boy, perhaps 6,000. A big market, haciendas. Then one night the Indians came down from the hills. They had been promised an equal distribution of the land, but they were tired of waiting. We escaped and hid by the river. Others. . . ." He made a noise from the inside of his throat, ran his finger across the outside. "Almost everyone else left after that."
"Do the people here have any communication at all with the outside world?" I asked.
"Tome," he said. "Yes, there is a telegraph wire."
"Uh-oh. I hope that wasn't the wire our truck snapped today on the road."
He shrugged. "Well . . . they say it is not working."
We stopped talking and listened to the music. "But why do they fight?" I asked again.
"Like I said. Many years ago—"
"But I mean now. Is it still over llamas and women?"
"No, not now."
"So, why?"
He shrugged, leaving only the trudging melody to reply.
Seventeen, suburban, scared and frail, drinking my first hard liquor with the brothers at Baltimore Arena between rounds of Ali-Frazier I. No other sport did this. Only boxing kept drawing me into different worlds . . .
All night I lay awake, partly because of the bacteria from the chicha at work in my belly, more from that music at work along my spine. It drifted to me from one end of the village, then the other; I would sit up rigid when it plodded past my door. Over and over, the same stark five-note cosmic statement: Isolated is a man, isolated is a man . . .
There was light now, and I had to find the music's source. I walked swiftly up and down the streets, turned corners, and finally came upon it: The campesinos who had come from the hills to fight. Drunken, red-eyed, they staggered about in small circles, knees bent, shoulders hunched, blowing through clusters of wooden tubes that resembled miniature organ pipes turned upside down. Behind them, women, equally drunk, flailed the air with flags of white rag, their leader snapping a sorry whip. I stood on the fringe and stared. Feathers and nails, trinkets and braids of cloth stuck out of the bands of their white peaked hats. On their backs, the women toted firewood and babies in colorful blankets. The men wore bright sashes and three or four layers of brightly colored pants, each pair hemmed progressively higher to show off the owner's wealth.
At the head of their ranks, a small statue of the village saint, Santiago, was carried high, a blue-eyed general brandishing a sword atop a horse whose hooves crushed the devil. They trudged toward me, looked right through me. One paused and urinated on my sneakers. I jumped back.
"What are they doing?"
"Praying to God," said a man.
I followed them for hours as they plodded, bent and hunched, in a trance induced by the chicha and the repetition of the tune.
"When does the tinku start?" I asked a street vendor. She rolled her shoulders; I continued my pursuit.
The Indians reached the church on the plaza, staggered in, kneeled and blessed themselves. I heard a terrific bang and rushed outside. One of the Indians was hurling sticks of dynamite into the sky.
I heard a sound like a horned owl desperate for a partner. I rounded a corner and saw a knot of people a block away. My legs began to run. A strong young man stood in their midst wearing a bright green vest and the curved cowhide helmet I had seen once before. He hooted again and kicked at the dirt.
Two women pushed him back and scolded. His chest heaved; he cast an insult at the man opposite him and made the eerie hooting sound once more. Abruptly he shoved the women aside, took three swift steps and threw an overhand right. A man crumpled, and the crowd gathered around him. Blood seeped from his nose. I pushed my way among them and looked down. The man on the ground had no left arm.
I looked up. Most of the crowd had already dispersed, the warrior in green was gone. Is that all, I wondered. A young stud coldcocks a cripple and it's over? Head down, I walked back to my room. I had come to see men fight.
No sleep. All night the two ends of the cot trying to snap shut, folding me up like a crepe. All night the sound of urine hissing against adobe walls, of dynamite shaking the sky, of whispers, grunts and that tune. Once I scrambled to my door and swung it open. A man hitched up his pants and ran, a woman scampered into the shadow of a doorway. Soon it would be dawn and they would be kneeling on the cold stone floor of the church.
Stiffly I stood, walked outside and threw cold water on my face. The bread in my bag had hardened, the cheese was turning pungent. My stomach howled for food, and the smell of it cooking on the streets drew me to it. A toothless woman shoved a plate of something mushy, wet with grease, before me. I considered it for a moment, then turned away.
Around me, regathering chaos: Who were these people who obliterated the lines between dynamite and reverence, dance and insult, sex and fistfight, night and day? I leaned against a deserted building and felt alone.
Without purpose, I wandered. I found myself standing at an intersection, staring dully at an Indian woman beating sugared egg whites and finger-painting them on rings of bread. I whipped my head around—tinku!
It began of itself, a milling and strutting of Laimes on one side and Pampas on the other, balled fists, outthrust jaws, jiggling legs, heaving chests, insults spat, hoots from the throat. The crowd—the corner men, the matchmakers and referee—all suddenly materialized. The matchmakers pushed men forward, comparing sizes and ages for fairness; the corner men whispered encouragement; the referee, my drinking partner, whipped his belt to shoo back the mob. The fighters, eyes glazed from chicha, mouthed Quechua curses and stared one another down. Two young men fixed the Spanish-replica helmets on their heads, the onlookers shouted, and the fighters lunged for each other. No feeling out. No sweet science. The Pampa threw a roundhouse right that missed, a second one that landed; the Laime toppled. The crowd whooped, the Indian next to me grinned ear to ear and pounded me on the back.
The town's only cop sauntered by, borrowed a man's cap and waved it over the unconscious loser. "¡Sin patas!" ("without kicking") he warned, then sauntered on. Finally the knockout victim rose, embraced the winner and smeared blood from his nose on the victor's shoulder. I smiled and beat my hands together.
A man who lived in the city shook his head. "I guess you cannot blame them," he said. "They live so isolated all year, they need this." I nodded without thinking about what he'd said.
Now the fights came off like firecrackers: a quick matching, a few jeers, a flailing of fists, a loser dropping, then hugging and humor. Few understood the kinetic advantage of a short, crisp, well-timed punch; the blows gusted in long, wild, angry loops. The fighting space moved with the fighters, the bloodied faces multiplied. Boys of 11 and 12 were hustled into the ring, men of 49 and 50. We in the crowd leaned on one another, cheering, grimacing, laughing.
Some helped up their foes and we applauded. Some kicked them and we screamed. One young man pulled a packet of white powder from his pocket, sniffed a little, wobbled into the ring and was flattened in two punches. Then a fat Indian woman waddled in to break up a fight. She caught a left on her ear and went spinning.
The church bells rang. Eleven a.m. Sunday, time for Mass. No one left the tinku. For the first time in a day and a half, no plodding music, no walking dead. Up on my tiptoes, I bobbed and weaved for the best view, knowing I would never see anything like this again.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a man throw a punch, miss the head he was aiming for and catch mine, a glancing blow to the temple. Everyone laughed, a few rubbed my head. I feigned wooziness and laughed, too.
Just then, the man who had accidentally punched me took a right hook to the mouth and crashed. Almost light-heartedly he sprang back to his feet and posed for me, grinning blood. Then he wrapped his leathery hand around mine and shook it.
Now heads were turning, I heard murmurs. The crowd went quiet. I craned my neck. The young stud in the green vest, the one who had coldcocked the armless man the day before and demolished three two-armed opponents of his own size and age today, was adjusting his helmet and shoving up his sleeves. I looked to the Laimes' side. A well-built man in his 40's, starting to go soft and gray, stepped forward and took four practice jabs. Something about his eyes—he never blinked.
A man behind me tapped my shoulder, pointed to him and nodded. I understood. This was their Louis, their Ali, their Frazier—past his prime, coming back to take on the young buck. Is he crazy, I wondered, that young guy is a killer. He's going to get his head kicked in, and nobody's even going to pay him. Why does a man who doesn't have to fight—have to fight? The crowd edged closer. And why do other people let him?
The fighters circled. The man with the belt forgot all about waving it and stared. The old champ took two cautious steps forward and let go a crisp combination, enough to make the young buck backpedal and think. The people pursed their lips and nodded—yes, yes.
On they went this way, unlike the other fighters, considering every thrust. And then a right like a rockslide came down on the old champ's cheek; he buckled to the dirt and it was over.
The people grew silent. The young man strutted. The old one's face we still couldn't see. He stood at last, blood running from his mouth. Our Louis, our Frazier, our Ali. . . . I let someone's head block my view.
When I looked again, he was peering at the blood he had wiped with the back of his hand, hopping on one foot then the other, grinning. Everyone was cheering and laughing and beating him on the back; I heard myself laugh, too. No, people don't fight for pride or money or ego. People fight, and people watch them fight, to feel. And if being human is to be born, grow strong, level off, then decline, fighting is a thing too much like being human to expect a man to stop and walk away before his ride is over.
There were a few more fistfights, and then there was a quiet intersection, an Indian woman beating sugared egg whites and finger-painting them on rings of bread.
In the morning our truck rolled out of the village. I stared through the slats, watching the Indians trudge over the ridge of hill, the other side of which I couldn't see.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5337
|
__label__wiki
| 0.596743
| 0.596743
|
Summer On Firefly Lake - Blog Tour and Giveaway
Divorced mom, Mia Gibbs' family is her life, but her world is turned upside down when she falls for her one-time teenage crush Nick McGuire, a workaholic lawyer who isn't a family man. Fans of Susan Wiggs' The Lakeshore Chronicles will love this heartwarming friends to lovers story releasing this summer from Grand Central - Forever.
Summer on Firefly Lake
Author: Jen Gilroy
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Forever – Grand Central Publishing
Series: Firefly Lake
Sometimes love is better the second time around.
Mia Gibbs spent her marriage putting her husband’s needs before her own. And now, after a painful divorce, she’s building a new life for herself and her two daughters back home at Firefly Lake. The last thing she needs is a man to complicate things. But former bad boy turned friend Nick McGuire has turned everything upside down.
Attorney Nick McGuire wasn’t meant to be a family man. His career has always been his focus, and after taking time out to help his mother, he’s ready to get back to the city…until Mia and her daughters arrive at Firefly Lake. Mia is beautiful and intriguing, and it doesn’t take long to realize being “just friends” will never be enough. As the summer nights turn colder, Nick will have to choose between the life he’s always wanted…and the woman he can’t live without.
Add to your “Want to Read” shelf: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iTunes
Praise for Summer on Firefly Lake:
“Has charm to spare...The delightful supporting cast...and expertly plotted story add depth and richness to this tale, leaving readers eager for another visit to Firefly Lake.” – Publishers Weekly
“Gilroy’s second Firefly Lake novel encapsulates the quaint, busybody small-town feel and the slippery slope of friends becoming lovers quite well…Engaging...(a) fast paced page turner.” – RT Book Reviews
“I want this.” Mia lifted her face to his as a cloud scudded across the moon. “I want you.”
Even if it could only be for tonight, she was Mia, not a mom, not a sister, and not a wife who’d been tossed aside for someone younger and curvier. For this one moment, she didn’t have any responsibilities except what she wanted and needed.
I want you, too.” Nick took her hand and led her toward the car. “A part of me has wanted you since I was fifteen and you hung out at the town beach in that green bikini with the white flowers.”
Her heart lurched. He’d noticed her enough to remember the bikini she’d hidden from her mom. The one she’d bought because she’d heard Nick say he liked green. “You were always with the guys by the life guard station.” Everything about him was a lot sexy and a little bit dangerous.
“I wanted to see you.” His smile was forced, like the admission cost him more than he wanted her to know.
Mia curved her cold hand into his warm one. She’d guessed she’d hurt him the one time they’d gone out, but until tonight she hadn’t understood how much. She couldn’t regret the past, and she couldn’t predict the future, but she could do something about the present. “I want to be with you. Even though we’re not teenagers anymore and I don’t have that green bikini.
Nick’s gaze skimmed her body from head to toe and lingered at her breasts. Then he gave her a grin that was pure bad boy. “I was always a lot more interested in what was underneath that bikini anyway.”
He opened the passenger door for her to slide in.
She looked at him from under her lashes and flirted like she’d wanted to do all those years ago but had been too shy. “You were, were you?”
“Oh yeah.” He shut the car door and, in the sudden silence, panic rolled over her again. Except, there was excitement too…
Other Books in the Firefly Lake Series:
The Cottage at Firefly Lake
Series: Firefly Lake #1
Date Released: January 31, 2017
Some mistakes can never be fixed and some secrets never forgiven … but some loves can never be forgotten.
Charlotte Gibbs wants nothing more than to put the past behind her, once and for all. Yet now that she's back at Firefly Lake to sell her mother's cottage, the overwhelming flood of memories reminds her of what she's been missing. Sun-drenched days. Late-night kisses that still shake her to the core. The gentle breeze off the lake, the scent of pine in the air, and the promise of Sean's touch on her skin…True, she got her dream job traveling the world. But at what cost?
Sean Carmichael still doesn't know why Charlie disappeared that summer, but after eighteen years, a divorce, and a teenage son he loves more than anything in the world, he's still not over her. All this time and her body still fits against his like a glove. She walked away once when he needed her the most. How can he convince her to stay now?
Book 1 is available at:
Praise for The Cottage at Firefly Lake:
“Gilroy’s debut contemporary is packed with potent emotions…[the] protagonists tug at the heartstrings from the beginning of the story and don’t let go. Long on charm, this story invites readers to come in and stay a while.” – Publishers Weekly
“Memories, regrets and second chances are front and center in Gilroy’s fantastic debut.” – RT Book Reviews
Jen Gilroy lives in a small town in eastern Ontario, Canada where her Irish ancestors settled in the nineteenth century. She's worked in higher education and international marketing but, after spending too much time in airports and away from her family, traded the 9-5 to write romantic women’s fiction to bring readers' hearts home.
Jen likes ice cream, diners, vintage style and all things country. Her husband is her real-life romance hero, and her teen daughter teaches her to cherish the blessings in the everyday.
The Cottage at Firefly Lake, the first book in her Firefly Lake series, was a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® award in 2015. It was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon Award 2017.
Jen is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of both The Cottage at Firefly Lake (the first book in the series) and Summer on Firefly Lake. Five (5) runner-up winners will receive a paperback copy of Summer on Firefly Lake! This giveaway is open internationally. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5339
|
__label__wiki
| 0.573568
| 0.573568
|
ABC’s Grand Hotel: This Modern Remake is A Fun, Entertaining Summer Show
Posted by Amber Topping | Jun 18, 2019 | 0
If you’re looking for the perfect summer drama to watch, then look no further than Grand Hotel on ABC, a modernized adaptation of the popular Spanish period drama, Gran Hotel.
While not as good as the original series (watch on Netflix – you won’t be sorry), there’s enough fun, addictive entertainment here to hook viewers. And as far as escapist summer shows go, this one’s got it all. Murder. Mystery. Melodrama. Romance. Wicked Stepmother. Wicked Stepsisters. Glitz. Glamour. Upstairs/Downstairs dynamics. And even Miami beaches.
ABC’s Grand Hotel is the seamless TV equivalent to a light beach read.
This remake retains the overall structure of the original while turning it into a modern-day telenovela for an American audience. In all, ABC’s Grand Hotel is the seamless TV equivalent to a light beach read.
ABOUT GRAND HOTEL (ABC)
The official synopsis reads:
“Wealthy and beautiful guests bask in luxury, but scandals, escalating debt and explosive secrets hide beneath the picture-perfect exterior.”
If you’ve seen the original show, then you mostly know what to expect. But if you haven’t, it’s better to just watch and follow the twists than for me to tell you what happens. But in short, a hotel worker (Arielle Kebbel) disappears during a hurricane, seemingly murdered. This then leads to a series of mysteries at this grand hotel in Miami.
Front and center of the story is Alicia (Denyse Tontz), the owner’s daughter. She’s recently returned from college with a business degree only to find her father’s selling the hotel. And then there’s Danny (Lincoln Younes), a new hotel worker with a secretive past. Why has he come to this hotel and what’s he hiding? Soon the two are drawn to each other and an unspoken and budding romance begins.
Other characters include the owner, Santiago Mendoza (played by the Oscar-nominated actor Demian Bichir), his new scheming wife Gigi (Roselyn Sanchez), her twin daughters Carolina and Yoli, Alicia’s womanizing brother Javi, the creepy business partner Mateo, and the local celebrity visiting the hotel, El Rey.
In the “downstairs,” is Helen, the Mrs. Hughes of the hotel, her son Jason, and the troubled maid Ingrid.
GRAN HOTEL VS ABC’S GRAND HOTEL
In the original series, Alicia and Julio (Danny in this version) were the main characters with their star-crossed love at the center of the story. While the murder mystery was key to the plot, the old-fashioned chivalrous romance between them was the most important element – just as Jack and Rose’s was during the sinking of Titanic.
So, while the Spanish series is a romance above all other genres, this Grand Hotel TV show is more of a hybrid. The mysteries and melodrama are more central with the romance secondary. It’s also more of an ensemble series than its Spanish equivalent.
RELATED: Grand Hotel Review – An Addicting Romantic Series for All Period Drama Lovers
While Gran Hotel was Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie meets Spanish melodrama, Grand Hotel on ABC is more Devious Maids meets Jane the Virgin meets Revenge with a touch of Agatha Christie, Cinderella, and Gran Hotel on the side.
Fans of the original will also notice some plot and character changes. In this version, the mother’s dead instead of the father. And a wicked stepmother and her two daughters have been thrown into the mix. It’s a fun change – especially if you enjoy the inclusion of fairy tale tropes in contemporary shows.
In all, Grand Hotel is good, campy fun. Fans of the original may be disappointed that it’s not a period drama, or that the romance isn’t as unabashedly romantic and sweet (with oozing chemistry), but if you enjoy escapist melodramas, this series won’t disappoint.
You can currently watch Grand Hotel on ABC on Mondays 10/9c. You can also stream on HULU as new episodes are released.
Content Note: TV-14 for implied sexuality and intense moments.
Have you watched the Grand Hotel on ABC? Did you watch the original Spanish series? What are your thoughts on this remake? Let me know in the comments.
Featured image credit: GRAND HOTEL – ABC’s Grand Hotel stars Wendy Raquel Robinson as Mrs. P, Denyse Tontz as Alicia Mendoza, Chris Warren as Jason, Bryan Craig as Javi Mendoza, Anne Winters as Ingrid, Demián Bichir as Santiago Mendoza, Shalim Ortiz as Mateo, Roselyn Sánchez as Gigi Mendoza, Feliz Ramirez as Carolina, Lincoln Younes as Danny, and Justina Adorno as Yoli. (ABC/Ed Herrera)
“Hello, Gorgeous.”
ROMANCE RATING
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My
feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me
to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
PreviousThe New Legends of Monkey (2018): Fantastical Family Fun from Down Under
Next‘Aladdin’ Movie Review: Disney’s Magical Film Will Make You Laugh, Cheer
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5340
|
__label__cc
| 0.569756
| 0.430244
|
Investigation Shows Pregnancy Discrimination Is Common in Today’s Workplace
September 6, 2018 by Tad T. Roumayah
A recent investigation by the New York Times uncovered evidence of continuing pregnancy discrimination in some of the largest U.S. companies, including Walmart, Merck, Novartis, and Glencore. Although such employment discrimination is illegal under federal law and many state laws, women continue to report they are denied advancement and otherwise suffer adverse employment effects as… Read More
What Employees Should Expect When Reporting Sexual Harassment
August 23, 2018 by Tad T. Roumayah
The #MeToo movement has helped bring workplace sexual harassment into focus. As more and more employees speak up about their concerns, complaints, and personal experiences, many employers struggle to appropriately respond to their individual concerns, develop protocols for handling these situations, and prevent further issues. Employees who report sexual harassment or other concerning behavior in… Read More
Interagency Dispute Over LGBTQ Civil Rights Protection Heats Up in Michigan
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission recently announced that it would continue to adjudicate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in defiance of an opinion issued by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. Now that Schuette has won the Republican nomination for governor, this dispute may continue to escalate until the general election… Read More
Aging Workers May Sue Multiple “Joint Employers” for Discrimination
June 28, 2018 by Tad T. Roumayah
As working Baby Boomers get older, age discrimination can threaten their incomes and livelihoods. When more than one organization oversees their working conditions, victims of ageism in the workplace can seek compensation from all of them under a “joint employer” theory, according to a recent decision from a Michigan federal court. CALL US 1.800.783.0989 Free… Read More
Is TTEC/TeleTech Cheating Its Call Center Agents Out of Wages and Overtime Pay?
June 18, 2018 by Charles Ash, IV
Wage theft is an all too common occurrence at call centers, enough of a problem that the U.S. Department of Labor published a warning describing the various ways call center workers can be robbed of their hard-earned pay. TTEC (formerly known as TeleTech) is no stranger to these accusations, and a new lawsuit seeks to… Read More
Uber, Lyft Toss Forced Arbitration for Sexual Harassment & Abuse Claims
May 28, 2018 by Tad T. Roumayah
Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft will no longer require the arbitration of sexual assault or sexual harassment claims lodged against drivers, passengers or employees. The announcement is a major policy change for the two ride-share services. Since the companies launched, they have sought to force legal claims into arbitration, whether through employment agreements or customer… Read More
Is Sneaker Villa Robbing Hourly Workers Out of Wages and Overtime Pay?
May 23, 2018 by Rod Johnston
According to allegations in a recently filed class action lawsuit, Sneaker Villa (also known as VILLA Join the Movement) is cheating non-exempt employees out of their hard-earned overtime pay. CALL US 1.800.783.0989 Free Consultation Sneaker Villa is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based specialty retailer of urban-inspired apparel and footwear products, and operates more than 120 stores in… Read More
Sarpino’s Pizzeria Accused of Cheating Workers Out of Wages and Overtime Pay
Delivery drivers, assistant managers, and other non-exempt hourly employees are claiming that Sarpino’s Pizzeria failed to give them their share of the pizza pie, according to a recently filed class action. CALL US 1.800.783.0989 Free Consultation The plaintiffs contend that the Illinois-based fast-food restaurant chain (also known as Marinov IM Empire, Inc.) routinely violated the… Read More
Judge Rules UberBLACK Drivers are not Employees
May 3, 2018 by Charles Ash, IV
Recently, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that UberBLACK drivers are independent contractors, and not employees, of Uber Technologies, Inc., a setback for workers claiming they were unlawfully misclassified in violation of federal employment laws. UberBLACK, a subset of Uber’s services, offers high-end rides in black limousines and luxury sedans and SUVs. The drivers argued… Read More
Delay in Positive Train Control Implementation Puts Railroaders at Risk
May 1, 2018 by Ben Wilensky
Last December, a devastating Amtrak derailment in Washington state killed at least three people and injured dozens more. The passenger train left the track at an overpass, and several cars fell onto the busy highway below. It had been traveling at 80 mph on a section of track with a maximum safe speed of 30… Read More
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5346
|
__label__wiki
| 0.88433
| 0.88433
|
One of St. Martin's greatest strengths is its strong community -- a diverse group students, parents, alumni, parents of alumni, faculty and staff, and friends.
Families are the centerpieces of the St. Martin's community. At St. Martin's Episcopal School, families discover a warm, welcoming community where it is easy for students and families to make friends. While our students and families come from all walks of life, St. Martin's is a place where all belong.
Alumni are a vital part of the school community and provide the link between the past and future of St. Martin’s. The bond formed as students stays with St. Martin's alumni throughout their lives.
St. Martin's parents are another integral part of the StM community. All parents or guardians are automatically a member of the SCO. Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend meetings, volunteer your time and talents, and join in the activities sponsored by the SCO.
StM Community in the News
Alum Honored with A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award
Faculty Member Named One to Watch
Alum Taking Over Local Festival
Alumni Owned Business Makes Gambit’s Best of List
Fred Rodriguez ’68 Receives 2017 Ward Burdick Award for Distinguished Service to Pathology
Alumni Owned Company Highlighted on Nola.com
Former Board Member, StM Supporter Selected as City Champion
Middle School Teacher Named to "Ones to Watch" List
Alumni Owned Business Featured on Forbes
Former StM Board Member Honored by the Anti-Defamation League
StM Parent Named New Orleanian of the Year by Gambit
Alumni Owned Shop Featured in Vogue
Alex Pappas '01 Spotlighted in Biz New Orleans
WGNO Features StM International Program Student
StM Alumnus Earns Eagle Scout Rank
Lower School Parent named to 40 Under 40 List
StM Community Members Honored as Rising Stars
Work by Designer Alex Pappas '01 featured in Biz New Orleans Magazine
Buisnesses with StM Connections Named Best Places to Work
Christian Brown '78 named YLC Role Model
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5356
|
__label__wiki
| 0.983722
| 0.983722
|
Lucky fan experiences the flip side on court
PR account executive Sean Long tossing the coin before the match between world No. 1 Angelique Kerber (left) and Dominika Cibulkova, which he watched from the premium section.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Oct 24, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
http://str.sg/4fy4
cnicole@sph.com.sg
Public relations accounts executive Sean Long was disappointed when Serena Williams, his favourite female tennis player, withdrew from the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
But winning the "Coin Toss Opportunity", which was organised by The Straits Times in partnership with the WTA Finals, made up for his disappointment over the American 22-time Grand Slam singles winner's absence this year.
The 31-year-old won the chance to toss the coin for the match between world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and No. 8 Dominika Cibulkova yesterday, as well as a pair of premium tickets to the match.
The crowd cheered as Long took a photograph with both players, and he said getting to toss the coin was the highlight of his WTA Finals experience.
Laughing as he spoke to The Straits Times, he added: "I was so nervous, because everyone was looking at me.
"But it was fun; the umpire was very friendly and so were the players."
Long, who wished the players good luck before the match - the second of the session - was happy with its 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3 outcome in Kerber's favour.
"I was supporting Angie, but Domika was playing quite well and nobody deserved to lose," he said.
"I'll be rooting for Angie to win (the WTA Finals), because she's the world No. 1 and this will cement her status at the top."
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 24, 2016, with the headline 'Lucky fan experiences the flip side on court'. Print Edition | Subscribe
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5358
|
__label__cc
| 0.680499
| 0.319501
|
The Witcher:
By Shamus Posted Friday Aug 1, 2008
Filed under: Game Reviews 165 comments
The Witcher:
Meet GeraltPrevious Post
Next PostThe Witcher:
Final Thoughts
When Oblivion came out, my poor little computer couldn’t handle it. With the help of Oldblivion I eventually managed to stagger through to the end of the game. I later upgraded, and went through the game again with acceptable framerates, although only if I had the visuals turned down to “eye-gouging ugly”. Now here I am with a brand new graphics card that can handle Oblivion with a nice framerate and all the fancy visuals turned up. But of course I’m done with Oblivion. Time to find another RPG.
Brace yourself, because I’m about to be very mean to the game everyone seems to love so much. Mellow out, listen to some new age music. Do whatever you have to do to keep from freaking out. If you just can’t bear seeing The Witcher take a few roundhouse kicks to its pasty wrinkled face then you’d best look away. Maybe go read my comic instead. It’s about World of Warcraft, and nobody cares when I abuse that thing.
So I fire up The Witcher and it’s the same damn nightmare from Oblivion all over again. This game does not look appreciably better than Oblivion. Okay, the character models look better, but the Oblivion models were notoriously ugly. You didn’t need technology to improve on those. You just needed decent art direction.
But The Witcher runs like an inebriated John Madden trying to run in the Boston marathon while pulling a busload of other John Maddens. The game is unplayable at the default settings. If I turn everything down I can get the game to look very terrible and still stutter quite a bit. Let me make this clear: At these settings the game looks far worse than Oblivion and yet still somehow runs slower. Considering that Oblivion was an appalling glutton when it came to GPU cycles, that’s really saying something. What is the game doing with my processor? Building fractals? Trying to find the last digit of Pi?
I know I just had a huge rant on this the other day, but this is such a perfect illustration of the problem that I can’t resist. I’m within the system requirements (on the low side, but I’m still in) and I have to make the game look horrible just to make it quasi-playable, and even then it chokes and pukes all over itself when I get into a fight. (You know, when frame rate is most crucial.) The phrase “Minimum System Requirements” has morphed from its original meaning and has come to denote the minimum system on which you can install the game without it killing anybody or starting a fire. But even if I had the hardware to run the game, it doesn’t look that much better than the last generation of games. Which means we’re now spending hundreds of dollars to upgrade our machines so just to run in place, visually.
(An even more appropriate comparison is against Jade Empire. The areas are about the same size, except Jade Empire looks far better, runs silky smooth, and its loading screens are brief and rare.)
This is on top of other inexplicable slowdowns, like that fact that the entire game locks up for two seconds when you hit the map button. It takes so long you might be forgiven for impatiently hitting the button again while you’re waiting. In which case when the map does finally get around to making an appearance it will instantly turn off again. And no matter how often you bring the sucker up, the game never gets the idea that maybe it would be a good idea to keep the thing in memory. No, the game slams into a brick wall every time you want a glimpse. A simple static map. A 2D map. It doesn’t even fill the screen. I know it’s my job to find funny ways to point out things are stupid, but they’ve really bested me this time. I’ve got nothing that can do this justice.
But even without these performance shortcomings, the game is plagued by presentation issues. Every door knocks you in the face with a tedious loading screen. No matter how small the interior space, the game needs ten seconds or so to get it ready for you. This is really annoying when you’ve got a quest to talk to a couple of different people in different houses, which happens all the time. Interacting with NPCs becomes a sort of punishment in a setup like this.
Which brings me to the sometimes off-kilter rhythm of the dialog, which I’m assuming is an unfortunate artifact of the translation from Polish. You click on someone. Then the screen fades out as it enters “dialog” mode. Then it fades in on the person you’re talking to. Then there’s this pause of a half second while they stare at you blankly. Then they speak, “Hi there.” Then there’s another pause. Then they wave. Then the view cuts to Geralt. Pause. “Hello to you as well.” Pause. Change view back to the NPC. Pause. “What can I do for you?” Pause. Back to Geralt. Then the dialog menu appears. It’s like seeing a power point presentation of the conversation. Lots of people complain about the voice acting in the game, but I think the voice acting is probably fine, it’s just that the delivery is sometimes borked. You could have Ian McKellen and Judy Dench doing the vocals and they would still sound like a couple of retarded androids with their voices coming out of these blank-faced people and with little pauses added in to make it sound like they forgot their lines. It doesn’t always do this, but it happens often enough to hurt the storytelling.
And finally we have the interface. I’ll admit: I picked up this game specifically because Yahtzee lambasted the thing for being too complicated. As someone who has railed against the stupification of RPGs to make them playable on a gamepad I was instantly sold. Finally! A game with some depth!
But complexity is not depth and The Witcher has too much of the former and not enough of the latter. I really feel bad for picking on the game for this, since they’re obviously going for depth, and I want to encourage game developers when they do good things like this. But the interface is just too cluttered. It’s far denser than (say) World of Warcraft, but all that complexity doesn’t really translate into more gameplay activities. The Hero screen has fifteen sub-panels. The Journal screen has eight. There are some screens that only appear when you’re resting at a fire. (As opposed to them simply being disabled, they just don’t appear, which is really confusing at first.) The alchemy is kind of cool, but it’s also more obtuse than it needs to be. Alchemy and milkmaid-screwing seem to be the only two non-questing activities in the game, which is pretty shallow given the fact that the interface is about as complicated as piloting the space shuttle.
Yet despite the complexity I never felt like I had access to the information I needed. What the heck is Toxicity? There is a bar for it right under the health meter. The tooltip explains that “Excessive Toxicity adversely affects Geralt”, which I managed to deduce all by myself. But how does it affect him? What makes Toxicity go up and how do I decrease it? Rest? A potion? A tryst with a bored housewife? More questions come to mind: Do I earn XP for killing monsters? How much damage am I doing? How can I tell if I’m using the right fighting style for the given monster? Despite all the screens and tutorial messages in the game I never felt like I knew how things worked.
People keep telling me to keep playing, that the game gets better. Apparently if I can suffer through enough of the dreary busywork at the start I’ll reach the part that’s all rainbows and chocolate bars. But the game is racking up some serious “not fun” deficit in the meantime, and at this point the game needs to come up with something really spectacular to counterbalance the slow start. After this much drudgery, the game would have to let me relive the alleyway scene from Spider-Man, where Toby Mcguire beats up the thugs and then hangs upside down with his mask halfway off so I can kiss him.
I’ve seen some flashes of inspiration along the way, and I’ll probably cover those in an upcoming post, but right now they seem too few and far between. Occasionally the game presents you with an interesting bit of dialog or a thought-provoking situation, but then the moment ends and I’m back to being a greaseball adventuring philanderer on an epic quest to catch some dude who stole our little box of witching knickknacks. Or something.
Luckily for The Witcher, RPGs are nearly extinct on the PC. This game can suck as much as it wants, because there aren’t really any alternatives out there right now.
In anticipating the approaching angry comments from Witcher fans, let me just say that “your computer sucks” is not an adequate defense. I can think of no better punishment for misleading minimum requirements than to simply review the game on one of those machines. If publishers don’t like the beating they get, maybe they’ll actually playtest the thing and give us some realistic requirements in the future. In addition, they could try designing games to be fun instead of designing games to produce sexy screenshots. Either way, they asked for this.
Especially with that map business. What the hell. That’s just shameful.
Crysis 2 has basically the same plot as Half-Life 2. So why is one a classic and the other simply obnoxious and tiresome?
Good Robot Dev Blog
An ongoing series where I work on making a 2D action game from scratch.
Internet News is All Wrong
Why is internet news so bad, why do people prefer celebrity fluff, and how could it be made better?
The Witch Watch
My first REAL published book, about a guy who comes back from the dead due to a misunderstanding.
Netscape 1997
What did web browsers look like 20 years ago, and what kind of crazy features did they have?
165 thoughts on “The Witcher:
Wood says:
Friday Aug 1, 2008 at 11:11 am
So are you looking forward to Dragon Age by Bioware (hoping for no securom)? It reminds me a lot of Baldur’s Gate and will fill our PC RPG needs, hopefully.
Matt K says:
The only thing I can say is that this was a first time developer (unlike Bethesdasoft) and they are apparently in the works to release a patch to take care of some of the optimization problems (load for example). That said, I never got past the intro level in the demo because I couldn’t figure out what I was doing and the game crashed frequently when I loaded it (or took forever to get past the intro screens).
Mass Effect had online activation, so I imagine DA will as well.
I’ll probably check out those games once I acquire an XBox 360.
If they take care of the optimization problems it will GREATLY reduce my ire towards this game. I can put up with clunky interfaces and stiff dialog, but the load times and lurching gameplay are the real joy killers.
I hope they do that.
I have yet to play this game but it is one I have had an eye on. I am dissapointed to hear your descriptions of the slow load times and bad visuals. However, there is hope. To echo what another poster has said, CD Projekt will be releasing an enhanced edition of the game to attempt to resolve many of these concerns. From Wikipedia:
At GDC 2008, CDProjekt announced an enhanced version of the game which is to be released on September 16, 2008. The significant changes expected to be featured in the enhanced version are new animations, additional NPC models, expanded and corrected dialogues in translated versions, improved stability, and load times reduced by roughly 80%. This update will be available as a free download for owners of the current version.
I plan to wait for the enhanced edition to come out and then maybe give it a shot.
Factoid says:
Wood: Good luck hoping for no SecuROM…if SecuROM and online activation are a dealbreaker for you…I wouldn’t hold out hope for playing a lot of BioWare games in the future.
DosFreak says:
You can play Mass Effect just fine without having to deal with DRM. Just have to download the Mass Effect executable without the DRM. :)
Unfortunately I don’t know if I the DLC will work without DRM so I haven’t risked it yet.
Mass Effect doesn’t do much for me anyway so I doubt I’ll bother.
dadrox says:
There used to be a time when “minimum requirements” actually meant that the would actually work well and led to some really great gaming.
Nowadays it’s toeing the line of damn-near-false-advertising. Frankly, many games of today have been huge letdowns for me, so my favorite hobby had moved toward the back burner. *sigh*
Hey Shamus,
A tip from someone else who has frequently had to stretch his system to get some games to run semi-smoothly: What is your page file size set to? This is one of those little things that a lot of people overlook, and in my experience a properly set page file can really help things move along.
Of course, it could be that The Witcher is just that graphic intensive and unforgiving of lower systems. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t tried it. Either way, this would at least help with other games.
As a non-player of The Witcher I don’t care if you kick it… though it does seem like maybe “new game with high-end tech specs=bad review from Shamus.” Of course you have a lot of other legitimate gripes in addition to the obviously screwed up “minimum specs.”
I am wondering if there is any consideration that a game company might provide a high-end gaming computer in order to avoid an auto-lashing about it being unplayable on a lesser machine? It seems a bit incongruous to be considered a game reviewer and yet unable to play most games as they were intended. (Perhaps better to include playability at minimum specs as PART of a review.)
Of course, in the larger issue, I completely agree that playing to the bleeding edge is a flawed strategy for game designers overall. Lesser graphics combined with greater ingenuity (WoW, for example) seems to be the winning combo. I am sure this is the overriding point.
It sucks that DA isn’t going to be on the ps3, it looks really cool, but I’m not going to buy an xbox just for that game. I’m not surprised by your follow up on the game, to me it didn’t sound interesting, but I might check out the books.
Juha says:
I never really understood why some people find the interface to be complicated, dunno if it’s just me, but imo it’s pretty simple. The journal for one is excellent, there’s all kinds of information about the world, the characters and just about anything. The quests also have a pretty detailed section, and you can customize what quests it shows and how pretty much how you want.
Toxicity isn’t really explained well until it’s high enough, then you get some kind of a tutorial screen. You get toxicity from drinking potions and it goes away when you rest, or drink a potion that’s made to lower tox levels. When the tox level reaches 100, you die.
“More questions come to mind: Do I earn XP for killing monsters? How much damage am I doing? How can I tell if I'm using the right fighting style for the given monster?”
Now that’s easily fixed, enable combat texts from options and you’ll get floating text messages about how much dmg you do and how much you get xp from killing monsters. You can also see how much you need xp for the next lvl in the top left corner, there’s this blue ring around the medallion that fills up.
Imo the interface is pretty simple if you just take your time and try to understand it, but maybe that’s just me.
Oh, and about styles, check your journal’s monster section, you collect information there about monsters from books and from talking to people, the descriptions usually tell what what styles and signs are effective against each monster.
qrter says:
Well, the load- and save times were my biggest gripe with the game. They took FOREVER. Seeing as there’s a loadscreen whenever you enter a new building or area, it gets excruciatingly irritating. And when you can take a short vacation while your quicksaving, it moves you close to the point of crying.
As I understand it, those load and savetimes have been improved slightly since I played it but are still pretty awful. Supposedly the Enhanced Edition will be a lot better.
You’re right about the engine too – they’re using the NWN 2 engine, which was already an unruly beast in its earlier version.
I also see where you’re coming from with the information management, although I managed to figure out most of it while playing (you know, the idea that everytime you inbibe a potion, doesn’t matter which, your toxity goes up, which effectively makes it a limiter to how many effects you can have going at the same time) – that’s no excuse, btw, it should be easily available to the player, it just didn’t bother me that much, personally.
The halted dialogue thing is something I come across in most games, really. Strange bits of silence between sentences, as if someone’s waiting for the other to finish, then thinks up a response and says it.
Sigma says:
And yet sometimes minimum requirements can be misleading in the other way. I bought Crysis, and it plays fine on normal settings, even though if the minimum setting requirements thing was correct my PC would be exploding.
khorboth says:
There’s really no excuse for loading screens. You’d think that these people could manage to get ONE MMORPG programmer onboard. Somehow games like Vanguard are able to deliver a huge world including many enemies, NPCs, buildings, etc. with no loading screens. There is the occasional skip as you move from one “chunk” to another, but they are rarely more than 2 seconds and frequently nonexistent. And they manage to deliver this with most of the data being pulled through the intertubes. It seems pretty darn clear to me that loading screens are an unnecessary dinosaur of eras past, yet they keep cropping up. Between this and the DRM issues, I’m debating on weather I really want to re-install NWN2 on my new rig.
Sitte says:
it does seem like maybe “new game with high-end tech specs=bad review from Shamus.”
I’m pretty sure that’s true only if they lie about the minimum system requirements. Games that are made and advertised with truly high-end requirements are not purchased in the Young household.
People can debate whether or not these minimum system requirements are actual ‘lies’ or not. Personally, I think the minimum requirements listed for The Witcher fall into the “blatant and intentional deception” category.
…the same category that an unfaithful guy uses when his girl says “Are you sleeping with someone else?” and he says “No… (not at this very second. I’m talking with you).”
James Pony says:
Friday Aug 1, 2008 at 12:01 pm
It would seem to me that right after the link to the Zero Punctuation review, you got into Yahtzee mode. I heard his voice reading that text! And it reads almost exactly like the real thing! What the hell!
Strangeite says:
I love the idea that game reviewers should all start reviewing games that are played upon the minimum system requirements.
If only handful of reviewers began doing this for every game, I think you would see a change very quickly.
JKjoker says:
i have a dual core2 duo and nvidia7600GT and i finished the game without any patch (the patch makes it run slightly better) running it at 1650×1080 with everything on except AA, and, with the exception of the opening, and 2 battles during the game that had some fog, the game is playable, and those bad parts became perfectly playable after i reduced just one option (sorry, i forgot which), the loading times were murder tho
to qrter: they are using a heavily modified NWN1 engine (the script part) with a self made graphic engine
Cthulhu says:
Funny, my computer runs Witcher fine (except for the load times), yet I still have to run Oldblivion to get oblivion to not crash.
Or I would, if I hadn’t ditched Oblivion and gone back to Morrowind, like a sensible person.
I’m fine with you kicking the game for performance problems, even though I’m a fan. Whatever else may be good about it, they deserve a thrashing for not making it run properly.
Derek K says:
@Shamus:
“It's about World of Warcraft, and nobody cares when I abuse that thing.”
Um, I refer you to the WoW threads, which seem to have created Spicy Shamus. :p
“After this much drudgery, the game would have to let me relive the alleyway scene from Spider-Man, where Toby Mcguire beats up the thugs and then hangs upside down with his mask halfway off so I can kiss him.”
I *think* being on the Tobey Mcguire side might be better in this case. You get to beat stuff up, then still get the kiss, rather than just watching. Also, does anyone really want to kiss Tobey Mcguire? I’m not even sure Mrs. Tobey Mcguire wants to do that….
Also, the very first thing imdb says about Tobey Mcguire is that his parents were unwed when he was born. Odd.
@Kevin:
“It seems a bit incongruous to be considered a game reviewer and yet unable to play most games as they were intended.”
If you mean Shamus, he ain’t no reviewer. He’s a guy with a blog.
If you mean in general, I think the fact that you have to consider sending a PC with your game indicates that UR DOIN IT RONG.
I really like that idea, too. If only if it would help stop the minimum requirements-scam as it’s operating today.
You’re right, my mistake. But that makes it even worse, really! ;)
Yes, I think such a PC would be called a ‘console’, anyway.
McNutcase says:
I remember a time when “minimum requirements” were realistic. Heck, on my ancient Wintendo of a laptop (almost nine years old now, and never needed anything replaced – there have been replacements, but those have been upgrades of working parts, not replacements of broken parts), I have installed at least two games for which it is technically *below* minimum requirements, and both the ones I’m thinking of play perfectly happily. One of them, I’ve even got the “pretty” sliders turned up.
Bah. Tabletop RPGs only specify numbers of faces on your dice, and players can surprise you a lot better than a computer can. Where’s that box lid, house rule is all dice get rolled in there, and any dice coming out means you re-roll the whole handful, no matter if the dice that stayed in were great…
Duffy says:
My biggest gripe with it was the horrible load times and occasionally buggy play. For some reason it would just arbitrarily crash for no reason that I could duplicate. Sometimes it would be fine, sometimes it would crash 5 mins in or 3 hours.
The game was just not interesting enough to put up with it’s issues and I never finished it. Was kinda sad cause it was at least a novel approach to Hack/Slash RPGs.
Danath says:
That is why I made my suggestion for waiting for ENhanced edition, I kept having to put the game away and come back to it later because of the loading times and technical stutters… which were WORSE when I was playing it Shamus, theyve patched it some since then.
I personally nver experienced the problems with the map and such on my old computer, but I think I was a bit above the min specs.
Toxicity is explained in the manual, should always read the manual, lots dont because its “too thick” or “game should explain everything. If your toxicity goes too high you DIE.
Also I dont think this is mentioned anywhere, Act 1 has a level cap… I dont remember the level, but after you kill enough baddies, youll just stop gaining xp.
Comment sounds jolted, just woke up, groggy, but alot of your points are the same complaints most people had with the game.
Fosse says:
This game is the first time that I can’t even see where you’re coming from. Now, for the loading times and minimum requirements I’m entirely on board. I was lucky enough that my computer didn’t choke on the load times, but people with better than mine did. I experienced frequent crashes that plagued the Vista crowd before the patch.
I had a system capable of running higher settings very smoothly, so our experience here differed. But my Oblivion experience was exactly like yours and I completely agree that it’s ridiculous that a “minimum specs” computer can’t run the game well enough to play.
But then you went on to talk about the scarcity of information and the bad interface. Those would have been two features in the game I’d have praised if I were writing this.
“The Hero screen has fifteen sub-panels. The Journal screen has eight.”
I’m perplexed. I don’t have the game installed right now, as I’m waiting for the Enhanced Edition to give it another play through. But I’m looking at a shot of the Hero screen right now and, just as I recalled, there no sub panels.
There are fifteen Attributes, arrayed down the left hand side of the screen. But they don’t lead to their own screens or anything. Surely you aren’t complaining that the interface includes the fifteen Attributes on the Hero Screen? I’d love if you could clarify that point for me.
About the Journal:
This is the best in-game journal I’ve ever used. Instead of just a place to list your quests, it gives detailed notes on all the players you meet that update throughout the game as you interact with and learn more about them. It keeps track of all the game lore you come upon, and provides a wealth of details about monsters.
It has eight panels, yes, but I don’t see that as a problem since they are basically information filters. The panels are things like Quests, Characters, Locations, Glossary, etc. Each provides a wealth of information on its topic, and even keeps track of those entries you haven’t read yet since they were updated or added. The only thing it’s missing in my opinion is a Notes section so I can type my own notes into the thing.
And the various questions you asked above (which fighting style against which monsters, where you get toxicity and how to beat it, etc) I recall being covered very well by the journal and tutorials. The effect of a high toxicity is not spelled out at any point, and I remember wanting it to be. But the first time I drank too many potions I saw the effects myself and that was that.
This is also the first game I’ve played where I actually enjoyed Alchemy. It seems that at some point gamers and developers decided that if you can’t make your own potions it’s a substandard RPG. So everyone just throws a bunch of flowers and weeds at you and lets you make magic soft drinks, regardless of whether it makes sense to do so. And ignoring the fact that picking flowers really isn’t that much fun at all.
In my experience it’s either boring (Oblivion) or painful (NWN2). And it never seems to add to gameplay.
In The Witcher it makes sense according to the story and actually was compelling to me. So just by virtue of not sucking it’s the best system I have personally experienced. The fact that the potions are mostly unique and useful, and come with interesting pros and cons, made the system compelling to me. I spent a lot of time concocting various potions and oils (I never bothered with bombs too much). I also liked that you could get most of the benefits of Alchemy and not have to think about it too much by simply double clicking the potion recipe in the Alchemy screen and letting the game pick your ingredients. Or you could spend time adding secondary effects and considering your drinking orders and ingredient scarcity.
All that aside, the interface was not — even in my opinion — perfect. The two things I can think of without installing the game are the Inventory screen and the Alchemy screen’s lack of a “Rebrew last potion” button. The second bit would be a huge hassle saver for people who are interested in secondary effects and so on. The first thing though is a big one.
The Inventory screen though is pretty bad. The tooltips cover a large amount of the screen, which is fine, but they pop up in somewhat random locations according to where your mouse is. This means that if you’re trying to sort through your items a giant black box is constantly popping in and out and hiding whichever item you want to look at next. The tips are so big that they should all pop up in one place that doesn’t obscure your inventory. Also, you’ll be carrying lots of potions, ingredients, books, and doodads, and it would be extremely helpful to have either a filter to only see certain things at once, or a button to sort your items by category. Preferably both.
Nick C says:
Just to clarify some things, three patches have been released since the game came out last year, and many of the optimization issues have been greatly fixed. Also, the game does not run on the NWN2 engine. Both NWN2 and Witcher use the Aurora engine which is the NWN1 engine. Witcher was in the works since before NWN2 was announced.
As far as toxicity, this is explained in the manual, though I can’t remember if the game exlained it tutorial-wise. Basically, the more potions you drink, the higher your toxicity and you need to camp to reduce it. There are certain ways to make potions that give you less toxicity, but that is getting deep into the alchemy system. It’s a way to prevent a person from drinking every potion in their inventory at one time, sort of like Oblivion’s arbitrary 4 potion at a time limit.
As for the dialogue, I completely agree. I can sense that the game has a great story, but the stilted voice acting does leave something to be desired. Enhanced edition is supposed to fix this, and if you bought the original game, you get the upgrade for free.
As for the system requirements thing, I have mixed feelings. I perfectly agree that minimum requirements should at least allow you to play the game with low graphics settings at a playable framerate; doesn’t seem too much to ask. On the other hand, I do have a nice system that I spent a decent amount of money on, and I prefer it when games push themselves so I am actually using my hardware.
Shamus misunderstands everyones disagreement with him on the first article, very few had anything to do with “fanboyishness”, although a few Shamus fanboys popped up (Can I call you Big S?).
@Fosse
I didnt agree with everything either, but admittedly once you figure out what it all DOES it makes sense, first time you see those pages its a bit overwhelming.
Usually you can tell what fighting style to use just based on how the monsters move, or if they take very little damage or avoid your attacks. I have to reinstall the game, but I think you can see health bars as well, so it wasnt a problem to tell if you were using the wrong fighting style (Heres a tip, use the wind knockdown and stab them while they are on the ground).
Luke Maciak says:
I really do hope more people wills start reviewing under lowest minimum requirements possible.
Then they would have to start putting realistic requirements on the box and watch their sales plummet because of that.
TehShrike says:
Friday Aug 1, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Shamus, are you going to be spending some time with Space Siege when it comes out? It does seem to tend towards the Diablo/Dungeon Siege idea of an RPG, but I’m looking forward to it.
Doug Brown says:
So you don’t want to kiss Matt Damon on the mouth, but kissing Toby Maguire is your idea of a reward?
You’re not just spicy, you’re . . . in heat?
Fenix says:
I found that the 1.2 patch greatly reduced loading times and fixed lots of the lagg (stuttering if you prefer). Also I don’t know how many people mentioned this but the enhanced edition will be coming out soon which is supposed to improve the dialogue, animations, load times (to like nothing from what they are saying, 1 second or so.), stability, 2 new campaigns, better combat, umm… etc. etc. etc…
Also for people who already own the game all the improvements will be released in an albeit large patch. (free of course)
I remember I had a good deal of fun with this game when it first came out but I also see your points. What are your system specs if you don’t mind me asking.
nvidia geforce 256mb 7600gt, 3.2ghz p4 ht, 2gig ram (1gig when I was first playing), 7200rpm hd.
Oh and toxicity is gained when you drink alchemical potions with the exception of potions that decrease said stat. Adverse affects being things like stat reductions. Also just to get this out Geralt isn’t all that old really, the old look was his side effect of mutation during the process of becoming a witcher (better than death if you ask me) as well as the reason women are will to get screwed by him is because he is impotent and wont get any of them pregnant. Think of the story as a folk tale before it became watered down by…….. who watered them down?
Huckleberry says:
I’am eagerly anticipating a new single player RPG called “Drakensang”. The rules are based on the (German) pen-and-paper RPG system “The Dark Eye”, and it comes with a very detailed fantasy world wiht a rich history. Combat will be round-based, and you’re leading a party.
It has been released in Germany today; they’ve started translation into English, it’ll be just a few more months, from what I’ve heard.
http://www.drakensang.com/
Thanks to this review I’ve made up my mind and am going out to pick up “Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm”.
/am not
Nevermind says:
Re: slowness – well what did you expect from eastern european developers? Of course it would be slow as hell! OK, that was a joke, and seriousy the game is rather sluggish. And not that beatiful. Although my computer seem to handle it, and it’s not really top of the line.
Re: Access to the information. I distincly recall seeing all the info you mention – on Toxicity, on monster XP, etc. It’s probably in the journal, there is a section there called “Learning” or somesuch.
I heard recently that English translation of the game is really bad. And has things missing, that might explain the lack of information you describe. And I must agree that interface is really needlessly complicated. Or rather, the “informational” interface is complicated; the one that you see on screen most of the time is actually pretty decent.
This game sure has a lot of issues. But I really can forgive ANYTHING for just one scene – the judgement scene just before you enter Vyzima. That’s probably the best example of moral choice in a game since Fallout. Screw that, it’s just the best ever.
I hope there’s more of that later in the game – I’ve just started playing.
Nillo says:
It’s funny how you say that computer RPGs are extinct and that there’s no alternative, because I’m playing one right now and it came out just yesterday – The Spirit Engine 2. It doesn’t have fancy 3D, but it has incredible depth in gameplay, which is what you say you’re looking for. Do you keep an eye on the independent development scene?
Arzar says:
Shamus, I strongly recommend you to wait for the Enhanced Edition. Not really for the optimization or more diverse characters look, but for the updated English translation.
Because, unfortunately CDProjekt screwed up somewhere in the translation process, and each script, except the polish one of course, were shortened by 30% ! They will correct the English translation and re-record about 5000 lines of dialog to address this issue in the Enhanced Edition.
Source: An interview with Michal Medej, the game's Chief Designer.
And: The Witcher Enhanced Edition ““ fact sheet
From the interview :
“What caused the significant, let's say “differences”, between the Polish and English dialogue in the original game?
It was hard lesson to be learned for us ““ the localization process. At beginning of the development we had to make production estimates for the amount of English text to be recorded, and we based it on our experiences with Polish localizations. The assumption we made was that, as Polish text after translation from English is usually about 20% longer, the reverse translation would be shorter by a similar amount. We just didn't realize that we were using different measures ““ number of pages and number of words. Because of how the English language works out, the resulting translation was way too much for recording, which came into play at the very last stage of development. We had a really short time to edit all of the English dialogues, shortening them by 30%. So basically, the original translation was really good; it was just trimmed due to production.”
I gave a quick sample of how bad these cuts are, sometimes, here.
I’ve noticed a minor trend in the comments (here and in other articles) with people forgiving the bugs because they were patched later. One of Shamus’ major points in all his critiques is that this should be considered shoddy programming, and as a SoftE myself, I agree with him in this regard.
These issues should not exist, not in the quantity that they currently do. There are no valid reasons; often the excuse is that the publisher is trying to push a product out on an arbitrary deadline.
The problem is not that it happens, the problem is that it is accepted.
@Duffy
Yes, but his big complaint about Oblivion was they DID NOT finish patching it.
These guys are relatively new, and are STILL fixing and patching this game, even so long after its released, fixing bugs, dialogue… and its all for free, you do not have to rebuy this game to get the better version. It is shoddy programming, but at least they are fixing it, and not just foisting it on us for a quick buck (Fable is really the best example I can think of). It isnt accepted, thus the fall of PC game sales, the people who SELL the games cant accept that DRM, bleeding edge graphics, and shoddy work are whats doing it, and making us overall more wary about purchasing garbage.
I agree that it was shoddy program, I applaud that they are going the extra mile to get it all fixed.
This is why people are saying “wait for the Enhanced Edition”, you dont have to, but youll run into a few technical problems, and the games #1 issue… loading screens.
Gahaz says:
Sup Danath,
Thanks for mentioning me. I know, I must be a Shamus fanboy for making a joke(Big S indeed).
Lord forbid I agree with him and say don’t let the Witcher fanboys get you down. That must instantly mean I’m a complete mindless person that follows everything Shamus says…
Yep, youll notice despite the last article nobody is lambasting Shamus for this part of his review, this does not point to fanboyism.
Joerg Mosthaf says:
Re. Drakensang:
I installed Drakensang yesterday and played a bit with it – it looks very nice on my machine (c2d 2.6 GHz, Ati 4870). The art direction is nice – I don’t know how to describe it – it’s like if WoW is a cartoon and LotRO is a graphic novel then Drakensang looks to me like a watercolor. Very fairielike forests and outdoors and german “Altstadt” towns.
The system is quite nice, but also very complex. I am not very familiar with the 4. ed DSA (Das schwarze Auge = the black eye) ruleset so it takes some getting used to. Alchemy, smithing, crafting … looks good – complex but simple to use. Magic is a bit strange – spells are just skills and the names of the spells are (typical for DSA) a bit heavy on the pseudo-latin(eg. “Fulminictus Donnerkeil (=thunderbolt)” as a lightning spell)
Hope you’ll get a good translation, the german voice acting is quite good which is very refreshing after all those atrocious localizations (which I usually skip in favor of the original version).
Dhruin says:
There are *no* sub-panels on the Hero screen. None. Can you clarify, please?
There is a section in the manual that clearly explains Toxicity. It’s a major heading under the Alchemy chapter, titled “Potion Side Effects”.
Hero screen: Each and every attribute has its own screen (Str, Dex, Stam, etc)
All the magic spells get a screen.
Then you get a list of screens for your sword.
Then the same list again, for the silver sword.
If you’re trying to compare two skill trees to figure out which is the best one to sink points into, then you’ve gotta flip back and forth, reading tooltips.
Spending points is needlessly counter-intuitive. At my first level up I kept clicking on the little circles and nothing was happening. Turns out there was only one skill I could but at that point, and it was at the very bottom and only a slightly different shade so it barely stood out from the others.
The division of the sword into two different upgrade paths seems needless. Or at least, it doesn’t lead to INTERESTING decisions. It’s a coin-flip: Do I want to be better at fighting humans of monsters? Can I switch easily between the two at need? How many of each will I be facing? How much “better” is the silver over the steel at damaging monsters? 5% more damage? Double damage?
The player doesn’t have the knowledge they need to spend the points wisely. When you DO spend points, it’s not “Oh boy! More power!” It’s “How am I supposed to tell if that’s even making any difference?”
And level cap in act 1: Boo. :(
Sharpie says:
Good lord, the graphics slowdown. I can’t imagine why I needed to run at minimum settings to even get a decent frame rate. I had Oblivion at medium settings and it ran well, but the Witcher was just ridiculous.
The loading screens were irritating as well, though I wasn’t bothered as much by the multiple sub-panels.
And to people who keep saying “read the manual”:
I played Galactic Civilizations without ever needing the manual. Is Geralt more complex that a Galactic Empire? Should he be?
Which brings me back to my main point: For all this complexity I never feel like I’m making meaningful choices.
Licaon_Kter says:
why would you expect a complex interface to define complex choices?
anyway, consequences will not be visible soon
too bad that your system barely meets the Minimum spec, it ruins your gameplay :(
So, by “sub-panels” you mean the tool-tip -type displays?
he means that each skill has a level tree when you click on the skill
My only comment on that point was about toxicity, but yeah Shamus, was a surprise for me too to hit the level cap. Ultimately these decisions actually arent as important as you might think, you can play the game with only one spec filled and the rest poorly maintained and still beat the game.
Best just sink points based on your playstyle, one method is rarely any better than any others for any fight, this removes “meaningful” choices, but at the same time means theres no min-maxing.. you can play however you want and sink points into whatever you like. I personally took the “being drunk makes you immune to certain effects!” and carried booze around with me to drink anytime I encountered something I didnt recognize. This isnt required, but its how I played.
And you never HAVE to refer to the manual… but the game doesnt tell you anything, how much this bugs you depends on the person, not me specifically, but it does for others.
Silver wont matter much till later, but there is a noticable difference once you get it, by that point switching styles/weapons should come second nature anyways and you most likely wont notice… but right NOW, yes, its awkward.
I really have nothing to do today.
Anachronista says:
A bad map can totally ruin a game for me, too.
Gildan Bladeborn says:
Ironically, considering the rant I just read about character customization being confusing, lots of people knocked the game for not really letting you design a unique character build. No really, at first it looks like you’re making these crucial decisions about which skill upgrades to buy, but as you keep leveling up you’ll find that you’ve exhausted all the bronze level skills you wanted and they keep giving you more bronze points.
It works out that while individual players might very well have quite different selections in the higher tiers, pretty much all players will have the exact same selection of lower tier skills (pretty much all of them in other words).
I always read manuals anyways, but I’d contend The Witcher gives you so many tutorial hints that you probably don’t need to. Also I can’t understand how having “too much information” that is also optional and interesting could possibly be something worth complaining about. Huzzah for information!
My computer is only “decent” (Athlon 64 X2 4200 (which cost like 60 dollars), Ati x1950 pro, 3 gigs of PC 4200 DDR, first generation SATA hard drives), and I ran the game at 1152×864 with the textures on high and it didn’t stutter at all, and this was back before the 1.2 patch which massively improved the loading times and whatnot (I did scale back ansitropic filtering to 8x and turned off anti-aliasing though). I’m not going to argue that the whole “Minimum Requirements” thing can be deceptive (though I will point out that pretty much everyone just skips past that and reads the “Recommended Requirements” for a more realistic figure, not that this is justified or anything), but I am going to point out your computer apparently sucks. My condolences.
Oh yeah – the Matt Damon vs. Toby McGuire joke: Wrote those weeks apart. (Today’s comic was done ages ago.) So it felt like it was a good time to use another “kissing boys” joke, only to have them both appear on the same day.
This multi-threaded publishing is trickier than I thought. I keep wanting my reviews here to line up with my comics there, but the different paces makes this hard to pull off. And it exposes my penchant for recycling jokes.
Heph says:
I’ll start off by saying I beat the entire game, without any patches, on a computer hat didn’t meet the recommended specs and was, in fact, below the minimum specs as far as CPU is concerned (but with a graphics card that’s better than recommended, I admit). I ran it easily at medium-to-high settings and it hardly ever stuttered or slowed (only at moment with lots happening at a time…). It looked a whole lot better than Oblivion imho.
A. Loading screens: yes, these were a pest. One would think it’d be possible to at least keep the outside loaded into memory when you enter a house or something. Christ.
B. Journal: lots of screens, yes…But also an incredible amount of story and background information. Do we need information about “the city folk” and “people of the village”? Of course not. Is it nice filler? Sure, at least as useful as all those books with stories in Oblivion (I’m a fan of Oblivion, but it’s an easy comparison). Having several tabs allows you to sift through information more readily and allows for quicker access to specific things. Imagine everything in just one big lump – it’d be confusing, hard to navigate, hard to read. It may be a bit clumsy, but it allows you to go to check up what weapon or sign will be most effective against each and every enemy, at the moment you encounter them, if you so wish. (as “A ghoul! Oh no! What will I use, silver or steel? Hmm, seems they’re particularly vulnerable to fire, I’ll use that”). It depends on personal preference, I guess ,but I found the tabs easy to navigate and easy to find what I was looking for, while still giving lots of information
C. Levelling, map usage (it’s not just a flat 2D map!), experience earning: it’s in the manual. If you choose to paly a game without reading the manual, that’s your personal choice, but it’s there for a reason. You may be missing out on a bit here or there if you don’t read it. This game actually explains much/most in the prologue and Act I (which amount to one huge tutorial, pretty much), but hey.
D. Inventory and hero screen: yup, the interface isn’t great. I got the hang of it after a while, but, yeah, it could’ve been handled better. It goes in the same style as the journal though: there’s a LOT of information there, and they wanted it easy to find by giving everything specific its own screen…And went overboard with that idea.
E. (from your previous Witcher post, but since there’s this one now I’ll put it here): the personality. Gerald’s exactly the same amount of a blank character as the Nameless One in KotORII or Revan in KotOR. Yes, amnesia is a cheap trick, but it’s just a cliche way of having a “reknowned warrior” have to relearn silly skills and having to be re-introduced to old friends and allies. It’s either this, have a lot of exposition hammed into the dialogue, or have your character be a random peasant who “suddenly” becomes the greatest hero the world has ever known. There’s no good way to do it, just slightly better or worse. They chose this version for its compatibility with the books, so…Oh well.
Still, it’s not quite true your character’s fixed. Much like KotOR, you can choose good/bad (with mostly shades of grey here), swords or magic, diplomatic or more hack’n’slashy. Your actions have consequences, and a LOT more than in the KotOR or NWN series. When they say your action have far-reaching consequences on the box, they mean it – one of the four main possible endings can be ruled out by the end of Act I.
F. Though they’re not exactly incredibly interesting or time-filling, there’s barroom brawling, drinking contests and a cide game as sidegames, along with the milkmaid screwing and alchemy. It may not be the greatest selection, but it beats the options in both the KotOR games and Oblivion. (there’s also weapon upgrading and such, but that’s there in most games and isn’t all that big, anyway)
G. The voice acting and translation isn’t too hot, agreed. Neither is it in a lot of Japanese games and anime, and it’s always incredibly annoying. let’s hope that gets fixed in the enhanced version.
H. Sorry for the incredibly long post.
Short version: I liked it, it wasn’t the greatest game ever, it certainly had flaws (and plenty of them), but it *was* a pretty solid game, and, in its category, I’m hard-pressed to find another game that didn’t have at least as many other flaws KotOR? NWN, Baldur’s Gate, Oblivion, Morrowind, they all came with heaps of bugs and flaws and inbalances). It’s one of the better RPGs to have come out since 2005, as far as I’m concerned.
Which brings me back to my main point: For all this complexity I never feel like I'm making meaningful choices.
Sorry, Shamus, you lose me there.
Saying you didn’t need to read the manual of another game won’t do it, even if you feel the other game is more “meaningful” in its complexity (I haven’t played Galactic Civilizations, so I might be completely in the wrong here, but from what I know you are comparing a 4X-like RTS to an RPG, which doesn’t seem fair – again, I might be wrong, if so, I apologise).
If a game has a manual, you don’t read it and then you complain you don’t know what X does in a game – you are in the wrong, you should’ve read the manual. It really is as simple as that. It has nothing to do with complexity, there was a guide right there, you chose not to read it.
You ask whether Geralt should be more complex than Galactic Civilizations.. well.. I figured the specific problem you point out on my own and I’m no genius! ;)
No Qrter, the center of my point was that while the game was busy bulldozing metric tons of irrelevant nonsense and busywork into my face it couldn’t find the time to tell me what I really want to know.
The gameplay here does NOT justify a manual the size of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and to dump the user into a morass of obscure buttons and unhelpful tootips and then tell them to read the manual is a joykiller. I’m here for a game, not a damn reading assignment.
My point was that a properly designed interface would clearly communicate everything I needed to know. I got through KOTOR, Oblivion, and even FFX without needing to read a book.
This game does not have more depth than those other games. It just has a horrible interface.
Saturday Aug 2, 2008 at 12:03 am
Heph:
“I'm hard-pressed to find another game that didn't have at least as many other flaws KotOR? NWN, Baldur's Gate, Oblivion, Morrowind, they all came with heaps of bugs and flaws and inbalances).”
Ok,thats laughable,to say the least.True,BG had its flaws and bugs,but as much as oblivion?Thats like saying youll get just as drunk from a glass of wine as from a barrel of beer.
Also,I dont remember having bad optimisation(incredebly long loading times and scetchy system requirments)in:Fallout,baldurs gate,planescape torment,knights of the old republic,or even neverwinter nights(which Ive managed to play with all but memory below system requirments).Yet both oblivion and witcher seem to suffer from this.
@qrter
Actually,you are in the wrong here.Fallout,heroes of might and magic(not number 5,but the ones before it),planescape and galactic civilizations all have excelent manuals,all of which Ive read AFTER getting some skill with those games.Sure,those manuals did offer some new and usefull information,and they wouldve saved me some time if Ive read them first,but that didnt stop me from enjoying the games,nor from learning how to play them,and well.
Manuals are there for people that want to play well from the very begining,and dont want to waste time on experimenting with the game for a first few couple of times,but they are not a replacement for in game tutorials.Manuals are helpful,but shouldnt be a necessity.Thats what intuitive and easy to learn gameplay is all about.
Saturday Aug 2, 2008 at 1:26 am
The manual isnt REQUIRED, the games tutorials teach you most of what you need to know, im not really sure what the problem is, the “gameplay” and interface arent that complicated unless your getting into alchemy, you assign spells ala hotkey, then go out and play the click based combat.
Im reinstalling the game, but I dont remember having problems with the different interface windows for stats like str and dex and such.
Im honestly feeling Shamus is more playin Devil’s advocate atm more than a real review as some of this lambasting seems a little off the wall compared to other games, even Hellgate didnt get this level of vitriol.
And sorry, rtfm, its there for a reason, much like some of the kings quest games, where reading it was required, witcher does not, but if you wanna know some of the more random details of the game that arent explained to you… well thats what its there for, or the in game journal covers most of it as well.
For the most part I agree with the article, just a couple things seem overboard.
There it is. “Not a real review”. I’ve been waiting for that one and I’m kind of impressed that it took this long.
Look, you can flail away at your keyboard as much as you like, there is no force in your employ that can MAKE me enjoy the game. I wish there was, because I’d love to see what everyone else is so excited about. I’m just not having fun and I’ve pointed out why.
You can say RTFM all you like but it will never hide the bad game design the REQUIRES you to say RTFM, as I covered above.
wow did you read 2 words of what I said for that comment?
Im saying with how much vitriol youve put into this it feels more like your taking on a devils advocate role as opposed to your usual style of reviewing.
Im not even disagreeing with most of what you said in the article, yeesh, im not even the first to make the comment about the manual.
I was making a comparison to your other reviews, other than toxicity and the “rtfm” comment which was referring to one a few behind mine, I havnt really disagreed with anything in this article about why you hate this game.
Blurr says:
If one graphed your recent hostility level on this blog, at this point they’d be off the charts by a long shot. I understand that you’re not in very good health, but I’m just pointing out that you seem to be becoming exponentially more irate.
When people argue with subjective opinions it really does rub me raw. I do seem to be worse at taking it in stride though, which is exacerbated by all the extra traffic lately. Sorry for the testyness then. Being sick isn’t really a good reason for being mean.
Grrr.
Danath:
I think more than anything the ire that is rising is due to you continuing to keep saying the same thing after he has said “I disagree, this is why.” but you then come back to reply and say the same thing and then comment on his personal writing.
Did you forget this is his blog? Perhaps you forgot that there is no magic set of requirements a game can achieve and that means everyone will and should love it?
Millions of people dribbled at the mouth about Halo, and I found it very meh. A metric ton of PC RPG folks loved this game to death, but that does not equal everyone loving every part, or any part of it.
Oops, sorry, I’m a Shamus fanboy. My thoughts must be completely passed over.
@Gahaz
Im actually more responding to other peoples comments. And yes ive already stated that I dont actually disagree with most of the article.
And now that I’m thinking more about it, maybe I need to get away from this blog for a few days before I have one of those embarrassing angsty emo meltdowns / drama bombs that internet people seem to have from time to time.
Yeech.
Droniac says:
Wow! That’s certainly the most one-sided negative review I’ve ever read of The Witcher. You do make a few sound points, albeit not anything I’d call a major issue, but some of it seems to reflect more on your experience of the game rather than the game itself.
Now The Witcher sold incredibly well and has left many hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers. As evidenced by very high user ratings on sites such as gamerankings and metacritic (respectively 9.1 and 9.3). Obviously many people love the game and that would seem strange if everyone had the same experience you did. So, clearly, some of the negative experiences you’ve had with this game were not experienced by a majority of players. Of course the whole “everyone says this – you say that – so everyone is right” argument is nonsense. I never liked Halo, CS or WoW either… but in this case I think it does indicate many gamers having quite a different experience playing The Witcher than you did. So many people reading your review might not have entirely the same (negative) experience if they themselves played the game.
I’ve played The Witcher as well (not finished it mind you, I’ll do that after the September patch for the best experience possible) and my experiences don’t really line up with yours either.
For example: toxicity is actually explained in-game, by means of a tool-tip I believe (when you first drink a potion). Not that you’d really need a tool-tip for it… toxicity is caused by drinking potions, so obviously the cure is: not drinking potions (and resting – and anti-toxicity potions). I guess you just accidentally missed this, but it’s something most gamers probably did notice immediately. In fact I think it’s explained again when they explain resting in the tutorial and talk about its’ uses.
Some cutscenes are a bit quirky, most notably so in the beginning of the game. But even then it’s quite rare and as of chapter 2 barely even happens anymore. Of course cutscenes are being altered in the September patch, so these rare occurrences should be dealt with soon anyway.
To me the interface was never that complex. Maybe because I played NWN2 first, heh. They did a good job of explaining what everything was used for in the tutorial. Some parts of the interface could use serious improvement however, namely inventory management and alchemy. Again, both are touched on in the September patch.
As for graphics… this is obviously extremely subjective. To me The Witcher is one of the most beautiful RPGs ever, certainly miles beyond Oblivion. Why? Because it has stellar art direction. Jade Empire obviously doesn’t even come close in terms of visual quality, that’s just being ridiculous. I think you’re more annoyed by the performance than the graphics here.
And performance is of course also going to be very different for everyone. I’ve never played The Witcher on a low end system, but in-game performance is pretty decent here. Which game you played prior makes a big difference here. In comparison to Oblivion it’s about the same performance-wise. If you’ve played NWN2 however, then The Witcher will be a blessing: looking twice as good, while performing (at least) twice as good. NWN2 is much harder on my system than The Witcher.
Loading times are going to be variable as well. You load 10 seconds for even small areas, whereas I don’t even get to see the loading screen when going into small areas (just a black screen for less than a second). Hell, it doesn’t even take 10 seconds to load the biggest area in the game as of the latest patch: 8 seconds first time, 5-6 seconds thereafter. The September patch is going to reduce that 8 seconds by 80-90% (according to the developers), so that’s going to be pretty impressive.
If you want to compare: my system is probably still ranked high-end nowadays, although the technology is nearly 2 years old. Specs are as follows: Core 2 Duo E6750, 2GB RAM (at the time, now 3GB) and a Geforce 8800GTX. Nowadays that’s a $600 PC and a fair few gamers are going to have systems like these that run The Witcher maxed out without any real difficulties. This might be the best explanation as to why The Witcher scores so well with many gamers, but not so well with you.
Yes, it really should run well on the minimum system requirements as stated by the publisher – but how many modern games do you know that can do that? I can’t name a single one. It sucks, but that’s life as a PC gamer. And at least it’s better than getting a game like Oblivion for your Xbox360, finding out that it chugs up every now and then because the system can’t handle it all the time, and then not being able to do anything about it. A PC you can upgrade – and it’s continually becoming less expensive to do so. I do hope publishers get their act straight and start publishing real minimum system requirements, but realistically I don’t see that happening. They haven’t done so for nearly a decade now.
Droniac: Since I have nothing but contempt for the hype-crazy idiots that pass for games “journalists”, I’m very happy my views depart from theirs. I wouldn’t trust them to tell me it was raining if we were standing on the deck of Noah’s Ark.
The game runs like ass, end of story. I’m glad you can compensate by just throwing $400 graphics cards at it, but that’s no excuse for why this thing runs the way it does.
And I don’t care if “everyone” lies about minimum system specs. I’m going to call them as I see them, doing the job the gutless professional fanboys at IGN and Gamespot SHOULD have been doing for a decade.
EDIT: You know, this sounds a lot angrier than I meant it to. I really need to stop doing that.
Zaxares says:
There’s a level cap in Act 1? *blinks* Or you managed to REACH the maximum level cap (50) in Act 1? That’s… crazy. How many monsters did you have to kill to get that?
Despite being a candidate for a ‘rabid Witcher fanboy’, I actually agree with you on a number of these issues, Shamus. The way the voice acting is delivered is atrocious in some conversations, although thankfully once you get past the initial “Hello” you can click the mouse to fast-track conversations.
The loading times (for areas and the map) are pretty offputting as well, although I hear that CDProjekt is working on a patch that will cut loading times by up to 80%. With any luck, that will make the game much more responsive and less time-consuming. (You do get used to the load times after a while though.)
With regards to the complicated interface… Hmm, I didn’t particularly find it that hard to navigate through, but that’s just me.
On Toxicity. The manual does explain the risks of excessive toxicity, but even so, I would have figured the red, ‘bleeding’ spots on your screen and the loud heartbeat sound in your speakers would have clued you in to the fact that high toxicity is dangerous. If your Toxicity passes 60 or 70%, you actually lose half your health, so again, that’s a major warning sign.
It may be that my positive experience of the Witcher is coloured by the fact that I have a pretty beefy video card (Geforce 8800 GT) and I could play the Witcher with all the settings turned to max and still get decent framerates. If I was suffering through bad framerates and chunky graphics while still having to deal with the initial learning curve… I can see how it might turn one off into sticking it out with the game.
I should clarify: When I say the Witcher doesn’t look “better” I’m not talking about art direction. I’m talking about what it’s trying to do from a technical standpoint. Judging by poly count and fill rate, this game is just nowhere near as busy enough to justify the load it’s putting on the GPU. When running around town, I’m looking at a small section of very blocky buildings with little in the way of clutter, detail, and alpha-blended polygons. Yet even with all the shaders turned off the game is punishingly slow.
You can try it yourself by turning all the visuals to minimum. With the gloss stripped away you can pretty clearly see how simple the environment is. (Which is good. It’s to the credit of the “level designer”.) I’m not just saying my framerate should be faster, I’m saying that my framerate should be close to maxed out. That’s how bad the problem is.
Luvian says:
It’s true The Witcher has some horrible performance issues. I could play Oblivion at high resolution with bloom and all the eye candy activated, I could play Neverwinter Nights 2 with high graphics, and yet I could barely make The Witcher Run.
The point is, The Witcher has some optimization problems and that’s certainly worth mentioning.
You know; a game can have problems and still be good. Admitting so doesn’t make you some king of traitor. I’ve been to official game forums where the devs plain stated the issues with the game. And yet when a new player showed up claiming to have one of these issues, the fanboys would argue with him until they were blue in the face that there was in fact no issues and that the user was an idiot. The devs themselves admit to the issues, but the fanboys can’t. Someone could probably write a thesis on this.
I think Shamus’ view is much less a matter of not wanting to admit a game is good.
Frankly, having read his reviews before, it’s much more a matter of not letting anybody else dictate what he experiences. If he doesn’t find it good, then he won’t tell you that he found it good.
I need to adress a thing here:
Many people are saying “Yeah,it is bad,but the extended version will fix a lot of things”.Since when has it become acceptable for a game to be wonky for a full year and still people are forgiving it?I remember the glorious days of no internet when the developers actually finished and playtested their games so that they would be perfectly playable and as bug free as possible straight from the box.Now,we are littered with games that have memory leaks,horrible crashes,lousy coding,unfinished parts,…and people are buying them like mindless sheep,exusing their mindless behaviour with “It will be better in a year or two when they release the expansion”.And witcher at least doesnt charge you double like other games(for example,in order to play heroes of might and magic 5 without horrible bugs you have to buy TWO expansions).When has it become acceptable to pay full price for an unfinished version of a game,and then pay even extra for fixes to its issues?
I wasn’t talking about Shamus but about all the game apologists who refuse to admit the products they like could be imperfect.
lebkin says:
Not that there is much more to add at this point, but I would be curious to know the ratio of free time to the enjoyment of the Witcher. My brother’s only a high school student, with no extra activities this past spring when he played it. I work full-time with a long commute. He worked through all the problems and really enjoyed the Witcher. I got frustrated with similar things that Shamus did and eventually gave up. My life is far too busy to waste time pushing my way through a troublesome game. I don’t know if it is universally true, but it is possible there’s a connection.
From what you are saying Shamus, it seems like it might not be a graphics card issue in this case. I could be wrong of course but it may be that the cpu is being bogged down or too much ram is in usage. I know you know your computer better than I do of course, however I have a wide variety of friends who use their computers very differently and have different habits. One such habit is letting everything start on startup. On my desktop I have 18 processes and no more when everything’s shut off and know what all of them are (saved me from a few viruses in the past.). Now I have seen people with upward of 80 processes and they wondered why their computers were behaving slow. Now I know that you probably know quite a few things about computers seeing as you program for them, and have quite a few more years of experience on me (only started really learning about computers 3 years ago.). However if you have some extra processes that are just idling and you rarely if ever use disable them from your startup list. I guarantee that your computer will run smoother and will startup faster (my computer takes 10 seconds to start from pushing on to being at desktop and doing stuff.).
Once again I don’t know if you do this already or what type of habits you have with your computer. I’m just diagnosing your problem the same way I would a friends computer. Sorry if this post is just wasting space.
I installed the game last night and downloaded the Patch to play the new scenario CD Projekt released, The Price of Neutrality. I have been holding off replaying the game for months now for the new edition to be released, but all of this Witcher talk made me want to play again. So I figured the new episode was the way to go.
The Hero screen does indeed have 15 subscreens. I had forgotten that each attribute and skill has its own skill tree for you to navigate (and it’s not obvious in screenshots). I never really found this cumbersome during my playthrough, but I can’t argue with the fact.
There are an enormous number of skills to purchase in this game, and I can’t picture them all on one screen without a serious information overload. But I’ll bet the Hero screen could have been divided into, say, just three. Attributes, Sword skills, and Signs. That would have cut down on the clicking around.
I’ve barely gotten into the new episode (only had an hour or so to play), but I’m already having a great time.
Shamus, are you using the 1.3 patch? The load times are still there on most systems, but it could make a big difference to you. I don’t recall it being mentioned before.
Daemian, what is in fact acceptable in this day and age is for a company to release a buggy or incomplete game, let out a handful of patches to fix a few game stoppers, and then never touch the thing again for the rest of time. What CD Projekt is doing is different and laudable, in my opinion. They released the standard patches that every company releases, and now they’ve chosen to go the extra mile by generating a patch that is (purportedly) going to go a long way to optimize the game under the hood while fixing a huge number of the the fans’ biggest complaints. And they’re throwing in a couple of new episodes, to boot. For free.
I also want games to be perfect on release, and I’m happy to bitch about flaws that are an obvious effect of rushing. But if a company is going to say, “You know what, we rushed this thing. It could have been a lot better. And now it’s going to be,” then I am glad their owning up to the mistake and rectifying it.
Shamus, I’m surprised at your stance on reading manuals. I kind of understand you to be a bit of a design and system wonk when it comes to RPGs.
I can understand if you prefer to not do so, and figure things out as you go along. But I think it’s silly to sat a game that “requires” you to read the manual it comes with is suffering from bad design. The information is there, and you want the information, but you’re complaining that you don’t have the information and you don’t think you should be getting it from the source provided. It just sounds stubborn.
video card: nVidia 8600GT ~ 80$
ram: 1Gb DDR2 ~ 30$
far from that 400$ sum that you said, and you’ll be running the game on HIGH at 1280×1024, but hey you can continue to rant as you wish
hopefully a good night sleep and some pills will get you back on your feet, and you can enjoy the game as we did
and regarding the manual, weren’t you lamenting on how stupid Hellgate London did implement it’s interface and how it was never explained what did what? now that you have a manual you want everything on screen? if it’s everything on screen it’s too complex and bloated? come on, play the game, not the interface!!!
Let’s just say that I’ve gotten used to publishers lying about minimum reqs. But I would say that its a lesser evil than DRM.
Saturday Aug 2, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The problem with the manual issue is that the manual we are talking about is a small novel. So right off the bat its not an enjoyable experience. I bought a game to play it not study it first.
The meat of the issue is that in almost any game you can bumble along with previous game knowledge (i.e. all those other clicker RPGs you played) to succeed enough. If the game also has a clean and friendly interface then even as you bumble you will slowly figure out what everything is for.
Its not a simple fact of being stubborn or lazy, its the fact that the fun of a game starts when you play it.
And for those that where saying it was cheap to get this to run…
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz : $239.99
Kingston Value RAM 1GB 667MHz ECC DDR2 : $39.99×2= $79.98
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX : $450.00
That comes to $769.97 for nothing but the guts of a PC that this game is made to run on. Please forebear me your price quotations on your offbrand equipment. In most peoples eyes in the world of Tech Shopping the phrase “You get what you pay for” applies.
I could care less if you know where to get an under two hundred dollar nDigia card ;P
P.S. The final spelling of nVidia is supposed to represent some made up off-brand. I rethought my leaving it in due to someone trying to discredit me by pointing to my poor spelling. These are the internets we live on.
but some of it seems to reflect more on your experience of the game rather than the game itself.
I stopped reading there. Isn’t that what EVERY review does?
MONKEEYYY says:
Saturday Aug 2, 2008 at 2:23 pm
This is the most idiotic review of TW I've seen to date.
Half of the complaints you made here are totally nonsense…
On the topic of sweeping subjective statements: Blue is the BEST primary colour that exists. I won’t justify that statement, because apparently no one needs to these days. If you’re going to call someones “review” idiotic, the least you could do is say why.
Also, on the matter of patches. NWN2 has become a much better game through patches and an expansion, but I still bitch about how the game should have been half-decent on day one of release and how the game is still plagued with bugs.
Xinem says:
Wow. I mean, WOW. I expected comments like this when Shamus said he was going to review some MMORPGs, but I didn’t expect The Witcher to inspire this level of vitriol.
For what it’s worth, the comments tend to verify the review:
The Witcher has an interesting story that get’s shoehorned a bit in order to fit into a PCRPG. The art direction is pretty good, what comes out on the screen is highly subjective. The mechanics are fairly simple, but apparently ramp up later in the game (possibly to the point that having a low-spec system is a problem for some people). The depth of the world was acceptable for most people, but some found it to be a little shallow. The sexual content puts some players off. Some players don’t like the “backend”; the inventory and character control and tracking screens are detailed and exhaustive. Some players say it’s too complex, most say you get used to it. Gameplay apparently is not very intuitive; in-game tutorials and tooltips help some, but may not show up at the most useful times. The manual is recommended reading, and it’s big.
Most importantly to me, apparently the original code is a bit buggy. While some people claim they have had no trouble playing the game, most players complain of long load times, lag in conversations, lag when changing screens, and low frame rates even with visual goodies turned way down or off. The game apparently doesn’t crash or freeze very often, but the slowness seems to be very frustrating. For the most part, the game seems to run fine on computers built for the last several years, as long as you have a pretty good (not necessarily cutting-edge current) video card. Having a mediocre video card can be offset a bit by having a newer computer. People with newer computers and video cards seemed to have fewer problems, or where able to deal with them easily. Most, but not all, players with older computers had many problems with performance, even at low settings. Update patches have fixed some problems and marginally improved performance.
Many players are looking forward to an “Enhanced” Edition, which is coming out soon, that will supposedly fix most if not all mechanical problems with the game, as well as redo a lot of the spoken dialogue.
After reading Shamus’s reviews and the comments, what I have to say is:
When will I buy the game?
After I build a new computer, when I have $10 – $15 that I don’t need elsewhere. The Witcher sounds like a mess. A complicated, entertaining mess. This opinion is based on the reviews Shamus has posted and every opinion posted in the comments.
P.S. Shamus, you don’t need to take a vacation, per se….just stop reading the comments. Or, you can do what I do: five minutes of meditation before reading comments or replies to anything I ever type. “Words cannot harm me…Words cannot harm me…You have no power over me…you have no power over me…I am at peace on my blog and confident in my opinions.” Repeat.
I’m actually surprised you seemed to have so much trouble with it if your computer actually is “middle of the road” as you say. The computer I’ve been playing Witcher on is pretty much exactly the minimum specs, maybe even slightly below them, and it works fine. Yes, it was slow during the beginning scene and it slows down during fight scenes with 8+ characters, but I feel that is sort of to be expected, given that I’m running it on slightly below the minimum specs. That said, I used this very same computer to run Oblivion, and it worked just fine for me.
@Gahaz (80) You hit a core issue for me, right there buddy. I’ve been avoiding saying it lest I appear to be whining, but since I’m in the middle of building a new system I’m quite well aware of the cost of hardware. I’ve just spend around a grand on this system that’s not quite as awesometastic as many commentors’ “meh” systems. A thousand dollars for a system (granted, this includes a new monitor, case, et al) that meets The Witcher’s MINIMUM requirements, but doesn’t quite meet the “recommended requirements.” I know that NewEgg isn’t the cheapest place on the ‘net for hardware, but they’re far from “overpriced” and they’ve proved reliable enough that I pay a smidgen more for the assurance of a known source.
Granted, with my new current-gen system, next time around I should only have to spend the $800 you quoted to get up to the newest specs…for the next year and a half (or less). Then I get to buy a whole new mobo, etc. all over again if I plan to stay on the treadmill. Wow, I wish I had the spare dosh to only invest such small sums of money into making a $60 game work, but my kids seem to think college might be a plan and my husband has this funny desire to eat occasionally and so forth.
And sadly, if previous experience with “recommended requirements” is any guide, there’s only a 50/50 chance that huge investment will actually be enough.
Inwards says:
Just thought that I’d point out that The Witcher’s performance is mostly CPU-bound rather than GPU. You can stick three $1000 video cards in your old machine and still not see much appreciable performance improvement. It’s inherited this limitation from the NWN engine and there doesn’t seem to be much that the developers can do about it without a ditching it and starting over.
For me, the game was pretty horrible on my p4 3.2g machine, but ran fine on my qx6800 (2.9ghz). Even then, I had to OC the latter to 3.7ghz to get 60fps in some areas. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I had exactly the same performance problems with NWN2, too.
Shamus, what are the specs of the machine that you were trying to run it on?
This should be obvious, but I’m not going to address the same questions over and over. I’ve already fielded the RTFM questions twice now. If you can’t be bothered to read what I’ve said then you’re not trying to have a conversation.
If I wanted to waste my time I’d play some more Witcher.
Are you kidding me? I know that I don’t see eye to eye with you on this, but I thought that fleshing out my perspective a little bit in response to yours and other people’s position on manuals was reasonable. In my attempt to further the conversation on this tangent you saw a refusal on my part to have a conversation?
I posted that because I find this position interesting (which I’ve clearly stated). And I want to know more. How does it compare to the examples I provided, in your (or others’) opinion? I’m not telling you your wrong, I’m trying to explain myself and elicit more info.
Here I thought that avoiding your ire and the nuke button simply required not being a jerk. I didn’t think it meant not dropping a topic wholesale on which we aren’t in lockstep.
Fosse: Calling me “immature” was what set me off. Really – Yes, I could have read the manual and have my questions answered. The point was that with a better interface I would have known the answers to those questions before I even asked them. A better presentation, more helpful tooltips, and a streamlined interface would have fixed this right up.
This is what I’ve always done: I point out flaws in game design. People keep reacting to this like this is a thumbs up / down review, which is what is leading to such confusion for people.
Really, I’ve been nearly this harsh with games I love. The point isn’t to tell people to buy the game, its to look at how games are made and what makes them fun.
ShadowDragon8685 says:
Shamus, I hate to say it…
If you want a good RPG on the computer, you might have to resort to drastic measures, such as reinstalling Arcanum, Fallout, or Deus Ex. (In my opinion an RPG, since it has all the classic RPG hallmarks, despite – or perhaps even better for – having a first-person, crosshairs-and-weapon action interface).
Steven B. says:
Yeah…I…Um.
I’ve got nothing. The game’s not that great.
I’m not big on ad hominem attacks, and did not call you immature.
The word was in there, to be sure. I don’t recall the exact phrases I went with, but I do remember re-reading it and making sure to put it so that it was clear I was talking about my reaction to the view put forward (by others, as well) and that in the context of my post it’d be clear I wasn’t attacking anybody or calling them names.
What’s frustrating, is that I thought about this little word longer than I typically would have, specifically because you’ve let us know you’re in a bad mood and I didn’t want anyone to think I was calling people names.
Incidentally, I saw that the post was gone so quickly because I had just finished the Price of Neutrality and I had comments that seemed relevant to the original discussion about presentation, now that I’ve taken another look without the hazy lens of months-old memory in front of me.
Colin Lacey says:
Licaon_Kter, could you please direct me to where you found a 8800 GT in the vincinity of $80? I did a quick search for said card and found it new for about $250. Adjusted for a used card that’s still over $150.
Still, the price of the hardware is totally beside Shamus’ point. If he has hardware that the box explicitly states will adequately run the game, then he wants the game to adequately run on that hardware dammit! Even if you could provide Shamus with a link to a free high end video card, your point is nullified by the fact that the publishers have in essence, lied to a paying customer.
Your condescending attitude that Shamus is somehow incapable of enjoying a game because of his illness comes off as rude and pretentious. From what I got from your post, you seem to think that if someone has not enjoyed a game to the extent you did they must have been somehow incapacitated in their experience of it. If I had to I’d guess that you’re quite insecure over the faults in a game you enjoyed being pointed out, likely from a fear that you yourself might not be so enlightened as you thought yourself over us plebs.
To digress slightly on Colin Lacey’s tangent, I think miss representing system requirements is a huge problem that needs to be fixed asap. I think this is as bad as DRM (maybe worse) since you purchase the game and when it either barely works or doesn’t work at all your out of luck. I would forgive it more if you could return games (at least for store credit). At that point the publisher has literally cheated you out of your money. And they wonder why people pirate (which, side tangent, once someone pirates a game, either to bypass DRM or demo a game, I would imagine the impetus to buy a copy drops significantly. Sadly it wouldn’t take much to fix this, at least Witcher had a demo so I could find out the game play for crap on my system. I give them tons of credit for that.)
beno says:
Sunday Aug 3, 2008 at 3:19 am
Mmmm.. I’m thinking that Shamus’ ire isn’t just a bad patch, I think it’s connected to something bigger. I’ve been having similar patches of irateness recently with the new upgrade of Lotus Notes 8 in my workplace. It does essentially the same job plus a graphics facelift, at the cost of long “hanging” pauses after you click _anything_. Like literally waiting 40 seconds for my email reply screen to appear. Now I’m _hoping_ that this is just some interstate office network glitch that they’ll fix, but given recent experience with other software upgrades and the apparent lack of expertise in our organisation with respect to IT, I’m not holding my breath. And it really does raise you blood pressure when you have to wait for a computer to respond so long that you’ve forgotten what you were even trying to do. “Hang on I’ll just send a quick email” … 10 minutes later you’re still hanging, and your coleagues have left for lunch without you…
Generally though, the descriptions I’ve seen people write in with regarding software developer efficiency squeeze isn’t confined to the software industry. It’s happening everywhere. Economic rationalism basically says that we have to keep improving productivity and finding “efficiencies” until our company is reduced to just one guy pressing a button to deliver the entire “perfect”, multifaceted, option-laden product. Common sense says that you can’t continue making efficiency gains indefinitely, and eventually the quality of the product will suffer. The problem is that the business machine is so big and clunky now that it has too much momentum to really respond to customer complaints in the way required to solve the problem. PR washes are much more cost effective. I’m seriously starting to think that the push for “productivity” isn’t going to stop until the bottom falls out of the information economy. Is that next year or the one after? Or ten or twenty? I’m not sure. Part of the problem is that nobody has a better idea … of how to make even more money. (Maybe making the same amount of money is okay? No, that answer isn’t sexy…)
So, Shamus maybe it isn’t just you…
Carra says:
Slow load times are horrible. Drags you out of the game, slaps you a bit and then puts you back in it. 10 seconds of waiting to enter a building of 5×5? I’m talking about Neverwinter Nights 2 here ;) Or age of conan… Yep, upgrading to a new pc lowered it to a few seconds but on older pc’s, it’s just downright horrible to wait 2x 10s to just deliver a quest in a building.
Since playing World of Warcraft I thought load times were a partof the past. You can walk from one part of the continent to the other side without seeing a single load times. Or you can enter an underground city and their buildings and yes, no load times.
Rasputin says:
fingers crossed for the enhanced edition!
minimum requirements used to be quite liberal only a few years ago.
i played doom 3 on lowest settings with 512mb ram, 1ghz cpu and a 32mb geforce 2 mx! decent framerate too.
i played many games that required a ‘minimum’ of 64mb GFX card on this system, just had to tolerate some strange colours
Seraphina says:
@Shamus
*hands over some hot chocolate, cookies and a punching bag* Take some time out, you seem to be worn pretty thin.
@Everyone (else)
Go out, enjoy the sun, shoo!
illiterate says:
@Seraphina
The yellow face, it burns us! We must stay here, with the pentium.. Myy pennnnttiiiiiummmmmm…
Sunday Aug 3, 2008 at 1:35 pm
@Shamus: “Being sick isn't really a good reason for being mean.” – are you kidding? Everybody’s mean and irritable when they’re sick or feeling under the weather. There’s a reason celebrities tend to stay out of sight when they don’t feel good – their lesser social skills would be bad for their reputation.
@Zaxares: there are – or were in the original, they may have been removed or changed in patches, I’ve only played 1.0 – level caps in each act seperately. I think Act I was level 9 or so, rather low, anyway. It was impossible to get to a level with silver skills before killing the mad hound demon at the end of Act I (I forgot his name, sorry, long time no play), who gives a silver as a reward.
@Shamus: “Really, I've been nearly this harsh with games I love.”…Hmm, no, not quite. You’ve stated yourself a few times that you’re being more aggressive of late, and perhaps this is just an example of it, but, really, the wording in both articles about the Witcher pretty much makes it out to be the very worst game you’ve ever played, with an interface worse than Hellgate’s, a story worse than Doom 3D, glitches worse than Oblivion and no content that isn’t somewhere between infuriating and gut-wrenching.
Like I’ve said before, I agree with most problems you have (though some I haven’t personally experienced) and there are some you haven’t even mentioned. however, other games have goten off with less demolishing posts for worse offenses.
I mean, compare your list of articles on Hellgate: London and The Witcher. You were negative about both, but more so for the Witcher…And I think I’m not alone if I say that, as far as RPGs go, an das far as your expectations/hopes go (as far as I can judge by previous articles of yours), the Witcher should come out on top of that comparison. After the breaking down of Hellgate, you also noted the good aspects of the game, few and far between as they were. I realize you’re not finished with reviewing the Witcher yet, but it seems you’ve left little room for *any* saving graces it might have.
There are level caps in the game? That’s crap, now I’m no munchkinist, but I do like the freedom of leveling up as much as I feel is prudent. Just because it’s really the only rpg out right now doesn’t mean it’s the best of the best by default. I applaud that programming team for going the extra mile and releasing the enhanced edition to fix all the problems, but that doesn’t mean that what was released is excused. It is shoddy programming at best, there’s no reason this should have been released, it seems the “finished” product needed three or four months before it should have been shipped out. I might check the game out when the “enhanced” version(but really, it’s the finished product we should have gotten months ago.)comes out, but untill then I’ll pass.
I hate to be the naysayer here, but…
Just switch over to the Dark Side, so to speak, and buy yourself a console! It’s $500-$600 that will play every game coming out in the next five years. I can’t understand why you seem so angry at the PC game developer community and yet refuse to “jump ship” over to consoles, where that kind of thing never enters the equation.
He is actually going to get old crap box from microsoft here pretty soon, and be converted to the all mighty HALO clique who don’t know [email protected]# about FPS.
Tim G. says:
It seems to me like another situation of differing underlying assumptions/expectations.
Assumption 1. Games should run smoothly at release without game stopping bugs. Patches should be reserved for minor bugs, and unpredictable problems.
The old terminology for games that hadn’t fixed the major bugs was alpha or beta releases. I’m all for pushing back against the publishers who try to release games before they are ready. By purchasing buggy software again and again, you encourage the horrible release schedule pushes on developers.
Assumption 2. System specs should provide accurate information for purchasing decisions.
I hate buying games in a store because I don’t trust the information provided on the box.
Assumption 3. Reading a large user manual should not be required if you have played similar games before. A tutorial should be enough to teach the basics of gameplay.
I think this expectation varies by genre. It’s more realistic for a detailed flight simulator to need manual study than a simple arcade game. Obviously most games should fall somewhere in between.
Great design means the interface behaves exactly how you expect it to. Good design means it behaves mostly as expected and points you in the right direction when it doesn’t. Bad design doesn’t act like expected and gives you no clue why. Given how long this problem has been worked on and how many examples there are for good interfaces, there is not excuse for bad design.
Assumption 4. Games that require better hardware should look better.
For this, I think it depends on why the hardware requirements are higher. I can see much higher CPU requirements for non-graphics related issues in RTS like ai improvements, fuzzy logic problem solving, etc, or for better physics simulations in racing or FPS games.
A good way to kill a market segment is to drive off new players with steep learning curves before they can have fun, and lose existing players who get tired of constant upgrades to play something that doesn’t look or play any better.
Less new players and less existing players means shrinking market size means less money for development of new games means developers switch targets or go out of business. The pc rpg market will end up like the Mac gaming community in the 90’s, waiting for months or years for ports of games on other platforms. Everyone loses.
@Eric
Not entirely true. The Witcher had problems on release, but less so than many games. Yes, I know, most games get released too early these days, so that’s not saying much.
Anyway, I played through the game twice (with different endings) and never encountered a game-stopping or crashing bug. There were a lot of issues, yes, but not as serious as some other games I could name (especially in the RPG genre, which seems especially problematic for this…Probably because, the more open the game is, the more things players can do that developers didn’t anticipate. Anyway.).
It wasn’t unplayable out of the box, just a bit unbalanced and horribly optimized. It should’ve been able to run on lower-end systems than it did, in other words.
The “mainstream” actually think this game is awesome dipshit. Shamus is actually on the outset for not liking this game douche. Also shamus hated oblivion.
@Burton Finch:
Whoah. You win a prize, man. I *THINK* you’re being serious, but you might be illustrating absurdity by being absurd. You know, the whole “The only way Shamus could dislike this game is if he was PAID to dislike it.”
I feel sorry for Shamus, but these comments have been amazing. My absolute favorite anime reviewer can’t watch one of my favorite series past the third episode. I never once considered e-mailing him a nastygram to tell him “UR DOING IT RONG!” Not even in a polite way like “If you watch it like THIS, then you’ll like it.” Even if I thought it was true. He didn’t like it. That’s fine; his loss.
I bet 10 people will tell me watching a dvd isn’t the same thing as playing a game. When it comes to opinions, they’re exactly the same. You either like it or you don’t. Thankfully, I can still watch that anime series whether my favorite reviewer likes it or not. I’m not interested in The Witcher myself, but you guys out there that like the game can go right back to playing it whether Shamus likes it or not.
It’s not worth getting upset.
Shamus actually liked oblivion overall, he said so himself, he just said it was buggy and had several stupid things that required user-made patches to make the game work, and some bad design choices (monsters that level with you), stuff like that.
I was looking foreward to an analysis of Witcher, but from the bashing going on in the last 2 articles I cant see Shamus saying ANYTHING positive in future articles, which just strikes me as a bit over the top, compared to other games at least, but well see.
Furnok says:
I must admit I was looking forward to the Witcher – it looked different, got very good reviews. I therefore picked it up at first opportunity. And I found it unplayable – nothing to do with the system specs (running with an 8800 gtx with 4gig ram) but with the sheer … IDIOCY of the game design.
Yes, graphics are important to a point, but if the thing just doesn’t make logical sense, and the engine/interface gets in the way to boot, it’s off my list. I wholeheartedly agree with Shamus’s points on the interface (easily the worst I can recall in a game of this ilk), the protagonist’s monotonic delivery/personality, and the irritating as buggery loading and fade every time you open a cupboard or encounter an unusual lizard on the roadway. I won’t even start on the camera angles/control and so forth.
The nail in the coffin for me was the combat. The game design rationale behind the idea of “if a second foe shows up, your fine steel sword instantly morphs into a giant marshmallow stick” simply left me slack-jawed. I’m all for tactical complexity and combat styles, but the implementation just left me cold.
@Furnok
huh? morphs into a giant marshmallow stick? And im confused about “worst interface ever”, I found it to be very simple and left my screen relatively free of clutter while playing, group combat styles when fighting multiple enemies was fun to watch I thought, and the departure from click happy combat was a welcome relief to someone like me who broke a few mouses back in the D2 days.
load/fade when you open a CUPboard? Encounter a lizard? Unless its relavant to story or a speaking scene it doesnt “fade” at all.
Funny enough the game uses the NWN engine and does some marvelous things considering how old it is, people always complain about using bleeding edge, then the witcher pulls out something old and pushes it as far as it can go (much like consoles do), and all you can do is bash it?
I agree with alot of Shamus’ points here, but some of the issues you point out as far as I know dont even exist.
(Whole comment directed at Furnok)
Reading more comments, I’ve decided that my original position is flawed in a couple of respects. One, you’re right, Shamus isn’t a “game reviewer,” per se, he’s a guy with a blog who likes to talk about games. (Further, I appreciate his opinions and feel like he’s steered me clear of a few dogs.)
Two, one commenter mentioned that if some game company had to provide a new computer along with their game in order to play it right… that could be an indication of a problem. This made me laugh, and it’s right on the money.
Three, and my favorite, was “I love the idea that game reviewers should all start reviewing games that are played upon the minimum system requirements. If only handful of reviewers began doing this for every game, I think you would see a change very quickly.”
I didn’t think about it from that direction, but you are of course correct.
And BTW Shamus, I’d pay money to get a fifth the response you get on your blog on mine. You have a good, thinking, and active crowd here. Be happy for them, and happy with yourself.
“I bet 10 people will tell me watching a dvd isn't the same thing as playing a game.”
Well if they do, I’ll say this. Shamus didn’t like Guild Wars, but I don’t hate him for it and I didn’t complain (ver much…).
Mistwraithe says:
I’m tempted to write a post simultaneously insulting Shamus and the Witcher fans… just because I’m curious to see what the top tag line with the comment count says when the number of comments goes past 200!
If you want to complain about a buggy game complain about NWN2. I remember I would play through the main campaign for 3 hours, hit a game breaking bug, head to the forums on how to fix it, continue playing hit another game breaking bug, repeat 7 times, hit another game breaking bug and find out that my most recent save point was after the point of troubleshooting returns, and that the file I had invested 20+ hours on had just died.
Never did try to go through it again, and I will never know the end. Now I’ve become an insecure save monkey because I never want anything like that to happen again. In comparison the witcher never had me going to the forums once. Sure I hate a bug ridden game as much as the next guy, however at least they ARE and HAVE BEEN doing something about it. Besides the DRM is well….. I can’t even remeber if there was any, mabye a cd key?
My point is IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE!
FriendlyFred says:
I’m putting off the jump to console because my favorite genres are badly underrepresented, because gamepads are horribly inferior next to the keyboard/mouse setup, and because the games themselves are of lower median quality and are dumbed down. I have yet to hear of a project like Desert Combat or G-Mod coming out on a console, so it would seem the mod communities are missing as well.
Unfortunately the recent tendency to release games across both platforms has led to a dumbing-down of PC games as well (such as Far Cry, Oblivion, Medal of Honor 2) so this bit will eventually become a non-issue.
I’ ll agree that controllers are inferior to the mice and keyboard only in FPS. You should look up MAG, I believe it’s pretty impressive for a console.
Sunday Aug 3, 2008 at 10:24 pm
There was NO DRM for this game… CD Key was ONLY to register on forums, which was not required to play the game. I loved that, since Canada got copies without CD keys.
[for Danath]
I was exaggerating to make a point with a few of the more colourful comments :). In “easy to read” point form:
– I found the journal and associated information screens (eg alchemy) difficult to navigate, hard to extract information from, and they took up too much space. Plus (correct me if i am wrong) you couldn’t do anything worthwhile with those screens up
– the inanity of the chopping/changing the fighting style drove me well, insane. Why does my sword swing suddenly do one-third the damage simply because a second foe is standing behind the first? I could see what they were trying to do – introduce more decision making into an essentially “clickfest” system – but the implementation was far too clumsy and heavy handed. It felt like a truly pointless game of rock/paper/scissors. Choosing the right/wrong style (on normal difficulty, IIRC) rendered the combat either trival or near/impossible for the most part.
– there is too much loading of even minor areas or locations that interrupt the flow of the game. A fade out to load on just about every minor NPC encounter or dialog just doesn’t work for me
I could go on, but I won’t. Suffice to say I just didn’t like the game mechanics enough to play it very long. And I cannot recall too many other games where I was irritated to that level (and I’ve been CRPGing for over 20 years! Maybe I’m just getting grumpy in my old age :p )
Monday Aug 4, 2008 at 12:24 am
@Fenix
“It can always be worse” is not a very good argument.Cutting your hand of is worse than stabbing it,but that doesnt mean the stabbing wont hurt.
Actually,they are more inferior in RTSs.And its not really that hard to make gamepads almost as good:Add a trackball to a gamepad,and you will improve it vastly.The only problem you have then is the closness of the trackball and its limited range,since youd be controling it with just with a thumb.
Monday Aug 4, 2008 at 1:41 am
Yes, alchemy is the most confusing part of TW, I tried to avoid playing around with it as much as possible.
Loading, also a HUGE issue, I had to play the game over the course of several patches stopping/starting due to frustration at loading screens.
I dont understand the combat thing… 2 enemies standing close to each other doesnt lower your damage? Unless you mean changing to group style, but that isnt usually needed unless you are fighting 3 or more enemies, which the drop in damage usually justifies.
I’m now deleting about 1 in 15 comments. Keep at it fanboys. You’ll either figure out what “subjective” means or you’ll piss off and find a website that tells you what you want to hear. Insulting ME because I don’t like your videogame is a waste of effort.
I’ve got one more post on TW coming. You either need to disconnect this game from your self esteem or cowboy up, because I’m going to finish what I started and I’m not going to let the comments thread turn into a puddle of angry bile directed at me.
ArchU says:
Shamus, there’s a high probability that you need to update your drivers to the latest version to resolve the sluggishness. Could also be load times from the disc that is causing the problem, which could be caused by bad reads. Fixing that usually means getting a new DVD drive or playing with the settings.
It’s worth trying the former, anyhow.
zangree says:
Simplex says:
Shamus probably already did this, but just in case he didn’t – defragmenting the hardrive can help, especially with long loading times.
For personal insults, for saying RTFM after I’ve fielded that question TWICE, and for being a hooting fanboy that attacks the reviewer instead of saying what was GOOD about the game, zangree gets the new deleted stamp. (Also for accusing me of some irrational anti-Witcher… AGENDA or something. Whatever.)
I’ll be using this from now on instead of just removing the comments. This might make it more obvious why I seem so agitated when comment threads go south. It will also let them serve as a warning to others.
I really liked the mature and polite disagreements we had in the comments when the site was smaller, and I’m not letting that go easily.
On the performance issues: I just recovered from a hard drive failure a couple of weeks ago, so my drivers are all fresh downloads and my drive is nicely defragged. (I started over with a brand-new drive, which always feels good.)
I should also point out that in some places in the game the framerate is just fine. It’s great when I’m just running along the road. It’s a pretty choppy in the first village. It’s very choppy in a fight, and in the first major city.
Wait until you get to the second major city, oh boy..
At first it all run smoothly.. there.. it was lag from hell and I could do nothing. Fighting was impossible.
But seriously, I’m glad you didn’t play Sacred 1.0 Shamus.. because everyone said it felt like a beta or even an alpha version instead of a good solid product..
But The Witcher runs like an inebriated John Madden trying to run in the Boston marathon while pulling a busload of other John Maddens. The game is unplayable at the default settings. If I turn everything down I can get the game to look very terrible and still stutter quite a bit. Let me make this clear: At these settings the game looks far worse than Oblivion and yet still somehow runs slower. Considering that Oblivion was an appalling glutton when it came to GPU cycles, that's really saying something. What is the game doing with my processor? Building fractals? Trying to find the last digit of Pi?
I know I just had a huge rant on this the other day, but this is such a perfect illustration of the problem that I can't resist. I'm within the system requirements (on the low side, but I'm still in) and I have to make the game look horrible just to make it quasi-playable, and even then it chokes and pukes all over itself when I get into a fight. (You know, when frame rate is most crucial.) The phrase “Minimum System Requirements” has morphed from its original meaning and has come to denote the minimum system on which you can install the game without it killing anybody or starting a fire. But even if I had the hardware to run the game, it doesn't look that much better than the last generation of games. Which means we're now spending hundreds of dollars to upgrade our machines so just to run in place, visually.
That is exactly what I am annoyed about for so long. Not only do you need a better machine for JUST THE SAME VISUAL QUALITY than you needed for the previous game, not only are the “recommended” requirements every time again WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT TRY TO PLAY BELOW OF THIS, but then if you turn everything on minimum, the damn thing runs so slow you can still count individual frames while STILL LOOKING WORSE THAN WORLD OF WARCRAFT AT MINIMUM SETTINGS.
This is not annoying, actually. It is OUTRAGEOUS. There is no viable excuse for this utter bullshit. I don’t care how much the drive their visual quality for the newest new highest high-end machines, but on my same old pile of plastic and copper, I would expect the new game to run as smoothly and to look as good as the previous game that I can play without any trouble.
They don’t even try. Lowering the settings turns whole textures in a wall of huge washed-out pixels, bathes the now-ugly scenery in dense fog so you can see only 10 metres into the “distance”. Lowering animation quality makes character animation happen at 1 fps even if the game around runs at 10.
Current generation games at lowest settings sometimes look as bad as SIM COPTER at maximum. And, man, that game was ugly.
So what comes after “2^7 comments. Sweet.”
Fairly clearly it has to change at 129… show me, show me!
Oh, and to be on topic, I’m keen to play The Witcher sometime. It has got high points for originality and gritty story… but I just don’t have the time to persevere with a game that suffers long loading times.
Fortunately it sounds like the upcoming special release may solve all that – I do so like it when a plan comes together!
Fosse: I can’t rescue deleted comments, so if I misread what you wrote I apologize.
Sorry, bit late with a reply..
@ Shamus:
The gameplay here does NOT justify a manual the size of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and to dump the user into a morass of obscure buttons and unhelpful tootips and then tell them to read the manual is a joykiller. I'm here for a game, not a damn reading assignment.
I do see your point and I also see this is where the subjectivity hits hard! I have never read the manual for The Witcher, I didn’t spend lots of time searching through journal entries, I wasn’t getting frustrated, but I figured it out. Obviously this has nothing to do with intelligence (I’d say we’re both pretty intelligent guys ;) ), for me something just clicked, apparently.
Then again, I do know if I would’ve bumped into something I really couldn’t figure out on my own, I would have looked in the manual. I certainly have done so with other games.
I do feel you’re being more aggressive with this game, I have read most of your blog posts about other games and right from the start there seemed to be a lot of vitriol in this case, written in a more than usually harsh style, if you will. This doesn’t excuse people being dicks, ofcourse.
@ Daemian Lucifer:
Actually, I don’t think this is about being “wrong” or “right”. What’s funny is that Fallout and Planescape are two of the games that I needed the manual for, to look up something while playing – I didn’t read them beforehand, mind, I used them when I noticed I needed them. I didn’t feel the game design failed me, I didn’t enjoy the game any less. Sometimes you need a manual.
I’m certainly not saying The Witcher couldn’t have had a more intuitive UI, it absolutely could. It just wasn’t a problem for me, just like using a manual when needed isn’t a problem for me.
qrter: It’s possible that I’m being more brutal with this game, but if so it’s because the game just isn’t entertaining me. Fallout had a terrible interface, but I tolerated it because I was having tremendous fun.
Here, there’s nothing really appealing to me and so every single annoyance jumps out and grabs on. The flaws don’t have advantages to hide behind:
“Oh sure, the interface is clunky, but there are so many activities packed in there!”
“Yeah, the voice acting is stiff, but the main character is so compelling I don’t mind.”
“The framerate sucks, but the combat is so rewarding I don’t mind.”
These flaws need a fig leaf of fun to cover them up.
Divra says:
Shamus: On a completely unrelated note, could you save some of the more verbose fanboy rants somewhere, so that the rest of us have something to point and laugh at? It would cheer me up, at least.
folo4 says:
@ Divra
That would be…uncivilized.
best if Shamus just remove the comments and hope that the commentators put up better arguments.
Shamus,
I’m not that worried about it, with a few days gone by. It is just the internet, after all. Apology appreciated, though.
I’m actually sorry to hear there’s only one more Witcher post, since as I said before I was looking forward to them all. I guess if I’m going to lose my mind over this I’ll only have one more shot at it.
I find it helps to think of Shamus as one of your friends.
Cause sometimes, your friends come up with the most insane arguments you’ve ever heard. And you say “Dude, glad that works for you. You’re an idiot, but whatever. Let’s grab a beer.”
And I’m 99% sure that every one of us that’s read the blog for a length of time has had a set of comments where we just went “Dude, really? *That’s* what you think? Man…” *head shaking*
But don’t let it get to you personally. Don’t worry about changing his mind. If you feel that his arguments aren’t valid, refute them with evidence, for the other readers. Despite Shamus’ beatdown of the game (I will agree that it seems like The Witcher is getting a pretty serious roughing up, even compared to some of the negative reviews in the archives, but eh), the original comments actually convinced me I wanted to play the game. The stuff he complains about (mostly) doesn’t matter to me, and the stuff people put up as counter-arguments convinced me.
It also sounds like The Witcher might be one of those games that runs much better on certain types of hardware – remember back in the day when it mattered if you had a GeForce or an nVidia card, because one was awesome at your particular game, and the other sucked? I think even City of Heroes had that as an issue. The Witcher might prefer one type of card to another, or dual core processors to single, or some such….
And I personally lament the demise of the manual. I always read the manual first. And *rarely* do I get anything beyond “Here’s how to launch. Bye!” I liked Oblivion’s style of putting a huge lorebook in with the game manual, which had actual information in it.
But then I think of WoW’s manuals, which were good, but are so amusingly outdated, you can’t help but laugh reading them….
@Derek K.: I think that’s what some people are doing. See: Fosse, Danath, me. On the other hand, if you have a friend with some outlandish opinion, you’ll try to sway his mind and come up with arguements to win him over, won’t you?
Mind you, I’m talking about (some) of the comments that are up. Even in those left on line, there are plenty I consider rude and/or moronic; I’ve seen plenty of fanboiism (for anything, no the Witcher in particular) so I can imagine what it is we’re not seeing.
Thing is, say your friend tastes a certain beer and says he really doesn’t like it. Fine. But if it happens to be a beer you really enjoy, you might try to find out why he didn’t like it, and find out if somethign else was off. Say, it wasn’t cold, or the glass still had dishwasher in it, or something. You obviously can’t force him to like it, but you can try to find out what it was he didn’t like about it. If it really is just the taste he didn’t like, well, get him a glass of water and have the two beers yourself :-P
Monday Aug 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm
All my arguments were put up how I discuss with friends really when I think they have a different opinion, I tend to agree with almost all of Shamus’s reviews/rants, so I was rather surprised to see this game get fried worse than any other review ive ever read on this blog.
I dont really mind, I dont tend to comment much, but I brought up my viewpoint anyways, im just curious WHY Shamus seems to hate this game so much… at its worst I wouldnt figure itd be less enjoyable than Oblivion, at least to me, but obviously something didnt click with Shamus, so im just curious why that is.
Noumenon says:
That’s weird. I had the problem with this page I typically have when reading long comment threads on Shamus’ blog. After about eighty, 9 of 10 comments are blank and there are occasional solid black boxes hanging over the comments.
But this time, I decided to post and let Shamus know I was having a problem. So I left the page open for about two hours — no refreshing. Now I can read the whole thing! That’s weird.
Krey says:
Monday Aug 4, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Less video game articles, more comics. You’re funny. Make use of the skills you have.
@krey: Less critiquing, more sucking [email protected]#$. m’kay.
Well, now that you have Oblivion looking somewhat respectable, how about going back for a little trip to Morrowind via the Oblivion engine? (I just discovered this project from a link in another forum. I must say I’m very impressed, and I haven’t even downloaded any of it yet.)
Shamus:
qrter: It's possible that I'm being more brutal with this game, but if so it's because the game just isn't entertaining me. Fallout had a terrible interface, but I tolerated it because I was having tremendous fun.
I think you’re right, that’s what it boils down to. You just don’t like the whole premise the game is built on. If you liked Geralt, if you liked the gameworld, you’d probably be more forgiving of the technical shortcomings (both technical-technical and gameplay-technical).
After I made the post about how I got the feeling you’re being more agressive towards The Witcher, I forgot to say that I didn’t mean to say you should or shouldn’t do that – I wouldn’t dare, it’s your blog, my point was more to get at why people (apart from the few more obvious assholes) might seem more agressive in their comments. You know, to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, something like that.
I’ve always enjoyed your writing, I think you’re very insightful, don’t change a thing. :)
kosse says:
Tuesday Aug 5, 2008 at 1:30 am
Reason: Yet another person calling me “stupid” for trusting the stated system specs. We’ve covered that already. – Shamus
Avilan the Grey says:
Derek and Kosse:
Since NWN2 was never even playtested on any ATI cards, according to the official tech forums for that game, it is not surprising that the witcher, which runs with a modified NWN2 engine, is having small or big problems with certain hardware.
(The statement surprised me at first until I realized the game (NWN2) has the official NVIDIA logo in it’s start screen).
Noumenon I am having identical issue – blank comment boxes and black bars. I am using firefox. Perhaps something is wrong with CSS? (or ff reads them incorrectly).
Geez, nice moderating there Shamus. Will you remove this reply too?
In any case, if you would have read my whole reply you’d propably had realised that I wasn’t calling you stupid but the idea of expecting something to run well on hardware that is close to minimum requirements because that is if not stupid at least an ignorant thought. It’s a well known fact that minimum requirements have been mostly a joke throughout the history of PC gaming so bashing a game so much for something that is perfectly normal is not very productive.
kosse: I did read the whole thing. I’m going to let that one stand, even though you you’re just making the same useless argument. This issue was already covered twice in the comments. I do this not out of ignorance, or stupidity, but a firm belief that if a publisher does this sort of thing they deserve whatever they get. This is exactly what should happen: They should get negative attention.
This is exactly why this thread is so infuriating to me. Why would you even try to excuse this sort of behavior? Why do you care if I (rightfully) point out the game doesn’t run right?
Seriously, what’s it to you?
Also: I have no idea how old you are, but for me “PC Gaming” is 20 years old. And for most of that time system specs were reliable. It’s only in the last 6 years or so that the whole thing has gone sideways.
@Avilan the Grey – The Witcher uses Aurora (original NWN, not NWN2) with a completely new renderer written by CD Projekt Red. NWN2 uses a renderer created by Obsidian. There is no direct line between The Witcher and whatever the NWN2 forums says about hardware for that game.
@Kosse: So, effectively, your argument is “They lie, but we know they’re lying, so it’s a kind of truth”?
I think we should just pick the right door, and hope the hands help us up.
Tuesday Aug 5, 2008 at 10:56 am
This is just idle curiosity mind you, but reading through the various comments and your responses got me thinking about other European RPGs, and whether you’ve played any of the ones I have. Hearing people complain about the voice acting in The Witcher in particular strikes me as odd, because it actually has extremely good voice acting – compared to some of the other European RPGs I’ve played.
Having played the Gothic series, all the complaints I’d make about The Witcher seem petty. The first Gothic was a very interesting game with a world that actually felt like a real place, thanks to heavy scripting and a (mostly) seamless gameworld. The downsides were the usual mixed bag of voice actors, wonky mechanics, and an absolutely retarded control scheme and inventory system. I am not exaggerating when I say that Gothic’s control scheme makes The Witcher’s look like a flawless utopia where everything is wonderful, but despite the flaws the game was very fun.
The sequel managed to do away with a lot of the control issues while simultaneously making you long for the horrible inventory system from the original, because this one was somehow worse. Instead of navigating a multi-tabbed single column inventory where you couldn’t use the mouse to select anything and had to remember the control keys to actually interact with stuff, now you get an interface where you can use the mouse – But now everything is in one giant pile. The game was still huge and immersive though, and I still go back and replay it every so often. Voice acting was often unintentionally hilarious too.
The 3rd Gothic didn’t really overcome the flaws, which oddly enough weren’t in the interface or controls this time around for a change.
Then there’s the excellent but quirky FPS style RPG Arx Fatalis, which let you bake pies (pie is awesome), and had the whole “Black and White” style spellcasting system where you would draw the various runes to cast spells – in realtime. Voice acting was atrocious, your character got hungry at a ridiculous interval, and there was a huge spread of attributes and skills that weren’t all even particularly useful so building a dud character was a very real problem. It was a blast, thanks mostly to the art design and setting, plus all the nifty little things you could waste your time on (and the goblins with the stereotypical exaggerated french accents were hilarious). Definitely clunky though.
My last example is the Spellforce series, which are really quite interesting for their mechanics alone: They were RTS/RPG hybrids. You might argue that games like Warcraft 3 fit that category, but that was just slapping some RPG elements onto a dedicated RTS. These games really were both genres. The best way I can describe them would be to say…..mix the inventory system and party aspect from Dungeon Siege with the attribute system from Diablo II, toss in MMO style “cooldown” abilities for the non-caster classes, and then add ridiculously elaborate base building and decent but not revolutionary army control to the mix. Building the various bases and watching your worker units going about their jobs reminded me a lot of say….Age of Empires, only much prettier.
Not all the various armies you’d eventually get to use (depending on the island really, there was this whole “crystal” mechanic too that would gradually level the factions up) had the same sort of excess that the humans seemed to, and the sequel wisely cut down on some of the variety in favor of a more approachable system. In the original Spellforce, you’d build the usual quarries, refineries, lumbermills and farm type structures, plus the individual barracks or upgrade buildings we’ve come to expect from an RTS, but the sheer variety was almost ridiculous sometimes.
The starting farm was some sort of hunters lodge, and the little peasants assigned to it would pick up crossbows and head out to hunt the various wild game wandering around the islands. But then you also had the fishing lodge which let your peasants harvest fish from local lakes, the pig farm (which didn’t rely on the non-renewable wandering beasts), a grain farm (it was highly amusing watching the workers sowing the fields, then heading out with scythes when the wheat was ready), the specialized storehouse that made food gathering more efficient, the new and improved hunter’s lodge and fishing lodge, etc. While I applaud variety (and it makes the base more interesting to watch in action), it did seem a wee bit excessive to have 7+ buildings that all do the same thing (mostly).
And the voice acting was pretty awful. I highly enjoyed it even with the flaws.
Incidentally all of those games had essentially pre-defined protagonists, with a variable range of player defined motivation (from a bunch to almost none), so I guess I’ve been inoculated against the whole “vital need to be a female gnomish sorceress (or have the option to anyways)” that other people seem to have.
So I’m curious if you’ve ever played any of those games, since it seems the bulk of the 3d RPGs I’ve played were European imports, with Kotor (I’m including Jade Empire under this umbrella), Diablo clones (I’m looking at you Dungeon Siege), or the sandbox style Elder Scrolls games coming in second, so I’m probably used to expecting diamonds in the rough. The Witcher was quite a bit better then I expected it to be, given bar for European RPGs that came before it.
(I’m only mentioning comparatively modern 3d RPGs mind you, the first RPG I played was Fallout, and then Planescape: Torment, so it’s not that I’ve just never played the classics and don’t know any better. I love Shadows of Amn as much as the next guy, thank you very much.)
Gildan Bladeborn has a point, perhaps. I’vep layed every game he’s listed (though only the third Gothic), and enjoyed them as well…Though I never knew Spellforce (and the sequel) were European. Oops!
Another game to throw in would be Divine Divinity (Belgian). It’s being viewed as a Diablo clone by many, but it has storytelling and character variation about on par with Oblivion – except that, again, your character is “pre-defined” in that he’s, this guy, you know. Much like in the Witcher, where the character is defined as “this guy, you know”, with a name added.
Tuesday Aug 5, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Well, Shamus fails to inform us what system he was playing Witcher on. He tells us that he installed it on a new HD but that’s all. The also doesn’t say if his game was patched or not. Kinda important since patch 1.3 fixed a lot of bugs and made loading and saving times much shorter than unpatched game.
Gildan Bladeborn, I agree with what you have said about voice acting. It isn’t bad at all IMO. There is one major translation problem but I don’t think that Shamus ever played that far into the game.
@Zangree:
“I'm within the system requirements (on the low side, but I'm still in)”
I believe the general point is “If you say your game will run acceptably within a window, and I am in that window, the game should run acceptably.” The details of his hardware are really irrelevant, beyond “Good enough.”
If the game requires optimization and config file changes to run on a system, to me, that’s not running acceptably.
Also, this argument has kinda been done in this thread. ;)
@Heph: I tried so hard to play Spellforce, but every demo I installed was corrupted somehow. I suspect it is the nirvana of gaming for me, if I could just get it running. I got Divine Divinity for $10 at a used game store. Excellent $10 spent there, even if my friends made fun of me. “Oh, are you going to start at the Begin Beginnig and play until the End Ending?”
The point is that I know somebody who have run Witcher on P4M 1.7 notebook with x600 video (which is below system requirements) and thought the game was “clunky but playable”.
Wednesday Aug 6, 2008 at 6:26 am
@zangree *Irish accent* And the leprechauns come with their pot o’ gold, and take ye into the land of Tir Na Nog to live happily ever after.
Dhruin: Sorry, my bad. Although it might still explain some things; the NWN engine was non-optimized piece of crap; I remember countless arguments in the official forums where the the official explanations “But the graphics are so advanced, and out model for handling lightsources is fantastic” was shot down with the comments that
A) If I have to turn graphics down when having a recommended system so that I can’t have the lightsource effects, and it’s still lagging, what good does that do me?
B) Funny, I see at least 5 games that looks so much better to the naked eye, even if your argument that your code can handle more advanced stuff… (meaning what actually LOOKS good is not always the same thing as What is Advanced or New and Improved and you wasted resources implementing advanced functions that are barely visible to the player even at highest settings but eats tons of resources).
Oh and now when I think about it, wasn’t NWN the opposite of NWN2? I seem to recall an ATI logo in the intro there, and real problems getting it to run on NVIDIA based systems…?
@Derek K.: word of warning, though: Beyond Divinity (the sequel) was a pretty big let-down, to me at least.
As for Spellforce, I had it illegally (I quit, Iswear! This is from the time I was in high school! Mea culpa!) , and the disc doesn’t work anymore. If I ever see it somewhere in a bargain bin or special edition, I’m picking it up though.
@Zangree: I ran it without problems myself, on two pcs, one just under recommended, one just under required. On the one under required it wasn’t exactly beautiful, but it ran. Still, it may be that the Witcher just doesn’t like Shamus’ specific type of graphics card (brand, type of firmware, drivers that are too new, whatever) or something, but that it runs ok on some pcs with similar stats doesn’t mean it’ll run on any of them.
I’ve seen games run on my brother’s laptop that won’t run on my desktop – despite having a newer graphics card, a newer motherboard, more memory, a bigger and less cluttered hard drive, and a faster DVD drive. Don’t ask me why some games are peculiar about their hardware, there are plenty of examples of it and Shamus is right in saying that it should run on pretty much *anything* that meets required specs. Admittedly, the fact that it runs badly on his is bad luck for the game, but hey, that’s the way it is.
@kosse
Games that Ive played without meeting one,or many of the system requirments:
Diablo 2,baldurs gate 2,neverwinter nights,half life 2(and both episodes),morrowind,dark mesiah(although,this one I had to stop because it got funky in battles).So,no dice.
@Gildan Bladeborn
On the defence of spellforce 1:
It has the best intro Ive ever seen.Even now,I preffer that animation than any other.
It has a nice story(if you like such weird loops like I do).
It has a great AI(very few RTSs have made me sweat that much).
Innovative gameplay.
As for the humans,their diversity is their biggest flaw:You need many resources for a decent army,and if you spread too much,youll exhaust them all.
kingnoobe says:
Thursday Aug 21, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Well I don’t know what to tell you… I play this game on my crappy computer as good as anyone could expect since I don’t meet the min. requirements. Amd 3200+, 1gig ram, 128mb ati 9500pro *the real killer here*.
I don’t get load times through doors.. While it does get a little sluggish at times its nothing like you mention except the map/journal delay. Maybe you need to tweak/maintain your system a little better.
Leoric says:
Thursday Oct 23, 2008 at 12:23 pm
For: It’s a game, not your mom. Go away fanboy.
A fan says:
DonKingResurrected says:
Wednesday Oct 7, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I too had the same frame rate problems with the witcher enahnced edition. I systematically worked through the lots with the options as i know i can get some great looking results. What i discovered was that my graphics card (9600M GT 512 mb) couldn’t power my display.
So at 1920×1080 with all graphics settings minimised i still had a laggy mess. But at 1024×768 with all graphics settings maximised it ran smooth and looked quite great (lighting effects + AA smoothes out some of the edges of the models).
Go figure. Some games are weird. This is one of them. So much for native display resolution being faster – i guess you hit a point where there’s just too much detail and it grinds to a messy halt (maybe the resolution just below 1920×1080 would be worse but i can’t be bothered trying).
someboringguy says:
Tuesday Feb 16, 2010 at 9:43 am
I have played The Witcher last months and after searching on this site for it (curiosity) I have found this review.I agree with all the things that Shamus says about the technical aspect of the game, but my experience was essentially different.
I don’t know whether it depends on the version or not, but the health of the enemies and the exp appeared for me every time I attacked/killed one.
The dialogue is great, as in well written and spoken and I have passed the “pause between each line issue” by pressing the mouse button after every spoken line.
The main thing I don’t get, Shamus, is what is so complex about the jurnal?There are many tabs, that’s true but they have labels, which are very sugestive, like “monsters” or “ingredients”.It’s easy to find whatever you search for and the description of all of those things brings some culour to the game world.
Also, the hero screen.Same thing.All the skill trees are separated into stat depending skills (stenght, dexterity, endurance), magic depending skills and combat depending skills.What’s so complicate?Do you imagine all of them appearing on a single window, all of the skill trees, and scrolling through all of that?
Friday Dec 3, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Kind of necro posting here, but I have enough good memories from the Witcher’s world to wish to chime in.
First, disclaimers/memories:
I never owned the game, I never even had a computer that can cover the min specs for it, I played it a local internet/games club place thingie..thus I had no manual to count on..
At the time I played the EE was out, and the computer I played on certainly covered the minimum requirements, probably the recommended ones too.
The loading times were still well, longer than we gamers are usually used to, like Shamus describes. They only got unbearably long to me after say, over 4 hours of gameplay, when the PC was just begging to be restarted.
Now, there may have been significant changes between EE and pre-EE interface, in fact, one portion of Shamus’ article leads me to believe pre-EE interface has been a lot more cluttered. If the in-game tutorials however were however, the same, I’m bewildered at some of Shamus’ confusion. For example, addressing the gameplay “use strong style attacks on heavy and slow opponents, use fast style on agile opponents”. It was explained in the in-game tutorials, and even if you skip reading those, you’d find out while fighting that trying to use strong style on an agile opponent results in you missing him, and if you use fast attacks, well, you’ll hit everything except for two or three special, invulnerable monsters, but you’ll deal less damage than with strong. About toxicity – part of the tutorial level, at least iirc, was Geralt drinking a potion, getting to about half toxicity and then a tutorial popping up about toxicity. I was fine with gameplay for the most part thanks to just the in game tutorials. I managed to get to halfway or so in act II before I had to resort to a walkthrough since there was an obscure part of the main quest..
Of course, none of the above paragraph would be relevant if I had to struggle to barely run the game..or the tutorials were missing or messed up..
Think of it as part RPG, part fantasy-novel-turned-to-video game(which it is, since “the Witcher” is first a series of novels by A.Sapkowski, and then a PC game), and it would make sense why its gameplay isn’t as complex or its replay value as high as, say, the best Bioware RPGs.
Leave a Reply to Derek K Cancel reply
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5361
|
__label__wiki
| 0.601748
| 0.601748
|
First of more than 1,000 lifesaving signs installed at WA beaches
Beach Emergency Numbers will help save vital time in critical incidents
More than 1,000 BEN signs are planned for WA's coast from Geraldton to Esperance
McGowan Government delivers on election promise to support local governments to improve beach safety
The first of more than 1,000 lifesaving Beach Emergency Number (BEN) signs, funded by the McGowan Government, for the Western Australia coast have now been unveiled in the City of Kwinana and Shire of Waroona.
At Wells Park in Kwinana today, Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly and Kwinana MLA Roger Cook were joined by Rick Gerring to reveal one of nine signs for the Kwinana and Naval Base coast.
The BEN signs are part of the McGowan Government's election commitment to strengthen emergency responses should a serious incident occur. Each sign has a unique code, to help emergency services pinpoint exact beach access locations and improve crucial response times for a range of potential serious incidents.
The signs were initiated by Rick Gerring, the brother of Ben Gerring whose life was lost after a fatal shark attack in Falcon in 2016, after concerns about possible delays in attending emergency services trying to locate the closest beach access point.
The McGowan Government has offered grants of up to $25,000 for eligible metropolitan councils, and up to $50,000 for eligible regional councils, to install the lifesaving signage.
Since the announcement of the program in December 2017, 29 of the 32 eligible local government authorities have expressed an interest in the signage, and 26 are actively working with the WA Government.
The City of Kwinana is the first metropolitan council to install the lifesaving BEN signs through the McGowan Government's grants scheme, while the Shire of Waroona is the first regional council with three BEN signs now in place at Preston Beach.
The City of Mandurah independently installed 81 BEN signs in honour of Mr Gerring in May 2017.
These lifesaving BEN signs complement the McGowan Government's comprehensive shark mitigation strategy. This strategy includes; funding for Surf Life Saving WA beach, helicopter and drone patrols, a world-first personal shark deterrent subsidy for divers and surfers, beach enclosures, an extended Shark Monitoring Network to Esperance, tagging operations and a new SMART drumline trial off Gracetown.
Comments attributed to Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly:
"I am delighted to be delivering this project initiated by Rick Gerring in honour of his brother Ben Gerring who tragically lost his life in 2016.
"Time is critical in an emergency and could mean the difference between life and death. BEN signs will be vital for first responders to identify the quickest route to a precise location.
"I have spoken to emergency responders who have told me they have no doubt these signs will save lives.
"In the event of an emergency, the public can call triple zero and quote the BEN number with confidence that emergency services will reach the destination as quickly as possible."
Comments attributed to Kwinana MLA Roger Cook:
"The BEN signs will enhance the safety of our beautiful beaches, providing locals and visitors with surety that prompt help is at hand in the event of an emergency, be it a shark bite, boating accident, drowning, violence or a heart attack.
"I congratulate Kwinana and other councils for embracing this great example of constructive collaboration between State and local governments to address shared challenges that serve to protect and enhance the enviable beach lifestyle that Western Australians enjoy."
Comments attributed to Murray-Wellington MLA Robyn Clarke:
"The installation of these signs will make an immense difference in an emergency.
"Preston Beach is a popular tourist spot in the summer and I commend the Shire of Waroona for taking up this initiative to help keep locals and visitors safe."
Comments attributed to Rick Gerring:
"Using the BEN signs, the first people on the scene can relay the beach reference number with confidence emergency services know the exact location, reducing critical time in attending the scene.
"With the signs being standard along our coastline, it will mean people will instantly recognise them in the unfortunate event of an incident occurring and relieving unnecessary stress trying to communicate with emergency services.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5363
|
__label__cc
| 0.682386
| 0.317614
|
221B Baker Street
What is your favourite scene involving Sherlock and John in series 3? (SPOILERS)
By Sherlock The Otter, May 31 in Series 3
Sherlock The Otter 10
Detective Constable
Favorite series 1 episode: The Great Game
Favourite Series 2 Episode: The Reichenbach Fall
Favourite Series 3 Episode: The Sign of Three
Favourite series 4 episode: The Final Problem
I'm not sure if this is already a topic, but I'm really curious as to what everyone's favourite scene involving Sherlock and John is in series 3.
Personally, mine is in The Empty Hearse, when Sherlock appears in the restaurant and surprises John, I think that whole scene is just hilarious!
looking forward to hear your opinions!
Van Buren Supernova 6,948
Moriarty's back-comb
Favourite Series 2 Episode: A Scandal In Belgravia
Favourite Series 3 Episode: His Last Vow
Hi Sherlock The Otter, welcome to the forum. Nice avatar, you are very good looking! Me, sigh, I am just a shadow of my former self.
Don't worry, if you had duplicate thread, the moderators would put you in straightjacket and throw you inside the padded room..., I meant, they would take care of it. No worries, the most punishment they could give is asking you for a shorter nickname. 😛
As for your questions, if I have to pick one, it's probably the one in Sherlock's kitchen. I love how amazed John was at Sherlock's cluelessness, even after all this time. I love how Sherlock kept not getting it and suggested that Lestrade should be the best man because he is a man and good at it.
It's the root of their relationship really. It's nice, warm, weird, funny and tastes surprisingly good 😛
I think that is also one of the reasons of why there are so many of us feel connected to the character. Socially awkward, was mostly portrayed as weirdo, sidekick, villain traits, but with Sherlock, it is endearing, it's alright, it's okay.
So yah, my answer.
If you asked for monologue, I'd call dibs on best man speech.
Thank you! Yes the moderators I've spoken to have been very nice, but I'm hoping I don't end up in the padded cell haha 😂
Ah yes, I was going to put that as my favourite, it is really iconic, it's probably my second favourite, especially when he takes a sip of his tea and the eyeball pops up!
Oh and that dialogue is fantastic also! If you've got that, I'd call dibs on when Sherlock and John are drunk in 221B after their ordeal in the pubs 🤣
T.o.b.y 8,492
Consulting Detective
Favourite series 4 episode: The Lying Detective
On 5/31/2019 at 11:35 AM, Sherlock The Otter said:
Welcome! Nice picture.
I think we already have a general favorite scenes thread but not one for Sherlock and John scenes specifically. Well, now we do thanks to you.
Hmmmm... I'll have to think about mine a little. Off the top of my head, it would be their conversation at the end of "The Lying Detective".
Carol the Dabbler 13,567
John Watson's best friend
Favorite series 1 episode: A Study In Pink
Favourite series 4 episode: The Abominable Bride
That's a good scene, Tobe, but the topic is Series 3 scenes -- so you now have a good excuse to run through those episodes again, using either your memory or a DVD.
That series has a lot of good scenes, so I'll need to think awhile.
On 6/1/2019 at 5:41 AM, Sherlock The Otter said:
but I'm hoping I don't end up in the padded cell haha 😂
Even if you do, you'll find majority of us already inside. So there is nothing to be ashamed of.
May I know why you asked for season 3 specifically? Your favorite season?
Because if you asked for season 2, I'd choose the sheet scene in Buckingham Palace, most likely, although I love all TRF as it tugs my heartstring the most. But you see, I have worked very hard (not) to achieve my current status as Pantless in Buckingham Palace and would like to feel represented.
1 hour ago, Van Buren Supernova said:
Oh that makes it sound bit better thank you 🤣
Good question! Yes, I think I did choose it because it's my favourite season, and I also feel it has a lot of points for discussion!
The sheet scene is by far one of my most favourite scenes! I think I would choose the scene on Bart's Hospital, where Sherlock is on the phone to John, it always makes me cry, no matter how many times I watch it!
Also, may I ask - What's your favourite season? 😊
18 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:
Welcome! Nice picture.
Oh that's good! I'm glad I've not just recreated an existing thread
13 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:
Oh, only series 3! Thanks, Carol, I must have missed that part.
Hmmmm... In that case, I am going to go with the scene where John asks Sherlock to be his best man.
Ah yes! That is a good scene. Van Buren Supernova chose that one too, it seems to be quite a popular one! 😊
23 hours ago, Sherlock The Otter said:
Yes, I think I did choose it because it's my favourite season, and I also feel it has a lot of points for discussion!
Indeed! I believe His Last Vow's thread has hundreds of pages. Each episode has separate thread and you'll be welcomed to mess with them.
What do you like the most from season 3; Sherlock coming back, John gets married, season 3 ending or others? Not favorite exactly, but it cracked me up that Sherlock, like us all human, learn stuff from YouTube as well. And him feeling sad and thinking that John's wedding is a battle is so human.
My favorite is season 2! Although I'm not crazy about Hounds, but Scandal and Reichenbach are my favorite, but I admit Reichenbach scarred me quite a lot so I'm too chicken to put it in my profile. 🐥
9 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:
Oh wow I didn't know that, thank you! I will definitely have a look at those threads!
I'm not sure what I like the most, I like it all! But if I had to choose I would say Sherlock's mind palace scene, because it shows the pure power of his thoughts, and the fact it all took place in the space of three seconds is remarkable.
I love series 2, I think its a close second favourite! I really liked Hounds and TRF. I have to agree, whenever I re-watch TRF I can't help but cry, even though I know what's going to happen
Inge l-w 2,064
Favourite Series 3 Episode: The Empty Hearse
From S3 there are two scenes that stand out: Lestrade’s reaction to Sherlock’s call for help, with the helicopter hovering so close overhead as to blow the sheet music on the stand, and the part of The speech taken directly from ACD: ‘If I burden myself with a companion in my various little inquiries, it is not done out of sentiment or caprice...’
But if we are talking S2, Scandal in Belgravia stands head and shoulders above the pastiche of Hounds and the maudlin TRF. That scene in Mycroft’s house, where Sherlock looks so beaten and then snatched victory from the teeth of complete and utter failure is unbeatable, as is his whole interaction with the American agents mistreating his Mrs Hudson! ‘And exactly how many times did he fall on those bins?’ ‘I forget detective inspector”
Arcadia 17,837
The Crack in the Lens
Okay, I've been mulling over this for a few days (by the way … hello and welcome, Sherlock the Otter! May I call you Otter? ) …. and I hate to be such a copycat, but I think I'd also have to go with the scene where John asks Sherlock to be his best man, for all the reasons both VBS and Toby mentioned. And its one of those times when John is warm-hearted and sweet, and shows how much he cares about his friend.
And I agree also … if we're looking for monologues, the whole wedding speech is amazing; I almost picked that.
Season 3 is my favorite also, yay! Finally, another one like me! Then I think I like S2 next, S1, and S4, alas, last … even though I do think TLD is probably one of my all time favorite episodes. I'm really not very good at ranking the episodes, I love different things about so many of them.
At first I wanted to choose the scene in His Last Vow where Sherlock wills himself back to life. That whole mind palace sequence after he has been shot is great, imo. But even though John is mentioned there, he isn't really present, so I figured that didn't count.
Yeah, that's probably the main reason I like HLV so much, in spite of my problems with the, er, resolution … that mind palace sequence is just brilliant.
On 6/6/2019 at 4:51 AM, Inge l-w said:
From S3 there are two scenes that stand out: Lestrade’s reaction to Sherlock’s call for help, with the helicopter hovering so close overhead as to blow the sheet music on the stand..
Love that one too. I guess somehow I understand now about why John didn't invite Lestrade for the .. bachelor party? Lestrade is much closer to Sherlock. From this and bear hug.
But if we are talking S2, Scandal in Belgravia stands head and shoulders above the pastiche of Hounds and the maudlin TRF. That scene in Mycroft’s house, where Sherlock looks so beaten and then snatched victory from the teeth of complete and utter failure is unbeatable, as is his whole interaction with the American agents mistreating his Mrs Hudson! ‘And exactly how many times did he fall on those bins?’ ‘I forget detective inspector”
And yes! I think the agent's defenestration is my actual favourite scene. I really like angry Sherlock, especially when he is defending the people he cares about. That is why I'd always defend HLV *duck Arcadia's flying tomatoes..
If I remember correctly, there is a part in the book where he almost goes crazy after John is shot. It is subtle, but touching moment when John realize how much Sherlock cares for him despite his cold exterior.
Yes, that's in Three Garridebs (an otherwise unremarkable story, because it's basically a retelling of The Redheaded League with different details).
Now working on a batch of hovering tomatoes. They wait until the moment is right. Bwahahahahaahaaaaaa….
Not rotten tomatoes by any chance?
They might be by the time VBS reappears. 😞
Rotten tomatoes? But I have salad to make!!
Hey, I kept them in the refrigerator, can I help it if you were so long in getting here?
Tomatoes in the refrigerator?! Only if they've been cooked. If they're raw, refrigeration will ruin the flavor -- though admittedly, if you bought them in a supermarket, they didn't have much flavor to start with.
I keep my homegrown tomatoes in a box on an open shelf, so I can keep an eye on them and use the ripest ones first. (Out of season, I go to the store and buy canned tomatoes, never fresh ones, which are always dreadful.)
To be honest, I don't really like tomatoes, I just buy them because so many recipes call for them. They all taste the same to me no matter the type or what you do to them. And the less ripe they are, the better … I don't like the squishiness of ripe ones. When I'm at the store, I always pick out the firmest ones. I know, I'm weird.
And I refrigerate them because they go bad in a day or two otherwise. I'm not one of those people who's willing to run to the store every day to get the freshest produce; if it can't last in my fridge for at least a week, I don't bother buying it. I'm a horrible human being.
Go To Topic Listing Series 3
Who's Online 0 Members, 1 Anonymous, 5 Guests (See full list)
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5365
|
__label__wiki
| 0.72732
| 0.72732
|
Trump budget cuts threaten Florida's waters | Editorial
President Donald Trump's push to cut spending at the Environmental Protection Agency could cost Florida money that pays for water pollution protections.
Florida's drinking water, as well as its waterways and beaches, could suffer from President Donald Trump's push to slash spending at the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress needs to say no.
Federal help to fight water pollution in Florida is among potential casualties of Trump's pledge to cut the EPA's $8 billion budget by 30 percent.
A new report from the Environmental Defense Fund warns that Trump's proposed cuts could cost Florida millions used to combat pollution that fouls beaches, pollutes lakes and rivers and threatens drinking water supplies.
During the past five years, Florida benefited from about $600 million in EPA grants that fund efforts such as cleaning up or preventing water pollution. But if Trump's budget cuts had been in effect, the state would have received less than half of that, according to the report from the environmental advocacy group.
Losing that money would put Florida's tourist-attracting waterways and beaches at risk, as well as the drinking water the state's growing population needs.
[More Opinion] Moody, DeSantis put GOP politics first, Florida last over citizenship census question | Editorial »
When Congress considers budget measures in September, it should reject the president's proposed deep cuts to the federal agency that helps protect Florida's waters.
Trump's cuts could mean ending the pollution-fighting National Estuary Program at a time when Florida is trying to avoid more toxic algae blooms along the coast.
Last year, pollution-fueled algae blooms produced a foul-smelling, green ooze that spread across waterways near Stuart — making waters unsafe for fishing and swimming — and scared away tourists to boot. Trump's proposed cuts could do away with the EPA program that during the past five years has directed nearly $12 million in help to Florida's estuaries, according to the Environmental Defense Fund report.
The cuts could also hamper efforts to make sure waters off Florida's beaches are safe for swimming. The state received nearly $3 million in federal funding during the past five years to test for fecal matter and other pollutants, according to the report.
Lake Okeechobee algae bloom renews water pollution concerns
By Andy Reid
The EPA has been a popular target for Trump and other Republicans who complain that the federal agency's pollution-fighting regulations hamper businesses and stifle job creation. Long before running for office, Trump in 2011 tweeted that the EPA was, "an impediment to both growth and jobs."
During the campaign, Trump singled out the department that enforces environmental regulations as an example of something he would get rid of "in almost every form."
[More Opinion] Trump the environmentalist? Now there’s a dirty joke. | Editorial »
"We're going to have little tidbits left, but we're going to take a tremendous amount out," Trump said during the March 4, 2016 presidential debate in Detroit.
Trump picked an EPA administrator, former Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, who had long fought the regulatory agency he now oversees. Also, Pruitt has questioned whether man-made pollution is the primary cause of climate change.
Under Pruitt, the EPA has rolled back pollution limits on power plants and is seeking to rein in water pollution regulations.
In May, Pruitt defended the president's proposed budget cutbacks as an effort that "respects the American taxpayer" while still enabling the EPA to support its "highest priorities." But Pruitt's priorities for the EPA are far short of the protections that Florida waters need.
Sugar-cane growing on state land misses pollution-cleanup goal, records show
And Trump's campaign pledges to help businesses by cutting federal regulations shouldn't mean sacrificing pollution protections that would put Florida's drinking water and public health at risk.
Diminishing programs that guard Florida's waterways will end up hurting — not helping — businesses in a state dependent on tourism.
[More Opinion] Let’s celebrate Apollo 11, but let’s also find a way to launch new adventures together | Editorial »
If Congress does back the president's EPA budget cuts, that could shift more of those costs to state and local taxpayers.
Trump, who makes frequent Florida visits, doesn't have to look far from his Mar-a-Lago Club to find examples of the need for the EPA's pollution fighting efforts.
Recently, beaches near Mar-a-Lago were temporarily closed due to high bacteria levels typically blamed on pollution. And last year's toxic algae blooms fouled waters less than an hour's drive north of Trump's Palm Beach estate.
Latest Sun Sentinel Editorials
Moody, DeSantis put GOP politics first, Florida last over citizenship census question | Editorial
Trump the environmentalist? Now there’s a dirty joke. | Editorial
Let’s celebrate Apollo 11, but let’s also find a way to launch new adventures together | Editorial
Trying to save money by making big cuts to the EPA's budget will make it harder to prevent and respond to those types of pollution emergencies in the future.
Also, while Trump's nearly $3 billion in proposed EPA cuts risk efforts to fight pollution, the cuts would do little to trim the federal government's nearly $600 billion budget deficit.
Congress and the president need to ensure that protecting Florida's waters from pollution remains a federal priority, not a budget sacrifice.
Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O'Hara, Elana Simms, Gary Stein, Andy Reid and Editor-in-Chief Howard Saltz.
Scott Pruitt
Howard Saltz
Florida to require mental health classes in public schools starting in sixth grade
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5369
|
__label__cc
| 0.741702
| 0.258298
|
TEXL
Test of Expressive Language
by Elizabeth Carrow-Woolfolk and Elizabeth A. Allen - Ages: 3;0–12;11
Ages: 3;0-12;11
Testing Time: 20 to 30 minutes
Norm-referenced: percentile ranks, standard scores, and age equivalents
Administration: Individual
TEXL Complete Kit: Examiner’s Manual, Picture Book, and 25 Examiner Record Booklets in a sturdy storage box. (2014)
Qualification Level: B
The new Test of Expressive Language (TEXL) is a highly reliable and valid measure of a child’s expressive spoken language ability. The test measures a child’s ability to produce the following categories of English language forms:
Vocabulary: Word classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, and words that represent basic precepts and concepts.
Grammatical Morphemes: Function words (e.g., prepositions, pronouns, determiners) and inflections (e.g., bound morphemes such as noun number and case, verb number and tense, noun–verb agreement, and derivational suffixes).
Elaborated Phrases and Sentences: Syntactically based word relations and elaborated phrase and sentence constructions, including the modalities of single and combined constructions (interrogative sentences, negative sentences, active and passive voice, direct and indirect object), embedded sentences, and partially and completely conjoined sentences.
The TEXL was co-normed with, and is a companion to, the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language–Fourth Edition (TACL-4). While the TACL-4 measures a child’s receptive language ability, the TEXL measures a child’s expressive language ability. Because the tests are co-normed, TEXL results can be meaningfully compared to those of the TACL-4. Norms for the TEXL are based on a nationally representative sample of 1,205 children in the U.S. The manual includes norm-referenced data: percentile ranks, standard scores, and age equivalents.
Normative data collected in 2012 and 2013.
Characteristics of the normative sample stratified by age relative to region, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and other critical variables and are the same as those reported for the preschool and school-age population reported in the Statistical Abstract of the United States 2013 (ProQuest, LLC, 2012).
Age-related entry points, basals, and ceilings ensure that testing time is minimal and children complete only the items that are optimal for their ability levels.
Each item on the test was evaluated using both conventional item analyses to choose "good" items and the new differential analyses to find and eliminate potentially biased items.
Reliability coefficients were computed for subgroups of the normative sample as well as for the entire normative group.
A major effort demonstrated conclusively that the test is both reliable and valid, including diagnostic accuracy analyses, particularly rigorous techniques involving the computation of the sensitivity index, specificity index, and the receiver operating characteristic/area under curve (ROC/AUC).
The TEXL was co-normed with the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language–Fourth Edition (TACL-4; Carrow-Woolfolk, 2014).
Description of TEXL
Each item is composed of a word or sentence and a corresponding picture plate. The examiner reads the stimulus aloud and the subject answers a question, finishes a sentence, or combines sentences based on the stimulus provided. The TEXL test items appear according to difficulty within each of the three subtests. Entry points, basal and ceiling rules for scoring are provided for each subtest.
The Examiner’s Manual includes a comprehensive discussion of the test's theoretical and research-based foundation, item development, standardization, administration and scoring procedures, norms tables, and guidelines for using and interpreting the test’s results. Reliability and validity studies were conducted with individuals with normal language abilities and individuals who had previously been diagnosed with learning disabilities, ADHD, deaf or hard of hearing, articulation disorder, language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, or intellectual disorder as well as those who have been identified as gifted and talented.
TEXL coefficients alpha range between .93 and .95 for the subtests and is .97 for the Expressive Language Index. Average correlations with popular criterion measures of expressive language ability range from .72 to .86. Studies of diagnostic accuracy as it relates to sensitivity (median = .79), specificity (median =.91), classification accuracy (median = .86), and receiver operating characteristic/area under the curve (median = .95) are reported.
TM830 - TEXL Complete Kit $367.00
TMF831 - TEXL Examiner Record Booklet (25) $73.00
MAVA22
MAVA
Chipper Chat
WABC11
TACL-4
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5370
|
__label__wiki
| 0.502526
| 0.502526
|
Surfer killed by shark off Reunion Island
May 10, 2019 | Surfing
A surfer aged 28 died in Reunion Island after a shark attack.
The incident took place off the coast of surfing off Saint-Leu, a fishing town located on the west coast of the French department.
The authorities were called after a witness saw a surfboard floating near the shore. His body was only recovered later.
According to the Reunion Island officials, the shark bit one of the surfer's leg and tore it off.
The victim was one of the four surfers that were catching waves in the area. All the other three were able to get back to shore without any injuries.
The shark attack occurred in a high-risk area where surfing is banned.
"During this period of school holidays, the Prefect of Reunion Island recommends the utmost vigilance to all ocean users, and more particularly to those practicing nautical activities," an official statement notes.
"Reunion Island is entering a transitional period between the summer and the austral winter with plenty of southern swell fronts which attracts surfers and bodyboarders."
"However, the presence of potentially dangerous bull sharks in the Reunionese coast increases as water temperatures shifts between seasons."
No Surfing, No Swimming
A prefectural decree issued on February 13, 2019, temporarily regulated bathing and certain nautical activities by restricting water interaction 300 meters off the coast of Reunion Island.
The ban is valid for swimmers using flippers, mask and snorkel equipment, surfing, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, longboarding, and paddleboarding).
Other water activities, including scuba diving and underwater fishing, are still possible under regulations, at the risk and peril of users.
The prefecture of Reunion Island recommends water users follow the official beach flags and warning signs available on supervised beaches.
On certain beaches, there's specific signage relating to shark risk, including:
1. A red flag with a shark indicates that the presence of a shark has recently been reported or observed in or near the area;
2. An orange flag with a shark indicates that the conditions on the zone are conducive to the presence of sharks;
Since 2011, Reunion Island reported 24 shark attacks of which 11 resulted in deaths.
Discover the deadliest and most dangerous shark species.
Scientists test a shark bite-resistant wetsuit
Surfing Western Australia has more tools to mitigate shark attacks
Shark incidents force cancellation of the 2018 Margaret River Pro
What are my chances of being attacked and killed by a shark?
First shark attack on surfer in the UK
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5371
|
__label__wiki
| 0.591629
| 0.591629
|
What are capillary waves?
The most common source of swell is mid-latitude depression. When the wind blows over the ocean, energy is transferred from air to water and waves are generated.
Capillary waves represent the initial stage of wave generation. They are the first waves produced by small vortices in a completely flat sea, and they have a very short wavelength.
Perhaps the best way of exemplifying the capillary wave is imagining a simple hairdryer, which can switch itself on and off about once a second.
You point it to the surface of the water, and magic happens. The jet will cause a depression in the water surface, and a lump all around. The capillary waves feature a V-shaped trough, rounded crests, and a maximum wavelength of 0,68 inches (1.73 centimeters).
In the open ocean, capillary waves are also known as cat's paw waves because they resemble the feline's paw prints. They're the first stage of a groundswell formation.
But if you switch off the hairdryer switches itself off, the scenario changes. Watch how the depression area and the lumps bounce up and down, the wave motion propagates outwards, and the wave gets bigger.
As waves start traveling, they become gravity waves. Why? Because the new-born ripples develop their own "private" vortices called Eddies. The turbulent Eddies make the waves bigger, and the restoring force becomes gravity, instead of wind power.
One could think that gravity waves get perpetually bigger, but that is not the case. At a certain stage of the wave motion, wind and gravity start working against each other, and white capping takes over to limit the wave's energy.
Do you know how waves are formed in the open ocean? Can you identify the four types of breaking waves?
Okahina Wave: the floating atoll ready to revolutionize surfing
Greg Webber announces new concept for artificial ocean waves
What is a standing wave?
What are square waves?
What is a tidal bore?
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5372
|
__label__wiki
| 0.982769
| 0.982769
|
Vice mayor position officially added to August 2 ballot
The Davidson County Election Commission voted to add a special election for the vice mayor position on the Aug. 2 ballot.
Vice mayor position officially added to August 2 ballot The Davidson County Election Commission voted to add a special election for the vice mayor position on the Aug. 2 ballot. Check out this story on Tennessean.com: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/06/01/nashville-vice-mayor-election-august-ballot/665030002/
Jordyn Pair, USA Today Network - Tennessee Published 6:03 p.m. CT June 1, 2018
Briley wins special election for Nashville mayor
Mayor David Briley is greeted by his supporters at his Election Night party as he Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn., after winning Thursday''s election to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley speaks to his supporters at his Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday''s election to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. . Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley is greeted by his supporters at his Election Night victory party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Thursday''s election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain raises hands with her supporters at University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University Thursday, May 24, 2018, after losing to Mayor David Briley in a special election to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain gives her concession speech to her supporters at University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University Thursday, May 24, 2018, after losing to Mayor David Briley in a special election to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley speaks to his supporters at his Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday''s election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley and Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton celebrate his victory at his Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Thursday''s election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley speaks to his supporters at his Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday's election which was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain watches election results at her Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at the University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University. Thursday's election was held to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Supporters cheer for mayoral candidate Carol Swain as she is interviewed on television at her Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at the University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University. Thursday's election was held to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley supporters, from left, Shohreh Daraci, Eda Gioni and Max Dotson, chat at an Election Night party at Cabana Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday's election which was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley supporters, from left, Sara Finley, and Sharon and Mark Deutschmann chat at an Election Night party at Cabana Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday's election which was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Metro Councilman Jeremy Elrod speaks at an Election Night party for Mayor David Briley at Cabana Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won Thursday's election which was held to Nfill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Supporters gather at an Election Night party for Mayor David Briley Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Briley won the special mayoral race to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain talks to supporters at her Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018 at University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University. Thursday's election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain poses for a photo with a supporter at her Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018 at University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University. Thursday's election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayoral candidate Carol Swain talks to supporters at her Election Night party Thursday, May 24, 2018 at University Club of Nashville at Vanderbilt University. Thursday's election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers will take place June 28. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Mayor David Briley is greeted by his supporters at his Election Night victory party Thursday, May 24, 2018, at Cabana in Nashville, Tenn. Thursday''s election was to fill the remaining time on former Mayor Megan Barry's term. (Photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean)Buy Photo
The Davidson County Election Commission unanimously voted Friday to place a special election for Nashville vice mayor on the Aug. 2 ballot.
The commission also elected to hold early voting at the Bordeaux library, contingent on approval from the state.
The position is vacant after Mayor David Briley was officially elected into office late last month.
Vice mayor interest: Nashville special vice mayor's race underway as several council members explore bids
Briley took over the mayoral position from former mayor Megan Barry, who resigned after pleading guilty to felony theft in relation to an affair with the head of her police security detail.
Barry resigned March 6, and Briley assumed the position the same day.
Briley will serve out the remainder of Barry's term, which is set to end in 2019.
Metro Councilwoman Sheri Weiner has served as acting vice mayor since Barry's resignation.
Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/06/01/nashville-vice-mayor-election-august-ballot/665030002/
Nashville police officer arrested on domestic assault charge in Cheatham
First Cracker Barrel moved to Wilson County fairgrounds
House Speaker Glen Casada claims he can no longer pay alimony
Rep. Matthew Hill borrowing a page from Casada's playbook
Electric scooters will stay in Nashville — for now
Heat wave: Record high temps expected in Nashville heading into the weekend
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5381
|
__label__wiki
| 0.613762
| 0.613762
|
Dragons control North in 2-0 soccer win
Apr 16, 2019 at 11:03 PM Apr 17, 2019 at 8:55 PM
WELCOME – Strong defense, field position and possession propelled the West Davidson girls’ soccer team to a 2-0 victory Tuesday over North Davidson.
A first half goal from senior Cassie Riggs and a second half goal by fellow senior Kailyn Owens were all West needed to hold off the Black Knights and earn their 15th consecutive win.
The Green Dragons now sport a 16-1 record on the season, including a 13-1 mark in the CCC, which ties them for first with Salisbury.
“The first goal by Cassie set the tone for us as it gave us a little breathing room. We were able to deny them in the top of our defensive third and their offensive third. Their opportunities were limited, and that one goal did set the tone,” West Davidson coach Chris Brown said after the match.
West maintained possession for the first 12 minutes of the game, but the Dragons’ scoring opportunities were limited until Riggs’ goal in the 13th minute. A North Davidson foul gave Riggs an opportunity for a penalty kick and the Dragons’ midfielder promptly converted.
“Cassie asked me if I wanted it on a frame or if I wanted a ball put in trying to finish across. I told her to just have a go at it,” Brown said describing Riggs’ penalty kick.
Of the goal that ultimately gave West a 1-0 lead the Dragons never relinquished, Brown added, “She did it not too long ago against Central maybe and she finished that one right there and that really did change the game for us.”
West outshot North 10-1 in the first half and maintained a 1-0 halftime lead.
In the 49th minute Riggs found Owens driving toward the center of the goal and made a perfect pass that Owens pushed by North’s Madison Musgrave for a 2-0 lead.
North coach Scott Beckom praised the Dragons’ effort saying that “West was by far the better team tonight. You could tell by the shots on goal difference.”
West finished the game with a 17-3 shots on goal advantage.
Beckom also acknowledged some missed opportunities for the Black Knights, especially on defense.
“We didn’t move on a free kick. It was a good shot, a good hit but I think we could have defended it a little better and that put us down one,” Beckom said referring to Riggs’ goal that put West up 1-0.
“The second goal we didn’t pick up a girl in the middle and their player made a great play and laid the ball across the middle like she should, and they finished on it. We have to do better and execute defensively,” Beckom added.
West returns to the pitch Wednesday as the Dragons host South Rowan on Senior Night.
North dropped to 9-4 overall, 8-4 in conference play after a having a three-match winning streak snapped. The Black Knights will travel to take on Thomasville Wednesday night.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5384
|
__label__wiki
| 0.799905
| 0.799905
|
Microsoft employees protest: HoloLens for good, not war
Microsoft's new contract highlights an interesting intersection between technology, ethical policy, and fair use
By Eric Hamilton on February 23, 2019, 20:36 25 comments
What just happened? In a letter sent to CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith, employees are calling for Microsoft to cancel their contract with the U.S. Army. The contract would see Microsoft deliver as many as 100,000 HoloLens headsets to support the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System program. Employees feel the contract is not only amoral, but an erosion of their ability to have a say in how their work is used.
Microsoft employees have issued an open letter addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith protesting the controversial $480 million contract Microsoft inked with the U.S. Army to provide AR technology.
Under the terms of the contract, Microsoft would supply as many as 100,000 HoloLens headsets to support the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS. IVAS is a program designed to “increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy.”
Microsoft's employees, particularly those who have worked on HoloLens development, have vehemently objected to this. The letter, allegedly signed by more than 50 employees already, was published Friday afternoon and outlines employees' moral stance on the contract.
We are a global coalition of Microsoft workers, and we refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression. We are alarmed that Microsoft is working to provide weapons technology to the U.S. Military, helping one country's government "increase lethality" using tools we built. We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used.
The letter, which also cites Microsoft's past dealings with the military, states that the company is crossing the line into weapons development with the contract. The employees state that they believe IVAS will turn warfare into a simulated video game, while distancing soldiers from the reality and bloodshed of war. Moreover, the employees feel they've lost their say in how their work is used, believing "it would be used to help architects and engineers build buildings and cars, to help teach people how to perform surgery or play the piano, to push the boundaries of gaming, and to connect with the Mars Rover (RIP)."
As such, the letter demands that Microsoft:
Cancel the IVAS contract
Cease any and all weapons technologies and development, and draft a public policy to back that commitment
Appoint an external ethics review board to enforce the policy and ensure compliance
This is the latest manifestation of an increasing dissent between tech companies and their employees. Last year, Microsoft again faced internal criticism for their involvement with ICE amidst the policy of separating families at the border. Google halted their partnership with the Pentagon to work on drones after widespread, internal backlash. Google also faced protest and walkouts over their handling of misconduct and discrimination, leading to the trending #GoogleWalkout late last year.
While Microsoft has stated that they remain receptive to the voice of their employees, the company also reiterated its longstanding relationship with the Department of Defense. It remains to be seen whether or not Microsoft will accede to any of the employee demands.
On behalf of workers at Microsoft, we're releasing an open letter to Brad Smith and Satya Nadella, demanding for the cancelation of the IVAS contract with a call for stricter ethical guidelines.
If you're a Microsoft employee you can sign at: https://t.co/958AhvIHO5 pic.twitter.com/uUZ5P4FJ7X
— Microsoft Workers 4 Good (@MsWorkers4) February 22, 2019
HoloLens on the battlefield: How the army uses AR
Opinion: Second gen HoloLens provides insights into edge computing models
25 comments 585 interactions
Windows 10 force-updating from version 1803 to 1903
Microsoft Word has now been installed over one billion times on Android devices
Lotus goes electric with its Evija hypercar that costs over $2 million and makes nearly 2,000 hp
Load Comments 25
User Comments: 25
Online porn videos produce as much CO2 as a small country
Wiggling the mouse in Windows 95 made the operating system faster
Apple put a slower SSD in the 2019 MacBook Air to trim costs
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5395
|
__label__wiki
| 0.827502
| 0.827502
|
Black Caviar v Winx: Who..
Black Caviar v Winx: Who would win over 1400m?
Hear the race call!
They are arguably Australia’s two greatest ever racehorses, but the question is who would win a race between Black Caviar and Winx in their prime?
The hypothetical race would be contested over 1400m on a good track with set weights and poses a very entertaining debate for two champion horses that captivated the hearts and minds of racing fans in Australia and abroad.
Black Caviar (24s 24w) went unbeaten in her outstanding career, dusting off competition and completing 15 Group 1 victories before retiring in April 2013.
Winx (40s 34w 3p) has recorded an astonishing 30 consecutive victories and counting, including an unheralded 22 Group 1 wins and her standing in Australian racing history will likely never be eclipsed.
Winx vs Black Caviar over 1400m, who wins?
— Macquarie Sports Radio (@MacquarieSport) February 21, 2019
Both horses have faced some seriously tough rivals over their historic careers, and were able to make their competition look second rate at some stages.
The likes of Hay List (28s 15w 6p) and Crystal Lily (15s 4w 6p) were second to the great Black Caviar in their successful careers and the former went very close to beating the legend on some occasions but was outclassed on the home stretch.
Happy Clapper (38s 11w 10p) is one of the best and most popular horses in the country at the moment, highlighted by it flying home on the rails to win the 2018 Doncaster Mile, while Hartnell (47s 13w 13p) has been a consistent galloper and challenged the ‘Mighty Mare’ for quite some time.
At the 1400m distance Winx has won 7 races from 9 starts, while Black Caviar only had the sole start at the distance and came away with the win.
Racing expert Bruce Clark joined David Morrow and Mat Thompson to talk about the ‘dream race’ and believes last weekend’s return for Winx was her greatest performance at the distance and gives the Mighty Mare the edge.
“I’m putting my money on Winx in this race,” Clark said.
“It becomes a tactical race at this distance; Black Caviar only had the one start at this distance and dashed home at 33.39 for the final 600m, but Winx has eclipsed that sectional twice in her career over 1400m – 32.89 and 32.93 so that’s her great asset.
“Based on purely that, I’m going with Winx due to her ability to finish off a 1400m race stronger and quicker than Black Caviar despite only having one reference point for the latter.”
Black Caviar ran the majority of her races at shorter distances and excelled as a sprinter, while Winx has had a plethora of starts at a mile and longer including her amazing four Cox Plate wins – so allowing them to meet in the middle proves a tantalising dream scenario for racing fans.
Who would you have your money on if we saw the undefeated Black Caviar against the people’s horse Winx?
Listen to the odds preview and phantom call of Black Caviar vs Winx
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5402
|
__label__wiki
| 0.869275
| 0.869275
|
by AeroZeppelin1 USER (23 Reviews)
June 21st, 2006 | 351 replies
After the success of "Operation: Mindcrime", Queensryche released "Empire" an album similar to Metallica's self titled release. No longer did the band really experiment with the music like they did in past albums this was a more straight forward shot at a more commercial sounding album. They spawned a few hits off this album to say it was unsuccessful is wrong because it was, even though they may have lost some of their hardcore fans who didn't like the change. But overall, "Empire" should delight the mainstream rock fans and maybe some more.
Geoff Tate (Vocals)
Chris DeGarmo (Guitars)
Michael Wilton (Guitars)
Eddie Jackson (Bass)
Scott Rockenfield (Drums)
1. Best I Can
This track starts out dark but to a suprise a clean guitar riff maintains the rythm. The lyrics are quite catchy on this one especially on the chorus and you'll soon realize that a lot of the songs on this album follow this blueprint. Not too much to say about this track other than it's a fine way to start the album. 4/5
2. The Thin Line
This song starts out a bit slower but ends up rockin' more than "Best I Can". Once again, it's a bit dark and may be hard to really get into and see that it contains some good lyrics and Tate does a good job on the vocals. 4/5
3. Jet City Woman
The first big song of the album and what can anyone say" It has a rockin' riff that is irresistably catchy and the energetic singing really grab your attention. The lyrics are some of the best from Queensryche and really, this is just a song you'll hear and it'll get stuck in your head for a long, long time. 5/5
4. Della Brown
One of the more interesting songs on the album, it really gets old after awhile due to the repeating riff throughout the song that never gets much of a change up through the song. The lyrics are appealing in an interesting sense, i'm not sure what they're actually about but are worth lookin' up. 3/5
5. Another Rainy Night (Without You)
The next hit, starts out dark and quiet and really sounds like it'll end up as a ballad but the song explodes into a rocker with a lot of energy. The lyrics leading into the chorus do a good job of getting your attention then head into the chorus which is the seller for the song. This song may get repetitve after a few listens but it's still a great tune. 5/5
A sweet guitar riff but the almost robotic like voices sung during the chorus is really annoying and stupid. That being said, "Empire" is still a great song and is actually probably the true main song to the album. Their is some good soloing in this song as well and overall is a great track. 4/5
7. Resistance
This song kind of comes off as a suprise, its not really catchy and the singing isn't all that appealing but as usual Queensryche pulls off an excellent riff that's sure to make up for the poor singing and weak lyrics. 3/5
8. Silent Lucidity
The big ballad and besides "Jet City Woman", the biggest hit on the album. You'll hear this song a lot on the radio more than likely. Starting out with a quiet acoustic guitar, Tate comes in with some ghostly singing that combined with the haunting riff creates an eeiry feel to it. The solo is actually disappointing really but not a major problem because the lyrics are awesome. The song gets quiet again after the solo and ends with a silent acoustic guitar playing some notes. 5/5
9. Hand on Heart
Another ballad like song that may appeal to you with its catchy chorus or quiet yet rockin' riff. It's not as dark as the other songs on the album either and that helps the appeal of the song as well. Overall, its easily one of the most underated songs on the album. 4/5
10. One and Only
Kind of like "Silent Lucidty" and "Hand on Heart" with a more rockin' feel to it as far as the bass and guitar riffs go. The vocal performance is top notch again but by now the lyrics are getting really repetitive on some of these songs, especially this one. That being said, its still a good song that adds depth to the album. 4/5
11. Anybody Listening"
It's really amazing how they sound so much like Pink Floyd in this song. It would be easy to mistake this for a song off "The Wall" or something because it sure has the sound to it. Once again, it's dark and silent throughout the song but i'm sure if you like Floyd you'll like this song without a doubt. I'm not sure what the lyrics are tryin' to say or what the message is or whatever meaning it has to the album but I know it's a great conclusion to a fine album. 5/5
Although Queensryche really went down after this album, kind of like Metallica after they released their self titled album known as "The Black Album". It boasts some rockin' songs like "Jet City Woman", "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Resistance". It also has some good ballads like "Silent Lucidity" and "Hand on Heart" as well. Queensryche even show a strong influence from Pink Floyd with the song "Anybody Listening"". This is an excellent album and if you're a fan of Queensryche, you should already have it and really, if you like hard rock on the border line of metal, this album is a great choice.
Pros (+)
+ "Jet City Woman" and "Silent Lucidity"
+ Great singing by Tate
+ Some catchy riffs on most of the songs
+ Some influences really show on some of the songs (Listen to "Anybody Listening"")
Cons (-)
- Some of the songs get really repetitive
- Besides the big hits this album may be a little hard to get into
Eagles Hotel California Lynyrd Skynyrd Second Helping
Lynyrd Skynyrd Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd Aerosmith Rocks
Van Halen Van Halen Van Halen 1984
Rank: #99 for 1990
other reviews of this album
PsychicChris (4.5)
Queensryche's fourth studio album opts for a more accessible sound while still keeping a good head o...
Parallels (3.5)
Queensrÿche's Empire is the first of it's kind, a commercial ace in the hole and an achievement fro...
Condition Human
Frequency Unknown
Pink Floyd The Wall
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Deep Purple Machine Head
Judas Priest Hell Bent for Leather
trending metal albums
Ordinary Corrupt Human Lo
On 45 Music Lists
AeroZeppelin1
well i can def. understand what you're saying! lol
Hand on Heart is a really catchy one. Good review too.
Cravinov13
I love this CD. I found it in my dad's old music collection. Best i Can, The Thin Line, Empire, Hand On Heart, One And Only, and Anybody Listening? all are awesome songs.
I'm actually competeing with myslef on wheither I like this mor ethe Operation: Mindcrime or not.
deflepp0925
Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
mindcrime is better but this is in close competition with rage but i think empire comes out on top
OK review, if you do a track by track, maybe in the future do a little more detail about the track
^^ Agreed. If Operation: Mincrime didn't exist, this would be Queensryche's best album hands down.
Remial4
Now I'm worried...
Spamwise
I love this album. The song Jet City Woman got me into Queensryche. It's hard for me to pick a favorite from this album..Resitance, Empire, Silent Lucidity, Jet City Woman, Another Rainy Night, Anybody Listeing?, bunch of great tracks..
SwinginSoriano
June 3rd 2007
A lot of hits, and the filler is interesting other than Della Brown.
All the songs on here are amazing by Queensryche standards. Second best only to Operation Mindcrime IMO.
Bfhurricane
Silent Lucidity and Jet City Woman are great songs, theyre the two I hear most on the radio by Queensryche.
Zherkezhi57
SO is mindcrime really their only good album?
Thats a shame, im new to these guys n i wanted to check out their other music.
Fuck no, it's not their only good album. This album is good, but more listener friendly. Promised Land is awesome, but is more experimental and moody. Rage for Order is my personal favorite, it's kind of "dated" but it's the most atmospheric.
ilikemusicthatsucks
[quote=REVIEW]4.5[/quote]
No.This Message Edited On 05.02.08
mcdaid
I use to listen to this album a lot in high school. A great album with some good songs. The best songs are Silent Lucidity, Empire, Jet City Woman, and Anybody Listening?
Dis_Con_Nec_Ted
I really dig the 90's nostalgia on this record. The production is great compared to previous Queensrÿche albums. Although Geoff's voice sounds a bit different at times on this, it's solid nontheless.
JET CITY.. WOOOOOOOMMMAANNN
Been spinning this and Rage for Order pretty much nonstop. Great replay value for this album.
this rocks
Yah this rocks hard. Everytime something from this gets stuck in my head, mostly Best I Can and Jet City Woman, I need to put the album on.
KILL, have you heard Rage for Order? Rocks a little harder than this.
nah i gota get a lot of their albums actually i only got this and operation mindcrime (best album ever)
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5404
|
__label__wiki
| 0.828676
| 0.828676
|
Japan to restart commercial whaling
Japan says it is to restart commercial whaling in July in a move that is likely to draw international criticism.
It said it would withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body tasked with whale conservation.
Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some species were driven almost to extinction.
Officials in Japan, an IWC member since 1951, say eating whales is part of the country's culture.
For many years Japan has hunted whales for what it calls "scientific research" and to sell the meat, a programme widely criticised by conservationists.
Wednesday's announcement had been expected, but conservation groups warn the move will have serious consequences.
It means Japan will be able to freely hunt species currently protected by the IWC, like minke whales.
What did Japan just announce?
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said commercial whaling would be restricted to Japanese territorial waters and economic zones.
As a result, Japan will stop hunting in Antarctic waters and the southern hemisphere, a prospect conservation groups had welcomed before it was formally confirmed.
(BBC News)
More in this category: « Pope Francis condemns world of materialism & poverty Michelle Obama, America's most admired woman »
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5405
|
__label__wiki
| 0.948121
| 0.948121
|
World Dozens injured, arrested in violent Hong Kong clashes
Dozens injured, arrested in violent Hong Kong clashes
Nathan VanderKlippe Asia correspondent
Published October 3, 2014 Updated May 12, 2018
A backlash against a student-led protest movement produced ugly scenes and arrests in several Hong Kong locations, as tensions boiled over for business owners and local residents angry at having their local roads and neighbourhoods blocked.
Hong Kong police said Saturday they have arrested 19 people, some of whom are believed to have organized crime ties, after mobs tried to drive pro-democracy protesters from the streets where they have held a week-long, largely peaceful demonstration.
At least 12 people and six officers were injured during the clashes, district commander Kwok Pak-chung said at a pre-dawn press briefing. Protest leaders called off planned talks with the government on political reforms after the battles kicked off Friday afternoon in gritty, blue-collar Mong Kok, across Victoria Harbor from the activists' main protest camp.
Police struggled for hours to control the battles as attackers pushed, shoved and jeered the protesters. Those arrested face charges of unlawful assembly, fighting in public and assault, Kwok said, adding that eight men are believed to have backgrounds involving triads, or organized crime gangs.
The protesters urged residents to join their cause and demanded that the police protect their encampments. The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the demonstrations that drew tens of thousands of people earlier this week, said they saw no choice but to cancel the dialogue.
"The government is demanding the streets be cleared. We call upon all Hong Kong people to immediately come to protect our positions and fight to the end," the group said in a statement.
They demanded the government hold someone responsible for the scuffles Friday, the worst disturbances since police used tear gas and pepper spray on protesters last weekend to try to disperse them.
Hundreds of people remained in the streets early Saturday in Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping areas, after the clashes.
"Of course I'm scared, but we have to stay and support everyone," said Michael Yipu, 28, who works in a bank.
Follow The Globe's Nathan Vanderklippe (@nvanderklippe) for updates on Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution." Get caught up first with The Globe's simple primer on the protests.
Tweets by @nvanderklippe
[<a href="//storify.com/theglobeandmail/globe-in-hong-kong-clashes-erupt-at-pro-democracy" target="_blank">View the story "Globe in Hong Kong: Clashes erupt at pro-democracy protest site" on Storify</a>]
Follow Nathan VanderKlippe on Twitter @nvanderklippe
GOP support for Trump rises after 'go back' tweet: poll 2:20
Drug kingpin 'El Chapo' gets life sentence in U.S. 2:32
U.S. prepares for 'major heat wave' 1:02
Schitt's Creek breaks into Emmy nominations 1:56
Ursula von der Leyen elected to top EU job 1:24
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5410
|
__label__wiki
| 0.962776
| 0.962776
|
'Petya' ransomware attack strikes companies across Europe and US
Ukraine government, banks and electricity grid hit hardest, but companies in France, Denmark and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania also attacked
Jon Henley European affairs correspondent and Olivia Solon in San Francisco
Tue 27 Jun 2017 10.55 EDT Last modified on Thu 15 Feb 2018 04.09 EST
Ukraine has blamed Russia for previous cyber-attacks, including one on its power grid at the end of 2015. Photograph: Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA
Victims of a major ransomware cyberattack that has spread through the US and Europe can no longer unlock their computers even if they pay the ransom.
The “Petya” ransomware has caused serious disruption at large firms including the advertising giant WPP, French construction materials company Saint-Gobain and Russian steel and oil firms Evraz and Rosneft.
Petya cyber-attack: Cadbury factory hit as ransomware spreads to Australian businesses
Infected computers display a message demanding a Bitcoin ransom worth $300. Those who pay are asked to send confirmation of payment to an email address. However, that email address has been shut down by the email provider.
“We do not tolerate any misuse of our platform,” said the German email provider Posteo in a blog post.
This means that there is no longer any way for people who decide to pay the ransom to contact the attacker for a decryption key to unlock their computer.
“This is not an experienced ransomware operator,” said Ryan Kalember, senior vice-president of cybersecurity strategy at Proofpoint.
The attack was first reported in Ukraine, where the government, banks, state power utility and Kiev’s airport and metro system were all affected. The radiation monitoring system at Chernobyl was taken offline, forcing employees to use hand-held counters to measure levels at the former nuclear plant’s exclusion zone.
The food giant Mondelez, legal firm DLA Piper, Danish shipping and transport giant AP Moller-Maersk and Heritage Valley Health System, which runs hospitals and care facilities in Pittsburgh, also said their systems had been hit by the malware.
WPP said in a statement that the computer systems at several of its subsidiary companies had been affected, adding that it was “assessing the situation and taking appropriate measures”.
In an internal memo to staff, one WPP firm said it was the target of “a massive global malware attack, affecting all Windows servers, PCs and laptops”. It warned employes to turn off and disconnect all machines using Windows.
Some technology experts said the attack appeared consistent with an “updated variant” of a virus known as Petya or Petrwrap, a ransomware that locks computer files and forces users to pay a designated sum to regain access.
But analysts at cyber security firm Kaspersky Labs said they had traced the infections to “a new ransomware that has not been seen before”. The “NotPetya” attack had hit 2,000 users in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France, Italy, the UK, Germany and the US, Kaspersky said.
Anis (@0xUID)
Kaspersky Lab analysts say new attacks are not a variant of #Petya ransomware as publicly reported, but a new ransomware they call NotPetya! pic.twitter.com/zLwKNOR2VL
Last month’s WannaCry or WannaCrypt ransomware attack affected more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries, with the UK’s national health service, Spanish phone giant Telefónica and German state railways among those hardest hit.
Symantec cyber security experts said they had confirmed the ransomware in the current attack was using the same exploit – a program that takes advantage of a software vulnerability - as WannaCry.
The exploit - called EternalBlue - was leaked by the Shadow Brokers hacker group in April and is thought to have been developed by the US National Security Agency.
To spread within companies that installed the patch to protect themselves against WannaCry, the Petya ransomware appears to have two other ways of spreading rapidly within an organisation, by targeting the network’s administrator tools.
It’s not yet clear how computers became infected with the ransomware in the first place, but it doesn’t seem to be through email as happened with WannaCry, said Kalember.
Pictures circulating on social media on Tuesday of screens purportedly affected by the attack showed a message stating, “Your files are no longer accessible because they have been encrypted,” and demanding a $300 ransom in the Bitcoin digital currency.
Ankit singh (@ankit5934)
New #ransomware spreading through SMB... Its #rebooting OS and encrypting files. Any idea which one it is? pic.twitter.com/DaEyqIKBvH
The attack affected all business units at Maersk, including container shipping, port and tug boat operations, oil and gas production, drilling services, and oil tankers, the company said, as well as seventeen container terminals.
“We can confirm that Maersk IT systems are down across multiple sites and business units due to a cyber-attack,” the Copenhagen-based firm said on Twitter. “We continue to assess the situation.”
The disruptions in Ukraine follow a rash of hacking attempts on state websites in late 2016 and a succession of attacks on the national electricity grid that prompted security chiefs to call for improved cyber defences.
The country’s prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, said the attack was “unprecedented” but vital systems had not been affected. “Our IT experts are doing their job and protecting critical infrastructure,” he said. “The attack will be repelled and the perpetrators will be tracked down.”
In a bid to calm public fears about the attack, which temporarily shut down the country’s main airport and prevented travellers from using the Kiev metro, the authorities tweeted a GIF of a dog nonchalantly drinking tea in a room on fire.
Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine)
Some of our gov agencies, private firms were hit by a virus. No need to panic, we’re putting utmost efforts to tackle the issue 👌 pic.twitter.com/RsDnwZD5Oj
Deputy prime minister Pavlo Rozenko earlier tweeted a picture of a darkened computer screen and said the government’s IT system had been shut down. The state grid, Ukrenergo, said its system had been hit but power supplies were unaffected.
The central bank said an “unknown virus” was to blame for the latest attacks. “As a result of these cyber-attacks, these banks are having difficulties with client services and carrying out banking operations,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine has blamed Russia for previous cyber-ttacks, including one on its power grid at the end of 2015 that left part of western Ukraine temporarily without electricity. Russia has denied carrying out cyber-attacks on Ukraine.
Nicolas Duvinage, head of the French military’s digital crime unit, told Agence France-Presse the attack was “a bit like a flu epidemic in winter”, adding: “We will get many of these viral attack waves in coming months.”
The growing fight against cyber-attacks has seen protection spending surge around the world, with the global cyber security market estimated to be worth some £94bn ($120bn) this year – more than 30 times its size just over a decade ago.
Data and computer security
EU to run war games to prepare for Russian and Chinese cyber-attacks
Ministers to be put in fictional scenarios after series of hacking incidents
Russians ‘spread fake plot to assassinate Boris Johnson’ on social media
Suspected spy operation was designed to provoke tension in the west, says new study
Serpentine Galleries chief resigns in spyware firm row
Yana Peel steps down, citing ‘misguided personal attacks on me and my family’
Huawei security threat derives from its sheer scale, says analysis
Cybersecurity report warns Chinese tech firm’s breadth exposes customers to risk
How do you retaliate against a WhatsApp attack?
James O’Malley
Russia’s great firewall: is it meant to keep information in – or out?
Julian Assange’s cyber-sins seem quaint in comparison to those of big tech
The Guardian view on the world wide web: we wove a tangle
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5411
|
__label__wiki
| 0.897676
| 0.897676
|
Jay Z, Timbaland Attorneys Call Out Racial Insensitivity in ‘Big Pimpin” Copyright Appeal
December 2016 | TLSR Staff
Jay Z and Timbaland won big last fall during a copyright trial over “Big Pimpin,'” but their attorneys are on the offensive again, claiming an appeal of the decision is filled with illegitimate grievances and exacerbated by a reference to the KKK.
The legal battle began in 2007, when the heir of Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdy sued the duo, along with just about every individual and company associated with the 1999 song. The heir, Osama Fahmy, claimed “Big Pimpin'” infringed on his rights to Hamdy’s 1957 song “Khosara Khosara” by sampling it without permission.
Last fall, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder stopped the trial before the jury could deliberate, finding Fahmy didn’t have standing to pursue the claims because he had given up his rights in the work. In February, she entered her final judgment and dismissed the suit with prejudice.
Fahmy appealed the ruling in August. In a 64-page opening brief, attorney Keith Wesley argues that the district court erred in finding Fahmy lacked standing to sue.
Wesley says Fahmy licensed “Khosara Khosara” to another Egyptian man named Mohsen Jaber, but reserved the right to approve derivative works — albeit through Egyptian law instead of a standard contractual provision.
He used a jarring analogy to explain the Egyptian concept of moral rights in a work. What if, he posits, the “famous two-note ostinato from Jaws” were used in a recruitment video for the Ku Klux Klan? Had John Williams retained the right to approve derivative works in his licensing agreement, Wesley argues, he would have standing to sue the film’s director. By his logic, Fahmy should have the same standing to sue that Williams would.
Attorneys for Jay Z and Timbaland were not amused by the hypothetical scenario.
“His comparison of an expressive work of fiction created by pioneering African-American artists and performed in a distinctly African-American musical art form to a non-fiction promotional vehicle for a white supremacist group that ‘imposed a veritable reign of terror’ on newly freed African-Americans in the post-Reconstruction South for decades — using violence such as cross-burning, lynching, arson, and whippings — demonstrates a high degree of racial insensitivity that crosses the line of responsible advocacy,” states the reply.
Further, they argue that Fahmy’s interpretation of the law would open U.S. courts “to a flood of moral rights claims not recognized in this country.”
“Any Egyptian moral right Plaintiff retained is not enforceable in the United States and did not limit or modify Plaintiff’s complete worldwide transfer under the 2002 Agreement of all exclusive economic rights in Khosara,” states the reply. “In arguing otherwise, Plaintiff misrepresents the law and attempts to eviscerate the fundamental distinction between moral rights (not enforceable in the U.S.) and freely transferable economic rights, which include the right to create and prevent derivative works.”
Wesley is asking the 9th Circuit to remand the case to the district court for a new trial before a different judge, claiming that Snyder demonstrated bias against his client.
Jay Z is represented by Andrew Bart and Daniel Rozansky. Timbaland, and the other co-defendants, are represented by Christine Lepera and David Steinberg. Fahmy is also represented by Peter Ross.
Madonna faces backlash as she speaks exclusively about herself during Aretha tribute
August 2018 | TLSR Staff
Delivering a homage to the late Aretha Franklin during the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna suffered severe backlash by fans. The superstar, 60, made the tribute all...
MUSIC ARTIST FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER IS RISING WITH EVERY BEAT
November 2018 | Nick Christophers
Hanna Bee Joins WNFN (i106.7)/Nashville For Middays
January 2019 | TLSR Staff
MIDWEST COMMUNICATIONS Top 40 WNFN (i106.7)/NASHVILLE taps HANNA BEE for middays, joining from ENTERCOM KALV (LIVE 101.5) where she did everything from weekend/fill-in...
Menswear Icon Joe Casely-Hayford Dies at 62
January 2019 | Jordyn Diaz
Joe Casely-Hayford, the British menswear designer who bent the conventions of bespoke tailoring to incorporate elements of street style, and whose label was donned by...
BLACKPINK to perform at the 2019 Coachella
Korean pop sensation BLACKPINK is announced in the list of music artists that will take to stage at the popular American festival Coachella Valley Music and Arts. The...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5412
|
__label__cc
| 0.541468
| 0.458532
|
Trump the greatest source of German angst: survey
donald trumpterrorismsurvey
Trump at the White House during a press conference Thursday. Photo: DPA
The greatest source of German angst are the policies of US President Donald Trump, according to an insurance company's survey of the deepest fears plaguing the country's people.
Trump's policies were named as the top fear factor by 69 percent of respondents in the annual survey, in which last year's number one issue, terrorism, was bumped down to fifth place.
"More than two-thirds of Germans have a great fear that the politics of Donald Trump are making the world a more dangerous place," said survey institute director Brigitte Römstedt.
The second greatest concern was mass immigration (named by 63 percent), followed in third place by social tensions this influx has created (also 63 percent), according to the nationwide poll of more than 2,300 respondents.
Worries about the impact of more than one million migrants and refugees flocking to Germany in recent years were marginally higher in the country's ex-communist east and the conservative south.
The "Fears of Germans" poll has been carried out for over a quarter century by the R+V insurance company's Infocenter, which asks respondents which political, economic, personal and ecological issues scare them the most.
"Trump's ruthless 'America First' policy, his aggressive stance against international agreements and his no less aggressive stance on trade and security, including against allies, is scaring a majority of the population," said political scientist Manfred Schmidt.
"This is reinforced by Trump's attacks against Germany," Schmidt of the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg, who advises the centre, said in a statement.
"If the US should refuse to provide military assistance to countries with supposedly low defence expenditures, this would put Germany in a difficult position, given its current inability to defend itself."
The next major worry for Germans was, at number four in the survey with 61 percent, general doubt about their politicians' capacity to handle the complex problems they face.
In fifth place (59 percent) came terrorism, which had topped the fear ranking in the past two years amid a string of deadly jihadist attacks in Paris, Brussels, London and Berlin.
The next greatest fears were that eurozone debt problems would cost German taxpayers, political and religious extremism, natural disaster linked to climate change, other environmental problems, and being care-dependent in old age.
The survey this year was carried out among 2,335 respondents aged 14 years or older between June 8 and July 18, with a total of 21 set questions.
Utkarsh - 06 Sep 2018 14:57
you guys should give the link to the actual reports/source. Not sure if someone from Local even reads the comments and consider the feedback!!
Arman Flint - 27 Dec 2018 19:26
Your greatest fear should be the neo-Fascist who now runs Germany's energy supply with the connivance of Schroeder the Traitor.
Poll: Two-thirds of Germans consider themselves ‘happy'
Egypt deports second German student and alleged 'jihadist'
Germany to extradite Syrian terror suspect to Netherlands
Security reinforced at airports in western Germany: police
How Berlin is marking the 2nd anniversary of the Christmas market terror attack
German court jails Syrian refugee for planning car bomb attack
Extra security measures in place for terror-hit Berlin Christmas market
Have Your Say: What is your experience of using Flixbus in Germany?
Cottbus focus of nationwide raids targeting right-wing gangs
Terror in Germany: Investigators have foiled 13 attacks since 2010
What Germany's Red Army Faction can tell the world about terror
Police arrest 11 over terror attack plan
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5413
|
__label__wiki
| 0.563245
| 0.563245
|
Thomas More Defeats Rival Hanover, 4-3
Thomas More (3-6) 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 6 2
Hanover (5-3) 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 7 4
2B: Grant Larimore; Zeke Porta
(HANOVER, Ind.) – The Thomas More University baseball team defeated traditional-rival Hanover College, 4-3, today (Wednesday, March 13, 2019) at K.T. Young Ballpark in Hanover, Indiana. The Saints improve to 3-6 and the Panthers fall to 5-3.
Thomas More took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior right fielder Joshua Boeckmann (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) had a run batted-in single scoring first-year second baseman Brett Benzinger (Taylor Mill, Ky./New Richmond).
The Saints extended the lead to 2-0 in the second inning when first-year third baseman Bailey Martin (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) scored on a RBI single by sophomore left fielder Brady Reynolds (White Oak, Ohio/LaSalle).
In the top of the fifth, Thomas More extended the lead to 4-0 when senior shortstop Sean Lawrence, Ky./Simon Kenton) scored on a sacrifice bunt by senior catcher Sam Hauer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) and Benzinger scored on a Boeckmann fielder choice.
Hanover scored one run in the third, fifth and seventh, but it wasn't enough and Thomas More posted the 4-3 win.
Benzinger was two-for-four with a two runs scored.
Boeckmann was two-for-five with two RBI.
Thomas More used nine pitchers in the game.
Senior pitcher Jonathan Breeden (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) earned the win as he pitched a scoreless first inning.
Thomas More turns to action on Saturday (March 16) when it plays a doubleheader against in-state rival Spalding University.
First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Louisville, Kentucky.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5415
|
__label__wiki
| 0.808761
| 0.808761
|
See If You Understand Radioactivity
Chemical Laws
Projects & Experiments
Famous Chemists
Science, Tech, Math › Science
Radioactivity and Radiation Science Quiz
Can you pass this quiz covering the basic concepts of radioactivity and nuclear reactions?. Yagi Studio / Getty Images
by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
1. Uranium isotopes have different:
atomic numbers
atomic masses
numbers of protons
numbers of electrons
Correct Wrong
Isotopes share the same atomic number, which is the number of protons. However, they have a different number of neutrons. The atomic mass is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons, so this value changes depending on the isotope.
2. Marie and Pierre Curie discovered which radioactive element?
Although there are radioactive isotopes of chlorine and hydrogen, these elements are mostly stable. Marie and Pierre Curie actually discovered two radioactive elements: radium and polonium.
3. The combination of two atomic nuclei into one, accompanied by a release of energy, is called:
radioactive decay
a chain reaction
Combining two atomic nuclei is called fusion. When the nuclei get close enough, the strong attractive force overcomes the electrostatic repulsion of the like-charged protons. A large amount of energy is released.
4. Nuclear changes differ from normal chemical changes in that all nuclear changes:
absorb energy
release energy
produce explosions
involve the protons and/or neutrons (nucleus) of an atom
Nuclear changes involve the atomic nucleus, which contains protons and neutrons. If electrons are involved, it's a chemical change.
5. An alpha particle is a:
helium nucleus
fast electron
high energy photon
An alpha particle consists of 2 protons and 2 neutrons, so it's essentially a helium nucleus or a He2+ ion.
6. Carbon-14 dating could be used to estimate the age of all of the following except:
ancient scrolls
Medieval tapestries
Carbon dating is based on comparing the relative amounts of carbon-14 and carbon-12 in an item. Enough time needs to elapse to get any kind of accurate result, so an item from the Medieval time period wouldn't appear much different from a modern one. You could use the technique to tell the tapestry was old, but it would be hard to pin down its exact age using this method.
7. Whether or not a nuclear fission reaction becomes self-sustaining depends on the release of:
alpha particles
You need neutrons to turn a fission reaction into a chain reaction. It's the neutrons that initiate fission in neighboring atoms.
8. Atoms of Uranium-235 and Uranium-238 differ by three:
Both atoms are from the same element, so they each have the same atomic number or number of protons. It's the number of neutrons that's different.
9. The hydrogen in a hydrogen bomb is converted into:
tritium
A hydrogen bomb of H-bomb is a fusion bomb. While it would be a neat trick to fuse hydrogen into heavier elements, this device combines two hydrogen nuclei (atomic number 1) to form a helium nucleus (atomic number 2).
10. A beta particle is:
a proton
a neutron
an electron
a photon
a helium nucleus
A beta particle is an energetic electron (negative charge) or positron (like an electron, except with a positive charge).
You got: % Correct. Voted Most Likely to Get Radiation Poisoning
Sebastian Kopp / EyeEm / Getty Images
Good job! You completed the quiz, so even though you didn't know the answers to all of the questions, you know a lot more about radioactivity and nuclear reactions. If you're a little unsure of some of the concepts, you might want to review the basics of radioactivity and radiation. When you're ready, try another radioactivity science quiz to test your understanding.
You got: % Correct. Voted Most Likely to Be a Nuclear Scientist
Jutta Kuss / Getty Images
Excellent! You know a lot about radioactivity, nuclear reactions, and the types of radiation. From here, you might like to know about 10 radioactive foods you probably eat. If you're ready for another quiz, see if you can do as well on the energy science test.
You Won't Turn Into Spider Man: Learn What "Radioactive" Really Means
Find Chemistry Definitions From A to Z
What Makes an Atomic Bomb Different From a Hydrogen Bomb?
Here's What Nuclear Fission Is and How It Works
What You Need To Know About Why Radioactive Decay Occurs
Learn the Major Events in Chemistry History with This Timeline
10 Interesting Facts About Radioactive Tritium
Understand the Difference Between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion
Review Alpha Decay with This Chemistry Sample Problem
What Is Alpha Decay?
Chemistry Vocabulary Terms You Should Know
Radiation in Space Gives Clues about the Universe
Do You Know What a Chemical Element Is?
Which Elements Are Radioactive?
Learn 11th Grade Chemistry
Do Antimatter and Exotic Atoms Really Exist?
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5416
|
__label__cc
| 0.671326
| 0.328674
|
14 Things To Do In Kandy
10 Kandy Tour Packages
15 Places to visit in Kandy
Central Province Sri Lanka
Thrillophilia Recommendations for Kandy
Excursion to Riverston Gap in Sri Lanka
About the Activity:Get ready to feel the essence of Riverston, located approximately 30 km from the Matale town.Get picked up from your hotel in Kandy and commence your exploration by 8:30 AM in the morning after reaching Riverston and enjoy the view until it is dusk.Visit the two great waterfalls of Riverston “Sera Ella” and “Bambarakiri Ella which will get refreshed and rejuvenated.Embark on a ...
Scenic Tour of Kandy in an Airplane
About the Activity:Escape from the monotony of everyday life and explore the magical beauty of a paradise island with Cinnamon Air Scenic Flights in Sri Lanka. Enjoy a bird’s eye view of some of the most iconic landscape of Kandy, a picturesque town of the island as you soar with us on a journey to remember. This scenic flight will give you 20 minutes of surreal bliss, covering the places of Kan...
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Tour from Kandy - Flat 25% off
About the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Day Tour:- You will be picked from your hotel at 8:00 am for a tour to Pinnawala elephant orphanage from Kandy where you can enjoy a daylong adventurous expedition. - Spend a day amid the elephants and explore the largest home of wild Asian elephants in the world. - Behold the large herds of captive elephants roaming around freely, bathing pleasingly, wading s...
Highland tour from Kandy
About the Activity: This is an amazing day trip which will take you around some of the most beautiful places in Sri Lanka including its tea estates and natural sights.Get picked up from your hotels in Kandy at around 7 AM and proceed towards the Nuwara Eliya.On the way to Nuwara Eliya visit the Ramboda Falls which are 109m high and are amongst the highest cascades in the world.After reaching ...
h12 Hours
Kandy City Tour - Flat 15% off
About the Kandy Day Tour:- After picked up at 8:00 am from the hotel in Kandy, you will explore the most popular places in Kandy, including Bahirwa Kanda hill which has a massive Buddha statue standing upon it.- Pay a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens and witness the exquisite collection of orchids.- Set off on an adventurous hike to the Udawattakele Forest Reserve and relish the magnificent vis...
Trekking to Knuckles Mountain Range in Sri Lanka
About the Activity: Embark on this amazing trek to Knuckles Mountain Range and enjoy the wild natural beauty of this region after getting picked up from your hotel.Get picked up from your hotel in Kandy at around 7.30 AM and proceed towards the start point of the trekEnjoy a lip-smacking breakfast before embarking on your adventurous trek.Hike through beautiful tiny hamlets, tea estates, rice pa...
Trek to Knuckles Mountain Range
About the Activity: Embark on this amazing trek to Knuckles Mountain Range and enjoy the wild natural beauty of this region after getting picked up from your hotel.Get picked up from your hotel in Kandy at 7.30 AM and proceed towards the start point of the trekEnjoy a lip-smacking breakfast before embarking on your adventurous trek.Hike through beautiful tiny hamlets, tea estates, rice paddie...
d1 Dayn1 Night
Meemure Camping Package from Kandy - Flat 16% off
About the Meemure Camping from Kandy Tour:- Enjoy Meemure Camping in Meemure Village that is surrounded by nature. - This is a two day, one-night expedition. These Meemure camping packages for groups of one-two or three-seven members are all-inclusive. - All the places included in this tour are scenic beauties like Denston area, Corbett gap (World’s end) and Sooriya Arana (Filming location in Sri L...
d2 Days
Sitting ideal is not even an option and hence you will find several places to visit in Kandy. Overlooking the city of Kandy, you will find a big statue of Buddha on top of a hill. It is one of the first things that you will get reminded of when you think of this city. The city houses some beautiful temples which has one of the most beautiful shrines of Buddha. The Buddhist temple has the relic of the tooth of Buddha which is a popular tourist attraction.
For shopaholics the city has its special Kandy City Centre which is the only shopping place in the city and you can definitely shop for some souvenirs too. The City Hall of Sri Lanka also showcases traditional and beautiful Kandyan dance which can viewed by the visitors at a very minimal price range.
Some of the best places in Kandy that you should visit:
01Explore The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy
Image Credit : Hafiz Issadeen
Nestled close to the Udawattakele Sanctuary, The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is one of the most important shrines of Sri Lanka. Also named as Dalada Maligawa, this temple is based in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Kandy.
Housing the legendary Budda tooth, the temple is a World Heritage site though very little are the remnants of the original temple built around 1600. Amazing ornamentation with golden fence and extravagant Canadian architecture makes it a blissful sight for the visitors.
Dedicated monks unanimously chant the prayers of Malwatte and Aegirine, three times every day, during dawn, noontime and evening at the inner temple. Every Wednesday a holy symbolic bath of the Relic is done is fragrant water and that water is distributed among the visitors known to have healing powers.
Location: Royal Palace, Kandy
Price: Approximate price starts from 1000 LKR to 2134 LKR
02Royal Palace of Kandy
The Royal palace of the Kandyan Kingdom is the last reminiscence of the reigning King of Kandayan, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe. The palace dates back to the 14th century, yet witnessing the glory and glamour of the kingdom is stupendous. The Palace has seen scars from many wars and tremors of foreign invaders like the Portuguese.
The Royal court, another architectural capture has confronted many meetings formed by the king and it is here that the end of Kandyan Kingdom convention was signed.
The temple of Tooth contributes maximum attraction to the tourists. Even though, the original palace walls have been burnt and rebuilt, the interiors remain the same.
Highlights: Dalada Maligawa - Temple of Tooth (relic of Buddha’s Tooth), Royal Court (Magul Maduwa), Queen’s Bathing pavilion – Ulpange and the Royal gardens inside the Palace gates
Location: Sri Dalads Veediya
Kandy Price: Rs 100 per head Timings: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
03Udawattekele Sanctuary, Kandy
The Udawattekele Sanctuary, also known as Royal Park Palace is located at the hilly terrains of the Temple of Tooth Relic. The sanctuary scatters around 257 acres and is deemed as the most important Bio Reserve of the country.
The sanctuary, centuries back was a kingdom named Kandyan and jungle area on the far side of the palace was known as the Uda Wasala Watta or the upper palace garden; hence the name.
The forest reserve was made into a sanctuary in 1938. Additionally, the forest’s catchment areas provide fresh water to the lake and the city avail its air purification supplies from this royal forest reserve.
Highlights: Quite a few Buddhist temples, water pond, Kodimale Peak, Senkanda Cave and Garrison Cemetery.
Entry Fee: Rs. 570 for foreigners and Rs. 30 for Srilankans
Location: Wevelpitiya Road, Kandy
Timings: Everyday. But it is safe not to visit the sanctuary during rainy season
04Commonwealth War Cemetery
Image Credit : Stefan Krasowski - Flickr
This cemetery is maintained and served by the commonwealth war commission office. This graveyard is a humble reminder of those brave hearts of the country who sacrificed their lives protecting the nation’s honour during the World War II. The cemetery is beautifully kept and has over 190 tombs. Apparently, this place was initially known as Pitakande Military Cemetery and was owned by the Military authorities until it was taken over by the war Commission.
It is also noted that Army Graves from over 10 burial grounds have been transferred to this cemetery till 1958. There are 6 commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka, but the Kandy War Cemetery is considered the best amongst all because of its stunning landscape and well kept land.
Highlights: The Kandy Botanical garden Location: Deveni Rajasinghe, Kandy
Price: No entry fee; the place is run by donation
Timings: 10 am to noon and 1 pm to 6 pm
05Millenium Elephant Foundation
MEF is an estate as vast as 15 acres and is dwelling to countless of majestic elephants. The name of the estate, Samragiri has been inherited from the Samarasinghe family who have lived here for many generations. It is the only foundation where visitors are allowed to ride elephants bare back and interact with them with safety measures in the form of a educational tour. The foundation also provides a special Elephant Walk where you would be taken a 30 minute walk along with the animal.
MEF has charity trusts for the welfare of these humble animals.
Highlights: One hour educational walk and a tour of the museum, personally bathing the elephants, exotic walk on the grounds of the estate with an elephant, entry to Maximus Dung Paper factory.
Price: 2000LKR for foreigners and 100 LKR
Location: Randeniya, Hiriwadunna, Kegalle
Timings: 8:30 am to 4 pm, all days
06Horton Plains National Park, Ohiya
Image Credit : gωen - Flickr
Horton National Park is a ‘food for the soul’ kind of mesmerizing locale. The park is perched in the shadows of the country’s 2nd and 3rd highest mountains, Kirigalpota and Totapola. The place is also termed as world’s end due to its undaunting mysterious views of waterfalls, misted lakes and earthy species of flora and fauna. The national park is actually a plateau and is 2000m high.
It is better to start early in the morning to witness this heavenly place.
Highlights: An array of wildlife such as Samba deers, leopards, wild boars, purple faced langoor; an ideal site for birdwatchers as you may encounter a variety of flying wonders such as bulbul, Ceylon blackbird, Ceylon white eyed arrenga, mountain hawk etc; the epic walk to world’s end(4kms) and Farr Inn hunting lodge.
Location: 11 kms approx from Ohiya.
Price: Adult – 1895 Child: 1011.
07Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue, Kandy
Image Credit : Andy Nobes - Flickr
This place showcases a breathtaking view of the entire Kandy town. The 88ft high statue of Buddha is something one should not miss while in Kandy. The white statue can be seen from any part of the Peradeniya city as it is strategically located on top of the Bahirava Kanda (devil’s) hill.
You can either climb the steps to reach the viewpoint or else hire a tuk-tuk to do so. The beauty of the statue doubles during the night when it is lit by lamps. Best hour to visit this place is early morning or after sunset. This place should be definitely there on your list of places to visit in Sri Lanka.
Highlights: Panoramic view of the city down, including a view of the lake, tea factory, and football stadium; gallery that has artefacts based on the life of Buddha; a souvenir shop which has lovely goodies at a much friendlier price
Location: Peradeniya, Kandy.
Price: Approximate price starts from 200 LKR.
Timings: Open 24 hours a day.
08 Visit International Buddhist Museum, Kandy
Located close to the Temple of the Tooth, inside the royal palace complex, The International Buddhist Museum is a complete knowledge base and a showcase of the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. It is one of the famous religious places to visit in Sri Lanka.
There are separate rooms dedicated to different countries illustrating Buddhism in that location. There are photographs, models and gigantic statues which portray the spread and influence of Buddhism on people in various places.
Location: Close to Temple of Tooth, Kandy
Highlights: To get a better knowledge about the spread of Buddhism displayed here one can opt for a free audio guide which is available at the ticket counter or can opt for a tourist guide at 1070LKR who explains the whole location. Do wear covered clothes from shoulder to toe and remove the shoes. There’s an elevator in the Museum which allows disabled visitors to access the Museum.
Price: Approximate price starts from 1070 LKR per adult
09British Garrison Cemetery
This striking European style graveyard has many stories to tell of the young souls who died during the British Colonisation of SriLanka. The most heartfelt part of this beautiful old churchyard is the 163 graves of young men, women, and children that take us back to time immemorial. Most of the tombs have inscriptions written on the lives of these good souls (few brave soldiers, many infants, and land owners).The cemetery was established in 1817 and today is being nurtured by a Caretaker, Charles Carmichael.
Highlights: Shadowed by trees and overlooking a gorgeous lake, this place is completely sound free. Charles, who also acts as a guide, tours you through the entire cemetery and narrates each life of the rested bodies quite fascinatingly.
Location: Few meters uphill from the National Museum, Kandy.
Timings: 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day
10Take a Walk around Kandy Lake
Image Credit : Iris Liu - Flickr
One of the greatest attraction and a must do for the visitors of the hill country, Kandy, is to take a walking tour around Kandy Lake which dominates the heavenly location with its cascading beauty. A silent stroll especially during the sunset time, enjoying the sounds of nature is a splendid way of coming close to Mother Earth and devouring the blissfulness. Being based next to Temple of the Tooth this is an artificial lake built in 1807 by the Royal King of Sri Lanka.
The whole walk is around 2.1 mile and consists of enchanting scenic splendor covered with several rest zones where one can sit and enjoy the harmony and serene beauty of the Temple and the lake. In the midst of the lake there is a small island with palm trees making the lake look more eye arresting.
Image Credits : Marc - Flickr
Location: Heart of the city, Kandy
11Have Fun at Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, Rambukkana
Peradeniya Gardens is a spacious 147 acre of natural extravaganza consisting of more than 4000 species of plants, and 10,000 varied kinds of trees, incidentally serves as the largest garden of Sri Lanka.
The unique and rarest collection in these gardens is the Giant Bamboo of Burma which grows 12 inches each day to a height of 40 meters. Apart from this other amazing collections include Javan fig tree, Cannonball tree, Double Coconut Palm and about 200 other varieties of palm trees and versatile collection of flora.
Highlight: One can pack some food to enjoy an open-air picnic here or can relish the cafeteria inside serving local and western cuisine. The Peradeniya Botanical Garden is one prime tourist attraction of hill country and remains quite flooded with tourists every weekend.
Timings: Opened daily from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Price: Approximate price starts from 2353 LKR for adults and 1177LKR for child
h8 HourslKandy
12Perandeniya Botanical Gardens, Kandy
Image Credit : Koshyk
The Peradeniya Botanical Garden is one prime tourist attraction of hill country and remains quite flooded with tourists every weekend. One can pack some food to enjoy an open air picnic here or can relish the cafeteria inside serving local and western cuisine.
Location: 5.5km from Kandy
Best Time: 7:30am to 5:00pm
Price: 2353LKR for adults and 1177LKR for child.(approx)
13Ceylon Tea Museum, Kandy
Image Credit : Dave Lonsdale
Located at Hantane, the 1925 vintage Ceylon Tea Museum is one of the important attractions of the hill country, Kandy in Sri Lanka. The Tea Museum is a building of four floors where from ground floor to second floor it’s all old machineries, library and auditorium.
For purchasing lip smacking variety and flavors of Sri Lankan tea one must visit the third floor which is sales unit. The fourth floor comprises of a magnificent restaurant where one can enjoy a free cup and the captivating and breathtaking surrounding view of the hill country from the top.
One can visualize Matale Range and Kunckles Range through a telescope positioned here. From the top it’s an encircling view of green landscape comprising tea plantations of myriad types.
Location: Hantane Road, Kandy
Best Time: Tuesday – Sunday, 8:30am to 4: 30pm
Price: 1070LKR for adults and 428LKR for child.(approx)
14Visit Spice Garden, Kandy
Spice Gardens forms a key attraction of Sri Lanka. The country is famous across the globe for its rare collection of herbs and spices. The key attraction of this location is to explore the popular as well as the rarest herbs being sown and processed in the most exquisite manner.
Herbs those are common in a household like Turmeric, Pepper Corns, Cloves, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Aloe Vera, etc are being processed here. The best part of visiting the Spice Garden in Kandy is to gather knowledge about the herbs, their growth process, their benefits and usefulness in Human life.
The natural environment and serene beauty of the Garden is one of the mesmerizing experiences for every traveller. Away from the hustle of city life, this is a complete contrast of environment.
Located: Located at the Hill capital, Kandy this is close to Botanical Garden
15Kandy View Point
The mesmerizing view point is located on the Rajapihilla Mawatha and is ranked 5th out of 105 tourist attractions in Kandy. The place is located near the Kandy Lake and is enclosed in breathtaking landscapes of mountains and meadows. From the city, you have to take the Rajapihilla Mawatha Route, after which a 1 km steep climb will guide you to the view point. You can also hire a tuk-tuk to reach the top.The panoramic view that you would get to see is worth the pain of the ascent. The entire Kandy town lies ahead of your eye, and from the top, you can also spot the Kandy lake and Dalada Maligawa.
Highlights: Panoramic view of the city, souvenir shops, art galleries
Location: Rajapihilla Mawatha, Kandy
Timings: Anytime during the day.
16 Wales Park
Image Credit :
For that perfect fun time along with your family and friends Wales Park is the best option for you while you are visiting Sri Lanka. For your bucket list this is another best places to visit in Sri Lanka. Situated at the top of a small hill this park overlooks the Kandy Lake, this park is known for its majestic view. This park is also known as The Royal Palace Park.
Highlights: There is one Japanese field gun in the park which was captured by the British 14th Army in Burma during World War II and presented to the city of Kandy by Lord Mountbatten.
Location: The Wales Park is located at Rajapihilla Mawatha, Kandy 20000, Sri Lanka
Price: The approximate price for the entry is 219 LKR.
Top Things To Do in Wales Park
Sri Lanka Family Tour For 10 Days
17Kandy City Tour - Flat 15% off
lKandy
Renu - KL
About the Kandy Day Tour:
- After picked up at 8:00 am from the hotel in Kandy, you will explore the most popular places in Kandy, including Bahirwa Kanda hill which has a massive Buddha statue standing upon it.
- Pay a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens and witness the exquisite collection of orchids.
- Set off on an adventurous hike to the Udawattakele Forest Reserve and relish the magnificent vistas on the way.
- Embark upon a spiritual Kandy city tour by visiting Tooth Relic temple situated in the royal palace complex. This temple has preserved Buddha’s sacred tooth since time unknown.
- Head towards Kandy View Point and capture the most panoramic shots with your loved ones.
- Take a break from the Kandy day tour and enjoy the scrumptious meals at a well-known restaurant.
- Learn about the local delicacies and drinks of the city at Mawanella spice garden and Girigama Tea factory. At 4:00 pm approx. you will be drop off to your hotel.
About The Kandy City:
Popular as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, Kandy City is known for its alluring temples and numerous sightseeing spots. A typical Kandy day tour is a perfect blend of scenic attractions, religious shrines, food joints, and historical monuments. From relaxing in the Royal Botanical Garden to enjoying the city view from the back of Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue, there are a wide array of activities that Kandy city tour offers to its visitors.
If you wish to delve into the rich history of Kandy, don’t forget to explore the iconic temple of Tooth Relic which has held a tooth of Buddha since ages. On your visit to this temple, you can also soak in the beauty of its nearby Kandy lake. This lake is the most sought-after spot in the city which lures the visitors with its isolated surroundings.
Kandy city also encompasses some really popular restaurant which will leave you gaping in awe of its delicious local cuisines. Some of the popular restaurants in this area include The Kandy Garden Cafe, Foodlands, and Licensed To Grill.
18Scenic Tour of Kandy in an Airplane
Madhushi Kuruculasuriya
Escape from the monotony of everyday life and explore the magical beauty of a paradise island with Cinnamon Air Scenic Flights in Sri Lanka.
Enjoy a bird’s eye view of some of the most iconic landscape of Kandy, a picturesque town of the island as you soar with us on a journey to remember.
This scenic flight will give you 20 minutes of surreal bliss, covering the places of Kandy.
19Highland Tour From Colombo to Pinnawala and Kandy
Amila Tennakoon
This highland tour from Pinnawala to Kandy begins as you get picked up from your respective hotel in Colombo at around 6 AM
Proceed towards the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, where you can see elephants being bathed and fed and acquaint yourself with the lifestyle of these majestic creatures.
Aftermath, proceed towards Kandy and visit the famous Tooth Relic Temple and see the hilly regions of Sri Lanka
During your trip in Kandy, also visit Gadaladeniya Temple, Lankathilaka Viharaya, Embekka Devale and Peradeniya Botanical
End your amazing highland exploration tour of Sri Lanka at around 5 PM in the evening by getting dropped off to your hotels.
20Day Tour to Pinnawala, Peradeniya and Kandy from Colombo
lKegalle
Embark on this amazing tour and visit the highlands of Sri Lanka, which include, Pinnawala, Kandy and Peradeniya.
Get picked up from your respective hotels at around 6 AM and start your exploration trip.
First stop will be the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, which is home to abandoned or lost elephants. Get a chance to acquaint yourself about their lifestyle and also explore the orphanage sitting atop this majestic creature.
Aftermath, proceed to Royal botanical garden of Peradeniya which is well known for its diversified variety of plants which included ornamental, decorative, useful & medicinal flora as well.
Post this head to the Kandy city, to enjoy some shopping. Enjoy spectacular views from the well – acclaimed Kandy view point.
Get entertained in a cultural show at Kandy. Post this, visit world famous Temple of the Tooth Relic.
End your amazing trip and exploration of highlands of Sri Lanka at around 5 PM in the evening by getting dropped off to your respective hotels in Colombo.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Tour from ...
4 Days Sri Lanka Honeymoon Tour on a Bu...
6 Days Sri Lanka Honeymoon Tour with Wa...
6 Days Luxury Holiday Package in Sri La...
Meemure Camping Package from Kandy - Fl...
Rent a Car in Kandy - Flat 20% off
Colombo Airport to Kandy Private Transf...
5 Days Romantic Honeymoon Package of Sr...
Knuckles Day Tour from Kandy - Flat 22%...
Nuwara Eliya Day Trip from Kandy - Flat...
The Hill Country Tour in a Charter Plane
Kalpitiya Luxury Beach Camp in Sri Lanka
Rent a Car in Kandy without Driver - Fl...
Kandy Cultural Show Ticket - Flat 22% off
Kandy Day Tour on Scooter - Flat 25% off
Highland Tour From Colombo to Pinnawala...
Explore Kandy
Tea Estate Trails
Waking up early in the morning and being served the finest bed tea by the butler will be a delight in itself. The tea planter will take you through the entire tea making process starting from the fields where the tea was first plucked and then taken to the factory where all the conversions take place. The tea trails will take you to the colonial era time. The afternoon cream tea is something to truly relish. The nearby places are an appropriate place to walk, cycle and biking.
Location: Close to Hatton, near Bogawantawala valley.
Highlights: Ceylon Tea Trails, Sri Lanka which is a must watch.
Best Time: December to April.
Price: The approximate price ranges from 484 LKR to 1626 LKR.
Tea Hills Tour in Sri Lanka
British Garrison Cemetery
Cycling Trip to Galle Fort and the Galle City
Millenium Elephant Foundation
Highland Tour From Colombo to Pinnawala and Kandy
Spice Gardens forms a key attraction of Sri Lanka. The country is famous across the globe for its rare collection of herbs and spices. The key attraction of this location is to explore the popular as well as the rarest herbs being sown and processed in the most exquisite manner. Herbs those are common in a household like Turmeric, Pepper Corns, Cloves, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Aloe Vera, etc are being processed here. The best part of visiting the Spice Garden in Kandy is to gather knowledge about the herbs, their growth process, their benefits and usefulness in Human life. The natural environment and serene beauty of the Garden is one of the mesmerizing experiences for every traveler. Away from the hustle of city life, this is a complete contrast of environment.
Sri Lanka Adventure Tour 2019
Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue
This place showcases a breathtaking view of the entire Kandy town. The 88ft high statue of Buddha is something one should not miss while in Kandy. The white statue can be seen from any part of the Peradeniya city as it is strategically located on top of the Bahirava Kanda (devil’s) hill. You can either climb the steps to reach the viewpoint or else hire a tuk-tuk to do so. The beauty of the statue doubles during the night when it is lit by lamps. Best hour to visit this place is early morning or after sunset.
Highlights:Panoramic view of the city down, including a view of the lake, tea factory, and football stadium; gallery that has artefacts based on life of Buddha; a souvenir shop which has lovely goodies at a much friendlier price
Commonwealth War Cemetery
Turtle Observation Camp in Rekawa
Explore The Temple of The Truth
Nestled close to the Udawattakele Sanctuary, The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is one of the most important shrines of Sri Lanka. Also named as Dalada Maligawa, this temple is based in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Kandy. Housing the legendary Budda tooth, the temple is a World Heritage site though very little are the remnants of the original temple built around 1600. Amazing ornamentation with golden fence and extravagant Canadian architecture makes it a blissful sight for the visitors. Dedicated monks unanimously chant the prayers of Malwatte and Aegirine , three times every day, during dawn, noontime and evening at the inner temple. Every Wednesday a holy symbolic bath of the Relic is done is fragrant water and that water is distributed among the visitors known to have healing powers.
Perandeniya Botanical Gardens
Peradeniya Gardens is a spacious 147 acre of natural extravaganza consisting of more than 4000 species of plants, and 10,000 varied kinds of trees, incidentally serves as the largest garden of Sri Lanka. The unique and rarest collection in these gardens is the Giant Bamboo of Burma which grows 12 inches each day to a height of 40 meters. Apart from this other amazing collections include Javan fig tree, Cannonball tree, Double Coconut Palm and about 200 other varieties of palm trees and versatile collection of flora.
Day Tour to Pinnawala, Peradeniya and Kandy from Colombo
Udawattekele Sanctuary
The Udawattekele Sanctuary, also known as Royal Park Palace is located at the hilly terrains of the Temple of Tooth Relic. The sanctuary scatters around 257 acres and is deemed as the most important Bio Reserve of the country. The sanctuary, centuries back was a kingdom named Kandyan and jungle area on the far side of the palace was known as the Uda Wasala Watta or the upper palace garden; hence the name.
Royal Palace of Kandy
Kandy View Point
Take a Walk around Kandy Lake
Ceylon Tea Museum
Located at Hantane, the 1925 vintage Ceylon Tea Museum is one of the important attractions of the hill country, Kandy in Sri Lanka. The Tea Museum is a building of four floors where from ground floor to second floor it’s all old machineries, library and auditorium. For purchasing lip smacking variety and flavors of Sri Lankan tea one must visit the third floor which is sales unit. The fourth floor comprises of a magnificent restaurant where one can enjoy a free cup and the captivating and breathtaking surrounding view of the hill country from the top. One can visualize Matale Range and Kunckles Range through a telescope positioned here. From the top it’s an encircling view of green landscape comprising tea plantations of myriad types.
Wales Park
International Buddhist Museum
Located close to the Temple of the Tooth, inside the royal palace complex, The International Buddhist Museum is a complete knowledge base and a showcase of the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. There are separate rooms dedicated to different countries illustrating Buddhism in that location. There are photographs, models and gigantic statues which portray the spread and influence of Buddhism on people in various places.
Travel Guides for Kandy
15 Best Resorts in Kandy - 2019 (Photos & 3100 + Reviews)
If the boredom of city life has brought you down, there are some truly amazing resorts in Kandy to offer you just the respite and peace you’re craving. Located about a three-hour drive away from the bustling streets of Colombo, Kandy is home to severa
If you are looking for something really amazing to do in Kandy then you will find many things to in Kandy. For tea lovers you can sip some authentic flavours of tea at the Ceylon Tea museum. A natural trail to these lovely tea gardens will be loved by
Most Popular Places Around Kandy
Kitulgala
Matale
Ohiya
Koggala
More Things to do in Kandy
Sightseeing in Kandy
Attractions in Kandy
Adventure in Kandy
Nature and Wildlife in Kandy
Day Outs in Kandy
Trekking in Kandy
Romantic in Kandy
Wildlife in Kandy
Surfing in Kandy
Camel Safari in Kandy
Elephant Safari in Kandy
Kayaking in Kandy
Water Sports in Kandy
Camping in Kandy
Aerial Activities in Kandy
Listings in Kandy
Things To Do In Kandy
Kandy Tour Packages
Places to visit in Kandy
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5417
|
__label__wiki
| 0.913215
| 0.913215
|
Harris Calls Up 1,000 People About Loud TV Commercials
Most turn down the volume
MELBOURNE, FLA.: Harris Corp. reminds that it stands ready to sell volume-mitigation gear in the wake of federal legislation aimed at quelling loud TV commercials. The broadcast equipment vendor published the results of a telephone survey of 1,000 people, asking them how they dealt with loud commercials.
Not too shockingly, 41 percent turned the volume down. Another 22 percent hit “mute,” and 17 percent changed the channel. Harris further asked how they responded to those ads that blow them out of the room. Sixty-one percent overly loud commercials left them with a negative perception of the product being advertised. Thirty-eight percent said they’d be less likely to pay attention or consider buying the product. Another 23 percent said they switch channels (as opposed to the 17 percent considering volume only, not content). Only 5 percent said louder volume is more likely to make them pay attention.
Congress just passed a bill to compel the FCC to regulate commercial audio volumes. A companion bill is pending in the Senate. Harris’s pollsters said 29 percent of the folks in its sample considered legislation unnecessary, though 33 percent favored it.
The survey was conducted between Nov. 15 and Nov. 22.
Most turn down the volume.
Taming Loud TV Commercials
ATSC schedules all day Audio Loudness Seminar, Nov. 4.
Legislator Wants to Outlaw Loud TV Commercials
House subcommittee hearing scheduled
<b class="h1r"> People</b>
Networks & Stations >The YES Network has named Tracy Dolgin president and chief executive officer. The former president of Fox Sports Net, which operated more than 20 regional sports networks across the country, Dolgin comes to the network with extensive experience in the regional and national sports televisi
Manufacturers > Chyron has appointed Bill Hendler vice president and chief products officer. He will be responsible for overseeing product management for the company’s hardware and software products. He has been with Chyron for almost 25 years and was most recently vice president of its Media Solutions Group.
Networks & Stations Clear Channel Entertainment Television (CCE TV) has named Steve Sterling senior vice president. Marc Forest has been named vice president, programming and production. In his new position, Sterling will focus on the development and worldwide distribution of the full range of CCE TV’s music
Mike Fazzi has been appointed Regional Sales Manager for the Eastern U.S. (east of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers) by Communications Specialties, Inc. (CSI). Based out of his office in Weems, VA, Fazzi will work with CSI's resellers and end users providing system integration solutions for the company's lines of fibe
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5426
|
__label__wiki
| 0.800382
| 0.800382
|
High school football: Friday's results
As September winds down, the football games generate more meaning. Check out the results.
High school football: Friday's results As September winds down, the football games generate more meaning. Check out the results. Check out this story on thenorthwestern.com: https://oshko.sh/2zEq50A
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 11:24 p.m. CT Sept. 28, 2018 | Updated 9:10 p.m. CT Sept. 29, 2018
Football: Winneconne 21, Plymouth 10
Winneconne's Eli Berndt (10) carries the ball to a touchdown against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne players celebrate their 21-10 victory over Plymouht, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne's Jacob Omitt (83) carries the ball against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth's Cole Booth (11) carries the ball against Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth High School's marching band performs at halftime with Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne's Harrison Roubidoux (12) passes the ball against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne fans watch the action under a nearly full moon against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth Coach Dan Knaus signals to his players during action against Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth's Sam Shutter (3) sits on the bend with an ice wrapped knee during action with Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne's Marshal Schneider (11) and Eli Berndt (10) celebrate a touchdown against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne's Eli Berndt (10) reacts with the ball in the end zone for a touchdown against Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne players huddle during action with Plymouth, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Winneconne's Jacob Omitt (83) is pulled down by Plymouth's Cooper Gosse (8) and Carter Lawrence (32), Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth fans cheer support for Dawson Smith (63) during action with Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Plymouth's Cole Booth (11) throws the ball against Winneconne, Friday, September 28, 2018, in Plymouth, Wis. Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Julian Murillo gets ganged tackled by a host of Oshkosh West players Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin (Photo: Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo
WINNECONNE 21, PLYMOUTH 10
PLYMOUTH - An effective spread offense, a wild trick play and a high-pressure defense gave the Winneconne Wolves the East Central Conference lead in the 21-10 win over the Plymouth Panthers.
Despite the two ECC leaders putting up high point totals in their first six games, the first half was fast-paced but low-scoring.
Both teams struggled to get their offenses moving in the first quarter.
Winneconne was first to approach the end zone with a 34-yard pass from junior quarterback Harrison Roubidoux to senior wide receiver Eli Berndt to take the Wolves into Plymouth territory. An incomplete pass on fourth down, however, turned the ball over to the Panthers.
In the second quarter, the Winneconne defense limited Plymouth’s offensive productivity. Senior defensive back Markus Fahrney intercepted Plymouth junior quarterback Cole Booth on third down. Junior linebacker Drake Sharratt was able to put pressure on Booth, including a crucial sack at Winneconne’s 34-yard line.
After two crucial dropped passes earlier in the half, junior wide receiver Cooper Gosse made a 36-yard field goal to put the Panthers on the board first, 3-0 with 3:21 in the first half.
Senior Jacob Omitt was the key player in the first half. He intercepted Booth with a minute to play in the half. Going for it on fourth down, head coach Nathan Ryf’s offense ran a hook-and-ladder trick play with a pass from Roubidoux to Omitt followed by a pitch to senior running back Austin Hecker, who ran it in for the touchdown.
Winneconne ended the half up 7-3
Right at the top of the second half, a pass to the right sidelines turned into a fumble, recovered by Fahrney, who took it 40 yards into the end zone helping Winneconne extend the lead to 14-3.
After Plymouth inside linebacker Ben Olsen intercepted Roubidoux’s pass near midfield, a personal foul by Walker Saladini cost Plymouth yardage and Saladini was ejected from the game. Pressure from the Winneconne defense resulted in another Plymouth punt.
Winneconne showcased their successful spread offense, a trick play and variety of offensive formations throughout the game. At the end of the third quarter, Roubidoux found a wide-open Berndt on fourth down. The 25-yard pass took Berndt to the end zone, putting Winneconne up 21-3.
Early in the fourth quarter, Plymouth cut the Winneconne lead to 21-10 after a 48-yard pass from Booth to Aiden Reilly followed by the short touchdown reception.
Plymouth made a few costly penalties, particularly a personal foul in the fourth that moved the Winneconne offense to the Plymouth 35-yard line. The Wolves were able to stretch the clock down to five minutes but proceeded to fumble the ball in Plymouth territory.
A one-on-one between Plymouth's Reilly and Winneconne's Scheider resulted in an offensive pass interference call.
Winneconne leads the ECC, improving to 6-1 and 5-0 in conference. Plymouth falls to 5-1 and 4-1 in conference.
Fond du Lac football crushes Oshkosh West 48-7 in homecoming game
Fond du Lac High School football's Carson Raddatz runs the ball against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football fans Jaydin Romalia, Shea-Lynn Gerred, Emily Morgan and Shayla Pieper attend the homecoming game against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Eben Sauer runs between Oshkosh West’s David Kohl (7) and Sean Bougie (22) Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Oshkosh West High School football's David Kohl intercepts a throw intended for Fond du Lac’s Eben Sauer Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Julian Murillo runs the ball against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Julian Murillo gets ganged tackled by a host of Oshkosh West players Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Eben Sauer runs the football against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Cole Seigworth fumbles the football as he is tackled by Oshkosh West’s David Kohl Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Carson Raddatz breaks a tackle from Oshkosh West’s Collin Jones Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Oshkosh West High School football's Ryan Schleis runs the ball against Fond du Lac Friday, September 28, 2018, during their game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Carson Raddatz gets tackled by Oshkosh West’s David Kohl (7) and Sean Bougie (22) Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Carson Raddatz runs in for a touchdown as Oshkosh West’s Collin Jones tries to tackle him Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Jared Scheberl kicks an extra point as Jonah Deitte holds the ball against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac's Hunter Hansen lifts Oshkosh West’s Colton Sandstrom off the ground as he tackles him Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, during their high school football homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Eben Sauer runs against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Eben Sauer leads over a defender as he runs with the football against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Eban Sauer runs the ball against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Carson Raddatz runs 46 yards on this play against Oshkosh West Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Fond du Lac High School football's Zavier Ellis tackles Oshkosh West’s Colton Sandstrom Friday, September 28, 2018, during their homecoming game in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Doug Raflik/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
High school football: Berlin 35, Kewaskum 0
Berlin's Alec Moriarty breaks away running the ball in for a first half touchdown against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Adam Sobieski comes up with a Kewaskum fumbled football Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, at Berlin High School. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
A Kewaskum fumble turns into a Berlin advantage during a game at Berlin High School on Sept. 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Aidan Schilling and Preston Morgan take down Kewaskum's Lucas Christenson playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Alec Moriarty celebrates with the team after his first half touchdown score against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Mitchell Krueger goes up against the Kewaskum line playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin head coach Joe Stellmacher huddles with the team on the Berlin High School field Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Lane Sobleski hands off the ball to Jack Trochinski at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Jack Trochinski runs the ball playing against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Sept. 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Tyler Kwidzinski celebrates in the end zone after adding points to the scoreboard against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Kewaskum's Dylan Maechtle goes up for the pass with Berlin's Preston Morgan covering at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The Berlin players rally together at the start of Friday's game against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Aidan Schilling attempts to break away from a Kewaskum player at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Christopher Kurczek and Kobe Krebs puts pressure on Kewaskum's Michael Daniel playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Tyler Kwidzinski and Ryan Breeden celebrate in the end zone as the Indians gained a two-touchdown lead against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Adam Sobieski makes a tackle on Kewaskum's Michael Daniel playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin and Kewaskum players reach out for the fumbled ball during Friday's game at Berlin High School on September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Ryan Breeden drags down a Kewaskum ball carrier playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Berlin's Mitchell Strebelinski attempts a field goal early in the game against Kewaskum at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten | for USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN, Oshkosh Northwestern
Berlin's Mitchell Krueger attempts to get around Kewaskum's Colten Miller playing at Berlin High School on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Kewaskum players run onto the Berlin High School field on Friday, September 28, 2018. Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
MARSHFIELD 36, OSHKOSH NORTH 0
MARSHFIELD - Aitton Thao ran for 163 yards on 24 carries for Oshkosh North in the loss.
Logan Boese made 10 tackles to lead the Spartans defense.
LOURDES ACADAMY 51, CAMBRIA-FRIESLAND 30
CAMBRIA - Trevor Bengson rushed for 174 yards and five touchdowns to lead Lourdes to the victory.
Joshua Bauer added 105 yards on the ground for the Knights.
CF - Mason Owen 95 yard inteception return (pass good)
LA - Trevor Bengson 6 run (Tyler Johnsen kick)
CF - Joseph Pulver 7 run (pass failed)
LA - Hayden Jones 22 pass from Joshua Bauer (Johnsen kick)
LA - Bengson 10 run (Johnsen kick)
LA - Bengson 5 run (Johnsen kick)
CF - Max Raymond 5 run (pass good)
CF - Cade Burmania 55 punt return (pass good)
LA - Benny Huizenga 10 pass from Joshua Bauer (kick failed)
LA - Johnsen 36 field goal
BERLIN 35, KEWASKUM 0
BERLIN - The Indians had little trouble moving the ball on the ground against Kewaskum, rushing for 302 yards.
Alec Moriarty did the bulk of the work, carrying 16 times for 268 yards.
Kewaskum, meanwhile, rushed for 127 yards on 31 carries.
Kewaskum 0 0 0 0 - 0
Berlin 21 7 7 0 - 35
B - Alec Moriarty 94 run (Mitchell Strebelinski kick)
B - Tyler Kwidzinski 37 pass from Kobe Krebs (Strebelinski kick)
B - Moriarty 59 run (Strebelinski kick)
B - Aiden Schilling 46 pass from Lane Sobieski (Strebelinski kick)
B - Moriarty 1 run (Strebelinski kick)
Rushing: B - Moriarty 16-268. K - Lucas Christenson 25-107
Passing: B - Sobieski 5-11-80. K - Michael Daniel 11-21-91.
Receiving: B - Tyler Kwidzinski 1-37, Schilling 2-58. K - Joshua Bocher 5-49, Dylan Maechtle 4-40.
High school football: Omro 43, Montello/Princeton/Green Lake 0
Omro quarterback Jacob Kafer (12) hands off to Jaeden Frost (33). The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro quarterback Jacob Kafer (12) looks for running room as Guenther Hebbe (22) of MPGL pursues him. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Jaeden Frost (33) of Omro looks for running room. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
MPGL quarterback Buxton Toutant (5) rolls out to pass. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Buxton Toutant (5) of MPGL throws a pass in the first half. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Abe Postler (2) of MPGL avoids a tackle by Zac Boese (44) of Omro. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Cade Stachura (18) of Omro hydrates during a time out on the field. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Nate Postler (33) of MPGL reaches for a loose ball. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Cooper Krockstrom (9) of Omro grabs an interception in the first half. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro quarterback Jacob Kafer (12) rolls out of the backfield. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Clayton Markech (42) of Omro gets pulled down by BJ Konkel (32) of MPGL following an interception. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Guenther Hebbe (22) of MPGL can't quite hold on to a pass in the second quarter. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro quarterback Jacob Kafer (12) raises his arms on a scoring play in the third quarter. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Clayton Markech (42) kicks an extra point in the third quarter. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro fans were bundled up for the cold temperatures of the Homecoming football game. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro assistant coach Marty Goryl watches from the sidelines. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Omro players run through a huge banner as they are introduced at the beginning of the game. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Jaeden Frost (33) of Omro pulls in a pass in the first half. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
MPGL quarterback Buxton Toutant (5) pitches the ball to Abe Postler (2). The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
Abe Postler (2) of MPGL gets pulled down by Logan Reiter (13) and Zac Boese (44) of Omro. The Omro Foxes hosted the Montello/Princeton/Green Lake Phoenix in a non conference football game Friday night, September 28, 2018 at Drobnick Field. Jim Koepnick/USA TODAY NETWORK -
MAYVILLE 31, WINNEBAGO LUTHERAN 7
MAYVILLE - Alex Nodolski had three interceptions and the Cardinals defense allowed the Vikings to gain little on the ground in the win.
Mayville rushed for 187 yards, with Jalen Wendorff doing yeoman’s work carrying the ball 26 times for 157 yards.
Ryan Weigand completed 17-of-30 passes for Winnebago Lutheran for 161 yards, but was picked off four times.
Winnebago Lutheran 0 0 0 7 - 7
Mayville 7 14 7 3 - 31
M - Jackson Mittelstadt 14 pass from Wes Weiglein (Tyler Fink kick)
M - Jalen Wendorff 14 run (Fink kick)
M - Wendorff 1 run (Fink kick)
M - Parker Franke 25 interception return (Fink kick)
M - Fink 37 field goal
WLA - Donovan Schwartz 2 pass from Ryan Wiegand (Trenton Herkstroeter kick)
Rushing: WLA - Joshua Huey 8-32. M - Wendorff 26-157.
Passing: WLA - Weigand 7-30-4-161. M - Weiglein 3-5-1-19.
Receiving: WLA - Schwartz 6-54. M - Mittelstadt 2-23.
OAKFIELD 70, GIBRALTAR 34
OAKFIELD - Oakfield defeated Gibraltar on Friday night.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5430
|
__label__wiki
| 0.990365
| 0.990365
|
Rogers to cut 200 media and admin jobs
Mon., Jan. 25, 2016timer2 min. read
It was another bleak day for Canadian news outlets on Monday as Rogers Media moved to trim its workforce by 4 per cent — or 200 jobs.
Rogers Media says the cuts, which will impact jobs in television, radio, publishing and administration, are part of efficiency efforts at Rogers Communications, one of Canada's largest telecom companies.
A memo to Rogers Media staff says the job cuts will begin in February and will conclude as soon as possible.
“Today's announcement impacts all areas within Rogers Media, except the Toronto Blue Jays,” said Andrea Goldstein, the company's senior director of communications, in an email.
Rogers Media operates 24 TV stations, 52 radio stations, 57 publications and 93 websites.
Goldstein said “it is too early” to identify specifics about which programs or publications will be affected. She said changes will happen at all levels in the company across the country.
The latest layoffs come after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission was told that half of the country's local TV stations could be off the air by 2020 without a boost in revenues to pay for local programming.
The warning comes in a study submitted to the federal broadcast watchdog as it kicked off hearings into local and community television programming in Gatineau on Monday.
Howard Law, director of the media sector for Unifor — a union representing some Rogers Media employees — said the news of yet more layoffs in the media business is foreboding.
“We're going down the path where journalism and the coverage of news that's important for a functioning democracy is at existential risk in this country,” he said from Ottawa.
Rogers did not announce plans to offer employee buyouts, but if workers come forward requesting a package “we will evaluate at that time,” Goldstein said.
The company also recently announced a $5 price hike to monthly share-everything cellphone contracts for new customers and $10-$15 increases in monthly costs for new customers who bring their own devices.
“We have made these adjustments to reflect ongoing network and service investments and current market conditions impacting our industry,” said Aaron Lazarus, a company spokesman.
Rogers releases its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.
In October, the company reported a big increase in third-quarter profits. Rogers reported that profits grew nearly 40 per cent to $464 million from $332 million in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Unifor is lobbying the CRTC to require cable companies that own broadcasters, like Rogers, to spend cable company profits on programming.
Rogers’ cuts come amid recent layoffs at other Canadian media organizations.
Bell Media cut 380 jobs from its operations, production and editorial staff in November, while The Guelph Mercury daily newspaper announced Monday it will stop publishing its print editions this week, impacting 23 full-time and three part-time jobs.
Earlier this month, Postmedia announced about 90 job cuts as it moved to merge newsrooms in four cities to help the company trim $80 million in expenses by mid-2017. Torstar, the company that owns Canada’s largest circulation newspaper, the Toronto Star, announced in January that it was laying off more than 300 production and editorial employees.
—With files from Raju Mudhar
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5435
|
__label__cc
| 0.682273
| 0.317727
|
Insight & Opinion Jun 19 2018
Enough logos already
Authored by Anthony Coombes
In a world which is crowded with logos, we look at the other ways to create a brand that will own a space in the mind of a consumer.
Have you ever received an email with an offer to design a bespoke logo for only $10 dollars? How many swooshes, loops, geometric shapes and blobs do we need?
Our world has become crowded with logos. Every product, service and organisation needs one. Complexity breeds sub-brands and variants. As we embrace constant change consumers await the next rebrand. A new logo is a signal to re-evaluate a relationship with a brand. Mergers and acquisitions need brands to come together into something new and different that will show what the future will look like.
People say, “branding is just a logo isn’t it?”. And to be fair a distinctive symbol was the first recorded example. Ancient Egyptians used hot branding irons to mark their cattle and safeguard ownership.
Today apps and social media encourage the use of symbols as a visual shorthand. Scrolling through page after page of choices we only get a split second to attract buyers. However, there are other ways to create a brand and own a space in the mind of consumers.
Physical objects
Centrica is a complex business with employees around the world contracted to do very different jobs: traders, engineers, marketeers, call centre workers, etc. Their existing company benefits had developed over time and were inconsistent and undersubscribed. Their communications were fragmented and there was a clear challenge to get employees to actively engage with a new benefits portal.
Educating employees about the new company pension scheme, Sharesave, provided an opportunity to get groups in a room and demonstrate how to make the most of their pay. By using colourful boxes we demonstrated what was on offer, what packages might look like and how to select them. Each box represented one of twenty or more benefits.
We had fun with the boxes, using them for workshops and filming the activity. We created a stop motion animation which explained how savings are made and the portal itself needed visual assets. We also created installations in communal spaces and left boxes in canteens to promote a deadline for the Sharesave scheme.
Not relying on a logo to badge the scheme meant that assets could be shared across the Centrica group including British Gas and Direct Energy. It also meant that individual benefits could be promoted without reinventing communications each time.
Avanade have a great brand, their people are full of energy and genuinely want to create change through technology. When you join the business, you’re invited to Go Orange! A simple rally call that speaks to the induction process. Go Orange! is a team mindset and distinguishes Avanade from other global IT consultants who only seem to use shades of blue and green.
The Go Orange! effect is seen in the environment, clothing and swag (merchandise). For Avanade its people are the brand and they own orange.
Materials and substrates
One symbol and one symbol alone represents the rich heritage of British policing. Established in 1829, New Scotland Yard is now a brand that is recognised worldwide. New Scotland Yard is only an address, it’s the headquarters of The Metropolitan Police Service. The revolving metal sign is often used as a backdrop for TV reporters and filmmakers. The highly polished metal is a symbol of excellence. The heritage and craft of the typography, the strength and precision of the sharp edges and the mysterious qualities of the constantly revolving sign make it distinctive.
Graphic patterns
Catalyst uniquely combines teams of financial markets experts with organisational change specialists to deliver enduring excellence. A graphic pattern illustrates the concept of going from strength to strength. Used across different channels and media. Both unifying and memorable.
Photographic styles
Images of brain activity can be awe-inspiring. Their beauty and complexity are fascinating. In developing the brand for Brain Research Trust, inspiration was drawn from a tractograph brain scan – with kind permission from the Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Lab. Overlapping the scans with other images creates a distinctive look and feel. We’re intrigued by the electric colours. The final colour palette is deliberately multi-coloured. Many brands in the same sector lead with cyan and magenta only.
It was important that the Boots mission, purpose and values were reflected throughout communications with employees every day. Communications needed to be consistent, easy to understand, and joined-up – reflecting one organisation.
Our role was to help make Boots’ employees feel good so that their patients and customers could feel the same way. Everyone was receptive to the colourful, vibrant ‘brushstroke’ visuals which gave new life to internal communications.
Research suggests businesses with ‘organisational integrity’– that’s where the values on the wall are reflected in day-to-day behaviours – are more successful. Therefore, it’s important that a promise, purpose and personality is reflected in the way a business communicates with colleagues every day.
A way to make this possible is through having an internal tone of voice, a clear and consistent way of communicating with people.
Tone of voice isn’t what we say but how we say it. It’s the language we use, the way we construct sentences, the sound of our words and the personality we communicate. It is to writing what logo, colour and typeface are to a visual identity.
In fact, think of it as language, not tone of voice. Language is practical. Useful. Essential. It’s one of the most tangible and emotional parts of a brand. Get it right, and it’s an opportunity to connect with people in a way that a colour or a typeface can’t.
Sonic device
If you live in or around London, you might have heard the radio ad for Gatwick Express. The beep beep of closing train doors and the echo of an airport speaker system. Although you might not hear those sounds every day they are immediate and distinctive.
Sound can set a product or service apart. It can enhance recall, evoke an emotion and improve other senses. Food tastes better, perfume smells sweeter and a car door feels sturdier. Sound generally enriches a brand experience.
It’s a cliche but if you want to test if your brand is more than just a logo then put your thumb over it. Is the communication still recognisable, unique, memorable? Is there enough personality on show for people to make a connection?
Anthony Coombes
How to become a Brand Designer: a career guide
The Team Jun 26 2019
This guide has been put together by brand strategy and design experts, The Team, to help those interested in becoming a Brand Designer understand the skills and experience required, and the day-to-day […]
Teaching the big idea
Aidan Brennan Jun 10 2019
This month I was privileged to be invited to take part in a periodic review for the undergraduate graphic design degree courses at Norwich University of the Arts (NUA). Every five years […]
How to manage brand stretch
Dan Dufour Jun 6 2019
The last CharityComms Brand Breakfast explored how far you can stretch a brand before it snaps. In this blog we suggest two solutions to prevent your brand breaking in two, or more: […]
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5436
|
__label__cc
| 0.630535
| 0.369465
|
Clarke facing crunch time
Australia’s captain needs to inspire his countrymen and lead from the front to avoid a fourth Ashes defeat
Simon Wilde
August 2 2015, 12:43am, The Times
THIS is shaping into quite a week for Michael Clarke. He not only needs to revive his own game, which seems mired in uncertainty, but steady a ship listing badly after two heavy defeats in the space of three matches.
The last captain to turn around a 2-1 deficit to claim the Ashes went by the name of Bradman and he did it as much through the power of his own bat as anything: after going two down in 1936-37, the Don reeled off scores of 270, 212 and 169 to navigate three wins on the bounce.
But Bradman then was 28 years old and in his batting prime, admittedly a phase that lasted quite a long time. Clarke is now 34 and by anyone’s…
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5437
|
__label__cc
| 0.626523
| 0.373477
|
Women are allowed to want a handbag for Christmas
Sales are booming — but don’t sneer. They are good investments
Anne Ashworth
December 11 2009, 12:01am, The Times
Behold the Daria, available in emerald, mouse grey or rouge noir; cost £495. Or the Mitzy, also £495, in these shades and black. Many women will hope to behold these and other Mulberry handbags when they unwrap their presents on Christmas morning. And to judge from the sales figures, which show some styles already sold out, many will have their wishes fulfilled.
Turnover at Mulberry’s UK stores is up 48 per cent, news that caused its shares to leap 21 per cent. I could go on, enumerating the success of this Brit business, tipped as the next Burberry. I could also mention that a third of Mulberry’s hard-wearing bags are still made in the UK.
But already I can hear this rare glimmer of good…
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5438
|
__label__cc
| 0.568681
| 0.431319
|
Church of St. Joseph, Le Havre
<Attractions in Haut Normandie (Upper Normandy)
The church of St. Joseph is an emblematic building of the rebuilt downtown Havre . This is the first monument you see when arriving by sea
The old neo-Gothic church was completely destroyed in 1944 . Auguste Perret designed the plans for the new church, he wanted to be as a memorial to the victims of war. The project plans were inspired votive of the church Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc, a church designed by Perret in 1926 and originally intended to be built rue de la Chapelle, in the 18 th district of Paris . Father Marie convince the clergy and the Ministry of Reconstruction to implement this project.The completion of the building was given to Raymond Audigier. Perret’s death in 1954 , the church was completed by Georges Brochard who tried to translate what his master wanted to really shape the bell tower. Brochard and Audigier were also assisted by another architect, Jacques Poirrier. Work began on 21 October 1951 and ended in 1956 with the completion of the tower of 107 meters .The new Church of St. Joseph, opened in June 1957 and consecrated in 1964 , is the subject of a registration in respect of historic buildings by order of October 11 1965 , ten years after its construction, an extremely rare event which shows that this church is a building of its least controversial architect .In 1997 , the church is adorned with a light dressing.Major restoration work is carried out between 2003 and 2005 at a cost of 1, 6 million.The forum is now with its pipe organ, opened on 25 September 2005 with the Orchestre des Concerts Andre Caplet for the reopening of the church
Religious Destinations
Religious destinations have always been of great importance to people throughout the ages no matter what their own personal beliefs may be, and whether they are making a pilgrimage, seeking spiritual enlightenment or just enjoying travelling with the purpose of seeing the beauty.
You may also be Interestd in
Discover a wealth of information on travelling by Motorhome, Caravan or Boat when planning your holiday or trip of a lifetime
Discover the best places to travel in your Motorhome
Find locations to travel in your motorhome as well as all other Motorhome related informtion
Browse Here
Discover the best places to travel in your Caravan
Find many locations to travel in your Caravan as well as all other Caravan related informtion here
Baoting Guide
Find Information on buying boats, taking care of your boat and all boating related information
Promoted Adverts
Which ever way you wish to travel, do it with style!
France Tourism Guide
History of France
Public Holidays in France
Emergency Numbers in France
Driving Laws in France
Outdoor Activities in France
Attractions in France
Cities in France
Places to stay in France
Traditional French Cuisine
Traditional French Recipes
French Photo Albums
France Childrens Quiz
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5439
|
__label__wiki
| 0.585911
| 0.585911
|
Home Sport Women’s World Cup: Germany Makes it Two Wins Out of Two
Women’s World Cup: Germany Makes it Two Wins Out of Two
germany-spain-world-cup-watch
Germany Wednesday made it two wins from two at the on-going Women’s World Cup as they claimed a narrow win over Spain in Group B.
Bayern Munich midfielder Sara Daebritz’s scrappy first-half goal settled the contest and put the side ranked number two in the world all-but through to the knockout stages.
Spain dominated possession but the Germans scored against the run of play when Daebritz pounced on some hesitant defending to bundle the ball in at the far post.
The result meant that Germany will be assured of their place in the last 16 if South Africa fails to beat China today, while realistically they look set to top the group.
Two-time winners Germany – who opened with a win over China – have reached at least the quarter-finals in all of the previous seven World Cups, while the Spaniards – who beat South Africa 3-1 on Saturday – have qualified for the tournament for the second time.
Efficient and resolute, the Germans remain unbeaten in 14 games since March 2018, while they are yet to lose to Spain after five meetings.
Germany were without influential midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan, who may miss the rest of the tournament after breaking a toe in their opening win over China, but still possessed the talent and resolve to emerge with the victory.
Jorge Vilda’s side had edged the first half, which began amid torrential, wet conditions in Valenciennes, but Real Sociedad’s Nahikari Garcia scuffed wide after being played clean through and Atletico Madrid’s Silvia Meseguer fired off target from the edge of the box after a neat move.
But after Alexandra Popp’s strong downward header was well saved by Barcelona keeper Sandra Panos, Spain skipper Marta Torrejon took too long to clear the loose ball and Daebritz pounced to slide the ball in on the rebound.
After the break, Torrejon’s free-kick hit the wall from one of Spain’s best chances, before substitute Klara Buehl blazed over at the other end for Germany, and they were solid at the back to fend off a comeback.
Group B’s other teams South Africa and China do not play their second match until Thursday (20:00 BST) in Paris.
Then Spain face China in Le Havre on Monday (17:00) at the same time as Germany’s final group game against South Africa in Montpellier.
The top two teams will qualify automatically for the last 16, while the four best third-placed sides from the tournament’s six groups will join them.
Previous articleNCS to Address Smart City Initiative at Conference
Next articleCSG: Change Agent Revolutionising Sports Business
editor - July 15, 2019 12:06 am
Lawan Greets Obaigbena at 60, Says THISDAY Chairman Changed Face of Nigerian Journalism
Northern Elders, CNG Urge Fulani Herdsmen to Relocate to North
APGA National Chairman Loses Daughter, 27
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5443
|
__label__wiki
| 0.627054
| 0.627054
|
Home Politics Imo’s New Narrative Championed by Ihedioha
Imo’s New Narrative Championed by Ihedioha
Emeka Ihedioha
By Charles Odibo
“…Let no one underestimate our resolve to do what is right for the good of our people. There is nothing wrong with Imo which cannot be cured by all that is right in Imo.” This was part of Governor Emeka Ihedioha’s inaugural speech to the people of Imo State.
Hardly had the ink dried on the signed documents affirming the handover of government to Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha as the 6th elected Governor of Imo State than a fortuitous incident provided for him a golden opportunity to walk his campaign talk that endeared him to Imo people and earned him massive support.
On this fateful day of May 30, 2019, at about noon a video clip went viral on social media, of an excavator earth moving equipment hacking at a gargantuan, 50-feet Akachi statue, built by the administration of the immediate past governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, in Owerri, the state capital. An appreciative crowd, reflective of the sentiment of majority of Imo people who loathed the previous administration’s profligacy of building meaningless statues and projects, urged them on.
But in a swift and decisive response in line with his mantra of strict adherence to due process and rule of law, the government of Ihedioha directed security agencies to halt the mob action and disperse the crowd. However, this was not communicated appropriately and missed a perfect opportunity to frame an issue dear to the government, thereby giving the unruly propagandists of the unpopular out-gone administration an undeserved opportunity to enter the fray and create doubts in peoples’ minds about government’s action.
Projected as a man who keeps faith with his words, Ihedioha, by this first public action of going against seemingly popular sentiments of a people impoverished by maladministration, but sticking to what he promised will guarantee a stable state where the underlying principles of good governance reigns supreme. He has sign-posted the core fundamentals of his rebuild agenda.
A quick recap of how Imo State got to this sorry pass will do because our people say that a person who does not know from where the rain started beating him will not know where the rain stopped.
In the past eight years, Imo state people had to endure a cruel administration that inflicted hardship on them through flagrant disregard for rule of law, abuse of due process, and loathing of all accepted and established norms and ordinances that guide civilized societies that are greatly admired.
Former Governor Okorocha arbitrarily cut civil service working days from five to three. He was reported to have coerced civil servants and pensioners to sign-off some percentage of their earnings. He made a mockery of the state by constructing a statue of indicted former President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. He created a laughable Ministry of Happiness and Couples’ Fulfillment (sorry, Purpose Fulfillment); and he publicly admonished the youth to take to robbery instead of smoking Indian hemp.
But in his maiden address to ndi Imo, Ihedioha rekindled hope, reminded Imolites who they are, and changed the narrative, promising that “the task of rebuilding our broken state is a sacred one. We are armed with the courage of our conviction. We are not captives of fear, for if we were, we would not have dared and if we did not dare, this day would not have come.”
The dawn of a new Imo is encapsulated in the governor’s shared vision to build an Imo economy that is anchored on good governance, wealth creation, rule of law and sound management of state resources.
However, the government will face a real test of consistency and continuity with which it communicates its purpose to define the essence of this administration. The real challenge will be that of credibility, how Imo people will quickly develop a ready to act attitude that is consistent with the aspirations of government, but also of demands that government makes of them as consequences of its aspirations, and this sits in the domain of amity between government and the people.
Some key critical objectives that the government has to quickly pursue in fulfillment of the governor’s vision for Imo to be a “South-east Nigeria state that will become one of the top three most developed state economies in Nigeria by year 2025,” are awareness, brand equity, connection, and affinity. Imo state has to have Top of Mind (TOM) awareness with constituents and also rank within the top three states in Nigeria with highest TOM awareness, which means that when asked to mention three leading states in Nigeria, Imo State should be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd to be mentioned. This is what will get Imo state into the competitive set to achieve the governor’s economic vision of top three most developed state economies.
Consequently, the government should create a new meaning for the state given the litany of negative associations the past administration gave the state in the past eight years, and build a state that stands for something in the minds of the constituents who must see it as being able to deliver on promises around desired benefits. Also of significance is the urgent need for the government to connect with the people because this is what will make ndi Imo stand up for the governor even in the face of obvious weakness, or the propaganda of opposition. This will happen when every Imo person believes that the state is for him/her; is forward-looking; and can lead them to their desired future because it understands them, knows their fears and aspirations.
Across Imo State, he is fondly addressed and referred to as Ome Nke Ahuru Anya (the one whose accomplishment is visible). Before assuming office as Governor, he had between 2003 and 2015, represented two Local Government Areas, (Aboh Mbaise and Ngor Okpala) in the House of Representatives, but over 180 infrastructural development projects which he funded or attracted from the Federal Government cut across the three senatorial zones of Imo State. It is this public service pedigree that is his testimony and gives Imo people the confidence that he has the capacity to lead from the front.
The new Imo narrative, therefore, is an Imo State where the Governor is humble and requests “to be treated as an ordinary citizen once I am before God,” and not the “iberiberism” leadership that attacks revered men of God. The new Imo is the state where the governor runs an open-door policy and insists that, “security men should allow Imolites access to Government House…to see what the Government House looks like.” The new Imo of due process is a state where the people are now willing to develop a ready to act attitude that is consistent with the aspirations of Government.
*Odibo is a Marketing and Communications Practitioner
Previous articleAfrican Firms Urged to Embrace Cloud Marketing, Advanced Analytics
Next articleGo for AFCON Trophy, Nigerian Ambassador Charges Eagles
Aliyu: My Plan is to Fix, Rejuvenate UNAIDS if Appointed
Insecurity: Again, Lawan, Gbajabiamila Meet Buhari
Lower Commodity Prices Weaken Inflation to 11.22%
Kidnappers of Adamawa Perm. Sec Demand N25m Ransom
NSCDC Sacks Officer over Killing of Korean National in LADOL
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5444
|
__label__cc
| 0.660437
| 0.339563
|
(800) 963-5505 (7AM to 6PM PST)
Auction Transport
Dealership Transport
Classic Car Transport
Corporate Relocation Transport
Online Deposit
About UAT
Why UAT?
Nevada Car Transporting
About United Auto Transport Car Shipping
Nevada Auto Transport
Nevada, also called The Silver State, is one of the most popular states in the United States. It is internationally known as the mecca of entertainment with Las Vegas as the crown jewel in the industry. As Nevada is a popular destination for both the rich and retired, Nevada Auto Transport expertise is in high demand for all areas of the state including Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City and more. Largely a desert, the Humboldt River crosses Nevada from east to west and some of the most beautiful desert landscapes are found in Nevada. Including the Mojave Desert, interesting locales such as Las Vegas and Area 51, Nevada is a popular destination for tourists and adventure seekers of all stripes.
Moving your car in Nevada
With the abundance of affordable housing in Las Vegas, it has always been a popular destination for those relocated from around the country. United Auto Transport is one of the leaders in Nevada Auto Transport and has been shipping cars to the state since the business’s inception. With its close proximity to both California and Arizona, much traffic is carried by Nevada highways which requires truckers to have a high degree of expertise and familiarity to navigate the state safely and quickly.
United Auto Transport Car Shipping
United Auto Transport is known for their on time delivery and friendly customer service within the state of Nevada. All of our drivers are fully insured to protect your vehicles during transport on public roads, highways and freeways. Drivers for United Auto Transport are also fully federally licensed by the United States Government to drive on the Nation’s interstate highways and experienced Car Shipping experts.
Call United Auto Transport today at 1-800-963-5505 or request a free online Auto Transport quote today!
Best Service in the Industry
All drivers are fully insured & bonded
No cost cancellation*
© Copyright 2014 AA United Auto Transports Inc, all rights reserved.
1-800-963-5505 or 1-818-244-5505 Fax 1-818-244-5585 Sitemap
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5445
|
__label__wiki
| 0.752022
| 0.752022
|
Keywords: ethnic ident... (2 Results)
Keywords: ethnic identity-formation x
Edinburgh University Press (1)
NYU Press (1)
[[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Anthropology (1)
American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology (1)
British and Irish Medieval History (1)
Conceiving a Nation: Scotland to 900 AD
Gilbert Márkus
10.3366/edinburgh/9780748678983.001.0001
History, British and Irish Medieval History
This book offers a history of ‘Scotland’ before Scotland existed, and before people even thought of this area as a single ‘country’. It traces the emergence and disappearance of various ethnic and ... More
This book offers a history of ‘Scotland’ before Scotland existed, and before people even thought of this area as a single ‘country’. It traces the emergence and disappearance of various ethnic and political groups from Roman times till circa AD 900, and their shifting relationships. But it also calls into question what are often seen as straightforward and obvious concepts such as ‘ethnicity’, ‘Christian conversion’, ‘law’. While following a broad chronological narrative over nine centuries, and dealing with political and large-scale developments, it also explores in some depth the culture of the societies (and there were several) of the time. In addition to the more narrowly political dimension, it explores the texture of experience in people’s lives: how they imagined themselves and their own identities; how they saw their place in the world; how communities managed their own internal affairs such as marriage, childhood and social conflict; how people understood gender, wealth, political power and religious belief. Important texts which have sometimes been read rather naively are here read in new ways, identifying the commitments of their authors, and seeking the literary influences which shaped them (which means we must read and understand not only what early medieval writers wrote, but also what they were reading).Less
Conceiving a Nation : Scotland to 900 AD
This book offers a history of ‘Scotland’ before Scotland existed, and before people even thought of this area as a single ‘country’. It traces the emergence and disappearance of various ethnic and political groups from Roman times till circa AD 900, and their shifting relationships. But it also calls into question what are often seen as straightforward and obvious concepts such as ‘ethnicity’, ‘Christian conversion’, ‘law’. While following a broad chronological narrative over nine centuries, and dealing with political and large-scale developments, it also explores in some depth the culture of the societies (and there were several) of the time. In addition to the more narrowly political dimension, it explores the texture of experience in people’s lives: how they imagined themselves and their own identities; how they saw their place in the world; how communities managed their own internal affairs such as marriage, childhood and social conflict; how people understood gender, wealth, political power and religious belief. Important texts which have sometimes been read rather naively are here read in new ways, identifying the commitments of their authors, and seeking the literary influences which shaped them (which means we must read and understand not only what early medieval writers wrote, but also what they were reading).
Keywords: Roman empire, ‘Celtic’ identities, ethnic identity-formation, Christianisation, social organisation, kingship, ways of reading
Shifting Urban Genres
Samuel K. Byrd
in The Sounds of Latinidad: Immigrants Making Music and Creating Culture in a Southern City
10.18574/nyu/9781479859405.003.0007
Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the political history of Latin genre categories, showing how genre emerges out of the contested spaces of nationalism and ethnic identity formation in Latin America and the ... More
This chapter examines the political history of Latin genre categories, showing how genre emerges out of the contested spaces of nationalism and ethnic identity formation in Latin America and the United States. A major part of the agency of Latino musicians and their audience is how they negotiate genre boundaries together in a dialectical process, often through direct feedback during performances but also through informal conversations and online social networking sites. By deploying and, at times, bending genre rules, musicians enact and embody the common circumstances they share with their audience; they claim ownership over a method of making music. Musicians justified these boundaries as necessary for distinguishing between diverse strains of latinidad, and this also shows a trend toward musicians collaborating across genre in an attempt to construct a pan-Latino vision of belonging to the city.Less
This chapter examines the political history of Latin genre categories, showing how genre emerges out of the contested spaces of nationalism and ethnic identity formation in Latin America and the United States. A major part of the agency of Latino musicians and their audience is how they negotiate genre boundaries together in a dialectical process, often through direct feedback during performances but also through informal conversations and online social networking sites. By deploying and, at times, bending genre rules, musicians enact and embody the common circumstances they share with their audience; they claim ownership over a method of making music. Musicians justified these boundaries as necessary for distinguishing between diverse strains of latinidad, and this also shows a trend toward musicians collaborating across genre in an attempt to construct a pan-Latino vision of belonging to the city.
Keywords: Latin genre categories, nationalism, ethnic identity formation, genre boundaries, latinidad, Latino musicians
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5446
|
__label__cc
| 0.610153
| 0.389847
|
Assessing Student Learning in the Core and the Major
Main Menu Assessing Student Learning in the Core and the Major
Knowledge and Skills
Convergence of Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge, Skills, and Assignments
Course Assessments
Implementation and Data Collection
Institutional Assessment Data
Main Menu Institutional Assessment Data
Graduate Application Survey
Assessment Plans and Forms
Assessment of the Core Curriculum
Main Menu Course Evaluations
Which Courses Will Be Evaluated
Faculty and Course Evaluations
Deans, Chairs, and Course Evaluations
Students and Course Evaluations: FAQ
AAC&U 2016
Drexel 2016
Graduate Workshop May 2017
Assessment at the University of Nevada, Reno
College of Liberal Arts Assessment Plans
Basque Studies Ph.D. Assessment Plan
The mission of the Center for Basque Studies (hereafter CBS) is both to preserve existing knowledge about the Basque people and to facilitate and encourage the further study and investigation of Basque topics by promoting scholarship and research in the field of Basque Studies. In order to achieve this goal, CBS faculty participates in scholarly and research activities in the various fields of Basque Studies, including but not limited to Anthropology and Culture, History, Language and Literature, and Political Science, as well as Genocide studies, Terrorism, Diaspora and Migration Studies, Gender Studies and, Art. As an interdisciplinary field, Basque Studies requires scholars to be conversant with Basque-related material and research across the disciplines. CBS faculty conduct research in their areas of specialization and in related areas that fall within the purview of Basque studies as a whole. In addition, while our faculty are focused on Basque Studies, they are also trained in specific disciplines and make contributions in those various academic fields, through research, teaching, and community outreach, even when such contributions are not Basque-related. The CBS facilitates the research of Basque Scholars worldwide through access to our staff and by facilitating access to the Basque Library collection. The CBS facilitates interest in Basque scholarship in the following ways: by offering classes at UNR and other universities in the United States and in Europe; through study abroad, specifically under UNR's University Studies Abroad Consortium; by running a listserve for Basque scholars; by maintaining a website and presence on the internet; by offering a Basque minor; and by providing a tutorial Ph.D. The CBS provides knowledge, experience, and advice regarding the Basque language and culture to the University and the community, the region, the country, and the world. The CBS responds to requests for information from organizations, institutions and individuals; publishes and distributes materials including but not limited to a newsletter, articles, and monographs; edits a Basque Book Series for the University of Nevada; provides consultation, when appropriate, to museums, documentary filmmakers, other publishers, etc.; and contributes to the atmosphere of scholarly excellence within the University.
1. Students will exhibit progress in the Ph.D. tutorial program between the first and second semester following enrollment.
Student Performance Indicators
Each student, in cooperation with their faculty mentor, will develop and submit a formal program of study.
Each student will form a graduate committee.
The CBS director and faculty mentor will approve the student's graduate committee.
The CBS director, the student's faculty mentor and the graduate committee will assess (Approve/Disapprove) the program of study.
2. Communication between students and the CBS will be facilitated by regular tutorials between students and their faculty mentors.
Following regular tutorial meetings with the student, the faculty mentor will write a report on the student's progress at the end of every semester and, in conjunction with the student, set objectives for the next and subsequent semesters.
Reports will be reviewed each semester by the student, the director of the CBS, the faculty mentor and the director of graduate studies to assess the student's progress (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory), based upon objectives agreed by the student and mentor. Reports will flag potential and existing academic, personal or financial issues.
3. Each student will complete the comprehensive exam composed by the student's graduate committee in order to be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy.
Student will schedule and complete the comprehensive exam.
The student's graduate committee will assess (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) the comprehensive exam.
4. Each candidate for the Tutorial Ph.D. must obtain approval of a dissertation prospectus and complete a dissertation which makes a significant scholarly contribution to knowledge.
Each candidate will write a dissertation on the topic approved by the faculty mentor and the student's graduate committee. The student will regularly submit draft chapters to his/her graduate committee for critical comment.
The faculty mentor and the student's graduate committee will assess (Approve/Disapprove) the student's dissertation.
5. Each student will defend his/her dissertation.
Each student will make an oral defense of the written dissertation.
The graduate committee will assess (Approve/Disapprove) the oral defense in order to complete the Doctoral Degree Notice of Completion.
1. Students will be able to demonstrate a minimum level of comprehension skills in the Basque language (Euskara) before graduation.
Student will complete a proficiency exam in the Basque language before the comprehensive examination has been scheduled.
The CBS faculty member responsible for teaching Basque language courses at UNR will administer a proficiency exam to all Ph.D. candidates and assess (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) the student's responses.
University Assessment
Contact Dr. Russell Stone (0005)
Clark Administration, 110
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5447
|
__label__wiki
| 0.996535
| 0.996535
|
High-tech 'talking' Barbie bad idea, group says
Barbie, the doll, is about to become Barbie, the techno-conversationalist. And one livid consumer group says -- for the sake of kids -- Mattel must quash the toy before it hits shelves for holiday
High-tech 'talking' Barbie bad idea, group says Barbie, the doll, is about to become Barbie, the techno-conversationalist. And one livid consumer group says -- for the sake of kids -- Mattel must quash the toy before it hits shelves for holiday Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1Gs7Tlg
Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY Published 1:00 p.m. ET March 11, 2015 | Updated 2:45 p.m. ET March 11, 2015
The No. 1 request Mattel says it hears from girls around the world is that they want to have a conversation with Barbie.(Photo: Mattel)
Barbie, the doll, is about to become Barbie, the techno-conversationalist. And one livid consumer advocacy group says — for the sake of kids — Mattel must quash the new toy before it hits shelves for the holidays.
At issue: Should a kid's conversation with a Barbie doll — or any play thing — be private?
"Hello Barbie" is a $74.99, Wi-Fi-connected doll that uses a microphone embedded in Barbie's belt buckle to record children's voices and transmit them to cloud servers where they will be stored for up to two years. Mattel's tech partner, ToyTalk, leverages speech recognition with pre-programmed responses to key words or phrases, so that kids can feel like Barbie is "responding" to them.
Mattel says it's simply doing what kids have been asking it to do for years. "The No. 1 request we receive from girls globally is to have a conversation with Barbie, and with Hello Barbie we are making that request a reality," says Stephanie Cota, Mattel's senior vice president of global communications, in an e-mailed statement.
What's more, for kids to use the techno-doll, parents must sign on — and ultimately will have access to their kids' recorded conversations.
But Wednesday, officials at Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the advocacy group, posted a petition on their site, demanding that Mattel abandon the project. "This is really about Mattel eavesdropping on a child's heart and soul — and the most intimate things about their lives," says Susan Linn executive director of the group, in a phone interview.
The real problem, says Linn, is that Mattel will now have the ability to "listen in" on kids at play. "It's corporate surveillance in the home and exploitation where kids are most vulnerable — around creative play."
Mattel executives — and executives at tech partner ToyTalk — flatly reject that.
"Mattel is committed to safety and security, and Hello Barbie conforms to applicable government standards, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act," Cota says. Also, she notes, Hello Barbie's technology features safeguards "to ensure that stored data is secure and can't be accessed by unauthorized users."
All of Barbie's "responses" will be pre-written, says Oren Jacob, CEO of ToyTalk. "She only says things back that we've written for her to say."
The company does request parental permission to use the audio recordings to improve its future products and to build better speech recognition — but not for marketing of any type, Jacob says. "Parents will be "100% in control of their family data," he says.
Advocacy groups can hold sway in Toyland. Back in 2006, Hasbro abandoned its plans to create a doll line based on the sexy pop girl group, Pussycat Dolls, shortly after several advocacy groups protested.
For Mattel, which is trying to keep Barbie relevant, this is no small matter. The 56-year-old Barbie line, while still a $3-billion global brand, has seen sales shrink in recent years as kids increasingly go for more techie-toys and gadgets. Barbie's gross sales shrank 16% in 2014 vs. the year before, the company recently reported.
One toy industry analyst says the new doll is simply that — a doll. "This is a plastic doll that Mattel wants to give kids a chance to interact with," says Jim Silver, editor in chief of the toy review site TTPM. "There are times to be concerned about kids and privacy. But this is not one of those times."
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Gs7Tlg
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5451
|
__label__wiki
| 0.938913
| 0.938913
|
Eden Hazard holds Real Madrid shirt in Spain ahead of summer transfer
rahila maqbool
EDEN HAZARD has been pictured holding a Real Madrid shirt ahead of his proposed £115million summer transfer away from Chelsea.
Eden Hazard has been pictured holding a Real Madrid shirt ahead of his proposed £115m transfer (Image: GETTY)
Eden Hazard, who is currently on holiday with his family in Marbella, Spain, was pictured holding the Real Madrid shirt with a waiter, reports .
According to their source the Belgium international also signed the football kit.
The waiter, a Barcelona fan, reportedly joked with Hazard if he would instead consider joining Barca from Chelsea to which the 28-year-old replied “No”, before he posing with the Los Blancos shirt for a photograph.
Hazard is expected to complete his transfer to Real in the next few weeks, although no agreement between the clubs has been officially announced yet.
However, the player did appear make his intentions clear over where his future lies, at the end of the Blues’ 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final.
Hazard finished the game with two games on a night where they comfortably beat their London rivals and after the game he was asked about his future at Chelsea and whether he would be leaving the club in the summer.
He explained: “We will decide in a few days and the only target in my mind was to win this final.
“I have made my decision already and now I'm waiting on both clubs.
Eden Hazard scored to goals in Chelsea's 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final (Image: GETTY)Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri admitted Eden Hazard wants to leave (Image: GETTY)
“I think it is a goodbye, but in football you never know.
“My dream was to play in the Premier League and I have done that for one of the biggest clubs so maybe now it is the time for a new challenge.”
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri also admitted the likelihood of a summer transfer is high, he said: "I know he wants to leave and I have to respect his decision.
"He is a wonderful player. It took two or three months for me to understand him as a man and now I do, he's a wonderful man.
"He's an extraordinary player. He is a strange boy but when he understands it is extraordinary."
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri could also being leaving the club to join Juventus (Image: GETTY)
Sarri might even be joining Hazard in leaving Chelsea in the summer, with the Italian interested in take up the vacant position at Juventus.
Massimiliano Allegri announced he would be leaving Juve after winning the Serie A title five years in a row, with the club desperate to bring European glory back to Turin after a 23-year wait.
Sarri met with his agent Fali Ramadani in London on Friday as the pair try and clear up his future at Stamford Bridge.
His agent then reportedly had talks with Chelsea executives over the Italian’s future at the club, while it is understood Sarri met Chelsea’s director, Marina Granovskaia, and indicated he would prefer to return to Italy for family reasons, as well as opening up the possibility of becoming Juve’s next coach.
Topic: #eden hazard #spain
China's top mobile accessories brand now in India, hopes to shake up market Download to Read
Wee Lizard Found in Dinosaur's Belly from 120 Million Years Ago
Icertis Joins SaaS Unicorn Club With $115 Mn In Funding
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5455
|
__label__wiki
| 0.848298
| 0.848298
|
Truck driver injured <br>in big rig rollover
Originally Published: December 6, 2000 3 p.m.
A truck driver suffered head and neck injuries Monday after falling asleep at the wheel and driving his tractor trailer down an embankment on south I-17, authorities said.
According to Department of Public Safety officers Ray Klies, the crash occurred about 7 a.m. near the McGuireville rest area.
Michael Farrow, 36 was transported by helicopter to a Phoenix hospital in unstable condition, Lake Montezuma–Rimrock Fire Department reported. According to Klies, he was released Tuesday.
The truck nearly missed a guardrail and rolled about 400-feet down an embankment causing major damage to the truck, Klies said. The truck was reportedly transporting 30-foot long aluminum braces at the time of the crash.
Farrow was cited for three commercial vehicle infractions.
Cottonwood woman arrested on drug charges
A Cottonwood woman was arrested Tuesday morning on drug charges when police discovered usable amounts of methamphetamine.
Jaime Lou Lloyd, 31, was arrested when police spotted her riding a bicycle on Main Street without a headlight shortly after midnight, Cottonwood police reported.
A background check showed that Lloyd had a warrant for her arrest out of Gila Bend, police said. A subsequent search of her belongs reportedly turned up the drugs, a straw, a razor blade and a lighter.
Lloyd was booked into Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde on the warrant, possession of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Minor injuries reported in two-car collision
A Cottonwood woman was taken to the hospital after two cars collided at the intersection of Arizona 260 and Fir Friday.
Joanne Grable, 59, was taken to Verde Valley Medical Center about 3:25 p.m. to be evaluated and treated for a minor head injury suffered in the crash, Cottonwood police said.
According to witness statements, it is unclear whether Grable or Jessica Harris, 26, Cottonwood, the driver of the other car, caused the crash by running a red light, police said.
In the collision, Harris’ pickup was knocked onto its side when Grable attempted to turn onto Arizona 260 from the Osco Pharmacy parking lot and hit Harris’ vehicle, police said. Harrison was reportedly uninjured in the crash.
No citations were issued in the case.
Man arrested for allegedly raping 19-year-old woman<br>
UPDATE: Man who died in Friday crash identified
Officer kills bobcat
Woman gives birth on way to hospital
Workers attack supervisor <br>over smoke break
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5469
|
__label__cc
| 0.594036
| 0.405964
|
Posts tagged Kalamazoo
Weekly News Recap: March 17, 2017
Vincent Duckworth March 17, 2017 Kivi Park, Mrs. Lily Fielding, Marc Serre, Deb McIntosh, Brian Bigger, Ontario, Jim Collins, Charles Bronfman, Edmonton Public Library, Norman Yates, City of Edmonton, Edmonton Examiner, Edmonton, Alberta, Calgary, Calgary Herald, National Music Centre, NMC, Canada 150, Inside Indiana Business, Philanthropy, Education, Indiana University, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI, CBC, Market Wired, Roger Mooking, Jay Ingram, Bill Brooks, Calgary Opera, Red Deer 2019 Canada Games, Branding, UToday, Red Deer Advocate, Calgary YMCA, Metro, Helene Weir, Google, Innovation Challenge, CTV, Canada, Globe and Mail, Naming, Naming Rights, 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune, Canadian Architect, Eva's Phoenix, Homeless Youth, Job Training Facility, Devon Dispatch, Devonian Botanic Gardens, Morris Flewwelling, Red Deer, rdnewsNOW, RDC, Red Deer College, Crowdfunding, Nonprofit Quarterly, Crowdsourcing.org, Crowdsourcing, North America, Connecticut, Inside Philanthropy, Ohio, Michigan, Detroit, Flint, Kalamazoo, Fast Company, Brand Awareness, RadioNewZealand, Merger, JBWere, New Zealand, Deadlines, Business Standard, Denmark, DanChurchAid, NGO, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Research-Intensive Universities, LERU, League of European Research Universities, Developing Nations, Philanthropy News Digest, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Development Assistance Committee, DAC, Japan, Germany, Lifehacks, Career Hacks, Personal Growth, Principles, Prompts, Mastering Skills, Mentorships, Mindsets, Ben Hardy, Philanthropic controversy, Patrick Soon-Shiong, NantHealth, Dot Foods, Herald-Whig, Financial Recovery Plan, Quincy University, Mount Sterling, Quincy, Illinois, PennState, John Holder, Barbara Holder, Penn State, Penn State College of Education, NBC, French Hospital Medical Center, Peter Oppenheimer, Mary Beth Oppenheimer, Helsinki University, Maija Lehtonen, Finnish Literature, French Literature, Imperial College, Imperial College London, London, England, Mohn Westlake Foundation, Innovation, Creativity, Collaboration, Making, Makers, Design, Build, Prototype, Dartmouth College, ABC, Frank Guarini, New Jersey, Dr. Kiran Patel, Florida Hospital Carrollwood, Dr. Pallavi Patel, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Flathead County Jail, C, Flathead County, Montana, New York Times, Donald Trump, Grand Theatre, Helen Spriet, Andy Spriet, Camosun, Gwyn Morgan, Patricia Trottier, NAIT, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, EPT, Rendering, NAIT International Student Centre, Campus ExpansionComment
Weekly News Recap: October 21, 2016
Vincent Duckworth October 21, 2016 Jim Prentice, Alberta Premier, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, Doctors Without Borders, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Pfizer, Foundations, Charitable Foundations, Red Deer County, Red Deer, 2019 Winter Games, Enbridge, Economy, Office Space, Fort McMurray, Canadian Finals Rodeo, Edmonton, Kalamazoo, Philanthropy, Municipal Finance, Foundation for Excellence, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Cancer Moonshoot, Roy Romanow, MS Society, Ottawa, NAIT, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Prospect research, APRA, Arts, Arts Nonprofits, Betty Xie, AFP, Fellowship in Inclusion and Philanthropy, Bruce Rauner, Diana Rauner, Chicago, Illinois, Medium, Reading, Daily Routine, Daily Habits, Attention Span, Big Five Personality Test, Big Five Personality Traits, Likeable People, EQ, Copyright, Infographic, Career, Lifehack, Public Speaking, Chief Economist, Brian Emmett, Courage, Deloitte, Business Courage, Nonprofit Finance Study, Richard A Henson Foundation, Newark, Child literacy, Michael Bloomberg, Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts, Nashville, Eskind Family, Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Domino's Pizza, Future Farmers of America, FFA, Phil Knight, Penny Knight, Eugene, Nike, Billionaires, Rowan University, Jean Edelman, Ric Edelman, New Jersey, New York, Mantua Township, Cretaceous Period, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Gustavo A. Cisneros, Latin American Artists, Latin America, Lakeland Medical Center, Lakeland Medical Center Pavilion, Hanson Heart Center, Merlin Hanson, Carolyn Hanson, Ramon Sessions, Ramon Sessions Basketball Performance Center, Charlotte Hornets, Kellogg, Kellogg Company, Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, Chuck Feeney, Indigenous Affairs, Australia, Guelph, La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, Guelph Vet College, Randy Boyd, Jenny Boyd, KnoxvilleComment
Weekly News Recap: September 2, 2016
Vincent Duckworth September 2, 2016 Lakeland College, Lakeland, Alice Wainwright-Stewart, Branding, Rebrand, Lloydminster, Alberta, National Music Centre, Calgary, Clinton Foundation, Foundation, Asylum seekers, Refugees, Canada Winter Games, Red Deer, Mosaic Stadium, Roughriders, Regina, Consumer Insolvency, Banruptcy, Rogers Place, Edmonton, Ottawa, Ontario, Federal Government, Alberta Economy, Large Gifts, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Postal Strike, Morality, Philanthropy, Inside Philanthropy, Italian Donation Foundation, City College of New York, City University of New York, Kalamazoo Foundation, Kalamazoo, New York City, Budget, Little Caesars Pizza, Naming, Naming Rights, Philanthropic Naming Agreement, Marian Ilitch, Mike Ilitch, Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Construction, Pell & Bales, Creativity, Morning routine, Design, Movement, Herb Alpert, Lani Hall, Los Angeles, Los Angeles City College, endowments, Music, Amber Heard, Johnny Depp, Len Blavatnik, Billionaire, Oxford University, Harvard, Microsoft, Al Jalila Foundation, Dubai, Ann Barshinger, Pennsylvania, Blind, Publix, Feeding America, Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Los Angeles Public Library, Alice Lee Lund Charitable Trust, Renown Children's Hospital, Reno, Nevada, Circus Circus, Notre Dame University, Indiana, Diane Quinn, Innovation Park, Cocoa Beach Library, Ruth Schroer, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Huntsville-Madison County, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, Huntsville, Alabama, Houston, Houston Cougars, Bloomberg, City Leadership Initiative, Michael Bloomberg, Harvard University, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Leadership, Management, Innovation, Driscoll Children's Hospital, Corpus CristiComment
Weekly News Recap: August 5, 2016
Vincent Duckworth August 5, 2016 Calgary Public Library, Calgary, Alberta, Arts + Culture Pass, Central Library, Philanthropy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Fund, Energy industry, renewable energy, Arts-Related Venture Philanthropy, Millennials, millennial philanthropy, Canadian Red Cross, Red Cross, Fort McMurray, Government of Canada, Alberta Ballet, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Arpin, Contemporary Calgary, Blumbergs, Canadian Registered Charities, Lifehack, Career Hack, Email, Alibaba, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Asia, Information, Henry Arnhold, Arnhold Foundation, Appalachian Bible College, Foremost Industries, Philanthropic controversy, Donation, Gift Agreement, Randy O'Dell, Kidde Canada, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Dorthy S. Corson, Jim (Corson) Skinner, Claire (Corson) Skinner, Corson Family Foundation, Interlochen, Michigan, Hyde Collection, James Schmitt, Glen Falls, New York, Rice University, Houston, Jewish Studies, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center, OSF HealthCare, Peoria, Illinois, George "Bert" Walker, Carol Walker, Eden Theological Seminary, Barton College, North Carolina, Emerson Clarence "E.C." Winstead, Boone Family Foundation, Harold Simmons Foundation, Brownsville Scholars Program, Mike Hernandez III, Kelly Hernandez, Kalamazoo, Property TaxesComment
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5472
|
__label__cc
| 0.55301
| 0.44699
|
The Greek election, in one extremely indecisive table
By Brad Plumer
The fate of the euro — and, perhaps, the global economy — could rest on the elections in Greece on June 17. No pressure or anything. And the Greeks still can’t make up their minds on which way to vote. Polls have been lurching wildly back and forth.
Syriza’s Alex Tsipras wants your vote. (Reuters)
So that’s the context for the upcoming Greek parliamentary elections. The party that voters back could determine Greece’s fate. On the one hand, there’s Syriza, the far-left party that’s threatening to rip up the bailout-for-austerity agreement. That sounds awfully enticing to voters. On the other hand, there’s the pro-bailout New Democracy party, which wants to renegotiate the agreement a bit — maybe wheedle some more aid out of Germany — but isn’t ready to do anything drastic that might get the country booted from the euro. That pro-euro stance is also popular with voters.
So Syriza and New Democracy keep alternating leads. The most recent poll has Syriza in the lead with 31.5 percent of the vote. Earlier polls had New Democracy ahead. Masa Serdarevic (using Reuters data) created this handy table of all the polling results to date, with the leaders in bold:
Keep in mind that the winning party gets an extra 50 seats in the 300-seat parliament. So the key question, as LSE’s Kevin Featherstone explained a few weeks ago, is whether the June elections will allow any of the Greek parties to form a working government. One possibility is that ND takes the lead and tries to form a government with the pro-bailout Pasok. In that case, they might try to pick up support from the Democratic Left, which wants to stay in the euro but doesn’t approve of the bailout.
That ambivalent position seems to reflect the attitude of most Greeks. Polls suggest most people want the country to remain in the euro, but they’d rather not endure too much wrenching austerity, which only seems to be making everything worse. And Syriza is convincing many voters that it can thread this needle. “There’s a delusion in the public debate in Greece that Syriza can persuade the euro zone not to kick us out, that we can play this game of poker and they will concede,” Featherstone said. “That’s very risky.”
But how risky? On that question, it seems like the Greek public still can’t make up its mind.
Most Read Business
Review Goodbye, Chrome: Google’s Web browser has become spy software
Perspective It’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?
We sent this offer to
john.smith@gmail.com
Inside 'Trump Revealed'
Read stories based on reporting for “Trump Revealed,” a broad, comprehensive biography of the life of the 45th president.
Reporting archive: Trump’s financial records, depositions and interview transcripts
Success! Check your inbox for details.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5475
|
__label__wiki
| 0.642714
| 0.642714
|
In The Kitchen: Burgers and Beer
by: Sponsored Content
Posted: Aug 8, 2018 / 12:35 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 8, 2018 / 12:35 PM EDT
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – We were in the kitchen with Chef Daniel Plott from Burger Theory in Newport News along with Daniel Powell from Tradition Brewing. They have collaborated on a special beer-inspired menu and they were here to show us what it’s all about!
Burger Theory
980 Omni Blvd – Newport News City Center
First floor of the Holiday Inn and Suites
Visit them online at this link
Find them on Facebook at Burger Theory Newport News
This segment of The Hampton Roads Show is sponsored by Burger Theory Newport News.
More HR Show Stories
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - The mission to the moon would not have been possible without the efforts of many here in Hampton Roads. On this the 50th Anniversary of very successful Apollo 11 mission to the moon, The Hampton Roads Show celebrated mans greatest achievement by doing the show on location at The Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton.
This segment of The Hampton Roads Show is sponsored by Virginia Air & Space Center.
by Sponsored Content / Jul 16, 2019
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - There's always something special happening each day at the Virginia Air & Space Center. Danielle Price is the Director of Education & Exhibits at VASC and she joined Chris Reckling and Kerri Furey on The Hampton Roads Show with some details.
Virginia Air & Space Center 600 Settlers Landing Road Hampton (757) 727-0900 VASC.org Social Media
by Kerri Furey, Sponsored Content / Jul 16, 2019
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - The Virginia Air and Space Center is proud to present brand new exhibits that not only celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission, but reveal the future of exploration, and engage the young minds that will ultimately launch our next national achievement.
This segment of The Hampton Roads Show sponsored by The Virginia Air and Space Center.
Pop Quiz Link
Pop Quiz Trivia
Enter the Pop Quiz Trivia weekdays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. PLAY NOW! To see a a list of recent Pop Quiz Trivia Winners click here.
Be On The Hampton Roads Show
We love featuring the people of Hampton Roads on the show and providing an opportunity for organizations and businesses to inform the community. Click here for details.
HR Show on FB
The Hampton Roads Show
HR Show on Twitter
Tweets by HR_Show
***Don’t Miss Module Removal CSS***
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5478
|
__label__wiki
| 0.863468
| 0.863468
|
Cubs lose in wild 5-4 game against Reds
Rainy day, slick surface, and a loss.
Welcome to the first race on the slick surface at rainy Great American Race Track.
Scratch that. Welcome to the first race on the slick surface at rainy Great American Ball Park, where the Cubs dropped a wild 5-4 decision in front of a crowd of 36,635.
Wait a minute. Is this a baseball season or a horseracing season? It might be a little bit of both in Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s book as the end of July turns into August.
“Truthfully, the baseball season in earnest starts around now,” Piniella said. “The first four months are jockeying for position. Now the real race begins. And August is a cruel month in a lot of ways. The teams that play well in August are the ones who survive this thing and have a real good chance at the end. This is an important stretch for us starting in Cincinnati.
“This month has a way of separating the teams. They don’t call it the dog days of August for nothing.”
It’s not yet August but this horse race or baseball game or whatever you want to call it turned into a near photo finish when the Cubs (53-48), tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth with a thrilling two-run rally, highlighted by RBI singles from Mark DeRosa and Jason Kendall. But Jacque Jones, who reached on a fielder’s choice, was thrown out at the plate for the second out in the inning to help stifle the rally.
Edwin Encarnacion singled home Norris Hopper for the game winner off Bob Howry (5-6) and the Reds celebrated. And the Cubs dropped two in a row and fell back to three games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.
The North Siders’ offense has 17 runs in six and seven of those runs came in one game.
DeRosa, who missed a pair of games with tendinitis in his left hamstring, was back in the starting lineup and hit a second-inning double but after that, Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo didn’t allow another hit until DeRosa hit a harmless single in the seventh inning.
The Cubs scored when Derrek Lee hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning to bring home Ryan Theriot and in the eighth when Theriot doubled home Matt Murton before putting the two on the board in the ninth.
Meanwhile left-handed starter Rich Hill had a schizophrenic night, dancing in and out of trouble. The bottom line is that he held the Reds (45-59) to two runs and racked up eight strikeouts in five innings, but he couldn’t go longer because he threw 104 pitches. He gave up six hits and three walks plus he hit a batter. Hill is 2-5 with six no-decisions since May 5.
Hill did his job keeping the Cubs in the game but Piniella brought in Rocky Cherry, who was just called up from Triple-A Iowa in the sixth. Cherry, who had a 2.38 ERA in nine prior appearances, walked David Ross and hit Ryan Freel with a pitch before Jeff Keppinger brought both of them home with a double to left that was misplayed by Alfonso Soriano.
The Cubs are hoping to snap their skid tonight and get the offense back in gear. But it won’t be an easy task.
The Reds are sending out Aaron Harang to the hill and he’s enjoying a 10-2 season with a 3.45 ERA. He is 6-1 in 11 lifetime appearances against the North Siders with a 4.23 ERA.
Cincinnati has been on a roll since former Brother Rice baseball star Pete Mackanin took over for the fired Jerry Narron on July 2. The Reds were 31-51 before they gave Narron the boot and are 14-8 under Mackanin. The team won four of its first six series under Mackanin’s guidance.
Let's Go Shopping
Ascension Chamber of Commerce
Ascension Tourism
Ascension Parish Library
Post South
Prairieville LA
Donaldsonville Chief
Gonzales Weekly Citizen - Gonzales, LA ~ 231 W. Cornerview St, Gonzales, LA 70737 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5483
|
__label__wiki
| 0.857626
| 0.857626
|
Commentary Culture
Dick’s Sporting Goods Gets Hit with Brutal Consequences for Pushing Gun Control
By Joe Saunders
Published May 5, 2018 at 9:43am
Dick’s Sporting Goods better hope the gun control crowd buys a lot of sneakers.
The Pennsylvania-based retailer has been lapping up a lot of free publicity from the mainstream media thanks to its over-the-top response to February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
But its turncoat activism against the Second Amendment rights of American citizens is starting to hit hard in the business world.
One day after one of the largest gun manufacturers in America announced it was cutting all ties to Dick’s because of Dick’s newly public stance against gun rights, the board of governors of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, country’s umbrella association of firearms-related businesses, unceremoniously voted to kick out Dick’s.
The vote was unanimous.
TRENDING: Report: AOC’s ‘Toilet Water’ Rampage Started from Bad Spanish
The statement is unmistakeable.
Dick’s has been in the news a good bit lately, mainly in a flattering light as the anti-gun mainstream media praised the company’s decision to no longer sell so-called assault weapons or “high capacity magazines,” and restrict the sale of any firearms to buyers 21 or older.
A Washington Post headline, “Dick’s Sporting Goods took a stand on gun sales — and made a big statement,” is a good example of how the mainstream media lionized the company.
Well, the gun rights side can make a pretty big statement when it wants to, too. And the National Sports Shooting Foundation’s statement on Friday kicking Dick’s out was pretty emphatic.
Will Dick's Sporting Goods regret taking the stance it has?
Completing this poll entitles you to Conservative Tribune news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
2% (50 Votes)
Dick’s CEO Edward Stack and his team have the right to run their company any way they want, but when the company goes so far as hiring a lobbying firm in D.C. with ties to gun grabbing organizations, it’s not welcome in the shooting community anymore.
As the Federalist reported Wednesday, Dick’s had hired the Glover Park Group, a Beltway-insider operation, for “lobbying related to gun control.”
In its announcement that Dick’s had been expelled, the NSSF cited the lobbyist hire as apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back:
“The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, Board of Governors today unanimously voted to expel Dick’s Sporting Goods from membership for conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Foundation.
“Dick’s Sporting Goods recently hired a Washington D.C.-based government affairs firm, for ‘[l]obbying related to gun control.’ Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward W. Stack announced earlier this year the retail chain would end sales of modern sporting rifles, voluntarily raise the age to 21 to purchase firearms in their stores and called for more restrictive legislation. Dick’s later announced they would destroy the remaining modern sporting rifle inventory. NSSF responded that business decisions should be individually made, but was nonetheless disappointed and the decision does not reflect the reality of the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners.”
RELATED: Watch: Keanu Reeves Training for ‘John Wick 3’ Almost Doesn’t Look Real
The first part of that last sentence is the key. The NSSF recognizes that “business decisions should be individually made” — that’s how America operates.
But Dick’s isn’t just changing its inventory system by not stocking what the mainstream media calls “assault weapons.” And it isn’t just alienating potential customers by instituting age requirements for firearms purchases where they’re not required by law (and could well be unconstitutional where they are required.)
With the hiring of the Glover Park Group, Dick’s has actively joined the gun control debate on the side that’s aiming to restrict the constitutional rights of American citizens.
Maybe it’s a decision of conscience, as the Washington Post would have it.
Maybe it’s a business decision aimed at pandering to the social justice warrior crowd while deliberately snubbing American gun owners, and the market for sporting goods they represent.
Either way, Dick’s bosses have made their choice. They just better hope that gun-control crowd buys a lot of sneakers.
Joe Saunders
Story Editor
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.
GOP Senator Blasts ‘Squad,’ Calls Them ‘Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse’
Even Some Progressives Are Turning on Pelosi After Feud with ‘the Squad’
On Top of Medieval Diseases, LA Now Has To Deal with Dark Age-Style Killings
1 Democrat Stands Out on Sanders’ Student Loan Forgiveness Bill
2020 Dem Condemns Epstein’s Ex-Law Firm… Holds Fundraiser with Them the Same Day
Tags: gun control, Parkland school shooting, Second Amendment
Commentary C-SPAN screen shot
Expert Notices Problem with Migrant Mom’s Photo, Says She’s a Total Fraud
Ryan Ledendecker July 12, 2019 at 1:18pm
Commentary Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Judge Issues Blistering Rebuke Regarding Core Mueller Claim
C. Douglas Golden July 15, 2019 at 4:23pm
Commentary Alex Wroblewski / Getty Images
Third-Generation American Offers To Pay for ‘Squad’ To Leave America
Ryan Ledendecker July 16, 2019 at 12:00pm
Commentary Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images; Jason Davis / Getty Images
Mail Stunt by McConnell’s Opponent Backfires After His Team Notices Letters’ Postmarks
C. Douglas Golden July 17, 2019 at 8:42am
Commentary Zach Gibson / Getty Images
Report: AOC’s ‘Toilet Water’ Rampage Started from Bad Spanish
Commentary Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images ; Win McNamee / Getty Images ; Win McNamee / Getty Images
Were Trump’s Controversial Tweets a Trap That Democrats Walked Right Into?
Ben Marquis July 15, 2019 at 2:23pm
Commentary @kkuizon / Twitter screen shot
Man Offers Panhandler Job, And That’s When Things Turn Ugly
Commentary Michael Kovac / Getty Images
Levin Delivers Verdict on Trump Tweets: “I See Nothing Related Even Remotely to Race”
Shaun Hair July 16, 2019 at 11:00am
Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images Just In: 19 MS-13 Gang Members Charged with ‘Medieval-Style’ Slayings Here Illegally
Scott Eisen / Getty Images Leftist Fraud Shaun King Praises Antifa Firebomber, Calls for More Violence
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5486
|
__label__wiki
| 0.90533
| 0.90533
|
In History, politics & current affairs· Recorded on Tuesday, 23rd April 2019
Rebecca Traister: Good and Mad
Rebecca Traister is an American journalist, polemicist and New York Times bestselling author who writes at the intersection of feminism, politics and culture. Her latest book, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger, investigates the potential and complexity of women’s anger as a political and social tool – both historically, and in the reinvigorated contemporary women’s movement in the West. How have women’s expressions of emotion been framed to delegitimise or condemn them? How can conflict and tension within and between factions of the women’s movement make the broader collective stronger?
Traister tracks the transformative force of female fury (and its suppression) through abolition, suffrage, temperance; through the labour and civil rights movements, and from now into the future. Are our perspectives on women’s anger changing? How can women use their dissatisfaction to progress their rights?
For our Mayhem series, Traister joined Clare Wright in converstion at the Athenaeum Theatre.
@rtraister
rebeccatraister.com/
Rebecca Traister is the author of the award-winning Big Girls Don’t Cry, the New York Times bestselling All the Single Ladies and Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger, which was named one of the ten best books of 2018 by the Washington Post.
Clare Wright
@clareawright
clarewright.com.au/
La Trobe University historian Associate Professor Clare Wright has worked as an author, academic, political speechwriter, historical consultant, and radio and TV broadcaster. Her latest book, You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians who won the vote and inspired the world, has been praised by Senator Penny Wong and Sr Anne Summers AO. Her earlier book, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka, won the 2014 Stella Prize and the 2014 NIB Award for Literature and was shortlisted for many other awards.
Part of this event
Rebecca Traister: Good and Mad / Sexual & gender politics
With Rebecca Traister and Clare Wright
Download video file
Related recordings
The Show of the Year 2015 / Performing arts & pop culture
With Casey Bennetto , Santilla Chingaipe, Marc Fennell and 9 others
The Stella Prize in Conversation / Awards & prizes
With Toni Jordan, Alexis Wright, Clare Wright and 1 other
Epic Fail: Clare Wright / Biography & memoir
With Clare Wright
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5488
|
__label__cc
| 0.519795
| 0.480205
|
Tribe Warrior
Tara Stannard
RISE Moorland Reconnection Day
It’s been a few months since our successful weekend with RISE (Recovery and Integrated Service) on Dartmoor. We’ve stayed in regular contact and are now in the process of putting a joint funding bid together to continue the programme on a regular basis. We’ve also been in regular contact with the participants who’ve remained amazingly positive about their time with us on the high moor. It really does feel like it’s been a life changing experience for all those involved. What we’d hoped for and more.
What has always been close to my heart in this work is in finding a way of making the vision of ongoing support for our participants, beyond the powerful transformation of the residentials, to become a tangible reality. It’s a noble, crucial dream but the logistics to make this possible on the ground can be complex and a pull on our already stretched resources. But with RISE, it seems to be happening, slowly but surely, as a mutually beneficial, supportive partnership.
We met on Dartmoor last Thursday for the first of what will be a series of days together, reconnecting, sharing, walking, messing around (with an eye on health and safety!) and discovering ways we can continue to support this fine group of human beings. Within RISE they are collectively known as peer mentors and already have one to one supervision support there. Most attend regular 12 Step Recovery groups and therapy. What we are offering is working with them as a group, addressing the dynamics, the strengths and the challenges. We’ll be meeting once a month through the autumn, winter and into next year. We’ll evaluate the process as we go, to measure its success and viability for funding.
Tribe Warrior remains an important part of their time with us, using its themes as a guide for their own daily journey through life. One participant brought his along with great pride!
We had the usual offering of Dartmoor’s very own climate. Walking to the magical Bench Tor, with its dramatic view down into the East Dart Valley. The traditional Dartmoor Mizzle (mist and drizzle for the uninitiated) rolling down the steep sides of the valley into the river gave it an eerie feeling. We headed from the high windswept open moor, down into the woods, toward the river where heavy rain soon turned to welcome sunshine and clouds. My perfect Dartmoor day. Our mini trek finished by a gentle flowing part of the river where we wrote and talked and paired up to explore what challenges lay ahead and what support was needed. By the end of the day, a reconnection to land and our ‘tribe’ was made. Continuity and a reminder of where batteries can always be recharged.
I felt a sadness seeing them all drive off. Matched with a genuine joy in knowing I will see them all again soon. We’ll be meeting, back on the moor, toward the end of the month. I’ll be asking them to contribute to this blog page. Which I’m sure they will, with their trademark zest, humour and eye for the detail of the moors and more.
Caspar – Creative Director, Write to Freedom
Newer PostGuest Blog: Ali from RISE recovery
Older PostNew Leaves: reconnecting families after fathers are released from prison
info@writetofreedom.org.uk
Write to Freedom is based in Dartmoor, Devon, UK
We receive funding from:
Website by Paper Tara Design
© Write to Freedom 2019
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5493
|
__label__wiki
| 0.654633
| 0.654633
|
Click to close search
Click to open search
Future Ready
Accountable for Tomorrow
UK Policies
UK Leadership
Property and Buildings
Energy, Industry and Resources
Planning and Advisory
Why choose WSP
WSP around the world
We are locally dedicated with international scale.
English - Français
中文(简体) - English
한국어(대한민국) - English
Polski - English
Svenska - English
Deutsch - English
Dallas-Fort Worth Connector
The Texas Department of Transportation initiated the project to improve mobility along the State Highway (SH) 114/121 corridor in a safe and environmentally sensitive manner.
Dallas, Texas, USA
Highway and Road Design
Traffic Engineering and Road Safety
Intersection Design
Texas Department of Transportation
Completed in 2014 (Initial Scope); Ongoing (follow-on scope)
Contact us to know more about Dallas-Fort Worth Connector.
Managing Director, Transport & Infrastructure
Steven Green
Share on Facebook - Warning, this link will open a new tab.
Share on Linkedin - Warning, this link will open a new tab.
Share on Twitter - Warning, this link will open a new tab.
Share on Google Plus - Warning, this link will open a new tab.
Share on Skype - Warning, this link will open your Skype application.
CTRL + C to copy
Minimizing Impact on Businesses with Fast-paced Design-Build Program
The reconstruction and expansion project involved rebuilding the corridor through Southlake, Grapevine, and the northern edge of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, easing congestion in a densely populated area and substantially improving access to the airport. It is one of the largest transportation projects undertaken in North Texas (US).
Delivering Tangible Benefits to our Client
WSP served as lead designer on the design-build comprehensive development agreement (CDA) to develop, design and build 8.4 miles (13.5 kilometres) of the DFW Connector, including major interchanges at SH 121 and International Parkway. At its widest point, the DFW Connector has 24 lanes, including 14 main lanes, 6 frontage road lanes, and 4 managed toll lanes with dynamic pricing to keep traffic moving at 50 mph (80 kph).
The CDA design-build method allowed the right-of- way design and construction phases to go faster, minimizing impacts to businesses and commuters. Construction was completed six months ahead of schedule, with a savings of US$140 million.
managed toll lanes
Multi-award Winning Project
The project received numerous awards, including:
PRIDE Award, from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Awarded to NorthGate Constructors for demonstrating positive community involvement and educating the public about the construction industry.
Globe Award, from ARTBA. Awarded for an outstanding job in protecting and/or enhancing the natural environment in the planning, design and construction of US transportation infrastructure projects.
Alliant Build America Award, from Associated General Contractors of America. Awarded to Northgate Constructors for Best Design-Build Highway and Transportation Project.
Congestion Management
OTHER CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE OVERCOME
Lower Simcoe Street Off Ramp
WSP reconfigures and upgrades Downtown Toronto’s Lower Simcoe Street (York-Bay-Yonge) Off Ramp.
Evergreen Line
The Evergreen Line, which links Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam to Vancouver is expected to carry 70,000 passengers a day by 2021. It was constructed to improve the communities it serves, as well as benefit the region as a whole, the businesses within and the environment by decreasing commute time and reducing traffic congestion.
Dhaka, Dhaka District, Bangladesh
Dhaka By-Pass Road
Providing advisory services for the construction of a major highway in Bangladesh, as part of a Public-Private Partnership
Autoroute 30 Toll Road
Two major bridges, 13 overpass bridges, 17 highway bridges, 11 interchanges, 90-meter-long tunnel, 14-lane toll plaza, and 42-km of new four-lane highway.
First Kuwait Ring Road
Improving access to downtown Kuwait City while reducing traffic congestion
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Smith Street Motorway and Olsen Avenue Interchange
The Smith Street Motorway is the major east-west arterial road connecting the Pacific Motorway (M1) to the new Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct in Parkwood and Olsen Avenue.
Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement
This project replaced a functionally obsolete bridge on the Capital Beltway with the world’s widest draw spans over the Potomac River between the US states of Virginia and Maryland.
Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE
Yas Bay Waterfront Destination
Yas Bay is a new waterfront destination development located on the southern part of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It will be one of the UAE’s most iconic and vibrant waterfront destinations offering a broad array of entertainment options including restaurants, hotels and a state-of-the-art multi-purpose arena. The destination will include a waterfront promenade and a pier with more than 50 cafés and restaurants, 20 retail outlets, a cinema, a beach club, and two hotels.
Turcot Interchange
The Turcot interchange, Quebec’s largest and third busiest, was built in 1967 and the structures were nearing the end of their useful life.
Hunter Expressway
The largest single road investment in the history of New South Wales is contributing to the long-term development and growth of the Hunter region.
Whistleblowing service
Linkedin Page will open in a new tab
twitter Page will open in a new tab
facebook Page will open in a new tab
youtube Page will open in a new tab
©2019 WSP
The WSP Logo
Anti-Spam Commitment
Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy
Exiting our Website
You are about to leave WSP.com and are being redirected to a job opportunity at Louis Berger, which has been recently acquired by WSP in the US.
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5497
|
__label__cc
| 0.572023
| 0.427977
|
New Jersey Young Playwrights Winners Announced
Madison, NJ — For the past thirty-five years, the Writers Theatre of New Jersey has conducted the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, a program which brings teaching artists to local schools to work with students on the art of playwriting. The Festival also includes a contest, which is open to writers across the state and repeatedly draws incredible young minds to create inspiring new work.
One such mind was that of Julie Ann Earls, a 2008 New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival Winner. Since this early success, Earls has gone on to pursue theatre professionally and, earlier this year, finished up a multi-year run on the off-Broadway hit “PUFFS, OR: SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN SCHOOL OF MAGIC AND MAGIC.” She still fondly recalls her experience with the Festival and stands by what she wrote shortly after winning: “That’s what this experience was all about: real actors taking my real work very seriously. This was invaluable to a young artist like myself. It made me feel like I wasn’t just some kid who wrote some play about moody teenagers and their moody rings — it made me feel like I was a real dramatic force that had something to say and they were there to cultivate that.”
That mutual respect has been the unique factor that keeps this long-running program alive, year after year. Even after the winning submissions have been chosen, the young writers are treated as professionals, with a cast of professional actors and a performance of their plays that is free and open to the public. Not a bad price to see the next big stars!
Ready to entertain you this year are high school winners Katelyn Bang, a junior at Bergen County Academics, and author of “Should Have Known;” “New Variables” by Jacob Moskovitz, a senior at Burlington Township High School; “Be Yourself” by Rayquan Santiago, a student at Warren Residential; and “Intersecting Points” by William Vence Jr., a senior at High Tech High School.
Winners of the elementary and middle school division are Luca Bambaci from Central Avenue Elementary School with his play “The Kidnapping,” Charlotte Porter from Bragg School with her play “Different Isn’t Bad,” Madison Scheiner from Kings Road Elementary School with her play “Space Issues,” Charles Basa from Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School with his play “The Violinist,” Lena Schmitt from Morristown High School with her play “How to Break Your Heart in 8 Hours,” and Ava Sibona from The Craig School with her play “World War of One.”
This year’s winners will be honored on two separate evenings. Winners of the high school division will have their plays performed on Monday, June 25th, and the elementary and middle school winners on June 26th. Both performances will take place at 7 PM on the campus of Farleigh Dickinson University, at the Dreyfuss Auditorium at 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ. You can find more information on the theatre’s website: www.wtnj.org.
Writers Theatre would like to congratulate all of this year’s winners and to extend their thanks to everyone who entered this year’s contest. You can find more information on the contest and how to enter on Writers Theatre of New Jersey’s website and follow their contest announcements on their Facebook page and Twitter.
For more information on any of Writers Theatre’s programs, please visit www.wtnj.org or contact Writers Theatre at P.O. Box 1295, Madison, NJ, 07940, 973-514-1787 x20 or info@wtnj.org.
NJWPP | Ruth Zamoyta
06 December 2018 / No Comments
Ruth Zamoyta In 2016 Ruth Zamoyta wrote her first play, The Caregivers. It won her a 2018 New Jer...
NJWPP | Nicole Pandolfo
Nicole Pandolfo Nicole was selected for a 2018 commission with the NJPAC Stage Exchange with Prem...
NJWPP | Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich
Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s full length plays have been produce...
NJWPP | Jan Balakian
Jan Balakian Jan is a Professor of English at Kean University. She received her Ph.D. from Cornel...
NJYPP Group Play Submission Form
01 September 2018 / No Comments
New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest 2018|19 Group Play Submission Form Related
Richard Dresser – “Wolf at the Door” Interview
31 January 2018 / No Comments
Our 2017-2018 Literary Intern, Kate Schwartz, interviewed several of this year’s Soundings ...
Pia Wilson – “Like Saltwater” Interview
Hal Corley – “Niichiwad” Interview
Soundings 2018 | Calendar and Reservations
23 November 2017 / No Comments
Soundings 2018– January 2-15 7:00 PM Calendar and Reservations Click on the event for inf...
SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY By Chisa Hutchinson Click here for tickets!!! Tino is a 12-year old boy...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5498
|
__label__wiki
| 0.503373
| 0.503373
|
What Is YakaDrive?
The Leader in Secure File Sharing
YakaDrive is designed to make shared drives secure.
Shared drives are foundational to work getting done.
Organizational teams rely on shared drives to access files, share information, and collaborate. Without shared drives, work doesn’t happen.
That fact, coupled with the continuing increase in cybercrime, means that security on a shared drive is essential. Unfortunately, too many shared drive solutions rely on consumer-grade security that leaves organizational files unsecure. Those solutions may work for sharing personal photos. They aren’t ideal for sharing mission-critical assets.
More secure file sharing is needed. That’s where YakaDrive comes in.
Here’s how YakaDrive ensures secure file sharing, allowing teams like yours to perform their jobs at higher levels of efficiency with greater collaboration, assured in the knowledge that their files are comprehensively secured.
Securely Built on SE Linux with a Full HTML5 Interface
YakaDrive is built on SE Linux and designed according to the same level of security that goes into technology and processes developed for, deployed at, and certified by U.S. Federal Intelligence Agencies.
SE Linux was first developed by the NSA. It’s a proven foundation that’s constructed to enforce the separation of information according to integrity and confidentiality requirements. Accordingly, its effect is to greatly reduce threats of tampering or skirting the security mechanisms in place within the application that ensure malicious threats are contained.
HTML5 reduces vulnerability in application usage by requiring the use of fewer resources along with a wider compatibility as compared to Flash or Java.
Secure Access Management
For a shared drive solution to be truly secure, secure access management is crucial. Users of the drive must know that the right people are able to access files and data – and the wrong ones aren’t. That requires levels of customization that consumer-grade solutions aren’t designed to handle.
YakaDrive is built for secure access control. Access is customizable down to the user and file level. From role-based permissions granting or restricting access to teams or users, to object-based permissions that secure files at the most granular level, YakaDrive is designed with security in mind.
YakaDrive also incorporates two-factor authentication to reduce the threat of a breach.
Two factor authentication enhances the security of user credentials, minimizing the chances that an account could be compromised by requiring separate layers of secure credentials for login. It’s an essential component of secure file sharing.
Immutable Records and Detailed Audit Trails
Finally, and best of all, YakaDrive provides comprehensive audit trails so that you can have full insight into who has accessed what.
On a granular level, YakaDrive monitors the individual users that access each file, and the files that each user accesses. Additionally, YakaDrive also features the ability to create customized alerts so that system admins can be notified of any suspicious or abnormal user behavior. This way, they’re able to minimize the risk of a breach by taking steps before it ever happens.
At the end of the day, this means that you can fully rely on the knowledge that your files are secure. YakaDrive is secure file sharing you can trust.
Keep Your Shared Drive Safe.
Your organization shouldn’t have to worry about unsecure shared drives. You should be able to rely on a secure file sharing solution that protects your mission-critical assets and ensures your team has what they need to succeed.
If you’re tired of worrying about security on your shared drive, it’s time to switch to YakaDrive.
YakaDrive’s technology has been proven in the high-pressure environments of federal agencies – and, today, it’s available to non-federal organizations, too.
Don’t leave the security of your organization’s files to chance. Choose a secure file sharing solution that ensures your team stays safe.
Get in touch with us today to schedule a free demo of YakaDrive, the shared drive solution that you can trust to keep your files secure.
Best Practices for File Management
No software can keep your files clean, but YakaDrive can help. Object level access controls mean you don't need to store multiple copies of the document in multiple folders just to solve permissions issues.
Looking for A Shared Drive Replacement?
How happy are you with your organization's shared drive? Is it secure? Does it do what you need? Do you have a shared drive problem? It's time to look for a replacement.
Headquartered in beautiful downtown Frederick, Maryland, Yakabod has been a leader in secure software development since 2001. At Yakabod, we strive to do stuff that matters. We're not here simply to do a job, we're pursuing a calling. As we continue to grow, we also have a passion to positively impact our community and our region.
340 E Patrick St, Frederick, MD 21701
Digital Marketing by New North
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5503
|
__label__cc
| 0.58247
| 0.41753
|
Blue Highway is a U.S. band playing music based on blue grass, but taking in other infuences. Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band. Their Cds– Wondrous Love (2003), and Marbletown (2005) – received Grammy Award nominations. [edit] Personnel * Jason Burleson — banjo, guitar, * Rob Ickes — dobro * Shawn Lane — mandolin, fiddle, vocals * Tim Stafford — guitar, vocals * Wayne Taylor— bass, vocals Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available un...
Blue Highway is a U.S. band playing music based on blue grass, but taking in other infuences.
Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band. Their Cds– Wondrous Love (2003), and Marbletown (2005) – received Grammy Award nominations.
[edit] Personnel
* Jason Burleson — banjo, guitar,
* Rob Ickes — dobro
* Shawn Lane — mandolin, fiddle, vocals
* Tim Stafford — guitar, vocals
* Wayne Taylor— bass, vocals
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
All the Things You Do
A#, F, C, Gm, Am, Dm, A
Before the Cold Wind Blows
F, A#, C, Fm
Blues on Blues
C, G, Gm
Buck Hill
G, C, Gm, F, D
Goodbye For A While
F#, G#m, B, D#m, C#, A#m
He Walked All The Way Home
Fm, F, C, Dm, A#, Gm
I Let a Good Woman Go
A#, A#m, D#, C#
I'd Rather Be A Lonesome Pine
E, D, A, Em
I'm Asking You
F, A#, C, Dm, Gm, Am
Keen Mountain Prison
B, E, F#, C#, F#m, Bm
Last Dollar Blues
A#, D#, C#, G#, F, A#m
G, C, D, Gm, Dm
Life of a Traveling Man
A, Am, D, E, F, Em, C, G
Live on Down the Line
G, Gm, Dm
Lonesome Pine
B, F#, E, C#m, D#m, F#m
Marbletown
B, E, F#m, F#, Bm
Message From The Wind
G, D, Em, A, Bm
Monrobro
A, Am, G, D
Nothing But A Whippoorwill
G, Gm, D#, A, C, Cm, A#, F
Pikeville Flood
Bm, B, A, F#
Riding The Danville Pike
A, D
Seven Sundays in a Row
A, D, G
Still Climbing Mountains
D, G, C, Am, A, Em, F
Dm, D, F, A#, C
Sycamore Hollow
E, B, Bm, A, D, Em, G, A#, F#m
Tears Fell On Missouri
E, C#, F#, A, F#m, G#m, B, C#m
A#, A#m, D#
The One I Left Behind
D, A, E, F#m, B
This World Is Not My Home
G, D, C
Through the Window of a Train
E, A, B, C#m
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5504
|
__label__wiki
| 0.649661
| 0.649661
|
Whatever happened to York County's Hungerford?
The Stewartstown Railroad, operational in 1885, helped businesses in villages along its path get their products to...
Whatever happened to York County's Hungerford? The Stewartstown Railroad, operational in 1885, helped businesses in villages along its path get their products to... Check out this story on ydr.com: https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2008/03/06/df/31641443/
York Town Square
Jim McClure, YorkDailyRecord Published 3:24 a.m. ET March 6, 2008
The Stewartstown Railroad, operational in 1885, helped businesses in villages along its path get their products to market in the way that an interstate helps grow businesses around its interchanges. Hungerford, south of Shrewsbury, was one such town. The railroad, operating as an excursion line, closed in 2004.Here, workers repair sections of track in recent years. Background posts: Often forgotten: Achievements of people named on building facades and Amanda Berry Smith: 'God's image carved in ebony' and Check out these Stewartstown Railroad stories and photographs.
The southern York County borough of Shrewsbury long ago adopted the town of Railroad as its train station. But it could have enjoyed a connection with the Northern Central Railway in its downtown... . "Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, Then and Now" explains that when the Stewartstown Railroad was organizing in the 1880s, a favorable route through Shrewsbury could not be found. That probably means that Shrewsbury residents would not sell their land to the railroad at a favorable price. So, the Stewartstown Railroad, seeking to connect its namesake borough to the Northern Central at New Freedom, chose a route south of Shrewsbury in Hungerford. Shrewsbury had no station of its own but could get its product to the Northern Central - the busy north/south line connecting Baltimore, York and Harrisburg - two ways: via the villages of Hungerford or Railroad. Hungerford is still there on the Susquehanna Trail, although Shrewsbury's growth has absorbed it. And people who grew up around there remember the village as a a standalone community. Indeed, at one time, it bustled. Hungerford played host to a well-known cannery, Chase Bronze and Copper Screen Cloth, the Anderson Feed plant and other businesses that used both the railroad and the highway to get their products to market. Someone sought memories on this blog's sister site, The Exchange, with the question: Whatever happened to Hungerford? (Feel free to give your memory.) And consider this memory of that area provided a few years ago to the York Daily Record/Sunday News from 80-something Norman "Dutch" Kiser, then living in Lancaster County.
I attended Ruhl's school, located along the "Old Trail" south of Hungerford in Shrewsbury.All the schools were built about the same way. We had a 2- or 3- gallon wooden bucket for water. I carried water two blocks from Dickmeyer's Garage to the school. Everyone drank out of the same bucket and we all used the same dipper. The bucket had no lid, and by the end of the day, the water was pretty stale.Some of the teachers made the boys sit on one side and the girls on the other.There was a large furnace up front, and if you sat up front, you were warm. If you were in the eighth grade, you had to sit in the back row and freeze. We had to wear our long underwear to school. When it got warm enough that we didn't need our long underwear any more, then it was time for school to be out for the year. That was around the end of April.PTA meetings were held in the school, and they used lanterns and lamps. There wasn't any electricity.My buddy and I got in so much trouble that our parents had to go to the school board meetings pretty often. Some people thought our parents were on the school board since they were at all the meetings.I remember several of the boys tying the teacher to the flagpole. They left her there for recess and then they let her go. I can't remember if I was one of them, but I'm pretty sure my brother, Don, was.We had one teacher who thought her watch was broken. We had a clock without a glass face on it, and when the teacher wasn't looking, we took a stick and pushed the hands up. That way we could usually get out of school 20 or 30 minutes early.I traded my sandwiches to a farm boy for his bologna sandwiches. ( I usually had egg or maybe peanut butter and honey or jelly.)One teacher let three or four boys go out to hunt for a Christmas tree. We left just after school began and got back just before it let out for the day.In the fall when there was still a lot of fruit around, we would have what we called "fruit rolls." We had a day that we would plan when everybody would bring some fruit to school. When the teacher turned her back to the room, somebody would give the signal and then everybody would roll their apple, pears and tomatoes toward the front of the room. Sometimes some of the boys didn't roll them -- they threw 'em. And sometimes they hit the teacher!
MORE FROM York Town Square
30 powerful quotes help explain York race riots
Jim McClure, | 8:37 AM Jul 12, 2019
How did York Co.'s Cape Horn Road get its name?
Jim McClure, | 8:32 AM Jul 5, 2019
4h of July: 2 soldiers illustrate freedom's cost
See all posts from York Town Square
Read or Share this story: https://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/york-town-square/2008/03/06/df/31641443/
Scarf-wearing, shrimp-stealing suspect wanted
Wendy's out of compliance in restaurant inspection
I-83 North has reopened after crash
To combat dirt bikes, some say give them a park
Man wanted for shooting York cookout organizer, police say
Man stabbed over car deal gone bad, police say
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5505
|
__label__cc
| 0.738037
| 0.261963
|
You are at:Home»Student News»Make Kony Famous this Year and Help the Invisible Children in Uganda
Make Kony Famous this Year and Help the Invisible Children in Uganda
By Rachel Deer on March 7, 2012 9 Comments
Today and for many to come, a video made by Invisible Children will spread across social networks. The aim of the video? To make Kony famous. Help show your support and join the fight to stop Kony and help the children of Uganda whose lives are devastated by Kony’s actions.
Joseph Kony is the leader of the Christian terrorist group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. The country has been desecrated by conflict for many years. For many though, the war on children Kony and his men are carrying out is unknown by the millions of people across the world and it is for this reason that Invisible Children has launched its video.
2012 is a year for change, a year that Kony is made famous. Not for his accomplishments but to raise support for his arrest.
Kony and his army have abducted and forced over 50,000 children from their villages, forcing the boys to fight as soldiers and the girls to work as sexual slaves. The video which has been launched shows a stark picture of Kony’s atrocities and it is hoped that the Invisible Children will encourage the powers across the country to stop the brutality which is occurring in Uganda.
Barack Obama committed 100 US troops to provide ‘advice and assistance’ to the Ugandan Army to help remove Joseph Kony but it is not enough. They need more aid and better technologies to track him down.
As the video says, we look back on barbarity, cruelty and corruption that has occurred in history and wish that we could have made a change. Now is your chance. Watch and share the video, spread the word, sign the pledge and act.
On 20th April, when night falls, people across the world will fill cities with posters and stickers with Kony’s name all over them. Have your say, make a difference and make Kony famous!
Keep up to date with all the latest goings-on from across the world with Young Academic. Follow our tweets @youngacademic and sign up to our RSS feed for student and education news.
Previous ArticleSchool Of Music Album Review | Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
Next Article Parklife Weekender to Dominate The Young Academic Festival Guide!
Rachel Deer
Rachel Deer is a recent graduate of the University of Chester gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Sociology. She is now working with Young Academic and responsible for a range of editorial tasks including collating press releases, chasing images and organising interviews. Her interests include photography, music, fashion and current affairs. Keep up-to-date with Rachel’s work via the website and follow her tweets at @rachdotdeer or connect with her on Google+
Pingback: Rachel Deer
Pingback: Jacquez J.
Pingback: KONY 2012 PROVIDENCE
Pingback: Ms. Ph.D.
Pingback: GreatLakes
Pingback: Robyn Blanch
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5507
|
__label__wiki
| 0.744166
| 0.744166
|
o·pi·um
a yellow to dark brown, addicting, narcotic drug prepared from the juice of the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy: it contains such alkaloids as morphine, codeine, and papaverine, and is used as an intoxicant and medicinally to relieve pain and produce sleep
anything that has a tranquilizing or stupefying effect
Origin of opium
Classical Latin from Classical Greek opion from opos, vegetable juice from Indo-European base an unverified form s(w)ekwos-, plant juice from source Old Provençal sackis
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
"opium." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 July 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Opium>.
opium. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Opium
A bitter, yellowish-brown, strongly addictive narcotic drug prepared from the dried latex of unripe pods of the opium poppy and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.
Something that numbs or stupefies.
Middle English from Latin from Greek opion diminutive of opos vegetable juice
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
A highly addictive, yellowish-brown drug obtained from the pods of a variety of poppy, from which other drugs, such as morphine, are prepared.
opium - Medical Definition
The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine © 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
In the north the staple products for export are salt, grain, wool and cotton, in the south opium and cotton; while the imports consist of sugar, hardware and piece goods.
Opium is mainly grown in Anatolia.
The government monopolies of opium and salt were then for the first time placed upon a remunerative basis.
This plain produces large quantities of indigo and opium, and is physically remarkable for the number of isolated conical hills which dot its surface.
Imports include woven goods, metals, ironware, machinery, tea, wines and spirits, mineral oils, opium, paper, and arms and powder.
WORDS NEAR opium IN THE DICTIONARY
opistognathid
opistognathids
opitulation
opitz-kaveggia-syndrome
opium-alkaloid
opium-poppies
opium poppy
opium-poppy
opiumism
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5511
|
__label__wiki
| 0.660042
| 0.660042
|
A Hands-On Advocate - Josh Moore
Josh Moore is saving lives, and he wants to make sure you know how to as well. A firefighter paramedic with the Eugene and Springfield Fire Department, Josh’s leadership in the community and in the State Capitol will put thousands of new lifesavers on the streets.
Josh, who has worked in Oregon as a professional firefighter paramedic for 13 years, is the program creator and coordinator of ACT: C3. This community-wide program is aimed at improving survival rates from cardiac arrest. It focuses on the five links in the chain of survival identified by the AHA.
“I named it ACT: C3 because I want people to take action,” Josh said.
Mobilizing students from the University of Oregon and local high school students to teach Hands-Only CPR to middle school students, Josh is demonstrating that big things can be accomplished with collaboration. Last year, thanks to the program, over 3,000 local citizens learned “Hands-Only CPR,” including every middle school student in Springfield. This year he’s up to more of the same. The creation of ACT: C3 earned Josh a Class II Commendation Medal from Eugene Springfield Fire.
Josh knows firsthand how easy it is to train students in Hands-Only CPR –it takes less time to learn than watching a TV sitcom. And he knows how important this is for all of Oregon: Requiring students to learn Hands-Only CPR would equip 40,000 new Oregonians every year to save the life of a loved one or a stranger. That’s why he has brought his experience and passion to AHA’s CPR in Schools campaign.
Josh serves on the Oregon CPR Advocacy Committee that works to advance efforts to teach more Oregonians CPR. At the State Capitol, Josh has met with legislators alongside young adults to advocate for a bill that would ensure students learned Hands-Only CPR before graduating. His voice as a community leader and a professional in emergency cardiac care is invaluable.
Most notably, Josh has a contagious passion for making Oregon a safer place to live. His willingness to generously give his time and enthusiasm to make that happen will have a profound impact for years to come.
At the American Heart Association, we can’t thank Josh enough. Perhaps the best way to show our appreciation is to encourage you to join Josh in advocating for CPR in Schools. As Josh will tell you, it takes everyone in a community to save more lives.
enclosure_image_url===https://yourethecure.org/AHA/Community/cfs-file.ashx/__key/telligent-evolution-components-attachments/01-08-00-00-00-00-26-67/rsz_5F00_josh_5F00_moore_5F00_snip.jpg
Advocate State - OR CPR Advocate Stories
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5512
|
__label__wiki
| 0.811742
| 0.811742
|
Lori Loughlin's kid, YouTube star Olivia Jade, said she didn't 'really care about school' in vid resurfaced amid college scam charges
Nearly a year before actress Lori Loughlin entered the list of more than four dozen people charged in a nationwide college admissions cheating scandal, her daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli had apologized for making comments regarding her higher ed aspirations that some say depicted her as “spoiled” and “a privileged brat.” The alleged admissions scam – which involved placing students in top colleges like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, University of Southern California, UCLA and the University of Texas – was purportedly run by a man in California, William Rick Singer, who helped parents get their children into the schools through bribes, court documents unsealed Tuesday in Boston showed. FELICITY HUFFMAN, LORI LOUGHLIN AMONG 50 SNARED IN ELITE COLLEGE CHEATING SCAM, AUTHORITIES SAY Most of the students did not know their admission to the school was due to an alleged bribe, authorities said. Back in August 2018, Loughlin's 19-year-old daughter got herself in hot water after she made some comments on her popular YouTube channel concerning her outlook on college. In one of the videos, the social media influencer opened up about graduating from her private high school in California and planning to attend college in the fall. However, the explanation she gave on why she was gearing up to pursue a degree quickly sparked backlash. “I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend,” she told nearly 2 million subscribers. “But I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.” The statement quickly ignited outrage from her followers. “Wow I wish I could go to school just for the experience and not care about my education to earn a living and waste your parents money????? Can not relate,” commented one user. WILLIAM H. MACY ADDRESSED DAUGHTER'S 'STRESSFUL' COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS BEFORE WIFE FELICITY HUFFMAN'S ARREST “It sucks that some people don’t have the privilege to get an education and she’s going just for game days,” chimed another. “I love you Olivia I really do, I've been a subscriber since the beginning so I really hope you don't take this as hate but more of constructive criticism,” explained one user. “I honestly found it very disappointing when you said you care more about parties and tailgates rather than your education. If you hate school so much why go to college? You can go to parties and tailgates whenever you want you don't have to go to college.” “People work their a-- off in high school to get into a good college to continue their education, I know I did,” the user continued. “And it's honestly insulting when tons of people can't even afford to go to college but want to and I know damn well you're not going to a community college meaning you're probably going to a good school that others would literally kill to go to. I feel like if you really don't want to continue your education then don't sit there and talk about going to college and not caring about it, focus your attention more on your career if that's truly what you care about.” LORI LOUGHLIN RESPONDS TO JOHN STAMOS CALLING HER 'THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY' Two days later, Giannulli released another video titled “im sorry” to address the overwhelming concern from viewers. “I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically,” admitted Giannulli in the video. “And it totally came across that I’m ungrateful for college — I’m going to a really nice school. And it just kind of made it seem like I don’t care, I just want to brush it off. I’m just gonna be successful at YouTube and not have to worry about school. I’m really disappointed in myself.” “A lot of people like to attack me for the way I’ve grown up because it’s really different from a lot of people,” she added, insisting she regretted offending her fans. Fans were quick to forgive the YouTube star. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP This May 15, 2002 file photo shows Los-Angeles based clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli posing with his fall preview clothing for Target department stores in New York. Giannulli and his wife, actress Lori Loughlin were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. (AP) “I don’t think you have to apologize, people get offended for no reason,” wrote one user. “Like who's excited for school work?! Enjoy your college experience!” “We know you didn't mean it, some people just take things the wrong way and blow it way out of proportion,” added another. “Obviously you realize how fortunate you are to go to college. Don't beat yourself up to bad. We all say silly things.” “Personally I thought it was funny, I was lucky enough to go to college – definitely wasn’t cheap for my family – but I still related and laughed,” wrote one user. “Game days were some of the best times i had in college. don’t worry, people get triggered so easily. enjoy what you enjoy.” The alleged admissions scam, which was revealed Tuesday, showed kids' parents would pay a specified amount of money fully aware it would be used to gain college admission. The money would then go toward an SAT or ACT administrator or a college athletic coach who would fake a profile for the prospective student — regardless of their athletic ability, according to the charging documents. COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CHEATING SCHEME SUSPECTS INCLUDE MOSSIMO FOUNDER, HEDGE FUND EXECS On a call with a wealthy parent, prosecutors said, Singer, who owned the company Edge College & Career Network, summed up his business in this way: “What we do is help the wealthiest families in the US get their kids into school... my families want a guarantee.” Singer would help his clients' children by having another individual take SAT or ACT tests on behalf of the students. Parents would pay up to $75,000 for each test and have them wire money to "charitable accounts." In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, left, and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the 2019 "An Unforgettable Evening" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. (AP) "Singer used the purported charitable donations from parents, at least in part, to bribe two SAT and ACT test administrators," court documents stated. The court documents also stated that "[Loughlin] agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team – despite the fact that they did not participate in crew – thereby facilitating their admission to USC." Actress Felicity Huffman was also charged and arrested by federal agents in the scandal. Fox News' Katherine Lam contributed to this report.
Before Lori Loughlin’s alleged cheating scandal, daughter Olivia Jade made her life at USC a YouTube brand
Emily Yahr Style reporter covering pop culture and entertainment March 12 at 5:45 PM Last September, influencer Olivia Jade Giannulli gave her 1.6 million YouTube subscribers a tour of her dorm room at the University of Southern California. Amazon had paid for everything in sight, but the room itself wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Like any other freshman, Olivia Jade knew the value of a power strip, a sign of what her brand was on track to become: #relatable college content with a splash of aspirationalism. Five months later, that brand is shattered. Olivia Jade’s famous parents, “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were among the 50 people charged Tuesday by the Justice Department with participating in a bribery scheme to get their children admitted to prestigious colleges and universities. The influencer’s college acceptance is under scrutiny, along with the standardized test results of children born to wealthy people such as actress Felicity Huffman, who was also named in the indictment. [FBI accuses wealthy parents, including celebrities, in college-entrance bribery scheme] Andrew Blankstein, an NBC investigative reporter in Los Angeles, tweeted that Huffman was in federal custody after being arrested at home, and that Loughlin was not in town but a warrant was out for her arrest. A spokeswoman for Loughlin said there was no further information available at this time, and a representative for Olivia Jade declined to comment. (Representatives for Huffman — whose husband, actor William H. Macy, was not indicted — did not return a request for comment.) The criminal complaint alleges that Loughlin and Giannulli agreed to “pay bribes totalling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — even though they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC,” and includes copies of emails and transcripts of recorded phone calls. It is unclear whether Olivia Jade or the other students knew about their parents’ alleged schemes. USC released a statement on Twitter that read in part, “We are aware of the ongoing wide-ranging criminal investigation involving universities nationwide, including USC. USC has not been accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate fully with the government’s investigation.” As details of the investigation flew around social media, attention turned to Olivia Jade, the younger of the two Giannulli sisters, who enrolled in USC in fall 2018. Olivia Jade, 19, has 1.3 million Instagram followers and 1.9 million YouTube subscribers, a substantial following that has also earned her the title of beauty vlogger — that, and the fact that many of her Instagram captions refer viewers back to her YouTube channel: “birthday vlog went up on Tuesday,” she once captioned a family photo. She has previously posted sponsored content for brands including Sephora, Tresemmé and Smile Direct Club. In December, she tearfully revealed her first brand collaboration, the Olivia Jade x Sephora Collection makeup palette, on a channel of makeup tutorials and hauls, though she tosses in storytelling videos about her everyday life (e.g. “sorry mom & dad …” and “day in my life college style LOL”) from time to time. At 3 million views, her most popular video is one in which she and fellow YouTube personality David Dobrik teach Loughlin and “Full House” co-star John Stamos slang terms. Stamos begins the video by muttering “YouTube stars” under his breath but praises Olivia Jade for her morals: “Can I just say how proud I am of you? You’re such a good girl, you have good values, and you project good morals.” Judging by the comments on her YouTube videos, the vlogger’s followers are drawn to her perceived genuineness. Beneath the 11-minute “day in my life college style LOL,” which follows Olivia Jade performing menial tasks on campus, someone wrote: “I think its [sic] so cool how she’s in college like a normal teen living with a roomate [sic] and not acting like she’s too good. Olivia has always been so humble that’s why I love her so much.” [Read the affidavit: FBI charges 50 in college admissions bribery scheme] While some of Olivia Jade’s college-era videos and posts have been related to school — she promoted Amazon Prime Student, after all — most are not. Her attitude toward her education has previously attracted criticism, however. In April 2017, she tweeted, “it’s so hard to try in school when you don’t care about anything you’re learning,” but the apathy peaked about a month before she was set to enroll at USC in September. She posted a YouTube video in which she admitted she “didn’t know how much” school she would attend. She told her followers she hoped she would “try and balance it all,” and said she was looking forward to “game days” and “partying,” but didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about the experience. She immediately received backlash to those comments from people who pointed out that she should be grateful for the opportunity to receive a college education. A couple days later, Olivia Jade was back in front of the camera as she apologized for saying she wasn’t as excited about schoolwork and preferred to go to parties. “I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically, and it totally came across that I’m not grateful for college. I’m going to a really nice school,” she said. “And it just kind of made it seem like I don’t care. I just want to brush it off. I’m just going to be successful on YouTube and not have to worry about school.” She added she was really disappointed in herself when she thought more about what she had said. And although she felt she often gets unfairly attacked for growing up with “a different life” than most people (meaning wealthy), she did feel remorse if she came off as spoiled. “I genuinely want to say I’m sorry for anyone I offended by saying that,” she said. “I know it’s a privilege, and it’s a blessing, and I’m really grateful.” Following the indictment, commenters swooped in to criticize Loughlin and Giannulli’s alleged privileged actions: “Can you do a storytime of scamming your way into USC?” one person asked under Olivia Jade’s latest video. Another wrote, “So how did you get 1.9 million subscribers? Mommy pay for those too?” Instagram has been no kinder, and Olivia Jade has since turned off the comments. Abby Ohlheiser contributed to this report.
Cubs used auto-generated captions for their YouTube channel. A deaf fan's concern is prompting them to change that.
One baseball fan wanted to see the Cubs make their new YouTube channel more deaf-friendly. And now he’ll get his wish. On Monday, Dylan Heuer tweeted his praise for the team’s new channel, which serves as a prelude to an upcoming TV network. But he asked the team to add captions for deaf viewers. “The auto-captions are not going to cut it,” wrote Heuer, 29, who works as a freelance photographer for the Iowa Cubs. “Kris Bryant is not named ‘Chris Brian.’ On behalf of the deaf community, thank you for your consideration #EverybodyIn #Deaf.” After the Tribune asked the Cubs about the tweet, the team announced plans to add captions to videos on the YouTube channel. “Following the launch of our YouTube channel we discovered the captioning software was not precise,” Cubs spokesman Julian Green said. “We have decided to make an additional investment to improve that captioning and provide a dynamic and robust experience for our deaf fans.”. A national deaf advocacy group told the Tribune that auto-generated captions — on all websites — are often full of errors, sometimes unintelligible and generally don’t meet standards mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. When informed of the Cubs’ decision, National Association of the Deaf CEO Howard A. Rosenblum wrote to the Tribune that the advocacy organization “appreciates sports teams and stadiums that seek to be fully accessible to all fans including ensuring captioning of all aural information, and welcomes collaborations to achieve this goal.” Heuer was surprised when told about the Cubs’ decision, as well as the deaf advocacy group’s involvement, on Tuesday. “I'm one of the biggest Cubs fans around here, and it warms my heart to see that they are doing this,” he said. “I just wanted to see that all of my deaf peers and everybody else have equal access to these videos just like all of the hearing fans.” Heuer, who lost hearing when he was 2 because of meningitis, grew up a Cubs fan in Des Moines. He attended a deaf baseball camp for kids that featured Iowa Cubs players and got a job as the team’s bat boy when he was 16. Heuer brought up the captioning problem to the Iowa Cubs’ attention last season, “but it never went anywhere.” He added the minor-league team likely doesn’t have the resources to manually add captions. When the Cubs launched the revamped YouTube site, he was optimistic he would see better captions but disappointed when he didn’t. “This is a common but understandable issue for live videos,” Heuer said, “but for pre-filmed footage, this shouldn’t be an issue because they have the time to add real captions to them. The auto-captions also aren’t broken up in a way to know who’s speaking what. I have no idea if (Anthony) Rizzo was talking or if Bryant was talking.” Rosenblum said most live TV broadcasts use professional captionists in an effort to meet their FCC obligations. Heuer’s request to the Cubs reflects a much larger issue for leagues and its hearing-impaired fans. In recent years, NAD has successfully sued pro and college teams under the Americans with Disabilities Act, beginning with a landmark case against the Redskins and FedEx Field in 2006 that forced the team to provide captioning for public-address announcements on ribbon boards and play-by-play on TV monitors in the concourses, as well as other concessions. On the issue of the Cubs’ and other teams’ online content, Rosenblum wrote, “The NAD is always seeking to advance equal access for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. The Redskins case was the first such case advocating for captioning access in stadiums and will not be the last. We believe the ADA requires all sports teams to make all aural information accessible in text form.” According to the Federal Communication Commission’s website, the 2010 21st Century Video and Communication Accessibility Act requires video programming that’s closed-captioned on TV to also be closed-captioned if it’s rebroadcast on the Internet, though that particular law doesn’t cover programs shown only online. But YouTube videos and similar social media content have been the subject of recent litigation, Rosenblum said. “The NAD is of the opinion that such videos are indeed required to be captioned, which means properly vetted by humans and not just generated by Automated Speech Recognition,” Rosenblum said. “In NAD v. Netflix, we successfully secured a judicial opinion that the ADA applies to internet streaming. From that we reached an agreement with Netflix to caption all of its video streaming content, as well as all of its main streaming service competitors.” He added, “Much work remains before we have a fully accessible world for people with disability.” plthompson@chicagotribune.com Twitter @_phil_thompson Phil Rosenthal: Cubs give fans a glimpse of their TV network with relaunched YouTube channel featuring highlights, Q&As and puppies » Phil Rosenthal: The Cubs are starting a new TV channel in 2020. Here's what that means for fans. » Cubs at spring training: A game-by-game recap »
The image will be downloaded by Fatkun
Posted by YUNUS EMRE VURGUN at 8:02 AM
Labels: Lori Loughlin's kid, said she didn't 'really care about school' in vid resurfaced amid college scam charges, YouTube star Olivia Jade
SOLOS 7, THE NEW ONLINE STORE FOR BUYING ACCECORIE...
Overcoming Fear of Failure
Five Effective Steps to Overcoming Fears
By the way, our new project is getting ready to be...
Anxiety Fear and Possible Treatment
Jafus Hods Tor Name (Acapella Mix Song) , Song By:...
The REAL Truth About Religion And Its Origins - MU...
TIMELAPSE OF THE FUTURE: A Journey to the End of T...
Practical Credit Card Debt Solutions
Avoiding Credit Card Debt Relief Scams
MyShedPlans Review 1
Home Schooling and the Young Children
Easy Profits Using PPC In Your Affiliate Marketing...
Top 3 Ways To Boost Your Affiliate Commissions Ove...
Deep Sea Diving: Jobs as a Commercial Diver
Deep Sea Diving: Careers in Diving
Blogging Brings Fame: Helping Your Business Grow T...
Kayıp rotaci bölüm 4
Warming Up: Alternative Energy Source and Global W...
Deep Sea Diving: A Great Career for People Who Lov...
How Blogging Brings Fame: Helping Your Business Ge...
Grand View Christian Pulls Away After St. Albert C...
A Bright Future for Solar Energy: An Alternative E...
Stress and Your Health
Past Life Regression and FLP
Pain Relief for Your Aching Muscles
Essential Information on Pain Relief
Seven Safety First Tips when Traveling with your C...
Safety First When Traveling: 5 Key Tips That Will ...
Building and Proper Care For Your Fish Pond
Personal Hygiene Care for Your Child’s Health
Personal Health Care: Avoiding Alcohol
New Forms of Income from the Internet: Working As ...
New Forms of Income from the Internet: How to Make...
New Forms of Income Generating Businesses from the...
Starting Coin Collections
Coin Collections: Beginner's Guide to Coin Collect...
Book Keeping For Your Online Business: Factors Tha...
Online Bookkeeping Benefits for Accounting Busines...
Blogging Brings Fame: How Fame in Blogging Can Bri...
Blogging Brings You Fame and Riches: Bringing Your...
How Blogging Brings Fame: Becoming Famous and Succ...
Build Your Own Electric Car
12 Month Millionaire: Audio Coaching Sessions With...
Stephen Colbert is not satisfied with the aid of T...
İKİ(2)/ Kayıp Rotacı (©) - roman girişimi (Bütün h...
ÜÇ (2/2 & 3) / Kayıp Rotacı (©) - roman girişimi (...
Special Olympics USA games coming to Orlando in 20...
Testing the symmetry of space-time by means of ato...
Kayıp Rotacı (©) - roman girişimi (Bütün hakları Y...
AI Algorithms Are Now Shockingly Good at Doing Sci...
Arlington County Board approves $23 million incent...
Party like it’s $1,999: Jeff Bezos and Robert Down...
Dünya Eğitim Sisteminin yaptığı organize beyin yok...
5 ways the alleged scheme to create sham USC footb...
Body language: The Russian science keeping North K...
New book is out !
Global Industrial Robotics Services Market by Appl...
'Like with Dracula, Theresa May will always come b...
new song of mine
Bengals' free-agent philosophy: Active if the pric...
Lori Loughlin's kid, YouTube star Olivia Jade, sai...
Greek Mythology Anime Series ‘Gods and Heroes’ Com...
116-year-old woman honored as world's oldest perso...
Instagram founders say losing autonomy at Facebook...
Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick keeps Juve's Champions...
Captain Marvel: Brie Larson surprises fans at cine...
She’s Been Writing About Dance for 55 Years. She’s...
Hollywood Does Try "Buying Their Way In" to Colleg...
NASA Is Finally Funding a Mars Sample Return Missi...
Community news: Evergreen Park math team takes fi...
If you can't do this , you are not welcome.
Papa John's Founder Schnatter To Exit Board In Set...
DATAx Singapore Continues to Shape the Data Scienc...
The Producer's Perspective Pro Announces First Qua...
felaket haberleri 2019 pazar Hürriyet gazetesinden...
New Apple Foldable Phone Details Suggest Different...
Fire burn
Team Chemistry Declines When You Go "Palms Up" Lik...
Dead soul island
Fine Arts Courses Help Students Excel In Math And ...
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Suffers Camera Glitc...
Amazon Took Over The $176 Billion Market For Cloud...
Photos From A Soccer Match In The Snow Are So Good...
‘Million Dollar Listing’ Star Ryan Serhant, Wife E...
USA Vs. Brazil Women's Soccer: Date, Time, Live St...
Ex-Trump Attorney Calls Robert Mueller 'an America...
Gov. Ron DeSantis Is One Of The Most Popular Gover...
Trump Says He Agrees 100 Percent With Keeping U.S....
School Of Rock Star Joey Gaydos Jr., Aka Zack-Atta...
Review: Reese Wynans Hosts Guitar Summit On First ...
UK patient 'free' of HIV after stem microorganism ...
A group of shared prosperity
German court upholds amazon bid to limit paid expe...
Soloing on Dm , with classical guitar
World is an onion
Kallu & A. ft. Dambulldoor - "when all the lights ...
The Jonas Brothers Step Out For Celebratory Dinner...
Taylor Swift Reveals The Songs That Helped Her Hea...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5513
|
__label__wiki
| 0.510028
| 0.510028
|
WikiTribune Pilot / Local Innovations
Published Last updated 3 weeks ago by Ingrid Strauch (talk | contribs) and 5 contributors Read History 58 Talk 1 Edit
Berlin: Foundation stone of 'The House of One' - one sacral building for three religions - to be laid in April 2020
After a long preparatory phase the internationally noticed project took a decisive step forward.
Open to the public, and with a Synagogue, church, mosque and a central shared room under one roof, it might be unique worldwide.
It is intended for learning through mutual religious encounter, through talks, festivals, exhibitions, readings, concerts, and workshops.
A Protestant community initiated the project, jointly carried out with liberal Jews and the Gülen related Forum for Intercultural Dialogue e.V.
The Catholic Church, orthodox Jews and Mosque Communities didn’t want to participate.
The Berlin architecture group Kuehn Malvezzi, winner of the architectural contest, obtained the contract.
Planned for years, The House of One – three religions, one house in Berlin, takes “an important step towards the structural completion”, says Rabbi Andreas Nachama, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and member of the Presidium of the House of One. On April 14, 2020, seven years after the building competition had been announced, the foundation stone will be laid.
The project of a grassroots group of three religious communities had already gained international attention following the architectural contest completed in 2014. “Berlin thinks it is making religious history”, the BBC started its’ story. The Huffpost spoke of an “interfaith miracle in the heart of Berlin.” The Guardian questioned whether “all religious communities” were “backing the ambitious project.”
What does the project stand for?
Inter-religious encounter and urban development: two concerns
One concern of the project lies in the religious domain. The Jewish, Christian and Islamic communities profess themselves to God’s revelation to the prophet Abraham as the root of their faiths. However, despite sharing the common origin of the”Abrahamic religions“, there are non-negligible differences in theology and religious traditions.
In view of the above, the protestant church community St. Petri-St. Mary’s Church in the Berlin district of Mitte, the Jewish community of Berlin, the rabbinical seminary Abraham-Geiger-Kolleg, and the Muslim initiative Forum for Intercultural Dialogue e.V. (FID e.V.) had launched the One-house-project in the city of Berlin.
By its architecture and its utilization concept, The House of One will embrace the commonalities as well as the differences of the religions.
Each religious community will have its own holy room: there will be a synagogue, church, and a mosque under one roof.
These separate rooms can open their doors to an empty central room that they are built around. This room constitutes an open space for encounter and learning.
The House of One shall not only be open to the religious communities. Situated in the historical center of the city of Berlin, “people involved in culture, business and politics, followers of other religions and, especially, people who do not identify with any religion are welcome.”
The Charter for the partnership envisages that each of the religions shall be granted a space in which they can live openly according to their own way and engage with the public. “Reflection on the own identities and those of others from multiple perspectives”, shall be fostered. “Theological differences and contradictions” shall be preserved “rather than glossing them over.”
The other concern is a matter of urban development. The city of Berlin was advocating urban concepts for the redesign of its historical center. The plannings comprised nine subareas, one of them the Petriplatz in the midst of the old Berlin-Cölln dating from the year 1650 from where the modern Berlin had developed. At least from the 13th century until 1960 the place had been dominated by the Petri-church. Only recently the remains of the Petri-Churchyard had been brought to light by archaeological excavations. In 2009, the Protestant St. Mary’s Church decided to build a new church there but as a particular place for communication whereas at that time the Berlin Senate had a commercial and office building in mind, as the Berliner Morgenpost reported.
Now, The House of One will add value for the city by giving “a future-oriented shape to the coexistence of religion and city”, as Pastor Gregor Hohberg had put it.
The House of One is said to be unique worldwide
When asked whether there are “plans to build versions of The House of One in other locations”, The Stiftung House of One, project manager, estimated that the concept of the House is quite strongly site-specific: “The idea behind House of One was developed very much with its specific Berlin location in mind. It would therefore be hard to transfer this background and the architectural concept to other locations.”
However, there are multifaith projects which may be considered to be similar to The House of One:
There are least ten cities “with a rich mix of holy sites and places of worship of different faiths, all concentrated in less than one square kilometer…Such close proximity shows that communication between different religions is not only possible, but is practiced …” Berlin tops the list. Working on “a single holy site for three religions”, it is considered unique and “gets the gold medal for its inter-religious dialogue.” (Al Arabiya English)
There is “a novel experiment in multiple religions sharing not just a building but a community”, the Brookville Church on Long Island. Particularly noticeable was the community “created by interfaith couples who want an interfaith education program for their children.” (The Washington Post)
In Omaha, three religious communities are planning a communal fellowship hall. (The Washington Post)
For Protestant, Catholic and Muslim communities in Stockholm, the “The Guds Hus (‘God’s House’) is being built,” referred to as “a variation on the House of One.”
The Interim report of the project, published by the The EKD Institute for Research on Religious and Ideological Issues (EZW), stated that one is sure that a religious building of this form is unique worldwide, pointing out the jointly developed new concept of transparency and openness in a multicultural context. (EZW Materialdienst 2016,1 p. 13)
What’s close to the heart: a look at the Charter
The co-existence of the commonalities and differences of the religions seems to be particularly close to the heart of the religious representatives who had jointly developed the Charter, who wish to respect “the three religions’ respective self-conceptions”. How to deal with this tension is expressed by a quotation of Leo Baeck: “People and nations and creeds will remain separate. They will live on as different entities. But they will know that they belong together, that they are all part of one humanity, that they should live together on this earth, recognizing and understanding one another, and, when there is need, helping one another.”
The Charter then concentrates on “fundamental intentions to act,” which were derived from core values which the three religions have in common and which was being inspired by the “Irrevocable directives” of the initial declaration of a “Global Ethic” by the Parliament of the World’s Religions, 1993.
The background: Comparative Theology
The theoretical background can be found in the Comparative Theology, as the “Interim report” explained: the Comparative Theology does not question whether the faiths of another religion are true. Its emphasis lies in getting to know the religion of others. The advantage of this approach is on the one hand that the encounter with people of other faiths promotes one’s own identity of faith (EZW p. 15). On the other hand, the question of truth can be kept open, well knowing that only God knows the answer. “Thus the great theological question, whether Jews, Christians and Muslims pray to the same God or not, shall consciously be kept open” (EZW p.15).
Most of the Muslim communities and the Catholic Church declined to take part
The path to creating this shared space has at time been difficult. The EZW and the Old Catholic Church reported problems Gregor Hohberg had to face when he was trying to gain partners. Lala Süsskind and later the liberal rabbis Tovia Ben-Chorin (Jewish Community) and Walter Homolka (Abraham-Geiger-Kolleg), had reacted positively to Gregor Hohberg’s project, whereas orthodox Jews as well as – with one exception – Muslim communities had shown restraint.
As to the DITIB (Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs) the problem was that it had claimed to get granted the sole right of representation, the Old Catholics reported. However, the Charter of the House clearly determines that “none of them [the members] claim to be the exclusive representative”. The Der Tagesspiegel reported that some of the Mosque communities didn’t want to make common cause with with Jews, who vice versa voiced concerns in regard of some Muslim associations.
An agreement could only be reached with the FID e.V. which has close links to the Hizmet (Gülen movement). The EZW pointed to the fact that the FID e.V. is not representative by terms of membership and is intra-islamically controversial. Not associated to a Mosque community, it had used other communities’ Mosques. Only after the Turkey coup attempt in 2016 when Gülen-related actors were being exposed hostilities, the FID e.V. established rooms for prayer in its five cultural associations in Berlin, as the Erlanger Zentrum für Islam und Recht in Europa (EZIRE) reported (p 28). Thus, the activities of the FID e.V. were in the field of secular education; for the concerns of the project, the Gülen-related actors are suitable because in their own specific manner they actively accept the secular society (EZW p. 229). Also the Senate of Berlin took a positive view. In an answer to a parlamentary question it estimated the FID e.V. to actively and authentically support cross-religious cooperation, to show openness to other religions and willingness to communicate.
As to the Catholic Church, the Archbishop stated his negative reply was the result of limited financial and human resources, as the EZW reported.
Despite these built around no member of whatever community is being excluded from the House.
Financial support comes from several sources.
On February 21, the Senate of Berlin told that the financing of the project was based on a crowdfunding campaign in more than fifty countries, on benefits by – not specified – German Major Donors and by fundings in the framework of the federal program “National Projects of Urban Development – Future Investment Program”. 2012, Hohberg had told to Der Tagesspiegel, that a limit had been set for the maximal amount of a single donation because the project didn’t want to be dependent on private Major Donors.
According to the Senate of Berlin, the total costs amount to € 43.5 million. € 3.4 million are funded by the “National Project”. Until January, the donation amounted to € 8.5 million. “10 million euros have been pledged by the federal government – with the proviso that the state of Berlin and private donors will each contribute a further 10 million euros. The remaining gap of five million euros will be closed with crowdfunding and fundraising campaigns.”, the project recently told. The project carrier is the “Stiftung House of One”, which had been founded on September 8, 2012. The foundation capital in the amount of € 273.000 was contributed by the Bildungs- und Wissenschaftsförderungs gGmbH Düsseldorf and the Stuttgarter Lehrhaus/Stiftung für interreligiösen Dialog, the Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
Hero image info
Preview image info
We have no ads and no paywall. If you believe in collaboration to produce quality neutral journalism for everyone, it is important that you sign up to support our work financially. Every penny goes towards improving WikiTribune! Thanks, Jimmy Wales
TODO tags
Is there a problem with this article? [Join] today to let people know and help build the news.
1 Talk Comments
[ This comment is from a user you have muted ] (show)
JW Jimmy Wales (talk | contribs)
"I've untagged this as a copyright vio..."
Ingrid Strauch
370 Contributions Talk
James Chirgwin
25 Contributions Talk
Fiona Apps
1941 Contributions Talk
Britt Hackemack
Martin S Taylor
(diff) .. 2019-06-26 11:04:05 ... Ingrid Strauch (talk | contribs)
Note → hero set portrait.
**** Latest version ****
Note → preview image re-added
Note → hero image set portrait
Note → hero image was gone (???). Re-added
2019-06-20 11:59:13 ... Ingrid Strauch (talk | contribs)
Note →
Action →
Needs copy-editing Todo tag removed
Note → untagged Needs copy editing (tnx, James!). Set published.
Set to PUBLISHED
Note → some content issues clarified
(diff) .. 2019-06-20 08:08:25 ... James Chirgwin (talk | contribs)
Note → Some changes to spelling and grammar, as well as editing for brevity
Note → spelling et al.
Note → add. to reference list
Note → reference list structured
Abrahamic religions Architecture Berlin Church Comparative theology Interfaith dialogue Mosque Multifaith building Religion Sacral building Synagogue
Press release: Kick-off for construction April 2020
https://house-of-one.org/en/news/kick-constructin-april-2020
Laying of the foundation stone of the House of One in spring 2020
https://house-of-one.org/en/press/releases/laying-foundation-stone-house-one-spring-2020
https://house-of-one.org/en
https://house-of-one.org/en/faqs
https://house-of-one.org/sites/default/files/downloads/hoobroschure20170725finaleng.pdf?t=1GW5Ml
Charta of the project, by the Jewish community of Berlin, the rabbinical seminary Abraham-Geiger-Kolleg, and the Muslim initiative for dialogue Forum Dialog
https://house-of-one.org/sites/default/files/house_of_one_berlin_charta_engl.pdf?t=1ECa4r
Announcement of the building competition (2012)
https://house-of-one.org/en/press/releases/start-der-bewerbungsphase-des-architekturwettbewerbs-f%C3%BCr-ein-neues-bet-und-lehrhaus
Text for the architectural competition (2012)
https://house-of-one.org/sites/default/files/downloads/auslobungarchitekturwettbewerb.pdf
Stiftung House of One gegründet (2016)
https://house-of-one.org/en/node/11739
https://www.stiftungzukunftberlin.eu/fileadmin/szb/daten/Initiativen/House_of_One/Dokumente/HouseOfOne_Broschuere.pdf
Senate of Berlin
Petriplatz und Breite Straße. Planungen für Alt-Cölln (2012)
http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/staedtebau/projekte/petriplatz_breitestr/download/Petriplatz_BreiteStrasse_Ausstellung.pdf
Erlanger Zentrum für Islam und Recht in Europa: Islamisches Gemeindeleben in Berlin (Senat von Berlin, Der Beauftragte für Kirchen, Religions- und Weltanschauungsgemeinschaften, 2018)
https://www.berlin.de/sen/kulteu/religion-und-weltanschauung/studie-islamisches-gemeindeleben-in-berlin.pdf
Senat von Berlin, Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa: Antwort auf die schriftliche Anfrage über: House of One (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin, 2019)
http://pardok.parlament-berlin.de/starweb/adis/citat/VT/18/SchrAnfr/s18-17842.pdf
Senat von Berlin, Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen: Nationale Projekte des Städtebaus: Berlin, House of One (2016)
https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/staedtebau/foerderprogramme/bauprojekte/house-of-one/index.shtml
Claudia Melisch, Jessica Rothe: Ausgrabungen am Petriplatz
https://www.ausgrabung-petriplatz.de/archaeologische-grabung-berlin-ursprungsort-ausgrabungen-petriplatz-historisches-zentrum-jetzt-entdecken
Friedmann Eißler: Staatliche Unterstützung für das „House of One“ (2016)
https://www.ezw-berlin.de/downloads/Materialdienst_10_2016.pdf
Eißler: Braucht Berlin ein interreligiöses Zentrum? (2011)
Anne Luise Heisig: Das „House of One“ in Berlin. Zwischenbericht über ein einzigartiges Projekt. By the Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen (2016)
https://www.theologiestudierende.de/2016/08/17/das-house-of-one-in-berlin/ and
https://ezw-berlin.de/downloads_informationsportale/i_mdezw_2011-2016_Das_House_of_One_in_Berlin_Sammeldatei.pdf (p. 13-16)
Jens-Eberhard Jahn: Die dreifaltige WG. Abraham, Gülen und Petrus – In Berlin soll ein interreligiöses Bet- und Lehrhaus entstehen (2014)
https://www.alt-katholisch.de/fileadmin/red_ak/CH-Archiv/arc_14/14_5_3.htm
Claudia Keller: Juden, Christen und Muslime unter einem Dach. Eines für alle (2013)
https://chrismon.evangelisch.de/artikel/2013/eines-fuer-alle-20245
Martina Bitunjac, Olaf Glöckner: Resonanz und neue Spenden. Das interreligiöse Projekt kommt finanziell zusehends auf die Beine (2016)
https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/unsere-woche/resonanz-und-neue-spenden/
Forum für Interkulturellen Dialog
http://fidev.org/fid/partner
Images, published by the office of the winning architect, Kuehn Malvezzi http://www.kuehnmalvezzi.com/?context=project&oid=Project:14687
Lara Schrijver: The House of One: Facing Fear. (2016)
http://www.kuehnmalvezzi.com/media/text/160600-BEPE-Schrijver-Facing_Fear-Harvard_Design_Magazine-42.pdf and
http://www.harvarddesignmagazine.org/issues/42/the-house-of-one-facing-fear
Nationale Projekte des Städtebaus: Berlin, House of One – Haus des interreligiösen Dialogs (Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung, 2016)
https://www.bbsr.bund.de/BBSR/DE/FP/ZIP/NPS/2016/foerderprojekte-2016/steckbriefe/berlin-node.html
Christoph Strack: Drei Religionen unter einem Dach: Das “House of One” in Berlin soll gebaut werden. (2019)
https://www.dw.com/de/drei-religionen-unter-einem-dach-das-house-of-one-in-berlin-soll-gebaut-werden/a-47112856
Gero Schliess: World religions gather in Berlin’s House of One (2018)
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-24-7-world-religions-gather-in-berlins-house-of-one/a-42833803
Francesca Astorri: Top 10 ‘inter-religious’ cities in the world (2017)
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2017/04/24/Top-10-inter-religious-cities-in-the-world.html
Susan Katz Miller: When a tiny church houses three religions (2016)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/04/14/when-a-tiny-church-houses-three-religions/
Stephen Evans: Berlin House of One: The first church-mosque-synagogue? (2014)
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27872551
Yasmine Hafiz: Berlin Plans ‘House Of One,’ A Place Where Jews, Muslims, And Christians Will Pray Under The Same Roof (2014)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-of-one-berlin-interfaith_n_5489444
Claudia Keller: Interreligiöses Projekt in Berlin-Mitte “The House of One” – Ein Gotteshaus, drei Religionen (2014)
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/interreligioeses-projekt-in-berlin-mitte-the-house-of-one-ein-gotteshaus-drei-religionen/9981358.html
Philip Oltermann: Berlin’s House of One: a church, a mosque and a synagogue under one roof (2014)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/jun/25/berlin-house-of-one-unity-christian-muslim-jew
Isabell Jürgens: Die Petrikirche soll wiederauferstehen (2009)
https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article104178755/Die-Petrikirche-soll-wiederauferstehen.html
Flag objectionable content
Related Stories on WikiTribune
Boiko Hristov (talk | contribs)
The Struggle of ‘Second’ and ‘Third’ Rome: is There an Option, Except for a Schism?
Deens M (talk | contribs)
Media Roundup: M&S Receive Backlash for Selling the Hijab
Mohamed Salih (talk | contribs)
Fact check: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization’s claim about Eid al-Fitr
Most popular on WikiTribune
Fact check: Bernie Sanders' claims about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg 's income.
Alejandro Telleria Torres (talk | contribs)
Fourth Peruvian ex-president arrested in graft probe
Ido Vock (talk | contribs)
Interview: Cryptocurrencies and the future of the internet with Leo Weese
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5515
|
__label__wiki
| 0.757936
| 0.757936
|
Escaped Kittens Delay New York City Subway Service
By Rebecca Deczynski
Looks like the Internet isn't the only cat-loving series of tubes. Brooklyn-bound subway lines in New York City were stopped on Thursday so that Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) workers could rescue two frisky felines that had fallen onto the tracks.
The kittens had escaped from their owner in Brookyln's Church Avenue station, and the station attendant called for help. A supervisor came to the scene and then decided to cut power for two different train lines. While a team of MTA workers planned how to rescue the cats, aggravated subway riders were told that the delay was due to ongoing police activity.
Despite the rescue team's heroic efforts, the cats didn't make their task an easy one. Witnesses described seeing the two kittens run in opposite directions as workers tried to lure them into a carrying case. The search continued for more than an hour, and commuters finally learned the real reason of the stoppage, much to their dismay. One rider vented, "Can you believe this? All for cats! I hate cats!"
Around 6:30 P.M. EST, the kittens eventually fell asleep and were towed to safety in a milk crate, to the relief of their owner and animal lovers everywhere.
What do you think about this cat-scapade? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
'Dance Moms' Brynn Rumfallo Post-Show Career
15 Short-Haired Dogs
Who Is Kamryn Smith on 'Dance Moms'?
Brady Is Returning To 'Dance Moms'
Meghan’s Being Mom-Shamed
The 20 Best Christian Movies on Netflix
This Dog Ball Makes Ice Cream For You
Here Are the Best Amazon Prime Day Deals to Shop
Epic Blizzard Hits New York City and New England
Anthony Weiner Launches Comeback to Become New York City Mayor
New York City Hit by Huge Storm, Possible Tornado
Meet Samson, the Biggest Cat in New York City
New York City Police Make Arrest in 22-Year-Old Baby Hope Case
Time to Pony Up for The New York Times Online
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5517
|
__label__wiki
| 0.9113
| 0.9113
|
Google adds plus codes support for remote areas
The search giant said the capability will allow users to better locate addresses in remote areas in countries such as India.
By Jonathan Chadwick | March 16, 2018 -- 04:35 GMT (21:35 PDT) | Topic: Mobility
(Image: Google)
Google Maps has added support for plus codes, an open-source addressing system that generates simplified street addresses for people or places that don't have one.
The plus code system divides the geographical surface of the Earth into what Google calls "tiled areas" and gives each a unique code, comprised of six characters, a "+" symbol, and the name of the city, such as F26X+9F Gurugram.
Users can drop a pin anywhere on Maps and will be given the code. Each code can be shared and then searched by anyone with the desktop or mobile Maps by entering it in the search field.
The global capability offers an alternative to "long-winded" addresses and will allow users to better locate places in remote areas in countries such as India that don't have addresses at all, director of program management for Google Maps Suren Ruhela said in a blog post.
"In India, we know how challenging it can be to reach a given residential address. They are unique in format, and vary across regions, localities, and use cases," Ruhela said.
"While some addresses are well-defined by street names and house numbers that are easy to find ... the other reality is that millions of people and places in India are hard to locate -- especially those in remote areas."
Google also announced that it has introduced "add an address", which allows users to submit new or missing addresses on Maps, and "smart address search", which suggests search results based on approximate search terms such as landmarks or points of interest.
It has also brought voice navigation to six additional Indian languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.
Last year, the search giant announced it would be rolling out a new look for the driving, navigation, transit and explore views in Maps to display relevant information more prominently. It also added a search capability for Android that lets users ask or answer questions under local business listings, as well as street-level pollution data across parts of California after a two-year-long mapping exercise.
The search giant has also recently added updates to its Flights booking service that uses a machine learning algorithm to give passengers pre-flight information predictions.
Google to ban cryptocurrency, ICO adverts
Initial Coin Offerings, wallets, and consultancy services are all included in the blanket ban.
What Google is learning about user experience
'We're living in the golden age of user experience.' But it takes an enterprise to deliver superior UX.
Nokia, Huawei strike multi-year patent licensing deal
Specifics of the deal aren't being disclosed, but Huawei will now have access to a slew of mobile patents.
Google Maps: Here's how its new look will adapt to the way you're traveling
Google Maps is adding more icons and changing the places of interest it highlights in various modes.
Google Maps for iOS update could make it easier to get to work on time (TechRepublic)
The Google Maps feature, which brings in real-time commute data, launched on Android a year ago.
New Google Maps tool helps business travelers navigate public transportation (TechRepublic)
The app will alert users when their train or bus has reached their stop, along with ETA updates.
Google Smartphones Mobile OS Security Hardware Reviews
More from Jonathan Chadwick
Australian Air Force receives flight sensor tech from Defence
Mastercard signs up Sydney suburb to smart cities program
Toyota invests $500m in Uber as part of autonomous vehicle partnership
La Trobe University completes driverless Autonobus trial
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5522
|
__label__wiki
| 0.571962
| 0.571962
|
US Air Force looks to SOA to boost situational awareness
USAF to roll out $4 million SOA-enabled system to sense, monitor and track incidents on its bases.
By Joe McKendrick for Service Oriented | December 20, 2012 -- 23:49 GMT (15:49 PST) | Topic: IT Priorities
If something goes wrong at a US Air Force base -- an aircraft malfunction or a fire -- the results can be deadly as well as costly. To improve the responsiveness of systems that sense, monitor and track such incidents, the Air Force is shelling out $4.5 million to move its alert systems to a service-oriented architecture (SOA).
The project, announced by Alion Science and Technology, a defense contractor, says it will employ service-oriented methodologies to enhance the Air Force’s Installation Command and Control (IC2) system, which provides vital situational-awareness information to decision-makers, and updates to base commanders, emergency managers and first responders. The new IC2 system code will add sensor management, communications management and sensor fusion capabilities.
The project will also move the Air Force's Integrated Information Management System (IIMS), an incident management system that offers a situational awareness map, into what it calls "a validated SOA application."
The result will be be better emergency response capabilities on Air Force bases and to help reduce emergency response system support and maintenance costs, says Chris Amos, senior VP at Alion. “By migrating IIMS to a SOA, we can make the incident management and IC2 systems more agile, to facilitate the Air Force’s command and control common operational framework,” Amos explains. “The result will be a significant cost savings to the Air Force and better-prepared decision-makers.”
Event processing and event-driven architecture are considered the real-time component of SOA. As far as the Air Force employing SOA to support event processing, it doesn't get any more intense and mission-critical than this.
(Thumbnail photo: US Department of Defense.)
Government - US CXO Thought Leadership Innovation Tech and Work
More from Joe McKendrick
Advice for technologists on promoting AI ethics
Filling stadiums with serverless computing
Serverless: applications only when you need them - no more, no less
Fewer people seek AI jobs: is the market cooling off, or too hot to handle?
Best Prime Day deals 2019: IT technician and DIY repair tools
The best of the Prime Day IT and DIY repair tool deals for business on Amazon.
Microsoft unveils second preview build of Windows 10 19H2; tests new features being off by default
Microsoft is rolling out a second test build of its Windows 10 19H2 feature update (build 18362.10005) to the Slow Ring, but the new features in it are turned off by default at the moment. ...
Microsoft: Azure is at 99.995 percent uptime but we can do more
Microsoft is working on multiple fronts to try to improve Azure reliability. Here are some of the initiatives underway.
AI ethics is good for business. Time for IT managers and professionals to step up and take a leadership role.
Microsoft releases preview of its Desktop Analytics app-compatibility assessment service
Microsoft's Desktop Analytics service, now in public preview, is designed to help business users check their app-compatibility levels and mitigate issues involving the latest ...
Microsoft is axing internal use rights for its products for its reseller partners
Microsoft is discontinuing internal use rights for product licenses, as well as cutting previously included on-premises support incidents provided to its reseller partners. ...
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5523
|
__label__cc
| 0.737927
| 0.262073
|
Posts Tagged ‘Comics’
“The Dark Knight Meets Superman 2”
Batman realizes the limitations of not actually having a super power.
Tags:Animation, Batman, christian bale, comedy, comic books, Comics, Dark Knight, dc comics, Funny, Parody, super heroes, super powers, Superman, the green lantern, the justice league, wonder woman
Posted in Funny | 1 Comment »
Batman vs. Penguin: the debate you should have been watching.
Penguin has my vote.
Tags:Barack Obama, Batman, christian bale, Comics, Conservatives, Dark Knight, DC, debate, Democrat, george w bush, GOP, joe biden, joe plumber, John McCain, joker, Liberals, penguin, Presidential Race, republicans, Sarah Palin
Posted in Funny | 2 Comments »
With Superheroes, The Golden Years Aren’t So Golden….
Gregg Segal is a photographer with a keen eye. Check out his pictures of superheroes when they’ve let themselves go. His peeing on my childhood is quite funny. My favorite is Captain America checking his mail….I like to imagine he’s finding a mix of collection notices from creditors and rejection letters from various publishing houses. Nobody wants to read Captain America’s memoirs….(sighs) Make sure you check out his collection of pirate photos, also. When there’s no pillaging to be done, a pirate has to look outside his trade for work.
Thanks to Bam Kapow for highlighting these photos. Check out more of Gregg Segal’s work and I guarantee you’ll love it. (guarantee only to be redeemed on Mars, certain restrictions apply)
Tags:Batman, Comics, gregg segal, Incredible Hulk, photography, Spiderman, Superhero, Superheroes, Superman, wonder woman, wonderwoman
Batman: The Dark Knight trailer spoof
I know, I know….lots of Batman content lately, but hey, this is pretty funny for being shot on a shoestring budget.
Tags:Batman, christian bale, comedy, comic books, comicbooks, Comics, DC, evil iguana productions, Funny, heath ledger, Parody, Satire, Sequel, Spoof, the dark knight, Trailer
Baman Piderman
So random, and yet so funny.
Tags:Animation, Batman, comicbooks, Comics, Dark Knight, DC, friends, Marvel, Spiderman, Youtube
Batman isn’t just a character, it’s a way of life…
BERLIN – From the outside, Ezra Welch’s home looks like many in East Berlin; its brick face and American flag fit in perfectly with the neighborhood. Stepping inside, it looks clean and quiet.
But head down the stairs to his basement and you enter the other world he inhabits.
Batman artwork covers the walls. A large sign welcoming guests to “The Batcave” hangs over the steps. The only thing that appears to be missing is a revolving bookcase that serves as a secret door.
For Welch, the self-proclaimed world’s No. 1 “Batfan” who has gone as far as getting Batman tattoos, “The Dark Knight,” the newest Batman film, opens today and is the “Holy Grail.” He, along with millions of other fans will flock to multiplexes to see the sequel that has created a buzz.
Welch said he was drawn to the Batman character, whose story of a man who responded to tragedy by teaching himself to fight crime and stand up for justice inspired him. As a scrawny young boy who wore glasses, he said he attracted the attention bullies.
“It was an inspiration for how to stand up for myself,” the 40-year-old said.
In fact, Welch loves his hero so much that he has dedicated an entire room to his obsession.
The basement is filled with a lifetime’s worth of Batman memorabilia — clocks, action figures, toys, masks, posters, even Batman cologne. Of course, there are comics too, more than 500 of them. He started collecting as a young boy, but a fire destroyed his collection while he was in college. He didn’t let that stop him though; he just started over and kept adding.
The collection is a diverse one, ranging from framed movie posters to a utility belt and even a large ceramic cookie jar shaped like Batman. He has even deemed one corner of the collection a “Rogues Gallery” and uses it to showcase Batman’s foes.
Welch, who works at Precision Graphics in East Berlin, doesn’t know exactly how much he has spent on his collection over the years but estimates it is at least $5,000, maybe even $10,000.
Even with all the money he has spent, he says his favorite item didn’t cost him a thing.
“It’s a Batrock,” he says, pointing to a chunk of stone he got during a visit to the cave used to film part of the 1960’s “Batman” TV show that starred Adam West. “It’s from the Batcave. I don’t know if anyone else has something like this.”
He has two Batman tattoos, though his preferred term is “Battoo.” One features the Batman logo, and the other, which Welch designed, places the character in front of a full moon and a swarm of bats.
Occasionally he will even don a full-size Batman costume, though he prefers to do it to mark special events; one photo on the wall of the “Batcave” features him, fully-costumed, kissing his wife in front of their Christmas tree.
As for his wife and two teenage daughters, Welch said they have put up with this obsession of all things Batman.
“It’s good fun. I support him because of his profound enjoyment,” said Andrea Welch, who has been married to him for 20 years.
His 17-year-old daughter, Jenna Welch, said that although she’s not too interested in Batman now, as a child it gave her and her dad a special bond.
“It gets a little bit annoying after a while, but it makes him happy,” she said. “I’m OK with it.”
As for the movie, Welch says it would be hard for him to be more excited. He has done everything he can over the past six months to avoid information that would spoil the film, but that hasn’t stopped him from preparing for the big night. He will host a “Batbash” with family and friends this afternoon, where “Batburgers,” will be on the menu. After the party, the group will head to the movie and then meet back at the “Batcave” to discuss and critique the film.
“I’ve waited 30 years for this movie,” he said. “For me, it is the Holy Grail.”
Tags:adam west, Batfan, Batman, christian bale, comic books, Comics, Dark Knight, fans, Hobby, Memorabilia, Movies, Superheroes, Television
Funny interview with the original TV Batman, Adam West
A small excerpt from a recent interview with Adam West, the original TV Batman.
Most men have fallen for the wrong type of woman at least once – did you have some sympathy for your character for his love of Catwoman?
Oh yes. He was just a poor soul. He was so torn, Martin…it was heartbreaking! [laughs] He had these curious stirrings in his utility belt, and yet he knew she had to be put away in the slammer.
Do you ever regret turning Cubby Broccoli down for James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever?
Not really. No, wait a minute. Yes.
Full interview at The Den of Geek.
And a scene from “The Batman Movie” made in 1966. Holy sardine!
Tags:adam west, Batman, Comics, Dark Knight, den of geek, fans, interview, jaws, movie, Robin, shark, Superhero
Nothing new about Obama vs. McCain.
It’s really a tired old tv/movie script.
Tags:Barack Obama, Comics, Democrats, GOP, John McCain, Movies, Presidential Election, Race Relations, republicans, TV
Posted in Funny | Leave a Comment »
“My Dad” –A hilarious flash animation in honor of Father’s Day
Tags:Animation, Batman, Children, Comics, cyborg, dad, father's day, fatherhood, Film, flash, Kids, kung fu, martial arts, school, short, Superheroes, ucca
Posted in Videos | Leave a Comment »
Balloon animals are just the beginning
Yep, that’s “Halo’s” Master Chief made entirely of balloons. Cool…but very creepy at the same time. I imagine there’s an unholy alliance between clowns, magicians (balloon-character makers), and mimes. I can’t put my finger on it, but hey, it was no coincidence that John Wayne Gacy, Jr. dressed up as a clown to lure his victims. Anyway, ck. out a few of the cool creations, and follow the link to see even more. Down with mylar!
Tags:Balloons, Batman, Clowns, Comics, Dark Knight, Elvis, Halo, Magicians, Master Chief, Mimes, party, videogames
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5529
|
__label__wiki
| 0.908086
| 0.908086
|
TerraClear Raises $4.7M for Machine Designed to Pick Rocks from Soil
Insurance Tech Startup CyberFortress Starts Risk Assessment Service
Colorectal Cancer Data Spurs Pfizer to Pay $11.4B for Array Bio
Bill McKeon
Vice president, chief strategy and operating officer of the Texas Medical Center
Zipcar Cofounder Robin Chase Bids Adieu to U.S., Launches Car Sharing Startup in France
Robert Buderi
@bbuderi
Oh là là. Pronouncing the European market far more primed for a transportation revolution than the U.S., Zipcar cofounder Robin Chase has quietly left GoLoco, her Cambridge, MA-based ride sharing company, to fend for itself and launched a car sharing startup in Paris. Called Buzzcar, the company began pilot testing in two French cities a few weeks ago and plans to open for business in France later this month.
“It’s the project of my dreams,” says Chase, Buzzcar’s CEO or Directrice Générale. She launched the company with the help of husband Roy Russell, who serves as CTO (Directeur Technique), a similar role to what he had with both Zipcar and GoLoco.
Think of Buzzcar as a mix of her two previous startups. Zipcar is essentially a twist on car rentals, allowing rentals by the hour from easy-to-access neighborhood lots or stations, while GoLoco is (or was, since the site is apparently out of service), a ride sharing startup in which people pay to ride along with others in the network, and the drivers take a cut of the fees. Buzzcar, by contrast, is a car sharing service whereby citizens allow their idle cars to be used by others in the network—also for a slice of the pie.
“It’s peer-to-peer car-sharing. We’re leveraging excess capacity of individuals and giving them a platform for participation,” is how Chase describes it. As such, Buzzcar is much like UK-based Whipcar or RelayRides, which started in Cambridge last year but has since moved to Silicon Valley—and Chase says she has no illusions about Buzzcar being first of a kind. “It’s a space that has exploded over the last year, so it’s not a novel thought,” she says. But, she adds, there are many differences between Buzzcar and other car sharing services that set it apart (read on for details).
I’ve actually been following Chase’s progress off and on for months. There was a hint of what she was up to in a tweet last summer: “Looking to rent a furnished 2-3br apt in Paris (1,2,3,4,9.10.18e) contact me…” I met her last August for fresh-squeezed lemonade at the Andala Coffee House in Cambridge’s Central Square, where she gave a brief sketch of her plans while declining to provide any specifics. And I’ve been checking in periodically ever since. Finally, earlier this week, she was ready to parlez.
Indeed, Chase, who terms herself “all but fluent” in French, says she moved to Paris in September, and even though she already had financing lined up for Buzzcar took until last month to launch the company. “That’s how long it takes to make a company live in another language,” she quips. “I’ve been experiencing the French bureaucracy—that was the fall. Here we are in the spring and finally things are moving at a much faster pace.”
Chase says she has been thinking about car sharing for roughly a decade. “Ten years ago, I had an e-mail stalker who was constantly telling me this is what I should be doing with Zipcar. And I would listen to him and say, ‘Let me just do one thing at a time.'” In 2007, after leaving Zipcar, she launched GoLoco, which offered ride sharing rather than car sharing. The company apparently never gained the traction to become self sustaining, and the website now appears down—although Chase says she left GoLoco to operate “without attention” and thought it was still functioning.
Truth be told, the world wasn’t ready for car sharing 10 years ago. But a lot has happened in recent years to make it far more feasible, Chase says. For one thing, technology has advanced to the point you can do almost everything, including reserving a car, with a smartphone. For another, the rise of social media and Web 2.0 companies has gotten people far more used to sharing information and services amongst their friends and even people they don’t know. That’s why car sharing is finally starting to gain traction. A few months ago, for instance, RelayRides attracted $5.1 million from a mix of investors who include Google Ventures and August Capital. “I had to watch them launch in my own back yard when I was full on negotiating [Buzzcar], which was fine,” Chase says of RelayRides.
So let’s get to those differences between Buzzcar and other car-sharing companies.
“I look at all those companies worldwide, and I have couple observations,” Chase says. “One, our team is vastly more experienced than any of them.” Another observation is about the approach or model. “Each of those companies has a different approach, and I, of course, am liking the approach that we are taking,” she says. Buzzcar is really geared at building a community, she says (more on this in a minute). It is also very easy to implement, working off an iPhone app (apps for other devices are coming soon) or desktop computer. (Contrast that to RelayRides, which requires car owners to submit to the installation of a computer that controls a car’s ignition and locks so only approved riders can use it: “There isn’t a contraption in the car,” says Chase of Buzzcar’s service.)
In fact, she says, people can set their vehicle up for Buzzcar service in 5-7 minutes. They download the app, enter details of their car such as year, model, and location, and upload some photos. “Then people who are drivers can search and find the cars near them and reserve them using the app and also online,” she says. A message about the impending deal, including the start time and duration of the rental, is sent to owners by text or email, and they can either confirm or, if it doesn’t fit their schedule, say, “Non.”
If it’s a go, then at the appointed time and location, the user picks up the keys-either directly from the owner, or, more likely, a pre-arranged drop spot or intermediary—enters the start odometer reading into their smart phone, and logs the exact location and start time (Smart phones are essential, and drivers have to bring the car and keys back to the same location). Drivers pay by the hour and by the kilometer—there’s a maximum daily rate—with Buzzcar covering the insurance for the sharing period. The prices differ for each car depending on its value, but Chase says because the cars aren’t brand new like they are with Zipcar or rental car companies, the prices should be very attractive. To help the process, Buzzcar has an algorithm that suggests a price, which owners can choose to accept or change. The saying in French is “Nous proposons, vous decidez“—We propose, you decide.
There’s a 20 euro annual membership fee for owners and drivers that is currently waived. From the rental fee, Buzzcar takes out the insurance cost plus a 10-15 percent cut, depending on whether the lead for the rental comes through its network or is a personal acquaintance of the renter. Another 1 percent of gross revenues is “for the planet,” says Chase, meaning it goes to charity—with members determining which organizations get the donations. Not counting wear and tear on the car, that leaves the car owner netting somewhere between 65 percent and 75 percent of the total rental fee, Chase estimates.
Buzzcar has six full-time employees, including Chase and Russell. The company has found offices in Paris, but won’t be able to move in for a few more weeks, she says.
The soft or pilot launch is taking place right now in Lille and Nantes, two mid-sized cities that Chase says aren’t super dense like Paris but are true cities. Residents of those cities can’t yet rent out or reserve a car, however. Rather, the point of the pilots is to add cars to the network. Buzzcar will be open to car sharing later this month all over France, although most of the marketing initially will take place in the areas around the pilots and Paris.
Buzzcar is funded by Mobivia Groupe, a privately held French company focused on vehicle servicing and parts (the Midas European franchise and Norauto, a company Chase describes as a European AutoZone, are among its operations). Chase declined to reveal the extent of the investment, but calls Mobivia “an excellent partner…deep into building an ecomobility future for them as a company.” She says Mobivia will be key to Buzzcar’s marketing efforts.
Chase says the European market is far more ready for car sharing than the U.S. “For car owners, the market is people who are looking to save some money on their car,” she says. “The cost of owning and operating a car in Europe is maybe 20 percent higher than in the U.S. So therefore I have more motivated owners. If we look at the drivers, the market is people who can be car independent, very much like Zipcar. Out of any 100 people, there’s a higher percentage of those kind of people in France than there are in the U.S.”
As evidence of the sharing culture, she points to the success of Velib, which has stationed bicycles all over Paris that you can jump on for one-way rides for a small fee—kind of like a bicycle version of Zipcar. That has proven so successful that Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë plans to launch Autolib, which will do the same thing for green vehicles by stationing 4,000 all-electric cars around Paris and its suburbs. “I want Buzzcar to be here and be part of that ongoing national conversation,” Chase says.
Chase is all about building community to help with that. The Buzzcar logo includes twin circles, one with the company name, the other showing a bee on a blue background. “The Bee believes in the power of the group, the power of collaborative work and the richness of diversity,” reads a Google translation of Buzzcar’s website. Buzzcar members choose from a variety of insects for their own personal logo—butterfly, dragonfly, ladybug, and scarab among them—depending on their affinity. Allowing members to personalize their logo helps build community, Chase explains.
“The idea of Buzzcar is the power of many,” she says. The company will provide a network of different kinds of cars in different locations to be used by different people in a wide variety of ways. And allowing people to get the car they want, where and when they want it, and to pay only when they use it, Chase believes, “will change the way people think about cars.”
Le fin.
Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. You can email him at bbuderi@xconomy.com. Follow @bbuderi
Boston Leaders Expect New GE CEO Flannery to Stay on Immelt’s Path
Evergage, Altaeros, Tinkergarten Among Flurry of Boston Tech Deals
Osram Greenlights Acquisition of Digital Lumens as IoT Powers Up
By posting a comment, you agree to our terms and conditions.
6 responses to “Zipcar Cofounder Robin Chase Bids Adieu to U.S., Launches Car Sharing Startup in France”
Car pooling in singapore says:
Its a nice post on car sharing in France
I like car sharing
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5531
|
__label__cc
| 0.697234
| 0.302766
|
Wizlords in Space 1 & 2
I did the art and music for Wizlords II: Electric Boogaloo and it's sequel, Wizlords I: Inconsistencies in the Space-Time Continuum. Wizlords II was done for Global Game Jam, a competition where you have to make a complete game in one weekend with a team of people, and the slightly more polished Wizlords I was done with just me and one of the guys from the team, Lukas Van Dyke. We are now working on Wizlords III, which will be a turn-based dungeon crawler. http://globalgamejam.org/2016/games/wizlords-space-ii-electric-boogaloo https://github.com/Lukas-VanDyke/Wizlords-In-Space-1
© 2017 Zach Schuster | Powered by Adobe Portfolio
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5536
|
__label__wiki
| 0.946964
| 0.946964
|
Home - Accueil - Начало Browse other pages: Начална страница - български Français - accueil English - homepage Latin to Cyrillic convertor Universal Cyrillic decoder (offsite) Winamp Cyrillic Howto XMMS Cyrillic Howto Calendar Calculator Perpetal yearly calendar Old Style - New Style reference Orthodox and Catholic Easter dates Reversed calendar Guitar chord and tabulature generator Bulls and cows (logical game) Euro keyboard Howto & a Calculator Plot Scales for AutoCAD jpeg-Diet, picture shrinker DupliTree, directory duplicator Read-Only Attribute Remover iso2mkv - DVD to XviD backup tool Perù vs. Microsoft Guestbook
Side-by-side Easter calendar reference for the 16th century
Тази страница съществува и на български език.
Here you can find all calculated Easter dates for the Eastern Orthodox Church and for the Catholic Church (for both calendars Old style-New style).
You can also dowlnoad a CSV-table with the dates New Style for 1916 - 2099 (for use in a spreadsheet).
If you click on the year, you could open the Old style - New style side-by-side reference. If you click on a date, you will open the Reversed calendar for that date.
Please note that some small independant churches in the Middle East use different algorythms and the dates not always match the Orthodox Easter.
See also: How to calculate the Easter dates (Wikipedia article)
Choose century: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th,
year Old style (Julian) New style (Gregorian) year Old style (Julian) New style (Gregorian)
Catholic Orthodox Catholic Orthodox Catholic Orthodox Catholic Orthodox
1501 April 11 - 1551 Mars 29 -
1502 Mars 27 - 1552 April 17 -
1503 April 16 - 1553 April 2 -
1504 April 7 - 1554 Mars 25 -
1507 April 4 - 1557 April 18 -
1508 April 23 - 1558 April 10 -
1533 April 13 - 1583 Mars 31 April 10
1534 April 5 - 1584 Mars 22 April 19 April 1 April 29
1535 Mars 28 - 1585 April 11 April 21
1536 April 16 - 1586 Mars 27 April 3 April 6 April 13
1537 April 1 - 1587 Mars 19 April 16 Mars 29 April 26
1538 April 21 - 1588 April 7 April 17
1539 April 6 - 1589 Mars 23 Mars 30 April 2 April 9
1540 Mars 28 - 1590 April 12 April 19 April 22 April 29
1542 April 9 - 1592 Mars 19 Mars 26 Mars 29 April 5
1543 Mars 25 - 1593 April 8 April 15 April 18 April 25
1546 April 25 - 1596 April 4 April 11 April 14 April 21
1547 April 10 - 1597 Mars 27 April 6
1549 April 21 - 1599 April 1 April 8 April 11 April 18
1550 April 6 - 1600 Mars 23 April 2
NB. There are some other pages/calculators on this site that you may find usefull:
Yearly calendar, prints out a whole year (new style);
Old style - New style side-by-side reference, shows the Julian and Gregorian calendars synoptically during time.
The site: home, calendars, software, guestbook
Document last modified : 2007-07-03 07:27:04 CET English home - Accueil en français - Начална страница
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5542
|
__label__wiki
| 0.691493
| 0.691493
|
Review: Taken by Erin Bowman
Title: Taken
Author: Erin Bowman
Genre: post-apocalyptic, science fiction, science fiction, young adult
Series: Taken #1
Published: expected April 16 2013
Source: publishers via edelweiss
There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?
I am so disappointed. I had such a good streak going. Three, nearly four, months and eighty books into 2013, I'd only had one 1-star read before this. I started Taken with high hopes - that cover! that synopsis! - that quickly, and I mean QUICKLY, plummeted from "this is going to be good!" to "Oh, no..." to "To DNF or to not DNF?" to "I just want this to be over." Thankfully, my pain was rather short lived this time. Taken is three hundred odd pages, but there's so little depth to the world or the characters that it's a thankfully fast-moving read. In the end, I have to recognize that this was just a book that was not meant for me and abandon the series.
I knew thirteen pages into Taken that this was going to be a rocky road. My main and first issue was with the main character and narrator, Gray Weathersby. Erin Bowman can write an authentic male voice, but she utterly failed to create a likeable, or even interesting, one. Gray is a jerk, and Gray is rather short-sighted. He was awful, and he was where the cracks started to show. If you can get around Gray's 'tude, you will find Taken a more fun read than I did. I can see my way to loving some awful characters, anti-heroes (Jaime Lannister, anyone? I adore him. Don't judge me.) and even villains (Sepp dan Teufel is my favorite character from The Blade Itself trilogy, and he is a horrid, broken man). But they, unlike Gray, manage to be interesting, complex in their moral failings and errors. They are more than the worse of them. Alternatively, Gray is just a brat. With lifelong insecurity issues.
The other characters don't do much to take the heat and focus off of Gray's long list of shortcomings. Everyone in the book is so one-dimensional and flat. Emma, the *first* love interest, flipflops from one side of an idea to the other in pages. Her affection does the same, and her characterization is pretty much null. Blaine, the brother, is a Larry Stu, and thus practically perfect. There's no complexity or intricacy to the characters or their relationships with one another. It's alllll surface. I need more, and the book needs more - I need depth and real characterization to care about what's going on to the characters. Otherwise, I get bored and start counting down the pages til: a. everyone dies or b. the book ends.
I kept running into issues with the plot and the progression of the story as it went along. There are too many tropes (instalove! Love triangles!), cliches, and conveniences to be found in Taken. It's just too much to be believable. I have a great suspension of disbelief, but after a point, I just... can't. Gray's entire motivation and actions are too easy, and almost of the twists and conflicts he runs into end quickly, usually in a deux-ex-machina kind of way. The plotholes in the story also started to add up as more and more is revealed about the world Gray exists within. All of that adds up to more than I can buy into. And if I can't identify or relate or even care about the characters, if the plot falls apart with closer examination, and if it's a passionless, easy affair, I'm out.
Taken is a great idea that falters out of the gate with its muddled execution. The long and short of it is that a good, original and mysterious concept is not enough to carry a novel, especially one that's hundreds of pages. The novelty and curiously wear thin, and then out completely. The series will continue with books two and three, but I will not be reading to see how it all plays out.
edelweiss arc, erin bowman, post-apocalyptic, reviewed by jessie, reviews, science fiction, young adult
Review: Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead
Title: Gameboard of the Gods
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: dystopia, post-apocalyptic, fantasy
Series: Age of X #1
Pages: 472 (ARC edition)
Published: expected June 4 2013
In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.
When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.
Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.
My first -- and far from last -- Richelle Mead novel, Gameboard of the Gods could not have been a better or more fun introduction to this popular author. A mix of futuristic science fiction, mystery, old school mythology, dystopia and post-apocalyptic genres, this book is weird and odd, and above all, really, really good. It takes a while to build into the tour de force of awesome it is, but the slow start is more than worth the time and wait. Gameboard of the Gods is creative, fast-paced, full of action and just plain fun. As the first in a new series, it's a promising beginning and one that leaves the reader eagerly anticipating what else Mead will cook up next for her adaptable protagonists.
The first hundred pages present the hardest challenge - there are a lot of terms, ideas thrown around and this is an author that doesn't believe an infodump of explanations are the way to immerse her readers into a new world. Rather, Mead doesn't immediately lay out her worldbuilding, but slowly reveals it through the characters' dialogue, actions, and inner monologues. And this created world, post-"Decline" - is a fascinating, thoroughly original one. There are still some gray areas left in how the Republic of United North America formed and operates, but with the first in the series, a remarkable amount of information is subtly dispensed to the audience. I have faith and the patience to see how Mead further carries the ideas she's laid the foundation for here with the sequels that are forthcoming.
Character-wise, this book is just as strong as it is in writing and plotting. Lead characters Mae and Justin complement each other very well, despite (or maybe because of) their many differences. They have palpable chemistry, and a complicated relationship that evolves just as much as the two of them do individually. Tjeir interplay and banter are consistently top-notch. I loved the typical-role reversal between the two as well. Usually it's a strong man protecting a brilliant woman, but Mae is the muscle (and has her fair share of brains), with Justin relying on her to protect them as they race to solve a mystery that tests everything both of them have been raised to believe.
If you like a well-crafted mystery, with two likeable and flawed protagonists (with intense chemistry), or if you like mythology with a fresh spin, or if you like well-done and thought-out dystopias with a side of post-apocalyptic world-building, Gameboard of the Gods is your newest best book friend. Great action scenes, a clever mystery and two great characters make this a very involving and compelling book. If this is how the series begins, I am very curious to see what happens next for the praetorian and the servitor. I only hope the next book isn't too long in coming!
dystopia, fantasy, mystery, netgalley arc, post-apocalyptic, reviewed by jessie, reviews, richelle mead
Review: Unremembered by Jessica Brody
Title: Unremembered
Author: Jessica Brody
Genre: science fiction, young adult
Series: Unremembered #1
Published: March 5 2013
When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.
Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.
Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.
Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?
To go along with the title of Jessica Brody's latest novel, here are a few words and phrases that work to describe my impressions of Unremembered: Unlikely. Unnecessary. Unmet-potential. Unsatisfying. Unemotional. Unsubtle. Underachieved. Uncanny. Unadorned. Unamused. Unbelievable (and not in a good way...). Unimpressive. To say the least, I expected so much more from this read, and I got flat, one-dimensional characters acting out a plot that has been done so many times before. By no means subtle or original, Brody's latest does have its moments of pure fun, but amidst all the other dross and predictability, it wasn't enough to make Unremembered anything other than a forgettable novel.
I guess I can start with the good about Unremembered - it falls prey to some YA tropes (instalove, especially, but Violet/Sera is one hell of a Mary Sue..), but it somehow manages to avoid others. There is no love triangle, there are no magically missing/absent parental units, and the love interest isn't abusive or a total creeper. And while I was disappointed by a lot of how this book played out, it moves fast and it's an easily read and digested bit of teen fiction. Brody's prose is serviceable, if plain and unremarkable. At least she is consistent? This is no Laini Taylor, Gayle Forman or Melina Marchetta or any other wordsmith. Jessica Brody is an able author, but her subject and plot leave a lot to be desired and detract from her strong points.
One of the main problems with Unremembered is that it tries to ask Important Questions about Life, like: what makes a person human? and what makes up a reality - experiences or memories? Unfortunately (another un-word!), Unremembered doesn't fully explore the answers or nuances of the questions it raises. It's a rather shallow but occasionally fun romp with time travel, "true love", and some pseudo-science to pull it all together. Contemplative themes and ideas are abandoned in favor of a romance that has no chemistry and time travel that raises more questions and complications than it solves.
Unremembered ends with an almost literal cliffhanger, and I couldn't care less. It's not a bad book - it's not objectionable or infuriating like Wasteland or Twilight, but it could have been so much better. The unmet potential is one of the most frustrating aspects of the entire exercise. It's highly and amusingly appropriate to me that a novel with that name could be so entirely forgettable once one finishes the last page.
jessica brody, netgalley arc, reviewed by jessie, reviews, science fiction, young adult
Top Ten Tuesday (on Wednesday) #5: Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish.
The Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most:
1. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
In this lyrical, absorbing, award-winning novel, nothing is as it seems, and every clue leads to more questions.
At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor's the reluctant leader of her school's underground community, whose annual territory war with the Townies and visiting Cadets has just begun. This year, though, the Cadets are led by Jonah Griggs, and Taylor can't avoid his intense gaze for long. To make matters worse, Hannah, the one adult Taylor trusts, has disappeared. But if Taylor can piece together the clues Hannah left behind, the truth she uncovers might not just settle her past, but also change her future.
Why: Melina Marchetta can write. She can write girls, boys, teens, adults - it doesn't matter. The master of characterization and plotting, this is an author that has never failed to move me to tears. I think everyone should be able to experience the pleasure and emotions that come with reading a Marchetta novel.
2. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
In his most brilliant and powerful novel, Pat Conroy tells the story of Tom Wingo, his twin sister, Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the family into which they were born.
Set in New York City and the lowcountry of South Carolina, the novel opens when Tom, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies from South Carolina to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt. Savannah is one of the most gifted poets of her generation, and both the cadenced beauty of her art and the jumbled cries of her illness are clues to the too-long-hidden story of her wounded family. In the paneled offices and luxurious restaurants of New York City, Tom and Susan Lowenstein, Savannah's psychiatrist, unravel a history of violence, abandonment, commitment, and love. And Tom realizes that trying to save his sister is perhaps his last chance to save himself.
With passion and a rare gift of language, the author moves from present to past, tracing the amazing history of the Wingos from World War II through the final days of the war in Vietnam and into the 1980s, drawing a rich range of characters. Pat Conroy reveals the lives of his characters with surpassing depth and power, capturing the vanishing beauty of the South Carolina lowcountry and a lost way of life. His lyric gifts, abundant good humor, and compelling storytelling are well known to readers of The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline. The Prince of Tides continues that tradition yet displays a new, mature voice of Pat Conroy, signaling this work as his greatest accomplishment
Why: An intricate, twisty tale about family lies and secrets, Conroy's most famous novel is absorbing and hard to put down from the first line ("My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.") With immense talent and depth, this story of the Wingo family is unforgettable. It's one of those books I reread every year for the sheer pleasure of a master author at his best.
3. Soulless series by Gail Carriger
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire—and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.
Why: Gail Carriger is talented and witty, creative and fun. Her books sparkle with witty banter, clever uses of steampunk and well-developed romances, brimming with chemistry. The earlier books are my very favorites, but this is a series that's fun and imaginative.
4. Anything by Kate Morton: The Distant Hours, The House at Riverton, The Secret Keeper, The Forgotten Garden
A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.
Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.
Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.
Why: Kate Morton has continued to impress me as I've worked my way through her all-t00-short bibliography. Her talent for beautiful prose, complex characters and sense of place is unparalleled.
5. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
An utterly captivating reinvention of the Rapunzel fairytale weaved together with the scandalous life of one of the tale's first tellers, Charlotte-Rose de la Force.
Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens...
Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-four years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition, retaining her youth and beauty by the blood of young red-haired girls.
After Margherita's father steals a handful of parsley, wintercress and rapunzel from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off unless he and his wife give away their little red-haired girl. And so, when she turns seven, Margherita is locked away in a tower, her hair woven together with the locks of all the girls before her, growing to womanhood under the shadow of La Strega Bella, and dreaming of being rescued...
Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling story of desire, obsession, black magic and the redemptive power of love.
Why: A large scope, a tight narrative, and above all, a highly imaginative retelling of Rapunzel, Bitter Greens is immersive and detailed. I couldn't put it down over the day it took me to read, and once I finished, I immediately wanted to read it again.
6. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.
AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.
A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.
But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.
Why: Ambitious. Original. Creative. Pure awesome and totally fun, Kristoff doesn't shy away from important themes, nor a body count. This is a talented author and a great start for a steampunk series without any of the stumbles a lot of debut authors make. It entertains you all the while making you think.
7. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
Paul Iverson's life changes in an instant. He returns home one day to find that his wife, Lexy, has died under strange circumstances. The only witness was their dog, Lorelei, whose anguished barking brought help to the scene - but too late. In the days and weeks that follow, Paul begins to notice strange "clues" in their home: books rearranged on their shelves, a mysterious phone call, and other suggestions that nothing about Lexy's last afternoon was quite what it seemed. Reeling from grief, Paul is determined to decipher this evidence and unlock the mystery of her death. But he can't do it alone; he needs Lorelei's help.
A linguist by training, Paul embarks on an impossible endeavor: a series of experiments designed to teach Lorelei to communicate what she knows. Perhaps behind her wise and earnest eyes lies the key to what really happened to the woman he loved. As Paul's investigation leads him in unexpected and even perilous directions, he revisits the pivotal moments of his life with Lexy, the brilliant, enigmatic woman whose sparkling passion for life and dark, troubled past he embraced equally.
Why: This is a novel about grief and love, and life. It takes a very unpredictable turn midway, but Parkhurst makes it work. It's one of my very favorite novels, and still makes me tear up every time I reread it.
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery....
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
Why: Haunting, beautiful, thoughtful, The Book Thief is one of the best pieces of YA literature I've ever come across. With one of the most original narrators, Zusak crafts an unforgettable story with some of the most colorful characters in his genre.
9. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a Cloak of Invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny cupboard under the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in ten years.
But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him... if Harry can survive the encounter.
Why: Do I really even need to say why everyone should read this series about bravery, and friendship, and triumphing over endless adversity? If you haven't read it by now, it's obviously on purpose and you are missing out on so so much. And for those that just watch the movies: you're missing out on something magical (I can't resist a good pun.)
10. Daughter of Smoke and Bone/Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Why: Laini Taylor's words are beautiful. I just love how she writes; it's vivid and compelling and wholly unique. The fact that she tackles themes like love and war and betrayal only make the juxtaposition even more striking.
Honorable mentions: Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Chime by Franny Billingsley, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, Dune by Frank Herbert, A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin
blog memes, top ten tuesday
Book Tour Review: The Bruges Tapestry by P.A. Staes
Title: The Bruges Tapestry
Author: P.A. Staes
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Following a 500-year-old mystery concerning a Flemish tapestry is routine work for Detective Claire DeMaere, since she's employed by the Newport Beach Art Theft Detail. But, unlike past cases, this one involves arresting Paolo Campezzi, lover to her best friend Nora. Mr. Campezzi is a distant descendant of a Florentine Duke, who commissioned the tapestry in 1520 in Bruges, Belgium. Claire finds that she must explore the true provenance of the tapestry, free Mr. Campezzi in order to re-establish her friendship with Nora and depend on the expertise of a textile expert she doesn't know.
All this must occur in 72 hours, before the Vatican takes the tapestry back. But Claire isn't the only one with the Vatican looking over her shoulder. Claire's story intertwines with a 1520 diary by Beatrice van Hecke, the tapestry-weaver's daughter. Only Claire can discover the secret that is woven in time.
The first novel by author P.A. Staes, The Bruges Tapestry is a tale of resentment, revenge, and abuse of power woven with care and detail. A rather short novel at only 250+ pages, this historical mystery interweaves two alternating POVS: that of Beatrice van Hecke, a young woman in Bruges during the early 16th century, and of Claire DeMaer, an art detective in present-day California. Both characters narrate in first person past tense, but there are more substantial parallels between their very different lives, as Claire discovers as she races to prove the provenance of the eponymous tapestry at the heart of both women's stories.
Corruption, conspiracy, lies and deception all play their part in each respective timeline. Beatrice's tale of woe is even sadder than Claire's, for as a woman in the sixteenth century Europe, she controls nothing in her own life. Her quests for vengeance and punishment of the men who ruined her life only endangers her further and keeps her ultimate goal out of her reach. Claire is more active in her story - she's an empowered and smart detective, one who will do what is right even if it costs her a dear friendship. Neither character is the most dimensional I've ever come across, but Staes makes each distinctive and compelling as the novel carries on.
The author casually mentions further historical fiction mysteries to come, and while I wasn't in love with The Bruges Tapestry, I will be sure to seek out her future efforts and see how her talent matures.I had fun with this - it's a quick, fast-paced story with creative villains and plot, I just wished for more depth for everyone involved, from Nora to Marie to the antagonists of each timeline. A short read, but not without merits, P.A. Staes has a strong start for her new series.
book tour, historical fiction, historical fiction virtual book tours, mystery, p.a. staes, received for review
Newish Arrivals!
It's been a while since I posted one of these, so it's for a few weeks and will run on the longish side.
Bought:
Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.
But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.
Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.
In a bold departure from her acclaimed contemporary novels, Printz Medalist Melina Marchetta has crafted an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal intrigue, romance, and bloodshed that will rivet you from the first page.
I actually have owned this on Nook for several months, but I decided I love Marchetta so much, I really needed a physical copy. I hope to get to this soon - I've been dying to read one of my favorite contemporary author's fantasy efforts.
Froi of the Exiles (Lumatere Chronicles #2) by Melina Marchetta
Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.
Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home... Or so he believes...
Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.
And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.
Gripping and intense, complex and richly imagined, Froi of the Exiles is a dazzling sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, from the internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road and The Piper's Son.
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.
Courtney Summers has rapidly become one of my very favorite contemporary authors. I'm really eager to see how her first novel measures up.
Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.
Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.
Throne of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms #1) by Saladin Ahmed
The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings.
Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame’s family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path.
Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, is a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.
Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed.
When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time—and struggle against their own misgivings—to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.
How freaking fantastic is that cover? And a fantasy story not based in faux-England? SIGN ME UP. This looks and sounds so good --- AND one of my very favorite fantasy authors (Scott Lynch) highly recommends it. That's more than enough for me.
All Men of Genius by Lev A.C. Rosen
Inspired by two of the most beloved works by literary masters, "All Men of Genius "takes place in an alternate Steampunk Victorian London, where science makes the impossible possible.
Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father's policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry.
But keeping the secret of her sex won't be easy, not with her friend Jack's constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke's young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet's alter ego, "Ashton." Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, and the way Violet's pulse quickens whenever the young duke, Ernest (who has a secret past of his own), speaks to her. She soon realizes that it's not just keeping her secret until the end of the year faire she has to worry about: it's surviving that long.
Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell #1) by Hilary Mantel
'Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning,' says Thomas More, 'and when you come back that night he'll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks' tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money.'
England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.
Peony in Love by Lisa See
“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.”
For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own.
Peony’s mother is against her daughter’s attending the production: “Unmarried girls should not be seen in public.” But Peony’s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave–and is immediately overcome with emotion.
So begins Peony’s unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow–as Lisa See’s haunting new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.
Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See’s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.
With picaresque characters and mesmerizing imagery, Saving Fish from Drowning gives us a voice as idiosyncratic, sharp, and affectionate as the mothers of The Joy Luck Club. Bibi is the observant eye of human nature–the witness of good intentions and bad outcomes, of desperate souls and those who wish to save them. In the end, Tan takes her readers to that place in their own heart where hope is found.
Amy Tan is probably one of my very favorite historical fiction authors. Every novel is impressive, detailed, and so lovely. I can't wait for this.
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. Feared and hunted by the powers in Rome, the lovers choose to die by their own hands as the triumphant armies of Antony’s revengeful rival, Octavian, sweep into Egypt. Their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome; only two– the ten-year-old twins Selene and Alexander–survive the journey. Delivered to the household of Octavian’s sister, the siblings cling to each other and to the hope that they will return one day to their rightful place on the throne of Egypt. As they come of age, they are buffeted by the personal ambitions of Octavian’s family and court, by the ever-present threat of slave rebellion, and by the longings and desires deep within their own hearts.
The fateful tale of Selene and Alexander is brought brilliantly to life in Cleopatra’s Daughter. Recounted in Selene’s youthful and engaging voice, it introduces a compelling cast of historical characters: Octavia, the emperor Octavian’s kind and compassionate sister, abandoned by Marc Antony for Cleopatra; Livia, Octavian's bitter and jealous wife; Marcellus, Octavian’s handsome, flirtatious nephew and heir apparent; Tiberius, Livia’s sardonic son and Marcellus’s great rival for power; and Juba, Octavian’s watchful aide, whose honored position at court has far-reaching effects on the lives of the young Egyptian royals.
Selene’s narrative is animated by the concerns of a young girl in any time and place–the possibility of finding love, the pull of friendship and family, and the pursuit of her unique interests and talents. While coping with the loss of both her family and her ancestral kingdom, Selene must find a path around the dangers of a foreign land. Her accounts of life in Rome are filled with historical details that vividly capture both the glories and horrors of the times. She dines with the empire’s most illustrious poets and politicians, witnesses the creation of the Pantheon, and navigates the colorful, crowded marketplaces of the city where Roman-style justice is meted out with merciless authority.
Based on meticulous research, Cleopatra’s Daughter is a fascinating portrait of imperial Rome and of the people and events of this glorious and most tumultuous period in human history. Emerging from the shadows of the past, Selene, a young woman of irresistible charm and preternatural intelligence, will capture your heart.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Moran's earlier Egyptian historical fiction novels, but I figured I might as well finish off the rest of them. Here's hoping this one picks up for me.
A Breath of Eyre (Unbound #1) by Eve Marie Mont
In this stunning, imaginative novel, Eve Marie Mont transports her modern-day heroine into the life of Jane Eyre to create a mesmerizing story of love, longing, and finding your place in the world... Emma Townsend has always believed in stories-the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates. Perhaps it's because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn't come close to filling the void left by her mother's death. And her only romantic prospect-apart from a crush on her English teacher-is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma's confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre...
Reading of Jane's isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane's body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she's never known-and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane's story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own...
Reviews for this seem to be fairly mixed, and though the title makes me laugh, I only picked this up because it was on sale for kindle for $2.99 and because I have an ARC of the second (A Touch of Scarlet).
Sent for Blog Tour/From Author:
The Queen's Rivals by Brandy Purdy
Their ambitions were ordinary, but they were born too close to the throne...
As cousins of history's most tempestuous queens, Ladies Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey were born in an age when all of London lived beneath the Tower's menacing shadow. Tyrannized by Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen, the sisters feared love was unthinkable —and the scaffold all but unavoidable...
Raised to fear her royal blood and what it might lead men to do in her name, Mary Grey dreads what will become of herself and her elder sisters under the reigns of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. On their honor, they have no designs on the crown, yet are condemned to solitude, forbidden to wed. Though Mary, accustomed to dwelling in the shadows, the subject of whispers, may never catch the eye of a gentleman, her beautiful and brilliant sisters long for freedoms that would surely cost their lives. And so, wizened for her years, Mary can only hope for divine providence amid a bleak present and a future at the whim of the throne — unless destiny gains the upper hand.
A gripping and bittersweet tale of broken families and broken hearts, courage and conviction, The Queen's Rivals recounts an astonishing chapter in the hard-won battle for the Tudor throne.
I was really excited for this one - and it came signed! I can't wait to get to it later on this year.
His Dark Lady by Victoria Lamb
London, 1583. When young, aspiring playwright William Shakespeare encounters Lucy Morgan, one of Queen Elizabeth I's ladies-in-waiting, the two fall passionately in love. He declares Lucy the inspiration for his work, but what secret is Will hiding from his muse? Meanwhile, Lucy has her own secret - and one that could destroy her world if exposed.
The author was kind enough to send me the first in this series (The Queen's Secret), and now that the secod is out in England, she sent me a signed copy! I've really enjoyed all Lamb's novels, so I have some high hopes for this.
ARCs for Review:
Parallel by Lauren Miller
Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.
With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.
As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.
First: awesome cover is awesome. And secondly, I love the synopsis for this. It sounds like a fun mix of contemporary with a slight sci-fi twist.
Stormbringers (Order of Darkness #2) by Philippa Gregory
The second book in a YA quartet filled with intrigue, mystery, and romance, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory.
Italy, 1453. Luca and Isolde grow more and more attracted to each other as they continue their journey to unravel the mysteries throughout Christendom. But their travels are delayed by the uprising of an intense religious crusade that threatens the balance of the civilized world. Death lingers in the air as war ravages on, but this religious conflict is nothing compared to the arrival of an intense and deadly storm.
Caught in the midst of unimaginable chaos, Luca and Isolde must rely on one another in order to survive.
The second in Philippa Gregory’s four-book series delves further into a forbidden romance and an epic quest. And the tension builds as secrets about The Order of Darkness are finally revealed...
I honestly am surprised I was sent this ARC after my less-than-kind review of the first, Changeling. Oh well - here goes nothing. Maybe it gets better. Except it totally won't.
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.
Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.
The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.
But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?
The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.
I'm not one for book trailers, but the one for this book is awesome. Really. I was iffy on this, but as soon as I saw it, I ran to download a copy from edelweiss. I may or may not have just watched that trailer another two times right now.
Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:
1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.
3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.
5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.
Things that actually happen:
1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.
9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*
*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.
Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.
This is another that I've heard so, so much about. First a few reviews, then EpicReads got in on talking about this... it sounds like is going to be right up my alley.
Night School (Night School #1) by C.J. Daugherty
Allie's world is falling apart...
She hates her school. Her brother has run away. And she's just been arrested.
Now her parents are sending her away to a boarding school where she doesn't know a soul.
But instead of hating her new school, Allie finds she's happy there. She's making friends. And then there's Sylvain, a suave French student who openly flirts with her. And Carter, the brooding loner who seems to have her back.
Soon, though, Allie discovers Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Nothing there is as it seems. And her new friends are hiding dangerous secrets.
I've been waiting for this to come out in the US for about a year. Now that it finally is, I am so happy to have been given an ARC. I love the new cover, though the old one was great too.
September Girls by Bennett Madison
When Sam's dad whisks him and his brother off to a remote beach town for the summer, he's all for it-- at first. Sam soon realizes, though, that this place is anything but ordinary. Time seems to slow down around here, and everywhere he looks, there are beautiful blond girls. Girls who seem inexplicably drawn to him.
Then Sam meets DeeDee, one of the Girls, and she's different from the others. Just as he starts to fall for her, she pulls away, leaving him more confused than ever. He knows that if he's going to get her back, he'll have to uncover the secret of this beach and the girls who live here.
Holy cover, Batman. This is creepy and lovely and sounds fantastic.
Born of Illusion by Teri Brown
Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?
Born of Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic, along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Rasputin.
Since reading The Diviners, 1920s New York has rapidly become something I wish was featured more in YA. Add in historical figures, and maybe some magic? I am THERE.
Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.
While I am not a fan of Stephen King, I am a hatewatching fan of PLL. So that comparison and a lot of hype is going for this.
Rush (The Game #1) by Eve Silver
So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?
When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.
In the After by Demitria Lunetta
They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you...until you are dead.
Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.
After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.
Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.
A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty
The first in a rousing, funny, genre-busting trilogy from bestseller Jaclyn Moriarty!
This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).
Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot's dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.
As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds -- through an accidental gap that hasn't appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called "color storms;" a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the "Butterfly Child," whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses..
I'm so so excited for this - the synopsis, cover, and reviews all seem to agree - this is not one to miss.
The Endgames by T. Michael Martin
t happened on Halloween.
The world ended.
And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.
Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.
In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.
But The Game is changing.
The Bellows are evolving.
The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules.
And the brothers will never be the same.
T. Michael Martin’s debut novel is a transcendent thriller filled with electrifying action, searing emotional insight, and unexpected romance.
Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.
The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.
When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?
This sounds fantastic - I love the originality! And the cover is amazing.
And finally - if you made it this far, major kudos to you! -
How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer
From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.
When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?
Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.
Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?
Smart Girls Get What They Want was fun and charming, and a very fast read. I expect pretty much the same for this - even if the cover is not my favorite.
added this week, tbr pile
Top Ten Tuesday (on Wednesday) #5: Top Ten Books I...
Book Tour Review: The Bruges Tapestry by P.A. Stae...
Review: The Magician's Tower by Shawn Thomas Odyss...
Book Tour Review: Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent...
Top Ten Tuesday #4 - Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy......
Review: Reached by Ally Condie
Review: The Iron King by Maurice Druon
Review: India Black and the Shadows of Anarchy by ...
Review: Jinx by Sage Blackwood
Review: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
Top Ten Tuesday #3 - Books At The Top of My Spring...
Book Tour Review: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
Top Ten Tuesday #2 - on Wednesday
Guest Post - Victoria Lamb on The Queen's Secret
Review: Tough Girl by Libby Heily
Review: The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
Monthly Planned Reads for March 2013
|
cc/2019-30/en_middle_0028.json.gz/line5546
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.