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5 Presenters From The Hanuman Festival On "Raising The Vibration"
By Ashley Shires
The Hanuman Festival is a four-day celebration of yoga, music and community in Boulder, Colorado, June 15-18, 2017. The festival, founded in 2010, draws an amazing and diverse line-up up yoga instructors and musicians. This year, we asked several of the presenters to contemplate the festival's theme, "Raise the Vibration." We have compiled a range of inspiring responses from Jaya Lakshmi, Rod Stryker, Gina Caputo, Janet Stone and Sianna Sherman.
SF Yoga Magazine: In your personal experience, how does yoga "Raise the Vibration?" We'd love to hear a story about how yoga has raised the vibration in your life or in the world.
Jaya Lakshmi: Life is full of challenges on so many levels. Physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc. I feel like I'm in spiritual warrior training this lifetime! Yoga has given me a way to handle all this energy, a way to 'surf the big waves' (that just seem to get bigger!). Through yoga I have learned to consciously cultivate the positive aspects of my being and to transform the more difficult, darker experiences into love, on all planes. It is the art of alchemy. I always feel lighter and more clear after my morning practice, guaranteed. Through daily practice, I give myself the opportunity to let my divine connection flood in like a river, cleansing and refreshing my attitude, outlook, and all the cells in my body. The practice reminds me why I am here: to heal and grow, to serve love and celebrate life!
Jaya Lakshmi, renown for her melodic voice, has been performing kirtan since 1992. Along with her musical partner, Ananda, she has released eight albums ranging from kirtan to healing mantra music to Kirtronica, a creative kirtan and electronica fusion. To learn more visit: jayalakshmiandananda.com.
Rod Stryker: When Yoga is practiced with purpose and when informed with authentic understanding, then there can be no doubt that it changes how you see, think, speak and act. Over time, as you accumulate experience in yoga, you become less fearful, less small-minded, less preoccupied with selfish concerns. You are more inspired, more creative, tolerant and capable. Encouragement, strength and the positive force of will power replace old, less than constructive tendencies. Darkness and a lack of clarity fade in the light of who practice is shaping you to become.
As the breath of yoga practice fills your sails, you are less shaped and driven by self-limiting ideas, whether self-imposed or informed by external sources (parents, society, friends, media, etc...). Yoga sheds light, bit by bit, showing you the way to step into a greater version of yourself.
You become an island of excellence––kinder, more aware, more intuitive, joyous, productive, positive. Of course, the more any one of us taste this kind of grace, the more the people around us are inspired to search for their own version of awakened power, capacity and joy. Yes, yoga elevates those whom it directly touches––that is to say, those who practice it as well as those whose lives are touched by those who practice it.
Rod Stryker has taught yoga for more than thirty-five years, integrating ancient yoga wisdom into a broad array of modern-day applications. He is widely considered one of the West's leading authorities on yoga, tantra and meditation. To learn more visit: parayoga.com.
Gina Caputo: Though yoga asana is a practice we often share with others, ultimately it is an inner practice, like meditation is, that helps us to become aware, to understand impermanence and to become free from attachment and aversion. In studying ourselves from the skin to the soul day in and day out, we cultivate a better understanding of each other and our interconnectedness and the nature of all things. With this expanded consciousness, we may choose to be more intentional with our thoughts, words and actions, make a stronger commitment to activism and social education and engage in more selfless service. The global vibration rises when we each individually take responsibility for ourselves, become more discerning with where we put our energy and recognize the inseparability of all living things.
Gina Caputo is an engaging, inspiring and playful yogi, the Founder and Director of the Colorado School of Yoga in Boulder, CO with affiliate locations throughout the country. She has a deep and sincere passion for yoga education and empowering teachers to share their unique offerings far and wide. To learn more visit: coloradoschoolofyoga.org or ginacaputo.com.
Janet Stone: "Raise the Vibration" is a contemporary term in yoga that I interpret as relating to the long and potent journey of releasing some of our grip on our "lower" attachments of greed, selfish pursuits, sexual endeavors, etc.
We can relate to the notion of giving oneself to the journey of living the Yamas and Niyamas, which provide an ethical road map to clean up our actions and behaviors in our lives. This can open space to sit in meditation with more clear seeing both inward and out and less delusion and myopic projection onto the events that unfold in our lives and the world around us.
On my particular journey, it has been important to tap into each and every vibration, to learn about my own and human kinds' "lowest" most shameful nature/actions so we can heal from a dualistic High/Low value system, to move toward integration with bringing our base desires to meet our highest visions. Quite honestly, this comes to me through chanting, mantra, bhakti practices. When I'm feeling stuck in my "small self" experiences and begin to chant either alone or in community, I remember something larger than my momentary drama.
Janet Stone has been dedicated to path of yoga since her first trip to India in 1996, the birthplace of her grandfather. Based in Bali and San Francisco, she leads inspiring immersions, retreats, workshops, blending the the alchemy of her own practice with decades of studentship. To learn more visit: janetstoneyoga.com.
Sianna Sherman: We are all woven of Energy. We are manifest Beings of vibration in physical form. We say things like, "My energy is so high right now," or "I have such low energy these days." When we have so-called, "low energy," we feel more stagnant, dull, lethargic and unmotivated. When we have "high energy," we feel more enthusiastic, vital, hopeful and with a lightness in our Being.
Raising the Vibration is to take accountability for our own state of mind, physical and energetic bodies, and then amplify Love into the world! Yoga does this in a grounded way. We get rooted in our lives and say yes to the gift of our physical embodiment. As we undergo the great alchemy of yoga from within, we experience life in a grounded way, yet at the same time with a soaring sense of freedom. My best way of saying this is: "Roots & Wings." We descend into our power, center in our heart, clear our mind and ecstatically expand our Heart Wings into the world to collectively Raise the Vibration!
A deeply personal experience for me is that my teenage years were filled with angst, depression, low self-esteem, body dysmorphic tendencies and substance abuse. I felt very low much of the time and I began to pray for real help. My prayers were answered and the Universe wildly opened up to me. I was guided to meditation and yoga, which completely recalibrated my mind, heart, body and soul. That was 30 years ago! By raising my personal vibration, I have been able to truly serve this world in a way that feels genuine, authentic and happy for my whole Being.
Sianna Sherman is an internationally renowned yoga teacher, community activator and passionate speaker. She is dedicated to the empowerment of women as community leaders and offers high vibration gatherings, teacher trainings, workshops, sacred site retreats, and pilgrimages. To learn more visit: siannasherman.com.
To get more information on Hanuman Festival and book your tickets visit: www.hanumanfestival.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


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Beyonce's Tour Rider Revealed? 'Red Toilet Paper, Titanium Drinking Straws And No Junk Food'
Beyonce apparently hasn't developed a diva reputation for nothing as a list of her alleged tour rider has been leaked showing the elaborate and intricate requests she has demanded backstage on her current 'Mrs. Carter Show' world tour.
The 'Singles Ladies' singer, who is in the midst of her six-night stint at London's O2 Arena, has reportedly demanded that a series of her requests be adhered to ensure she and her entourage are comfortable when travelling around the world on the mammoth jaunt.
According to the Daily Star, the 31-year-old has asked that her crew are given 100% pure cotton clothes to prevent her getting an allergic reaction, while she has also requested special alkaline water that is served at exactly 21 degrees.
Similar to the rumoured requests of Mariah Carey in the past, Beyonce has also allegedly asked that the walls of her dressing room are freshly painted white, that a new toilet seat is installed and has also stated that she will "only use red toilet paper."
Most likely in a bid to maintain her toned figure, the source claims Queen Bey has banned junk food backstage in exchange for healthy snacks such as almonds and oatcakes. The insider told the publication: "She's extremely regimented and is taking everything extremely seriously, so she expects her list of demands to be adhered to.
"Working so hard and with the toll the travel takes on her body in addition to the intense shows, she feels that her requests aren't too much to ask for as she wants to ensure everything goes to plan."
Meanwhile, it was reported earlier this week that Beyonce snubbed the brand new dressing rooms at the venue as she wanted to occupy the much larger quarters that are usually used by sports teams.
"The new dressing rooms are superb — it's like you've stepped into a luxury apartment. But she surprised everyone by turning them down, going for the larger ones that are used by sports teams when they play at the O2," an insider told the Evening Standard.
"They are much bigger though, and she was given free rein to refurbish them to her own taste. They're also in a quieter part of the backstage area, which gives her a better atmosphere to get focused for her shows."
Beyonce, who will be playing at the O2 until Saturday, is said to be staying in a Berkshire hotel with her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, and has been flying to the venue via helicopter.

subset: commoncrawl


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Book Report: 'Surface Preparation for Interior House Painting'
I admire the entrepreneurial spirit, and passion about one's work, and courage.
So when Steve Broujos, a painting contractor and educator in Wilmington, Del., asked if I'd like to see his new book, I thought: Why not?
The title is not exactly dynamic: "Surface Preparation for Interior House Painting." But I'll tell you what: It's accurate.
This book sounded interesting because I've heard so many times that the trick to great house painting is preparing the surface. But that's usually all you hear. Surface prep is important. So how do you do it?
This book tells you how, along with giving you tips and tricks only a professional would know. For instance, you know how there's a rim inside a paint can to attach the lid? And you know how that rim gets filled with paint as you bring your brush in and out? Well, if you don't need to put that lid back on, here's a trick: You can remove the rim with an old manual can opener (never to be used again in the kitchen) to give you a smooth edge. This is now known as a "paint pail" rather than a paint can.
Another idea I like: A sanding block attached to a pole. It's known as a pole sander. I love the idea of sanding rough spots on walls and ceilings, but not at arm's reach from a ladder. Using a pole to reach up and out is much more my style.
This looks like a self-published book, and though there are plenty of photos in the book's 223 pages, they are all in black and white. That's how it is with short-run, self-published books; color pages are far too expensive to reproduce. So if glossy color photos are important to you, skip this book.
But I think it's a useful book, in which you'll learn about setting up and lighting your work area, removing wallpaper paste residue, applying caulk, skim coating, repairing holes and many other topics. It's a sincere book by a real expert. If you're going to spend hundreds of dollars on paint and countless hours applying it, perhaps some extra thought to the surface preparation would be a good investment.
You can order it from Amazon or the author's site.


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Pop diva, Rihanna, has reportedly put back her Los Angeles mansion in the market just six months after it was targeted by burglars.
According to Mail Online, the singer who purchased the upscale Hollywood property for a reported $6,784,132 (£5.3million) in August 2017, has now put it back in the market for $7,372,475 (£5.8million).
The publication reported that Rihanna's decision to sell the property came after an attempted break-in by 'obsessed fan' Eduardo Leon, 27, who was arrested and charged after an assistant found him wandering around the property in May.
During the attempted break-in, the obsessed fan managed to find his way into the three-storey pile and spent more than 12-hours waiting for the singer, who was in New York at the time of the incident.
He made himself at home in the property, using her amenities to charge his mobile phone while wandering from room to room.
Leon was later charged with stalking, first-degree residential burglary, vandalism and resisting arrest. He later told arresting officers he 'just wanted to have sex' with the singer before he was tasered and taken into custody.
The Los Angeles mansion boasts of six bedrooms and ten bathrooms among other amenities inside a spacious 7,130-square-foot contemporary house.
Continue to see more photos below.


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Firecracker Baby Crab Bombs - 6 Oz. Size
Owned and operated by the Gainey family for nearly 40 years, Jerry's Seafood is an absolute Maryland landmark. It is home of The Crab Bomb™—10 ounces of fresh, hand-picked, all jumbo lump crab meat, mixed with a touch of triple yoke mayonnaise, lightly seasoned with Old Bay® and absolutely no filler. The Washington Post has called this "about as close to perfection as crab meat can get." The "Firecracker" version is seasoned with black pepper and dry mustard for a sensational bite!
More Details
- Choose between 4, 6 or 8 Firecracker Baby Crab Bombs
- Each Baby Crab Bomb is 6 oz. and serves 1 person
Instructions / Storage
- Crab Bombs are shipped fresh and must be refrigerated upon arrival
- This is best enjoyed within 2 days of arrival
- We do not recommend freezing this item
- To serve, remove from packaging and place on a baking sheet. Heat in a 500F preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown (internal temperature should reach ~140 F)
Shipping Details
- Items are prepared fresh and shipped directly from the shop
- Jerry's Seafood ships Monday-Thursday of each week
- Orders cannot be shipped to P.O. Boxes
- Orders shipped to Alaska and Hawaii via 2-day will incur an additional $20 charge or $35 for Overnight Shipping
- Have more questions about Shipping? Read our Shipping FAQ page.


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Planning healthy meals on a budget
- April 25th, 2016
- SMASAself247
- Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
With the cost of food, and meat in particular, on the rise, there's never been a better time to start looking at ways to streamline your grocery costs. By following these tried and tested tips, you'll find it easier than ever to plan healthy meals – and save money.
1. Create a weekly meal plan
Eating well begins with planning well, and putting together a weekly meal plan is the best way to make sure you're getting nutritious meals on the table instead of takeaways on the way home. And with a plan in place, you also know exactly for what to budget.
2. Make a shopping list – and stick to it
The quickest way to defeat your budget is to hit the supermarket aisles without a shopping list. Why? Because before you know it, your trolley will be groaning under the weight of all those goodies you want, but don't necessarily need. Armed with a comprehensive list of ingredients (courtesy of your meal plan) however, you can stay focused and spend less as a result. An added bonus of a focused approach to shopping is that you won't end up with fresh produce that spoils because you didn't use it in time.
3. Buy in bulk
While you'll need to buy fresh fruit and vegetables every few days, store cupboard ingredients can easily be bought in bulk and are usually a bit cheaper if purchased that way. That said, don't go overboard and buy 10 jars of peanut butter (unless you're a big family) or 20 tubes of toothpaste. You may end up saving over the long term, but you'll also spend way more than you need to in the short term – and be left eating your bulk buy for months (or even years) to come.
4. Shop at your local market
Farmers' markets are popping up everywhere these days and they are a fantastic place to buy fresh produce – everything from fruit and vegetables to eggs and meat – that is mostly organic and free range and doesn't come in costly packaging. What's more, the produce you'll be buying is always in season, which means it's usually cheaper.
5. Make enough to freeze
Next time you whip up a bolognaise sauce or chicken casserole, make enough for two meals instead of one. Not only will you save yourself time and electricity, you'll also ensure that there's always a healthy convenience meal in the freezer next time you're short on time.


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Welcome to Iver Chiropractic Clinic, where we aim to contribute to the health and wellbeing of our patients. Based in Iver, Bucks, our experienced chiropractors are fully qualified and registered with McTimoney Chiropractic Association (MCA) and General Chiropractic Council (GCC). Registered with Aviva, Prudential etc
Conditions that often benefit from chiropractic treatment are:
Chiropractic treatment is suitable for:
Chiropractic treatment is a manipulative therapy designed to maintain the spinal column and nervous system in good health.
Through subtle adjustments chiropractic treatment can relieve pain and discomfort, increase mobility and provide a route to better health.
Our aim is to:
We have been established in Iver, South Bucks for over 17 years, where we have ample free parking, flexible hours (weekend appointments available), warm, friendly and welcoming environment.


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{ Co-designed and fisher-driven ICTs to empower small-scale fisheries 'from hook to cook' }
The ABALOBI* initiative is an open, transdisciplinary and social learning endeavour, bringing together various stakeholders, with traditional fishers taking centre stage. ABALOBI, as a mobile app suite and programme, is aimed at social justice and poverty alleviation in the small-scale fisheries chain, transformation in the way we produce knowledge, stewardship of our marine resources, and resilience building in the face of climate change. Promoting traceable, storied seafood by empowered small-scale fishers from hook to cook, in a manner that is not only ecologically responsible, but also socially fair. Because who fishes matters.
*ABALOBI is a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO 191-303) and status 18A Public Benefit Organisation (PBO 930063015)
Many of our team members, including the small-scale fishers of South Africa, were integrally involved in the design of South Africa's new Small-Scale Fisheries Policy, which emanated from a Constitutional Court Order and international human and fishing rights obligations. ABALOBI brings us together as an extension of our research, advocacy and policy work, and launches us into implementation and co-operative governance.
Learn more …
{ Working towards good governance and embracing a human-rights-based approach to fisheries: Through the development of an integrated small-scale fisheries information management system and mobile app suite, the ABALOBI initiative aims to enable small-scale fishing communities to be incorporated into information and resource networks: from fishery monitoring and maritime safety, to local development and market opportunities }
ABALOBI, isiXhosa for small-scale fisher, is the name given to the app suite by small-scale fisherfolk involved in the co-development process
Promoting stewardship
Fishers encouraged to serve as custodians and promote sustainability. Allows opportunity for integration with conservation efforts.
Empowerment in the value chain
Working towards community-supported fisheries and traceable slowfish. Empowerment through market information and collective action.
Co-operative fisheries governance
Using a common knowledge base, based on fishers' daily data, all stakeholders at the co-management table are poised equally.
Ecosystems approach to fisheries
Decisions by fishers and other stakeholders can be based on ecological and social indicators.
Climate change adaptation
Improved safety at sea and resilience building in the face of climate change.
Enabling tool for policy implementation
Small-Scale Fisheries Policy (South Africa) and UN-FAO Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (International)
Financial inclusion
Transformative approaches to financial inclusion among marginalised societies.
Transdisciplinary research
Stakeholders work together in framing the problem and research needs, leading to the co-design of the tool based on input and tests in real-life contexts.
Co-design and fisher-driven process
Ensures data ownership and trust. Practical development and implementation within a bottom-up, participatory framework. Focus on product, process and enabling policy.
Open access for small-scale fishers
Leveraging the latest tech. Sharing innovations globally.
Recognition of fishers' knowledge
Bridging local knowledge with science and policy. Developing knowledge for co-management.
ICT4D for small-scale fisheries: The ABALOBI initiative is about catalysing real transformation, of knowledge generation, of people, and of resource governance
The ABALOBI app suite comprises five inter-connected apps – conceptualised in a co-design process and currently in various stages of development and testing. The five apps cover the full spectrum of stakeholders in the small-scale fisheries sector from hook to cook, governance and beyond. Learn more …
The foundation of the app suite where fishers co–produce knowledge. Personal logbook with sharing options. Safety-at-sea integrations. More ...
Digitised community catch monitoring at the landing site & along the shoreline. More ...
Co-operative member & fleet management. Collective & transparent accounting. Catch value-adding. More ...
Fish with an ecological & social 'story'. Towards community-supported fisheries. Empowerment in the value chain. More ...
International reach
Beyond South Africa: An open source approach to the co-development of the ABALOBI platform seeks to allow customisation and use by small-scale fisheries stakeholders worldwide, aligned with the implementation of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation's (FAO's) Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries.
Public Benefit
ABALOBI ICT4FISHERIES is a registered Status 18A Public Benefit Organisation (PBO 930063015). Donations made to the organisation are tax deductible in terms of section 18A of the Income Tax Act of the Republic of South Africa.
Get started
Get involved
We welcome expressions of interest from prospective funders, and research, technology & implementation partners interesting in helping us further our social mission ...


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Prezi is a website that lets you create "zooming" presentations. Instead of presenting linear PowerPoint slides, you can zoom in, zoom out and rotate the canvas in a Prezi presentation. You can also embed a Prezi on your own website. Prezi's basic educational account gives you a few more goodies than a typical account (e.g. …
May 2011 archive
May 16
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/web-2-0/prezi/
May 13
FaceFlow is a website that lets you have group video calling with up to four people. Just sign up for a free account, and then send the URL it creates for you to people you want to connect with. It's that simple. No downloads required! More than four people can be in the web conference, …
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/web-2-0/faceflow/
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/web-2-0/poll-everywhere/
May 06
Aviary for Education
Aviary is an impressive suite of online tools. They have an image editor (Phoenix), a vector editor (Raven), and an audio editor (Myna) among other things. Phoenix is comparable to Adobe Photoshop, Raven to InDesign and Myna to Garage Band or Audacity. If you sign up for a free account, you will be able to …
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/web-2-0/aviary-for-education/
May 06
Мосфильм (Mosfilm) on YouTube
Мосфильм (Mosfilm), a Russian film studio, has started publishing some of its films for free on its YouTube channel. According to Mosfilm's website, http://www.mosfilm.ru/, Mosfilm will upload five new movies each week and by the end of 2011, the number of uploaded films should reach 200. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/mosfilm
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/films/mosfilm-on-youtube/
May 06
PBS Video
PBS has a selection of full-length episodes of its TV shows such as the American Experience, Made in Spain, the Ken Burns collection, and Black in Latin America on its website. You can even grab the video's embed code and embed it directly into your Blackboard site. Check it out here: http://video.pbs.org/
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/films/pbs-video/
May 02
JayCut is a free, online video editor. You can upload your own video (and image) files and optionally add transitions, text and audio. Once you are finished working on your video project, you can download or publish it in a variety of ways and formats (e.g. .flv, .mp4 or .avi). This is a great tool …
Permanent link to this article: http://egarc.dept.ku.edu/blog/web-2-0/jaycut/


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May 30, 2011
The Tree Of Life
This winner of this year's Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival is a unique moviegoing experience that some people may think is either a transcendent work of art of sublime beauty, or the most beautiful Hallmark postcard ever made. I think the truth lies somewhere in between, edging closer to the first option. It is certainly gorgeous and magnificent, and I recommend that you buy a ticket (do not wait for the DVD), sit down in the dark and let the flood of images and the swelling music wash all over you. Allow yourself to be transported. 3-D is boring compared to this.
Terrence Malick's latest film (he's only made five films since the mid-Seventies) is not a conventional narrative, although it has a story. It has very little dialogue, most of it actually whispered in voice over. We are to understand the story from the editing, the actors' faces and their actions, not from words. Malick and his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki (Academy Award hopefully guaranteed this time) create a world of intimate sensory images, with the camera recreating the point of view of a child who experiences the every day miracles and painful obstacles of life. Malick seeks to faithfully recreate the texture of memory in film. This is imagery that creates emotion without words, and it is stunning, lyrical, sensual and deeply moving.
The movie shows the past of a family and the childhood memories of Jack (Sean Penn -- I love every wrinkle in his grizzled face) who grew up in a town in Texas in the 50s, with an ethereal mother (the lovely Jessica Chastain), a tough, embittered but loving father (a very good Brad Pitt) and two younger brothers. But this is not Leave it to Beaver. The Tree of Life is no less than a meditation on grace and nature and God and the origins of life, both human and on Earth. Intertwined with the images of the family are magnificent sequences of images of the universe, life forms being created, extreme close ups of the sun, the meteorite that brought on the Ice Age, deserts, forests, beaches and water in many forms.
Some of it may not make total sense (but it also does not not make sense), and some of it comes perilously close to new age corn. It never does because Malick's images convey complicated feelings and the movie is conceived as a sensory experience in which he gets us as close as possible to the characters' emotions, almost as if he'd like us to seep into their skins. (People always have the most beautiful skin in Malick's movies. Think of Badlands or Days of Heaven.)
Some critic complained that childbirth was a fantasy in pristine white with no blood, sweat or tears. That is, that everything is too beautiful. I did notice that Jessica Chastain, who always looks naturally ravishing, had three children without gaining an ounce, but that is not the point. After all, Malick is the guy who gave us Days of Heaven, the most beautiful movie ever made about the depression. One does not expect gritty realism from him. There were also rumblings that there is no sex in this movie. There is sex. But it is as it comes in life, a bit scary, without warning (and in those days, without explanation) from the point of view of a maturing boy.
Jack (Hunter McCracken), the older brother, suddenly notices female bodies, he steals a camisole from a neighbor and in an elliptical but powerful close up, feels stirrings of lust that then make him feel guilty and confused. There is more truth and depth to sex in this scene than if it had been acted more explicitly. Yet the movie is tremendously sensual and emotionally powerful.
The tone of Tree of Life is prayerful, elegiac, meditative and mystical. It is a movie that explores religiosity, faith and personal belief. The father prays in church and is strict and authoritarian (clearly Jack's feelings of guilt and fear come from that side of things), but the mother is more of a pantheist. It is her system of belief (here comes a bit of the new agey Hallmark card), that you have to love every being and every leaf and that the only way to live is to love -- which is equated with grace and transcendence. I think that Malick may be expressing his conviction that a belief both in God and in evolution are not mutually exclusive, and are actually complementary. Even if you are a committed anti-spiritualist like me, you can marvel, as I did, that Malick celebrates belief, and chooses to share it with us with great generosity of spirit. The Tree of Life feels expansive and bountiful. It is a deeply compassionate film.
The movie has a rhythm that ebbs and flows like waves. There is an enormous amount of visual richness in every frame. The camera, most of it loose and dynamic, sometimes gets a bit vertiginous, but it also stays the right amount of time very close to the human face: tearful, joyful, loving, fearful, angry. The three boys are natural and lovely presences. There are wonderful scenes of a toddler jealous at the arrival of a baby brother, of two children crying together at the thought of leaving their house behind, or playing dangerous games, of a family in the thrall of an unhappy man and their joyful release when he is out of the house for a few days. Time seems to float in these memories as if suspended, does not seem to pass by. Days are a jumble of moments and sensations that break the spell of innocence. Life happens. Illness and death happen too. This is a deeply personal film on a very ambitious scale, intimate and grand at the same time. It is a remarkable achievement. It makes me very happy that this is an American film. It shows that not everything has to come from the same sausage factory with the same tired, insidious marketing. American stories can still be told with artistry and integrity, even if they don't make gazillions at the box office. And Terrence Malick is still around and making amazing American films.
May 29, 2011
On DVD: Enter the Void
I was afraid of this movie by Gaspar Noe (Irreversible) because I'm not a fan of his self-indulgent, kinky pretentiousness. My mother would have called him un enfermo de talento, sick with talent. I didn't always agree with the people she accused of suffering this creative malady (Godard was another one, and she was half right) but in the case of Noe, I think it nails him. Still, I streamed the movie on Netflix, curious about the much touted visuals and the kinkiness.
I loved the amazing opening credits, the trippy digital sequences and the color cinematography by Benoit Debie is absolutely awesome, but that is about it. I could watch those beautiful digital designs many times over, and in fact I wished there had been more of that in the movie, as opposed to the creaky, cheesy plot.
Enter the Void would have been a much better movie had it been a short film. And by short I mean 15 minutes long. Technically it has much to recommend it. I loved the sound design and the way the movie looks. It is a worthy experiment on total point of view camera. It made me want to go to Tokio. But I also found it pretentious and annoying.
Spoiler alert that won't really spoil anything:
The plot is really cheesy teenage philosophy, set in the story of the vaguely incestuous relationship of a young man and his sister who are traumatized by the death of their parents in a car accident at an early age. For no comprehensible reason, the orphans are cruelly separated and put in different foster homes. The brother ends up supposedly DJing in Tokio, selling and using drugs to bring his sister over, and once she arrives she finds nothing better to do professionally than to prostitute herself. English lessons, anyone? Not. What can I tell you, Noe is a kinky guy. Little House on the Prairie, this ain't.
Paz de La Huerta, as the sister, is insufferable, ugly and a bad actress to boot. The kid who plays the lead does not seem to be a professional actor and he has no personality, but he doesn't really need one since we barely get to see him (his is the camera's pov). The first half hour of the movie is pretty gripping, not because of the plot but because of the strange world that Noe and his creative collaborators have devised. The rest is slow as molasses, not very coherent, terribly self-indulgent, gratuitously porny and obsessed with the female breast.
Note to pretentious European filmmakers: let's declare a moratorium on the male fixation on the female breast as a source both of milk and hard-ons*. Somehow Bertolucci halfway gets away with it, and even in him it seems puerile. Get over it already. Freud is fast becoming passé.
To be honest, I slept through about an hour of the movie. When I woke up I asked whether I missed anything and was told nothing much. Because Enter The Void is mostly interesting in terms of style rather than substance (and please do not tell me that you take seriously its half-baked ideas about sex and death and love) one starts to pay too much attention to the stylistic workings, since there is no one to really care about on screen. Thus:
If you shuffle off your mortal coil, why do you look at yourself from the back all the time? This relentless framing with the back of the head of the main character in the foreground reminded me of a terrible director of commercials I know who likes to shoot the backs of the heads of people front and center, for no discernible reason. Here there is a reason, but the head still gets in the way.
If you die and hover observing those you love, why do you mostly hover from above? If death is really a voyeur, then there is much fun to be had. Wouldn't it be cool to fly around a little bit, and not only get closer when your sister is fucking guys? If I had that freedom, I would stick around for a little while, and then fly to Hong Kong to watch people eat dim sum, or go to Kyoto for the day. Then of course, I'd come back to try to mollify my loved ones, distraught at the tragedy of my loss. There is something touching and powerful about imagining a life after death where the dead are present but unable to reach us. However, it gets lost in the midst of much, not very germane prurience. I'm not a prude but I like sex in movies to have some other reason than the director gets off on it. So sue me.
*In contrast, American male filmmakers don't even acknowledge the existence of the female breast unless it's been implanted with bags of silicone and the nipples are safely hidden behind indestructible bra fabric. You can't win.
Midnight in Paris
I read an interview with Woody Allen in which the opening sequence of Manhattan (1979) is compared with the one of Midnight in Paris. For me, this provides an interesting assessment of how far he is from the days when he was at the top of his creative powers. For Midnight in Paris starts with a series of shots of that city with very nice music, just like Manhattan did years ago. But the opening of Manhattan, with those gorgeous black and white shots of New York, and the rousing, perfect music of George Gershwin, felt like a love poem to the city and really stirred the soul. In contrast, the opening of Midnight in Paris feels like you are browsing postcards at a souvenir shop near Notre Dame. Maybe my romance with Paris has soured a little bit, and the sight of all those buildings that look like wedding cakes no longer stirs my heart just so. But I suspect it's not really my fault, or Paris'. The opening of Manhattan was a bracing, original and lovely artistic choice, while this just feels pedestrian, as generic and devoid of humanity as a postcard, as if it's there to plump up the movie's running time.
As recent Woody Allen movies go, however, Midnight in Paris is far more charming than its predecessors. At the center of this film, Allen has conceived a lovely idea. What if you could go back to your romantic notion of Paris in the 1920's? Like Cinderella, at the stroke of midnight, successful Hollywood screenwriter and budding novelist, Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is transported magically to some enchanted evenings with famous creative and literary heroes of the day. By daytime, alas, he is burdened by an undermining bitch of a fiancee (poor Rachel McAdams), her hideous, wealthy Republican parents, and by Allen's direction, which insists that every one of his leading men should be a doppelganger for him. As the Magnificent Arepa points out, the neurotic self-involvement and the exaggerated nebbishness used to work as long as it was Woody Allen who played himself (when he wasn't too old to be leering at romantic interests who were decades younger). His persona, his nerdy looks, and his extremely funny delivery made him a very endearing pain in the ass. But if you ask gifted actors like Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity (!), Josh Brolin in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, (!) and now Owen Wilson to do that shtick, it is ridiculous. So a lot conspires against the modicum of charm of Midnight in Paris: peremptory writing, a total disregard for believable characters or coherent plots, and a director who lets his lead actors flounder, and who makes them look bad when they are supposed to be, at the very least, engaging.
Gil's fiancee does nothing but disparage and humiliate him, alone and in public, and yet, like a doormat, he never reacts to her growing cruelties. So he looks like a schmuck and she like a total harpie. Why would we be invested in people like this? Why are they together at all? She has not one redeeming quality. To add to her disagreeableness, the costume designer saddles McAdams, a very attractive woman, with unflattering clothes. And even though Owen Wilson is a likable actor, as the movie goes on and he is unable to be anything but a wimp full of Woody Allenish tics, one wants to smack him upside the head and tell him to grow a pair. In what world does a grown, successful writer have to go back to a museum and ask the tour guide if she thinks that a man could be in love with two women? Is he so clueless? Why doesn't he go to the Academie Française and ask them there?
In the very bad, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Josh Brolin plays the exact same character, a misunderstood and unappreciated writer (mostly harangued by his terrible wife, played by Naomi Watts). To make luminous actresses like McAdams and Watts look and sound awful takes a very sinister talent, and I am sick of it.
Let's, for the sake of argument, compare this to another comedy. In Bridesmaids, the characters, who struggle with the problems of real people, not only provoke drama but they confront it head on, actually piling it up, with hysterical results. Bridesmaids is a wildly exaggerated comedy, but it is rooted in psychological reality. Allen writes characters that whine and mope and kvetch and ponder their self-absorbed lots in life, but that avoid conflict entirely. Even comedy needs characters one can identify with.
As always in his films, the actors are A-list. They all play wispy caricatures, but some of them sink their choppers into the opportunity with gusto. Marion Cotillard, playing some sort of feminine ideal with no personality, is constitutionally incapable of being uninteresting, so she tries to make this woman radiate some sort of intensity. Alas, a piece of cardboard and a roll of tinfoil have more onscreen chemistry than her and Owen Wilson. Adrien Brody has oodles of fun and is very charming as Salvador Dalí. All the bit players are excellent: Tom Hiddleston and Allison Pill as Scott and Zelda, Corey Stoll as Hemingway, and Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein. For your information, even Carla Bruni is natural and charming as a Rodin Museum guide. Allen's fans are delighted at being able to laugh, like insiders at a club, at the easy cultural references like the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Cole Porter, T.S. Eliot, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Buñuel, Dalí, etc. Allen could have exploited more comedy opportunities with the incongruity of a visitor from a future time, and the jokes are fun but facile.
The cinematography by Darius Khondji is lovely, and as usual, Allen chooses a wonderful soundtrack of American and French classics. The charm of Midnight in Paris mostly lies in a lovely sense of nostalgia, realized very effectively with no special effects. The bittersweet idea that people of every age pine for and romanticize the days of yore is a golden nugget and makes the nostalgia thread of this movie a sweet delight. At the stroke of midnight, we are transported to the 1920's in the guise of a period car coming down a Paris street. The illusion is beautifully simple and magic. Every time we have to go back to today's world and its overbearing characters, we feel the pang and, like Gil, want to be transported back to the days when Woody Allen's movies were better.
May 28, 2011
Tuesday, After Christmas
Muntean tells the story mostly through medium shots and very long single takes. There is no coverage (no cutting from the wide shot to the medium shot to the close up, no shooting the scene from the pov of one character and then another). We are there, with as many characters as are in the frame at a given scene. If something happens outside the edges of the frame, the camera doesn't necessarily follow it. The fact that we can't see it doesn't make it any less present. The camera is there to record as intimately as possible the feelings and actions of the characters, without the use of close ups. This is achieved to perfection. To his enormous credit, to the credit of the actors and the writers and the excellent cinematography, the scenes never feel long. The first one does, simply because we are put without warning right into the messy bliss of a post-coital bed. We are too close to the characters, we probably feel more naked than them and we are conditioned to think a cut is coming soon. But this allows us to connect intimately with the characters and it deepens the emotional reality of the film. The characters go through their emotions without formal interruptions. The length of the scenes is the time it takes lovers to cuddle and banter after sex, the time it takes to take a little girl to a dentist appointment, the time it takes for a married couple to have an argument (one of the best marital arguments ever filmed).
The writing is as natural as breathing and so are the actors. Actually, the actors are nothing short of miraculous. It must have been extremely challenging for them to nail the scenes while being totally unprotected by the saving device of coverage. They had to get everything right: rhythm, blocking, lines, emotions, and interact with each other believably, which they did with flying colors (Muntean rehearsed them for a month). On the other hand, not being chopped off on every beat must have helped them to liberate their feelings, and to find the natural arc and the rhythms of both comedy and drama. It feels like improvisation, but it isn't. Formality is used to deliver the richest, most true to life spontaneity.
The camera stays mostly front and center as we are allowed to be in the room with these people. Sometimes I marvelled at what was not said. Watch the young lover as she sees him unexpectedly arrive with his wife. There are no camera tricks to signal that we should be focussing on her, but her silent reaction is one of the most complex and precise depictions of rage mixed with nerves and sheer what the fuck, I've ever seen. Watch him come to see her at home and her mother opens the door. The way this woman looks at him, there is no need for her to say one word. She offers him cake, and he feels so unwelcome, it sticks in his throat. The married couple are actually married in real life and they have an uncanny rapport that feels like they have been married forever. The young woman is brilliant in a role that is usually thankless, if not embarrassing. There is not one cliché in the portrayal of the characters. Now, all of this may sound like penitential artsy fartsy Romanian film homework to you, but this movie happens to be very witty, warmly funny and extremely entertaining. The intimacy it achieves between the viewer and the characters will keep you glued to your seat, to borrow a trope that may excite you into seeing it. You know from the beginning it's gonna end in tears, but the journey is so rich and truthful, you don't really want it to end.
May 19, 2011
The Lars Von Trier Show
Lars Von Trier goes to Cannes. Lars Von Trier says something inane and "provocative". Lars Von Trier gets the world's attention, like a bratty 7 year-old acting up in front of the guests. This has been happening for years now, except that this time his hosts at Cannes had it with him. They decided to ban him from the festival after he apologized for his inane, childish, ridiculously stupid, irrelevant, petulant, apropos of nothing remarks about Jews and Nazis and Hitler. Be it far from me to attempt to explain the motives of someone who thinks it's funny to claim he wants to be a Jew and then say he is a Nazi and sympathizes a little bit with Hitler and perhaps he will make a big blockbuster called "The Final Solution". Not funny, not relevant, deeply inappropriate, but clearly more because of abject stupidity and a pathetic need for attention, than because he is actually a racist or an antisemite or a Nazi sympathizer. I don't think LVT is either a Jew, a Nazi or an antisemite, as he had to clarify after opening his big mouth, but I do think he is an unqualified idiot. A self-indulgent creep with a genius complex. You can tell the kind of asshole he is by the other comments he made. Pot shots at fellow Danish filmmaker Suzanne Bier for being Jewish and making movies he doesn't like, or the 4 hour porn film he wants to make with his stars Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Worse than a zit-ridden, sullen, snotty teenager with a potty brain, really. He should stick to making movies and keep his mouth shut.
Props go to Kirsten Dunst who had to sit next to him and listen to his incoherence with the biggest fart face ever (see above). At one point she tried to stop him and he went on, making things worse. If you are going to be a provocateur, be truly provocative and smart and make people think. Don't be a self-serving asshole. By the way, I like some of his movies. I dislike others. And I will see Melancholia.
May 17, 2011
I was afraid that this comedy with Kristen Wiig (splendidly written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo and hilariously directed by Paul Feig) was going to turn out to be women behaving just like men (hurling, farting, burping and cursing), and up to an extent they do, but they are also unmistakably female, and that's what works about Bridesmaids.
I could have done without the gross out bits, but somebody decided that in order to get guys into a theater, all current comedies need to have a gross out clause. The world has laughed since the beginning of cinema without such inane thrills, but now apparently it can't. Even in an excellent female comedy like Bridesmaids, it's in the contract. However, there is a gust of real transgression here, as one cannot possibly find a more apt visual metaphor for these insane, expensive wedding customs, as literally crapping all over them. To see Maya Rudolph have a digestive emergency while buried under a cloud of tulle is one of the funniest, most transgressive and enduring images involving a wedding dress we're ever likely to see in film.
Bridesmaids is less farts and puke than extremely funny, knowing laughs at the ambivalence of Annie (the incredible Kristen Wiig) at being chosen as the maid of honor for the wedding of her best friend Lilly, Maya Rudolph, also excellent. As any single woman nearing her past her prime years knows (not only in America, but the world over), you can be very happy for your friend and still feel that you want the earth to swallow your lonely ass to have to deal with all that wedding mishegoss. There is a lot to mine here and Wiig and Mumolo do it with great gusto, smartly anchoring the laughs in reality while making fun of the competitiveness between women and the crazy, corny bridal bullshit.
Bridesmaids is firmly rooted in our current reality and it deals head on with the increasing class differences in America, a fact that is somewhat surprising for such a frivolous comedy. Annie was wiped out by the economic downturn. She drives a shit car, lives with two bizarre and inexplicably British roommates, and can't pay her bills, let alone splurge on bridesmaid dresses and bachelorette parties. Her foil is Helen, the very game and funny Rose Byrne, a control freak as ridiculously rich and unshakably perfect as Annie is a mess and struggling hard.
In the movies of producer Judd Apatow there is always plenty of crass humor, but there is true empathy for the characters, who do not live in Hollywood fantasyland but in the real world (Bridesmaids takes place in Milwaukee). Apatow roots for the losers, the misfits, the stragglers, because he estimates correctly that that is where most of us stand and with whom we all can relate. His movies are not generally nasty or mean spirited, like The Hangover. They are funny and sweet. He pretty much created the bromance genre (the buddy movie with a gentler, more emotional streak) and it was about time he gave a chance to female driven buddy comedies (he has created artistically and commercially successful hybrids that appeal to men and women, like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up). It's a pity that nobody takes comedy seriously at awards time, because some of his films are among the best American movies of recent years. I wanted The 40 Year Old Virgin to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I love Anchorman, I adore Talladega Nights and Stepbrothers (the man-child premise taken to a meta extreme), I really liked Knocked Up and enjoyed Superbad, even though I felt I had to wash my ears with lye, it was so shockingly vulgar, yet at the same time, super sweet; Apatovian, in short. Having lived in Israel in the 80s, I literally rolled on the floor with laughter with Don't Mess With the Zohan, which Apatow co-wrote. Bridesmaids is Apatovian too. There are many laughs, both crass and classy, but there is true feeling.
Kristen Wiig is a major comic talent. She is capable of being genuinely happy, hysterical, depressed, twisted with envy at the same time. The way in which she says "what is happening?" as she squeals through her friend's good news is tinged with terror. She is unafraid to be full of contradictions, not all of them adorable or particularly mature, and she is fearless with slapstick, like in a devastating sex scene that looks like she's being ridden like a stagecoach. She tries to please the cad (none other than Jon Hamm, clueless and brutal in a handsome kind of way), so fast and rocky it is, as he likes it, not slow like she would have it. Very true and very funny. Wiig is as good or better than Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler or any of the big guys of comedy. There needs to be much more of her on the big screen.
Now, is this movie a feminist fantasy of empowerment? Not really. It is a classic romantic comedy with a happy ending: all the women (a fantastic ensemble cast) get their guy. Is this so terrible? Nope. As is true of the Apatovian universe, the important romance in the movie is not really between the guy and the girl, but between the girl and her best friend. Theirs is the relationship that counts, that gets frayed and that one hopes will survive all that corny wedding crap. Rudolph and Wiig actually have a lovely chemistry together, and their bond feels deep.
May 9, 2011
Extra, Extra!
Please note the addition of an email subscription service exclusively for you, dear readers. Now, if you so wish, you can be alerted of new posts from the comfort of your email address.
May 8, 2011
A disaster. The biggest problem with this movie by Julian Schnabel is that it has a terrible, amateurish script by Rula Jebreal, the woman who wrote the novel in which she based her own screenplay. I find it mystifying that instead of hiring a real screenwriter, the producers of this film pretended that they had a real script in their hands. This movie is so badly written, it doesn't even feel like a first draft. I wonder why anyone gave a pass to such an unprofessional, perfunctory piece of writing. Why would Julian Schnabel, who has a solid track record as a director, lower his standards for this particular piece of work? Could it be misguided political correctness?
It happens with all kinds of oppressed minorities. Someone belonging to one of these groups writes a half baked script and no one dares tell them to spiff it up and come back when they have something decent. There is a double standard: the downtrodden are not expected to work as hard because they already have it too hard. The result is schematic dreck like this. One example: bad US Hispanic movies like Entre Nos, which, not surprisingly, is also based on a real story and like Miral, feels faker than a telenovela. The enigma here is that no one could confuse Julian Schnabel with anything downtrodden.
Now, if you decide that you want to make a movie about this heartwarming subject (the Palestinian-Israeli conflict), because God knows that movie audiences rate this topic with the same level of excitement generated by a root canal, you better milk it for everything it's worth. A great political movie arouses outrage, or at least spirited debate (Z, Bloody Sunday, to name just two), but here the outrage is that the filmmakers have the nerve to oversimplify to caricature this most complicated conflict. In Miral the personal is not political. The personal is a pamphlet.
The idea of following the life of a young Palestinian girl as she confronts political activism is certainly interesting. The story of Miral has the potential of being truly compelling and thought provoking but the way it is presented doesn't even rise to the level of propaganda. The Israelis in the movie are portrayed mostly like sadistic bullies (although they happily welcomed the production shekels; the movie was shot almost entirely in Israel).
Miral is simplistic, expository, wooden, heavy handed, and undramatic. Even if it's based on a true story, it feels totally preposterous. Nothing in it is believable because everyone in it is like cardboard. The characters talk to each other in either bombastic historical exposition or embarrassing clichés, the actors seem to have been paralyzed by the bad lines they have to utter, and Schnabel's knack for arty images collides disastrously with the sophomoric writing, becoming precious and annoying. Miral can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a history lesson, a political screed or a personal history. Hint: a personal history will always make a less annoying movie than a didactic, patronizing sermon.
It's pointless to expect such a crude movie to generate any kind of serious discussion. The Jews that objected to its screening at the UN should have saved their breath. This movie is utterly inconsequential. It adds nothing of value to the debate and it does not particularly help the Palestinian cause (unless you think it a great victory to portray the conflict as waged by two separate sets of stick figures, ones noble and long suffering, and the others almost twirling their mustaches; take a wild guess at who is who). Interspersed with the story of Miral, real footage is shown of David Ben Gurion declaring statehood, of Jews arriving in ships in 1947 and almost immediately dancing the hora, and decades later, of the Six Day War and the first intifada, but there is absolutely no insight into the intractability of the conflict. It is willfully naive, lazy and dishonest to bring up such footage so superficially, without committing to really explore the toxic dynamics of the myths of foundation on both sides. Had the filmmakers believed in the power of Miral's story, instead of in their own grandstanding political ideas, they would have made a better film.
May 1, 2011
Looks like this year, except for the icy sharp Dogtooth, (I haven't seen the Algerian Outside The Law), the foreign language Oscar nominees have one thing in common, and that is they all are super-overwrought. In 2010 there was a nice mix of genre in the category: the great gangster movie, Un Prophet, genre defying stuff like The White Ribbon and more romantic fluff, like the winning The Secret in Her Eyes.
This year, apparently the world at large is a vale of tears and a house of horrors. The winner, Susanne Bier's In A Better World is like a classy Danish telenovela taking place in Denmark and Africa, Mexico's Biutiful is a teary melodrama with Javier Bardem, and Incendies, from Canada, is like a Greek tragedy in the Lebanese civil war.
Incendies takes the prize for can you top this in human suffering (both the characters' and the audience's). It teeters between morbid gruesomeness and raw emotional power. I found the entire premise, if symbolically charged, very hard to believe. Not that I cannot believe that in a civil war neighbors savagely kill women and children and unarmed innocents, or that I am innocent of the atrocities that human beings commit in the name of religion, but the story is too contrived.
The premise seems rather fantastical. A dying mother leaves her Canadian twins (who are in their twenties) a will in which they have to find their father and their brother in Lebanon and deliver letters to them so she can rest in peace. As the twins set out to do the task, they are confronted with the bitter history of their family and their mother's country. The horrors and revelations pile up; the movie goes back and forth between the kids searching for the story in the present and flashbacks to the terrible past. I understand that through this harrowing adventure the filmmakers want to make a powerful statement about the incestuous self-destruction of a civil war, but I have problems with movies that stack the dramatic, emotional deck to the point of straining credulity.
The movie is based on a play, yet my feeling as I was watching, was that this heavily symbolic story would probably work better on the page, as a novel.
Parts of it are very effective, and the movie captures that Middle Eastern tribal feel really well. At one point, looking at the olive groves in the parched land beneath the merciless sun (Lebanon is played by Jordan), I wondered if the particular geography of the area inspires the worst kind of murderous divine frenzy in its inhabitants, because God knows the entire region is nuts. To this day, it's like a bunch of tribal shepherds hating each others' guts and killing each others' sheep. It would be awesome if it would stop.
My favorite scene is when Jeanne, the female twin, travels to a village searching for someone who knew her mother. She is received by a chatty group of women who are curious and hospitable. Nobody speaks a language in common and it is a beautiful moment of Jeanne being in the place of her origins and at the same time, a total stranger. Then, as someone is found to translate and Jeanne explains who she is, the women have a wild argument in front of her and end up casting her away; the hospitality becomes hostility in a second. It's a great scene that depicts the clannish stubborness of tribal notions of honor and the insistence in not forgiving old, festering grievances, which is after all, the tragic story of the region.
The revelation at the conclusion of Incendies goes all out, in the spirit of a Greek tragedy, like a horrifying but cleansing catharsis. The kids learn a terrible truth and all I could think of, is how can they live with this knowledge? This is the kind of thing that fucks you up for life. I'm not sure if this is the point the filmmakers wants to make, since they prefer to give a sense of closure and of peace, rather than explore the terrible burden of the truth. This seems to be at odds with the graphic and violent tone of the rest of the film and strikes me as facile. It's supposed to make the audience feel better after two hours of relentless pummeling with human horror.
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Lokomotiv the first test for AEK Athens' new coach
Monday 3 October 2011
Article summary
FC Lokomotiv Moskva denied their visitors a semi-final place the last time the two sides met but AEK Athens FC will be spurred on by the arrival of new coach Nikos Kostenoglou.
Article top media content
Article body
Having denied AEK Athens FC a semi-final place the last time the sides met, FC Lokomotiv Moskva will hope to get the better of the Greek club again in UEFA Europa League Group L.
Previous meetings
• The teams met in the quarter-finals of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with Igor Chugainov's late goal in the second leg putting Yuri Semin's Lokomotiv through to the last four.
• The lineups for that match on 19 March 1998 were:
Lokomotiv: Nigmatullin, Solomatin, Kharlachev, Arifullin, Chugainov, Gurenko, Cherevchenko, Maminov, Garas, Loskov (Janashia 25), Kosolapov.
AEK: Atmatzidis, Machairidis, Kasapis, Kostenoglou, Maladenis, Savevski (Sebwe 65), Nikolaidis, Grétarsson, Kalitzakis, Manolas.
• Of the players involved in that game, Lokomotiv's midfielder Dmitri Loskov – at 37 – is the only one still playing at their respective clubs, while AEK midfielder Arnar Grétarsson is now the club's technical director.
• AEK's new coach Nikos Kostenoglou was involved in the AEK defence, while his former team-mate Stelios Manolas is the uncle of current AEK defender Kostas Manolas.
• After the match, Loskov said: "That was once in a lifetime kind of match. After the injury I was very nervous [he was replaced on 25 minutes]; you don't get that nervous on the pitch. Now I understand better what the coach goes through during such games. Me and the rest of subs believed until the very last second that we could win. I can't describe what I felt when Chugainov scored that goal."
• In that 1997/98 campaign, Lokomotiv went down 3-1 on aggregate to VfB Stuttgart, who subsequently went on to lose the final 1-0 against Chelsea FC.
Match background
• In addition to their ties against AEK, Lokomotiv lost a 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage tie 2-0 at Panathinaikos FC, meaning their record in three games against Greek sides is W1 D1 L1 (W1 D0 L0 at home).
• The return leg will be played at the OACA Spiros Louis Stadium, where Lokomotiv lost that game to Panathinaikos on their last visit to Greece.
• AEK's 11 matches against Russian teams ended W2 D3 L6 (W0 D2 L3 in Russia).
• Lokomotiv's record in six UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage home ties is W2 D1 L3.
• AEK have won just once in their last five European away trips, also recording a draw and three defeats in that run. Their record in 11 UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage away games is W2 D1 L8.
Team facts
• Lokomotiv coach José Couceiro was in caretaker charge at Sporting Clube de Portugal for the latter part of the 2010/11 season before replacing Yuri Krasnozhan as Lokomotiv boss in July. Since coaching Portugal's Under-21s from 2006 to 2007, he has been in charge at FBK Kaunas, Lithuania and Gaziantepspor.
• AEK parted company with Spanish coach Manuel Jiménez by mutual consent in early October. Kostenoglou – who made over 220 league appearances for AEK between 1994 and 2005 – has been named as his replacement.
• The 41-year-old started his coaching career in the club's youth system before assisting Lorenzo Serra Ferrer and, when the Spaniard was dismissed, taking over as caretaker until the end of 2007/08. He was most recently in charge of Larissa FC (2011), following a spell with Asteras Tripolis FC (2008-09).


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Per Reuters:
The two leaders spoke by phone for the first time since U.S. relations with Russian were strained by the U.S. attack on a Syrian airfield. They two leaders set the foundation for what could be their first face-to-face meeting in July.Statements from both the White House and the Kremlin suggested the two leaders had a productive conversation that included North Korea and fighting Islamist militants throughout the Middle East.
"The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons," a White House statement said.
Full article: BREAKING: Trump And Putin Talk On Phone, Immediately Decide To… – SARAH PALIN


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Ability To Push Data Back To OptimizelyStatus: Maybe One Day
It would be great if we had the option to bucket data about our visitors in Optimizely, so that we could push data relevant back to Optimizely to store it in the results.
Specifically I am currently looking for a solution that would allow me to push some conversion data back to Optimizely such as visitors email address when then convert.
This can then be used when reporting on things like long-term revenue gains from testing as we can better judge the lifetime values of customers based on which bucket they were in on a test.
In my case we are looking to run incentivized signups and would like to be able to log the visitors email addresses in the Optimizely result so that we know what version of the page they saw, helpful if you are testing several incentives as you would want to know what incentive a visitor was offered.
Just a thought as I am finding it difficult to get to a work-around solution.
@adzeds - what are you using currently to collect email addresses and long term revenue information on a customer basis? Rather than Optimizely collecting and storing informatin you pass to us, it might bt easier for Optimizely to pass experiment/variation information into your existing CRM. You could leverage our APIs to do this.
Looking forward to hearing back from you so we can explore potential solutions here
Hi Amanda,
The issue for us is more about the delay in implementing system changes. To submit work to dev and get it done it can take months. Meaning we would have to delay testing until the data collection facilty has been implemented in our tech environment.
However, if we were able to send back to data value pairs to our Optimizley experiment and have the ability to export them then we would be able to perform a lot more tests and reduce delays inside our business.
Due to privacy polcies on Google Analytics and other providers we are not able to pump data into those systems which would normally be the easiest and quickest route for doing this.
Just a thought. If this is not something that can be built in then I may have to look at developing an independant solution that I can use.
Hey there - For the time being, we will not be able to collect the data value pairs for security reasons. We can definitely work with you to push your Optimizely experiment data to your CRM using the API once you get it implemented.


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There are plenty of free tools online that you can see network activity and website hits. Really it's as simple as googleing some of this and downloading an app or two. Also, i'm fairly certain most of this can be done with settings, and no or not much additional code should be needed, so you should look into that first.
Register Hereor login if you are already a member


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AgChoice Farm Credit's York branch office is an Agricultural Credit Association with more than $145 million in total loan volume. The York office services agricultural, forest products and rural customers in York and Adams counties in Pennsylvania. To learn more about AgChoice Farm Credit and its financial programs, visit www.agchoice.com.
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Take the family to a nearby corn maze.


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George Osborne was left bemused as Boris Johnson stole the show before an audience of Chinese university students.
Mr Osborne spoke of the "economic and financial dialogue" with the Chinese, of the importance of "strengthening the understanding between our two nations".
Mr Johnson, with a simpler brief to entice students to London, spoke of Harry Potter, chocolate biscuits, and the rather implausible claim that it rains less in London than in Rome.
The Chancellor was eager to be the first senior British politician to visit China after an 18-month-long deep freeze between the two countries thawed. China had banned all ministerial contact in the wake of David Cameron's meeting with the Dalai Lama in May 2012.
But after two attempts to visit were dismissed by the Chinese, Mr Osborne was forced to schedule a trip in the same week as Mr Johnson.
It proved unfortunate timing, with Mr Osborne looking wooden as he shared a stage with Mr Johnson at Peking University.
Drawing sporadic laughter from a tough crowd, Mr Johnson revealed how the suit he was wearing had been bought from Beijing's Silk Market.
"We haggled for a new suit, and here it is!" he quipped. "And I have worn it continuously because it is my lucky suit."
He added that a Chinese firm had invested in refurbishing the Port of London headquarters building, used in the James Bond film Skyfall as the offices of MI6.
"And if that isn't openness to China I don't know what is. We are not only working together on our nuclear programme; we have sold you our offices of the secret service – saves time, I imagine," he said.
There was even one-upmanship over the two men's daughters. After Mr Osborne had noted his ten-year-old girl is studying Chinese, Mr Johnson said his daughter (16) is not only learning Chinese but visiting Beijing next week.
"How about that, George?" he asked.
Later, when asked by students who was leading the trip, Mr Johnson said he and Mr Osborne were "a nest of singing birds".
The Chancellor intervened: "The yin and the yang."
As Mr Osborne visited an office block in downtown Beijing, Mr Johnson went on a walkabout in Nanluoguxiang, a traditional hutong now stuffed with tourist shops and snack stands.
"Well, this is yuppified," he noted, before pointing at a traditional Chinese building that had been converted into a Starbucks. "A temple!" he exclaimed. "A temple to Mammon!"
Later in the week, Mr Johnson will travel on the high-speed train to Shanghai on Wednesday before going to Hong Kong. Mr Osborne travels to Shenzhen to visit Huawei, the technology giant.


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Greetings From California Pin
Inspired by Curt Teich's "Greeting's From" Post Cards in the 1950's. We put our own twist to bring our bold letter's and a solid Gold Plated Pin to life! We operate out of the Great State of California and want to be able to share a little of The Golden State with everyone! This Vintage inspired Pin is a great way to say hello to a friend from a far, or represent your state!


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The first public staged reading of my new play, True Believers, took place today at the Berkshire Fringe Festival, following two weeks of intense workshopping. The cast was as follows:
- Chad Mailer..........Ryan Marchione
- Billy Horowitz..........Joshua Ramos
- Ted Thompson..........Bill Shein
- Chloe Long..........Bethany Geiger
- Kt Watts..........Kristen Sparhawk
- Box/Ensemble..........Timothy Ryan Olson
- Calvin..........Hector Rivera
- Ensemble..........Clelia Sweeney
- The Cyborg Head of Stan Lee..........Himself
Special thanks to my director, Keith Bulla, and dramaturg/playwright mentor Laura Maria Censabella. Overall, the script seemed to be well received, and I made a lot of progress on it over the past 2 weeks, tightening the story and sharpening the edges. There'll be another draft coming up, so stay tuned to see where your favorite Comic-Con play goes next!


text: London 1966 and the Doctor and Dodo, on a visit to the Post Office Tower, meet Professor Brett whose new computer WOTAN can actually think for itself and is soon to be networked with other computers around the world. However, WOTAN believes that humans are inferior to machines and should, therefore, be ruled by them. Exerting a hypnotic influence, WOTAN arranges for the construction of War Machines - heavily-armed, self-contained mobile computers - with which to take over the world. These prove more than a match for the Army, but the Doctor is able to capture one of them, which he then re-programs to destroy WOTAN. When the crisis is over, Dodo chooses to remain in London; Ben and Polly, however, inadvertently become the Doctor's new companions when they enter the TARDIS to return his lost key.


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If you like Daft Punk, You will enjoy this underground electro house and electronic producer, Alminia.
Electronic music producer Alminia's 'Barrell Riders' is a funky warm electro song that is great to listen to on the go or in the worlds top clubs
Alminia has developed his unique style of electro trash with sometimes electro pop, hard acids synths, acoustic pianos, violins, and vocoded voice's.
I'm a young producer who is currently looking for a record label. I make electronic music for 10 years, I was being depply inspired by the French touch 1.0 / 2.0. I also work on 3D and make my own album covers, so I worked on the Barrel Riders clip being influenced by two of my favorite movies, Tron and Drive. And I expect to make a sequel to thisin a futur music video, more evolved, with a character.I think my last three release are the most important work I have done :-Alminia


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Can your Guardrails do this? 5000 lb anchor point
The U.S. Department of Labor* reports that Falls are among the leading causes of serious work related injuries and deaths today. The SAP42D is a surface thread mount Fall Arrest System; Engineered and Designed to prevent unintentional movement when working on the leading edge. Each guardrail post has a fixed 5000 lb anchor point D-ring that can safely hold 1 person. The SAP42D can be installed and removed in seconds; without tools. Every post comes with 2 rotatable ear brackets to ensure that all post line up for the installation of the rail members. No more chipping, burning, drilling or patching of concrete; the SAP42D leaves only a 3/4 inch hole behind when removed that can easily be filled with non-shrink grout.
*Final rule to update general walking-working surfaces and fall protection standards (providing control flexibility allows general industry employers to take advantage of advances in fall protection technology developed since OSHA adopted the existing rule)
FAQ | Request Information | Contact Us | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin


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Not quite sure what inspired Infopackets to pick up this one, but it did interest at least this reader...
Researchers at a Montreal university are using nanotechnology to combat cancer in the human body. This new method directly targets problem areas, potentially saving thousands of lives in the process.
One of Canada's leading engineering schools, Polytechnique Montreal, revealed the successful manipulation of a tiny remote-controlled magnetic sphere that could travel through the body and deposit cancer treatment directly on the targeted area. In the study, a live animal with a situation comparable to liver cancer was used and treated. (Source: thesudburystar.com)
The traveling sphere used to dispense the life-saving medication is made out of magnetic nanoparticles and biodegradable polymer.
Healthy Tissue Not Harmed in Treatment Process
Its importance in targeting the tumor or cancer tissue is not only that the cancerous cells would receive a stronger blast of medicine, but also ensures that healthy tissue in the body is not harmed in the process.
If the cancer medication is taken orally, for example, it undertakes a long journey through the body before reaching the problem area -- in this case, the liver.
While researchers cannot guarantee that the magnetic sphere has the power to cure cancer, they can at least attest to the fact that the patient will suffer far fewer debilitating side-effects in the treatment process.
Amazing still is the fact that the nanoparticles of the micro carriers measure just 50 micrometers in diameter, which is less than a human hair follicle. They also act as tiny magnets, which is why an upgraded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is able to act as a remote control, guiding the sphere through a living body. (Source: computerworld.com)
Nanotechnology More Prevalent in Recent Years
The presence of nanotechnology in the medical field (especially as it relates to cancer treatment) has increased in the past few years.
In late 2009, researchers at Stanford University announced that nanotechnology and magnetics were used to create a biosensor designated to detect cancer in its earliest stages, making the subsequent course of action that much more effective.
With such positive strides made in recent times, and the optimism for what cancer treatment options will exist in the future, many are holding out hope for something never before dreamed possible: an end to cancer in our lifetime.


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Maine Wood(s) Opening Reception
May 4, 2017, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Come meet the artists and curators of our new summer exhibition, Maine Wood(s). Refreshments will be provided.
Maine Wood(s) seeks to combine the representation of forests and of wood used as an artistic material. The exhibition considers forests as a landscape, a habitat, a source of livelihood, and a tourist destination, with works depicting the wooded Maine landscape, its fauna and flora, its inhabitants and visitors, along with their activities, while the title also alludes to the use of wood as an artistic material.
Displayed in a non-traditional museum with a strong focus on natural history, works in a variety of media and styles from contemporary Maine artists will be featured, giving visitors a fresh perspective on how local artists view and portray nature in their home state. The exhibit comprises regional forest landscape paintings, fresco, or sculptures by 20 artists, including Matt Russ, Barbara Sullivan, Mike Branca, John Woolsey, Nancy Barron and John Bryan.
The work takes different approaches to exploring Maine's forest beauty and its resources. For example Portland-based artists Alison Hildreth and Michel Droge, both with roots in Maine, interact with their surroundings in very different ways.
Hildreth, emphasizing attention to detail and precision, is "interested in what we do not see, such as roots, fungi, mycelium." Enthralled with the interactions between species that are not readily visible, Hildreth's work is inspired by "systems that can expand to thousands of acres and are a network that can communicate and provide essential nutrients to their hosts, including trees and other plant life."
While Droge also explores the connection between flora and fauna, her emphasis is on the emotions she draws from the woods. "As I walk the Maine woods, I embrace the beauty of nature's songs, its natural lullaby, and the meditative refuge I find in the company of trees," she explains.
The exhibition will run through October 15, 2017. Throughout the summer there will be workshops with featured artists and visitors of all ages are encouraged to attend. The L.C. Bates Museum welcomes visitors to explore its summer exhibition Maine Wood(s) as well as the many objects on display from the Museum's permanent collections.


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Bullet extractor, 16th century, steel and brass, collection Drs Hamonic, France
Although attempts had been made to remove bullet-like projectiles when firearms had been introduced into warfare as early as the 1200s, only those near the surface of the skin could be treated. Special instruments for removing bullets only came into use in the early 1500s as firearms became increasingly sophisticated.
Screw-type bullet extractors like this one have a hollow rod which contains a screw that can be lengthened or shortened by turning the handles. The instrument is placed in the wound and the screw lengthened to pierce the bullet to remove it. This example has ornate curved handles and is made from steel.
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- bullet extractor
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- surgical equipment
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- Hamonic Collection
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Shops and websites rated
Best shops and websites for electrical appliances
By Vicki Crowe
Article 1 of 4
Put us to the test
Our Test Labs compare features and prices on a range of products. Try Which? to unlock our reviews. You'll instantly be able to compare our test scores, so you can make sure you don't get stuck with a Don't Buy.
Find out how thousands of shoppers rate their experiences buying electrical appliances and tech products.
AO.com, John Lewis and Richer Sounds go head to head in our search for the best shops to buy tech and electricals.
We asked thousands of shoppers to rate their in store and online experiences to find out which shops give a great impression, and which you'd be better off avoiding.
This year's surveys cover major retailers, including Amazon, Apple, Currys/PC World, eBay, John Lewis and more, as well as smaller brands.
To find out how these electrical stores measure up against other high-street and online brands, visit tour guides to the best and worst online shops and high street shops.
Which? members can log in now to unlock the scores in the tables below. If you're not a member, join Which? for instant access to this as well as our thousands of product reviews.
Best and worst electrical shops
|Electrical shops rated
|Customer Score
|Carphone Warehouse
|Currys PC World
|Homebase - Bunnings
|John Lewis
|Richer Sounds
|Robert Dyas
Table notes:
Star ratings: These range from one to five - the more stars the better
Survey respondents rate shops on the following aspects:
Range: How wide the range of products is and whether they are in stock. Products: Based on quality of products and how well they last. Service: Based on staff product knowledge, helpfulness, availability and after sales service and returns. Store: Based on ease of finding products, tidiness of store, store environment, queuing time and how child friendly the store is. Pricing: Based on value for money and special offers.
Customer score: Based on overall satisfaction with the shop as a DIY retailer and how likely people are to recommend it to a friend.
Sample sizes in brackets. Survey: 7,784 Which? members, January 2019. Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) in red.
Best and worst websites for electricals and appliances
Using the table
Sample sizes: Sample sizes are in brackets.
Star ratings: These range from one to five - the more stars the better.
Customer score: This is based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the company to a friend. It doesn't factor in the individual star ratings.
*Tesco Direct closed in July 2018


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In our LV Moms' Money Mic series, we hand over the podium to people with controversial views about money and parenthood. These views are theirs, not ours, but we look forward to opening up the floor for discussion.
In the past, we've featured writers with ideas on everything from how to earn extra cash while doing other people's chores to why one mom home-schools her kids.
In a recent interview, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said there was no such thing as work-life balance … unless you marry another woman. So we asked two: Today, one member of a lesbian couple responds to Sandberg's comments.
My partner Raegan and I live with our 3½-year-old daughter in Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I am an elementary and middle school band director, while Raegan is a high school choir director and holds two part-time jobs—one as an associate conductor of the Princeton Girlchoir, the other as a professional singer for The Philadelphia Singers.
For us, reaching a work-life "balance," if it can be called that, requires no less effort than what we've seen in other heterosexual couples we know. After many discussions,Raegan and I seem to have settled on a work-life situation that, for the most part, we both enjoy. Our discussions were and are always about deciding and agreeing on what's practical, what works, and understanding that that changes from day to day. (If I'm being honest, practicality is where lesbians do have a leg-up on heterosexual couples. We're nothing if not practical.)
There is give and take in our relationship. Although Raegan works a full-time job in addition to two part-time ones, she does so because she enjoys those extra jobs, not because we've decided she has to work them. In fact, after recent conversations, Raegan has decided she will leave one of them–she's finishing up the season–to make more time in her life for our daughter, even though it was something she enjoyed.
Still, despite any balance we may or may not have achieved, we're here to tell you—no matter what the data might say, our experience is that being in a same-sex couple doesn't make achieving this elusive goal any easier.
What Sandberg Says
When it comes to work-life balance, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made waves recently after announcing that she leaves work at 5:30 p.m. every day to spend time with her kids and that she doesn't believe that balance exists, unless you "marry the right" man, or, better yet, unless you marry a woman.
While we can't speak to the part about marrying the right man, it's in the second part of her argument, the part where she says, "if you can marry a woman, that's better because the split between two women in the home is pretty even, according to data," where we beg to differ.
Data aside, we have empirical knowledge in the form of gay friends and straight friends, each in their equivalent of marriage. Regardless of the label on their relationships, each couple has similar struggles—who takes the garbage out, unloads the dishwasher, picks up the kids, takes care of the laundry, etc. Notably, both partners in all of the couples in our circle (whether same-sex or heterosexual) work full time, so the actual outside-of-the-home work is equal in these scenarios.
And yet, all these couples have squabbled over who does more than their fair share of chores.
I hate to break it to Sheryl Sandberg, but it's true in our house, too—and that's even with Raegan doing more than her fair share of taking care of the house. It is not the type of relationship that makes work-life balance equal, but the personalities in the relationship that make the difference.
What Our Compromise Looks Like
In our home, a typical workday begins with Raegan waking up about 15-20 minutes earlier than I do. She showers, gets ready, then wakes and dresses our 3½-year-old daughter. To indicate that she is out of the shower, Raegan yells my name a couple of times. I then generally roll out of bed, shower, get ready (all as slowly as possible, according to her), and go downstairs to feed our two dogs and three cats.
By the time I am done, Raegan and our daughter are downstairs as well, and I am being chided by Raegan for not being in the moment because, more often than not, I am skimming my iPhone for those imperative messages that have collected in my inbox overnight. One of us will make our daughter breakfast … if I'm being honest, it's almost always Raegan. I make our coffees to go, and Raegan packs our three lunches (unless, on the off chance, I have done it the night before).
We each grab breakfast and are out the door. I drop our daughter off at preschool, since Raegan has to be at work 25 minutes before I do. Unless she has an obligation after work, Raegan picks up our daughter from preschool at 3:15, since she gets out of work before I do (See? Practical.)
Once we are home from work, Raegan may need to go back out due to her two additional jobs, depending on the day, and she may not return until well after our daughter is in bed. This makes her feel guilty (I've never put pressure on her or said she isn't home enough), and that's why she'll be leaving one of her part-time jobs soon.
While she is out of the house, taking care of our daughter is my number one priority.
But when it comes to cleaning the house …
There's nothing I hate more than cleaning, and Raegan has every right to be frustrated with that (and sometimes is). While we've never used the term "work-life balance," this is what we're arguing over when we fight about the fact that I hate to clean. I'm not good at it. The last time we tried cleaning the bedroom, I first went downstairs to throw something away. Then I used the restroom, then I (insert pointless, time-wasting task here) …
When I reappeared upstairs 20 minutes later, Raegan was pretty much done.
Which brings me to …
How Equal Are We, Really?
So does having two women in our home mean our lives are more balanced than those of a heterosexual couple?
Quite the opposite actually. We believe there's no better proof than our own household that being gay doesn't automatically solve the work-life imbalance issue.
Is it balanced that my morning duties include feeding the pets, pressing the button on the Keurig and grabbing my own breakfast, while Raegan's include getting our daughter ready for school, making her breakfast, packing all three lunches and grabbing her own breakfast (while nagging me to hurry up and stay off my iPhone)?
Is it balanced that Raegan's household duties include taking on the majority of the house cleaning? We both know it's not. Raegan's responsibilities are definitely more time-consuming … she doesn't have the time to check her iPhone in the morning, that's for sure.
Our personalities have led us to this point. For Raegan's part, she just cares more about what the house looks like and is less willing to live with the mess, so she lives with taking on the majority of the chores (all while joking that our household chores fall into two categories: the ones Susan is willing to do, and everything else.)
And while neither one of us would go out of our way to take on a task or job that would be to our daughter's detriment, it's Raegan who would much more readily be the stay-at-home mom if we could afford it. What's funny about this is that Raegan grew up with a mom who worked full-time and who also happened to do most of the chores in the house. My mom was a stay-at-home mom.
Our Secret to Work-Life Imbalance
And, funnier yet, the two of us agree that Raegan has a busier work life than I do, probably about a 65/35 split.
After reading about the way we split our household responsibilities, you may have drawn your own conclusions about whether you think we split our duties equally, but for the most part we consider it to be close to 50/50, since I drop our daughter off in the morning and take care of her in the afternoons and evenings when Raegan is working. Additionally, my household responsibilities include taking out the garbage, cleaning the cat litter, paying the bills and mowing the yard.
Still, in the end, for the most part we both know that Raegan does more for the house, and works more. What I would say about this is that, herein lies the reason it's important to marry the right person whose beliefs mesh with yours—whether that person is a man or a woman.
Since she works more than I do, I should be doing more of the life portion of this balance, but that is not how it works in our home. What we've determined is it's not about the numbers, per se. It's about reaching an agreement we both can live with.
Absolute work-life balance simply might not exist, no matter your sexual orientation. I think it is more about obtaining compromise and finding the balance that allows you both to feel satisfied emotionally.
Only you and your partner know what works for you, and it is not up to the rest of society to deem it balanced or imbalanced; if the relationship is healthy and both parties are happy, then who are we to judge?
As a family, Susan Hinson (left) and Raegan Ruiz enjoy RVing with their daughter and their two dogs, Luke and Leia (the three cats stay home to hold down the fort); individually, Susan dabbles in amateur photography, and Raegan sews and quilts.
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Tips for financial intimacy
5 items to for traveling with toddlers
How to let your spouse know you're in debt


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My name is Naomi, I am an athlete specialising in triple jump. I train five times a week and often have to travel to different parts of the country to compete. I'm going to tell you guys my long journey to passing my test with all the 'feels'.
I've always enjoyed training as it's lots of fun, but it wasn't so much fun for my dad who had to drive me to training. Instead of having a lie in on Saturdays, he had to wake up at half 8 to take me to the track by 9, and instead of coming home after a long day at work to relax and watch a bit of telly he was greeted by me with my kit on asking "Are we going yet? I'm gonna be late!"
To end his anguish, I decided to begin driving lessons and a few months after passing my theory test, my dad asked "So… when you going to take your practical test". I thought well I've been driving for a year I'll give it a shot.
I opened the DVLA website and booked my test for a month later. I continued to practice but the closer it came to the date of my test the more nervous I became. Although my instructor was great I started to have doubts about myself and messing up on things I never used to mess up on.
A couple of hours before the test my instructor and I practised all the possible manoeuvres which could come up, but we didn't practice three-point turn as I have never had a problem with that manoeuvre… Or so I thought.
We got to the test centre in good time and I sat in the waiting room for the examiner to come in and start the test. After what felt like forever, a group of instructors came out calling out different names. When my name was called the nerves immediately began to kick in. It dawned upon me that I hadn't practised the three-point turn and that it could potentially come up.
During my test things were going okay…until it came to doing my manoeuvre I was thinking "Please don't be a three-point turn, please don't be a three-point turn." And then the instructor says "Could you turn the car around for me please?"
My mind went completely blank and I just couldn't remember how to do the manoeuvre. I tried to run through the routine in my head but I couldn't recall how to complete it. I started to panic and in what seemed like a blur I began the manoeuvre, but because I was panicking I didn't check my mirrors when I should have. There was a car behind me which I didn't see and I knew I had failed. Although I was disheartened by the disastrous manoeuvre I decided to make the most of the rest of the test and use it as a learning experience.
The rest of the test actually went pretty well. I arrived at the test centre to my hopeful looking instructor approaching the car, the examiner let us both know that I had failed and said if I hadn't panicked so much on the manoeuvre I would've passed as I had 5 minor faults.
I was disappointed when I got home, I kept thinking of endless 'what ifs'. I didn't want to break the news to my family, but they were fine. I then booked another test for the following month, and decided to have a week's break before continuing lessons. (Another month of dad driving me to training, oops!)
This experience taught me that I needed to come up with a way to stop panicking under pressure. Here are some of the ways I came up with:
1) It's important to practise weaknesses until they become strengths – If you're not feeling confident about an aspect of driving don't just ignore it and hope it doesn't come up on the test, practise it until it becomes easier.
2) Keep in mind that driving is beyond the test. Although you may really want to pass, remember that there will be situations in which you will have perform the aspects you have learned.
3) Keep on practising strengths so they don't begin to tail off. Although you may feel very comfortable with different elements of driving make sure to still practise the elements you are strong at.
Check in soon to see what happened next!