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By D.E.Levine
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (screenplay)
Producers: Carolynne Cunningham and Peter Jackson
Executive Producers: Bill Brock and Ken Kamins
Co-executive Producers: Elliot Ferwerda and Paul Hanson
Co-producer: Philippa Boyens
Cast: Sharito Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie, John Sumner, William Allen Young, Greg Melvil-Smith, Nick Blake, Morena Busa Sesatsa, Themba Nkosi, et al.
Original Music: Clinton Shorter
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Country of Origin: New Zealand, South Africa
Language: English, Afrikanas
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller
This is a truly original science fiction film which combines political themes with state-of-the-art movie technology.
Filmed in director Neill Blomkamp's city of his youth, Johannesburg, the story is situated in a very real place and one unlikely to be found in science fiction.
We're so used to alien space ships landing in the U.S. that it's hard to believe a director would actually have one land in another country, much less South Africa.
But in this case, more than 20 years before the start of the movie, the alien ship simply ran out of gas and her exhausted passengers were put in internment camps that are separated from the normal human population. The stalled mother ship still hovers overhead.
The aliens are repulsive to look at, with hard crustacean shells, a close resemblance to insects and great strength. Labeled "pawns" by humans, because they root around for food and scavenge what they can, especially cat food,
In a country and city where memories of apartheid are still vivid and old biases still exist, the political suggestions evoked by the film per segregation between humans and pawns, is not lost on the audience.
The humans want to control the sophisticated weapons that the aliens brought with them. The humans however, lack the dark viscous fluid necessary to power both the weapons and the mother ship.
When Multinational United (MNU) decides to move the aliens from their internment camp to a rural concentration camp in order to control the burgeoning population, the eviction task is given to Wilkus, MNU Chairman's son-in-law.
While attempting to clear an illegal lab run by alien Christopher Johnson, Wilkus gets infected with an alien virus that rapidly changes his DNA. During a violent bout of illness, Wilkus grows and alien claw which can operate the alien weaponry.
Now labeled the "most valuable business artifact on Earth" and pursued by MNU scientists who want to harvest his organs, Wilkus escapes to District 9 with MNU's chief enforcer Koobus on his heels.
While hiding, Wilkus forms an uneasy alliance with Christopher and his young son. It turns out that the virus that infected Wilkus is the same liquid that Johnson has been distilling and collecting for 20 years to power the mother ship.
There is some disparity in the story, since viewers will undoubtedly wonder why Wilkus, the only human who can operate alien weaponry would be hunted rather than utilized for his unique skill, but the story is told in a tight and exciting manner and should be a crowd pleaser.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Posted by D.E.Levine at 12:50 PM
Labels: aliens, barbed-wire, insects, Johannesburg, political, science fiction
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown
Cast: Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Andrew Garfield, Quinn Lord, Verne Troyer, Paloma Faith, Cassandra Sawtell, Carrie Genzel, Michael Eklund, Brad Dryborough, Ryan Grantham, Johnny Harris, Mark Benton et al.
Producers: Terry Gilliam, William Vince, Amy Gilliam and Samuel Hadida
Executive Producers: Dave Valleau and Victor Hadida
Music: Michael Danna and Jeff Danna
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy
The last film that Heath Ledger worked on, Terry Gilliam was left with an unfinished film and a need to find a way to complete it when Ledger died. It tugs at the heart when Ledger's character talks about those who die young saying "They are forever young, they won't grow old". That's exactly how we will always remember Ledger.
There's a great deal of star power in the film and a mirror to the imagination in a carnival show allows Gilliam to use considerable imagery, but the film lacks the qualities found in his earlier films Time Bandits and Brazil. It's definitely more of an art house film than a popular commercial cinema venture.
However, Gilliam successfully weaves the contemporary and the fantastical into a dark yet whimsical package. Brimming with stunning digital visual effects, the basic story involves the classic duel between the forces of imagination led by Dr. Parnassus and Mr. Nick, the devil, who is the architect of fear and ignorance.
With a setting of a horse drawn carnival sideshow in modern London, Dr. Parnassus invites ticket holders to enter a world of their own imagination by stepping through a large mirror. Once on the other side fates vary and faces change.
It's this assumption that permitted Gilliam to fill Ledger's vacated role with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Ledger only appears in about a third of the film and without the participation of the other actors (all friends of his) the film could not have been completed.
Ledger initially appears as a man hanged from Blackfriar's Bridge with his hands tied behind his back. Claiming to remember nothing, he is renamed George by the carnival troupe and joins them. Dr. Parnassus believes the devil placed George with his troupe to make trouble because he and Mr. Nick have a lifelong wager with Dr. Parnassuss' daughter's soul as the prize.
The good doctor and Mr. Nick have a deal where they bet on people's souls in the world behind the mirror. One of the conditions is the doctor's immortality. Another involves the doctor's daughter on her sixteenth birthday. It is George who becomes the lynch-pin in the wager between the doctor and the Devil as the birthday countdown proceeds.
Friday, October 23, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Writers: Phil Lord and Cris Miller (screenplay) and Judi Barrett and Ron Barret (book)
Producer: Pam Marsden
Executive Producer: Yair Landau
Co-producers: Lydia Bottegoni and Chris Juen
Animation Executive Producer: Andrea Miloro
Cast (voices): Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Bobbie J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, Will Forte, Max Neuwirth, Peter Siragusa, Angela Shelton, Neil Flynn, Liz Cackowski, Isabella Acres, Lori Alan, Shane Baumel, Bob Bergan, Cody Cameron, Marsha Clark, John Cygan, Ann Domric, Paul Eiding, Jess Harnell, Gary A. Hecker, Phil Lord, Sherry Lynn, Danny Mann, Mona Marshall, Mickie McGowan, Chris Miller, Laraine Newman, Jan Rabson, Grace Rolek, Jeremy Shada, Will Shadley, Melissa Surm and Ariel Winter
Original Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Animation/Adaption, Kids/Family
This is a 3-D animated comedy based on a popular children's' book. The central character is Flint Lockwood, a boy who is an amateur inventor and lives on an island in the Atlantic where the central industry is catching and canning sardines.
With the collapse of the sardine market, and the disillusionment of island inhabitants with eating their own sardines, Flint creates food-flavored weather when his latest invention which converts water into food, launches itself into the sky and starts producing all types of edible food that falls to earth.
Hailed as a hero, Flint basks in the celebrity status until weather-girl Sam Sparks questions how much of a good thing is too much.
Between candy, ice cream, pancakes and hamburgers, with plenty of pizza and other child desired edibles, the island is pummeled with a down pouring of food until the machine goes out of control and the island is deluged with edibles.
With a tornado cloud made of spaghetti and meatballs, meatballs fall out of the sky and rain down upon the town. There is also the possibility that the town will be swept up in the spaghetti and meatball tornado.
Flint is torn between the adoration and the real threat of imminent demise, and it's up to him and Sam Sparks, with a little help from their friends, to rescue the island and the town.
Overall, the film is a wonderful, funny, straight-forward telling of a tale that has at it's core the story of an "oddball" who finds acceptance at the sacrifice of his core values.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Jane Campion
Writers: Jane Campion (screenplay)
Producers: Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt and Mark L. Rosen
Executive Producers: Francois Ivernel, Christine Langan, Cameron McCracken and David M. Thompson
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Kerry Fox, Paul Schneider, Edie Martin, Thomas Sangster, Gerard Monaco, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Samuel Roukin, Amanda Hale et al.
Original Music: Mark Bradshaw
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Country of Origin: United Kingdom/AustrDirecalia
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Drama, Biographical
John Keats died penniless and under appreciated, from tuberculosis, at the age of 25. Yet, his poetry has lived on and is now considered some of the best and most beautiful. Who among us hasn't heard and remembered such classic lines as "A thing of beauty is a joy forever"?
Director Jane Campion has always taken on unusual projects and this is no exception. In his brief life, Keats had a romantic attachment to his Hampstead neighbor Fanny Brawne. The relationship was not supported by his friends or her family.
Campion is once again intrigued by the distance that class, time and culture puts between lovers as well as the feelings they can't articulate.
In 1818, the then 23 year-old poet noticed the fashion-conscious Brawne and assumed she was just another stylish minx. On her part, she was seriously unimpressed by literature.
Despite that, a relationship developed where she realized that learning and understanding the poetry that possessed him would strengthen their bond and he, in turn, was impressed when she offered to help when his younger brother became ill.
Despite the impediments of Keats' best friend Brown, who tried to stop the friendship, and the interference of her mother, Fanny built an unstoppable relationship with Keats that lasted until his death in Italy.
In this film, the cinematography and attention to detail in every frame is unbelievably beautiful. Imbued with sensuality and the poetry of Keats, which continues through the end credits, Campion achieves an intense feeling of romantic love.
In an era of Hollywood celluloid films, we may not have realized we craved a deeply moving emotional love story. In addition to a heartbreaking love story, the intensity of their passion helped Keats create some of the most beautiful and passionate poetry in existence.
Indeed, Campion and her won wonderful cast and crew have captured both the intensity and the romance in the relationship. The film is a masterpiece and perhaps one of its greatest virtues is that young people who see it are inspired to learn more about Keats and his work.
Posted by D.E.Levine at 1:02 PM
Labels: Brawne, death, fashion, Keats, love, passionate, poetry, romance, tuberculosis
By D.E.Levine
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Scott Z. Burns (screenplay); Kurt Eichenwald (book)
Producers: Howard Braustein, Jennifer Fox, Gregory Jacobs and Michael Jaffe
Executive Producers: George Clooney, Michael London and Jeff Skoll
Co-producer: Michael Polaire
Cast: Matt Damon, Lucas McHugh Carroll, Eddie Jemison, Rusty Schwimmer, Craig Ricci Shaynak, Tom Papa, Rick Overton, Melanie Lynskey, Thomas F. Wilson, Scott Bakula, Scott Adsit, Ann Dowd, Allan Harvey, Howie Johnson, Joel McHale et al.
Original Music: Marvin Hamlisch
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Once upon a time there was a wildly delusional whistle blower. Mark Whitacre was a brilliant biochemist who worked for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), that mega agribusiness company that is always advertising on television.
Gung-ho about his work with the Decateur Ill. based firm, Whitacre is a real VP who is behind the promotion of food additives such as lysine. Telling his superiors that he has detected a mole responsible for allowing the Japanese competitors to interfere with ADM's manufacture of lysine.
ADM prefers to call in the FBI instead of paying a $10 million extortion demand and Mark fully cooperates, indeed even becoming somewhat enthusiastic after exposing a lysine price fixing scheme.
It's evident through the film's continual voice overs that function as a stream of consciousness, that Mark has an active fantasy life. Working undercover for the FBI he labels himself Agent 0014 because he's "twice as smart as James Bond" and he's obsessed with Michael Crichton novels.
As Whitacre's stories unravel, we hear his scheme of being the last man left to run ADM when everyone else is punished. In reality, his games drove his handlers to distraction, neutralizing much of the evidence they'd collected.
This is a real story about a real man with grandiose ideas that overcame hi brilliance with sad and disappointing results. But there is much in the film about big business and the corruption and greed within the corporation which is true and eye opening.
Damon does an admirable job in his portrayal of Whitacre, rationalizing any alteration of reality that served his purpose. In the end, he never doubts that he's "the good guy in all this" who's always right and completely unremorseful.
Posted by D.E.Levine at 12:49 PM
Labels: ADM, biochemist, Cricton, FBI, lysine, price fixing, whistle blower, Whitacre
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Tom Ford
Writers: Tom Ford and David Scearce (screenplay); Christopher Isherwood (nove)
Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno and Chris Weitz
Co-producer: Jason Alisharan
Cast: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnefer Goodwin, Teddy Sears, Paul Butler, Aaron Sanders et al.
Original Music: Abel Korzeniowski
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Fashioned upon Christopher Isherwood's novel about a gay college professor in the 1960s grieving for his dead lover and contemplating death, Tom Ford's first foray into the film business is impressive.
Although the plot differs somewhat from the book in that George, the college professor thinks about suicide, the cast and acting are solid and effective.
All action takes place during a single day when George, without divulging his plans, puts his affairs in order. There are numerous flashbacks that fill in the blanks about his life and that of his lover.
Throughout the film, the beauty of the glass house, the attention to details in the house and in the costumes, shows the influence that Ford's past experience as a designer for Gucci and current experience with his own eponymous line, have carried into the world of film.
Each detail, regardless of how small, is exact and perfect. Ford even designed the clothes for Firth and Hoult himself. The period detailing appears to be perfect.
For a first-time helmer, the ability to get it all together, handle the details and handle the experienced professional cast, is rather remarkable. However, Tom Ford has pulled it off and it would appear that he has a long career in film ahead of him.
By D.E.Levine
Director: Michael Moore
Writer: Michael Moore
Cast: Thora Birch, William Black, Jimmy Carter, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Baron Hill, Marcy Kaptur, John McCain, Michael Moore, Sarah Palin, Ronald Reagan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wallace Shawn, Elizabeth Warren, George W. Bush, Nancy Davis, Martin Luther King, Helmut Kohl, Bela Lugosi, Barack Obama, Robert Powell, Joseph Stalin
Producers: Anne Moore and Michael Moore
Co-producers: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
Executive Producers: Kathleen Glynn, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein
Original Music: Jeff Gibbs
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
This is definitely one of Michael Moore's best films. Of course, capitalism is a hot topic but it's actually the banking industry and it's meltdown within the last year that is Moore's focus.
Mixing home movies of himself as a child visiting Wall Street with archival footage from the 1950s extolling free enterprise, Moore mixes in interviews with individuals currently caught in the mortgage debacle and losing their homes and a real estate agent who finds bargains in foreclosed homes.
Moore is visible onscreen throughout the film as chief character and investigator while also being the film narrator. We learn that his father was a dedicated employee in the automotive industry as Moore explains the relevancy of the banking crisis to the present-day problems of the auto business. In a subdued moment, father and son revisit the site that once housed the factory where his father worked.
There are several ill-fated attempts to gain entrance to various financial institutions and banks that survived the crash and is turned back by security guards.
Moore also unsuccessfully tries to find a banker who can explain derivatives and is met with the response "Stop Making Films!"
He interviews members of Congress and suggests the $700 billion bailout was legalized bank robbery engineered by Goldman Sachs and Henry Paulson and run through Congress just prior to elections.
Fascinating to watch, we must remember that as Moore leads us through his argument that there be more cooperatively owned businesses where people make collective decisions and share the wealth, he is manipulating some of the facts for his own purposes.
Claiming "I refuse to live in a country like this and I'm not leaving," Moore doesn't solve the economic problems but shows his disgust for corporate America and its devastating effect on the lives of ordinary people.
Posted by D.E.Levine at 11:43 AM
Labels: archival, autobiographical, banks, banks. bailout, Congress, father, financial, footage, free enterprise, guards, industry, interviews, security
Saturday, October 17, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Michael Hoffman
Writer: Michael Hoffman (screenplay) and Jay Parini (book)
Cast: James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer, Helen Miren, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon, Patrick Kennedy, John Sessions, David Masterson, Tomas Spencer, Nenad Lucic and Maximillian Gartner
Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling and John Meruer
Executive Producers: Andrei Konchalovsky, Robert Little, Phil Robertson and Judy Tossell
Associate Producer: Andrey Deryatin - Russia
Assistant Producers: Luke Carey, Melanie Faul, Yvonne Huttig and Jona Wirbeleit
Ruunning Time: 112 Minutes
Country of Origin: Germany and Russia
Language: English with Russian
There are absolutely stellar performances by James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer and Helen Miren in this biopic film.
This is a period piece about the last days of Leon Tolstoy and if the material is true then we see that Tolstoy may have been brilliant but his family was as dysfunctional as any non-celebrity family.
The film begins in 1910 with the hiring of Valentin Bulgakov as Tolstoy's secretary. Caught in the middle of a power struggle between Countess Sofya (the wife) and Vladimir Chertkov (leader of the Utopian movement founded by Tolstoy, Bulgakov finds his loyalties repeatedly tested and is amazed by the nature of the Tolstoys 48-year marriage.
Tolstoy had celebrity status and an entourage of reporters and photographers following him around. As the Tolstoys long-term marriage flounders and disintegrates, Bulgarov meets a woman working on the Tolstoy farm and begins a relationship with the flush of new, young love.
Plummer's portrayal of Tolstoy is riveting, convincing as the genius but exhibiting human frailties. The skillful makeup makes him look amazingly like the photographs with which the public is familiar. You never glimpse Plummer the actor, since he disappears completely into character.
Beautifully filmed, the cinematography transports the viewer to Russia visually while the writing, directing and acting evoke deep emotional responses. Regardless of whether you believe in Tolstoy as a great author or a Utopian leader, emotionally this picture touches the inner feelings of the viewer resulting in sadness, disbelief and amazement.
By D.E.Levine
Director: Kevin Gruetert
Writer: Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton
Producer: Mark Burg and Oren Koules
Executive Producers: Peter Block, Daniel J. Heffner, Stacey Testro, James Wan and Leigh Whannell
Original Music: Charlie Clouser
Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Shawnee Smith, Peter Outerbridge, Athena Karkanis, Samantha Lemoie, Tanedra Howard, Marty Moreau, Shawn Ahmed et al.
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Country of Origin : United States
Language: English
The first five Saw movies were violent, bloody and full of gore. Saw VI is no exception. In fact, since the writers are collaborating on their third Saw film in a row, you barely notice that the director has changed.
Although John "Jigsaw" Kramer, the ruthless murderer of the previous films is dead from cancer for many months he leaves behind as his henchmen a compromised police detective and a widow plus a series of "games" that are aimed at bringing about the demise of William Easton, the corporate officer who denied his request to try an experimental gene therapy.
Jigsaw is interwoven into the current story through flashbacks, videotapes and fantasy sequences.
Although it's horrifying and scary to watch, the plot actually makes sense in this movie. The audience definitely empathizes with the bloodthirsty Jigsaw and is against the callous health insurer Eastman.
This franchise makes money so next year there will probably be a Saw VII. Meanwhile, the tasteless film is full of bad acting and laughable logic. While not really suspenseful it is gory enough to provide an upset stomach and an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to justify sitting through the entire thing.
Monday, October 12, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Scott Hicks
Writers: Allan Cubitt (screenplay) and Simon Carr (memoir)
Cast: Clive Owen, Emma Booth, Laura Fraser, George MacKay and Nicholas McAnulty
Producers: Greg Brenman and Tim White
Executive Producers: Peter Bennett-Jones, Clive Owen, David Thompson and Jane Wright
Co-producer: Bella Wright
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Country of Origin: Australia - United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Biographical, Drama
Forced to be a better parent after the untimely death of his wife, Joe Warr is a British expatriate working as a sports journalist in Australia.
Through flashbacks we see how Joe's marriage to second wife Katy was cut short when she succumbed to cancer. Joe must suddenly face the reality of work, grocery shopping, dishes, house cleaning, laundry and all the other mundane tasks that are part of life.
With a young six-year-old boy to raise without a mother, and an inherent uneasiness with full-time fatherhood, the father-son relationship is complicated and made more so by the fact that young Artie frequently acts out because he's too young to realize the full import of his mother's death.
Warr implements a different type of child rearing with as few rules as possible. It doesn't appear to be working and is exacerbated by the arrival of his teenage son Harry, from his first marriage, arrives for an extended stay. Harry's arrival brings an entirely new set of father-son issues.
Together, father and sons struggle to create a working but somewhat unorthodox household. Conflicts arise as young Artie is now forced to share his only parent with his older brother who is a stranger. Harry never understood why his father left and has always felt abandoned despite his academic understanding of the concept of divorce and his father moving to Australia where his second wife resided.
With extreme leniency comes a cluttered house and rumpled clothes, piles of laundry and dirty dishes, and basic lack of housekeeping. Also necessary is the need to accommodate the boys and for the Dad to be there for them, even when his job requires him to be away. Conflict arises and must be resolved.
Many mistakes are made along the way as the solo Dad tries to helm the family without experience or a manual. A love develops and a relationship grows between the brothers that will also influence the father.
In the end, the mistakes that are made and what are learned from them lead to a resolution of the conflicts between Dad and sons and an adoption of a new way of life.
Posted by D.E.Levine at 11:27 AM
Labels: Australian, boys, cancer, dad, father sons, journalist, relationship, sports, wife
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
By D.E.Levine
Director: Tom Hooper
Writers: Peter Morgan (screenplay) and David Peace (novel)
Producers: Andy Harries and Grainne Marmion
Executive Producers: Hugo Heppell, Christine Langan and Peter Morgan
Line Producer: Lee Morris
Cast: Colm Meaney, Henry Goodman, David Roper, Jimmy Reddington, Oliver Stokes, Ryan Day, Michael Sheen, Mark Bazeley, Timothy Spall, Maurice Roeves, Stephen Graham, Peter McDonald, Mark Cameron, Frank Skillin, Dylan Van Hoof, Sydney Wade, Elizabeth Caring, Jim Broadbent et al.
Original Music: Robert Lane
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Biography, Action, Historical, Sports
A combination of fact and fiction as this film, taken from a book, recounts the highlights of team manager Brian Clough.
Using flashbacks to tell the story, this film spans the 1968-1974 years when working-class-boy Clough oversaw the rise of English soccer team Derby County and then moved on to manage Derby's archrival, Leeds United.
When Clough takes over Leeds the club is at the top of the tables. Former manager Don Revie leaves to take over England's World Cup squad.
Long harboring resentment against Revie, Clough incurs the resentment of Leeds players prior to even starting by making public negative statements against both the former manager and the players.
Also hindering Clough is the fact that his longtime collaborator and assistant manager, Peter Taylor, doesn't accompany him to Leeds.
Fired after only 44 days on the job, Clough redeems himself in the opinion and memory of the U.K. by starting over again elsewhere.
While most of the infrequent soccer footage is archival, the emphasis of this film focuses on Clough's friendship with Taylor and rivalry with Revie. The themes thus are friendship, rivalry, loyalty and honor.
Michael Sheen, who already has proven himself adept at playing real historical figures (i.e. David Frost and Tony Blair) develops a moving picture of a braggart who must admit to his deficiencies and modify his behavior.
Clough, who died in 2004, is still a well-known and remembered figure in U.K. sports, both as a manager and a talkshow personality. Undoubtedly, his flamboyant personality and style will always be remembered in sports history.


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The School of Nursing and Health studies offers three degree programs; A Master of Nursing, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies. As a School, we are committed to supporting and improving the health of diverse communities through excellence and innovation in education, scholarship, leadership and service.
The health of individuals, communities and the globe are inextricable. Whether as a nurse, a global health worker or patient, understanding one's position and contributions to a healthier world is the goal of health literacy. A social justice approach to health literacy requires the critical thinking, writing and community engagement skills that are central to the mission of UW Bothell. The interdisciplinary faculty in the School of Nursing and Health Studies create unique educational approaches grounded in inclusive learning environments that are accessible, oriented to life-long learning and are based on the highest professional standards.

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Increase Your Memory Efficiency
Increase your memory efficiency – If you happened upon a list of legitimate tactics you could employ that would significantly benefit your ability to recall things, would you be willing to try them? It is fortunate that research shows multiple ways to protect your memories and help your brain retain information. Continue ahead for some amazing tips on how to save your memory.
If you want to remember information for long periods of time, develop some association strategies, or mnemonic devices, to help you. Good mnemonic devices work in much the same way that shorthand works for stenographers. By linking a bit of information to a word, phrase, or item, you will have a more concrete way to retrieve that memory.
There is much to learn and then remember, so try studying the information in various locations. This will prevent information from being associated with a certain location. Rather, the information is able to be internalized within you. The more places you study at, the more likely the information will go into your long-term memory storage.
Sticky Notes
If you have a hard time remembering to do things, do not be ashamed to write sticky notes. Keep them in places you'll see all the time, like beside your computer or on your refrigerator. Think of these sticky notes as an aid to your memory.
One good way to keep your mind limber is to stay active within your social circles. This will help keep your mind alert and focused, and your spirits lifted. Depression or loneliness result in less stimulating activities for the mind and brain cells. Engaging in stimulating conversation with others will keep your mind going and memory better.
Associating a bit of information with a humorous song or image can help your brain recall it later. A humorous association tagged onto someone's name will help you remember it later on.
If you'd like to improve your ability to retain information, try visualizing the things that you're hoping to memorize. If you are using a textbook to study, a good way to visualize information is to use photos and charts. You might also want to consider creating your own graphs and charts.
Allow your brain to conjure up information that is permanently stored in your mind, and then associate it with new thoughts that you wish to retain. When you build ties between new and old information, it will help you retain the new information in your memory. You will likely be able to do so in much less time than it would take otherwise.
Look for memory improvement books within a library located in your area. Many experts in the field have written about improving memory function, and often, the advice given in these books will be just what you need to make your memory sharper.
Don't put yourself at a disadvantage by doubting yourself. Many people think that your memory goes with old age. Actually, this is not always the case. Anticipating memory loss can actually cause it. If people are telling you that you are absentminded and forgetful, you may start to internalize these labels. Having a positive attitude about your memory can go a long way toward strengthening it.
A good way to remember things that you hear or that you're told is to actually put the information into words of your own. Think of it as rewriting someone else's work. This way you can recall info easier. It is difficult to retain ideas and words when the concepts are foreign or complicated.
You can help yourself learn by saying things out loud to help improve your memory retention. Try to repeat the things you learn out loud right away. By hearing their name spoken, you are more likely to recall it at another time. To make it even more effective (and if you are not easily embarrassed), say it out loud multiple times.
Meditation is a fantastic way to improve brain elasticity and memory function, while also relieving stress and improving your general health. In order to meditate, you should locate a spot that is calm and comfortable, and attempt to focus all thoughts on your breathing. Breathe in and out slowly. In order to keep your brain healthy, you should do this for at least thirty minutes every day.
To reduce the risk of developing conditions that cause loss of memory, stay connected to people by forming and maintaining strong relationships. Research has demonstrated that spending quality time with family and friends is healthy for the portion of the brain that contains your memories. This doesn't necessarily mean many hours per week. It only requires a few hours per week.
Always start by establishing an outline of the material you need to study. Playing around with the outline or bullet-pointing different study topics can organize the material in such a way that you can easily learn and recall it on demand. There's no need to create a formal outline like you learned in school. Any sort of grouping mechanism will prove effective.
Increase your memory with Mnemonic Devices
You can use mnemonic devices that help you remember important information. This technique involves pairing something you have to remember with something that you know very well. You can use jokes, songs, rhymes and such to create mnemonic devices. This is an amusing method of improving your memory. It can also make studying much more fun.
Improving Memory-saving tips and tactics aren't overly complicated. Most of what you learned here is all fairly common-sense stuff, dealing with a lot of repetition and other retention practices. However, you cannot take this advice lightly just because it's simpler than you assumed. Be sure that you're using the tips here if you want to save your memory.
Depression can invoke PTSD, and PTSD can invoke lots of bad symptoms that may be treated with EMDR. Speak to your therapist about EMDR for Stress today. EMDR Therapy might help to alleviate your post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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AMONG the highlights of Mary Heilmann's early years in New York were evenings spent with the so-called big boys upstairs at Max's Kansas City on Park Avenue South. "It was very entre nous," Ms. Heilmann recalled. The second-floor hangout was transformed in the early 1970s, as Andy Warhol's appearances waned, from a disco into a drug-frenzied den of emerging talents like David Bowie. "You'd go to Mickey, the owner, and you'd say you want to go upstairs. Then he'd say, 'Who do you know?' "
Upstairs at Max's, Ms. Heilmann, a transplant from California, said, she saw the young stars of Minimalism on the rise and admired Donald Judd, Carl Andre and Robert Smithson. She sought to win their attention by hurling outlandish provocations. "I was an ornery girl," she said. "Of course," she added, "you'd have a few drinks first." In hindsight, Ms. Heilmann confesses, "I just wanted to be their equal."
With her retrospective "To Be Someone" opening the final leg of its national tour at the New Museum of Contemporary Art on Oct. 22, Ms. Heilmann, 68, can finally rest assured.
Revealing that art, like youth, is subjective, Ellsworth Kelly, the 85-year-old master of hard-edged geometric abstraction, recently said, "I've always felt that Mary Heilmann is the best of the new abstractionists." Mr. Kelly tops a Who's Who of artist-admirers ranging from those straight out of art school to those who are institutions themselves.
In the last few years, however, Ms. Heilmann's drippy, color-saturated abstractions have become even more mainstream. With their sly references to her favorite landscapes, pop songs, Navajo weavings, chairs and defiantly middlebrow ceramic dinnerware, they have appeared on the covers of Art in America and Artforum and even in Vogue, where two of her paintings ran alongside her portrait, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Apart from the New Museum show, a mini-retrospective of her paintings, "Some Pretty Colors," is under way at the Zwirner & Wirth gallery, and shows are planned in January at both 303 Gallery sites in Chelsea. And that's only in New York.Continue reading the main story
Elizabeth Armstrong, the chief organizer of "To Be Someone," which had its debut last year at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, Calif., said of the show: "The retrospective seems to have brought to the surface collective feelings people have for Mary. It's as if everyone who has ever seen her work finds something to love."
It's not every day that a painter with a 40-year career gets to feel like a hot young thing, so Ms. Heilmann has clearly had to hone her coping skills. In an interview outside her Bridgehampton, N.Y., studio, she acknowledged her newfound stardom with a tentative smile.
"I was such an underdog for so long," she said with a good-natured shrug, her silver hoop earrings glistening against her closely cropped white hair and an electric-green polo shirt.
Still, Ms. Heilmann has been doing exactly what she wanted the entire time. In the late '60s and early '70s, while the artists she considered hippest were experimenting with nontraditional materials and unwieldy concepts, she returned to the traditional vernacular of painting. Fellow painters were flocking to a strict regimen of pristine surfaces and cool geometry, but Ms. Heilmann preferred to treat canvases "as if they were ceramic objects, as if, more specifically, they were pots," the critic Dave Hickey writes in the catalog.
Also, the most privileged members of the art-world club were men. "The big boys just totally marginalized Mary because she was turning the whole construction of hard-edged geometry inside out," said the artist Marilyn Minter, 60, a painter of glamorous, erotically charged images who has experienced a similar resurgence over the last decade. "She worked from her gut."
Yet in her gut, Ms. Heilmann said, she wanted to be famous. "I was on a mission from the beginning," she said. "I wanted everyone to look at me."
Born in San Francisco in 1940, Ms. Heilmann had her first opportunity for stardom five years after her family had settled into a small beach town an hour south of Los Angeles. At 12 she was invited to train as a competitive diver and began catching a bus to Los Angeles to attend diving practice after school. Her father, a civil engineer, would drive her back home to El Segundo on his way home from work.
Looking back, Ms. Heilmann said, she views her thirst for attention in a different way. "When a child says, 'I want to be famous,' what that really means is that they want the people right around to love them." But at 13 she lost her earliest fan when her father died of cancer.
Returning to San Francisco, her mother enrolled Ms. Heilmann in a Roman Catholic girls' school. At first, Ms. Heilmann faithfully attended church every Sunday and listened to broadcast recitations of the rosary on a local radio station. But before long she found herself playing rock 'n' roll records in her room and scouring local ecclesiastical shops for black nun's stockings, the better to hobnob with beatniks at the local bars and coffeehouses.
Her rebellious spirit asserted itself again in the mid-1960s. During her time as a graduate student in sculpture at the University of California, Berkeley, works like a Dada-ist assemblage of plywood, papier mâché and glitter, "Starry Night, (Night Sky)," nearly caused her dismissal but ended up winning a prize. "I had a kind of attitude," she said.
When David Hockney arrived as a visiting artist, Ms. Heilmann cast her net of materials wider, sneaking into a seminar open only to painters. "I said I was a painter," she said matter-of-factly. She credits Mr. Hockney with teaching her not to take herself too seriously, a perspective that informs her work to this day.
Ms. Heilmann said she came to New York in 1968 "to be a part of the group" of artists she admired. "It was kind of like tribal behavior," she said. "I came to have conversations with them." When the conversations turned sour, as they so often did, she didn't flinch. "It was the kind of thing," she said, "where you'd bring up the subject of David Hockney with Smithson, and you'd get in a fight. Or you'd bring up Andy Warhol with Brice Marden, and you'd get in a fight."
Abandoning her multimedia assemblages in the late '60s, Ms. Heilmann was increasingly drawn to painting, a medium that she felt combined the materiality of paint with the childlike wonder of making art. She was included in group shows and exhibited with Holly Solomon, but she continued to struggle. In 1977 she began teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York to make ends meet. By the mid-1980s, she said, "It looked like I was over."
In 1986 she was considering moving back to California when she stumbled across Pat Hearn, a hot young dealer in what was then a thriving East Village art scene. Ms. Heilmann joined her gallery's roster, which included the painters Philip Taaffe and Peter Schuyff. In terms of acceptance, "it was a major turning point in my life," she said.
Ms. Hearn had expected to draw momentum from "that whole '80s painting scene," which championed David Salle and Julian Schnabel, Ms. Heilmann said. But the art community did not fully embrace her work. The spotlight shone elsewhere.
Many School of Visual Arts alumni were prospering, among them Elizabeth Peyton, part of the crop of popular figurative painters of the early 1990s. (Ms. Peyton's first American full-scale museum survey, "Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton," opens at the New Museum this Wednesday, just two weeks before Ms. Heilmann's.)
Yet over the years Ms. Heilmann had won the abiding respect of fellow artists, including many of those students, and the tide began turning in her favor toward the late 1990s when the Hauser & Wirth gallery in London began cultivating an audience for her in Europe.
Today she spends half of each week in Manhattan, where she still teaches at the School of Visual Arts and attends to her "Flying Saucer Project," a collaborative venture involving an informal line of cast-ceramic dinnerware. The rest of the time she is at her cedar-shingled Bridgehampton home, constructed from a 1920s Sears, Roebuck kit. Or doing a backstroke in her backyard pool while "looking up at the sky," as she put it.
Her studio, a red barn that she rebuilt after buying the property in 1995, has windows that swing open like doors, allowing her to watch sunsets across the field of sunflowers bordering her property. Bleached pine floors and white wainscoting are the backdrop for Ms. Heilmann's colorful accents — a serape weaving draped over the couch, for example, and chairs she designed as both a homage and a sendup to Mr. Judd.
When it is pointed out that the colors of a woven seat match the colors in nearby paintings, she laughs. "It's such a mortal sin to use art as décor," she said. "But I love the confusion." Her paintings lean against the walls like saucy spectators. In keeping with the "Flying Saucer Project" and the studio, they invite sensory pleasure. Whatever Ms. Heilmann makes, from an abstract painting of a storm to the lowliest teacup, seems to cement the connection between art and life.
Over time, she said, she has learned "not to be cynical and sarcastic all the time, or just plain provocative with the fellas, to get them mad." Still, her belated success gives her a longing for just one more round with the big boys. "I wish Smithson would come back," Ms. Heilmann said of her onetime idol, who died in 1973, "and say, 'Oh, you're not such a dumb girl.' "Continue reading the main story


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Many years ago, when I was first saved, the church I was attending had a mission trip to Mexico. In my own naïve way, I sort of understood there was a need, but to me it was, well, Mexico… I grew up in Arizona, I'd been to Mexico multiple times, and it just didn't seem really exotic. But I was a new Christian and it was a mission trip, and I was excited! I just knew that I had something to offer. While that was true and in itself a good thing, I've since realized how prideful I was. It never occurred to me that I would bring back more than I could give.
Our church had a sister-church in Mexico that we were partnering with. We did a clothing drive before we left, with the intention of giving it all to our sister church to have on hand and distribute as they saw fit. I was a part of the team that went through the clothes, sorted into groups and sizes, etc. We had a ton of clothing dropped off, which should have been a good thing. Unfortunately, I was shocked and horrified at the amount of clothing that was given that was torn, completely stained, vulgar and offensive, or otherwise completely inappropriate! We salvaged what we could and though we threw away about half of it, we still managed to take down a decent sized load.
The specific plan for our mission trip was to help re-build a church that had burned down. Now, I'm not exactly a construction whiz, but even I understood how much more difficult it would be without basic construction equipment – like a bobcat for moving dirt, or an abundance of fantastic power tools to make it easier, faster or more fun! Everything was pretty much done by hand, including digging out, and moving, huge boulders. It was hot, and dirty, and very laborious. It was also fun, lively and extremely rewarding.
One day, we stopped construction early to go spend some time at "Cardboard City." Of course, that term can sort of give you an idea of what is coming, but "sort of having an idea" and confronting the reality of the situation, are vastly different things. There was an area of land, outside of town and next to the local dump, which had become home to hundreds of the poorest of families. The dwellings were literally made from cardboard, which conveniently came from the dump next door. The sights and the smells were overwhelming.
To say that I never realized how rich I really was would be a GINORMOUS understatement! It was shocking and heartbreaking. But it was also enlightening. These families were just doing what they could to survive. They had next to nothing. The basic necessities were absent. But they made do. The families stuck together. Children were running around and playing, like American children would. But unlike American children, sticks and cans were their toys, and they were happy to have them.
One incident in particular is crystal clear in my mind. One of the gals on the trip was a truly delightful teenager. Kelly was passionate for God, and a very hard worker. She had also taken three years of Spanish, so she was a great translator too! When we were at "Cardboard City," all the children were drawn to her – especially the girls. Kelly was young and very pretty, with blonde hair, blue eyes and braces. She hugged and loved on every child that approached her. They all wanted to touch her blonde hair and were totally fascinated by her "teeth jewelry." In my own ignorance, it hadn't even occurred to me that they wouldn't know what braces where! Kelly was great about it all – she talked to them, explained what braces were and let them look closely at them, she let them play with her hair and just loved them! I realized even then that I was actually witnessing the love of God in action and what Jesus would do. That teenage girl taught me more about the heart and love of God than any preacher I've ever heard, to this day.
Before we left, we had church in a small metal building set on concrete. The service was in Spanish, there was no air conditioning or even seats, and worship was sung with an old tape player and tape – also in Spanish. But boy, did God meet us there in a huge way! I think most of us were completely broken at that moment. When it was time to leave we received hugs and smiles that would melt an iceberg. It was a far more somber group that went back that night. The experience was too great and precious for frivolity, and I think there was a lot of introspection being done, and I'm certain we all left a changed person.
When we left for home, I brought a souvenir. Of all the boulders that were found when we were doing construction, I personally found the three biggest, that had to be dug out and removed. I brought home the smallest of these three boulders. I cleaned it up and was delighted to see how pretty it really was. I then selected a Bible verse to paint on it, to remember this very special trip. Returning home, I knew I received far more than I had given. I had given my time, tons of sweat, and even some tears and blood. Among the many things I received was a compassionate heart, an awareness of just how blessed I really am, and memories that will last a lifetime!
Oh, and about the boulder. I still have it and it remains one of my most prized possessions. The Scripture that was painted on it is this:
"And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven." ~ Matt. 16:18-19


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Health Indicator Report of Cervical Cancer Screening
Cervical cancer is one of the most curable cancers if detected early through routine screening. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by infection with high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV vaccine protects against the HPV types that most often cause cervical cancer. Women who have had an HPV vaccine still need to have routine Pap smears because the vaccine does not fully protect against all the strains of the virus and other risk factors that can cause cervical cancer. HPV is transmitted through sexual contact. Any woman who is sexually active is at risk for developing cervical cancer. Other risk factors include giving birth to many children, having sexual relations at an early age, having multiple sex partners or partners with many other partners, cigarette smoking, and use of oral contraceptives. Cervical cancer screening should begin about three years after a woman begins having intercourse but no later than 21 years of age. Cervical screening should be performed every year with conventional Pap tests or every two years with liquid-based Pap tests. Beginning at age 30, women who have had three normal test results in a row may undergo screening every two to three years.
Percentage of Adult Women who had a Pap Test Within the Past Three Years by County , New Jersey, 2015-2017
NotesAll prevalence estimates are age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.
Data SourceBehavioral Risk Factor Survey, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health, [http://www.state.nj.us/health/chs/njbrfs/]
Data Interpretation IssuesData from the New Jersey Risk Factor Survey are intended to represent non-institutionalized adults in households with telephones. Data are collected using a random sample of all possible telephone numbers. Prior to analysis, data are weighted to represent the population distribution of adults by age, sex, and "race"/ethnicity. As with all surveys, however, some residual bias may result from nonresponse (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions) and measurement error (e.g., social desirability or recall). Attempts are made to minimize such error by use of a strict calling protocol (up to 15 calls are made to reach each household), good questionnaire design, standardization of interviewer behavior, interviewer training, and frequent, on-site interviewer monitoring and supervision. Starting in 2011, BRFSS protocol requires that the NJBRFS incorporate a fixed quota of interviews from cell phone respondents along with a new weighting methodology called iterative proportional fitting or "raking". The new weighting methodology incorporates additional demographic information (such as education, race, and marital status) in the weighting process. These methodological changes were implemented to account for the underrepresentation of certain demographic groups in the land line sample (which resulted in part from the increasing number of U.S. households without land line phones). Comparisons between 2011 and prior years should therefore be made with caution. (More details about these changes can be found at [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6122a3.htm].)
DefinitionEstimated percentage of women ages 21-65 years who have had a Pap test in the past three years.
NumeratorThe number of women ages 21-65 years who reported having a Pap test in the last three years.
DenominatorThe total number of female survey respondents ages 21-65 years excluding those who responded "don't know" or "refused" to the numerator question.
Healthy People Objective: Increase the proportion of women who receive a cervical cancer screening based on the most recent guidelinesU.S. Target: 93.0 percent
State Target: 93.6 percent
Other Objectives'''Healthy New Jersey 2020 Objective CA-14''': Increase the proportion of women aged 21 to 65 years who receive a cervical cancer screening based on the most recent guidelines to 93.6% for the total population, 94.9% among Whites, 99.3% among Blacks, 94.7% among Hispanics, and 79.8% among Asians.
How Are We Doing?In 2017, approximately 82 percent of respondents reported that they had received a Pap test within the past three years.
Available ServicesNJDOH has many programs and partnerships related to cancer resources, cancer information, and cancer prevention: [http://nj.gov/health/ces/].
Health Program InformationAmerican Cancer Society's Cancer Screening Guidelines: [https://www.cancer.org/healthy/find-cancer-early/cancer-screening-guidelines.html]
Page Content Updated On 08/13/2018, Published on 06/19/2019


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|Warren, Ohio
|High School:
|Warren JFK
|Special Education
2016 Outdoor (Sophomore): Finished third in a tightly-contested 100m dash at the Horizon League Championships with a time of 10.68 seconds...was just .02 seconds behind the top two finishers...was also third in the 200m dash with a time of 21.64 seconds...ran the leadoff leg for the 4x400m relay team that finished fourth and helped YSU clinch the conference title...had a best time of 10.51 seconds in the 100m dash at the Northeast Ohio Quad...ran a best time of 21.47 seconds in the 200m at the Jesse Owens Classic.
2016 Indoor (Sophomore): Finished fourth in the 60m dash at the Horizon League Championships with a time of 6.92 seconds...placed sixth in the 200m dash with a finals time of 22.00 seconds...ran the opening leg of the 4x400m relay that placed third...had a top time of 6.85 seconds in the 60m dash at the YSU College Invitational...also had a best time of 21.76 seconds in the 200m dash at the YSU College Invitational.
2015 Outdoor (Freshman): Was the runner up in the 100m dash at the Horizon League Championship with a time of 11.11 seconds...had a season-best of 10.51 seconds at the Slippery Rock Dave Labor Invitational in the 100m dash...finished sixth in the 200m dash at the HL Championships with a time of 22.25 seconds...had a season-best of 21.42 seconds at the Slippery Rock Dave Labor Invitational in the 200m dash...ran the fourth leg of the 4x1m relay that was runner up at the HL Championship with their season-best time of 41.06...ran the last leg of the 4x4m relay that ran their season-best time of 3:23.69 at the HL Championship meet.
2015 Indoor (Freshman): Named the Track Freshman of the Year at the Horizon League Championships...won the 60-meter dash at the Horizon League Championships with a time of 6.89 seconds...later won the 200m dash at the HL Championships in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.74 seconds...won the event by .10 seconds...ran the anchor leg on the Penguins' 4x400-relay squad...had a time of 6.88 seconds in the 60m HL prelims for a season-best performance...became the first HL/Penguin sprinter to win the 60m and 200m dash at the same championship since Eugene Harris in 2003...placed second in the 60-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash at the YSU College Invitational...placed second in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at the YSU National Invitational.
High School: Claimed the OHSAA 100-meter dash Division III state championship as a junior in 2013...was the OATCCC Division II 200m Indoor State Champion as a senior...also finished second in the 60m dash at the state indoor meet...at the 2014 state Division III outdoor meet placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.03 seconds...was seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.84 seconds...was the district champion in the 100 and 200 meters as a senior...school-record holder in the 100m with a time of 10.55 seconds...personal-best time in 200m dash is 21.67 seconds...best time in the 60-meter dash (indoor) was 6.91 seconds...member of Team Ohio in the Midwest Meet of Champions 4x200 team...selected as the Trumbull County MVP in 2014...coached by Jack Thorton...also a three-time letterman in football.
Personal: Parents are Charles and Colleen Zallow...has two brothers...brother Chad also runs for YSU...major is Special Education...is the 2016-17 recipient of the Van Sickle Foundation Athletic Scholarship.


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Across the country, Canada, Mexico, and now revving up in Europe, users at every level are benefiting from using EXTRA. From advanced dispatch management to scheduled high level profitability reporting, EXTRA will make your job easier.
As an owner or CEO, you are aware that transportation costs have a major impact on the success of your operation. Extracting maximum profits out of every pickup or delivery is critically important.
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Citrus Essential Oil Bath Soak with Himalayan Pink Salt
So you had a bad day?
So you had a good day?
This is a bath lover's dream!
You'll enjoy the fragrant essential oils as you relax in a warm tub surrounded by mineral rich water. We'll suggest your favorite music, dim lights and a fluffy robe waiting to keep you snuggly warm.
Mineral laden Pink Himalayan salt, Citrus and Orange Essential oils, and epsom salt soak your aches away. Add 2-3 scoops to the bath as it fills and sink in to let your cares dissolve.
16 ounces comes with scoop.
Great Soap and a Great Value!
We have changed the formula for our soaps to include Shea Butter. The soaps offered here meet our high standards for Sanibel Naturals products: long lasting, rich creamy lather and generous size. They do not have Shea Butter as an ingredient.
Please add more soaps or another product to qualify for free shipping on orders over $30.00
© Copyright 2017 Sanibel Naturals. All rights reserved.


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BMW M140i review
In this review
What Car? says...
How times change. Where once an output north of 300bhp was reserved for only the most serious of performance cars, now it's the bare minimum a hatchback needs to be considered 'hot'. Indeed, the BMW M140i wades into battle with an eyebrow-raising 335bhp.
Unlike rivals such as the Ford Focus RS and Volkswagen Golf R, the M140i doesn't rely on fancy-pants four-wheel drive. Instead, it channels everything its 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engine can muster to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
Although it can't match the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45 for brute horsepower, the M140i has its own charm that makes it a very appealing everyday performance car. To find out what that is, stay with us over the next few pages for our detailed review.
And if you decide you want to buy an M140i, make sure you check out our latest deals. You'll save thousands on the brochure price.


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On the first Tuesday of every November""well, the first Tuesday after the first Monday, which six out of seven times is just the first Tuesday""our country takes part in a tradition as old as democracy. That's right we watch the news. Approximately half of us voted, but at least three times that many people turned on the TV.
It is not by choice that we watched the news this past Tuesday night (which was the 5th of November, seeing how Monday was the 4th). We watched the news because we had no other choice. Which is very ironic since that's the same day that we celebrate democracy.
I also cringe in calling it news, since there was nothing new (though whatever it was, it was plural). This year, the networks were very careful not to have a repeat of the 2000 election, where they first told us that the conservative compassionate was elected president, when it turned out to actually be the compassionate conservative. Last year, there were no repeats of the debacle because last year there were no elections. Sure, Election Day comes annually. But the year after a presidential election, your patriotic duty to vote is changed to your patriotic duty to test if the levers still work, regardless of whose name is next to them.
This year, up-to-the-minute election coverage consisted of a lot of lawyers being very, very careful.
"We've just received word that in the state of North Dakota, there are a lot of people voting, and they have been choosing between candidates all day. We'd tell you more, but we're still grounded from when we were idiots two years ago. Back to you, Skip."
As much fun as it is to mock the people at the networks (and boy, is it fun!), the rest of us are just as guilty. After all, much of the voting fiasco of 2000 was caused by people without microphones. These microphone-less people also once voted for a dead guy over John Ashcroft, though I probably would have done that, too.
This Tuesday, I accompanied my father to his local voting facility Queens' scenic Martin Van Buren High School. Van Buren High is a facility so progressive that they are currently re-constructing all of their outdoor athletic facilities, a project that they started during the first week of school. After we followed more than a dozen signs telling us to decide between the candidates "Here" and "Aqui" (rimshot!), we finally arrived at the Van Buren gymnasium, in which we surprisingly found voting booths instead of the football team.
I'd like to remind you that everything I write in this column is based on the truth. The column's motto is "it's funny because it's true." Which is not to say that everything true is funny. I bet when news of the Hindenburg spread, people were not saying, "Is that true? Because if it is, it's hysterical." Well, some of them may have been, but those people were probably very, very mean.
The gym was being run by election volunteers, which us "I'm too busy to help anyone" citizens appreciate. Though perhaps I should say the gym was being walked, because nothing in there was moving fast enough to run.
While we were signing in, an older woman (older compared to the other senior citizens in the room) discovered that there was one extra voting card no one had taken number 442. So the woman took a pen and changed the number to 441, and changed 443 to 442, and 444 to 443, until my father said "why don't you just get rid of the extra one?" The woman told my father it was a good idea and finally threw one in the trash, but not until after she changed 445 to 444.
While my father disappeared behind the curtain and did his best impression of the Wizard of Oz, I asked the volunteers for a change of address form. One went to retrieve it for me, and then jokingly asked why I was moving to the neighborhood, without ever confirming that I actually was moving to the neighborhood.
"Are you interested in all the ladies?," she said, pushing her blue hair aside.
I explained that my father lived there, and I was merely accompanying him to the polls. With that, the older woman retrieved another woman older still, who I later discovered was named Polly. The first woman said that I was moving into town because my father knew Polly, and she had recommended it to me. After a few seconds of utter confusion, I realized the misunderstanding, apologized to the befuddled Polly, explained the similarity of her name to the word "polls," and began to comprehend how a Miami Jew could accidentally vote for Pat Buchanan.
The change of address form she gave me was in Spanish. I know that it wasn't in English, because I can read English. I returned it to the woman, and politely explained the problem.
"It's in Spanish? Then all the ones I've been giving out tonight have been in Spanish. Maybe there's another pile somewhere."
What amused me about her mistake was not the mistake itself, rather the dozens of other people who received a form in Spanish and just shrugged their shoulders and said, "si."
My father voted, I filled out my form, and we began to leave, but not before Polly's friend complimented me on my accent. I asked her to what accent she was referring. In the same breath, she said, "That accent! It's marvelous. You have no accent at all!"
After thanking her in Spanish, we hurried home to turn on anything but the news. We were just in time to find nothing but the news. After an hour of men in toupees in suits in chairs, the only thing of note we learned was that from the first 10% of precincts reporting, New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo had received more than 1,500 votes. Cuomo dropped out of the election months ago, but was somehow still beating the libertarian candidate.
I think the guy's name was Ashcroft.
On the first Tuesday of every November""well, the first Tuesday after the first Monday, which six out of seven times is just the first Tuesday""our country takes part in a tradition as old as democracy. That's right we watch the news. Approximately half of us voted, but at least three times that many people turned on the TV.


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The Securities and Transactional Litigation Practice Group focuses on litigation under the federal and state securities laws and litigation arising out of mergers and acquisitions ("M&A"), other transactions and corporate governance matters. Our experience encompasses litigation relating to IPOs and other capital markets financings, public and private M&A deals, investment company activities, and state law corporate and fiduciary duty matters generally. With approximately 120 lawyers in 23 cities around the world, we are positioned at strategic intersections of the global economy and have a strong local presence in key commercial and financial centers. M&A and securities litigation is often multi-jurisdictional, and our multi-office platform and experience with forum-related litigation well equip us to handle such litigation efficiently and effectively.
We have received widespread recognition for the quality, depth and breadth of our practice. We were ranked 7th among the top ten firms in Securities Litigation by Law360 for 2015. We also have been recognized in BTI Consulting Group's Litigation Outlook surveys as a "Powerhouse" firm in Class Action Litigation for 2014 and 2015, and as a "Powerhouse" and "Standout" firm in Securities & Finance Litigation for 2014 and 2015, respectively. We received "Tier 1" national practice rankings from the U.S. News & World Report-Best Lawyers® survey in "Litigation – Securities" for 2015, and in both "Litigation – Mergers and Acquisitions" and "Litigation – Securities" for 2014, 2013 and 2012.
We litigate both "public" disputes (shareholder class action and derivative cases) and "private" disputes (such as claims between buyers and sellers in M&A deals), and have litigated transactions valued at $1 billion or more. We have extensive experience litigating such disputes in the federal courts throughout the United States, as well as in state courts around the nation, including the Delaware Chancery Court, the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court in New York City, and specialized business courts in other states. Our practice group includes a former Attorney General of the United States, a former SEC Assistant General Counsel, former SEC Division of Enforcement attorneys, former Assistant United States Attorneys and District Attorneys, former Department of Justice attorneys and former state securities regulators.
To maximize the effectiveness of our representation, we work closely with and leverage our strong relationships with our colleagues in related practice areas of the Firm, such as Securities Regulation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Governance, Securities Enforcement, Capital Markets and Investment Management. K&L Gates was named the "Law Firm of the Year" for Securities Regulation for 2015 in the U.S. News & World Report-Best Lawyers® survey. In 2013, K&L Gates was named "Law Firm of the Year" by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine, as part of its annual M&A Mid-Market Awards. The U.S. News & World Report-Best Lawyers® survey singled us out as the national Corporate Governance "Law Firm of the Year" for 2012, and as the national "Law Firm of the Year" in Securities Regulation and Criminal Defense: White Collar in 2013. Our M&A, Capital Markets and Investment Management (Mutual Funds) practices are recognized by U.S. News & World Report-Best Lawyers® as "Tier 1" national practices, with our Investment Management group being one of the largest and most experienced in the United States and globally.
In those instances in which a case survives to reach the discovery phase, our lawyers have available the unmatched capabilities and technical expertise of our e-Discovery Analysis & Technology ("e-DAT") group, led by a team of trial lawyers who assist in the development of reasonable and responsible plans for responding to discovery requests, and who direct specially trained lawyers in document review prior to production. Our e-DAT group has been at the forefront of e-discovery for over a decade, delivering creative, efficient, and cost-effective e-discovery solutions, as well as litigation readiness services.
We regularly litigate disputes arising under the federal securities statutes, such as the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as claims under state securities laws. The experience and success of our practice span the history of securities class action litigation, dating from the successful representation of a national accounting firm in what is believed to have been the first Rule 10b-5 class action ever tried to a conclusion down to current, cutting edge "clawback" litigation arising out of the activities of Bernard Madoff. We have had frequent success in obtaining the dismissal of putative class action complaints, defeating motions for class certification, and limiting the scope of alleged class periods. We also regularly work on behalf of our clients to resolve derivative and individual securities claims, regulatory matters, and compliance concerns.
Securities Class Action and Derivative Lawsuits Recent studies demonstrate that the number of securities class action cases has increased significantly over the last several years, including an increase in the number of cases asserting Rule 10b-5 claims. We regularly defend securities class actions and related derivative claims brought in federal and state courts throughout the United States. We have successfully defended clients ranging from publicly held corporations, investment companies, and investment advisory firms, to underwriters, large and small brokerage firms, stock exchanges, and venture capital firms, as well as the officers and directors of such organizations.
In addition to claims under the federal securities laws, cases sometimes also involve claims under other federal statutes, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. K&L Gates litigators are experienced in the defense of such claims.
K&L Gates litigators also have been at the forefront of developments in the law permitting the removal to federal court and the ultimate dismissal of class action claims that at one time might have been brought under the federal securities laws, but that increasingly are being brought in state court as purported state law claims.
Often, plaintiffs bring derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty based on the same or similar events that are at issue in prior or contemporaneously filed securities class actions. We are experienced at defending such derivative claims, and we efficiently and effectively litigate and manage both the derivative claims and the related securities class actions, for example, by developing strategies to extinguish purported federal securities fraud claims that in reality are state law breach of fiduciary duty claims.
Our securities class action and derivative claim representations focus on the importance of pretrial motions, which frequently have proven successful in obtaining early case dismissal. When this is not possible, our team seeks to minimize the scope of litigation by vigorously opposing class certification. We also use alternative dispute resolution methods, including mediations and traditional settlement negotiations, to reach creative resolutions of securities class actions and derivative cases on terms favorable to our clients. Our litigators are prepared to take class action and derivative cases to trial when necessary or appropriate.
Private Securities LawsuitsPrivate parties often assert, on an individual and non-class basis, claims involving alleged violations of the securities laws and other securities-related theories of liability. For example, a party to an M&A deal or other transaction may assert a Rule 10b-5 claim against the counterparty. Individual securities lawsuits can provide plaintiffs with potent remedies while avoiding certain of the procedural requirements and restrictions applicable to class actions, and can create dangers for defendants which differ from those associated with securities class actions. We represent a broad range of clients in these types of individual securities actions, bringing to bear our experience with the securities laws generally and in related areas such as M&A litigation.
As with our securities class action and derivative claim representations, we focus on the importance of pretrial motions, which have frequently proven successful in securing early case dismissal, and when appropriate, we also use alternative dispute resolution methods to reach creative resolutions on terms favorable to our clients. Our litigators are prepared to take individual securities claims to trial when necessary or appropriate.
Investment Company LitigationWe represent registered investment companies, and their directors, trustees and investment advisers, in actions brought by fund shareholders either derivatively or as putative class actions. These have included, among others, claims for asserted breach of fiduciary duty in connection with market-timing activity, the alleged failure to pursue claims on behalf of funds, and the redemption of hundreds of millions of dollars in auction rate securities. We also are experienced in "excessive fee" litigation under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, in which we have represented investment advisers as well as fund directors and trustees. In addition, we have served as counsel to special committees of fund boards charged with investigating and responding to shareholder demands. Enforcement Actions K&L Gates also has one of the largest and most geographically diverse Securities Enforcement practices of any law firm. That practice focuses on law enforcement and internal investigations and has been involved in virtually every significant enforcement initiative during the past 40 years. K&L Gates attorneys literally wrote the book on criminal and civil securities enforcement, titled The Securities Enforcement Manual, Second Edition, published in 2007 by the American Bar Association.
Shareholder Class Action and Derivative Litigation Challenging Public M&A Transactions Recent studies demonstrate that the number of shareholder suits challenging M&A deals involving a public company seller or target has jumped dramatically over the years, with well over 90 percent of such deals now generating shareholder suits, often in multiple jurisdictions. We routinely defend such suits, representing both targets and their boards of directors as well as acquirers, who increasingly find themselves joined as defendants under various legal theories. Public M&A transactions with a significant shareholder or controlling party are a particular target of shareholder suits, and we are experienced at handling such litigation. Our experience includes navigating the complexities of parallel shareholder litigation in multiple jurisdictions and handling motions for expedited discovery and preliminary injunction motions. We also advise and defend independent or special committees of directors in connection with shareholder class action and derivative suits challenging M&A transactions.
Pre-Closing Litigation Between Acquirer/Buyer and Target/Seller Pre-closing litigation between the buyer and seller in an M&A transaction has become more commonplace since the financial crisis of 2007-2008. For example, a buyer may refuse to close a transaction based on claims that "material adverse effect" or other closing conditions have not been met, and sellers may demand specific performance by the buyer of an agreement to merge or purchase. The parties also may dispute entitlement to "break up" or termination fees. Common law fraud or misrepresentation claims also are often made by buyers against sellers. We regularly handle these types of pre-closing suits.
Post-Closing Litigation Between Acquirer/Buyer and Target/Seller We also routinely handle the types of post-closing claims that frequently arise between the buyer and seller in an M&A deal, such as claims under indemnification, price adjustment, "earn out," or "hold back" provisions in the transaction documents. These post-closing disputes also may involve issues regarding entitlement to funds held in an escrow account administered by a third-party escrow agent.
Corporate Governance and Control Disputes We advise and defend independent or special committees of directors considering particular M&A or other corporate transactions. We also have litigated and advised on various corporate governance and corporate control-related disputes, such as those involving proxy contests, tender offers and poison pills.
Investment Bank and Hedge Fund Representation The investment bank giving a fairness opinion to the target board of directors often must give a deposition and produce documents in shareholder litigation or appraisal proceedings. We represent investment banks in connection with such litigation matters.
In addition, hedge fund and investment bank clients have retained us to analyze in "real time" high-profile securities and transactional litigation proceedings that are important to the business interests of those clients.
Executive Compensation Derivative Litigation Reflecting the growing frequency of executive compensation and "say on pay"-related litigation, we have handled executive compensation-related derivative litigation on behalf of our clients and advised on "say on pay" disputes.


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As we continue to tackle issues of accessibility and inequality here at Vic, it's useful to look outwards to other universities and their efforts to deal with these problems.The Crimson is the student newspaper at Harvard University. Salient got in touch with them for this issue. This piece, originally written for The Crimson, provides fascinating insights into both the inequities at Harvard and the novel ways in which Harvard has attempted to deal with those problems.
Last fall, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid released a promotional video targeted at prospective applicants to the College called 'Anything Could Happen at Harvard'. Scene by scene, the 16-minute video paints a cheerful and diverse image of an undergraduate experience rife with possibility. Once you are here, the video suggests, the broad spectrum of Harvard experiences is yours for the taking, no matter your background.
Yet, for those who come from low-income backgrounds, not all elements of the undergraduate experience are as fully accessible as they are for their wealthier classmates, in spite of the College's recent efforts to open its gates to an increasingly diverse group of students.
Ten years into an initiative that has made Harvard's the most robust financial aid program in the country and likely contributed to the matriculation of the College's most diverse classes in its 377-year history, the gap between Harvard's poor and its overwhelmingly affluent student body has become a pervasive part of undergraduate life.
Class background – while no longer as significant a factor in the ability to afford a Harvard education – still plays a large part in determining students' experiences on a campus dominated by peers far wealthier than the average American. Socioeconomic status subtly shapes undergraduate life in a myriad of ways, as personal finances and class background influence students' abilities to join student groups and otherwise partake in the experience idealized in brochures.
Many students from low-income households say that the financial barriers they bump up against everyday influence their sense of belonging at an institution that prides itself on inclusiveness.
Students rich and poor describe a reality that contradicts the message Harvard broadcasts to prospective applicants when it claims that anything, for anyone, can happen here.
"'Anything can happen at Harvard' – that is such an empty statement to me," says Keyanna Y. Wigglesworth '16, who says that she receives significant financial aid from the College. "That's such a Harvard thing to say – 'anything can happen here.' No, it can't, because people come from all different types of places in the world and walks of life."
Harvard is undoubtedly a national leader in offering financial aid to its undergraduates, a fact well-broadcasted both within its gates and beyond them. Launched in 2004, the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative today gives 20 per cent of undergraduates – those with household incomes less than $65,000 – the chance to attend the College almost for free, with no expected parental contribution.
Administrators tout the program as key to promoting class diversity at Harvard. And as the University celebrates the initiative's ten-year anniversary, it also prepares to welcome its most racially diverse class of students ever to campus this fall.
"Harvard is much more diverse today than it was even a few years ago and we continue to bolster our efforts to make Harvard even more diverse in the years ahead," Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 writes in an email.
Indeed, Harvard goes beyond any legal obligation in providing financial assistance to its students and promoting accessibility to its educational resources. Even so, despite the rise in socioeconomic diversity the College has seen since starting the Financial Aid Initiative a decade ago, its student body today is still far from representative of the country's income distribution as a whole, as Harvard students are disproportionately upper class.
In The Crimson's 2013 survey of the Class of 2017, 15 per cent of respondents reported an annual family income of less than $40,000 – a much smaller proportion than the US as a whole. Meanwhile, 14 per cent of respondents reported family incomes of more than $500,000; by contrast, fewer than one per cent of American households fall within this range.
Even Harvard's middle-income students earn at least two and a half times the amount that the median American household brings in during a given year, the survey shows. About 70 per cent of respondents said their family income was over $80,000. The median household income in the US, by point of comparison, was just $51,371 in 2012, according to the US Census Bureau.
Those statistics offer a glimpse of a freshman class disproportionately filled with students from upper-middle and upper-class households, and comparatively few on the other end of the spectrum, leaving disadvantaged students to navigate a campus dominated – statistically, at least – by peers who hail from backgrounds more affluent than their own.
When prospective students, no matter their socioeconomic status, receive letters informing them of their acceptance to Harvard, for a moment they hold in their fingertips the ticket to all the resources and opportunities that a Harvard education has to offer. And when generous financial aid packages enable them to accept that offer, students from low-income backgrounds can look forward to four years at an institution that for most of its history has been reserved for society's socioeconomically elite.
The College supplements students' financial aid packages with a number of programs to help them buy and rent winter coats and computers, respectively, and advise them on available resources to aid them in their transition.
Even before students arrive on campus, administrators in the Freshman Dean's Office will have prepared to facilitate a comfortable transition for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, creating socioeconomically diverse entryways and making sure not to pair a student who receives no financial aid and a student on "extreme aid" together in a two-person room.
But even as administrators sort students into residential settings over the summer, students have already begun sorting themselves along class lines.
While wealthier students are free to spend their summer traveling the globe or diving into internship experiences, for those facing serious financial constraints, delaying the arrival to Cambridge can be out of the question. Where the rich can choose from a range of pre-orientation programs in the arts, outdoors, or service, for those who need to earn money, there is often only one option. The chance to earn a few hundred dollars before the term begins can be difficult to pass up.
Regardless of whether or not they participate in pre-orientation programming, students from low-income households arriving on campus for Opening Days may find that interactions with their wealthier peers can amount to a culture shock, creating, for some, an early sense of alienation.
"My freshman year, I was just really acutely aware that I didn't belong with the overwhelming majority of people that were here," says Cody R. Dean '14, who arrived in 2010 from a low-income household in West Virginia.
Matthew Wozny '14 says that coming from this sort of background can put students at unease among wealthier individuals whom he saw displaying a sort of "etiquette" he had not seen before. As a result, he felt that he spoke in a way that some classmates did not find appropriate.
Jesse G. Sanchez '14, a first-generation college student from San Diego, was surprised by the way students dressed at Harvard. In preparation for his freshman year, he purchased a number of large, unmarked, colored T-shirts – called "club pro" or "shocker" tees – to convey a sense of seriousness about his schoolwork. He planned to iron them each morning before class.
When he came to campus, however, he found that his style set him apart from peers he saw wearing collared shirts and brands such as Ralph Lauren instead. Sanchez says he felt out of place at first – and an interaction with a classmate early on that year only served to exacerbate that feeling.
"I think that there are these small moments where you realize, wow, I really stick out," Sanchez says. "I think moments like that are very eye-opening."
For the complete version of this article, visit http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/5/29/the-gates-within-low-income/


text: Tathiana Garbin (born June 30, 1977 in Mestre) is an Italian female tennis player. She is probably best known for her shocking defeat of the defending champion and the then-world number one Justine Henin in the second round of the French Open in 2004. On May 21, 2007 Garbin reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 22. She is the number five ranked Italian.