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Thursday, May 28, 2009
In case you're wondering, I found this semi-horrifying example of taxidermy on a preschool field trip to the nature center. There is Quinn, all blissfully unaware in the background.
I'm not sure, but I think that might be blood on the side of the squirrel's mouth.
17 comments:
Geez - they still show kids that kind of thing? I thought the idea these days was that kids are so easily traumatized - something like that could scar them forever!?!!ReplyDelete
Wait, was that me being sarcastic? NO-O-o-o!! How about cynical! :)
Actually - it kind of reminds me of Roger, the squirrel that lives in my birdhouse.
I have always found taxidermy very unsettling. Even as a child. A chipmunk just isn't cute when it's frozen in time with glass eyes. Is it me or does it feel like the eyes follow you?ReplyDelete
And that's one terrifying squirrel (even if it is stuffed).
The eyes! The eyes!ReplyDelete
That field trip on a whole was a bit unsettling! While she was very informative and great with the kids, our hike guide kept pulling out animal skins out of a backpack. The kids were asking if it was real and alive or dead...kinda creepy I thought!ReplyDelete
That is freaking hysterical!
Wow, that's just freaky.ReplyDelete
I'm with Melissa. That nature center had more than it's share of dead animals.ReplyDelete
More importantly maybe; Who the hell takes pictures of dead animals?
That squirrel looks like it's smirking.ReplyDelete
AHHHHHH! weirdly, my son with high functioning autism is a huge fan of taxidermy in dioramas. In fact, he's the only kid who can spend serious time looking for every detail in the dioramas at the natural history museum - which means we get to get away from the crowds for at least a little while. Ah... the power of small!ReplyDelete
It might be blood. Or it might be chocolate. Lets pretend it's chocolate. Because if someone was going to kill and stuff me I would hope it would be as I was eating chocolate because then a least I would have been happy when I died.ReplyDelete
Or red wine, maybe? Sucka got all liquored up and ran out into oncoming traffic? Also, is he an amputee? It looks like his left front paw is missing.ReplyDelete
You can file taxidermy under, "Things I can not, and never will, understand." Who ever thought that was a good idea??ReplyDelete
It's like that Dramatic Chipmunk.ReplyDelete
Except it's a Dead Squirrel.
OMG!!!! Where the hell was THAT?!?!?!?! That scared the crap outta me!ReplyDelete
It looks like he should be brandishing a shiv with his upraised paw--pretty freaky, if you ask me. All we need are for squirrels to develop a taste for blood and the ability to hold small, easily hidden knives, and we will be in some serious trouble.ReplyDelete
Probably blood.ReplyDelete
On first glance I thought the squirrel was standing on top of a turtle shell.ReplyDelete
I still cannot get the iamge of a 2-headed goat out of my mind. I saw it at the Carroll County Heritage Center (MD). It was in a room set up as a doctor/vet office. Still shudder when I think of it.


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I stumbled upon a nice instructable which allowed your Arduino to be used as a touché-style sensitive device. This means essentially, that Arduino / Processing can turn any electricity-conducting surface in to a touch-sensitive interaction playground. The problem was that the messages were sent using a weird byte-encoding stuff that I really couldn't read. Then a student found out this library. Arduino Libraries are added to Arduino in os x by right-clicking (or ctrl+click) Arduino application in Finder, choosing Show Package Contents, then Navigating to Contents > Resources > Java > libraries CapSense, Capacitive Sensing Library allows you to measure capacitance of he human body by measuring a delay of triggering a pin between its two sensors, the other having a big value resistor in it. Hooking up three resistors from the example on the CapSense was very simple and I was playing and manipulating music with three custom sensors in no time. Be sure to use latest version of Arduino and the Library, the library name has changed from CapSense to CapacitanceSensor, and I had some problems first using the code – the library was not recognized and I got an error: capSense does not name a type.
The biggest resistors we have at the lab are 1 MOhm, but they seem to work. I tried out different materials and – surprise surprise – got different readings from Arduino. Playing around with the values it is possible to create a touchless theremin-like system even through wood or plastic, or to use the metal objects themselves. The script could be improved with some kind of averaging algorithm, but it works pretty well. Once in a while I had to reset arduino to jump back to original values. Here is a Quartz Composer file that picks up data from Arduino, displays the values and sends them out as midi control channel messages (to Ableton Live for example). This one is now configured for the sensors you see, and touchless operation. QC displays the midi values in the middle (bouncing them up and down) and original values (coming from Arduino) in the bottom.
Make your own theremin!
Arduino CapSense Theremin from tomi knuutila on Vimeo.

subset: commoncrawl


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When I entered the Garden I was not expecting to see anyone, for some reason but I was surprised at how many people there were scattered around the garden.
Firstly I saw a Paramedic taking 5 on a bench with his Paramedicmountainbike in repose nearby. Then I saw a shy and loved up Muslim couple, part hidden in a small glade. There was an emotional, hugging and teary couple possibly going through a devastiting breakup? A middle aged Bohemian couple plus many more individuals dotted around on benches or sitting upon the grass.
I sometimes take photos of the people I meet in these havens but here it seemed that everyone wanted their privacy.
Phoenix Garden hiding as seen from Charring X Road.
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About Energy Quest
Energy Quest, Inc. and is active in the research, development and commercialization of alternative petroleum refining, renewable energy, frac water treatment and clean Liquid Coal fuels " technologies. The term alternative encompasses green and/or renewable energies. Once considered "alternative" these technologies are fast becoming the future of energy as traditional sources become increasingly more expensive and scarce.
Energy Quest, Inc.also has a modular heavy crude oil refining technology that can and turnsheavy crude into light, sweet crude at a fraction of the traditional cost using new proprietary ultrasonic wave technology. With significantly lower operating costs and no requirement for catalysts, this new technology offers several advantages over the traditional heavy crude upgrading technology used today.
Energy Quest boasts an incredible management team to grow the business, and has been pursuing large contracts for Energy Quest's products in United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.
Energy Quest is focusing on target markets of Waste Water Management, Biomass to Energy, Clean Coal Fuels, and Heavy Oil Refiningprojects. Energy Quest has received interest from potential customers and partners in each of these areas.
Energy Quest also has an advanced Hydrogen Generating Technology. A revolutionary technology that will enable our present technology to produce Hydrogen… the Fuel of Tomorrow, at a fraction of the cost of today's availability. The US Department of Energy's $1.2 billion Hydrogen Initiative states that lowering the cost of hydrogen is a primary objective.
Energy Quest, Inc. trades under the symbol: EQST on the OTCBB market.
Click Here for Corporate Information


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Caring Tree illuminates lost loved ones
Becky Norris, a nurse at Hilton Head Hospital looks for her son's name on the Caring Tree in the main lobby of the hospital Tuesday night during its lighting ceremony. The tree was decorated with 112 cards honoring or in memory of loved ones after family or friends donated $5 for a light or $50 for a star ornament. Donations went to the Auxiliary Caring Touch program.


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Have you ever had those days where you just don't feel like yourself? I think that in many ways, feeling like "yourself" can really be attributed to your actions and how close you have come to putting your values on the
August 8, 2012
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by Kristina
Hello. I am a fourteen year old writer and I am looking for ways to improve my writing. Also, i am looking into maybe getting a novel published in the future. Any advice?
Hello Kristina. The best advice I can give you is to write every day. If you do, you will improve dramatically each year.
If you look at the Writing Process page at www.be-a-better-writer.com/writing-process.html I have posted many free articles about becoming a writer and the writing process. This is all information that arose out of questions from writers I mentored at one time or another, so I think you will find it helpful.
Also, on the Writing Help page www.be-a-better-writer.com/creative-writing-help.html you will find many more articles about writing craft, to help you master the necessary techniques that will make your writing publishable.
And should you ever wish to have one-on-one help with your writing, I offer mentoring services and work privately with writers at any stage of their writing careers. You will find my services, rates, samples and testimonials on this page: www.be-a-better-writer.com/writing-mentor.html


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On Dec. 26, 2004, at 00.59 GMT, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake occurred on the seafloor near Aceh in northern Indonesia. This was followed by a series of earthquakes that caused a tsunami in the area of the western coast of North Sumatera, Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands and swept over the South and Southeast Asia region reaching the shores of East Africa. Even though disasters tend to be localized events, this tsunami disaster proves otherwise. According to the BBC, this disaster which cost about 300,000 lives has affected many countries. Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Maldives were badly hit as highly-populated coastal areas were swept away by the giant waves. According to Gerhard Berz, a top risk researcher at Munich Re, the tsunami devastation has caused economic damage of more than $10 billion euros. In the aftermath, millions of victims faced not only losing households, livelihoods, and well-being but also increased
Monday, 19 November 2007 20:33


text: A little while back we were twisting the 3/4" thick by 2" wide by 34" long white oak slats to make up Dining Table No 1. We were doing this with kiln dried wood, which typically speaking doesn't steam bend all that well, but given that the most extreme twists for the table are around 45 degrees we tested it out, and it seemed to work without any problems. After one long day and some 70 slats twisted and clamped to the metal base to dry we decided to "test the limits" with the few that remained in the steam box. The slats were steamed for roughly 2-3 hours at 200+ degrees fahrenheit, the results were pretty incredible, to watch the bending happen check out this video.


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A few weeks ago a customer, named Gustav, contacted me who'd taken his new bike on tour. He picked up the bike at our workshop, a new Page Street Outback with a Pinion gearbox, and very shortly after was taking off on a three-day tour through the Cascade Mountains and to the coast. There was really not much time for him to get accustomed to his bike before he left.
When a bike is brand new I always recommend a person ride it for a while before going out on any sort of multi-day ride loaded down with gear, just to get the bike dialed in and the bugs worked out. Short tours are fine, over-night trips or a weekend get-away. But I don't think it's wise to commit yourself to too much. Maybe go on some day rides, so you can pay attention to how your body and the bike work together. Bring along some basic tools since you may need to adjust the saddle fore or aft, or to adjust your stem, your pedal cleats, any number of things. You'll always be able to do micro-adjustments while on tour, but if possible you don't want to be surprised by anything major while out on a bigger ride.
After a weekend of riding, Gustav sent me a message telling me about how the bike performed. This is what he wrote:
Gustav's experience got me to thinking about how we interface with our bicycles.
A purpose-built bike will perform optimally under certain conditions, and based on the design and intended function you may find that your ideas about how a bike should perform may differ from how the bike wants to be ridden.
Gustav went the long way around learning what best suited his low-trail bike, how to load it so it would ride most comfortably, stably, and "intuitively." Not all bikes, not even low-trail bikes, will handle the same. A bike's trail is just one of many variables that work in concert. Trail is one of the weirder and more elusive forces to talk about, but it's very real. Other more obvious variables include tubing material (steel vs. carbon vs. ti etc.), tube diameter and wall thickness, wheel and tire size, tire pressure, rider weight distribution, and so on.
As a frame builder I work with an individual to design a bike that will function optimally when used how it was intended. But remember, I'm aiming for a target, and there is a lot of interpretation involved, as well as a lot of subjective experience. Especially in regards to touring bikes, I don't know what you're going to carry, how much weight, and if you're going to try carrying a camp chair and a charcoal grill, or just a Sterno canister and a spork.
It is up to you, the owner of the bike, to pack it and take it out, ride it and listen to it. In my opinion, that's part of the joy of a getting a new bike, is figuring out what it can do, and how it responds to different loads and on differing terrains. The more you ride, and especially tour, the more refined your ideas will become, both for what you want out of your bike, what gear you carry, and how you carry it. Experiment, listen, adjust, enjoy. Repeat.


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Ex-lover charged in guard's death
OLYMPIA (AP) One day in April, Teresa Marie Shannon told her lawyer she feared her former lover, roommate and co-worker would follow her as she left work, pull alongside the car and shoot her.
Three months later, driving home from her job as a guard at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Shannon was killed by a single shot to the head.
On Friday, an aggravated murder charge was filed against Cindy Boskofsky, the former roommate.
Shannon's fears were detailed in documents submitted by prosecutors in Thurston County Superior Court.
Boskofsky, 30, a former prison guard in Shelton, remained in jail without bail pending arraignment Sept. 16.
She was arrested for investigation of stalking July 16, three days after Shannon, 39, was shot near her home in Lacey.
The two women shared an apartment in Tacoma until the relationship went sour a few months before Shannon was killed, according to documents filed in support of the murder charge.
The documents said Shannon obtained a no-contact order in Pierce County in March but kept receiving telephone calls from Boskofsky, who also followed her on one occasion almost into the Lacey police parking lot.
Court documents also alleged Boskofsky made death threats to Shannon in the weeks before the shooting, offered someone $10,000 to kill her in June and was quoted as saying, "If I can't have (Shannon), nobody will.


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I got this dress in Sainsburys, yes you read that correctly Sainburys! It was on sale for £12! As soon as I walked through the door it caught my eye. This is very much like the Marc Jacobs Maxi dress that selling for around £400
|Marc Jacobs Dress
Roll in fringe
Come on everyone lets do a little sun dance!


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What's inside the double walled baking sheet? Stove makers want to know
H2O...nothing but dead air space
What's inside the double walled baking sheet? Stove makers want to know
DarenN wrote:it would be very cool if the pot would whistle when the water boiled.
nice work RR. a cool stove. how does it do with a wood fire?
I had to pump this one up while you're still on board. That kettle is interesting!!!!Ridgerunner wrote:Since Zelph brought up Tallbloke, I thought I would share another project I made a few weeks back. It is another military kettle. I call this on the "RR UFO Kettle". It is a different shaped kettle and the chimney is much shorter than the my other kettle. To compensate, I attached a group of aluminum leg/fins to the outside of the chimney bottle that spread out thru the inside of the kettle, hoping to take advantage of some radiant heat from the chimney if that makes any sense. Testing did not go as well as planned using a a small wedding tin burner. Too much heat was lost straight up the chimney. I thought a stove with a wider flame pattern will do better in order to also heat the bottom of the kettle. Tonight, I used a Trangia that not only went up the chimney but heated the bottom of the kettle and used the TriCastle stove as my pot support. I was able to obtain a boil and will do further tasting to get some numbers. This kettle will hold more water than my first kettle. I think it is about 3 1/2 cups. Here are a few pics to give you a idea of my project.
Stand back, she's getting ready to take off here!
Now all it needs is some revolving lights around the side and a couple little green men to guard it.
Next week I'll see if I can resume testing on the Stilleto stove. It uses abundt style pan that has the cavity in the center but no hole at the top. It hold 4 cups. This is a quote from a thread in the Stove WorksRidgerunner wrote:Zelph, your making me hungry. Interesting thought- ------Bundt pan will easily hold 2 cups of water. What are the possibilities of quicker boil times using a bundt pan and a stove setup that sends heat up the shoot AND across the bottom and up the sides Might be onto something. That will give you retirees something to test in the lab tomorrow while the rest of us are in the sweatshop helping fund your SS.


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Lifestyles Magazine, Fall 2016 - Women in Philanthropy
I am honored to be included in Lifestyles Magazine Women in Philanthropy issue.
The Fall 2016 issue includes women who have "dedicated their time and resources to ensure a better tomorrow. Acting as catalysts, their missions have changed the lives of countless people around the world, and their actions demonstrate how creating positive opportunities leads to societal change."
It is truly humbling to be named alongside female giants of philanthropy and social change like Laurene Powell Jobs - a champion for education, immigration and the environment, Angelina Jolie - a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Malala Yousafzai - an advocate for girls education and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, and Oprah Winfrey - a philanthropy powerhouse.
Having graduated with the Chemical Engineering degree I'd always dreamed of, not to mention relentlessly fought to have, I never imagined that I would spend my days building social enterprises advancing the cause of migrants around the globe. I have the uncommon privilege of positively impacting the state of the world while being denied access to a diversity of nations. This realization that I have been blessed with influence although lacking the required conventional credentials, reminds me that while our purpose may be beyond our capacity to imagine, it is never beyond our capacity to achieve.
Today, I am overwhelmed with gratitude, reassured of purpose, and filled with hope. "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."


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Hard to swallow! Project Fear says Brexit will ruin your butties
PROJECT Fear has reached ludicrous levels with claims that sandwiches will be in short supply if Britain leaves the EU without a trade deal, Brexiteers scoffed yesterday. British Sandwich Association director Jim Winslip has warned his members would struggle to make fresh sandwiches.
Project Fear claims that sandwiches will be in short supply
But Mr Winslip's claims on BBC Newsnight have been ridiculed and highlighted the misinformation being put out about a World Trade Organisation deal that experts believe will massively lift Britain's GDP.
Tim Martin, the owner of Wetherspoons pubs who has moved to sourcing British-only products and played a leading role in the Leave campaign, said that moving to WTO rules with the EU will lead to cheaper food prices because their tariffs on food outside the bloc will no longer apply.
He said: "The EU is a protectionist organisation that allows free trade to the seven per cent of the world within its borders but charges high food tariffs to the 93 per cent that isn't.
"The EU charges tariffs on over 12,000 products. On leaving the EU, parliament can scrap food tariffs on non-EU products, immediately bringing prices down. By leaving the EU without a deal next year the UK can save £39billion, equivalent to £600 for every man, woman and child. We can also regain control of our fishing grounds. All this can be without the agreement of the EU or any other country.
"It's called the free trade option but it's been cleverly renamed 'No Deal' by Europhile spin doctors."
Tory MP Marcus Fysh described the sandwich claims as "ludicrous".
Former Brexit minister David Jones said: "The impression is deliberately cultivated that overseas trade will be much more difficult, if not impossible.
"This is nonsense. Britain will continue to trade with the EU on the same basis as with every other country in the world."


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What People Don't Get About Working In a Library
Article by Derek Thompson in The Atlantic Magazine.
The Librarian #1
"We are not mere cart pushers. This job requires a Masters degree for a reason."
People have made an extremely strong link between librarians, libraries and books. This is only natural, but it really sells short the full value of libraries and the full scope of librarian work. Libraries offer so much more than moldy old books. There's also music, movies, tv shows, video games, and electronic databases that span a whole galaxy of scholarly and practical information unavailable to any level of googling. Additionally, libraries offer free internet access that is utterly vital in many poor and rural communities. As government services migrate online, good citizenship almost requires an internet connection. Libraries also provide a free space for local groups and communities and have been at the forefront of job search training and computer instruction. Coordinating all of this are the humble librarians. We are not mere cart pushers, let me assure you. This job requires a Masters degree for a reason.


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Management Shuffle in Data MATRIX
On 23 March 2016, Ivan Dobromyslov took the position of CEO in Data MATRIX. As a CEO, Ivan is in charge of the company's strategic development and its management. Ivan has a 10-year experience in clinical trials. He graduated from Pavlov St. Petersburg State Medical University with an M.D. degree and is qualified in ophthalmology at St. Petersburg Medical Academy for Postdiploma Education. Ivan holds an MBA degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Applied Sciences (Northwestern Switzerland).
Kristina Leus now holds the position of COO and will focus on Data MATRIX's software products.
06 April 2016


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HUDSON VALLEY ADVERTISING is a Design Studio & Marketing Agency with it's roots in the Hudson Valley and Catskill regions of New York. HVA was created out of a love for design, typography and technology. Our entire team of designers & artists were born and raised here, so we know the area. This means we are better able to serve your business. Starting out via word-of-mouth over 15 years ago, we have grown in to a full service agency offering many services over a wide variety of media. We pride ourselves in being timely and affordable, while not sacrificing quality of work and attention to detail. We've kept some of the same clients for over 10 years, which speaks volumes about the type of customer service we aim to deliver.
HVA will become your marketing department.
HVA can become the marketing department for your small business. We can also work with your existing marketing department or designers. We want to work as closely with you as possible so your business gets the attention it deserves, while making the best use of your budget. Just think of us as if we were in the next room.


text: Generous scale and elegant refinement, when beautifully blended, make for a happy marriage. Case in point: this stunning sofa. The rich upholstery—100% genuine leather wrapping the seat and back cushions—has that perfectly broken-in look that makes leather so alluring. Charles of London arms and stately turned feet elevate the style dramatically.


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Latex pillows
Latex is a natural polymer derived from plants and trees although it can also be synthesised. When latex is used as a pillow filling, it is foamed to create a matrix of tiny inter-connected bubbles which give it bounce and spring. This latex sponge is very reactive to pressure, but unlike memory foam it has instant bounce-back. It is generally sold as a memory foam competitor though in reality it offers different properties and a different experience to memory foam. Generally latex pillows don't give that 'sinking in feeling' you ca n get with memory foam, it also has better moisture and heat dissapation properties than memory foam, they are also good for allergy sufferers as they prohibit dust mites. The downside is that you can't shape them to fit, you're stuck with the fixed height.
- Pros: Very long lasting natural material, cooler and more airy than memory foam, shapes itself to the head and neck. Soft and supportive offering effective pressure relief, holds its shape well, quiet
- Cons: Can be expensive, heavy, fixed shape and height so if a pillow is not right you can't adjust it, can smell strange to begin with.
Pillow advisor summary: Latex pillows have some of the highest satisfaction ratings of all pillows and can offer you a very comfortable pain-free night, but make sure you buy one of the right height for you. We have reviewed some of the best latex pillows available in the UK.


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There's a place for all of us in God's work! "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, NIV).
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10, Amplified).
Had this powerful realization in the past few months. No matter the extent to which God uses me for His Kingdom or does not use me ... even if He simply desires me to be a humble doorkeeper, doing mundane tasks for His glory - my heart longs to obey rather than do anything else! Of course, I desire for God to use me greatly, yet my life is surrendered to His purposes and glory.
Reminds me of Brother Lawrence and his classic The Practice of the Presence of God, where he share about experiencing the same level of God's Presence in his prayer times as when he washed dishes for the brotherhood in his monastery.


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Kids Bowl Free All Summer!
Comments Off
Registration is now open for the "Kids Bowl Free" program! Sign up today at a local participating center and you will receive 2 free bowling passes per day all summer long for your kids! Who doesn't love free bowling?!
Purchase an additional Family Pass for $25.95 and up to 4 adults can bowl 2 FREE games every day all summer with their kids. Parents, older children, adult babysitters and grandparents can join in the bowling fun too!
photo credit: Amanda Agoes Photography
Visit their website for more information and to sign up!


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Taughannock Soccer Club
Board Meeting December 5, 2012
- Attendance: Bill Coon, Mike Holcomb, Tammy Parker, Todd Edmonds, Colleen Civiletto
- The board reviewed financials ending on 11/15/12.
- Sunday gym time has been reserved and scheduled.
- Currently the Taughannock Club has two teams playing indoor, U16 and U19 boys. Registration for the second indoor session is very soon.
- The board is still receiving reimbursement from Challenger Sports for the summer camp. If anyone has any summer pictures that they would like to see on the website, they should be sent to Alan Pierce.
- Mike Holcomb was elected secretary.
- Treasurer and Equipment Manager are open positions.
- The parent travel commitment letter and player code of conduct will be available on-line soon.
- Bill Coon is putting together a list of field addresses so that people can put them into their GPS. This list will be available on the website.
- Registration for spring travel will be mid-January.
- The next meeting will be held January 9th at 7:30 in Mike Holcomb's room (#316 in the middle school)


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The Search Analytics Pages report displays a combination graph and table detailing the Pages on your site that were seen most often in search results. Page URL with the corresponding number of Impressions, Clicks, Click-thru-Rate and Average Position in Google Web Search queries display in a sortable table. The multi-axis graph charts the search metrics for each date.
Data provided in this report is without filters, so it displays all Search, all Locations and all Traffic queries. Please note that there can be a 3 to 5 day delay between the time Google compiles and releases this data via their API.
At the present time, Google's data storage policy is restricted to the past 3 months. In Rank Ranger's Campaign Settings > Search Console, you have the option to allow RangerBot to archive monthly snapshots of your Search Console data for historical comparison in this report.
Important! To view this report Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console must be configured correctly, please refer to Rank Ranger's Search Console documentation.
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Title: Frenzy
Author: Casey L Bond
Genre: YA Paranormal
Cover Designer: Cover Me Darling
Hosted by: Lady Amber's PR
Blurb: After the world was ravaged by a viral apocalypse, Blackwater is one of the only colonies that remains. The survivors came together to create this safe haven. Nestled between a fierce river and a city's flood wall, the well-being of its residents hangs on a long-established treaty with the night-walkers. Sounds simple enough, but lately, the people of Blackwater have been dying, and the humans believe the night-walkers are to blame. Porschia Grant starves for more than her parents' affection. Forced to enter the rotation, she will be given extra food rations in exchange for becoming a vampire's breakfast and dinner for a week. The rotation has an extra responsibility as well: leave the colony and enter the dangerous forest to hunt for food. A night-walker will protect the hunters from the infected that roam the woods. But with the treaty hanging in the balance and tension between the humans and vampires rising, anything could happen in the darkness. What would you do if your only chance at survival might kill you?
Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she's not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction. You can find more information about Bond's books via the following links:
Website: www.authorcaseybond.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007 Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg Buy Link: Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1mtcfnF Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/m8uisY
My Review
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is one of my absolute favorites! I devoured it in one evening and now I am going insane waiting to know what happens next.
I have read quite a few books by author Casey Bond. I love the originality of her stories and the fact that I never know where she will go with each character or the plot. I have many times slammed my kindle shut and wanted to pull my hair out at some of the craziness that comes from her mind. LOL That's what makes her work so exciting to read and the fact that her charcters always have substance to them. Frenzy is no exception. The ending left my jaw hitting the floor!
"Now that he'd tasted eternal life, did he crave the empty solace of death?"
In the colony of Blackwater where Porschia lives, there are mysterious deaths that are being blamed on the night-walkers. Fears are high but the need for food is more pressing. Porschia must be strong and volunteer to go on rotation to bring in food from outside the walls. Not only does she have to be escorted by a night-walker, but beyond their safe haven are the infected that only care about eating the flesh of humans. I love that the story has both vampires and undead, zombie like creatures. Danger comes from all directions in this action packed story.
"When life was so fragile, and survival so difficult, rushing seemed like the thing to do."
Another thing that makes this book so great is the poetic way the author writes. Her words and descriptions flow so nicely. I could visualize the colony and the devastation outside the walls. I felt as if I was there watching everything transpire and not sitting reading a book on my sofa.
"Standing alone near the water's edge, I watched the swirling torrent just beneath the falls and let the rush of the water fill my ears."
An exciting story with a kick ass leading female character. I can not wait to read book 2 and 3, but until then I am already rereading Frenzy. It's that fangtastic! I highly recommend this book!
"In a place I felt sure that failure would find me again, I found hope."
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Top 10 Dustin Hoffman Performances
Top 10 Films takes a look at the finest performances of Hollywood legend Dustin Hoffman whose turns in movies such as Lenny, Midnight Cowboy & Tootsie remain some of the most memorable of contemporary cinema.
Dustin Hoffman is one of the most versatile and skilled actors of his generation. Alongside other Hollywood greats who came of age in the 1970s (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss, Sissy Spacek, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Shelley Duvall, Cybill Shepard, Harrison Ford, et al), Hoffman is part of a revolutionary group of performers who flourished during the American new wave. Actors were pushed further, characters were more diverse, the challenge was heightened.
Hoffman grasped his opportunities. He has the ability to adapt to a number of different roles singling him as one of the most talented actors Hollywood has ever seen. He rose to fame playing the naïve Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols' The Graduate and followed this with an Academy Award-nominated performance in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy. The characters couldn't be further apart – one, a rich, young university graduate with ideals yet to be shattered by time in the real world; the other a crippled, older, world-weary con man.
Much like Johnny Depp today, Hoffman can adapt to every role like a chameleon. It isn't simply that he is adept at bringing a character to life with authenticity and grace, he embodies these people so successfully you forget you are looking at a Hollywood celebrity. And that's the mark of a great actor. From real people (Lenny Bruce, Carl Bernstein) to disability (Rain Man) to women (Tootsie) to caricatures (Captain Hook, Stanley Motss in Wag The Dog), Hoffman has the innate ability to bring to life a range of creations (based on both fact and fiction) with a genuineness not seen on any other Hollywood film actor's CV. The greatest compliment you can pay the man is acknowledgement of the sheer range of characters he has played alongside the regularity in which he's played them.
See also our Top 10 Dustin Hoffman Films
10. Hook (Spielberg, 1991)
Hook was one of the first films I remember seeing at the cinema. At the time I thought it was one of the most magical cinematic experiences of my life. Growing up (and in the course of that time watching a thousand movies) has taught me the finer points of cinema and that said 'finer' points are rarely evident in Steven Spielberg's over-produced, overzealous Hook. But it still has plenty of merit, and much of that lands squarely at the feet of Dustin Hoffman. While the magic of the Peter Pan legend might be lost on a star who can't carry the mantle, production design that lacks any sense of restraint, and the spoilt lost boy creation Rufio, I'm always thrilled to see Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook. He's more caricature than character but Hoffman's scheming Hook is deliciously devilish. Just the twitch of his well-oiled handlebar moustache and the words "The Boo Box" are enough to send shivers down my spine.
9. Wag The Dog (Levinson, 1997)
David Mamet writes this satirical comedy-drama about a political spin doctor who distracts the public gaze from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer to create a phoney war. Dustin Hoffman is at his comedic best as the film producer Stanley Mottss. He obviously has a ball taking cues from the array of Hollywood head-honchos he has worked under throughout his glittering career. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
8. All The President's Men (Pakula, 1976)
What makes All The President's Men tick so successfully are the performances of Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman was nominated for the Best Actor award at the BAFTAs but criminally ignored by the Oscars. Both men, thanks to their hours of preparation, take to their roles as purveyors of the truth with zest and determination. Redford is the less experienced Woodward, he's all hustle and bustle, and isn't about to let his detractors stop him pursuing the story. Hoffman is Bernstein, more experienced, more reserved; he knows the system but is given renewed energy by Woodward's unrelenting fortitude. The authenticity of their research and the difficult and often unrewarding task of piecing together the facts is delivered by director Pakula with precision and attention to detail. And, underneath it all bubbles a fast-paced mystery-thriller that carefully builds its tension until the climatic few minutes with the famous shot of Hoffman and Redford secretly relaying messages to each other via a typewriter.
7. The Graduate (Nichols, 1967)
Dustin Hoffman's first foray into the world of film is still his shining achievement. This tale of a recently graduated young man trying to find his place in life under the constant strain of over-bearing parents is given just the right doe-eyed, idealism-in-the-dark vitality required by an equally bemused Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for the first time.
6. Papillon (Schaffner, 1973)
Powerful and affecting prison drama with stand out performances from both Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. McQueen gets more screen time but its testament to Hoffman's ability that he outshines the great escapee in their scenes together.
5. Kramer Versus Kramer (Benton 1979)
Kramer Versus Kramer was lavishly praised and awarded on its release in 1979. It features one of Hoffman's most reserved and natural performances and he, along with co-star Meryl Streep, won Academy Awards for best actor and best actress in a supporting role, respectively. Hoffman was able to draw on his own experiences of divorce, a process he was going through at the time. The film also won Academy Awards for best film, best director, and best screenplay.
It was a film of its time but its message is still resonant today. Seeking to draw light on the changing cultural shift occurring in late 1970s America, Kramer Versus Kramer tells of the struggle when the American dream breaks down. It also takes to task the traditional role of the father, and how single parenthood can impinge on both work and child-parent relationships. The film gives equal weight to both the mother and father's role, challenging the idea that mothers are automatically considered as the favoured parent in custody battles.
4. Rain Man (Levinson, 1988)
Rain Man gave Hoffman his second Oscar for best actor, playing an autistic savant alongside on-screen brother Tom Cruise. Some criticised his performance as over-the-top but I have always felt it is one of his most disciplined. Like Ratso Rizzo and Louis Dega, Hoffman so embodies the character you forget you're watching one of the most recognisable Hollywood stars.
3. Lenny (Fosse, 1974)
Considered by many US-based critics as a film lacking the sort of anti-establishment relish that made its origin of study the darling of counter-culture 1950s and 1960s Americana, Lenny plays better in the United Kingdom. British mainstream media is more open to the real meaning of the comedian's 'blah blah blah' skit and other obscene eccentricities. Frequently, we see Hollywood actors, musicians, and comic stars appear on talk shows such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and The Graham Norton Show, looking aghast at the host's use of the 'F' word, or more explicit allusion to sex, homosexuality, and drug use. [Read my full review]
2. Tootsie (Pollack, 1982)
A generation – my own – actually believed for years that Robin Williams was the best cross-dressing comic actor and Mrs. Doubtfire was the funniest film of all time. Thankfully, time is good for at least one thing: knowledge. I found Tootsie on late-night TV and have never looked back. Hoffman showed his versatility in 1982 with this comedic turn as actor Michael Dorsey who, having struggled to get a decent role on television, dresses up as a woman and auditions for a female role, curiously getting the part on soap opera Southwest General. Hoffman again failed to win an Oscar following a nominated for Best Actor.
1. Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger, 1969)
Undeniably one of Dustin Hoffman's finest performances, his appearance in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy as Ratso Rizzo is heartbreaking in its fragile portrayal of a crippled New York con-man. Hoffman should have won his first Academy Award for the film but had to resign himself to a nomination alongside Voight.
Rarely has a performance touched me as much as Hoffman's in Midnight Cowboy. The conclusion to the troubled life of Ratso never fails to move me to tears. There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to praise the Los Angeles-born actor. Midnight Cowboy is an immersive, brilliantly executed film (that also benefits from a great performance from Jon Voight) but it becomes one of the greatest American movies of all time thanks to the genius of Dustin Hoffman.
Written and Compiled by Daniel Stephens
See also our Top 10 Dustin Hoffman Films
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13 Comments
June 16, 2011 at 9:07 pm
NIce list, Dan, I haven't seen some of the movies here but agree about what you wrote about him in the intro, he's a versatile actor indeed. I LOVE his recent movie Last Chance Harvey, he's got a nice chemistry w/ Emma Thompson.
June 16, 2011 at 9:15 pm
@rtm: Thanks Ruth. I also enjoyed Last Chance Harvey. It was great to see Dustin Hoffman find a role and a film that can still show off his talents. I think he's still a top actor today, whereas some of his generation have either disappeared, semi-retired or are making fools of themselves (ie. Robert De Niro).
June 16, 2011 at 10:44 pm
great list, though I would swap the places of Midnight Cowboy and Kramer vs. Kramer
June 16, 2011 at 11:37 pm
God, Wag The Dog was an awesome film. I'd forgotten about that one. To be honest, my own top two Hoffman performances would have been Tootsie and Rain Man, as I have yet to see Lenny, and I haven't seen Midnight Cowboy in ages (and can't really remember it!), but it's a great list Dan, as usual!!
June 17, 2011 at 3:15 am
Terrific profile on one of the best living actors in Hollywood today. I liked/loved all of these titles, but I gotta throw these three out there:
Little Big Man – a funny performance, as lively as anything he's done.
Death of a Salesman – he was heartbreaking as Willy Loman.
More recently, his best performance in many, many years was a bit part in the vastly under-seen Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. It's a very odd film, but if nothing else, it's worth a look for Hoffman's role as Giusseppe Baldini.
Thanks for writing this up. Always fun to look back on Hoffman's amazing career.
June 17, 2011 at 3:52 am
Totally agree about De Niro… complacency is never a good thing for anyone, especially an actor.
June 17, 2011 at 6:03 am
Though there are a few movies in the list I haven't watched, I more or less agree with the list. The only glaring omission for me was the absence of Stray Dogs, which should have made the Top 3 at the least. And Graduate perhaps ought to have been moved up.
Dustin Hoffman might not rank at par with some of his contemporaries as Robert De Niro & Jack Nicholson, he sure remains an excellent actor with a really enviable filmography under his belt nonetheless.
June 17, 2011 at 10:25 am
@Shubhajit: Interesting you should say he doesn't rank as highly as De Niro. I think De Niro has given us some fine performances but I do believe Hoffman has achieved a better range of characters, and has carried this on throughout the years. De Niro has really gone down hill over the last few years with his lazy comedy work. I would put them both right at the top but my personal favourite has to be Hoffman.
Like you mention, Nicholson is up there too. One of the few actors who could outshine Hoffman.
June 27, 2011 at 11:45 am
I'm glad to see some love for Papillion. Very good film with two great leading men. Kramer vs Kramer is a great film but it's unfortunately remembered for nabbing the Best Picture Oscar from Apocalypse Now.
Also, +1 for THE BOO BOX.
June 29, 2011 at 7:38 pm
I must admit I've never liked his way of acting, which is always kinda neurotic and overly dramatic (similar to Al Pacino's) but that was the trademark of their generation.
However I do like watching KRAMER and TOOTSIE.
April 14, 2012 at 1:23 am
Tootsie was a terrible film – total crap. And Sydney Pollack was ridiculous in Eyes Wide Shut – shouldn't blame the man above Kubrick, but after Tootsie I looked back at his work and asked myself: Was 3 Days of the Condor good?
No. Even had problems with Absence of Malice after Tootsie (the Cimino complex, perhaps?!)
So back to Hoffman.
Good list, but Little Big Man should be on it, as should Straight Time.
April 14, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Interesting point made above by Dezmond vis-a-vis Pacino …. years and years ago (circa 1973) when Oz TV was still in black and white, the Australian Broadcast Corporation had an arts show, which included a panel of celebrities. At one point the guests were shown a clip from Scarecrow and asked to name the actors. Gene Hackman they got – however, they didn't recognise Pacino, with a couple of them agreeing that it may have been Dustin Hoffman.
I think Marathon Man could have been a contender for this list – an unusual film insofar as it translated well from an entertaining book and fitted in with those 1976-77s Hollywood movies in which the audience was subjected to scenes of confusing exposition (ie Black Sunday and Sorcerer).
Plus he looked liked a marathon man – as fit as a fiddle and youthful to boot. Maybe this should be number one on the "10 Films You Don't Want to See Before Going to the Dentist" list.
For what it's worth, a cinematograher once said to me that he believed Tom Cruise came out of Rain Man better than Hoffman on the grounds that Cruise had the harder job – that being playing the anchor role against Hoffman's scene stealing tour de force performance. I always thought that was an interesting observation, but I'm not sure I ever totally agreed with it.
August 19, 2014 at 10:37 pm
Dustin Hoffman is not a chameleon actor like Johnny Depp or other chameleons such as Daniel Day-Lewis and Gary Oldman. They all have much more range than Hoffman. In almost all these pictures you can easily tell you are looking at Dustin Hoffman. Hook and Tootsie is chameleon acting. Hoffman has done a fair bit of "personality acting" basically playing himself with very small variations to his persona and appearance. Hoffman oscillates between chameleon and personality acting.


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Right on the heels of the Dakota team being with us, we were privileged to host another team from Washington State. Led by Dr. Steve Alexander, one of the NHUM board members, this team came to the camp to do a 3-day medical outreach in the community. Kasana's head nurse, Roger, came along with 2 nurses from Kiwoko Hospital (a mission hospital down the road from Kasana) and 2 of Kasana's Investment Year students. The team put in 3 full days of caring for the people of our area; treating around 750 people. They were SO well received and the community was so grateful for their care. Musana Camps has definitely been blessed to have this team be ambassadors in our community.
Meanwhile, 3 of the men on the team stayed back at the camp to help with various building projects, including finishing a storage area and putting together another picnic table. It was great to get to know the 9 people that came–they were such a blessing to us.
Below is a picture of Juliet, one of the IY students, and Kristen, our wonderful volunteer cook who came to serve while the teams were at the camp. We could not have hosted the teams without her being here to provide many delicious meals. Yet another way that God provided for us! Thanks, Kristen!
And a huge thank you to Dr. Steve and all the members of his team. We loved having you here and are so grateful for the impact you made on Musana Camps' behalf in our community! You have been a blessing both to the camp and to us personally!


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How do I know if I need Brake Services?
Two ways to determine when brake service is needed is changes in the performance of your vehicle while braking or a diagnosis from your local technician or mechanic. Some common indicators are…
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How do I know if I've received a reputable service job?
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"Does this look like a team-oriented group of individuals to you?"
By the time Adrien Brody falls from the sky, pops his parachute, and lands with a disorientated thud on the jungle floor, I just can't help but think we've been down this road before. The foliage is foreign, the cast is different, and the grimaced visages of the collective killers are adequately menaced, but don't we deserve better?
The Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY) produced and Nimród Antal (VACANCY) directed PREDATORS takes place on a distant world (we know this from the multiple celestial beings in the sky), where humans and other extra-terrestrials are captured and left as game. There, they have to battle poisonous plants, horned dogs and of course, our favourite squid-faced aliens.
The players this time around are reluctantly led by Royce (Brody), a mercenary who prefers to eliminate alone. I'm a great fan of Brody's, I just don't feel he has the look, or pedigree for a straight-laced action role that Royce requires. In times of turmoil, close-up shots of Brody's face while he gruffly spits out generic one-liners that end scenes, never sat right with me. He's far more effective in lighter roles, or at least ones where he can flex his acting chops, and not simply his biceps.
Royce is joined by supposed scientist Edwin (Topher Grace), Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), and sharp-shooter Isabelle (Alice Braga) among others. Names here are wholly trivial; if you can carry a gun and murder appropriately, you fit the bill. Isabelle, however, is important, having been familiarized with the Predators after reading a manifest from the sole survivor of a mission gone wrong in Guatemala from 1987 (a nod to the original Predator film). She explains to the group how covering oneself in mud can disrupt the Predators heat vision--a useful tip, yet they simply choose to fire aimlessly at the cloaked beasts and eventually run around like chickens with their heads removed. None of the characters are properly illustrated--perhaps not totally required, but when the team of writers do allow for some intermittent dialogue, the best they can offer is convict Stans' (Walter Goggin) hopeful admission of "raping bitches" when he gets off the planet.
After a few familiar, gruesome deaths, they meet Noland (Laurence Fishburne) a stranded air-assault pilot that has survived many 'seasons' of human hunting. Noland makes it sound his game of hide-and-seek has gone on for years, yet at the end of the film another crop of would be wall mounts are seen floating down, mere days after the last--making Noland's claim of heroism slightly less formidable. He himself could have been an interesting character. Fishburne has talent, but it's thrown away into a character who is cunning enough to kill his captors and steal their technology, but then equally foolish to walk into his impending doom.
The action is first-rate, as are the costumes--the same designs by the late, great Stan Winston. It's all just a little too cut and dried for its own good. The "heroes" are introduced, they come together, they fight, they kill, some die, until the inevitable confrontation between human and creature. The reason for the first PREDATOR's success was the muted anticipation brought about from the uncertainty of what was out there. After the reveal, it was impossible to recreate that tension, and every sequel henceforth is doomed to flounder because of it. PREDATORS offers commendable spirit; its heart is in the right place. But, we've seen it all before, and frankly, it's been better.


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Stop by today to switch your dog's junk treats with healthy ones that she won't be able to stop barking about.
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"For God so loved that world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
This verse, though familiar, is a truth that's so good to be reminded of often. He loves us and gives us life - abundant life. Not just an eeaking by kind of life, but invites us into abundant joyful living now - today - with Him. Eternity begins today.
I love praying as I make these bracelets for the ladies who will wear them to be encouraged by the reminder of the truth they offer. "Talk about them (God's word) when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. When you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands..." Deuteronomy 6:7-8
Choose your band: Turquoise Damask Leather, Distressed Black Leather or Brown Flower Leather
***All bands made of real genuine leather***


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Superhero movies wouldn't be possible without computer generated imagery. They let the audience go to fantastic worlds and see feats and characters we would otherwise be unable to present on screen. They are instrumental in everything from Superman flying to Ant-Man shrinking, and from Krypton to Asgard. CGI has come a long with since the new millennium. However, with this ubiquity comes more instances of CGI coming up short.
Plenty of films over-rely on CGI spectacles, but even movies that use CGI sparingly can have moments of terrible effects. For the purpose of this list we will look at not just bad CGI moments, but also moments when the digital special effects were so bad that they drew attention to themselves and distracted from the film they were meant to enhance.
This means that these moments might be missing crucial believable details, look nothing like their source material, or look just plain lazy. Some of these may be written off as poorly aged but technological advancement does not make up for a lack of effort or artistic effectiveness.
Here are the 15 Most Cringeworthy CGI Moments In Superhero Movies.
In the original X-Men, Senator Kelly is championing the Mutant Registration Act which would let the Federal Government track mutants and their powers. Magneto, in his vengeful campaign to safeguard mutants, kidnaps the senator and forces him to undergo a rapid, unnatural mutation.
After this, Kelly manages to escape his captors with his new powers, and falls into the sea. He washes up on a public peach with dozens of witnesses, looking like he's in flux as some kind of humanoid aquatic creature.
The bad CGI doesn't really standout until Senator Kelly is laying on the med bay table in Professor Xavier's school. Storm is watching over him when he suddenly starts pooling profusely and eventually melts into nothing. The textures and details of Kelly's face look hastily tacked on, given the fact that he's dissolving. His hand looks more like it's breaking into glass rather than dissolving around Storm's own hand.
It's hard to find a single redeeming quality about the 2004 Catwoman movie. Halle Berry may have been a fine fit for the character, and her outfit may have been sexy if it wasn't supposed to be a Catwoman costume. There is no redeeming this mess. The mediocre CGI is far from the worst part of the movie, but it's still pretty bad and distracting.
The scene where Patience Phillips washes up on the shore of a toxic waste dump has dozens of cats gathering around her. It's hard to tell if any of the shots feature real cats since the sequence as a whole is so dimly lit. However, the scenes with CGI cats can be spotted instantly.
Later on in the movie, when Patience dons her Catwoman costume, she goes running across the rooftops back to the factory. Her CGI model looks like it has been lifted out of a cheap video game, with rubbery animation tracking shots.
Even the non-Hulk title movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are far better Hulk movies-- just think of Hulk beating up Loki in Avengers or even the gladiator shots from the Thor: Ragnarok trailer. There was nothing nearly as memorable or fun in the Ang Lee Hulk movie. In it, Hulk is moody and introspective even while Hulking out, and he fights nothing interesting nor challenging.
He also looks absolutely terrible. The sequences of him transforming into the Hulk are horribly uncanny. In most of those shots it looks as though they added the green tints to Eric Bana's skin using the fill function in MS Paint.
The Hulk's look is inconsistent throughout the movie in terms of his size and the texture of his body. Sometimes his skin looks as if it's made of rubber with weird smooth surfaces, while other times his facial hair and muscles are more defined and clearly visible.
Hopefully we're not making Bruce angry with these criticisms...
Fans are still divided over whether or not Suicide Squad worked as a movie. The goals of the characters seemed to change on a dime and not all of the "protagonists" were established as sympathetic or compelling. There were some moments with impressive CGI effects, but also plenty of lackluster ones.
The worst offender was Incubus. When Amanda Waller conscripts the Enchantress to advance her agenda, the Enchantress tries to break free and reunite with her brother. In occasional scenes throughout the film, Incubus appears in his procured host with his powers fully restored.
The aesthetic is clearly supposed to be ancient and godly, but the effects look obviously fake. The segmented metal shards that are suspended around Incubus's body look like they are part of a loose-fitting plastic suit that he's wearing over his body. The ambient lighting that comes through the shards off of his body is pretty inconsistent from shot to shot. Additionally, the fight against Diablo's true form makes it look even more unconvincing.
The Amazing Spider-Man movies have some impressive action scenes and compelling character moments but, unfortunately, they were too invested in building a convoluted mythology that would sustain a franchise. The effects in the movies were also serviceable, except for the first movie's villain.
Dr. Connors test out his regeneration serum on himself when his overseer informs him that the company will move ahead with human trials regardless of Connor's approval. At first it seems like his molting right arm reveals a functional human arm, but then his entire body starts to transform into a colossal reptilian/human monster.
The brief scenes where we see the half-mutated Connors are laughable due to the patches of scales and claws. If it weren't for Spidey and the Lizard fighting on screen the whole time, the human-faced lizard creature would look completely ridiculous and not very menacing. Perhaps a live-action Lizard with a long snout and fangs would have been even more absurd, but they could have at least tried it.
The laughable disappointment of the first two modern Fantastic Four movies still lingered with fans by the time the stylized Fant4stic came out. The connection to the source material looks tenuous and the character redesigns made many viewers to scratch heads.
If the movie had to be PG-13, then why would they go with a naked, expressionless Thing? It just draws attention to his conspicuous lack of genitalia, and whose idea was it to give Mister Fantastic's suit folding extension cables instead of just letting the suit bend and stretch as he does?
However, by far the worst offender is Doctor Doom. He has none of his mysterious backstory from the comics, and looks like a lump of coal wrapped in a burlap sack carelessly flecked with green sparkly bits to give him a lazy other-worldly look. This version of Doctor Doom wouldn't look good even if the effects were stellar.
The 20th Century Fox effects team had already worked on Wolverine's claws in three previous X-men movies, and they were all fine then. However, apparently somebody at Fox decided that in the first Wolverine title and solo movie, they were going to throw out all that work and go with something much worse.
Right from the moment that the claws shoot out of Logan's knuckles for the first time, they look under detailed and inconsistently lit. Of course, the most famously bad shot of the claws is in the bathroom scene. The claws look like they are simply Photoshopped in front of Logan's hands, and don't look like they're protruding from his knuckles at all.
The sparks they make when he swipes them against each other are also totally flat. For scenes where the claws are idle, most of the other X-Men movies useed handled claws props, and there's no sore-thumb lighting or shading or blandness to be found there.
Not many fans could have reasonably expected that X-Men Origins: Wolverine would be even worse than X3: The Last Stand, but it was, for many reasons. Chief among them was the handling of fan-favorite mutant Deadpool.
Wade Wilson is introduced as a fast-talking, irreverent mercenary-- "The Merc with a Mouth"-- but this is pretty much the only part of his character that's faithful to the source material.
When Colonel Striker decides that Wade's attitude just isn't worth putting up with anymore, the real crime against Deadpool begins. They sow his mouth shut and make him a boilerplate mutant bad guy with absurd musculature trace lines in place of his comic costume.
His teleporting power also looks like a copout, and worst of all is the scene where Wade Wilson is actually transformed into Weapon XI. The surgical instruments used on Wade's wedged open eyes look like they were Photoshopped into the scene.
Spawn is one of the most famous characters created by celebrated comic writer Tod McFarlane. He received his first live-action screen adaptation in 1997. This was around the height of the character's popularity and during his original comic run. Perhaps waiting a few more years for the movie and including a bigger superhero and a greater allotted budget would have helped.
The effects used to bring this dark imaginative character to life are garish and cheap looking. The mask with the distinctive eyes looks extremely tacky. The various weapons and appendages Spawn conjures throughout the movie are just as bad, with low detail textures and lighting that makes it stand out from the rest of the scene.
If this isn't bad enough, his cape is also awful. It's supposed to be one of the most iconic parts of Spawn's character, but, in the movie 1997, it looks like a cloud of red glitter glue clogging up the screen whenever it appears.
There's no denying how influential Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies were in launching the modern cinematic superhero genre. Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 are still classics that the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming will certainly be judged against. They had faithful portrayals of the heroes and villains, along with great action and music.
However, the special effects are not consistent throughout. After Peter Parker discovers his powers, he goes on a speed run across the rooftops of Queens. The CGI Peter looks like some rubbery toy flailing and bouncing around.
Thankfully it's cut in between scenes of Tobey MaGuire's real face and scaling shots. There are similar flimsy CGI shots when Peter goes after his uncle's shooter. Just try and watch the scene of Peter vaulting around on the flag pole or jumping haphazardly across the rooftops while keeping a straight face. It is helps a bit that the sequence is set at night, but it's still a major eyesore.
Thank the comic gods that Chris Evans got a second chance to play a Marvel superhero with Captain America. Otherwise he would have been mostly forgotten and maligned Johnny Storm, who was poorly conceived and poorly animated. None of the characters receive decent personal or visual treatment in 2005's Fantastic Four.
Sue Storm's invisibility powers look like the effect is being added only to her skin rather than making her fade from view. Not to mention her powers, which are played as teasing sight gags for most of the movie.
Reed Richard's powers are also hard to watch. There's a reason why every superhero movie with a stretching superhero wears a full suit, and that reason is so directors don't have to figure out a way to make stretching skin look believable. However, even when Richards gets his Fantastic suit, his stretching animations still look horrific and plain.
Venom deserved quite a lot for his first live-action outing in a Spider-Man movie. However, the character in Spider-Man 3 is a major disappointment to Spider-Man fans. Venom is confined to a protagonist entirely of the third act, and is even forced to share this screen time with the other two antagonists of Sandman and Hob Goblin.
Even though Sam Raimi managed to weave a coherent story together with so many prominent villains, Venom's brief appearance and apparent death are still unsatisfying.
His costume is also underwhelming compared to his comic book inspiration. In the movie he appears no bigger than Peter, whereas in the comics he is a hulking brute with all of Spider-Man's powers and agility too.
The occasional effect of the symbiote peeling off Eddie Brock comes across as silly rather than frightening, not to mention Brock's own unaltered voice. Throw in some obvious CGI painted-face wall crawling shots and it makes for a disappointing showing.
Tom Hardy, don't fail us.
One of the all-time worst superhero costumes ever put on screen is Green Lantern's. Green Lantern was a pretty slapdash movie overall, with watered down versions of its source material characters, a totally generic story, and cheap looking special effects throughout.
The hideous looking Green Lantern Corps. are barely in the movie, while the audience is mostly treated to obvious CGI shots of Ryan Reynolds on Earth or in space.
Instead of the sleek (and presumably) spandex suit one might imagine, Ryan Reynolds' suit is created entirely by computer images on screen. The pulsating veins on the skintight muscle suit look over designed and cheap at the same time.
The most jarring feature is the mask on Reynolds' face, which is also obviously CGI. It makes the suit look even more outlandish in scenes on Earth and makes it appear as though his head is floating around a green screen during scenes in space.
You know it's bad when Ryan Reynolds calls it out explicitly in the proper Deadpool movie: "Please don't make the super suit green, or animated!"
Your opinion may vary on bad superhero movies and whether they're unintentionally funny. Batman & Robin has become one of those famous bad movies that plenty of people watch ironically. There are more cringeworthy puns and one-liners than you can throw a batarang at. There are also just as many shoddy CGI scenes.
There are a few standalone shots, such as Batman and Robin escaping the rocket and Bane shrinking, that just look laughable. However, Freeze's powers are by far the worst. The beams he projects look like their are being drawn on the screen with overlapping blue and white crayon.
The ice and frozen geometry left by his powers also looks like glass or transparent plastic throughout the movie, and it behaves in totally convenient ways as the plot contrives. Sometimes it shatters objects it touches, while other times it just thaws off an entire city, leaving structures and living people unharmed.
The Blade movie's CGI hasn't aged well overall. For most of the movies, action is flashy and fast enough to ignore the low resolution skeletons of disintegrating vampires. However there's one scene of the first film where the effects are ludicrously bad and, for some reason, the camera lingers on them: the result is almost baffling.
When Frost successfully summons La Magra and absorbs her, Blade confronts him with his reinvigorated vampire powers, and a sword fight ensures. Blade manages to cut Frost in half only for his torso to immediately reconnect with his waist along a trail of blood and guts. This blood is made up of nothing but shiny red CGI tendrils.
Frost also regrows his severed hand with this astoundingly fake-looking effect. It's almost as though Frost's body is growing back in a cheap digital environment and was trying not to look gory-- a very convincing regeneration effect.
Are there any other CGI moments from superhero movies you thought were totally cringeworthy? Let us know in the comments!


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A powerful stimulant that highly addictive, cocaine falls under the category of Schedule II drug, according to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of the United States. Schedule II drugs are illegal substances that tend to be abused; but may also be administered by doctors for certain needs of patients.
The United States is recognized as the world's largest cocaine consumer. To well-earning employees, the middle and upper classes, cocaine is called the "rich man's drug"; they usually use it as a stimulant, to help them stay awake and render longer working hours for greater productivity. To the younger generation, the drug is known as a "party drug," which allows them to stay alert and last through the night.
Once hooked up to cocaine, a user's tendency is to take it on a more frequent basis, with the amount increasing on each take. And like many other drugs, which have been declared illegal, possession of cocaine, its use, manufacture, distribution and supply, are all considered illegal too.
Anyone charged with a crime involving cocaine is bound to suffer harsh punishments and a huge fine, more so if injury or worse, death, would be connected with the drug offense. As stated in the United States Code (USC) of Controlled Substances Act, possession of the drug in whatever amount, will result to up to 12 months imprisonment plus a $1,000 minimum fine – if it is a first conviction. The amount of fine and the length of time behind bars both increase with the number of convictions.
Even if the charge involves mere possession of the drug, it still is a serious criminal offense that one ought to worry about. Any criminal offense, anyway, is something that should concern the one charged, since any criminal record will definitely usher in lots of inconveniences and limits that may hinder the offender incapable of living a comfortable life and attaining his/her future aspirations in life.
There are many negative impacts a criminal record can have on a person's life, even decades after he/she has committed the crime. With a really experienced and convincing defense, the accused may be able to save himself/herself from a conviction or receive a reduced penalty or punishment. With the guidance of an experienced drug crimes defense lawyer, a person's chances of building that necessary convincing defense are increased dramatically. This is because of the attorney's years of training and experience handling these kinds of situations.


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Nigeria to be leading economy by 2030
from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
LAGOS – NIGERIA is poised to become one of the largest economies in the World by 2030 despite the ongoing challenges of terror and poverty.
Presently, Nigeria is reported to have overtaken South Africa as Africa's leading economy, but some economic analysts argue that the southern Africa nation remains the number one economy in the continent.
This is according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and McKinsey's Nigeria office.
Titled "Nigeria's renewal: Delivering inclusive growth in Africa's largest economy," it examines the country's economic potential and finds that with the right reforms and investments, the West African country could become one of the world's leading economies in the coming years.
The report finds that Nigeria has the potential to expand its economy by roughly 7,1 percent per year through 2030, raising GDP to more than $1,6 trillion.
This could make Nigeria a top-20 global economy—with higher GDP than the
Netherlands, Thailand or Malaysia in 2030.
According to the report, a large consuming class is developing in Nigeria, with potentially as many as 160 million members by 2030, more than the current populations of France and Germany combined.
This upside scenario is based on a bottom-up analysis of the potential for five major sectors of the Nigerian economy.
These include trade, agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, oil and gas.
"What people overlook is Nigeria's extraordinary advantages for future growth, including a large consumer market, a strategic geographic location, and a young and highly entrepreneurial population," said Reinaldo Fiorini, Director and Location Manager of McKinsey's Lagos office.
Acha Leke, a director in McKinsey's Nigeria office said by capitalizing on its strengths and positioning itself to take advantage of emerging global trends, Nigeria could potentially triple its GDP by 2030.
"This adds up to a huge opportunity for inclusive growth that should not be missed," Leke said.
– CAJ News
Short URL: http://cajnewsafrica.com/?p=624


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About the Honeywell Lyric C2 Camera
Keep an eye on your home with a smart wireless camera
Keep an eye on your home with a smart wireless camera
Some security cameras notify you when they detect motion or sound. The compact, wireless Honeywell Lyric C2 camera goes an extra step. It can intelligently detect the difference between a smoke alarm and a baby crying and send a specific alert to your smart device.
The camera has a built-in microphone and speaker so you can carry on a two-way conversation with anyone who walks in front of the camera while you're away.(Parents, that's a great way to make sure the homework gets done before the video game console comes on.)
App control
The free Lyric app is the true wizard behind this camera. It lets you watch a live feed on a secure, encrypted connection and zoom in up to 6X closer on important scenes.
You can configure the camera to send you push notifications when it detects sound or motion, so you'll know when someone's in the house.
Mount it where you need it
The camera features a 145-degree wide-angle lens, so wherever you put it, you'll get a great view. Its integrated combination stand/bracket can be manually tilted up and down, so you can put it on a table or shelf and aim the camera right where you need coverage. It can even see up to 32 feet away in the dark.
Product highlights:
- wireless indoor full HD surveillance camera (1080p) with night vision
- 145° wide-angle view
- built-in night vision lets you see up to 32 feet away in the dark
- motion and sound detection with four adjustable alert zones
- Intelligent Sound Detection can tell the difference between a smoke alarm and a baby's cry
- two-way audio lets you hold a conversation remotely
- free app offers:
- 24/7 live video feed
- 6X digital zoom
- smart mobile alerts
- geofencing that enables home and away modes
- 256-bit encryption to keep your data safe
- versatile wall, table, or ceiling mounting
- 2-13/16"W x 2-13/16"H x 1-11/16"D
- warranty: 1 year
- Our 60-day money-back guarantee
What's in the box:
Honeywell Lyric C2 Camera owner's manual
- Lyric C2 Wi-Fi Security Camera
- Stand/wall mount
- 8 GB microSD memory card (installed)
- AC power adapter (DC output: 5V 2A)
- 6' USB power cord (Type A USB on one end and Micro B USB on other end)
- 2 Self-tapping screws (length=1.25")
- 2 Plastic wall anchors
- Quick Installation Guide
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More details on the Honeywell Lyric C2 Camera
Product Research
Overview: The Honeywell Lyric C2 Wi-Fi Security Camera lets you keep an eye on your property from virtually anywhere. Using the Lyric app, you can receive alerts whenever motion or sounds are detected, or let you live stream from the camera whenever you like. The camera comes with a tilting stand, a 6' power cable, and an 8 GB microSD memory card.
Video/Photos: The 1080p Full HD camera can record videos (MPEG-4 H.264 compression) or take 1 MP JPEG photos. When motion or sound is detected, the camera records a 30 second clip (5 seconds before the sound or motion and 25 seconds after), then uploads it to the free secure cloud storage and sends you a notification. If the cloud is unavailable or the camera is not connected to the internet, the clips are stored on the SD card, and uploaded to the cloud when the connection is restored. Live streams are not saved.
Lens: The C2 Wi-Fi Security Camera has a wide-angle lens with a 145° view so there's no need to tilt or pan. The 6x digital zoom allows you to get a closeup of the desired portion of the scene.
Wi-Fi: The camera features Wi-Fi connectivity, and is compatible with IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, Dual Band 2.4/5 GHz. It operates on a minimum bandwidth of 2.048 Mbps for 1080p, or 1.024 Mbps for 720p.
Lyric App: The C2 Wi-Fi Security Camera can be controlled by your smartphone, tablet, or laptop through your home Wi-Fi network. Through the Honeywell Lyric app, you can view and change settings from anywhere, and receive alerts if motion or sounds are detected. The Honeywell Lyric app is compatible with smartphones and tablets running iOS 9.0 or later, or Android 4.3 and up.
Motion/Sound Detection: When the camera detects a sound or motion, it will send an alert to the app. You can set the sensitivity of the Motion Detection from low (detects only big movement) to high (detects all movement and changes in environment), or turn off motion detection. Likewise, you can set the Sound Detection from Low (loud sounds only: 80-100 decibels) to High (all sounds (10-100 decibels), or off. The camera's Intelligent Sound Detection can determine when the sound detected is coming from your smoke or carbon monoxide detector, and will send you an alert that the smoke or CO alarm is detected. The camera can also detect a baby's cry and alert you on the app.
Note: The camera has been tested to detect smoke and CO detectors from Honeywell, First Alert, Kidde, and Nest. If your detector brand is not listed, you can still test the camera for compatibility.
Detection Zones: Using the Lyric App, you can set up to four Detection Zones for extra sensitivity or to ignore background motion, such as a ceiling fan. Each zone has its own sensitivity setting (low to high). The zones cannot overlap.
Geofencing: You can use geofencing to determine when to turn the camera on or off. Using the location of your mobile device, the Lyric app can sense whether you are away or at home, and can turn the camera on or off as desired. The geofence radius can be configured on a map in the app.
Night Vision: The camera has Night Vision up to 32.8 feet (10 meters). The app's Night Vision settings can be set to Always On, Always Off, or Auto (camera adjusts the settings automatically).
Two-way Audio: The Lyric C2 Wi-Fi Security camera provides two-way audio capability between your smartphone or tablet and the camera. This lets you speak to anyone in your home from your smartphone, whether it's greeting the kids when they arrive home from school, or telling an intruder in your home to get out.
microSD: The camera has a slot for a microSD memory card. The card can be used to store photos and videos recorded by the camera, in case the camera's connection to the cloud is lost. The slot will accept microSD cards up to 64 GB. Cards with an SD Speed Class rating of 10 are recommended. An 8 GB card is included.
Mounting Options: The Wi-Fi Security Camera can be surface mounted, using the supplied adjustable stand. The camera can be tilted forward or backward nearly 180° for best view. You can also wall-mount or ceiling-mount the stand. The stand can be easily removed for wall mounting the camera alone using the built-in keyhole slot. Mounting screws and wall anchors are included.
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DICHOTIC LISTENING TASK (Consonant-Vowel approach)
Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (firstname.lastname@example.com) for Millisecond Software, LLC
Date: 04-02-2012
last updated: 01-15-2016 by K.Borchert (email@example.com) for Millisecond Software LLC
Copyright © 01-15-2016 Millisecond Software
This script implements the primed dichotic listening task using the Consonant-Vowel (CV) Nonsense Syllables
approach described in:
Saetrevik, B. & Hugdahl, K. (2007) . Endogeneous and exogeneous control of attention in dichotic listening.
Neuropsychology, 21, 285-290.
After hearing two nonsense syllables simultaneously spoken in the left and right ear, participant are asked to select their target
(=depends on instructions) out of 6 possible choices. The target is determined by the instructions that participants receive that
may specify which ear (left or right) to pay attention to. In this experiment, participants also listen to a prime syllable that is
played in both ears BEFORE the simultaneous probe syllables are played. The prime can match one of the two probe syllables or none.
The default data stored in the data files are:
(1) Raw data file: 'DichoticListening_syllables_raw*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
build: Inquisit build
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on
date, time, subject, group: date and time script was run with the current subject/groupnumber (values.group used to counterbalance color)
blockcode, blocknum: the name and number of the current block
trialcode, trialnum: the name and number of the currently recorded trial
(Note: not all trials that are run might record data)
primecondition: 0 = noprime, 1 = left; 2 = right (codes the current prime condition)
left/right/prime: the index of the left/right/prime syllable
response: the participant's response (e.g. selected button)
correct: the correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = error)
latency: the response latency (in ms)
values.response: 0 = error (response does not match left or right syllable)
1 = response matches left syllable
2 = response matches right syllable
(2) Summary data file: 'DichoticListening_syllables_summary*.iqdat' (a separate file for each participant)
script.startdate: date script was run
script.starttime: time script was started
script.subjectid: subject id number
script.groupid: assigned group id
values.group: group subject was assigned to
script.elapsedtime: time it took to run script (in ms)
computer.platform: the platform the script was run on
/completed: 0 = script was not completed; 1 = script was completed (all conditions run)
sumleftresponses/sumrightresponses: total of all left matching/right matching responses
Trial Flow:
Prime (both ears) ---500ms pause--> Targets (left/right ear) ---500ms---> Response Screen: 6 possible syllables arranged in a clockwise fashion
Experimental Design:
(I) 3 within subject instruction blocks
1) NF (not-forced): instructions don't specify which ear to pay attention to ("Select the one you heard best")
2) LF (left-forced): instructions specify to pay attention only to the LEFT ear ("Select the left target")
3) RF (right-forced): instructions specify to pay attention only to the RIGHT ear ("Select the right target")
After a short practice session (NF), the script starts every participant in condition NF. The order LF-RF / RF-LF is then counterbalanced
between participants by groupnumber. There are 80 trials in each instruction condition (=240 trials total)
(see Saetrevik & Hugdahl, 2007).
(II) 3 within priming conditions
1) No prime: the prime is unrelated to the target syllables
2) Left prime: the prime is the left target syllables
3) Right prime: the prime is the right target syllables
the 3 priming conditions are randomly sampled (without replacement) during each instruction condition:
50% of the trials in each instruction conditions are noprimes (40trials), 25% are left primes (20trials), and 25% are right primes (20trials)
(see Saetrevik & Hugdahl, 2007)
(III) Dichotic Listening Task (trial.dichotic: presentation of target syllables, trial.dichoticresponse: selection of target syllable out of 6 possible targets):
*6 possible syllables: ba, ga, ta, ka, pa, da (spoken by a male native American English speaker)
*30 different pairings (no pairings of same syllables)
=> 8 x 30 = 240 trials, randomly distributed over the three instruction conditions
Note: if only the dichotic listening task is of interest check out
trial.dichotic: presentation of target syllables
trial.dichoticresponse: selection of target syllables out of 6 possible targets
as well as the necessary stimuli that go with it.
NOTE: Difference between script and Saetrevik & Hugdahl (2007):
a) The x/y screen positions of the 6 possible syllables targets in a clocklike arrangement is randomly determined for each participant in the script.
It is counterbalanced by Saetrevik & Hugdahl (2007).
b) the pause between targets and response screen was not explicitly specified in Saetrevik & Hugdahl (2007) (to the best of our knowledge).
It is set to 500ms (default) in this script and can be easily edited under Editable Parameters.
check below for (relatively) easily editable parameters, stimuli, instructions etc.
Keep in mind that you can use this script as a template and therefore always "mess" with the entire code to further customize your experiment.
The parameters you can change are:
prime_posttrialpause: sets the pause after the prime is presented in ms (default: 500ms)
dichotic_posttrialpause: sets the pause after the dichotic pairs are presented in ms (default: 500ms)
dichoticresponse_posttrialpause: sets the pause after the response is made in in ms (default: 800ms)


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I am Bread is an unusual game where players take control of a sentient slice of bread whose sole purpose is to become toasted and then presumably eaten. The game itself is an action platformer and as you can imagine the world around you is scaled up to simulate the perspective of your standard loaf. Using a gamepad or keyboard, players move by coordinating button presses set to the four corners of a slice allowing them to flick-flack and tumble around the environment like a slinky or domino. Not only that, this clever slice of sourdough can also scale any surface and grab objects in the environment that would otherwise hinder its progress to the toaster.
Each level starts with players detaching themselves from their loaf and then the race is on to find a suitable heat source, usually found at the other side of the room. Currently the game has four levels available to play out of a potential seven and surprisingly you're not confined to the kitchen, other locations include the lounge, bedroom and even the bathroom. With each room comes new obstacles and more creative ways to toast, why not drape yourself over the grate of a radiator or between a pair of hair straighteners. Players must pay mind to the edibility meter which drops when the bread becomes soiled and a grip meter when climbing. Hazards to avoid can range from dirt, ants and mould to bigger obstacles like sinks, toilets and dog baskets. The entire floor must be avoided at all costs, fortunately the game is less strict than the universal three second rule, meaning you can still make a quick save at the cost of your final score.
So how does it play? Pretty good actually. The unconventional control system feels strange at first but ultimately satisfying once you get your head around the rhythm of moving. Anyone who is familiar with the online flash game QWOP will see some similarities here. In general the game feels like a rock climbing and gymnastics simulator and it would have been nice to have expanded upon this if developers allowed players to perform tricks that award more points, adding another layer to the gameplay. Whilst the "floor is lava" mechanic is a fun concept, experimenting with and abusing the games crazy physics are the real draw here and this feels like a conscious decision made by the developers.
As mentioned before most levels have a selection of silly props that can be interacted with and it's fun to just smash into things and wreck the home in a manner that no sane person would do in real life. What is unfortunate is the reuse of a lot of these assets between levels which just feels a bit lazy and makes the game look bland on the whole.
With the advent of Youtube game commentaries, it has been a great platform for indies to get exposure and games that are as wacky and off-beat as I am Bread are proving quite popular. The game's developers got a lot of this exposure with their previous game Surgeon Simulator which shared a similar sense of humour and the the knowledge gained from this has led them to include an in game .gif creator to easily share fun moments.
I am Bread may seem a bit kitsch when you take this into consideration but with that said the game feels well built even in it's early access stage. During my play time I only encountered one bug that involved sticking to the environment and a couple of game crashes but I would still say that it's worthy of retail in it's current state. If you're a fan of this kind of off-beat, silly indie title then I would recommend it for a quick laugh and with it's small price of admission you won't be short of dough.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to email@example.com.
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text:
More detailed information about stringed instruments and the history of violin making.
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume: notes on his life and work
Mirecourt's new masters: contemporary violin making in Mirecourt
Violin makers and masters: archive "M-O"
Cremona - the early Lombard history of violin making
Matthias Klotz and pre-modern violin making in Mittenwald
The best contemporary violin makers from China and Taiwan
Old German Cello by Eduard Tauscher, circa 1920
As a young master luthier, Eduard Tauscher is said to have made his first violins from the wood of old roof shingles. While this choice of materials may seem inconceivable, there are similar examples elsewhere in the history of violin making: the great Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume travelled through many countries to purchase old furniture and timber as a "reservoir" of wood for his atelier, and George Gemunder crafted many violins out of the remainders of the colonial architecture in Manhattan. By 1920, the approximate time when this old cello was crafted, Eduard Tauscher was already well established in his field and thus in a position to obtain top-quality tone woods from other sources; the quality of the narrowly-flamed sycamore maple used for the two-piece back is evident at a glance. The instrument's exact provenance was unknown for a long time. It was not until a repair (which had absolutely no impact on the sound) was made on the top of the violin that we discovered Tauscher's original label, which was out of sight on the upper block. The cello hails from the atelier Tauscher operated alongside his flourishing trade in instruments. There was no financial necessity compelling him to work as a luthier, and the joy he took in crafting instruments can clearly be seen in this remarkably light cello. Its distinctive character is shaped by the dark-red and heavily touched-up varnish against a golden-brown background. The scroll is an unusually lovely carving of rare elegance. The cello from the Vogtland region of Saxony was carefully worked over by the specialists in our atelier, and its outstanding quality is apparent in its mature sound, which is warm and balanced, full of volume and character.


text:
12th-Feb-2011 03:35 am - it's that time of the year again
22nd-Aug-2010 12:32 am - your mind just became a very beautiful crime scene.
12th-Aug-2010 02:37 am - I LOVE MOVING PICTURES!
29th-Jul-2010 12:06 am - AND TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME!
4th-Oct-2009 04:32 pm - if you go down to the tropical rainforest tonight...
23rd-May-2009 02:01 pm - THE POWER OF AMAZING COMMANDS YOU!!!
25th-Feb-2009 05:32 pm - and boy have I got something to say
9th-Jan-2009 07:24 am - Greetings from Japan
7th-Jan-2009 10:33 pm - I AM NOT YAMAMOTO TAKESHI
27th-Oct-2008 11:39 pm - a blast from the past that's coming up FAST