Grove Street parking to be extended
Two-hour limited parking is increasing to three hours for Grove Street.
Grove Street parking to be extended Two-hour limited parking is increasing to three hours for Grove Street. Check out this story on HometownLife.com: http://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/farmington/2015/10/06/parking-limits-will-increase-hours-grove-street/73470334/
O&E Media Published 3:59 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2015 | Updated 4:01 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2015
Two-hour parking on Grove Street is increasing to three hours.(Photo: Aileen Wingblad)
Yet another change in parking regulations is coming to downtown Farmington — an extra hour before you risk a ticket along Grove Street.
As soon as signs are in place, 2-hour parking will be increased to 3-hour parking on Grove Street, from Grand River Avenue to Oakland Street, which fronts TJ Maxx, Dress Barn, The Cheese Lady and more.
"I hope it will have an effect, giving people the freedom to have more time to wander around and patronize more businesses," said Kyle Tuckett, associate at The Cheese Lady.
"I think it's a good idea and will help people feel they won't have to rush back and move their car (when they are shopping or dining downtown)," he said.
The increased time was recommended by Frank Demers, Farmington Public Safety director, on behalf of the ad hoc Downtown Parking Advisory Committee. Another committee recommendation — a three-hour time limit in the city-owned parking lot behind Los Tres Amigos restaurant — was established last month. The changes are part of a plan to better manage parking in the area, which includes encouraging employees to park in lots that have no time limits.
The Farmington City Council approved the latest recommendation unanimously and without discussion at its Oct. 5 meeting.
"It will probably be better for us, especially for our 3-hour classes," said Londa Waller, employee of Painting With a Twist.
awingblad@hometownlife.com | 248-390-3976 Twitter:@awingblad
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South London News
Support for special needs children in Sutton is 'not fit for purpose'
And parents say kids are 'missing out on their right to education'
Tara O'ConnorLocal Democracy Reporter
Many parents are concerned children with special needs are not being well enough supported in Sutton (Image: Pexels)
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Furious parents are calling for an independent review of the way Sutton Council assesses children with special needs.
It comes as a external report, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, blasts the provision as "not fit for purpose" with families treated as "consumers" in a marketplace.
It also shows that despite having sufficient funding there continue to be overspends in the department.
This week more than 200 have backed a petition that claims young people in need have been "rejected" and are "missing out on their right to education".
They want to see full independent reviews of the EHCP process in Sutton and for all cases rejected between November 2017-March 2019 to be reviewed.
The plight of parents struggling to get education health care plans for their children was made public earlier this year thanks to a campaign, Sutton EHCP Crisis.
The EHCP is a legal document that describes the special educational needs of a child and any extra help that is required.
In March 2018, a joint letter from the CQC (Care Quality Commission) and Ofsted raised 'significant concerns' about special needs services in the borough.
And according to an external review commissioned by Sutton Council this year some problems still persist.
Some parents and councillors have raised concerns that the council does not have enough control of Cognus, an external company which runs all school support services and is almost wholly council owned.
The report shows that despite Sutton having a high level of funding there continues to be budget pressures.
Sutton has the highest high needs budget of any outer London borough at £853 per resident compared to a £643 average.
The report was written by senior consultant at Strategic Services for Children and Young People (SSCYP) Peter Grey.
He states that a relatively high amount is spent by the council on higher cost placements for children in independent schools.
The report does show that Sutton does have more children than average with EHCPs, 3.3% in 2018 compared to 3% nationally.
But it concludes that increasing spend and overspends have been reactive and have not taken into account issues in the system.
Benedict Primary School in Mitcham has been rated inadequate by Ofsted
The Courtney family. Gillian and Alan Courtney with Amelia, three and Nathanael, five, have been locked in a battle with Sutton Council for special needs support for their little boy (Image: Alan Courtney)
Sutton family fights council for special needs assessment for their five-year-old boy
Provision not consistent
The report states that each year the council spends about £2.9m on extra provision in mainstream schools for children with high needs - this is about 400 pupils from Sutton.
But decisions about how additional funding is allocated is not consistent.
It is decided by the SEN (special educational needs) panel made up of school representatives, council officers and health representatives.
The report states that the panel aims to be fair but there is evidence that the demand from parents or schools can impact on decisions.
It adds: "[There is] no clear common understanding across the borough about the range of needs that mainstream should be expected to meet, and the provisions they have in place."
Mr Gray concluded that the mainstream offer was not consistently strong which means the council ends up relying more on specialist providers.
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Provision not fit for purpose
Damningly, the current culture in the department is described as a 'market' rather than a system, where parents are the consumers feeling they have to battle to get what their child needs.
Mr Gray says there are too many gaps that children can fall through, he states: "The provision system is not coherent/ fit for current needs."
And overall too much money is spent on places for children to go rather than on intervention and support.
What does the report recommend?
The first recommendation in the report is that Sutton needs to work towards a more professionally-led system which involves the council, schools and parents.
Mr Gray advises that Sutton Council should call a meeting with heads of mainstream and special schools in the borough.
He also proposes a new funding model for mainstream education is developed for 2020/21.
'It needs stronger direction'
In April Sutton's people committee chair was forced to publicly apologise to parents of children with special needs.
Councillor Marian James admitted that incorrect and out of date information was provided on the council website.
Since then Councillor Tom Drummond has thrown his weight behind the EHCP Crisis campaign.
He said: "It is definitely a problem which can be solved it needs stronger direction and it needs somebody to take the bull by the horns.
11 relatively cheap places to live within commuting distance of London
"There was clearly the wrong decisions with the wrong guidance out there. We have to make sure that is no longer being used in any way shape or form.
"We need a stronger strategy about what should be used and the criteria for that."
The Worcester Park ward councillor said he was surprised how many parents were facing problems with getting an EHCP for their children.
He added: "I was shocked. The amount of stories that came forward and the amount of emails I've received. Some of these stories were heartbreaking.
"At the moment I think the council of course is working to find a solution to the problem but they have such an enormous task on their hands.
"I don't think anything is malicious I think everybody has the children of Sutton at the heart. I think it comes down to mismanagement.
"I know people want to see change we need to demonstrate that we are moving forward and not burying our heads in the sand and pretending that everything is okay.
"I think we have to look at the accountability of Cognus and the local authority. At the end of the say it is the statutory responsibility of the council to have to look after education for SEND children."
The EHCP campaign
Hayley Harding and her son Matthew, who has autism and other difficulties (Image: Hayley Harding)
The campaign was started earlier this year by mum Hayley Harding after Sutton Council refused an application for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) for her son Matthew.
Since than many other parents have joined the campaign.
The group's petition can be found here: moderngov.sutton.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=39
And now the group has written to the leader of the council Ruth Dombey threatening a judicial review if no action is taken.
What does Sutton Council have to say?
A spokesman for the council said that the external review was commissioned as part of its 'regular process' to ensure value for money when spending on children with high need is under 'severe pressure'.
He added: "Local authorities also have a duty to keep all spending under review, including high needs, to ensure that it children with significant and complex special educational needs receive support in a cost-efficient and equitable way, working in partnership with education providers, parents/carers and other agencies.
"The review will be published and will be available online too. The council is working in partnership with local schools and that partnership will take forward the recommendations."
In response to concerns about spending in Sutton being over budget despite being well funded the council spokesman said that the Local Government Association, on behalf of all councils, is calling for additional government funding to tackle a growing "national special needs emergency".
He adds: "Sutton, on behalf of all London councils, has also written to the Government urging them to address the SEND services funding gap in its upcoming spending review."
And to concerns about whether the council has enough say over what Cognus does?
"The Council is a major shareholder in Cognus and its performance is monitored and overseen by the Council. It is therefore subject to the same level of scrutiny as all other council services."
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Halo: Spartan Assault among first Havok powered games on Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8
We've been enjoying Halo: Spartan Assault on both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 the past few weeks. How about you? We're a handful of weeks away from the first update to the title that will bring support for 512MB devices on Windows Phone. If you're on Windows 8 playing the game you'll be using your Xbox 360 controller then. We also suspect either new levels or more game modes. Of course we'll let you know when the update hits. In the meantime, here's the answer to a question I know every single one of you has been wondering. What's powering the AI?
Havok, as you may know, is a physics engine used by many video games. Depending on the game, a studio can use different tools from within the Havok portfolio. There's Havok Physics, Animation Studio, Cloth, Destruction, AI, Script, and Vision Engine. Developers may only need to use one particular product (or all) within the Havok product range. Halo 2, 3, ODST, and 4 have used Havok Physics and Animation in the past, with Halo 4 also using the Havok AI. What's Halo: Spartan Assault using? Havok AI.
When Halo: Spartan Assault launched two weeks ago it became one of the first games on both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 to be powered by Havok. We last touched on Havok coming to Windows Phone back in late April, when we sat down with Microsoft's Larry Lieberman and Casey McGee to talk game engines. And Havok was announced for Windows Phone way back last October at Build 2012.
Here's what Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer at343 Industries has to say about Spartan Assault and Havok:
Since the series began in 2001, the Halo universe has been populated by a variety of powerful and cunning enemy combatants, and Havok is the perfect partner to provide the smarts that control these dangerous foes. The AI is an important ingredient in what makes the world of Halo so lively and thrilling, our collaboration with Havok and Vanguard Games has helped bring that giant expanding universe to smartphone screens.
We can't wait to see more advanced games come to Windows Phone and Windows 8. Havok will help game developers on that journey. Be sure to visit the Havok website if you're a game developer and want to learn more about using Havok in your next Windows or Windows Phone game.
Source: Havok
Blow up that display
These external monitors go perfectly with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is an excellent laptop, but what if you want to project the display onto a larger screen? You'll need an external monitor for that. Here are our favorite options.


Trump and Feinstein spar over reports of alleged Chinese spying
We've Never Had a President 'This Commercially Linked to Our Chief Adversary,' China as Biden
from Breitbart,
On Tuesday's broadcast of the Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer stated that President-Elect Joe Biden is the most "commercially linked to our chief adversary, which is China" of any president.
More From Breitbart:
Makes Ya Think
from The Gray Area:
12/9/20:
Axios reported that "a suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China's main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation. The woman at the center of the operation, a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country (including Eric Swalwell) who had the potential to make it big on the national stage.
Why it matters: The alleged operation offers a rare window into how Beijing has tried to gain access to and influence U.S. political circles."
With what we are learning about Chinese operations in the US, the depth of their involvement in politics, corporations and national influencers like the media, it does make you think.
But, we don't want to go off half cocked here, like the media and Democrats with the Russia hoax. Yet, when you think about the infiltrations discovered over the past few years at the DNC, Sen. Feinstein's office, now Swalwell, and others, it does make you think.
We will need more facts to determine IF there are any national security breaches, vulnerabilities, or other Chinese control that is problematic, so stay tuned.
That is unless Biden is inaugurated and the Dems win the two senate seats in Georgi. Then this story will evaporate!
More From AXIOS:
Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians
Summary: Tucker Carlson's interview with Bobulinski about Joe and Hunter Biden
China exploiting US political system to undermine government
Barbara Boxer 'deregisters' as foreign agent for Chinese surveillance company that targeted Uyghurs
Tip of the China Iceberg
McEnany Shows How Media Changed Coverage After Election


Home Forums > Miscellaneous > General Chat >
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS* The Wheel of Time
Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Aginor, Sep 6, 2021.
Aginor said: ↑
Yep! Ep4 was the best so far.
In my book every episode was better than the one before it.
Hopefully I agree with those who have come before me!
Aginor likes this.
rychek Active Member
Full disclosure: I have "read" (audio books FTW) the books. I didn't start reading them until after RJ had passed away and it has been many years since I last revisited any of them. I don't consider myself a fanboy, but I do love the Wheel of Time story and characters.
Going into this TV adaptation I was cautiously optimistic. I've watched the first four episodes now and, for the most part, I'm pleased. I tend to be very detail conscious, so some of the following may seem like I'm picking nits.
I'm not a fan of how Perrin's backstory was changed and I think it will impact the believability of how his story proceeds (unless they do something drastic to change his path), but it could have been worse.
So far I like the casting for Matt and Rand. A recast of Matt might be weird at first for season two, but I'll worry about that when I get there.
Lan's actor needs to do some research on Lan's stoicism. He's almost too expressive, especially in the bath scene regarding water temperature, but that is a minor quibble at this point.
I understand the lack of emphasis regarding ageless faces and it doesn't bother me. The stupidly large serpent rings on the other hand jerk me out of my immersion. Otherwise I think the Aes Sedai portrayal has been good.
As for the future of this series, I hope the powers that be take the stance of "this is not Game of Thrones" and do their own thing. Trying to make WoT be more like GoT would be a big mistake IMNSHO.
I think I'll stop there for now.
rychek, Nov 30, 2021
Lizards of Renown and Aginor like this.
Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member
rychek said: ↑
I think they oriented more on the later books than on the first one. Re-reading the books I notice how much he changes from the always stone-faced stereotype to a more complex character. The scenes with him in TDR (Book 3) make him show a lot more emotions than in EotW. Especially privately when only him and Moiraine are there.
I do agree with you in some scenes, for example in the campfire scene in Ep4. He was a tiny bit too relaxed there. I still think the actor does a great job in most of the scenes.
This. So much.
Same. My initial reaction was "this is just unnecessary". A man shouldn't need an explanation why he is a cautious type.
I do get _why_ they did it, but I am not fully on board with it.
However: I think there might be more to Laila than just the old "fridge" trope.
If there is then this might become a decent change after all. But we probably have to wait until a later episode or even a later season for that.
Ep 1-4 spoiler
So far we only have Perrin's dream of Ba'alzamon, and in it her words and what the wolf does. I don't understand yet what we see there.
Why does the wolf eat her guts? Why does she say "I know"?
...and was she a Darkfriend? She had her hammer raised behind her back to strike, in a room in which only her husband was, kneeling with his back toward her, killing a Trolloc. Did she try to kill him, and his instinct and/or ta'veren nature saved him?
Edit: btw. in case y'all don't remember (I admit that I didn't): Laila is actually mentioned in the books. Perrin meets her when they fight near Emondsfield, and briefly mentions that he would probably have married her if they had stayed.
Aginor, Nov 30, 2021
Thank you for this.
I'm still planning to watch everything at Christmas (fingers crossed) so no spoilers!!!
Aginor, good point about Perrin and Leila. Especially the spoilers section. I completely missed those points.
There is a LOT in that show that is only shown or said briefly and easily missed. I really like that, it reminds me of the books.
Watched first episode…
Was very disappointed
Couldn't bring myself to go on…
Maybe I'll try again in a bit. But I really didn't like the changes.
Lizards of Renown, Dec 27, 2021
I watched the last episode last night.
Not perfect but I give it a 7.5/10
Aginor, Dec 27, 2021
I watched it this morning. It could have been much worse. One thing that is bothering me is the five Ta'veren thing. Weren't there only three in the Two Rivers?
rychek, Dec 27, 2021
Yep, in the books there were only three.
Although I always found that a bit weird. The way the pattern treats Nynaeve and Egwene I'd swear they are Ta'veren too.
Either way, it doesn't matter much for the story, it just helps the show to be a bit less obvious about the Dragon.
rychek likes this.


HomePosts tagged 'spec'
Start putting those wishlists together!
November 9, 2018 Maximum Z blog, books, comedy, consultant, crowdfunding, filmmakers, holidays, horror, networking, notes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, writing	books, comedy, consultant, crowdfunding, holidays, horror, networking, notes, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, writing
The crowds are already forming, eager to get their mitts on some of the quality merchandise to be offered.
Busy times around Maximum Z HQ (including some details listed below), so another shorty today, but first:
Big announcement time!
Two weeks from today, the 2018 Maximum Z Screenwriter's Gift Guide will go up. It'll feature holiday deals on script consulting services (from many of the consultants profiled on these very pages), books about screenwriting written by screenwriters, along with books written by screenwriters, but aren't about screenwriting, as well as all kinds of other fun stuff that any screenwriter would enjoy receiving.
If you have a product or service like these that you'd like to be included, or if you're a filmmaker with a crowdfunding effort for your latest project, and you'd like more people to know about it, don't hesitate to drop me a line. (Email's on the About Me page)
Cutoff date is Tuesday 20 November, so don't wait until the last minute!
Now about those aforementioned busy times…
-Slow but steady progress on the horror-comedy spec. So far, my outline-to-page ratio is a bit off – page count exceeding outline expectations – which means I'll some major editing (i.e. cutting) to do once it's complete. But I'm having fun writing it, which is really what it comes down to anyway.
-Also have a little touch-up work to do on the sci-fi spec, with the help of some recently-received great notes.
-Been busy with the occasional reading and giving-of-notes. Have I mentioned how great it is to know so many talented writers? Yes indeed.
-Speaking of crowdfunding, filmmaker Ben Eckstein is looking for more backers for his current project WINNING. They're a portion of the way there, but every little bit helps. Donate if you can!
Stuffed just a tad beyond capacity
July 3, 2018 July 6, 2018 Maximum Z comedy, development, dialogue, editing, horror, Marx Brothers, pages, plot, plot points, rewrite, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, structure, writing, writing process	comedy, development, dialogue, horror, plot, rewrite, screenplays, screenwriting, scripts, spec, story, storytelling, writing process
All my script needs now is the line "…and a dozen hard boiled eggs."
As the dog days of summer lazily drift on by, each of those days sees me dedicating a portion of it to working on the next small section of the horror-comedy outline. So far – it's coming along nicely.
For now, it's just filling in the blanks between primary plot points. Not counting those, I tend to think and plot things out in a linear manner; going from A to B to C and so on, rather than A to B to J, and then maybe filling in that stretch between D and F. This approach helps with not only crafting the developments of the main storyline, but also the subplots and figuring out how all the interconnections work. Others may do it differently, which is fine. This way works for me.
What originally starts out as one to two sentences summarizing what happens in a scene quickly becomes lengthy descriptions, including specific character actions and snippets of dialogue. This has caused the outline to appear dense and bulky, or at least that's how it looks at first glance.
At first this would appear to be a bad thing, but keep in mind that this is only the outline, so a scene write-up that appears as an impenetrable block of text here might translate to, say, half to three-quarters of a page, including dialogue. Not a bad exchange rate.
Just as an example, as a scene was playing out, it kept getting longer and longer, which would have run way too long for both script and screen. Realizing that simply would not do, I made some minor modifications and managed to break this exceptionally large scene into three slightly smaller ones. Each one still retains the point I wanted to make, as well as continuing to advance the plot, theme, and characters. A win all around.
The way I figure it, it's a lot better to have an overabundance of material during this stage, and then be able to cut, trim, or maybe even add more where necessary down the road.
Another key part to all this development is making sure everything I come up with plays some kind of role in the overall context of the story. Call it the "keep only if relevant" rule. If there's something on the page that has nothing to do with the story or the characters, then why have it there in the first place?
Equal time for B, C, D, and the rest
April 27, 2018 Maximum Z characters, development, dramedy, feedback, film, genre, ideas, notes, originality, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, sequence, spec, story, storytelling, structure, subplot, theme, writing	characters, development, dramedy, ideas, originality, scenes, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, subplot, writing
Each one doing its job as part of something solid and sturdy
Got a key set of notes back on the dramedy spec, so from this point forward, it's all about working with those and making the appropriate fixes. (Fortunately, not as many as I expected, but still lots of tweaking in store.) A future post will cover the gist of the advice I was given.
Up until those notes came in, I'd been dividing my time developing the stories of the two new scripts. One of them was revamping an old story, whereas the other was entirely new, so it was really building from the ground up.
Quick sidenote – I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd plotted out a brand spankin' new story. Quite a while. It felt thrilling and a bit intimidating to take it on, but both sensations were heartily welcomed.
While I knew what the main storyline was, the more I worked on filling in the blanks between plot points, the more it became obvious I'd need to start developing the subplots, especially the ones among the core group of characters.
This new story is unlike anything I'd written before, so as part of putting it together, I watched a couple of films of a very similar nature to get a better idea of how things could go. I soon had a stronger sense of what worked and what didn't from an overall perspective, but also paid close attention to each character's story – especially the main protagonist, how it connected to the supporting roles, and how all of them factored into the main storyline.
Doing this really helped in several ways:
-the films made it easier to see how each subplot was a part of the main story, as well as being its own separate (and unique) entity.
-each subplot provided lots of opportunities to show character growth and development, again contributing to the main story, as well as emphasizing the theme as it applied to each of the characters.
-because these stories are set in a specific kind of genre, there are certain elements that are more or less required (or "expected" might be a better term). As a result, the subplots provide an almost limitless number of chances to really let the imagination run wild and go for something totally unexpected, as it applies to those elements, but still have it fall within the realm of "this is the type of thing that would happen in this type of film."
It's a lot to take into account, but I suspect the more I plan things out, the easier it'll be to arrange things so all the pieces fall into their proper places.
So for now it's all about the dramedy, but I know that when I eventually return to working on these two stories (which I definitely will), I'll have a stronger sense of not only what should happen for the main storyline, but also all the scenes, sequences, and developments of the subplots that go along with it.
Just getting here is a story by itself
March 30, 2018 April 4, 2018 Maximum Z ambition, budget, comedy, determination, development, draft, dramedy, goals, high concept, horror, ideas, inspiration, notes, pulp fiction, rewrite, scenes, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, westerns, writing	ambition, budget, development, ideas, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing
Even better, the journey won't cost you a cent
First, the good news: I wrapped up the rewrite/overhaul of the comedy spec (which seems more like a dramedy now.) Despite my dread and anxiety over whether or not it's actually funny, it's been sent out for notes. As I mentioned to one of my readers, as long as nobody says "What made you think you could write something funny?", I'm good.
So, industrious scribe that I am, I find the best way to occupy my time while I wait to hear about a project is to redirect my focus and work on another one.
It was originally going to be a new take on the pulp sci-fi, but some story issues still need work, so that remains on hold.
But a few weeks ago, I was cleaning up around my office and found a hard copy of one of my earliest scripts: a horror-western. I don't think I'd seen it or read it in about 15 years.
Wow, was it bad. Like "This first draft is going to sell for a million in no time!" bad.
But the idea behind it still worked, and was something I could definitely tweak and finesse into something a lot more coherent. I did mention how that old script was really bad, right?
So I started putting together ideas for the new draft. Let's call this SCRIPT #1, or S1 to keep things simple.
Then another twist presented itself: a script with a low budget (the lower the better), a minimal number of characters and locations, and practically no visual effects has a much better shot of being produced than some mega-budget tentpole effects extravaganza.
With that in mind, there were aspects to this story I could use to create an entirely new and different one that met a lot of those criteria, so I jotted down some potential plot points in the same file. This is SCRIPT #2 (S2).
One file, two scripts. With me so far? It gets better.
After finishing the comedy, I decided I'd take on S1. I only had a vague recollection of all the story details, which I saw as a good thing. Although I'd still have the old draft available as a potential (albeit limited) resource, I don't think I'll use it all that much. This in turn, frees me up to go in whatever new direction I feel like.
As I thought up ideas for S1, some of the story elements from S2 started creeping in. Since I didn't want the two to be too similar, more focus was put on developing S1. It's still a work in progress, but coming along quite nicely. And so much better than that old draft.
Ah, but what of S2? Like I mentioned, there were story elements I really liked, and putting some of them into S1 forced me to come up with new ideas for it. There was one in particular that really stood out for me, and the more I thought about it, the more it felt like it would be able to be the basis for a solid story.
I combined that idea with the aforementioned low-budget approach and came up with what I really think is a great high-concept idea. Such to the point that I whipped up a logline for it, along with a title that feels very "that's perfect!"
My belief and enthusiasm for both S1 and S2 is to the point that I'm now alternating between both; working on one, then the other. My objective now is to have at least a first draft done for both by the end of the calendar year. It's already proven to be, and will no doubt continue to be, a most interesting process.
I'll keep you posted.
Shifting from writer to editor
February 23, 2018 Maximum Z comedy, determination, dialogue, editing, output, pages, perseverance, persistence, polish, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, writing	comedy, editing, rewriting, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, writing
"Hey, this isn't as unsalvageable as I thought."
Most of this month has been all about working through the latest draft of a comedy spec. Averaging about 4-6 pages a day, so making some good progress, and hoping to wrap it all up by the first week of March.
Then, the cycle repeats itself with the next round of editing, rewriting, and polishing.
So as I focus on that, here are some older posts about the whole illustrious process, along with a few other related issues.
Fine-tuning in progress
I have written, therefore I will edit
Too much talkiness
Getting over overwriting


Information, Communications and Transport Sectors in Bhutan: A Special Report
Read more about Information, Communications and Transport Sectors in Bhutan: A Special Report
This report has been published as a special report to inform the people of Bhutan on the developments that have taken place (between 2002 and 2007), and will take place in the information, communications and transport sectors. The report sets out the most significant challenges that Bhutan faces in these sectors, and highlights opportunities to overcome these challenges. It also includes recommendations for plans and programmes in the information, communications and transport sectors post 2013.
Developing South Asia: Lessons & Insights
Read more about Developing South Asia: Lessons & Insights
This publication, the first of South Asia Department's South-South learning series, aims to showcase lessons, replicable practices, and other insights which development practitioners can learn from, and apply in, the context of their respective countries. Projects discussed here represent various sectors such as energy, urban development, transport, information and communications technology (ICT), irrigation, and disaster risk reduction.
Bhutan e-Readiness Assessment: Final Report
Read more about Bhutan e-Readiness Assessment: Final Report
This report provides guidance and reference to cross-sectoral ICT developments. It is a comprehensive documentation of all e-activities in the country and provides in-depth analysis of the current ICT situation, including the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It also gives Bhutan's e-r eadiness position according to the standard method of assessment developed by Harvard University's Centre of International Development
Effects of Education and ICT Use on Gender Relations in Bhutan
Read more about Effects of Education and ICT Use on Gender Relations in Bhutan
Supporting gender equality in the deployment of and access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) involves accepting that gender relations and ICTs within any given community are continuously being shaped by one another. There is a growing body of research on gender and ICTs in the developing world. However, little empirical evidence exists on how certain aspects of gender relations can influence the ways that ICTs are perceived and used, framings which can, in turn, reinforce or reshape existing gender norms and practices.
Bhutan Information, Communications and Media Act 2006
Read more about Bhutan Information, Communications and Media Act 2006
The Act provides: functions, responsibilities and powers of the Ministry of Information and Communications; the establishment of the Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority; provision of ICT facilities and ICt services; provisions relating to radiocommunications; provisions relating to media issues; provisions relating to cyber issues such as e-governance, e-commerce, consumer protection and online privacy; and offences, penalities and legal proceedings.
The Act is available in English and Dzongkha
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GENERAL INFORMATION: STUDENT REPORTS IN THE SECONDARY PHASE
Following advice from OFSTED and last year's successful implementation of the new reports in Year 7, 8 & 9, we have decided to 'roll out' a similar reporting system in Year 10, 11, 12 & 13 to ensure more consistency with the way we report progress in the Secondary Phase. Our reports will now be more personalised than before and include more relevant information regarding predictions and student potential.
In KS3 (Year 7, 8 and 9), KS4 (Year 10 & 11) and KS5 (Year 12 & 13), teachers will report in more detail than before on student progress three times per academic year: one in the Autumn-Winter Term, another in the Spring Term and the last one by the end of the Summer Term. Parents/carers will be provided with the new reports on-line through the 'Insight (Reports)' link on the school website.
In addition to this, there will be one Parents' Evening per academic year and per year group in the Secondary Phase. These dates will be published on the school website and parents/carers will receive a notification to facilitate the booking of appointments with specific teachers in advance.
In the new reporting system for the Secondary Phase, students will be receiving key information in the context of the new GCSE & A-Level courses. The main changes are as follows:
KS3: Year 7, 8 and 9
• All KS3 students will be provided with individualised Minimum Expected Grades (MEGs) for each subject. The MEG represents the progress made of at least the top 20% of similar students nationally. The school generates these expected grades as indicators of what we would expect your son or daughter to achieve by the end of year 11 if they were to make at least "good progress" through the relevant Key Stage 3. The estimated grade for each subject is based on both the relative difficulty of different subjects and the student's previous performance in previous national and external assessments.
• MEGs will be reviewed for each subject and adjusted at the beginning of GCSE courses if necessary, to reflect a finer estimated grade based on students' ability. MEGs will usually only be moved up to indicate exceptional progress at the beginning of GCSE & A-Level courses.
• Teachers will use MEGs as indicators to report progress against these benchmarks at each census point. In KS3 reports, there will be detailed progress descriptors for Exceptional, Good, Below Expected and Insufficient Progress.
• Test Percentage Scores. Students will receive a test percentage in the subjects that regularly use end of term assessments. Many parents/carers were keen for these to be provided. However, we ask you not to compare these percentages from subject to subject as these may fluctuate, due to the relative difficulty of individual tests each term and performance in comparison with the rest of students. We believe this is a more realistic and accurate way to report progress considering the new GCSE and A-Level exam systems, which use this very same approach.
KS4 & KS5: Year 10, 11, 12 & 13
• All KS4 & KS5 students will be provided with individualised Minimum Expected Grades (MEGs) for each subject. The MEG represents the progress made of at least the top 20% of similar students nationally. The school generates these expected grades as indicators of what we would expect your son or daughter to achieve by the end of year 11 if they were to make at least "good progress" through the relevant Key Stage. The estimated grade for each subject is based on both the relative difficulty of different subjects and the student's previous performance in previous national and external assessments.
• Target grades for each subject. Target grades will be aspirational and will only usually be moved up to indicate exceptional progress. In some cases, teachers may set individual students the same target as a MEG but never below.
• Teacher predicted grades. Each teacher will provide an indication as to what grade they believe your son or daughter is likely to achieve if they continue to maintain the same approach to lessons, homework and assessments. For example, 7 (secure) or B (secure) means that the student has shown evidence of working consistently at a Grade 7, with most work and assessments demonstrating this standard of work. 7 (secure with potential for next grade) or B (secure with potential for next grade) means that the student is consistently working towards the top end of a Grade 7 or B, perhaps with some work demonstrating a Grade 8 or A standard.
KS3, KS4 & KS5: Year 7-13
• In addition to the information above, the new reports will include a breakdown of four categories, on which teachers will report:
1. "Attitude to learning"
2. "Behaviour in lessons"
3. "Quality of classwork"
4. "Homework"
We feel these four additional aspects will inform parents/carers and students about specific areas that could be further improved or used as personal targets.
• As before, we have kept the usual update on "Attendance and Conduct," as parents have expressed they find this information valuable. We are now including additional information about our rewarding system.
Mr A. Coleman, Assistant Principal responsible for KS3 (Years 7, 8 & 9).
Mr M. López, Assistant Principal responsible for KS4 (Years 10 & 11).
Mr P. Ashton, Assistant Principal responsible for KS5 (Years 12 & 13).


Howard advances to 2nd round of 2012 MEAC tourney
On Tuesday, March 6, Howard University edged North Carolina A & T, 51-50, in the opening round of the 2012 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
Howard guard Calvin Thompson scored 15 points in the game. The teams shot less than 32-percent from the floor and combined for 33 turnovers.
"It was a very physical game with great defense by both teams," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry. "The game plan was to not let them do what they do best—shoot the threes."
Howard (No. 10) played a rested Norfolk State team (No. 2) Wednesday night, March 7. The final score was unavailable at press time.
The Spartans crushed the Bison back in January by 20 points. Howard shot a miserable 27-percent from the floor and 6-percent behind the arc in that game.
The Lady Bison (No. 2) defeated South Carolina State (No. 7), 57-42, in the 2nd round to advance to the semifinals in the 2012 Women's MEAC Championship.
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Hyundai Elantra GT Car Insurance Rates
Levi Jorgensen
Hyundai Elantra GT car insurance rates an average of $177 a month, or $2,124 a year. This is more than $500 over the national average for car insurance. A $18,800 base price translates to a yearly insurance cost of 11.3% of the basic vehicle price.
About the Hyundai Elantra GT
Hyundai Elantra GT money-saving safety features
How safe is the Hyundai Elantra GT?
How does the Hyundai Elantra GT compare to other car models?
There's been a Hyundai Elantra GT since 2013 if you can believe it. In Europe, the vehicle is known as the Hyundai i30 and has been on the market since 2007. The compact vehicle is well-known for its sturdy construction, roomy interior, and smooth ride.
If your Hyundai Elantra GT has the following safety features, you may be able to save money on your auto insurance.
Anti theft system
According to the NHTSA, the 2017 Hyundai Elantra GT received top safety marks for its evaluation by the agency. The NHTSA gave the most recent model a perfect score of four stars for overall safety. The NHTSA gave the Hyundai Elantra GT four out of five ratings in the rollover and frontal crash tests.
Hyundai's Blue Link emergency system, which provides help and theft recovery, is now available as an option on the newest model.
The Hyundai Elantra GT is in the middle of the pack when it comes to insurance costs among the 360 vehicle models we analyzed.
For additional car insurance review, check out our review of Volkswagen GTI Car Insurance Rates.
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b5media.com dba CarInsuranceGrades aims to provide the most current and detailed tips about how to save money on car insurance. The details can vary from what you see on the websites of agents websites, brokers, and comparison sites. Insurance is offered with no commitment or warranties. When comparing prices, please double-check with your insurance provider.


India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe at Tokyo Station to board the Shinkansen bullet train to Kobe, in Japan on November 12, 2016. Photo Credit: India PM Office
1 Analysis Business
Dynamism In Indo-Japan Relations Add Fresh Worries To Chinese OBOR – Analysis
September 12, 2017 Subrata Majumder 0 Comments
By Subrata Majumder
The new dimension of Indo-Japan relation to global partnership and defence cooperation ignites new concern for China, after it was let down by the Doklam stand-off. China suspects the India-Japan partnership for Asia-Africa-Growth-Corridor project ( AAGR) is a ruse and has deciphered it as an attempt to counterbalance to China's OBOR (One Belt One Road), displaying the fear of double standard of the aim.
Eventually, AAGR will overlap the OBOR route geographically. The Global Times – a English version of China's official media – jeered at the connectivity, saying " AACG – connectivity project jointly forged by India and Japan — is an oppositional vision intended to counterbalance China's Belt and Road initiative". It threatened the connectivity will backfire since China has made a huge commitment to develop Africa and India is at the pre-natal stage.
Sino–Japan relations are deteriorating and Sino-India relation are not palatable either. Against these backdrops, a new dimension in India-Japan relations is being eyed by a wary China with regard to its prestigious OBOR project. Neither Japan, nor India, are members of OBOR.
India–Japan relations are in the throes of new dynamism with a paradigm shift from a bare bilateral trade and investment link to special strategic and global partnership. It extended to joint partnership for economic development of third countries and defence cooperation. Development of AAGR project, joint cooperation for development of Chabahar Port in Iran, strengthening of defence cooperation for national security with Memorandum of Understanding on Defence cooperation and Exchanges and two Defence Framework agreements exhibit the dynamism of the relation in global partnership and defence coopearation.
The new dimension of India-Japan relations are polarized on three pillars. First, is High Speed Railway, with the setting up of first Bullet Train in the country connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Second, security and defence cooperation through various exercises, such as trilateral Malabar drills with India-Japan-USA and a reiteration of commitment for the maintenance of peace in South China sea.
Third, joint cooperation with Japanese technical know-how to manufacture US-2 aircraft in India, in addition to import the US-2 amphibian aircraft from Japan.
The Prime Minster of India, Mr Modi, is trying to re-write a new chapter in India- Japan relations with a shift from a strategic economic relation to a global partnership. He reiterated that India and Japan were the two oldest democracies in Asia and were among the three biggest economies. He asserted that 21st Century is to be decided by Asian countries and India and Japan bilateral relation would be the engine for 21st Century growth. Mr. Modi is one of the three twitters that Mr Shinzo Abe follows. The commentators have hailed Modi as "India's Abe."
Japan is the third biggest foreign investor in India. Decrying the Japanese investment surge, Chinese media, Global Times said, "Japan can't replace products from China in India 's low income consumer market".
Paradoxically, last year Japanese investment in India spurred and 110 Japanese apparel firms in China went bankrupt, leading to a dip in Japanese investment in China.
The Chinese rant on Abe's upcoming visit that "sweet words won't bring real money" is dissipated with by increase in Japanese investment in India.
Even though 110 Japanese apparel companies pulled down their shutters of garment manufacturing and shifted to Vietnam and Myanmar to offset high cost manufacturing in China, implying that these two nations are most cost effective manufacturing destinations for Japanese investors. But, these shifts do not epitomize the two Asian nations having edge over India in low cost manufacturing competitiveness in all sectors
In 2015, Toshiba and Panasonic announced that they would stop producing television sets in China. These reflected the Japanese frustrations in China and underscored the trend of Japanese exit from the country.
"Any loss to China is a gain to India" is a new catchphrase. India poses potent to alternative destination for low cost manufacturing. According to a Deloitte survey in 2016, India will be the "New China" in low cost manufacturing countries in next five years. India will rise to 5th rank in the global manufacturing competitiveness index in 2020 from 11th position in 2016, the survey said. With China losing the powerhouse of low cost manufacturing competitiveness, five Asia Pacific nations will emerge the choice for low cost manufacturing destinations in place of China. They are Malaysia , Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India. India will be the front-runner, the survey said.
Evidently, while Japanese investment in major Asian nations witnessed a downturn, investment in India surged. In between 2014 and 2016, Japanese investment in China , Hong Kong and Thailand fell – by 21 percent, 36 percent and 27 percent respectively. On the contrary, Japanese investment in India surged. In between 2014 to 2016, Japanese investment in India rose by 53 percent. Besides foreign direct investment, Japanese deployed huge amount of investment in private equity and venture capital in India. During the first half of 2017, Japanese firms invested at least US $1.43 billion in Indian private equity and venture capital. This was three times more than US $459 million in 2016, according to a Japanese media, Japan Times.
Thus, the contagion impact of China's let down in Doklam stand-off and dynamism of Indo-Japan relation will act double whammy to China's political and economic influence in Asia region through OBOR.
Views are personal
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Subrata Majumder
Subrata Majumder is a former adviser to Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), New Delhi, and the author of "Exporting to Japan," as well as various articles in Indian media, including Business Line, Echo of India, Indian Press Agency, and foreign media, such as Asia Times online and Eurasia Review .


Revealed: the most beautiful male and female faces, according to British people
The male and female faces that British people consider to be the most beautiful in the world have been created using e-fit software.
The software, normally used by the police to draw up the faces of wanted criminals, was used to generate a series of faces that were rated for attractiveness by 100 Brits.
Using these results, researchers created two faces that are considered to be the epitome of beauty, below.
The study, run by Dr Chris Solomon, a world expert in facial mapping from the University of Kent, found that female faces with a resemblance to Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Natalie Portman were considered to be the most striking.
In comparison, male faces that looked similar to celebrities such as Brad Pitt, David Beckham, Ryan Gosling and David Gandy were rated as the most striking.
The study also brought to light a number of findings about how men and women interpret beauty differently.
Women were typically attracted to male faces that were more feminine, with softer jaw-lines and medium-sized lips. However, in comparison, men considered the more rugged and masculine male faces to be the most attractive.
The findings also revealed that women, more so than men, thought other women with "sexier" facial attributes - such as full lips and almond shaped eyes - were the most attractive.
Dr Solomon said, "Women perceived fuller lips, a slimmer face, larger eyes and higher cheekbones as the most beautiful, more so than the male population."
Send us a tweet to let us know whether you agree these are the most beautiful male and female faces.
Pictures: Rex


Here is how 'DWTS' dancer Mark Ballas proposed to fiance BC Jean
Here are some adorable photos of Mark Ballas and fiance BC Jean.
By Mangala Dilip @Journo_Mangala
January 27, 2016 19:43 IST
Mark Ballas and fiance BC JeanInstagram/Mark Ballas
Mark Ballas, one of the most popular professional dancers from "Dancing with the Stars", got engaged to singer BC Jean on 25 November 2015. However, he only recently confirmed the proposal on Instagram and now, just weeks later, Ballas revealed the details of how he did the deed and how nervous he was.
The dancer/singer/actor was at the red carpet attending the Maxim and Range 15 party held during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival along with fiancé, when questions regarding the proposal popped up. Their manager was in on the whole thing, and fooled Jean into thinking that she is going over to Ballas' house to confirm something regarding their group.
Ballas also revealed that despite having grown up in the limelight, he was nervous when the moment approached. He said, "When she got in there I froze. My heart was pounding. I was cool as a cucumber all day. I've been on stages my whole life, and when she walked in the room I thought, 'Whoa, here we go.'"
The romantic dancer had converted the entire house into Woodstock, and had all of their friends and family hiding upstairs. He revealed that he was ecstatic that everything went according to plan. "It was just absolutely incredible," he said regarding the proposal.
Ballas confirmed the news of his engagement by posting following picture on his Instagram page, claiming he was surprised that him and Jean were able to keep it a secret for as long as they have:
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Angelina Jolie Wallpapers
Mmm. A fan favorite. Angelina Jolie. If anyone has been able to capture the Uber-Geek crowd, beauty watchers and action lovers all under one career it would have to be her! With her role in Tomb Raider, her amazing physique and sultry looks it's no wonder she is the most downloaded and watched girl in the world. Most women hate her and their men love her! most likely due to the whole Brad Pitt affair. She's enjoying her time as a new mother and still enjoys time with her adopted son. She's an all American super girl. Charities, political events overseas and an acting career that exploded beyond all belief has proven her to be the kind of girl that every man wants in more ways than one! An acting career was no more stranger to Angelina Jolie than drinking water being as this Los Angeles native was the daughter of an Academy Award winning actor named Jon Voight. With training at the Lee Strasberg Theater institute and a professional modeling stint in London, NY and LA she performed wonderfully in popular music videos by artists such as Meatloaf and Lenny Kravitz. This all paved the way for her to her long and prosperous career as a Hollywood actress and entering into many men's day dreams and wive's nightmares! Well here at Foxy Wallpaper she's a dream come true. If only more women were like her!
Rihanna Fenty
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Sophie Ellis Bextor
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Patrick (Paddy) Clarke
Nov 28, 2022 07:11 By reception
Guildford, Surrey U.K and late of Leiter, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan
Patrick (Paddy) Clarke passed away peacefully in England on 9th November, aged 95.
Predeceased by his loving wife Kitty, brothers; Andrew, Hugh and sister Kitty.
Dearly missed by his children Rosemary, Bridget, Patrick, Kathleen and James, 6 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, brother Dan Clarke, sisters; Mary Daly, Rose Sharry and Bridget Mulvey, extended family and friends.
Reposing at Clarke's Funeral Home, Bailieborough Friday, 2nd December, from 6pm to 8pm. Funeral Saturday, Dec 3rd, to arrive at St Anne's Church, Bailieborough for Funeral Mass at 11am. Burial afterwards in St Brigid's Cemetery, Knockbride West (Tunnyduff).
Link to St Anne's live webcam https://www.churchservices.tv/stannesbailieborough
Family Flowers only please
If you cannot attend the funeral or sympathise with the family, you can now leave your messages of condolences and memories on this page. We hold comments for moderation. An approval process takes place before your condolences appear. Identifiable information such as an address or phone number will be edited out of comments. A condolence book will be available to the family on request from the funeral director. Shannonside Northern Sound would like to express their sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased.
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John & Bridie McCormack, USA
Dec 3, 2022 12:12
Our deepest condolences to the Clarke family at this sad time. May he rest in peace.
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Revenge recap – 1×16: 'Scandal'
Courtesy of ABC
It's been two weeks since that fateful night on the beach. No – I'm not talking about our special 'moment' together; I'm talking about cray-cray Tyler (Ashton Holmes) biting it in true anti-climatic fashion. Now that Revenge has returned from its brief hiatus with 'Scandal', it's time to examine the fallout from the night of the Fire & Ice engagement party.
Let's bitch it out!
As usual, Revenge burns through as much plot in a single episode that other shows take a season to get through. 'Scandal' is no different, as the reveals pile up on top of each other. Whether or not you were satisfied with the reveal that Tyler was the body from the beach, you can't fault the show for dilly-dallying around the circumstances surrounding his death because it cleared them all up in more or less a single episode.
As many speculated, there was a third person on the beach – Takeda (Hiroyuki Sanada) – and he is the one responsible for killing Tyler. In the final moments of the episode, we flash back 48 hours to see Daniel (Joshua Bowman) shoot Tyler once in the chest before being hit by Takeda in the head by a rock, at which point the sensei shoots Tyler in the back twice and grabs the red sharpie REVENGE picture. It's a continuation of Takeda's efforts to "protect" Emily (Emily VanCamp) from her emotions, which he suggests have caused "chaos". Interestingly I always only thought that this was only a reference to her attachment to Daniel (which is why he's framed Daniel for murder). Instead Takeda reveals as he and Emily spar in the flashback, that he is also aware that she has feelings for Jack (Nick Weschler).
I'm sure for most folks these reveals were the highlight of the episode, but I found the whole thing impeccably put together. From the drunk-goggles vaseline-on-the-lens opening highlighting the shock and disorientation of our core cast as they answer questions at the precinct to the film noir chiaroscuro lighting on Declan's face as he suspiciously hunt down his brother's hoodie, this episode raised the bar on technical achievement for the show. Beyond this, the narrative structure includes lots of little interesting take-aways:
Emily and Charlotte (Christa B Davis) make a connection over their disgraced father, David Clarke (James Tupper). More of this and less of the "I'm taking pills to cope with the stress." The teen overdose story has been done (Jessie Spano's caffeine pill addiction!) – let's move on…
Did Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) suggest that she has had a previous affair? In flashback with David Clarke on the beach, she firmly states that no one can find out about they're sleeping together because she's "…lived that life before and I can't do it again." Did I misinterpret that? If not, who was the lucky stiff who tried to thaw the ice queen?
Speaking of the Grayson elders, we also learn that Conrad's (Henry Czerny) role in the plane crash that sent David Clarke to prison is a little more mundane than expected. Turns out that he was laundering money for the group responsible for the crash, which is zzzzzz. Hopefully there's a bit more to this than we've seen.
Ashley (Ashley Madekwe) finally makes her move! She leaks the "bloody billionaire beach battle" pictures so that she can turn into Gale Weathers and handle the press for the family. Love how it took Nolan (Gabriel Mann) and the Grayson family lawyer, Mr. Brooks (Courtney B. Vance) about five seconds to figure her angle/game out. But what will Nolan do with the information considering he reassures the former party planner that only the two of them know?
Other people playing games: Daniel. Looks like he took his mother's post-murder words ("Don't say a word") as gospel because he's telling half truths about what happened on the beach to most everyone. Principal recipient: Emily, to whom he mostly refrains from clarifying what Tyler said on the beach. Throw in the fact that he was chatting suspiciously with Victoria just after the initial round of police interviews and my Spidey sense is tingling!
Other Observations:
Now that the Labour Day weekend has passed, it must be cold because this episode marks one of the few times we've ever seen Emily wear pants. As much as I liked the blazer/pantsuit combo, I think she should have gone more Lilo for Daniel's sentencing. Side Note: Some of those beach flashbacks must have been chilly to shoot in real life!
How nightmarish (and slightly Brazil-esque) was that sentencing scene (with rando appearance by Veronica Cartwright as a 'bitter-against-the-rich' judge')? I honestly thought it would turn out to be a dream sequence because it was so randomly introduced and bordered on the surreal. Were they sentencing Daniel at night? Meh…all we know is that the rich white boy is off to the maximum security prison on Rikers Island for the duration of the trial. As Victoria hilariously stated earlier, "Jail is no place for a boy like Daniel." Umm, is it because he's too pretty?
What happened to grandpa Grayson? We saw him at the Fire & Ice engagement and his grandson has been charged with murder, but he's mysteriously absent for the entire episode. Was William Devane too expensive to bring back?
The big remaining question mark: Where the eff is Fauxmanda? She's glimpsed briefly in flashback, but I definitely thought we'd see her tied to a Dexter-gurney in an abandoned rail car or something at the end of the episode. No matter what, it's clear that Faux is in a bad position because Takeda tells Emily that she can only save one – Jack or Faux. And clearly she's going to go for the bar hottie with the ageless dog, not the former stripper with locks of gold, amiright?
Best line of the night:
Nolan (about Fauxmanda): "Ever notice that whenever you want her to leave, girlfriend keeps turning up like a homicidal version of a whack-a-mole?"
What did you think of 'Scandal' fellow Revenge-rs? Happy to have the show back and churning through plot like butter? Or do you continue to feel burned by the fact that Tyler's gone and Daniel is the one in fashion prison (undershirts AND prison green garb? High couture!) Sound off below as we wait for a looooong time for the next new eppy.
Filed Under: Revenge, TV Tagged With: ABC, Ashley Madekwe, Courtney B. Vance, Emily VanCamp, Henry Czerny, Josh Bowman, Madeleine Stowe
Percysowner (@percysowner) says
There were several ambiguous statements last night. I'm not sure if Victoria's statement meant that she had had a previous affair, or if she meant that she couldn't live the "I'm not rich, rich, rich life" again. I'm also not certain if the "You can't save them both" was referring to Real Emily or Jack or if it was referring to Daniel or Jack.
cinephilactic says
Both valid points. I think they're being deliberately ambitious (possibly to keep their options open)?
Oops! That should be ambiguous!
RAGordy says
Another excellent episode of my new favorite show (RIP Lost). I am disappointed that the 'Revenge' storylines have gone away. They were so awesome!


By Lubna Hamdan
Sun 13 Dec 2015 04:44 PM
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Revealed: $4.1m yellow diamond necklace
The piece was showcased at the Dubai International Jewellery Week
A $4.1 million yellow diamond necklace was unveiled as part of Dubai International Jewellery Week at the weekend.
The necklace's high price is largely based on its 50 carat yellow diamond centre piece - worth a staggering $3 million on its own.
The additional $1.1 million accounted for the diamonds around the centre piece, which amount to 45 carats in total.
Mahallati Jewellery, a UAE-based company, is the diamond producer and retailer behind the necklace.
While the company produced its diamonds in Bangkok, its retail stores are spread across the UAE.
Dubai International Jewellery Week took place on December 9 – 12 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The annual event hosted over 100,000 different jewellery in diamond, gold, pearl, and coloured gemstones amongst others.
For all the latest fashion trends from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.


Chapter 1 Introduction Research Motivation Post world war II
Research Motivation
Post world war II, global manufacturing industry has gradually shifted from the conventional 'buffered' production system (large work-in-progress stocks and inventory) to Toyota's 'Lean' approach (Womack and Jones, 2005). This 'Lean' approach or 'Lean Production' was, to begin with, called the Toyota Production System, or TPS for short (Krafcit, 1988). It was concieved by Toyota for the automotive industry (Shingo, 1989). It includes many vital tools and techniques (e.g., Feld, 2001; Pavnaskar et al., 2003) to uninterruptedly removal of waste during the production process to produce final products in an optimal way (Rooney and Rooney, 2005).
Figure 1.1 The TPS House, a high-level view of the TPS, adopted from Sayer and Williams (2012, p21)
Continuous improvement is one of the key objectives of Lean Production (Handyside, 1997) and is part and parcel of the foundations of the 'TPS House' (Watanabe, 2000; Toshiko and Shook, 2007) (Figure 1.1). It has also been increasingly adopted by many companies seeking to improve performance (Prado, 1997; Robinson and Schroeder, 2009) using knowledge of employees (Terziovski and Sohal, 2000). In Japan, continuous improvement is called Kaizen (??) (Imai, 1986). Its implemented via a four-step method: the identification of problems; the development of solutions; the implementation of those solutions; and the standardisation of the improved results (Japan Human Relations Association, 1997a).
In a cursory look, it appears very easy to implement Kaizen as a tool for the functioning of any organisation (Marin-Garcia et al., 2008), but in reality, it is easier said than done, and very very difficult to sustain it in the long-term (Bessant et al., 1994; Bodek, 2004; Veech, 2004; Burch, 2008). In Japan, Kaizen is more than a simple improvement system (Brunet and New, 2003; Herron, 2007; Herron and Braiden, 2007). Many studies have reported that numorous non-Japanese companies (Ghosh and Song, 1991; Sohal and Egglestone, 1994; Oliver et al., 2002; Herron and Hicks, 2008) and some Japanese overseas plants (Aoki, 2008) have faced difficulties in selecting the right methods to adopt and sustain Kaizen for Lean Production. In one study of Japanese and non-Japanese organisations that had implemented Kaizen, found that the non-Japanese organisations performed comparatively poorly according to various indicators: productivity, quality, changeover time, problem solving, and buyer-supplier relations (Oliver et al., 2002).
Thus, there is still a gap in adopting and implementing Kaizen between Japanese and non-Japanese companies. One of the persistent complaints is that many non-Japanese companies and Japanese overseas plants have experienced difficulties selecting the right practices to effectively collect and utilise improvement ideas (Oliver et al., 2002; Aoki, 2008; Herron and Hicks, 2008; Robinson and Schroeder, 2009).
For example, a number of studies have reported that Japanese companies were able to extract more improvement ideas from employees (e.g., Yasuda, 1989; Womack et al., 1990; Delbridge et al., 1995; Oliver et al., 1996a; Oliver et al., 1996b; Oliver et al., 1998; Takeda, 2006; Robinson and Schroeder, 2009). The difference between Japanese and non-Japanese companies on this front was shown to be dramatically high in the late 1990s (Figure 1.2). Surpriosingly, this gap was even greater in the automotive industry (Oliver et al., 2002). Japanese automotive companies obtained an average of 28.9 ideas per employee per year, whilst non-Japanese counterparts averaged 2 ideas per year (Oliver et al., 1998).
Figure 1.2 Comparative statistics of average Kaizen suggestions per employee per year (Oliver et al., 1996b; Oliver et al., 1998; Oliver et al., 2002)
Other major problem is how to sustain improvements on a long-term basis (Bessant et al., 2005; Marin-Garcia et al., 2008). Most of the current practices designed for implementing Kaizen in non-Japanese companies are universal crash courses (Brunet and New, 2003). They are mainly based on the ideas or proposals of managers, technicians or consultants (Bodek, 2002; Marin-Garcia et al., 2008) rather than involvement of all members of company (Terziovski and Sohal, 2000); and aimed at producing breakthrough changes and reengineering on a short-term basis (Bessant et al., 2001) through using, e.g., 'Kaizen blitz' (Sheridan, 1997; Tillinghurst, 1997), 'Kaizen event' (Doolen et al., 2003), or 'Kaizen burst' (Liker and Meier, 2006). As such, These non-gradual methods do not sustain long-term improvements and achieve long-term targets (Imai, 1986; Dale, 1996; Imai, 1997).
Research Aims and Objectives
This research aims to bridge the knoledge gap by developing a better understanding of how to implement continuous improvement or Kaizen in organizations located outside of Japan. The findings should fulfil the needs of both academics and practising personnel in the available body of knowledge.
Kaizen, the Japanese system, is distinctly different from improvement systems that only aim to produce changes by offering monetary rewards (Japan Human Relations Association, 1997a; 1997b; Rapp and Eklund, 2002), or to achieve one-off dramatic innovations (Brunet and New, 2003; Herron, 2007; Herron and Braiden, 2007). The researches have identified three of the core characteristics of Kaizen:
Kaizen involves all members of company, and aims to produce small and incremental changes over the long-term (Imai, 1986; Sheridan, 1997; Laraia et al., 1999; McNichols et al., 1999; Bateman and David, 2002);
Kaizen consists of two important practices (QCCs and Teians) which are used to collect and implement all sizes of improvement ideas (Onglatco, 1985; Ghosh and Song, 1991; Tamura, 2006; Aoki, 2008; Liker and Hoseus, 2008; Marin- Garcia et al., 2008); and
Kaizen must be based on the support of shop floor management tools, (Malaise, 1995; Handyside, 1997).
This study hypothesises that there is a strong correlation between the application of shop floor management tools and the performance of Kaizen, measured in terms of the number of improvement ideas collected, implemented and the rate of long-term implementation.
The primary objective of this study was to provide an insight into the implementation of the Japanese Kaizen – to increase the understanding of the relationship between shop floor management tools and the two improvement practices (QCCs and Teians) and their long-term outcomes. The objectives of this research were:
To define the roles of QCCs and Teians in Kaizen;
To describe the implementation of the building block shop floor management tools;
To demonstrate the importance of shop floor management tools in supporting Kaizen;
To explore the relationships between the Kaizen practices, shop floor management tools, and their long-term outcomes;
To provide a better understanding of Kaizen implementation in companies located outside of Japan;
To provide an empirically tested model for studying and managing the Kaizen practices.
The research was conducted to address the following questions:
What is the Japanese Kaizen? How does it differ from other improvement systems?
What are QCCs and Teians? How do these two practices differ from each other in collecting improvement ideas?
What is the relationship between these two Kaizen practices? Are they mutually inclusive and supportive of each other? If not, how do they impact on each other?
How can the practices of the Japanese Kaizen be adopted and implemented to sustain long-term continuous improvement?
What are the building block shop floor management tools? In what sequence should they be implemented?
In what ways are the shop floor management tools inter-dependent with the Kaizen practices? Can they be implemented independently of each other to support the Kaizen practices?
What is the relationship between these two Kaizen practices and their outcomes? How do these practices produce better outcome measures as well as sustaining long- term continuous improvement?
The outcome of these research questions were obtained by empirical research. Structural equation modelling was used to explore and investigate the relationships between the shop floor management tools, Kaizen and their associated outcomes.
Research Model and Hypotheses
On the basis of the three underlying characteristics of Kaizen (as described in Section 1.2), a theoretical model was developed to support the study. This model represents the relationships between shop floor management tools, improvement implementation and improvement outcomes (Figure 1.3).
Figure 1.3 The preliminary theoretical model for the current study
Following this model, three hypotheses were investigated:
H1. The building block shop floor management tools have positive effects on the improvement practices.
H2. The two improvement practices are mutually supportive.
H3. The two improvement practices have positive effects on the long-term outcomes.
The Overview of the Research Method
The study was conducted in NCR Delhi region, India. A survey was done to collect data from ten Indo-Japanese automotive joint ventures. A questionnaire was developed from previous research (Lillrank and Kano, 1989; Farris, 2006). The questionnaire included questions that measured: the use of shop floor management tools; the implementation of Teians and QCCs; and improvement outcomes. These questions were later translated into Hindi. They were piloted with 10 shop floor workers and adapted to suite the Indian context. In total, 1000 copies of the questionnaires were distributed,100 copies to each organization, of which 488 samples were returned, giving a response rate of 48.8%.
After completing the data collection, Path Analysis (Wright, 1960), a subset of structural equation modelling (SEM) (Kline, 2005), was adopted to develop and analyse the structural path models from the quantitative data. AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures) (Arbuckle, 2007), a package within the IBM SPSS family (IBM, 2010), was selected to perform these analyses and estimations.
Outline of the Dissertation
Chapter 2 reviews the different forms of process improvement that have been implemented in the automotive industry. It explains the implementation of the Japanese Kaizen, and compares and contrasts Kaizen to other improvement practices. It also goes to critically evaluate the previous researches concerning the problems, issues and challenges of sustaining continuous improvement.
Chapter 3 introduces Lean shop floor management and highlights its building block tools. Specifically, this chapter critically evaluates the relationship between each of these building block tools and their implementation procedures to facilitate and sustain long-term continuous improvement.
Chapter 4 describes the selection of the research sites. It provides a brief historical review of the Indian automotive industry and automotive joint ventures in NCR Delhi. The chapter also describes about the companies selected for this research and their selection criteria, and shows the development of the theoretical model and the research hypotheses.
Chapter 5 discusses the research design and research methodology. It discusses the choice of the survey strategy and the use of SEM for data analysis.
Chapter 6 discusses the data collection procedures, the process of data screening and explains the procedures for examining and validating the reliability of the factor constructs from the data set.
Chapter 7 introduces the use of the SEM path analysis for the hypotheses testing. It elaborates the steps to develop the SEM models, to generate model estimations, and to test the model's reliability. It also lists the results eminating from the final models and the applications of these results to test the hypotheses.
Chapter 8 discusses threadbare analysis and interpretations of the findings. It lists the data obtained from the case companies and evaluates the relationships between the building block shop floor management tools, the two aforesaid improvement practices and the outcomes.
Chapter 9 discusses the conclusions of the research and provides answers to the research questions. It also lists the limitations of the current study and provides scope for future research.
One of the MPC approaches is receding-horizon control
The act of using different grammatical structures while generating from source language to target language is called shifts or transpositions
On November 4
Polaroid was first branded in 1943 by Edwin Land and is known as one of the world's most leading and trusted instant photography brand in the world
← The track on a railway or railroad is the structure consisting of the rails
Life depends on the ability of cells to harvest energy from importing →


Labor, Society and culture
Martin Luther King Jr., Labor Activist
BY PETER COLE
f Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. still lived, he'd probably tell people to join unions.
King understood that racial equality was inextricably linked to economics. He asked, "What good does it do to be able to eat at a lunch counter if you can't buy a hamburger?"
Those disadvantages have persisted. Today, for instance, the wealth of the average White family is more than 20 times that of a Black one.
King's solution was unionism.
The union newspaper reported that, in his Sept. 21, 1967, address to Local 10, King appealed "for unity between the labor movement and the Negro freedom movement." Photo from The Dispatcher archives, ILWU.
Convergence of Needs
In 1961, King spoke before the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest and most powerful labor organization, to explain why he felt unions were essential to civil rights progress.
"Negroes are almost entirely a working people," he said. "Our needs are identical with labor's needs—decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community."
My new book, Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area, chronicles King's relationship with a labor union that was, perhaps, the most racially progressive in the country. That was Local 10 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, or ILWU.
ILWU Local 10 represented workers who loaded and unloaded cargo from ships throughout San Francisco Bay's waterfront. Its members' commitment to racial equality may be as surprising as it is unknown.
In 1967, the year before his murder, King visited ILWU Local 10 to see what interracial unionism looked like. King met with these unionists at their hall in a then-thriving, portside neighborhood—now a gentrified tourist area best known for Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39.
While King knew about this union, ILWU history isn't widely known off the waterfront.
Marching in the West Coast Waterfront Strike of 1934. Photo from San Francisco Public Library.
Civil Rights on the Waterfront
Dockworkers had suffered for decades from a hiring system compared to a "slave auction." Once hired, they routinely worked 24- to 36-hour shifts, experienced among the highest rates of injury and death of any job, and endured abusive bosses. And they did so for incredibly low wages.
In the throes of the Great Depression, these increasingly militant and radicalized dockworkers walked off the job. After 83 days on strike, they won a huge victory: wage increases, a coastwide contract, and union-controlled hiring halls.
Soon, these "wharf rats," among the region's poorest and most exploited workers, became "lords of the docks," commanding the highest wages and best conditions of any blue-collar worker in the region.
At its inception, Local 10's membership was 99% White. But Harry Bridges, the union's charismatic leader, joined with fellow union radicals to commit to racial equality in its ranks.
Originally from Australia, Bridges started working on the San Francisco waterfront in the early 1920s. It was during the Big Strike that he emerged as a leader.
Bridges coordinated during the strike with C.L. Dellums, the leading Black unionist in the Bay Area, and made sure the handful of Black dockworkers would not cross picket lines as replacement workers. Bridges promised they would get a fair deal in the new union. One of the union's first moves after the strike was integrating work gangs that previously had been segregated.
Local 10 Overcame Pervasive Discrimination
Cleophas Williams, a Black man originally from Arkansas, was among those who got into Local 10 in 1944. He belonged to a wave of African Americans who, due to the massive labor shortage caused by World War II, fled the racism and discriminatory laws of the Jim Crow South for better lives—and better jobs—outside of it. Hundreds of thousands of Blacks moved to the Bay Area, and tens of thousands found jobs in the booming shipbuilding industry.
Black workers in shipbuilding experienced pervasive discrimination. Employers shunted them off into less attractive jobs and paid them less. Similarly, the main shipbuilders' union proved hostile to Black workers, who, when allowed in, were placed in segregated locals.
A few thousand Black men, including Williams, were hired as longshoremen during the war. Williams later recalled to historian Harvey Schwartz: "When I first came on the waterfront, many Black workers felt that Local 10 was a utopia."
During the war, when White foremen and military officers hurled racist epithets at Black longshoremen, this union defended them. Black members received equal pay and were dispatched the same as all others.
A gang of welders at the Marinship yard, Sausalito, California, around 1943. Photo from National Park Service.
For Williams, this union was a revelation. Literally the first White people he ever met who opposed White supremacy belonged to Local 10. These longshoremen were not simply anti-racists, they were communists and socialists.
Leftist unions like the ILWU embraced Black workers because, reflecting their ideology, they contended workers were stronger when united. They also knew that, countless times, employers had broken strikes and destroyed unions by playing workers of different ethnicities, genders, nationalities, and races against each other. For instance, when 350,000 workers went out during the mammoth Steel Strike of 1919, employers brought in tens of thousands of African Americans to work as replacements.
Some Black dockworkers also were socialists. Paul Robeson, the globally famous singer, actor, and left-wing activist, had several friends, fellow socialists, in Local 10. Robeson was made an honorary ILWU member during WWII.
King speaks at Local 10 in San Francisco, September 1967. Photo from ILWU Archives (author-provided).
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Union Member
In 1967, King walked in Robeson's footsteps when he was inducted into Local 10 as an honorary member, the same year Williams became the first Black person elected president of Local 10. By that year, roughly half its members were African American.
King addressed these dockworkers, declaring, "I don't feel like a stranger here in the midst of the ILWU. We have been strengthened and energized by the support you have given to our struggles. … We've learned from labor the meaning of power."
Many years later, Williams discussed King's speech with me: "He talked about the economics of discrimination. … What he said is what Bridges had been saying all along," about workers benefiting by attacking racism and forming interracial unions.
Eight months after his induction, in Memphis to organize a union, King was assassinated.
The day after his death, longshoremen shut down the ports of San Francisco and Oakland, as they still do when one of their own dies on the job. Nine ILWU members attended King's funeral in Atlanta, including Bridges and Williams, honoring the man who called unions "the first anti-poverty program."
This article was originally published by The Conversation. It has been published here with permission.
PETER COLE is the author of "Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area* and Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia. Peter writes on labor, race, and politics from both a historical and contemporary perspective for online and print media.
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Marie-Fleur Lefebvre
Anonymous #32
From Where to When
(True) passing by (through) paintings
There is a remarkable equivocalness noticeable in the work of Marie-Fleur Lefebvre (°1982, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France), which is in principle distinctively 'contemporary'. Looking at her abstract paintings, seems for a viewer in the first place a very physical way of looking. It is a looking that is in nature a purely tactile looking, that denies on first sight all classical 'semiotics'.
On the one hand, the viewer is coached in a soft but resolute manner through a resourceful labyrinth of the most diverse painterly techniques - from monumental, roughly expressive gestures, over subtle almost figuratively readable interventions, towards a more undistinguished, ephemere and tactile graphical writing. Lefebvre's work demonstrates an enormous diversity in materiality – as well in its own imagery as towards its painterly medium – that stays at the same time consequently loyal to her own artistic vocabulary. Because of such 'open consequent' position towards her medium, Marie-Fleur Lefebvre creates an open interpretation platform, which is very easily accessible, and in which the viewer can take all the time he needs for reflecting and investigating the individual emotions these canvases could evoke. This open interpretation platform enables Lefebvre at the same time to create the possibility of making a connection between the individual emotive spectrum of the viewer, and that of her own.
Because in essence, this would be the fundamental goal of her paintings. Lefebvre applies a sort of 'peinture semi-automatique', which balances subtly between free improvisation and image-control – within which she investigates a whole range of hyper personal and emotional fields of interest. And indeed, this individual accumulation of diverse emotive semiotics, is as diverse as her painterly tools she applies for this.
On the one hand, this emotive discourse directs itself towards an almost therapeutic self-examination into her own positioning compared to the dark side of female eroticism, or, in general, towards the more dirty side of human emotionality, without however losing the light, frivolous and relativizing aspect of it. On the other hand, from a more emotional socially point of view, Lefebvre investigates her own individual positioning towards the fact how people nowadays handle their own emotional interests. Indeed, it seems that in contemporary society, many people seem to just 'pick up' their individual emotions 'en cours de route' to then deploy them 'ad hoc' into their daily lives. This contemporary 'detached' way to deal with emotional information, seems to determine a whole generation, who no longer dares or wants to root itself within one holistic emotional situation, but rather concentrates itself on retching diverse emotional anchors in as much diverse as temporary havens, in order to formulate its emotional identity, while 'passing by' so to speak.
And it's this 'picking up emotionality' that determines Marie-Fleur Lefebvre's imagery consequently, as well painterly as individual-personally. Seen from this respect, one could call her paintings 'emotional informal' by analogy with 'L'Art Informel' which arised in France roughly between 1945 and 1960, and which stated that through the 'formless' deed of the painterly process whether or not coincidentally 'readable' symbols could emerge. In the case of Marie-Fleur Lefebvre's painting, these symbols are not (only) universal-figuratively readable, but to all the more individual-emotionally.
And this, indeed, not only for herself as a painter, but also - and maybe even more - for you, the viewer.
(T.V., May 2015)


"Paul is Dead" Creators Reteam for "Jim Lives"
by Henry Varona
'Jim Lives' cover
Paolo Baron and Ernesto Carbonetti are getting the band back together, as the duo behind "Paul is Dead" are reuniting for "Jim Lives: The Mystery of the Lead Singer of The Doors and the 27 Club." The original graphic novel builds off of the popular conspiracy theory that Jim Morrison of The Doors never died, and has actually been living a secret life away from prying eyes.
This is the second book in the pair's trilogy focusing on popular music conspiracy theories, and will be published by Image Comics. It is set to be released on June 16th, and will be available in bookstores on June 22nd.
The graphic novel follows a man searching for his son, who has vanished after seemingly discovering that Jim Morrison is alive and hiding in Italy.
Alta Cienega Pamela Courson iHeart Mustang Miami Incident Memorabilia Notebook Other Voices Rolling Stone Last Performance Hollywood Bowl The U.S. Sun NME Far Out Magazine Posthumous Pardon San Diego Area Light My Fire Dominick Dunne Anne Morrison Chewning Reading List


TPPF Policy Orientation to host panel on local school choice programs
AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Economic Freedom will host the policy panel "Is Texas Finished Improving Its Protection of Property Rights?" at the 12th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature on Thursday, January 9, at 3:25 p.m. at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol.
"While Texas has made progress protecting property rights in recent years, there are still too many ways the government can improperly take property-or the value of property-from Texans," said Bill Peacock, Vice President for the Center for Economic Freedom.
Bill Peacock (moderator) is the Vice President for the Center for Economic Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte has represented Senate District 26 since 1999. She serves as Chair of the Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee, and also serves on the Education, State Affairs, and Business and Commerce committees. Senator Van de Putte was named to Texas Monthly's list of Texas' 10 Best Legislators.
Representative James Frank is a longtime resident of Wichita Falls. He earned a degree in Finance from Texas A&M University and then began an 11 year career in banking in Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. Representative Frank serves District 69 and serves on the Land and Resource Management Committee.
Scott Houston is presently serving as Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel for the Texas Municipal League and General Counsel for the Texas City Attorneys Association. Scott has received the Texas Bar Government Lawyers Section "Outstanding Government Lawyer of the Year Award" and the American Bar Association's "Up and Coming Young Lawyer Award."
This year's program includes more than 25 panel discussions and debates on the major issues affecting Texas' future. The program will be updated with additional events and speakers in the coming weeks. Members of the public and media who wish to attend may register and view the agenda here: http://bit.ly/TVGJeN.
Bill Peacock is the Vice President of Research and Director of the Center for Economic Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
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American Tropic
by Thomas Sanchez
It's been almost 10 years since the publication of KING BONGO, Thomas Sanchez's last work. He has never been the most prolific of authors, having published only six novels since 1973, when the highly and still acclaimed RABBIT BOSS was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Sanchez's latest finds him exploring a new theme in a familiar place --- Key West, the setting for 1989's MILE ZERO --- in this novel-length but shorter work, with mixed results.
"AMERICAN TROPIC is not unlike what one might expect from, say, Tim Dorsey or Tom Robbins after several months of Adderall therapy, though the tone is far more grim than any of those gentlemen's tomes. Still, the book shares the somewhat surreal atmosphere of Dorsey's settings..."
AMERICAN TROPIC is very much a character-driven work, taking a number of dissimilar individuals with tenuous associations and throwing them into the cauldron of the story. Noah is a disbarred environmental attorney whose alcoholism has cost him his career and his marriage to the lovely Zoe, who gave up her own dreams to put him through law school and who now tends a popular dive bar to help make ends meet. Noah spends his days on his boat, Noah's Lark, operating a pirate radio station off the coast of Key West, using his talk-show call-in format under the moniker of "Truth Dog" to rail against the damage that he perceives as being done to Mile Zero and points north. Noah's sister, Joan, is in a relationship with Luz, a Key West cop whose younger daughter is involved in a valiant if failing fight against cancer while Luz is caught up in a serial murder investigation.
A costumed apparition, modeled after a legendary voodoo figure, is engaged in a murder spree that is targeting a number of ecological offenders of both great and small magnitude, ritually killing each of them and then very publicly displaying their bodies. Those whose reading diet consists primarily of novels within the mystery or thriller genre will spot Sanchez's efforts to direct the reader's attention to a particular suspect or two, but the somewhat "Scooby Doo" ending, where the villain of the piece is unmasked, doesn't quite reach the convincing level. Still, if it was Sanchez's intent to make the killer a sympathetic figure, he succeeds in spades, due in large part to the inhumanity of the victims. Their actions, particularly in one case, merit a permanent trip off the island.
AMERICAN TROPIC is not unlike what one might expect from, say, Tim Dorsey or Tom Robbins after several months of Adderall therapy, though the tone is far more grim than any of those gentlemen's tomes. Still, the book shares the somewhat surreal atmosphere of Dorsey's settings, as well as the beery but righteous indignation of both authors when they find a suitable target in their sights. There are two elements that make AMERICAN TROPIC worth reading. The first is Sanchez's rare ability to peel back the flora and fauna of his real-world settings in order to get into the cracks and crevices of scenery and backgrounds that most people notice fleetingly --- if at all --- out of their side windows as they move from Point A to Point B. The second is the power of his prose, which, after four decades of writing, remains undiminished.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub on January 24, 2013
Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
Thomas Sanchez