text:
Soviet Sci-Fi part 1: pre-Tarkovsky
Chapter 1: Soviet Silents
- Aelita: the decline of Mars (1923) a novel by Alexei Tolstoy anti-Bolshevic White and later a prosecutor of Nazis
- Aelita (1924) Russian directed by Yakov Protazanov early influencer and emigre
- Cosmic Voyage (1935) Soviet Mosfilm, patriotic, incredible models, (rabbit, man, woman and child, the moon)
Chapter 2: Escape Velocity
Sputnik launched October 1957'
- Road to the Stars (1957) out November docudrama influence on 2001 Pavel Klushantsev , first part about Konstantin Tsiolkovskyta
- The Sky is Calling AKA The Battle Beyond the Sun (1959) (a movie about the space race that got a USSR and American version)
Chapter 3: Venus
- The Silent Star (1960) Kurt Maetzig, based on Stanislaw Lem's The Astronauts
1961 Yuri Gagarin first man in space
- Planet of the Storms (1962) Pavel Klushantsev
- Ikarie XB-1 (1963) Czech, Jindrich Polack based on Stanislaw Lem's The Magellanic Cloud.
Tales from the Crypt
Show Notes in progress for our Tales From The Crypt episode. Happy Halloween!
Liquid Sky, the key to heaven
You can watch Liquid Sky (1982) here.
Chapter 1: Me and My Rhythm Box
Paula Shepard is Cinematic Oblivion's favorite actress
Sci Fi was big in 1982 (Blade Runner, The Thing, E.T. Tron, Wrath of Khan)
Chapter 2: Infrared and Neon
Infrared Alien Eye
The first image of the film is a mask, and we see an explosion that will be a constant. Super long without visuals. Like a universe being born.
Super cheap
NSFW: Cafe Flesh (1982) is a very aesthetically similar film that came out the same year,
If we were to introduce this film at a theater we would warn everyone that it is not a friendly movie, and that it includes multiple depictions of sexual assault.
This film participates in the tradition of the Marquis de Sade's Justine: or Good Virtue Well Chastised as well as the Kim Bauer syndrome. The film is arguably either feminist or exploitative (due to it's its brilliance of execution and aesthetic as well as its 2/3's authorship by women we believe it to be a feminist film.)
Fashion of the early 80's
Disjointed, "Electro-Clash" music, specifically Adrian's poetry.
Urban Decay
Grimey decadence
Gender Bending
Hand-held camera
Negative and washed out effects
Brakhage and Anger influences
Chapter 3: Pleasure Victim
Liquid Sky means Heroin ("the key to heaven)
Margaret/Jimmy are drug-addicted models and Adrian is the drug-dealer, artist, and performer with a crazy mother. Margaret ran away from a rich Connecticut life.
The Alien eats up anyone who has an orgasm.
The straight-laced couple with the husband doing heroin.
who also buys it from Adrian and also rapes Margaret.
Owen, the teacher
Johann is the scientist
During Orgasm the glass arrow appears.
Aliens kill Owen, then the heroin husband, then Jimmy, then Adrian
Ending with Margaret
Chapter 4: Napoleon in Rags
The title of this chapter references Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone," which is often interpreted as a farewell song to Edie Sedgwick, a young model who fell into the Andy Warhol "Factory" scene of the late 6o's. She died young, and Margaret seems a clear parallel.
Jouissance (In the most basic terms, an excess of the pleasure principle into pain, like Freud's Thanatos or death drive. Additionally it is a narcissistic pleasure which isolates the person)
A major theme of this film is the vacuously idealistic hippies of the 60's vs. the self-aware hedonists of the 80's i.e. Owen vs. Margaret (weed v. heroin) (Adrian's "go to hell song" as the 80's nihilism. She sits on the corpse's face in a regal Queen of the Damned aesthetic
Worth noting that the AIDS epidemic had just kicked off
The sight of the Empire State Building behind Margaret looks like a needle piercing the Liquid Sky
The studio on Ealing Green was originally known as Associated Talking Pictures and produced comedies with stars like Gracie Fields, George Formby, Stanley Holloway and Will Hay. They also made a series of WWII films such as Went the Day Well? (1942), The Foreman Went to France (1942), Undercover (1943), and San Demetrio London (1943).
In 1945, Ealing made its name with the horror anthology film Dead of Night which inspired the steady-state theory of the universe.
In 1949 Ealing made a splash with post-war comedies that riffed on the pains of rationing, such as Whisky Galore! (1949) and Passport to Pimlico (1949). These films celebrated British regionalism.
Alec Guiness become a comedy star in several Ealing films such as Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955)
Story of a Three- Day Pass (1968)
Watermelon Man (1970)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
Baadasssss! (2004)
El Diablo Mexicano
According to the journal article Mira Lo Que Hace El Diablo by Sonia Lipsett-Rivera, the 18th and 19th centuries saw the introduction of Satan into the common parlance of indigenous Mexicans. Everyday inconveniences, cruelties, and moral failings were casually attributed to the Devil, as though his influence were omnipresent.
Santa Claus (1959) is a Mexican kids' movie in which Santa Claus fights a war with The Devil for the souls of children. It is particularly enjoyable to watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode in which Mike, Crow, and Tom Servo savage the film.
Curse of the Doll People (1961) AKA Devil Doll Men is a very poorly made Mexican b-horror film which vaguely addresses themes of pre-colonial religious practices coming into conflict with Spanish Catholicism. Hard to sit through and, in our opinion, not worth watching, but relevant to this episode's themes.
Satanico Pandemonium (1975) AKA La Sexorcista is a gory, erotic nunsploitation film about a woman who is tempted from Catholicism into Satanism by a sexy, young version of the Devil.
Alucarda (1977) was our favorite film of the bunch, an artistically precise coming of age story about two girls who fall into love and Satanism at a Catholic boarding school.
Here Comes The Devil (2013) is an independent horror film that brings psychoanalytic fears of incest to life in the form of satanic corruption.
The Arctic
There are five main language groups in the Inuit language family.
A major research source for this episode was Ann Fienup-Riordan's book Freeze Frame: Alaska Eskimos in the Movies
Chapter 1: Allakariallak (pronounced [al.la.ka.ɢi.al.lak])
One of the earliest filmic depictions of the Arctic was Georges Meilles' Conquest of the North Pole.
William Van Valin was an explorer and teacher who came to Alaska in 1910 (sort of a colonialist) and made a predecessor to Nanook called Tip-Top of the Earth (1912-1919)
Robert Flaherty explored Hudson Bay in 1914 and 1916 and made some similar verité style films which he accidentally burnt up with a cigarette.
He then decided to go back and construct a "documentary": Nanook of the North (1921)
went back To Unvaga and filmed an Iñuk man named Allakariallak in various staged scenes.
The film is colonially condescending but has the same intentions as later Kunuk films; to showcase traditional Inuit methods. In our opinion, taken with a grain of salt, it is still a great film and worth watching.
the very same year as Nanook there was also Buster Keaton's The Frozen North which featured the same ice fishing gag.
Chapter 2: Agnasquiac
there was a major variation of Eskimo depictions after Nanook
- Kivalina of the Ice Lands (1925) highlighted the landscape including whales and ice but not many eskimos
- Justice of the Far North (1926) Red face depictions of Eskimos
- Frozen Justice (1929) pseudo-feminist racial purity anthem
Agnasquiac or Ray Wise was a mixed raced Alaskan actor. He was part Iñupiaq and part white. His dad abandoned him, his mom died in the Influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, and he was ultimately raised by his Iñupiaq grandma.
Later he worked on a boat called Silver Wave where he met explorer Knud Rasmussen and also Captain Kleinschmidt, who would later direct him.
He first starred in Primitive Love at age sixteen in 1926
He wrote a film called Modern Eskimos which no one picked up on but which might have been great
F.W. Murnau saw promise in him and tried to make a movie with him, which didn't pan out
Finally he starred in Igloo (1932), a film meant to showcase the Alaskan Eskimo lifestyle, but which depicted the lifestyle as a constant, brutal struggle for survival, borrowing moreso from the images of Nanook and other Canadian Inuktitut stories.
Ray Wise changed his name to Ray Mala after starring as Mala in the film Eskimo (1933) directed on location by W.S. Van Dyke, who hated the experience, based on the Greenland travelogue Der Eskimo by Peter Freuchen who also played the evil white captain in the film
Ray Mala was in a few other films before dying in his forties.
Chapter 3: Atanarjuat
Moving over North to the Iñuk of Igloolik, a different language group
The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo Legend
Mosha Michael might have been the first Inuit director.
He made the short films Natsik Hunting, The Hunters (Asivaqtiin) and Whale Hunting (Qilaluganiatut).
Zacharias Kunuk first made a series for Canadian television called Nunavut: Our Land
His Nunavut Trilogy includes the first feature films directed by an Inuit director and in the Inuktitut language:
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) our absolute favorite of the bunch.
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006)
Before Tomorrow (2008) produced by Kunuk and directed by Marie- Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu.
Arnait Video Productions is a Women's Video Workshop of Igloolik which made the films:
Anaana (Mother) (2001)
Unakuluk (Dear Little One) (2005)
Before Tomorrow (2008)
Uvanga (2013)
Sol (2014) (true-crime documentary)
Chapter 4: Ethan
The Searchers (1956) reimagined as Maliglutit (2017). Ethan becomes Kuanana.
We believe that there is potential for a new subgenre: Northerns.
How do you watch Burst City?
Chapter 1: How do you watch Experimental Film?
- The Return to Reason (1923)
- Anemic Cinema (1926)
- Un Chien Andalou (1929)
- Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Ferdinand the Bull (1937) (made it when he was 10) (lost film)
-Tinsel Tree (1941-1942)
-Fireworks (1947)
- Scorpio Rising (1964)
- Dog Star Man (1964)
- Thunder (1982)
2. Chapter 2: Cyberpunk v. Japanese Cyberpunk
Tron (1982), Blade Runner (1982), Neuromancer (1984) Snow Crash (1992) , Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Japanese Cyberpunk:
Panic in High School (1976) Crazy Thunder Road (1980) Burst City (1982), Electric Dragon 80,000v (2001)
Chapter 3: How do you watch Burst City?
Let us know at firstname.lastname@example.com
Slashers part 3: an American genre (1979-1989)
|He Knows You're Alone (1980)
|Rituals (1977)
|Tourist Trap (1979)
|Black Christmas (1974)
|To All A Good Night (1980)
|Prom Night (1980)
|Friday the 13th (1980)
|Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
|Graduation Day (1981)
|The Funhouse (1981)
|Friday the 13th part II (1981)
|Halloween (1978)
|Happy Birthday To Me (1981)
|Terror Train (1981)
|The Burning (1981)
|Just Before Dawn (1981)
|Madman (1982)
|The Slumber Party
Massacre (1982)
|Hell Night (1981)
|Sleepaway Camp (1983)
|Mortuary (1983)
|Girls Nite Out (1982)
|Halloween II (1981)
|The Final Terror (1983)
|Scalps (1983)
|Alone in the Dark (1982)
|The Prowler (1981)
|A Nightmare on
Elm Street (1984)
|Friday the 13th:
A New Beginning (1985)
|Friday the 13th Part 3
in 3-D (1982)
|My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Massacre II (1987)
|Return to Horror High (1987)
|Friday the 13th:
The Final Chapter (1984)
|The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1981)
|A Nightmare on
Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
|April Fools Day (1986)
|Curtains (1983)
|Sleepaway Camp II:
Unhappy Campers (1988)
|Friday the 13th Part VI:
Jason Lives (1986)
|A Nightmare on Elm Street 2:
Freddy's Revenge (1985)
|Sleepaway Camp III:
Teenage Wasteland (1989)
|Cheerleader Camp (1988)
|The House on Sorority Row (1983)
|Friday the 13th Part VIII:
Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
|A Nightmare on Elm Street 5:
The Dream Child (1989)
|A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:
Dream Warriors (1987)
|Shocker (1989)
|Blood Rage (1987)
|Friday the 13th Part VII:
The New Blood (1988)
|Halloween 4:
The Return of
Michael Myers (1988)
|Halloween 5:
The Revenge of
Michael Myers (1989)
|Intruder (1989)
Links to the above films (in order of release):
1. Black Christmas (1974)
2. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
3. Rituals (1977)
4. Halloween (1978)
5. Tourist Trap (1979)
6. To All A Good Night (1980)
7. Friday the 13th (1980)
8. Prom Night (1980)
9. He Knows You're Alone (1980)
10. The Funhouse (1981)
11. Night School (1981)
12. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
13. Graduation Day (1981)
14. The Burning (1981)
15. Final Exam (1981)
16. Hell Night (1981)
17. Just Before Dawn (1981)
18. Halloween II (1981)
19. The Prowler (1981)
20. Madman (1982)
21. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)
22. Girls Nite Out (1982)
23. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
24. Alone in the Dark (1982)
25. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
26. The House on Sorority Row (1983)
27. Curtains (1983)
28. The Final Terror (1983)
29. Mortuary (1983)
30. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
31. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
32. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
33. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
34. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
35. April Fools Day (1986)
36. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
37. Return to Horror High (1987)
38. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
39. Blood Rage (1987)
40. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
41. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
42. Cheerleader Camp (1988) (try it with Nick's alternative soundtrack)
42. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Omissions/Corrections from Episode1
Cluedo/Clue (1949 release) as inspired by And Then There Were None
Night of the Hunter (1955)
Gialli not Giallos (shoutout to u/Thread_Shitter)
Your Vice is a locked room and only I have the key not door
Vincent Price's Theater of Blood (and Phibes)
Chapter 1- Head Cheese
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) released in October
This film revisits Ed Gein as Psycho (1960) did earlier.
Child of God (1973)
A similar concept film had been made earlier called Three on a Meathook (1972). We only know it from the trailer.
Cheap, modest, and effective Texas Chainsaw still scares people to this day.
R.I.P. Tobe Hooper
Chapter 2- The Madonna
Black Christmas (1974) is usually cited as the first slasher film. It kind of flew under the radar and it didn't kick off the trend. It was a flash in the pan, which wouldn't resurge as a solid genre until four years later.
The tradition of Christmas horror stories goes back all the way to the origins of Christmas "there'll be scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of Christmases long long ago…"
Many previous horror films were themed around Christmas; Home for the Holidays (1972), Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), and the original Tales from the Crypt (1972).
There is a holy trinity of slasher importance in Black Christmas:
The Final Girl/and femininity vs. masculinity as a theme is solidified
The Mystery Killer, in this case such a mystery as to offer no reveal
The Living Metaphor, as the abortion subplot inverts the birth festival of Christmas from a White Christmas into a Black Christmas.
Carrie (1976)
Carrie is less a slasher and more a full blown massacre film. It is mostly a dark, teen drama until the bloody ending. But the entire story is built around the concept of a girl coming of age, discovering the horrors of womanhood, and then discovering the unbridled power of womanhood, which she directs in fury toward her classmates.
The opening scene of Carrie is her first period, the blood of maturity. The last scene is her covered in pig's blood and then the slaughter of the prom and her own mother, in full Elektra fury (hearkening back to Greek Tragedy). The chiasmus of the Final Girl is cemented. Her mother's obsessive Christianity reinforces these themes.
In a more practical sense, the jump scare at the end of Carrie would be mimicked repeatedly by Tom Savini in future slashers, directly giving birth to Jason Voorhees.
Alice Sweet Alice AKA Communion (1976)
A girl coming of age and learning the horrors of both active sexuality, in the guise of wicked men, and stifled sexuality in the roles of women within the church, ends at a crossroads of which path she will take.
The film details her Communion, a Catholic symbol of maturity in which the blood of Christ reflects the blood of menstruation
A lot of blood in this chapter. Are you beginning to see what we mean when we say Slashers are Living Metaphors?
Chapter 3: Sawney Bean
Sawney Bean is a Scottish legend. I highly recommend the episode of Ghastly Tales of Scotland about him from which we drew research as well as our sound clip.
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Wes Craven's particular breed of upsetting, joyless, long-form violence.
Contributors to the mood of the era briefly include Jaws, Deep Red, Burnt Offerings, The Killer Inside Me, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Who Can Kill a Child, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
Suspiria (1977) comes out, the most well-known Giallo, a highly overrated film. A call and response has begun between Italy and America on who can perfect the genre first.
Willy Wonka (released in 1971 and distributed continuously through 1977) includes the one by one narrowing of focus. Willy Wonka also foreshadows the popularity of slasher villains, and the humor of a late stage Freddy or Jason.
High Anxiety (1977) signals the distinct end of the Hitchcock era, and the need for a new breed of suspense.
Chapter 4: Haddonfield
John Carpenter established himself as a genre director early on, covering sci-fi, gritty action, and horror.
The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) written by Carpenter, was an attempt to translate the Giallo into an American crime film
Are you in the House Alone? (1978) Released in September and very appropriate to "Madonna" theory. An after school special more in the style of Thirteen Reasons Why.
Someone's Watching Me (1978) released in November
Halloween (1978) released in October. Regarded incorrectly by many as the first slasher, but definitely the film that put slashers on the map and ignited the craze.
The music and cinematography played a key part in the film's success.
The suburban setting, changed the tone from Laura Mars, reducing the French Connection feel. Haddonfield feels nostalgic for old school Americana, Washington Irving, Norman Rockwell. Rear Window (1954). This ubiquitous nostalgiafornotime is invaded by the embodiment of evil, who grew up wrong, interrupting the development of a group of teenage girls trying to grow up right.
Misattributions of virginity to Final Girls begin here.
Slashers part 2: the turning point
Slashers part 1: prototypes (1200 BC - 1973)
Chapter 1: Theater of Blood (STING from: Oedipus (1957)
- The Iliad (1200 B.C.ish) in which we learn about a huge cast of characters mostly through their violent deaths.
Greek Tragedies: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Trojan Women, Medea
- Metamorphoses (about 4 A.D.) by Ovid contains the grisly story of Procne:
Procne's husband Tereus rapes and mutilates Procne's sister, Philomela, so Procne cooks their son Itylos and feeds him to Tereus
- Titus Andronicus (1588ish) by Shakespeare includes a retooled version of the Procne story at the end.
(Dinner scene SOUND CLIP from the Julie Taymor film rendition Titus)
This play is central to the beginning of the Jacobean Revenge theater era which includes others such as:
The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd
- The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe (who some theorize may have been Shakespeare)
- The Revenger's Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur (more commonly attributed to Thomas Middleton nowadays)
Shakespeare pursued this format for Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth among others.
Penny Dreadfuls were cheap pulp novels also called Penny Awfuls, Penny Horribles, and Penny Bloods which featured gory, gothic stories like A String of Pearls (1846) which featured the murderous barber Sweeney Todd. (SOUND CLIP from the Original Broadway Cast Recording 1979)
The Grand Guignol was a theater in Paris which opened in 1897. The name literally means Big Puppet The plays were usually short comedies or splatterfests, often about madness and revenge with inventive special effects and gore effects
Harry mentioned The Orgy in the Lighthouse (date unknown)
Nick & Harry acted out A Crime in the Madhouse (1925)
Chapter 2: Old, Dark Houses (STING: from The Old Dark House (1932)
The first film to feature a freaky, old house was The Haunted Castle (1896) from Georges Méliès
The Bat (1926) based on a play from (1920) has many prototypical slasher elements:
- Old Dark House
- Supervillain Costume
- Large cast of characters dying or disappearing one by one
- Signature weaponry
- Proto-final girl in The Old Lady who's Always Knitting. She's clever and outsmarts the super villain and many others. These qualities make sense in an older, more experienced woman, but they will be reassigned to teenage girls later on which will make precociousness the defining quality of a final girl.
- It was remade multiple times
- The Bat Whispers (1930) in which the costume was reduced to a Prom Night style mask.
(CLIP: from the 1959 Vincent Price version, describing the bat.)
The Old Dark House (1932) deserves mention as the namesake of the genre.
Night of Terror (1933) is a particularly effective and portentous old dark house film. It contains some slasher elements such as:
- It begins with teenagers making out in a car when a maniac sneaks up.
- There are mystery killer(s) one who is scheming and one who is a maniac (straddling the line between traditional mystery and future psycho films)
- It contains a grotesque living burial subplot.
The Phantom Ship (1935) not all old dark house films have to be in a house)
And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie (changed from its original title) marks a distillation of the genre with a focus on the mystery angle. It is by all accounts the first true proto-slasher.
- The one by one killings, the narrowing of focus, a soldier broken from the ring.
- punishment for past crimes, the theme of past trauma as well as a children's song (CLIP: song from 1945 Rene Clair film)
- the killer is among us, one of us is the killer
- killings in the tableau style, such as the killing of the judge
- also we have a proto-Final Girl antihero in Vera Claythorne. She's not a very good person, her seeming youthful innocence is all pretense in the novel.
The House on Haunted Hill (1959) is probably the most well-known old dark house film, but verges more toward the haunted house genre.
These are usually films about people motivated by gain or revenge; practical motives for murder. In the late 50's and early 60's we see a transition into people who kill for stranger reasons, or for no reason at all.
Chapter 3: Psychos (STING: from Psycho (1960)
- The origins of films about madness lie in Grand Guignol but also in German expressionism such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) up through Night of the Hunter (1955)
A great proto-slasher about a psycho killer is The Leopard Man (1943) Like the Bat a killer associates himself with an animal, not for gain, but rather out of insanity.
Without Warning (1952) is a film noir that studies a psychosexual killer.
A Bucket of Blood (1959) represents a cross-section of practical motive (avoiding arrest, creating art) and insanity and also serves as a fantastic satire of beatnik culture. It's plot is a remix of two previous films; Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and House of Wax (1953)
In 1960 we get the seminal suspense classic Psycho. This marks a major turning point wherein horror returned to its Grand Guignol roots and became about mental illness. Important to note that, similar to the problematic depiction of a black character in Night of Terror, this was based partially on the assumption that all trans people had the same mental problems as Ed Gein, which is a gross oversimplification.
For a thorough history of Ed Gein check out the three-part Gein episode of Last Podcast on the Left.
Janet Leigh, the main actress of Psycho, is the mother of future final girl Jamie Lee Curtis.
Norman Bates, the antagonist of Psycho, remained relevant 30 years after the film's release and was mentioned in several rap songs such as the sampled clips from All Black by Big L, Shimmy Shimmy Ya by Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Role Model by Eminem.
Dementia 13 (1963) is Coppola's first film and a good remix of the Psycho format
Homicidal (1961) from William Castle is a bad rip-off of the Psycho format.
Peeping Tom (1962) represents another kind of film as it studies a psycho-killer but contains no mystery.
Chapter 4: Giallos (STING: Blood and Black Lace trailer)
(edit: we realized after the fact that the correct plural of Giallo is Gialli. Oops.)
A Giallo is an Italian pulp, murder mystery,.
Blood and Black Lace (1964) has the feel of a Shakespearian tragedy as one murder begets several out of intertwining complications. It also contains a masked killer and sexualized violence (probably for exploitative reasons, which will transform into a more meaningful living metaphor in American renditions)
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) from Dario Argento also deserves mention as it contains mystery elements, a psycho killer, and established many mainstays of the Giallo.
- A Bay of Blood (1971) was decried for gratuitous violence in its time, but is now viewed as highly influential. While it has many slasher elements it lacks the proper building and maintaining of suspense which will be perfected later on in Slashers. Friday the 13th (1980), which we will discuss in Part 3, is a far better interpretation of this film. Insanity has no part in the killings but teenagers do, as does sexuality, the living metaphor. In the end a murder committed by two maladapted children foreshadows slasher villains.
Your Vice is a Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (1972) marks Giallo sexuality at its height. Based on Poe's The Black Cat. Directed by Sergio Martino who also made:
Torso (1973) one year before the first slashers, which has many overt slasher elements; psycho killer, sexualized violence, and long suspenseful sequences, ala Hitchcock.
The key to the best Slashers is suspense. The gore should only function as a reinforcement of the living metaphor, not for exploitative purposes. This distinguishes slashers from splatter films.
The Many Nested Stories of Saragossa
buy At Home Among Strangers
buy Dauriya
Kabuki Masks
Watch Hell High here.
Watch Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare here.
Trailer for Stagecoach.


text:
The Town of Kure Beach handles a wide variety of services for its residents and businesses. From in-town utility services and garbage collection to building inspections, we've got you covered!
Have a question? Town Hall is open Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. Please feel free to come in or call us at 910-458-8216, and we'll be happy to help you. You can also email us at email@example.com.
Report a Street Light Outage
To report a street light outage, call Town Hall with the pole number and we'll get it fixed! The pole number can be located at adult eye level on each pole.
Acceptable Forms of Payment
The Town of Kure Beach accepts payments in the form of cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard and Discover credit cards. Checks should be made out to the Town of Kure Beach.
Cable: Charter Communications
Electric: Duke Energy
Department of Motor Vehicles
Kure Beach Post Office
Federal Point Help Center

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ruth Wageman is one of the foremost scholars and practitioners studying and working with teams, especially leadership teams. The core of Ruth's research, teaching, and consulting has been focused on the conditions that influence superb team performance for the last thirty years. Ruth's work places particular emphasis on teams whose purpose is to solve complex problems and lead system transformation. She builds collaborative leadership capacity within and across organizations, especially with multi-stakeholder leadership groups working to transform regional health. Ruth has been a professor at Columbia, Dartmouth, and Harvard, where she has led many original research programs about the design and leadership of teams. Widely published in both academic literature and in the business press, Ruth wrote "Senior Leadership Teams: What it Takes to Make them Great," (HBS Press) with Deb Nunes, Jim Burruss, and Richard Hackman, as well as many seminal articles published in Organization Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review and Journal of Organiztional Behavior. Ruth designed the Team Diagnostic Survey with Richard Hackman and Erin Lehman. It is a powerful, well-validated assessment that measures team effectiveness and how well the Six Conditions that drive effectiveness are established for a team; she also leads accreditation workshops and supervises coaches in the use of the instrument in their practice.
Education & Accreditations:
- PhD., Organizational Behavior, Harvard University
- Masters in Social Psychology, Harvard
- Bachelors of Arts, Psychology, Columbia College, Columbia University
Professional Experience:
- Director of Stewardship, ReThink Health
- Visiting Scholar, Harvard Dept. of Psychology
- Professor of Management, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth
- Director of Research, Hay Group
- Leadership Fellow, Center for Public Leadership, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Professor of Management, Columbia Graduate School of Business Administration, Columbia University
Pauline is an Australian Organisational Psychologist & one of the foremost thinkers and leaders in professional practice associated with developing leaders and teams. She began working with teams as a Continuous Quality Improvement Facilitator & Coach in Healthcare organisations in the early 1990's before qualifying as a full member of the College of Organisational Psychologists in 1997. Born in Oxford UK Pauline emigrated to Australia as a child migrant in 1975 where she Studied Organisational Psychology at the University of Western Australia. After commencing work in the UK Pauline has also qualified as a Chartered Occupational Psychologist & holds registration to practice & supervise in both Australia & the UK. Pauline works internationally with clients Australia, UK, Europe, UAE & the US. Having discovered TDS Survey following publication of the 'Theory of Team Coaching article published in 2005, she connected and collaborated with Richard Hackman & his team. She has been closely involved with the redevelopment of the Team Diagnostic Survey for commercialisation and is a co-instructor as well as a co-ordinating supervisor for the new Team Diagnostic Survey Certification Programme.
Pauline is also a thought leader in the Coaching & Mentoring community. Founding the Coaching & Mentoring Network in 1999, she has been involved in many of the key projects associated with the professionalisation of Coaching & Mentoring. She is active in both Coaching & Psychological communities of practice & is currently the Western Australian State Chair of the Australian Psychological Society's College of Organisational Psychology as well as being Lead Judge for the Leadership & Coaching Category of the Australian Workplace Excellence Awards. Pauline remains to be an external advisor & member of the Business Advisory Group for the Business School at Oxford Brookes University. Pauline is also an assessor & learning advisor for Masters level Coaching, Neuroscience of Leadership & Forensic Psychology programmes awarded by Middlesex University.
Past roles associated with the development of Coaching & Mentoring as a profession include:-
- Past chair of the BPS Special Group in Coaching Psychology
- Founding executive board member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council
- Member of the Accreditation Committee of the Czech Coaching Association
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development's Coaching at Work Faculty
Krister Lowe, M.A., Ph.D., CPCC is an Organizational Psychologist, an Executive & Team Coach, and a Podcaster. Krister is the Host of the The Team Coaching Zone podcast–a weekly interview show that explores the art and science of team coaching–and that has a listenership in more than 130 countries around the world. Dr. Lowe is a specialist in team coaching, conflict resolution and performance management and has more than fifteen years of experience consulting to diverse organizations in more than 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. His coaching, consulting, facilitation and training interventions have reached more than 25,000 people globally. He has expertise in a number of sectors including: international organizations, professional services, financial services, information technology, foundations, pharmaceuticals and education. Krister holds both a Master of Arts Degree and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. He has completed a number of additional training and certification programs including:
- Coaches Training Institute (CTI): Coach Training & Certification Program (CPCC)
- Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC): Systemic Team Coaching Certificate Training Program
- Pyramid Resource Group: The Team Advantage Team Coach CertificateTraining Program
- Team Coaching International (TCI): Team Coaching Master Class Certificate Training Program
- Certified Team Diagnostic Survey Practitioner by Team Diagnostics, LLC.
- Certified Team Emotional Intelligence Survey Practitioners by GEI Partners and Ei World
- Columbia University's Certificate in Conflict Resolution at the International Center for Cooperation & Conflict Resolution (ICCCR)
- Mediator Certification in New York State
- NBI Thinking Preferences Assessment Certification (www.NBICertification.com)
- LeaderNation 360 Degree Multi-Rater Feedback Instrument Certification (www.LeaderNation.com)


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About Me
I love pushing the limits on writing poetry. Not everyone's cup of tea but maybe a few will enjoy the twists and turns, the simple, the depth of simplicity, the bizarre and the ridiculous. Strindberg said.
" When I come home and sit at my writing table, then I live.... I live, and I live in manifold fashion of all human beings. I depict; I am glad with the glad, wicked with the wicked, good with the good; I creep out of my own self and speak with the mouth of a child, a woman, or an old man; I am King and beggar,... I hold all opinions, confess all religions; I live in all epochs and have myself ceased to be."


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LONDON (Reuters) - Two government-requested reports published on Tuesday recommend radical measures to inject more competition and tougher scrutiny of Britain's "Big Four"-dominated audit market.
The aim is to increase choice in a sector where Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG check the books of most big listed companies.
The first report from John Kingman, chair of UK insurer Legal & General, looks at how to toughen up supervision of auditing. The second from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), looks at changes to the audit market itself.
Both seek to meet lawmaker calls for a shake-up after the collapse of retailer BHS and outsourcer Carillion left hundreds of people out of a job.
Yes. Kingman proposes scrapping the existing audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), and replacing it with a new, more powerful Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority or ARGA, a move described as bold and historic by lawmakers.
It would have powers to pursue any company director and not just those who are a member of an accounting professional body like the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), heralding the end of industry self-regulation.
ARGA would become a regulator where people work to enhance their career rather than a place to see out their days in accounting.
It is a radical move, but Kingman felt a fresh start is needed given the number of accounting scandals Britain has seen and too little focus on consumers of financial information.
It would also cut down on wordy annual reports that drown investors in hundreds of boilerplate-filled pages.
Bit of a turn up here too.
The watchdog wants to force Britain's top 350 listed companies to hire two auditors to improve quality and give smaller accounting firms a leg-up into the top end of the market to widen choice over time.
The industry had called for caps on how many audits a Big Four firm can conduct, and a ban on accounting firms offering audit and advisory services to the same company, neither of which has been recommended.
Accounting firms would have to run their audit and advisory services as two separate organisations, however, making a decision to break up the firms in future easier.
Creating a new watchdog and mandating joint audits would need legislation passed in a parliament clogged up with Brexit. Senior lawmakers like Rachel Reeves who chairs parliament's business committee, are determined to push through the new measures, however.
Kingman has said some of the more modest changes could be made even if there is no new law, such as changing the board, fixing the budget and bringing in new duties.
Too often for many lawmakers.
The European Union and Britain's FRC have both introduced reforms in recent years to loosen the Big Four's grip.
But so far, the measures simply speeded up a merry-go-round of companies swapping one Big Four auditor for another, which is why lawmakers appear more determined to make changes this time round.
The CMA has kept some powder dry, hinting it could break up the Big Four, as called for by some lawmakers, if the new proposals do not work.
Britain is still not going as far as Sarbanes-Oxley, the 2002 U.S. reform of auditing that forces management of a company to certify the accuracy of financial statements.
Accountants argue that the roots of current problems lie in a gap between what an audit can deliver as a snapshot in time of a company, and the more forward-looking assessment that the public and lawmakers expect.
Project Flora - named after the goddess of rebirth - was the working title for an independent review, launched by the government on Tuesday, of how audits could evolve to plug this gap.
It is chaired by Donald Brydon, outgoing chairman of the London Stock Exchange.
Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne


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You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'break ups' category.
For my sister's wedding almost four years ago, I began my battle of the bulge with 'Operation Megan Fox'. I was determined to look good for her special day and I didn't want to appear like a shlumpadinka in my dress. I stuck to it and dropped the weight using the Slim Fast Shakes and watching what I ate.I looked better and healthier too. I had intended on following through, but life always throws us some curve balls. In all honesty, I fell off and got back on the wagon many times since then. I couldn't figure out what the invisible force was that kept preventing me from accomplishing my goal of releasing my trapped thin self, until I did a detox earlier this year and discovered that unbeknownst to me, I was the invisible force, who kept poisoning my body with foods that I thought were healthy and good for me. While I had a silent allergy to them.
With this new-found knowledge of what foods weren't good for me, I gave away and threw out a lot of products to make room for foods that were nutritious for me. During the clean out, I also got rid of clothes I hadn't been able to fit into for a while, which served as a constant reminder of what I used to be and the intention of keeping them was to encourage me to get back into them, when all they did was depress the hell out of me, so I gave them to the needy. Throughout this process, I began to do a lot of reflecting. I looked within myself to see what baggage I had been holding on to and I found that I had quite a bit of unresolved issues, resentment and pain that had been weighing me down. It wasn't easy to let go of somethings because, it made me feel vulnerable and emotionally naked. I didn't like the feeling at first, because that's all I seemed to focus on and once I realized how much lighter I felt, I knew I had done the right thing.
Last Summer, I did a lot of growing up on my adventure to Central America as a chaperon for students and then visiting friends on the East Coast of the U.S. This summer, I decided it was time to face the problem head on and grab it by the horns. So, I booked my trip to a wellness spa retreat for 3 weeks in Slovakia, to reinvest in myself.
As the day of my departure grew nearer, I was excited but mostly nervous. I questioned myself and doubted my decision to do this. I could have gone to England and Ireland to see my family and friends for the money I was spending! How would I communicate with the people, they speak Slovakian and Russian mostly! The best I can do is count up to 4, say 'Yes' (Da) and Good bye (Dasvidanya)!
Thursday 24th July
I am up before the alarm clock and dashing around the house like the Tazmanian Devil from Loony Tunes, putting a few more items in my carry on and in my case. As well as making sure that I was leaving my flat in a decent condition for when I returned. At 7;45, I made my way downstairs and got into the waiting taxi to take me to Cairo International Airport. I sailed through the ticket counter and passport control. I met two acquaintances who we there traveling to enjoy their summers holidays. At 10am, I made my way to the gate and waited to board. The time came and the flight hadn't been announced. Travelers started to get nervous and began asking questions. 'The Flight has been delayed for maybe 40 minutes, they are preparing the aircraft' was the response from the men at the counter. A bad omen to the start of my trip, I wondered or am I being tested? The flight ended up being delayed for 2 hours and many passengers including myself were not at all pleased! It meant I would be arriving much later than expected and would lose out on my consultation with the doctors! The flight may have only been three and half hours to Vienna, but it felt like it took an eternity! When we finally landed, I whizzed through passport control, found my bag on the carousel and dashed out to find my chauffeur, who would drive the two hours or so hours to Piestany, in Slovakia. The ride was quite and long. The driver spoke very little English and it would have been difficult to make hand signals and explain myself that way, whilst he drove. So, I ended up just admiring the landscape and the green foliage until we arrived.
Thermia Palace is a large French like château on an island in the city/town of Piestany. The surrounding area around it was just so perfect and immaculate, I began to think I was on a movie set. It was so picturesque it could be on a postcard (I'm sure it is). I cringed at the thought of having to try to communicate with the hotel staff, but to my relief they spoke fairly good English. I checked in, was told my doctor's appointment would be at 10am the following morning and then I would receive my schedule of treatments and meet with the nutritionist. I got to my room and the first thing I did was take pictures of it before I unpacked and contacted my parents to let them know I had arrived safely. My phone for some bizarre reason hadn't automatically joined a network, so I had to depend on the hotel wi-fi to send messages.
After I had unpacked, I went for a leisurely stroll on the island to get my bearings. It was so nice to walk under the glow of street lamps and to the rhythm of rustling leaves in the summer breeze and not be harassed or gawked at by anyone. On my way back to the hotel, I held open the door for 3 women staying at the hotel and guess what…? 2 were from Egypt and 1 was from Lebanon!
Friday 25th July
I was up early after a much-needed rest. i dressed and went down for breakfast. I helped myself to the buffet, but chose my items wisely. After all, that's the whole purpose of the trip. Once I had finished, I went for a walk to see the island in the light. It was a warm day and everything was so fresh looking, like a crisp salad.
At 10am I went for my doctor's appointment, where I had my blood pressure measured, along with my waist, thighs and my height. My weight too! (how could I forget). After asking if I suffered from any pain, the doctor asked me to strip down to my undies to get a better look at me, (Talk about exposure, or so I thought). She checked my bone agility, my problem areas (tummy, waist, thighs) and feet. Once that examination was completed she had a brain storm while muttering in Slovakian an she finger pecked the keyboard all the treatments she wants me to do. The whole process took 20-30 minutes.
Once I got my schedule, I then visited the nutritionist, who gave me apple cider tablets to take with breakfast every morning and asked what I would usually eat, eating habits and if there where certain foods I didn't eat. When the meeting was done, I dashed back to my room, to grab my bathrobe and all the other items I would need for my afternoon of treatments.
First on the list was mud packs; sounds squidgy!
I get to the waiting area of where I need to be and a woman dressed all in white comes out and looks at my schedule and in a Slovakian accent asks me to wait one moment. Not long afterwards, I'm shown to a room, where, I am instructed to strip down to my skin and then I'm called into an adjoining room where, another woman also all in white, slabs down a cow pat of warm mud onto a bed covered in 3 different kind of sheets and instructs me to sit in it, while smearing mud on my tush. As I sit in the warm mud, I can feel it ooze into places, I wish I could prevent it from going to, I am then asked to lie down, where more mud is being generously applied on my problem areas; hip, knees and feet. As I'm being wrapped up like a new-born baby a cold metal ringed disk is placed on my chest and I am left for 20 minutes in dim lighting. Being cocoon with warm mud smeared on you, makes you drowsy. If it wasn't for the cold metal thingy-m'bob I think I would have turned into a soft-boiled egg. Every 5 minutes a person comes to check on you to make sure you're o.k and to wipes your face from sweat.
When the alarm goes off, after twenty minutes, you are unwrapped by two of the attendees and the mud is lightly scrapped off of you, so that you can get up. You are then led to a shower close by and left to wash off the mud. It's not as easy as it sounds. Just when you think you have gotten it off, you find more! (You'll find that when you take a shower later… more mud runs down the drain and for the life of you, you can't figure out where it had been.)
Once your cleaned off, you go back into your cubical where you are given a cup of sparkling water (Perrier) and then told to lie down and rest. Where you are wrapped up again and left to… rest. After a short length of time, the attendee comes in to unwrap you and declare the session over. You get dressed and she returns your schedule with a signature on it and with that, you're free to leave and make your way to your next treatment.
It's important you get there 5-10 min before your appointment and you have to take your schedule with you everywhere, they are very punctual when it comes to timing and won't allow you into a session if you don't have your 'card', schedule.
I have never really enjoyed the thought of someone's hands kneading my body like dough, until I had my first Thai massage in Gouna, so, I was looking forward to this. I know understand why people from Thermia Palace walk around in bathrobes. It saves them dressing and undressing several times. So, off come the clothes again and I lie on a bed in all my nakedness as a tall tanned short heard blond Slovakian woman massages my back for twenty minutes as I flinch when she works on the areas that are troubling me and then melt like butter when she massages the rest of my back with her oiled strong hands.
After the massage I am whisked into another room nearby, where I am asked to hop on to another bed and there's no need to take anything off. I lay on the bed and this plastic arch connected to a machine is slid and positioned above my mid-drift to allow magnetic waves to travel through my body. Again, I am left to drift off into the depths of my mind as the waves are left to do their work.
Behind door three, I am then asked to sit on a bed and put my foot on a stool. I am handed a funky pair of glasses to put on. The glasses remind me of the ones Doc and Marty wore in 'Back To The Future', except they were cooler and everything had a green tint to it. A gel was applied to a device that was then put to my Achilles heel as a woman with pale turquoise talon like nails rubbed it against my weak tendons on both feet for less that 5 minutes. When the machine sounded, my session was over. Now, I had some free time… before my last session of the day. What would I do?
I tried very hard to find the travel agency my mother ha d told me about when she had been here last summer because I wanted to rent a bicycle and see what day trips they offered to nearby cities and countries. I followed her directions to the 'T' but couldn't find the place. So, I decided to just walk. A past time I enjoy, but rarely do since the revolution, because Sexual Harassment was rampant on every street no matter how conservatively I dressed. While I'm here, I will be walking my little socks off until my butt cheeks wince in pain, begging me to stop! (I did, just that!)
Gymnastic Slim
I sat outside the room where the session was to be held on a hard wooden like bench. It was very reminiscent of films where students were sat outside the Headmaster or the Principles office when in trouble. Randa, the Lebanese woman whom I met my first night here was taking part in the class too. At precisely the time scheduled on the schedule, a small framed young girl came energetically up the stairs and opened the door. We waited a few moments for stragglers, but non came. We had our own private class. We each got an inflatable ball and sat on it as instructed. For a full 20 minutes, were bouncing on the ball waving our arms and hands and occasionally lifting our feet off the ground too. I had visions of one of us ending up like Humpty Dumpty, and going splat on the floor, just like the old children's nursery rhyme says, but we all made it to the end!
Wooohooo!! All sessions completed for the day!
After the session I had quite a bit of time to kill before dinner, so Randa and I got to chatting and we ended up walking across the Danube River and into town, as we talked about our lives and occupation. It was very pleasant to talk to someone who had been to Piestany many times before and someone from the region. After our walk I went up to my room to shower, change and read a bit before dinner.
As I entered the restaurant for the third time that day, the Manager of the restaurant informed me that it was assigned seating. Everyone had their own table for the entire duration of their stay. Which was new to me, but I just went with the flow. I was also told the nutritionist had sent down my meal program for the 20 days that I would be staying there. Having studied it while having dinner, I was impressed. They all sounded really tasty on paper, and I looked forward to trying each one!
Saturday 26th July
I awoke early and went down to breakfast early.My breakfast was quite a hearty and healthy one. A slice of toast, cottage cheese, slice of cold cut, one slice of Emmental Cheese, 2 boiled eggs, yogurt and on helping of raw oats, with a glass of fresh juice. Along with the two apple cider tablets, that I was instructed to take with breakfast. I was a stuffed dumpling after I was done. Seeing my first appointment wasn't until 9 am, I decided to help my digestive system and take a walk until it was time for my treatment. The calmness of the spa island is very relaxing. The stress I may have come with was no longer with me. The quietness, was deafening to my ears, they were not used to such quiet surroundings. I could actually hear my thoughts without the interruption of loud shouts coming from the street or the endless blazing of car horns and tire screeching from Cairo's bustling traffic.
In my robe, I sat in the waiting area of the pristine IRMA spa building, and waited to be called in for my appointment. I was asked to bare my back, lie face down and what looked like our rubber suction cups were placed on my back and as the attendee switched on the machine, the electric impulses began… I felt like Frankenstein! The current was strong and a bit uncomfortable to begin with, but I quickly got used to it and the sound of the machine lulled me into a light nap.
With an hour to spare I had enough time discover where the next session would be held. Once I had found the place I sat outside on a bench watching birds go about their life and the people passing by. When the time came for Water Gymnastics, the receptionist handed me a key and I followed the scent of wetness, until I found the changing room. They key was for a private vestier to leave my belongings in I quickly put on my swimsuit and made my way to the pool. As I rounded the corner and found the hook to hang my key and robe on, I couldn't help but gasp. The pool areas was of stunning architecture, it resembled an old fashioned conservatory or solarium, with a sky light. It would be something you'd expect to see in the hit TV series Downton Abbey. Being the photo junky that I am, all I wanted to do was run back and get my phone to take a picture and capture it. I resisted the urge and ascended into the warm water of the pool. I found a place to stand and followed the instructors motions and enjoyed the session. After changing out of my swimwear and was about to leave for the next session, I snuck back to the pool area, unseen and took a picture. ( I couldn't help myself!)
I was very excited about this session because it sounded like a form of dance. I thought it might be a combination of Tango and Flamenco, at the back of my mind I was fretting about whether my sneakers were appropriate shoes for the class. I was somewhat disappointed when I found out that it was not a dance class but another treatment session with mud. Only this time it wasn't messy! For this treatment I was only required to be half naked from the neck to the waist and to lie on my stomach as warm solid blocks of mud were placed on my back from the nape of my neck to the bottom of my spine for 15 -20 minutes. I must admit that the warm mud blocks were very soothing and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I didn't fight it and I enjoyed my little cat nap.
It may not have been a dance class but it certainly was enjoyable. I'm looking forward to my future sessions!
(I have no idea how this is meant to benefit me, but it was lovely)
At lunch time, I met the Lebanese woman in the restaurant where she informed me that it was her last day and she would be leaving tomorrow to spend some time in Paris. Before I headed back to my table, she said 'wait' and handed me a bag of Zaatar 'hadi ilik', which translates to 'this is for you' in the Lebanese dialect, she said as she handed it over to me. I was deeply touched. It was on our walk the previous day she learned how much I loved the herb mixture, when I told her that I had been in Zaatar heaven, when I visited Lebanon 2 years ago. I didn't want to insult her, by refusing the gesture, so I gladly accepted it. I was so touched by her generosity that I couldn't help but post about it on my Facebook page.
Mirror Pool
Unlike it's name there are no mirrors (Thank Goodness!), this experience might not be for everyone. The pool is filled with sulfuric water, that is naturally warm and full of minerals. It is said to be very good for your body. You may bathe in the pool with a swim suite on, almost everyone bathes nude. My mother who had come to Piestany last summer had told me, you didn't have a choice but to go in starkers, so I had enough time to mentally prepare myself to fully exposing my body and seeing other naked women as well. (The pools are segregated, so don't panic too much! I don't know if I could have summoned up the courage to have to see both genders in their birthday suites!) Coming from and living in a fairly conservative country, where kissing scenes are censored in films and T.V shows this was going to take some getting used to.
Lucky for me, I arrived early for my appointment, which was great because I had the pool to myself. I de-robed, took the necessary shower before entering the pool and ascended slowly into the water, to allow my body to get used to the temperature and not to slip on the stairs that are barely visible through the murky sulfur water. I checked the time on the large wall clock, so that I could time the 20 minutes that I was meant to stay in. The pool reminded me of the hot spring in Siwa Oasis, except it wasn't in the open air in the desert and I wasn't wearing a swimsuit. As I waded around and the nice warm water encompassed me, it felt like I was having a bath, but in an enormous tub. I began to wonder if this was how Cleopatra felt when she bathed in the hot springs? Before my time was up more women arrived to bathe in the pool. " Oh!Great!!" I thought to myself, "so much for getting in and out without anyone seeing me. I suppose, I'm just going to have to walk out gracefully and pray I don't slip, so that I don't draw attention to myself". That's precisely what I did and no one even batted an eye lid in my direction. After all we were all in the same boat and I suppose it was the respectful thing to do.
Once you leave the mirror pool, you shower off again and then go down to a resting area. I supposed it's so that your body can return to it's normal temperature gradually. The resting room reminds me of how dormitories were depicted in old movies. The Beds are separated by wooden partitions and have a small over head light and a side table. You're asked to hop on the bed and then you're wrapped up again.
By the time I got back to my room after all my sessions and treatments I was refreshed and relaxed but drowsy. I forced myself out for a walk around the town. I enjoyed admiring the little cafes, glancing at the display windows of little shops, the unique architecture, which I couldn't help but take pictures with my phone, so that I could upload them later on to instagram. I found my way to the little mall and got a few necessity items that I had put on my mental check list and then continued walking for a little bit longer.
At dinner time, I ate slowly in the hopes that I would see Randa again. She hadn't come by the time I had finished so, I placed a little thank you note on the table that she and her father sat at, if it wasn't for the bowl of Zaatar there, I may have placed the note with a small box of chocolate on the wrong table. I left the restaurant, full, tired and ready to turn in for the night.
There's More To Come! Keep a look out for part II 🙂
If I had a Pound, (Euro or Dollar) for every time someone asked me 'Why Aren't You Married', I would have a hefty retirement fund!
It has reached a point where, I wonder if this is all people have to worry about?! I meet people for the first time and naturally they'll ask if you have a significant other, but they shouldn't feel the need to lecture me on 'Why I Should, Have One'. Even some of the doctors I've had consultations with seem to be more concerned about my marital status than my ailments. I appreciate the fact that close friends and some family members want to see me settled down and happy. What I don't like is those whom I hardly know appoint themselves to play match maker with determination. (What do they get out of it? Is there some jackpot or prize you get if your match is a good one?)
Let me clarify, once and for all to those who are adamant to find me a significant other (based on THEIR wrong criteria to find me a 'PERFECT' match) and to those who can not get their head around the idea of me flying solo. I have great respect for marriage and all that is stands for. I do think it is a beautiful thing to be able to live ones life with another and share the burdens and happiness that come their way together as a team and to justify their union and love by having children, so their family tree can continue to blossom and grow. HOWEVER, I DO NOT believe that I should marry for the sake of being married. Just so that I can have a wedding band placed upon my ring finger along with a nice big sparkly one, have a big party and not be alone! If I want to wear a ring, I'll go buy one. If I want a party, by GEORGE I shall throw one! If I'm lonely, I can go out to social events mingle with people, invite people over or go visit family or friends.
Marriage is a commitment that I would take seriously and I would want it to be forever, (not to use as an escape to move out of my parent's home. Which doesn't apply to me because I don't live with them anyway). I do not want to marry the first person that comes knocking at my parent's door asking for my hand, especially if he knows nothing about me, my family or upbringing.
In the past I have had mothers of sons and men see me walk into a store or driving my car and find out who I am through 6 degrees of separation, get my parent's home number and call my father up and ask for my hand in marriage without ever having spoken a word to me! The last time someone did that my father took great pleasure in telling the caller that I had recently just been released from a mental institution, (NOT TRUE OF COURSE) and that he was a garbage collector. I found it extremely funny, while the person on the other end of the line was not as amused!
I want to marry someone who understands how my mind works (well, to some degree), who appreciates and understand my mixed ethnicity/cultural heritage (and doesn't want me to change who I am or make me choose one culture over another), has similar characteristic traits, shares some of my dreams/interests, is a bit adventurous, likes to play sports and can deal with my loony family and relatives! He must speak ENGLISH quite well, (if he can speak more languages, excellent! but he has to be able to communicate with the Irish Clan), likes to hold intellectual conversations, reads, well-traveled, has a playful side, very good sense of humor and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, because I won't be the only one doing all the hard labor around the house and changing dirty diapers. Oh an most importantly is financially independent from his family.
Marriage to me is a partnership, where two people promise to look after one another and share everything. I am not the type to marry and be told to stay home, not work, cook/clean all day long, have children and raise them alone. While hubbiness goes to work, comes home, eats, naps, showers, changes and goes out and socialize with his friends. (If that's what I wanted, I would go for Don Draker, from MAD MEN). That is a recipe for my misery and driving me to the brink of insanity ! So, those kind of guys need to be taken off your must introduce her to him lists! That is if you really do have my happiness and best interest at heart.
If you're miserable in your life and want company… then please don't set me up with anyone.
If a guy comes from a well-known, respectable, rich family it DOES NOT automatically make him a nice guy and my dream man! Money is great to have, but it isn't a recipe for a successful marriage. The person's personality, ethics, morals, values, mentality are things that I find more important than the wrist watch he wears, car he drives, his home address and the size of his PARENT'S bank account.
'Friends' of mine, (who have now been demoted to mere acquaintances) wanted to introduce me to a guy who was VERY wealthy and was quite liberal. Now, I am not one to judge a book by its cover, but why would anyone want to introduce a 20 something year old girl (my age at the time), to a guy in his mid 40s who is extremely over weight, has lost half of his teeth, from lack of dental hygiene (due to excessive smoking and drinking) and has little social etiquette? Clearly these people didn't take the time to know me or to choose wisely either.
I have met, socialized and been out with several guys who fall into this category. I have to say a small minority of them have been raised to be gentlemen of great integrity and are very decent men. While others have been toads dressed like princes.
Players and Cheaters… What can I say? I have been played and burned by both. Not the most pleasant of experiences and I have learned from my mistakes and have grown wiser and stronger because of it. These two are like trying to domesticate a tiger!! Woman can not 'change' or 'reform' them. They have to sincerely want to and they have to be the ones to take the steps. If/when they are ready, I'll gladly give them consideration, until then, I'll Pass, Thanks.
Just because a guy lives abroad and holds a foreign passport like I do, doesn't mean it's a match made in heaven! The same goes if he's of mixed ethnicity too.
So, to sum it all up. I would much rather be single and continue to work on improving upon myself and experience what life has to offer than jump into a marriage with someone who is not compatible with me (and vice versa). I don't want to be put in a situation where I marry someone and find out 2 kids later, that I can't stand being around him and be forced to make a decision to either stay in the marriage to keep the family together while I am secretly miserable and hide my pain behind my smiles as a sacrifice for their happiness or break up a family and watch the children go through pain I could have had a hand in preventing.
So, That is WHY, I am not rushing to the altar to get married. Let me live and let live!
If you find someone who meets MOST of the criteria I am looking for then we can talk. If not, DON'T even think about it!
The day I decide to tie the knot and take the plunge and say; I DO. I'll let you know. Until then, no one should lose any sleep over me being happily single!
We are all faced with situations at some time or other. There are times when we choose not to rise to the occasion and to let things slide or sort themselves out. I believe in my heart of hearts that 2011 has been a wake-up call to many of us. Especially those who have always chosen to be bystanders. This year I believe many of us have not only risen and stood up for our beliefs and rights as a nation but we have done so on an individual level too.
We have had to deal with situations and circumstances that we never thought or dreamed of occurring. The bombing of the Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve, was a trigger of a series of events. The explosion blew off the blinds that had been pulled over eyes to the growing conflict of Muslims and Christians in the country. Many people prior to the explosion lived in the past, where at one time religion was regarded as a private and personal topic that should not be discussed or questioned. As a woman who has parents of two different faiths, I still believe that a person's faith is their business and no-one else's, but as the 'Wahhabi' traditions continue to migrate westward to northern Africa, particularly Egypt, our culture is evolving before our very eyes and is continuing to influence people's ideas, thoughts and practices. Which I believe is infecting the minds of many especially those who are not as well-educated or are below poverty level.
A couple of weeks after the Egyptian people erupted like a volcano that had lain dormant for decades. After the uprising in Tunisia, they smelt the winds of change and decided that they too should be shed of the shackles that had held them down and the muzzles that had been keeping them silent. The 18 days that followed were very scary and dark days, but the people stood up and showed that even in the face of danger they could rise to the occasion and face what was to come and what was meant to be. The world watched and held its breath as the reign of one of the longest-serving presidents in the region came to an end and then there was Libya, Bahrain, Yemen…and now America
I think the countries that stood out the most in my mind were Japan after the Tsunami and Earthquake hit the country in early March of this year. After a devastating force ripped through the nation and left devastated nation behind, I do not know if I could have found the will to pick myself up and try to rebuild the country after witnessing something of that magnitude. They are to be commended and held in the highest regard. I have never been a fan of 'Libya' and I think that my lack of interest in the country and its people was caused by its former leader, but hearing and following the harrowing accounts that came from the people on twitter and their determination to break free from the iron fisted tyrant who ruled its people through fear was not only brave but inspiring.
2011 seems to have been a year of not only a rude awakening but a year of reckoning for some. In addition to that, I also believe it has been the year where voices have been granted to those who felt they had no voice and a restoration to those who had been muffled or silenced for their ideas and opinions.
In the post Mubarak era a new chapter in Egypt's long history is beginning. This past November a parliamentary election was held and many of those who ran had probably never thought of a life in politics before. I was not only a witness to the event but a participant too. For the first time in the 20 years I lived here, I stood among my country men and women and cast my vote and voiced my opinion as to whom I would like to represent me. I was amazed at the people's resilience to stand for hours in the rain awaiting their turn. Old men and women who could barely stand or walk, would be helped in to the poll stations on the arms of strangers or carried in on chairs, just so that they could have a say. It was beyond moving!
Now we are faced with another challenge, which direction will the country go in? Will the adrenaline that the nation was injected with almost a year ago ware off and allow the nation to be run by conservative and closed-minded thinkers? Or will the liberals take a leap of faith and venture beyond the borders of their comfort zone and tear a page out of the Muslim Brotherhoods book, become more organized, proactive and get their hands dirty by going in to the more rural neighborhoods and making themselves known to try to counter act the decades of seeds that were planted years ago in the people's minds? Will the liberals rise?
I hope they will…
On a personal level, I never thought that I could be pushed or be challenged the way I have been this year. I had the choice to go back to Alexandria and be with my family just hours before the chaos of January 28th began, but I chose to stay in Cairo for a couple of reasons. One was, I had a very close and dear friend of mine who would have been in Heliopolis on her own and I didn't want to leave her during such a dangerous and unpredictable time in a country that was not hers and where she didn't speak the language. A small part of me also wanted to believe that things wouldn't escalate. Thirdly, if I am going to be honest, I subconsciously wanted to know how much I could endure before I would seek the shelter and comfort of my parents' home, while, a BIG part of me longed to be with them, in their warm embrace where I felt safe. I simply needed to know and discover what I was made of. My father whom I love dearly, has cast a very thick protective cloak over my sister and I and I needed to know my true inner strength.
I rose to the occasion and I did face danger head on but it did take a toll on my mind and my physical wellbeing. I lost days' worth of rest and sleep worrying, thinking, and recording the events. My main concern was getting my friend home to her family safely and then home to mine. During the days of duress, I learned a great deal about myself and what I am capable of. I am a lot tougher than I look and by God could I stand my ground if I needed to.
Once the uprising had passed and the President stepped down, I had to find a way to push the memories and events behind me to complete my Masters. The mind is an incredible thing; it is our best shield and weapon I believe. It can tune out and tune in on command. I was able to tune out long enough to finish my Masters and graduate.
After graduation, the events of the past few months and my true state of being came over me like a tidal wave… I had a lot of baggage that needed to be sorted through and a lot of releasing and making peace to do to. I am in a much better place than I was in May, but I still have a lot of 'cleaning house' to do.
I took a leap of faith and decided to accept a more challenging job in the field of education as well as in a more international environment. I had my doubts about my capabilities and how I would fit in, there are times when I still have my doubts and question whether the move was a worthwhile one or not, but I believe that I have risen to the challenge. It hasn't been easy sailing, it has taken a great deal of adjusting, patience and learning and there has been a great deal of struggling. A month after starting my new job, my mother had hip replacement surgery and my poor father was left to care for her himself, I couldn't leave my father to deal with it on his own, so I would travel back and forth every weekend so that he could get 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep, while I took over for the time I was there. It was very draining and tiring but I would not and could not, not be there for my family. In the beginning I felt as though I was drowning and doubted that I would make it through the three-month probation period for new hires, it's now December and I am still there and still standing. I think that I have proven to myself once more that I am capable of much more than I like to give myself credit for.
After four years of being a wall flower and maintaining my 'single status', I got back in to the dating game. I felt like a fish out of water, but the person whom I was seeing put me at ease and made it seem very natural. Unfortunately the relationship was not destined to last long; it ended before it had really begun. Breakups of any kind are never easy and it can sting especially when the person you were with moves on and has found happiness with someone else and you are left waiting for your turn to come again. Usually I would crawl back in to my hollow and hibernate for months on end until I am numb and can no longer feel the painful disappointment, but I have decided to be more outgoing and social. Why should I choose to mope and wallow in misery and self-pity when I could be out living, being proactive and being positive ?!
We have risen; I have risen, have you? Will you?


text: Gimmicks Inc. A Podcast where long time friends; Rob and Shane, talk about movies, TV Shows and Pop-Culture! Years ago, two men were brought together by destiny. Wrestling video games roamed the wasteland. The default Tag Team Champions of each game enslaved the citizens of the realm under their dark rule. Our two heroes, bound by fate, set out to right the wrongs perpetrated by the evil Tag Team Champions in this YouTube Series from Gimmicks Inc.


text:
The Buzz
TheChat: Cheney defends aggressive interrogations
Good morning.
▪ "Torture, to me … is an American citizen on his cellphone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the Trade Center in New York on 9/11." — former Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday defending the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques in the wake of the Sept. 11th attacks.
Unsurprisingly, Cheney remains unapologetic for his role in creating the interrogation program. In fact, he said he'd "do it again in a minute." It's fair to say that anyone expecting Cheney to moderate his views is wasting his time.
▪ "Some of the people in Washington — Claire McCaskill and others — may have been involved in some of those calls, but it wasn't any of our shop." — Kansas Democratic Party chair Joan Wagnon talking about who pressured Democrat Chad Taylor to drop out of this year's U.S. Senate race.
We still don't know who got to Taylor. McCaskill, the Missouri Democratic senator, has acknowledged talking to him shortly before he exited the race, but the content of that conversation is unknown. Just days before he withdrew, Taylor was telling reporters to their faces that he was in for the long haul. Wagnon made her remarks at the Dole Institute's post-election roundtable last week. (link via johncombest.com).
▪ "I don't believe there are enough black people on the jury. I believe that they are stricken and are not allowed to serve." — Missouri NAACP president and Columbia resident Mary Ratliff.
Others, though, say it's tough to get African Americans to serve on juries. The debate was over the execution of Leon Taylor last month for shooting and killing 53-year-old Robert Newton in a 1994 robbery at an Independence gas station.
▪ "This is Elizabeth Warren's moment." — Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington director, during a "Draft Warren" panel at RootsCamp, a gathering last week of some 2,000 progressive activists in Washington.
The push is on to get Warren to run for president, which would likely mean a primary with Hillary Clinton.


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Plaid perspective
Jacket (similar): TJ Maxx (store) Blank NYC (designer)/ Necklace (similar): Target/ Pants (similar): White House Black Market/ Booties (similar): Target/ Purse (similar): Macy's (store) Coach (designer)
Where I live we haven't seen the sun in days it feels like. So taking inspiration from the neutral colors of the day, I put this outfit together. These pants encompass the colors grey, cream, and black, yet also have touches of browns and beiges in the plaid pattern. Since these pants are dressy, I decided to top the look off with a leather jacket to make the outfit more practical and casual, without losing a touch of style. As for shoes I wanted to bring in the black from the pants and jacket so I laced up my black suede booties. Keeping the attention on the pants, I went with a simple silver necklace. However, every look could use a burst of color so I added my glossy red purse to add a touch of youth and playfulness to an otherwise all neutral ensemble.
Stay Classy!
xoxo Emily
Leave a Reply.


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Education secretary Nicky Morgan has warned young people that choosing to study arts subjects at school could "hold them back for the rest of their lives".
Speaking at the launch of a campaign to promote science, technology, engineering and maths – the STEM subjects – Morgan said the idea that choosing arts or humanities subjects can keep pupils' career choices open "couldn't be further from the truth".
In her speech she said young people used to be told that STEM subjects led to specific career paths, such as medicine or engineering.
She continued: "But if you wanted to do something different, or even if you didn't know what you wanted to do…then the arts and humanities were what you chose. Because they were useful – we were told – for all kinds of jobs.
"Of course now we know that couldn't be further from the truth, that the subjects that keep young people's options open and unlock doors to all sorts of careers are the STEM subjects."
Morgan was supporting the Your Life campaign, which aims to increase the number of students studying maths and physics at A level by 50% within three years.
She also described maths as "the subject that employers value most" and claimed that pupils who study maths to A level will earn 10% more over their lifetime.
"These figures show us that too many young people are making choices aged 15 which will hold them back for the rest of their lives," she added.


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Awaken your full potential
Deloitte has been around for a long time. In fact, it has been more than 150 years since William Welch Deloitte opened his own accountancy office back in 1845. A lot has changed since then, to be sure.
Today, the Deloitte U.S. firms have more 80,000 people working in the U.S. are part of a global network of more than 220,000 people working in member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited around the world. Worldwide the member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited operate in over 150 countries.
With this scale and scope, professionals at Deloitte have an opportunity to leverage the knowledge and support of a network of professionals across the globe. And thanks in part to our open, inclusive, and flexible culture, combined with a pipeline full of a diverse mix of high-performing professionals, Deloitte is a place where the sharing of experiences and knowledge – and opportunities – abound.
In talking about our Audit practice in particular, our vision is to lead the audit profession, promote trust in the capital markets, and protect the public interest by delivering high quality audits with the best professionals. Additionally, our Audit professionals have the opportunity to experience a variety of challenging career assignments across several industries.
Choosing Deloitte is a personal decision. Remember, you can join a company, but you work with people. We believe in leadership and excellence. We believe in leading the professional services industry. We believe in providing a work environment that's not just world-class, but flexible and nimble to support our professionals. We believe that learning and development never stops. We believe strongly in being good corporate citizens, and in promoting human dignity and ethical behavior while supporting our local and global communities and the sustainable use of natural resources. Deloitte truly is a place where you can make an impact that matters.
Deloitte Awards & Accolades
Top Employer Awards
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, 2019
PEOPLE Magazine "Companies That Care," 2018
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, 2018
Universum Most Attractive Employers – U.S., 2018
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, 2017
eFinancialCareers Ideal Employer, 2017
LinkedIn Most Popular for New Grads, 2017
LinkedIn Top Attractors, 2016
Best Companies for Career Opportunities, Glassdoor, 2016
Highest Rated CEOs, Glassdoor, 2016
Glassdoor 25 Highest Rated for Vacation & PTO, 2016
Universum Most Attractive Employers – WORLD, 2016
Universum America's IDEAL Employer, 2016
Universum Top MBA Employer, 2016
Universum World's Top 50 Attractive Employers, 2016
Vault Best Overall Internships, 2016
Vault Best Consulting Internships, 2016
Vault Most Prestigious Internships, 2016
Vault Consulting Top 50, 2016
Vault Accounting Top 50, 2016
NAFE Top Companies for Women, 2019
As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.


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Benefit Captive Solutions
Benefit Captive Solutions
Does your benefits program give the greatest ROI?
Traditionally, businesses see their benefits program as a line-item expense with limited return. And, for the most part, many businesses only consider traditional insurance programs when evaluating their options.
At PERMA, we believe some traditions were made to be broken. For each client, we do a thorough analysis of their needs and determine which insurance program is right for them - traditional or alternative programs, including captives. After all, we believe the right insurance program - whether for property and casualty or for health - will deliver a true return on investment.
Unlike a traditional, fixed-cost health insurance plan, a captive is an alternative program that allows your organization to hold the profits generally earned by insurance carriers when losses are low. As a captive member, you can also expect to do more with less. That means you will typically receive broader and more comprehensive healthcare insurance coverage at equal-to or lesser-than your current costs. This is particularly true if your needs are more complex than traditional plans are able to handle.
If a captive makes financial sense for your organization, you can expect to see a healthier bottom line, while you earn investment income. Other benefits of captives include:
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There are many kinds of captives, each benefiting different types of organizations. At PERMA, we offer you access to our private label Benefits Stop-Loss Captive - Paradigm Health.
Click here to learn more about Paradigm Health or email us at email@example.com to determine which solution is right for you.


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Cornwall Pride......what a message.....what a day!
Cornwall Pride The Video 2015!
Cornwall Pride 2015
Cornwall Pride's theme this year was:
Solidarity: Supporting our LGBT brothers and sisters around the world
WE'RE LUCKY... to be gay and living here in the west – it's not perfect and the battle for true equality goes on but it could be worse.
WE'RE LUCKY... that those who came before us through the sixties, seventies and eighties laid down the foundations for the liberties we enjoy today.
WE'RE LUCKY... that we can join together in a legal union and pledge our commitment to the person we love.
Others are not so fortunate. As the tide of discrimination falls here it rises on other shores and while we enjoy the liberties that have been so hard fought for a veil of darkness and suppression descends elsewhere. Wilde spoke of "the love that dare not speak it's name" and for thousands of LGBT people those words still hold true. In 2015 there remain 78 countries in the world where homosexuality is still considered a crime, 38 of those in Africa alone, ten of which still carry the death sentence. In the others punishment ranges from heavy fines to public floggings and imprisonment.
Let's spare a thought and show our support for those who suffer while we take our liberties for granted. Today and everyday.
Images from Cornwall Pride 2015!


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Awesome! MicroBus 3, what does that mean? Well, I've been using Semver (mostly, sometimes a little Ferver creeps in) for my package versions so it means in this release there's a few breaking changes. Now, first off, this is a much bigger update than 2.0 was and redefines a few of the MicroBus concepts.
There are three main changes, firstly the Registration API has been reworked, global handlers have been smoothed out and there's a new
IMicroMediator interface (useful for sending any type as a message). But before I get into the details first here's a little bit of background.
The Story So Far
MicroBus has been a fantastic project to work on. I've been lucky enough to be able to use it quite substantially in my workplace. However, some things didn't turn out quite the way I expected them to. So it was time for a few changes.
Since the beginning, MicroBus has always had the concept of a pipeline which contains two types of handlers. The first was Message Handlers that resided at the end of the pipeline which do the real work for a given message. The second type of handlers were Pipeline Handlers which could be used to intercept a message as it travelled down the pipeline.
In the first version of MicroBus, the Pipeline Handlers are were explicitly added to the message handlers when registering them. However, even though you assigned the Pipeline Handlers individually, they behaved as if they were global. You could only ever have one set of Pipeline handlers for any one message, even if there were multiple different Message Handlers. It had to be the same instance of the Pipeline.
In version 2 support for having a global pipeline was added. However, these handlers were restricted to only running once, so they wouldn't run a second time if you sent messages from inside message handlers. Which was super useful, but slightly confusing with regards so naming.
What's Changed
So it was time to clean up a few things. Version 3 started with wanting a bit more flexibility out of MicroBus. If your message contracts implemented
IEvent or
IQuery then everything was fine. However, there were a few cases, such as handling existing messages that didn't use these interfaces, where handlers needed to support any type of object.
IMicroMediator interface
This new interface has the same three methods (send, publish, query) as
IMicroBus except that messages can be any .NET
public interface IMicroMediator
Task SendAsync(object message);
Task PublishAsync(object message);
Task<TResult> QueryAsync<TResult>(object message);
To handle messages that don't implement our interfaces, a new handler
IMessageHandler interface has been added. The
Handle method of this interface takes a message of any type and returns an
class Handler : IMessageHandler<Message, Unit>
public async Task<Unit> Handle(Message message)
return Unit.Unit;
Traditional MicroBus message types can also be sent using the
IMicroMediator interface and can be handled by either the type safe or generic message handler interfaces.
Registration API
The next big change was the Registration API, there are two main changes here. Firstly when registering MicroBus to the Container Builder, instead of having to register everything inside a lambda, you can now pass in a
BusBuilder like so.
var busBuilder = new BusBuilder();
The second change to the Registration API is to the handler registration methods themselves. Previously the registration code looked like this.
The main reason the API was originally designed this way was to make it easier to register events.
.RegisterEvent<Event>().To(x => {
In this version of the API you only have to specify the message type once when registering multiple handlers. However, this required quite a lot of code for not much benefit, especially when most of the time you could just use assembly scanning registration methods instead.
.RegisterHandlers(x => x.FullName.Contains("BusMessageTests"), assembly);
The explicit handler registration API is now much more flat, and combines the
Register and
To methods into a single method in
.RegisterQueryHandler<IsItTimeToGetOutOfBedQuery, Result, IsItTimeToGetOutOfBedQueryHandler>()
.RegisterQueryHandler<BreakfastEvent, MakeBaconHandler>()
.RegisterQueryHandler<BreakfastEvent, EventHandler>()
Global Handlers
The last big change is Global handlers. I talked about the problems with the way handlers previously worked. Mainly that pipeline Handlers were Global handlers in disguise except individually registered. In v3 these handlers have been pulled out of the individual registrations and replaced with real global handlers, that are globally registered. These handlers will run for every message sent over MicroBus.
Global handlers use the new
IDelegatingHandler interface which has one main difference to the old
IPipelineHandler interface mainly the use of
INextHandler instead of a
Func to invoke the next handler in the pipeline.
class DoNothingHandler : IDelegatingHandler
public async Task<object> Handle(INextHandler next, object message)
return await next.Handle(message);
Overall global handlers are now much more consistent and much easier to use.
However, this means the global handlers now run all the time, for every message. Needing handlers that know if they're at the Top Level of the call stack is still something I really wanted. So I've brought it back as dependency you can use to tell if it's an outer Handler or not.
IOuterPipelineDetector to the constructor of a handler will provide an instance via Dependency Injection. The
IOuterPipelineDetector interface has a single property called
IsOuterPipeline which you can use to prevent a handler running a second time if the MicroBus pipeline runs inside an earlier instance of the pipeline.
It's been quite a bit release, with a few new features that will make MicroBus more powerful and easier to use. The new
IMicroMediator makes it easier to work with any message types, registration is simplified and global handlers are easier to build.
So there you have it, all the changes in MicroBus 3! Make sure you try it out the new version. Of if you're installing for the first time use the command below. I'm also always on the lookout for feedback so leave a suggestions or issues on the GitHub page. Happy messaging!
PM> Install-Package Enexure.MicroBus.Autofac


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Your heart rate increases. You feel dizzy. There's a sudden pain in your chest and a slight choking sensation in your throat.
You feel as if you are on the very edge of losing control completely. You want to run. Because there's a spider on your desk.
It doesn't matter that it's a small spider. Or that it's not a poisonous spider. You have arachnophobia and the eight-legged little monsters are everywhere!
While it seems completely inconceivable at moments of panic like these, there is a cure for the fear of spiders, and video conferencing has a role to play.
Overcoming Phobias
The overwhelming fear of spiders is possibly the most common phobia in the world. And a phobia is far more profound than a fear.
Fear is the natural distress you feel when in the midst of a genuine threat to your wellbeing. But a phobia is the onset of severe anxiety, manifest in many of the symptoms described earlier, at the mere sight of even the most insignificant of threats. To a sufferer from arachnophobia, even the sight of a spider's web may be enough to plunge them into crisis.
However, there is an acknowledged cure. Systematic desensitization combines relaxation techniques with a gradually increased exposure to the fear stimulant–in this case spiders–to eventually remove altogether the irrational phobic response.
In the modern world this is achieved by either guided or self-guided training.
In guided training, the sufferer works with a medical/psychological expert who monitors their gradual progress from encountering the least threatening spider the patient can imagine–and often the starting point is just imagining the encounter–all the way to letting a spider actually walk across their bare skin. At each step of the journey the professional is able to step in and end the experience if it becomes too demanding.
The self-guided method operates on the same theory, but leaves the sufferer to their own devices. In the internet age it utilizes smartphone apps such as Phobia Free that use game-based techniques to move the fearful from guiding a cute cartoon spider across a floor to placing a real one on their hand through augmented reality.
Exposure Therapy via Video Conferencing
As each approach to systematic desensitization has its merits, there's actually no need to choose between them. Video conferencing lets sufferers embrace the mentorship of a health professional while also using the taking advantages of the possibilities that the internet offers.
During an initial face-to-face video chat introduction the psychiatrist or psychologist can guide their patient through the relaxation techniques, such as controlled breathing, that will underpin the anti-arachnophobia treatment.
Video conferencing can recreate the person-to-person dynamic of the clinical setting as easily as it does the more common boardroom application, with the added bonus that the patient need not leave the comfort and safety of their own home. Also, the remote connection means sufferers can seek out treatment from experts located a world away from where they live.
So, moving on in the treatment, the sufferer can be encouraged to progress through first visualizing spiders in their mind's eye, before eventually being presented with images and videos of the real thing through the shared screen technology that is near omnipresent among video conferencing services.
If a middle ground is needed between the real and the imagined, patient and professional could use virtual reality video conferencing to slow the process a little.
While the audio in a virtual world is the same real-time back-and-forth of any video chat, the visuals are provided by computer avatars and allow the patient to be guided through games that can expose them to the idea of spiders while keeping them physically removed from the eight-legged creatures.
Video Conferencing as Cure
In time, the spider-averse are going to want to plant a flag in their former fear and reach the ultimate goal of letting one of these arachnids share their personal space.
The aforementioned augmented reality video conferencing is a great penultimate step, as it lets the user see a spider seemingly crawl over their hand, without one actually being present. The technology works by layering digital content over live-action video stream to merge the real and the perceived. Complete interactivity can be achieved with the aid of 3D enabled cameras, so the participant can still flick away the digital spider should they not be ready to witness it touching them. With the use of immersive virtual headsets the experience can become very real, even if the mind can retain the right to recall the necessary suspension of disbelief.
Ultimately one of those little furry feet is going to have to get a toehold on the sufferer's skin to truly free them of their fear. It's true that there's no way to recreate that experience remotely, but using a video conferencing connection means the reassuring, professional face that has presided over the treatment thus far can still be on hand when the spider gets, well, on hand.


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I have been talking about the huge increase of interest regarding solo/ short crew racing out of France. That interest reflects itself on the number of participants on the short crew/solo division of famous offshore crewed races and also on the number of inscriptions on the few solo races outside of France and the Silver Rudder race is a great example: The Danish race around the Funen Island (134NM) had 15 racers in 2012, 100 in 2013 and 200 this year.
Well, not all is well since it looks like that most of the racers did not get the more important point of a solo race... that is finishing it. The winds were weak and the fastest boat, a trimaran Dragonfly 28 had done it in 26hours 11minutes. Another boats that were among the fastest: Dragonfly 35 in 39 h and 21 m, a J111 in 29h 11m, a IMX 40 in 30h 03m, a X332 in 38h 31m, a X99 in 38h 27m a Cheetah 30 in 38h 35m, a Seascape 27 in 30-10, another one in 38-45 a Broker 28 in 39-02, a Saphire 27 in 39-25 a J 80 in 41-46, a Pogo 2 Mini racer in 39-38 a Mini racer Nacira in 45-10 a Melges 24 in 46-04.
Cheers for the ones that with slower boats did not give up and finish the race: That's the spirit :-)
The ones that took more time but made a lot better then the vast majority that had retired from the race: A little Seascape 18 in 49-18, a Granada 27 in 48-48, a Int 806 in 50-09, a Scanmar 33 in 48-44 a Rommel 33 in 49-21 and a Lagoon 380 in 47-05.